Sloan had a better senior year statistically.
Sloan was a mediocre shooter until he worked his tail off for his senior year. He became a top notch NCAA scorer that year. Sloan was a lock down defender as a freshman. They did not need that from him later in his career.
Caruso never really needed to score .... He did all the other things and his potential was significantly higher than Sloan.

Caruso looked like an old man and Sloan played like one. Both were fun to watch.

I think Admon can pass them both up statistically with a solid Senior year. He is a better scorer than Caruso and more efficient than Sloan; a better on the ball defender than both. He can feed the post (and will have Davis I hope) which will give him assists to edge out Sloan.

Caruso has the highest ceiling for the NBA.

BBDP said:

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He can feed the post (and will have Davis I hope) which will give him assists to edge out Sloan.

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I think this is actually something that Admon is pretty bad at currently.

I also don't necessarily agree that Caruso had a lot more NBA upside than Sloan or Gilder. They're all probably fringe NBA players.

bobinator said:

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BBDP said:

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He can feed the post (and will have Davis I hope) which will give him assists to edge out Sloan.

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I think this is actually something that Admon is pretty bad at currently.

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He can go an entire half without looking at Davis.

Don't get me wrong, he can fill it up and is capable of being a lock down defender but feeding the post is not something he's interested in.

Caruso's size and athleticism are NBA level.
I have stood next to both on multiple occasions.
Caruso is every bit of 6'4 and probably 6'5. Gilder is 6'2".
Caruso has a significantly higher vertical (4-5") and I would guess better reach and wingspan.
Caruso can play point at that size or a 2. Gilder is an undersized 2 with very limited ability to play point.

There just are not many 6'2" 2s in the NBA and the few that are are ridiculous athletes. Gilder is a smooth athlete but he does not have the explosiveness that I think he needs to make next level a long term home.

Donald Sloan made money in the NBA and so can Gilder but Caruso has a shot to make big money.

I agree that Gilder struggles to feed the post... but he will have every opportunity this next year and Sloan did not have the best Davis to feed. Brian was a solid defensive post but not near the offensive game or presence that Tyler has.

BBDP said:

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Caruso has a shot to make big money.

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Eh... He's a part time player on a bad team and he's already 24 year's old, but he keeps getting better so we'll see. I just don't think any of them are particularly likely to be more than fringe guys at the next level. Which is obviously easy to say about Sloan now.

Anyway, how they could do at the NBA level really isn't relevant anyway.

I haven't seen much from Caruso to think that he will make big money in the nba, but I'm not gonna doubt him either after this thread.

Gilder isn't on Sloan's level.

Would anyone be raving about Carusos athleticism if he weren't light skinned? For a 6'5 career D1 starter flirting with a pro contract it's not extraordinary hops

EliteZags said:

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Would anyone be raving about Carusos athleticism if he weren't light skinned? For a 6'5 career D1 starter flirting with a pro contract it's not extraordinary hops

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Yeah, there's a lot I just overlooked. I don't think he has a "significantly" higher vertical than Sloan if it's even higher at all. Best I can find Sloan had a 37 inch vertical as a sophomore at A&M and Caruso had a 36 inch vertical at D-league camp.

Sloan, I imagine though I can't find any numbers, was also significantly stronger than Caruso. Obviously Caruso has a better reach and wingspan, he's taller. But I don't think he's all that good of an athlete when you're comparing him to other NBA players. He's certainly not a bad athlete, but he's not doing anything out of the ordinary for NBA players.

But again, how they do as NBA players really isn't relevant. Sloan was better as a college player and it isn't even close. And this coming from a guy who thought our fans really underrated Caruso as a recruit and as a player.

EliteZags said:

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Would anyone be raving about Carusos athleticism if he weren't light skinned? For a 6'5 career D1 starter flirting with a pro contract it's not extraordinary hops

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Caruso is an extraordinary athlete for the average male population. For the average NBA player, no he isn't a physical freak like some of those guys are.

He is in the top 0.00000001% of athletic ability in the subset of white, balding, moustached Americans.

Method Man said:

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I haven't seen much from Caruso to think that he will make big money in the nba, but I'm not gonna doubt him either after this thread.

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Caruso made 300K this season and still has one more year left on his 2-way contract.

Let's say hypothetically he played out that 2-way contract for one more year, and then somehow hung on for 5 years in the NBA just making the minimum salary.

In that scenario, if he could somehow stick in the NBA making minimum for 5 years, it looks like he would have made approximately $6,000,000 - $7,000,000 in salary playing hoops by age 30.

NBA is a super sweet gig compared to the income of a normal joe even if you are just a fringe guy hanging on by your fingernails. Problem is only 450 employee spots are open each year and there is a continuous stream of new recruits coming in every season and older guys gotta get pushed out to make room.

Caruso already beat tremendous odds just making it on an NBA court like he did, as well as House and Jalen Jones. For every D1 guy who pulled off getting at least that far, probably like a hundred guys failed.

Yeah, sure, that is life changing money but you know he is talking about getting the kind of multi year 40 mil deal like Khris signed a while ago or the monster one DJ got.

Well he's got sneaky hops. Period.

deceptively athletic


and only white guys can be deceptive

This thread took an interesting turn.

Mikesyracuse1

EliteZags said:

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deceptively athletic


and only white guys can be deceptive

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And Jeremy Lin

Regardless of race, anytime you have a player with the passing/vision he does that can also finish at the bucket with authority, it's going to be a little surprising.

Pumpkinhead said:

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mikesyracuse1 said:

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Good move by both players. It's really a no brainer for Admon, Tyler and Hogg. All three should be back in an Aggie uniform next season and the Aggies will have three senior starters.

Mikesyracuse1

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about time Mike. The only reason that I've kept clicking on this thread was to see if you would once again give us this status update.

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0-1 so far

When I said big money: I meant a real nba contract ..... 2-3 year basically guaranteed. NBA guaranteed is more than I believe Sloan got.

On those vertical numbers posted above: That surprises me but I would also like to see the source.
NBA measures 2 different verticals:
Standard vertical like the nfl combine and then a max vertical which allows the player to run and jump however they prefer. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

There have only been a handful of NBA players get over 40 inches with the Sandard at the combine.
The NFL has a half dozen or more break 40 almost every year.

Pumpkinhead said:

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Method Man said:

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Caldwell would have been better under HC Stansbury.

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https://i.giphy.com/media/3fiCjIkGtHqt6PIJJG/giphy.gif

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haha You know where Caldwell was here, right?