2022-23 Roster Breakdown & Wishlist

[HurricaneYosef]

I did this last year and figured why not do it again as I sit through tonight's tourney games. We finished 2nd in the Sun Belt, made the semis, and hosted a post season tournament game. It didn't end how we would like but we should appreciate the successes we did have! Attendance this year was also top notch for what we are used to, hope the momentum carries into next year. So let's breakdown our roster for the upcoming season and I'll add a personal wishlist of what I would like to see.

2022-23 ROSTER BREAKDOWN:

G - Xavion Brown - likely returning
G - Chris Mantis - likely returning
G - Michael Eads - likely returning
F - Donovan Gregory - likely returning
F - CJ Huntley - likely returning
G - Terence Harcum - likely returning

F - Dibaji Walker - INCOMING TRANSFER
C - Tamell Pearson - INCOMING TRANSFER
G - Tyree Boykin - INCOMING TRANSFER
G - Carvell Teasett - INCOMING TRANSFER
F - Justin Abson - INCOMING FRESHMAN
G - Zocko Littleton - INCOMING FRESHMAN
G - Bryson Ogletree - INCOMING FRESHMAN

F - Quinn Hafner - WALK ON


F - RJ Duhart - TRANSFER PORTAL
C - Sasha Glushkov - TRANSFER PORTAL
C - James Lewis - Graduating, NOT RETURNING
G - Adrian Delph - Graduating, NOT RETURNING
G Justin Forrest - No remaining eligibility
G Michael Almonacy - No remaining eligibility

Guards - 8 Forwards - 4 Centers - 1

0 SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

We currently have 3 scholarships to use and that number could grow to 5 depending on the decisions made by Lewis and Delph. Assuming both aren't coming back we will be losing 62.4% of our scoring production and 4 of 6 key rotational pieces. That is A TON to replace. We will get our first opportunity to see what a team recruited by this staff will look like as the only remaining Fox recruit will. likely be Donovan Gregory. I would imagine we take advantage of our momentum these last two years and utilize the transfer portal to acquire some players to contribute immediately.

As of now we have two incoming freshman for the 2022 Class. Zocko Littleton 3 star top 200 recruit in the nation, our highest rated recruit in program history (Donovan Gregory is now 2nd). He is a 4 star according to ESPN. Can shoot the rock and has great handles. Will likely be in position to start in one of Forrest / Almonacy's spots unless we pick up some impactful transfers....and even then I'm more than comfortable handing this kid the keys to our future. Our other incoming freshman is Justin Abson from Florida. He is a. 2 star 6'9 PF and we beat out UNCC and Georgia St in recruiting him. He looks more developmental as his HS competition looked very weak in the film i've seen. It's nice to be getting a big man though, we haven't had a true big man recruited yet under Kerns. He started with Isaac Johnson, Hunter Seacat, and James Lewis and has just rode out the eligibility of those 3 guys.

Transfer portal I will probably have a separate post/thread for. But if we want to contend next year in the Sun Belt, we will want to utilize it. If we want to focus on high school recruits, some of our guys are going to have to take major steps forward next year to contend.

WISHLIST:

1. Adrian Delph returns. Would be huge, don't think it needs an explanation

2. Bring in a rim protector / strong rebounder. We need a guy like Georgia State has with Nsosome, a guy who can protect the rim and dominate games on the glass. Gregory is the closest player we have to that, and he's a 6'5 forward. If we could just another with his effort who is closer to 7 foot I think it would be HUGE for our team.

3. Bring in a veteran PG via the portal. I'm a strong believer in Zocko, and liked what we saw in Harcum this season. Xavion has PG capability as well, but would love to have a guy who has already PROVEN they can run PG effectively.

4. High major transfer via the portal. We've seen South Alabama almost exclusively go after HM transfers, and teams like ULL, Ga St, and Coastal land guys from high major conferences. I think with the momentum of our program it's our turn to land someone who will provide an immediate IMPACT to our program. It's wishful thinking, but with 400+ names already in the portal, there's bound to be someone there!

5. Better Early season tournament - This year we played in the Gulf Coast Showcase which did feature quality mid major programs, The tournament however was broadcasted on FloHoops which nobody was able to watch just about. In 2019 we played in the "Spartan Classic" against UNCG, Tenn Tech, and Montana St and those games weren't even livestreamed if I remember correctly. Would love to see us in one of the ESPN / big network tournaments for the national exposure it could bring and the opportunity to knock off a big time program at a neutral site.

6. FREE THROW SHOOTING IMPROVEMENTS

7. Donovan Gregory returns

This is all I can think of for now... would love input and opinions from others. As always, TAKE THE STAIRS!

A brief look at last year's wish list / predictions:

1. Extend Kerns. - Happened
2. Retain one of Almonacy/Forrest. - Both Happened!
3. Bring in a rim protector / strong rebounder. - Did Not Happen. Duhart played less than expected this year, Sasha didn't take a step forward and it led to 6-7 man rotations for most of the season. Probably a wish that'll carry over to my new list.
4. Bring in an experienced PG - Didn't need to happen since JF and MA returned
5. Offensive improvement. According to kenpom there was improvement (245th in the country to 210th this year). But our offense has been less than ideal. Probably will need major improvements if we lose Delph this off season too.
6. Packed student section / good fan support. Happened!
7. Additional coach to our staff. - Did not happen, still wonder why we have not replaced the position held by Coach Allison in Kerns 1st year on staff
8. Non conference schedule improvements. - Happened! Our non con SOS was 24th in the country according to kenpom. Tons of quality MM's on our schedule this year (Vermont Furman Deleware Iona UNCC ETSU). This schedule should be the standard!
9. 8-5 conference record, or better! - Happened (12-6, 2nd in SB)
10. Toughness and strong defensive play carry over to 2021-22 - 191 to 133rd in the country according to Kenpom. Would say this did happen because without our strong defensive play, we don't win 19 games

[AppinATL]

I don’t know how you can leave this off your wish list but I’ll add it for you:

Find somebody that can make a free throw.

[ASUchipman]

Discipline and Freethrows!!!
In games I attended And watched on tv, they tend to drive the lane with no idea of what to do with the ball. Relying on the three is good except when their shooting is off. Freethrows Freethrows!!!

[The Rock]

i think xavion brown could be the rim protector and rebounder. In the few games he played this year, the offense flowed much better from his ability to get to the rim and finish. having that threat gave us much better offense than living/dying by the 3. Brown is super athletic.

[bigdaddyg]

Does anyone think Huntley needs to work on some ball skills as well? We won’t with him camped behind the line especially with the scoring losses. If he can’t take the ball off the dribble to the hole we will get zoned to death. Would have been nice if JL had some threat of offense instead of just roaming the baseline for a couple of dunks every game. I agree with the portal comments. We need to plug in at least a big and a shooter.

[CharlotteApp05]

Huntley needs to work on everything.

Because I feel like he has the potential to be the best player we have had in AWHILE. He has size, shooting touch, vision, D and started to come into his own this year. But if he can grow his game, watch out.

If I were him and I was coming over the year he had, I would work harder than anyone.

[CharlotteApp05]

I'll just add to the wishlist....Keep Gregory. I've heard of some schools that may be interested, he is our number one recruit right now.

[HurricaneYosef]

i think xavion brown could be the rim protector and rebounder. In the few games he played this year, the offense flowed much better from his ability to get to the rim and finish. having that threat gave us much better offense than living/dying by the 3. Brown is super athletic.

I love Xavion and his athleticism, but at 6'3 180 I don't believe we can feasibly expect him to protect the rim against opposing teams 6'10 240 lb bigs. We need an anchor

[HurricaneYosef]

I'll just add to the wishlist....Keep Gregory. I've heard of some schools that may be interested, he is our number one recruit right now.

excellent point, will add it

[HurricaneYosef]

Does anyone think Huntley needs to work on some ball skills as well? We won’t with him camped behind the line especially with the scoring losses. If he can’t take the ball off the dribble to the hole we will get zoned to death. Would have been nice if JL had some threat of offense instead of just roaming the baseline for a couple of dunks every game. I agree with the portal comments. We need to plug in at least a big and a shooter.

Huntley is a catch shoot shooter and a an athletic dunker. The handles definitely need to be added to his game, but offensively with the right guys around him he can be even more deadly. This year our paint was clogged as Lewis and Gregory are inside the arc offensive players, then our "shooters" Almonacy and Forrest struggled from deep most of the year. If we can get athletic wing who can stretch the floor to play with CJ and Donovan, and 2 new SHOOTERS from the guard position (Zocko + transfer portal), it would really put CJ in more successful offensive situations

[appfanjj]

We won't miss Almonacy and Forrest. They each had good games from time to time but were very inconsistent a lot of the time, going from good to nonexistent in the same week. Given more opportunity, Brown and Harcum will flourish. If things go our way in the offseason (Gregory, Delph, portal) plus the addition of Littleton we will be just fine.
Take the stairs.

[The Rock]

i think xavion brown could be the rim protector and rebounder. In the few games he played this year, the offense flowed much better from his ability to get to the rim and finish. having that threat gave us much better offense than living/dying by the 3. Brown is super athletic.

I love Xavion and his athleticism, but at 6'3 180 I don't believe we can feasibly expect him to protect the rim against opposing teams 6'10 240 lb bigs. We need an anchor

Fair point. Didn’t realize his measurables.
He seemed bigger than that from the very limited action I saw him in last season. Still believe he adds an element to our game that we are missing.

[Stonewall]

We depended way too much on the departing guards and calling them inconsistent is being kind.They did give it their all and Almonacy exceeded expectations in his two years.Justin was either the best player or the worst , depending on the moment.I love CJ but his shot has a contrary rotation , easy to fix and I wonder why it hasn't been?With work he can be really special.Duhart is ready to breakout and be a stud.Xavion is a natural and gifted 3.Harcum and Mantis will be or can be very good once the light goes on upstairs.Eades can go at 2 and 3 , but not down low. Gregory should have been all conference so if he and AD return we will compete ...plug in some talented newcomers and turn the corner.

[Appstate88]

I did this last year and figured why not do it again as I sit through tonight's tourney games. We finished 2nd in the Sun Belt, made the semis, and hosted a post season tournament game. It didn't end how we would like but we should appreciate the successes we did have! Attendance this year was also top notch for what we are used to, hope the momentum carries into next year. So let's breakdown our roster for the upcoming season and I'll add a personal wishlist of what I would like to see.

First i'll take a brief look at last year's wish list / predictions and see if they came true:

1. Extend Kerns. - Happened
2. Retain one of Almonacy/Forrest. - Both Happened!
3. Bring in a rim protector / strong rebounder. - Did Not Happen. Duhart played less than expected this year, Sasha didn't take a step forward and it led to 6-7 man rotations for most of the season. Probably a wish that'll carry over to my new list.
4. Bring in an experienced PG - Didn't need to happen since JF and MA returned
5. Offensive improvement. According to kenpom there was improvement (245th in the country to 210th this year). But our offense has been less than ideal. Probably will need major improvements if we lose Delph this off season too.
6. Packed student section / good fan support. Happened!
7. Additional coach to our staff. - Did not happen, still wonder why we have not replaced the position held by Coach Allison in Kerns 1st year on staff
8. Non conference schedule improvements. - Happened! Our non con SOS was 24th in the country according to kenpom. Tons of quality MM's on our schedule this year (Vermont Furman Deleware Iona UNCC ETSU). This schedule should be the standard!
9. 8-5 conference record, or better! - Happened (12-6, 2nd in SB)
10. Toughness and strong defensive play carry over to 2021-22 - 191 to 133rd in the country according to Kenpom. Would say this did happen because without our strong defensive play, we don't win 19 games

2021-22 ROSTER BREAKDOWN:

G - Xavion Brown - likely returning
G - Chris Mantis - likely returning
F - RJ Duhart - likely returning
G - Michael Eads - likely returning
F - Donovan Gregory - Possibly returning
F - CJ Huntley - likely returning
G - Terence Harcum - likely returning
C - Sasha Glushkov - likely returning

F - Justin Abson - INCOMING FRESHMAN
G - Zocko Littleton - INCOMING FRESHMAN

C - James Lewis - Graduating, could return
G - Adrian Delph - Graduating, could return

G Justin Forrest - No remaining eligibility
G Michael Almonacy - No remaining eligibility

Guards - 5 Forwards - 4 Centers - 1*

3 SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

We currently have 3 scholarships to use and that number could grow to 5 depending on the decisions made by Lewis and Delph. Assuming both aren't coming back we will be losing 62.4% of our scoring production and 4 of 6 key rotational pieces. That is A TON to replace. We will get our first opportunity to see what a team recruited by this staff will look like as the only remaining Fox recruit will. likely be Donovan Gregory. I would imagine we take advantage of our momentum these last two years and utilize the transfer portal to acquire some players to contribute immediately.

As of now we have two incoming freshman for the 2022 Class. Zocko Littleton 3 star top 200 recruit in the nation, our highest rated recruit in program history (Donovan Gregory is now 2nd). He is a 4 star according to ESPN. Can shoot the rock and has great handles. Will likely be in position to start in one of Forrest / Almonacy's spots unless we pick up some impactful transfers....and even then I'm more than comfortable handing this kid the keys to our future. Our other incoming freshman is Justin Abson from Florida. He is a. 2 star 6'9 PF and we beat out UNCC and Georgia St in recruiting him. He looks more developmental as his HS competition looked very weak in the film i've seen. It's nice to be getting a big man though, we haven't had a true big man recruited yet under Kerns. He started with Isaac Johnson, Hunter Seacat, and James Lewis and has just rode out the eligibility of those 3 guys.

Transfer portal I will probably have a seperate post/thread for. But if we want to contend next year in the Sun Belt, we will want to utilize it. If we want to focus on high school recruits, some of our guys are going to have to take major steps forward next year to contend.

WISHLIST:

1. Adrian Delph returns. Would be huge, don't think it needs an explanation

2. Bring in a rim protector / strong rebounder. We need a guy like Georgia State has with Nsosome, a guy who can protect the rim and dominate games on the glass. Gregory is the closest player we have to that, and he's a 6'5 forward. If we could just another with his effort who is closer to 7 foot I think it would be HUGE for our team.

3. Bring in a veteran PG via the portal. I'm a strong believer in Zocko, and liked what we saw in Harcum this season. Xavion has PG capability as well, but would love to have a guy who has already PROVEN they can run PG effectively.

4. High major transfer via the portal. We've seen South Alabama almost exclusively go after HM transfers, and teams like ULL, Ga St, and Coastal land guys from high major conferences. I think with the momentum of our program it's our turn to land someone who will provide an immediate IMPACT to our program. It's wishful thinking, but with 400+ names already in the portal, there's bound to be someone there!

5. Better Early season tournament - This year we played in the Gulf Coast Showcase which did feature quality mid major programs, The tournament however was broadcasted on FloHoops which nobody was able to watch just about. In 2019 we played in the "Spartan Classic" against UNCG, Tenn Tech, and Montana St and those games weren't even livestreamed if I remember correctly. Would love to see us in one of the ESPN / big network tournaments for the national exposure it could bring and the opportunity to knock off a big time program at a neutral site.

6. FREE THROW SHOOTING IMPROVEMENTS

7. Donovan Gregory returns

This is all I can think of for now... would love input and opinions from others. As always, TAKE THE STAIRS!

#8 Move students from endline to the sideline.

[HurricaneYosef]

Updated to reflect the Delph news

[HurricaneYosef]

Updated to reflect the signing of Bryson Ogletree. Bryson is a SG from Jonesboro, GA. According to Verbal Commits he is a two star recruit who had 1 other D1 offer from Cleveland State. Appears to have similar athleticism to Xavion, but with much better 3 point shooting ability. His athleticism should help his defense translate to the collegiate level and potentially give him a good chance for serious playing time year 1!

[agentpaul001]

We depended way too much on the departing guards and calling them inconsistent is being kind.They did give it their all and Almonacy exceeded expectations in his two years.Justin was either the best player or the worst , depending on the moment.I love CJ but his shot has a contrary rotation , easy to fix and I wonder why it hasn't been?With work he can be really special.Duhart is ready to breakout and be a stud.Xavion is a natural and gifted 3.Harcum and Mantis will be or can be very good once the light goes on upstairs.Eades can go at 2 and 3 , but not down low. Gregory should have been all conference so if he and AD return we will compete ...plug in some talented newcomers and turn the corner.

I agree with the assessment for next season. If Gregory & AD are both back I think this team has the very real potential for a Sunbelt Regular season title. Huntley made an awesome leap this year and Duhart looks so close to making that jump as well.

[hapapp]

We depended way too much on the departing guards and calling them inconsistent is being kind.They did give it their all and Almonacy exceeded expectations in his two years.Justin was either the best player or the worst , depending on the moment.I love CJ but his shot has a contrary rotation , easy to fix and I wonder why it hasn't been?With work he can be really special.Duhart is ready to breakout and be a stud.Xavion is a natural and gifted 3.Harcum and Mantis will be or can be very good once the light goes on upstairs.Eades can go at 2 and 3 , but not down low. Gregory should have been all conference so if he and AD return we will compete ...plug in some talented newcomers and turn the corner.

I agree with the assessment for next season. If Gregory & AD are both back I think this team has the very real potential for a Sunbelt Regular season title. Huntley made an awesome leap this year and Duhart looks so close to making that jump as well.

Of course, any of that would also be dependent what other teams return. Without someone to take the place of Lewis in the middle it is going cause problems against teams with a post presence. I'm not trying to compare us to Houston but I believe they lost 4 of 5 starters and then, of course, lost two of their better players during the year. They didn't miss a beat this year and are a game away from the Final Four. So, losing key players in and of itself is not a death sentence but there are clearly a ton of question marks for us heading into next season.

[asu66]

Speaking of questions marks. How 'bout this? A PhenomHoops.com NC Top Ten prospect who held an offer from Mountaineer MBB has now committed to the ETSU Bucs (a program on the rise again). Jeremy Gregory, a 6-7 235 PF from North Mecklenburg and Oak Hill Academy, has given the Bucs a verbal commit over App and UNCC--his previous top choices. Kerns and Company can mark this kid off their search list. Gregory helped North Meck to a state title last season as a junior and his play has continued to improve since. We could have used his wide body to fill up some real estate in the lane, but apparently we'll need to look elsewhere for a big. How serious is this loss to our 2022 class?

On a somewhat brighter note, I'm hearing rumors of a recent commit for the Apps. I guess that rumor will be confirmed or denied sometime soon. The player I'm hearing the most about is not a big.

[HurricaneYosef]

Updated to reflect the Sasha Glushkov news of him entering the portal. The need for a veteran big man via the portal grows.

Best of luck to Sasha, hope he lands somewhere he can play. I never saw him being able to play consistently against Sun Belt competition.