Busting Brackets
Fansided

Middle Tennessee Basketball: Roster decimated by transfers this offseason

By Brad Cavallaro

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 18: Head coach Nick McDevitt of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs yells to his team in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 18, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 18: Head coach Nick McDevitt of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs yells to his team in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 18, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Middle Tennessee recently lost four players to the transfer market after undergoing a coaching change this off-season. Where do they go from here?

Middle Tennessee was decimated by a recent string of transfers that have left the roster in need of repair. Currently, the Blue Raiders have only 6 eligible players for the 18-19 season and have two transfers sitting out, giving them five scholarships to work with. Plus incorporating a new coach (Nick McDevitt) further complicates the situation.

It is very late in the off-season for this kind of player movement so Coach McDevitt’s options are limited at this point. Most of the best graduate transfers, 2018 recruits, and JUCO transfers have already chosen their new destinations. Even a majority of the talented sit-out transfers are off the board.

Middle Tennessee needs to quickly develop a strategy to rebuild this roster and decide whether to compete for their usual spot at the top of the conference or look towards the future. When analyzing their current roster, it is clear that the latter should be the best option.

The Blue Raiders lost their top 6 scorers off last season’s regular-season championship team, including their two senior stars Nick King and Giddy Potts. Their third leading scorer and starting center Brandon Walters was also a senior as well as glue-guy Ed Simpson.

These losses were all expected, but the recent transfer exodus is what has truly set the program back for, at least, this season. Antwain Johnson and Tyrik Dixon were the projected starting guards and both chose to leave the program. Johnson averaged 10.3ppg and shot 39% from three as a junior while Dixon was relied more upon for defense and steady PG play and averaged 4.8ppg and 3.1apg.

David Simmons was the projected sixth man after being in the rotation last season, but he has also chosen to transfer. He averaged 4.7ppg and was in-line for a bigger offensive role. Lastly, seldom used reserve Davion Thomas rounds out the group of transfers.

Related Story: Ranking the Top 30 Grad Transfers

This leaves the Middle Tennessee roster with a small group of players who were either reserves or sporadically used last season. In fact, the only two returning rotation players are former backup big men Karl Gamble and James Hawthorne. Gamble averaged 3.9ppg and 3.2rpg and Hawthorne averaged just 2.2ppg. Both players look like the frontcourt starters at this point.

However, one reason for optimism is Middle Tennessee will have Antonio Green eligible after sitting out last season. Greene will be the Blue Raiders’ leading scorer and best player. He is a knockdown shooter who posted big numbers (16.7ppg, 111 made threes) as a sophomore at UT Rio Grande Valley.

Rising sophomores Donovan Sims and Therren Shelton-Szmidt will join Green on the perimeter. Both players were not in the regular rotation as freshmen but will have to step into starting roles based on how the roster is currently constructed. Redshirt freshman big man TJ Massenburg rounds out this inexperienced group of returners.

Clearly, Middle Tennessee needs to add a significant amount of depth and talent to this roster in order to compete in Conference USA. Even if they take a major step back this season, reinforcements are on the way.

Arkansas transfer CJ Jones and Missouri State transfer Reggie Scurry will inject some much-needed talent into this program. Both players will need to sit out this season but will make major impacts when eligible. Jones averaged 6.3ppg and shot 37% on three-pointers while Scurry averaged 8.9ppg and 4.2rpg this past season.

Jones is especially a player to watch as he passed on a projected starting role at Arkansas to transfer to Middle Tennessee. His experience as a rotation piece on  NCAA Tournament teams will also come in handy and pairing him with Antonio Green will form a dynamic perimeter duo.

Next: 10 Teams Most Likely to Win Their 1st National Title

Middle Tennessee should definitely pursue a few more sit out transfers to make a big splash in the 19-20 season. However, they will need to address their lack of depth and piece together a roster with the best available JUCO’s, 2018 recruits, and graduate transfers. The 18-19 season could be a long one for Middle Tennessee fans, but the Blue Raiders will not be down for long.