Josh "Transfer-man" Fontaine

[PointGuard]

Recruiting

[NOTE: As we did last season, 3rd Assistant Coach Shannon Jackson will handle all the recruiting activities this time around (in other words I’m simming recruiting with the AI doing it.)]

We had 4 scholarships to fill due to the upcoming graduations of PGs Aaron Sanchez and Jeremy Charles and PFs Jonathan Davis and Jerrance Scott. Those are big shoes to fill. These 4 players combined to average 34.6 ppg, 10.0 apg, and 15.9 rpg last season and are likely to be more productive this season.

By the end of September we had 2 players who had given us verbal acceptances. Both were high school Centers.

Michael McMahon is 6’9” tall and comes from Clinton, Illinois. He’s ranked #1385 in the nation, but we’ve rated him as a B- recruit due to him being a very hard worker and his strong inside shooting skills and his being a solid rebounder and shot blocker.

Anthony Carey is 6’10 tall and comes from Mounds, Illinois. His ranking is lower (#1715) and we’ve rated him as a C+ recruit. His skills are similar to McMahon’s, but he’s likely to take longer to mature into a good collegiate player. Carey’s GPA gives me concern that he may not meet our minimum SAT requirements.

Then in mid-October we got our final two verbal acceptances of scholarship offers. Both of these recruits are PG’s.

Marcus Jackson is from Brimfield, Illinois and is 6’2” in height. He’s ranked #1280 as a recruit and we’ve evaluated him as a B- recruit. He’s extremely athletic, is a very good shooter from outside (although he doesn’t tend to shoot too much) and is an excellent passer and solid ball-handler.

Cameron Brown stands 6’4” tall and is from Hammond, Wisconsin. His recruit ranking is just #1700. He’s a good shooter from outside and scores more than Jackson. He’s got good passing and ball-handling skills. He’s got a tremendous work ethic.

So we refilled our team at the positions that were in need, but I don’t expect any of the 4 to step in and do a lot for us as freshmen. I was hoping we’d latch on to a couple much higher rated recruits. That means we’ll probably need to pick up a couple strong transfer players next summer.

[PointGuard]

Pre-Conference Schedule

I got our AD to work up a pre-conference schedule without any really tough opponents.

We’ll have home games against: Denver, Detroit Mercy, Arkansas State, Southern Mississippi, and Northeastern.

We have too many away games but kept the competition level from being too daunting with games against: New Orleans, Texas State, Columbia, Tennessee State, Loyola (MD), Long Beach State, Merrimack, and New Hampshire.

[PointGuard]

October/November Practices:

Again this season we’ll primarily run a Flex offense and we’ll mainly stick with a man-to-man defense both in the half court and as a pressure full-court defense. Our returning players are familiar and experienced with those strategies. On offense we’ll also throw in some Princeton and Motion sets and we’ll employ a 3-2 zone a bit on defense.

1st Assistant Coach David Ward worked the guys hard for the 6 weeks before the season kicked off. There were a few incidents in early October, but they were minor and things settled out without a need for me to intervene and there were no further problems.

[PointGuard]

Roster

Starters:

PG—Aaron Sanchez, 6-0 Sr, Last season 8.2 ppg and 4.4 apg, 3/3.5 stars

SG—Livan Forney, 6-4 So, Last season 12.4 ppg for Florida Atlantic, 2/3.5 stars

SF—Donnell Tate, 6-6 Jr, Last season 8.5 ppg and 4.3 rpg, 3/3.5 stars

PF—Jonathan Davis, 6-6 Sr, Last season 7.7 ppg and 5.4 rpg, 3/3.5 stars

C—Jerrance Scott, 6-8 Sr, Last season 10.6 ppg and 6.2 rpg, 3.5/3.5 stars

Subs:

PG—Jeremy Charles, 6-4 Sr (8.1 ppg last season), 2/3.5 stars; Jevon Gage, 6-2 Fr (HS last season), 1/4 stars

SG—John Price, 6-3 Jr (2.0 ppg last season), 2/3 stars; Jehiel Davis (6-6 Sr (1.6 ppg last season), 0.5/0.5 stars

SF—Rory Nelson, 6-6 Jr (6-6 Jr, 1.4 ppg last season), 2.5/3 stars; Brandon Dixon, 6-7 Fr (HS last season), 1.5/3 stars

PF—Vince Madsen, 6-6 So (14.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg last season for Western Carolina), 3.5/4 stars

C—Devin Cage, 6-9 Fr (HS last season), 0.5/2.5 stars; Esmund Tucker, 6-7 Fr (HS last season), 0.5/0.5 stars

Redshirt—PG Tony McDermott, 6-2 Fr (HS last season); 0.5/2 stars

[PointGuard]

Pre-Conference Games:

Chicago State—70, Denver—30 (Yeah, you read right. Denver scored just 30 points! 13 in the first half and then they caught our defense napping to drop in 17 points in the second half. We only hit 37.7% of our shots, but the Pioneers dropped in a miserable 19.6% of theirs. We out-rebounded them 48-30 and made just 10 turnovers compared to 16 by them. SG Livan Forney’s first game at Chicago State was impressive—22 points. None of our other players scored more than 7. Our two J’s: Jerrance Scott and Jonathan Davis both pulled down 11 rebounds. Scott, Donnell Tate, and Aaron Sanchez combined to hit just 6 or their 33 shots. Denver’s top scorer was a reserve who scored 7 points, but in just 8 minutes on the court. They should have played him 38 minutes. [1-0]

Chicago State—84, Detroit Mercy—71 (Our opponent’s ppg average for the season just increased by 20 ppg. We took control 10 minutes into this game and never looked back. We launched up 37 3PA’s…and hit 38% of them. SG Livan Forney again led our scoring with 24 points, but SF Donnell Tate made up for a poor shooting first game by scoring 21 points, hitting 8 of 16 FG’s and 5 of 9 3’s. C Jerrance Scott had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) and PG Aaron Sanchez had a different type of double-double (11 points, 13 assists). Injury: Jerrance Scott sprained his wrist and its expected it’ll take him 2 weeks to get back to 100%. [2-0]

Chicago State—83, Arkansas State—71 (We fell behind 10-2 and struggled to catch up, but finally grabbed lead at 23-21 with 6 minutes left in first half. At half, we led 32-29. We rapidly opened a double-digit lead in the 2nd half and held onto it the remainder of the game. SF Donnell Tate hit 8 of 10 FG’s and scored 25 points.) [3-0]

New Orleans –72, Chicago State—61 (We led throughout the first half but gave up the lead midway though the 2nd half at which point New Orleans steadily pulled away. We were doomed by 18 turnovers and home town refs who sent the Privateers to the line 26 times to just 8 for us. PG Aaron Sanchez was our only player to score in double figures and he had just 11 points.) [3-1]

Chicago State—81, Texas State—73 (We again held a good size lead (as much as 15 points) throughout the first ¾ of the game, but then it looked like we might give it away for a second straight game. But although we let the Bobcats get pretty close, we held them off. Our biggest advantage was on the boards (+11). SG Livan Forney scored 18 points.) [4-1]

Chicago State—80, Southern Methodist—68 (We were up by 15 at the half and expanded the lead to as much as 29 before putting things on cruise control. The Golden Eagles scored 10 more points at the foul
line so it was fortunate we hit 59% of our FG’s compared to Southern Methodist’s 43% shooting. SG Livan Forney again was our leading scorer with 22 points.) [5-1]

Chicago State—86, Columbia—70 (We scored the first 10 points and expanded that lead to as much as 23 points. A walk in the park. We dropped in 59% of our FG’s for the 2nd consecutive game. Top scorer: SG Livan Forney with 18 points.) [6-1]

Chicago State—87, Tennessee State—72 (We were rocked in the first half, falling behind by 15 and trailing at the half 45-35. But the 2nd half was ALL ours. Another good shooting effort—a FG% of 50%. +10 in rebounding. SF Donnell Tate poured in 23 points and had 7 boards. Injury: PF Jonathan Davis, sprained toe.) [7-1]

Northeastern—72, Chicago State—70 (A close game the entire way. We gave it away in the final 2 minutes for a disappointing home loss. We should have put them away, but didn’t. SF Donnell Tate topped our scoring with 16 points.) [7-2]

Loyola (MD)—78, Chicago State—64 (Bad defense by us, but we were just outclassed in this game. SG Livan Forney scored 17 points.) [7-3]

Long Beach State—63, Chicago State—52 (We got crushed and now possess a 3-game loss streak. None of our players scored in double figures. Best effort was by PF Jonathan Davis with 7 points and 12 rebounds.) [7-4]

Merrimack—68, Chicago State—62 (Tied at the half and tied again with 8 minutes to go, but poor shooting and turnovers were our downfall. PF Jonathan Davis scored 16 points and had 7 rebounds. Injury: Donnell Tate, sprained wrist.) [7-5]

Chicago State—72, New Hampshire—62 (Final pre-conference game and final game of the year 2023. Finally we broke our losing streak. We led 34-26 at halftime, but most of the 2nd half was extremely close. We finally pulled away in the last 4 minutes of the game. Reserve PG Jeremy Charles scored 15 points in his 19 minutes on the court. [8-5]

Our 8-5 record was the 2nd best pre-conference record amongst the 13 Western Athletic Conference teams…behind Abilene Christian’s 11-2 record. At home we were 4-1 and on the road we were 4-4. We’re averaging 73.2 ppg while giving up 66.9 ppg.

Top scorers: SG Livan Forney-13.8 ppg, PF Donnell Tate-12.3 ppg, C Jerrance Scott-9.5 ppg, PF/C Vince Madsen-8.2 ppg, PF Jonathan Davis-7.1 ppg, PG Aaron Sanchez-6.2 ppg, PG Jeremy Charles-5.9 ppg, and C Devin Gage-4.3 ppg.

Rebounding: C Jerrance Scott-6.6 rpg, PF Jonathan Davis-6.2 rpg, SF Donnell Tate-5.7 rpg, PF/C Vince Madsen-4.6 rpg, SG Livan Forney-3.5 rpg.

Assists: PG Aaron Sanchez-6.2 apg, SG Livan Forney-1.9 apg, SF Donnell Tate-1.7 apg, PG Jeremy Charles-1.4 apg.

[PointGuard]

Conference Play—January 2024

Chicago State—79, Sam Houston State—73 (We were down by 2 at the end of the first half. But we pulled ahead early in the 2nd half and then never gave up the lead. We had 5 players score in double figures, led by PG Aaron Sanchez’ 21 points. He also had 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 5 steals. Injury: sF Rory Nelson, sore foot.) [9-5, 1-0]

Chicago State—93, Texas Rio Grande—85 (We led 50-37 at the half and never let the Vaqueros get closer than 6 in the 2nd half. C Jerrance Scott scored 25 points (12 of 17 from the field, but just 1 of 12 at the foul line) and PG Aaron Sanchez hit for 10 points plus had 12 assists for a double-double.) [10-5, 2-0]

Chicago State—80, New Mexico State—73 (The game was knotted at 32-32 after 20 minutes. The lead flip flopped during the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. We grabbed the lead at that point and doggedly held onto it the rest of the way. PG Aaron Sanchez had 18 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds. Injuries: SG John Price, sore calf; C Jerrence Scott, sore leg.) [11-5, 3-0]

Chicago State—82, Seattle—58 (It took us 13 points to get a lead, but we never gave it up after that. SG Livan Forney topped our scoring with 18 points.) [12-5, 4-0, finally alone in first place, ½ game ahead of Lamar]

Stephen F. Austin—60, Chicago State—57 (The Lumberjacks held the lead all the way up to the 6 minute mark when we finally got ahead, but we lost the lead 4 minutes later and couldn’t catch up during the final 2 minutes of the game. Stephen F. Austin scored 7 more points than us on free throws. SF Donnell Tate scored 14 points and C Jerrance Scott had a doiuble-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.) [12-6, 4-1, ½ game behind Lamar]

Chicago State—85, Abilene Christian—79 (We grabbed the lead very early in the game, led by as much as 25 points, but let things get close in the final 7 minutes of the game. C Jerrance Scott led the way for us with 19 points and 9 boards.) [13-6, 5-1, three-way tie for 1st with Lamar and Dixie State]

Chicago State—72, Tarleton State—52 (Tarleton State scored the first basket but then we drew away and never looked back. C Jerrance Scott had his 3rd very strong game with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Injury: PG Jeremy Charles, Strained knee, recovery will take about 2 weeks.) [14-6, 6-1, tied with Dixie State for 1st]

Recruiting News: All 4 of our recruits met our minimum SAT score requirement. 3 were well above our minimum and Anthony Carey (who we were scared wouldn’t meet it) slid by with a score that was exactly at our minimum.

[PointGuard]

Radio Interview of Coach Josh Fontaine

FFF: This is Fearless Felix Freehan on 670 AM The Score, Chicago’s most-listened to sports radio station. Fearless Felix has a first for The Score tonight. We’ll be talking with Josh Fontaine, the head coach for Chicago State Cougars basketball. It’s the first because, while we’ve had coaches from other Chicago area college basketball teams like DePaul, Bradley, and Loyola, we’ve never had a lengthy interview with anyone from Chicago State. But Coach Fontaine has taken the Cougars from relative obscurity to the top of the Western Athletic Conference. So let’s get to it!

FFF: Welcome to The Score, Coach. You’ve got The Windy City talking about Chicago State basketball.

JF: Thanks, Felix. It’s good to be with you and your knowledgeable listeners.

FFF: The 3 seasons before you came to Chicago State, the Cougars had gone winless in the WAC and had finished in last place 6 straight seasons. Your first year, the team wone 7 and lost 9 in the WAC, then last season the Cougars were tied for 1st place in the conference and made it to the NCAA Tournament. And this season you’re now tied for the conference lead with a 6 and 1 record. What’s been your formula for the quick ascension?

JF: Great assistant coaches and hard working players. I give a lot of responsibility and authority to my 3 main assistant coaches. And they’ve all done a great job for me. And while we’ve not necessarily had the most talented players, I think our players have played with a lot of heart.

FFF: It’s been said you’re something of a hands-off coach. Would you agree that’s true?

JF: Well, not really hands-off. But I put a lot of trust in my assistant coaches and let them run their specific assignments. David Ward run our practices and works hand-in-hand with me as a bench coach during games. I brought him in because he has a tremendous amount of experience and I trust him completely. Jim Cunningham has been with me all 3 seasons here also and does a great job scouting teams and helping out with a myriad of other duties. Shannon Jackson came in this past summer as our recruiting guru. Like Jim, Shannon has tremendous experience and knows the Midwest well….and the Midwest Is our primary recruiting area. So that allows me to be more of a big-picture guy that many college head coaches.

FFF: Well, it seems to be working for you at Chicago State, Coach. Are you going to get the team back to the NCAA Tourney this season?

JF: There’s no doubt I want to. But it’s a bit of a crap shoot. Usually just one team from the WAC is selected for the Big Dance. So we not only need to do well in conference play but we need to win the WAC Tournament as well so we need to put together 3 strong games in 3 days.

FFF: You’ve got 4 high school recruits who have committed to come to Chicago State next season. Are they going to carry you to new heights?

JF: I certainly hope so, but recruiting is tough for a school like ours. I’m happy with these 4 guys, but we aren’t able to get the highest ranked recruits. So we’ll just have to wait and see how any of our recruits pan out. But when I came here I said that a major part of developing this team would be by getting quality transfer players. And I think we’ve done well on that front thus far. This season, 3 of our starters are transfer players. Jerrance Scott and Donnell Tate had great first seasons for us last year and are very solid for us this season. And Livan Forney came to us last season and not only is starting but is our top scorer. Last summer we also lassoed Vince Madsen and he’s giving us tremendous depth inside and scoring and rebounding well. We also have two other transfer players who are good role players for us.

FFF: There are those who accuse you of simply being a ruthless scavenger of guys who haven’t fit in at other basketball programs. In fact, there are those who refer to you as “Coach Transfer”. What’s your response to that?

JF: I’d say, I’ll take those guys who didn’t fit in elsewhere any time I can get them. And…we do take them frequently and appreciate that we are able to do so. But we do vet those on the transfer list and weed out those who we feel will damage our team chemistry. People can call me whatever they like. When the NCAA changed the transfer rules, I saw it as a way to quickly develop and supercharge a team. And that’s proved to be the case. So I take being called “Coach Transfer” as a compliment.

FFF: Why have you been so successful at getting good transfer players?

JF: It’s a combination of things. Chicago State is highly rated academically and we sell that very successfully, letting players know they not only will get to play on a great team but also get a great education. In addition, my assistant coaches are very good so that transfer players know they’ll get good training and be treated well. As a group, I think we do a good job of scouting, evaluating, and working with transfer players to build their interest in us and gain commitments. And our administration has been tremendously supportive which helps as well.

FFF: But ultimately, wouldn’t you rather get guys through recruiting so you’d have them on your team for 4 years rather than the few years you get with transfer players?

JF: I much prefer having guys who help us win, no matter how we can get them and how long they play for us. If we have less long-term cohesion than other teams, it’s simply up to me and my assistants to quickly blend them into the team and get them familiar with our strategies.

FFF: But don’t these new transfer rules greatly increase the likelihood that you will also lose players who decide to transfer away from your team?

JF: Simple answer, yes. But for each who transfers, that just means we can go after another new transfer player. If a guy transfers away, we just have to be skilled enough to attract a replacement who is better.

FFF: OK, but doesn’t the greater turnover in players make it more difficult for your fans to bond with your team by getting to know and support players over a 4 year college career?

JF: I think our fans prefer that we win rather than necessarily have players here for 4 years. Chicago State experienced many years of having a team composed of 4-year players and what did it get them? A lot of last place finishes. I don’t think our fans would prefer to go back to having winless seasons.

FFF: Coach, it’s been great having you with us. Congratulations on your success with the Cougars. It’s fantastic to have another basketball power in Chicago. Keep up the good work.

JF: Thanks Felix. It’s been a pleasure talking with you and your radio listeners.

[Wayne23]

That Fearless Flooky Fleederman gives good interview! I'll be listening in often!

[PointGuard]

Conference Play—February 2024

Lamar—86, Chicago State—74 (We were never in the lead. Lamar’s offense left us in the dust and we trailed by as much as 20 before cutting into their lead a little in the last 10 minutes but never getting closer than 10 points. All 5 starters for the Cardinals scored in double figures. Our leading scorer was SF Donnell Tate with 17 points. Injury: PG Aaron Sanchez, sore calf) [14-7, 6-2, three-way tie for 1st with Lamar and Dixie State]

Chicago State—81, Utah Valley—66 (This game was never in doubt as we jumped out to a 23-6 lead and led by as much as 21 points. SF Donnell Tate hit for 19 points. C Jerrance Scott had another double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.) [15-7, 7-2, tied with Dixie State for 1st place]

Stephen F. Austin—81, Chicago State—62 (After trimming us by 3 points in their gym, the Lumberjacks cut us down to size in our gym. Not much to say about his game, except that we sucked. PF/C Vince Madsen scored 14 points.) [15-8, 7-3, along in 2nd place, ½ game behind Dixie State]

Chicago State—76, Dixie State—63 (We were tied for 1st with Dixie State entering this game. Fortunately it was a home game for us. There were 10 lead changes and 4 ties in the first half but we went to the locker room on top by 6 points. We expanded our lead to as much as 16 points in the 2nd half and won with ease. C Jerrance Scott not only scored 22 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and had 3 steals and a block, but he also held Dixie State’s starting C scoreless. Injury: C Devin Gage, strained knee requiring about 2 weeks to fully recover.) [16-8, 8-3, alone in 1st place, ½ game ahead of Lamar]

Chicago State—87, California Baptist—66 (“We came out firing on all cylinders. 6 minutes into the game we were up 23-7 and just never took our foot off the throttle!” exclaimed Coach Josh Fontaine. “Outshooting the Lancers 54% to 42% was great, but our total domination of the boards (41-17) really was what impressive. The only thing we didn’t do tonight was control their excellent freshman SG Tre Stevens who scored 23 points.” Topping the scoring for the Cougars were a triumvirate who each scored 16: SF Donnell Tate, C Jerrance Scott, and SG Livan Forney. 3 players had double-doubles: Scott with his 16 points plus 10 boards, Forney who had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and PG Aaron Sanchez with 11 points together with 10 assists. Reserve C/PF Vince Madsen scored 14 points in his 7 minutes on the court.) [17-8, 9-3. Alone in 1st place, 1 game ahead of Lamar]

Abilene Christian—74, Chicago State—64 (The Cougars ran out of gas in their 2nd straight road game. They started strongly building an 11 point lead midway through the first half, but then let the Wildcats catch up and go ahead 37-31 at the break. The two teams exchanged the lead several times in the early portion of the 2nd half, but then the Cougars gradually fell further and further behind due to a series of turnovers by Chicago State. SG Livan Forney led the scoring for the Cougars with 18 points.) [17-9, 9-4, now tied with Lamar for 1st place]

Chicago State—95, Grand Canyon—65 (Home sweet home. The Cougars were ahead the entire game and sported a 44-25 advantage at the half. Chicago State knocked down 55% of their shots and had a 19-6 turnover advantage. SG Livan Forney continued to be high point man, scoring 25. So much for the good news, the bad news was that Donnell Tate strained an abdominal that likely will hamper him for the next 2 games.) [18-9, 10-4, still tied for 1st with Lamar]

Sam Houston State—71, Chicago State—63 (The Cougars started out playing well and held a small lead but midway through the first half their shooting went stone cold. They fell behind by as much as 12 before hitting a couple shots in the final minute to reduce Sam Houston’s lead to 31-26. Chicago State’s shooting woes continued in the 2nd half and they trailed by 17 before closing the gap a bit at the end, but could never truly threaten. Livan Forney was in foul trouble the entire night and fouled out after scoring just 3 points. C Jerrance Scott had 12 points and 10 boards.) [18-10, 10-5, 3-way tie for 1st with Lamar and Dixie State]

[PointGuard]

Conference Play—March 2024

Chicago State—77, New Mexico State—66 (New Mexico State built a 14 point lead in the first half, but we came back to lead 44-42 at the break. But the Aggies again spurted ahead in the middle of the 2nd half. The Cougars finally put together a strong final 7 minutes to win their final game of the regular season. SF Donnell Tate with 22 points and SG Livan Forney with 20 points carried the team offensively.) [19-10, 11-5, 1st place tie with Lamar]