In Reply to: I'm with you. posted by Cachorro on April 20, 2026 at 12:26:52
There are a handful of programs that can actually afford to spend top dollar for two elite players and pay enough support for a solid team. Seems like we have enough for one elite prospect (Blackwell or Able) and one semi-elite (Perry) and we have to scramble from there.
They seem to have made a conscious decision once they were aware of what costs were to be this cycle - have read an escalation of 67% more than last year - that they could hold onto our returning players and bring in ONE player at one of our three significant positions of need: Guard, Post, Wing.
Blackwell (with Perry) would give us two ball handlers/scorers at a high level at guard. That would mean we would have to do the best we could afford with regards the other two positions. Jovic as part of the two for one deal gave us a pair of PF sized players with some flexibility both of whom fit Cronin's defensive schemes. With Booker and Dailey (and the incoming freshman post) appears that convinced Cronin to focus on Blackwell #1 and they seem to have some chance with Able who would be the elite Wing - most likely if Blackwell winds up going elsewhere (Duke or Louisville are the expectations of where that would be). Unless some whale level donor appears from nowhere and provides an extra $5 million or so we didn't have going in of course.
That puts us above most programs who are already priced completely out of the market for a truly elite prospect but significantly behind the small number - 5? 10? - of programs capable of bringing in two elites and the rest of a team.
If we lose out on either Blackwell or Able (in the order perhaps) we go for the other. If we lose out on both we suddenly have money to go after second level talents at a couple of those positions.
Blackwell is the biggest name we're involved with but I'm wondering if - given our finances and Petty and Robinson already committed along with Perry and Freeny on the perimeter and Jovic and his sidekick plus Booker and Dailey and the incoming freshman post inside and our complete lack of a really high level wing, it might work out best (not best in the absence of filters and considerations but best in terms of what is actually possible) for us to hope to land Able to round out the lineup and use rotations and tactical substitutions to try to cover what we're lacking at guard and center.
But reality will dictate. Louisville is showing a really deep purse and floating huge offers out there and Duke always has super deep pockets. We may well get out bid for both our top targets. Then we'll see how well we can pivot