West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Layton]

Is Yoakum for sure leaving?

[Columbuseer]

Well, we do have quite a few guards with high basketball IQ's!!

Guess that makes our "starting 5":

Butler
McKiney (only SR on the team)
Sarson
Rasile
Satterfield (for opening tip only...to be replaced by Montegue or Denbow at the first dead ball)

With a "second platoon" of:

Satterfield
Montegue or Denbow
Webb
Powell
And Denbow's brother

Imho, Pencil montague in at starting pg today. Great shot from 3, very high assist to to ratio and best defender.
my guess is
Montague
mckinney
Sarson
Butler
Webb or satterfield if size needed; Spadafora or rasile for smaller teams.

[Scrub]

Is Yoakum for sure leaving?

I actually wondered the same thing. Obviously, he's been around a while, and good for him for graduating on time. But, man, it hurts to leave that last year of eligibility on the table now that we know they have a big hole in the starting 5.

[Scrub]

Imho, Pencil montague in at starting pg today. Great shot from 3, very high assist to to ratio and best defender.
my guess is
Montague
mckinney
Sarson
Butler
Webb or satterfield if size needed; Spadafora or rasile for smaller teams.

Totally agree. Much like McKinney did last year (transfer Soph who was brought in to "run the second shift"), Montague will undoubtedly elevate to a first platoon guy next year. So, yes, I would think Montague, McKinney, Sarson, & Butler are locks in the first platoon. The #5 guy is TBD at this point.

[boatcapt]

I wonder if Robinson got that D1 itch

If I had to guess, I'd say yes. Traded up when he transfered from Holy Family to WLU after his Freshman season, now probably trying to trade up to a D1 after two years as an All-Region DII star at WLU.

[Layton]

If I had to guess, I'd say yes. Traded up when he transfered from Holy Family to WLU after his Freshman season, now probably trying to trade up to a D1 after two years as an All-Region DII star at WLU.

[Scrub]

That was why I wondered aloud about Howlett's willingness to re-enroll him if the transfer doesn't work out (like John Williams heading back to Glenville after getting no D1 bites last year).

Robinson is an absolute beast (and an MVP, All-region kind of player) here at a high-ranking D2 program, but I have some doubts about how well his game will transition to a D1. He definitely has Dale Bonner's finishing ability at the rim, but not Bonner's size. He doesn't have Bolon's size (or shooting percentage) either.

I certainly hope he finds what he's looking for. But for our sake, I just wish he were looking for more banners for WLU to hang in the rafters of the ASRC.

[Layton]

That was why I wondered aloud about Howlett's willingness to re-enroll him if the transfer doesn't work out (like John Williams heading back to Glenville after getting no D1 bites last year).

Robinson is an absolute beast (and an MVP, All-region kind of player) here at a high-ranking D2 program, but I have some doubts about how well his game will transition to a D1. He definitely has Dale Bonner's finishing ability at the rim, but not Bonner's size. He doesn't have Bolon's size (or shooting percentage) either.

I certainly hope he finds what he's looking for. But for our sake, I just wish he were looking for more banners for WLU to hang in the rafters of the ASRC.

[Columbuseer]

Interesting observation. Not a super quick release like Rasile, either. When a 6-6 d1 guard is on you, some techniques are not feasible.
wish him luck.

[Scrub]

Pat is listed in the portal as a Grad Transfer. Didn't realize he was graduating this May. That makes the choice to leave just a bit more understandable (especially if WLU doesn't have a grad program he would be interested in--there truly aren't that many grad programs on campus).

[boatcapt]

Imho, Pencil montague in at starting pg today. Great shot from 3, very high assist to to ratio and best defender.
my guess is
Montague
mckinney
Sarson
Butler
Webb or satterfield if size needed; Spadafora or rasile for smaller teams.

I agree on Satterfield if we need size, but if you are bring in a 6'3" guy to provide size, you have problems!

[boatcapt]

Totally agree. Much like McKinney did last year (transfer Soph who was brought in to "run the second shift"), Montague will undoubtedly elevate to a first platoon guy next year. So, yes, I would think Montague, McKinney, Sarson, & Butler are locks in the first platoon. The #5 guy is TBD at this point.

Then who runs the second platoon?

[Scrub]

Then who runs the second platoon?

A new transfer, of course!

[Columbuseer]

Then who runs the second platoon?

My guess is spadafora at pg, rasile at sg.

[boatcapt]

A new transfer, of course!

For a top notch recruiter, we seem to be dipping into the transfer portal quite a bit for PG's and Bigs! If you find yourself having to get the same type of player from the portal year after year, maybe bring in that type of guy from HS and then developing him should be a priority?? I'm sure we would love to have 15 person roster made up of nothing but shooting guards, but unfortuanatly, basketball has not "evolved" to that point...yet!