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JUCO SF Ryan Preston has committed to #URI, source confirms to @projo. Brooklyn native played at Trinity Valley (Tx), visited this week.

Out of no where. Looks Has ish.

Strong kid, 6'6" but can rebound. HS highlights.

Birdman was right. Was a visitor this week. It was him. Was told a strong left hander.

From Brooklyn, seems to have a decent little jump shot to. Have seen him listed anywhere from 6'6" to 6'8" around the internet. Averaged 8.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

A good reminder that just because we may not be hearing about it does not necessarily mean no work is being done.

This tweet has him at 6"8" now.

JucoRecruiting.com‏ @JucoRecruiting · 49m49 minutes ago
Ryan Preston (6'8, F, 2017) of Trinity Valley has committed to Rhode Island

Supposedly this was a Boswell get.

Have to give it to Birdman. He had the info.

2 days ago.
Bird‏ @TheBirdmanJrJr · May 9
Don't get any ideas @RhodyMBB fans, but @TeranceMann is working out on campus today. Staying at FSU, although someone else is visiting...

And here's his tweet just now...

Bird‏ @TheBirdmanJrJr · 6m6 minutes ago
Just an FYI @RhodyMBB fans, Ryan Preston stands closer to 6'9 nowadays. Strong, solid frame. Athletic lefty. Staff loves him.

Kind of a cool little tidbit...

We have had good luck with lefties ....

Rhody74 wrote:We have had good luck with lefties ....

I'd say so, yeah. Understatement of the day.

When he was a 6"6 lefty I was thinking Delroy. Hell he grew 3 inches in one day on KB! Thats development!

Seawrightspostgame wrote:When he was a 6"6 lefty I was thinking Delroy. Hell he grew 3 inches in one day on KB! Thats development!

And people say Hurley can't develop big men!!!

Pretty sure he's 6'7 not 6'8" or 6'9". I was told slightly taller than Hassan. But more explosive than him, which as we know is saying a lot! Needs to clean up his offense, but he can catch the ball, rebound, defend, and run the floor.

Let's hold off calling this kid more explosive than Hassan, I mean come on...

Best news about this signing? Akele's minutes decreasing.

He doesn't have to score with the guards we have right now. Rebound, play defense and get some garbage baskets on the offensive glass. That's all we need from him this year. If he can develop more of an offensive game for his senior year, that would be great.

There's no need to hold off on calling him more explosive than Hassan. Again just telling what I've been told. Check out his highlight and/or his Instagram. I could see it being true.

Rhody74 wrote:http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/20 ... restonsd26

Those are his stats from his freshman year, his stats from last year are here: http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/20 ... reston234e

Billyboy78 wrote:He doesn't have to score with the guards we have right now. Rebound, play defense and get some garbage baskets on the offensive glass. That's all we need from him this year. If he can develop more of an offensive game for his senior year, that would be great.

Exactly.

Dre3000 wrote:There's no need to hold off on calling him more explosive than Hassan. Again just telling what I've been told. Check out his highlight and/or his Instagram. I could see it being true.

Yea one of the alley oops in his highlight he was much higher than anyone we have had since Ulmer. Thats exciting.

I hope they do a video series this summer. Capitalize on the momentum and trip.

Some good info here from Koch, including a confirmation on the Boswell stuff.

Also...

The 6-foot-7 lefthander was being pursued by a host of college programs, including fellow 2017 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Kansas State, Middle Tennessee, Florida Gulf Coast, Northern Kentucky and Iona. Preston also heard from South Florida, DePaul and Tennessee among others after averaging 8.6 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Cardinals this season.

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... its-to-uri

Hurley said when we spoke with alumni in NY that he wanted a forward who could rebound and play D. He wanted a player that could fit in within the culture and not a guy looking to score tons of points. The one concern is that he didn't start on his JUCO team.

Looks athletic, has the size and 2 years of experience. I'll take it!

I am with you Blue. I am quite surprised that our unofficial recruiting coordinator (you all know who that is) has yet to weigh in on this committed recruit! Can't wait to see his list of negative comments............

bwerner10 wrote:Hurley said when we spoke with alumni in NY that he wanted a forward who could rebound and play D. He wanted a player that could fit in within the culture and not a guy looking to score tons of points. The one concern is that he didn't start on his JUCO team.

He was starting at the end of the season in some games. Even when not starting, he put up a 17 and 12 game, and a 13 and11 game. Some are saying he's been a late bloomer, as he has grown 2 inches since he got out of high school. He's a strong kid and should get even stronger in our program. One person told me he could have an Earl Watson type of impact, not big scoring numbers, but a guy who will come in and rebound and play defense right away and improve offensively in his two years, like Earl did. Not looking for a star here, just a guy who can play a role.

Gotta fill the paint with a scoring threat to open up the guards.

Him and langevine in the paint can be a force, I'm happy.

Seems like we got ourselves an old fashioned. A kid who is getting better and under the radar. Now Dan has to get him better.

Just saw this. To the idiot troll, sorry, I wasn't on KB today.
Typical little bitch snipe.
Looks like a good signing.
He's certainly in shape, and athletic.
Should be able to start ahead of Akele.

Seems like I'm in the minority of at least the people who have weighed in and I don't want to be a downer...but, yawn. I suppose this is about as good as you can expect this late in the game, but how did we get to this point with all the positive press and momentum we had? I hope that our returning bigs get better quick because this front court is not impressive on paper even by A10 standards. I hope they all turn out to be good players...time will tell.

Opening day will see where we are regarding our front court. We got enough bodies on the bench. Need to see if any will play.

The key to me is that after working him out during his visit, they liked him a lot......can't say the same about others that visited.....

I doubt he'll be much of a factor early next season......this isn't community college anymore.....but hopefully he'll become a solid contributor.....as was said, if he can play good D and rebound, that's what the staff was looking for.

Really, the staff just wanted a big who can defend and rebound? They didn't want a guy who can score too? When I see things like that I just think they are lowering expectations because they aren't getting the job done and they have resigned themselves to the fact that is the best they can hope for at this point in time.

Andre Berry had better Juco Stats in his one season. If they wanted rebounding, this kid only averaged 6.4 a game in juco, it's not like he was averaging 9 or 10. His juco stats are very similar to Earls...Earl was 9.5 and 6.4. So the best we could do is a kid who should not be a starting front court player on a very good high level D1 basketball team...he should be the 1st or second big off the bench. If he starts we are in trouble.

I' sure they would have preferred a guy who can shoot, rebound, and defend but how many of these guys are realistically available in mid may? I would imagine very few if any. Also,

The team ad a glaring hole in the frontcourt. This will hopefully patch it up.

2016-2017 Trinity Valley Teamates going D-1:
Hyron Edwards (17.8 ppg, 41.8 FG%, 4.8 apg)- Texas Tech
Amaad Wainright (14.2 ppg, 46.4 FG%, 4.5 rpg) - Kansas State
Josh Stamps (11.7 ppg, 42.5 FG%, 2.6 rpg) - FIU

http://www.tvccsports.com/sports/mbkb/2 ... v?view=bio

http://verbalcommits.com/players/ryan-preston

RIFan wrote:Really, the staff just wanted a big who can defend and rebound? They didn't want a guy who can score too? When I see things like that I just think they are lowering expectations because they aren't getting the job done and they have resigned themselves to the fact that is the best they can hope for at this point in time.

Andre Berry had better Juco Stats in his one season. If they wanted rebounding, this kid only averaged 6.4 a game in juco, it's not like he was averaging 9 or 10. His juco stats are very similar to Earls...Earl was 9.5 and 6.4. So the best we could do is a kid who should not be a starting front court player on a very good high level D1 basketball team...he should be the 1st or second big off the bench. If he starts we are in trouble.

Juco stats are really to be taken with a grain of salt, as there are many variables. Some JUCO teams are absolutely loaded (like 12+ scholarship players), and others aren't. Some JUCO leagues (KJCCC for example) have extremely high levels of competition, others don't. Some Juco teams really get up and down, and score well into the 100s. Others keep inaccurate stats.

This kid did have K-State, Middle Tennessee, Fl. Gulf Coast, Depaul, Iona, and Tennessee interested in him. I can see this kid being good, from his vidoes I mean.

I understand that there are different levels of Juco and the stats can be misleading, but I doubt even the best juco league's talent compares with a top 10 D1 conference. I also am assuming his averages of 8.5 and 6.4 in Juco will not translate to the same or better in the A10. I hope he turns out to be a nice player and this has nothing to do with him and all to do with the staff and their inability to secure a known quality big, and instead having to take a shot at a diamond in the rough...don't give me that BS about good bigs not coming to the A10...they do...we have had them, and other teams get them. His list doesn't excite me because at this time of year, teams are getting desperate and have had last minute roster moves that cause them to look for replacements and many teams reach.

Im more worried about him not adjusting to the way the game is called. He screams foul trouble to me.

If he has good rebounding and defensive instincts, he's probably an improvement over what we have right now, except for Cyril of course.

I doubt the staff would have wanted him otherwise. Berry can score a little, and ML supposedly is decent offensively, but both are suspect on defense.

So this signing gives Dan more frontcourt options. Any help is welcome [and needed] and he's a 2 year player, not 4. Worth the shot.

SPG, not overly concerned with foul trouble. He's not going to play 30 minutes a game. If he can give us 15-20 solid minutes.....

RIFan wrote:I understand that there are different levels of Juco and the stats can be misleading, but I doubt even the best juco league's talent compares with a top 10 D1 conference. I also am assuming his averages of 8.5 and 6.4 in Juco will not translate to the same or better in the A10. I hope he turns out to be a nice player and this has nothing to do with him and all to do with the staff and their inability to secure a known quality big, and instead having to take a shot at a diamond in the rough...don't give me that BS about good bigs not coming to the A10...they do...we have had them, and other teams get them. His list doesn't excite me because at this time of year, teams are getting desperate and have had last minute roster moves that cause them to look for replacements and many teams reach.

Really? Best juco league's talent does not compare to any top 10 D1 conference?! Then why was kansas and iowa state so aggressive in recruiting Shakur Juiston. I am sure you would have been extremely excited for him if we signed Juiston. If the coaches really though he had no shot of improving our roster why would they sign him. I think i will trust the staff on this one.

Two additional points:
1. While there were hundreds of transfers out there, there weren't that many 4's who would be eligible right away. URI got visits from just two: Lane and Preston. Toppin was too much like what URI already has: talented but not ready yet.
2. Don't underestimate "fit" when talking about transfers. The last thing Hurley wanted was someone who would demand a lot of shots a game considering the offense he already has in place. The biggest need was rebounding. It will be a lot harder to replace KI and Hassan's 14 boards a game than their PPG.

URIRecruitingInfo wrote:2016-2017 Trinity Valley Teamates going D-1:
Hyron Edwards (17.8 ppg, 41.8 FG%, 4.8 apg)- Texas Tech
Amaad Wainright (14.2 ppg, 46.4 FG%, 4.5 rpg) - Kansas State
Josh Stamps (11.7 ppg, 42.5 FG%, 2.6 rpg) - FIU

2015-2016 Trinity Valley Teamates that went D-1:
Leon Gilmore (11.1 ppg, 51 FG%, 7.2 rpg) - Stephen F. Austin (Year 1: 10.5 ppg, 48.3 FG%, 5.8 rpg)
JC Washington (10.2 ppg, 50.4 FG%, 6.4 rpg) - Charlotte (Year 1: 4.7 ppg, 50 FG%, 4.3 rpg, left team after 9 games)

Wow he looks good in his videos should be an upgrade over Akele . I like it

RIFan wrote:Seems like I'm in the minority of at least the people who have weighed in and I don't want to be a downer...but, yawn. I suppose this is about as good as you can expect this late in the game, but how did we get to this point with all the positive press and momentum we had? I hope that our returning bigs get better quick because this front court is not impressive on paper even by A10 standards. I hope they all turn out to be good players...time will tell.

Maybe if they should have just gone to the Good Big Guy Store and got one? If the players aren't out there, what can you do? Juiston would have been a good get, but he wanted to play somewhere else. Beyond that, there wasn't much out there. They brought guys in and looked at them, but didn't like any of them. The fact that they apparently liked this guy enough that they moved on him is encouraging to me.

Billyboy78 wrote:He doesn't have to score with the guards we have right now. Rebound, play defense and get some garbage baskets on the offensive glass. That's all we need from him this year. If he can develop more of an offensive game for his senior year, that would be great.

And some passing from the middle of a zone

Development wise, this kid is going from a junior college to a competitive D1 school. That means the coaching will be better, the players he's playing with will be better, and the resources such as facilities, workout rooms, Trainor's etc, are all upgraded to help Ryan reach full potential. At least that's the plan.