As we conclude our non-conference play and take a look back, it's become very clear that our team is in a rare, and enviable, position to be able to hand 4 freshmen fairly significant minutes while still playing above .500 basketball. This gives Coach Keatts a lot of data, both quantitative and qualitative, to evaluate our rookies before even playing the first Conference game of their careers, while still playing winning basketball.

With that in mind, let's take a look at how they've been doing:


C.J. Bryce

Minutes/game: 20.6
Stats: 10.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.1 spg, 1.1 apg, .513 FG %, .444 3-pt %, .733 FT %, 0.9 A:TO

When you talk about a freshman "impact player", Bryce seems to be something of a poster child. Coming off his best night of his young career against Campbell, in which he put up 24 points, including 4-5 from three-point range, Bryce is rapidly becoming one of Coach Keatts' most reliable players. His 37 minutes played Monday night were the most by a Seahawk in any individual game this season. 2nd on the list is Denzel Ingram, who played 35 minutes @ Georgetown. Bryce took home CAA Rookie of the Week honors last week (no other freshman in the league has won the award multiple times this season), and seems poised to take home his second consecutive and third overall ROW honors this week.

Many times, when a freshman is your 3rd-leading scorer, he must do so by putting up a lot of shots. Not so for the Mecklenburgh HS product. The overwhelming majority of Bryce's points seem to come within the flow of the offense.

This matches the numbers on paper; given his ridiculous shooting percentages, the only conclusion one can come to is that he is a very efficient player. He is adept at scoring at the hoop or as a spot-up shooter, and does not seem to struggle much as a defender, which keeps him on the floor. You can't ask much more out of a first-year player, and it will be exciting to see if he can keep this up in CAA play.


Devontae Cacok

Minutes/game: 13.4
Stats: 5.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.4 bpg, 0.5 spg, .659 FG %, .533 FT %

If not for failing to meet the shot/scoring minimums, Cacok would be among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage. The Georgia product is a physically imposing presence off the bench for Coach Keatts, and given that big men take the longest to develop, he's in for a very prosperous career going forward based on early results.

Cacok's biggest impact was felt in a road win against East Tennessee St., during which he had 13 points on 6-8 shooting and 7 rebounds in a season high 21 minutes. He's been somewhat quiet ever since, but continues to show flashes of what he is capable of. One can envision a time when he'll be filling up the stat sheet with blocks and rebounds, and continuing to be tough to defend out the rim.

His lone weakness? Free Throw shooting. Though only a small sample size, he is 8-15 from the stripe. In order to maintain is high level of efficiency around the rim, he'll need to hit free throws at a strong enough rate to keep defenses honest, otherwise they'll take the foul rather than yielding the quick 2 points. But Cacok's potential may well be highest of all our freshmen.


Mark Matthews

Minutes/game: 12.2
Stats: 4.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 0.6 spg, .429 FG %, .213 3-pt %, .714 FT %, 1.8 A:TO

Matthews came to the Seahawks as a shooter and scorer, having put up over 2,000 points at Fort Myers HS in Florida. Dreams of another Florida product who is in the Florida 2,000+ club, Brett Blizzard, could not be avoided when his signing occurred. However, these are unfair expectations that need to tempered Matthews, as a learning curve is in order that did not seem to hinder Blizzard. Matthews has put up modest scoring numbers thus far, and has only hit 3 three pointers on 14 attempts.

However, the shooting stroke does look good for the rookie, and it is very possible those shots start dropping at a drastically higher rate in the 2nd half as Matthews gets comfortable in the offense. Not to mention, while Matthews struggled with some freshmen mistakes early on this season, averaging nearly a turnover per game his first 5 outings, with his minutes fluctuating widely as a result, he has settled in a bit since then. Matthews has only committed 2 turnovers in his last 5 games, with all of those contests coming against D-I foes.

Matthews' best game came against Utah Valley last week in Louisville, where he scored a career high 15 points on a very impressive 7-8 shooting (1-2 from three) with 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 turnover. He also had 8 points on 3-3 shooting (1-1 from 3) with 2 steals and another 3 assists against Campbell last night. It's only a matter of time before Matthews starts to make a major impact for this team. Ideally his minutes start to become a little more consistent, as he's had 4 games this season where he played 8 minutes or less.


Trey Grundy

Minutes/game: 8.2
Stats: 3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.2 bpg, .480 FG %, .667 FT %

Trey Grundy has become somewhat of a "forgotten man" among this crop of Freshmen, but any analysis of his performance has to take into account Grundy's ACL tear in December of 2013 that cost him the rest of his 2013-14 campaign. He didn't play again until November 2014 for Hargrave Military, and by then, top schools who had been recruiting him years earlier (including Kentucky and Louisville, with Keatts himself most heavily involved) were scared off, leaving UNCW as the only D-I school still wanting him. It very well could end up a blessing in disguise for the Seahawks that Grundy suffered that injury, and as he shakes off the rust from many months of rehab, look for him to start to show flashes of what made him a high level prospect pre-ACL tear.

To date, Grundy has only had a handful of games where he played double-digit minutes, with his best performance coming early on, against Milligan College. Grundy posted 11 points and 2 rebounds, with 2 blocks, in 17 minutes. Since that time, Grundy's minutes have, for the most part, come outside of the core rotation. Meaning his appearances have depended on foul trouble by other players, or late in games where the Seahawks have been winning easily. It's very easy to see, however, that he has a ton of size and length you look for out of a traditional 4. His biggest impact has come on the defensive end, where he tends to do a great job shutting down his man.

It seems clear Coach Keatts is easing him in to begin his career, for which no one should have any complaints. A part cyborg like Adrian Peterson may have been able to fully recover from an ACL tear in less than a year and put up record-breaking rushing yards, but a High School basketball player suffering a similar injury tends to be impacted differently. It will be exciting to see what kind of potential Grundy displays over the course of his freshman season, but perhaps it won't occur until deep into the conference slate.

Just using the "eyeball test" I feel all four are very solid CAA players and potential to all be significant contributors. They are a step up from recent recruits.

Bump. Interesting to look back