2024-25 Roster Thread

N Mollen · Apr 17, 2024

RowdyPkunk said:
It's not like he got gifted a scholarship because that Jacob Patrick kid backed out on us last minute... so we had "an extra" & chose to give it to him.

We actually had 2 scholarships we were prepared to throw away. He got one of them.

rambunctiousrowdyram · Apr 17, 2024

HBK said:
It's why as much as I like the young men who play fur VCU, and I've gotten to know some personally, my allegiance is to the front of the jersey. VCU is my alma mater and where my donations go, so that's my priority: the VCU basketball team.

(Actually my priority is all of the VCU Athletics teams, but in this context, it's all about men's basketball.)

I’ll be honest. My love for our other programs has grown because of this. You know they don’t get crap probably. Especially the golf team I follow a lot and chat with the coach a lot. Funny thing is some arguably out perform basketball hands down.

TampaKAP · Apr 17, 2024

N Mollen said:
but I have seen no evidence of that, nor have I heard that he was destroying the scholarship athletes in practice

That is exactly the point. None of us have seen what he can do so we have little to basis to have an opinion if he is worthy of a scholarship. RO and staff are well aware of the expectations of the job. Sometimes they are going to get it right and sometimes they are not but I can with complete certainty say he is not going to risk his livelihood doing “charity”. Again, I have no idea if Obi is or is not what w need and certainly I am not advocating either way because I don’t know

N Mollen · Apr 17, 2024

TampaKAP said:
That is exactly the point. None of us have seen what he can do so we have little to basis to have an opinion if he is worthy of a scholarship. RO and staff are well aware of the expectations of the job. Sometimes they are going to get it right and sometimes they are not but I can with complete certainty say he is not going to risk his livelihood doing “charity”. Again, I have no idea if Obi is or is not what w need and certainly I am not advocating either way because I don’t know

I don't think it is accurate to say we have no basis for an opinion.

We know for an indisputable fact that coming into last year, not one coach at a peer institution thought he was a scholarship player at this level, and that Odom agreed. You are right that we might not have up to the minute information on how he's doing, and I suppose I have to acknowledge the bare possibility that he's made some sort of quantum leap and yet no one has talked about it (you'd think Odom might have mentioned it).

So the way I'd phrase it is we know where he was coming in, and there is absolutely no reason to think he is anything other than a walk on who got a scholarship last year we were going to throw out anyway. It would be a remarkable story if that turned out not to be the case.

BTW, it is worth pointing out that walk-ons serve an important purpose for the team in practice and nothing I have said should diminish Okafor's contributions to the program. I am talking about construction of a roster of players that might see the floor.

Mr X · Apr 17, 2024

N Mollen said:
I don't think it is accurate to say we have no basis for an opinion.

We know for an indisputable fact that coming into last year, not one coach at a peer institution thought he was a scholarship player at this level, and that Odom agreed. You are right that we might not have up to the minute information on how he's doing, and I suppose I have to acknowledge the bare possibility that he's made some sort of quantum leap and yet no one has talked about it (you'd think Odom might have mentioned it).

So the way I'd phrase it is we know where he was coming in, and there is absolutely no reason to think he is anything other than a walk on who got a scholarship last year we were going to throw out anyway. It would be a remarkable story if that turned out not to be the case.

BTW, it is worth pointing out that walk-ons serve an important purpose for the team in practice and nothing I have said should diminish Okafor's contributions to the program. I am talking about construction of a roster of players that might see the floor.

As things stand today, if he comes back, he probably has a pretty good shot of hitting the floor.

LazyStegosaurus · Apr 17, 2024

HBK said:
It's why as much as I like the young men who play fur VCU, and I've gotten to know some personally, my allegiance is to the front of the jersey. VCU is my alma mater and where my donations go, so that's my priority: the VCU basketball team.

(Actually my priority is all of the VCU Athletics teams, but in this context, it's all about men's basketball.)

Enjoy the name on the back of the jersey, root for the name on the front. Right there with ya!

TampaKAP · Apr 17, 2024

N Mollen said:
I don't think it is accurate to say we have no basis for an opinion.

We know for an indisputable fact that coming into last year, not one coach at a peer institution thought he was a scholarship player at this level, and that Odom agreed. You are right that we might not have up to the minute information on how he's doing, and I suppose I have to acknowledge the bare possibility that he's made some sort of quantum leap and yet no one has talked about it (you'd think Odom might have mentioned it).

So the way I'd phrase it is we know where he was coming in, and there is absolutely no reason to think he is anything other than a walk on who got a scholarship last year we were going to throw out anyway. It would be a remarkable story if that turned out not to be the case.

BTW, it is worth pointing out that walk-ons serve an important purpose for the team in practice and nothing I have said should diminish Okafor's contributions to the program. I am talking about construction of a roster of players that might see the floor.

I agree walk on’s serve an important person and I would stake my future on building a team around them. Things can happen behind closed doors is all I am suggesting. The A10 tournament champions were pretty much a .500 team to start the season. They move a freshman Walk-On’s into the starting line up and he leads th team in 2pt percentage and is the 4th leading per game scorer. I just don’t know how Obi fits and have to trust RO until I see hi on the court………which may or may not even happen

N Mollen · Apr 17, 2024

Mr X said:
As things stand today, if he comes back, he probably has a pretty good shot of hitting the floor.

given the current shape of the roster, I wouldn't be surprised

Love2Ram · Apr 17, 2024

The plan seems to be going towards building around Fermin next year. 20 years of fandom is about to come to an end in my household. The portal and annual rebuild just as you feel like you are starting to know the players is too much for me. Asking me to donate thousands to keep the party going feels sadistic in some ways. I had some fun times while it lasted.

RamLover · Apr 18, 2024

rambunctiousrowdyram said:
I’m close to quitting too. That would have been unthinkable before the transfer portal. But my interest is just dying completely. The players don’t care about the fans. So why should we care?

The players don’t need to care about my feelings for me to be a fan of a school/program. My loyalty is ultimately to a school instead of any individual player. I care about players BECAUSE they play for my school. So, I will be a fan as long as there is any team for me to support.

That being said, I don’t donate now that I’ve stopped buying season tickets, and I’m not embarrassed about it. I thank people who do, but it’s not in my family’s budget, and as a result, since I’m not financially invested, I am more go-with-the-flow with what happens year to year now. I’m a bystander fan, and I think that’s what will probably start happening to contribute to most program’s declines. The world is too expensive outside of college basketball to be throwing unlimited amounts of money on the possibility that any player will choose to come for maybe just a season. And even if they come, there’s still no guarantee it will lead to spectacular outcomes.

I will always be a fan, but I’ll just put my energies into supporting the players who choose to stay, like buying their merch when they show commitment or cheering at games I decide to buy individual tickets to so that I can go cheer in person.

If I do spend money on sports, it will always be to VCU, but I’m not financially invested into something that will make or break my mood.

Our players will have to be humble in comparison to those who bypass us for more personal financial gain. Our guys are still getting opportunities and education. We just will always have the “chip on your shoulder” attitude we’ve always had. VCU wouldn’t be VCU without that attitude. It’s just who we are.

80sRam · Apr 18, 2024

N Mollen said:
I don't think it is accurate to say we have no basis for an opinion.

We know for an indisputable fact that coming into last year, not one coach at a peer institution thought he was a scholarship player at this level, and that Odom agreed. You are right that we might not have up to the minute information on how he's doing, and I suppose I have to acknowledge the bare possibility that he's made some sort of quantum leap and yet no one has talked about it (you'd think Odom might have mentioned it).

So the way I'd phrase it is we know where he was coming in, and there is absolutely no reason to think he is anything other than a walk on who got a scholarship last year we were going to throw out anyway. It would be a remarkable story if that turned out not to be the case.

BTW, it is worth pointing out that walk-ons serve an important purpose for the team in practice and nothing I have said should diminish Okafor's contributions to the program. I am talking about construction of a roster of players that might see the floor.

Jeff Hornacek and Scottie Pippen were once walk-ons. Ya never know...

SteveMM · Apr 18, 2024

N Mollen said:
Man I hope that's not correct. Not from his standpoint but from the staff's. He was a walk on and got a gift scholarship. Why would he leave if he returns to that status?

If Odom is actually counting on him as someone competing for minutes, that's a problem to me at least

Okafor held at least one D1 scholarship offer, from Hampton, when he decided to come to VCU. There's also the rumor that Harvard wanted him, but only if he did a prep year. I recognize neither Hampton nor Harvard are going to get anyone excited around here, but my point is that the guy isn't a complete scrub. For whatever reason, he chose to come to VCU as a walk-on rather than have his full ride paid for. Word is he wants to be a doctor, and VCU isn't a bad place to do that. We don't know why Odom gave him a scholarship last year. Yes, it could have been simply because Odom had one he knew was not going to be used. It could also be that he sees something in Okafor.

N Mollen · Apr 18, 2024

SteveMM said:
Okafor held at least one D1 scholarship offer, from Hampton, when he decided to come to VCU. There's also the rumor that Harvard wanted him, but only if he did a prep year. I recognize neither Hampton nor Harvard are going to get anyone excited around here, but my point is that the guy isn't a complete scrub. For whatever reason, he chose to come to VCU as a walk-on rather than have his full ride paid for. Word is he wants to be a doctor, and VCU isn't a bad place to do that. We don't know why Odom gave him a scholarship last year. Yes, it could have been simply because Odom had one he knew was not going to be used. It could also be that he sees something in Okafor.

I am uneasy calling anyone a scrub because it isn't polite. And I don't know this kid and have never watched him bounce a ball before.

But let me ask you this: if Odom replaced Tobi with someone who had one offer, from a Big South school, and a maybe/kind of offer from Harvard that they would take him if he prepped for the year, would you say that recruit is in VCU's recruiting wheelhouse for scholarship players? Or in the wheelhouse VCU used to have?

TampaKAP · Apr 18, 2024

N Mollen said:
I am uneasy calling anyone a scrub because it isn't polite. And I don't know this kid and have never watched him bounce a ball before.

But let me ask you this: if Odom replaced Tobi with someone who had one offer, from a Big South school, and a maybe/kind of offer from Harvard that they would take him if he prepped for the year, would you say that recruit is in VCU's recruiting wheelhouse for scholarship players? Or in the wheelhouse VCU used to have?

Here is where you and I agree. If RO is/was considering Obi in the 6-8 slot based on the very very little I know, then I would wonder what we are doing.

SteveMM · Apr 18, 2024

N Mollen said:
I am uneasy calling anyone a scrub because it isn't polite. And I don't know this kid and have never watched him bounce a ball before.

But let me ask you this: if Odom replaced Tobi with someone who had one offer, from a Big South school, and a maybe/kind of offer from Harvard that they would take him if he prepped for the year, would you say that recruit is in VCU's recruiting wheelhouse for scholarship players? Or in the wheelhouse VCU used to have?

I don't think Odom is looking at Okafor as anything other than a developmental player. Maybe he figures if the guy can get healthy for a full year then he'd be a good depth piece with potential to be more. My point is that we don't see the guy in practice and we don't know what Odom thinks of him.