Richmond Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Spiders

Starters

For four of these five positions, there really is not much to say.  They are all locked and guaranteed, and – barring another injury prior to Richmond’s first game – the point guard, shooting guard, power forward, and center positions should all be familiar names.

Jacob Gilyard will resume duties as the floor general after playing a team-high 1134 minutes last season, averaging 12.7 points per game on an insane 47% shooting clip.  A 37% shooter from beyond the arc, Gilyard is one of the premier point guards in all of Div. I basketball, dishing out 178 assists while turning the ball over just 60 times.

A First Team All-Atlantic 10 honoree and last season’s A-10 Defensive Player of the Year, Gilyard led the nation with a school-record 99 steals.  He is 109 steals short of matching Providence’s John Linehan (385) for the Div. I record for career steals.  Gilyard’s talents have garnered him national attention – he was recently named to the watch list for the 2020-21 Bob Cousy Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an honor ultimately given to the top point guard in the country.

Shooting guard responsibilities will again be handled by the team’s leading scorer, Blake Francis.  The fourth-leading scorer in the A-10 last year, Francis averaged 17.7 points per game on 42% shooting for the Spiders after transferring from Wagner College.  With Sherod’s injury, Francis will become more of a focal point for opposing team’s defenses, meaning his development – and potential triumphant over those defenses – will be crucial for the Spiders.

Filling the hole left at small forward by Sherod is a bit tricky, largely because, again, Mooney has a few possibilities for this position.  Tyler Burton, most likely, will get the nod here to start the season, having been the team’s leading scorer off the bench last year.  Averaging 14.1 minutes, Burton drilled a spot-on 45% of his shots for 4.6 points per game average.

At 6-7, Burton gives the starting frontcourt some height that it did not have with Francis.  That both helps and ails the Spiders, who will miss Sherod’s 44% clip from beyond the arc but will benefit from an additional rim protector who blocked a third-best 14 blocks last season and hauled down 117 boards. One of the only things potentially holding Burton back is his inexperience, being the only sophomore in a senior-laden lineup.

Nathan Cayo – the team’s best shooter at 56% – should see an increase in production at the power forward position.  After taking just 180 shots last season – the least amount among the starting line-up and 103 less than Gilyard, who was fourth – and being the only starter to not average double digits (8.9 points per game), Cayo will need to bring up his numbers in order to replace Sherod’s production.

Lastly, Grant Golden will return as Richmond’s dominant center.  Despite playing the lowest number of minutes among the starters last season, Golden finished second on the team in scoring (13.4) while leading the Spiders in rebounds (199) and blocks (24).  Golden is a deceptively good passer, as well, having finished second on the team in assists with 100.

Mooney will have to experiment with his starting line-up considerably – particularly when it comes to three-point shooting.  Gilyard, Francis, and Sherod all drilled at least 36% of their shots from beyond the arc, with Sherod leading the way at 44%.  Losing Sherod and implementing Burton will take away from their reliance on three-point shooting, as Burton went 10-38 on three-pointers last season.

I am giving Burton the spot here purely out of his ability to shoot and score from inside, but I am also not sure if there is a single, definitive answer at the small forward position.  At least three other players will get time off the bench at this spot, and all three of them – in addition to Burton – are capable of starting there.