The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Figured I'd start a thread on the offseason. By my count, we have 2 scholarships available. Beck, Hamilton, and Garcia out. Gillespie and Moss in. I'm assuming here, but Johnson is probably gone too. Usually someone decides to bolt so you gotta assume we'll be looking for 3+ players.

Some thoughts on players. If Carry and Jacobs both come back I think we're an immediate contender.

Jacobs finished the season really really strong (excluding the video). Bold take here... I think he's an NBA caliber player. There are more NBA caliber guards in the world than there are NBA roster spots, so I'm not saying he gets drafted or makes the league, but he's an impressive player. Reminds me a little bit of Matise Thybulle. I've always felt rebounding above of your weight class is a a trait of a player that's capable of playing at the next level and obviously he's great in that regard. Carry may be an NBA caliber guard too (again, not saying he makes it) so the thought of getting a second season of them together is really exciting.

I don't know where the minutes come from, but Sullinger probably needs to be in the rotation next year.

Big offseason for Davis. Lots of minutes at the 3 and 4 opened up with Beck and Garcia gone. We'll likely be bringing in at least two guys that can compete for those minutes, but Davis should certainly have a chance for an expanded role if he has a good offseason.

The bigs are the obvious concern right now, which will likely be addressed through the portal or JC in the coming weeks. Should be a chance for Hornbeak and Odusipe to get a bigger role with a good offseason. Hornbeak is extremely intriguing to me. He has a lot of work to do on his offensive game and his defense... but he can freaking rebound. He led the team in rebounds per 40 minutes at 12.7. Next highest was Hamilton at 10.1. The last time we had a player over 12 per 40 minutes that played 100+ minutes was Phil Whittington's first year (13.7). Last night he got 4 of them in 6 minutes.

Speaking of the portal... MAC Freshman of the year Payton Sparks recently entered the portal after they fired James Whitford. Likely looking to move up a level, but at 6'9" 240 he would be an incredible fit for us. I can't help but think he's familiar enough with us to know how good we could be with him, and isn't Whitford the one they always say is very close to Sendy? They were in each other's weddings or something? I know... probably a pipedream... but let me dream.

Our favorite JUCO, Indian Hills was 27-6 this year. They were the 6th ranked D1 JC but lost by 1 in the tournament to the #11 team in the country. They held opponents to 37% shooting on the year. No wonder Sendy like them. They teach defense there (as evidence by the last two guys we got from there). The sophomores to watch from Indian Hills this year are:
* J'Vonne Hadley a 6'6" 215 lb guard. Played his freshman season at Northeastern. This year his numbers were 10.9 ppg (second on the team in scoring), 6.2 (their leading rebounder) rb, shoots good percentages. He seems to be much better than his averages indicate. Missed several games at the start of the season then took some time to get it going but put up really impressive numbers in the second half of the season. This seems like a player that fills a need for us. I expect to see him show up on our offer list in the next few weeks.
* Taj Anderson a 6'4" 185 lb guard from New York. Led them in scoring at 13.0 ppg. Shoots more from three than from two, and shoots a good percent from three (36). Not sure he fills a need for us (barring unexpected defections) but Sendy recruits NY and Indian Hills like crazy so you know he knows all about him.

They have a couple sophomore guards from Cleveland too (Davin Zeigler that played at BG is one). Neither put up big numbers though.

Lastly, has anyone heard how Rollins has looked in practice? He's someone I have high hopes for.