TW on recent Rebuild/Financial Commitment/Recruiting of TU B Ball

[HHOOTter]

With added Financial Support, Konkol happy with TU’s Basketball Roster Rebuild
TW Michael Peters May 8, 2025

With added financial support, Konkol happy with TU’s basketball roster rebuild

Only three players from the 2024-25 roster remain — AAC all-freshman team selection Ian Smikle (6-8, forward) and little used sophomore forward Tyler Behrend and freshman guard Cal Conroy.

tulsaworld.com

(Edit: article replaced with link...otherwise, TW will get their panties in a wad)

 

[chito_and_leon]

With added Financial Support, Konkol happy with TU’s Basketball Roster Rebuild
TW Michael Peters May 8, 2025

With added financial support, Konkol happy with TU’s basketball roster rebuild

Only three players from the 2024-25 roster remain — AAC all-freshman team selection Ian Smikle (6-8, forward) and little used sophomore forward Tyler Behrend and freshman guard Cal Conroy.

tulsaworld.com

(Edit: article replaced with link...otherwise, TW will get their panties in a wad)

I'm glad we're investing in helping Konkol upskill. If we're going to keep him, we should help him be the best he can be. Maybe it'll get him over the hump, I really hope so. Really like him other than the on court results. That said, giving him an extension was malpractice.

 

[dougheffking]

I'm glad we're investing in helping Konkol upskill. If we're going to keep him, we should help him be the best he can be. Maybe it'll get him over the hump, I really hope so. Really like him other than the on court results. That said, giving him an extension was malpractice.

This will be his last season if he doesn't produce, I have that on facts.

 

[I.I.]

This will be his last season if he doesn't produce, I have that on facts.

We are stuck about 2 important players short. I think the group left in the portal is 80% not good enough to play at our level and 20% wanting too much NIL for their worth but the upper group is shrinking fast. We can always fill those 2 from the bottom but that might get us similar results as last year.

 

[Bill Lowery]

We are stuck about 2 important players short. I think the group left in the portal is 80% not good enough to play at our level and 20% wanting too much NIL for their worth but the upper group is shrinking fast. We can always fill those 2 from the bottom but that might get us similar results as last year.

David Green should be 1 of those 2. Very impressive pickup.

 

[astonmartin708]

David Green should be 1 of those 2. Very impressive pickup.

Will be interesting to see how a good stats - bad team guy will translate for Konkol. He can obviously put the ball in the basket. Now we have to learn if he, as a super senior will buy in and play defense.

Fun fact is that Green has already played for Konkol. He was recruited as a transfer to La Tech in Konkol's final season there. He had some really good shooting percentages next to Lofton, but Konkol had him playing few minutes as a super sub.

He sticks around for a year after Konkol leaves and only plays a couple games for the new guy. Transfers again to Rhode Island where he finally is a starter and posts great stats on a very mediocre squad.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

This will be his last season if he doesn't produce, I have that on facts.

If he can't do something with the team he has recruited, rim protecter or not, then we need to invest our money in a different recruiter and coach. No matter if we have two years or something like that left on his contract. He got his extra year. He did well with it, in recruiting a decent team. Put up or shut up. He needs 19 wins minimum.

 

[I.I.]

The roster is upper half of the AAC capable. Now lets see if they can be coached to achieve that.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Yeah the worst we should do i s be in the middle of Tulane, Florida Atlantic, East Carolina.(4-7) We have the makings of a team that might have competed with UAB & N Texas, and finish 2-4 next year.

 

[Henry Kendall]

The roster is upper half of the AAC capable. Now lets see if they can be coached to achieve that.

I tend to judge the quality of recruits by who else is recruiting them. Based on that, is it really true we have had a talent upgrade? Or is this a talent change?

 

[I.I.]

I tend to judge the quality of recruits by who else is recruiting them. Based on that, is it really true we have had a talent upgrade? Or is this a talent change?

Its an upgrade. But too early to say if the other AAC teams have done as well recruiting.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Will be interesting to see how a good stats - bad team guy will translate for Konkol. He can obviously put the ball in the basket. Now we have to learn if he, as a super senior will buy in and play defense.

Fun fact is that Green has already played for Konkol. He was recruited as a transfer to La Tech in Konkol's final season there. He had some really good shooting percentages next to Lofton, but Konkol had him playing few minutes as a super sub.

He sticks around for a year after Konkol leaves and only plays a couple games for the new guy. Transfers again to Rhode Island where he finally is a starter and posts great stats on a very mediocre squad.

They were better than we were. FWIW, Brandon Betson averaged about the same his pre-Tu year as Green did last year.

 

[dougheffking]

They were better than we were. FWIW, Brandon Betson averaged about the same his pre-Tu year as Green did last year.

Didn't Betson play on the team that is perennially the worst in the country?

 

[astonmartin708]

Didn't Betson play on the team that is perennially the worst in the country?

Rhode Island isn’t exactly a perennial final 4 team either lol…. Probably closer to the Washington generals than the Harlem globetrotters

 

[dougheffking]

Rhode Island isn’t exactly a perennial final 4 team either lol…. Probably closer to the Washington generals than the Harlem globetrotters

18-13 is vastly different from 2-29 as chicago state seems to be.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Rhode Island isn’t exactly a perennial final 4 team either lol…. Probably closer to the Washington generals than the Harlem globetrotters

You'd put a fire out with gasoline. You really are something. Go away you ignorant life of the suicide party. You always find something to have a problem with no matter what the news is. Really annoying. You wouldn't know how to be positive about TU basketball. You pick the negative out of every stop he made. Look at your analysis of his play at La tech. He did pick up minutes behind Jr implying that's all Konkol would give him. That's negative towards him, negative towards Konkol. If you could make it that way, it would be negative towards the season Jr and La tech had before he left for the nba.

Rhode Island's last 20 years is way better than us.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Rhode Island isn’t exactly a perennial final 4 team either lol…. Probably closer to the Washington generals than the Harlem globetrotters

18-13 is vastly different from 2-29 as chicago state seems to be.

Rhode Island since 2003 6 NIT bids and 2 NCAA bids. Go suck on a rat piss popsicle. They have had a very respectable program over the past 20 years. Your made up facts aren't holding water.

 

[I.I.]

Better shooters for next year, but they need plays to get them open. Still missing the big time rebounder/shot blocker/post scorer unless Doryan Onwuchekwa wants to do that. Otherwise It will be by committee. Better talent all around as noted by lack of interest in many of our last year players in the portal.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Will be interesting to see how a good stats - bad team guy will translate for Konkol. He can obviously put the ball in the basket. Now we have to learn if he, as a super senior will buy in and play defense.

It's weird because his stats aren't that good and URI isn't that bad. You ask an interesting hypothetical question but ask it about a guy for whom the question doesn't apply. Green looks like URI's jack of all trades, 2nd in points, 2nd in rebounds, 2nd in blocks. I expect he'll be the same for us, a good 2 - 4 option who gets things done. He also hits more than 40% of his 3s, will be nice to have another credible threat outside.

 

[nevadanatural]

Rhode Island since 2003 6 NIT bids and 2 NCAA bids. Go suck on a rat piss popsicle. They have had a very respectable program over the past 20 years. Your made up facts aren't holding water.

They also had a first round win a few years ago which I think is more than Memphis has done with their talented rosters.

 

[astonmartin708]

You'd put a fire out with gasoline. You really are something. Go away you ignorant life of the suicide party. You always find something to have a problem with no matter what the news is. Really annoying. You wouldn't know how to be positive about TU basketball. You pick the negative out of every stop he made. Look at your analysis of his play at La tech. He did pick up minutes behind Jr implying that's all Konkol would give him. That's negative towards him, negative towards Konkol. If you could make it that way, it would be negative towards the season Jr and La tech had before he left for the nba.

Rhode Island's last 20 years is way better than us.

Rhode Island has made the same number of tourneys in the past 20 years as we have lol. Secondly, I didn’t say they were terrible. Just that they were below average for a team in their conference.

Go look up the last 2 games that RI played, who they were against, and the players stats from those games and tell me if you learn something.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Rhode Island has made the same number of tourneys in the past 20 years as we have lol. Secondly, I didn’t say they were terrible. Just that they were below average for a team in their conference.

Go look up the last games that RI played, who they were against, and the players stats from those games and tell me if you learn something.

They had a Wojick schedule last year. 10-1 against quadrant 4 teams.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

They had a Wojick schedule last year. 10-1 against quadrant 4 teams.

You wanna talk schedule after our last 3 years.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Rhode Island has made the same number of tourneys in the past 20 years as we have lol. Secondly, I didn’t say they were terrible. Just that they were below average for a team in their conference.

Go look up the last 2 games that RI played, who they were against, and the players stats from those games and tell me if you learn something.

Only if you count crap like the cbi and last four in the NCAA. Not anywhere near the same. Keep trying to back out of a horrible argument you made. Your implications were not what you are trying to back out of. I don't learn anything when I get into debates like this with you, except that you never quit making the same mistake over and over again. They have consistently been better than us over the past 20 years.

Rhode Island isn’t exactly a perennial final 4 team either lol…. Probably closer to the Washington generals than the Harlem globetrotters

You did say and or imply they were terrible. Now you are attempting to save face.

 

[astonmartin708]

They had a Wojick schedule last year. 10-1 against quadrant 4 teams.

They lost twice to end the season the the last place team in the A10. Finished 10th in the standings in conference (with a losing record) and didn’t show any fight at all during late conference play.

I haven’t delved deep enough to see if it was related to some outside causal factors like injuries…. But that’s a possibility

Good news is someone coming from that program will feel right at home with Konkol.

 

[chito_and_leon]

You wanna talk schedule after our last 3 years.

Well, Aston and I were discussing how good URI was this year so our schedule isn't relevant for our conversation. You're welcome to start a different convo on that if it interests you.

 

[chito_and_leon]

They lost twice to end the season the the last place team in the A10. Finished 10th in the standings in conference (with a losing record) and didn’t show any fight at all during late conference play.

I haven’t delved deep enough to see if it was related to some outside causal factors like injuries…. But that’s a possibility

Good news is someone coming from that program will feel right at home with Konkol.

I think they were somewhere north of us and south of "good". I suspect if Green is our 2nd or 3rd best player, Konkol will be looking for a job. If he's our 4th or 5th best player, then we're ok.

 

[chito_and_leon]

They lost twice to end the season the the last place team in the A10. Finished 10th in the standings in conference (with a losing record) and didn’t show any fight at all during late conference play.

I haven’t delved deep enough to see if it was related to some outside causal factors like injuries…. But that’s a possibility

Good news is someone coming from that program will feel right at home with Konkol.

The interesting question is, how good of a team can you have with a bunch of "good at a lot, great at nothing" type players? Can 5 or 6 guys who would be the 3rd best player on a good team come together to overcome not having a true #1 or #2 guy? I don't know if it's philosophy or necessity but that's the test Konkol is running. 5 or 6 #3 guys probably costs less than a single #1 guy so if it works, it's a roadmap for teams with less $$ to succeed. Konkol studied roster building so I bet this is not accidental.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Well, Aston and I were discussing how good URI was this year so our schedule isn't relevant for our conversation. You're welcome to start a different convo on that if it interests you.

Being totally honest about the conversation... The conversation started out as a way to dis Mr Green, and you joined in, regardless of how disingenuous you want to be about it. Just about all Aston's observations about TU basketball are looking for some way to dis it. He always finds a way. I don't find this conversation very relevant to Green's talent level.

 

[I.I.]

Better talent than last year......Leave it at that for now.

 

[astonmartin708]

Only if you count crap like the cbi and last four in the NCAA. Not anywhere near the same. Keep trying to back out of a horrible argument you made. Your implications were not what you are trying to back out of. I don't learn anything when I get into debates like this with you, except that you never quit making the same mistake over and over again. They have consistently been better than us over the past 20 years.


You did say and or imply they were terrible. Now you are attempting to save face.

I think you misinterpreted the intent of my post. It wasn't to say that RI is the worst team in basketball. Just that they're not very good. I promise you... that was what I meant.

If you want to take that as a commentary on the state of the Tulsa program over the past 20 years...

 

[Gmoney4WW]

They are a decent program, especially compared to us over the last 20 years. The point I was more concerned with was you were trying to say their program was worse than they were to cop on Green's performance as inferior.

 

[astonmartin708]

Being totally honest about the conversation... The conversation started out as a way to dis Mr Green, and you joined in, regardless of how disingenuous you want to be about it. Just about all Aston's observations about TU basketball are looking for some way to dis it. He always finds a way. I don't find this conversation very relevant to Green's talent level.

I don't mean to 'dis' Green per se. As I said.... he has really good stats. He has a history with Konkol. I love that he's a lefty (usually good for a couple points a game by itself). Those are all on the plus side.

Just hope that he can use his last year to be transcendent rather than a footnote.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

He sticks around for a year after Konkol leaves and only plays a couple games for the new guy. Transfers again to Rhode Island where he finally is a starter and posts great stats on a very mediocre squad.

Not the way it came across. It's a matter of if you see the glass half full or half empty.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

In all reality, I'm just ready to start basketball season, so we can stop all this analysis, and go off of what is actually happening. I am looking forward to the season occurring no matter how good it is or isn't.

 

[chito_and_leon]

I think you misinterpreted the intent of my post. It wasn't to say that RI is the worst team in basketball. Just that they're not very good. I promise you... that was what I meant.

If you want to take that as a commentary on the state of the Tulsa program over the past 20 years...

FWIW, Cobe Williams had quite a bit better stats on a LaTech team that was pretty close to last year's URI team. Green is a solid recruit and can be an important jack of all trades player on a good team but if he's one of our top 2 or 3 guys, it's probably not going well. Unless Konkol can figure out the "team of equals" magic.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Better talent than last year......Leave it at that for now.

That doesn't make for a very interesting message board. And is kind of damning them with faint praise.

 

[chito_and_leon]

I don't find this conversation very relevant to Green's talent level.

Well, you're certainly welcome not to participate. I was having a pleasant and cordial disagreement with Aston, we didn't ask you to start throwing %hit.