hilltopper wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 10:06 am
What is going on here?
-why is Central at only eleven scholarships? no incoming freshman! is that because of the virus? are there other NEC schools below the allowed 13 scholarships? are there other NEC schools with no incoming freshman? If this is not a league wide problem, then why us?
also:
-the PF transfer from Fairfield is not here, so I guess that fell through.
- I am not optimistic that Central is going to have an NEC competitive front line unless Wilson, Ola, or Wallace have made a developmental leap, which admittedly is possible as there certainly is some talent there.
-I am not discounting the possibility that Ola could be the difference but last year he seemed to be hindered by injuries. Bigs with chronic leg and foot issues usually cannot contribute a lot of playing time. I don't know if that is the case with Ola, but I suspect that health is why he got so little PT last year.
-Central is probably in better shape than SHU as they have lost several players that gave a huge amount of last year's minutes played. Central by contrast, is returning all of their core. That's the good news, the bad news is that core did not win many games.
A few things;
- The administration has continued to tighten the purse strings on Donyell Marshall, which is why there were initially only 12 scholarships filled (as opposed to the D1 max of 13). This was decided way back in the spring.
- Wassef Methnani, the grad transfer from Fairfield, signed a pro contract in his native Tunisia a few weeks ago. Methnani was expected to be the starter at the '5', and it was a surprise to the coaching staff. I'm not sure if the pandemic came into play, or if the offer was just too good to pass up. But this is a major loss, despite the fact that he never appeared in uniform.
- The coaching staff can still look to fill that scholarship for the 2nd semester, but at this stage in the calendar it'd be tough to find someone who would be eligible, let alone someone who could fill those shoes.
- I'm assuming the staff didn't go after freshmen because this is the final year on Marshall's contract, so the last thing they are looking to do is rebuild. If Marshall is not brought back, most (if not all) of the guys who are currently sophomores and juniors will be gone anyway. The plan was to bring in better PGs (presumably they did with Mitchell and Scantlebury) and a guy who can start at the 5 (Methnani) and compete.
Right now Marshall has to rely on getting one of their JUCO PGs to come in and be a league average lead guard (FWIW both guys put up amazing stats, but at low level JUCO schools) and development from the current front court members. He'll likely play small with Jamir Reed at the '4' a ton (at least, that's what I would do). Also, he's got to hope there are no injuries, because this roster is not deep at all.
