Hints at Next Season
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Hints at Next Season
Past week has been filled with too much shitty news, so looking forwards this Fall time to start talking some basketball since this College Basketball season ended so damn abruptly and we're in for a longer dry spell then normal.
Losing three key senior contributors is going to be very tough this season, but I've got confidence that our players sticking with the program are going to kick some ass. Kerns did a fantastic job in this first season and I don't see any reason we can't hope for similar improvement next season (particularly on the offensive end).
The first Texas St game is probably a fairly realistic approximation of what we could expect next season in the absence of any other key contributors and it obviously looks pretty dour on the face of it.
But I feel emboldened that Kendall Lewis had such a fantastic freshmen season. Delph really came alive in second half of the season. Donovan Gregory has shown some awesome flashes and I'm excited to see what he'll do next season with more playing time. I don't disagree that we really need someone solid to run point (same with another big), but I can help but feel like we'd be a great landing spot for someone to come in for a season to bridge the gap for our next recruiting class. It's going to be a highly atypical offseason in NCAA, so I can hope.
Losing three key senior contributors is going to be very tough this season, but I've got confidence that our players sticking with the program are going to kick some ass. Kerns did a fantastic job in this first season and I don't see any reason we can't hope for similar improvement next season (particularly on the offensive end).
The first Texas St game is probably a fairly realistic approximation of what we could expect next season in the absence of any other key contributors and it obviously looks pretty dour on the face of it.
But I feel emboldened that Kendall Lewis had such a fantastic freshmen season. Delph really came alive in second half of the season. Donovan Gregory has shown some awesome flashes and I'm excited to see what he'll do next season with more playing time. I don't disagree that we really need someone solid to run point (same with another big), but I can help but feel like we'd be a great landing spot for someone to come in for a season to bridge the gap for our next recruiting class. It's going to be a highly atypical offseason in NCAA, so I can hope.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I was thinking about what the rotation for Kearns might look like next season. I imagine that we will see as many as 10-11 players get action early. That will probably tighten up to 8-9 in conference play and as we creep towards the Sun Belt Tournament, my guess is that we will see a pretty established 7 man rotation with an 8th or 9th guy check in for some spot minutes from time to time.
I think Bibby will feature a lot more in his senior season. He's the most obvious fill in for O'Showen Williams that's on the roster. JC Tharrington is really the only other PG depth on roster, but idk much about him.
The post is a big concern. Johnson and Seacat graduating leaves two massive holes. I can easily see Kearns go small with Kendall Lewis starting at a quasi PF spot. That leaves James Lewis to play the 5. I think Dunhart will get playing time given his size and the fact that he has more exp playing post high school than Wilson or the newbie Huntley. Those two guys will need to get their feet wet pretty quickly too.
The x factors for me are Donovan Gregory and Michael Eads. I think we see one emerge and play a big factor for this team next year. I'll lean Gregory given that Eads is a freshman. Both will play a lot early on I imagine.
I hope we add another commitment to the fold this summer, but here is my guess for the main rotation next year. Went with a small ball/two PG lineup to give us more of our talent on the floor at the same time:
PG: Bibby
SG: Forrest (he will have to play a ton including filling in for Bibby at PG)
SF: Delph
PF: K. Lewis
C: J. Lewis Jr.
Bench Hierarchy:
Gregory
Dunhart Jr
Eads Jr
Wilson Jr/Huntley
Tharrington
I think Bibby will feature a lot more in his senior season. He's the most obvious fill in for O'Showen Williams that's on the roster. JC Tharrington is really the only other PG depth on roster, but idk much about him.
The post is a big concern. Johnson and Seacat graduating leaves two massive holes. I can easily see Kearns go small with Kendall Lewis starting at a quasi PF spot. That leaves James Lewis to play the 5. I think Dunhart will get playing time given his size and the fact that he has more exp playing post high school than Wilson or the newbie Huntley. Those two guys will need to get their feet wet pretty quickly too.
The x factors for me are Donovan Gregory and Michael Eads. I think we see one emerge and play a big factor for this team next year. I'll lean Gregory given that Eads is a freshman. Both will play a lot early on I imagine.
I hope we add another commitment to the fold this summer, but here is my guess for the main rotation next year. Went with a small ball/two PG lineup to give us more of our talent on the floor at the same time:
PG: Bibby
SG: Forrest (he will have to play a ton including filling in for Bibby at PG)
SF: Delph
PF: K. Lewis
C: J. Lewis Jr.
Bench Hierarchy:
Gregory
Dunhart Jr
Eads Jr
Wilson Jr/Huntley
Tharrington
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Re: Hints at Next Season
Pretty solid group of guards. But I think the lack of size will be a problem, unless someone can step up unexpectedly.
Don't think we'll see much of Bibby.
Don't think we'll see much of Bibby.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I can't see Bibby as our starter. His lateral quickness isn't good enough to guard starters in the SBC.
Unless we add a PG I could see the starting 5 as:
Forrest
Delph
Gregory
K. Lewis
J. Lewis
Unless we add a PG I could see the starting 5 as:
Forrest
Delph
Gregory
K. Lewis
J. Lewis
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I think this is a fair take
My thinking on Bibby was mainly from an offensive/Forrest perspective. With Williams on the floor it gave Forrest a chance to play off ball and focus on scoring, but obviously Bibby is a different player than Williams. May not work the same way at all.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
Glad Kerns will be around for year 2. Not sure he was ever seriously going to be leaving but it will be nice to keep some stability there. I'm still concerned we will struggle losing 60% of our offensive production. There are some young guys who will need to have break out seasons. Hopefully, Kendall Lewis will continue to show promise and that we will see in Gregory what we hoped we were getting when we signed him. If we can develop a PG, we will can go along way to filling some of those holes left behind thru graduation.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
So first this is complete speculation and is something that I would hate to have happen. I have a gut feeling based on zero knowledge or information that Forrest will transfer. This is based purely on body language and nothing else. I love the kid, love his game. He is currently the only guy on the roster who can take over the offense when needed and is very confident taking big time shots. I pray I am wrong.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
Don't be surprised to see Bibby be done... no bad will or anything, but he graduates, knows he's not going to the next level, and may be done with college hoops.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
Bibby has never even looked much like a D1 player at App to me. The only players I see starting out of the returners are Forrest, Delph, and K. Lewis. Kendall could emerge as one of the better players in the conference.
My hunch is that we see a lot of Huntley and maybe Eads next season. Huntley is 6’10”, with a huge wing span and a soft touch. I believe he has a big upside, much like K. Lewis. We also have offers on the table for 2 juco point guards, and as of today, we have offered Trey Wertz, a wing from Providence Day in Charlotte (where Ike played). He’s transferring from Santa Clara.
My hunch is that we see a lot of Huntley and maybe Eads next season. Huntley is 6’10”, with a huge wing span and a soft touch. I believe he has a big upside, much like K. Lewis. We also have offers on the table for 2 juco point guards, and as of today, we have offered Trey Wertz, a wing from Providence Day in Charlotte (where Ike played). He’s transferring from Santa Clara.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
We won't have a point guard , or a center ...not in any traditional sense. Position-less basketball.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
Wertz would start immediately for us when eligible. He's been one of the two best Gaels in his two seasons on the left coast and made honorable mention all-WCC this season. The kid averaged 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists this season while posting a 1.6-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He hit 48% of his FG attempts and shot 40% from 3-point range. Those last two stats are in pure-shooter territory!
It's not clear why he's leaving, but he might be looking to finish his college career nearer home. His dad is Langston Wertz (The Observer). Seems we might have a little bit of competition. Jake Weingarten (@Stockrisers) says that Arkansas, Arizona, UVA, UNC, Va Tech, Miami, South Carolina, Butler, Minnesota, Northwestern, Colorado State, Oklahoma amongst others have had conversation with him.
It's also not clear whether he has a play immediately waiver or if he must sit for a season.
It's not clear why he's leaving, but he might be looking to finish his college career nearer home. His dad is Langston Wertz (The Observer). Seems we might have a little bit of competition. Jake Weingarten (@Stockrisers) says that Arkansas, Arizona, UVA, UNC, Va Tech, Miami, South Carolina, Butler, Minnesota, Northwestern, Colorado State, Oklahoma amongst others have had conversation with him.
It's also not clear whether he has a play immediately waiver or if he must sit for a season.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
It's Day #2 in the portal and Wertz has offers from App, UNCC and Arizona. His phone's red hot...
https://stockrisers.com/2020/03/25/sant ... ona-offer/
https://stockrisers.com/2020/03/25/sant ... ona-offer/
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I do know that Herb Sendek had Justin Gainey (former App assistant under Capel) on his staff at Santa Clara when Wertz was recruited to SC. However, Gainey moved to Sean Miller’s staff at Arizona before Wertz ever arrived on campus. All of those coaches have former ties to NCSU. Who knows if he wants to come closer to home or just play at a different program. I would imagine it will be hard to land him, though.asu66 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 8:32 amWertz would start immediately for us when eligible. He's been one of the two best Gaels in his two seasons on the left coast and made honorable mention all-WCC this season. The kid averaged 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists this season while posting a 1.6-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He hit 48% of his FG attempts and shot 40% from 3-point range. Those last two stats are in pure-shooter territory!
It's not clear why he's leaving, but he might be looking to finish his college career nearer home. His dad is Langston Wertz (The Observer). Seems we might have a little bit of competition. Jake Weingarten (@Stockrisers) says that Arkansas, Arizona, UVA, UNC, Va Tech, Miami, South Carolina, Butler, Minnesota, Northwestern, Colorado State, Oklahoma amongst others have had conversation with him.
It's also not clear whether he has a play immediately waiver or if he must sit for a season.
Last edited by app97 on Wed Mar 25, 2020 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
We’ve offered 2 juco point guards (Jalen Finch and Jalen Moore). Finch is from Raleigh and has offers from us and coastal. Moore is from Indiana and has offers from several mid majors.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I'd love to have another Jalen Moore(yes I know they are spelled different) in black and gold. Wonder if he would mind wearing 25.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I've heard South Alabama may have the inside track on Moore.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
NC State has become the third in-state program to offer Wertz...joining App State and UNCC.
This young man has spent his entire life enrolled in private schools. Santa Clara enrolls about 5,500. I dunno if all these 20,000 and up state U's will have a comfy feel to him. Then again, maybe he's in search of the crowds and noise.
This young man has spent his entire life enrolled in private schools. Santa Clara enrolls about 5,500. I dunno if all these 20,000 and up state U's will have a comfy feel to him. Then again, maybe he's in search of the crowds and noise.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
That doesn't change our strategy .
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Re: Hints at Next Season
He's obviously leaving Santa Clara for some reason, geographical or otherwise. Presumably he's not looking for another version of the situation he just left.asu66 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 2:27 pmNC State has become the third in-state program to offer Wertz...joining App State and UNCC.
This young man has spent his entire life enrolled in private schools. Santa Clara enrolls about 5,500. I dunno if all these 20,000 and up state U's will have a comfy feel to him. Then again, maybe he's in search of the crowds and noise.
In any case, doesn't look like there's much potential relevance for App here.
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Re: Hints at Next Season
I think you hit the bottom line. We likely won't place very high in this race.EastHallApp wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 4:10 pmHe's obviously leaving Santa Clara for some reason, geographical or otherwise. Presumably he's not looking for another version of the situation he just left.asu66 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 2:27 pmNC State has become the third in-state program to offer Wertz...joining App State and UNCC.
This young man has spent his entire life enrolled in private schools. Santa Clara enrolls about 5,500. I dunno if all these 20,000 and up state U's will have a comfy feel to him. Then again, maybe he's in search of the crowds and noise.
In any case, doesn't look like there's much potential relevance for App here.
The deal seems to be that Sendek is entering the fifth year of a six year contract with restless natives already calling for his head. Wertz is the fifth player (to date) to enter the portal with others likely to follow. It appears that Sendek (sounds familiar) opted not to "renew" a couple of scholarships and other guys are opting to play in a healthier climate. It's fairly obvious that Wertz is in that last category.
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