2023-2024 Hoops Lineup Projections

[CyPunch]

I derailed the 2023 recruiting thread a bit so will take the discussion here. The below outlook certainly comes with some assumptions about recruiting commitments, guys not transferring out, use of covid years, etc. This is a thread laced with speculation, I am aware.

2023-2024 Scholarship Chart

Freshmen:
Jelani Hamilton (6'6" G - Austell, GA) - COMMITED
Milan Momcilovic (6'8" F - Pewaukee, WI) - Iowa State lean, commitment announcement coming 7/15 or 7/16
Omaha Biliew (6'8" PF - Waukee, IA) - Iowa State lean, commitment expected around September

Sophmore:
Tamin Lipsey
Eli King
Demarion Watson

Juniors:

Seniors:
Jeremiah Williams (Eligible for an additional year beyond 2023-2024)
Caleb Grill*
Robert Jones*
Hason Ward*
Tre King*

* - Super seniors who would be using their Covid year in 2023-2024

At minimum that puts us at 2 scholarships available. Seems more likely we'll have more like 3-5 scholarships available though. Jeremiah Williams and Tamin are the primary ball handlers of the future and Watson/Momcilovic/Biliew/King?/Ward? project us to be pretty loaded in the front court. With that said, it would seem that the main focus in the portal would be on scoring guard(s).. perhaps similar to the IZB or Jaren Holmes pickups the last two springs. Eli King could fill that role but it's hard to say right now. Caleb Grill is a guy who TJ would certainly welcome back as a veteran who strongly embraces our culture principles but he would need to take another jump to become a starting level Big 12 player.

A hypothetical starting lineup might look like:
Williams
_______ or Eli King
_______
Milan
Omaha

Bench:
Eli King
Tamin
Grill
Ward
Hamilton

 

[Jkclone15]

I derailed the 2023 recruiting thread a bit so will take the discussion here. The below outlook certainly comes with some assumptions about recruiting commitments, guys not transferring out, use of covid years, etc. This is a thread laced with speculation, I am aware.

2023-2024 Scholarship Chart

Freshmen:
Jelani Hamilton (6'6" G - Austell, GA) - COMMITED
Milan Momcilovic (6'8" F - Pewaukee, WI) - Iowa State lean, commitment announcement coming 7/15 or 7/16
Omaha Biliew (6'8" PF - Waukee, IA) - Iowa State lean, commitment expected around September

Sophmore:
Tamin Lipsey
Eli King
Demarion Watson

Juniors:

Seniors:
Jeremiah Williams (Eligible for an additional year beyond 2023-2024)
Caleb Grill*
Robert Jones*
Hason Ward*
Tre King*

* - Super seniors who would be using their Covid year in 2023-2024

At minimum that puts us at 2 scholarships available. Seems more likely we'll have more like 3-5 scholarships available though. Jeremiah Williams and Tamin are the primary ball handlers of the future and Watson/Momcilovic/Biliew/King?/Ward? project us to be pretty loaded in the front court. With that said, it would seem that the main focus in the portal would be on scoring guard(s).. perhaps similar to the IZB or Jaren Holmes pickups the last two springs. Eli King could fill that role but it's hard to say right now. Caleb Grill is a guy who TJ would certainly welcome back as a veteran who strongly embraces our culture principles but he would need to take another jump to become a starting level Big 12 player.

A hypothetical starting lineup might look like:
Williams
_______ or Eli King
_______
Milan
Omaha

Bench:
Eli King
Tamin
Grill
Ward
Hamilton

IMO Ward will either be the starter or not on the team. Don't think a super senior who has already transferred once to improve his stock would settle for a backup role. Guessing this year he will be Osun's backup with an eye on taking over 23-24.

 

[Jkclone15]

I could see Billiew starting at 4 and Milan being first off the bench to start the year. A big question is whether T. King or Billiew could play the 3, that would open up more possibilities.

 

[CyPunch]

IMO Ward will either be the starter or not on the team. Don't think a super senior who has already transferred once to improve his stock would settle for a backup role. Guessing this year he will be Osun's backup with an eye on taking over 23-24.

I agree. It would be tricky with Milan/Omaha/Ward all in the mix. You probably want Ward starting as an anchor down low who provides elite rim protection. You probably want Milan starting because he's one of the top offensive players in the entire 2023 class. But you can't really have a top 10 freshmen in the country and highest recruit in Iowa State history come off the bench can you? It's highly doubtful you're going to play all 3 at once though Milan and Omaha do have some versatility.

Would be interesting to see how things unfold if we do indeed land both.

 

[Kaner04]

I could see Billiew starting at 4 and Milan being first off the bench to start the year. A big question is whether T. King or Billiew could play the 3, that would open up more possibilities.

I think Milan could play the 3 the way he can shoot it

 

[TomTreebow]

I could see Billiew starting at 4 and Milan being first off the bench to start the year. A big question is whether T. King or Billiew could play the 3, that would open up more possibilities.

This will be one of the items of interest for me. Is Tre King's offensive game good enough for him to shoot some 3's? If so, you could start him with Biliew and Ward, if not, then spacing could become an issue. Even if we don't make the tournament this upcoming year, there can be a lot of exciting items to figure out if we bring in a class of Hamilton, Momcilovic, Biliew.

• Can Williams be a lead PG on a Big 12 team
• What can Tre King provide offensively
• Which of the 3 freshmen (or how many) have potential to make sophomore leap

Getting to learn that will then drive the remaining 2+ scholarships in the transfer portal. If guys play to their potential and TJ lands the class noted, there may not be a ton of pressure on him in the portal which would be great.

 

[heitclone]

I think Milan could play the 3 the way he can shoot it

Offense is irrelevant when it comes to positions, the question will be, can either he, Tre or Omaha guard Big 12 wings? If I'm rating these 3 in that ability, Milan is probably 3rd. I'd have him least likely to play the 3.

 

[tomar1]

I could see Billiew starting at 4 and Milan being first off the bench to start the year. A big question is whether T. King or Billiew could play the 3, that would open up more possibilities.

I don’t think we get Milan to come here to ride the bench! He’ll start from the get go with being 6’8” and shoot like he does!

 

[RustShack]

Omaha and Milan would both start. Even if it’s at the 4/5. One of them being athletic enough to play the 3 would be a nice bonus though. Add versatility

 

[singsing]

Listened to an interview of his and coming in as a tall wing seems to be his plan.

I don’t think we get Milan to come here to ride the bench! He’ll start from the get go with being 6’8” and shoot like he does!