Vermont lands Middlebury transfer Dylan Sinnickson

Just before summer practices start Vermont was able to finalize their roster for the upcoming season. Dylan Sinnickson a 6-5/195 small forward who has been playing his college ball down the road at Middlebury will join the team as a walk on. As a graduate transfer Sinnickson will be able to play in the upcoming season. By using the open scholarships on transfers who will be eligible starting in the 2016-2017 season, Vermont was left with a thin roster. As demonstrated with the glut of injuries at the beginning of last season, having depth is very important. With no scholarships to fill that last spot on the roster, the coaching staff had to get creative. This move is a clear home run in my book (I had to work in a baseball reference as Sinnickson was  also a star baseball player at Middlebury). This move is the epitome of low-risk, high reward. Getting a walk on who has already played several years at any level of college basketball is a huge plus. Throw in that Sinnickson is very good and an exceptional athlete who played two college sports, and Vermont has themselves a solid insurance plan. At minimum, Sinnickson will be able to push the young guys hard in practice. If called upon due to injury he should give those valuable 6 to 8 minutes and at best he becomes a solid back end rotation player. The only possible downside would be that he steals some minutes from a few of the young guys and they get frustrated with a lack of playing time. What it boils down to is that this late in the game getting a player with this much experience and potential without having to use a scholarship is an impressive move by the coaching staff. As far as possible on the court impact, Sinnickson is a very tough, gritty player who is an exceptional rebounder. He will have to adjust to being undersized but he is a max effort player who will still have an impact on the glass. He is also a decent enough shooter that he can't be left open. I watched several Middlebury games this past season where he demonstrated a relentless motor and a nose for the ball. If he does see the court I could see some parts of his game translating purely due to the fact that he outworks everyone on the court. This off season is going to be difficult as November seems so far away.......

Another Tulane transfer commits to Vermont

Vermont landed a 6-8 transfer from Tulane....stop me if you have heard this before.

In a somewhat surprising move Payton Henson a 6-8 215 pound forward committed to the Vermont basketball team as a transfer. I say it is surprising because I think it is somewhat rare for two players from the same school transfer together to another school. It seems even more unlikely that those two players would also play the same position. This certainly helps to further solidify the frontcourt after Ethan O'Day graduates. As for a impact, time will tell. I stated in my last post that judging a transfer's ability to contribute is nearly impossible. Henson actually played the 5th most minutes on the Tulane team last year despite coming off the bench in every game. He posted modest averages of 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18 mpg. If you believe in advanced statistical projections, that puts him at 13/8 per 40 minutes. So he was a productive member of the team and a regular rotation player. As of right now all that means is that he has significant game experience. After watching his high school highlights he looks to have decent skills. He handles the ball fairly well and finishes around the rim. Looks to have a serviceable outside shot and plays with his head up. At Tulane he really struggled to shoot the ball and it seems like that limited his minutes. He looked a little slow and methodical in the highlights and that was against high school competition. This does again look like the type of player that could find success in the America East. This makes the 2016-2017 team makeup very interesting. The frontcourt goes from looking very thin to having several bodies battling for playing time. Time will tell if this will lead to a winning team on the court.