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Last Season: 24-10, 13-3 (2nd Conference USA), lost in the second round of the NIT to Ole Miss
Head Coach: Josh Pastner
Key Losses: Elliot Williams, Roburt Sallie, Pierre Henderson-Niles, Doneal Mack, Willie Kemp
Newcomers: Will Barton, Joe Jackson, Jelan Kendrick, Antonio Barton, Tarik Black, Chris Crawford, Hippolye Tsafack, Trey Draper, Charles Carmouche
Projected Lineup:
- G: Joe Jackson, Fr.
- G: Will Barton, Fr.
- F: Wesley Witherspoon, Jr.
- F: Angel Garcia, Jr.
- F: Will Coleman, Sr.
- Bench: Jelan Kendrick, Fr.; Chris Crawford, Fr.; Charles Carmouche, Jr.; Tarik Black, Fr.; Hippolyte Tsafack, Fr.; Antonio Barton, Fr.
Outlook: Last season UTEP ended the Memphis stranglehold on C-USA, winning the conference and helping to send the Tigers to the NIT. And while Memphis lose four of their top five scorers and five players that started more than 16 games, its a safe bet that the Tigers will climb right back to the top of the league this season.
Josh Pastner proved his merit as a recruiter during his first season at Memphis, bringing in a class that may just be the best in the country. Its headlined in the back court with Will Barton and Memphis native Joe Jackson. Barton may end up being the best professional prospect to come out of this group. He's a wiry, 6'6" two-guard, but he's deceivingly strong and quite athletic. Barton really excels when he is able to get out in transtition, whether that is running the lane or leading the break himself, or when he slashes to the rim, taking advantage of his physical tools. He has range on his jumper, can defend on the perimeter, and is an excellent rebounder for a perimeter player. Jackson should be a nice complement to Barton. He's a smaller point guard (listed at 6'0", 170 lb) but he is lightening quick with ankle-breaking handle and the athleticism to finish above the rim. The biggest issue Jackson is going to face is that he may be too talented. Pastner will be asking him to run this team and run the Memphis system, and Jackson -- who was far and away the best player on his high school team -- will need to adjust to playing that role.
Those two are far from the only options Pastner will have on the perimeter. Jelan Kendrick is a versatile 6'6" guard that was a McDonald's all-american coming out of Atlanta. Charles Carmouche averaged 12.6 ppg as a starter at New Orleans last season before transferring out of the school when it announced intentions to drop to D-III. Chris Crawford is a big, tough off-guard that made a name for himself knocking down deep, clutch threes at the 2009 AAU national championships. Freshman Antonio Barton, Will's brother, was a three-star recruit that will provide depth at the point. Drew Barham, a sharpshooting 6'6" guard, and DJ Stephens, a 6'3" freak of an athlete, round out the back court rotation.
With the amount of emphasis put on the Memphis newcomers, it is very easy to forget that they bring back a very good front court. It starts with Wesley Witherspoon. Witherspoon has had a bit of an up-and-down career in his two seasons with the Tigers. As a freshman, the 6'8" forward was forced into playing some point guard by John Calipari and seemingly never was able to gain confidence in his ability. As a sophomore, Witherspoon was inconsistent. He'd have a couple games where he dominated -- slashing to the rim, drawing fouls, knocking down open jumpers -- and then vanish for a week. If Witherspoon can iron out that inconsistency, he's a 6'8" small forward that is athletic, has some range, and can put the ball on the floor. He's a lottery pick waiting to happen and the x-factor for this team.
In the paint, the burly Will Coleman leads the way. Coleman reminds me quite a bit of former Tiger Joey Dorsey. He doesn't have a ton of post moves, but he's big, strong, and athletic. He rebounds the ball very well and is the best shot blocker on the Tiger roster, averaging over 2.2 bpg despite playing just 23 mpg. Angel Garcia is the other returner inside. Garcia has had a lot of hype, but has yet to really get consistent minutes for the Tigers -- he was ineligible as a freshman and missed the first 22 games last season with a torn acl. But in his limited action, he was impressive, posting some big performances, including 16 points against Tulsa in his third game back. He's 6'11" with serious range for someone his size.
The two newcomers up front are Tarik Black and Hippolyte Tsafasck. Black has been impressive in early practices, using his size and strength to be a force defensively and on the glass. Tsafack has a little further to go than Black in terms of development, but he, too, is a big, strong, athletic kid.
The issue for Pastner isn't going to be talent; he has plenty of it. The issue is experience. This is a young group, even when you factor in the returners. Garcia has played 12 games in his career, Witherspoon is a junior that has never had the spotlight on him, and Coleman is a JuCo transfer. Memphis needs a leader, and they need to mesh as a team. If they too, this is a group that has enough talent to potentially be a Final Four darkhorse.
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1 comment:
Garcia has great 3pt range for anyone of any size. He also finishes well at the rim and can take guys of similar size off the dribble. If UM can find a way to utilize his unique skill set, he will be dangerous.
I would say Coleman has the potential to be far better than Dorsey. Joey was strong and had great leaping ability, but was only 6'7" with short arms and small hands. He never was able to master an effective jump hook and had little touch around the rim. Coleman has the positives of Dorsey mentioned above but is 6'9" with long arms and a better touch. His jump hook is already far superior to Dorsey's. It's just too bad that he's a senior already; he'd have all-America (not necessarily 1st team) potential if he'd gotten 4 yrs of D-I experience.
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