Fly Around and Find Out--MBB Preview

So, when I heard the MBB team's new slogan for the year, I was a little confused.

I asked a couple people what the phrase might refer to and...well let's just say I might be the only person who never heard "f*ck around and find out."

The Todd Simon era is about to begin.  And, you know, he's had about as good an off-season as he can have.  Remembering that he hasn't won a game yet...but I think he's given the team an identity...the striped warm up pants, the slogan up above...I just think there's an energy and a pirate feel to it.  

I think everyone joins me in being very excited to see how this plays out.

Blue Ribbon has BG finishing #8 in the MAC.  Kenpom has us 5th.

A few words on the MAC.  All told, counting graduation, guys going pro and into the portal, only 2 players are returning from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams. (Freeman and Coit).  It's a reboot...in many ways.  The MAC is at a low point in men's basketball.  The conference was ranked 19th last year by kenpom and is ranked pre-season in the same place.

Furthermore, there are 4 MAC programs that are consistently good--Akron, OU, Kent and UT.  The other schools are looking to get into that conversation and some are not close.  MAC basketball in Michigan is just terrible.

Simon had a lot to do.  BG was bad last year and had a lot of losses, also lost Samari Curtis and Willlie Lightfoot .  He had only 4 players back...and two of them (McComb and Felt) had played little to no minutes. Agee and Towns were the only contributors back.

He went to work and brought in 9 new scholarship players.  It can happen in today's college basketball world.  But he filled all the scholarships.  Honestly, the roster turnover wasn't unwelcome--remember we were not very good last year.  And he has guys to fit how he wants to play--which is fast and high scoring. Many of them are playing at a level or a role they never have.  How quickly they jell and adapt is what will determine success for this season.

I also understand Simon is bringing high-level MAC recruits in for visits.

He told Blue Ribbon that once everyone got there, they were who we thought they were, which doesn't always happen.

So to look at the players...

We have covered these guys as they came in.  A couple observations/notes.

Rashaun Agee was a multiple winner of the Battle Belt for summer practice.  Seeing what was coming, he lost some weight and is running the floor.  We've seen a lot of ability from him and if he is ready to laser focus, he can be a real game-changer.  Also, being more mobile he can guard other 4s, which should keep him out of foul trouble.

You may have seen Jamai Felt on crutches at the scrimmage.  He apparently re-injured the knee he had surgery on last year.  It doesn't look good, as I understand it.  It's a real shame.  He was positioned to be a contributor both years had he not been injured.

Jason Spurgin is the only player coming in from SUU.  He scored 10 pts and 6 rebounds last year for the Thunderbirds.  At 6'10" he will have a key role--Coach says he will play a stretch role on offense. The key, to me, though, is as a rim protector, something BG just has not had.  On tempo-free block percentage, Spurgin was #80 in blocks in the nation and #3 in the WAC.

According to Blue Ribbon, Simon likes two ball-handlers.  That appears to be Marcus Hill, 3rd team JUCO All-American, along with Trey Thomas, the Vanderbilt transfer.  DJ Smith is a third man in that rotation.

On the wings, BG has Da'Shawn Phillip, 3rd team All-MEAC, DaJion Humphrey, #19 JUCO recruit in country, PJ Edwards, highly ranked ouf of HS and Ejay Greer, who played at Rocktop Academy.

And Spurgin, Towns and Agree inside.

BG has a shot at a decent record.  The schedule is pretty soft.  Kenpom projects 18-12, 16-12 in D1 games and 10-8 in the MAC.  In perspective, it would be BG's 5th winning season since the 2002 Dakich-WVU year.  After two seasons with Kenpom's in the 280s, the worst in the kenpom era, a winning season is a start to getting back on track.  I like what I see, but he hasn't won a game yet.