Most of us agree at least that our recruiting needs to improve. I don't normally make posts that are overly critical of specific players but in this case, I think we should look at everyone on the roster and what they bring to the table.
Kotsar is the only returning player who will be a senior. He absolutely must improve his offensive game. He doesn't need to score 15 a game, but he needs to be consistent. Big Chat averaged 10 ppg as a senior. If Kotsar can manage to move from 6-7 ppg this year up to 10+ ppg next year, he'll be very helpful to the team. Hopefully, we'll be able to bring in one grad transfer who is big.
The juniors will be Bolden, who by most accounts should make an impact at PG next season, and Haase. I don't know about Haase really. He definitely helped us win a few games this year. He has a skill set that includes being a very good outside shooter. However, he isn't above average at anything else - passing, defense, athleticism, creating, etc... I'd like to see him stay and improve, but I think his ceiling is rather low. I think he'd be a great player in a league with less strength and athleticism than the SEC.
The sophomores should carry the team for the most part. Lawson and Bryant both gained tremendous experience and discovered that they can compete at this level. Frink has a ways to go, but he showed this year that he has some skills, especially using his body for rebounding. His defense has to improve tremendously though. Minaya will return as an RS Soph next year and I think it's fair to say he should be expected to be better than he was last year and early on this season. He averaged about 8 ppg last year and I think we really need him to elevate that to 12-13 ppg. Cudd is the other sophomore and I just don't see any upside here. Perhaps he'll transfer down a level and play at FMU or some other D2 school. I understand why you take a chance on a 7 footer, but when it doesn't work, you move on.
There will once again be a large group of freshmen. Couisnard, if as good as advertised, could have an impact similar to Lawson this year. Moss showed signed of being a quality player but was hurt before we were really able to see any growth. Hannibal will have some growing pains but he's a scorer. I look forward to seeing what he can do. Anderson is a wild card. He had an offer from Georgia Tech, but not much else. I have no idea what to expect from him. Leveque is a big body we desperately need, but who knows if he'll be ready to give us big minutes and be productive.
Kotsar is the only returning player who will be a senior. He absolutely must improve his offensive game. He doesn't need to score 15 a game, but he needs to be consistent. Big Chat averaged 10 ppg as a senior. If Kotsar can manage to move from 6-7 ppg this year up to 10+ ppg next year, he'll be very helpful to the team. Hopefully, we'll be able to bring in one grad transfer who is big.
The juniors will be Bolden, who by most accounts should make an impact at PG next season, and Haase. I don't know about Haase really. He definitely helped us win a few games this year. He has a skill set that includes being a very good outside shooter. However, he isn't above average at anything else - passing, defense, athleticism, creating, etc... I'd like to see him stay and improve, but I think his ceiling is rather low. I think he'd be a great player in a league with less strength and athleticism than the SEC.
The sophomores should carry the team for the most part. Lawson and Bryant both gained tremendous experience and discovered that they can compete at this level. Frink has a ways to go, but he showed this year that he has some skills, especially using his body for rebounding. His defense has to improve tremendously though. Minaya will return as an RS Soph next year and I think it's fair to say he should be expected to be better than he was last year and early on this season. He averaged about 8 ppg last year and I think we really need him to elevate that to 12-13 ppg. Cudd is the other sophomore and I just don't see any upside here. Perhaps he'll transfer down a level and play at FMU or some other D2 school. I understand why you take a chance on a 7 footer, but when it doesn't work, you move on.
There will once again be a large group of freshmen. Couisnard, if as good as advertised, could have an impact similar to Lawson this year. Moss showed signed of being a quality player but was hurt before we were really able to see any growth. Hannibal will have some growing pains but he's a scorer. I look forward to seeing what he can do. Anderson is a wild card. He had an offer from Georgia Tech, but not much else. I have no idea what to expect from him. Leveque is a big body we desperately need, but who knows if he'll be ready to give us big minutes and be productive.
