Payton Sparks discusses portal interest incl IU
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TJD is probably waiting on the NIL deal available to him. NIL probably needs $250k+ for TJD to stay.
Not sure where the 6'7" came from but everything I've seen, both ESPN and BSU's site, has him at 6'9". He looks 6'9" in the clips. I think the folks claiming 6'7" don't want him at IU. If we're losing both TJD and Race (or 1 of those and MD) then we need another 5, imo. Not saying it has to be him, but I'd say that's why he's getting any IU interest.
but what if he comes to IU, does that mean his FT % will drop?
If he comes to IU and gets a summer in the strength & conditioning program, he’ll be brick city just like every other player the last five years.
Ask yourself how Sparks would look against Dickinson, Cockburn, Edey, etc. I don’t think it would be very pretty.
I put a link to it in my other post earlier in this thread. The original poster placed the link to the Sparks article. In that article, you can click his name and it provides his 247 profile that lists him as 6'7. So people that are stating 6'7 are just doing so because its the information that was most readily available. You don't often find vast contradictions on that stuff. 6'7-6'9 feels like a world apart in the B1G.
fwiw: it would not be pretty. but if we are top shelf at the 1 thru 4 we can make it work. those guys gotta shoot from three with a high % of course.
Why not be top shelf from 1-5? Surely there is top talent that would come for a starting position on Indiana.
It wasn't very pretty with TJD v. those guys....do you want a 7 footer weighing 250 lbs who can shoot 3s? I'd probably like one as well. Who do you have in mind before next year?
None in the HS class. As for the portal, probably not more than 3 who are 6'10" or more, with some meat on their bones, with range to the 3 point line. Look at the top centers in last year's portal class.
I put mine out there in another thread. Jamarion Sharp from Western Kentucky is the guy I would go after to replace TJD.
hehe....I'd get one for Coach except one in good shape would probably cost a bundle.
Plenty of Center's in the portal making an impact this year.
Myles Johnson from Rutgers to UCLA still in the tournament.
Josh Carlton from UConn to Houston still in the tournament.
Walker Kessler played 8 mpg the year before at UNC and was the SEC DPOY this year at Auburn.
None of those guys were heralded or put up heady numbers last year.
You're overreacting, it's March 23rd. There's 2 weeks left in the season. You had two 5* big men de-commit alone yesterday,
Relax.
Well....if he visits I'd get the tape measure out. For a player like him, even the difference between 6'8" & 6'9" would matter..........
Kessler was rated in the top 3 portal centers. Johnson was probably top 5. I expect Sparks to end up being top 5 if he is truly 6'9" 260 lbs.
and Walker Kessler didn't commit to Auburn until 4/12. There's going to be another 300-400 players that put their name in the portal between now and the next 3 weeks. There's been 54 players today alone who put their name in the portal since 8am.
well, isn't 247 profile from HS? And while I assume they update activity, not sure how often the heights get updated, so maybe even from his Junior year? I'd trust the ESPN and BSU heights as more recent and more accurate. FYI, I grew 7" from my junior year of HS to freshman year of college and 5" from senior HS to freshman. And, of course David Robinson was under 6'6" when he was admitted to the Naval Academy and grew to 7'1". Saying he's 6'7" feels like someone has an "agenda" to me, even if you can find a reference on the internet. You since know he is now listed at 6'9" and he appears it in his videos. Don't know about his shot, as I thought this guy had a great touch, but that short little video sort of reminded me of the Wyoming big. To me it all comes down to are TJD and/or Race (and Durr for that matter) coming back. If not, he looks like a viable option if we aren't on someone better.
I think Kessler was quite heralded out of HS... 5 star wasn't he? I know there was grumbling down here about why he wasn't playing more, and Hubert was really upset when he stayed in the portal. They have Bacot, but he was going to get a lot of minutes this year regardless at UNC. And, I don't know his numbers, but Johnson was very solid for Rutgers.
I think you're missing the point. You asked where people are getting that and I provided where. I then said people are quoting that because that was what was provided in the post that started this. The most common denominator would result in that being what people would quote. Most don't then go out looking elsewhere for something to validate that because its rarely drastically far off. To that, the video didn't show him to look 6'9.
Either way, I don't think anyone is proclaiming that it's not true or vice versa after reviewing the other sites but the point was that people, like myself, made the claim originally based off that being the information that was readily available. It had nothing to do with discounting sites where I didn't know 6'9 was listed nor is it based of some whacky conspiracy of false agendas. Get a grip.
here's the 2nd sentence of the article originally linked:
"The 6-foot-9 big man averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last season and aims to make a decision sometime before the end of the school year."
I got a grip.
I haven't seen his name in the portal.......are you sure that is his intention?
Crazy to think we’ve reached the point where the prospect of landing a Ball State transfer is exciting. Perhaps there’s a solid shooting guard out there from a Div 2 school??? A point from a JC….
If they can play, who cares where they're from.
I'm not sold on Sparks as the answer to some potential front court issues next but it's silly to dismiss a players ability based on their previous stop. Recruiting isn't an exact science and there are kids who get overlooked for whatever reason that can seriously play.
Another poster in a different thread just illustrated the amount of transfers on the rosters of teams still in the tournament and some of these guys went to schools I've never even heard of. Think we as a fan base have to get rid of this mindset that players in the lower conferences can't be of service down the road.
Yes....really a dumb comment......would we have wanted Ray McCallum or Bonzi Wells?
"Alex, I'll take names of Ball State players I've not thought about in 10 years for $200!"
...oh, that's right, Alex is no longer with us, and I don't know the new girls name... Big (Bang) girl, right?
Anyone know for sure whether Joey left on his own accord, or was gently pushed out?
Crazy thing is he only got 1/3 the minutes at OSU that he did at IU......and that he hit 63% on FGs and 77% on FTs v. 52% and 45% at IU....must be the rims in AH.
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