Ohmer & Hollingsworth in Costa Rica

In WKU's trip down to Costa Rica this week, Hollingsworth and Ohmer played far beyond what anyone expected. Of course it was only a meaningless summer trip, but these kids can SCORE.

Hollingsworth put up 14 (6-9), 11 (4-7), 25 (8-14).

Ohmer put up 4 (2-4), 12 (4-12), 15 (5-11).

Pretty solid for kids right out of high school.

Then, you have KY native Justin Johnson who ditched football last week to rejoin the basketball program after the departure of Mitchell Robinson. He dropped 27 tonight.

I think even though this is an overseas trip, we played far beyond expectations for an entirely new roster. Hilltopper fans are trying to temper expectations, but it is pretty hard, especially since our best signee 4* Josh Anderson and two transfers couldn't play yet due to summer coursework.

With Stansbury as a Kentucky native, you would have to be crazy to not be following the Tops this year since the roster is STACKED with instate talent.

Johnson just stepped off the football field and is already killing it

I didn't realize he left hoops for football. What happened there?

I didn't realize he left hoops for football. What happened there?

I think he was trying to go the George Fant route. He has zero shot at the NBA, but has the body type that made Fant millions.

For those that don't remember/know, Fant is a BGKY native that was a four year starter at WKU for basketball. His fifth year, he played football for us last year (don't think he ever played). He was picked up in free agency by the Seahawks. He ended up starting as LT halfway through his rookie season, and is going to continue to be the starter this coming year as well.

After seeing that, hard to blame a guy like JJ for testing the waters. Even just making a practice squad = $$

Good trip overall for the Hilltoppers. Glad to see Taveion and Jake getting to play a good amount of minutes and producing!!

WKU was without Josh Anderson, Mostapha Diagne, Robinson Idehlan, and Dwight Coleby for this trip.

Coleby, a graduate transfer from the University of Kansas tweaked his ankle early in the 1st Quarter of the first game and as a precaution they sat him the rest of the trip. He had 7 points and 7 rebounds in 8 minutes of play before the injury. He's a big kid that brings a lot of experience to the team.

Mostapha Diagne is a Juco transfer that sat out last year and was a student only at WKU to retain his eligibility per NCAA rules. Out of high school he originally committed to Syracuse but could not qualify per his test score and went the Juco route. Chose WKU after 1 year of Juco but was required to finish some academic stuff before being ruled eligible. Actually traveled with the team and has practiced this month. Won't be cleared for games by NCAA until the Fall semester officially begins.

Josh Anderson is a 4 star guard out of Louisiana. He was finishing up some core requirements this summer through his high school and is scheduled to arrive on campus when the team returns. WKU was aware of his situation since he signed back and never planned on him attending this trip.

Robinson Idehlan is a big kid from California who will be eligible after Christmas break per NCAA transfer rules.

Mentioning other in state kids on the roster. Jordan Brangers who attended North Hardin and Eastern is also on the roster and started every game for WKU on the trip. Tyler Miller, a walk on from Male, played some solid minutes for the Toppers with the lack of bodies available on the trip, and Jared Savage who attended Warren Central High School and transferred from Austin Peay after last season was cleared to practice, travel, and play on this trip. Obviously he won't be eligible to play until next season. Add in Johnson, Hollingsworth, and Ohmer that's a nice group of local Kentucky kids from all parts of the state.

WKU doesn't get as much attention or pub on this board as most KY schools do, which I understand the population of this board is Northern-Central-Eastern KY, as some of the other schools do. After UK and UofL, WKU easily has the most success historically then any other program in the state. They have a nice team and I dare say facilities that are second to none. Check them out this season if you get a chance. Stansbury is really trying to change the culture and program. Lots of negative attention after the Mitchell Robinson fiasco but if you check out anything going on with that now you can see that was a Mitchell thing and not a WKU or Stansbury thing.

This team was gonna be good with or without Robinson. He is a difference maker don't get me wrong but they have solid pieces in place. I like Mostapha Diagne, he is versatile with length and shoots the ball better than most give him credit. I am really happy for Brangers, and if you know anything about the kid you would cheer for him too. Kid worked his butt off to live his dream. If you get a chance, go check them out, they will be fun to watch. BTW Savage will be special next year as well.

Sounds like Robinson will be the player to be named later in the Coleby trade. You have to watch out for Bill Self. He's slick.

We got JJ back. Not saying MR wouldn't have been huge, but JJ is going to put up better numbers than MR would have. I'm not too upset about the whole MR thing after seeing JJ picking up right where he left off.

I will be upset if he gets a waiver, though. MR has no business playing D1 basketball this year.

The Jake!

Some how I still see Ohmer eventually ending up at NKU , be it if Stansbury moves on or Brannen moves on(or not), roster spots open up,scholarships open up,etc.,etc.

With all that Fire Power... How do you get minutes? Lots of Gamers on that team...

How do you play a top 6-7 kids when you can go 9-10 deep?

Good Problem to have I guess!!

For sure a good problem to have. Our 2nd team is likely more talented than most teams starters we will play this year. Let's see if Stans can coach them up.

How many games should WKU win this season?

How many games will WKU win this season?

How many games should WKU win this season?

 

How many games will WKU win this season?

Final schedule not out yet, but I'd say out of 34 probable games (3 conference tourney games), we will be more talented in 31 of them.

How many will we win? Hard to say this early. The Costa Rica trip was very promising, even without a couple of our best players. I'll wager 22-25 wins? So a record of 22-12 to 25-9? Going to have to win the autobid no doubt. Will be playing best basketball in March. A decent OOC schedule too, with Battle 4 Atlantis opening vs Villanova, @St Mary's, @Minnesota, etc. We only have one returning player from last year.