La Salle Basketball: Traci Carter, Miles Brookins among off-season departing transfers

Five players have announced that they’re transferring from La Salle basketball following the 2018-19 season

Miles Brookins, Traci Carter, Jamir Moultrie, Cian Sullivan, and walk-on Jayson Brower have all announced this week their intention to transfer from La Salle basketball. The roster turnover, that had been anticipated after this season, is likely the result of last year’s coaching change, and Ash Howard is going to have the opportunity to flesh out next year’s squad with more of his own recruits. While the departures may or may not set back Howard’s rebuild at La Salle, and they very well could have been the result of Howard not having a big enough role for the five going forward, Ash now has plenty of open scholarships he can use on unsigned 2019 recruits or graduate transfers that would be eligible immediately.

Miles Brookins

Miles Brookins has announced his intention to transfer after a disappointing tenure at 20th and Olney. The sophomore forward came to La Salle with high expectations, and after an up-and-down freshman season, hopes were high that Brookins would become a major piece of the team’s core going into 2018-19, even with John Giannini, the coach that recruited him to La Salle, leaving after his first season. And things were looking promising during the non-conference season; despite the ten-game losing streak the Explorers opened the season with, Brookins was one of the bright spots during a tough transition process. He scored a season-high 19 points in 31 minutes in a loss to Bucknell in December, and recorded a double-double against Grand Canyon in November.

But as the Explorers began winning, Brookins’ role diminished significantly. Freshmen Ed Croswell and Jared Kimbrough began to share almost all of the frontcourt responsibility for La Salle as the Explorers began to transition to a smaller, fast-attacking lineup. Brookins went a handful of games with zero points during the conference schedule, and didn’t play more than 20 minutes in a game during A10 play. The Cypress, CA native may look westward for a new program.

Traci Carter

The former Marquette player who averaged over 20 minutes a game with the Golden Eagles as a freshman will be looking for his third team in four seasons after graduating this year. Carter led the Explorers with over three assists per game this season, but averaged fewer minutes than four other guards on the roster. The Philadelphia native will be immediately eligible next season, and could be of tremendous value on the transfer market during the off-season.

Jamir Moultrie

Another player that was highly anticipated after being recruited by Giannini, Moultrie was hampered injuries throughout the season and only played in 16 games. Even when he was healthy, Moultrie wasn’t a major factor this year, and only scored in double-digits once all season.

Cian Sullivan

Sullivan was the least impactful of the departing scholarship players, playing only 57 career minutes through two seasons. The Ireland native stands at 7’2″, and will probably get a shot on a roster somewhere despite his only 9 career points. He also already earned his degree, and will be immediately eligible next season.

These transfers might set La Salle back a little bit next season, but they could help move up the overall timeline of the rebuild by allowing Ash to fill out the roster with players that better suit his system. And while I hope this ends up being a positive for La Salle basketball, I wish the departing player the best of luck, and hope they can find significant roles in division one programs. All of these guys are talented, and they could all be impactful at the DI level given the right opportunity.