Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University will conduct "Meet The Colonials'' tonight at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
We'll conduct "Meet The New Guys'' in this space to get you ready for that event.
Eight new players will be introduced Thursday evening, although Jairus Lyles, a sophomore guard from Virginia Commonwealth, won't play this season because of NCAA transfer rules.
So that leaves seven players with whom you should become familiar.
Of those seven, two were teammates last season at Lincoln Park High School, two were teammates at Cloud County Community College in Kansas and two are freshman guards.
"It's like Noah's ark, two of everything,'' RMU coach
Andrew Toole said with a smile.
Well, yeah. But there's also
Andre Frederick. And he fits into a group, too.
Frederick, a 6'8'' freshman, is one of four new players who stand 6'7'' or taller.
That's not by accident.
"It's something that we spoke about at length as a staff,'' Toole said. "Where are our needs? What do we need to address? Size was one of those things that definitely came up often. Length and size can really make up for mistakes. You have the ability to deflect passes, the ability to block shots and change shots and the ability to shrink the court. It's nice to have small, quick guys, but sometimes it's very easy to throw the ball by them or rebound over them.''
The fact that the Colonials played a zone defense for the bulk of last season influenced the "go bigger'' philosophy.
"It opened up more recruits for us,'' Toole said. "Our comfort level of being able to play zone for long stretches last season opened up the comfort level with some of the players we can bring in. A perfect example of that is
Lionel Gomis. He is very good in a small area, where he can play the middle of the zone. He has length and rebounds the ball.
"How can we work these guys into what we want to do? Now we have a way. We can utilize Lionel. Maybe when he's in the game, we have more of a zone. Maybe when he's out of the game, we can switch defenses. It used to be we'd evaluate players solely on their ability to play multiple positions and pressure the basketball. That eliminated a lot of guys from our pool of recruits.''
This seems to indicate that the Colonials will play a lot of zone again this season.
"We're definitely going to play much more of it than we did two years ago,'' Toole said. "I don't know if we're going to play as much of it as we did last year, but it's definitely going to be something we can utilize. It also allows some of the newer guys to adjust quicker to the game. As a coaching staff, because our hand was forced a little bit last year, we have a little more comfort in teaching it and using zone. Seeing it had some success for us defensively, now it gives us more flexibility as well.''
Frederick, from Detroit, Mich., should be effective in the zone.
"Andre is very athletic and has more skills than he understands he has,'' Toole said. "He can use both hands around the rim and is physical. One of the things I like about Dre is that he understands who he is. He's an interior guy who knows he's an interior guy. He's not working on the three-point shot. He's not trying to put the ball on the floor. He's doing what he's best at. He just has to get acclimated to the speed of everything. He'll be fine. He's a really gifted player who's adjusting.''
The 6'9", 230-pound Gomis is one of two players from Cloud County Community College coached by Chad Eshbaugh, who does at least two things consistently -- win and develop Division I basketball players.
"He pushes and coaches guys,'' Toole said of Eshbaugh.
So perhaps it's a bonus for the Colonials to land two players, 6'5''
Rodney Pryor is the other, from that program.
"They're from a program where there's been some accountability," Toole said. "Whether it's been difficult practices or difficult conditioning, that's one of the things you want with junior college players are guys who have a little bit more experience and are a little bit more mature. Both of those guys should slide in and produce.''
Pryor is a bit behind. He missed all of last season because of knee surgery.
Still …
"He's a left-handed guy who has the ability to not only put the ball in the basket but is also hunting shots,'' Toole said. "We want him to be aggressive scoring. He's got a good head on his shoulders and kind of a good understanding of what we're trying to do conceptually. He's picking stuff up quickly.''
Gomis, originally from Senegal who played briefly at Siena before heading to Cloud County, really could be a force in a zone defense as well as other areas.
"Leo has a really good feel for the game,'' Toole said. "He has really good instincts in terms of rebounding. He's not afraid to be physical and brings a lot of things that are definitely going to help us win. You know he's in practice every day -- whether it's a nice assist, a nice pass or a hustle play. He makes his presence known."
Like Gomis and Pryor, freshmen
Elijah Minnie and
Ryan Skovranko have a winning background. They led Lincoln Park to a state championship last season.
"You'd like to think that guys who are accustomed to winning want to continue to do that,'' Toole said. "They aren't comfortable losing, and if things aren't going well, they're going to try to figure it out. It's definitely a good thing to have guys who step on the floor wanting to win and are thinking about how to win as much as they can.''
The 6'8" Minnie should have an impact. He averaged 15.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and five blocks per game last season.
"Elijah possesses tremendous talent and athleticism,'' Toole said. "His potential is as high if not higher than all the guys we brought in. He's done a good job so far in early practice of learning what he needs to learn. The more detailed he becomes, the more fundamentally sound he becomes and the more success he'll have. I know as a staff we have high expectations for him, and we think he's going to have to have an impact in order for us to be a good team.''
Skovranko, 6'7'', last season averaged 13.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
"He's a guy who has a lot of Division I qualities to his game,'' Toole said. "He's learning how hard you need to work, but he's doing some positive things. Like most freshman, he has to learn the consistency and the intensity it takes on a daily basis.''
The freshmen guards are
Jafar Kinsey and
Marcquise Reed. Kinsey, 6'2", likely will be the primary backup to sophomore point guard
Kavon Stewart. Reed, 6'3", is more of a three-point shooting guard, although he also could see time at the point.
Kinsey, who averaged 20.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game last winter, is from Jamesville-Dewitt High School in Syracuse and has outstanding basketball DNA. That high school produced Syracuse standouts Andy Rautins, Brandon Triche and DaJuan Coleman and also Tyler Cavanaugh, who went to Wake Forest before transferring to George Washington.
"He's been in a program where they've had really good players,'' Toole said. "The biggest thing he's adjusting to is going from being the best player and the best athlete in your area to realizing that there are other good players and other good athletes out there. It was a little bit of a surprise to him, but each and every day he's been better."
Reed, from Landover, Md., was a prolific scorer in high school. As a senior, he averaged 31.2 points per game, five times getting 40 or more.
"There is a school of thought that says maybe if your role has been to shoot and score you're going to be more comfortable looking to shoot and score,'' Toole said. "Marcquise has the aggressiveness to score. He has multiple shots, can get to the rim and has very good size. One of the things we really like about Marcquise is that he's been very competitive and he's been very eager to learn."'
The high school scoring averages of Kinsey and Reed made a visitor to Toole's office wonder if there's some kind of metric that RMU devised to indicate how a player's point per game average in high school translates into Division I basketball. Sort of something we'll call Points Adjusted for Higher Level of Competition (PAFHLOC).
"No, there's not,'' Toole said. "It would be nice, but there are far too many variables. Whether it's level of competition at your high school or junior college, the style of play, how you played previously, how quickly you adapt and adjust to what we have going on.
"There are some things that translate, like rebounding. Effort-related or energy-related stats also translate. Scoring for most guys is the last thing that comes because they're so concerned about being in the right spot (on the court). The speed of the and the intensity is different. Being able to adjust your shot or your scoring level to the college game is one of the last things that will develop.''
Well, now we have nothing to do but wait to see how this all plays out for the new guys.
You can begin getting to know them this evening.
