Atlantic 10 Basketball: Biggest 2022 offseason needs for each team
By Tyler Cronin
George Mason (9th)
Returning: G DeVon Cooper (11.6 ppg), F Davonte Gaines (10.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg), G Ronald Polite II (4.9 ppg)
??: C Josh Oduro (17.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg/NBA Draft)
Leaving: F D’Shawn Schwartz (15.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg/Graduate), G Xavier Johnson (7.7 ppg, 4.6 apg/Transfer-Southern Illinois), G Jamal Hartwell II (2.9 ppg/Transfer)
George Mason remade their roster on the fly last spring and get back two of those three transfers next season, a reliable wing scorer in DeVon Cooper and an ultimate do-everything guy in Davonte Gaines.
But much like Richmond, the Patriots will be eagerly waiting for the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline with the future of 1st Team All-Conference Center Josh Oduro hanging in the balance. Down the roster, backup guard Ronald Polite II and stretch big Blake Jones will try to prove that they are ready for big roles after inconsistent freshmen years.
Needs
1. Upper Echelon Point Guard
The point guard spot held back the Patriots all season, with excellent players at the other four starting spots. Once again, they will have top talent on the wing between Gaines, Cooper and Top 100 freshman Justyn Fernandez, but need the proper glue guy to help maximize the talent of all three.
George Mason could potentially look at some of the best transfer options, as Coach Kim English has already won multiple recruiting battles with Power 5 teams. That’s unless he feels that the answer has already arrived, with Tennessee transfer Victor Bailey Jr committing for his final year.
2. Reliable Bench Players
The other reason that George Mason failed to reach .500 in the A-10 despite their upper echelon talent is that the bench had no consistent contributors. Outside of late-season starter Polite, the Patriots basically have a blank slate behind the starters. Ideally, they can find a few strong defenders, and whether Oduro returns or not, a quality rim protector, to provide insurance in case Oduro continues with his reckless foul issues and sometimes take the tougher assignment from him.
Perfect Addition: G Rudi Williams, Coastal Carolina
The Patriots are a finalist for the 6’2″ guard, who put up 14.7 ppg last season on 44.7% from three. It’s unclear whether Williams could serve as a full time point guard for George Mason, but even if he can’t, he would still be an excellent addition as a third guard/sniper, who would add some fire to the bench unit.
La Salle (12th)
Returning: G Josh Nickelberry (11.2 ppg), G Anwar Gill (4.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
Leaving: C Clifton Moore (12.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg/Transfer-Providence), F Jack Clark (12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg/Transfer-NC St), G Jhamir Brickus (8.9 ppg, 3.3 apg/Transfer), G Khalil Brantley (8.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg/Transfer), W Christian Ray (5.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg/Transfer-Delaware), F Mamadou Doucoure (1.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg/Transfer)
New La Salle Coach Fran Dunphy comes out of retirement and into a very rare opportunity, a chance to completely build his own roster, with starting guard Josh Nickelberry and his backup Anwar Gill being the only pieces returning. Ashley Howard showed that La Salle is appealing enough to land quality players (that quality is backed up by two players transferring to quality Power 6 programs) but none of them elevated their games enough to get La Salle out of the bottom four.
Needs
1. Hope
We could cherrypick two spots but La Salle truly needs everything except shooting guards. The best Explorers season in the nine years since making the Sweet 16 is 17-16 and their fans deserve something to look forward to in what will likely be another rough season. Ideally, Dunphy brings in three or four young players to start forming the foundation of a successful program.
If not, then in the 2023 offseason, La Salle will need Morgan Freeman to come speak to their season ticket holders and remind them that their multi-purpose gym is here and all the good players are way the hell over there (Villanova). And that’s just the way it is.
2. Stud Small Forward
La Salle has made a deep postseason run five times in their history, NCAA Tournament in 1954, 1955, and 2013, and NIT in 1952 and 1987. What do all of those teams have in common? A star at the small forward position with Tom Gola, Lionel Simmons and Ramon Galloway. The key to the greatest Explorers teams have been great forward groups, so Dunphy might want to put his focus there.
Perfect Addition: F Jake Forrester, Temple
Forrester was not brought to Temple by Dunphy, he started his career at Indiana (La Salle has done well with ex-Indiana big men) but was heavily recruited by Dunphy a mere five years ago. He would give a stable presence to the Explorers’ frontcourt and could easily surpass his career-high 9.7 ppg from 2020-21. This pickup would also help bring La Salle back into the center of the local recruiting scene by landing a good role player from a Big 5 school, who grew up in central Pennsylvania.