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  • #31
    Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

    Marlon Moore Jr commits to West Lib. 6'5" swing/forward from Benedictine HS in Cleveland area.

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    • #32
      Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

      Seems like a good pick up for the Toppers...6'5", 210 wing player. Quick review of the limited video shows that he is a typical WLU "big." Can handle the ball facing the basket, moves to the rack well and can hit the 3. He'll fit in with the other Topper cats but only time will tell if he is a cog in the wheel type or a star.

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      • #33
        Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

        Every year we seem to have at least one (Dave Dennis and Justice last year, Brady Arnold and Columbo the year before) true freshman that comes in and makes an immediate impact. So who do you think will be this years surprise freshman? To refresh, here is WLU's 2016 freshman class:

        Dalton Bolton, 6'3" guard from Indian Valley HS
        Luke Dyer, 5'11" guard from Robert C. Byrd HS
        Clay Guillozet, 6'2' guard from Greenville HS

        Second question, including those three true freshmen, who do you think will have the greatest impact among first year players? The above three plus:

        Dan Monteroso, 6'3" transfer from Perdue
        James Griffin, 6'5" transfer from Marist

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        • #34
          Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

          I like Bolton. He seems pretty polished. That said, I didn't see much on Guillozet.

          Monteroso is obviously a very gifted, natural athlete -- and apparently a chicken farmer, also, from 'Perdue' University in Salisbury, MD. lol

          Griffin ... not expecting much from him. Those late adds are usually still around for a reason. You never know.

          By default it looks like The Church of Crutch may be going with some 5-guard lineups this year? That's a lot of guards on the roster.

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

            Originally posted by boatcapt View Post
            Every year we seem to have at least one (Dave Dennis and Justice last year, Brady Arnold and Columbo the year before) true freshman that comes in and makes an immediate impact. So who do you think will be this years surprise freshman? To refresh, here is WLU's 2016 freshman class:

            Dalton Bolton, 6'3" guard from Indian Valley HS
            Luke Dyer, 5'11" guard from Robert C. Byrd HS
            Clay Guillozet, 6'2' guard from Greenville HS

            Second question, including those three true freshmen, who do you think will have the greatest impact among first year players? The above three plus:

            Dan Monteroso, 6'3" transfer from Perdue
            James Griffin, 6'5" transfer from Marist
            Great preseason question...boat...

            I think Clay Guilliozet will be the FR who contributes most...I think Dyer playing behind Dennis and Arnold and Hoehn, will not get great chances.. And I guess I'm thinking Clay's pedigree is better than Dalton's.

            As far as the most impacting transfer--has to be Monteroso...I'm really excited for this cat....I think he'll be top 3 scorer there...Has to knock off the football rust first.

            And I do like the new commitment, Marlon Moore...I hate to say it, but reminds of last year's commit Chuckie Humphries and could fill similar role...So funny that Humphries never played a second for WL, but has reached Deity status on this board...

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            • #36
              Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

              Hi Folks,

              I wanted to weigh in on the Freshman at WLU.
              I went to the high School All-Star Game at Otterbein in Columbus a few months back.
              There were two games: D1/D2 divided into North and South Teams and D3+ divided similarly.
              Big names were there - Seth Towns from Northland (Harvard) and another guy going to Michigan State.

              I actually saw Coach Crutchfield there. Coaches were coming up to him, like people paying respects to the Godfather! :-)
              It was interesting to watch. He is truly a humble guy.

              I was there to see Clay Guillozet play. Little did I know that Dalton Bolon was also there.
              There were on opposite teams and initially matched up against each other.
              My view is that Dalton is a little ahead of Clay at that time. In the first half, Dalton got by him on slashes to the basket.
              However, once Clay adjusted, he acquitted himself quite well. Both are great shooters and slashers who can make baskets after contact.

              At one point they stopped the game for a 3 pt contest finals - only 2 people made it to the finals - Dalton and some other guy.
              Dalton was a little off and came in second, but I heard he won the prelims.

              Seth Towns was dominating the action and was clearly the crowd favorite.
              Here is one thing that impressed me greatly about Dalton. At the start of the second half, Dalton chose to line up and guard Seth Towns, 6 ft 7 inches and a top 60 recruit.
              He wants to play someone bigger and better than he is to see how he measured up.
              He did not get embarrassed by any stretch of the imagination, given the size difference.

              I cannot find the video, but a few months I saw a video of Dalton hitting 31 3s IN A ROW (with an automatic machine returning the ball to him).
              I think he might be next guy to average > 50% of his 3s.
              Both Dalton and Clay were record-setting QBs at their school, so they are truly talented.
              Based on this one data point, I would not be surprised if Dalton gets significant minutes as a Frosh.
              I think Clay could easily get minutes too. He could be equally good; he just seemed just a little bit behind Dalton in that one game, but not by much.
              He won his share of the battles too.

              Can't wait until Nov 11!

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                Crutch is not afraid to play a true freshman OR redshirt him. If the players practice performance says he is ready to play, he will play...if the player will benefit from redshirting, Crutch will redshirt him.

                From your assessment and video available, it sounds like both have a legit shot at playing meaningful minutes this year.

                Probably pre-season optimism, but I'm starting to think this years Toppers could end up being quite good. Replacing Segar is going to be a huge challenge but we do have a few players that have the chops to at least handle parts of his game. I don't really think it will be one player that replaces him, instead I think several players that will improve with additional minutes...kind of like a running back by committee situation. This year we have some size with Gross and Kirk...top tier PG with Dennis and Arnold as his more than capable back-up...an athletic wing who can handle the ball, hit from the outside and slash to the basket in Monteroso...an everything combo guard who will fly around and produce in Hoehn...as well as any number of bench players that run the gamut from spot up jump shooters to ball handling slashers. The place we are thin is basically were we ALWAYS seem to be thin and that is SIZE. If Gross goes down, we get really small really quick.

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                • #38
                  Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                  Agree with your optimism. Each wlu player brings something to the table and all seem to be strong fundamentally and are unselfish. I don't envy the task of determining the rotations after the first 3 or 4 guys. Here are some of the unknowns that I look forward to seeing play out:
                  1. Who has a Keene Cockburn like breakout year? He went from a backup player to dominant shot blocker his senior year.
                  2. Who takes over the Hester role of smart, gritty rebounder who got rebounds because he wanted to rebound more than opponent?
                  3. I saw Zac k show flashes of deadly 3 pt shooting. If he works on getting lower center of gravity in defensive stance and footwork, he may be able to eliminate fouls that limit his minutes.
                  4. Can Dennis improve 3 pt shot? Not that he is bad but sometimes he needs a little more arc and rotation on 3s and foul shots.
                  5. Monterosa is very intriguing. He is great at wr. His high school videos are impressive. Anyone know if he is practicing basketball during football season? Wonder how long it will take him to shake off the rust?
                  6. Brandon Smith - one of best % 3 pt shooters. Anxious to see him again on the court.


                  Could be very interesting year.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                    Monteroso will make the biggest impact of the incoming players IMO.

                    Kid is a stud, and he has been around the program all throughout his high school years. He used to play pick up basketball with the team and hold his own when he was in high school.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                      Just hope our depth (front line) and lack of height doesn't catch up with us over the course of the season.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                        Originally posted by Columbuseer View Post
                        Agree with your optimism. Each wlu player brings something to the table and all seem to be strong fundamentally and are unselfish. I don't envy the task of determining the rotations after the first 3 or 4 guys. Here are some of the unknowns that I look forward to seeing play out:
                        1. Who has a Keene Cockburn like breakout year? He went from a backup player to dominant shot blocker his senior year.
                        2. Who takes over the Hester role of smart, gritty rebounder who got rebounds because he wanted to rebound more than opponent?
                        3. I saw Zac k show flashes of deadly 3 pt shooting. If he works on getting lower center of gravity in defensive stance and footwork, he may be able to eliminate fouls that limit his minutes.
                        4. Can Dennis improve 3 pt shot? Not that he is bad but sometimes he needs a little more arc and rotation on 3s and foul shots.
                        5. Monterosa is very intriguing. He is great at wr. His high school videos are impressive. Anyone know if he is practicing basketball during football season? Wonder how long it will take him to shake off the rust?
                        6. Brandon Smith - one of best % 3 pt shooters. Anxious to see him again on the court.


                        Could be very interesting year.
                        All good questions. As I see it:

                        1 and 2. Meininger. Probably not as productive as either because I don't see him being a starter, but when he is in I think he will be very productive as a shot blocker and rebounder.
                        3. I'm not sold that he is a starter. Started the first 17 games last year and was moved to the bench. I'd like to project him as the principle front court back up due to his height but that doesn't seem to be his game. He could fill the Hester role.
                        4. Biggest improvement in a college player is usually between their true freshman and second year. He didn't have a lot to improve on but the two you ID'ed are at the top of this very short list.
                        5. Yes...very intriguing. Read somewhere that he averaged over 20 points per game in each of his four HS years and was All-Ohio for three years. He has the chops. Is he practicing and will he be rusty? Don't know and YES! But given how WLU football has tanked, he will have plenty of opportunity to nock the rust off in early season games before the MEC season truly begins not to mention the NCAA Tourney.
                        6. Folks are high on him and I tend to agree. From what I can remember of him the year before last, he had some ability...enough for me to say, hummm, I want to see a bit more of him.

                        The biggest unknown for this year is replacing the production of Bonifant. I think we have a few options for that and will use the early season to figure out the best. MIGHT cost us a game or two but I think down the stretch and into the NCAA, we will be just fine. My real concern is the years after this one as we get small really quickly. I hope and trust that will be addressed next off season but I would have preferred having WLU's version of a big on the team this year and getting him some playing time/experience before he is thrust in the starting rotation next year.

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                        • #42
                          Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                          Great message board banter...

                          I agree, Boat, next year doesn't look like a top 10 year from here...but I imagine EVERY year, we worry about losing production and how will it be replaced, but for the last 6-7 years, it's always been replaced, and seems like they figure it out..Lost Falk one year, and Harris steps up as AA. Lose Hester one year, how to replace him and did..Next year could be thin...but we may be talking about 6 double digit scorers returning next year, so who knows...All I know is they are set pretty well for years to come..maybe not championship game-set, but in the running for hosting regional

                          but this year, I think they're gonna be really solid...

                          Agree with a lot of what you guys say...Brandon Smith will come out of woodwork...I like what I read about the FR Clay and Dalton...that sounds good...I think Monteroso will be a stud. And add that to the nucleus of Hoehn, Grossenbacher, and Dennis...Deep deep team.

                          I tend to think that Zak Kirkbride may go down as the most "unlike-Hilltopper" player in sometime (that plays)...Not a great shooter, can't create his own shot, is defense first. and not terribly fluid...but he plays bc he is long, can defend, and gets some boards...

                          My call on a player exceeding expectations this year is Evan French...And actually, he's a jr already, so it's do or die time for him now..Came in with a nice pedigree, but honestly, all the hilltoppers have a great pedigree, but we'll see if he can produce...

                          Anyone have any intel on how scrimmage vs Ashland went?

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                          • #43
                            Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                            The WL vs West Chester game next weekend is going to be a good one. WCU returns a lot and added two very intriguing post transfers.

                            That's a very interesting non-conference match-up. I get the vibe WCU is going to be pretty good this year.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                              Really surprised we didn't get a big either,that's the only issue I see with this team. I'm sure they'll find one for next year they almost have to there's no choice even for d2 you need that 6'8ish big. Grossenbacher was a solid pickup one of my favorite players

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                              • #45
                                Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

                                I think one of the key components of the wlu offense is that everyone is a good to outstanding three point shooter. Their spread offense draws the opponent's big man out which mitigates rebounding advantage of opponent.

                                It is hard to find a 6-8 guy who can run and shoot the 3 as they are in high demand in d1. Zac g. Is a rare player.

                                I don't see it as a major problem until the following conditions are met:
                                1. Wlu faces a dominating big man.
                                2. Wlu is stone cold from 3 pt range.
                                3. When wlu sags to make opponent's big to pick up the dribble early he passes to a hot 3 pt shooter who makes wlu pay.

                                These conditions are often met deep in tournament such as 2nd game in 2 days. (Lincoln memorial comes to mind).


                                In absence of a big guy a 6-5 guy with long arms and hops can contest shots. Marlon Moore appears to fit that bill.

                                I agree with you that a big greatly increases chances for the ultimate prize. I hope we get one. Might have to get d1 transfer.

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