So I just keep wondering about the open spot for this year.....maybe with this recent signing for next year Coach has a better idea of how he wants to fill the roster and we will see some movement on that last spot.

I'm guessing we're done and won't fill it for the season barring a graduate transfer. I can't remember Porter ever not filling out the full roster but it's not completely unusual for a team to do this.

I wouldn't be too surprised if we're done for this year in order to get an extra one for 2019. If Porter thinks that the Final Four will lead to a better recruit in 2019, then I'd rather be 1 under for 2018 and get a good recruit the next year than settle for an average player in 2018 and be stuck with that scholarship for 4 years.

I also think that we'll see the recruiting bump more for the 2019 class than 2018, so I'm okay with that strategy. If I recall correctly, after our men's volleyball team won the national championship the next full recruiting cycle was the top class in the country, so in general it probably takes a full year to fully reap the benefits on the recruiting trail.

Definitely agree with this. Just being in the conversation is a huge step. I also think this year will be huge for the future of the program. The arguments other schools probably use right now against us is “they were a fluke”. Another trip to the NCAA, with a relatively young team, will weaken that argument for the 2020 class and going forward.

Is it Midnight Madness yet?! I am SO excited.

It is kind of a gamble......It should have had the most effect this year.....if we dont have a good season next year the magic is gone.....Our Final Four will be looked upon as a lucky season....

Way less talent available and a lot of actual recruiting time is lost during the tournament. Summer is when a good amount of heavy lifting is done before the 19 season even begins. Ingram, Richardson, Krutwig, and negron are all examples of players who committed in the summer/early fall. Plus the effects of the season will be felt for years to come in fan attendance, name brand, practice facility, etc.

The schools that we are hoping to compete with on a consistent basis already have those things...we are just trying to catch up now...and again the brand will be gone unless we back up last years success with at least a reasonably good season.Winning trumps all the other stuff. I also think there was significant time to recruit and that Porter hit the road pretty heavily..It could be that he strategically thinks next year will be more profitable and have more accessible talent . The fact that we turned down one prospect that wanted to come and lost another that we wanted leads me to believe that they did want to bring in another player this year but we havent got the match yet. But hope you are right and that they think they can land a ton load next year and that the absence of a full roster this year will do no harm.

Isn't not using the spot just a straight out waste though? Why not pick up another "Shanks"? Some 6'10"+ grad transfer guy... a guy with some experience that can help work out/educate King Krut and Big Frank. This person comes in just for one year so you're not loosing the spot for next year?

I certainly think they tried to fill it. And they obviously recruited hard as evidence by Tate Hall and Tykei Greene. But there's still a finite amount of good players left come April, and many of the high level ones have trimmed lists by this point.

There's obviously still graduate transfers out there, but they also have to be willing to take on that Shanks role, a lot of times grad transfers want to go to a team where they can play; Shanks was pretty selfless and a great team guy. You can't bend on your recruiting philosophies and get someone who ends up a bad fit and hurting team chemistry.

At most we run an 8 man rotation late in the season. The questions with next years teams aren't who's gonna fill starting roles but who's gonna be our best off the bench; i'm not overly worried about bankrolling one.