West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
coker rs frosh Charlie hill is coming to wlu.
6-3 and 21 ppg at Myrtle Beach hs.

Nick Pasqua new head coach at Coker. Assume they are going to a different scheme.

[Scrub]

Fyi
coker rs frosh Charlie hill is coming to wlu.
6-3 and 21 ppg at Myrtle Beach hs.

Nick Pasqua new head coach at Coker. Assume they are going to a different scheme.

Hope he'll be happy here. West Liberty, WV is a far cry from Myrtle Beach!

[TopperNation]

Man, this is going to be the first time in over 20 years where I can't name or don't know more than 3 Hilltoppers on the team, lol. It really has hit me that times have changed with all these players transferring schools once a coach leaves, I'm talking about 60 to 70 percent of the roster moves on. Looks like I may have to even get a game day program at the first WL game, lol.

[boatcapt]

At some point Mike is going to have to start bring in non-Coker transfers or HS grads who are sitting at home unrecruited. OR maybe we're going to have six on the team like Hickory. Heck, they won a state championship! Anyone know how to run the picket fence??

[Columbuseer]

Based on lamberti's interview on wvmetronews.com sportsline, it sounded like he might be holding a schollie or two in reserve, which is what Ben typically did. The hosts are huge wlu fans. The hosts joked about their statements sounding like a wlu recruiting promotional message. Lol
My speculative guess is that they have 10-12 on the roster now and that their target is ideally 13 or 14.

[TopperNation]

At some point Mike is going to have to start bring in non-Coker transfers or HS grads who are sitting at home unrecruited. OR maybe we're going to have six on the team like Hickory. Heck, they won a state championship! Anyone know how to run the picket fence??

Yes, finally someone said it. 1 or maybe 2 from Coker, but more then that and now we are rolling the dice.

[Columbuseer]

Yes, finally someone said it. 1 or maybe 2 from Coker, but more then that and now we are rolling the dice.

Could you clarify why you think we are rolling the dice? Is it defense? Offense? Have you looked at the season stats of the coker transfers?

The SAC is a strong conference with Lincoln Memorial and others. Coker shot the 3fg better than wlu.

40% 3fg is elite. Following players each had over 140 3fg attempts:
6-8 coan is 39.6%
6-2 185 lb Frosh hurray 37.8% named to SAC all conference freshman team
6-7 muldowney 38.9%
Muldowney was on u20 ireland national team.

The existence proof that lamberti knows talent is coker's results over the last 2 years: 2 winning seasons, 2 conference tourney appearances and ranked as high as 17th in d2 for a school with < 900 undergrads and a perennial doormat in the conference. He knows what it takes to win in the MEC.

Coker sat in the top five nationally in the 2024-25 season in Assists Per Game (3), Bench Points Per Game (1), Scoring Offense (3), Three Point Attempts Per Game (1), and Three Pointers Made Per Game (1).

[boatcapt]

Yes, finally someone said it. 1 or maybe 2 from Coker, but more then that and now we are rolling the dice.

Anytime you are returning only two players with playing time, you are rolling the dice...anytime the majority of your team is brought in after June 1, you are rolling the dice...anytime you are a consistent Top 5/Elite 8 level team and you are relying on at least 3 of your top players coming from a team that failed to crack 20 wins the last two seasons and whose biggest accomplishment is being ranked number 17 for a couple of weeks this year, you're rolling the dice.

We're sitting at approx 9 players under contract (,excuse me for not believing we have upwards of 4 guys that we are keeping secret). Not a big problem when it's April 15th...BIG problem when it's June 22 and you've got about 60 days till school starts! We've been told the portal is full of 5 tool WLU Style players and that there are equal numbers of elite level WLU Style HS grads sitting at home just waiting for a call. So why haven't we called them?

[Columbuseer]

The coker guys have experience in the same system so i count them as experienced. Imho that is a much better situation than bringing in 5 guys from other systems. We saw those growing pains last season.

also all 3 freshmen are on campus and they are deadly 3fg shooters.
We are at 12 players.

I will leave it to those with Columbo-like investigative skills to determine their names. Lol

[Columbuseer]

Judd Coan moves well, has good handles and very good shot mechanics. He is a wiry 6-8.

[Columbuseer]

I have watched wlu in open gym. They had 6 on a side.
The ball was not sticking. Rapid ball rotation led to open 3s.
incredible intensity and pressure.

We have deadly 3 pt shooters. One new guy hit 4 in a row. Since so many guys had played in the system, things came much more naturally than last June.
Coach has found those rare tall, long guys who are great 3 point shooters and can run. We are starting to resemble nova se in terms of size profile.

I talked with one very basketball savvy person who closely followed coker last year, and whose opinion I respect, said they were very young and they would have been favorites to win the conference this year, before the coaching change occurred. After watching them play, I can see his point.

I think we are in very good hands.

[boatcapt]

I'm convinced now! I feel an undefeated season coming on. The three Coker players are far better than Daugastino, Dragas and Woodard could ever hope to be! Our incoming freshmen are absolute 3 point assassins are ready NOW...NO growing pains with this class! They will be competing with each other for Freshman of the year honors...they are ALL that good. We are going to scorch the nets from 3 point range at an elite 40+ percent rate...we are going to get 40 assists per game...20+ steals per game is going to be the norm...our full court press will be devistating...we will average 100 points per game and our margin of victory will be over 50 points per game! Getting rid of Howlett was a master stroke of 3D chess...got rid of a coach that was holding us back and got perhaps the best proven HC in the nation!!!

It's a great day on the Hilltop boys with our path to a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP not just clear but a certainly!!!

[Topper_Hopper]

I have watched wlu in open gym. They had 6 on a side.
The ball was not sticking. Rapid ball rotation led to open 3s.
incredible intensity and pressure.

We have deadly 3 pt shooters. One new guy hit 4 in a row. Since so many guys had played in the system, things came much more naturally than last June.
Coach has found those rare tall, long guys who are great 3 point shooters and can run. We are starting to resemble nova se in terms of size profile.

I talked with one very basketball savvy person who closely followed coker last year, and whose opinion I respect, said they were very young and they would have been favorites to win the conference this year, before the coaching change occurred. After watching them play, I can see his point.

I think we are in very good hands.

Great to hear. Did the open gym include the incoming freshmen? If so, any read on them?

[Columbuseer]

Great to hear. Did the open gym include the incoming freshmen? If so, any read on them?

They are classic wlu players. High bball iq, great 3 point shooters, strong fundamentally, unselfish, very high motors. They have deep 3 point range but can also drive to the rim. I was surprised how well they fit in. Maybe their hs played the same style. Very good mechanics on 3-point shot. When they miss on 3s, it is not by much as there were few long rebounds on their misses from three (which is a good thing). One of them hit 4 threes in a row in the open gym.

[TopperNation]

Okay, so we aren't rebuilding then, we are reloading!!! Well here comes another top 10 pre season ranking, lol.