Kameron Gibson joins the REAL Catamounts

Vermont landed Western Carolina (also the Catamounts) transfer Kameron Gibson. Gibson is a 6-3 guard from Cincinnati, OH. Due to the COVID year I believe Gibson will have 2 years of eligibility remaining. For Vermont this transfer is about one thing and one thing only...... three point shooting. Gibson is a career 39% shooter from three and somewhat of a specialist as 54% of his career field goal makes and 59% of his career field goal attempts are from beyond the arc. The Cats desperately needed to add shooting for next season and Gibson fits the bill nicely. Gibson is looking to jump start his career after two difficult seasons. His 2019-2020 season was cut short due to a knee injury and last season...well we all know how difficult last season was. When Gibson was a freshman in the 2018-2019 season he came out of the gates hot. In just his third career game he poured in 34 points on 8-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Gibson would go on to start 31 out of 32 games and made the Southern Conference all freshman team after averaging 13.6 points per game. One caveat to those numbers is that Western Carolina really struggled that year to the tune of a 7-25 record. This transfer seems like a good fit for both sides. Gibson is looking for an environment where he can win and recapture some of that magic from his freshman year and Vermont is desperate for some proven outside shooting at the guard position. This does make Vermont incredibly guard heavy but I envision the coaching staff going to three guard lineups while utilizing the bigger guards at the small forward position. This was an important addition as based on the way rosters are shaping up, the America East is going to see a significant influx of talent. With several teams adding experienced, all league caliber players, there is going to be fierce competition in the top half of the league. This will be the first year where in the preseason there will not be a clear preseason favorite. What an exciting way to kick off the recruiting cycle. 

Another hometown star walks on to the Catamounts

Vermont snagged  a two time Vermont Mr. Basketball from Rice as a preferred walk-on.

Sound Familiar?

Following Ben Shungu's path to the Catamounts,  Rice star Michel Ndayishimiye committed to Vermont as a walk-on with a path to a scholarship. The 5-10 guard dominated Vermont high school basketball over the last two seasons and now has an opportunity to continue his basketball career close to home. The Vermont program has established a path to success for walk-ons in recent years and with Shungu's incredible transformation, a blueprint for the top Vermont talent to achieve their goal of playing DI basketball. This partnership the Cats have developed is a win for everyone involved as the local players and fans get to take pride in their local heroes and the Vermont program has opportunities to find overlooked talent and develop them into contributors. Low risk, high reward. Ndayishimiye has the foundation of a player that could develop into a contributor in the future. He is lightning quick in every sense of the word. In the open court, first step, off the dribble, slicing to the rim, etc. His quickness and speed translate anywhere on the court and is an elite skill. He is a capable shooter and as a smaller player already has the stop on a dime pull up that will allow him to get his shot off at the college level. In the past few seasons the America East has seen several undersized guards make a huge impact and if Ndayishimiye woks hard and improves as many of the other walks-ons have, there is absolutely a path to success. At the very least he brings another dedicated, hard working, high character player to practice that will push everyone on the team and push the level of competitiveness. Practice during the upcoming season will be interesting in that the team is going to bigger than a normal year. The returning seniors do not count against the scholarship limit so the roster will be slightly larger than in a normal year. That is going to create quite a competitive atmosphere as players push to make themselves and their teammates better. I would expect another addition from the transfer portal in the coming weeks as Vermont tries to position themselves to compete for a title. With so much available talent and several coaching changes in the America East, there is going to be just as much talent entering the league as exiting. Stony Brook in particular has already put together and impressive roster through the transfer market and it will be interesting to see how some of the teams with new coaching staffs are able to shape their rosters in their first year with a transfer pool that is larger than usual and immediately eligible. The NCAA finally approved the one-time transfer exception. This will allow all student athletes the opportunity to transfer one time during their career without sitting out. A much needed change for the players. The player movement thus far has been exciting to follow and I can't wait to see how the rest of the spring plays out.