It wouldn't shock me if Welch transferred if Moser stayed. He's been benched for the five most important games of the season in favor of a freshman walk on.

Hutson's a "walk on" only because he agreed to a 4 for 5 scholarship deal when he was recruited. He was going to redshirt this year until the NCAA ruled he could play this year without losing a year's eligibility.

See NY Post article about how close PM was to going to St. John's.
https://nypost.com/2021/03/25/loyola-ch ... ssion=true

Hopefully he'll be "all in" at Loyola, as I am sure Marquette will be making a big push for him.

I thought Welch had a bright future and would be considered a core component going forward, along with Norris, Kennedy and Hutson.

And given the article someone posted about Damezi, he might get significant minutes next year too.

Excellent analysis by ToledoRambler of the Todd Lickliter situation. Archie Miller seems similar too.

I have heard/read that Ben Jacobson has counseled PM about staying because he has found happiness, like Ben has at UNI.

Toledo,

While I hope Porter stays, there is very little comparison to Lickliter in my opinion. 1st, Butler had posted 5 straight 20+ win seasons before he got the job from Thad Matta. Matta held the job for one year, won a single game in the NCAA then went to Xavier...3 years later a long run at Ohio State.

As for Lickliter, in the last 25 years there have been 5 seasons with less than 20+ wins for Butler, he owns 2 of them (plus 1 of 3 losing seasons in that time frame). The money differential at the time was significant with Iowa and the reason the Butler job paid equivalent in 2012 is because Stevens took them to back to back final games!

Porter will likely make a guaranteed $18m for 6 years wherever he goes, that is pretty significant on the dollar front.

Beyond that, Porter has touched the highest echelon of the coaching ranks with the final 4 run and the dismantling of a #1 seed in round 2. In the process, with the help of a patient AD and administration, he turned around a bottom feeder Horizon league team to a national contender.

I hope he stays and we build a statue for him, but the Lickliter comparisons just don't hold water for me.

Does that matter?

Reports are saying that Marquette is closing in on Shaka Smart....HUGE news.

Great article about becoming the next Gonzaga from the Athletic ($): https://theathletic.com/2476473/2021/03 ... r-gonzaga/

For all the he's got 5% of staying and such, here's a quote from Steve Watson, “We talk almost every day. There are opportunities and schools out there that I’m 100 percent sure are interested in having Porter be their coach. But he’s been saying it ever since we got the bid to get into the tournament — he’s 100 percent invested in seeing this thing through and is all-in with Loyola. And we’re all-in with him. We’re committed, he’s committed and we’re having discussions about what that’s going to look like in the future for him. I’m excited about having him be our coach for as long as we can keep him. And I think that’s going to be a really long time.”

I know he talks about "as long as we can keep him," but from that it doesn't sound like it's a foregone conclusion that he's gone after this year.

Stuff like this is another reason I want us to keep winning. Porter is not going to interview while we are still alive. Indiana may want Porter, but if we make the Final Four are they willing to keep that open for another week and half just to interview him? I'm sure there's pressure at these schools to fill it relatively quickly. I don't think Hoosier fans will be happy if the job is still open come mid-April.