I would not be surprised at all if we make that offer.

As this season for the men starts to wind down, we can look at some of the new players that will be part of the Ags next season.

Click here for an article on Elijah Pepper's last HS game. From everything I've read, he could be a big time player for us, maybe as soon as next year (though with Squire, Mooney, Gonzo and our current red shirts, he may sit out a year).

Also, Aaron Murphy was on the sidelines at the UCR game, chatting it up with the coaches and current players. He's about the same height as Goode, but not quite as filled out. Here is a recent tweet with some video.

Also, I didn't see Squire at the UCR game, either dressed or on the bench. Maybe ill and the coaches didn't want him anywhere near the other players???

I think I saw where the twins are 1-2 in the conference in 3pt percentage. And Bessalo is 4th. Pretty darn amazing

Congrats to both of the Ags. TJ definitely proved that last year was no fluke whatsoever, and Joe has really elevated his game during conference play this year. Go Ags!

Seems like Karly Eaton and Hall could have at least got an HM, but I guess they don't have the stats. When you have the BW player of the year, there's not a whole lot of stats left to go around.

The pressure of being the #1 seed seemed to get to the team the last two years. They will get pushed again this year, whether it's from Faulker at CSUN, or a Hawaii team that at least knows they can beat us, some team will step up. We will need to respond to that pressure together and with confidence. To many times the last two years, when the balls that usually go in rim out and the other team is on fire, we responded by playing tight and desperate.

I've watched very good Aggie teams go down to Anaheim and look like they've never played ball before, so I'm not assuming any outcome in the BWT.

But...if we do play to our capabilities and come out on top, than I think our NCAAT chances largely depend on how the selection committee views us. As Russ just pointed out, the current ESPN bacteriology has us as a 15 seed playing at Iowa. Seems like we'd be more likely to play down in Stanford than all the way out in Iowa. Regardless, if we stay a 15 seed, we'll be hard pressed to make it through the first round. Not only are we likely to play a west coast major power, but we'll probably have to face them in their house (@Stanford, @Oregon, or @Oregon St.) That's a huge mountain for any team. Speaking as a fan, though, it feels like one of these days, we are going to take that next step and beat a high ranked team. Maybe this year???

So the Ags get to rest until Friday when they meet the lowest seed of whoever makes it out of the first two rounds. Game time is noon on espn3.

you’re right there is a large gap between junior college and D1. Hopefully underwood will be a contributor next year

I’m pretty sure you’re right. Top seed plays lowest remaining seed. So if we win we’d get uci Friday assuming they win.

the curse of a guy that hasn’t shown he can play at D1 speed

Ags are cruising. What a great team

me and my boy are heading out to the games right now. Go Ags!

You know, your comment about having the opportunity to watch Morgan develop over 4 years got me thinking. I agree, one thing I do enjoy with the women's team is watching the players realize their potential over their college careers, coming in as players who really didn't understand how to play the game and turning into clutch all-star performers. It used to be that way with the men's team, too. Heck, I'd take my kids and we'd sit along the end line watching their warm ups so often that players (particularly Mark Payne) would come over before games give them high fives. That was a great connection that the players developed over the years with the fans. But now, with the way the men's team is, we have so many transfers that it's harder to build that rooting relationship. As much as I love watching TJ (and Chima before him), I almost feel cheated by not getting to watch him for 4 years.

Yep "Barring any upsets". Honestly, I could see a team like UCSB losing in the first round, or winning the whole thing. Outside of UCI and UCR (polar opposites), there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference. As always, it's going to be the team that can dictate their tempo, deal with the tournament pressure, and shoot in the caverness Honda Center. I've got my hotel lined up for the whole weekend, so I'm banking on at least one of our teams (both???) making it to the championship! If not, have to find something else to do in Anaheim.

Edit: Just read over on the Big West board that we'll finish 6th or 7th, depending on Saturday nights results. That gives us either CSUF or UCSB in the first round. At least we know we can compete with either if we bring our A game.

It is an interesting juxtaposition between coaching styles. I talked with a former player a few years back and he clearly did not enjoy playing basketball under Les (he did not say it that way, but the message was clear). And I doubt he's the only one.

There will definitely be pressure on Coach Gross and the women in Anaheim again this year. They have not dealt with that well the past few years, so it's nice to see the senior leaders recognizing it and figuring out how to deal with it.

Great analysis. Steptoe was very good in the second half. They seemed to figure out that they could get him switched on to Printup on defense, and Rogers just couldn't stick with him. If we happen to face them in the tournament, we'll need to figure out some way to deal with that penetration. I kept expecting us to switch to a zone. Not that we are great at zone defense, but just to change the momentum. Momentum seemed to be a big player last night. It almost felt like if we could get the lead to 20 in the early part of the second half, that might have done it (maybe!). As it was, UH started getting comfortable and we started getting tight.

Pretty bad second half collapse by the Ags. We seemed to lose all focus on defense, letting Hawaii drive by us for easy layups or passing out for open shots. All that was done without Purchase being much of an impact. Not sure what this does for our seeding, but I'd imagine we are looking at 5th at best, and maybe 6th or 7th depending on Saturday's games.

doing what we need to do against the only team not going to the BW tournament

Starting to pull away