Long Island Blackbirds: A John Citizen Program

[citizen]

[SIZE="5"]Recruitment[/SIZE]

John Citizen Analysis
LIU was unable to attract the calibre player it desires and this year secured only two new recruits. JC recruit Crooks will no doubt be an excellent short term addition, while Argentinian Quinteros will be a project player over the next 4 years.

2 further players will join our team this season after a season sitting on the bench for us as transfers. Ben Weaver, a JR from Duke, starved of opportunity and after academic probation has only appeared in 19 games since being recruited as #31 ranked player of his class. He is a SG that can score and is very athletic. Davor Pirker is the second recruit, a C out of Croatia, who started for Michigan in his FR season averaging 6.7ppg 4.4rpg. He is the third Croatian player to join LIU under John Citizens tenure and was ranked #47 in his recruiting class. Pirker is a SO who is still raw but has potential to be a good rebounder, defender and shot blocker.

[citizen]

[SIZE="5"]John Citizen 2014 Preseason Report[/SIZE]

With only a single returning starter the LIU lineup has a very fresh new look. Led by Weaver and Crooks in the backcourt the team will favor outside scoring and will rely heavily on its starters. We expect to win the NEC and any NCAA tournament progression will be a bonus. Pirker has been redshirted after his transfer year.

Goals
Win NEC Tournament
Win 15+ Games

[citizen]

[SIZE="5"]Post Season Report[/SIZE]
Record: 26-5 (17-1)
NEC: Champions
NCAA: Eliminated in 1st Round

Goals
Win NEC Tournament - Succeeded
Win 15+ Games - Succeeded

John Citizen Yearly Analysis
After a poor initial start to the season the Blackbirds were sitting 3-3 before kicking into gear. They managed to turn things around and dominated the NEC before ultimately winning the competition. Starters performed very evenly, 4 appearing in NEC 1st team, the other in the NEC 2nd team. They were however no challenge for UNLV in the NCAA tournament.

Awards
John Citizen - NEC Coach of the Year
Ben Weaver - NEC Player of the Year, NEC 1st Team
Casey Dickenman - NEC Defensive Player of the Year, NEC 1st Team
Rod Crooks - NEC 1st Team
Kullervo Taitto - NEC 1st Team
Berne Boksic - NEC 2nd Team


Notable Graduates
Kullervo Taitto - PF - 107GP - 2 PotG - 2 year starter

Finish recruit Taitto started as a SO and SR. In his SR performed well enough to earn NEC 1st Team honours as he had developed into a very effective starter.

Casey Dickenman - C - 59GP - 6 PotG - 2 year starter

Dickenman was recruited out of JC and started in both of his season at the Blackbirds. In his initial season he shared C duties. In his second season however he played significant minutes and in turn earned NEC 1st team honours and won the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award.

Leaving Early for NBA Draft
-

LIU Blackbird of the Year
As presented by John Citizen
2014 - Patrick Freeman - JR - PG - 11.1ppg 2.4apg 2.4rpg 0.5spg 0.0bpg
2015 - Jaruj Tucman - FR - SG - 26.0ppg 1.8apg 4.2rpg 1.6spg 0.6bpg
2016 - Jaruj Tucman - SO - SG - 28.0ppg 2.1apg 4.6rpg 1.8spg 0.5bpg
2017 - Jaruj Tucman - JR - SG - 24.6ppg 2.2apg 5.2rpg 2.3spg 0.4bpg
2018 - Jaruj Tucman - SR - SG - 21.9ppg 3.2apg 4.1rpg 1.8spg 0.7bpg
2019 - Derek Logan - FR - PF - 13.0ppg 1.4apg 7.7rpg 1.7spg 0.5bpg
2020 - Ben Weaver - JR - SG - 14.9ppg 2.4apg 3.4rpg 1.8spg 0.4bpg

[citizen]

[SIZE="5"]Recruitment[/SIZE]

John Citizen Analysis
LIU only managed to land one HS recruit, however PG Walton will no doubt have an impact in his time at the Blackbirds. Ranked 16th, Walton possesses the ability to score from outside, pass, steal and handle the ball well.

For the second year in a row LIU will add another 2 players to the roster via transfers after they sat last season. This time both international C's who will enter as JRs. Stejpan Brajkovic is yet another Croatian recruit, standing at 6'8" he was ranked #34 in his class, however after only 45 games at Connecticut he was put on academic probation. He is an excellent rebounder/blocker who is a more effective scorer from outside. Onoche Otaimaga, also 6'8" was ranked #38 in the same class. He initially joined Wisconsin were he only managed 11 games, but showed impressive ability to rebound and defend

[citizen]

[SIZE="5"]John Citizen Preseason Report[/SIZE]

With starters Crooks, Weaver and Boksic returning and the addition of Pirker, Otaimaga and Brajkovic in the front court expectations are high. This is one of the deepest teams LIU has seen.

Goals
Win NEC Tournament
Win 15+ Games

[fondfoat]

Enjoy the reports. Got a bit lost as to what season you are up to however. Perhaps you could edit your posts to have the correct season