Best transfer players in the Skerry era

[TSU88]

(1) Benimon, who’s first season here was in 2012

(2) Holden, who’s first season here was 2021

(3) Moto, whose first season here was 2015. 

I’m not counting Fobbs, who was a JUCO.

There have been a handful of solid guys: Nolan, Burwell, Dixon, McGlynn…all complimentary guys who were not program changers.

So, only 1 of these top 3 have been in the last decade. Exhibit A in my argument that we need a change in the coaching staff. Well, we really need a change in the head coaching staff but that ain’t happening 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TuTigers2012]

51 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

(1) Benimon, who’s first season here was in 2012

(2) Holden, who’s first season here was 2021

(3) Moto, whose first season here was 2015. 

I’m not counting Fobbs, who was a JUCO.

There have been a handful of solid guys: Nolan, Burwell, Dixon, McGlynn…all complimentary guys who were not program changers.

So, only 1 of these top 3 have been in the last decade. Exhibit A in my argument that we need a change in the coaching staff. Well, we really need a change in the head coaching staff but that ain’t happening 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can still pray every night to Fire Pat! 
none were in the new era of portal and nil. 
moto and Benimon had the sit out year and both transferred from power5 schools. Talent was there if not wouldn’t have been recruited by Georgetown and wake, playing time wasn’t. 
 

The transfer issue is a big one.  Looking in the other side of it Lowery and May have been slightly better after leaving Tiger town (take what you want out if it)

[TSU88]

15 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

We can still pray every night to Fire Pat! 
none were in the new era of portal and nil. 
moto and Benimon had the sit out year and both transferred from power5 schools. Talent was there if not wouldn’t have been recruited by Georgetown and wake, playing time wasn’t. 
 

The transfer issue is a big one.  Looking in the other side of it Lowery and May have been slightly better after leaving Tiger town (take what you want out if it)

As you noted, they’re all pre-NIL. In fairness, last offseason I believe was the first time we actually paid a transfer. More to the point I suppose is the decade long drought, other than Holden, of bringing in an impact transfer, pre-or-post NIL. Benimon was undoubtedly brought in by one of the good assistants Skerry had in the beginning (and he had some very good ones). Moto was a good player, who avg’d 13ppg in his two years here. If I recall correctly he made 2nd team all-CAA. Holden is the best facilitator we’ve ever had under Skerry, hands down. 

The list of clunkers he’s brought in is far longer than the 3 impact guys. I am left to conclude that the current staff is deficient in identifying quality transfers and is likewise deficient in developing the ones we have brought in. Suffice it to say this is a bad combination and cries out for changes in the coaching staff, which are unlikely to come about 
 

[Bay Area Tiger]

13 hours ago, TSU88 said:

As you noted, they’re all pre-NIL. In fairness, last offseason I believe was the first time we actually paid a transfer. More to the point I suppose is the decade long drought, other than Holden, of bringing in an impact transfer, pre-or-post NIL. Benimon was undoubtedly brought in by one of the good assistants Skerry had in the beginning (and he had some very good ones). Moto was a good player, who avg’d 13ppg in his two years here. If I recall correctly he made 2nd team all-CAA. Holden is the best facilitator we’ve ever had under Skerry, hands down. 

The list of clunkers he’s brought in is far longer than the 3 impact guys. I am left to conclude that the current staff is deficient in identifying quality transfers and is likewise deficient in developing the ones we have brought in. Suffice it to say this is a bad combination and cries out for changes in the coaching staff, which are unlikely to come about 
 

One positive with Moto transferring over and correct me if I’m wrong that started our small pipeline into African born basketball players..  Seck, Ndefo, Embeya USC transfer ? name from FLA etc.   By no means am I saying this was successful but at least word has gotten around and now if we could land the next Olajuwon we’d be set 😀

I think Embeya has played a lot better now and I sorta see why PS was high on him.  Kid is a nice guy and we’d like him a bit meaner but he’s at least one piece you know will continue to work hard and improve.   If we had a loaded roster going forward what a luxury he’d continue to be off the bench. 
 

 

[mat1992]

15 minutes ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

One positive with Moto transferring over and correct me if I’m wrong that started our small pipeline into African born basketball players..  Seck, Ndefo, Embeya USC transfer ? name from FLA etc.   By no means am I saying this was successful but at least word has gotten around and now if we could land the next Olajuwon we’d be set 😀

I think Embeya has played a lot better now and I sorta see why PS was high on him.  Kid is a nice guy and we’d like him a bit meaner but he’s at least one piece you know will continue to work hard and improve.   If we had a loaded roster going forward what a luxury he’d continue to be off the bench. 
 

 

Ndefo is from Elmont, NY.

[TSU88]

16 minutes ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

If we had a loaded roster going forward what a luxury he’d continue to be off the bench.

I was thinking the same thing yesterday. Assuming he’s back next season, he may have to start, as Holmes will be the only other returning big, and he’s a completely unknown entity. Nor do I have any remote confidence we’ll bring in a good big via the portal.

As to your point about the pipeline to players from Africa, if the results are Victor & Solomon U, along with Seck, please turn the pipeline off. I know BAT, you didn’t say it’s been an unqualified success. 

[Bay Area Tiger]

Just now, mat1992 said:

Ndefo is from Elmont, NY.

Yeah ok. African descent right!?  My point is since Moto we’ve had more African born or descent players join the program so the staff has in essence tried to build a pipeline of sorts.  We are not Saint Mary’s and Australia 🇦🇺 but Towson has tried.  

Staffs recruit from referrals many times.  Maybe we land a big from Sudan next!? 

[Tiger93]

23 hours ago, TSU88 said:

(1) Benimon, who’s first season here was in 2012

(2) Holden, who’s first season here was 2021

(3) Moto, whose first season here was 2015. 

I’m not counting Fobbs, who was a JUCO.

There have been a handful of solid guys: Nolan, Burwell, Dixon, McGlynn…all complimentary guys who were not program changers.

So, only 1 of these top 3 have been in the last decade. Exhibit A in my argument that we need a change in the coaching staff. Well, we really need a change in the head coaching staff but that ain’t happening 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good topic. It is interesting list to put together. I am not the biggest fan of Skerry's system or player development, but I feel like two things are unfair about this conversation. 

First, I don't consider Nolan Jr. a complementary piece. Along with Holden those two helped set the tone to make the offense a decently high percentage one that actually involved a good amount of ball movement. I know he only averaged 9.7 ppg, but he was a primary ballhandler who had one of our highest assist totals in recent years, 2.58-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and nearly two steals per game. It was not just Holden who turned things around in 2021-22. When you combine the non-conferemce play and conference season that is probably most successful D1 season Towson has had other than the two NCAA Tournament seasons. Honestly, every year I hope we can get someone similar to Nolan Jr., but I think that costs more than we have these days.

I also feel like Nendah Tarke isn't getting his due here either. I know his inconsistency drove us all crazy at times, but he averaged 12.4 ppg, shot 47.7% and 42.0% in conference play (percentages we would desperately take this year) for a team that went 16-2. He really freed things up for Williamson and Tejada last year. We need Doumbia Jr. to do that, but he just hasn't been efficient enough despite being a solid score at times this year. 

I also feel like Skerry's philosophy has been to develop our guys and complement them with transfers, probably feeling like it would be easier to convince guys to stay they to to have enough money to get others to come. That has mostly proven true, although the it is mixed bag of success.

Thompson, Gibson and Timberlake were a solid core that needed a good transfer like Holden to make them better. May, Williamson, Tejada and Thompson were a solid core in 2023-24, and last year I feel like Tarke, Jones and Sulaiman all played their roles well with Tejada and Williamson. I wouldn't put Sulaiman and Jones anywhere near that list, but they certainly were good complements whose experiences made us better last year. 

This year is the first in 5-6 years that we only had two core pieces coming back, and while Doumbia Jr. has been a good transfer addition at times his efficiency has dropped a lot from last year at Wright State. Womack, Ndefo and Embeya are all decent pieces, but Womack is probably a main offensive core piece of the future if we can keep him (although like how active and athletic Embeya and Ndefo can be). As many on here have said, Schmidt was the one we were counted on who has not been close to giving us enough. I feel like if he replicated his 10.1 and 38.5% 3ptFGpct Tejada and Williamson would have more space. 

I wouldn't say Skerry has been amazing at getting transfers, but I don't think he is awful either. Especially in the context of wanting to develop his guys and complementary pieces to raise the level of the team. I do agree that it stands out this year that so far the pieces are not there either experience-wise or fit-wise to make this a good team. 

[TSU88]

13 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

Good topic. It is interesting list to put together. I am not the biggest fan of Skerry's system or player development, but I feel like two things are unfair about this conversation. 

First, I don't consider Nolan Jr. a complementary piece. Along with Holden those two helped set the tone to make the offense a decently high percentage one that actually involved a good amount of ball movement. I know he only averaged 9.7 ppg, but he was a primary ballhandler who had one of our highest assist totals in recent years, 2.58-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and nearly two steals per game. It was not just Holden who turned things around in 2021-22. When you combine the non-conferemce play and conference season that is probably most successful D1 season Towson has had other than the two NCAA Tournament seasons. Honestly, every year I hope we can get someone similar to Nolan Jr., but I think that costs more than we have these days.

I also feel like Nendah Tarke isn't getting his due here either. I know his inconsistency drove us all crazy at times, but he averaged 12.4 ppg, shot 47.7% and 42.0% in conference play (percentages we would desperately take this year) for a team that went 16-2. He really freed things up for Williamson and Tejada last year. We need Doumbia Jr. to do that, but he just hasn't been efficient enough despite being a solid score at times this year. 

I also feel like Skerry's philosophy has been to develop our guys and complement them with transfers, probably feeling like it would be easier to convince guys to stay they to to have enough money to get others to come. That has mostly proven true, although the it is mixed bag of success.

Thompson, Gibson and Timberlake were a solid core that needed a good transfer like Holden to make them better. May, Williamson, Tejada and Thompson were a solid core in 2023-24, and last year I feel like Tarke, Jones and Sulaiman all played their roles well with Tejada and Williamson. I wouldn't put Sulaiman and Jones anywhere near that list, but they certainly were good complements whose experiences made us better last year. 

This year is the first in 5-6 years that we only had two core pieces coming back, and while Doumbia Jr. has been a good transfer addition at times his efficiency has dropped a lot from last year at Wright State. Womack, Ndefo and Embeya are all decent pieces, but Womack is probably a main offensive core piece of the future if we can keep him (although like how active and athletic Embeya and Ndefo can be). As many on here have said, Schmidt was the one we were counted on who has not been close to giving us enough. I feel like if he replicated his 10.1 and 38.5% 3ptFGpct Tejada and Williamson would have more space. 

I wouldn't say Skerry has been amazing at getting transfers, but I don't think he is awful either. Especially in the context of wanting to develop his guys and complementary pieces to raise the level of the team. I do agree that it stands out this year that so far the pieces are not there either experience-wise or fit-wise to make this a good team. 

I forgot about Tarke. He ran hot and cold; certainly not in the top 3. 

Nolan missed too much time in the one year he was here to be anything more than a “what might have been “ guy. 

I stand by my thesis. When you’ve had ONE difference maker transfer in a decade, while your opponents have them coming through like a turnstile, your coaching staff isn’t getting the desired results. One of the many areas where we perennially fall short of the mark, and yet another reason why this coach has never even made it as far as the conference tournament title game. 

We will have to agree to disagree 


 

 

[TSU88]

37 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

First, I don't consider Nolan Jr. a complementary piece.

26 minutes per game; shot 36% overall; 28% from 3. 62% from the foul line. Averaged slightly less than 10ppg. Did avg 1.7 steals per game and had a good assist to turnover rate, though he only avg’d 3.7 assists per game.

Not trying to tarnish him, those were his stats. I think he had a nagging injury plus I recall he was dealing with the birth of a child. All that being said, he was a complementary piece for the most part. If we’re holding him out as a Skerry transfer success story, well….