Dane Pound

Usually feel good about the fall commits since it seems the staff really got the guys they wanted. From a fan's perspective, it's fun to get early commits so we can watch them over the course of the season. ESPN was showing Iowa high school basketball on ESPN3 so we could probably watch Trey Hutcheson. I remember watching Dallas in the state finals on ESPN a few years ago.

Yup, yup and yup. It isn't just this year either. If you look over the last couple of seasons they've outperformed us in in the CAA. To me, that's the capper. If both programs were struggling, you could say the CAA is tough ,etc. The fact that they are doing well and maintaining it, really shines a light on us being in the cellar.

Kind of amazing that SBU brings back a first-team all-conference player and we lose just about everyone but the mascot and the coaches pick us to finish the same. Most of the predictor sites pick us to finish 300+ in the RPI based on the stats from the two scholarship players we have returning. Nice sign of respect that the coaches have us finishing higher. Also, the AE put together a nice video of highlights from last year in the press release. However, if I worked for the AE marketing department...every...single...UMBC...highlight...would have been from the Virginia game. Maybe there are copyright considerations and they couldn't use them.

Apparently I timed my return to the CR perfectly this morning. I got to miss yet another knife in the heart from Richmond in football but still caught the open practice/scrimmage. First, for the format. Obviously there are people on the board who don't like the open practice. I actually really enjoyed watching the staff work with the players, etc. After the practice they played 4 eight minute scrimmage periods. My two cent takeaways: Clark - He drives me a little crazy with shot selection sometimes but he can be as good as any guard in the conference. He has ever tool in the bag - speed, shooting, handle. I just wish he would be a little more patient with the offense and consistent. Hopefully that will come. Brooks - Really liked him. Seemed intent on running the offense and worked hard to get his teammates shots. Someone else mentioned his defense and I agree it will have to improve. I feel like Healy - Really skilled, really competes and I really liked him. I always think his shots are going in. Miller - I thought he was really polished. The most experienced guard we have and it showed. Didn't force anything. Devonte - You can say what you want about Devonte but he works and works. Good to see him knock down some shots. Admittedly, I watched the new guys more. De Sousa - Smooth. Knocked down some outside shots and if he gets into the lane he's tough. Made some nice passes as well. Jerotic - Nice looking player but as others said he looks a little behind where everyone else is. Lulka - Hit some outside shots, made some post moves. Nice. Lauderdale - I liked him. Banged and hit some jumpers in the Travis Charles area. He and Lulka were a nice combo on their team. Lulka's man had to honor him out to the three point line which allowed some space for Lauderdale to operate. French - Probably one of the bigger surprises to me. For a guy his size he moved well, is skilled and played smart. Hank - Didn't see a ton of him offensively but he took ownership of the paint and looked to dunk just about everything he got near the hoop. My starting five: Brooks Clark Devonte Lulka Lauderdale Not sure how you narrow it down to a playing group. At this point, the only guy I saw who I wouldn't put in the playing group is Jerotic. There are going to be some tough choices this fall but it's a good problem to have.

Mitch Doherty according to twitter. 6'7 power forward will visit next weekend.

Moved from Fall Ball thread

You are not wrong. Last year it felt like a disappointment. This year it will feel like an achievement.

Saw this on the AE board and thought I'd post it here. A preview on the conference - https://cbbcentral.com/2018/10/01/32x32-2018-19-america-east-preview/ The thing that amused me was last year we had three seniors, and a backcourt that was recruited by power conferences (Nichols + Cremo) and we finished fourth. This year, after losing everything but the mascot, they pick us fourth again.

A reminder not to put too much faith in preseason rankings. I think UHN was in the top 10 at the beginning of the year. They are now 0-4 after a blowout loss to Elon. I'm sure they'll make the playoffs though. Rhode Island with a decent road win over Harvard. Some of the AGS voters had Harvard in their top 25.

Just a heads-up. I tried to weed out all the personal attack junk out of this thread. If you really want to read it (I'm sure you don't) it's now in a thread called "The Kids Table." Let's maybe keep the recruiting thread focused on recruiting.

To me, it's a sign of a good program when you put together years of winning with different players. It's a terrific accomplishment. If you look at Vermont, and Iona, that's what they do year in and year out with different guys. Siena has had some "high water" mark years built around a great player (Edwin Ubilies or Bennerman) but haven't sustained it so far. I'm looking forward to watching us this year but I'm prepared to be patient.

Ahmad Clark was a high school teammate of 76ers Markelle Fultz. Looking at the pictures on twitter, the whole staff and team was at the game. Really good moment for the program.

Just saw the stats.

So far, Hooley has more assists that JJ Redick.

Boom! And it's Trey Hutcheson from Iowa!

Media day story from the TU this morning - https://www.timesunion.com/ualbany/article/UAlbany-basketball-13257245.php On paper, we had a lot of options at guard but a lot of injuries at that spot.

That is odd. Originally Oneonta had been our opener on November 6th.

#FireBye

Trey Hutcheson. Nice. I think he plays for the Martin Bros AAU. Same as Dallas, Brent Wilson , Brian Lillis.

They had the longest winning streak in the country until tonight. The way I look at it. Albany beats Morgan State - Morgan State beat North Carolina A+T - North Carolina A+T beat ECU - ECU beat North Carolina - North Carolina just beat Pitt. That means, we're better than Pitt. Simple.

Morgan State knocked off North Carolina A+T today. Can this possibly be true? North Carolina A+T had been on a 15 game winning streak, beat an FBS team this year and was ranked in the top 5 in the country. Whoa Nelly!

Davis comes in with a reputation as a "quarterback whisperer" which is great. I'd like to see him be a little more of a "handoff whisperer" with Mofor and EIH in the backfield. I think delaying the QB decision until just before the start of the season also put our offense behind. Hopefully survive tonight and improve through the bye week. Not sure what kind of football we're going to see tonight but you couldn't weather for the first two home games this season.

Maybe I'm rushing things but I'm curious that Nikola Jerotić isn't on the roster. That Verbal Commits post a few weeks ago was the only report of him coming to Albany.

We've also offered 6'6 SG/SF Indrek Sunelik. https://future150.com/hs/basketball-profiles/indrek-sunelik-sg-leeds-al-2019

I think Mencer recovered the fumble to seat it. He certainly was on the field. For his first start, Damico played well.