Steve DeMeo

At Midnight Madness, we know we have two starters, both play the same position.
LJ
Heron
MA and staff need to choose among; Williams, Roberts, Earlington, Wright, Caraher, Steere, Champagnie, McGriff and Sears + two schollies to fill starting five and rotation.

Who would you guys start at this point?

I think Steere is not eligible to start the season. Best five is probably Heron, LJ, Wright, Williams and either Roberts or Earlington. Probably Roberts starts because of his size. Not a point guard in the bunch, or a center. No matter, coach third choice will coach them up.

At Midnight Madness, we know we have two starters, both play the same position.
LJ
Heron
MA and staff need to choose among; Williams, Roberts, Earlington, Wright, Caraher, Steere, Champagnie, McGriff and Sears + two schollies to fill starting five and rotation.

Who would you guys start at this point?

If we want our best 5 players on the floor....

Williams, Wright, Heron, LJ, Steere

One issue is that we signed 3 marginal Big East guys and we already have a few like Earlington, Roberts, Caraher that are also of questionable Big East level.

You say we signed 3 marginal BE players, can you elaborate and speak on their limitations and where they will struggle defensively playing in the BE?

One issue is that we signed 3 marginal Big East guys and we already have a few like Earlington, Roberts, Caraher that are also of questionable Big East level.  Our young guys are really not very talented in the grand scheme and that is concerning.  They have to be careful with use of these ships and really make sure they count or this total rebuild will be a team full of lower level kids with multiple years of eligibility. 

I have no problem with role players...it’s the lack of involvement with any top players that has me very concerned. What said me over the top is the dozens of posts about that shitball Andy Van Sly.

There are quality grad transfers everywhere you look and we have to pray for some 20 year old who isn’t good enough make money? We’d have him for a max of one season. What’s the point?

You say we signed 3 marginal BE players, can you elaborate and speak on their limitations and where they will struggle defensively playing in the BE?

You expect any of these guys to have the impact of Simon, Clark, Owens etc?  Earlington and Roberts are unlikely to provide much.  I’m hoping for improvement from Roberts for sure, but they are a long way away if at all.  Roberts didn’t even make it off the B-squad at IMG.  I don’t think Earlington was ever a Big East level player.  Caraher looks like a combo forward but played at a much lower level prior.  He’s also not particularly quick.

As far as guys we signed this year, McGriff looks like a nice backup Pg but very undersized and as Dave pointed out, not a primary option on his team.  I think Sears fits a good role for us as a juco to add toughness and rebounding.  That said, he isn’t even ranked in the top 90 juco players so his impact is a guess at this level.  Champagnie seems like a decent young nyc player, but overall he isn’t expected to be an impact guy from the rankings.  He’s not really a scorer, and undersized to play a PF role in the Big East. 

As far as how they will struggle defensively?  Nobody knows that as we have a new coach with entirely new system.  We have a bunch of low-ranked players with almost no offensive numbers to speak of and most mentioned above were not recruited by many power 5-6 programs. 

I’m an optimistic guy as most know,  but we have half a roster that really aren’t impact guys and aren’t gonna provide much offense at all amongst them.  Our main talent are going to be gone after this season like Figs and Heron but we will still have half a team of non-impact guys.  That should concern everybody.  It should be the other way around where 10 of your guys are pretty high-level D1 players.  I left Greg Williams off the list as I think he has quite a bit of upside but he was also ranked pretty well coming out of HS.

We need lots of better 3*-4* kids as far as I’m concerned, to be competitive in our league, as well as too jucos or grad transfers. 

Right now, I’m not sure if anybody else on our roster besides Heron and LJ could throw a ball in the ocean. 

You say we signed 3 marginal BE players, can you elaborate and speak on their limitations and where they will struggle defensively playing in the BE?

Can you explain why they're not marginal players who will not struggle in the BE? Of course you can't.

I think Steere is not eligible to start the season. Best five is probably Heron, LJ, Wright, Williams and either Roberts or Earlington. Probably Roberts starts because of his size. Not a point guard in the bunch, or a center. No matter, coach third choice will coach them up.

No one is saying we don’t have holes to still fill. We have two ships available. Can’t we wait to see how they’re filled b4 we condemn him.

Can you explain why they're not marginal players who will not struggle in the BE? Of course you can't.

I’m not the one who offered my opinion on them being marginal or not. Asking the one who did to elaborate on their label is fair game. Keep up now, you can do it.

You expect any of these guys to have the impact of Simon, Clark, Owens etc?  Earlington and Roberts are unlikely to provide much.  I’m hoping for improvement from Roberts for sure, but they are a long way away if at all.  Roberts didn’t even make it off the B-squad at IMG.  I don’t think Earlington was ever a Big East level player.  Caraher looks like a combo forward but played at a much lower level prior.  He’s also not particularly quick.

As far as guys we signed this year, McGriff looks like a nice backup Pg but very undersized and as Dave pointed out, not a primary option on his team.  I think Sears fits a good role for us as a juco to add toughness and rebounding.  That said, he isn’t even ranked in the top 90 juco players so his impact is a guess at this level.  Champagnie seems like a decent young nyc player, but overall he isn’t expected to be an impact guy from the rankings.  He’s not really a scorer, and undersized to play a PF role in the Big East. 

As far as how they will struggle defensively?  Nobody knows that as we have a new coach with entirely new system.  We have a bunch of low-ranked players with almost no offensive numbers to speak of and most mentioned above were not recruited by many power 5-6 programs. 

I’m an optimistic guy as most know,  but we have half a roster that really aren’t impact guys and aren’t gonna provide much offense at all amongst them.  Our main talent are going to be gone after this season like Figs and Heron but we will still have half a team of non-impact guys.  That should concern everybody.  It should be the other way around where 10 of your guys are pretty high-level D1 players.  I left Greg Williams off the list as I think he has quite a bit of upside but he was also ranked pretty well coming out of HS.

We need lots of better 3*-4* kids as far as I’m concerned, to be competitive in our league, as well as too jucos or grad transfers. 

Right now, I’m not sure if anybody else on our roster besides Heron and LJ could throw a ball in the ocean. 

This is MA’s first year. He hasn’t been here 2 months. I’m not expecting them to be as impactful as Simon, Clarke, and Owens. Those players didn’t play in Mullins first year either, you know, the year Mullins first juggernaut class lead him to a 1-17 BE conference record.

This is a complete rebuild. We had a 7 man rotation last year and 5 of them are not here this year. We need bodies, and although I do believe the newcomers may struggle scoring, that’s not what they are here for. This team will be built on toughness and defense. The skill players will be brought in later is the hope. 

I have no problem with role players...it’s the lack of involvement with any top players that has me very concerned.

Why do you keep saying this? I do not believe it means what you think it means. CMA has extended offers to a couple of top 75 players since he’s become our coach.

This is MA’s first year. He hasn’t been here 2 months. I’m not expecting them to be as impactful as Simon, Clarke, and Owens. Those players didn’t play in Mullins first year either, you know, the year Mullins first juggernaut class lead him to a 1-17 BE conference record.

This is a complete rebuild. We had a 7 man rotation last year and 5 of them are not here this year. We need bodies, and although I do believe the newcomers may struggle scoring, that’s not what they are here for. This team will be built on toughness and defense. The skill players will be brought in later is the hope. 

I’m not criticizing MA for this.  I’m saying in a nutshell that Matt also had some marginal players that were added to the roster and we just added 3 more. That makes nearly half our roster heading into next year when we lose a lot of our bonafide Big East talent.  This is a problem that started under Mullin and Abdelmassih.  Adding the three that we did doesn’t inspire confidence in replacing production we lost in Ponds, Clark, Simon and the talent we are going to lose in Heron, LJ etc.   

I would have preferred that out of our 3 signed thus far, at least one would have been a player that was more in the blue chip range whether it be transfer, top 15 type juco or Hs kid.  We do have 2 ships to give but the best players are flying off the board.  I have my doubts we will land a top notch kid or two at this point.  If that is the case, I’d rather we hold the ships and save em unless it is two grad transfers we can grab.

I’m not the one who offered my opinion on them being marginal or not. Asking the one who did to elaborate on their label is fair game.

Yeah that's disingenuous or a lie, you can decide. As chief ball washer you defended their recruitment: "CMA is being judged by the recruits rankings opposed to their performance." Since these recruits are marginal based on their rankings, which rankings are used universally to evaluate high school talent and in the main correlate to performance, please explain what about their performance makes the characterization of them as being marginal false. 

Keep up now, you can do it.

I'll try stupid.

This is a complete rebuild.

No, but you're a complete joke. Heron (all SEC) and LJF (JUCO AA) played 60 minutes a game last year, Williams Steere and Wright were 4 star recruits, Caraher was freshman of the year and even Earlington was twice all state in HS. SJ lost two players of consequence. Two. Coach third choice isn't inheriting the talent Lavin did, or Jarvis, but it's close. And it's everything compared to what Mullin inherited, which was nothing.

No, but you're a complete joke. Heron (all SEC) and LJF (JUCO AA) played 60 minutes a game last year, Williams Steere and Wright were 4 star recruits, Caraher was freshman of the year and even Earlington was twice all state in HS. SJ lost two players of consequence. Two. Coach third choice isn't inheriting the talent Lavin did, or Jarvis, but it's close. And it's everything compared to what Mullin inherited, which was nothing.

Come on, CMA has nothing compared to what Fran left Jarvis.

You need a new weed dealer.

Artest, Barkley, Bootsy, Postell and Grant were the most talented and most seasoned team we’ve had since 1985. Oh, and Chudney Gray, who would be our starting point guard next year.

How in the world is that comparable to Heron, Figueroa and a roster made up of question marks?

No, but you're a complete joke. Heron (all SEC) and LJF (JUCO AA) played 60 minutes a game last year, Williams Steere and Wright were 4 star recruits, Caraher was freshman of the year and even Earlington was twice all state in HS. SJ lost two players of consequence. Two. Coach third choice isn't inheriting the talent Lavin did, or Jarvis, but it's close. And it's everything compared to what Mullin inherited, which was nothing.

We haven’t seen Caraher, Wright or Steere play one BE game. We seen Earlington play and didn’t see anything that suggested he’ll be more than a role player, Williams may develop. Keita was a 4* transfer and some were saying his presence is what lead to Owens transfer, then we seen him play. The team isn’t as bad as what Mullin inherited, but after Heron and LJ there is a drop off of proven talent.

As far as the new comers are concerned, they need to play before I’ll label them as marginal. Thanks for playing dummy.

This is a complete rebuild.

How the f*ck is this a complete rebuild? That’s one of he dumbest things ever posted. We have the best returning duo in the entire conference—a two-time 2nd team All-SEC honoree (and 5* recruit) and a SF that Kansas wanted.

We return two very capable freshmen in Williams and Roberts, a rising redshirt-Junior who was a top 100 recruit, a beast of a man in Steere, and Caraher—who was the freshman of the year in his conference. Add to that Earlington.

That is a core that was a few players away from the dance with anyone coaching. It is also a balanced roster unlike what Norm left.

Agreed.  It's not a complete rebuild.  I'm a fan of the hire, but this is nothing like what Mullin inherited, which was a complete rebuild. 

We need a solid immediately-eligible transfer/JUCO point guard, which is a glaring gap right now.  You take that with Heron, Figgy and others and it is a solid core acknowledging there are various unknowns with the front court or what we'll get from Wright and Caraher.

How the f*ck is this a complete rebuild? That’s one of he dumbest things ever posted. We have the best returning duo in the entire conference—a two-time 2nd team All-SEC honoree (and 5* recruit) and a SF that Kansas wanted.

We return two very capable freshmen in Williams and Roberts, a rising redshirt-Junior who was a top 100 recruit, a beast of a man in Steere, and Caraher—who was the freshman of the year in his conference. Add to that Earlington.

That is a core that was a few players away from the dance with anyone coaching. It is also a balanced roster unlike what Norm left.

How the f*ck is this a complete rebuild? That’s one of he dumbest things ever posted. We have the best returning duo in the entire conference—a two-time 2nd team All-SEC honoree (and 5* recruit) and a SF that Kansas wanted.

We return two very capable freshmen in Williams and Roberts, a rising redshirt-Junior who was a top 100 recruit, a beast of a man in Steere, and Caraher—who was the freshman of the year in his conference. Add to that Earlington.

That is a core that was a few players away from the dance with anyone coaching. It is also a balanced roster unlike what Norm left.

Add to that Earlington??? Weren’t you also high on Keita before we actually seen him play? We have no idea how good or not the transfers will be. Roberts and Williams could hardly find time on the court for a team desperate for players and now they’re great players?

The only proven players are Heron and LJ. After this year they will be gone. Similar to after Lavins first year. To me that’s a complete rebuild because of the unknown. Now if the transfers, Roberts, Earlington, and Williams turn into All BE first, second, or third teams then CMA inherited a sold group. However if they are similar to the likes of Jones, Alibegovic, and Balamou...then it is a complete rebuild. It’s a complete rebuild until proven otherwise.

Add to that Earlington??? Weren’t you also high on Keita before we actually seen him play? We have no idea how good or not the transfers will be. Roberts and Williams could hardly find time on the court for a team desperate for players and now they’re great players?

The only proven players are Heron and LJ. After this year they will be gone. Similar to after Lavins first year. To me that’s a complete rebuild because of the unknown. Now if the transfers, Roberts, Earlington, and Williams turn into All BE first, second, or third teams then CMA inherited a sold group. However if they are similar to the likes of Jones, Alibegovic, and Balamou...then it is a complete rebuild. It’s a complete rebuild until proven otherwise.

No, I was never high on Keita. In fact, I dare you to find someone who turned on him faster than me.

I did think he could give us someone who could stop big men unlike the 195 lb Owens. He basically did that but was the worst rebounder I’ve ever seen and had awful hands.

I am not expecting much from Earlington and Caraher but they are bodies ans they have eligibility and some potential. They aren’t terrible guys to have at the end of a roster.