Isiah Mike Story

[shadowman]

Nice article about Isiah Mike and all the parameters involved in making his decision whether or not to come back. Seems like he is still undecided and probably won't make a final decision until August.

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/smu-m ... n-in-mind/

[Terry Webster]

Read on Twitter that he is staying in the draft and not coming back. Best of luck but we are going to miss him.

[ponyboy]

He needs to feed his young family. Enjoyed having him on the team

[CA Mustang]

https://twitter.com/BillyEmbody/status/ ... 9582969864

[mustangxc]

So we now have two open scholarships. It would be nice if we had a sniper in recruiting that could put them to good use.

[Charleston Pony]

He's already been in school for 4 years so if he has a guaranteed deal, can't blame him for jumping on it. Hope Jank and his staff have been preparing and can replace Mike's production...assuming we are even able to have a full season in 2020-2021

[PonyPride]

From Isiaha Mike's Instragram account:

"First and foremost, all glory to God. I have been extremely blessed to be in the position I'm in. I have the opportunity to make my dreams become a reality and I couldn't be more grateful. To my SMU family, thank you for welcoming me with open arms and making my time at SMU the best years of my life. To the squad, you guys know I would have loved to been fighting beside you guys for that chip. Know that I'll be watching and cheering wherever I'll be. To my family, thank you for supporting me every step of the way, love forever and always. After months of deliberating with my family, I have decided to opt out on my final year of eligibility and fully pursue my professional career with representation."

[JasonB]

As I said in an another thread, this is absolutely the right decision. Go make some money in Europe and have a chance to shine in front of NBA scouts rather than risk a cancelled college basketball season and no chance to audition.

[geezerdonk]

Translation: Why in God's name would I waste a year on a dead end team with a lame duck coach in a third rate conference playing before fourth rate fans in an empty venue.

[ponyboy]

Is that you, Zig Ziglar?

[mustangxc]

Translation: Why in God's name would I waste a year on a dead end team with a lame duck coach in a third rate conference playing before fourth rate fans in an empty venue.

Given that you're a fourth rate fan, why should anyone listen to you?

[geezerdonk]

Why indeed. And at this point fourth rate is aspirational.

[ponyboy]

I don't have a comment on whether it's good enough for me personally, but the fact is that the AAC can be fairly described as a second rate conference, slightly behind the PAC-12. I suspect we'll be in the mix for a conference championship this year, even without Mike. And I suspect that going to the Tourney as an at-large team is not a huge reach. So I don't get all this "we suck" noise from one of our own. Are there questions? Sure.

[JasonB]

I don't have a comment on whether it's good enough for me personally, but the fact is that the AAC can be fairly described as a second rate conference, slightly behind the PAC-12. I suspect we'll be in the mix for a conference championship this year, even without Mike. And I suspect that going to the Tourney as an at-large team is not a huge reach. So I don't get all this "we suck" noise from one of our own. Are there questions? Sure.

On the "plus" side, this will allow Hunt to slide into the 4 position, which is a better fit for him.

Guard rotation (1/2/3): Davis, Jolly, McNeil, Band, Smith, Douglas, McBride - this is good enough to compete in the league at the top level. We have 4 players who can make plays on office, Band is a really strong defender, and Smith is a potential 5th player who can add significant value.

"big" rotation (4/5): Hunt, Jasey, Ethan, Ray, Young - this group needs to improve significantly to compete in the league. As expected, with the longer 3 point line, Ethan's productivity dropped dramatically. Hunt needs to add bulk to be a consistent rebound and improve defensively. Jasey is big, but not athletic. Hunt is really the only player in this group who should be starting in the AAC.

Our expectation from a program perspective should be to compete for the conference championship. However, unless someone really steps up, the bigs are going to hold us back from being a strong defensive team against good competition, which is most likely going to prevent us from really challenging for the top. I think our offensive efficiency will be better than last year, but that wasn't really the problem.

[ponyboy]

That's fair, Jason, and seems about right.