New season upon us; new thread.
Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding one for Ed Cooley & Co., and that seemed evident through the first half of the conference slate. However, an improbable winning streak to close out the Big East regular season propelled the Friars to a 4th straight NCAA tournament appearance -- albeit one that ended in a bitterly disappointing First Four loss to USC.
Although probably lacking in the type of high-upside talent to make a deep run, preseason projections are pegging PC fourth in the conference -- behind Nova, Xavier and Seton Hall -- and somewhat likely to be dancing for the 5th consecutive March (Lunardi's way too early bracketology has them as a 10-seed). That's something to be celebrated, especially with a potentially monster 2018 recruiting class coming into focus (more on that to follow). The future looks bright!
Offseason losses: Very few, for a change... Soph. G/F Ryan Fazekas transferred to Valpo, Soph. G Ricky Council transferred to UMBC; neither was projected for much of a role in 2017-18, though Fazekas showed flashes. Walk-on Frosh Bryan Donovan also transferred, while walk-on Senior Casey Woodring graduated.
New additions: A strong incoming class, bolstered by the late addition of former UConn commit PG Makai Ashton-Langford (#32 OVR per 247Sports), plus PF Nate Watson (#91) and 7-footer Dajour Dickens (#136). They are joined by walk-on Andrew Fonts, native of Portsmouth, RI.
Projected Starting Five: PG Kyron Cartwright (SR); SG Jalen Lindsey (SR); SF Alpha Diallo (SO); PF Rodney Bullock (SR); C Kalif Young (SO)
Other Key Rotation Pieces: F/C Emmitt Holt (SR)*; PG Langford (FR); G/F Isaiah Jackson (JR); F/C Watson (FR); G Maliek White (SO)
Limited Role or Uncertain: C Dickens (FR); F Tom Planek (SR); G Drew Edwards** (SO); G Fonts (FR)
Questions Entering the Season
Nov. 10 Houston Baptist 7:00 PM
Nov. 13 Minnesota 6:30 PM
Nov. 16 Washington 9:30 PM (@ MSG)
Nov. 16 St. Louis or VA Tech TBD (@ MSG)
Nov. 22 Belmont 7:00 PM
Nov. 25 Boston College 8:00 PM
Nov. 29 Rider 7:00 PM
Dec. 2 at URI TBD
Dec. 6 Brown 7:00 PM
Dec. 9 at UMass TBD
Dec. 17 Stony Brook 2:30 PM
Dec. 20 Houston 7:00 PM
*Holt is dealing with an abdominal injury, and while it doesn't sound serious, they play these things close to the vest
**Edwards is widely expected to receive a medical redshirt for 2016-17 after seeing very limited early-season action and shutting things down in Dec
Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding one for Ed Cooley & Co., and that seemed evident through the first half of the conference slate. However, an improbable winning streak to close out the Big East regular season propelled the Friars to a 4th straight NCAA tournament appearance -- albeit one that ended in a bitterly disappointing First Four loss to USC.
Although probably lacking in the type of high-upside talent to make a deep run, preseason projections are pegging PC fourth in the conference -- behind Nova, Xavier and Seton Hall -- and somewhat likely to be dancing for the 5th consecutive March (Lunardi's way too early bracketology has them as a 10-seed). That's something to be celebrated, especially with a potentially monster 2018 recruiting class coming into focus (more on that to follow). The future looks bright!
Offseason losses: Very few, for a change... Soph. G/F Ryan Fazekas transferred to Valpo, Soph. G Ricky Council transferred to UMBC; neither was projected for much of a role in 2017-18, though Fazekas showed flashes. Walk-on Frosh Bryan Donovan also transferred, while walk-on Senior Casey Woodring graduated.
New additions: A strong incoming class, bolstered by the late addition of former UConn commit PG Makai Ashton-Langford (#32 OVR per 247Sports), plus PF Nate Watson (#91) and 7-footer Dajour Dickens (#136). They are joined by walk-on Andrew Fonts, native of Portsmouth, RI.
Projected Starting Five: PG Kyron Cartwright (SR); SG Jalen Lindsey (SR); SF Alpha Diallo (SO); PF Rodney Bullock (SR); C Kalif Young (SO)
Other Key Rotation Pieces: F/C Emmitt Holt (SR)*; PG Langford (FR); G/F Isaiah Jackson (JR); F/C Watson (FR); G Maliek White (SO)
Limited Role or Uncertain: C Dickens (FR); F Tom Planek (SR); G Drew Edwards** (SO); G Fonts (FR)
Questions Entering the Season
- Who shoulders the scoring load? The offense sputtered at times early last season, with Bullock being asked to shoot way too much. By the end of the year, Cartwright was asserting himself more as a scorer, while both Diallo and Holt carved out identities of their own. Jalen Lindsey quietly had an extremely efficient season, but will need more outside shots if this team is to reach its ceiling
- How does the backcourt rotation shake out? We know both Cartwright and Lindsey will soak up ~32min apiece health permitting, and while some of those minutes will come at the 3 for Jalen, that doesn't leave a ton of room to satisfy both an impact recruit in Ashton-Langford and promising combo guard Maliek White. Not to mention Drew Edwards, who played crunch time minutes as a Freshman in 2015-16, before losing last season while recovering from knee surgery
- Will the young bigs be ready? There's a plausible scenario in which Holt is fully healthy and both Watson and Dickens prove ready to contribute by Feb, pushing Young into a limited defensive role. There's also reason to fear that Holt's injury could linger, the Freshman are too raw, and lack depth inside proves the team's Achilles heel. The truth will likely be somewhere in between.
- Do any of Lindsey, Bullock or Cartwright have another level? I suspect the answer is no, and that if there's going to be a "breakout" player it's Diallo, but you never know. Bullock and Cartwright were 2nd team all-conference last year anyway (and Kyron won "Most Improved"), so perhaps this is too much to ask... but one of those guys making a leap in their Senior year could make this team pretty special
Nov. 10 Houston Baptist 7:00 PM
Nov. 13 Minnesota 6:30 PM
Nov. 16 Washington 9:30 PM (@ MSG)
Nov. 16 St. Louis or VA Tech TBD (@ MSG)
Nov. 22 Belmont 7:00 PM
Nov. 25 Boston College 8:00 PM
Nov. 29 Rider 7:00 PM
Dec. 2 at URI TBD
Dec. 6 Brown 7:00 PM
Dec. 9 at UMass TBD
Dec. 17 Stony Brook 2:30 PM
Dec. 20 Houston 7:00 PM
*Holt is dealing with an abdominal injury, and while it doesn't sound serious, they play these things close to the vest
**Edwards is widely expected to receive a medical redshirt for 2016-17 after seeing very limited early-season action and shutting things down in Dec