Digging into Utah State basketball 2011-12

Not to downplay what appears below but it's always critical to keep in mind that some of the players on any team will move forward over the summer, some will remain in a static state and some will regress. Coupling that with 'determining' the impact of new (unseen) recruits make the following a fun exercise but not much else.


PTW will say that Coach Stew Morrill doesn't necessarily reload as do the North Carolinas and Kentuckys but rebuild isn't in the Logan basketball vocabulary either. So we need a new word for something in-between.

Tai Wesley, the underrated Nate Bendall, sparkplug Brian Green and steady Tyler Newbold have departed the program but the cupboard of leftovers isn't bare as some intriguing redshirts, grayshirts and newcomers are also on hand. It's not a roster, more a rolodex, seemingly with more bodies than available scholarships.

In the middle, Igor Premasunac and Jordan Stone get first dibs at filling Bendall's shoes. In various writeups, it's been noted that Premasunac has a face-the-basket aspect to his offensive game so let's see if Morrill utilizes that element. Bendall would take the 15-footer at times but Premasunac's range extends further.

What also furthered Bendall's effectiveness was the presence of Tai Wesley but this team is absent of anyone filling similar.shoes. Stone has been on his LDS mission so a degree of rust and lack of  intense practice will slow his effectiveness. But his 7-foot, 240-pound size and four years of eligibility has visions of roundball sugar plums dancing in the heads of the Aggie coaching staff.

Circumstances indicate that both prospects have the likely possibility of being more effective as the season rolls on.

6-foot-10 Oklahoma State transfer Jarred Shaw will be sitting out the requisite season per NCAA rules.

At power forward, let's get this over and done with prior to the start of the season. That is, this team is Brady's Bunch, meaning the junior leaper of tall buildings,6-foot-7 Brady Jardine.  It's a new responsibility, not a light one at that and it remains to be seen if Jardine can meet that leadership challenge. He still lacks ball skills -- the ability to create -- so an improvement there, along with his abnormal athleticism, would be confounding to opponents. Jardine will be the leading Aggie rebounder but he'll also need to be the second leading scorer (behind Brockeith Pane). However, no longer can the Aggies toss it inside to Wesley and usually generate a basket or have a foul drawn or experience a keen kickout pass to an open teammate.

6-foot-7 Kyisean Reed encountered maturity issues at Antelope Valley College and, as Dr. Phil notes, the past is a predictor of future behavior. So let's see how that works out for someone whose game is a clone of Jardine's. A side note: Reed and Jardine would be killer in beach volleyball if they ever had the inkling.

What will be fascinating is what 6-foot-7 Ben Clifford, can bring to the court in 2011-12. A frosh redshirt,  he is the best Aggie corner prospect in the long term.

Morgan Grim at 6-foot-8 enjoyed a few good moments in the middle but he remains a gap player, someone who may not help a great deal but won't hurt you on the court.

The third spot, PTW will call it the wing, is wide open. Norvell Arnold, he of various legal charges, should easily earn the starting spot if he gets to Logan and also if he stays out of any future legal scrapes (1:41 a.m. 100 block of North Main Street. Norvell Arnold, 23, 301 Maple St.: possession with intent to deliver marijuana, criminal trespass and domestic abuse assault). More than likely all the initial charges will be plea bargained down but physical contact with another person, let alone a female, has no excuse (link) and is a black eye that shouldn't be lightly forgiven. Arnold fills a dribble-drive/creator need and should be the biggest overall immediate contributor

It's a veritable pick 'em conglomerate at shooting guard with Preston Medlin, Antonio Bumpus, Mitch Bruneel (three years of eligibility), and Steve Thornton. Medlin has the best shot and range, Bumpus is the most athletic, Bruneel is a plus rebounder who was also second on his College of Southern Idaho squad in free throws attempted but had a minus assist-to-turnover ratio and Thornton has take-it-to-the-hoop ability and good size but looks to be fourth in the current SG rankings.

More offense from this spot will be generated than in 2010-11 but the question of who will come close to Newbold's defensive tenacity and effectiveness can only be answered once the players take to the court in October.

It's Pane at the point, period. Brockeith Pane will be playing 35 minutes a game, creating with his forays to the hoop and fastbreaking on rebounds and especially steals. Yes, E.J. Farris is there for backup but Paine's bench minutes will really sedate the USU offense.

SUMMARY

We hopefully didn't miss anybody as our player numbers total 13, the maximum number. Morgan Grim is the biggest question regarding being on scholarship.

For the first time in quite a while, there are a a lot of questions needing answers for the Aggies. But plenty of quality parts are available for the testing

It's a little surprising that there isn't a point on the roster to be groomed this season, what with Pane departing after that. It takes newcomers a period of time to adjust to Morrill's offensive schemes and any learning period lag could be problematic -- but that's not a concern until after this season.