Ohio State Buckeyes 2022-2023 ... The Drive For Duluth

[Hockeybuckeye]

The Muzzinator picked up a Defenseman,
Maria Roth of Shattuck St.Mary's signed as an incoming freshman.

[osualum86]

The Muzzinator picked up a Defenseman,
Maria Roth of Shattuck St.Mary's signed as an incoming freshman.

Good pickup for Coach. We needed another D or two to give us a little depth on the blue line.

[Hockeybuckeye]

Good pickup for Coach. We needed another D or two to give us a little depth on the blue line.

So much for the accusations she's displaced potential freshmen by using the portal. Name me one top coach who would bring in 12 freshmen when there's options for developed talent?

[robertearle]

So much for the accusations she's displaced potential freshmen by using the portal. Name me one top coach who would bring in 12 freshmen when there's options for developed talent?

But that's the thing: she puts herself into the position of needing to bring in 12 players by signing up so many one-and-done transfers. If I'm not mistaken, the current set of 21 forwards and D players has 10 players who will be using their final year of eligibility in 2023-24. That means she'll need to find another set of one-and-done transfers next year. It is a model that will become unsustainable when the extra COVID years run out. At some point pretty darn soon, she'll have no choice but to "bring in 12 freshmen".

[Hockeybuckeye]

But that's the thing: she puts herself into the position of needing to bring in 12 players by signing up so many one-and-done transfers. If I'm not mistaken, the current set of 21 forwards and D players has 10 players who will be using their final year of eligibility in 2023-24. That means she'll need to find another set of one-and-done transfers next year. It is a model that will become unsustainable when the extra COVID years run out. At some point pretty darn soon, she'll have no choice but to "bring in 12 freshmen".

That's the new normal in the Transfer Portal era and I respectfully disagree that it's unsustainable. I don't see where the extra COVID years come into play as you are always now going to have girls for whatever reasons bail on their current programs and some may will have more than one year of eligibility left. She knows what she's doing and her achievements throughout her career proves it.

[robertearle]

That's the new normal in the Transfer Portal era and I respectfully disagree that it's unsustainable. I don't see where the extra COVID years come into play as you are always now going to have girls for whatever reasons bail on their current programs and some may will have more than one year of eligibility left. She knows what she's doing and her achievements throughout her career proves it.

COVID years are going to come to their end. There are going to be MANY fewer players in the portal. The phenomenon of schools having a 'scholarship crunch' now - too many players, too little money to go around - is going to reverse after the 2024-2025 year ends, because there will be essentially two classes/groups of players finishing up: the 20-21 freshmen who got a COVID year and the 21-22 freshmen who got only the normal 4 years. Everyone, more-or-less- is going to need 25-26 freshmen to replace two 'graduating' classes. There will be more scholarships available than players, and that will translate to fewer grad transfers in general and even fewer who get shut out of scholarship money at their current school. Unless the incoming pool of 25-26 freshmen is massive, there are generally not going to be enough players to go around. Exactly when the pool of COVID transfers dries up, demand for freshmen is going to peak. This is something that all schools will have to deal with - and should be starting to deal with now - but Muzzeral is amplifying the problem by relying so heavily on one-and-done transfers, not preparing for it.

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77 of the 109 players listed in the portal have one year of eligibility remaining. Most all of those are quite likely using the COVID year. That's gonna go away.

[Offsides Guy]

COVID years are going to come to their end. There are going to be MANY fewer players in the portal. The phenomenon of schools having a 'scholarship crunch' now - too many players, too little money to go around - is going to reverse after the 2024-2025 year ends, because there will be essentially two classes/groups of players finishing up: the 20-21 freshmen who got a COVID year and the 21-22 freshmen who got only the normal 4 years. Everyone, more-or-less- is going to need 25-26 freshmen to replace two 'graduating' classes. There will be more scholarships available than players, and that will translate to fewer grad transfers in general and even fewer who get shut out of scholarship money at their current school. Unless the incoming pool of 25-26 freshmen is massive, there are generally not going to be enough players to go around. Exactly when the pool of COVID transfers dries up, demand for freshmen is going to peak. This is something that all schools will have to deal with - and should be starting to deal with now - but Muzzeral is amplifying the problem by relying so heavily on one-and-done transfers, not preparing for it.

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77 of the 109 players listed in the portal have one year of eligibility remaining. Most all of those are quite likely using the COVID year. That's gonna go away.

What he said.

[Offsides Guy]

I’m certainly not an OSU historian but it seems to me Muzz built the program by developing players over a few years into a Natty Champ team and now she’s in a “win it all again now” mode that’s relying very heavily on transfers. Some would say that’s just fine but OSU better win it all next season as the program is going to start to pay a price for this strategy as robertearle says. We’ve all seen pro teams try this and, when it pays off, it’s awesome. But it’s often followed by at least a few down years as they lose the high-priced stars they brought in but couldn’t afford to keep for long, or they’re stuck with too much salary on the books to bring in additional players (Parise , Suter & the Wild anyone?), or now they miss some of the developing players they traded away.

In some ways, Muzz is coming off a bit desperate to win now. She’s proven she’s an excellent coach who can develop “blue collar” players into a winning program. I think she should trust herself more and focus on doing that with a transfer here and there. I think she can keep OSU a more consistent powerhouse over the next, say, 4 years with that proven strategy.

[pucko]

To compete against Wisco and MN for recruits, she's going to need the stamp of continual National Champions. If she wins next year, recruits have a short memory, and she'll do just fine. The top ones will always want to go where the winning is. If she loses, we'll see what happens. To me, she is a great opportunistic coach, but I wouldn't call her a great coach. A great coach is someone who takes a player and makes them better each season. What underclassman has she recruited that she's taken and made better? She's taken already developed talent (or the previous committed recruits) and won games with them. A great coach is someone who builds the foundation of a program where Freshmen become stars by the time they're Seniors. How can she do this if she's constantly cutting off her underclassmen at the knees by bringing in grad years?
Mark Johnson is a great coach. His players excel and continue to get better each year. His program remains solid because all of his players contribute and improve. Muzzerall focuses on a select few (transfers) to make her team win games. Again, this is a great strategy that's working for right now and who knows? Maybe she's not interested in longevity. Or, maybe this works and she has the laugh last at all of us who are trolling her ways.
The bottom line is that top players care about winning. If she continues to win, she will get recruits. BUT, will she land recruits away from WI or MI with her reputation to be one and done? I don't know. And now, with St. Thomas coming up and Idalski's past success proven, she will have to really hope this strategy of hers works because you know that the recruiting talk against her is the fact that she doesn't stick with a player.

[bodyup88]

"A great coach is someone who takes a player and makes them better each season. What underclassman has she recruited that she's taken and made better?"

Liz Schepers, Paetyn Levis and Gabby Rosenthal to name three

[Hockeybuckeye]

"A great coach is someone who takes a player and makes them better each season. What underclassman has she recruited that she's taken and made better?"

Liz Schepers, Paetyn Levis and Gabby Rosenthal to name three

We currently have 5 incoming freshmen who with their backgrounds should be at a high level of development already. If they stay for all of their eligibility we shall see how far they evolve.

[Sierra]

Such interesting takes ... very entertaining. I have another player to add that Coach Muzerall recruited and developed . Drum roll please.... Sophie Jaques!!! Wow did Ms Jaques also win the Patty Kaz... Coach Muzerall has Elon Musk type vision.

[Sierra]

Jennifer Gardiner is another athlete that was recruited and is still currently being developed by Coach Muzerall. I do believe Ms. Gardiner was a top 10 2023 Patty Kaz finalists.

[Lindsay]

Maltais and Dunne Olympians. no big deal.

[Timothy A]

I don't think there is much evidence that Muzzy doesn't develop players. As Robert pointed out the transfer bubble will burst in the future.

I do think there is something to be said for a ton of turnover and the effect of team chemistry. We shall see.