mat1992

Sat out last season after transferring from Duquesne. Is 6-8, 245. Avg. 5.2ppg, 5.9rpg, 1.3bpg in 19.3mpg in his sophomore season. Shot 59% from the field and just 45.5% from the line. Had offers from Temple, Rhode Island, Seton Hall and St. John's coming out of HS. http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3908862/nakye-sanders https://www.fanragsports.com/news/duquesne-transfer-nakye-sanders-committed-towson/

I think coaches tend to rely on veteran players because they know what they can do and they know the system. Skerry won't have that luxury this season and sure, it's possible that Timberlake or Betrand could average 10-12ppg if they start at the 2 or Solomon at the 4. My assumption is that he might take pressure off the freshmen by starting Jordan at the 2 but Timberlake's ability to handle it and run the offense some could help his case. It could even come down to Solomon just being so good that he'll have to start at the 4. That's the hope anyway. In Skerry's first season, we did start a freshmen backcourt and that didn't work out well. I kind of wiped that season out of my memory but there's no choice other than starting Deon Jones and Kris Walden. Jervon Pressley also started about 1/2 the games that year at the 4. That didn't work out too well and hopefully we have a real point finally in Howard though I'm not sure he's more scorer than distributor because he can really shoot it from deep. We'll take a lead guard at this point if he can play.

6-8, 220. Three-star Rivals/Scout. From Nigeria originally. Played at Calvary Christian in Ft. Lauderdale. Don't have shooting numbers but he was obviously the most sought-after recruit we've signed as a freshman. https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/solomon-uyaelunmo-9488 http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/soloman-uyaelunmo/UctIqaqhEeaAdqA2nzwY6g/default.htm

Hate to paint the 2019-20 season as the one but we have to realistic. That doesn't mean it's impossible to win this year. I'll take a winning season in the CAA and call it a successful season. But if most of these new players pan out, who knows? The point is, we've never had a freshman in all my years of covering this program on CAAZone and here come up big in his first season save for Mike Green. Maybe Tim Crossin, who played a lot in his first year. Almost every freshman has come off the bench and made a slight difference or they came on late in the season like Morsell, Martin, etc. The key is leaning on T.J. Howard, Fobbs, and Sanders along with Tunstall, McNeill and hopefully Drayton.

About 6-1, 185. 86th in top 100 Juco players rankings. Other offers from James Madison, Robert Morris, Portland St, UNCG, Indiana St & Utah valley. Good athlete. powerfully built. Shot 79.5% from the line, 39% 3pt, 41% FG at Chipola JC in his sophomore season. In 29 games, had 116 assists (4.0 apg) and had 67 turnovers (2.3tpg). Avg. 13.4ppg overall, and 15.8ppg in 12 conference games. Also 40 steals in 29 games. Avg. 2.9ppg in 13mpg at Western Ky in his freshman season. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/tobias-howard https://247sports.com/player/tobias-howard-23045 https://247sports.com/college/western-kentucky/Board/104580/Contents/TJ-Howard-is-transferring-54732322

https://delawarestatenews.net/sports/local-college-notebook-former-polytech-hoop-star-gray-exits-san-diego-transfers-to-towson-md/

http://towsontigers.com/news/2018/5/11/no-7-womens-lacrosse-speeds-past-wagner-in-first-round.aspx

Don't have his senior stats. In his junior year, he went 1 for 12 from 3pt, averaged 5ppg, 6.8rpg. Avg. 13 points and 8.5 rebounds last season at 6-8, 237.

Fobbs is listed at 6-5, 195, but played much bigger at Genesee Community College. One thing that stands out is his rebounding. In his first year, he averaged 6.0 rebounds per game. In his second, he averaged 12.7 boards per game. While it's unrealistic to think that translates to D1, he should improve the rebounding at the small forward spot and may have enough size to play power forward. Mike Morsell averaged 4.4 rebounds, while Eddie Keith averaged 4.9 rpg. There's no reason why he can't add at least 5.0 boards per game if he plays starter minutes. As for Fobbs as a shooter, that's his biggest attribute. In his freshman season, he shot 47.8% from the field, 37.5% from 3-point and 85.8% from the line. In his second year, he shot 57.2% from the floor, 44.2% from 3-point range and 87.3% from the line. The bottom line is that he really improved his three-point shot from his first year to his second and he has been an outstanding free throw shooter since the jump. One issue Fobbs has had is with turnovers. He averaged 2.3 per game in his freshman season with just 1.2 assists. In his second season, he averaged 2.3 assists and 2.3 turnovers per game.

Last season, we struggled in many facets. 1)FT shooting, esp. in the clutch. Avg. 68.7. Good for eighth in the league. 2)Three-point attempts. We made just 6.6 per game, while our opponents made 7.4. Our percentage (36.6% 3pt) wasn't bad. Just needed more attempts. 3)Passing was dreadful at times. Avg. just 11.8 assists per game, while opponents averaged 13.0. 4)Forced turnovers. Forced 13.3 per game, while turning the ball over 12.7 per game. 5)Rebounding margin wasn't bad at +5.6 per game but not as dominant as in year's past. Last year, the margin was +8.1 and we did win 20 games and went 11-7 in the CAA. 6)Players playing out of position. Conference stats: 1)Defense was terrible in the CAA. They allowed 75.6 points per game while averaging 77.7 points per game. Field goal percentage allowed was at 46.4% (overall was 42.9%). 2)Three-point defense was atrocious at 37.2% in the CAA and 33.7% overall. 3)Did lead the league in rebounding margin, blocks and steals. 4)Last in the CAA (conference play only) in assist to turnover ratio at 0.9. So did we improve or regress on paper? It's difficult to translate HS stats to D1 college, so who knows who the freshmen will do but Fobbs was a very good shooter at the line and from the field. T.J. Howard shot 80% from the line, 39% from 3 and 41% overall. Jordan McNeill was at 40%, 44.4% overall and just 61% from the line (14-23). Now if you throw Tunstall in the lineup, he's kind of a disaster on offense (46% FT) and doesn't show much aside from dunks and layups (72.2% FG). Then Sanders was around 47% FT at Duquesne, though he did work on FTs and overall shooting in his sit-out year. We'll see how much he improves. Potentially, the biggest improvement is on the defensive end, where ZM and JG both struggled. But once again, not sure if will be better. They could go with experience early in the backcourt adding Howard, Fobbs, and McNeill instead of going with a freshman. McNeill is at least solid defensively though tough to tell about Fobbs and Howard, though both are capable. Fobbs has the length and Howard has the strength. Sanders should be a big-time rebounder and defender. Newer doesn't necessarily mean worse or better. We'll just have a different look. A more skilled look, possibly with Fobbs, Timberlake, Solomon (can shoot) and Yagi (post play). Post defense last year was non-existent when Al Thomas was off the floor. Now you have Sanders (6-8, 245), Solomon O. (6-8, 220ish) and Yagi (6-8, 235). Ultimately, we missed Moto (6-6, 245) more than we thought we would along with JD (6-5, 230). Another big issue? Playing Eddie Keith at power forward and McNeill at point guard. It just didn't work out for either. EK played 25mpg and averaged just 4.9 rebounds while shooting 28% from 3pt. Post defense was an issue with him and with Gorham, who had to play center at 6-7, 230. So ultimately, you had a 3-man playing the 4 and a combo forward playing center. Not really by design because there were no other options. And we don't even need to get into stats on McNeill at point guard. If you watched him for those 5-10 minutes per game, it was just rough.

http://towsontigers.com/news/2018/5/10/womens-lacrosse-no-8-tigers-host-wagner-in-ncaa-first-round-friday.aspx

http://www.ttusports.com/sports/fball/coaches/Tyree_Foreman?view=bio

Drayton can shoot but not much else but again, I only saw him in preseason. I think he put on some weight. Needs to improve defense and handle just to name a few.

I'd have to see more of Drayton. He didn't show much last season when I saw him in October. He's from my area so hoping he can get stronger and show that he's more than just a pretty good shooter. But that class needs to show something. Not sure Prophete is even a D1 player. I think Ingram is just so athletic that he might figure it out one day for Hampton or wherever he's going to be in two years. I definitely think Tunstall can be a great role player. He was playing injured last season with a foot issue so hopefully he'll be even more athletic at full health. Tough to play him full-time without much offense but he can probably double Al's offensive output.

Need to keep face-offs even. Take better shots. Kind of a long shot but still doable on the road against UMass.

No doubt but can you win with him as a starter or is he just confined to being a 15-20mpg at most role player?

Good for J.J. Hope he does well. I've always been a fan of Tunstall as y'all know. But as a redshirt junior, I don't expect him to put on a lot of weight. He did put about 15 pounds in his sit-out year and hasn't gained a lot since then. Maybe after off-season surgery, he'll be a little quicker, a little stronger. But you saw that lack of strength when he tried to defend bigs last season and couldn't. That's why we had to throw Gorham at center and he struggled. And we decided to press again (who knows?), he'd be much more impactful. Thankfully, we will have many more options this season in the post. I wonder if we go back to just using a zone press as we did two years ago or just press when we're down. Not sure we'll have the depth to press this season. My guess is the rotation will be: PG Howard, Dottin SG Timberlake, Betrand SF Fobbs, McNeill PF Tunstall, Solomon C Sanders, Thomas That's assuming we go 10 but with McNeill, they might just use him at the backup 2 and 3, hopefully not at one. There's no way he doesn't play at least 10-15mpg unless Drayton has improved immensely. Timberlake might be able to play some point guard though I'm guessing he's going to blend well with Dottin since both are from Boston. Another option is to go big with C-Thomas, PF Sanders, SF McNeill, SG Timberlake, PG Howard. That would be the most experienced lineup but not very athletic.

We drew 827 fans per game this year in seven games, 1,356 fans per game last year in eight games, 1,014 fans per game in 12 games in 2016. Loyola, who deals with the same weather averaged 1,609 per game this year in 9 games and 1726 per game in 2017 in eight games. A lot of that is on the NCAA and the sport for starting so freakin' early. They should start in mid-March and end in mid-June but they will never let the Memorial Day Weekend go for the Final Four so it is what it is. Nobody wants to see lax in February in 30 degrees. To be honest, it would be nice to promote this sport more but who the hell is going to the games that early in the cold, even if we play Duke, Hopkins, Denver and Loyola at home. We could be playing Maryland and the crowd will still be under 1,000 in mid-February. So I guess it has to be more than just lack of promotion.

Agree, should be fun but I'd rather see the unknown than the known. In other words, I don't think we're going far if we're playing Thomas, McNeill and Tunstall all at least 20mpg. You kind of know what you're going to get from all three but the other nine are mysteries until they start playing legit games. Or at least ex. games and scrimmages against other D1 opponents. I do think Pat has shown he's willing to go for more skill up front and in the backcourt. No offense to guys like T.J., Dennis, Foster, Al Thomas, etc, but we have not had a freshman big man that teams have to prepare for. Sure, transfers like Moto, JB and possibly Sanders are legit. Maybe JD but he was unique and barely 6-5. Hoping that Solomon becomes that guy who has the size and skill, maybe even Yagi, but they have a better skillset than most of the bigs we've brought in. Was hoping that J.J. Mathews would be the guy, but he wasn't as injuries just never really healed. What we need from Fobbs or Howard is that ability to close or get the ball to the right guys in crunch time. Just finish. That is the most difficult player to cultivate. JB was the closest guy to that but we need a Gary Neal. Somebody that can get you basket when the clock is winding down or get to the line and make his FTs. Gary is not on this squad, but hopefully we have a few guys that we can rely on down the stretch because we really haven't had that guy in years. Closest was Morsell but he couldn't really get his own shot, while Zane didn't have enough of a consistent handle to break people down.

That doesn't mean he's leaving because he's unhappy about a certain thing. Like I said, there might not be a job opening that intrigues him but Michigan was a legit play last season. Thankfully, he stayed. But you have to be realistic and think that the atmosphere at a Towson game is horrendous compared to Maryland, Syracuse, Hopkins, Loyola, etc. Those jobs aren't open but I can't imagine that he's thrilled with the way we promote a team that went to the final four last season. The weather plays a part to the horrific attendance but again, my guess they'd like a little more respect.

Just heard rumblings that he isn't happy about a particular aspect of the athletic department and I'll leave it at that.