When Coach McKay was hired a month ago, we all wondered what the roster would look like in 2015-16. With scholarship commitments already at 14 and the NCAA limit being 13, it seemed unlikely the new coaching staff would bring in multiple recruits for the Class of 2015. Fast forward one month, and McKay has already signed 2 (Lovell Cabbil, Hansel Atencia) and picked up a commitment from another (Myo Baxter) for the Class of 2015 bringing the scholarship commitment to a total of 17. So, who will be the 4 that will not be on the roster next season?
Tomasz Gielo
We’ve all heard the reports of Tomasz receiving his release to be able to talk to other schools about transferring. The 5th-year senior would be immediately eligible if he decided to transfer. It’s still a wait and see here, but the coaching staff obviously wants him to stick around. Jeff Goodman reported Tuesday night that Gielo will be visiting Ole Miss on Wednesday and Kansas State, Boise State, Nevada, Marquette, BYU, Vanderbilt, and Nebraska are all in the mix.
Joe Retic
Retic is a senior and has a redshirt season available if he opted to transfer, but him not declaring his intention to transfer by now makes it highly unlikely that is his desire. Point guard is obviously a position of need for the Flames, and having Joe’s senior leadership can’t hurt. Plus, he only has one more year of eligibility, so it’s a low-risk move for the coaching staff to keep him around.
David Andoh
Andoh will be counted on as a team leader and starter in the post next season.
Theo Johnson
The 4th member of the senior class, Johnson developed into a starter and go-to scorer late in the season. His length and athleticism makes him a perfect fit for the pack-line.
John Dawson
This is an interesting situation. Dawson transferred in from Marquette in the middle of this past season, and will not be eligible until after the conclusion of the Fall semester this coming year. With all the guards McKay is bringing in, where does the 6’2″ combo guard Dawson with 2 1/2 seasons of eligibility fit in? He could transfer down to Division 2 and be able to play right away.
Ryan Kemrite
I can’t think of a better fit for McKay’s offensive system than the 6’4″ wing who shot 44% from 3 as a freshman.
Evan Maxwell
He’s the only real center on the team, but does that mean anything with McKay as the head coach? He showed potential in his true freshman season, and it makes sense for him to stay as a project/reserve in the paint.
Peter Moller
Of all the returnees, Moller seems to be the most likely to not return. He left the team late in the year to return to Denmark to be with his ailing mother.
Jordan Dembley
With the Atencia signing, it’s hard to find a significant role for Dembley.
A.C. Reid
With Reid’s length and long-range shooting ability, he certainly fits in McKay’s system. For his sake, he does need to prove he can consistently shoot close to the 35% from 3 he was shooting before breaking his nose, as opposed to the 14% he shot while wearing a mask.
Ezra Talbert
Talbert was probably the highest rated recruit that ended up on campus as a freshman this past season, but he only played 19 total minutes before redshirting due to a back injury. At 6’8″ and the ability to stretch defenses with his 3-point shooting, it makes sense for McKay to keep him around to see what he has in Ezra.
Caleb Homesley
After signing in November with Coach Layer, Homesley has confirmed he still plans on coming to Liberty.
Jakub Karwowski & Robin Jorch
The 2 European bigs signed with Layer in November. Despite the fact that there aren’t many forwards currently in the fold, I’m leaning towards neither Karwowski or Jorch make their way to LU. It’s not like McKay is hesitant to play 5 guards at once.
Lovell Cabbil, Hansel Atencia, & Myo Baxter
Obviously Cabbil and Atencia will be part of the roster. Baxter will as well as long as he becomes academically eligible.
I’ll be surprised and disappointed if neither Jurch or Karwowski are aboard next year. Too much is made of the “5 guard” lineup Ritchie started at the beginning of the 08-09 season. He was just going with his best 5 at the time. He signed Carter McMasters and Austen Smith that year. Carter actually started his first couple of games, but was injured and ultimately redshirted and Smith eventually became a starter over Brolin Floyd. IMHO McMasters career is entirely different if he had played under McKay instead of Layer. Karwowski looks like a similar talent. I would love to see what Ritchie can do with a couple of bigs who can step out and shoot the 3.