Transfer season thread

[Clickclack]

4 minutes ago, godanesgo99 said:

Anyone know when the portal opens and we will start seeing names of who might be leaving?

As I said in another thread, there isn't a single player on the roster that I wouldn't be sad if they entered the portal. I want everyone back. They all played hard and gave it their all. If no one else leaves - so the team only has the 2 graduations, Beagle, and Girault coming off the books, there are 2 freshman signees, and 2 open spots. Both need to be used to find players that can contribute at the 5 right away, the team would have a real good shot at competing next year...

• 1/2 - Thomas, Marshall, Little, Adnan, Lindsey, Amica, Matulu
• 3 / Small 4 - Reddish, Jackson, Newton, Neely
• 4  - Margoupis, Taylor
• 5 - Transfer, Transfer

I'd be happy with that roster if those 2 transfers were 6'9 or bigger than can step in right away. Especially if they were transfers from P5 programs that could play right away. Finding a defense first 5 that is a work in progress offensively would be amazing in the AE with the way the rest of the roster is configured.

Biggest questions: 

• Do we lose anyone from the above
• Does Neely have anything left in him
• Does Amica have anything left in him

Portal is open now and kids are going in. No contact I think until March 15th I want to say though. Verbal Commits has been posting all day about kids going into portal. 

[Clickclack]

I would have thought Beagle would RUN into the portal. A little surprised he's not in yet. 

[dslyank]

TU. 

Quote

The transfer portal opens March 18 and closes May 1.

 

Edited March 11 by dslyank

[cwdickens]

3 hours ago, Clickclack said:

Can you post the storey here? Behind paywall...

UALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

UAlbany men look to the future

 

By Pete Dougherty

Jim Franco/Times Union archive

UAlbany’s Sebastian Thomas, left, said for next season, “We’ve got to regroup, see what the offseason brings.” Thomas will be a senior next year.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Projecting any college basketball team’s roster now for next season is futile, what with the transfer portal and the capacity of players to play immediately at a new school, not to mention NIL packages that have heightened the movement.

That said, the University at Albany turns its attention to 2024-25 after its season ended here Saturday with a heartbreaking 75-72 loss to Vermont in the America East Tournament.

 

“We’ve got to let everybody get away from it for a day or two,” coach Dwayne Killings said, “then we’ll meet throughout the course of the week before the guys go home for spring break.”

Before turning to next season, let’s assess the remains from the Great Danes’ 13-19 campaign.

Killings, in his third season (34-60, .362), showed a five-game improvement over last season. UAlbany didn’t even qualify for the conference tournament last season, finishing 8-23, but the Danes seemed to be on pace for much more this season entering February.

UAlbany was 11-10 overall, 3-3 in the conference, when reigning America East Rookie of the Year and Hudson Falls native Jonathan Beagle played eight minutes in a Feb. 1 game against Vermont, then left from the program. Marcus Jackson, also a starting forward, injured his hand in practice before the Vermont game and missed the rest of the season.

Combine that with the loss of Justin Neely, the 2021-22 conference Rookie of the Year who tore the ACL in his left knee Nov. 12, 2022, and UAlbany was extremely short-handed. Neely missed the rest of last season and played only six games this season before accepting a redshirt.

“We’ve got to find a way to get healthy,” Killings said, “and if we keep our backcourt intact, we add the right pieces, we have a chance to get back to this point and win games and also host playoff games.”

For sure, the Danes need to move on without Tyler Bertram and Marcus Filien, fifth-year players who made important contributions in their one season at UAlbany.

Keeping starting guards Sebastian Thomas, who will be entering his senior year, and Amar’e Marshall, a junior-to-be, in the fold will be the biggest offseason priority for UAlbany.

Immediately after the Vermont loss, both talked about next season as if they’re staying put.

“We’ve got to regroup, see what the offseason brings, who we can bring in to replace them,” Thomas said, referring to Bertram and Fi-lien.

“We’ve got to hit the offseason hard and be ready for the next time we are in this position,” Marshall said.

Thomas, arguably the best point guard in the conference, got the playing time he didn’t get in two seasons at Rhode Island. Marshall, a third team all-America East guard and the conference’s fifth-leading scorer, significantly improved his playing time from his stint at Hofstra.

Both arrived via the transfer portal. Killings is hopeful that they don’t depart the same way.

“It’s the nature of our business,” Killings said. “You do a good job of recruiting at our level, then you become this platform to be able to recruit players, with the two-time transfer rule and things like that. You can’t go crazy about it. You’ve got to do good work with your guys, you’ve got to take care of them and then you hope that the investment you make in them, they can feel like this is a place they could stay at.”

The Danes could have as many as three seniors next season. Thomas, guard Aaron Reddish and forward Muneer Newton will enter their final season of eligibility. Guard Will Amica, who has battled injuries throughout his career, was listed as a senior on this season’s roster, but he has two years of eligibility remaining. Guard Ny’Mire Little will be a junior next season.

UAlbany’s three freshmen didn’t get a lot of court time, but Killings hopes they will have bigger roles. Forward Jack Margoupis played 97 minutes and guard Zane Adnan about half that. Zach Matulu, a freshman guard from Shaker, was redshirted because of a torn hip labrum.

“It’s a different day in college basketball in a lot of different ways,” Killings said. “You try to keep your kids, invest in relationships, give them good experiences, and kids will make their own decisions. Then you just keep moving.”

Assuming Beagle is moving on, which is a pretty good bet, Killings will have at least three available scholarships. More could surface because of the transfer portal.

The Danes have two recruits committed for next season. Ma’kye Taylor is a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward from Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia and Amir Lindsey is a 5-10 guard from Framingham, Mass.

The transfer portal opens March 18 and closes May 1.

“We’ll look around and see what the best thing is for us,” Killings said. “You’ve got to move fast but slow at the same time because there’s a lot of players going in, a lot of players going out. It moves really quick. We’ll take a look at it and figure out what our biggest needs are.”

[cwdickens]

From Roger Wyland:

Valiant effort on the road in Vermont on Saturday by the eighth-seeded UAlbany men’s basketball team — especially from Sebastian Thomas, who was the best player on the floor, dropping 31 points in a 75-72 loss to the top-seeded Catamounts. UAlbany regrouped after Jonathan Beagle left the team in early February and played well down the stretch. Now comes the toughest part — keeping Thomas and Amar’e Marshall from hitting the transfer portal. If you can convince them to stay for another season and you add a frontcourt player to replace Beagle, UAlbany can be one of the top teams next season in the America East Conference.

Rodger Wyland is the sports director for News Channel 13. Listen to him weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WTMM (104.5 FM, “The Team”).

[DanesRGood]

18 hours ago, cwdickens said:

UALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

UAlbany men look to the future

 

By Pete Dougherty

Jim Franco/Times Union archive

UAlbany’s Sebastian Thomas, left, said for next season, “We’ve got to regroup, see what the offseason brings.” Thomas will be a senior next year.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Projecting any college basketball team’s roster now for next season is futile, what with the transfer portal and the capacity of players to play immediately at a new school, not to mention NIL packages that have heightened the movement.

That said, the University at Albany turns its attention to 2024-25 after its season ended here Saturday with a heartbreaking 75-72 loss to Vermont in the America East Tournament.

 

“We’ve got to let everybody get away from it for a day or two,” coach Dwayne Killings said, “then we’ll meet throughout the course of the week before the guys go home for spring break.”

Before turning to next season, let’s assess the remains from the Great Danes’ 13-19 campaign.

Killings, in his third season (34-60, .362), showed a five-game improvement over last season. UAlbany didn’t even qualify for the conference tournament last season, finishing 8-23, but the Danes seemed to be on pace for much more this season entering February.

UAlbany was 11-10 overall, 3-3 in the conference, when reigning America East Rookie of the Year and Hudson Falls native Jonathan Beagle played eight minutes in a Feb. 1 game against Vermont, then left from the program. Marcus Jackson, also a starting forward, injured his hand in practice before the Vermont game and missed the rest of the season.

Combine that with the loss of Justin Neely, the 2021-22 conference Rookie of the Year who tore the ACL in his left knee Nov. 12, 2022, and UAlbany was extremely short-handed. Neely missed the rest of last season and played only six games this season before accepting a redshirt.

“We’ve got to find a way to get healthy,” Killings said, “and if we keep our backcourt intact, we add the right pieces, we have a chance to get back to this point and win games and also host playoff games.”

For sure, the Danes need to move on without Tyler Bertram and Marcus Filien, fifth-year players who made important contributions in their one season at UAlbany.

Keeping starting guards Sebastian Thomas, who will be entering his senior year, and Amar’e Marshall, a junior-to-be, in the fold will be the biggest offseason priority for UAlbany.

Immediately after the Vermont loss, both talked about next season as if they’re staying put.

“We’ve got to regroup, see what the offseason brings, who we can bring in to replace them,” Thomas said, referring to Bertram and Fi-lien.

“We’ve got to hit the offseason hard and be ready for the next time we are in this position,” Marshall said.

Thomas, arguably the best point guard in the conference, got the playing time he didn’t get in two seasons at Rhode Island. Marshall, a third team all-America East guard and the conference’s fifth-leading scorer, significantly improved his playing time from his stint at Hofstra.

Both arrived via the transfer portal. Killings is hopeful that they don’t depart the same way.

“It’s the nature of our business,” Killings said. “You do a good job of recruiting at our level, then you become this platform to be able to recruit players, with the two-time transfer rule and things like that. You can’t go crazy about it. You’ve got to do good work with your guys, you’ve got to take care of them and then you hope that the investment you make in them, they can feel like this is a place they could stay at.”

The Danes could have as many as three seniors next season. Thomas, guard Aaron Reddish and forward Muneer Newton will enter their final season of eligibility. Guard Will Amica, who has battled injuries throughout his career, was listed as a senior on this season’s roster, but he has two years of eligibility remaining. Guard Ny’Mire Little will be a junior next season.

UAlbany’s three freshmen didn’t get a lot of court time, but Killings hopes they will have bigger roles. Forward Jack Margoupis played 97 minutes and guard Zane Adnan about half that. Zach Matulu, a freshman guard from Shaker, was redshirted because of a torn hip labrum.

“It’s a different day in college basketball in a lot of different ways,” Killings said. “You try to keep your kids, invest in relationships, give them good experiences, and kids will make their own decisions. Then you just keep moving.”

Assuming Beagle is moving on, which is a pretty good bet, Killings will have at least three available scholarships. More could surface because of the transfer portal.

The Danes have two recruits committed for next season. Ma’kye Taylor is a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward from Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia and Amir Lindsey is a 5-10 guard from Framingham, Mass.

The transfer portal opens March 18 and closes May 1.

“We’ll look around and see what the best thing is for us,” Killings said. “You’ve got to move fast but slow at the same time because there’s a lot of players going in, a lot of players going out. It moves really quick. We’ll take a look at it and figure out what our biggest needs are.”

These quotes make it seem like making the playoffs was some sort of big win for the program.  Only ONE team doesn't make.  "Get back to this point" - what? It should be a given in this conference. 

[Eli]

4 hours ago, DanesRGood said:

These quotes make it seem like making the playoffs was some sort of big win for the program.  Only ONE team doesn't make.  "Get back to this point" - what? It should be a given in this conference. 

MeNtAlItY lulz.

[Clickclack]

1 hour ago, Eli said:

MeNtAlItY lulz.

Just drop the *itY

 

[UA1882]

Not sure where to put this and don't want to start a new thread. Plus it does have something to do with transfers.  

Do we have an NIL? One thing we do have is prominent local Alumni.  If we don't that to me puts us behind.  

Edited March 13 by UA1882

[Clickclack]

On 3/13/2024 at 5:11 PM, UA1882 said:

Not sure where to put this and don't want to start a new thread. Plus it does have something to do with transfers.  

Do we have an NIL? One thing we do have is prominent local Alumni.  If we don't that to me puts us behind.  

This is in development at UA I believe but as any program you have to get it up and running and up to speed. Bigger problems have it far easier as they have a national presence. Little schools are picking around the edges. 

 

https://ualbanysports.com/sports/2022/3/3/unleashed

 

[UA1882]

Thanks.

Portal is active.  A little surprised Beagle is not in the first day. He has to know where he is going because he has not played in a couple of months.  

Need to keep the "Big 2". Need to recruit "up" to start.  Bigger schools. Need to sell them on excellent guards.  Don't want to see D2 or D3 kids unless that's all we can get.  

If we lose the Big 2 you can expect 10 wins at the most next year.  

[Clickclack]

12 minutes ago, UA1882 said:

Thanks.

Portal is active.  A little surprised Beagle is not in the first day. He has to know where he is going because he has not played in a couple of months.  

Need to keep the "Big 2". Need to recruit "up" to start.  Bigger schools. Need to sell them on excellent guards.  Don't want to see D2 or D3 kids unless that's all we can get.  

If we lose the Big 2 you can expect 10 wins at the most next year.  

Keeping Thomas and Marshall is a must or it's a complete rebuild from a $iena year. Those two guards are good enough to anchor a championship level team. Neely was supposed to be the 3 to bad he did not recover well from ACL. Unclear if he'll ever be the same guy again. Desperately need competent front court players. BTW, I'm a big fan of Taylor the kid they got but he'll be a freshman. 

[ctdanes]

Margoupis looks like a solid piece as well. But yes, future hinges on keeping Thomas and Marshall 

[Clickclack]

11 hours ago, ctdanes said:

Margoupis looks like a solid piece as well. But yes, future hinges on keeping Thomas and Marshall 

My significant issue with this staff isn't that they can't recruit, I think they do well finding talent. My biggest concern and I don't see any progress is DK's inability to coach competent basketball especially on defense. You can have all the talent you want but if you can't coach it, it's a lost cause. Three years in, he's an awful X and O's coach. 

[Clickclack]

Beagle officially in portal...no surprise