West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
Fairmont purportedly has the most $ in MEC.
They have made some strong additions.
ex-marshall/UC player CJ Meredith
ex-concord big Rene Diop
George Mangas is back from injury that had cost him a year.

They could be very strong.

[boatcapt]

In 2022-23 (the year before Coach Lamberti arrived), Coker had 18 on it's basketball roster. 14 of those players returned for the 2023-24 season (Coach Lamberti's first year). Of the 4 that departed, 3 were underclassmen and 1 was a senior. There Coker had 19 players on it's 2023-24 roster. 9 did not return for the 2024-25 season - 4 underclassmen and 5 seniors.

For comparison, WLU had 12 on its 2024-25 roster. 9 have departed - 5 underclassmen and 4 seniors.

While Coach Lamberti can be praised for what he did taking Coker from 12 wins the year before his arrival to 15 wins his first year to 19 his second, he didn't do that by building a roster that had been stripped to the studs like the challenge he faces at WLU.

Another point to ponder, while Coker played well, they were at best the third best team in the SAC. That put's them on par with Charleston or Concord...Neither of whom made the NCAA Tourney field. Or for the PSAC faithful, they were effectively Shepherd (again, not an NCAA Tourney team).

[Columbuseer]

Fyi more info on lamberti's achievements at coker.
source: coker website

"In his first season at Coker, Michael Lamberti guided the Cobras to a berth in the SAC Tournament. He played a pivotal role in the development of Andre Leavell, who was named SAC Newcomer of the Year and earned First Team All-Conference honors after leading the league in both points and assists per game. Leavell also set a school single-game scoring record with 42 points against Emory & Henry.

Lamberti’s up-tempo offensive system quickly made an impact, with Coker averaging a program-record 100.1 points per game — tops in the SAC and third nationally. The Cobras also broke school records for most points in a single game (120 vs. Mars Hill) and most three-pointers made in a game (19 vs. Newberry). Freshman Hayden Abdullah thrived under Lamberti’s leadership as well, earning a spot on the SAC All-Freshman Team and finishing the season as the conference leader in blocked shots."

[ bold type added]

[Columbuseer]

Per X collegehoopsguru@ncaahoopsguru jun 6

"great guru source informs me that greg bearer will be going with mike lamberti from coker to west liberty"

Also coker website coaches tab only lists head coach pasqua.

[boatcapt]

I don't think "recruiting area" applies with transfers, particularly when they follow a coach from one school to another.

Next recruiting season will be a better indication of weather his 2 seasons at Coker really expand WLUs recruiting area to include the Carolinas.

[Columbuseer]

From watching their highlights, the bigs run well, have high motors, can dribble, pass, rebound, and shoot inside and outside. They are good fits for position-less basketball, albeit taller than usual. If his demonstrated recruiting area success at coker is any indication, Coach Lamberti could widen the typical wlu recruiting area. At coker he had players from Ireland, ME, PA, WV, CT, NC, SC, FL AND CO.

[boatcapt]

Injured.

It will be interesting to see how we employ FIVE bigs. Do we treat them as nothing more than tall guards or do we take advantage of their size inside? Obviously we should be able to match up better in the defensive end when we face teams with multiple athletic bigs which has been a problem in the past.

Don't know if it is purposeful team building by Lamberti or just happenstance but whatever the reason, five bigs gives us the ability do things a little bit differently than in the past. Next thing you're going to tell me is we have an assist first PG in the fold ala Brady Arnold!!

[Columbuseer]

After a really good freshman season at Coker, Abdullah doesn't seem to have played his sophomore year. Was he injured, beat out of playing time or was it a coaches decision to redshirt him?

Injured.

[boatcapt]

Hayden Abdullah
6-9 (some say 6-8. I counted him as 6-9)
Redshirt soph
Coker

Talented player.

Storrs Mansfield, CT / DME Academy

After a really good freshman season at Coker, Abdullah doesn't seem to have played his sophomore year. Was he injured, beat out of playing time or was it a coaches decision to redshirt him?

[boatcapt]

I wait until players announce on social media or wlu announces their commitment before posting names.
should not be too long before roster is published.

Looking forward to seeing who the 6'9", additional 6'8" and 6'7" players are. Having five bigs would be a sea change from a Howlett recruited team. Not too long ago I recall being told that bigs with an WLU Style skill set were just too in demand at the D1 level, and thus unavailable at the DII level. NOW apparently we are going to have FIVE of these DII unicorns!! Of course, since we play positionless basketball, height really is just a number that means nothing.

In a July 3 interview, Coach Lamberti only mentions WLU being in pursuit of one guard and one big in the portal. Start doing the math...12/13 known players plus three additional bigs plus at least one additional guard would put us at 16 or 17. Typical Howlett team in the post COVID era played on average played 12 players (11 last year and 13 in 21-22). Using that as a reference, I wonder who the five most likely to ride the pine all season are...Or perhaps Coach Lamberti is going to deviate here as well?? I mean he's bring in bigs we thought were unavailable/unnecessary, and he apparently is bringing in total roster that is larger than the previous HC so, perhaps he will be willing to deviate from the number of players we see over the course of a season as well?

[Columbuseer]

Hayden Abdullah
6-9 (some say 6-8. I counted him as 6-9)
Redshirt soph
Coker

Talented player.

Storrs Mansfield, CT / DME Academy

[Columbuseer]

I wait until players announce on social media or wlu announces their commitment before posting names.
should not be too long before roster is published.

[boatcapt]

We should be taller than last year.
One 6-7
three 6-8
One 6-9

All are good shooters.
It should not be more than a couple of months before roster is published.

Five players over 6'7"? I count two (Coan and Muldowney). Who are the other three?

[Columbuseer]

6-7 wlu transfer Jamie Muldowney is a member of the 4-person Ireland U23 FIBA 3X3 Team.
Congrats Jamie!

3x3 is a very physical game.

[Columbuseer]

We should be taller than last year.
One 6-7
three 6-8
One 6-9

All are good shooters.
It should not be more than a couple of months before roster is published.