That's fair. Last year's team was most certainly unlikable. But my sense of it -- and who can really say watching on tv -- was that Pavs and Simmons were the only parts worth keeping around. They both played hard night in and night out, and didn't have the same overt yappiness that others on the team had.

For me, last year's team was annoying because a cohort carried themselves like we were the best team in the league and never shut up. But unfortunately, we were just a .500 team in a bad conference. I never had that sense with Pavs. In fact, I don't think he speaks?

And for the record, I think a lot of that comes from Boals himself. He's a pretty whiny coach and his body language set that tone a lot last year. There were a lot of games where he was getting flat outcoached and he moped around on the sidelines about a bad call. Between his tantrums and his choice of captain, it's no wonder last year's team was hard to watch.

Yea, Pavs seems like a pretty quiet kid. If Hadaway returning, I could see the concern. Simmons is fiery, but he's also a beast. I can live with that given the way he plays.

I do think we've turned the page quite a bit even with Pavs return and he doesn't need to be relied on so heavily like a season ago. We have two other PG's on the roster who started for their teams this past season. One was part of an NCAA tournament run and the other averaged 19ppg.

I was about to very similar thoughts about the players on last year's team, with the exception that I was there in person for the home games.

But you didn't see him play his games in person? Should we give that view value?

Did anyone on BA see him play in person at ISU?

If Pav's fearless spirit works through our international players too who knows how far this team will go !

So, is Pav actually still eligible? News today...

https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/2090817226836242811

Pav filed his with the State of South Carolina. So hopefully they actually rule him eligible. Everyone who filled with Colorado though.....rip

Wonder what our chances really are with regards to Pavs playing? And, looks like Miami will not be getting the services of Wollfolk unless something changes.

Waiting for SCOTUS to check in on this one. Probably a justice will make a preliminary ruling pending review by the full court, which probably won't happen until after the season is over. The Justice assigned to the 10th Circuit is Neil M. Gorsuch. So, it may come down to what he thinks about all of this mess. That's anyone's guess.

Well it was fun while it lasted. Pav is now ineligible because SC denied the TRO for one more year.

So can all of these players start a lawsuit in a state that has granted a TRO? Is Pav enrolled at Ohio?

Just total chaos going on with the NCAA now. The SEC is threatening to kick LSU out of the conference for playing NFL or NBA players. One lawsuit after another. What a total mess!!!

Kiffin stated that LSU intends to follow SEC orders while the legal process continues. But Will Wade? Who can even guess what he would do.

When do we know for sure if Pavs is or is not coming back? I just checked and he's not listed on the roster right now.

A nation waits.

. . . probably a month or more.

FearLeon will patiently wait.

I wouldn't call him personally announcing his return as speculation.

He is intending to return, however he is not currently eligible. I was bored yesterday and also very confused about the entire situation so I did a deep dive on it.

If you don’t want to read all of it, the TLDR is that pav is not currently eligible based on the lawsuits. There are 2 relevant lawsuits for Pav, a federal level one in Colorado and a state level in South Carolina. The federal case initially gave all HS class of 2022 athletes a 5th year which is when Pav recommmitted. After that, Pav joined a lawsuit in SC to give him what appeared to be a safety net. Since then, the Federal one was paused pending further legal proceedings and the judge in SC announced his intention to deny the state case altogether. The hope for Pav now is the federal one going back through and I think those hearings happen in the next week or two.

Following up on the post above, if anyone wants more context than the TLDR, a bit more on what is happening below. I spent a good chunk of time diving into this yesterday and this is my understanding of where we are. Also calling out I am not a lawyer, this is just what I was able to find yesterday from some articles.

Here is a rundown of where the eligibility cases stand and what they mean for the MAC guys caught up in them. The short version is that none of them can play right now, and whether that changes comes down to three separate lawsuits that have all turned against the players over the last three weeks. Woolfolk and Mahaffey are plaintiffs in a case filed in Ohio state court, Paveletzke is one of eighteen players in a case filed in South Carolina, and sitting above both of those is a federal class action out of Colorado that at one point made every 2022 high school graduate in the country eligible, all of them included.

HOW WE GOT HERE

The Ohio case came first, brought in Hamilton County in June by twenty four men's and women's basketball players. On July 9, the judge ruled that the NCAA had applied its eligibility rules to the 2022 class in an arbitrary way, which cleared Woolfolk and Mahaffey to play. The NCAA appealed immediately, and on August 17 the First District Court of Appeals paused that ruling while the appeal plays out.

Three weeks later, a federal judge in Colorado went much further, granting a fifth year on July 31 to every athlete in the country who graduated high school in 2022 and had used up four seasons. That is the decision behind all the roster news in early August, since it swept in players who had never sued anybody. It held for exactly three weeks before the Tenth Circuit paused it on August 21, which is the day the announcements started reversing.

Paveletzke's case was filed in South Carolina on August 10, while the Colorado ruling was still in effect, which is part of why it drew less attention at the time. The judge heard argument on August 31 and issued an order the next day stating that he intends to deny the players' request, with a written opinion to follow within ten days.

WHERE THAT LEAVES EACH GUY

For Woolfolk and Mahaffey, the important thing is that their ruling was paused rather than thrown out, so it would take effect again if the appeal goes their way. Oral argument is scheduled for September 22, so we should know something before the season starts.

Paveletzke is in the worst position of the three, because his case was decided against him rather than put on hold. His group would have to appeal it or start over in another state, and there is no obvious place to go for a Wisconsin kid playing in Ohio whose lawyers chose South Carolina.

WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN

Everything runs through the Tenth Circuit first, because a ruling for the players there would switch the Colorado injunction back on and make all of them eligible at once regardless of their own cases. The players' brief is due September 8 and the NCAA's reply September 11.

If Colorado goes the other way, Woolfolk and Mahaffey still have the Ohio argument on September 22 as their own path back, while Paveletzke would need his lawyers to file somewhere new. Players are still winning temporary orders in state courts around the country, but the ones actually winning tend to have something specific to their own situation, like a denied medical waiver, rather than the general class of 2022 argument.

Woolfolk and Mahaffey are in better shape than Paveletzke for now, but if the Tenth Circuit sides with the players, none of that matters and all of them are back.

One aside on Kamrin Oriol, the North Florida guard Akron has been after. He spent two years at an NAIA school before transferring, and he has a waiver pending on the argument Diego Pavia won in December 2024, that time at a non NCAA school should not count against your NCAA clock. That is a separate path from the class of 2022 fight, so he is not entirely dependent on how these three cases turn out.

Ugh.

Call me when we have STUDENT athletes - Like ones who graduated from HS and are going to a University to attend classes and get a degree - again.

They're already getting paid. Who gives a rip if you graduate or not. The goal of that was to get a job. They already have one. Playing "college" basketball. Which makes me wonder - do they even have to attend classes anymore? Like, technically maybe they do - but if they're on a 1 year rental does academic eligibility even apply?

Register as a "student". Major in "undecided". Take zero classes. Play basketball. Get paid. Move on. Repeat.

I know.....I'm the angry old guy at this point. So get off my lawn while you're at it.

From one old man to another, I'm with you. See my sarcastic post on the football forum about the Penn State player who is now in his eighth year of college football.

I stalk through all of the practice and workout pics of the team on social media. I haven't seen Pavs in them for a while.

I'm kinda concerned if Boals was banking on this eligibility for Pavs to come through instead of trying to fill the scholarships in another way. Don't we have two remaining now? One with Pavs? I lost track and count.