I got this in my e-mail yesterday. I never saw anything on it last year, and I would have played, or potentially sponsored it, had I seen it. I am working on submitting corporate requests now. That said, in case anyone on the board missed it this year....

12TH ANNUAL UALBANY SLAM DUNK GOLF CLASSIC

http://www.albany.edu/slamdunk19

14 hours ago, Dane Pound said:

Miller was a different story to me. When Cremo and Nichols transferred we seemed to be scrambling to fill a ton of scholarships at the end of the recruiting period. I thought he was a quality guy to have in our program for a year.

While he didn't perform exceptionally well on the court, he was experienced, and while I don't know anything about what he did, I have to imagine he was a great influence in the locker room and in practice. Senior leadership from someone who has been there before is huge when you have a young team. If he helped the development of Healy, Rizzuto, and Clark then I would say he worked out just fine. 

1 hour ago, dslyank said:

Two previously Grad transfers:  Miller a total bust; Foster mostly a bust (a disappointment at best.). IMHO unless you can nail a "sure thing", better off spending the money on a project freshman??

I think that is because of how Will Brown coaches. You need to earn your spot in the rotation. Once you earn it, he has been loyal to a fault in some cases. It is really hard for a player to earn his trust in year 1, and this makes i hard for JUCO players to get a lot of minutes in their first year, and definitely affected Miller and Foster. Foster was one of the most athletic players we have had, but he never broke through into the regular rotation, and then he was gone.

I'd rather have a 3 or 4 year kid added, but I am betting that the right player could earn time and provide an impact. We will have to wait and see what Hansen does. 

While not surprised at this news, it is sad. I always hate to see kids leave. I am not sure I saw any playing time for him this season, so it is probably for the best, but he did have talent. I wish him luck wherever he ends up going. I think I remember him saying he came here blind because we had a spot and an offer, a winning tradition, and he had a friend that went here. 

I guess we have room for another player. I hope they don't just give it to anyone because they have the slot. There really should only be a few options:

• Save the ship and the $$
• Sign a 4-year player, maybe one that can redshirt and develop
• Get an impact transfer like some of the ones we have discussed
• Give it to the Karate Kid as a senior year reward for what he has done for the team

No point in using it for a player that will ride the pine all year and be gone after the season is over. 

20 hours ago, cwdickens said:

*Social/emotional need:  From my observation the Capital District and the UAlbany community not possess any aspiration for a FBS football 🏈

I agree with most of what you said, except this part. I am sure if you did a search, you could find me saying this 50+ times on these boards: 

Capital District fans are snobs. No one care about any athletic programs unless it is TOP level. We are too close to NYC/Montreal/Boston/Syracuse/Buffalo for anyone here to care. The AFL team is averaging over 10k fans per game - it is top level for AFL. You can get tickets last minute for a minor band, the biggest names sell out in minutes. Unless $iena is winning, their attendance is dwindling. The Albany Colonie Yankees had issue with attendance most games, but when a MLB player like Ron Guidry had a rehab start there were people lined up around the block and people sitting on the field. 

This area could support a FBS team, and rival Syracuse for attendance - but it would have to be at the top level, play top level opponents, and win. Anything less than that is a complete and utter waste of money. The AE and CAA are perfectly fine for us. I don't see any boost in attendance by a new conference or a league switch unless it was to a P5 type situation. 

So yes, you are right, no aspiration for FBS football today, but I am convinced that there would be plenty of it was done correctly. 

Interesting. I just noticed that the Verbal commits says he has 3 years of eligibility, so that would imply the offer is for this year, which would imply someone else is leaving, or someone is going to be a walkon.

Pretty sure he is a JUCO player for next season not this. I could be wrong though. 

1 hour ago, Eli said:

My spreadsheets, after feedback from this forum, are based on their 'official' VC position and then seniority.

C to PG, then Sr to Fr.

That being said, since Johnson is off the board and Hutchins has reclassified to HS2020:

UAlbany Men's Roster 2019-2020					
					
Name				Position	Height	Weight	Year		Status
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brent Hank			C		6'10"	245	RSo.		Returning
Kendall Lauderdale		PF		6'8"	240	RSr. (JUCO)	Returning
Sasha French			PF		6'11"	215	RJr. (JUCO)	Returning
Adam Lulka			PF		6'8"	240	RSo.		Returning
Mitch Doherty			PF		6'7"	180	Fr.		Incoming
Malachi de Sousa		SF		6'5"	200	So.		Returning
Nikola Jerotic			SF		6'7"	215	So.		Returning
Trey Hutcheson			SF		6'5"	-	Fr.		Incoming
Sam Shafer			SG		6'6"	190	RFr.		Incoming
JoJo Anderson			PG		6'3"	170	Jr. 		Incoming
Ahmad Clark			PG		6'1"	170	Sr. (JUCO)	Returning
Cam Healey			PG		6'2"	185	RSo.		Returning
Antonio Rizzuto			PG		6'3"	180	So.		Returning
Nick Fruscio			PG		5'10"	155	Sr.		Returning

					
Possible Signings		Position	Height	Weight	Year		Status
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Adewunmi**		SG		6'4"	195	Jr. (JUCO)	Offered
--------------------------------- Going Elsewhere ------------------------------------
DeVale Johnson**		SF		6'7"	185	Jr. (JUCO)	Rhode Island
Derrick Cook**			SG		6'4"	190	Jr. (JUCO)	Jacksonville State
Gerald Drumgoole**		SG		6'5"	195	HS2019		Pittsburg
Cornelius Taylor**		PG		6'0"	180	Sr. (Grad)	Florida Atlantic
Joseph Girard III**		PG		6'1"	170	HS2019		Syracuse
Isaiah Stevens**		PG		5'10"	N/A	HS2019		Colorado State
Jarod Lucas**			PG		6'3"	170	HS2019		Oregon State
August Mahoney**		PG		6'2"	165	HS2019		Yale
Greg Dolan**			PG		6'3"	170	HS2019		Cornell
		
							
Possible Departures	Reason
---------------------------------			
Nikola Jerotić		Playing Time/Competition Level				
Sasha French		Playing Time/Competition Level				
	
				
Departures		Reason
---------------------------------				
Devonte Campbell	Graduated
Rayshawn Miller		Graduated
Reese Brooks		Transferred				
Philip Flory		Transferred

 

Don't get me wrong. Great info contained. I just can't read the embedded spreadsheet easily from my phone. I wanted to see it spaced a little differently. Keep on doing what you are doing

Run a cuse style 2-3 zone in conference play? French in the middle, Lauderdale and Lulka on the bottom, de Sousa and Shafer up front (if you could trust Malachi or Shafer to bring up the ball). With the 3 point line being deeper this year, this could be a scary thing for opponents to see. A lot of length. 

Just for anyone that says "Football, especially college football, just doesn't draw fans in the North East" I present to you the curious case of the Albany Empire AFL team. They have now outdrawn a MLB team at least twice this season...

55 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Good news though...I re-upped my 1 remaining ticket to watch this mess...LOLZ

It pained me to renew mine as well but I did. I still have 4 seats that are in the best spot in the place, IMHO. I don't want to lose them if the program does start to improve and get better. 

The hard part is getting people to go. Most games, I can't find someone who will take my tickets for FREE when I can't make it because of other commitments.

Here is my pitch:

Quote

"Hey, you want FREE tickets for the UA game on Sat? 4 seats, 50 yard line, front row, passes to the donor beer area, and a VIP parking pass to the SEFCU parking lot that is right outside of the stadium, perfect for tailgating?"

No one EVER says yes. My seats are almost always empty! If that doesn't tell you had bad this program is and the depths they have sunk to, I don't know what will.

I love Eli's spreadsheets and updates, but it is hard to read sometimes:

Current 2019-2020 Roster by Position

Point Guard

• Ahmad Clark (6'1") (SG)
• JoJo Anderson (6'3")
• Nick Fruscio (Walk On) (5'10")

Shooting Guard

• Cameron Healy (6'3") (PG)
• Antonio Rizzuto (6'3")

Wing / Small Forward

• Malachi de Sousa (6'6")
• Sam Shafer (6'6") (SG)
• Nikola Jerotic (6'7")
• Trey Hutcheson (6'5")

Power Forward

• Adam Lulka (6'8")
• Kendall Lauderdale (6'8")
• Mitch Doherty (6'7")

Center

• Brent Hank (6' 10")
• Sasha French (6'11")

I love Eli's spreadsheets and updates, but it is hard to read sometimes:

Current 2019-2020 Roster by Class Year 

Seniors

• Ahmad Clark (PG/SG)
• Kendall Lauderdale (PF)
• Nick Fruscio (Walk On) (PG)

Juniors

• Sasha French (C)
• JoJo Anderson (PG)

Sophomores

• Cameron Healy (SG/PG)
• Antonio Rizzuto (SG)
• Malachi de Sousa (SF)
• Adam Lulka (PF)
• Brent Hank (C)

Freshman

• Nikola Jerotic (SF)
• Sam Shafer (SF/SG)
• Trey Hutcheson (SF)
• Mitch Doherty (PF)

I feel like I say it every season, as we get a little overly excited for our recruits, but I am not sure where the playing time is going to come from. With Campbell, Miller, Brooks, and Flory leaving, the team is really only opening up about 40 minutes per game of playing time. 

The team added JoJo Anderson and Sam Shafer as transfers that will both be looking for minutes right away. Add Doherty and Hutcheson as highly regarded freshman. deSousa should play significantly more minutes than last season. I see Lauderdale progressing and getting more minutes as a senior. Hank and French have both had another year of development and should get more time. Jerotic will now be a freshman and the reports I have heard on his development have been positive. 

The good thing is that the team will still be mostly underclassman, and the team will only lose Clark and Lauderdale after this season (barring transfers or the early graduation of Healy/Lulka). 

LoL, I agree as well, thus the doubt. Definitely a cool experience. He is a late bloomer, so I could see him spending some time in the G league or in Europe then improving enough to get a few minutes in the NBA, but I put the chances at no better than 1:1000. If someone would give me those odds, I would make a $10 bet though , then again at 1000:1, I would probably put $10 on just about any UA full-time all-conference caliber starter getting at least 1-minute in the NBA or Fruscio getting to be a NBA Head Coach . I would lose every bet, but it would just take one to surprise for me to be ahead  (Degenerate gambling is kind of my thing lol)

Not sure where to put this but...

https://www.nba.com/wizards/wizards-nba-draft-workouts-2019-june-10

Doubt Cremo has any shot, but you never know.

16 hours ago, Clickclack said:

Nope... Not to my knowledge 

So how would we have another spot for an additional recruit? I think you can have 2 walk ons, but would a touted player walk on here?

With a lot of talk about another potential commit, did we lose another player we don't know about? Thought this would fill out the class.

2 hours ago, UA1882 said:

I dont have any inside knowledge of who is on campus today.  If there are a stud that's AWESOME and I hope we get them. All I was saying is that brown really does not play a ton of guys, so I would not give a scholarship to a backup. I would keep it for next year. 

That's exactly what I was saying. Bring in another stud, a freshman that might be a redshirt, or reward Nick for what he has brought to the team. (In that order). No need to bring in someone who is going to get no playing time then transfer.

If they don't fill the slot with a good freshman, I'd love to see the Karate Kid get rewarded vs another JUCO unless it is an impact type player. 

I doubt that happens though. I seem to remember a story on Reece Williams a few years back....

It's been a while with no updates on the last available ship. Anyone know what's going on?

Anyone know if talks are happening for the Albany Cup to come back this year? No reason to hurt the RPI, but it is a fun game and environment if LCC will agree to home and home. 

Same always. H&H or no game. Should be SEFCU this year, TUC next year, then renovated SEFCU the year after.

Not a player, but it's still someone heading to the big time.