Marcquise Reed off to Clemson

[ColonialCrazy]

NEC Freshman of the year Marcquise Reed is off to Clemson. This is the second player in the last three years that has left Robert Morris for the ACC (Coron Williams, Wake Forest). While it certainly hurts losing top end talent like this, it shows just how well the Robert Morris coaches recruit and develop talent.

Interestingly enough, one can argue that Williams and Reed --who both transferred while Andy Toole was the head coach-- are not even in the top four guards to play under Toole. Reed certainly would have made this list over time, but right now can you say he had more impact than Velton Jones, Karvel Anderson, Karon Abraham and even Rodney Pryor? Toole knows how to coach guards, that's for sure.

 

[chasroth0533]

My Top 3 guards in the Andy Toole Era:

3. Karvel Anderson - Unbelievable shot making and carried that 2014 team. Injuries and bad luck kept him from making an NCAA tournament.

2. Velton Jones - Any superlative you want to start this with applies. Nobody would laugh at you if you said all 4 of his teams should have made the NCAA tournament with him at the helm.

1. Karon Abraham - The most talented player that I watched in his short RMU career. Most of that falls on his shoulders but that achilles injury that ended his sophomore season was devastating. Think of how close this team was in championship finals without him, then picture the offense that he gives those teams.

I'll admit bias on my part to past players but only because of the connection that I felt to those teams like I'm sure some do with the recent batch of great guards to grace (alliteration ftw) the Sewall Center floor.

 

[ColonialCrazy]

Well put. Abraham's performance against Nova was as big as it gets. Jones dropped 38 on JMU on only 15 shots, and Karvel had a few "all time great" performances at Bobby Mo. Hard to argue those three.

 

[Original_RMC]

What is your Toole All Time starting lineup?

 

[ColonialCrazy]

Off the top of my head...Mike McFadden, Russ Johnson, Lucky Jones, Vel Anderson, V Jones (shows how amazing that 12-13 team was).

Abraham, Reed, Williams, Pryor, Myers-Pate, Thompson coming off the bench. Also have a feeling Mr. Minnie will be on this list a year from now. (Am I missing anyone?)

How about you?

 

[Original_RMC]

PG - Velton Jones
SG - Karvel Anderson
SF - Lucky Jones
PF - Russell Johnson
C - Mike McFaddon

Bench:
Karon Abraham
Aaron Tate
Rodney Pryor
Kavon Stewart
Lijah Thompson
Elijah Minnie (tons of potential for this young man)

If we are playing Toole's 3-2 zone today...I would consider the following lineup:
PG - Velton Jones
SG - Karvel Anderson
SG - Karon Abraham
SF - Lucky Jones
PF - Lijah Thompson

 

[Chris Cappella]

Really enjoying the chatter on here! I'll throw my hat in the ring. Also worth noting: I wasn't here/following the team in the Karon Abraham era:

PG: Karvel Anderson
SG: Karon Abraham
SF: Lucky Jones
PF: Russell Johnson
Center: Lijah Thompson

I think Karvel could have handled/created enough at PG. Velton coming off the bench would be no different than how his senior season went. Lucky/Russ/Lijah would have been a hell of a defensive/rebounding frontcourt too, especially with the shooting of the backcourt...

 

[Carlester]

Small, but extremely talented, lineup: Velton, Karvel, Karon, Lucky and Russ.

 

[ColonialCrazy]

That would be the ultimate small ball lineup/ Plus, Luck and Russ were always great rebounders despite their lack of size.