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Weekend Brunch: Patrick Baldwin Jr., two-time transfers, and a tribute to Ford Stuen

A new offseason means a new weekly column!

Check out below for the first installment of “Weekend Brunch”, a new project that will be published each and every Friday on all the latest happenings in the world of college basketball.

Buon Appetit!

A La Carte

Patrick Baldwin Jr. makes Milwaukee a national story
That is not a misprint.

The decision by Baldwin — a five-star prospect and the son of Milwaukee coach Pat Baldwin — to bypass the opportunity to play for a program like Duke and instead play for his father will make the Panthers a fascinating tale to track next season.

How good is this 6-9 forward?

One NBA scout said this week that Baldwin’s decision to play at Milwaukee next season is comparable to current Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. opting to play in the Horizon League out of high school a few years ago instead of committing to play at Missouri.

Now comes the hard part for the Panthers — scheduling.

Don’t expect too many power conference programs to line up and now schedule Milwaukee in November and December with a talent like Baldwin — a potential Top-10 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft — on the floor, but a source did say this week that the Panthers have a contract to play Florida in Gainesville on Nov. 18th.

Any time the Panthers play next season will be appointment viewing for the basketball junkie.

The latest on immediate eligibility for two-time transfers
Waivers are coming — again!

According to a source, the Division 1 Council will meet next week to discuss the necessary criteria for two-time transfers to gain immediate eligibility in all sports through the waiver process.

Why is this so significant?

Players like James Akinjo (Baylor), Rasir Bolton (Iowa State), and Liam Robbins (Vanderbilt) are all two-time transfers of note that would require a waiver to play immediately next season without sitting out.

This would apply to both undergraduate and graduate transfers.

The NCAA recently passed a one-time transfer exception for all student athletes and also passed a blanket waiver last season that allowed all transfers to play immediately due to COVID, but two separate sources said this week that the NCAA is expected to be far more stringent moving forward than it has in the past in regards to waivers.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how things progress in this area moving forward for two-time transfers who are aiming to attain immediate eligibility through the waiver process.

A tribute to Ford Stuen
Every day is a gift.

The college basketball world lost a fine young coach and a really good guy this week, when Saint Louis assistant Ford Stuen passed away at the age of 29 due to an undisclosed infection.

There are no words to be said when a tragedy of this magnitude occurs, but I felt Stuen deserved at least a few.

I’m not going to be one of these people who acts like I was closer to Stuen than I was, but when our paths crossed, I knew that he had “it”.

What is “it”?

An infectious personality.

An insatiable desire to immerse himself in the sport that he was coaching.

And most of all, an incredible passion for people.

Trust me when I tell you this: Stuen was destined to go places in this business.

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to speak at Saint Louis’ preseason event and I firmly remember Stuen’s passion, strong handshake, and fervor for life.

He wanted to talk basketball.

He wanted to talk scheduling.

He wanted to talk about all the comings and goings within the Atlantic 10.

He wanted all that came with this vocation.

I can’t even begin to think about the grief that Stuen’s wife and daughter are currently feeling or the grief that Stuen’s Uncle — Saint Louis coach Travis Ford — is currently enduring. Stuen played for Ford at Oklahoma State before joining his staff at Saint Louis and obviously had an early itch to get into the family business.

There are no words that can be uttered or shared that can take away the pain that Stuen’s family and extended family are currently enduring.

All we can do is pray for them.

Pray that the days will eventually get a little easier, even though that all of us know that the days will never be the same as they once were.

The past 14 months have been a long, hard reminder of how precious and fragile life is.

We all learned it again this week.

Every day is a gift.

Assorted Pastries

  • Former Kentucky commit Nolan Hickman is down to Auburn, Gonzaga, and Kansas, according to his father. An official announcement is expected in the next few weeks. Hickman is one of the top point guards in the 2021 class.
  • Syracuse transfer Quincy Guerrier said that he has cut his list to Illinois, Arizona State, Memphis, and Oregon. The 6-7 forward averaged 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds last season as a sophomore.
  • Tommy Lloyd has quickly added an international flavor to Arizona. Eight of the 10 players who are currently on scholarship for the Wildcats were not born in the United States. Lloyd was known as college basketball’s premier international recruiter when he was at Gonzaga.
  • The American Athletic Conference will return to an 18-game league schedule next season, according to AAC Associate Commissioner Brian Thornton. The conference played 20 league games last season.
  • If you’re looking for a new quality dessert spot, try Anita Gelato on 81st Street and Second Avenue. The line is normally out the door and sometimes around the block, but it’s well worth the wait. A word to the wise: try the milk chocolate pretzel flavor.

Leftovers