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Early look at Miami's Men's Basketball 14'-15'

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SamBruceMyBabyDaddy

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DEPTH CHART

1. Angel Rodriguez, Jaquan Newton, Manu Locomte, Corn Elder

2. Sheldon Mccllelan, Deondre Burnett, James Palmer

3. Davon Reed, James Kelly, Sheldon Mccllelan, Omar Sherman

4. Ivan Cruz-Uceda, James Kelly, Omar Sherman

5. Tonye Jekiri, Omar Sherman

Here's some tidbits on a few of the incoming freshmen.

Headliner: Jaquan Newton (Rivals 100, 35th Nationally, ESPN100, 55th Nationally)

A tough combo guard who lives and dies by his ability to attack off the dribble. Likes to play physical and has a tremendous feel for changing speeds and using hesitations to put defenders on edge. A bit of a streak shooter and can struggle defensively with quick point guards. Doesn't back down from a big moment.

Most Under Appreciated: James Palmer ( Rivals 150, 114th Nationally, Offers: Cinci, Memphis, VCU, RU, Wake Forrest)

Currently ranked in the Rivals150, Palmer is going to push for a move from high three-star to four-star status. The shooting guard has continued to grow and now looks to be a legit 6-foot-4 with long arms. He scores via the jumper and looks to be a great fit for the Hurricanes.


Under Rated: Omar Sherman ( 3 star on Rivals, 4 star on ESPN and #12 player in the state of TX for 2014)

More of a below-the-rim player, Sherman is a crafty finisher around the hoop and he has a strong frame that should easily pack on muscle in a college weight room. Rivals.com National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi says of Sherman that as a "6-foot-8 guy (he) is more of a skilled faceup guy and likes to shoot jump shots. Legit range to the three point line. Rebounds ok but is more of an under the rim scorer around the rim. Will be very strong once he hits a college weight room."

Wildcard: Ivan Cruz-Uceda

PF/C Cruz Uceda stands at 6'10 230 and like many European imports, he plays both inside and outside and loves to shoot the three ball. Cruz Uceda wasn't recruited out of his native Spain so he came to the United States and has been playing his college ball in Harcum College, a JUCO in Pennsylvania. He averaged 16 points a game and almost 11 rebounds during his freshman season.

Uceda was being recruited by Iowa State, Penn State and others, but he decided to commit to the University of Miami in the middle of his visit. He [Uceda] also makes it the fourth commitment of this recruiting cycle for Coach Larranaga and his staff, joiningJa'Quan Newton, James Palmer and newly committed Omar Sherman.

Also, NCAA basketball scholarships cap at 13. That means at this point we have 11 which will mean no more additions considering we start losing 2 scholly's per year next year. That's huge IMO because coach L could've went and found us 2 more bigs.
 
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we lose one scholarship per year for two years. so we have a spot open still. would be nice to land a d1 transfer PF/C. team could be special
 
It'll be interesting to see how Coach L handles the guards next year. I think Manu is going to be a special PG, but Angel was also one of the better PGs in the Big XII as a sophomore at K-State. He averaged 11.4 points and 5.2 assists as a sophomore. We'll have 2 legit PGs next year, and then add in McLellan, who was Texas' leading or second leading scorer, and you have 3 very good guards, and that's not even mentioning Burnett or Reed (though Reed can play the 3).
 
Some thoughts:

1. I would expect that regardless of who starts, we will see a lot of three-guard next year. It's great to run three 6'6" guys out there like we do at times this year, but plenty of teams run lineups of 6 feet, 6'3", and 6'5" out there, especially if they have a rim protector (like we do with Jekiri) and especially if they can run different defenses out there that can help protect or disguise their shorter players in order to gain more offense or whatnot. With only two returning bigs, we are very shallow up front (we shall see if we pull anyone else who can contribute).

2. I would think that Rodriguez and McClellan start. Some of that is general experience and results (both will be juniors), and some of it may also be "experience and practice time" within the program. Remember that Manu may miss the entire summer to play Euros (which is still basketball, but away from the team), and that Burnett has missed extensive time last summer with injuries as well. Both Rodriguez and McClellan have been generally healthy since they have been here, and there are reports that they are dominant in practice. Also note that Rodriguez claims that his Second Team All-Big XII performance was while he was at "60 percent" so he may be a very advanced player.

3. I think Kelly and Jekiri start, with Cruz Uceda off of the bench (at least with the current anticipated roster). The major reason is that Kelly and Sherman are both shorter than 6'8" - Brian Snow from Scout told me earlier this year that Sherman is "probably closer to 6'7, might be 6'8 on a real good day." Neither of them is suited to be our backup center, especially to a guy like Jekiri, because it will require a complete change in how we play. Additionally, both as a function of height and otherwise, Cruz Uceda and Jekiri are likely to be our two best rebounders, and while they will play together at times, it could be very dangerous to have neither of your best rebounders on the floor when the rest of the team is perimeter oriented.

4. In spite of his talent, due to his age (not turning 18 until August 2014) and the logjam in the back court, I believe Palmer is a candidate to redshirt. If he gets stronger (let alone continues growing), he is also suited to play the second wing/small forward.
 
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Hopefully James Kelly takes the next step and becomes consistent. We've seen flashes this year, but we've had too many games we're he's either disappeared or Coach L simply hasn't trusted him down the stretch and has gone with the other bigs, even Swoope and ROK against GT.
 
joshdacane said:
Some thoughts:

1. I would expect that regardless of who starts, we will see a lot of three-guard next year. It's great to run three 6'6" guys out there like we do at times this year, but plenty of teams run lineups of 6 feet, 6'3", and 6'5" out there, especially if they have a rim protector (like we do with Jekiri) and especially if they can run different defenses out there that can help protect or disguise their shorter players in order to gain more offense or whatnot. With only two returning bigs, we are very shallow up front (we shall see if we pull anyone else who can contribute).

2. I would think that Rodriguez and McClellan start. Some of that is general experience and results (both will be juniors), and some of it may also be "experience and practice time" within the program. Remember that Manu may miss the entire summer to play Euros (which is still basketball, but away from the team), and that Burnett has missed extensive time last summer with injuries as well. Both Rodriguez and McClellan have been generally healthy since they have been here, and there are reports that they are dominant in practice. Also note that Rodriguez claims that his Second Team All-Big XII performance was while he was at "60 percent" so he may be a very advanced player.

3. I think Kelly and Jekiri start, with Cruz Uceda off of the bench (at least with the current anticipated roster). The major reason is that Kelly and Sherman are both shorter than 6'8" - Brian Snow from Scout told me earlier this year that Sherman is "probably closer to 6'7, might be 6'8 on a real good day." Neither of them is suited to be our backup center, especially to a guy like Jekiri, because it will require a complete change in how we play. Additionally, both as a function of height and otherwise, Cruz Uceda and Jekiri are likely to be our two best rebounders, and while they will play together at times, it could be very dangerous to have neither of your best rebounders on the floor when the rest of the team is perimeter oriented.

4. In spite of his talent, due to his age (not turning 18 until August 2014) and the logjam in the back court, I believe Palmer is a candidate to redshirt. If he gets stronger (let alone continues growing), he is also suited to play the second wing/small forward.
Click to expand...

I would really like to see Palmer redshirt just don't see many minutes for him. What did Snow tell you about Sherman's game? I watched his film and liked his low post game, I didn't see him as a perimeter big like the original article said.
 
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