A Sea Of Red

One would thing we will have prospective transfers on campus this weekend. Hopefully we will be hearing about new additions soon.

olldflame wrote: ↑April 6th, 2024, 7:45 am One would thing we will have prospective transfers on campus this weekend. Hopefully we will be hearing about new additions soon.

I heard there were a couple dozen from Louisville coming in.

Spring signing period starts next Wed. This has no effect on transfers, but I have a feeling we will sign a HS player.

The plan is to fill out the roster entirely via transfers. That can obviously change if we miss on our targets. 2 for 2 so far with a couple more visiting next week.

My sources are telling me that Leon Bond II will be on campus for a visit early next week. He's a UVA transfer and 4 star recruit out of HS. If we land him our backcourt is starting to look completely different (and it needed to).

From both a basketball and team culture standpoint, it's hard to imagine being more prepared to step into our system than a UVA transfer would be.

Looking at his stats this year, it stood out to me that Bond took only two 3 point shots in almost 300 minutes of play, making one of them. Not your typical McKay recruit, to say the least.

I don't know whether information about transfers we are recruiting has a way of getting to players, but knowing that big, athletic guards were on the way could at least partially explain Venzant's unexpected decision to enter the portal

Just looking at the current roster, Tealon Peter is the only player who will be in his last year of eligibility. Since we have 2 commits for 25, that would increase the likelihood that one or more of the remaining scholarships will go to a transfer with only one year remaining.

Venzant’s decision to transfer was family related

Bond has already been on campus once and is expected back soon on an OV. He’s 1 of 3 transfers expected to visit over the next week.

A Sea of Red wrote: ↑April 13th, 2024, 12:48 pm Venzant’s decision to transfer was family related

No more details?

I saw 3 of our prospects at Convo this morning. Jim Cymbala brought them up in his message. I believe one was Leon Bond. One looked to be 6"7-6'8" and the other a 6'1" to-6"2" guard. The three familes seemed engaged and seemed to enjoy convo.

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-adds- ... osh-smith/

Looks like we just found our backup forward. I'm loving the way our roster is shaping up. If we get Leon Bond with the last scholarship we should be better in almost every facet of the game. We'll be much deeper, longer, more athletic and capable of beating teams in a variety of ways. Maybe McKay should hit the portal hard like this every season.

At 6'9" I wouldn't be surprised if he were the starting post player on offense and defense as he was with Stetson before injuries.

At 6'8" Aquino would back up Cleveland at forward since their game is identical to one another and maybe Smith as well. I like his versatility.

Aquino can shoot the 3. How do they have identical games?

I’m shocked the Staff is picking up these taller more athletic players. It’s almost like this staff knew what needed to be addressed and is actually……..addressing it. Crazy. I mean despite. All the calls to oust this staff it seems they are actually competent and stuff

Glad to see the staff address the height and athleticism issue. I wish we had a scholarship for Bond, having a 6’6 athletic wing would’ve completed this team. Although I don’t see how Spell sticks around, he’s going to be buried further down the depth chart.

Were not done

A Sea of Red wrote: ↑April 18th, 2024, 9:15 pm Were not done

Just saw this. Are you saying there's more on the way and we can expect more defections? Regardless I'm excited for next season.

Hopefully we are not losing out on Bond. I would say he has the best chance of leading us in scoring next year.

Tothehoopyall1 wrote: ↑April 19th, 2024, 1:54 am Hopefully we are not losing out on Bond. I would say he has the best chance of leading us in scoring next year.

I would love to sign Bond for his overall athleticism and familiarity with the pack line, but the odds of any player who logged 300 minutes in a season and only took two 3 point shots leading a Ritchie McKay coached team in scoring are slimmer than Eugenia Cooney.

Sounds like you don't watch UVA play that much. I would recommend checking out some footage. I was at his Morgan State game (check that one out).

Tothehoopyall1 wrote: ↑April 19th, 2024, 8:50 am Sounds like you don't watch UVA play that much. I would recommend checking out some footage. I was at his Morgan State game (check that one out).

Ritchie has bought in 100% to Tony's defensive approach, but offense is another matter. He remains totally convinced that the best way to score is to recruit players who can shoot the 3 and get them good looks.

We already have one key player (Cleveland) who is not a 3 point threat. When he was on the floor with Venzant, it really restricted us offensively. The same thing would likely be true with Bond. He could play an important role on the team (as did Venzant) but I'd be shocked if he was a big scorer.

olldflame wrote:

Tothehoopyall1 wrote: ↑April 19th, 2024, 8:50 am Sounds like you don't watch UVA play that much. I would recommend checking out some footage. I was at his Morgan State game (check that one out).

Ritchie has bought in 100% to Tony's defensive approach, but offense is another matter. He remains totally convinced that the best way to score is to recruit players who can shoot the 3 and get them good looks.

We already have one key player (Cleveland) who is not a 3 point threat. When he was on the floor with Venzant, it really restricted us offensively.

Bond had 10 in the game against Morgan State that I saw. I don't remember him shooting any 3s that game but he was getting to the basket and making plays. His defense was solid. Unfortunately, Bennett doesn't play his freshamn that much although there were a lot of complaints for Bond not getting more time. I think he can be a big scorer for us based on what I saw. Just my opinion.

UVA playing against a mid-pack MEAC team is their equivalent of us playing Non D1 schools. Individual player performances don't mean a lot. I'm not knocking Bond, and I think his athleticism can make us better, which I'm sure is why we are pursuing him.

olldflame wrote: ↑April 19th, 2024, 11:11 am UVA playing against a mid-pack MEAC team is their equivalent of us playing Non D1 schools. Individual player performances don't mean a lot. I'm not knocking Bond, and I think his athleticism can make us better, which I'm sure is why we are pursuing him.

It's called talent projection. There's a reason he is an ACC caliber talent and most of our team was not recruited at this level. What would he have done on our team this past season if he were at LU? He would have done A LOT!!