HIDDEN KEYS TO THE 2005-2006 SEASON

When previewing and forecasting for an upcoming season you always catch your self saying this team could be better if…. Today, I am going to look at several of those “ifs” as hidden keys to the season for their respective programs. These are players that may or may not start that you have probably overlooked in many cases that might just be very important factors to the success of their team this coming season.
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DESEAN WHITE (PC): With Providence saying good-bye to Ryan Gomes, there is an immediate need for players to step up and take more responsibility within the team. Desean White is a perfect candidate as he probably has as much potential as any returning player on the Friar roster. White, a Philadelphia native, showed several flashes last season of promise, especially on the offensive end, and the Friars will likely lean more on him this year. He has a game that can be very similar to that of Gomes as he is a pretty well built player that can do some damage inside and outside. He would technically be called an undersized 4-man that can face up to the hoop or back you down inside the paint, very similar to Gomes. White does play with some passion and will need to keep his excitement under a little better control and become more consistent in his shot selection and decision making with the basketball. He should team with a pair of promising freshmen in Jonathon Kale and Geoff McDermott to man the forward spots and on this young team, a player with the experience and promise of Desean White could help the Friars improve quicker than many anticipate.

MATT GORMAN (SU): Definitely a forgotten man around Big East circles is Syracuse Orange junior Matt Gorman. Gorman did not play much as a freshman or sophomore as players like Carmelo Anthony, Hakim Warrick, Terrence Roberts and Craig Forth manned the front court for SU. After sitting out the 2004-2005 season as a redshirt, Gorman is ready to start to make his mark on the Orange program. The Watertown, NY native will back-up Roberts and Daryl Watkins for the Orange this season and could become a key reserve for the pair of inexperienced starters. Roberts and Watkins have shown the tendency to pick up quick fouls in the past and the bulkier and more skilled Gorman could be pressed into even more duty with the unknown situation circling sophomore F Dayshaun Wright and whether he will return to the Orange roster or not. Gorman is listed at 6’9 and 235 lbs and could be, with freshmen Arinze Onuaku, one of only two frontcourt reserved for the Orange. Gorman has a nice shooting touch when facing the basket and has added some bulk to battle down low in the Big East to compensate for a lack of athletic ability. If the Orange are going to survive their tough conference schedule, they are going to have to develop some depth up front and Gorman will play a key role in that process.

BRANDON JENKINS (UL): When people talk about Louisville and their move to the Big East the topic is usually about the incoming recruiting class that coach Rick Pitino is bringing into the fold and the expected high impact from transfer David Padgett and returnees Taquan Dean and Juan Palacios. However, there is one key member of the Louisville team that might hold a bigger key to their season than all of them and that is Brandon Jenkins. Jenkins was a highly coveted recruit from Detroit that has good size and good ball handling skills to go with a passion for playing defense. Jenkins will need to show that he will look for his offense more, but his experience in the Pitino system and willingness to concentrate on defense should make him a prime candidate to team with Dean in the backcourt and stay ahead of some promising freshmen that have the reputations of being able to fill it up. If Jenkins becomes more offensive-minded, his role will be a very important one in adding some experience to a team that will be looking for that consistency to lean on this season.

RYAN AMOROSO (MU): Marquette sophomore Ryan Amoroso stands 6’8 and 240 lbs and is probably the most talented member of the group of Marquette players vying for time in the front court this season. Amoroso played in all 31 contests as a freshmen for Marquette and was their most consistent and productive performer off the bench scoring 6 PPG and grabbing over 3.5 rebounds in 15 minutes a game. With the graduation of defensive and rebounding force Richard Jackson, Amoroso will be counted heavily to provide the Golden Eagles with those traits on the inside in the physical Big East. He will also be counted on to up his scoring output as coach Tom Crean will try to find some offensive answers with the loss of Travis Diener to graduation and Dameon Mason to transfer and the inexperience that will most likely be carrying the backcourt. If Amoroso can step up and provide some of the missing ingredients the Golden Eagles need, it would be a major key to the Marquette season.

KYLE LOWRY (Nova): Kyle Lowry is not much of a hidden key anymore after his breakout performance in front of a national audience in the NCAA round of sixteen loss to North Carolina, but, when talking about the keys at Villanova, most people run through the names of Sumpter, Ray, Foye and Fraser before they begin to contemplate the role of Kyle Lowry for the Wildcats. Lowry is a ball of energy and plays the game with a reckless abandon and not an ounce of fear in him. The local product from Philadelphia is the perfect change of pace in the backcourt to starting point guard Mike Nardi and he can fill in at all three guard spots in Jay Wright’s system. Lowry has a knack for getting into the lane and scoring or drawing the foul. The extremely tough and physical guard plays much bigger than his 5’11 frame and will not back down against anyone on defense. Lowry is the insurance off the bench and the spark any team needs if they want to go from a good team to a great team. The play of Kyle Lowry will be a big key to the success of Villanova in a season that has them with expectations of very big things!

FRESHMEN OF IMPACT

Each year it seems more and more freshmen are bursting onto the scene and making the big plays in the big games to help their team to a national championship. Three years ago, it was Carmelo Athony, then it was Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva and last year it was Marvin Williams. With more players leaving early ever year or not attending college at all, more and more freshmen are being asked to step right in and pick up the slack of a departed star, not all the results are as expected as there is still a difficult transition both mentally and physically for the high school star to the college scene and players 2, 3 and 4 years older can sometimes feast on the new meat being thrown to the wolves and all players develop at different rates. Today, I am going to try and look at the freshmen of impact around the Big East Conference.
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When trying to find freshmen of impact, you have to first find opportunity for that player to come in and play. Some of the most talented freshmen might be stuck behind talented upperclassmen and we don’t get a full picture of their true abilities until the older player moves on. My pre-season Big East Top 5 Freshmen of Impact are:

Eric Devenderf (SU), Sam Young (Pitt), Dominic James (MU), Luke Zeller (ND) and John Kale (PC).

Devenderf is a tremendous shooter that played for the loaded Oak Hill Academy last season and showed his game was much more developed than that of just a shooter. Syracuse was in desperate need of a player like Devenderf last year to give their offense some balance as they sorely lacked another outside shooting threat. Devenderf should find the opportunities plentiful to get shots at SU this year teaming with Gerry McNamara and Josh Wright in the backcourt and could find his way into the starting line-up early and often. Devenderf is a capable ball handler that could transition to the point guard role in time as well. He is a player that will not back down from the challenges the Big East will bring and has the self confidence to make big shots.

Sam Young is a 5th year prep player whose stock soared last season while playing for Hargrave Military Academy. Young is a 6’6 220 lb athletic player that plays with a tenacity that is tough to match and he comes to Pittsburgh, a team that was desperately in need of strength and athleticism on the wing and will need some added toughness inside. He should be an immediate contender for conference freshmen of the year as Pittsburgh will be looking for players to score the ball to help take the offensive pressure off of Carl Krauser. Young is the type to create his own shot by using superior athletic ability to get to the basket or battle underneath for the offensive board. The Washington DC native goes full bore all of the time and that should make him a favorite at Pittsburgh early on.

Marquette says good-bye to PG Travis Diener and welcome aboard Dominic James as their heir apparent. James most likely will come into the season as the undisputed PG of the future and the talented general will be given the reigns to the offense. James put up some impressive scoring totals in high school and will also be counted on to score the ball with the Golden Eagles as they will be searching for some new sources of scoring with the graduation of Diener and the transfer of Dameon Mason. James has the opportunity to make a very big impact early on at Marquette and should team with fellow freshmen Jerel McNeal and Wes Mathews on the perimeter to make the Golden Eagles a team to watch for years to come.

One state of Indiana Mr Basketball leaves the program and another joins the program at Notre Dame as Luke Zeller is set to suit up for the Irish this season. Zeller is a 6’11 245 lb BF/C that the Irish fans got to see a sneak preview off this past spring when he competed in the McDonald’s All-American game on the Notre Dame campus. Zeller actually edged out Marquette’s Dominic James for the Indiana Mr. Basketball honor while playing at Washington High (Ind) where he capped his all-american career in storybook fashion be connecting on a 3-pt shot from just inside half court to give Washington High a 74-72 3A state championship over Plymouth. Zeller showed all his skills in that game with 27 points, 9 boards and 11 assists. Zeller is a skilled big man that will fit in nicely in the Irish rotation that loses big men Jordan Cornette and Dennis Latimore. He is a perfect compliment to Ricky Cornett and Torrin Francis and should be able to provide the Irish. Zeller is excellent facing the basket but does need to add some physical strength to handle some of the post work in the conference.

Providence has seen their front court under take a major overhaul in the last couple years with graduation of Marcus Douthit after the 2004 season and now they say good-bye to Ryan Gomes and Tukku Kotti after the 2005 season. The Friars have needed to be a little tougher in the pain defensively and on the boards and a recruit like Johnathan Kale could provide the boost they need on the interior. Kale is a 6’7+ 240 lb big forward that will battle on the boards, play tough inside defense and find his way to score points inside, even against taller opponents. Kale competes hard for loose balls and anything on the glass and that type of tenacity in the post will be a very welcomed sight to the eyes of the Friars staff and fans in his time at Providence.

In a 16 team conference with so many talented freshmen coming into the mix this year, it is very hard to limit ourselves to just 5. However, those are five we feel will get a lot of opportunity to shine and will take advantage of it. It is not a knock on guys like Devan Downey of Cincinnati, Terrence Williams of Louisville, JR Inman of Rutgers, Geoff McDermott of Providence or Wilson Chandler of DePaul to not make our early top 5. If circumstances push any of our 1st team of freshmen not to make the immediate impact that we anticipate, all 5 of these guys are also stepping into roles that could allow them to make a big impact and earn 1st team all-rookie status. Others we will keep a very close eye on this year as their roles should increase include Jerel McNeal and Wes Mathews of Marquette, Anthony Mason of St John’s, John Garcia and Paul Gause of Seton Hall, Tyrell Biggs of Pitt, Anthony Farmer of Rutgers and Rashod Woods of DePaul.

Other freshmen might have to bide their time a little bit more and wait until their turn comes in the future before we hear a lot more about them, but there are always surprises. I would love to hear from everyone reading in the comments section on who they think will be the top 5 performing freshmen this year in the conference and who might be a freshmen that surprises us. All opinions are welcomed!

My prayers and condolences go out to the family of Miguel Respress. Respress and his GC Ballers teammates had just completed a game in the Best of the Summer AAU tournament on the campus of Loyola Marymount in California when Respress collapsed just outside the arena. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Respress was a key member of the Niagara Falls HS state championship team this past winter and teamed with future Big East players Paul Harris, Robert Garrison and Johnny Flynn for Coach Dan Bazzani. Respress was expected to be one of the top returning players in Western New York and was already recieving some Division 1-A interest and offers.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Respress family as well as those in the Niagara Falls basektball community and the entire GC Ballers team and everyone else close to Miguel Respress.

Here is the story from the Buffalo News: Respress.

The remaining action at the Best of the Summer Tournament has been canceled due to this tragic event.

Pitt’s Levon Kendall is spotlighted in the Toronto Globe and Mail for his play with the Canadian Under-21 team. Kendall should play a key role for the Panthers this year witht he graduation of Chevon Troutman and Mark McCarroll and the departure of Chris Taft opening up their frontcourt. Here is the story: LINK.

The Connecticut Post has a small article on Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams making the Under-21 team for the USA: LINK. The Hartford Courant also adds a little more team information to their article on Gay and Williams: LINK.

The Syracuse Post-Standard has an Orange notebook that discusses the Dayshawn Wright situation with Coach Boeheim and Wright’s mother. Incoming freshmen guard Andy Rautins is playing with Levon Kendall on the Canadian Under-21 team and other notes pertaining to SU hoops: 3 Pages of SU Info.

The Syracuse Post Standard also has a stroty on Terrence Roberts making the Under-21: Roberts on U-21.

Here is the game recap of the Under-21 USA team beating Slovenia last night with their new 12 man roster taking their first action: Game Story.

New Year’s Eve is about the Big 5: Temple-Nova Ring in New Year.

Cincinnati Enquirer writes about Keith LeGree getting back on the job with the Bearcat staff after his reinstatement when his DUI charge was dismissed: LeGree Back at Work.

Seton Hall gets a big boost with a $100,000 matching donation from an anonymous supporter, but it is also a challenge as the booster has challenged the rest of the “Pirate Blue” to match the $100,000 in donations, here is the story.

DEPAUL BLUE DEMONS

2005-2006 Team Roster from Official Team Site: ROSTER.

The DePaul Coaching Staff: DEPAUL STAFF.

Home Court: Allstate Arena: Allstate Arena.

OVERVIEW: It is a new era at DePaul in more ways than one with a new coach and a new conference. Jerry Wainright, the suburban Chicago native, returns to his roots to take over the Blue Demon program. Wainright previously headed the programs at UNC-Wilmington for 8 seasons and was the head coach at Richmond the last three years. He has guided his teams to 3 NCAA tournament appearances, in 2000 and 2002 with UNC-W and 2004 with Richmond. Wainwright also spent several years at Wake Forest under both Bob Staak and Dave Odom prior to his head coaching experience with UNC-W.
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DePaul leaves Conference USA along with South Florida, Marquette, Cincinnati and Louisville to join the Big East conference for the 2005-2006 season and the players will have to adjust to their new surroundings and their new coach. They will also have to adjust to losing their top 2 scorers and 3 of their top 4 overall in Quemont Greer, Drake Diener and Lavar Seals. The cupboard is hardly bare for Coach Wainwright, but that is a tough group to replace from a team that competed in last season’s NIT under Coach Dave Leitao. DePaul will bring in some talented newcomers to go with some interesting returnees that will have to take on new roles and their search for a reliable inside game could be the major subplot to this season.

NICE TO MEET YOU: A lot of that is happening around Lincoln Park these days as not only the fans of the Big East are getting acclimated to the newest members of the conference, but Coach Wainwright is also getting to know his new players and they are learning about their new mentor. Wainwright brings assistants Ramon Williams, his son, Scott Wainwright and Gary DeCesare with him from Richmond, so they will have some cohesion among the staff. DeCesare is well known along the east coast with his 15+ years as head coach of St Raymond’s HS in the Bronx. He was very involved in the NYC basketball AAU scene and should really help the Blue Demon recruiting prospects. DeCesare will also have familiarity with three New Yorkers on the roster that could make up the starting backcourt in Cliff Clinkscales, Sammy Mejia and Karron Clarke. These could ease some of the getting to know you process.

RETURNEES: Sammy Mejia is their top returning player and the junior guard is coming off a solid sophomore season that saw him average nearly 12 PPG and 5 rebounds while leading the team in assists and steals. Mejia did struggle from 3-pt land, shooting less than 30%, but overall managed to hit a respectable 44% from the field. The other returning starter is BF/C Marlon Brumfield, never much of an offensive threat previously, the Blue Demons will be counting on him to increase his 5 PPG and 6 rebounds a game productivity. Brumfield is a strong post defender that gives a great effort on the floor. Other returning players hoping to contribute upfront are Wes Green, Lorenzo Thompson and Marcus Heard. None of the three have lived up to the high hopes they entered DePaul with, so Coach Wainwright and staff will work on tapping their potential, especially from the very big Wes Green. Green was believed to have left the program following the season, but has reconsidered and decided to give it another go with the new staff at DePaul. His size (6’9 and 260 lbs) will be a great asset in the Big East and if he can dedicate himself to keeping that size under control and improving his conditioning and stay healthy, this former top 30 recruit (per Rivals.com) and Florida native could be a major plus to their program. Lorenzo Thompson was also a top 100 recruit out of High School and the local Chicago product also has the size (listed at 6’8 260 lbs) to make an impact, but that impact has not been felt very much while at DePaul as he averaged just 10 minutes a game last year with 3 PPG and 2 rebounds. Marcus Heard is a forward that prefers to play away from the basket and saw his playing time nearly completely disappear last year and will have to work to be in the mix this year at the small forward spot. Also returning to the backcourt will be PG Cliff Clinkscales and Draelon Burns. Clinkscales is a player we profiled in an earlier article on players we expect to make a big step-up this year and taking over for Drake Diener at the point should give him full opportunity to show what he has. Clinkscales is a NYC native and he comes to DePaul with the NYC flare with the ball. A tremendously quick player with an exceptional handle and ability to drop dimes, Clinkscales could very easily be one of the top assist men in the conference. He will need to improve his perimeter shooting (1-21 from 3-pt land, yes, 1-21!), but in just 15 minutes a game last year he handed out 104 assists against 45 turnovers and was 2nd on the team with 23 steals. Burns should be an important contributor after having a solid freshmen season last year averaging over 3 PPG and seeing increased time as the season went on. He will garner important minutes off the bench in their guard rotation.

INCOMING: Everyone is looking at the recruits the DePaul signed and they could be overlooking one important player in the mix for the 2005-2006 season for the Blue Demons and that is Karron Clarke. Clarke was a highly recruited player out of NYC that opted for Miami and the Big East out of high school. After appearing in every game as a freshmen, he decided transferring to DePaul was a better fit and joining fellow NYC players and friends Sammy Mejia and Cliff Clinkscales was an important part of his decision. He has had a full year to get acclimated to DePaul and this impressive athlete should be ready to fly from the wing this season. Improved perimeter skills will be the key this year to his game and how much of an impact he makes right away, but with his athletic ability, he will impact the game early on. Coach Wainwright also was able to hold onto all three of Coach Leitao’s early signings and that is very important because it is three very good players that will be joining the Blue Demons and each should fight for an immediate spot in the rotation. Houston, TX native Rashad Woods is an exciting wing player that will team with Karron Clark to form an exciting duo at the wing. Woods can play either wing position and will bring length and athletic ability. Jabari Currie comes from famed Pershing HS in Detroit and brings excellent size and offensive potential to the perimeter. The third scholarship freshmen is 6’8 210 lb F Wilson Chandler from Benton Harbor in Michigan. Chandler could find himself in the starting line-up very early due to the questions Depaul has upfront. He will need to get a little stronger, but brings length and athleticism to the F position that could team very well with some of the big bodies DePaul could line-up at C. Another player many people are probably unaware of is Drew Gladstone from Cardozo HS in NYC has joined the program as a high caliber walk-on. Although he will probably have a limited impact this season, he will provide solid depth to the program as he turned down scholarship opportunities to some impressive mid-major programs to play in the Big East.

LOSSES: Quemont Greer was Mr. do-everything for the Blue Demons last year and replacing the all-conference performer is going to be very tough. Tough PG Drake Diener was also a very consistent source of perimeter offense that will be very hard to replace and Lavar Seals started every game at the wing. Jamal Nichols was a post player that left the program that provided depth and shot blocking and if he was doing all that he should have been, could have been a starter this season.

SCHEDULE: The Blue Demons and Coach Wainwright definitely caught a break in their first year in the Big East. They do not have to face contenders such as Connecticut or West Virginia at all and their mirror opponents are Marquette, Providence and Notre Dame. Marquette and Providence are in very similar positions as DePaul heading into the season and their road slate is not overly taxing compared to what some teams have to face.

OUTLOOK: The new Big East Basketball Conference, from top to bottom, is very impressive and looking at the potential a team like DePaul has and then projecting them against other conference teams, you really begin to see how tough the conference is. Depaul has some major question marks in perimeter shooting and interior offense. They will be breaking in a new point guard and head coach all in a new, tougher conference. The challenges are there and hope for the future is there as well. I am excited to see the NYC trio of Clinkscales, Mejia and Clarke play together and that should help settle the team down as they seem to be very close to each other and if they can get a couple of the freshmen to get up to speed quickly and get someone to step up in the interior to score some points, they could be a team that surprises. Their conference schedule will help them out, but they seem to be among the gridlock of teams like Rutgers, St John’s, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall and South Florida that will fight and claw for every conference win to get to the Big East Tournament in March. Most likely, only three in that group makes it and it is going to be interesting to see how it shakes out, several, DePaul included, have some promising signs that they could surprise, but it is a tough challenge to do so with the players they lost and all the new surroundings for the entire program.