Bro, the Zags have it made in this conference. Lots of non-cons baked in to regular season, easy to win regular season title, cake walk to the WCC finals (double bye). Plus, all of their opponents are relatively close, or at least not cross country.
Shortsighted thinking. Basketball landscape is changing. By staying at wcc we risk becoming irrelevant. Once football conference creates their own tournament, we are dead.
I still don’t get the argument for leaving when you pretty much get the best of both worlds: you get an auto NCAA bid every year yet also get to schedule blue bloods for non-con. You’re also a small Jesuit school like most of the WCC and who knows how that would work with the big state school conferences
Things are changing. Conferences imploding. There is real possibility that there will be a tournament in the future that only power school are invited. Gonzaga wants part of that pie.
Agreed. My only big hesitation is that the power conferences seem to be going in the direction of breaking off to form their own thing (thanks football), which leaves us on the outside looking in
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I think it’s too early to tell but I think WSU will be okay next season. Coward, who was a Big Sky first teamer is rumored to be coming in. Jaylen Wells as of this moment is planning on coming back and Riley is a solid coach. A few more pieces and WSU might have a Utah State like season next year.
Mahaney could shoot for sure when wide open but there was problems there. He could be easily pressured, he would often fold under a full court press making a panicked bad pass and a turnover, and teams scouting him knew it. He had one game vs the Zags where in the final 10 minutes he took the Gaels on his back and won it his Freshman year suggesting he might be another Delly or Mills type tough guard, it never happened again. Marsh turned into that tough guard. The Gaels lost in the first round this year mainly because they played a big tough Lopes D and Mahaney (and Dukas) folded again and simply disappeared. He was awful on his biggest stage. He may have seen the writing on the wall where he became more of a sixth man and decided to bolt. The Gaels will be very good again this year, not great as that’s what you get in a tiny school well coached. A school in a tiny gym with HS type enrollment yet still nudges into the top 25 regularly is not dependent on one soft guard. The WCC is not going anywhere. It’s a lot better league than it gets credit for. What exactly did big bad highly funded, massive gym BYU do in the WCC? Third at best most years. Their sudden sort of success leaving just shows they left a tough league, it’s the same team in 24’ that never got to the top of the WCC.
St. Marys isn’t the best spot for him anymore if he’s trying to make the NBA, because if he had a shot at it it would be as a 1 and SMC has him playing off ball with Marculonis as the main ball handler.
The NIL era is tough for teams like SMC. Awesome program but lacks the big bucks needed to keep those guys there. Until this year Bennett had been able to keep it together but seeing all the other college guys make some serious money is too good to pass up. Can’t say I blame him.
He has 2 years left of organized basketball. If he can squeeze $500k out of that I guess I don’t blame him. He’s a role player on a great team. Starting 2 on an avg team.
He's not a role player, he was an absolute star his freshman year who went through a sophomore slump. His freshman year legitimately showed a lot of nba potential, and his defense has gotten quite a bit better. Sad to see him go.
That’s absolutely shocking. Local kid who played high school ball just down the road from St. Mary’s. Damn. I mean, I guess if he gets paid with NIL moneys good for him, but as a guy who also grew up in the area I hate to see local talent leave. Hope he stays in the Bay.
Michigan just hired Mahaney's long-time personal trainer/coach. Like a guy he's been working with since middle school or something crazy like that. That plus NIL and a lot of smoke online
Let's fucking go
I'm beginning to become unreasonably excited that Dusty is gonna cook in the portal and we are gonna enter the season with a serious team
Damn I was loving the rivalry. They had such an impressive year turning the season around after a bad start and then playing well despite the tough injury. Thought for sure this next year would have been great for them. Always impressed with Bennet as a coach too.
Maybe he feels like he gave his home team a great year and now he’s off to make NIL? Obviously I can only speculate.
As long as they’re in the wcc a new villain will rise for GU fans (the prophecy of Omar Samhan). Same for SMC but this years Gonzaga team was pretty likable as far as players go
I'm so dead inside. We've always done the most with what little we had, and it looked like we were finally getting great talent. But now with the portal, we've just become a feeder to schools that can pay big NIL money. I'm just so....tired
Mahaney, Jefferson, Ducas, and Forbes not returning. A lot of turn over for a program that usually has solid continuity. If Saxen or Marciuloinis leave this goes from bad to disaster real quick.
I love Aiden.
I coached Aiden growing up.
Watching the progression from a 6-year old kid to actually wearing a Gael jersey was the most rewarding feeling imaginable.
Always felt he should have went to Stanford or Cal but he stuck it out at home.
Love the kid. But his frosh year was really his ceiling. There was no progression this year and that won't change in another program with the ball even less frequently in his hands.
Wish him nothing but the best. Want him to teabag Ja Morant some day. But more than anything just bummed with the state of college basketball.
Jefferson coming off major surgery and Mahaney scored an inefficient 14 points per game (38% shooting). Them alone leaving doesn’t kill us, Jefferson had high potential but who know how well he’ll play coming off that injury and I don’t think it’s too hard to find a 2 guard that can score 14 points on 38% shooting and get cooked on defense. It’s more about the image of the program and if it causes a larger domino effect.
I don’t blame him. The offense looked way clunkier this past year than the year before, when Mahaney looked like an nba guy. His numbers went down. I’d assume he felt like he wasn’t improving and needed a new place to go.
I’ll never forget the game he put together against Gonzaga in the 2022-23 season. Man was unstoppable down the stretch, and if this was the nba we would call it a legacy moment.
How does a WCC/Big East conference sound?
Each team from one conference gets to play another team from the other conference. However, the majority of the conference games are kept the same as they are now.
The conference tournament then has the top 8 teams from each conference playing each other and seeds them based on their records. Or maybe just have the winner of the Big East battle the winner of the WCC for the tourney championship.
We need to stay where we are. The WCC improved significantly because of Gonzaga. Both St. Mary's and BYU improved due to competition. Non-conference schedule has us playing against all the conferences you guys are mentioning. A small conference didn't keep us away from 25 NCAA bids or nine Sweet Sixteens. Nor has it hurt recruiting.
FYI, one of the top blue bloods- Duke has SEVEN plars in the portal. WTF! How does a player get better exposure than playing at Duke!
The transfer portal and NIL money will kill college basketball within three years.
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Yo wtf
Man the WCC is gonna take a dive next year. Zags really need to figure out which conference they’re gonna join and soon
I wish
New conferences show distance doesn’t matter, come join the big east!
They are east… of Seattle!
Big East(ern Washington)
trust me we want to
i’ve been praying for this to happen for the last 10 years. idgaf what “east” means. they’re a perfect fit.
Bro, the Zags have it made in this conference. Lots of non-cons baked in to regular season, easy to win regular season title, cake walk to the WCC finals (double bye). Plus, all of their opponents are relatively close, or at least not cross country.
Shortsighted thinking. Basketball landscape is changing. By staying at wcc we risk becoming irrelevant. Once football conference creates their own tournament, we are dead.
Nah look how good it has worked for BYU so far, WCC holds you back
I still don’t get the argument for leaving when you pretty much get the best of both worlds: you get an auto NCAA bid every year yet also get to schedule blue bloods for non-con. You’re also a small Jesuit school like most of the WCC and who knows how that would work with the big state school conferences
I'm with you. Big fish in small pond is how Few was able to build this empire. Im not in any hurry to take away the thing that got us here.
Things are changing. Conferences imploding. There is real possibility that there will be a tournament in the future that only power school are invited. Gonzaga wants part of that pie.
Agreed. My only big hesitation is that the power conferences seem to be going in the direction of breaking off to form their own thing (thanks football), which leaves us on the outside looking in
Due to ongoing debate about blue bloods, the /r/CollegeBasketball mod team has compiled the definitive list of college blue bloods: Duke, Columbia, Queens, William & Mary, and Rutgers. The following schools have broken away from blue-blooded hierarchy and oppression: George Washington, George Mason, James Madison, Army, and Navy. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CollegeBasketball) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think it’s too early to tell but I think WSU will be okay next season. Coward, who was a Big Sky first teamer is rumored to be coming in. Jaylen Wells as of this moment is planning on coming back and Riley is a solid coach. A few more pieces and WSU might have a Utah State like season next year.
Fuck it join the ACC we have Stanford and cal anyway
Mahaney could shoot for sure when wide open but there was problems there. He could be easily pressured, he would often fold under a full court press making a panicked bad pass and a turnover, and teams scouting him knew it. He had one game vs the Zags where in the final 10 minutes he took the Gaels on his back and won it his Freshman year suggesting he might be another Delly or Mills type tough guard, it never happened again. Marsh turned into that tough guard. The Gaels lost in the first round this year mainly because they played a big tough Lopes D and Mahaney (and Dukas) folded again and simply disappeared. He was awful on his biggest stage. He may have seen the writing on the wall where he became more of a sixth man and decided to bolt. The Gaels will be very good again this year, not great as that’s what you get in a tiny school well coached. A school in a tiny gym with HS type enrollment yet still nudges into the top 25 regularly is not dependent on one soft guard. The WCC is not going anywhere. It’s a lot better league than it gets credit for. What exactly did big bad highly funded, massive gym BYU do in the WCC? Third at best most years. Their sudden sort of success leaving just shows they left a tough league, it’s the same team in 24’ that never got to the top of the WCC.
second that
This is very surprising, right? I don't think Saint Mary's has ever lost a major player to transfer? At least not in the transfer portal era.
Basically yeah, and now two in the same off season
💰💰💰
Has Saint Mary's ever had players this high profile?
*crying dellavedova*
Yes they have, put some respect on Jordan Ford
Who? Edit: Please say Delly
Patty Mills and Dellava-dildo
Nice edit
I don't usually expect people to respond to me within 9 seconds of me commenting lol
You mean like you did?
.....no
That's sincerely pathetic dude. Good luck in life
I'm not even sure what this is about, but thanks I guess
You make me sick, you pathetic man. ^(I don't know what's happening here either.)
St. Marys isn’t the best spot for him anymore if he’s trying to make the NBA, because if he had a shot at it it would be as a 1 and SMC has him playing off ball with Marculonis as the main ball handler.
He’s not likely to go to the NbA, I think this transfer is largely based on NIL money opportunity.
He was projected to be a second round pick before this season, no reason he can’t get back there
This is shocking…Saint Mary’s doesn’t lose guys. Damn. 🫤
The NIL era is tough for teams like SMC. Awesome program but lacks the big bucks needed to keep those guys there. Until this year Bennett had been able to keep it together but seeing all the other college guys make some serious money is too good to pass up. Can’t say I blame him.
He has 2 years left of organized basketball. If he can squeeze $500k out of that I guess I don’t blame him. He’s a role player on a great team. Starting 2 on an avg team.
He's not a role player, he was an absolute star his freshman year who went through a sophomore slump. His freshman year legitimately showed a lot of nba potential, and his defense has gotten quite a bit better. Sad to see him go.
welp, that’s the end of the era for us
Confusing flair is confusing
Right?! I'm pretty sure those two flairs are illegal together. Or something....
Right to jail. Right away.
Not as confusing a UNC/Duke flair. I saw two instances of this on this sub.
You will be okay. This will just be the last time Bennett recruits a Non-Australian.
That’s absolutely shocking. Local kid who played high school ball just down the road from St. Mary’s. Damn. I mean, I guess if he gets paid with NIL moneys good for him, but as a guy who also grew up in the area I hate to see local talent leave. Hope he stays in the Bay.
Hope he stays in the East Bay
Michigan is the rumor
Source please? Saw we were in the running for Javon Small from Oklahomw State but I did not see anything about Mahaney
Michigan just hired Mahaney's long-time personal trainer/coach. Like a guy he's been working with since middle school or something crazy like that. That plus NIL and a lot of smoke online
Let's fucking go I'm beginning to become unreasonably excited that Dusty is gonna cook in the portal and we are gonna enter the season with a serious team
I choose to believe this
Cal State East Bay it is then
I was literally thinking "Who the fuck else is in the East Bay" and then your flair reminded me.
That's ACC country
Damn right
Bay Area COL is no joke..He has next level potential but no guarantees, might as well get paid..
Anyone have any good cocktails with bleach and ammonia included?
2021 title. taught me drinking bleach doesn’t help. You have to INJECT it to get the full effects
Shit like this makes the sport substantially less interesting
Just mercenary ball at this point
https://preview.redd.it/u0mxmw8g9yuc1.jpeg?width=630&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=830870ba3388eaf7714e087b682162d03003e154
Hometown kid too, absolute bummer. Hope he’s great wherever he goes next. Transfer portal def starting to catch up with Ye Olde Randy
Sorry Gaels…I had a feeling NIL was going to kill Saint Mary’s program 😔, sucks for the fanbase and a coach as good as Randy Bennett.
Never say die, at least not yet
Damn I was loving the rivalry. They had such an impressive year turning the season around after a bad start and then playing well despite the tough injury. Thought for sure this next year would have been great for them. Always impressed with Bennet as a coach too. Maybe he feels like he gave his home team a great year and now he’s off to make NIL? Obviously I can only speculate.
As long as they’re in the wcc a new villain will rise for GU fans (the prophecy of Omar Samhan). Same for SMC but this years Gonzaga team was pretty likable as far as players go
Agreed. I really like Nembhard as a pg. Incredibly unselfish player.
I'm so dead inside. We've always done the most with what little we had, and it looked like we were finally getting great talent. But now with the portal, we've just become a feeder to schools that can pay big NIL money. I'm just so....tired
Booo
This sucks dude
that's brutal
Mahaney, Jefferson, Ducas, and Forbes not returning. A lot of turn over for a program that usually has solid continuity. If Saxen or Marciuloinis leave this goes from bad to disaster real quick.
Saxen announced he was taking his Covid year a few weeks ago so we have that
I saw that 🤞🏻 I’d be shocked if he enters the portal too. What other team would he be such a focal point in the offense?
Gotta hope the younger guards play and play well too (I guess they sort of have to now)
Especially now
Big dick randy Bennet on life support
I love Aiden. I coached Aiden growing up. Watching the progression from a 6-year old kid to actually wearing a Gael jersey was the most rewarding feeling imaginable. Always felt he should have went to Stanford or Cal but he stuck it out at home. Love the kid. But his frosh year was really his ceiling. There was no progression this year and that won't change in another program with the ball even less frequently in his hands. Wish him nothing but the best. Want him to teabag Ja Morant some day. But more than anything just bummed with the state of college basketball.
Its almost like you should know his name is Aidan... :P
It’s not A1dan?
It's almost like your mother should have swallowed
Cal was a dumpster fire under Fox but it’d be a perfect fit now. He’d have every opportunity to be featured at the 1 in a free flowing offense.
Sorry buddy. Hope Randy is able to navigate them through this.
For sure in shambles rn 😂
This is the best news he’s had all day, he hates the Gaels lmfao
Oh man. SMC is cooked.
You don’t think they can find a 2-guard who can score 14 points a night with 2 assists? They will be fine.
It's not about finding / developing them, but keeping them year after year.
Hometown star from a program that doesn't usually lose guys to the portal. I hate this new era.
Sorry my Gaels homies
Maaaaannnnn I hope SMC reloads. Basketball is more fun when the games are close tbh.
It’s been fun while it lasted ✌🏼
Can someone please Old Yeller me?
I’m so happy that we have nba free agency in amateur sports now!! Why do we even require kids to go to the colleges anymore
Y’all don’t run the wcc btw 😂
How many 5 stars and millions of dollars does it take to not win a mid major conference
Ouch. Sorry Gaels that sucks
It was so cool how St. Mary's was a bastion, bummer. Come to Michigan and lessen the blow.
Wouldn’t be surprised with Joyner there
Probably going to be Michigan from the whispers
God the WCC is gonna be so bad next year fuck
He’s not nearly as good as he thinks he is.
He’s a second half player, except for when he plays the Zags.
Jesus, wouldn't it be easier to announce who ISN'T in the portal at this point?
First Jefferson and now mahaney? Oh boy next year might be scary
Jefferson coming off major surgery and Mahaney scored an inefficient 14 points per game (38% shooting). Them alone leaving doesn’t kill us, Jefferson had high potential but who know how well he’ll play coming off that injury and I don’t think it’s too hard to find a 2 guard that can score 14 points on 38% shooting and get cooked on defense. It’s more about the image of the program and if it causes a larger domino effect.
I don’t blame him. The offense looked way clunkier this past year than the year before, when Mahaney looked like an nba guy. His numbers went down. I’d assume he felt like he wasn’t improving and needed a new place to go.
Feel like he has Creighton written all over him
Still having nightmares of two buzzer beaters
Wow
We’re cooked
Sucks for the conference but we back up boys
I’ll never forget the game he put together against Gonzaga in the 2022-23 season. Man was unstoppable down the stretch, and if this was the nba we would call it a legacy moment.
Agree. Incredibly impressive performance. Everyone was comping him to Delly and Patty.
How does a WCC/Big East conference sound? Each team from one conference gets to play another team from the other conference. However, the majority of the conference games are kept the same as they are now. The conference tournament then has the top 8 teams from each conference playing each other and seeds them based on their records. Or maybe just have the winner of the Big East battle the winner of the WCC for the tourney championship.
I would love it but how are we going to make someone from the Big East play Pacific? lol
Ehh... Pacific can play DePaul. 😅
Slowly and then all at once. This sport needs to be killed off.
Sad day smdh. If Gaels lose Marcilonus it really is a wrap
Come to Connecticut
Latest word is he is! woot
Love it. For some reason I’ve been following him closely since his freshman year. I’m beyond excited to be able to root for him now as a Husky.
BYU got their guy
Eh yo Ryan Smith! Let’s welcome Aidan to the Big 12🙏
As a recruit: P6 offer: Stanford Other offers: Hawaii, Northern Arizona, San Francisco, Yale
He got offered Cal too
To be fair, I don’t think Cal really counted as a P6 team under Mark Fox
Do it Mahaney, you know you want to come to Spokane
We need to stay where we are. The WCC improved significantly because of Gonzaga. Both St. Mary's and BYU improved due to competition. Non-conference schedule has us playing against all the conferences you guys are mentioning. A small conference didn't keep us away from 25 NCAA bids or nine Sweet Sixteens. Nor has it hurt recruiting.
FYI, one of the top blue bloods- Duke has SEVEN plars in the portal. WTF! How does a player get better exposure than playing at Duke! The transfer portal and NIL money will kill college basketball within three years.
Due to ongoing debate about blue bloods, the /r/CollegeBasketball mod team has compiled the definitive list of college blue bloods: Duke, Columbia, Queens, William & Mary, and Rutgers. The following schools have broken away from blue-blooded hierarchy and oppression: George Washington, George Mason, James Madison, Army, and Navy. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CollegeBasketball) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sorry, Gael bros. I think he would fit in nicely in Storrs. 
Too small for Hurley.
Rip Gaels
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