First 2025 Summer practice update

[mat1992]

Here are some pictures from practice today to show some of the newcomers and how big Tejada and others are. Tyler Coleman was out injured.

 

Here is Mor Sek, No. 32 standing next to DWill. He';s 7-1, 235. Embeya is 6-9, 240.

 

This is newcomer Jon Barton, a 6-3, 215-pound lefty freshman. Last picture is Tejada (6-9, 236) and Tyler Schmidt (6-4, 190). Jack Doumbia is No. 33 and watching (6-6, 210)

 

[mat1992]

This is a much bigger team than last season. Sek is legit 7-1, 235 and pretty cut. Embeya put on 15 pounds, but I'd like to see him a little more aggressive on the offensive end. Did make a three-point shot day in 5-on-5 action. Sek can negate any big man we play but if we play a 6-8 shooter like a John Camden-type at small ball center, I don't think he can defend a player like that and not sure he and Embeya will be much more than dunkers and layup guys in the offense.

However, Tyler Tejada, at 15 pounds heavier, should get more points in the lane because he has more strength to get to the basket and post up. He also should be much more active on the boards. Jake Doumbia, the Wright State transfer, was impressive as another ballhandler at 6-6. Somewhat similar to Mekhi Lowery, but a better offensive performer with slashing ability and some midrange game. Not a three-point shooter, though he's working on it. Biggest issue to me is his FT shooting (61% LY) and he struggled today. But he's also a secondary ballhandler and can play some point forward. That's why you get a Doumbia, because that will give Chike Ndefo and Jaquan Womack the chance to develop and hopefully take over for him and probably Tejada next season.

Womack (6-7, 225) impressed me the most. He's a better three-point shooter than I anticipated seeing even after watching many highlights from his Paul VI days. Looked very confident, excellent rebounder and has the length to be a very good defender. But as with most freshmen, that can be a learning curve playing against bigger wings and power forwards at this level. Chike Ndefo (6-7, 215) has improved after sitting out last season. I see great things for him in the future, though not sure he's ready in his first season playing D1 ball. Still is a post player trying to play wing. A little like TJPR because he's explosive and can get after it on the boards. Had a great block today where he came out of nowhere to swat it off the glass. The biggest question is how many minutes will these guys get because Tejada is going to play 30+ and Doumbia at least 25+. 

I think when you look at DWill, you know he can score. But with Tyler Schmidt on the wing and Jaiden Cole returning to the fold, you have more 3-point shooters in the mix compared to last season when he had few options to dish the ball to. Schmidt wasn't great today, but he's known as a marksman (39%) and you can see there are some Antonio Rizzuto attributes (similar size, but he's not as athletic). Has quick hands and does other things aside from shoot, but his key is to make open 3s. I don't think Cole has to be great. He could be serviceable as a backup point guard but not sure he's much more than a shooter. He's an upgrade over Rad Hicks, though not sure he's a better defender.

I think if PS is looking for that Hicks-type to come in just for defense, that could be freshman Jon Barton (6-3, 215). You look at him on the surface and he looks a little like N. Tarke because he's left-handed and built like a linebacker. But he's more of a combo or even a point guard. He has no problem getting into the lane and finishing off contact. I know he could shoot in HS, but want to see more of him on the perimeter along with the big kid Brandon Holmes from Mt. St. Joe's.  I know he has the size, but didn't really see him do a whole lot and that's because it's tough to get on the floor when you're the 4th-string center. Add small ball centers like Tyler Coleman (was injured) and Womack, so I assume he's redshirting unless another big gets hurt or he's tremendous.

So I still see DWill, Schmidt, Doumbia, Tejada and Sek with Embeya, Womack, Ndefo and either Cole/Barton or both as backup guards (one other option I'll mention in next update).

 

As for schedule, still waiting on some schools. Most of the stuff mentioned before on the general board is true. Also had issues with my tape recorder on my phone. For some reason, it didn't tape. 

[Bay Area Tiger]

Tyler adding 15lbs is great news.  I want to see him attack the rim more and get to the charity stripe more. 
 

DWill with better shooters around him will average a lot more assists than he did this past season..  2.6 I’m guessing was his average.  He’s gonna share the ball more and sacrifice his points a bit in certain games for us to win more.  
 

We’ve put the band back together and every single game is gonna be must watch or listen basketball in my opinion. 
 

CAA Champs or bust 

[mat1992]

5 minutes ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

Tyler adding 15lbs is great news.  I want to see him attack the rim more and get to the charity stripe more. 
 

DWill with better shooters around him will average a lot more assists than he did this past season..  2.6 I’m guessing was his average.  He’s gonna share the ball more and sacrifice his points a bit in certain games for us to win more.  
 

We’ve put the band back together and every single game is gonna be must watch or listen basketball in my opinion. 
 

CAA Champs or bust 

This has a chance to be a better, bigger, deeper, stronger shooting and rebounding squad than last season, but will be tough to duplicate the 16-2 record in the CAA. Would take 13-5, a better non-conference record and of course, three wins in D.C. It's early, but I like most of the additions. There aren't many weaknesses, but they will need to improve defensively and I think that's where they will miss May, Lowery and Tarke. Need to take care of the ball and push it more to take advantage of Doumbia, Womack and Chike's athleticism. While we might miss those perimeter guys defensively (Doumbia should be a + defender), we add a player with a 7-5 wingspan who is a legit rim protector in Sek. I know he wasn't very good last season on a bad team. He just needs to be solid defensively at the 5. No offense to Messiah Jones, but I felt bad for him at times last season going up against guys 6-9 and taller at around 6-5, 235.

[Tiger93]

10 hours ago, mat1992 said:

This has a chance to be a better, bigger, deeper, stronger shooting and rebounding squad than last season, but will be tough to duplicate the 16-2 record in the CAA. Would take 13-5, a better non-conference record and of course, three wins in D.C. It's early, but I like most of the additions. There aren't many weaknesses, but they will need to improve defensively and I think that's where they will miss May, Lowery and Tarke. Need to take care of the ball and push it more to take advantage of Doumbia, Womack and Chike's athleticism. While we might miss those perimeter guys defensively (Doumbia should be a + defender), we add a player with a 7-5 wingspan who is a legit rim protector in Sek. I know he wasn't very good last season on a bad team. He just needs to be solid defensively at the 5. No offense to Messiah Jones, but I felt bad for him at times last season going up against guys 6-9 and taller at around 6-5, 235.

I look forward to seeing how this team comes together. One thing I would like to Skerry and the players to improve upon, is being more ready for the non-conference season. This will obviously be a pretty tough schedule, but there are likely some solid RPI/NET victory opportunities against similar top of mid-major conference programs. There is the obvious need to make the NCAA Tournament and play better in March drum that we will all beat, but a big area for improvement is having a better feel for ways to tighten things up in November and December so we can elevate the overall profile and quality of this program. We got a tease of this in 2021-22, and if this program wants to be better that needs to become more of a regular outcome. 

[Bay Area Tiger]

49 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

I look forward to seeing how this team comes together. One thing I would like to Skerry and the players to improve upon, is being more ready for the non-conference season. This will obviously be a pretty tough schedule, but there are likely some solid RPI/NET victory opportunities against similar top of mid-major conference programs. There is the obvious need to make the NCAA Tournament and play better in March drum that we will all beat, but a big area for improvement is having a better feel for ways to tighten things up in November and December so we can elevate the overall profile and quality of this program. We got a tease of this in 2021-22, and if this program wants to be better that needs to become more of a regular outcome. 

Last season the Western Slam hurt us.  Guys got sick and others hurt. We were 4-2 before losing 3 games in Siberia like conditions and then went on to lose 3 more games back in the States.  5-9* out of respect for 2012 who doesn’t recognize Wilkes-Barre except for the flood of 71’ of course.  Team was prepared in my opinion..   No way we finish under 500 this coming non conference schedule.  9-5!!!  Calling it now. 

[Tiger93]

25 minutes ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

Last season the Western Slam hurt us.  Guys got sick and others hurt. We were 4-2 before losing 3 games in Siberia like conditions and then went on to lose 3 more games back in the States.  5-9* out of respect for 2012 who doesn’t recognize Wilkes-Barre except for the flood of 71’ of course.  Team was prepared in my opinion..   No way we finish under 500 this coming non conference schedule.  9-5!!!  Calling it now. 

We came out ready to play against St. Mary's and had a pretty solid effort. We just didn't have enough size, but good fight.

Three of the next four were not great performances. We showed some good fight to pull out really ugly wins against Morgan State and Nicholls State, completely laid an egg against South Carolina, and had some flashes in JMU win.

I still liked how we played against UC Irvine, but we came up short. The effort was there against Kennesaw State and Kent Stat were there, but we had injuries and also didn't play very well.

The non-conference really unraveled with the UMBC and Duquesne efforts, and blowing the big lead to Robert Morris stung.

To the credit of Skerry and the players, the win over Bryant seemed like it gave us some momentum going into a very successful conference season.

I just feel like this program should be 100 or better in the NET by conference play every year, and once every 2-3 years it would be nice to have a year like 2021-22 where we find ourselves in that top 60-70 range. This is what good all-around programs do if we aspired to be one 

[TuTigers2012]

On 7/16/2025 at 10:11 AM, Bay Area Tiger said:

Last season the Western Slam hurt us.  Guys got sick and others hurt. We were 4-2 before losing 3 games in Siberia like conditions and then went on to lose 3 more games back in the States.  5-9* out of respect for 2012 who doesn’t recognize Wilkes-Barre except for the flood of 71’ of course.  Team was prepared in my opinion..   No way we finish under 500 this coming non conference schedule.  9-5!!!  Calling it now. 

Thanks.  NCAA doesn’t recognize it neither do I. 

[mat1992]

Better late than never. I found the interview from Tuesday with PS

"I like the group. They play pretty hard. We move as well as we have and have good bodies. The key on offense is whether we can take care of the ball, eventually define roles and why that's important to the success of the team. There are good pieces. I've been really pleased with how much work these guys put in on their own.. Tyler and Dylan are in every morning at 8am for extra shooting. That sets the tone for other guys. I like our group, but we're not a Towson team yet defensively, but we have the ability to be pretty good on that end of the floor."

"This is our sixth week. Two days a week is heavy skill and two days a week we've been playing more."

"I thought Womack was really good (today). Ndefo when he plays games, makes a lot happen. Doumbia is talented and can do some stuff from Point A and Point B. We are better at the 5 (center) because...Mor (Sek) is big, Caleb has gotten better and Abdou has gotten a lot better. These guys have worked. I have to watch some film to see what we're doing well and not doing well."

On freshmen

"Barton is going to be a good player. He's ready right now defensively. He's fine on offense. He has to learn to keep it simple. He's a combo guard. He's a tank at 215 pounds and gets his hands on a lot of balls."

On rebounding

"I expect us to be all over the glass. Tyler Coleman was playing well (injured). Tyler Tejada is rebounding a lot more. His body at 236 can take some hits. Didn't shoot that well today. Dylan is gifted."

On Womack

"Those guys know how to win and understand winning. Especially Womack. Comes from a hell of a program in Paul VI. These guys aren't in shape yet for transition. We look good physically. We don't look like we have little boys. Even Jaiden (Cole) looks bigger than two seasons ago. He's gotten better. He has a good feel. Has to do it on the (defensive side)."

On rotation

"We have some guys that can really shoot, glass guys, centers, Towson attackers. The roles are going to be really important. We have the ability to define some of those and get more out of that. A fight at times."

On Tyler Schmidt

"Didn't shoot it great today, but he's going to get it off. Last Thursday, he makes most of his shots."

On Schedule

"Should be five home games non-conference. Four neutral, four away. We have to re-issue a new contract for Sacred Heart. Two non-1s home games. Hopefully we can get someone to start here, Cornell, Norfolk State and Sacred Heart. Loyola downtown. Three neutral games in Disney. Kansas, Central Florida, Houston and JMU. Tough schedule."

On Tyler and Dylan coming back

"Says a lot about the staff, the kids, the families. My AD and President are making more of a commitment. We know what our goals are this year. We talked about those Day 1. How many days can we have good days to put us that position. We take a lot of pride in how good we've been in. This is going to be a good group. They're going to be tested early. But it starts with Dylan and Tyler. I'm enjoying coaching them. I don't take any of that stuff for granted. It's their team, not my team. They're ready for that (leadership). Gentlemen and good people. I trust Dylan to make good reads. We shot it so bad early last season. The three-point shot is a weapon. If we can shoot it, it's going to open things up. Doumbia is a big 3 guys. Wright State brought him off the bench last season. He's working on his three-point shot. When Coach Conway recruited him, I asked why didn't we get him out of high school and he said he's gotten really good."

 

[TuTigers2012]

Another less than stellar (being very generous here) home slate. 2 glorified exhibitions.  No way to build off of last years momentum. 

on the other hand are we joining the big 12?!