Levi Stockard to Transfer

[pulitzerdave]

Levi was wise to leave. What was he going to give us in the post? He wasn't a shot blocker, he wasn't a consistent scorer, he wasn't a high energy guy, and he wasn't a great defender (and at 6'7", he would have been a huge defensively liability). He may have started the season as our 5 guy, but he wasn't going to finish there.

Levi saw the handwriting on the wall, and I hope the coaching staff was honest with him about his role next season. It would have been basically what it has been. Levi was trying to survive one tier above his ability. He had a few good moments for KSU, but not enough. I wish him well at a mid-major, where he may be able to contribute more and get ample playing time.

[KsJoey]

You guys thought our inside game was bad last year? Just wait until this next season when Makol and Levi are gone and we are relying on guys will little or no, college experience. Bigmen, more than anybody, need experience before they become solid contributors. I think Bruce did a great job recruiting this class, but likewise, he still deserves a lot of criticism for 3 recruiting classes completely falling apart. 1 person(McGuil) left to graduate as a senior, out of how many?

[wild@nite]

I don't understand why anyone thinks this is a "hit" to next year's team. "He was going to start at the 5", "provides depth", etc.... Yes, but he is not a good player. He couldn't start on last year's team, over an awful Makol. He played 16 minutes and averaged 3.6 pts/2.7reb and 1.2 turnovers. Sheesh, missing that isn't that big of a deal. What game are we going to lose that we would have won with Levi Stockard. Seriously.
I fully believe, with the roster we have coming in, we would be better off playing without a true 5 as opposed to Stockard playing more than 10-15 minutes and I bet you that has been communicated to him and he thought like many of you that he was the "starter". Sorry, I didn't see that happening. He is no better than a 15 minute guy on any P5 team, imo. If he's playing more than that, you're probably not very good.

I have nothing against Levi and I hope like heck he finds a great situation for himself, but honestly, I'm glad to see him transfer. In order to get better, we need better players on the floor.

[JOKKO]

I don't understand why anyone thinks this is a "hit" to next year's team. "He was going to start at the 5", "provides depth", etc.... Yes, but he is not a good player. He couldn't start on last year's team, over an awful Makol. He played 16 minutes and averaged 3.6 pts/2.7reb and 1.2 turnovers. Sheesh, missing that isn't that big of a deal. What game are we going to lose that we would have won with Levi Stockard. Seriously.
I fully believe, with the roster we have coming in, we would be better off playing without a true 5 as opposed to Stockard playing more than 10-15 minutes and I bet you that has been communicated to him and he thought like many of you that he was the "starter". Sorry, I didn't see that happening. He is no better than a 15 minute guy on any P5 team, imo. If he's playing more than that, you're probably not very good.

I have nothing against Levi and I hope like heck he finds a great situation for himself, but honestly, I'm glad to see him transfer. In order to get better, we need better players on the floor.

Agree with almost everything...not sure if you are saying he was a "true 5" though.

Levi's role next year likely would have been the exact same as this year providing depth. I really do think this will put more on McGuirls shoulders even though he plays a completely different position. One returning senior and 3 returning sophomores is all that is back.

I hope they find a grad transfer for the final spot...only fills it for one year and there really probably isn't anything else that will help on otherwise on the market. Any new signee will likely just be holding a spot and helping at practice. Let's find a guy that can do it for one year and get a quality recruit next year when the spot opens back up.

[Sir Ocelot]

Surprising.

I wish him the best. He stayed out of trouble and did his classwork, as far as we know. He had some decent games but unfortunately he was not big enough to consistently do well at this level.

Next man up.

[AJcat7755]

I don't understand why anyone thinks this is a "hit" to next year's team. "He was going to start at the 5", "provides depth", etc.... Yes, but he is not a good player. He couldn't start on last year's team, over an awful Makol. He played 16 minutes and averaged 3.6 pts/2.7reb and 1.2 turnovers. Sheesh, missing that isn't that big of a deal. What game are we going to lose that we would have won with Levi Stockard. Seriously.
I fully believe, with the roster we have coming in, we would be better off playing without a true 5 as opposed to Stockard playing more than 10-15 minutes and I bet you that has been communicated to him and he thought like many of you that he was the "starter". Sorry, I didn't see that happening. He is no better than a 15 minute guy on any P5 team, imo. If he's playing more than that, you're probably not very good.

I have nothing against Levi and I hope like heck he finds a great situation for himself, but honestly, I'm glad to see him transfer. In order to get better, we need better players on the floor.

Agree with almost everything...not sure if you are saying he was a "true 5" though.

Levi's role next year likely would have been the exact same as this year providing depth. I really do think this will put more on McGuirls shoulders even though he plays a completely different position. One returning senior and 3 returning sophomores is all that is back.

I hope they find a grad transfer for the final spot...only fills it for one year and there really probably isn't anything else that will help on otherwise on the market. Any new signee will likely just be holding a spot and helping at practice. Let's find a guy that can do it for one year and get a quality recruit next year when the spot opens back up.

I was writing the same thing. Levi was probably still going to be a reserve player. Ezeagu was reportedly much more physical then KSU players were even used too. Montavious Murphy was, when healthy, a much better option at the 4 spot and even played more minutes and started more games then Levi. And Bradford, while a freshman, has more of the body size of a 5. Incoming JUCO Linguard is also more of a 4. Levi wasn't really tall enough to play the 5, and wasn't really much of a banger to play at PF, and didn't have the outside shooting to play a stretch 4. While he was good in reserve minutes, he was not a perfect fit for any position unfortunately. And if the year is going to be a rebuilding year, do you give you minutes to a senior, or help build up the younger players, when the outcome of either won't change the whole season by much, but the future of the program would be impacted more by giving younger players experience?

I hope Levi can find a program where he fits in better and can get more minutes.

[bhoovy]

I can appreciate what the young man put into the program, but we weren’t getting better with Levi being a started this upcoming year. He’s a sub. A 10-12 minute a game player. If he’s starting then your post position isn’t very strong. Even with all the inexperience I believe our post play will be better. Or at least has a much better chance of getting better.

Now I wish we could have gotten Garcia. He would fill the role of that wing they want. Would love to find a grad transfer to fill that role for a year.

I think Ezeagu probably fills Stockards role, but he isn't eligible till the 2nd semester.

Not a lot of immediate playing time PF out there that are worth it and not really any SF or C either. Most that are left either are coming off an injury, were involved in some sort of issues, or were not significant contributors. Players like Tuarean Thompson look good, but when you see it's their 2nd transfer and he couldn't earn playing time at Seton Hall, not so much.

If KSU wants to have a player sit for a year, there are more options, but the ones left still have the same risks. Most of the good players are taken at this point.

https://247sports.com/Season/2020-Baske ... =Immediate

Yeah I keep forgetting Ezeagu isn’t eligible until 2nd semester so that hurts some. But I think there’s enough post players to put a lineup out there. Both Murphy and Gordon are taller than Levi. Hopefully they’ve bulked up a little and both bring a lot more athleticism. We’ll need some frosh to give some immediate minutes. And may not be able to redshirt Lineguard. Would I just as soon have Levi as extra depth, especially this late into the recruiting season? Yes. But I don’t think he makes a difference with the number of wins. And we play a little small ball if needed. Not like we haven’t done that a lot recently.

[pulitzerdave]

You guys thought our inside game was bad last year? Just wait until this next season when Makol and Levi are gone and we are relying on guys will little or no, college experience. Bigmen, more than anybody, need experience before they become solid contributors. I think Bruce did a great job recruiting this class, but likewise, he still deserves a lot of criticism for 3 recruiting classes completely falling apart. 1 person(McGuil) left to graduate as a senior, out of how many?

Joey, I agree that Weber and staff did a horrendous job of recruiting for 3 years, however, I don't think you can say that last year's front line was any better than this year's might be. Last year's bigs were horrendous. Do you really think that we're going to miss Mawien's fumbled passes and Stockard's inconsistent play? What did all that experience do for those two? One of them got worse!

The perimeter players will carry this team until the bigs come around. And as far as I know, all of them can catch a basketball. And maybe even dunk it.

[gdgjr78]

You guys thought our inside game was bad last year? Just wait until this next season when Makol and Levi are gone and we are relying on guys will little or no, college experience. Bigmen, more than anybody, need experience before they become solid contributors. I think Bruce did a great job recruiting this class, but likewise, he still deserves a lot of criticism for 3 recruiting classes completely falling apart. 1 person(McGuil) left to graduate as a senior, out of how many?

Better be careful if you don't spout rainbows and koolaid on this board you'll be labeled a hater. I remember the good ole days of making fun of wsu for their transfers. Ah those were fun times in the sun.

[KsJoey]

You guys thought our inside game was bad last year? Just wait until this next season when Makol and Levi are gone and we are relying on guys will little or no, college experience. Bigmen, more than anybody, need experience before they become solid contributors. I think Bruce did a great job recruiting this class, but likewise, he still deserves a lot of criticism for 3 recruiting classes completely falling apart. 1 person(McGuil) left to graduate as a senior, out of how many?

Joey, I agree that Weber and staff did a horrendous job of recruiting for 3 years, however, I don't think you can say that last year's front line was any better than this year's might be. Last year's bigs were horrendous. Do you really think that we're going to miss Mawien's fumbled passes and Stockard's inconsistent play? What did all that experience do for those two? One of them got worse!

The perimeter players will carry this team until the bigs come around. And as far as I know, all of them can catch a basketball. And maybe even dunk it.

Perimeter play almost always carries Weber teams, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I guess we will see what the new and inexperienced bigmen will do next year as nobody really knows how they will fare. When you look back at our bigmen over the past 10-15 years, very few were on the level of a senior Makol or senior Levi, as a 1st year player. Sure, there are exceptions, and sure, these new guys might surprise on day 1. But they could very easily be a step back from a Senior Levi until they get the experience under their belt, which might take a season or more. We knew what we were getting with Levi and Makol, which was backup quality caliber players(though inconsistent). I mostly like the 4 incoming transfer/freshmen bigs and they appear to have potential, but I also know Bruce has had far more Love & Shadd type players, than DJ's and Wades, when it comes to bigmen... so my expectations for new bigmen are tempered, especially in their 1st year.

I'm also curious why Levi would transfer. Nowhere else at this level, would he be a projected starter. He's not leaving because of playing time... unless he drops down to Mid-Major.