Off The Burner 1.4.24

Welcome to Off the Burner – a semi-regular stream of consciousness about college hoops.

Mick Cronin’s act is tired.

Cronin took to the media to bash his team again and while this isn’t anything new for him, it’s starting to get real old, real fast.

Mick, brother, you recruited this team. You weren’t able to secure transfers for one reason or another. You still have to coach them up! Freshmen are capable of getting better if you coach them! Guys turn the ball over sometimes and if they’re afraid of getting pulled every time they do, they’ll probably turn it over even more!

The Bruins are going hard after Sudanese big man Khaman Maluach and while he probably isn’t seeing these tweets, I can guarantee you the people responsible for his recruitment are. And for Mick, pair these quotes with rumors of his interest in Louisville and you’ve got a man who looks like he’s already got a foot out the door. Cronin’s antics will be bulletin board material for coaches recruiting against him wherever he’s coaching next year.

VJ Edgecombe and Derik Queen are nearing decisions.

Two of the highest rated prospects left in the 2024 class are likely to announce their decisions at the upcoming HoopHall Classic, multiple sources say.

VJ Edgecombe is deciding between Baylor, Duke and Kentucky. Queen is deciding between Indiana and Maryland.

As of writing, none of the teams involved in either recruitment have been informed of a decision. In recent days I’ve had sources tell me Duke is the team to beat for Edgecombe and Queen is still undecided.

Keep the notifications on and subscribe to my Patreon because gifs are coming soon.

Nebraska looks like a tournament team.

The Huskers easily dispatched Indiana last night, moving them to 12-2 (2-1) on the year. Keisei Tominaga had a season-high 28 points and Nebraska forced 19 turnovers in their 86-70 win.

It’s all coming together in year five for Fred Hoiberg. The Huskers are four wins away from matching last year’s win total and look poised to finish over .500 for the first time during Hoiberg’s tenure. Once Rienk Mast returns to full strength, this group has the potential to make some noise in the Big Ten.

I think they’ll win enough games to sneak into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. Bold prediction: they’ll win a game too.

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– Dug McDaniel’s academic situation

– Oswin Erhunmwunse’s recruitment

– Coaching carousel and injury news

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