2021 Pre-Season Roster ReportSo Coach Gaellan sent me over these initial assessments of the current squad's talent. 42% of players have an outside shot rating of 8 or higher. This could not have worked out better for my strategy. We are a bit light on guards with only 5, 3 of which are freshmen. I am hoping to use more guards in the future. Athletically we are not where I want to be, with 64% of players posting an athletic rating of 6 or lower. Anyway let's start from the top down.
CJames Houston, 6-10 SR - A clean up paint beast with a little bit of an outside touch. Excellent passing skills (7) at the 5. Currently the star of the campus for sure.
Owen Johnston, 6-9 SO - Projected 8-10mpg backup center. Average rebounder and defender for the position. Will make the most impact on the offensive glass.
Nolan Charland, 6-10 FR/WO - Would love to be in a position to play this guy. Team up twenty is this guy's time to shine.
PFLucas Merrill, 6-7 SR - Doesn't have the shot his fellow starters have, but will put in a ton of work on the glass. My hopes for this guy are 5ppg, 5rpg, 3apg, 1spg, 1 bpg.
Troy Heatherly, 6-6 JR - More athletic, better outside shooter, better at playing the passing lanes than Lucas. Has a shot at starting next year if he develops.
Bryan Lowry, 6-6 SO - An athletic, shooting 4 that can pass and rebound. Will challenge Troy next year for the starting spot.
Tad Wilson, 6-7 FR - Incredibly raw prospect from Nogales. Great at getting to the line, but not converting. Great at shooting bombs, but loves to shoot contested ones.
SFBrian Foley, 6-6 SR - A long, gifted athlete with an above average stroke. Lives in the midrange and is a capable iso scorer. Passes quickly out of the double team, and has a sense of timing for grabbing boards, steals and swats.
Brian Mason, 6-8 SR - Another midrange shooter who uses his size to incorporate post ups on smaller wings. I think he has potential to start at 4 for us, but his scoring ability might be necessary coming off the bench right now. He is a humble kid and doesn't care about his minutes too much.
SGDave Atchison, 6-1 FR - Our most hotly contested position, due to the fact that there are 3 true freshmen vying for it. Above all, the most efficient shooter will get the starting 2 spot. Early on, it looks like that's going to be Dave.
Mike Collins, 6-1 FR - He better hope he shoots well because that would be the only reason to play this guy at all. Currently unable to contribute to a team outside of his outside shooting ability.
Harry Hale, 6-3 FR - In a similar boat to Mike. Dave looks to provide more than these two right now, but all 3 will compete with minutes.
PGLynn Milner, 6-0 SR - The sweetest shooter on the team. He leaves the starters a bit vulnerable defensively. But he is a creative playmaker and a great athlete who plays bigger than his height.
Tristan Watkins, 6-3 SO - Good shooter and passer, average athlete. Already knows a bit of 5 Out. Beyond a homerun in recruiting, he is the projected starter after Lynn leaves next year.
Okay so what are the key takeaways here? There is a five senior starting five here, with Foley at the 2 and Mason at the 3. All five of these guys spent their careers so far running Motion, Shuffle and 5 Out. Taking another look at our freshmen shooting guards, it's a no brainer. Looks like we're going with the reigning starters, and playing 5 Out deep ball like I wanted to. We'll see if any of those freshmen can make a legendary three-pointer off the bench for us this year. Defensively we're going to get obliterated unless we can cause some disruption. They ran 90% man, 10% 3-2 zone, with no press beyond full court man. I don't know if it's feasible for this team to deviate at this point. But we will start training next year on a diamond press and 1-2-2 zone. Here's this season's projected starting five:
I am shocked that these guys only managed 6 wins as juniors last season. Time will reveal why. Where does that leave us in recruiting? I think it's sort of a blessing and a curse to get 5 scholarships in my first year. Let's see what we can develop. Our targets this year include:
1 Point God1 Point Guard / Shooting Guard (who can play point)2 Small Forwards1 Best Available, leaning
Center or
Guard.
What are my positional recruiting philosophies? I'm glad you asked;
For ALL recruits - Athleticism highly valued.
PG - Pass & Outside
SG - Scoring & Outside
SF - Defense & Steals
PF - Rebounds & Outside
C - Rebounds, Defense, Blocks, Pass
