2019 G Francisco Farabello (Transfer Commit)

[Chicagojayfan]

The computers love his efficiency even if he was under used at TCU. Should be a great 6/7th man especially if the Freshman don't take a step forward from beyond the arc.

Agree. I think he looks like a really nice fit - we weren't looking for a guy who wanted to be a guaranteed starter. His usage should go up with us (we share the ball really well) and we can definitely use a solid 3 PT shooter, but to me he looks like he brings more than that as well.

I don't think this is true. If they can get a guy who's good enough to slot into the starting lineup and replace what AO gave the team, they'd absolutely take him. I think that was priority 1A to back-up center's 1B. Right now they have four guys who seem like locks to start with a hole on the wing. They have guys who could fill that spot, but you'd probably be starting either smaller or bigger than would be ideal. I think they definitely have something to sell a sharp-shooting wing with versatility.

I don't have any insight here specifically, but it seems like this could foreshadow other moves. Not sure with the current roster construction that it makes all that much sense to add another smaller combo-guard with one of your two open scholarships while saving the other for a big. Adding shooting? Sure, makes sense. Adding shooting from a 6'3" guard who has been a low-volume guy throughout his career when you already have R2 (6'), Trey (6'4"), Reef (6'), Rati (6'4"), Christofilis (6'3") and Shtolzberg (6'5")? Not as much to me.

That's going to be a tough sell for a guy who wants to start given that O'Connell typically played the 2 for us last year, and there's pretty much little to no question in my mind that Alexander's going to grab that spot and run with it. I also think we want a guy there who is more like Alexander who's, IMO, a more sure-handed distributor than AOC was last year.

We also aren't looking for Shtolzberg to redshirt either. We could be looking for a starting SF with the idea that Kaluma plays more of a stretch 4, but then we're in competition for minutes by Miller, and we can theoretically slide Alexander down and let Farabello or Shtolzberg play the 2 at that time. And Kaluma's the guy who had the best 3 PT shooting that they tracked in practice and I suspect his shooting will look much better this year... so we're running into problems for guys who want to start and to be the guy in an offense.

PG - Nembhard, Mitchell, maybe some Alexander and Rati here if needed
SG - Alexander, Farabello, Rati, Shtolzberg, JC
SF - Kaluma, (Alexander), Green, (Shtolzberg)
PF - Miller, (Kaluma), Green
C - Kalkbrenner (TBD)

To me I can see wanting another wing who's a bit more of a forward than a 2 guard, but are we going to add a guy who's a guaranteed starter there? Kaluma's not going anywhere, and theoretically someone could beat out Miller, but I see Miller getting close to the minutes that Alexander and Kaluma got last year (for reference Patton got 25 minutes a game after his RS year as well).

And we have Green who should get some minutes, and Farabello, Rati, Shtolzberg, and maybe JC who will take time at the SG/SF when we go smaller).

People may disagree on Miller's minutes, but we'll see. We played Kaluma as one of 2 bigger forwards last year, and I think we'll do the same this year for a lot of minutes.

[Jet915]

I disagree. We have 4 starters on this team and we have an open slot at wing. Miller/Shtolzberg "might" be able to fill that role but they are both freshmen. We are losing alot of scoring and 3% shooting in AO and Hawkins. We don't have a go to scorer on this team. We hope Art/Ryan/Trey grow into that role next year but it's not guaranteed. I definitely think we can attract a wing who can score/shoot and play 20-30 mpg. We are that one big time transfer away from being a legit Final 4 contender. I would be disappointed if it's just Farabello and a center (King).

[Jaysker12]

Agreed, Jet. Kaluma is a 4 because of his rebounding IMO. This teams wants more scoring.

[SeattleJay]

I am worried that Shareef’s injury might be recurring or might require surgery even though very little has been publicly stated about his injury. I believe it’s a groin injury and those can be tricky.

If staff is concerned about Shareef staying healthy, this move makes a lot of sense to me.

Does anyone know more about Shareef’s recovery?

[Syajeulb]

Personally, I'm going to just trust that Mac and his staff know what we really need and what we will get out of Miller next year (having seen/worked with him his entire redshirt year). Also going to trust that they know how the pieces all fit together.

Way less stressful to take this approach. I highly recommend it.

[Jet915]

Personally, I'm going to just trust that Mac and his staff know what we really need and what we will get out of Miller next year (having seen/worked with him his entire redshirt year). Also going to trust that they know how the pieces all fit together.

Way less stressful to take this approach. I highly recommend it.

That's no fun lol...

[Trifecta]

I think Jacob is spot on here in his take. You absolutely look to bring in a starter-level wing with the versatility to replace AOC, if you could get one. I don't buy the argument that you just automatically pencil in Trey to replace AO. You could have a starting lineup that looks like this:

R2
Trey
(new wing)
Kaluma
Kalkbrenner

Absent that player being out there or obtainable for us, you are now either starting Reef and sliding Trey to the 3 (thus being not only smaller but lacking in shooting) or you are playing Mason at the 3 and likely giving up some foot speed and lateral quickness (though I've heard the staff really like Mason and thinks he's capable of playing there if needed).

Staff is high on Ben S. and he's not going anywhere. A wing with a good outside shot and similar size/athleticism to AO would absolutely start. As much as I love Reef, and I think he can get better, he sort of is what he is at this point. A defense-first ball-handler with limited size and shooting. He and Rati are sort of redundant -- the differences being that Rati is bigger but Reef has the advantage with court IQ and knowing our system. I don't think I'd want to see Reef start if R2 is fully recovered.

By bringing in Farabello, I do agree that it foreshadows another player leaving the Reef/Rati/JC grouping. I have no insight here, but my money would be on Reef staying and one of the other two departing. We have players on the roster that fill their roles and likely do it better.

[gtmoBlue]

Wow...what a discussion.

I'm not in favor of losing another player to transfer.
Just start either Miller or Green at the 3. Both give us the size and
potential scoring we need. With the expected bump up by our starters,
we don't necessarily need a 12-15 ppg guy at the 3.

[Syajeulb]

Wow...what a discussion.

I'm not in favor of losing another player to transfer.
Just start either Miller or Green at the 3. Both give us the size and
potential scoring we need. With the expected bump up by our starters,
we don't necessarily need a 12-15 ppg guy at the 3.

I'm w/ Gtmo here. (How often do we see THAT written on this board )

[NateFunkyTown]

Like Chicagojay said, this all makes a lot more sense if the staff has complete confidence in Mason’s ability to be a high minutes starter next year. That may be the case, and I do think he has a chance to be a special player, it just makes me nervous since we haven’t actually seen him in game action yet.

Also, I know all of you expect Scholtzberg to make an instant impact but with Ryan/Shareef/Trey/Cristofilis/Francisco/Rati all firmly ahead of him I’m not really sure how that happens unless one of those guys transfers or he plays a lot of SF as a freshman. I’m starting to lean toward him being a redshirt now. If the staff is telling guys they can’t promise a transfer a starting job because they have that much confidence in Miller than I trust them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with any of Reef/Francisco/Rati/John filling that role. Maybe in other years, but not this one. We’ve got more potential with this group than maybe any in program history we have to maximize it.