JMU Talk Mailbag - 10.26.16
Welcome to my first mailbag of the 2016-17 basketball season. CAA Media Day was yesterday, so it was a perfect time to start the discussion about this basketball season.
You can submit your questions for the next mailbag via Twitter using #JMUTalk or tweeting at me @Josh_DNRSports. You can also send me an email to at jwalfish@dnronline.com.
Before we get to this week's questions, I want to answer the most popular question I was asked. There is no real update on the status of Vince Holmes and Ramone Snowden. Both of them are still part of the program and are practicing, but at the moment are still suspended from game action indefinitely. There is no timetable as to when Louis Rowe will make a decision on an exact length of their suspensions.
Onto this week's questions!
If there is one thing I've learned about Louis Rowe, it is Nov. 11 is the furthest thing from his mind right now. That being said, the players have told me that Rowe has been more open about listening to their ideas and taking their opinions into account. I think we'll see Rowe be more adaptable in game and let his players have more leeway on the court than Brady did the past few years. Obviously we won't know exactly how much different Rowe will be until Thanksgiving, but I am fairly certain there will be notable differences.
I'm going to focus on this last question about JMU and its place in the CAA this season. The Dukes are going to be an interesting team to watch this season because they have so much experience on the roster with seven seniors and no freshmen. That type of imbalance is what has scared so many Power 5 teams from playing JMU this season, but experience does not always equal talent. The Dukes were picked fifth in the conference, and that is probably about where they will finish barring any major injuries.
Looking at the CAA as a whole, I think it's hard to find a team that looks better on paper than UNC-Wilmington, which returns three of the better players in the conference, including preseason player of the year, Chris Flemmings. Then you have teams like William & Mary, which returns Daniel Dixon and Omar Prewitt, and Towson, which will have one of the stronger frontcourts in the conference this season. Those are the three teams I think that will be in that top tier.
Not too far behind that top tier is the middle group consisting of JMU, College of Charleston and Hofstra. The Cougars return all five starters and are definitely heading in the right direction under Earl Grant. The Pride still Rokas Gustys on the interior and according to coach Joe Mihalich, it has eight guys that could play 40 minutes if called upon. Those three teams are certainly capable of winning the conference, but are probably not as talented on paper as the upper-echelon.
Michael Riordan had a more general question about the CAA as a whole. He emailed me asking if any CAA teams would have major changes in their style of play.
I'm obviously very new to this conference, but I don't think any team that retained its head coach is going to have a vastly different style of play this season. That being said, several teams are trying to replace key players from last season -- Hofstra being the most obvious example for me -- and those coaches mentioned are still trying to figure out their starting fives for the most part.
As for Drexel and Delaware, the two other CAA schools with new coaches, I would expect changes from last season.
I'll start with the Blue Hens because I'm seen my fair share of Notre Dame basketball the last two years, and Delaware has the players to run a similar style of offense. Martin Ingelsby told me that his group worked a good deal during the offseason on its offense, and he feels with a player like Chivarsky Corbett returning from injury to complement Cazmon Hayes, the Blue Hens can find ways to move the basketball and spread defenses with those two attackers.
As for Drexel, I'm not 100 percent sure if Zach Spiker will implement the high-pace offense he had at Army. His two best players are forwards and he'll want to utilize them as much as possible. Sammy Mojica is a good guard, but the Dragons are going to need a lot more help in the backcourt if they're going to find a way to succeed in a high-octane attack.