I don't think this has very much to do with it. For the short time that Marcus Domask and Quincy Guerrier have been here, they have become fan favorites for how hard they play and how no nonsense they are. TSJ has only been here for almost 2 seasons now and I think the fan support for him is very high. It is as if he's been here for 4 yrs. I do feel that Brad has retained enough guys for multiple yrs to feel like you have grown with the players: Trent, Da'Monte, Ayo, Kofi, Coleman, Luke Goode as examples. But, even the one offs quickly became fan favorites like Andres Feliz, Alfonso Plummer, now Domask+Guerrier, Harmon to a lesser extent. Matthew Mayer was polarizing but when he was red hot, he was likeable. He just beats to his own drum so to speak. He seemed to very misunderstood. Had he been here for a longer period of time, maybe fans would've warmed up to him more. The point is, if these one yr rentals come in, work hard, play well, and act the right way, I do believe the fans quickly adopt them as one of their own. It's not hard to like a player relatively quickly if they have the intangibles that we all like to see in our favorite playersThis could be dumb but could the transfer portal have anything to do with it. Players come and go so quick the students never really get a chance to grow with the players. When you went to the U of I as a freshman with Cook you got to see him grow for 4 years, or even Dee and James. You felt a part of the team. Now you have so many guys coming and going maybe it's not as easy to feel so associated?
I know me personally I don't feel the same excitement as I use to seeing these guys and team develop 3 to 4 years. Now it comes off as such a 1 year thing
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