Trey Thompson

Hawkfnntn said:
One angle to this I hadn't really thought of with landing him was that the odds are pretty high that he'll be a one and done player for us for a couple reasons.

1. If he's an absolute stud he'll go pro. No shocker there that's just how it goes.

But the other reason is the NIL transfer portal just being what it is. If he doesn't start right away/play a ton or whatever or even if he kinda does but just isn't looked at as an NBA ready guy yet it could be likely he hops in portal and shops himself around to the highest bidder. The odds the kid plays 3 plus yrs for us seems extremely slim. I'd say the over under is 1.5. If we get a 2nd season from him I think I'll be pleasantly surprised.
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The kid is good, but I did not see any ink suggesting he is a 1 and done NBA type player. Those guys are like the Top 5 players in all of college basketball. So, I don't think that is it.

As for the portal, of course someone could lay out a trail of cash for him to leave Iowa. But, this whole House settlement and direct payment to players and scrutinization of NIL contracts is a variable I can't quite get my hands around. I mean, this kid was highly sought after by schools who put more resources into their MBB program than Iowa does. Why didn't someone outbid for him right out of high school? The reality MIGHT be, that the direct benefits aspect of this all is evening out the playing field such that everyone can offer a kid about the same money and the decision on where to go to school is much more about fit and comfort again.

If the line was 1.5 I would take the over. If it was 2.5 I would take the under. Time will tell.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
The kid is good, but I did not see any ink suggesting he is a 1 and done NBA type player. Those guys are like the Top 5 players in all of college basketball. So, I don't think that is it.

As for the portal, of course someone could lay out a trail of cash for him to leave Iowa. But, this whole House settlement and direct payment to players and scrutinization of NIL contracts is a variable I can't quite get my hands around. I mean, this kid was highly sought after by schools who put more resources into their MBB program than Iowa does. Why didn't someone outbid for him right out of high school? The reality MIGHT be, that the direct benefits aspect of this all is evening out the playing field such that everyone can offer a kid about the same money and the decision on where to go to school is much more about fit and comfort again.

If the line was 1.5 I would take the over. If it was 2.5 I would take the under. Time will tell.
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The Purdue folks who'd been after him harder for longer seemed to think he was a 1 and done potential kid. I'd seen a podcast where it'd been brought up. However that was under the thought of him being a 2026 kid not 2025. So obviously that's a pretty big difference. Now that they've been spurned by the kid they've predictably now softened on him acting like he's not all that blah blah blah.

I don't think anyone has fully wrapped their heads around the new NIL stuff and how that's supposed to work yet either don't feel bad about that. It seems pretty messy. I just know that yeah schools can pay kids now and supposedly NIL deals are to be approved by whomever it is that's supposed to be doing that. And what their criteria for it is who knows what. My bottom line to all that is still kids are gonna get above and beyond NIL. When it comes to bidding wars on kids it won't all be above board.

I hope we're both wrong and he graduates from Iowa. We all just know that's probably a pipe dream. But he's a smart kid. Ya can't be an idiot to be able to reclassify. Especially last minute. This wasn't his plan at any point till the week he did it. So maybe academics does mean something to him too. We'll see
 


NorthKCHawk said:
The kid is good, but I did not see any ink suggesting he is a 1 and done NBA type player. Those guys are like the Top 5 players in all of college basketball. So, I don't think that is it.

As for the portal, of course someone could lay out a trail of cash for him to leave Iowa. But, this whole House settlement and direct payment to players and scrutinization of NIL contracts is a variable I can't quite get my hands around. I mean, this kid was highly sought after by schools who put more resources into their MBB program than Iowa does. Why didn't someone outbid for him right out of high school? The reality MIGHT be, that the direct benefits aspect of this all is evening out the playing field such that everyone can offer a kid about the same money and the decision on where to go to school is much more about fit and comfort again.

If the line was 1.5 I would take the over. If it was 2.5 I would take the under. Time will tell.
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I think a lot of what helped Iowa get him was that he reclassified for 2025 and Iowa had an open spot for him, where the other teams were full. Not saying they couldn't have pulled an offer or scholly to open a space for him, but that definitely helped Iowa. Good thing Ben didn't completely fill up his roster with just anyone available and had some open spots.
 


There is a lot to unpack. One thing I find super interesting is that Iowa approached him about reclassifying. While I am not sure how I feel about this, you have to hand it to Ben. He is a creative guy and yet again is taking advantage of market inefficiencies.

I don't know the details, but maybe Iowa offered Thompson $500k to join in 2025. And when Thompson then floated the idea to reclassifying to the blue bloods (after Iowa offered that), they were caught flat-footed and balked at the notion. Maybe they said the money will be there for you in 2026 and we see you playing, too, but don't really anticipate much playing time in 2025. (And didn't really want to cough up $500k for a 17 year old to sit deep on the bench).

The cynical side of me can see this being a pretty good play for guys like Thompson moving forward.

Unless you are really elite, the blue bloods don't want you after your junior year. But instead of playing another year of high school for free, why not find a next tier program like Iowa and make several hundred thousand? Then in another year, make the jump to a blue blood for an even bigger payday than they would have given you after your senior year of high school...

Unless there is some attempt to regulate this, I think we'll see it more and more. These kids start playing super competitive basketball at 7 and 8 years old....many will start jumping to college to make money as 16 year olds rather than "wasting their time" playing for free in high school.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
The kid is good, but I did not see any ink suggesting he is a 1 and done NBA type player. Those guys are like the Top 5 players in all of college basketball. So, I don't think that is it.

As for the portal, of course someone could lay out a trail of cash for him to leave Iowa. But, this whole House settlement and direct payment to players and scrutinization of NIL contracts is a variable I can't quite get my hands around. I mean, this kid was highly sought after by schools who put more resources into their MBB program than Iowa does. Why didn't someone outbid for him right out of high school? The reality MIGHT be, that the direct benefits aspect of this all is evening out the playing field such that everyone can offer a kid about the same money and the decision on where to go to school is much more about fit and comfort again.

If the line was 1.5 I would take the over. If it was 2.5 I would take the under. Time will tell.
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The prospect of him going pro after his first season are perhaps astronomical

He ain't no Cooper Flagg

Perhaps he likes Ben and his coaching style and really enjoyed his visit

Really looking forward to Men's and Women's basketball this season

Changing of the guard and all that

GO HAWKS
 


thedukeofearl said:
The prospect of him going pro after his first season are perhaps astronomical

He ain't no Cooper Flagg

Perhaps he likes Ben and his coaching style and really enjoyed his visit

Really looking forward to Men's and Women's basketball this season

Changing of the guard and all that

GO HAWKS
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From what I've read it was this. He really liked the entire coaching staff.
 


thedukeofearl said:
The prospect of him going pro after his first season are perhaps astronomical

He ain't no Cooper Flagg

Perhaps he likes Ben and his coaching style and really enjoyed his visit

Really looking forward to Men's and Women's basketball this season

Changing of the guard and all that

GO HAWKS
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This is where I land. It almost sounds like he did not want to reclassify, it was presented to him by Iowa, and he did so because he really wanted to be at Iowa. As someone else mentioned, Ben maybe just outrecruited his piers by suggesting this as an opportunity. I am guessing the money was similar in all these spots and he picked a place where he liked the style and coaches, AND where he knew he would be on the court right away. Seems like a smart kid
 


RyDogg said:
I think a lot of what helped Iowa get him was that he reclassified for 2025 and Iowa had an open spot for him, where the other teams were full. Not saying they couldn't have pulled an offer or scholly to open a space for him, but that definitely helped Iowa. Good thing Ben didn't completely fill up his roster with just anyone available and had some open spots.
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SPOT ON!!!!! Ben M is no dummy. From here on out the other programs will be aware of Ben's tactics. Brilliant move actually.
 


I am a little skeptical of just how much Thompson will play this year. Of course this is based on never even watching a highlight of him, so take it with a grain of salt.

But I think Folgueiras has one front court position locked down and don't imagine he'll come out a whole lot. Manyawu started 35 games for Drake and gives McCollum exactly what he wants in terms of defense and rebounding. Koch maybe has a somewhat similar skill set to Thompson but two extra years of maturity and experience on him.

And Banks is right there as another guy who knows how to bring the defensive intensity and rebounding the second he is in the game. He played two years of junior college and one year at Drake. He is a man who has been around and seen some things - he's got 4 years of extra playing experience over Thompson.

That's a pretty solid four front court players. Given McCollum's preference for a tight rotation and emphasis on defense and rebounding, it feels like a steep climb for a kid who should be in high school still.

Hope he does awesome and cracks the line-up early, but I don't know that it's a given.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
I am a little skeptical of just how much Thompson will play this year. Of course this is based on never even watching a highlight of him, so take it with a grain of salt.

But I think Folgueiras has one front court position locked down and don't imagine he'll come out a whole lot. Manyawu started 35 games for Drake and gives McCollum exactly what he wants in terms of defense and rebounding. Koch maybe has a somewhat similar skill set to Thompson but two extra years of maturity and experience on him.

And Banks is right there as another guy who knows how to bring the defensive intensity and rebounding the second he is in the game. He played two years of junior college and one year at Drake. He is a man who has been around and seen some things - he's got 4 years of extra playing experience over Thompson.

That's a pretty solid four front court players. Given McCollum's preference for a tight rotation and emphasis on defense and rebounding, it feels like a steep climb for a kid who should be in high school still.

Hope he does awesome and cracks the line-up early, but I don't know that it's a given.
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Which is exactly what a coach wants. 4 great options fighting over 2 spots. Or 3 spots if they want to play small ball which I think they will some. To me it's great that if Thompson is playing or starting early on that means he's really legit. He didn't commit to Iowa with any promise of a starting spot. Ben isn't that kind of coach and the depth chart just can't justify him doing so. If he's gonna play early he's just going to have to earn it.
 


Tyler Tachman got to interview Thompson recently. He wrote an interesting article on it. How the reclassifying topic came up was from his mother apparently as an afterthought kinda. I'm not sure if it was during his visit or on the phone though I don't think Tachman said. But she'd brought up that she wished it was possible for him to graduate early or something to that affect like football players can and Ben was like well here's another option and it actually is and the rest is history kinda thing..

I find that fascinating to know cause the other schools all involved fans all thought Ben went after him with that sort of offer to try and 'steal' him. Like it was some arm twisting underhanded kinda thing. Which obviously it wasn't. Ben had been recruiting him for a couple months or so prior to that coming up too. It sounds to me like the kid just really jived with Ben and all the coaches and enjoyed the players as well and how they practiced.
 


Hawkfnntn said:
Tyler Tachman got to interview Thompson recently. He wrote an interesting article on it. How the reclassifying topic came up was from his mother apparently as an afterthought kinda. I'm not sure if it was during his visit or on the phone though I don't think Tachman said. But she'd brought up that she wished it was possible for him to graduate early or something to that affect like football players can and Ben was like well here's another option and it actually is and the rest is history kinda thing..

I find that fascinating to know cause the other schools all involved fans all thought Ben went after him with that sort of offer to try and 'steal' him. Like it was some arm twisting underhanded kinda thing. Which obviously it wasn't. Ben had been recruiting him for a couple months or so prior to that coming up too. It sounds to me like the kid just really jived with Ben and all the coaches and enjoyed the players as well and how they practiced.
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That is a good article but it is subscription only I believe. Otherwise I'd link it.

Also found it interesting that his Mom brought up the reclassifying thing. I believe it was while watching a practice but I could be wrong.
 


haydensly said:
That is a good article but it is subscription only I believe. Otherwise I'd link it.

Also found it interesting that his Mom brought up the reclassifying thing. I believe it was while watching a practice but I could be wrong.
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So yeah if that's the case it woulda been during his official visit that he took just a few weeks ago. He didn't wait long to commit after that at all. Which makes sense it's when they woulda all been together in person.
 




BigD said:
The development of Jirak is gonna be huge. That guy has the build to be dominant underneath the boards.

Growth spurts could likely happen with some of the younger guys.

No one questions Ben’s ability to coach the X’s and O’s of college basketball. Even though he coached at a lower division his consistency and continued success shows he knows his shit.

Interesting that Ben picked up an assistant who has a reputation for recruiting. He was the one who just got Trey to come on board. Let’s hope this snowballs moving forward.

Like most I can’t wait to see how Ben’s basketball orchestra blends together.

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