so far only 9 players on the roster.

Florida Colonial wrote:

Weluche-Ume not on there yet

Stop you’re giving me PTSD flashbacks to Gapare!

Poog wrote:

Didn’t see Christian Jones listed on the roster either

Hopefully, he's still coming, especially after this recent feat versus Bronny James' Sierra Canyon team. And BTW, Lebron was in attendance when Jones' dagger sealed the win for Bishop Montgomery.

https://www.dailybreeze.com/2023/02/14/bishop-montgomery-boys-basketball-defeats-sierra-canyon-thanks-to-christian-jones-big-shot/

Sit tight. Some of these guys haven't graduated high school yet or received final approval from the Clearinghouse. I have heard nothing that suggests they aren't coming.

Last edited by GWRising (6/08/2023 10:14 am)

Poog wrote:

Didn’t see Christian Jones listed on the roster either

Jones is now on campus. Max is already calling him “his son”

Jones and Weluche-Ume in the roster now.

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

By my count, we now have 11 players under scholarship for 2023-2024, with 3 more non-scholarship players (Luke Cronin, Amir Arrington and Laziz  Talipov).   That leaves 2 scholarships unused.   Do you think we are done now for the upcoming season or are we still looking to add on?   An established big would sure hit the spot, if any are still unsigned.

12 players under scholarship

Bishop
Edwards
Harvey
Jones
Hutchinson
Autry
Schroder
Akingbola
Weluche-ume
Buchanan
Johnson
Smith jr

dmvpiranha wrote:

Don't think Akingbola has formally signed yet which is why he isn't listed on the roster so that would be 12.

History would suggest we won't use the final spot but you never know when the right player comes along. Since grad transfers can enter at any time the transfer portal never really dies down. After all, EJ committed in mid-July last year.

I was originally hoping to land an experienced guard to play next to JB but it's not a problem if we hand the keys to Jacoi from day 1 and let him play through any mistakes.

I still don't feel great about the situation at the 5 against bigger opponents. Akingbola may be able to play half the game but who plays behind him? Going to have to hope Keegan makes major strides adding strength this offseason but even then he's not a true banger down low. Against the average opponent, we may be able to get away with going small for stretches, but against a team like SLU I'm not so sure.
 

Don't believe Akingbola has to technically "sign" anything like a NLI. Probably won't be listed until the July session starts because he has to be enrolled as a grad transfer. I would look for him on the roster sometime on or after July 3rd.
 

Free Quebec wrote:

dmvpiranha wrote:

Don't think Akingbola has formally signed yet which is why he isn't listed on the roster so that would be 12.

History would suggest we won't use the final spot but you never know when the right player comes along. Since grad transfers can enter at any time the transfer portal never really dies down. After all, EJ committed in mid-July last year.

I was originally hoping to land an experienced guard to play next to JB but it's not a problem if we hand the keys to Jacoi from day 1 and let him play through any mistakes.

I still don't feel great about the situation at the 5 against bigger opponents. Akingbola may be able to play half the game but who plays behind him? Going to have to hope Keegan makes major strides adding strength this offseason but even then he's not a true banger down low. Against the average opponent, we may be able to get away with going small for stretches, but against a team like SLU I'm not so sure.
 

Curious why you don’t think Weluche-Ume can hold down the fort for part of the game. I realize you never know about a freshman until the season starts, but I’m excited about his potential to play the 4 and 5.

I'd be surprised if Weluche-Ume is an instant impact guy. If he can stick around for a couple seasons I like his long-term potential. He will need to add some strength to play the 5. There's no shortage of guys between 6'7" - 6'8" that could potentially play small-ball 5 (Buchanan has a lot of potential too) but it would be nice to have a backup to Akingbola, who may find himself in foul trouble playing major minutes. Keegan will be key, but was hoping he was somewhat of a deeper/situational option than outright backup. The Hunter/Noel rotation was fine enough last year, but don't know what the solution is this year. At the A10 level it feels necessary to have two capable players at the 5 even if they aren't both needed from game-to-game.
 

dmvpiranha wrote:

Free Quebec wrote:

dmvpiranha wrote:

Don't think Akingbola has formally signed yet which is why he isn't listed on the roster so that would be 12.

History would suggest we won't use the final spot but you never know when the right player comes along. Since grad transfers can enter at any time the transfer portal never really dies down. After all, EJ committed in mid-July last year.

I was originally hoping to land an experienced guard to play next to JB but it's not a problem if we hand the keys to Jacoi from day 1 and let him play through any mistakes.

I still don't feel great about the situation at the 5 against bigger opponents. Akingbola may be able to play half the game but who plays behind him? Going to have to hope Keegan makes major strides adding strength this offseason but even then he's not a true banger down low. Against the average opponent, we may be able to get away with going small for stretches, but against a team like SLU I'm not so sure.
 

Curious why you don’t think Weluche-Ume can hold down the fort for part of the game. I realize you never know about a freshman until the season starts, but I’m excited about his potential to play the 4 and 5.

I'd be surprised if Weluche-Ume is an instant impact guy. If he can stick around for a couple seasons I like his long-term potential. He will need to add some strength to play the 5. There's no shortage of guys between 6'7" - 6'8" that could potentially play small-ball 5 (Buchanan has a lot of potential too) but it would be nice to have a backup to Akingbola, who may find himself in foul trouble playing major minutes. Keegan will be key, but was hoping he was somewhat of a deeper/situational option than outright backup. The Hunter/Noel rotation was fine enough last year, but don't know what the solution is this year. At the A10 level it feels necessary to have two capable players at the 5 even if they aren't both needed from game-to-game.
 

I’m not sure the Hunter/Noel rotation was really all that fine.  Total lack of rim protection and poor defensive rebounding are a huge part of why our defense was sub-300 in efficiency.  Noel was an especially poor defensive rebounder (barely 10% in conference play, which is worse than Qwanzi and very poor for an A10 center). 

CC and the guards made do with what we had, and we had a decent A10 season in a down year, but our defensive efficiency was really substandard - and we especially fell off a cliff with foul trouble to dean or Ricky.

I may be overly optimistic on our newest British recruit, but the fact that he’s been practicing against grown men (including guys who were college stars) and the fact that he played well when he actually did get in games gives me hope that he’s at least ready to be a defensive upgrade in the frontcourt right away. Guess we’ll see.

Last edited by Free Quebec (6/27/2023 3:06 pm)