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.

Nov. 25, 2030: #16 Boston College Eagles (3-1) vs Stanford Cardinal (1-2) at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, CA Ben Schau, C Things went well for me in the first two games here, then I got shut down against Maryland and didn’t play too well against Michigan State. So I now realize Division I ball isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to take a lot of work and there will be ups and downs. I’m tired of the down though, time for an up tonight. Coach Fed has me starting at the 4 and Tim Cotton starting at the 5. I guess he just wanted to shake things up a bit. Maybe wants me to roam a bit more and get free for some more outside shots. Sounds good to me. We had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop in the first half. And if it hadn’t been for Bobby Grannum chipping in with 9 points we would have been much further behind that our halftime 38-31 deficit. Coach Fed told us to play solid defense in the 2nd half and that each stop we made and each basket we made would be one step closer to our eventual victory. I can’t say we played great in the 2nd half, but we sort of just kept on Stanford’s heels… repeatedly getting close and then dropping back. We still trailed by 2 with a little under a minute to go. At that point we brought the ball up the court and worked it around trying to find a free shot, but James Pratt had to finally loft up a desperation shot from corner as the clock shot was expiring. It was a little short and hit the edge of the rim. I was able to reach up and get my fingers of the rebound and tip it in to tie the game with 27 seconds to go. Stanford called a time out to set up a play for last shot. Coach Fed subbed Glen Robinson in for Corey Graham since Glen is a lock-down defender. He stressed to all of us, “No Fouls!”. He then told us to let Stanford’s PG Kraft fiddle around running the clock down outside the arc with the ball while we employed our 2-3 zone. Then when the clock got down to 12 seconds we’d quickly shift to our man-to-man. He wanted Danny Toliver to bottle up inside their PF Brown (who had been hitting well from outside). He said since Kraft wasn’t shooting well, he’d either try to drive and pull up for a short jumper or get the ball to either SG Voskuhl or SF Dyschenko for the final shot. He told Pratt to force Dyschenko to hug the sideline so the best option pass would be to Voskuhl. He told Bobby Grannum to cut off Kraft from making a drive and for him and Glen Robinson to anticipate a pass to Voskuhl. The clock got down to 10 seconds and as the clock wound down Bobby Grannum picked off Kraft’s pass and fired it ahead to a streaking Glen Robinson who laid the ball in with 2 ticks on the clock. Stanford was unable to get off a shot and we escaped with a 71-69 road win. I finished with 13 points and 10 boards plus 3 blocks. Bobby Grannum also scored 13. James Pratt had 11 and Danny Toliver had a good game with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Tim Cotton only scored 6 but had 9 boards.

Coach Fred Aura (FA) discusses players with 2nd Asst Coach (Practice) Coach Landon Friel (LF) FA: Let’s go position by position on what we’ve seen thus far. LF: OK, well at PG Bobby Grannum sure showed what he can do in our last game. And I like how Glen Robinson has done backing Bobby up. FA: I agree but Rashon Thorn’s performance thus far has left a lot to be desired. LF: Yeah, but he’s not been on the court much so maybe that’s part of the problem. But with the way Bobby and Glen are handling the “1”, there just isn’t much opportunity to give Rashon time out there to show us more of what he can do. FA: SG is locked down too. Corey Graham has done well, although his shooting percentage is down from last year. But there’s been too few games for that to be a concern yet. LF: Corey’s also has been finding open guys and getting assists for us. Again, Glen Robinson has backed up the “2” also and done it well. Glen is just such a solid player. The guy I had hoped would come on for us in reserve is Adrian Moss and he started slow, but played pretty well against Michigan State. So maybe he will get it together and that would really help our depth at the guard positions. FA: I’m really please by how James Pratt has played at SF. He’s shooting the hell out of the ball and doing pretty well on the boards for us too. I think we gotta give him more minutes. LF: James has put together 3 straight good games. And Maynard Gardner hasn’t been consistent but he shows flashes of brilliance. With Keith Kolder not producing for us, it looks like we could pretty much split time between Maynard and James at SF and be in good shape. FA: Both are hitting a high percentage of their shots. I just hope that continues. What’s your thoughts on our bigs? LF: If you’d have asked me a week ago, I’d have said Ben Schau has locked up the middle for us, but now his shine has been dulled. His first two games were so outstanding,, but then he goes out and doesn’t give us much at all in his next two games. That may be due to being a freshman and needing to get comfortable with the variety of play by different opponents. Danny Toliver has done a good job at PF and he’s pretty consistent. But the guy who has impressed me of late has been Tim Cotton. FA: Yeah, Tim has really come off the bench and produced, game in, game out for us thus far. You know, I’m toying with he idea of starting Tim aat C instead of Ben and moving Ben over to the “4” for a game to see if that breaks him out of the doldrums. Bringing Danny, Darius Hein, and Mike Williams in from the bench would give us all the depth we need. LF: What do you think of how Mike’s played? To me, he’s been a big surprise. I expected him to be mostly a bench warmer this season. FA: No kidding! He’s surprised me as well. He’s done well even though he’s been hobbled by that sprained toe for over a week now. I’ve not been able to play him in any lengthy amounts of time, but when he recovers from that injury next week, I think we need to really increase his playing time and see if he can sustain his good play for longer periods of time. And Darius hasn’t been scoring like I’d hoped but he’s banging the boards. He started last season and showed he can score, so I’m sure that will come along. LF: Giving Mike more time sounds good to me, Coach. By the way, I know our walkons don’t expect to play, but I’d sure like to get both Freddie Hite and Rob Dodson onto the court a few times this season when we have a decent lead. FA: I will. It might not be for a while though, since I’m having a tough time trying to play all the scholarship players enough time that we can get a good assessment of their skills and performance.

Nov. 22, 2030: Michigan State Spartans (0-1) vs #16 Boston College Eagles (2-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut hill, MA Janeka Aura Georgetown plays tonight so I’m DVR’ng that game so I can watch how Malik does later. The Eagles simply outplayed the Spartans throughout the first half. Fred subbed frequently and the bench players performed nearly as well as the starters. The halftime score was 44-27. PG Bobby Grannum had a big half, scoring 14 points. 10 of our players scored in the first half. BC hung onto their big lead through the 2nd half and came away with an 84-65 drubbing of the Spartans. PG Bobby Grannum scored 20 and had 9 assists. SF James Pratt added 10 points. All 13 players scored for the Eagles. We watched the Georgetown game when we got home. Malik started for the 3rd time this season. They have him starting at SF rather than SG, as was expected. He’s doing a good job on the boards and defensively plus dishing out assists, but he’s had a tough time scoring against as he familiarizes himself with playing at the 3 rather than the 2, but he did score 14 points in one game. Fred thinks he’ll get it together offensively as he gains some experience. He’s too good a shooter to hit as low a percentage of his shots as he has thus far. The Hoyas beat Clemson 58-54 in an exciting game. The Hoyas are now 3-1 this season. After 4 games for Georgetown, Malik is averaging 6.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 2.5 apg. Providence didn’t play tonight. They’re 2-2 thus far. Omari has started every game at PF. He’s averaging 10.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg and is shooting much better this year than he did in his previous 3 seasons playing for the Friars. He’s been the top scorer in one game and the top rebounder for the Friars in 3 games.

Nov. 19, 2030: #14 Boston College (2-0) vs #10 Maryland Terrapins (2-0) in Round 2 of Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii Darrell Montgomery, 1st Asst Coach Maryland has two great freshmen, PG Keith Lee was the #1 ranked recruit last year and is averaging 11.0 ppg and is hitting 47% of his shots and SG Shamar Stewart was the #15 ranked recruit and is averaging 24.5 ppg. Hopefully we can keep them in check. Maryland was knocking down their shots early in the game as they opened a 23-12 lead after 7 minutes of play. We fought back and behind SG Corey Graham’s 11 points, we cut the lead to 42-37 at the break. The Terrapins came out burning up the nets again as the 2nd half started and took a 54-42 in the first 2-1/2 minutes. With 10:24 left we trailed 67-55, but then went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 2 points and force Maryland to call a timeout with 8:14 to go. With 1:27 on the clock, PF Danny Toliver hit a 10 foot floater that tied the score at 78-78. Maryland came right back and scored on their next possession. After a couple of missed opportunities by both teams, we called a time out with 26 seconds to go. Our designed play failed and we had to foul. They made one of two shots and we had 5 seconds to try to tie the game. But we could only get off a last gasp shot from midcourt that was off target and we fell 81-78. Maryland was just a little better than us. The Terrapins run a small (4 guard) lineup that does an amazing job both offensively and defensively…and on the boards as well. We weren’t prepared for it. The Terrapins totally shut down C Ben Schau. They front and backed him to deny us getting the ball into him. SG Corey Graham had 18 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. PF Danny Toliver tossed in 16 points. SF James Pratt scored 11 points. After the game Rashon Thorn was complaining about not playing enough and the coaches favoring Bobby Grannum. Coach Aura talked with him. Rashon was unapologetic. Coach Aura told me he nearly suspended him but decided to let it ride for now and leave suspension on hold in the event his behavior is repeated. The following night: Maryland beat Vanderbilt to win the championship of the Maui Invitational.

Nov. 18, 2030: Boise State Broncos (0-1) vs #14 Boston College Eagles (1-0) in Round 1 of Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii Grant Kanagawa, Chairman of the Maui Invitational Committee We’re pleased to have both of these teams in our tournament this year. Boston College won our tournament 3 years ago. They appear to be a strong team this season as well. Boise State has been to the NCAA Tournament 4 of the past 5 years and always seems to put together 20+ win seasons. Both Matt Bright and Fred Aura are up-and-coming head coaches who are in their early 50’s and have a history of building strong teams. In our other games today, Maryland beat George Mason 78-63, Vanderbilt got by Houston 82-73, and Illinois-Chicago upset Saint Mary’s 86-74. The winner of this game will go up against Maryland. Great game early…both teams playing hard and the score close with several lead changes. BC’s SF Marvin Gardner hit all 3 of his shots including a long 3 to give him 7 of the Eagles’ first 15 points. In the middle portion of the first half, BC went on a 13-2 run to go ahead 30-18 with 6-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. The half ended with Boston College on top 47-30 due primarily to hitting 56% of their shots. Gardner led their attack with 11 points while Boise State’s top scorer was PF Marc Detmer with 8 points. Boise State’s defense caused problems for the Eagles in the 2nd half and with 9:45 to go, the Bronco’s were within 5 at 53-48. BC recovered and quickly got back into a double digit lead. They maintained that to forge a 71-60 win. A big difference in the game was that the Broncos made 17 turnovers to just 8 by the Eagles. Leading scorers for BC were SF Marvin Gardner-18 (he hit 8 of 10 FG’s including connecting on both of his 3-point attempts) and PG/SG Glen Robinson-11. Boise State’s SG Orlando Walker scored 13 and PF Marc Detmer added 11.

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.

Nov. 15, 2030: #22 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (0-0) vs #14 ranked Boston College Eagles (0-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut hill, MA Brad Johnstone, alum and fan I graduated from BC two years ago…got a good job in finance in Boston. Livin’ the good life. Love basketball, but more a fan than a player. Friend of mine and I decided to get some season tix this year. The new guy in the middle, Ben Schau, looked as good as advertised. He scored 10 points and pulled down 3 rebounds in the first 6 minutes of the game. That helped BC get a lead, but Alabama didn’t roll over and tied the game at 24-24 with 7-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. The Eagles went outscored the Tide 12-4 as the half wound down and took a 41-31 lead to the locker room. Schau scored 12 and had 4 boards and his replacement at C, Tim Cotton, had 6 points and 7 rebounds in the first half. Alabama scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half to claw their way within a single point of BC. That seemed to light a fire under the Eagles and they quickly re-established a double digit lead. Overall play by both teams in the 2nd half was sloppy with numerous turnovers. But Boston College shot well (51%) to come away with a 80-69 victory. C Ben Schau finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds. C Tim Cotton had 14 points and 7 rebounds. SG Corey Graham hit for 12 points plus had 6 assists and SF James Pratt knocked down every shot he took to score 10 points. Post-game discussion between Coaches Aura (FA), Friel (LF), and Montgomery (DM): FA: Not a bad opener, but definitely showed some areas we need to work on. I wasn’t happy with our trouble hanging onto the ball in the 2nd half. We can’t be making those mental errors. And while we hit 51% of our FG’s, that was because Schau and Cotton were cleaning up inside and Pratt’s shooting. But we looked pitiful from long-distance and at the foul line. LF: Bama’s a good team, so some of those problems are due to their defense. And some may be due to this being our first game. But no matter, I’ll review the video of the game tonight and tighten things up. DM: On a positive note, it really appears that Schau and Cotton are both strong this year. I also was impressed by James Pratt’s play. I think he’s showing he needs to be in consideration for a starting role at SF. And Robinson did well coming off the at both PG and SG. Mike Williams also showed he may be ready for some serious minutes at PF. LF: Yes, I was really impressed with Ben and Tim at the C position. We might want to put the two of them on the court together at times…say, Tim at C and Ben at PF. I think they’d be one helluva duo up front. FA: Pratt was impressive, alright. And since Kolder and Gardner had relatively weak performances, James’ play was even more significant. But I think Keith and Maynard will do better in our upcoming games, so the SF position starting role is still in play. Another thing I was happy about was that we definitely have depth at PG with Grannum, Robinson and Thorn. All three of them seem ready and able to guide the team. LF: Tomorrow I’ll have the team cleaning things up in practice and preparing for our first game in the Maui Invitational against Boise State.

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.

3rd Assistant Coach Jeremy Anderson (scouting) We wrapped up our fall practices and are ready to begin playing pre-conference games. We have a very challenging schedule that includes 4 home games, 4 away games and a tournament. The teams we know we will face are: Alabama, Boise State (to start off the Maui Invitational), Michigan State, Stanford, Marquette, Missouri, George Mason, Providence, and Wisconsin. 3 of those 9 are ranked in the pre-season polls and a few others of those are likely going to earn inclusion as the season progresses. If we can get through that torture in good shape, I think we’ll be well-prepared for ACC play. Our starting lineup is solidly set at 4 positions: Grannum at PG, Graham at SG, Toliver at PF, and Schau at C. We have 4 players (and possibly a 5th) who want that remaining starting position at SF. We’ll start by trying out Kolder since he’s a senior but then give Gardner a shot. Kolder has been improving each year and thinks he’s ready to be a starter as a senior. Gardner is going to be a star for us. He still has a few rough edges, but has developed a long way now that he’s a sophomore and it’s obvious he wants to start and be on the court a lot. If either of those guys don’t quickly take hold of the starting position though, Hein, Robinson, Pratt, and Williams will be contending to take it on. Williams came here looking a bit lost initially but as practices progressed, his skills became evident. He’s still like to be a reserve mostly at PF, but he could surprise people. Pratt practice with the team all last season which he had to sit out since he transferred. He’s a dangerous outside shooter. Robinson and Hein showed last season that they’re more than capable at the “3” position, but personally I like the energy they bring coming in off the bench…and both can play 3 positions. I don’t know who will be out top scorer, but I think it will be between Schau, Graham and Grannum. What’s really be good to see is how good the entire team is defensively. That could be our ace in the hole as the season progresses. I would say if we really need to crack down defensively at key points in a game, then put Grannum at PG, Robinson at SF, Pratt at SF, Toliver at PF, and Schau at C and watch how they clamp down on an opponent. Rebounding? Again, all 13 of our scholarship players know how to get position and attack the glass. I’d put this team up against anyone on the boards. Let’s get this season going!

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.

RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds Boston College begins their basketball season this week. The Eagles are ranked 14th in the pre-season Media Poll. And even though Duke is ranked higher in that poll, those most knowledgeable about the Atlantic Coast Conference have picked Boston College to finish first in the standings with Duke right behind them. The Eagles’ starting lineup is loaded with very strong players at all 5 positions and the team possesses a deep and talented bench. BC doesn’t have to count on a single outstanding player to carry them, because any of their 13 scholarship players could well lead them on any given night. Here’s my depth chart for the Eagles: Point Guard: 1. Bobby Grannum, 6-4 sophomore, averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.7 apg, and 2.9 rpg as a freshman and recognized as a true 5-star player. 2. Glen Robinson, 6-2 senior, averaged 8.5 ppg, 1.8 apg, and 2.7 rpg last year 3. Rashon Thorn, 5-7 junior, averaged 2.8 ppg, 1.4 apg, and 0.7 rpg in limited role 4. Robert Dodson, 6-1 freshman, walk-on Shooting Guard: 1. Corey Graham, 6-1 junior, averaged 12.9 ppg, 2.1 apg, 3.4 rpg 2. Glen Robinson, see above 3. Adrian Moss, 6-5 junior, averaged 1.9 ppg, 0.8 apg, 1.1 rpg in limited role, but coaches report he’s showing major development Small Forward: 1. Keith Kolder, 6-7 senior, averaged 2.6 ppg, 0.5 apg, 1.5 rpg in limited role 2. Maynard Gardner, 6-7 senior, averaged 1.8 ppg, 0.5 apg, 1.1 rpg in limited role 3. Glen Robinson, see above 4. James Pratt, 6-6 sophomore, ineligible last season due to transferring (Any of these 4 could eventually become the regular starter at the 3 position) Power Forward: 1. Danny Toliver, 6-8 senior, averaged 7.4 ppg, 0.8 apg, 5.7 rpg 2. Darius Hein, 6-7 juniore, averaged 5.8 ppg, 1.5 apg, 3.5 rpgp- 3. Mike Williams, 6-6 freshman, H.S. last year 4. Ben Schau, 6-6 freshman, H.S. last year Center: 1. Ben Schau, see above 2. Tim Cotton, 6-10 sophomore, 5.0 ppg, 0.8 apg, 2.9 rpg 3. Danny Toliver, see above 4. Freddie Hite, 6-8 sophomore, walk-on All players can play 2 positions and some can play 3, as “6th Man” Glen Robinson demonstrated so well last season. While this team doesn’t have the one big star player who can carry a team, the Eagles have a bunch of very good players. If Coach Aura gets them playing together, they’re going to be tough to beat. Now as to Duke…they lost some good players to the pro draft, but as usual, they reloaded their roster with some top-flight recruits last year. So they’ll definitely be contending for the ACC title. Another team to watch this season…North Carolina. They had a good recruiting year last season and are loaded at 4 of their 5 positions. If someone can step up at PG, they’re going go be trouble. So I’m picking Boston College, Duke and North Carolina to finish 1, 2, 3. Coach Aura backed away from taking on being the favorite when he said, “My guys are gonna be tough. I’m very happy with the players who will be on the court for us this season. But I think there are 6 or 7 teams in the ACC who have the talent to come out on top in the standings. So there really isn’t a favorite. We’ll just have to see which team avoids serious injuries and wants it the most."

1st Asst Coach Darrell Montgomery In mid-September we got the first verbal acceptance of a scholarship offer from Dan Jefferson, a 6’9” C from Archbald, PA. He’s the 48th ranked recruit, but more importantly he was in the top 25 at the Indy Elite Camp and the top 5 at the Big Apple Showcase. He’s a tremendous rebounder and very strong defensively. He’s a good scorer from inside. As a high school junior he averaged 12.5 ppg and 12.5 rpg. Then just before the end of September two more recruits let us know they wanted to play for us. Noel Carr is a 6’8” SF from Winchester, VA. He also was in the top 25 at the Indy Elite Camp and the top 5 at the Big Apple Showcase and he’s the 41st ranked recruit. He’s a gym rat. He’s an excellent scorer both from inside and outside. He a strong rebounder and defender and extremely athletic. He’s a good ball handler and gets lots of steals. Last season as a H.S. junior he scored 17.1 ppg, pulled down 5.8 rpg and had 4.7 spg. The same day we got a call from Will Jennings, a 6’1” SG from Blacksburg, VA. He’s the 44th ranked recruit who was in the top 25 at the Big Apple Showcase. He’s a great scorer from outside and plays solid defense. He’s a very good passer and has good athleticism. He averaged 17.2 ppg and 3.5 rpg as a HS junior last season. Those three 4-star recruits filled all of our available scholarships. If they all meet our SAT requirements, recruiting is complete for this season.

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.”

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.

Janeka Aura We got exciting news today. Omari has been nominated for the Norton Award. He’s worked hard and played well for Providence for 3 seasons, so this is a cap to his collegiate career. Omari and our entire family are ecstatic about the nomination. For Boston College, freshman Ben Schau and junior Corey Graham have also been nominated for the award. So today was a triple bonus day for Fred.

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.”

1st Asst Coach Darrell Montgomery In my first year handling the recruiting actions for Coach Aura, I want to get some great recruits. We had the 20th best recruit class last year so my goal is to have an even better one this year. Coach Aura and I would like to add a SG and big man, but we have agreed to try to land the best recruits we can get this year since we aren’t expecting any holes in the lineup next year even after SG Glen Robinson, SF Keith Kolder and PF Danny Toliver leave us after graduating the end of this season. We’ll be attending the Indy Elite Camp and the Big Apple Showcase this summer.

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.

Call from Coach Fred Aura to Coach David Woodruff: FA: David, I think you stole 3 good transfer players. Congratulations! DW: Yes, they all have good potential to really help us, I think. FA: So, do you now like the new way they’re doing transfers? DW: If these 3 guys help us do a lot better this year, you may have me saying “yes” to that question. FA: I think for a mid-major like George Mason, the big increase in the number of transfer players could be a windfall since there will be some good players at big name programs who are transferring because they didn’t get enough playing time and mid-major programs will look real good to those players. DW: Let’s both have great seasons this year, Fred…and meet in the NCAA Tourney! FA: That’s a good thought.

Coach Fred Aura receives a call from David Woodruff a couple weeks later: FA: Hey, David, good to hear from you. While I’m glad you got the head coaching job at George Mason, I’m still missing not having you on my staff any longer. DW: Thanks, Fred. This head coaching job is a lot more work than I had envisioned. And our record last season sucked. FA: Yeah, there’s a lotta different aspects to the job, but hey, you won one more game that your predecessor had done the season before you took the job. He didn’t leave you with a lot of talent to work with, I’m afraid. But I’m confident you’ll be successful there. DW: I hope so, but we had 3 guys transfer away this past week. One was a starter and another had a chance to be a starter this coming season. FA: I’m no fan of the new transfer rules, but we all have to live with the change. A positive is that there are a lot of very good players wanting to find new homes, so aggressively go after a few of those. I really hope you land 3 very strong players. We’re not going to be participating in the scramble for transfer players so you won’t have to compete against us. DW: Thanks. Hey, I see that Malik will be playing for Georgetown...pass along my congratulations to him. But I sure wish he’d decided to play several miles east of Georgetown…for US. FA: I’ll pass along your comments to him. I got guys waiting to meet with me so I have to run. But thanks for the call, David…and the best of luck to you this year. I’m really proud that you got a good head coaching job and know you’re more than capable.

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.

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 able 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.

Phone call from AD Jason Braxton to Coach Fred Aura: JB: Hey, Fred, your one crappy clairvoyant. FA: Whatcha mean? JB: You were worrying me about all the guys who might transfer away from us. And what happens? No one transfers. FA: (Laughing) I’m happy to be wrong about that. In fact, I’m ecstatic. But not having anyone transfer hasn’t been the case at a lot of colleges. The transfer list is HUGE! JB: Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard too. FA: I was looking over the list this morning and there’s some guys on it that I’d like to have. But to be honest, none that I’d trade for any of our existing players. While some of the transfer players are maybe more talented that a few of ours, I’m not about to break up our team to get any of them. And some of the talented players on that list might have some attitude issues that could impact our team chemistry. For example there’s Adam Crenshaw who was great at C for Louisville as a freshman last season. But I’ve heard rumblings that he’s not got a great personality and can rub his teammates the wrong way and also that his work ethic is horrible. An example of an extremely talented guy who will likely never do as well as he could or be the team player you want. JB: Crenshaw’s just one of 5 guys who are transferring from Louisville. FA: Well, Louisville just finished a terrible season, so that probably caused a lot of dissent. But there’s 5 from North Carolina State also. I have no idea what’s going on in Raleigh. JB: By the way, I think your son Omari has cemented himself at SF again this season. I see two SF’s from Providence are on the transfer list. FA: I doubt Omari had anything to do with that, but yeah, I’m pretty sure he’ll be the Friar’s starting SF again this year. JB: And from what I’ve seen of Malik, he’s gotta be a lock to start at SG for Georgetown. You gotta be proud. FA: Now that you mention it. I am. Both are better players than their dad was in college.

Transfer Results (part 2 of 5) Mike McMillan, MD-Eastern Shore: I absolutely LOVE the greatly expanded transfer arrangement. We hit the jackpot. We had 6 vacant scholarships and filled every one of them. Not only did we get quantity but we got good quality as well so our tAseam will be much stronger when these 6 players start playing for us. So here’s who we added: PG Lamarr Ramage, a 6’2” sophomore from Elaine, AR who transferred from Central Arkansas where he did a good job coming into the games from the bench as a freshman. He’s a good passer and ball handler who will provide good depth for us at the point. We added a second PG when 6’0” sophomore Lataryl Brown who is from Mineola, TX came to us after starting as a freshman for Prairie View. He’s a good scorer, passer, and rebounder. We also picked up 2 new SG’s. The first is Marcos Santini, a 6’5” sophomore who came from Argentina and played as a freshman for Loyola (MD). He’s a very good scorer and rebounder. The other new SG will be Travis Temple who is a 6’1” senior from Durant, MS. As a junior he was a starer where he averaged 21.6 ppg and hit a high percentage of his FG’s, FT’s and 3’s. He’s also a pretty good defender. Besides the 4 new guards, we will have 2 new big men. 6’10” sophomore C Geordie Johnson from Portsmouth, VA. He didn’t get a lot of playing time in his freshman season and William & Mary. He’l be a good backup at C for us this coming season. The final transfer player we landed was PF Terrance Minor, a 6’8” junior who previously played for Ball State after coming from Dayton, OH. He started every game as a freshman and sophomore and averaged 12.0 ppp and 5.0 rpg over those 2 seasons. He’a good scorer, rebounder, shot blocker and gets his fair share of steals. It was a very good haul and will make us a lot stronger inside this year. At least 2 of these transfer players will start for us and all 6 will get a good amount of playing time.