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Basketball Commit

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Joe Thomas... 6'7", 235 lb transferring from Niagara University... He averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 30 games last year during his redshirt junior season at Niagara... Hmmmmm
 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Joe Thomas, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward, has signed a financial aid agreement to play men’s basketball for the University of Miami, head coach Jim Larrañaga announced Friday.

"Joe joins us at the perfect time," said Larrañaga. "We needed a front court player with experience and a fifth-year senior was exactly what my staff and I hoped for. He provides us with some size and strength and rebounding toughness."

Thomas is a fifth-year transfer from Niagara University, and will have one year of eligibility with the Hurricanes, beginning immediately.

At UM, Thomas will be reunited with former Miami Krop High School teammate Angel Rodriguez, who will be eligible to play the 2014-15 season after transferring a year ago.

Thomas averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 30 games last year during his redshirt junior season at Niagara. He led the Purple Eagles in blocks, and his 54.8 field goal percentage was second-best on the squad.

As a prep player at Krop High in Miami, he averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as a senior. He and Rodriguez led the Lightning to a 26-6 record and its first trip to the Class 6A state final four in 2009-10.

The native of Miami is the son of Nicole Wells and brother to Tracelyn and Kahaila.

Thomas joins eight new players on Miami’s 2014-15 roster, which includes five recruits – Kamari Murphy, Ja’Quan Newton, James Palmer, Omar Sherman and Ivan Cruz Uceda – along with two Big 12 transfers – Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan – and redshirt freshman Deandre Burnett, who sat out the 2013-14 season with an injury.
 
Strauzer, what kind of impact can this guy make? Will he start? Can he play next to TJ at the same time? Seems like we could be fine defensively but relatively no offense. Which I am fine with if our guards and Sf carry the load
 
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Doesn't have to be a big time scorer. If he's a willing screener, rebounder, and a garbage guy who can run the floor, he can contribute. I assume he can play next to TJ but if he doesn't offer much offense, he may do better with Ivan who is more versatile offensively.
 
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Raphael Akpejiori played about 11 minutes per game for us last year and scored 0.8 points and had 1.8 rebounds. Let this guy give us 11 minutes as a start and we'll see.
 
As an aside, don't expect much in the way of free throw percentage.

Shot 25% at the line last season. :eekeyes:
 
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The guy from what I hear isn't a world beater but he works hard and has a strong desire to win. As Josh said as long as we can get him in to spell the other bigs, play aggressive and attack the boards that's all we really need. Aa for Manderson scouting on him is he was very raw and likely wouldn't have added more than thomas is going to give. The fact that he balled in HS with angel gives me confidence he will give serviceable mins. We don't need him for offense as we are stacked offensively at the 1-3 positions
 
tcgrad1014 said:
What was Julian Gamble doing until his last year? In Coach L I trust. Let's make some noise now.
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When I saw this guy's numbers and college he played at the last few yrs I instantly thought of Julian Gamble. Big body who clean up the boards and defend. Gamble was horrid until his final season, I believe Coach L will get the most out of him.
 
Oh Snap said:
tcgrad1014 said:
What was Julian Gamble doing until his last year? In Coach L I trust. Let's make some noise now.
Click to expand...

When I saw this guy's numbers and college he played at the last few yrs I instantly thought of Julian Gamble. Big body who clean up the boards and defend. Gamble was horrid until his final season, I believe Coach L will get the most out of him.
Click to expand...

Yup. And fortunately we are loaded with guys who can put the ball in the basket. Can't wait for basketball season.
 
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Miami kid; gives Miami another big; can play this year; and he's only going to be here for 1 year... I cannot see the negatives here.

We're definitely going to need some bigs next year (2015-2016) since both Jekiri and Uceda will be seniors.
 
This is a tremendous help because he can play 15 MPG at PF. Even if he only gets 3.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG, the 15 MPG at PF means that we only need to get 25 MPG out of the JUCO or Sherman.
 
MotorboatCane said:
Was hoping for Manderson. Tough to get excited about a guy that went 3 pts 3 Rebs a game his junior year at Niagra. But we got the big body we were looking for.

Bio for JT - http://www.purpleeagles.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4690
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How excited are you about a true freshman being FORCED to play 15-20 MPG at this level?

Remember if we take a 2014 HS Senior, we're essentially asking him to forgo redshirtting and play 15 MPG right away.

When you look closer at Joe Thomas's stats (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/51169/joe-thomas)

Joe Thomas played in 33 games last year for a team that went 7-26. In 13/33 games he played 15 minutes or more. We basically need this guy to be able to play 15 MPG and grab 4 RPG. I have more faith in this guy coming of the bench then a true freshman.
 
Two points.

No, Thomas isn't a world-beater, but he's a local kid who wants to make good, has a relationship with our team leader (Angel), and probably has a hunger for winning after playing on a brutal Niagara team. He's pretty likely to be a hard worker, good teammate, garbage guy who gives us what we need off the bench (toughness, rebounding, fouls). I'll also note that his shot blocking percentage was better than any returning player (less than Kirk), his rebound percentage was better than Akpejiori (and was better in previous years than anyone other than Tonye). He can be serviceable, I would think.

Regarding Manderson, there's a couple of reasons why he was a risk for us. One is simply that a barely top 150 big guy who has a rep as a project, and if we're looking at him as a one-year salve, I don't think he's any better than a 5th year who is a man. His potential is obviously greater, but if we're looking at this as a one-year deal, I think we got the better end of it. The second is that Manderson was no sure thing due to academics (there's more than just ACT scores there) and we wanted the sure thing. The third is that, obviously, this doesn't tie us up if there's no other attrition after this year with Murphy and a (now top 100) Lawrence becoming eligible.
 
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