UNF Ospreys Mens BB 2017-18

[spuwho]

I didn't think I was going to be writing anything on UNF basketball until at least the end of the summer when the schedule gets released.  But the past 2 weeks have been dog crazy with roster changes. More than one usually sees in Division 1.

First off, Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year runner up, Garrett Sams decided to leave the team and transfer as a walk on to University of Tennessee-Martin, which happens to be in his hometown.  UT-Martin is like UNF, they compete in the OVC and have had very competitive teams recently.

Then 4 days ago, he changed his mind and asked to come back to UNF. He blamed it on homesickness, fatigue of a Division 1 schedule and lack of maturity on his part.  He tweeted an apology to all involved: Apologies for all the confusion I created over the last month but this is the best place for my future. Osprey Family and said he was coming back to UNF to stay and thanked the UNF staff for being patient.

In the interim, UNF made a big splash by announcing yet more commitments for top talent.

The same day Garrett Sams announced his return, 6 foot 8 Noah Horchler from Melbourne signed a LOI to come to UNF to play.

The week before that UNF signed G Ivan Gandia from the Puerto Rican national team, 6'6" Emmanuel Lambright from Sarasota FL and Trip Day from Phenix City (6'7"), on top of their early recruiting class

In my prior post on last years team, I asked a rhetorical question on just where all these guys are going to play, with the roster only losing 3 seniors.

Romelo Banks graduated, but still has a year of eligibility. Osborn Blount who transferred from FSCJ also graduated.

Now we know....

On April 20th, 4 players were announced as "not returning" to UNF.

CJ Fisher (a projected starter)
Aaron Horne
Karlos Odum
Nick Malonga

Nick Malonga graduated this month and is transferring to play elsewhere. His minutes dwindled as Garrett Sams got more.

Karlos Odum posted on Twitter:  Dont ever let anyone tell you youre not good enough, they are not God

No word on exactly where Fisher, Horne and Odum are going to play next.

This is more than a retool, this is a major house cleaning of the mens roster.

It also means that only 2, possibly 3 guys starting will have court experience.

Garrett Sams
Wajid Aminu
Romelo Banks (if he still plays out his eligibility)

Turnover in Div 1 athletics is not unusual, but typically not so many at once when a coaching change is not involved. 

One thing for sure, the Ospreys will have an all new look as they exit the "legacy plan" and move to the future.

[pierre]

Emmanuel Lambright seems to be pretty highly regarded by a lot of people.

He had some interest from some bigger conference schools.

[spuwho]

Emmanuel Lambright seems to be pretty highly regarded by a lot of people.

He had some interest from some bigger conference schools.

Dick Vitale (who lives in Sarasota) said he was one of the best players coming out of Florida this year.

There are still a couple players waiting in the wings who have offers but haven't commited to UNF.

Toby Van Ry, who left Colorado State and played at NW Kansas Tech ( a JUCO) is an amazing 6'10" power forward. Rated 3 stars, UNF made him an offer in January.  With Horchler coming in, we may not need him now.

Jake Forrester, is only a HS Junior in Harrisburg PA, UNF made him an offer his Freshman year of high school and it was his first college offer.  He is now a 4 star recruit at 6'8" and tearing up the AAU circuit. Since Coach Driscoll made his offer, he has been bombarded with SEC, Big 10, ACC offers.

Kids are interesting, that first offer "sometimes" makes a lasting impression. The influence of AAU Coaches, entourages, parents, relatives all can change things. It will be interesting to see where he ends up.

[Dapperdan]

I think the lazy river is sealing the deal.

[spuwho]

The blazing recruiting trail of the UNF Ospreys continues:

Dorian James, the 6-6 junior forward from Winter Haven has verbally committed to UNF for the 2018-2019 season. He currently plays for the Nike Elite Team E1T1.

He is the first commit to UNF for the 2018-2019 season. 

Toby Van Ry, the 6-10 (3 star) forward decided to commit to U-Texas San Antonio over UNF.

Former UNF SF Aaron Horne has completed his transfer to Texas A&M-Commerce.

Former UNF SF Karlos Odum has verbally committed to transfer to West Georgia.

No word yet on where CJ Fisher or Nick Malonga will end up.

UNF now has 23 offers out for (2) 2018 scholarships and with Dorian making the commit, that leaves 1 slot left for those 22. There are still 4 offers outstanding to 4 star talent.

One thing for sure, after Dallas Moore set his records and scored big at the PIT Pro Eval, the interest in UNF has started to perk up.

If more than 1 of those 4 stars makes a commit, there will be some more shifting of the roster.