https://caasports.com/news/2023/8/9...-university-as-its-newest-member-in-2024.aspx

This conference is a joke.

All practices will take place at Robins Stadium. Players will alternate between wearing helmets, shells (helmets and shoulder pads) and full pads over the course of the 19-session camp. The team will practice five days before taking an off day and repeat the schedule until Saturday, Aug. 26. All camp dates are open to the public and are subject to change.

“The names change, and Richmond rolls on."

20. RICHMOND
2023 record: 11-5 (4-1 Atlantic 10)

Last seen: Losing 17-8 to Virginia in the first round of an NCAA tournament game that will be best remembered for a mid-game deluge and the ensuing bog-like conditions.

Initial forecast: The names change, and Richmond rolls on. The Spiders have methodically established themselves as roughly a Top 20 program — sometimes a bit better, sometimes a little outside that range, but rarely too far in either direction — over the last decade. So what happens when the names don’t change much? After all, Dan Chemotti’s program only had four players who were out of eligibility after last season. Defenseman Jake Saunders is one of them, and he offered some advice in the postgame press conference after Richmond’s NCAA tournament loss. “Make sure you keep tabs on Richmond next year because we’re going to keep on coming back every single time,” he said. That’s probably a good bet. Sound on defense and loaded on offense (eight of the Spiders’ top nine scorers are eligible to return), Richmond should be the favorite to repeat as Atlantic 10 champions. Eventually, a strong, consistent program that continues to knock on the door busts through and wins an NCAA tournament first round game. Might this be the year that happens?

Hi SF, any news on the women's team?

I haven't seen much other than they are getting ready for the conference championships soon.

Any recruiting news out there? I have only seen one commitment and wasn't overly impressed.

I could do this each week, and it would likely change every time I do it, but why not have some fun with some estimated minutes less than 3 months out.

King 35
Bigs 33
Hunt 26
Quinn 26
Roche 20
Noyes 16
Harris 10
Tanner 8
Walz 6
Soulis 6
Dji 6
Smith 6
Tyne 2

* after the top 6, the minutes for the others could vary dramatically..some games could be 10+, but other games 5 or less.

Was looking to see who our last 1,000 yard rusher was and this is what I found.

Strengths
A lot to like about Bigs. Coming in, thought he would be a player that likes to hang out on the perimeter and shoot 3's. While he does like to shoot 3's, he brought a lot in other areas.
Plays Hard/high intensity - This is an overlooked "skill" if you will. This guy goes after it, on the defensive end, loose balls, rebounds, attacks the basket. Has the aggressive mindset that you cannot coach.
Rebounding - Likely to be our top rebounder, and with Burton gone will probably have to grab more. The good news is he likes to board and is good at it. Rebounds outside of his area, and can grab it and go.
Attacks the basket - Bigs is not afraid to go hard to the hoop and get fouled and/or finish. Uses his athleticism to attack.
FT shooting. 85% shooter. Very good
Areas of Improvement
3 pointers - Only shot 26.5 % from three, and shot a lot of them (113), this dragged down his overall FG% obviously too. Based on his FT %, and past performance, I am hopeful this can improve. I would like to see better shot selection from 3. I feel like at times he just took the first one that was half way open. Form, seems like he could make a few tweaks, especially the fading. I feel like between a little better shot selection, and minor tweak to his motion - their is a realistic chance this improves.

Next Season
Last season, I thought our highest ceiling team was a team led by Bigelow and Burton being the catalysts and both scoring 15-20 points a game. Burton did his scoring, but with lower 3pt % and Bigs showed some flashes, but ultimately his 3 point shooting was not great and his PT went down.
This year, as I posted on another thread, I think our highest ceiling team is one in which Freshman Ryan Soulis is game ready to play 25 minutes and make positive impact next to Quinn. This would allow Bigs to play on the wing. This is probably unlikely, and Bigs will need to defend the interior a bunch and play next to Quinn. In this case, hoping he can avoid foul trouble, and be a mismatch on offense - beat his man off the dribble and take and make 3 point shots. While I do think we we will get a lot more offense at the PG spot, and I think Noyes will score some - think we could really use Bigs to be a 12-15 point game guy - while doing all the other stuff. Likely needing to be a primary interior defender, rebound, bring energy - Bigs has a lot on his plate. Hopefully he can do all of that and score the basketball.

This is great, but I should not have first seen this in my morning paper.

OK, to start - here is the "happy path" - in which we exceed all expectations and contend for an NCAA at large and finish near the top of the A10.

Guards - Jordan King. If he plays like did down the stretch for ETSU last year - he is a much more dynamic scorer at this position compared to anyone we had last year. He needs to carry that over for 30+ minutes per game. Dji - Health, health, health is the very obvious key. If he can stay healthy, we need him on the court for defense and playmaking. If he can give us 20 minutes a game of A+ defense, and make plays for others, will be a good fit next to King. He did shoot ~40% from 3 last year, if he can stay in that area then he becomes a huge factor in us winning games. And cut down turnovers - use his body to shield defenders vs try to dribble right through smaller defenders. We have a lot of guards again. If Dji can hold things down for 20 minutes/game, now we really just need to hit on two out of Smith, Roche (yes guard/wing - we will be playing small), Tyne, Hunt. Tyne and Smith are the most interesting to me. Roche, we know what he can do - with his mystery injury I feel like unfortunately he does not have much opportunity to up his game this off season. But he will be a contributor at some level. I believe if Tyne or Smith can come in and establish themselves as offensive threats in year one - that will be a huge benefit.

Forwards - Bigelow continues to play D, rebound, scrap, make athletic plays, AND would be very very helpful if they can fix his 3 point shot. Great FT shooter, but as sman was early to point out last year fades on his 3 point shot. If that can be corrected AND he has better shot selection - I do think this guy can shoot high 30's from 3. That would be huge, but mostly with our lack of interior depth he is going to need to provide toughness, rebounding and interior D. Noyes. Has the tools it seems. Needs to take next step. Why not in year 3? Tanner. Played at high level vs good comp in h.s. Can shoot it. We need one of those guys to be able to knock down 2-3 threes per game...And make contributions on the defensive/rebounding side.
Big men - Quinn looked very good at times last season, and Not so good at times. We need him to be consistently good to very good. And we need Walz to be able to come in and be impactful, and play 15+ minutes when needed. I do think the Grant Golden load management plan will be beneficial to Quinn to keep him fresh and away from injuries.
Coaching - Mooney needs establish guard pecking order early in the season, and figure out who can play and impact minutes and give them the minutes. Establish an identity. Let and help Boyden impose his will on defense. Adapt.

I know I am not very high on Mooney's off season - losing Burton and no replacement for he or Reed's loss is a big hit to the roster. But I do feel like we have enough players to win big in the A10. Just going to take a lot to go right.

Unless I missed them, I think these are the last 2 left from our returning guys. Patiently waiting, 23.

Headed to the Alouettes.

https://collegehoops.today/rothstein-files/atlantic-10-offseason-breakdown-4/
Article by Jon Rothstein on his A10 predictions for next year. Thoughts?

6'6", 200lb combo guard out of rural NW Ohio. Good number of MAC/MVC offers throughout 2022 before picking up offers from WVU and Cincy in Sep/Oct. Doesn't look like anything else since then.


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I know we just recently closed the the 2023 class with Tyne and Soulis, but most years we already have at least one by now.
do you think timing is later in general now with all the tranferring and the NIL negotiations going on?

we have 4 definite spots to fill in the 2024 class (Quinn, Bigelow, Harris and King). I assume we'll try to fill them all with HS kids if possible.
then if we lose anyone unexpected we'll fill those spots in the portal next spring ... or with late HS opportunitites like we did with Tyne and Soulis.

Good piece here by Matt Norlander about or the current pace of year-round recruiting, NIL stuff, etc. is unsustainable.

Per the PR Dept on why no roster update and I quote" "Thanks for reaching out. We are hoping to finalize our basketball roster shortly and will update it at that point. It has taken longer to compile the 2023-2024 roster than in year's past, hence the delay."

Well could you have least removed those who were no longer at UR? I should have asked that.

6'1" PG out of Indianapolis. Couple dozen offers including SLU, Duquesne, Northwestern, Rice, Tulsa, SIU, and Murray State.


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Not surprising that the Rams have mustered and organized resources into what appears to be an impressive and attractive NLI program.

Zach Joachim of the Times-Dispatch provides the details in his story introducing the HAVOC Unlimited Collective. It appears the Collective has pulled together resources from the University, AD, athletes, stakeholders (fans) etc. They have publicly stated goals they hope to achieve. You can achieve a lot when you have a proactive group of leaders willing to tackle a major challenge like winning Championships in the NIL world. The Rams have this leadership.

Obviously the group behind HUC hopes to give the coaches at VCU another tool with which to bolster their recruiting and rosters.

I've read a lot of vague, general things about a UR NIL program, but if it was anything like what Joachim describes at VCU, I've missed it. It looks like UR has fallen behind again, I wonder how our coaches feel trying to win Championships without the tools they battle against. Who could blame them for raising Cain? I wonder if anyone has?

Some days it tough to be a Spiders fan.

6'6" wing out of Massachusetts. Lots of Patriot-type offers, but also UMass last August.


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this doesn't mean everyone should go lower than their best offer. for some guys the right level is the highest offer. but for others it's not.

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This could be good. SDJ and TJ are on board and looking to add some of the guys who just graduated into the mix.

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We get to see all the I-95 sights in New Jersey especially on a Friday fun filled afternoon.

Speaking of legacy players, Andy Allanson Jr. plays for the Ridgefield (Vancouver, Wash.) Raptors in the West Coast League and he was recently named one of the league's Spotlight Players. He just finished his sophomore season at the College of the Canyons in California and hit .354/.406/.549 with seven homers and 36 RBIs. He is listed as uncommitted for his junior season. Maybe our new coach should contact him.

32, I think we can agree on this one! 😁

After three years in Germany, TA is headed to the top French league. Coincidentally, my wife landed just a few miles from Le Portel when she swam the English Channel last week.

Terry's first TBT game with Team Challenge ALS is at 5pm today.