ACE

Pikaar is not going to be the Robbie back-up. We have two more scholarships to give - what positions would you target?

Schertz describes Max as more of a wing and not a big... Kerr, I have no idea. I just would rather never count on freshman bigs to contribute in thier first seasons and then hope to be surprised - with 2 to fill, I'd like to see another big in the mix - hopefully a better version of Brockhoff. Competition for playing time is good - use all the scholarships, create competition and depth at every position.

Schertz has wasted little time. Here is the latest roster now on 4/3 after starting this thread a few weeks ago... In his post-game comments Schertz talked about "overhauling" the roster this offseason. More athleticism is what he kept going back to. The current roster is not good and there is a lot of uncertainty with some injured players. A lot of work needs to be done. Next year will be a 15-man roster. Here is how it stands heading into portal season... 1) Avilla 2) Anya - Good defender and rebounder, but limited offensively. Got a lot more playing time than originally planned due to Casey and Thames injuries. Hopefully he goes down to about 15-18 mpg next year. Still a valuable player 3) McCottry - Rough around the edges, but the upside is very exciting. Athletic and versatile. I think Schertz should have given playing time sooner when Thames went down, but he did get valuable experience down the stretch. A key player heading into next season, gotta keep him. With a bigger role, he should really help our defense. 4) Thames - Who knows. I hope they figure out what the deal is. I feel bad for the kid. I really liked the potential he flashed early in the season. I will feel much better about the roster if he returns and is back at 100%. 5) Dotzler - Another injury question. Not really sure what we have since he didn't really play much. I would like to see him back. (GONE) 6) Casey - You can learn a lot of by listening to Schertz interviews. In the preseason, he would often talk about Thames and Hughes (returning players) - of course he said positive things about all the players, but he talked a lot more about Thames in glowing terms than Hughes.. that's when I figured he wasn't very high on Larry. In the same way, he would often talk about the two new transfer bigs at the same time (Anya and Casey). He was much more positive about Anya. This is a long way of saying, even before the injury, I don't think Casey was going to have a big role. Now with the injury, I'm fine if we free up the scholarship. GONE 5) Warlick - I think he's a good "glue guy" to keep in the system for a while - I think Schertz likes him, although he doesn't have the "athleticism" Schertz has talked about needing on the roster. I hope he stays, but not crushed if he leaves. 6) Pikaar - I liked the potential he flashed in the William Woods game, but then again it was William Woods. On the season averaged just 1 ppg and 1 rbg. With the lack of depth, there were opportunities for Max to get some PT, and Schertz didn't give it to him. I'm fine seeing what he can do in year two, but Schertz is bringing in two other skinny bigs next year. I think if Schertz believed in his upside, there was an opportunity for more minutes throughout the season, especially with all the injuries on the roster. 9) Brockhoff - I just don't see anyway he's coming back. If he couldn't get playing time on this depleted roster, it's not likely to happen in the future. 7) Hutson - He had a big HS season, he could be a nice scorer off the bench. The kid seems like a winner Laczkowski - Seems like a little shorter Pikaar type player. I never expect tall skinny freshmen to contribute their first year and just hope I'm wrong 9) Kerr - Same expectation for tall, skinny freshmen 10) Otieno 11) Jones 12) Green 13) Brown 14) Open 15) Open I see a minimum of 4 available scholarships and as many as 7. (It turns out there were 6 scholarships to fill)

That's awesome! I'd like to see a stretch big, who has played one year of college, can come and be Robbie's back-up next year and then hopefully take over the following year. That may be very difficult to find. And then with the last scholarship, I don't know how well the newcomers play D - so either a defensive stopper or a sharpshooter... I THINK the 3 new guards can all shoot it pretty well, but it wouldn't hurt to have one more. Maybe Hutson can be that guy coming off the bench, but you never know about freshmen.

I've watched some video from X and high school and read what a few X fans said about him. He strikes me as a slightly bigger Swope - I'm not expecting him to produce at that level right away, but more about style of play. A fun player, who can create his own shot, but may also have to put up with some maddening plays. Also, he had made 26 of 27 FTA in his career!! Let's lock up Dion Brown and we might have our starting lineup.

Interesting, they said he stepped away from Xavier this season due to an undisclosed health issue. Not a key player, but looked like he was at least in the rotation. He was in the rotation as a freshman and had some nice games against good competition, so that's encouraging. A bit small at 6-0, not a lot of assists, so I guess more of a scorer?

Joe Lunardi said it well this year... the A-10 hasn't changed much in the last few years, it's just the world of college basketball around it has changed. Unfortunately, you have the P6 as the multi-bid leagues and everyone else - the one bid leagues. The "mid-major" is close to being extinct. The MVC, A-10 and AAC were leagues that you could count on for multiple bids in the past. Then even when teams from these conferences do well, the committee will still find a way if it can to screw them... Indiana State last year with a NET of 28: this year VCU had a Top 35 NET, but probably would have gotten snubbed if they didn't win the conference tourney, due to lack of Q1 wins.

Updated, Two down, four to go. Schertz adding size and athleticism as promised. Need a couple more shooters. I would also like a junkyard dog, defensive stopper type player. A stretch big to back-up Robbie would also be nice.

Anyone see him on campus today riding a golf cart?

I like A LOT!!

He is definitely a hell of an athlete. Good size, hopefully can play good D. Assist and rebounding numbers are pretty good. Indeed the 3-point shooting % was not good, BUT maybe Kobe Johnson could be a good model. He only shot 27% the year before, and came to SLU at shot 37% from 3. He didn't shoot a high volume, but was very smart about when he took them - in rhythm, usually wide open shots. Hopefully he doesn't commit during his visit to Mason and arrives tomorrow. Let's land him and then focus on getting a few shooters.

I REALLY like the shot blocking and I think he could find himself on the receiving end of a lot of passes from Robbie.

Otieno averages 2.1 bpg, and Anya only .7. This is a big upgrade as a rim protector. I'm even more positive about this addition after seeing that. There is room for both. This makes us stronger. Maybe he's the starter and Anya does what Casey was supposed to do.

He’s not a stretch big - only made 12 3s - of course on his highlight video, 2 of those were against us - ha! He seems very much like Anya, but perhaps two biggest differences- 81% from the free throw line.. and perhaps a bit of a better finisher. His video shows a lot of cuts to the basket- something it seemed Schertz said Anya was not a natural at - the way Kent was for him the year before.

Not surprising, 6-11 Canadian Christian Nitu is leaving FSU and heading to the portal. He signed with Schertz and ISU last fall. He de-committed when Schertz took the SLU job and signed with FSU in the spring.