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This is from PS' Twitter. See if you can name everyone aside from Parfait, Chris Conway, PS, and PO. https://x.com/CoachPatSkerry/status/1813750186277061070

Steve Eigenbrot is about to enter this third season as the Director of Athletic at Towson U. On a very hot Monday afternoon, I had a chance to discuss a few topics including NIL, the CAA, Alston and more. On TV deal “I would say that the Flo deal has 2 or 3 years. The shortcomings that you may perceive in our streaming opportunity, they were massively exploited by the fact that we didn’t have regional TV. In order to make sense of the package, that allows us to make it work. If you’re not making it work, your basketball games are hard to find. Being on CBS, national TV, we were on national TV 11 times last year including the lacrosse game. Basketball ended up on CBS six times. Flo gives us the opportunity and ESPN would not. We had a couple of games on MeTV. There were conflicts with the Wizards and Caps. (waiting on NBA schedule to announce Monumental deal with football and basketball).” Facilities “My hope is that we’re able to break ground on the field house in the spring. Tricky thing is that football is in the fall and lacrosse is the spring. Those are the two major tenants. It’s going to exceed the summer. Will it be a 15-month, 18-month build? Finalizing the funding formula is something where we are close to. I hold on to the spring of next year (as the start).” On second weight room “The field house will not take on the new weight room. The weight room project, we’re hopeful that in the next 30 days, we will start making changes in the (Towson Center) to bring a second weight room to fit 28-40 student-athletes to lift. Our hope is to have access to that. Hoping that the rigidness around the schedules, practice and classes gets freed up. Our hope is that it will be up by January.” On field house issues “There is a river that runs underneath Johnny Unitas Stadium. Expanding the footprint of the building is difficult. The premise of the project is that the groundfloor of the building is significantly larger than the second and third floor. The scope of the project will increase the second and third floor to match the footprint of the first floor. We can expand offices and team meeting space. We have no real meeting space for the teams other than the Minnegan room. Organizing the offices where there will be a lacrosse suite. We’ll get that fixed. The big thing is renovating the training room. If we don’t touch the training room now, there are some health and safety issues. That training room reeks of its original build. We need to get the hydrotherapy in there up to snuff. All told, it will be an $18M project. When I started, it was $7M. It’s increased significantly, but we have some good momentum to figure out how to pay for it.” On stadium expansion “That’s further down the priority list. The Towson Center needs to be a better version of itself. I didn’t want to build an $18M Field House without having some semblance of an idea of how much we’re going to spend and what we’re going to do to make the Towson Center a better version of itself. I believe that the Towson Center gym is a massive opportunity. We need to seize it and make it better. We’re talking about how we can fund the Towson Center, renovating the training room here (TC) and renovating the gym, bringing the turf space online and serving our weather issues. Loose numbers is that the Towson Center gym is about $10M to renovate, $4-5M for the training center. Turning the gym into a 30x40 space for football, lacrosse, baseball and retaining the two courts. No starting date. I want to make sure we’re keeping our eyes on both things. Working on a re-payment plan. I’m trying to focus on realistic fundraising numbers. We’ve got creative that we reached a deal with Coppermine. They are going to do some youth sports on our field. Getting kids exposed to Towson and also enjoying the revenue that comes with it. That’s important in how we pay for this.” On FCS football and home schedule “I would say that if you’re concerned about FCS football and the current environment. I’m a firm believer that big-time programs and Group of Five programs is that they are going to have to make very difficult decisions. We’re at a much more stable place than some of those Group of Five opportunities. We as a league are committed to provide Alston for men’s and women’s basketball. The American Conference, MAC and Conference USA doesn’t do.” “Alston is an educational-related benefit that allows us to give up to $5,980 to a student-athlete based on some level of academic performance. Unlike Cost of Attendance, which is a number that each institution registers with the federal government. The COA at Towson may be twice what it is in Delaware or half at Hofstra. It has nothing to do with collegiate athletics at the end of the day. There are some monies that we can provide student-athletes really as a part of their scholarship. Alston at Towson, is based on our GPA requirement (2.6), tied to study hall. As long as you have a 2.6 that semester and you can get half that number. If you have a GPA below that, there is another opportunity to get full Alston, but you have to do more community service. Why GPA is an important measure, not all majors are created equal. If you have a 2.3 and you’re a biochemist, there should be a pathway to get funds. Because we sponsor football at the FCS level, I think we’re able to compete in some areas nationally in lacrosse and basketball, where other conferences aren’t as competitive. I’m very comfortable with where we are sponsoring FCS football. I wouldn’t be shocked if some Group of Five people would go down to FCS to compete for a national championship. The team that wins the MAC might get into the playoff, (but not realistic). In the CAA, four or more teams have a shot. At Towson and most of the schools in the CAA, the Alston funds for men’s and women’s basketball, every kind on a scholarship gets it. In lacrosse, we fund it the way we fund the programs. 12.5 scholarships. You can give a walk-on full Alston. We let (Coach Nadelen and Carr) figure it out.” In terms of out of state tuition “Towson’s population has grown precipitously in-state. Out of state students pay more $$ when they come here. The school is about 91% in-state, our athletic department is about 60% out-of-state. Kids see the value coming to TU out of state. At (South Carolina), there were lot of ways for an out of state kid to qualify for an in-state tuition. Whether it was based on picking a major… the approach that we’ve taken at Towson, is that all the bordering states, plus New York and New Jersey, there’s an opportunity for students to earn a scholarship that sits in the middle If in-state tuition is $26 and out of state is $40. You take the middle and if you get into Towson on your own and your from PA, you’ll pay $34,000 (math is not quite right, but the premise is). It’s gone really well. In the first year, our Apps went through the roof in the neighboring states. The yield wasn’t as high as we wanted (kids that said yes, going to Towson), wasn’t as high as we wanted. Looks like the out of state yield has been much better. Baseball and field hockey. They have a lot of talented kids coming from PA.” On Richmond and Delaware leaving “President S ere you’re planted. Dr. Ginsberg talked about it a little bit. I don’t think either of us is as excited about another opportunity beyond (the CAA). Richmond and Delaware are different paths. Delaware you can figure out what they’re trying to do. It’s not that hard. The Richmond was a little bit curious and interesting. A-10 basketball is trying to get their powder dry. I think if I told Coach Pete that we’re going to the Patriot League, I don’t think he’d be all that happy with his boss for awhile. Their conference affiliation is different from ours. I don’t see the upside of what they are trying to do. To me it seems that they are capitalizing more on basketball and taking away resources from football.” On Delaware leaving “Pat Skerry was down in Georgia over the weekend. He mentioned of trying to play Delaware (after they leave). I’d love to do that and I’m sure we’ll talk (to Delaware AD). There’s a lot of familiarity there. Would like to lock-in a non-conference opponent (like Delaware). The success that we’re having in basketball, is making it very difficult for us to formulate a non-conference schedule because there is not a lot of willingness to play us. Playing South Carolina. We signed that over a year ago. You schedule bad teams, you beat the tar out of them and that’s how you improve your NET.” As for playing Maryland “We put some energy and effort of trying to play them in a neutral site (Baltimore). We have yet to land the plane. Play them in football in 2025, 28 and 30.” “The grumbling may be that if a conference expands the conference games in the future, that they’d be more apt to cut back on Group of Five games in non-conference. For the most part, I don’t (guaranteed games) going away. I think we’re good.” On basketball home schedule “Personal relationships have helped us at the end of the day. We just got done with a home-and-home with an A-10 program. Figuring out how to do that kind of thing. Talking to some Sun Belt programs. There is a good opportunity for us to play 5-6 non-conference home games. I don’t know if Bryant check that box. The last two times we played an A-10 team. So hard to get good homes that you have move heaven and earth to do it.” On first football season with Pete “Good. Frustrating that we lost games that we shouldn’t of. My takeaway is that any team can lose anybody. We beat UNH and W&M on the road. Need some consistency .Our fans and Pete would like. That Albany game stands out. We gave them all they could handle. We had some really interesting weather events. We had weather delays in two games. That Monmouth game felt good and the long weather delay and we let the air out of the balloon. Please with the way Coach Pete and his staff handled the opportunity. Their excitement and energy and effort. Just look at the portal. I played football all my youth for coaches who seemed a lot like Rob Ambrose. Coach Pete is doing it totally different. Not to say any one way is right or wrong or you can’t win. Rob did win a lot of games coaching the way he did it. The fact that we’ve been able to retain the roster and the kids bought it. He’s had a chance to build some HS relationships bringing in freshmen. We went portal-crazy for a minute and the APR reflects that. That’s something that Coach Pete rolls up his sleeves, recruit the right person to come here and get that metric in the right spot and keep winning football games.” “Had a long conversation with (Coach Pete). He said I really like our two-deep and that’s not including our freshmen yet. He’s excited about some of the kids coming in and stepping up as freshmen. You see it more and more in that sport.” NIL in football “At the FCS level, Cost of Attendance and maybe Alston, you have to pass through those thresholds before you get to a place where NIL is going to make a big deal. That being said, our approach to how we’re trying to make a progress through NIL, the source of funds is different. Usually institutions are funding COA or Alston, donors or businesses have the opportunity to step up and help you with NIL. I think I haven’t heard Coach Pete clamoring for NIL the same way we’ve had to work for men’s and women’s basketball. We’re going to have an opportunity to do more from an aid perspective over the next year. I wouldn’t be shocked where Coach Pete can use that…is there a kid that doesn’t go to Towson and goes to MAC school because of Cost of Attendance. Yes. I’m sure that’s happened. Can we put ourselves in a situation where that doesn’t happen? I think so. COA at Towson is around $3,100. That doesn’t sound like much money. But if you can generate $20,000 in NIL and now there’s 6-7 kids and you’re not going to lose to a MAC school. You may start to see it especially due to some of the business opportunities that we’re going to dip our toe into. NIL on rule changes “They’ve changed and have become a little bit more common sense. .Not the most comfortable part for a lot of us. The rules keep changing. The transfer portal rules keep changing. Kids being able to transfer an unlimited amount of time and the NIL coming in. That made it really challenging. There are ways we can help student-athletes. We can play a role in it. We can’t negotiate on our behalf. Terry Porter has been a great asset for us, navigating that. Not just about supporting an athlete and their brand. What can we do to be more assertive.” “In a lot of instances, its donors funding the payment of players. That’s a large part of what the collectives are doing. At the end of the day, came from a place raising tens of millions of dollars a year because there are a lot of rabid fans that want their schools to go. They want to get a really talented point guard or quarterback. Is it comfortable? Not really. There are people that are really successful in their businesses. Can we get their business to behave in a different way. That’s taken a lot of different forms. That looks more like NIL than it’s asking a donor to give thousands of dollars to help recruit talent. About 90% of NIL is donor-funded. It’s not a kid promoting their camp.” On Charleston’s Collective “They have a number of donors who have been really involved. Pat Kelsey was a massive part of that. Going into a community, building relationships. Towson’s version of that is probably going to be different. We’ve been creative around NIL. We’re far away from donors writing six-figure checks. We’re far away from that, but did some creative things. In the next couple of months, we’re going to launch a GOH Bar. The proceeds will go NIL. We’re not going to come to NIL riches by candy bars (protein bar). Whether it’s finding a TU-branded beer, NIL events, a dinner here, 10% of the proceeds at a restaurant goes back to NIL.. We’re not going to sit back and get lapped by the rest of the CAA. We have a plan to be in a decent position. 81% of our scoring is coming back (in MBB) and that’s something to be excited about.” On scheduling with NIL “Come to Las Vegas and we’ll give your school a $1M. It’s out there. Looks a little different. At the end of the day, you have to check the box at a compliance perspective. There’s an opportunity for those monies to be used more creatively. That’s happening in our landscape today. On Website “We’re trying to make sure our content is more updated. Not changing provider. On President Ginsberg “Amazing. His energy for all things. Most with athletics. He’s open, asks questions. Dove in. With the CAA conversations. There’s been some turnover in our league. We’ve embraced this phraseology called “tactical patience”. You don’t need to act to replace every school that leaves, but are you ready that if the right opportunity presents itself that you can move forward. He’s been involved in that. Both kids were involved in sports in college. He’s been incredible. One of the cool things was I come into the new place and you have three different presidents. That could be a recipe of a disaster for your career. Was fortunate to have interim President Perrault and Mark. He's offered his expertise and opinion. “ On the CAA “If you look at the expansion of the league, Stony Brook. Time will prove if they are a very good fit. Like Towson, they are the only school in the CAA, they are non-flagship, non-HBCU, public institution, that also has a football and men’s lacrosse team. It sends your Title IX into a different level of complexity. Delaware has been a rival of sorts but it is the flagship institution of a state. When you have such a myriad of different-looking institutions, and your resource-allocation decisions are very different, you mention CofC, they don’t have those two sports. I don’t know how it will shake out. What does this school bring to the conference? That school is private and they don’t have football? I’m not out, but it leads to some challenges. The interesting thing as it relates to our football conference, I don’t know what the future holds as it relates to college football. The Richmond situation and you see that UMass goes to the MAC. This is the trend when it comes to mid-major realignment. Football is so expensive and you’re not getting football money. Hard to make heads or tails of it. What entity may present themselves as an opportunity for us to expand to, that’s kind of hard for me to figure out.” On goals for this 2024-25 season “Winning the Learfield Cup was awesome. I said we usually score in women’s lacrosse, something else and football. That was a Freudian slip. Football success is something that I’m excited about. The goal has been to figure out a way to improve one of our programs. Lacrosse only got Alston. That was easy for me to sell. When Cost of Attendance happened at Towson, we made the decision to go men’s and women’s basketball and lacrosse. We just followed suit with a line in a sand. Baseball, field hockey, track, swimming, getting more scholarships. We have different level lifts. We’re trying to make all those programs better. We’re trying to invest in all our programs. We’re going to have $340,000 less coming from the NCAA than we had the previous year. We’re working together to figure out a way that we’re not going to lose the traction that we’re making despite the fact that there are rocks are getting thrown at us. We have a really good plan, but we have to continue to follow us. We’re working on a way to have a meal on South Campus. There is no food over here. Our goal is in August of 2025 to open a kitchen that will seat 117 students and serve lunch and dinner at the Towson Center. Academic center and two weight rooms here. The idea that there is a place to go and be around other athletes getting together. They’ll know each other better. The swimmers have a prime place in Burdick, but they are disconnected from South Campus. Every sport has their own challenge. That will go a long way in uniting our athletes.” On Athletic Dorms “The campus master plan that is going to get refreshed this spring calls to be a bridge over Osler. I would love that bridge to connect more than just overflow parking and our athletic department to the rest of campus. I’d love to be something else that is driving some energy. A reason to be here. There are a couple of things we’re working on. In my ideal state, you take Lot 4 and you make it a dorm. First floor has a Starbucks, ice cream shop or a law office. That mixed use and commercial feel with campus apartments above it. That would be a game-changer for South campus. I don’t have the money to build a dorm. We’re looking for some other ways to get people on South campus. There are some opportunities with field house growth to do something there. We have nice fields and facilities. A lot of people don’t know it. Making more people know about it. That’s the thing I want to change. Whether that’s getting it on TV, building a marquee’. Every time I walk back to a field hockey game, I hear parents from the other team as they are tailgating, saying, I had no idea that this was back there. It’s awesome that we have it.” On practice bubble “Mark has talked about it a number of times (as a bubble for practice). We haven’t talked price. That space would be covered regularly. Has a downside. I don’t know if it’s a collapsable bubble. Having two pieces of turf considering the climate in this area that would still be exciting. We have to figure out a way to pay for it. Paying $32M is more than we’ve had done other than building a new (arena). We have to figure out how to pay for it ourself. Baby steps. The master plan calls for a parking garage in the hill where the bridge over Osler comes in near Unitas Stadium.”

Good get. My wife, the Jmu alum, hates this as now she has to go to the game

JMU is coming https://x.com/madeformarch/status/1813622180229611918?s=46&t=nScacl1TWT-KyOwj5stBaw

Matt, Thank you for this interview. Great information

https://x.com/towson_fb/status/1803852938642886940?s=46&t=_ArGClX3XZ7EdROrGIJtmw Is it just me or does anybody else yawn when they see the home slate of games this year? -Morgan State -William & Mary -Stonybrook -Hampton -North Carolina A&T for $90 are these 5 games worth my time and money? At first I thought no…but wait…there’s more! here are new benefits for the purchase of a 2024 football season ticket. --You will also get 10 complimentary tickets to other Towson ticketed sporting events, including men's/women's basketball, volleyball, gymnastics or men's lacrosse. --There are several other benefits, including getting 15% off at the Towson UStore and on gameday concessions. with 10 free basketball tickets and 15% off beer and hot dogs now that’s worth the money!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9QYAUhJQbi/?igsh=MWwyeGg3Z3ZseWFybQ== Ekiben NIL deal up for grabs! I want to see a towson tiger endorsement on the best fried chicken banh mi in Baltimore! find them in Locust Point or at the farmers market on Sundays cc: Dr E

Very nice. Time for us to put out money where our mouths are. hope they keep updating on the status of this. But holy shit, they need to grow the brand. 104 followers?! That’s it?! And looking at that list around 60% are TU administrators and bot girls. We may corner the market in NIL funding from scantily clad fake women 😂

More about NIL and the GOH collective https://x.com/towson_taf/status/1811131617814937693?s=46&t=nScacl1TWT-KyOwj5stBaw

The team is off next week so I thought I'd check them out one more time. The freshmen are still behind and understandably so. This is where if NIL was instrumental in our program and it's not, we'd be able to get a strong transfer to take over for Charles. But instead, we have Abdou Samb, freshman Caleb Embeya and Messiah Jones at center. Embeya is the most talented and is probably going to be 230 at 6-9 by the time league play starts. Hopefully, he'll be ready to start by then, but right now, he's learning and with 10 players back, the freshmen (Embeya and Ndefo) are behind. Unfortunately, Lowery was on vacation (fortunate for him) so there was a 6-6 defender with a 7-2 wingspan lacking. That was probably the reason that the offense looked very good in a fast-paced environment with solid ball movement. The player who stood out the most IMO, because I wasn't sure what to expect, was Jaiden Cole. He's bigger, and while he doesn't do a lot of things well yet, he can flat out shoot it. Confidence is getting better though I'd like to see him drive it some. If he can just make 37%+ from 3-point range, he'll get on the floor some. Dylan Williamson may not be an all-conference point guard next season, but he's becoming one of the first point guards in years that has a legitimate chance to do so. He's playing so much better than he did last season at this point, when I wasn't sure if he was a combo, shooting guard or point guard. Now, he knows that it's about finding the open man, dribbling to the paint and kicking it out and making most of his open shots. Defensively, he should be better, because he's much stronger than he was last summer. He needs to start at the point. Tarke is fine and looks slimmer, but he's more of a 2. Now that Hicks is back (hopefully will remain healthy), he can play the 2 behind May or you can move May to the 3. I do like Ndefo a lot. At 6-7, 210, he's physically ready. I don't know if he'll contribute much this season, but I think he will progress methodically throughout the season. His biggest issue is the adjustment from playing the post in HS to playing on the perimeter. He's athletic enough and has a solid jumper from 3 pt so I think he'll be fine at some point this season. He'll only have to play around 10mpg to start. "Red" Coleman is athletic. Huh? Yes, Coleman looks bouncy all of a sudden, and while he doesn't do a lot of perimeter stuff and is nowhere near as talented as Ndefo, he's got a great motor. Unfortunately, that hasn't translated to games, but I have to give him props that he lost about 25-30 pounds and gives it 100% every practice. May continues to shoot it well from 3. Still want to see him get better in the paint. Didn't know he was playing with a finger injury suffered during the UNCW regular season game. Tejada has redefined his body. His defensive game needs to continue to get better, but playing power forward or four-guard (I call it) will help some defensively. Offensively, I think it's time and this is his team. We've never had a player that was this big, who can do the things he does. The closest player I can compare him to was Isaiah Philmore in his second season, who was 6-7, 225, but more of a traditional PF (who went to Xavier to play SF and that didn't work out). Love Tejada's offensive game when he's "activated". In other words, I'd give him the green light, but in a team sense. I think he's taken better shots and last season, we saw him struggle when he tried to take over games and go 1-on-5 (semifinals). He'll be a year older and he has to understand that at 6-8+220, he can post up most players in the CAA, he can face the basket, he can shoot the three, he can score off the dribble and had a sweet floater in the lane today. The sky is the limit. He just has to play within the team concept and I think he's getting it. Pat Skerry “This has been a good week for our guys. They’ve been at camp all day. They are still lifting. Good to have to fight through. We’re relatively healthy. This isn’t easy this time of the year. It’s nice outside and they are inside grinding. Saw some separation from guys who have been around and they were making plays. We haven’t a lot of time on defense. Our ability to play with better pace and spacing is evident.” “There’s nobody on the roster that can’t play. I understand that it’s challenging to play 13 guys. I do think that the depth of the roster is pretty good. I’m proud of the fact that Jaiden Cole has improved. He has a high IQ, his body is starting to change and he makes shots. This group has a chance to be closer to our championship team (2022-23) that we can really move it and guys can stick it. Can you make 38-42% from three? That will get you on the court. Nick Timberlake didn’t mess around with the ball. He went hard to the rim and was shot-ready. We have to shoot a better % from three. May had a very good week. He shot the ball well. He’s playing with a messed up finger. Apparently he did it in the UNCW game in the regular season and has played through it. He’s a tough customer.” Dylan and Tomiwa “He’s a point. He can score. We’re letting him loose. He’s really dynamic. We need to play with better pace. We have to take care of the ball. This group has enough experience and talent to do that. You know who has gotten a lot better? Tomiwa has gotten a lot better with his perimeter game. He didn’t shoot bad from three last year. He’s controlling his body a lot better. First time through it. Never took a three (in D2). We’re big at other positions Messiah is going to be effective for us because he can score and will go back to his natural position (at center). Defense is a team effort.” On paint touches “I’m not putting in specials in there yet. We have the ability to post guys. Not just Messiah, but Caleb and (Abdou Samb). Tejada, May, Tarke. We’re certainly going to post. Caleb is putting on some weight. The freshmen play hard, but they are new. We had so many new guys last year and had 10 extra practices to try and build things up. If you’re a new guy, they are getting thrown out against guys that know everything. They’ll eventually catch up, but it is moving fast.” On missing Lowery today (on vacation) “He’s an unbelievable ball screen coverage guy. We haven’t done any ball screen coverage yet. We will spend the last four weeks working on that. Embeya and Abdou have that length to effect that end of the floor like Charlie did. I won’t say they’ll do it as well as Charlie, who was an All-Defensive player for 3 years. Those guys have the length. That will be early for them. That’s where they need to make their mark. We have a lot of guys back on the other end of the floor. Lowery is getting stronger. He makes a lot of plays. We’re going to play a forward and four guards. It’s not going to matter whether it’s a taller guy..We’re not going to be hung up on who is there. We have a lot of depth. We’ve been fortunate since Covid. We have really good guys.” On schedule “The challenging thing with the schedule, is that if someone can get us a game, go get it. We’ll do it. We’re trying. The hard part is that if you’ve had any success at this level, and we have, is that the NET rewards teams more so for the margin of victory, which offensive efficiency is weighed into that, then the old RPI days about hey, this team is going to be top 2-3 in our league, beating them. Now you are seeing teams spending money on the bottom 275 down. They are buying those teams. Most of the bigger leagues have gone to 18-20 conference games. Those are two more opportunities that have gone out the window. We desperately need home games. We’re trying to get home games. We’re going to play an aggressive schedule. How long is that going to take, I don’t know. Last year, we played a non-D1 after Christmas. Steve and his staff had a very good crowd for that. That was the first time in five years (since fall of 2019). Are we going to play any (non-D1), I hope not. Today as we sit, we have five road games, three neutral games and two home games. That’s 10. We have three more opportunities. In a perfect world, I’d like three D1 home games. That’s going to be really hard to do unless we play somebody to play Towson. Five road games is a lot. (Charleston) is buying two games and played a non-D1 the last two seasons.”

There might be a fourth one because this was fun to watch, Nick Timberlake, Charles Thompson, Jason Gibson, Four McGlynn, Terry Nolan and Cam Holden all returned to play some five-on-five action (not JG for obvious reasons, but he was there). Nick is on his way to Portugal, Four is still playing overseas (Indonesia), Cam is in England, Terry and Gibby are coaching and Charles is still searching for another look. They had enough players to go 5x5x5 for two 15 minute periods. When one team scored, they were able to run it back but against a different five on defense so nobody really got exhausted, which was good for the alums, who were probably rusty and were all not in basketball shape. But there was also no real transition and another reason, I'd like to see one more practice. I think there are still issues at center. Caleb Embeya should be able to solid defensively even at 6-9, 220+. He's very long, has good bounce and is tough to shoot over. But you can see the difference between Charles and all other centers on Towson, especially on the defensive end. Charles is also 250+ pounds so he's a beast on both ends. As we know finishing was not his strongsuit, but he did finish well a couple of time, BUT went 1-4 from the line. I wasn't judging the alums, who scored the least amount of points compared to the black and gold teams. That's a good thing that the young guys bested the older guys (not that old) and while Four looked tremendous on offense, he's never been Gary Payton on D so Dyland and Hicks were able to penetrate at times. I can only imagine when those guys will able to get some pace because it will be tougher on some of those guys and those who are not in great hoops shape. Embeya will have two more months to work on his back-to-the-basket game and everything else. They could go small with Coleman, Jones or Sulaiaman at center. Samb is adequate defensively but thin. Jones struggled to finish some easy ones today though to his benefit, he's been sidelined or limited the last few weeks or so with various issues. Coleman has been the surprise both athletically and in terms of rebounds. He's just not as skilled as Jones or Sulaiman, who can at least shoot the three and are well over 30% from there. The key is Dylan Williamson. At times, he was sensational but he was also much quicker than 4. At other times, took some questionable shots and would say the same thing about Hicks, who was much better in the second part of the scrimmage. When the ball sticks with Williamson or Hicks in the game, the end result is usually going to be Dylan forcing up a last-second shot. When the ball moves, the end result is usually a May or Tejada open jumper. The end result is a lot better. Tarke is never going to be a 40% three-point shooter. He does have quick hands though I'd like to see him be a little more controlled on his drives and go right a bit more. He also tends to make some difficult no-look passes that don't always connect. Ndefo is the head-scratcher. He came in with a good defensive reputation but he's struggled at times playing down low or on the perimeter. His shot is actually pretty good, but he's not a threat to put the ball on the floor on drive. Again, pace of pay will help some of the guys who are big, athletic and can run the floor unlike previous combo forwards. Tejada is about 220, but a lot leaner. I'd like to see him and Lowery maybe have a little more chemistry on the offensive end. Mekhi is such a good passer and he's close to 210 (compared to around 200 last year) so you can see that he's less afraid of contact. He did not attempt a shot on the perimeter but drove to the basket several times. He also made BOTH free throws so that's a positive. I think he needs to be a little more aggressive offensively and that can help Tejada get some easier looks because teams will be all over him this season. He also has to take some better shots. I think this team's halfcourt offense without Charles is still a work in progress because the center spot is either Embeya or a less talented or vertically challenged veteran. That is still the biggest question mark going into preseason. They'll have to get more in sync by the fall. That's why I keep emphasizing pace. Dylan is arguably the team's best finisher either off the dribble or in transition. More quotes from PS coming up

I bet Scooter Alexander at age 51 can still shoot it.

Charlie Thompson Cam Holden Juwan Gray four Mcglinn nic Timberlake jason gibson Terry Nolan

Gold rush I’m assuming they are giving out a T-shirt, but what’s the promo for family, homecoming, hometown hero, and senior day? Dr. E you better get some floppy bucket hats or Hawaiian shirts made asap! I remember crab chips and a coke was a promo to draw the kids in once, need to do something to get the college kids to make the walk all the way to south campus perhaps if DP dough ever re-opens they could give out free calzones? Ledo pizza maybe swoops in and steals the idea maybe Kona ice can roll up with some free snow cones? Maybe super rich Pete, Pat, and Shawn dip into their own pockets for football, basketball, lacrosse jersey giveaways? Buy some fans if you have to!

PS on coaching his son "It will probably help stay a little calmer. This might be the first time as a parent that I have the upper hand over my wife. I'll get to see him a little bit more and I'm looking forward to that. He's just happy to be around, be apart of the program and have structure. In between here, it doesn't matter if your the best player, walk-on, family or not family, we all have a job to do. He's enjoying it and he loves being at Towson." On sixth week "They've really worked, they're connected and I like the group a lot. We're evaluating as a staff how we're going to put the pieces together. We have a lot of guys capable of playing. One of the keys is who plays and why. We can't have 10 guys launching threes, I'm not saying guys do that, but we had some stats yesterday and singled out guys who were rebounding and taking care of the ball. Tyler Coleman and Tomiwa Sulaiman both have done a good job of rebounding and taking care of the ball. There's some value in that." On freshmen "(Look) good as far as work ethic. Some stuff is moving fast for them. Chike (Ndefo) is making that transition to a perimeter player that plays incredibly hard. He's done a pretty good job of rebounding. Eventually, you have to become more of a perimeter player and make open shots. He also has to defend. Caleb is coming. Things come easy for him because he's naturally gifted physically. He has to understand the biggest impact early is his ability to defend (like CT) and take care of the ball. He has to shoot around the rim. He's ahead of where Charlie was as a freshman. Charles did a couple of things and did them very well." On playing older guys "For some of these guys, it's like getting hit by somebody new. They gain some experience. This is what I have to do and why. You can't turn the ball over. This isn't rec ball." On Dylan and Radhir "Before today, Dylan was shooting 71% from 3-point range in live play. Now, nobody in the history of basketball has done that but we're going to let him go and attack (didn't shoot it as well today). Rad was hitting 41% from 3-poitnt range in live play. We're fast, experienced and deep at that spot. That doesn't mean we can't play them together. (Slower pace today) makes it a little harder for Dylan, but it's good for execution." "We want to emphasize getting layups and threes. That's not uncommon for anyone else. Hopefully we do an elite job of it." On schedule "We need two and that's without the possibility of playing a non-D1. In the past, we have scheduled some non-D1s, but with the understanding that if something else happens, we wil fill that. In the first week of the season, we need a game. We know when. Hopefully, sooner rather than later." On what he wants for the rest of the summer "We want to be elite at taking care of the ball, because we could be very good offensive group. We're not in mid-season form. We've shown some flashes of really good basketball. You want to see longer stretches of ball screen, short roll, kick to the wing,..want to see more of those." On free throw shooting "We spend a lot of time last year when were at 62% and we were leading the league in attempts. We improved to 66 or 67%. That isn't good enough. It's a big emphasis. These guys have been the best group I've had to date in getting in on their own in extra shots. Nobody was better than Timberlake. Part of your shooting workout needs to be free throws. Lowery, Tarke, Tejada, Jones, etc. Those guys will get to the line. This group wants to be good. They are connected. Our leadership has been good. There are a lot of voices. This is the fourth year since Covid. It's like Ted Lasso, they are very good guys."

Thanks. With two very young kids I assume Steve has very little time to check out our website

Joey D asleep at the wheel again

Outstanding job Mat and thank you. Seems to me the Dr. E was a little more candid with you than he normally is which was a good thing. It won't happen but I just wish someone would come out and say "Yes Flosports isn't the best, but they are giving us a $hit ton more money than ESPN has ever offered." That is more honest and truthful than the number of times we get on "national tv". I have yet to see or hear anyone, outside of people that work for the conference or schools in the conference say they like Flosports. We all know the limitations Towson has, just hope the plans that are currently down on paper become reality but more importantly are effective in providing results. I think we all know how he feels about Rob. Did not have to mention his name but the fact that he did... I'm kind of excited to see what year two of Coach P brings. Second year has more of his "type of guys" in the program, not sure how it transfers to wins and losses this year but hoping to see talent improvement heading into year 3 in 2025. @mat1992 do you get the sense that Dr. E visits this site or has someone put eyes to this site from time to time?

I would really F'ing hope its next to nothing.

I would say as of right now depth chart is: C Mesiah Jones/Caleb Embeya/Abdou Samb (still too soon who will get the nod but will likely start out all 3 getting time) F Tejada, Sulaiman, Coleman F Lowery, Ndefo G May, Tarke, Cole G Williamson, Hicks

I was hoping.......PS comes through again!

You are assuming the CAA has a PR team. 5 years?! No one gets that’s kind of extension with such a poor track record, unless you are at Towson. And even here, it’s likely 4 years and a vesting option for a life team deal. League is a joke. All sports have gotten way worse under his watch. We deserve this for not being proactive and trying to compete in the wrong sports and are thus stuck here with the likes of Hampton. Nc an and t Campbell Bryant. 🤮 Don’t the ADs approve this (like a commissioner in pro sports?! If so they also need to be held accountable. There’s knelt three things CAA fans can agree one, flo blows, Joey sucks and skerry is a choke artist.

horrible but unsurprising

Another solid commit OG Chase Dorsey 6-4 295 from Calvert Hall https://x.com/chasedorsey71/status/1806093286206996862?s=46&t=nScacl1TWT-KyOwj5stBaw

Commit from ATH Al-Khabir Bethune from New Jersey https://x.com/bhoward_11/status/1806080359198576697?s=46&t=nScacl1TWT-KyOwj5stBaw