Hopefully, someone in the know can enlighten me. I follow the Cougars pretty closely, but with extra COVID years, transfers who may not have necessarily played every year at former schools, questions regarding Juco transfer eligibility now, and more, I’m at a total loss regarding how many years of eligibility players have left.

I have a gut feeling about whether most of these players will stay or transfer. I have a good feeling about most of them actually. But knowing how much eligibility they have makes a difference, and as of now, I don’t have an accurate way to know that.

On top of that, several players are listed on the roster, but have never played. I assume some are taking redshirt years, but I’m not 100%.

Here is who is listed on the roster for this season-

Greg Spate
Sophomore Plantation, Florida - unknown

Guard 6'5" 205 lbs Troy McKoy, Jr.
Freshman Windsor, Connecticut -I feel like he may leave


Guard 6'7" 200 lbs Deshawn Jean-Charles
Junior Fort Lauderdale, FL - not sure if he’s redshirting now

Guard 6'0" 175 lbs Joe Spinelli
Junior Chicago, Illinois - definitely returning

Guard 6'4" 190 lbs Saxby Sunderland
Junior Arlington, Virginia East Carolina/Longwood - fingers crossed

Forward 6'7" 220 lbs Cameron Jernigan
Senior Gary, Indiana Tarleton State - I believe is finished with eligibility

Guard 6'4" 200 lbs Matthew Robinson, Jr.
Junior Miramar, Florida Florida National - likely returning

Forward 6'5" 195 lbs Noble Crawford
Senior Deltona, Florida Long Island University - I believe has played 4 years already

Guard 6'3" 195 lbs Gabe Spinelli
Junior Chicago, Illinois Evansville/Monmouth - definitely back

Guard 6'5" 225 lbs Jalen Forrest
Junior Decatur, Georgia Presbyterian - fingers crossed

Guard 6'3" 170 lbs Alex Raiford
Senior Chicago, Illinois Northern Oklahoma - eligibility finished. 4.0 student, graduating on time btw

Forward 6'9" 210 lbs CJ Delancy
Junior Jonesboro, Arkansas Long Island University - likely returning

Forward 6'6" 205 lbs Dailliss Cox
Senior Louisville, Kentucky - big question mark. Not sure about eligibility

Forward 6'8" 205 lbs Quincy Allen
Junior Silver Springs, Maryland Colorado/James Madison - I think he may return. Certainly hope so because he’s conference POY caliber- another fingers crossed situation

Forward 6'5" 215 lbs Tehshaundre Cole
Junior Toronto, Ontario - unknown

Forward 6'8" 215 lbs Mike Brown
Graduate Student Washington, D.C. Florida State - completed eligibility I think

Forward 6'10" 225 lbs Gerald Jones III
Junior Lithonia, Georgia South Florida- not sure about his situation at all


By my estimates, 4 are gone for sure, mostly Seniors, but possibly a few others.

I say I have a hunch Troy McKoy may leave, but it’s nothing to do with him specifically, but he had a pretty decent freshman season and I feel like he may want to see if he can up a level based on that. He certainly did more as a true freshmen than most guys out there.

As for some of the upperclassmen like Quincy and Saxby, they have already done the transfer thing and are more likely to know what they’ve got at Chicago, and what they’ve got is a lot of court time and to be almost certain starting positions for their tenure here. Guys that have transferred sometimes get tired of starting over and having to fight their way off the bench.

These are all just hunches. I have no idea what Spinelli is like, whether guys love him or hate him, and that plays into transfers as well. I’m not at all close to the program to even be able to guess at that.

Unless it’s a total wipeout, I expect the Cougars to be strong next season. Spinelli had a major rebuild job on his hands, and competitively I am pleased with how the team played this season overall, even though a large number of wins weren’t there. If they had just won a decent number of the close ones, the season would look vastly different.