West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

What's your guess about rotations, Columbus?

It seems like the coaches are building a roster with Swiss army knife-like versatility that has an abnormally narrow variation across the roster in the ability to play significant minutes based on the matchups.

Alpha platoon - three would seem to be high probability.
Robinson III
Yoakum
Butler

My guess for the next 2 slots are:
Moore Jr.
McKinney

Bravo platoon
Watson
Montague
Kovacevic

Mix and match 2 of the following:
Sarson
Rasile
Powell



The open issue with the transfers is how quickly can they adapt to the style? This will determine their platoon early in the season.
I could see the platoon members changing based on matchups with the opponent. I see each platoon getting significant minutes.
The other open issue is the progress of the talented freshmen. Some could earn playing time.

[Scrub]

Watched some highlights of Montague. He is exceptionally quick and can finish at the rim like Patrick, Malik and Will. Really hard to stay in front of him. Against smaller teams he might start instead of kovacevic to add offensive pressure on the opponent.

What's your guess about rotations, Columbus?

[Columbuseer]

Watched some highlights of Montague. He is exceptionally quick and can finish at the rim like Patrick, Malik and Will. Really hard to stay in front of him. Against smaller teams he might start instead of kovacevic to add offensive pressure on the opponent.

[Columbuseer]

I do think Butler is a point guard long term. Down the stretch this past season, we saw a lot of Butler playing the role of trigger man. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Butler step into that Luke Dyer role this coming year.

His size and complete skill set could create matchup problems. Also your lineup has 3 above the rim shot blockers in Watson, Yoakum and Kovacevic, As well as Moore, jr., sarson and mckinney

[Scrub]

Intriguing lineup there. The first platoon would be a Hillsdale size lineup that can run the court, creating a dunk fest, with 4 of the 5 proven capable of > 40% from three. Would Butler be the qb guy to start the offense ( I saw him doing some of that on occasion in the regional, with Luke on the wing)?

The second platoon is impressive too.

Powell is something of a mystery given that he was injured. But he can light it up and has great elevation on his jump shot to shoot over folks from three. Would not surprise me for him to play a taller shooting guard role.

The intensity of the competition will be something to behold.

Redshirting frosh is also what nwmsu does to get their mind cleansed from any remnants of AAU me first ball. Big advantage in making a deep run.

I do think Butler is a point guard long term. Down the stretch this past season, we saw a lot of Butler playing the role of trigger man. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Butler step into that Luke Dyer role this coming year.

[Columbuseer]

Wild guess:

Platoon 1:
Butler
Yoakum
Robinson
Watson
Kovacevic

Platoon 2:
Montague
Moore
McKinney
Sarson
Rasile

Now that he gets no "freebie" years, I think we'll see Howlett redshirt his frosh (as was pretty typical of WLU in pre-COVID times).

Intriguing lineup there. The first platoon would be a Hillsdale size lineup that can run the court, creating a dunk fest, with 4 of the 5 proven capable of > 40% from three. Would Butler be the qb guy to start the offense ( I saw him doing some of that on occasion in the regional, with Luke on the wing)?

The second platoon is impressive too.

Powell is something of a mystery given that he was injured. But he can light it up and has great elevation on his jump shot to shoot over folks from three. Would not surprise me for him to play a taller shooting guard role.

The intensity of the competition will be something to behold.

Redshirting frosh is also what nwmsu does to get their mind cleansed from any remnants of AAU me first ball. Big advantage in making a deep run.

[Scrub]

Now that the transfer dust is starting to settle, who do you think are the first two platoons?
departed players:
Hazelbaker
Conley
Dyer
Bolon

New players
Montague (2nd team gmac pg for Walsh)
Kovacevic (15 ppg for Quincy)
Satterfield
Spadafora
Webb

Existing players
Butler
McKinney
Moore, Jr.
Powell
Rasile
Robinson III
Sarson
Watson
Yoakum

Wild guess:

Platoon 1:
Butler
Yoakum
Robinson
Watson
Kovacevic

Platoon 2:
Montague
Moore
McKinney
Sarson
Rasile

Now that he gets no "freebie" years, I think we'll see Howlett redshirt his frosh (as was pretty typical of WLU in pre-COVID times).

[Columbuseer]

Now that the transfer dust is starting to settle, who do you think are the first two platoons?
departed players:
Hazelbaker
Conley
Dyer
Bolon

New players
Montague (2nd team gmac pg for Walsh)
Kovacevic (15 ppg for Quincy)
Satterfield
Spadafora
Webb

Existing players
Butler
McKinney
Moore, Jr.
Powell
Rasile
Robinson III
Sarson
Watson
Yoakum

[Columbuseer]

Probably old news...

I somehow missed Patrick Robinson III making NABC all region first team in addition to Dalton Bolon. Belated Congratulations!

Atlantic

First Team

Dalton Bolon, West Liberty

Dale Bonner, Fairmont State

Pat Cartier, Hillsdale

Lamont McManus, Charleston

Pat Robinson III, West Liberty

Tommy Schmock, Findlay

Second Team

Glen Abram, West Virginia State

Marcus Ernst, Malone

Anthony Pittman, West Virginia State

Isaiah Sanders, Fairmont State

Darryl Straughter, Walsh

John Williams, Glenville

Coach of the Year: John Tharp, Hillsdale



Central

First Team

Parker Fox, Northern State

Tyler Geiman, Washburn

Ryan Hawkins, Northwest Missouri State

Trevor Hudgins, Northwest Missouri State

Jordan Janssen, Wayne State (NE)

Cam Martin, Missouri Southern State

Second Team

Diego Bernard, Northwest Missouri State

Lorenzo McGhee, MSU Moorhead

Mason Stark, Northern State

Jareese Williams, Upper Iowa

Jared Vitztum, Fort Hays State

Coach of the Year: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State



East

First Team

Jalen Burgess, Dominican

Osbel Caraballo, St. Thomas Aquinas

Sean Fasoyiro, Daemen

Demetre Roberts, St. Thomas Aquinas

Grant Singleton, St. Thomas Aquinas

Andrew Sischo, Daemen

Second Team

Joel Bailey, Nyack

Rich Chapman, Bloomfield

Reggie Clark, Roberts Wesleyan

Anthony Cooper, Caldwell

James Montgomery, Molloy

Coach of the Year: Tobin Anderson, St. Thomas Aquinas



Midwest

First Team

TJ Crockett, Lindenwood

Conley Garrison, Drury

Cade McKnight, Truman State

Darian Owens-White, Wayne State

Josh Price, Southern Indiana

Owen White, Michigan Tech

Second Team

Bryce Bultman, McKendree

Brandon Haraway, Ashland

Walt Kelser, Ferris State

Brailen Neely, Wayne State (MI)

Christian Negron, Grand Valley State

Coach of the Year: Jeff Horner, Truman State



South

First Team

Imoras Agee, Valdosta State

Quay Kennedy, Lee

Jaizec Lottie, Flagler

Sam Orf, Alabama Huntsville

Donte Tatum, Georgia Southwestern

Jordan Thomas, Georgia College

Second Team

Brandon Boston, Mississippi College

Maalik Cartwright, Delta State

Hunter Vick, Union

Alphonso Willis, Young Harris

Michael Zabetakis, West Georgia

Coach of the Year: Chad Warner, Flagler



South Central

First Team

Lloyd Daniels, Lubbock Christian

Qua Grant West Texas A&M

Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian

Chandler Jacobs, Dallas Baptist

Aaron Lucas, Southern Arkansas

Joel Murray, West Texas A&M

Coach of the Year: Todd Duncan, Lubbock Christian



Southeast

First Team

Kenny Dye, Queens

Trenton Gibson, Tusculum

KJ Jones II, Emmanuel

Isaiah Reddish, Barton

Cameron Whiteside, Virginia Wise

Devin Whitfield, Lincoln Memorial

Second Team

Demarcus Addie, Southern Wesleyan

R.J. Gunn, Lenoir-Rhyne

Sean Halloran, Belmont Abbey

Quandaveon McCollum, Newberry

Jamari Smith, Queens

Coach of the Year: Dan Ficke, Belmont-Abbey



West

First Team

Kaden Anderson, Point Loma

Georgie Dancer, Colorado Mesa

Riley Farris, Fort Lewis

Ethan Menzies, Colorado Mesa

Joel Scott, Black Hills State

Brendan Sullivan, Colorado Mines

Second Team

Ezekiel Alley, Northwest Nazarene

Kobi Betts, Colorado Mines

Aamondae Coleman, Fresno Pacific

Brock Mackenzie, Point Loma

Alex Wright, Biola

Coach of the Year: Mike DeGeorge, Colorado Mesa

[Columbuseer]

Fyi video highlights of Satterfield from Ritchie County game (not poca)
https://twitter.com/i/status/1389997328824733701

[Columbuseer]

Did any one watch that Catholic vs Poca Class AA semi-final? What a game! Great back-and-forth at the end between Satterfield and McNeely who is headed to UVA. Unbelievable end of game sequence.

Just fyi and not that it matters, I grew up with Satterfield's dad Archie. I know Archie has had some serious illness lately but has seemed to recover.

What were your impressions of Satterfield from the game?

[JDonAB92]

Did any one watch that Catholic vs Poca Class AA semi-final? What a game! Great back-and-forth at the end between Satterfield and McNeely who is headed to UVA. Unbelievable end of game sequence.

Just fyi and not that it matters, I grew up with Satterfield's dad Archie. I know Archie has had some serious illness lately but has seemed to recover.

[Columbuseer]

Charleston Catholic is in AA semis with 68-58 victory over Ritchie County.
Aiden Satterfield had 27 points,
10-16 from floor, 3 threes , 6 rebounds and three blocks.
Here is recap and press conference

https://wvmetronews.com/2021/05/05/i...erfinal-68-58/

[Columbuseer]

FYI
Austin webb junior year highlights
22 pts 7 rebounds 2+ assists as a Jr. Impressive! Likely valedictorian of his class
https://www.maxpreps.com/m/athlete/a...-FA/videos.htm

[Columbuseer]

These three high school signees have incredibly high ceilings.

Austin had an unfortunate injury-riddled senior year, which hampered development, but his potential is incredible. But it may just take a while to make up the lost playing time. What is unusual is that he is comfortable with his back to the basket, for he transitioned from a center position early in high school. High basketball iq and superstar academically.

Aiden grew two inches from his jr year and is 6-7 and can defend all positions. Potential matchup nightmare in a couple of years.

Dante is a scorer who loves assists and defense. With his intensity, he could be bringing to the hilltop! :-)