be willing to take the redshirt off of him? Let's hope it doesn't come to that. But coaches do what they need to do to win now. So if Gus can play at a high level now, most of the season is still ahead of us, plus the tournament, so that is certainly a possibility. It's funny that the area we thought we'd really be strong in this year has become our achilles heel again. I think this is when you might begin to see some four guard lineups. If we lose Will, Courtney, Javes and Marlo, good as they might be in some areas, can't replace WN's scoring. So if we can get by with one inside player for rebounding and defense, there might be times we go with Dre, Chucky, Ben, Taggart or Reggie, and Javes or Marlo, or even Courtney if the opponent doesn't have a real effective big man. It will be interesting to see what our strategy will be without WN.

I was thinking further about Gus playing, assuming he's in condition. Many of our opponents throughout the years have had players who aren't eligible for whatever reason who don't start playing until after mid semester. So it wouldn't be out of the question for Gus to step in, if he's ready, to help fill the void left by WN's injury.

Don't waste him at this point. Take our lumps and be ready to go great guns next season.

Under normal circumstances I would agree with you, but with a 2-0 start in the conference race, we have a leg up on potentially winning the whole thing this year with an automatic NIT berth. So I'd have to give some consideration to activating a player who could really help us if he's in top shape. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth wasting his redshirt year.

(01-02-2012 11:14 AM)outsideualr Wrote:  Under normal circumstances I would agree with you, but with a 2-0 start in the conference race, we have a leg up on potentially winning the whole thing this year with an automatic NIT berth. So I'd have to give some consideration to activating a player who could really help us if he's in top shape. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth wasting his redshirt year.

I don't know whether it would be the "right" decision, but from what I know about Gus he would do whatever was asked if he thought it would help the "team".

I have no doubt that he would agree if he thought it would help the team. That's the type of young man he is.