Looks like everyone is on campus, well in advance of school starting in mid-September. From photo galleries, appears everyone (except for maybe Besslink???) was on campus by late June for summer workouts. Plenty of opportunity for these guys to practice together and get the new guys acclimated.
For the sake of being in the dog days of summer and now only ~10 weeks out - here’s a first stab at what we see in november.
As listed on VerbalCommits, my starting lineup would be the first ones listed in bold (off a very limited eye-check of our transfers):
PG - Pipes, Tomley, Carlyle, Knapper
SG - JWilliams, GWilliams, Stewart
SF - Justice, Reynoso-Avila, Bessilink
PF - Djuiricic, Vrankic, Braun, Tongue, Holt
C - Bediako
Though i could see utilizing two of the PFs that we have logjammed there. More than i can ever remember in the past, there are plenty of unknowns - but in a positive way, as many newcomers have serious playing time.
Midwest-
I don’t have a beef with your starting lineup per se but assuming Vrankic is healthy I’d be shocked if Sendek didn’t start him…4 year starter returning for his 5th year, a presumed team captain, etc.
I agree w/ your PG, SG and SF starters and suspect it will be Vrankic starting alongside 1 of Bediako, Djuricic or Braun.
And a related note…Carlyle and Reynoso-Avila are gone…not returning to take advantage of the ‘free’ year. I’d expect Carlyle to start if he had returned…I think we may miss Carlyle defensive contributions, size/athleticism and generally steady play on offense despite not being much of 3pt threat.
Recognizing that most players are capable of playing multiple positions (ie- Jalen can play the 1, 2 or 3) I see a depth chart something like:
I could see Stewart challenging for the 1st guard off the bench and leapfrogging GWilliams or Tomley in playing time pecking order but I’m also trying to moderate my expectations for a freshman. And given his shooting/scoring ability I could see Pipes occasionally playing the 2 guard alongside Tomley or Knapper or a two headed PG type situation.
I pretty much spot on agree. I guess I’m just hoping one of the new PFs can outplay vrankic, I’ve seen enough over 4 years - very good against smaller inferior teams.
Did I miss the carlyle/reynoso news? Has that been posted somewhere?
I also have very high expectations for stewart and am hoping a fun lineup we could see is pipes, Stewart, jwilliams, justice, and big man.
Re: Carlyle and Reynoso…I vaguely recall hearing or reading something last Spring that Carlyle was moving on (not transferring), was looking to play professionally somewhere. Don’t recall seeing any news on Reynoso but bottom line is neither of them are listed on 2021/22 roster on our website.
I hear you on Vrankic, I’ve shared similar sentiments in the past. I’m reluctant to bash Vrankic as there is a lot to like there…high basketball IQ, plays hard, passes well, seems to have a good attitude and be well liked by his teammates.
That said, there is a ceiling on what he can do and his potential, just lacks the athleticism and strength needed to match up with many (not all) frontcourt players on better than average teams. It impacts his ability to both defend and score in the post, not much of shot blocker, etc. And one area where athleticism doesn’t matter as much, 3pt shooting, he really hasn’t improved much if at all in his four years at SCU (29% shooter for his career, peak of 34% as a junior but with a modest # of attempts). That is one area where I may change my opinion on his ceiling or potential if we see some notable improvement…if he becomes a true threat from 3 which I define as shooting both a reasonably high % (say 40% or close to it) and with at least a moderate number of attempts then that truly helps the teams by raising his and the team’s effective FG%, opens up driving lanes and other opportunities for himself and teammates and he’d then have an alternative means to contribute offensively when he’s overmatched physically in the post. We’ll see if that actually happens…
I just expect Sendek to be loyal to his longtime starter as most coaches would be. Plus I suspect Vrankic serves as a bit of security blanket for Sendek on the court…someone he trusts to be in the right place, run and play the offense and defense they way Sendek expects, execute the game plan, act as a leader on the floor, etc. So if someone actually beats out Vrankic for a starting spot then that bodes very well for the team as that individual would likely be performing at an extremely high level to beat out a veteran starter.
One huge reason that there is no doubt that vrankic will play: he is by far the best rebounder in the program. Second reason: 8 newcomers. He is the most experienced player in the program.
Hopefully having outside shooting teammates in better tune with regular practice and facility access will mean offensively vrankic can be more efficient. Seemed like he wore a lot of pressure on his shoulders last year, especially earlier in the season.
J Williams, justice and vrankic are all going to play and probably quite a bit. The rest is tbd, imo.
Ugh…that’s not good.
School doesn’t start until next week, he could have bailed and enrolled at some other school. Or maybe a non-basketball issue making him change his plans???
This is third or fourth hand info so take that for what it’s worth, but I think it’s a vaccine issue. The school is requiring vaccines. I’ll leave it at that.
All students, faculty, and staff are required to be fully vaccinated.Upon the recommendation of public health officials and SCU’s health and safety team, this requirement will be enforced even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only formally approved the Pfizer vaccine, and the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have not changed from “emergency use” to “full” status.
So he’s smart enough to earn a degree at Harvard, but won’t get the vaccine? Geez. Common sense still the most valuable of the senses in my estimation.
I look forward to you blaming the coach sometime when this shows up.
It’s not losing your two point guards with the first two games or living in a hotel with one practice block per day. but recruiting a Harvard guy that turns out to be an antivaxxer would be pretty bad luck.
One thing I did notice on Verbal Commits is that Danilo Djuricic was always shown as a verbal commit (VC) while our other two transfers were shown as LOI (Signed Letter of Intent). I certainly hope this is just a mistake and that he is truly on the roster this year.
I just got word that Danilo Djuricic is indeed off the roster due to personal reasons. Not sure about anything outside of that. This is definitely a hit on the rotation. Looks like more minutes will open up for either Jacob Holt or Camaron Tongue. Hopefully one of the two can contribute in their rookie season. Now the roster is at the normal 13 scholarships.
Simply stunning. Definitely not what the team needed.
At some point this year, this development will make a difference in a game or several. I’ll be surprised if the freshman bigs are ready to play after not playing high school last year.
I guess we need to ask recruits about getting vaccinated now. Doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing.
Forgot to mention that Parker Braun should also be getting more minutes from this development. Although he played limited minutes for Mizzou, I’m hopeful he can make an impact on the offensive end and rebounding. My only concern with him is his defense on bigs down low. Hopefully he will get some good use out of the new facility.