NEC Semi's. At the Mount

[ColonialCrazy]

2pm Saturday tip. Of course it's RMU vs the Mount, seems to happen every year in the NEC tournament!

Hope to have a preview up soon on CtC....how are we feeling heading into the game?

 

[LetsGoRoMo]

I sound like a parrot, but if they play within themselves and stay mentally tough they can win. Feel like I have probably typed that about 10 times this year, but they have the talent to beat anyone in conference, and probably about 85% of the teams they played this year.

Best case scenario:

Starters:
Matty: if he can duplicate what he did, or even close, that would be huge
Kavon: Stay under control, play hard, be a positive leader.
Still: Drive to the hoop, stay positive if he/team hits a rough patch, play solid d
Tate: No need to worry about him, we all know what we will get from him
D Burke: Keep doing what he does on D, get about 8-12 points

Bench guys:
B Burke: Give some solid minutes, rebound strong, add 6 points or so.
Wright: Hopefully can hit a couple/few 3's, his D seems to be improving as well.
Clive: Needs to play better than LIU game, I think he will, he has talent. 6-9 pts
Giles: Just play tough, get a couple inside shots, and play hard D
Conrad: If he gets the call, I think we all know he will give it everything he has.

We all know they can win, they just have to do it. I am really looking forward to this game!!!

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

2pm Saturday tip. Of course it's RMU vs the Mount, seems to happen every year in the NEC tournament!

Hope to have a preview up soon on CtC....how are we feeling heading into the game?

Good vibes.

We can win this one if they play hard.

Time for upset #2.

Go RMU!

 

[LetsGoRoMo]

Game day!!!
Go get it boys!!!

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

Game day!!!
Go get it boys!!!

Up 4 at the half.

Go RMU

 

[GoRMU]

Great effort by the Colonials. You have to hand it to the Mount. They did what they needed to do in the final two minutes. A lot of positives, a reasons for optimism for next year. 19 points by both Isaiah and Matty. Dachon, Clive and Braden all look to have very bright futures. Kavon and Aaron leave big shoes to fill. Congratulations to those two plus Billy and Conrad on successful careers and we wish them all the best in the future. Next season the guys will be playing at the big arena downtown, and the following season at the new UPMC Events Center on campus. The two players signed early, Jonathan Williams (point guard) and Koby Thomas (small forward) look to be players that will be great additions to the team. David Cole is a young man, he is actually a year younger than the other freshmen on the team, has benefitted by redshirting this year. He has a big body and talent and should be ready to contribute immediately next season. There are at least three scholarships available, I suspect there will be a fourth one available. The assistant coaches are all experienced recruiters, so I would expect they will be able to bring in some quality players. Hopefully the freshmen and sophomore classes will stay together at RMU, if they do this program can have a lot of success in the next couple of years. Go Colonials!

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

Great effort by the Colonials. You have to hand it to the Mount. They did what they needed to do in the final two minutes. A lot of positives, a reasons for optimism for next year. 19 points by both Isaiah and Matty. Dachon, Clive and Braden all look to have very bright futures. Kavon and Aaron leave big shoes to fill. Congratulations to those two plus Billy and Conrad on successful careers and we wish them all the best in the future. Next season the guys will be playing at the big arena downtown, and the following season at the new UPMC Events Center on campus. The two players signed early, Jonathan Williams (point guard) and Koby Thomas (small forward) look to be players that will be great additions to the team. David Cole is a young man, he is actually a year younger than the other freshmen on the team, has benefitted by redshirting this year. He has a big body and talent and should be ready to contribute immediately next season. There are at least three scholarships available, I suspect there will be a fourth one available. The assistant coaches are all experienced recruiters, so I would expect they will be able to bring in some quality players. Hopefully the freshmen and sophomore classes will stay together at RMU, if they do this program can have a lot of success in the next couple of years. Go Colonials!

Nice post GoRMU.

I think next year's team could be another legit 20 win team for RMU.

Nice additions to come in too. Koby Thomas is a 3 star athletic SF coming to RMU. A great get by Toole.

David Cole seems to be a good guy & a solid player to play down low.

Williams, a PG, hopefully will be a good backup point guard to Clive Allen.

**that 4th open spot your taking about, u mean Jordan Lester? Good chance he'll leave & maybe play right away for a new team after only playing a couple games.

RMU will have at least 3-4 more spots to fill & have some good recruiters to fill up the spots.

Go Bobby Mo

 

[GoRMU]

I have no inside knowledge about this matter, but Jordan traveled a long distance to RMU for his chance to play D-I basketball. I suspect that he will be looking for other opportunities where he can get more playing time. In addition, it seems we always get surprised by one or two players leaving the program; I hope we do not get any of those surprises this year. We have a great group of young players that have the opportunity to accomplish a lot if they stick together at RMU.

 

[LetsGoRoMo]

Echoing what everyone else has said. Some of the young guys made big leaps the second half of the year and that should help next year. D Burke is going to fill up the stat sheet.

Was tough to see Kavon go out the way he did. Seemed like some very questionable calls, he deserved better.

I think the biggest question mark in my mind will be point guard next year. Clive showed flashes of what he can do, but also hit some rough spots, though I suppose that is to be expected of freshman. Hopefully Williams can come in and push him, though I am sure coaches are always looking for another PG.

With the Arena being a 100% now, hopefully that will help with recruiting, might not see that translate until the '18s though.

Anyways, bit of a roller coaster season, but plenty of reason for optimism going forward.

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

I have no inside knowledge about this matter, but Jordan traveled a long distance to RMU for his chance to play D-I basketball. I suspect that he will be looking for other opportunities where he can get more playing time. In addition, it seems we always get surprised by one or two players leaving the program; I hope we do not get any of those surprises this year. We have a great group of young players that have the opportunity to accomplish a lot if they stick together at RMU.

Ya I think there's a good chance that Jordan could be the only transfer out this year.

Possibly maybe 1 more player...

I hope all the freshmen & sophomores stay besides Lester as they all show a ton of potential.

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

Echoing what everyone else has said. Some of the young guys made big leaps the second half of the year and that should help next year. D Burke is going to fill up the stat sheet.

Was tough to see Kavon go out the way he did. Seemed like some very questionable calls, he deserved better.

I think the biggest question mark in my mind will be point guard next year. Clive showed flashes of what he can do, but also hit some rough spots, though I suppose that is to be expected of freshman. Hopefully Williams can come in and push him, though I am sure coaches are always looking for another PG.

With the Arena being a 100% now, hopefully that will help with recruiting, might not see that translate until the '18s though.

Anyways, bit of a roller coaster season, but plenty of reason for optimism going forward.

As to the recruiting improved, Toole already showed some of that by getting 3 start Small Forward Koby Thomas.

Kid could easily start next year or maybe be the team's 6th man off the bench.

Follow his twitter @craftyvibes

 

[GoRMU]

I do not know how complete Koby's game is at this point, but he will definitely give us a big-time dunker.

 

[LetsGoRoMo]

RMUHOOPS
I think you are right, he seems to be a really good player. Just for the heck of it, a way early guess at the starting lineup next year...

Clive
Matty
Still
Thomas
D Burke

That wold be a good line-up as far as scoring goes, pretty fast as well.

Not sure if they would do that, or have B Burke in there for some height.

I really see D Burke taking on the Tate role, by that I mean the guy that just works his tail off, does a lot of little things and can be the heart of the team.

Edit after reading GoRMU: Maybe B Burke instead of Thomas starting. I do not know much about Cole, but if he can play, the team will be pretty deep.

Bench:
Cole
Thomas
Williams
Lorenzo
Roberto

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

RMUHOOPS
I think you are right, he seems to be a really good player. Just for the heck of it, a way early guess at the starting lineup next year...

Clive
Matty
Still
Thomas
D Burke

That wold be a good line-up as far as scoring goes, pretty fast as well.

Not sure if they would do that, or have B Burke in there for some height.

I really see D Burke taking on the Tate role, by that I mean the guy that just works his tail off, does a lot of little things and can be the heart of the team.

Edit after reading GoRMU: Maybe B Burke instead of Thomas starting. I do not know much about Cole, but if he can play, the team will be pretty deep.

Bench:
Cole
Thomas
Williams
Lorenzo
Roberto

I could see Toole using a 4 guard small ball lineup again but not a 5 guard lineup lol.

If Toole goes smallball again, he could play...

PG-Clive Allen
SG-Matty
SF-D. Burke
PF-Still
C- Braden Burke

Toole could employ an even bigger starting lineup by taking Matty or Dachon out of the starting lineup, a putting in Roberto or David Cole down low along with B. Burke.

We'll see.

Go RMU

 

[ColonialCrazy]

What a season! Talk about a roller coaster ride. So close to pulling off another upset. The NEC tournament has been bonkers. The end of the SFPA/Wagner game was NUTS!

Anyway, tough loss and some touch calls on K, but that happens when you're playing on the road. It's one reason why home court is so important. Mount may have gotten some calls and they had the crowd behind them.

Awesome careers for Aaron Tate and Kavon Stewart. They accomplished a ton, including an NEC regular season title and NEC tournament title. Conrad and Billy also put in a ton of hard work and I want to thank all four seniors for everything.

Moving forward, RMU has a lot to be excited for. There will be a lot of returning talent over the next year, and even into 2018/19 as only Lorenzen Wright Jr and Mantovanti graduate next season. It's a very talented young core.

As of this moment, I believe RMU has two free scholarships. As we all know, transfers will be something to track moving forward. This is the case all over college basketball, but RMU especially over the past few years.

The Allen, McConnell, Still, Burke, Burke returning core is a great place to start. Those freshman got a lot of experience, and Still/McConnell have now been key cogs two years running.

There is a lot to be excited about with Williams and Thomas (who, if you believe recruiting "experts" is maybe the best incoming recruit in recent RMU history). With that said they will still be freshmen and have a lot to work on. If history re-writes itself, look for Toole to go the Juco route for at least one player. A point guard would be my guess, as RMU only has Allen and Williams, both underclassmen. Transfer's are another option (see Malik Maitland post). One other thing. Maybe RMU looks to grab a high major transfer who has to sit one year and would have two-three years left. The team really looks primed to take off and having the new arena has a recruiting tool may help Andy get a guy that would otherwise pass over RMU.

I'm sure news on the roster and recruiting will start to makes its way out after the NCAA tournament. For now, enjoy championship week and March Madness.

Go Colonials!

 

[ColonialCrazy]

Also, best of luck to the RMU ladies who won their NEC tournament opener big over FDU..... And the lady hockey team who clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament. Success all over the place!

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

What a season! Talk about a roller coaster ride. So close to pulling off another upset. The NEC tournament has been bonkers. The end of the SFPA/Wagner game was NUTS!

Anyway, tough loss and some touch calls on K, but that happens when you're playing on the road. It's one reason why home court is so important. Mount may have gotten some calls and they had the crowd behind them.

Awesome careers for Aaron Tate and Kavon Stewart. They accomplished a ton, including an NEC regular season title and NEC tournament title. Conrad and Billy also put in a ton of hard work and I want to thank all four seniors for everything.

Moving forward, RMU has a lot to be excited for. There will be a lot of returning talent over the next year, and even into 2018/19 as only Lorenzen Wright Jr and Mantovanti graduate next season. It's a very talented young core.

As of this moment, I believe RMU has two free scholarships. As we all know, transfers will be something to track moving forward. This is the case all over college basketball, but RMU especially over the past few years.

The Allen, McConnell, Still, Burke, Burke returning core is a great place to start. Those freshman got a lot of experience, and Still/McConnell have now been key cogs two years running.

There is a lot to be excited about with Williams and Thomas (who, if you believe recruiting "experts" is maybe the best incoming recruit in recent RMU history). With that said they will still be freshmen and have a lot to work on. If history re-writes itself, look for Toole to go the Juco route for at least one player. A point guard would be my guess, as RMU only has Allen and Williams, both underclassmen. Transfer's are another option (see Malik Maitland post). One other thing. Maybe RMU looks to grab a high major transfer who has to sit one year and would have two-three years left. The team really looks primed to take off and having the new arena has a recruiting tool may help Andy get a guy that would otherwise pass over RMU.

I'm sure news on the roster and recruiting will start to makes its way out after the NCAA tournament. For now, enjoy championship week and March Madness.

Go Colonials!

The new arena is definitely a great asset for RMU in recruiting.

RMU has 2 spots left to fill if no one leaves.

Good chance Jordan Lester will transfer as I don't see any playing time for him here the rest of his career.

Hopefully Toole can get a nice JuCo player & a nice transfer from a D1 school as well.

Go RMU