To be honest I've been pretty happy with everybody's growth this year.

Been impressed with him, and a year or 2 or 3 with the strength coach will do wonders.   Looking forward to the development of all the new players.

Fun fact: in conference play, Chase leads the entire A10 in field goal percentage, converting on 67.5% of his field goal attempts. Sure, almost all the makes are right near the rim on set plays, but I still find that impressive, especially as a freshman. Chase has shown the ability to finish at a good rate underneath, probably better than AT and especially Javier have shown at times (in the case of AT, it might still be a bit to do with the hip injury suffered earlier). While JNJ and Jamison have received all the attention (don't get me wrong, they definitely deserve it), Chase has quietly been as solid of late. It's even more impressive that he's been able to do this after missing half the season with an injury - I honestly thought this would have been a lost season for him based on that, but he has truly thrived as a roll man. JC's system has put him in a great position to succeed. Transferring to AU definitely is harsh even as a worst possible scenario, but it could be more possible if he was playing in another system. Being a good fit in the right system can trump level of league a guy plays in. Still don't quite know how we landed Chase as we hadn't even offered him when he cut his final school list to 5 (George Mason, Nebraska, Temple, UMBC, Xavier), but credit goes to Mojo for stealing him away.

I think Chase has a high floor (the highest of the freshmen) and also a high ceiling which is a great combination to have. He hasn't let it fly from distance yet, but after watching him at Kenner he definitely has a good stroke. If he can extend his range, that will definitely allow our team's offense to reach another level. JC clearly loves guys launching threes, and imagine how deadly we could be if our 5 man can also shoot it at a good clip from there. It will open up a lot of lanes and allow guys to operate underneath. Then after that, the staff can work with him to put the ball on the floor. There is a lot of upside to be found. As it stands, at worst he is a rotation guy coming off the bench. Maybe I'm wearing rose-colored glasses as the schedule is about to get much tougher, but Chase notching multiple double doubles in conference play has been fascinating to watch, especially when you remember how he looked just games earlier. In the Boston U game, he took the ball to the hoop but didn't go up strong enough with it and didn't do much else in limited time. He fouled out in 11 minutes against St. Louis (partly because of matchup). Now, he's able to play 30 minutes without fouling out, and of course that field goal percentage as mentioned shows he's finishing much better. Looking forward to seeing him continue to develop. While I'm hoping Noel can become the next Osunniyi/Hughes/French for us (probably have expectations too high) long term, I like that we have Chase as an option to turn to for the next three years after this season. Putting on strength is something I'm sure he's going to focus on in the offseason.
 

I've been very impressed with his play especially considering he missed the first 8 games due to injury. He hasn't looked like a freshman big, who many times are prone to turn the ball over, play defense with their arms instead of moving their feet, travel when trying to post up, etc.  He's also looked good on the screen and roll and has shown the ability to get the ball on glass quickly when finishing near the rim. As previously stated, he showed a very nice stroke from the outside at Kenner so I could see him developing into a stretch five. Some more time in the gym will strengthen his hands which should cut down on his turnovers, and his freethrow percentage needs to improve, but overall he's having a nice season.

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

At his worst he could be a future transfer to American. Jury still out.

Considering our last two transfers to AU (Cimino and Maragkos), I think we've seen enough already out of Chase to say he has way more talent than either of those two. 

Where I think he still needs improvement is in softening his hands (way too many passees just seem to clunk off of him) and in generally bulking up to be able to battle for positioning better.  Right now I am very high on Chase as someone who can become a TJ Cline-like player for us by his senior season.  He seems like the type of kid who will work as hard as possible to get there too.

Last edited by GW0509 (2/04/2020 8:19 am)

OK...I will amend.  At best, he can be a poor man's Mike Zagardo.  At worst, he could be a future transfer to Delaware.

In all serous, I am pleasantly surprised with what he has shown so far, but it has only been a handful of games, against mostly limited competition.   But he does seem like a high IQ player who will help.