Outside of the Top 100, there is still plenty of talent coming into the Buckeye State
Toledo (#114) – The Rockets lost quite a bit with the graduations of Jaelan Sanford and Nate Navigato, but there’s still plenty to like about this team. One area that needed to be addressed was to add more size and shooting ability to replace what they lost. Head coach Tod Kowalczyk did just that, bringing in two three-star small forwards in Mattia Acunzo and Aaron Etherington. Acunzo, a native of Sardinia, Italy, has good size for the position at 6’8” and 200 pounds.
Kent State (#146) – Rob Senderoff is going to be hard-pressed to replace Jaylin Walker’s production, but does still have a pair of solid guards in Antonio Williams and CJ Williamson. So this offseason, he focused on the frontcourt, adding three-star power forward Evan Bainbridge as the highlight of a four-player class. The 6’9” Bainbridge is likely to get some good minutes alongside Philip Whittington for this Golden Flashes team that doesn’t boast a lot of size.
Dayton (#147) – Sometimes when a team like Dayton is down this low in the rankings, there’s cause for concern. But the Flyers are returning so many players from last year that there just weren’t really spots for anyone. Kudos to Anthony Grant for replacing the size he lost in Josh Cunningham by nabbing three-star Moulaye Sissoko. The 6’10” Malian big man held multiple high-major offers, but chose to join the Flyers, perhaps because they offer a clearer path to playing time.
Akron (#173) – The Zips are in a similar situation to Dayton, where they didn’t lose too many players. Unfortunately, two of the players they lost were starters, including leading scorer Daniel Utomi, who is heading to USC. Unlike the Flyers, Akron wasn’t able to bring in much in the way of heralded recruits, with two-star Ali Ali leading the pack. They did get two high-major transfers in Bryan Trimble (St. John’s) and Maishe Dailey (Iowa), though neither can play this year.
Bowling Green (#175) – Michael Huger returns a lot of the scoring from last year’s 22-win team, but the Falcons will have to do without big man Demajeo Wiggins and his double-double averages, after he graduated in the offseason. Huger will have to look at his existing roster to replace that, because both of the recruits he brought in are guards. Two-star shooting guard Chandler Turner ranked outside of the Top 500 in the 247Sports composite ratings.
Wright State (NR) – The reigning Horizon League champions bring back three major pieces from last season in Loudon Love, Cole Gentry, and Billy Wampler. They graduated a key big man and a couple guards, so the additions of grad transfers Jordan Ash and Aleksandar Dozic are perfect fits. Ash rarely got off the bench for Northwestern, but could see more minutes for the Raiders. Dozic was a solid big man off the bench in two seasons for Marist.
Youngstown State (NR) – The Penguins lost one player to graduation and three to transfers in the offseason, but those players only accounted for 12 combined starts a year ago. They will replace those players with three transfers, including 6’7” forward Kyle Scadlock, as well as one signing from the Class of 2019, Daniel Ogoro. Scadlock was a key cog for Division III’s Williams College, where he averaged 13.7 PPG and 7.5 RPG last season after recovering from an ACL tear in 2017.
Cleveland State (NR) – There’s not really much positive to say about the 2019 offseason for Dennis Felton and the Vikings. Since last year’s 10-win season, three young, talented players have entered the transfer portal. Leading scorer Tyree Appleby and standout freshmen Rashad Williams and Seth Millner are all gone. Furman grad transfer Jalen Williams and two-star Abou Ousmane join the program, but there are dark days ahead for the Vikings – but likely not too many more for Felton.