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July Live Period Preview: College Perspective (Part 1)

07/06/2015, 4:45pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint. (Photo: City of Basketball Love)

Aron Minkoff (@AronMinkoff),
Tom Reifsnyder (@tom_reifsnyder) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The July live periods are upon us, with 15 days this month that will help determine the path for college programs and high school prospects alike.

Here’s the first half of a look at each of the 10 Division I teams that CoBL covers and their current recruiting/scholarship situation for the incoming 2016 class; for part two, click here:

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Delaware Blue Hens
Current scholarship players: 11
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 1
2016 commitments: 0
Open Scholarships: 3

Biggest need(s) for 2016
With 10 players split between their current rising sophomore and junior class, the Blue Hens don’t have too much need for players who have to come in and make an impact right away in 2016-17. And they’re especially solid up front, with six of those scholarships occupied by players who stand 6-6 or taller.

What head coach Monté Ross could really utilize on the roster is a pure shooter, now that Kyle Anderson has graduated and moved on. They thought they had one in 2015 recruit Eli Cain, but Cain de-committed and instead signed with DePaul; getting a sharpshooter would definitely help the Blue Hens’ guards space the floor and get more efficient shots. Rising sophomores Kory Holden and Anthony Mosley have the point guard spot locked down, and former GW guard Darien Bryant will be eligible as a sophomore in 2016 while Cazmon Hayes will be a senior, so the backcourt isn’t thin no matter what.

Targets
The Blue Hens have been fairly quiet on the offer scene thus far, a combination of a naturally cautious approach combined with an unclear contract situation for the coaching staff that lingered throughout the 2014-15 season but has since been resolved. One player they’ve offered in April is Tampa Catholic (Fl.) shooting guard Thomas Dzingwa, a 6-4 sharpshooter who was high school teammates with UDel rising sophomore Chivarsky Corbett, one of the top rookies in the CAA last year.

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Drexel Dragons
Current scholarship players: 12
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 2
2016 commitments: 0
Open Scholarships: 3

Biggest need(s) for 2016

Following the departure of the Dragons’ leading scorer, Damion Lee (21.4 ppg), who transferred to Louisville this offseason, Drexel is in search of a new identity and what better of a way to do that then to land some recruits for their 2016 class. The Dragons are a team filled with young talent and look to be heading in the right direction under coach Bruiser Flint, who is entering his 15th season with the program.

To put it simple, Drexel is in need of well, everything. Their backcourt should be decent for the next couple of years with sophomores Sammy Mojica and Rashann London stepping into a bigger roles as well as the arrival of Wake Forest transfer Miles Overton. Overton will have two years of eligibility remaining after he sits out the entire 2015-2016 season. Drexel could really benefit from adding a dominant big man to control the paint, that was one of their biggest areas of weakness. Drexel posses no big men in their 2015 class and has only one true center on their roster, Mohamed Bah, who will be a junior in this upcoming season. With three bigmen in the 2014 recruiting class, we have yet to really see what they are capable of and this season will be a true testament to what their potential with the program is. One of those big men, 6-foot-6 forward Khris Lane has already transferred from the program.

Targets
Drexel has their sights set on a handful of 2016 prospects, starting with 6-foot-3 Jeff Dowtin of St. John’s HS (D.C). The guard recently visited Drexel’s campus and has fielded offers from schools such as Hofstra, Rhode Island and Lehigh. Mark Gasperini, a 6-9 forward from Russia fits the mold of just what Drexel needs, a tough-interior rim-protector, and he played at the same school (Brimmer & May, Mass.) as Drexel rising sophomore Sammy Mojica. He also has offers from a variety of schools such as American, Holy Cross and Stony Brook. Another big man they like is J.J. Matthews of Millwood High School (Va.) who has competing offers from Murray State, Old Dominion and Duquesne.

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La Salle Explorers
Current scholarship players: 12
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 1
2016 commitments: 0
Open Scholarships: 2

Biggest need(s) for 2016
This offseason alone, the Explorers have added three transfers: a point guard, Pookie Powell (Memphis); a scoring wing, B.J. Johnson (Syracuse); and a big man, Demetrius Henry (South Carolina). All three will sit out in 2015-16 and be eligible next year; Johnson and Henry have two years of eligibility left and Powell has three. Between Powell and rising sophomores Amar Stukes and Johnnie Shuler, La Salle has plenty of depth at point, but where they’re not so deep is at the off-guard position, with Jordan Price and Cleon Roberts both slated to be redshirt seniors in 2016-17.

The forwards will certainly be bolstered by the addition of Henry, who’s 6-9 and started 19 of 21 games at South Carolina as a sophomore, but it’s still a group that needs some help replacing recent graduates Steve Zack and Jerrell Wright. Incoming freshman Rokas Ulvydas (6-11) and rising sophomore Tony Washington (6-10) give them some legitimate size, but the big men in the Atlantic 10 are getting more and more talented every year, and they could use a legitimate post scorer to come in right away.

Targets
The Explorers were early on some top area prospects like the Team Final trio of Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens and Dylan Painter, offering all three last year, but each look like they’ll be playing at a high-major school next fall. Last month, La Salle offered 6-9 forward Mark Gasperini, a Russia native who’s playing at Brimmer & May (Mass.), becoming the 12th school to extend a scholarship or roster opportunity. It’s likely they’ll find quite a few more offer targets this month now that the drastic rises and falls of April are over.

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Lafayette Leopards
Current scholarship players: 13
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 4
2016 commitments: 1
Open Scholarships: 3

Biggest need(s) for 2016
The Leopards may have lost their starting frontcourt, and top two leading scorers, Dan Trist and Seth Hinrichs, to graduation, but rising sophomore Matt Klinewski and incoming freshman Sam Dunkum are poised to step right in to those roles for head coach Fran O’Hanlon in 2015-16. With their bigs squared away for the next few years, Lafayette will likely look for a point guard in the class of 2016 to replace incoming junior Nick Lindner, in addition to a few versatile scorers at the shooting guard position.

Lindner has been fantastic in his two seasons at Lafayette, but he’s the only point guard, and one of only four guards, on the entire roster. Senior Bryce Scott and junior Monty Boykins will be able to give Lindner some scoring help from the shooting guard spot this season, but they’ll both be gone within the the next two years, along with Lindner. The Leopards recently got a verbal commitment from sharpshooting Parkland (Pa.) 2016 small forward Kyle Stout, and have another wing to stretch the floor in rising sophomore Eric Stafford, so the backcourt should be the first order of business for the Leopards in the class of 2016.

Targets
A lengthy scorer like 6-foot-5 Downingtown West (Pa.) shooting guard Ryan Betley would be a terrific fit for the Leopards and their up-and-down style. Betley also has offers from Penn and Brown, and will likely see many more schools come his way throughout the summer of 2015, but Lafayette figures to stay in the mix. To address their impending need at point guard, the Leopards are eyeing Saint Augustine (Calif.) floor general Eric Monroe, a wiry 6-2 guard with superb court vision and a knock-down jumper. Lafayette is also one of the 20-plus schools vying for the services of Hershey (Pa.) big man Dylan Painter, a 6-9 forward with 3-point range and a nice touch around the basket.

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Lehigh Mountain Hawks
Current scholarship players: 13
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 4
2016 commitments: 0
Open Scholarships: 4

Biggest need(s) for 2016
There are a few different positions that head coach Brett Reed needs to stabilize with this class, with a number of four-year contributors who will be on the way out (or close to it) when this class gets to the Lehigh Valley. Two key frontcourt pieces, Jesse Chuku and Justin Goldsborough, are both entering their senior seasons this year, though a pair of incoming freshmen in 6-7 Matt Holba and 6-10 Caleb Sedore should help offset some of that loss. But Tim Kempton, the Patriot League Player of the Year as a sophomore, will be entering his senior year in 2016-17, and with him gone the Mountain Hawks will have only Holba and Sedore on the roster going forward.

The starting backcourt for the next two years will be Kahron Ross at point, Austin Price at shooting guard and Brandon Alston at small forward, but they’ll need to bring in some depth behind that trio thanks to the transfer of Miles Simelton; Kyle Leufroy, Lehigh’s third member of the 2015 class, is a 6-2 combo guard who can get to the hole, but what they really lack is a pure shooter. So to sum it all up, Lehigh’s needs for 2016: two big men, a shooter and a point/combo.

Targets
Moreso than any other school that we cover, Lehigh’s recruiting tends to be all over the map--literally. While a few local prospects--like Neumann-Goretti’s Vaughn Covington and Hershey’s Dylan Painter--have gotten offers, the Mountain Hawks staff has offered players from Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Arizona, Illinois and quite a few other states as well. They’re not particularly focusing in on any of them just yet, as the staff will be bouncing over the country during July to keep tabs on their various targets and see who’s still available come August.

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For Part 2, click here