He is going from a P4 to the Big East? Are you kidding me? Why?

Jaylin Stewart's Stepdaddy making it sound like he is gone:
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Was listening to Zanetto Transfer Portal Podcast. He seems to think both Jaylin Stewart and Tarris Reed Jr. may leave. There was a discussion of point guards and it is believed Donovan Dent might be the top available guy:
Also discussed as a possible UConn target was Isaac McKneeley of Virginia, a real good shooter, but I do not see him as being needed:
Another guy they discussed as a replacement for Stewart if he leaves is Mackenzie Mgbako, who has underachieved in 2 years at Indiana. But he is a NJ kid:

Elliott Cadeau, North Carolina PG, is in the portal. Good player. 6.2 assists per game. Not a great 3 point shooter, but improved to 34% from a disastrous freshman season.

If in fact Villanova made an offer to Pitino Jr., I am curious why he would have taken Xavier over Villanova. If everything else is equal including NIL money, you take Villanova over Xavier every day of the week. I am guessing everything else was not equal. It's a step up from New Mexico, but not really a huge one when one considers the plight of these Catholic schools. Time will tell if he should have waited for a P4 offer to come his way. If it was me, unless I am being offered guaranteed money, 6 years and a competitive level of NIL, I am staying put at New Mexico until a P4 offer comes my way.

There is a suggestion in this report that Xavier settled for "sloppy seconds" after "favorite" Chris Mack turned them down and announced his return to Charleston:

Meanwhile Luke Murray is a candidate for the Xavier job, as is their homegrown retread, Chris Mack:

Philadelphia isn't that far from New York City so this move makes a lot of sense. Richard is now closer to and gets to see his father a couple games every year. He did a nice job with New Mexico and should be able to keep Villanova competitive.

247 has Hopkins as the #1 power forward and #3 overall player in the portal so far:

Of those, assuming Karaban and McNeeley are both gone, I would love to have Bryce Hopkins. Although he seemed like he was damaged goods this year, not sure what his injury status is. He was a beast before his injury.

Cinderella's shoe has been stolen and someone needs to find it. She ain't coming back until the shoe is found.

Lots of kudos to John Fanta for mentioning this in the Tweet posted by Blades. A lot of people who run the NCAA tournament need to ask the same question and reflect on what is happening.

the Blades said:

[The precursor is this years sweet sixteen, it took a buzzer beater by a B1G team but.....nothing but P-4's are left.

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The end of that game was great- the money 3 pointer by Colorado State and then the buzzer beater by Queen- just talking purely basketball, it was great stuff.

But I don't know or understand why nobody in the media is talking about the end of Cinderella. The clock has struck midnight for many of these teams which financially cannot compete with P4. An unprecedented 14 SEC bids. At this point we are trending towards an unequal playing field with the non P4s, so the NCAA tournament which markets itself as "March Madness" due to smaller school upsets can kiss that reality Goodbye. It's in the past. I don't like where things are going and just hope someone with an ounce of sanity restores order. Otherwise all the branding surrounding "March Madness" is completely fraudulent!

It should be obvious from the SEC's record 14 NCAA bids- the most by a lot- that this league is showing the money to its athletes. And to its coaches. Other than McNeese State in the 1st round there were no upsets in the NCAA tournament this year and the era of the so called Cinderella is over. It's now all about paying your way to a championship. St. John's threw money at some players to field a good team this year, but it's small time money. Big time players need to be shown big time money!

The SEC is the High Rollers Room at the Casino- you gotta pay to play!!!!!!!!!!

the Blades said:

Yeah Huskies have to stop carrying this conference... time to make a departure for the ACC since they seem to need all the help they can get on the hoops side. (only 4 NCAA teams with 18 members, and only Duke's left, SMH ).....I'd even go for a mini ACC 4 team add with all the talk of a merger lately.

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The ACC is a sinking ship, does UConn really want to go down with that sinking ship? Their basketball has declined so badly it's become a complete joke!

They shot 28% FGs which included a pitiful 2-22 on 3s. Arkansas was a top 10 team preseason but lost their PG Boogie Fland for over 2 months. They are MUCH better with Fland back and running the point. Anyway the last Big Team standing for the 3rd straight year is ...... UConn!