Post by freewind on Sept 13, 2022 10:50:19 GMT -6
Going to try to compile 3 lists, 1 for returning players, 1 for transfer players, and the ever difficult 1 for true first year players. Today we will start with the easy list:
Top 10+1 Returning Players to watch for:
Honorable Mention: Garrett Covington (YSU) Guard - Averaged 12.5 points a game his senior year and came back for one more only to have an early season injury. Comes back one more year as a graduate student thanks to Covid waivers to make the most of it. He's going to be surrounded by plenty of talent on this team.
10. Treyvon Faulkner (NKU) Guard - Averaged 11.8 points a game his senior years, also a Graduate student. One of the few players who had a step down from their Junior year performance. Averaged 4 minutes less a game, improved upon his 3 point % by 10 percent which is pretty substantial. Also improved his turnover's 1 less per game. We're seeing a refinement of an already beast of a player and with NKU keeping a lot of it roster, this should improve upon even more.
9 Sam Vinson (NKU) - How many people last year correctly guess this man as being FOTY? Averaged 11.2 points a game with 3.4 Assists and 2.1 steals and almost lead his team to a conference tournament final? Almost. Now he has his jitters aside, i think he's going to have an explosive season ahead of him.
8. Trey Townsend (OAK) - I felt like last year Trey was always in the back of everyone's minds when it came to Oakland. It was all about Cain and Moore. With Cain gone, i think this will be his year to shine. This 3rd year player shot 53% from the field, averaged 13.3 points (up from 8.4 year his first year). Brought his free throw game up from 60 to 75.7 percent shooting in a year as well. I think Oakland's front court is a little short, but Townsend speed and athletic ability will make up for quite a bit of that.
7. Kahliel Spear (RMU) - Kahliel enters his 3rd year and gives Andy Toole some stability he hasn't had since entering the Horizon League. Averaging 14.7 points a game in his 2nd year, and having a couple familiar Guards up top, i think Mr. Spears has the opportunity to continue to elevate his game. Shooting 55 percent from the field and averaging 7.7 on the boards, i expect he will be looking at grabbing even more rebounds for his team this year and getting more opportunities under the basket.
6. Dwayne Cohill (YSU) - Dwayne looked like he was having so much more fun playing all those minutes (29.7) for YSU compared to the few he got at UD(13.3). Now that he knows the playing time is there, and he's got probably a better team this year, he'll have to improve on his shot selection (45.5%) and that's okay, that's on him.
5. Trey Calvin (WSU) - Senior Year for Calvin who lost both his go to guys to the transfer portal. His PPG for last year was 14.6 and that's considering he had 2 of the top scorers in the league. The last 5 games he played, all tournament games, all high stress games, his lowest scoring was 16 against both Arizona & Oakland. He put 21 on Bryant and NKU. Either this kid is good in high stress situations or his trajectory is going up in a hurry, either way you should be happy to be a Raiders fan with him.
4. Jarred Godfrey (PFW) - Most rosters i'm trying to figure out where everyone is coming from, when it's PFW though, I'm trying to figure out if I'm stuck at looking at the year before. Godfrey feels more like the Godfather as he enters his graduate year for Fort Wayne basketball. Averaged 15.2 points a game and has a pretty similar looking team from the previous year. His 3rd & 4th year stats are pretty similar so either he'll maintain his current form in hopes someone else steps up on his team, or maybe we get a different look from him this year to try to shake things up. His beyond the arc game continues to improve year after year shooting a career high 37.9 percent last year.
3. Jalen Moore (OAK) - Definitely had a down year from his first year. This was due to injury. The big question, is it one of those you can heal through an off season or will it dictate Jalen's future? If he's healthy, I can easily see him put up 20 PPG now with Cain gone. Even down the stretch he had 4-16 point games and a 19 point game when he was struggling. He's got a tough non-con he's going to have to find balance through the year.
2. Marques Warrick (NKU) - A huge get for NKU fants to have Warrick stick with the program. The dude averaged 16.8 points in the season, averaged 24.8 in his last 5 games. Only shooting 41 pct from the field, if he has something to work on in the off season, i would say shot selection. He's got veterans backing him up, no shame in passing on this team looking for a better shot. He was already improving his defensive display from year one to his second, so if he doesn't improve shot selection, that's a 2nd avenue to help his team improve. He gives this team a lot to work with.
3. Jalen Moore (OAK) - Definitely had a down year from his first year. This was due to injury. The big question, is it one of those you can heal through an off season or will it dictate Jalen's future? If he's healthy, I can easily see him put up 20 PPG now with Cain gone. Even down the stretch he had 4-16 point games and a 19 point game when he was struggling. He's got a tough non-con he's going to have to find balance through the year.
2. Marques Warrick (NKU) - A huge get for NKU fants to have Warrick stick with the program. The dude averaged 16.8 points in the season, averaged 24.8 in his last 5 games. Only shooting 41 pct from the field, if he has something to work on in the off season, i would say shot selection. He's got veterans backing him up, no shame in passing on this team looking for a better shot. He was already improving his defensive display from year one to his second, so if he doesn't improve shot selection, that's a 2nd avenue to help his team improve. He gives this team a lot to work with.
1. Antoine Davis (DET) - Davis with the off season troll of "See ya dad, i'm going to look for a better team......nah" In some ways his dad has prepared him for the pro's, as in, he's had almost a different team every year he's played in Detroit. What we can expect? 36+ minutes a game. 23-26 PPG. Probably 4 assists a game. His stat line is incredibly consistent through the four years of play. In some ways I hope he does get his dad a title, but I'm not confident he will. If he doesn't show a different look or an improved game, he'll probably have regrets not going Pro after one year or at the very least playing at a higher level of talent at a different University. Would like to have seen how he'd perform not being the go-to guy. His biggest improvement needs to be a way to figure out how to beat NKU in the post season, ha. I enjoy watching him play overall he's very talented and we're lucky to have him in this league.