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Old Dominion Basketball: Monarchs add 7-footer Dajour Dickens

By Brad Cavallaro

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 31: Head coach Jeff Jones of the Old Dominion Monarchs stands on the sidelines during the NIT Championship semifinals against the Stanford Cardinal at Madison Square Garden on March 31, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 31: Head coach Jeff Jones of the Old Dominion Monarchs stands on the sidelines during the NIT Championship semifinals against the Stanford Cardinal at Madison Square Garden on March 31, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
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Old Dominion bolstered their future frontcourt by adding 7 footer Dajour Dickens. How does Dickens fit with the Monarchs’ roster?

Old Dominion grabbed a quality transfer late in the process as 7-foot center Dajour Dickens committed to play for the Monarchs. The Providence transfer only played 3 games last season due to a back injury but should be an impact player when healthy.

Dickens would normally be a sit-one play-three transfer, but Old Dominion is pursuing a waiver that would make him immediately eligible. Even if Dickens does not receive the waiver, he is such a valuable piece for Old Dominion.

As a long and mobile 7 footer, Dickens has the potential to be an excellent rim protector and lob target. In his limited time at Providence, both these skills stood out and he even flashed some shooting touch and toughness inside. Dickens was a top 150 recruit in the Class of 2017 but was always seen as more of a long-term piece.

His decision to transfer from Providence was certainly understandable as minutes were going to be hard to come by. Nate Watson, Kalif Young, and Emmitt Holt are all going to see minutes at center so Dickens may have been fourth on the depth chart, despite his considerable upside.

Old Dominion lost their starting center, Trey Porter, to Nevada as a graduate transfer and their current projected starter, Elbert Robinson, is a graduate transfer as well. This means Dickens will be the clear starter next season (19-20) and would see a large role this season if eligible.

Porter is one of the best transfers in the country as he averaged 13.2ppg and 6.2rpg as a junior. Robinson is a massive center (7’1”, 290 lbs) and was a highly rated recruit coming out of high school, but he only scored 107 points over his three seasons at LSU. Aaron Carver is a returning frontcourt player who only averaged 2.2ppg and 4.0rpg in 18,2mpg.

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So the need for quality big men is definitely apparent for Old Dominion and Dickens will be heavily relied upon once he is eligible. The Monarchs should hope he is eligible this season because they will need all the talent they can get to knock off Western Kentucky at the top of the conference. Plus, Old Dominion’s two leading scorers BJ Stith and Ahmad Caver are both rising seniors which makes this season even more important.