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[PointGuard]

Transfer Results (part 3 of 5)

Ramon Montez, Alcorn State: We had two scholarships to fill, but through some yet undetermined SNAFU, we were only able to extend ONE scholarship offer. And for a while it looked like we might not even be ab]e to fill that one as our offers got turned down with maddening regularity. But in late June we were successful in landing SG Caleb Sanden who hails from Warner Robins, Georgia. We believe Sanden was extremely undervalued this summer by most all colleges going after transfer players…and it’s hard to understand why. Because he started every game in his two seasons with North Alabama averaging 22.2 ppg a freshman and 24.2 ppg last season as a sophomore and had a high of 41 points in one game. He has dropped in over 50% of his FG attempts and over 80% of his free throws, but his accuracy from 3-point distance hasn’t been good. He’s a good defensive player. Sanden was the Conference V Freshman of the Year and then the conference’s Player of the Year as both a freshman and a sophomore. He was named to the All-Conference 1st Team both seasons. He’s a good student, has a decent personality, a good work ethic, is very durable, and isn’t concerned about playing time. So how does a guy with that basketball resume last until the 4th transfer session? Fortunately he did, so we could grab him. He will be our starting SG, pushing Craig Brown (who averaged 12.6 ppg for us last season) to the bench. Brown has the passing and ball-handling abilities to sub at both SB and PG or possibly take over as our staring PG. So even though we were jobbed out of our last scholarship, I believe Sanden has greatly strengthened our team.

[PointGuard]

Transfer Results (part 4 of 5)

Terry Morillo, Western Illinois: We were weakest at SG, so we focused our efforts toward adding, not one but two SG’s. And we were successful in doing so. The addition of Marcelo Barker, who’s from Lake Charles, Louisiana and was a starter as both a freshman and sophomore at Northwestern State. As a freshman he averaged 16.5 ppg and was named to the Conference Q All-Conference 1st Team. His scoring average slipped to 12.5 ppg but he improved his rebounding to take down 3.8 rpg and was named to the All-Conference 2nd Team for Conference P after Northwestern State was promoted. Barker has hit over 98% of his free throws. Not only is he a good scorer and rebounder, but he’s very strong defensively. He will be our starting SG this season. The second transfer player who will play for us this season is Emerson Owens who attended Grambling as a freshman where he averaged 8.3 ppg coming in off the bench. He’s not afraid to put up shots and hits a pretty high percentage of his shots. Even though he’s still developing his skills, he will be a solid sub at the 2 position. So I’m relieved to have solidified our weakest position.

[PointGuard]

Transfer Results (part 5 of 5)

Dontell Spencer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff: We had to do some serious convincing, but we landed 3 transfer players to fill all our available scholarships. And we got players at the positions where we needed them. At PG we brought in sophomore Eric McColpin. He’s from North Charleston, South Carolina and he transferred to us from Charleston Southern. As a freshman there he came in off the bench and averaged 2.7 ppg and 1.7 apg in a limited role. But he’s a talented young man. He’s very good at distributing the ball due to his keen passing and ball-handling skills. And he’s a good rebounder for a PG and a good ball-hawk. He’s had some attitude problems, but I’m confident we can handle that. He’ll likely start as a reserve but could challenge for a starting position as he become familiar with our sets. Andrew Richardson is from Ledyard, Connecticut and comes to us from Bucknell where he played very little as a freshman. But he was pretty highly ranked as a recruit and had some good skills that will develop as he gains more experience. He’s a natural SF but due to his rebounding skills he will initially come off the bench at both SF and PF. It’s possible he may move into the starting lineup at SF as the season progresses. The third transfer player coming our way is junior SG William Huggins. He grew up in Ambler, Pennsylvania and played two seasons for LaSalle. He started last season and averaged 8.3 ppg and 3.9 apg. He’s a good rebounder, passer, ball handler, and defender and is very durable and athletic. He has career game highs of 23 points, 12 assists, and 6 rebounds. He will come in off the bench to serve as a strong replacement for when Kwame Mickens needs a breather, but could also sub at PG…and even SF when we want to go with a small lineup or a 3-guard lineup. These 3 players will greatly improve our depth which will be necessary due to our promotion to Conference T.

[PointGuard]

Recruiting Needs

[The AI will continue to handle all recruiting activities for all 5 teams.]

Arkansas-Pine Bluff: “What do I want? Now that you ask, I’d say three 5-star basketball players signing with us. But unless Pine Bluff HS has three of those type of players and they all want to go to a college within 3 miles of their Momma and Papa, I guess that may be a pipe dream,” said Donnell Spencer. He continued, “Here’s the scoop. We have 3 seniors who’ll graduate after this season concludes...2 PG’s and a SG. So we need to get at least one PG and one SG. Recruiting a 3rd guard would be great, but we may just go after the best available recruit, regardless of what position he plays.”

Western Illinois: “We only have 2 seniors on our team this year. I’d like to recruit a big man and a good-shooting perimeter player.” Said head coach Terry Morillo. He added, “But to be honest, with a lot of guys transferring, it’s really hard to know where we will be thin next season.”

Alcorn State: The Braves are losing 4 players to graduation, 1 SG and 3 interior players, plus they have a vacant scholarship presently, so will be able to go after 5 recruits. “Our starters this year at C and PF will be leaving us after the season. So we need a couple very strong big men and two guards and hopefully can pick up a really good recruit at whatever position he plays,” said Coach Ramon Montez.

MD-Eastern Shore: Coach Mike McMillan advised, “We’re losing our staring C and backups at SG, SF, and PF. So I’d like to see us land a very good interior player, a guard, and 2 of the best guys we can recruit. Recruiting continues to be very important, but It’s a little less critical now that there are a lot of transfer players.”

UC-San Diego: Coach Ken Yamoto rolled his eyes and said, “What do we need? Just about everything since wehave 6 seniors who are leaving up at the conclusion of this season. Both of our SF’s graduate, so that our #1 need…at least 2 SF’s. With a PG and SG departing and those two positions being our weakest right now, getting two good guards is also important. It’s also important that we recruit a big men and then see who’s out there to fill the 6th scholarship. Since we have so many scholarships to fill, it would be good if one or two of our new recruits this season are JC players.”

[PointGuard]

November, 2035:

UC-San Diego: 4 recruits have given verbals to come to play for the Tritons…2 PG’s, a PF, and a C. The C is a 2-star, the rest are 1-star. So Coach Yamoto still has 2 scholarships to fill, but they have a number of recruits still on their list who are showing interest.

MD-Eastern Shore: No verbals and out of money. So 4 unfilled scholarships. The team was recruiting well and made 5 offers but all of those recruits chose other programs. Now that the money has run dry, it looks like the Hawks will be highly involved in going after transfer players next summer. Coach McMillan said, “We’re going to have to figure out ways to conserve our funds next year so we can recruit throughout the year if need be.”

Alcorn State: 3 verbals…all interior players…2 PF’s and a C…all 1-star players. “Our recruiting budget has evaporated, so not much chance to fill the last remaining scholarship this year, said Coach Ramon Montez. “But I’m happy to have 3 recruits coming our way.”

Western Illinois: 2 scholarships to fill, none filled thus far. “We made a couple offers but they weren’t accepted. We still have a couple guys who are interested and we have a pretty fair amount left in our recruiting budget, so we’ll see if we can pick up a recruit or two this spring,” said Coach Terry Morillo.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff: 1 verbal acceptance by a one-star PF. 2 unfilled scholarships but no more money is left in their recruiting budget. “I’ve been telling the administration every year that we need a bigger budget to compete. But it’s been the same response every year…Denied! We keep turning in good seasons, but that can’t continue if we can’t compete for recruits,” said Coach Spencer.

[PointGuard]

Starters announced by the head coaches:

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, Conference T, Coach Dontell Spencer

PG—Dwayne Robinson, 6’0”Sr. (7.8 ppg, 2.3 apg last season)
SG—Kwame Mickens, 6’0” Sr. (15.1 ppg, 6.3 apg, 4.0 rpg last season)
SF—Dan Jefferson, 6’4” So. (14.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg last season)
PF—Antonio Gailey, 6’7” Jr. (4.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg last season)
C—Chris Betts, 6’9” So. (11.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg last season)

The Golden Lions are picked to finish 2nd in Conference T.

Western Illinois Leathernecks, Conference V, Coach Terry Morillo

PG—Tom Daniel, 6’4” Jr. (5.5 ppg, 2.4 apg last season)
SG—Marcelo Barker, 6’4” Jr. (12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg last season at Northwestern St.)
SF—James Johnson, 6’7” Fr. (High school last season)
PF—Jamar Curtis, 6’7” Sr. (Sat out last season due to transfer rules, but 13.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg the year before at Kent State)
C—Craig Grant, 6’8” So. (12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg last season)

The Leathernecks are picked to finish 3rd in Conference V.

Alcorn State Braves, Conference T, Coach Ramon Montez

PG—Todd Young, 6’0” Jr. (4.2 ppg, 2.7 apg last season)
SG—Caleb Sanden, 6’6” Jr. (24.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg last season at North Alabama)
SF—Harold Hein, 6’8” So. (6.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg last season)
PF—Will Friel, 6’6” Sr. (12.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg last season)
C—Gabriel Atwood, 6’8” Sr. (11.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg last season)

The Braves are picked to finish 1st in Conference T.

MD-Eastern Shore Hawks, Conference U, Coach Mike McMillan

PG—Marcos Santini, 6’5” So. (8.1 ppg, 1.8 apg, 3.1 rpg last season at Loyola-MD)
SG—Travis Temple, 6’1” Sr. (21.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg last season at Jackson St.)
SF—Jibran Hale, 6’5” Fr. (High school last season)
PF—Tony Rueter, 6’6” Jr. (6.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg last season)
C—Dwayne Bullett, 6’8” Jr. (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg last season)

The Hawks are picked to finish 1st in Conference U.

UC-San Diego Tritons, Conference V, Coach Ken Yamoto

PG—Brian Thomas, 6’6” Sr. (2.9 ppg, 2.7 apg last season)
SG—Stephan Perry, 6’1” Sr. (2.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg last season)
SF—Gregg Green, 6’7” Sr. (10.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg last season)
PF—Shannon Van Hook, 6’10” Sr. (9.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg last season)
C—Michel Woodward, 6’9” Jr. (Injured last season at SIU Edwardsville)

The Tritons are picked to finish 1st in Conference V.

Coach Ken Yamoto: “In some ways it’s nice to be picked to finish at the top or near the top of the conference standings. But it also paints a target on your back for the other teams to aim at every time the come up against us. It also can lead our players to think it’s going to be easy this season. I’d rather have them hungry. To be honest, I’m surprised that the teams of all 5 of us coaches are picked so high. Let’s hope the projections are correct.”

[PointGuard]

Game Results—Nov. 13-19

South Dakota St.—86, Western Illinois (0-1)—84 (The Leathernecks trailed by 15 at the half. They scored 56 points in the 2nd half but it wasn’t quite enough. 4 starters scored in double figures, led by SF James Johnson who hit 8 of 12 FG attempts and scored 19 points.)

Western Illinois (1-1)—92, Wofford—64 (This game was close for the first 7 minutes but then the Leathernecks rapidly pulled away and expanded their lead to the very end. Five players scored in double figures led by SF James Johnson’s 18 points.)

McNeese St.—85, UC-San Diego (0-1)—71 (The Tritons led by as much as 8 points in the first half but looked horrible in the 2nd half. C Joe Roland came in off the bench to score 19 points and PG Brian Thomas had 9 assists.)

UC-San Diego (1-1)—84, Hofstra—62 (The Tritons pulled away early and never looked back. They outshot the Pride 51% to 29% and out-rebounded them 41-32. SF Green Green poured in 23 points and C Shannon Van Hook had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.)

Alcorn State (1-0)—51, New Mexico St.—46 (Defense predominated throughout the entire game. The Braves led the last 25 minutes of the game. Alcorn State was +10 in rebounding. PF Will Friel hit 6 of 9 FG’s and finished with 15 points.

Alcorn State (2-0)—83, Santa Clara--45 (Alcorn State never trailed and by the half had sewn up the game, leading 53-16. They coasted through the 2nd half as the entire bench got plenty of playing time. PG Caleb Sanden scored 24 points in his 23 minutes on the court.)

Wichita St.—81, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-1)—74 (There were 12 lead changes and 7 ties in the first half, but Wichita St. held onto a lead throughout the 2nd half. PF Delvon Palmer’s 11 points were high for the Golden Lions.

Northwestern State—76, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-2)—71 (While the game was close most of the way, Northwestern State stayed in control. Subs Dwayne Robinson and Jacob Allen both scored 12 points for the Golden Lions.)

Utah St.—74, MD-Eastern Shore (0-1)—72 (Utah State hit a 14 foot jumper off a good screen to win the game in the final 3 seconds. 4 of the Hawks starters scored in double figures with SG Travis Temple topping the list with 15 points.

MD-Eastern Shore (1-1)—69, NC-Wilmington—62 (The Hawks made just 6 turnovers which made up for making just 9 of 35 from beyond the arc. SG Travis Temple hit for 23 points.)

Awards: none

Significant Injuries: none

Comments: Nice start by Alcorn State which played awesome defense in both games. Coach Montez said, “Happy to get the wins but now we have 3 straight road games which will be a real test for us.” Even though they lost in the final seconds, MD-Eastern Shore played a good game on the road against Utah State, a team that is now ranked #22 in the polls.

[PointGuard]

Game Results—Nov. 20-26

#22 Utah State—89, Western Illinois (1-2)—63 (Although Western Illinois shot better than Utah state, the talented Aggies dominated this game due to an 18-8 turnover advantage, a 36-27 rebounding advantage and scoring 22 more points at the foul line. C Jamar Curtis led Western Illinois’ scoring with 14 points.)

Western Illinois (2-2)—76, Ball State—63 (There were 24 lead changes and 11 ties in the first 26 minutes of this game, but then Western Illinois quickly pulled away for what proved to be an easy win. SG Marcelo Barker scored 19 points to lead the Leathernecks.)

Manhattan—90, UC-San Diego (1-2)—84 (The Tritons trailed by 21points at halftime, but made a run to get close but there just wasn’t enough time to overcome the Jaspers. UC-San Diego was victimized by the refs who called 23 fouls on them and just 6 on Manhattan which allowed the Jaspers to outscore them at the foul line by 15 points. The top scorer for the Tritons was sub Brian Thomas who chipped in 19 points.)

UC-San Diego (2-2)—87, Jacksonville-76 (UC-San Diego hit 56% of their FG’s and 50% of their 3’s to put away Jacksonville. SF Gregg Green scored 22 and had 7 boards for the Tritons.)

Harvard—80, Alcorn State (2-1)—71 (Alcorn State led by as much as 13 points but let the Crimson back into the game in the 2nd half. At the end of regulation time the score was tied at 65-65. Harvard came out on fire in the OT to hand the Braves their first loss of the season. Harvard got to the line 12 more times and scored 11 more points than Alcorn State. C Gabriel Atwood dropped in 18 points for the Braves.)

Stanford—82, Alcorn State (2-2)—63 (Alcorn State hung with the Cardinal in the first half but ran out of gas in the 2nd half. Topping the scoring for the Braves was C Gabriel Atwood with 16 points.)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-2)—79, Florida International—59 (The Golden Lions liked the friendly confines of their home court. Florida International gave them a run for their money in the first half, but Arkansas-Pine Bluff ran away with the game in the 2nd half. SG Kwame Mickens hit for 20 points and C Chris Betts had 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists.)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-2)—94, Delaware—80 (Six players including the entire starting 5 scored in double figures for the Golden Lions. Arkansas-Pine Bluff led by 23 points after the first 20 minutes. C Chris Betts had 18 points and 9 rebounds.)

MD-Eastern Shore (2-1)—75, Grambling—68 (24 lead changes and 8 ties in this game. The Hawks had 12 more rebounds and scored 11 more points than Grambling. PF Tony Rueter scored 17 points for MD-Eastern Shore.)

California—65, MD-Eastern Shore (2-2)—55 (California led nearly the entire game by outshooting the Hawks 44% to 34% plus scoring 12 more points at the line. C Dwayne Bullett scored 16 points as the only member of the Hawks to score in double figures.)

Awards: none

Significant Injuries: Alcorn State’s SG Caleb Sanden is sidelined for a couple weeks with a bruised abdominal.

Comments: Arkansas-Pine Bluff posted 2 wins with some good offense. Chris Betts scored 32 points and pulled down 21 rebounds in their 2 games. Alcorn State announced that a 4th recruit, a big C who scores and rebounds well, had accepted a scholarship. The Braves still have one more scholarship to fill.

[PointGuard]

Game Results—Nov. 27-Dec. 3

Western Illinois (3-2)—61, Tarleton—43 (The Leathernecks defense stymied Tarleton in the first half, and Western Illinois led the Texans 29-14 at halftime. SG Marcelo Barker scored 14 plus he had 4 steals and 2 blocks. C Jamar Curtis scored 9 and had 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.)

#9 Indiana—60, Western Illinois (3-3)—59 (Western Illinois went ahead by 10 points in the first half but at the break led by just a 27-24 score. The 2nd half was close the entire way, but Indiana scored the final 4 points to gain the win. SF James Johnson had 17 points and 7 boards.)

UC-San Diego (3-2)—87, Stony Brook—71 (The first half was close the entire way with Stony Brook holding a slim 47-45 lead at the break. But the Tritons applied a solid defense in the 2nd half that allowed them to pull away. SF Gregg Green hit for 17 points, PF Jack Robinson had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals, and SG Chris Williams had 12 points and 7 boards.)

UC-San Diego (4-2)—86, Fairleigh Dickinson—68 (The Tritons gained control late in the first half to lead 46-39 going into the 2nd half. UC-San Diego again used a tight defense in the 2nd half to come away with a solid victory. SF Gregg Green scored 17 points and PF Jack Robinson added 16.)

Alcorn State (3-2)—87, Bryant—79 (OT) (Bryant controlled the game in the first half and led by 9 points after 20 minutes of play. But the Braves got their offense in gear to pull ahead in the 2nd half but let the Bulldogs come back late in the half to send the game to overtime. Alcorn State’s offense continued to dominate in the OT. C Gabriel Atwood scored 27 plus had 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.)

Drexel—82, Alcorn State (3-3)—80 (Alcorn State led 50-44 at the end of the 1st half but failed to hold off the Dragons in the 2nd half. PG Todd Young scored 16 points.)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-2)—79, Nevada—70 (The Golden Lions led most of the game and built a 15 point lead in the 2nd half and then held on for a big win. SG Kwame Mickens dropped in 19 points while SF Dan Jefferson scored 17 and C Chris Betts had a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards.)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-2)—97, Winthrop—72 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff led from wire-to-wire in their beatdown of the Eagles. C Chris Betts poured in 23 points and had 9 rebounds.)

Dayton—90, MD-Eastern Shore (2-3)—84 (OT) (The Hawks held a 35-33 halftime lead. The game continued to be close throughout the 2nd half and went to an overtime in which Dayton caught fire offensively. C Dwayne Bullett and reserve guard Edouard Gaultier both scored 12 points for the Hawks.)

MD-Eastern Shore (3-3)—95, Omaha—87 (2 OT’s) (The Hawks led by 11 in the first half but their lead was shaved to 44-39 at the break. Then Omaha built an 11 point lead in the 2nd half before MD-Eastern Shore roared back late to forge a tie. In the first OT, Omaha built a small lead but the Hawks tied them at the buzzer. Then Md-Eastern Shore totally controlled the 2nd OT. PG Lataryl Brown scored 21, SF Jibran Hale hit for 17, and C Dwayne Bullett had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.)

Awards: Jibran Hale (MD-Eastern Shore), Freshman of the Week for Conference U (25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks in their 2 games). MD-Eastern Shore and Alcorn State also split their games this week, but the two teams played in 4 overtime periods in this week’s games.

Significant Injuries: none

Comments: Collectively the five coaches’ teams won 7 and lost 3 this week. Of particular note were the offenses generated by UC-San Diego (86.5 ppg this week) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (88.0 ppg this week)…with both teams recording 2 victories each. Although Western Illinois split its two games, the loss was by only a point on the road to the #9 ranked team in the nation. C Chris Betts of Arkansas-Pine Bluff had 39 points and 19 rebounds in his team’s two games. Alcorn State’s C Gabriel Atwood had 38 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 steals in the Brave’s two games.

[PointGuard]

Game Results—Dec. 4-10

Georgia Tech—68, Western Illinois (3-4)—66 (OT) (Close all the way with 16 lead changes and 15 ties and Western Illinois’ biggest lead was 9 points and Georgia Tech’s largest lead was 4 points. The Leathernecks led 37-35 at the half and the game was tied at 62-62 when the claxon sounded ending regulation play. Both teams’ defense predominated in the overtime with Western Illinois nearly gaining a major road victory over a much more highly rated team. C Jamar Curtis scored 20 points for the Leathernecks.)

UC-San Diego (5-2)—93, SE Louisiana—85 (After being tied at 47-47 at the half, the Tritons gained control in the 2nd half, opening as much as a 12 point lead and winning with relative ease as the Tritons’ offense continued to sparkle. Reserve C Joe Roland had 20 points and 6 rebounds.)

Alcorn State (4-3)—83, Bucknell—73 (Bucknell looked to be running away with the game when they opened an early 13 point lead. But the Braves fought back to carve out a 41-35 halftime advantage. Alcorn State expanded their lead to 13 points in the 2nd half enroute to their road win. C Gabriel Atwood finished with 23 points and 7 boards.)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-2)—97, Lafayette-79 (The Golden Lions scored 97 points for the 2nd straight game. By the end of the first half Arkansas-Pine Bluff held a 54-42 lead and expanded their lead to as much as 24 in the 2nd half. SF Dan Jefferson dropped in 21 points and SG Kwame Mickens had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals.)]

MD-Eastern Shore (4-3)—70, St. Bonaventure—57 (The Hawks took control early. At the half they led 37-25 and held onto a double-digit lead throughout the 2nd half as they came away with an impressive road win. SG Travis Temple hit for 20 points.)

Awards: none

Significant Injuries: none

Comments: It was a good week even though all the teams played just a single game. 4 of the 5 teams won and the only loss was in overtime on the road to a much higher rated team.