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Caleb Lohner

He put up good stats as a freshman and sophomore. As a fr7.0 ppg 7.1 rpg, 7.0 6.4 as a sophomore. I wonder what happened.
Apparently he was not a good fit in Scott Drew's system at Baylor. Same thing is not uncommon in the NBA: prroductive player at Franchise A gets traded or makes a free agent move to Franchise B and his playing time is vastly diminished in the new setting. As they say, the grass is not always greener ...
 
He may have only averaged 2 points and 2 boards but he was firmly in Baylor's rotation. Made an appearance in every game. Has played for 3 of our 5 staff members. Has played a lot of college minutes. Was a starter when BYU went to the NIT quarterfinals. Had 20 in one of those games.

I'd have to focus on him more closely when watching Baylor to know what exactly he brings to the table, but if he was our 10th / 11th man, and comfortable with limited playing time, I think he'd be overqualified for the role.

If Pope pursues, it'd be because this kid is a culture fit.

Remember how Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris were depth pieces on the '09-'10 team? I figure this would be like that. Guys with experience that can add some competitiveness in practice while also not breaking your back if they have to grab more minutes because of an injury
 
Lohner scored 12 points off the bench against Iowa State in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament this season. If he is capable of that, he is definitely a serviceable 11-12 man on this UK team. He appears to be a strong physical presence to mix it up with our big guys at practice every day and as someone else said, he knows Pope's system.
 
He only has one season of eligibility left, so the “maybe you can later earn a scholly if you play well” pitch does not work for him. That’s what you tell freshmen walk ons, not 5th year seniors.

Either we offer him one from the start or we don’t. And since we have plenty available and dearly need bench depth, I’d have no problem with offering him one now ….presuming he’s willing to accept a very limited role.
Didn’t realize he had only one season left.
 
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Yeah, hard pass. I’d much rather save the scholarship for someone who could either be a major contributor this season or a project with high upside.
Major contributors aren’t going to come to sit on the bench in this era. Guy like this who Pope and Brooks know will be an asset for multiple reasons as a bench player.
 


Caleb Lohner entered the portal, seems very possible he's at UK next year... 5th year senior, played two years at BYU (where he started), and the last two years at Baylor where he was deep on the bench (10th in minutes last season). From what I've seen--effort guy, strong, tough, not super skilled. He would likely come in understanding he's a backup to Carr. Not a shooter, although he had his best shooting seasons when playing for Pope.

Matt Jones has mentioned the last week or so that there's a guy the staff wasn't sure if he would enter the portal, but if he did he would likely be at Kentucky. I have a feeling this is who he was referring to. I don't mind it--we need guys in back-up roles and there isn't a huge pool of players you can woo out of the portal to be the 10th man. With that said, I would rather get young guys with a few years of eligibility, where possible. I would be more interested in a guy like Lohner on a Cal team where we had a lot of youth, and might need an older, steadier player occasionally, but this team is like half 5th year guys.
That player he was talking about was in the ACC and he didn’t enter
 
Yeah, hard pass. I’d much rather save the scholarship for someone who could either be a major contributor this season or a project with high upside.
Just how many “major contributors” and “high upside” guys do you think are still available?

There is no scholarship that needs saved. We still have four spots available, and we sure as hell ain’t gonna be able to fill all of those with major contributors. If we don’t offer some players like this, then we’ll just end up leaving extra spots unused …when we need bench depth.

There is no downside to offering this kid if he’s willing to accept a bench role. Especially since he’d only be using a scholly spot for one season.
 
Might as well ask for Larry Bird and Magic. Heck throw in Akeem and John Stockton.
Can’t get Larry or Magic or John because we are set at point guard. We don’t need (H)akeem either unless he will be playing power forward and not center.
 
Seems close to being a random dude off the streets, I don't see the draw.

Puddy does not sharpen iron, this seems like a body that won't make the existing players feel their PT is threatened more than even a useful practice piece.
 
Just a stupid question but I don't know the answer. Can walk-ons get nil?

I realize it would be limited but sometimes it would be less limited.
Honestly even low NIL numbers are so much higher than tuition+room and board. Seems to me that in the modern era there may not even be any squad size limit beyond what the HC thinks is too much. Didn't we actually already see our walkons in a commercial for some pawn shop or something? I don't think it's a stupid question at all.
 
SMH at the people that think we need the remaining 4 scholarships to sign star players as though stars would come to be bench players. This guy would be a fine depth piece and would only use a scholarship for one season. I do like the UCLA guy but I figure he’s looking for a starter position.
 
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Just a stupid question but I don't know the answer. Can walk-ons get nil?

I realize it would be limited but sometimes it would be less limited.
Here is the commercial I was thinking of. It was the managers, not the walk-ons: a three year NIL deal with Geddes Pools. But I don’t see why it would be any harder for walk-ons to land a deal than for managers. After all, no one’s screaming for managers to come into the game and shoot it with 30 seconds left on the clock.

 
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