A10 Outlook for 21-22

[Jersey77]

VCU and the Bonnies should be the clear cut favorites with their returning core players.

Richmond may also join the conversation with senior starters Gilyard and Cayo deciding to return plus having forward Tyler Burton.
All three players averaged about 12 pts/pg last season.

SLU should be strong again with scoring star Perkins coming back. Yuri at PG and big man Okoro who transferred from Oregon last year, plus sharpshooting Jimerson. They also have a couple of Euro bigs, part-time starting center Bell, plus possible starter Thatch.
In addition they have 2 highly anticipated transfers in Rashad Williams and Jordan Nesbitt.

Can't forget Davidson who always gives us problems.
Top returning scorer Lee, big man Brajkovic, and Carter Collins all double digit scorers. They can go big up front if Mennenga also starts.

Dayton always seems to reload, they return Weaver, Amzil, Nwokeji, Cohill (injured last season), Blakney, and Sissoko.
They also have their #1 recruiting class ever and tops in the A10.
They will be young but should be very competitive.

URI's success will depend on the improvement of last year's transfers, plus the growth of Ish and return of Shepp.
Curious to see what impact the freshman and transfer Ish2 will have.
With positive progress from our players, we can sneak into the top 5 of the conference.

Duquesne, GW, GM, and UMass have all been decimated by transfers, but the Dukes and GW seem to have added some decent players from the portal.

LaSalle, St. Joe's, and Fordham should round out the bottom of the A10 in no particular order.

[CTRamfan]

I agree with your assessment.

I think we are the hardest team to predict........Coach did a good job recruiting. Too many new pieces this past year. BUT, the collapse down the stretch was a big red flag. Was it coaching, or the style of play. As much as I respect Fatts, Coach had to make some compromises because of him.

This coming year will tell us a lot..... Is Coach the right guy?..........Or are his recruits not the caliber we thought?

[section(105)]

.......will enjoy being back in our seats........for me right now, looking at a mid pack team in conference........then not dancing.......I am also looking at it this way, we can’t be worse, no?

[SmartyBarrett]

RE: VCU... any word on Bones and the NBA? I haven’t seen anything either way but I expect him to at least test the draft waters.

[reef]

VCU and the Bonnies should be the clear cut favorites with their returning core players.

Richmond may also join the conversation with senior starters Gilyard and Cayo deciding to return plus having forward Tyler Burton.
All three players averaged about 12 pts/pg last season.

SLU should be strong again with scoring star Perkins coming back. Yuri at PG and big man Okoro who transferred from Oregon last year, plus sharpshooting Jimerson. They also have a couple of Euro bigs, part-time starting center Bell, plus possible starter Thatch.
In addition they have 2 highly anticipated transfers in Rashad Williams and Jordan Nesbitt.

Can't forget Davidson who always gives us problems.
Top returning scorer Lee, big man Brajkovic, and Carter Collins all double digit scorers. They can go big up front if Mennenga also starts.

Dayton always seems to reload, they return Weaver, Amzil, Nwokeji, Cohill (injured last season), Blakney, and Sissoko.
They also have their #1 recruiting class ever and tops in the A10.
They will be young but should be very competitive.

URI's success will depend on the improvement of last year's transfers, plus the growth of Ish and return of Shepp.
Curious to see what impact the freshman and transfer Ish2 will have.
With positive progress from our players, we can sneak into the top 5 of the conference.

Duquesne, GW, GM, and UMass have all been decimated by transfers, but the Dukes and GW seem to have added some descent players from the portal.

LaSalle, St. Joe's, and Fordham should round out the bottom of the A10 in no particular order.

Sounds like the bottom of the conference is going to stink again . I think we will be middle of the pack unless we can find one more legitimate transfer

[Jersey77]

VCU and the Bonnies should be the clear cut favorites with their returning core players.

Richmond may also join the conversation with senior starters Gilyard and Cayo deciding to return plus having forward Tyler Burton.
All three players averaged about 12 pts/pg last season.

SLU should be strong again with scoring star Perkins coming back. Yuri at PG and big man Okoro who transferred from Oregon last year, plus sharpshooting Jimerson. They also have a couple of Euro bigs, part-time starting center Bell, plus possible starter Thatch.
In addition they have 2 highly anticipated transfers in Rashad Williams and Jordan Nesbitt.

Can't forget Davidson who always gives us problems.
Top returning scorer Lee, big man Brajkovic, and Carter Collins all double digit scorers. They can go big up front if Mennenga also starts.

Dayton always seems to reload, they return Weaver, Amzil, Nwokeji, Cohill (injured last season), Blakney, and Sissoko.
They also have their #1 recruiting class ever and tops in the A10.
They will be young but should be very competitive.

URI's success will depend on the improvement of last year's transfers, plus the growth of Ish and return of Shepp.
Curious to see what impact the freshman and transfer Ish2 will have.
With positive progress from our players, we can sneak into the top 5 of the conference.

Duquesne, GW, GM, and UMass have all been decimated by transfers, but the Dukes and GW seem to have added some decent players from the portal.

LaSalle, St. Joe's, and Fordham should round out the bottom of the A10 in no particular order.

Sounds like the bottom of the conference is going to stink again . I think we will be middle of the pack unless we can find one more legitimate transfer

We are all out of scholarships, unless we lose somebody.

[Smokinjimit2]

I see us in the bottom half. Nothing to get excited about.

[steviep123]

Watching this Championship game tonight and Gonzaga against Baylor looks like us against Dayton last year and both teams would destroy us.

[wpbrown8267]

Way-too-early top 25...

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... gs-2021-22

15. St. Bonaventure Bonnies


It's not easy to gauge how good the Bonnies really were this past season. They only played two nonconference games, against Akron and Hofstra, and then were hardly competitive against LSU in the NCAA tournament. But they mostly rolled through the Atlantic 10 with only a few bumps in the road and looked dominant in the conference tournament. And Mark Schmidt has everyone back from that team. Kyle Lofton is a star in the backcourt, and all five starters -- Lofton, Jaren Holmes, Dominick Welch, Jalen Adaway, Osun Osunniyi -- averaged double figures. One of the issues Schmidt had was a lack of production outside his starting five. The Bonnies have addressed that early in the transfer market, adding high-major transfers Quadry Adams (Wake Forest) and Karim Coulibaly (Pittsburgh). Neither is expected to be a huge impact player, but if they can provide depth and versatility, that's all Schmidt needs.

Projected starting lineup:

Kyle Lofton (14.4 PPG, 5.5 APG)
Jaren Holmes (13.8 PPG)
Dominick Welch (11.4 PPG)
Jalen Adaway (12.2 PPG)
Osun Osunniyi (10.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG)

[Jersey77]

Way-too-early top 25...

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... gs-2021-22

15. St. Bonaventure Bonnies


It's not easy to gauge how good the Bonnies really were this past season. They only played two nonconference games, against Akron and Hofstra, and then were hardly competitive against LSU in the NCAA tournament. But they mostly rolled through the Atlantic 10 with only a few bumps in the road and looked dominant in the conference tournament. And Mark Schmidt has everyone back from that team. Kyle Lofton is a star in the backcourt, and all five starters -- Lofton, Jaren Holmes, Dominick Welch, Jalen Adaway, Osun Osunniyi -- averaged double figures. One of the issues Schmidt had was a lack of production outside his starting five. The Bonnies have addressed that early in the transfer market, adding high-major transfers Quadry Adams (Wake Forest) and Karim Coulibaly (Pittsburgh). Neither is expected to be a huge impact player, but if they can provide depth and versatility, that's all Schmidt needs.

Projected starting lineup:

Kyle Lofton (14.4 PPG, 5.5 APG)
Jaren Holmes (13.8 PPG)
Dominick Welch (11.4 PPG)
Jalen Adaway (12.2 PPG)
Osun Osunniyi (10.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG)

Yes saw that, all 5 double digit returning starters, not bad going into next season.

VCU returning: Bones, Ace, Ward, Williams, and Watkins should make a lot of noise also.

[reef]

Wow 15 is a pretty high ranking but having everyone back plus the 2 transfers I guess you can see why

How will Schmidty schedule OOC ??

[Dino611]

Vcu will be better if they don’t lose anyone, they r way deeper

[PeterRamTime]

Vcu will be better if they don’t lose anyone, they r way deeper

Disagree. Their starting five wasn't as good as St Bonaventures.

Bones might go pro. He could get drafted.

[reef]

I like Bonnies 1 VCU 2

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Do we know which players will be where next season? Seems kind of premature until we do.

[Jersey77]

Do we know which players will be where next season? Seems kind of premature until we do.

Yes a lot of conjecture here but basing the projections on how the current rosters stack up. Some schools still waiting on decisions whether or not certain seniors will return.

Plenty of quality impact players still available in the portal, although they may not end up in the A10.

There may be several roster changes down the road, but barring any significant happenings the Bonnies and VCU should still be the teams to beat.

The A10 rankings could be ever changing, look at this past season, we all expected Richmond and SLU to finish at the top and VCU in the bottom half.

[SGreenwell]

Do we know which players will be where next season? Seems kind of premature until we do.

That would be my biggest caveat too, although it looks like ESPN does update their "Way Too Early" Top 25 throughout the offseason. Example - The one for 2020-21 is shockingly good, with Baylor #1, Gonzaga #3, UCLA #19 and Houston #22. (Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if the most years, the Final Four is compromised of all ranked teams, so I'm probably giving them more credit than I should.)

[Rhody15]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

[Jersey77]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Just saw that, huge for them.
Golden, Cayo, and Burton arguably the best front court in the A10 next season.
Plus Gilyard back at PG, they may challenge for the conference title.

[Rhody15]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Just saw that, huge for them.
Golden, Cayo, and Burton may be the best front court in the A10 next season.
Plus Gilyard back at PG, they may challenge for the conference title.

If Nick Sherod stays after tearing his ACL this preseason, I’d say they’d be slotted 2nd behind the Bonnie’s.

[Jersey77]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Just saw that, huge for them.
Golden, Cayo, and Burton arguably the best front court in the A10 next season.
Plus Gilyard back at PG, they may challenge for the conference title.

If Nick Sherod stays after tearing his ACL this preseason, I’d say they’d be slotted 2nd behind the Bonnie’s.

Sherod did say he was done prior to last season, but who knows now.
I can't disagree with you about their chances even without him.

[reef]

Good for them they will be an experienced group definitely top 3 in the con you would think

[SmartyBarrett]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Just saw that, huge for them.
Golden, Cayo, and Burton may be the best front court in the A10 next season.
Plus Gilyard back at PG, they may challenge for the conference title.

If Nick Sherod stays after tearing his ACL this preseason, I’d say they’d be slotted 2nd behind the Bonnie’s.

I'd slot them #2 if they got a new coach. Mooney doesn't inspire a ton of confidence... they finished 8th this year and lost in the first round of the A-10s with all of the above (minus Sherod, of course).

[Jersey77]

Just saw that, huge for them.
Golden, Cayo, and Burton may be the best front court in the A10 next season.
Plus Gilyard back at PG, they may challenge for the conference title.

If Nick Sherod stays after tearing his ACL this preseason, I’d say they’d be slotted 2nd behind the Bonnie’s.

I'd slot them #2 if they got a new coach. Mooney doesn't inspire a ton of confidence... they finished 8th this year and lost in the first round of the A-10s with all of the above (minus Sherod, of course).

The players must like him: Gilyard, Cayo, and Golden all top scoring seniors returning rather than going the portal route like many others.
They would of "Danced" in 2020 and the Covid pauses may of derailed them this year. Still a disappointing finish for them even with Sherod's injury early on.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Isn't he about 30 years old?

[Rhody15]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Isn't he about 30 years old?

Rumor has it he played against Luther Clay and Reynolds Dean.

[wpbrown8267]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Isn't he about 30 years old?

getting there...he'll turn 24 midway through next season

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Grant Golden returning for Richmond.

Isn't he about 30 years old?

getting there...he'll turn 24 midway through next season

Seems like he's been playing since Dick Tarrant was the coach

[Jersey77]

Dayton just got a lot better in the frontcourt.
Toumani Camara sophomore PF (6'8"/220 lbs.) transfer from Georgia. He was a 4* top 100 recruit.
He averaged 13 pts/ 8 rebs/ 49%FG this past season.

[reef]

Wow nice pickup for the Flyers , did he get sick of Tommy Crean ??

[Jersey77]

Wow nice pickup for the Flyers , did he get sick of Tommy Crean ??

Yes, this is considered a huge blow to Crean's team. He is only a sophomore and arguably was their best player this past season.

Georgia's loss is Dayton's gain. He had some big games including 22pts. 10 rebs. against LSU, and held his own against tough competition. Camara now teamed up with Amzil and Nwokeji will give the Flyers one of the better frontcourts in the conference and they are also young.

The top 5 teams in the A10 should all be very good next season and that does even include us and what improvement we may show this upcoming year.

[Jersey77]

Based on current rosters my early take on best backcourts/frontcourts in A10 for 21-22:

Backcourt:
1. Bonnies- Lofton, Holmes, Adaway, Welch
2. SLU - Yuri, Perkins, Jimerson
3. VCU - Bones, Ace Baldwin

Frontcourt:
1. Richmond - Golden, Burton, Cayo
2. Dayton - Camara, Amzil, Nwokeji, also Holmes may start as a freshman
3.URI - Mitchell twins, Walker, Martin or DJ
3. VCU (tie).- Watkins, Williams, Ward or Levi

I can also include the Bonnies because Osun may be the best big in the conference, but they start 4 guards or wings. They also picked up Coulibaly in the portal.

[PeterRamTime]

Based on current rosters my early take on best backcourts/frontcourts in A10 for 21-22:

Backcourt:
1. Bonnies- Lofton, Holmes, Adaway, Welch
2. SLU - Yuri, Perkins, Jimerson
3. VCU - Bones, Ace Baldwin

Frontcourt:
1. Richmond - Golden, Burton, Cayo
2. Dayton - Camara, Amzil, Nwokeji, also Holmes may start as a freshman
3.URI - Mitchell twins, Walker, Martin or DJ
3. VCU (tie).- Watkins, Williams, Ward or Levi

I can also include the Bonnies because Osun may be the best big in the conference, but they start 4 guards or wings. They also picked up Coulibaly in the portal.

We will have the best frontcourt in the A-10.

It's a hill I will die on.

[Jersey77]

Based on current rosters my early take on best backcourts/frontcourts in A10 for 21-22:

Backcourt:
1. Bonnies- Lofton, Holmes, Adaway, Welch
2. SLU - Yuri, Perkins, Jimerson
3. VCU - Bones, Ace Baldwin

Frontcourt:
1. Richmond - Golden, Burton, Cayo
2. Dayton - Camara, Amzil, Nwokeji, also Holmes may start as a freshman
3.URI - Mitchell twins, Walker, Martin or DJ
3. VCU (tie).- Watkins, Williams, Ward or Levi

I can also include the Bonnies because Osun may be the best big in the conference, but they start 4 guards or wings. They also picked up Coulibaly in the portal.

We will have the best frontcourt in the A-10.

It's a hill I will die on.

I like your optimism, but lots of question marks on our guys.
The return of the proven starters from Richmond are going to be tough..
Plus the addition of Camara for Dayton was huge, he may be all conference.

[PeterRamTime]

Based on current rosters my early take on best backcourts/frontcourts in A10 for 21-22:

Backcourt:
1. Bonnies- Lofton, Holmes, Adaway, Welch
2. SLU - Yuri, Perkins, Jimerson
3. VCU - Bones, Ace Baldwin

Frontcourt:
1. Richmond - Golden, Burton, Cayo
2. Dayton - Camara, Amzil, Nwokeji, also Holmes may start as a freshman
3.URI - Mitchell twins, Walker, Martin or DJ
3. VCU (tie).- Watkins, Williams, Ward or Levi

I can also include the Bonnies because Osun may be the best big in the conference, but they start 4 guards or wings. They also picked up Coulibaly in the portal.

We will have the best frontcourt in the A-10.

It's a hill I will die on.

I like your optimism, but lots of question marks on our guys.
The return of the proven starters from Richmond are going to be tough..
Plus the addition of Camara for Dayton was huge, he may be all conference.

Camara is a huge threat.

Makhel was already quite the load to deal with for the A-10 as a sophomore (pretty much a freshman)
Makhi was starting to come into his own against Seton Hall and Wisconsin. (11 and 8 points respectively)

No one else has guys as big and athletic as they are down low and they're very skilled. Coming out of high school Makhi was projected to be an NBA player.

Then you got Walker. He proved that he can be a force and athletically he can match up with anyone. He made a huge jump this past season and anymore improvement from him could be pretty huge.

Harris is much maligned, but if they just boil his minutes down he can come in and hold his own for a few. He did really well against Osun and the Bonnies last year in a game where we pretty much dominated him all game long. One of our problems last year was leaving Harris in too long. I re-watched the Seton Hall game the other day and they left him in the game waaaaaay too long and finally towards the end when we put in both of the twins we started dominating them. The Twins and Walker were all over Mamu and Obiagu. Blocking their shot and just being too quick for them. We had like 8 blocks in that game.

If Cox disperses the minutes correctly (big if) then I think I'll be right.

[Jersey77]

We will have the best frontcourt in the A-10.

It's a hill I will die on.

I like your optimism, but lots of question marks on our guys.
The return of the proven starters from Richmond are going to be tough..
Plus the addition of Camara for Dayton was huge, he may be all conference.

Camara is a huge threat.

Makhel was already quite the load to deal with for the A-10 as a sophomore (pretty much a freshman)
Makhi was starting to come into his own against Seton Hall and Wisconsin. (11 and 8 points respectively)

No one else has guys as big and athletic as they are down low and they're very skilled. Coming out of high school Makhi was projected to be an NBA player.

Then you got Walker. He proved that he can be a force and athletically he can match up with anyone. He made a huge jump this past season and anymore improvement from him could be pretty huge.

Harris is much maligned, but if they just boil his minutes down he can come in and hold his own for a few. He did really well against Osun and the Bonnies last year in a game where we pretty much dominated him all game long. One of our problems last year was leaving Harris in too long. I re-watched the Seton Hall game the other day and they left him in the game waaaaaay too long and finally towards the end when we put in both of the twins we started dominating them. The Twins and Walker were all over Mamu and Obiagu. Blocking their shot and just being too quick for them. We had like 8 blocks in that game.

If Cox disperses the minutes correctly (big if) then I think I'll be right.

We have seen some nice play from Makhel and Walker but they have also been inconsistent, turnovers and fouling issues have also been a problem.
Let's see what Makhi can do coming back from injury, and how Cox uses him.
They didn't exactly dominate Mamu he had 25 and 10 against us, kept them in the game.

[PeterRamTime]

I like your optimism, but lots of question marks on our guys.
The return of the proven starters from Richmond are going to be tough..
Plus the addition of Camara for Dayton was huge, he may be all conference.

Camara is a huge threat.

Makhel was already quite the load to deal with for the A-10 as a sophomore (pretty much a freshman)
Makhi was starting to come into his own against Seton Hall and Wisconsin. (11 and 8 points respectively)

No one else has guys as big and athletic as they are down low and they're very skilled. Coming out of high school Makhi was projected to be an NBA player.

Then you got Walker. He proved that he can be a force and athletically he can match up with anyone. He made a huge jump this past season and anymore improvement from him could be pretty huge.

Harris is much maligned, but if they just boil his minutes down he can come in and hold his own for a few. He did really well against Osun and the Bonnies last year in a game where we pretty much dominated him all game long. One of our problems last year was leaving Harris in too long. I re-watched the Seton Hall game the other day and they left him in the game waaaaaay too long and finally towards the end when we put in both of the twins we started dominating them. The Twins and Walker were all over Mamu and Obiagu. Blocking their shot and just being too quick for them. We had like 8 blocks in that game.

If Cox disperses the minutes correctly (big if) then I think I'll be right.

We have seen some nice play from Makhel and Walker but they have also been inconsistent, turnovers and fouling issues have also been a problem.
Let's see what Makhi can do coming back from injury, and how Cox uses him.
They didn't exactly dominate Mamu he had 25 and 10 against us, kept them in the game.

I'm talking about towards the end of the game when we had both twins in it really helped turn the tide and we pretty much stymied him. Makhi was able to guard him from the perimeter to the basket.

[Jersey77]

Camara is a huge threat.

Makhel was already quite the load to deal with for the A-10 as a sophomore (pretty much a freshman)
Makhi was starting to come into his own against Seton Hall and Wisconsin. (11 and 8 points respectively)

No one else has guys as big and athletic as they are down low and they're very skilled. Coming out of high school Makhi was projected to be an NBA player.

Then you got Walker. He proved that he can be a force and athletically he can match up with anyone. He made a huge jump this past season and anymore improvement from him could be pretty huge.

Harris is much maligned, but if they just boil his minutes down he can come in and hold his own for a few. He did really well against Osun and the Bonnies last year in a game where we pretty much dominated him all game long. One of our problems last year was leaving Harris in too long. I re-watched the Seton Hall game the other day and they left him in the game waaaaaay too long and finally towards the end when we put in both of the twins we started dominating them. The Twins and Walker were all over Mamu and Obiagu. Blocking their shot and just being too quick for them. We had like 8 blocks in that game.

If Cox disperses the minutes correctly (big if) then I think I'll be right.

We have seen some nice play from Makhel and Walker but they have also been inconsistent, turnovers and fouling issues have also been a problem.
Let's see what Makhi can do coming back from injury, and how Cox uses him.
They didn't exactly dominate Mamu he had 25 and 10 against us, kept them in the game.

I'm talking about towards the end of the game when we had both twins in it really helped turn the tide and we pretty much stymied him. Makhi was able to guard him from the perimeter to the basket.

Let's see how Cox distributes the minutes. Like I said our team does have good depth, balance, and some quality players, but lacks star power.
Curious which players will step up and raise their level of play, the potential is there.

[Jersey77]

Dwayne Cohill, Dayton guard just entered the portal. Many on their board very surprised, thought he had a chance to start this upcoming season. He sat out all this past season with ACL surgery.

[Jersey77]

Huge get for VCU out of the PAC12.
The top tier of the A10 keeps getting stronger.



https://richmond.com/sports/college/for ... d4048.html

[URI_05]

Bones Hyland just signed with an agent and will stay in the NBA draft. Big hit for VCU.

[PeterRamTime]

Bones Hyland just signed with an agent and will stay in the NBA draft. Big hit for VCU.

Yep they were verrry pedestrian without him last year

[Jersey77]

Bones Hyland just signed with an agent and will stay in the NBA draft. Big hit for VCU.

Yes, he is a big loss, but they will still be very good.
Getting Tsohonis is now huge and he should start in the backcourt with Ace, their frontcourt is solid.

[rhodyblue12]

Man, I hope all our players will be greatly improved next year.
There are lots of potential upgrades out there right now and it seems like we are standing still.
We needed a ball handler, so El-Amin is a solid addition.
However, it would be nice to add a John Harrar type for a year just to make us match-up proof.
(I see the twins as two entirely different types of players - with Mekhi as a face up 4 and not a center.)
It would also give Samb a year to develop.

[Rhody74]

Man, I hope all our players will be greatly improved next year.
There are lots of potential upgrades out there right now and it seems like we are standing still.
We needed a ball handler, so El-Amin is a solid addition.
However, it would be nice to add a John Harrar type for a year just to make us match-up proof.
(I see the twins as two entirely different types of players - with Mekhi as a face up 4 and not a center.)
It would also give Samb a year to develop.

We have no open scholarships so unless someone transfers or quits the team we can’t upgrade.

[Rhody72]

Why will URI be a better team next year without Fatts? I don't expect Makhi and AB to come back strong after knee surgery. Will player improvement offset the loss of Fatts? Are we saying addition by subtraction?

[Jersey77]

Why will URI be a better team next year without Fatts? I don't expect Makhi and AB to come back strong after knee surgery. Will player improvement offset the loss of Fatts? Are we saying addition by subtraction?

First, I don't expect AB to be much of an impact at all next year, probably won't even be activated till 2nd semester if that.
Many are optimistic about Makhi next season, hopefully he comes back healthy and ready.
I think our big improvement should come from our player's growth and a season together under their belt.
We are deep and hopefully the younger players will push the older ones.
We don't have the star power on this team, but we do have a good balance.
I certainly expect us to finish much better this season than last. IMO

[rambone 78]

Why will URI be a better team next year without Fatts? I don't expect Makhi and AB to come back strong after knee surgery. Will player improvement offset the loss of Fatts? Are we saying addition by subtraction?

First, I don't expect AB to be much of an impact at all next year, probably won't even be activated till 2nd semester if that.
Many are optimistic about Makhi next season, hopefully he comes back healthy and ready.
I think our big improvement should come with our player's growth and a season playing together under their belt.
We are deep and hopefully the younger players will push the older ones.
We don't have the star power on this team, but we do have a good balance.
I certainly expect us to finish much better this season than last. IMO

Next season's prediction contest will certainly see a much wider range of expectations than usual.

This board has it all....dreamers, hopers, realists, optimists....the whole nine yards.

I don't see any magical major improvement, that's for sure.

[Blue Man]

I do think we'll be better without Fatts - just for the fact that the only saving grace Cox could possibly have is that he sold his soul to keep Fatts here.

Fatts needed to be a distributor and instead he was a ball stopper who shot way way wayyyy too much for his ability.

He'll be great at Maryland where there are other proven scoring options and ballhandlers who will allow it to not be the Fatts' show. He was at his best as a 6th man his freshman year. He was playing well his junior year here, but probably could've played better if Jeff was allowed to run the offense full time and create spacing for Fatts to be successful.

Also, I don't think Turgeon will let him do whatever he wants and laugh about calling his own number when the coach didn't in a press conference.

Fatts will be a better player at Maryland than he ever was (or would've been) here, just because I think he'll be used better and will be playing for a coach who will demand he play into his system, and not just let Fatts do Fatts out there.

The team will get Makhi back and honestly Makhi/Makhel/Walker will probably make up the best front court in the A-10.

The question mark will be guard play (obviously Shepp and Ish will be solid, but the jury is out on the offensive philosophy), and more importantly who will be our 3. That's one position we don't have settled. If Carey plays anywhere near his potential, or is put in spots to be successful, he could be that link. But I will not be holding my breath.

I'm hopeful that we return to being a top 6 team, but my gut says we're bottom 1/3 again and will be having a press conference to introduce a new coach a year from today.

[rambone 78]

We will see how we finish the season next year.

My guess is, we'll be OK the first half of the season, with a fairly easy schedule.

The second half track record is the problem.

Another swoon-a-rama, and like Blue Man said, we'll have a new coach soon after.

One thing I would like to see, is if we can actually play well for the majority of a 40 minute game. Didn't happen hardly at all last season, which is quite something if you think about it. 5 or 10 minutes of good play a game doesn't cut it whatsoever.