Roster Breakdown

I'll cut out the cutesy intro and just jump straight into talking about this year's expected contributors.

Chris Warren
We all know what Chris Warren is capable of accomplishing, but I have heard people talking about how they think Warren is going to have a down year this season, due to his breakout season last year. As great as Chris was last season, there are still plenty of areas where he can improve and make himself that much more valuable to the Rebels.

Warren’s two biggest areas of improvement are defense and decision making ability. Last year, Chris was able to come away with some clutch steals, but he was often times barred from guarding the other team’s point guard due to his inability to keep them out of the paint. Reports are that Warren has improved on this area of his game and has added
more strength.

The other area I think Warren can greatly improve in is his decision making process. Too many times Warren forced the issue and tried to drive against two post players and throw up an ill-advised lay up, or take a wild three pointer when Ole Miss had numbers on a fast break. I hate complaining about Warren, but the kid could be much better and I feel confident that he will improve. An encouraging sign of this is Kennedy's claims that the biggest improvements in his system happens between a player’s first and second years in the program, just look at Eniel Polynice.

Will Bogan
I do not know much about Bogan. He is from Idaho, he is going to be the backup to Warren, and there is plenty of YouTube on the guy. This one, due to song choice, is my favorite. He looks solid in the video, can be argued that he telegraphs his shot too much, but he looks serviceable despite playing against Idahoans in his videos.

Kennedy discovered Will while he was he scouting another point guard. Bogan was matched up against this other point guard and apparently did well enough to impress AK and the rest of the staff enough who extend a scholarship.

Trevor Gaskins
I am lumping Gaskins in with the pointguards, but he is really a severely undersized shooting guard. Last year, Gaskins was one of the streakiest shooters on the team as he had the capability to drain seven three-pointers in one game, and then perform so poorly in the next game that he doesn’t see more than 5 minutes of action.

Gaskins is very turn over prone, whether it is an ill-advides three or one of his patented awful inbounds passes. One thing positive to say about Trevor is that he is not afraid to take a big shot, this can also be a fault. Expect this to be Gaskins last year with the Rebels as we try to make room for Reggie Buckner and Trenton Marshall.

David Huertas
Dahveed has a well-documented path to Ole Miss and start to his first year with the Rebels on the court. After his shaky start (putting it kindly) Huertas was arguably the best player on the floor towards the end of the season. If Huertas can carry over his performances from the latter half of 2007-2008 then the Rebels’ backcourt could be tops in the SEC. Another area to mention about Huertas is his aggressive defense and hustle. While overshadowed by Polynice on the defensive side of the ball last year, Huertas still showed he was not just a spot up shooter for the Rebels.

Eniel Polynice
No other player on the rosters scared me more than EP. I have never seen a more out of control, yet in control, player with the ball in his hands. It is uncanny. He is a phenomenal defender, always was relegated to guarding the opposing teams best player. EP still has glaring weaknesses, like free throw shooting. I am not going to waste time looking it up but I am willing to bet that he was right at, if not below 50% from the charity stripe.
Speaking of EP’s free throw shooting, Andy Kennedy had an amusing quote when he spoke at the Sigma Nu house a few weeks ago. Kennedy was talking about how he finds you can improve a player by 20% in a given area if you strenusouly focus on it. So, why should he focus on EP’s terrible free throw shooting since he can make him just an awful free throw shooter, when he can focus on perimeter defense and penetration, areas he has shown promise in and can use to define his game.

Zach Graham
Graham was arguably the most athletic player on the team last season and had great games against UCF and Nebraska in the NIT last year. He definitely suffered through some growing pains, but showed plenty of promise. He has the potential to be as good of a slasher as Polynice, but he is also developing a consistent outside shot. Unfortunately, he plays the deepest position on roster and could get lost in the shuffle.

Terrico White
White is one of the players who could bury Graham on the bench. White has terrific upside and probably the best NBA prospect on the roster, yes more so than Malcolm and Henry. White was the top player in the state of Tennessee last year and has all the tools to emerge as a premiere SEC player during his time at Ole Miss.

Murphy Holloway
Holloway is another one of Kennedy’s prized recruits. Holloway is from South Carolina and was regarded by many as being the top player in the Palmetto State. I really cannot speak much on his game because there is no video, but the coaches feel confident in his ability and he was voted as one of the top impact freshmen in the SEC.

Terrance Henry
Yet another key freshman on this year’s roster. Henry is a keynote recruit due to the lack of depth in the frontcourt because of the departure of Kenny Williams, Dwayne Curtis and Jeremy Parnell. Henry needs to be prepared to play early and often because of the departure of those three seniors. Henry is being called the biggest recruit in Ole Miss history since Justin Reed and may have a similar style game. Henry is rail thin, but has shown that he can play down on the blocks and stretch the floor. He will provide Kennedy with plenty of athleticism at the 4 and allow him to spread the floor even more to create more lanes for players like Polynice and Warren.

Malcolm White
Malcolm is the only returning big man with NCAA experience. White exhibited flashes of greatness last season, but was largely inconsistent. I expect White to be more effective this season with an even faster paced offense and the fact that he is going to be the go to guy down low for Kennedy and company.

Kevin Cantinol
Kennedy claims Cantinol is going to be a pleasant surprise to many Rebel fans. I am not so sure. I have no room to disagree with Kennedy, but this guy looked clueless last season in warm-ups and just sitting on the bench. I will withhold judgment on KC and trust Kennedy.
Deaundre Cranston
I am not sure what to think of Cranston either. He received some good recognition for his contributions in JUCO, but his stats were nothing to get excited over. Cranston is supposedly another big man who will be able to stretch the floor for Kennedy and play facing the basket. I guess we will have to see how he does on Friday before we judge him as well.

This just in... LaQuinton Ross is in fact 17 years old.

There was a lot of suspicion that 2011 SG prospect LaQuinton Ross was seventeen years old. This should clear that up.

There's just something weird about that. Sure, he's talented, but that's against kids that are 2-3 years younger than he is. I'm sure he's getting a lot of press now. I just wonder how much better he'll get by the time he's a senior.

Also, if the reason is really because he took seventh and eighth grade twice since his AAU coach wanted him to be highly ranked as a recruit, that's really sad. What if he's not all that and a bag of potato chips? What if he never makes it to the NBA? You just wasted two years of the kid's life and the opportunity to grow up with people his own age. Great job man.

I'm sure we'll recruit him, and we may even sign him. I'm sure I'll be happy to have the #1 basketball player in the country committed, but I'm going to temper my enthusiasm for the kid. He should be a senior but is a sophomore.

Trenton Marshall back on the market

Recently, Trenton Marshall told the coaches at Oklahoma State that he will be re-opening his recruitment.

If you remember, it was between us and Okie State for Marshall. I really hope we end up with him. If our class for next year is Marshall and Reggie Buckner, it will easily be the best rated class we've ever had. Apparently, some people think that Marshall is good enough to be one and done. I sure hope he is if he comes to Ole Miss.

Let's take a look at what our team would look like if Marshall signed with us. I have to add that someone would have to transfer out for this to be possible, but I won't guess at who that will be.

PG: Chris Warren (Jr.) / Will Bogan (So.)
SG: David Huertas (Sr.) / Terrico White (So.) / Trevor Gaskins (Jr.)
SF: Eniel Polynice (Sr.) / Trenton Marshall (Jr.) / Zach Graham (Jr.) / Reggie Buckner (Fr.)
PF: DeAundre Cranston (Sr.) / Terrance Henry (So.) / Murphy Holloway (So.)
C: Malcolm White (Jr.) / Kevin Cantinol (So.)

The only two players on that list that I'm not particularly excited about are Bogan and Cantinol, and those two certainly have the capability to be good. Look how deep that team would be. Sweet Sixteen, here we come.

Coach O's Fence Paying Dividends...

...for the basketball team. According to Neal McCready of Rivals, Andy Kennedy received a commit from his top prospect the second highest ranked prospect on the Rebels' recruiting board when Reginald Buckner gave his verbal pledge to Ole Miss.  Buckner is a 6'8" tweener from Memphis and is considered by some to be the top player in the Memphis area.  I honestly think he is better than Leslie McDonald and Ferrakohn Hall. I have never seen Buckner play, but I have seen LM play and while he was easily the best player on the court he was nothing spectacular.

Marshall, the rumored number one on AK's board, is considered the top JUCO prospect in the country (insert overused top JUCO player joke here) but would probably only be at Ole Miss for one year.  Marshall also plays the two or the three, a position we do not need to worry about in recruiting.

Buckner is going to be a very versatile player in that he has an inside and outside game, and at 6'8" can create match-up problems wherever you play him. He'll also provide a defensive presence with his size and knack for blocking shots, he averaged six a game as a junior.

Buckner claimed he committed to the Rebels because of the coaching staff and the facilities. I am not too sure what basketball facilities could impress him unless AK has been showing recruits a virtual tour of the BPF. Regardless, this marks the second straight year we have gotten one of the top players out of Memphis and the third straight year AK has gotten his number one player (I have trouble believing Marshall was number one, it just did not make since from a personnel standpoint).

Also, luckily for Neal, Buckner's friends like Ole Miss.

Basketball Recruiting

This upcoming weekend is going to be an important one for Ole Miss basketball as the Rebels marquee prospect, Trenton Marshall, will be attending AK's basketball camp.  Marshall is a 6'5 small forward who may be considered the top JUCO player in the nation next season (I hope not). 

The staff thinks the world of this prospect and even held over the scholarship opened up by Terrence Watson's departure to ensure they had a spot available for Mr. Marshall.  Adding Marshall will only further strengthen our backcourt, which highly regarded recruiting analyst sunshine-pumper, Yancy Porter, describes as the best backcourt in the nation. 

We here at RSC recognize the idiocy of this statement and do not even partially agree, but we are very excited at the chance of adding someone of Marshall's caliber and of the future of the basketball program here at Ole Miss.

Final Note:  Bids for the BPF will be reviewed on June 19 from what I have gathered.