The first domino to fall is Aaron Deloney putting his name in the portal and testing the waters for his extra year of eligibility. This move is no surprise as it is a pretty amazing and unique opportunity to be given an extra year of eligibility after completing a 4 year career. I am glad that he is exploring his options. He has given some serious blood, sweat, and tears over the years and deserves to explore another chapter. Don't get me wrong I love Deloney and will miss watching him but I kind of treated him as a senior for most of the year, thinking there was a chance he wouldn't be back. If he ends up officially leaving I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. The effect for next year is that it will leave Nick Fiorillo as the only player in the program who has been with the team for more than two seasons. That equates to Vermont moving from a fairly old team, to a very young team in the blink of an eye. The offseason needs from a recruiting standpoint were already at the guard position and that will continue to be the focus of the coaching staff. Most of the players that Vermont has contacted in the transfer portal have been at the guard position so they have already been addressing this need. This leaves Vermont with a lot of question marks for next season which I will touch on further in a season wrap up post this weekend. I will say the coaching staff has demonstrated that they can find underrated (Finn Sullivan) and highly rated (Dylan Penn) transfers and they had a lot of talent on the bench this season. There will be young players that put in the work this offseason and thrive in a larger role. The Vermont program demonstrated their strong player development this season and there is no reason to doubt that they will be able to do it again. Check back for my season wrap this weekend.
What are the chances that AD stays? Is he just testing the waters or is this real?
ReplyDeleteIs Becker recruiting Sobel from Middlebury?
Whatever happens with AD, I will be rooting for him. Please keep the reports coming.
I think it is real. Seems like maybe wants to head back to the west coast for a year. But until he speaks about it one way or another it is all speculation. I am not sure what their interest in Sobel is. They are in an interesting spot with recruiting big men. They will have a lot of depth and don't necessarily want to recruit over what they already have. I also wonder what kind of role Sobel is looking for next season.
DeleteThat is tough: I was hoping that he would be back, but the hoop gods giveth ( Penn ) and they take away. Might be wrong but he may want to play his last year closer to home. And some team out there will surely want a 40% 3 point shooter, 2 time 6th man of the year, tough as nails kid. Best of luck to AD and I will be following his progress. Thanks for the 4 years!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. He has earned his shot.
DeleteFully agree... AD deserves to explore his options. I happen to think his best basketball option is to lead the Cats, a community that loves his play. That said, I wish him the best. The basis of UVM is team play and AD is one player... I am looking currently at the full team picture and all the other pieces...
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Vermont will always find a way with whatever pieces they have and this year proved that more than ever.
DeleteMarquette game did it for him i bet
ReplyDeleteI am guessing he has been considering this since last season ended. I am sure he talked to Stef Smith who made a similar decision and Ryan Davis and Isaiah Powell both chose not to use their extra year at all. He had many people to discuss his options with.
DeleteTo give up the opportunity he has at Vermont to be the man for his 5th year he must already have something lined up. If he stayed he could have been a 20 point scorer. A leader. He could have positioned himself as 1st team all America East. Has to be a desire to go back West? Or something not in sync with coaching staff. Because he is giving up a lot to go to an unknown team for only 1 year.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly would be a leader but his role probably wouldn't have changed very much. The Vermont system does not typically have 20 point scorers due to their team offensive concept. He seems very aligned with the coaching staff. Think he just wants to try something different.
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