2025-26 Roster

[leeraymond]

Adding Baba Miller to the roster is a major plus. Both Miller and Thiam are very similar players. Here are stat lines per game for both from last year:

Miller: 11.3 pts., 7 reb, 48.6% (overall), 57.9% (from 2), 34% (from 3), 64% (FT),1.7 blocks, 1.9 TOs, and 2.4 fouls. Miller takes 2.88 foul shots a game, 21% of his rebounds are offensive, and 39% of his shots are 3s.

Thiam: 10.4 pts., 6.4 reb, 49.8% (overall), 57.9% (from 2), 29.1% (from 3), 66.7% (FT), 2.58 blocks, 1.3 TOs, and 2.76 fouls. Thiam takes 2.2 foul shots a game, 41.3% of his rebounds are offensive, and 28% of his shots are 3s.

Both of these guys are productive big men. Both guys can stretch the floor. Thiam is probably more of an inside player with his blocks and offensive rebounding. Both players are poor free throw shooters. Both players also shoot a high percentage from inside the arc. UC should be one of most inside dominate teams in college basketball next season. This should be the best UC front line since Clark and Washington.

There is no need to design only ally-oop shots with these guys. Miller needs to make these two guys a major part of the offense. James and Thomas have got to realize now that there is no need to try to win the game by themselves. They truly have some inside help on this team now.

Coach Miller cannot be afraid to bench James or Thomas for reckless, bone-headed, and selfish play. James and Thomas must keep the big men involved. Miller must play the other guards if Thomas and James want to hog the offense. I cannot think of many reasons why UC should not win next season, except for Coach Miller himself.

[sedz]

Does the model specifically account for coaching? Not to nit pick, but maybe it would be more accurate to infer that any negative adjustment may be related to the observed discrepancy between predicted finish and actual finish last year.

Yes, that's what is happening. "Coaching adjustment" is my own choice of words.

[Carthage World]

Chad said on last night's Bearcat Bounce Podcast that he is hearing from some sources that we are completely done adding impact players and he is also hearing from other sources that we are still open to adding another impact player.

[leeraymond]

6' Keyshuan Tillery - freshman
6'1 Day Day Thomas
6'3 Jizzle James
6'3 Kerr Kriisa (Kentucky)
6'7 Jalen Celestine (Baylor)
6'7 Shon Abaev - freshman
6'8 Jalen Haynes (George mason)
6'9 Tyler McKinley
6'10 Halvine Dzellat
7' Baba Miller
7'2 Moustapha Thiam (UCF)

Looking at next year's roster is making me wonder who on the team can drive the ball to the rim and finish. Thomas can get the ball to the rim consistently. He does not always finish because of his size. James can drive the ball somewhat, but he would rather pull up and take the mid-range jumper. Who else can get the ball to the rim? From the footage that I have seen, Abaev and Kriisa are primarily three-point scorers with good range. Abaev can get the ball into the paint, but he would rather pull up and take the three.

In addition to Thomas, Tillery appears is the only other guy on the team that is able to get the ball in the paint whenever he wants. His offensive highlight footage is very impressive. Given that he stays healthy, Tillery should be able to play significant minutes as a backup. Depending on his defense, his offense may be good enough to get some minutes on the floor with the starting five. I like Tillery. It appears that he can shoot the three or take his man off the dribble.

If UC does not have anyone that can get the ball to the rim consistently next season, it may be somewhat easy to play defense against them. If the guards and the wings are primarily jump shooters that pass the ball inside to the big men, all an opposing team has to do is play good tough pressure defense on the ball to take away the entry pass. Teams could also put bigger wings on Thomas, James, Tillery, and maybe Kriisa (if he is playing the point) to take away their vision to make entry passes. Teams could also double team UC's smaller guards, like Houston does and similar to what Villanova did last season.

I do not know how much NIL money is still left in the kitty. However, if it can, UC needs to go out and get a slasher type of big wing for next season.

[red_n_black_attack]

Chad said on last night's Bearcat Bounce Podcast that he is hearing from some sources that we are completely done adding impact players and he is also hearing from other sources that we are still open to adding another impact player.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?gid=0#gid=0

There aren't too many players left that we have been rumored or looosely associated with. Kam Woods would be a nice addition, but I'd guess the more recent additions to the tracker are more likely since the earlier additions are still unsigned.

[zykarious]

Looking at next year's roster is making me wonder who on the team can drive the ball to the rim and finish. Thomas can get the ball to the rim consistently. He does not always finish because of his size. James can drive the ball somewhat, but he would rather pull up and take the mid-range jumper. Who else can get the ball to the rim? I have not seen enough of Abaev and I have never seen Tillery. What about Kriisa?

If UC does not have anyone that can get the ball to the rim consistently next season, it may be somewhat easy to play defense against them. If the guards and the wings are primarily jump shooters that pass the ball inside to the big men, all an opposing team has to do is play good tough pressure defense on the ball to take away the entry pass (like Villanova did last year). Teams could also put bigger wings on Thomas, James, Tillery, maybe Kriisa (if he is playing the point) to take away their vision to make entry passes. Teams could also double team UC's smaller guards, like Houston does.

I do not know how much NIL money is still left in the kitty, but UC needs to go out and get a slasher type of wing if it can for next season.

I think the hope is that Jizzle and Day Day are more capable of driving and finishing than it seems. Teams could pack the paint against us last year because Aziz and Mitchell couldn't shoot.

Thiam and Baba should force teams to stretch the floor and that in theory will open lanes. Plus we should have better passing and faster ball movement that prevent the defense from getting set.

Harris, Baba and Haynes all may be capable of taking the ball to the rim as well. Kriisa and Celestine are pure 3-point shooters.

[Lobot]

Before anyone posts the Jizzle James to the NBA draft IG post, It's fake.

[bearcatbret]

Before anyone posts the Jizzle James to the NBA draft IG post, It's fake.

He would have missed the filing deadline anyway. I am just concerned that it is a signal for more me-ball. https://fanrecap.com/bearcats-star-p...1e8eeC_XQzMHWg

[leeraymond]

Based on the scouting, Tillery is a true floor general, he may have a leg up on getting playing time at PG. Only Kerr and DayDay are true PGs, and neither are excellent passers. I think Tillery takes 12-15 minutes at PG with Kerr or DayDay sliding over to SG when Jizzle takes a break. I'd really like two excellent ball handlers and passers on the floor together with the wing/Bigs coming in. I know that really doesn't fit Wes' offensive scheme, but man the possibilities are high.

I am in agreement with you. After watching some footage on Tillery, he may be a little more developed than freshmen normally are at the point guard point position. He is only one of two guys that will be able to get the ball to the rim consistently. Thomas is the other guy. Tillery can also pull up and take the three. If Tillery is as good on defense as the scouting report suggests, he will steal some minutes away from somebody.

Basketball purists like to say that it is not who starts that really matters, but who finishes. It would not surprise me if Tillery is in the game when the game is on the line or at the end of games. If Tillery can handle the ball with very few turnovers and play without fouling, I like his chances to get significant minutes.

Watch out for Tillery.

[bearcatlifer]

Let's not forget that we had great preseason buzz with last year's team. Then something hapened ( or didn't happen).It is coachMiller's job to figure that out. Anything close to a repeat and he should be gone.

[leo from jersey]

I am in agreement with you. After watching some footage on Tillery, he may be a little more developed than freshmen normally are at the point guard point position. He is only one of two guys that will be able to get the ball to the rim consistently. Thomas is the other guy. Tillery can also pull up and take the three. If Tillery is as good on defense as the scouting report suggests, he will steal some minutes away from somebody.

Basketball purists like to say that it is not who starts that really matters, but who finishes. It would not surprise me if Tillery is in the game when the game is on the line or at the end of games. If Tillery can handle the ball with very few turnovers and play without fouling, I like his chances to get significant minutes.

Watch out for Tillery.

It would be groovy to have confidence with the player having the ball at the last possession of a tight game. It makes the other 4 better players too.

[leeraymond]

Nobody really talks about Jalen Haynes. I was curious about what he did last year per game at George Mason. So, I looked him up. Here is what I found per game: 14 pts., 6.9 reb., .554 ave, .176 (3 ave), .604 FT, and 2.5 TO. Haynes' scoring is better than both Thiam and Miller, and his rebounding is second to Miller at 7g. There is a problem though. Haynes turns the ball over about 2.5 times a game. Higher than both Thiam and Miller.

There is another thing to mention. Because Haynes is not really a three-point shooter and cannot stretch the floor the way that Thiam and Miler can, along with his turnover problem, may restrict him of becoming a starter. However, you never know how these things will work themselves out. Nevertheless, Haynes, I believe, is going to be one of those players that knows how to play HIS game. Haynes will be a productive player.

It will be interesting to see how Haynes fits into Coach Miller's action plans. Good luck to Jalen Haynes.

[D.A.H.]

Nobody really talks about Jalen Haynes. I was curious about what he did last year per game at George Mason. So, I looked him up. Here is what I found per game: 14 pts., 6.9 reb., .554 ave, .176 (3 ave), .604 FT, and 2.5 TO. Haynes' scoring is better than both Thiam and Miller, and his rebounding is second to Miller at 7g. There is a problem though. Haynes turns the ball over about 2.5 times a game. Higher than both Thiam and Miller.

There is another thing to mention. Because Haynes is not really a three-point shooter and cannot stretch the floor the way that Thiam and Miler can, along with his turnover problem, may restrict him of becoming a starter. However, you never know how these things will work themselves out. Nevertheless, Haynes, I believe, is going to be one of those players that knows how to play HIS game. Haynes will be a productive player.

It will be interesting to see how Haynes fits into Coach Miller's action plans. Good luck to Jalen Haynes.

i have no mumbo jumbo stats for this, but i really feel like, esp. in a league like the B12, this team, or any team, needs an inside "presence" - a bruiser who can take up space / get and hold position / clog the lane, and maybe even hit a shot (that's not a lob) every once in a while. two years ago, we had that guy - he left - last year, we didn't. i think mr. haynes could be a large (pun intended) part of uc's success this year.

[red_n_black_attack]

Nobody really talks about Jalen Haynes. I was curious about what he did last year per game at George Mason. So, I looked him up. Here is what I found per game: 14 pts., 6.9 reb., .554 ave, .176 (3 ave), .604 FT, and 2.5 TO. Haynes' scoring is better than both Thiam and Miller, and his rebounding is second to Miller at 7g. There is a problem though. Haynes turns the ball over about 2.5 times a game. Higher than both Thiam and Miller.

There is another thing to mention. Because Haynes is not really a three-point shooter and cannot stretch the floor the way that Thiam and Miler can, along with his turnover problem, may restrict him of becoming a starter. However, you never know how these things will work themselves out. Nevertheless, Haynes, I believe, is going to be one of those players that knows how to play HIS game. Haynes will be a productive player.

It will be interesting to see how Haynes fits into Coach Miller's action plans. Good luck to Jalen Haynes.

Haynes will do the little things that Ody started doing better his senior year. Big body, banger to get offensive and defensive rebounds, but I don't suspect he will have a huge role, 10 minutes or less. A lot of his use will depend on foul trouble and how the other team is playing us, my one cent.

[zykarious]

Nobody really talks about Jalen Haynes. I was curious about what he did last year per game at George Mason. So, I looked him up. Here is what I found per game: 14 pts., 6.9 reb., .554 ave, .176 (3 ave), .604 FT, and 2.5 TO. Haynes' scoring is better than both Thiam and Miller, and his rebounding is second to Miller at 7g. There is a problem though. Haynes turns the ball over about 2.5 times a game. Higher than both Thiam and Miller.

There is another thing to mention. Because Haynes is not really a three-point shooter and cannot stretch the floor the way that Thiam and Miler can, along with his turnover problem, may restrict him of becoming a starter. However, you never know how these things will work themselves out. Nevertheless, Haynes, I believe, is going to be one of those players that knows how to play HIS game. Haynes will be a productive player.

It will be interesting to see how Haynes fits into Coach Miller's action plans. Good luck to Jalen Haynes.

Most likely to restrict Haynes is his defense and his tendency to foul. His foul rate was 4.5 per 40 minutes compared to Thiam 3.8 per 40 and Baba 3.3 per 40 (though Baba's foul rate was 4.9 per 40 minutes as a SO at FSU, hopefully it dropped due to him gaining experience and not a drop in competition level).

If he's going to start, he needs to reduce the fouls, while moving up a level in competition and playing a position that he doesn't have much experience with. His fouling was largely because he was handsy with smaller, faster guys on the perimeter. Exactly what he's going to be expected to do more of if he plays the 4.

Either that or he has to beat out Thiam for minutes at center, which seems incredibly unlikely.

My expectation/hope for Haynes is 10-15 minute per game guy who can positively contribute when he plays.