Grizfan-24 said:Few Things:
1. Staff is really high on Reynolds as a 4/5 post. Can play as a solo post, mobile enough to defend pick and rolls, and is a pretty active rebounder/rim defender. Plays a lot bigger than 6'9'' I'm told.
2. The players that UM is consistently mentioned with now in the last two weeks are PG's and wings. Some of them are older contacts (from beginning of April) but of the post players still in the portal they've been connected with I haven't heard a peep on the interwebs about Bedaiko, Jackson in a hot-minute. As noted, Burke Smith (C) might still be a target. The other one to keep an eye on is Rylan Jones (PG) of Utah State. Coaches follow him and he was a relatively recent entry into the portal.
3. They have a scholarship to offer, and I don't think they'll offer it for the sake of offering it. By having Bannan, Brown and Martin leave, it sort of resets the balance of the roster a bit. If you ignore the two non-counting scholarships this year, there is less imbalance in the roster than the outset of the off-season. Brought in two Juniors w/ two seasons left. My guess the freshman class takes care of itself a bit, but at this point I think there maybe a single candidate for RS or two at most (Henderson/Davidson). They have 16 roster players, 14 scholarships and a whole host of guys who are going to challenge for minutes. The only way I see the staff bringing another guy if they plan to red-shirt at least two of those incoming Freshman.
If you look out the 24-25 season, Montana roster looks like this:
No eligibility left:
- Vasquez
- Moody
Extra Year: (3)
- Whitney
- Thomas, Di
- Oke
Seniors: (23-24 JR's)-(2)
- G. Williams (Transfer)
- T. Sawyer (Transfer)
Juniors (1):
- Nap
+ w/o Solomon
Sophomores (6/7):
- Reynolds
- Thomas, Do
- Williams, M
- Henderson w/o RS
- Davidson w/o RS
- Kerr
+ w/o Bateman
Freshman(1/2):
Davidson w/ RS
Henderson w/ RS
4. I do believe with the way the market was in the portal this year, chasing top end talent is a bit of a losing prospect. Dalton Knecht just took a scholarship at Tennessee. McMillan, a GCU kid and former UM recruit out of HS and an early target, saw his market explode and ended up at Texas Tech. Similar story to that of Williams from Nevada. Montana was in on McMillan, Williams and several other guys, but these power 5 programs seeing their own rosters depleted by departures are over committing to anyone that could provide 'help.' Bedaiko, Jackson all got increased interest in recent weeks and saw their market go from BSC to MWC and power 5 schools. The NAIA POY from Jamestown just took a spot at Wyoming. Again, we are talking about guys who are filtering down to the BSC have been back bench kids or injured. Minott who just verballed to PSU, got little time at South Carolina. Linhardt didn't play much (if at all) at Washington for Idaho. That was true with Jackson Grant before he pulled out of his commitment to MSU after Sprinkle left.
5. I've said this before but this incoming Freshman class is really good. The staff is really, really high on Money Williams. He's not raw or unfinished product, but rather the type of guy who can come in on day 1 and compete. Henderson gives off a lot of Cameron Parker vibes who can run the floor and be a facilitator and a scorer. Davidson had a huge start to the high school season, and I thought along with Williams would be a better candidate for immediate action. He can play a stretch 4, active defender and runs the floor more like a 3. I think it is reasonable that you could under the right circumstances see contributions from all three this year.
6. In the end, if you look at the roster there might be weaknesses, but no glaring holes. Obviously you are leaning on some RS's and True Freshman to play key roles (Reynolds-F/C, Kerr PG, Williams SG/SF), but this roster is a bit more complete (but unproven at the back) than the last two versions. Feels like outside of true Center, there are two or three options at every position to use.
Thanks for the excellent recap.
I don't think Di. Thomas and Oke have eligibility after this year. They each played 3 full years at their previous schools.
Also, can you give a theory on why they still have a scholarship left? Are you assuming Moody's (like Vasquez) doesn't count? I thought the extra Covid year scholarship was only available for people that were in your program during that year (Vasquez) but not for those that weren't (Moody).