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July Live Period Preview: College Perspective (Part 2)

07/06/2015, 4:50pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

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 second half of 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 one, click here:

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Penn Quakers
Current scholarship players: N/A
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 3
2016 commitments: 1
Open Scholarships: N/A

Biggest need(s) for 2016
As a member of the only league in NCAA Division I that doesn’t allow athletic scholarships, Penn’s roster doesn’t suffer from the same number shortage that many of these other schools has to deal with: the six incoming freshmen this year means new head coach Steve Donahue has something like 18 players on his current roster, but obviously not all of them will be seeing much of the court. The forward situation got a much-needed boost with the commitment of Northfield Mt. Hermon (Mass.) forward A.J. Brodeur earlier today. Otherwise, only then-senior Dylan Jones, juniors Dan Dwyer and Mike Auger plus sophomore Collin McManus projected to be on the roster in 2016-17; the 6-10 McManus, 6-8 Brodeur and 6-7 Auger could be the frontcourt of the future, but they could use one more solid athletic forward in there as well.

The point guard situation is set for the next few years between incoming freshmen Jake Silpe, plus rising sophomores Darnell Foreman and Antonio Woods, though it wouldn’t be surprising if Silpe starts all four years and pushes Woods off the ball while Foreman backs them up. Jackson Donahue, another incoming freshman, is a sharpshooter with a solid handle, and he could play alongside any of the three in the backcourt--though that also doesn’t leave Donahue with a ton of height back there. On the wings, they’ll have a pair of juniors in 6-5 Matt McDonald and 6-7 Sam Jones, plus 6-4 senior Matt Howard, giving them plenty of scoring punch.

Targets
Considering there aren’t any obvious pressing deficiencies for the Quakers, Donahue and his staff can be a little picky in bringing in players who are going to make an impact right away in their college careers. Two local shooting guards are getting a lot of attention: Archbishop Carroll’s Ryan Daly and Downingtown West’s Ryan Betley, both of whom have numerous other Ivy/Patriot types in pursuit. Also holding Penn offers are Germantown Academy point guard Devon Goodman and St. Anthony’s Jagan Mosely, though Mosely has quite a few high-majors on his trail as well. Grant Williams, a 6-7 small forward from Providence Day (N.C.), picked up a Penn offer in May.

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Penn State Nittany Lions
Current scholarship players: 12
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 4
2016 commitments: 2
Open Scholarships: 3

Biggest need(s) for 2016
Head coach Pat Chambers and his staff have to feel good about what they’ve got going on with their 2016 class, considering they’ve already got a pair of talented prospects in Oak Hill (Va.) power forward Joe Hampton and Roman Catholic (Pa.) wing Nazeer Bostick (pictured above). The Nittany Lions have to recruit at an elite level to make up some room in the Big Ten, and while Hampton and Bostick are both very talented players, neither on their own are enough to be program-changers--but with another few commitments, this could be a second consecutive very impressive class at Happy Valley.

The most pressing need for Chambers in this class is for a point guard; D.J. Newbill, who graduated this year, leaves a massive void at the position that they’ll try and partially fill with former JUCO guard Devin Foster, but this is Foster’s last season of eligibility and Geno Thorpe transferred to South Florida. As of right now, all the guards on the roster for 2016-17--Shep Garner, Terrence Samuel, Isaiah Washington and Josh Reaves--are really more shooting guards, though Samuel, who was a freshman on UConn’s national championship team in 2014, has the best chance of the four to play point if they can’t land a stud at the position.

Targets
Penn State’s coaches aren’t being too picky about their offers, extending scholarships to a number of talented players to try and build on the core they’re already putting together. The top targets are the Roman Catholic duo of Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens, who they’ve had up to campus multiple times; Carr and Stevens come from the same AAU program and high school as Garner, not to mention Bostick, who’s certainly in their ear to come join him. The Nittany Lions were also early on another Team Final star, Dylan Painter, a center Pennsylvania native who’s certainly taking them seriously as a potential destination.

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Saint Joseph’s Hawks
Current scholarship players: 12
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 3
2016 commitments: 1
Open Scholarships: 3

Biggest need(s) for 2016
The Hawks’ perimeter situation is fairly stable for the next few years. Current rising sophomore Shavar Newkirk and incoming freshman Lamarr Kimble will fight for minutes at point guard, while another incoming freshman, Chris Clover, is a physical specimen of a 6-4 guard who can play on or off the ball. Out on the wing in 2016-17 will be a rising junior in 6-5 James Demery and Phil Martelli’s only current recruit for the class, Charlie Brown; Brown is a much better outside shooter while Demery can attack the bucket and defends at a very high level. And if DeAndre Bembry doesn’t declare for the NBA Draft after his upcoming junior season, he will take a lot of pressure off all the above that year as well.

That’s not to say that frontcourt’s cupboard is bare, either. Javon Baumann, who started all but one game last year as a redshirt sophomore, will be a 6-9 senior with plenty of experience in 2016-17. Behind him will be a 6-9 redshirt junior in Jai Williams and 6-7 redshirt sophomore in Markell Lodge, plus 6-7 sophomore Pierfrancesco Oliva, a stretch forward who isn’t quite the interior threat that Lodge, Williams and Baumann are. But while all four are going to need to play their roles for Martelli over the next few years, they’re still looking for a game-changing big man that can have the impact that former Hawk forward Halil Kanacevic had.

Targets
Right now, Martelli and his staff have their eyes on a few players that they offered fairly early in the cycle but have since grown into high-major territory. Hershey (Pa.) PF/C Dylan Painter and Worcester Academy (Mass.) PF Kevin Marfo were both offered during the April live periods; Painter has since received offers from Georgia Tech, Xavier, Iowa and Northwestern while Marfo got Minnesota, Georgia Tech and Boston College. Another PF they offered during the April live periods is Kentucky forward Carson Williams, who also has Oklahoma State and then a host of mid-majors as well.

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Temple Owls
Current scholarship players: 11
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 4
2016 commitments: N/A
Open Scholarships: 6

Biggest need(s) for 2016
With only seven players currently in the plans for 2016-17, Temple coach Fran Dunphy has a lot of work to do this summer to bring in a deep and strong recruiting class. He has a few very good young players on the roster, including current rising sophomore forward Obi Enechionyia, and incoming freshmen Levan Alston, Jr., Trey Lowe and Ernest Aflakpui. But he needs to keep bringing in talent to supplant that group if there’s hope of starting another string of six consecutive NCAA Tournaments like they made from 2008-13.

Considering Temple graduates starting forwards Devontae Watson and Jaylen Bond after this year, and forwards Daniel Dingle and Mark Williams will only have one year remaining in 2016-17, they're going to need to bring in at least one big man in this class, and maybe two. Most of their offers have been on the perimeter, though, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they bring in a fifth-year transfer to supplant Enechionyia and Aflakpui down low. While Alston and current rising junior Josh Brown can both play point guard, Dunphy would love to get a pure PG on the team to move Alston off the ball, and some more length on the wings would help out on both ends of the court.

Targets
Like a few other teams on this list, the Owls’ staff has made Roman Catholic teammates Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens two of their top priorities, where they’ve been for almost a year now. Also high up on Fran Dunphy’s list are Bishop Kearney (N.Y.) guard Quinton Rose, St. Anthony (N.J.) PF Taurean Thompson and Friends’ Central (Pa.) wing DeAndre Hunter, and they also recently offered another St. Anthony guard, Jagan Mosely.

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Villanova Wildcats
Current scholarship players: 11
Graduating 2015-16 seniors: 2
2016 commitments: 1
Open Scholarships: 3

Biggest need(s) for 2016
So far, Jay Wright and company have reeled in one quality commitment in Omari Spellman, a 6-9, 270-pound forward ranked in the top 25 in his class by every major scouting service in the country. Despite his large frame, Spellman is tremendous offensive talent, with a very mature post game and the ability to face up out to the 3-point range and knock down shots. So It’s unlikely they’ll add another true post, considering Wright doesn’t like to use up all of his scholarships anyways and he's already got Tim Delaney and Darryl Reynolds in the mix as well.

Their current point guard situation looks set with Jalen Brunson coming in ready to contribute big minutes right away as a freshman, and rising sophomore Phil Booth and incoming freshman Donte Divincenzo gives Wright some depth in terms of capable ball-handlers moving forward. So it’s out on the wing that the Wildcats could use help with Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins slated to be seniors in 2016-17, though Fordham transfer Eric Paschall, a 6-6 wing forward, will bring some versatility back to the lineup--and he’ll only be a redshirt sophomore that year.

Targets
Indeed, Villanova’s top targets are more offensive-minded wings, including Michigan de-commit Tyus Battle, who’s still picking a school where he’ll play out his senior year, and Roman Catholic rising senior Lamar Stevens. They’re going to be picky with this scholarship, though; don’t expect Wright and his staff to take on a player just to have someone on the roster. With the 10 they have locked in for 2016-17, this is already a very good basketball team; one more elite piece would make them scary.

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For Part One, click here