[SamuelMcF]

Pencilling freshmen Ingram and Silva in on the basis of their recruiting rankings is silly.  Did 2020 not teach anyone anything?  They may be good, great even, but until they are actually playing college basketball it is a fool's errand to assume anything about them starting.

If ZW had not had to leave the team the first time, he probably would never have lost his starting spot, and perhaps he would have actually grown into a more dominant role.

Haven't we had 3 freshman starters to kick off the season the last 2 years?

We can go back even further than that. Try 7 in the last 4 years: KZ+Davis, Ryan+Wills, Terry+Jones, Ziaire. I'd be hard-pressed not to pencil Ingram or Silva in somewhere. If Wills goes, my bet would be one of them at the 2 unless Noah Taitz makes a jump.

Kisunas should play plenty, and OF is right that at worst he's a big body who plays solid D and is worth 5 fouls. The real let-down for me was Keefe becoming a total nothing-burger after showing a little something as a freshman. (I didn't expect anything from Fitzmorris so I can't really say I'm let down by him.) I really hope the Rutgers transfer Myles Johnson ends up coming.

That said, the entire Final Four shows you don't need someone taller than 6'10" in the rotation to go all the way. In fact, only Gonzaga and Baylor have one rotational player each who is 6'10". In Gonzaga's case, it's their super stud Timme (who is surrounded by very very good guards and wings), and Baylor's 6'10" guy only plays 14.5 mpg. It really looks like while a good tall big is nice, it's not necessary.

[SamuelMcF]

Pencilling freshmen Ingram and Silva in on the basis of their recruiting rankings is silly.  Did 2020 not teach anyone anything?  They may be good, great even, but until they are actually playing college basketball it is a fool's errand to assume anything about them starting.

If ZW had not had to leave the team the first time, he probably would never have lost his starting spot, and perhaps he would have actually grown into a more dominant role.

Haven't we had 3 freshman starters to kick off the season the last 2 years?

We can go back even further than that. Try 7 in the last 4 years: KZ+Davis, Ryan+Wills, Terry+Jones, Ziaire. I'd be hard-pressed not to pencil Ingram or Silva in somewhere. If Wills goes, my bet would be one of them at the 2 unless Noah Taitz makes a jump.

Kisunas should play plenty, and OF is right that at worst he's a big body who plays solid D and is worth 5 fouls. The real let-down for me was Keefe becoming a total nothing-burger after showing a little something as a freshman. (I didn't expect anything from Fitzmorris so I can't really say I'm let down by him.) I really hope the Rutgers transfer Myles Johnson ends up coming.

That said, the entire Final Four shows you don't need someone taller than 6'10" in the rotation to go all the way. In fact, only Gonzaga and Baylor have one rotational player each who is 6'10". In Gonzaga's case, it's their super stud Timme (who is surrounded by very very good guards and wings), and Baylor's 6'10" guy only plays 14.5 mpg. It really looks like while a good tall big is nice, it's not necessary.