College basketball season is fast upon us and an exhibition game is at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPNU with North Carolina at Memphis.
Memphis has been a hot mess with the coaching staff this fall, but I am high on Tulsa guard transfer PJ Haggerty, and centers Moussa Cisse (Memphis/Ole Miss) and Dain Dainja (Baylor/Illinois) have transferred in, with Cisse returning to his original college. Combo guard Tyrese Hunter has bounced around from Iowa State to Texas to Memphis. Wing Colby Rogers can score and is on school No. 4 — Cal Poly, Siena, Wichita State and Memphis. Power forward Tyreek Smith previously played at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and SMU. It is essentially a brand new team with Nicholas Jordain back at 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
UNC will build around the nucleus of senior shooting guard R.J. Davis, point guard Elliot Cadeau, freshmen wings Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, forward Cade Tyson and center Ven-Allen Lubin. Tyson came from Belmont and is the younger brother of NBA player and former Clemson forward Hunter Tyson. Lubin played at Notre Dame for a year and then a year at Vanderbilt. The X-factors for them are combo guard Seth Trimble and power forward Jalen Washington, but the team will be short with maybe the tallest player at 6-8.
I will assume they will run, run, run this year to make up for the lack of size, and Tyson as a stretch four is something that will be fascinating to watch. They also should be deep with power forwards Ty Claude and Jae'Lyn Withers joining Powell, Trimble and Washington off the bench.
Memphis has been a hot mess with the coaching staff this fall, but I am high on Tulsa guard transfer PJ Haggerty, and centers Moussa Cisse (Memphis/Ole Miss) and Dain Dainja (Baylor/Illinois) have transferred in, with Cisse returning to his original college. Combo guard Tyrese Hunter has bounced around from Iowa State to Texas to Memphis. Wing Colby Rogers can score and is on school No. 4 — Cal Poly, Siena, Wichita State and Memphis. Power forward Tyreek Smith previously played at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and SMU. It is essentially a brand new team with Nicholas Jordain back at 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
UNC will build around the nucleus of senior shooting guard R.J. Davis, point guard Elliot Cadeau, freshmen wings Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, forward Cade Tyson and center Ven-Allen Lubin. Tyson came from Belmont and is the younger brother of NBA player and former Clemson forward Hunter Tyson. Lubin played at Notre Dame for a year and then a year at Vanderbilt. The X-factors for them are combo guard Seth Trimble and power forward Jalen Washington, but the team will be short with maybe the tallest player at 6-8.
I will assume they will run, run, run this year to make up for the lack of size, and Tyson as a stretch four is something that will be fascinating to watch. They also should be deep with power forwards Ty Claude and Jae'Lyn Withers joining Powell, Trimble and Washington off the bench.
