Both Jorge Ochoa and Perry Smith Jr entered the transfer portal today. It is almost one year to the day from Ochoa's commitment to the Catamounts last March. Such is the state of things in the current college basketball landscape. Again I think the portal and ability to transfer without sitting out is ultimately good for college basketball, but it does make roster construction and year to year continuity a much more difficult thing to achieve. Both Ochoa and Smith Jr came in with high hopes as the top two rated recruits in Vermont history (of the era where those types of rankings have been a thing). As I mentioned when they committed, the hardest thing about coming to Vermont is to get up to speed on the defensive side of the ball and typically young big men have struggled to crack the rotation. That certainly played out during the season as both struggled with defensive miscues and never got enough court time to find a rhythm. So many factors go into transferring and I don't want to speculate about why they are choosing to transfer but it must have been a frustrating process for Ochoa and Smith Jr this season to try and learn the system. I wish them luck in the next part of their basketball journey and hope they find the right fit on and off the court.
The job of the coaching staff becomes that much more difficult as they are once again going to be turning over half of the roster this offseason. This is pretty commonplace now as a large portion of college basketball is retooling their rosters throughout March, April, and May each season. The portal ultimately has been a huge lift for Vermont during this recent run of success as Finn Sullivan, Kam Gibson, Matt Veretto, Ileri Ayo-Fayele, and Dylan Penn all came to Vermont through that process. Last year Vermont was able to blend getting additions from the portal and finding overlooked high school players who have lost out due to the scramble in the portal. Even though the impact from the younger players was less than they hoped, I expect that there will be a similar combination this offseason. One of the challenges with the unpredictable roster construction is it is very hard to talk to prospective players about playing time availability. Last season at this time it seemed like there were few barriers to playing time at the frontcourt positions at Vermont. Fast forward to adding Veretto and Ayo-Faleye and suddenly the position became more crowded. The coaching staff has quite a balancing act when sifting through the portal and hitting the road to find unsigned high school players. I continue to expect a flurry of moves over the next month or so.
Can’t say I’m surprised, PSJ had the look about him once his minutes declined that he wanted out, even when he was in during garbage time he looked discouraged. Jorge I thought might stick around but I guess not. It’ll sting if they turn into players as they were the highest recruits we’ve ever landed or at least in the top 5. I think in terms of the roster I’m guessing Joba will be comparable so we only have to replace one of them in theory. I’m still not a believer in fiorillo so if we’re going to really improve our front court we need a post player with size and strength. I love ileri at the 4 and think veretto and he can create mismatches as 3/4’s if we can land a real big. I will say that this portal thing is really a juggling act, and I can’t tell if I like it or not. In some regards we can fantasize about bringing in p5 talent that just want to win and on the other hand we’re left wondering what the team will look like next yr if they’ll even be competitive. It shall be interesting… Any word if they’re looking at Jordan Minor from Merrimack? That would be a great fit. He was real good all yr and I liked his game when we played them.
ReplyDeleteI do think they will be good players wherever they end up. The defensive system was a huge barrier and neither seemed like they ever got a grasp on it while Veretto and Ayo-Faleye made strides throughout the season. I think Seth Joba will be very good (and college ready) so that is a plus. Ultimately my view on the portal is that it is the reason that the last few seasons were as successful as they were so I cant be too frustrated when it works the other way. The coaching staff's track record in making teams competitive regardless of circumstance is pretty rock solid so I believe they can make it work. Minor will very likely be going to a P5 school. Getting an established big man is a huge challenge for mid majors as those players almost always go up. My guess is they will be looking for a reclamation/project type big similar to Ayo-Faleye and Veretto out of the portal last season.
DeleteBest wishes to both of these young men. Obviously we don't know all the reasons they decided to transfer. Watching them in games it didn't appear that they were quite ready to contribute this season. D1 is a big jump from high school, especially for bigs. I'm sure we were all hoping they'd contribute more next season, but so many players transfer these days it's not such a big surprise. It will be tough to replace Smith's size, but Ayo-Fayele showed that he's able play bigger than he is. And Varetto and Fiorillo will hopefully be back giving Vermont 3 solid bigs. I wonder how much coach Becker considers player retention when he allots playing time. Would it been wise to play the younger bench guys a little more to keep them happy? Are other coaches taking this into consideration?
ReplyDeleteI would say player retention is not a factor in playing time. The program is built on selflessness and doing whatever is best for contributing to winning and a kind of "waiting your turn" mentality. Maintaining that winning culture does sometimes mean not playing guys "development" minutes. I think teams that are maybe a little less concerned with winning are able to try and give players more leeway. Other than that you gotta play the guys who give the team the best chance to win.
DeleteBecker stuck to 8 players the last half of the season and yes, I think there is a balance between securing home court in the AE and player development. I think they struck that balance with Hurley and wish they could have craved out 5-10 minutes a game for Smith and Ochoa. Let’s hope the portal gives to us as much as it takes!
ReplyDeleteThe portal is certainly an adventure!
DeleteI was hoping that both would have enjoyed the excitement of being a part of the UVM team experience. I thought winning America East and going to the Dance would have been added incentive. As disappointing it is to lose them both it may also be an indication of whether each of them really would have fit into the system; it's a two-way street. If this year's excitement and intrigue was a strong draw and if they don't have confidence in the ability of the coaching staff to create quality players then their individual searches hopefully produce that which they are looking for. As much as the portal has benefitted UVM these past seasons I still have always been a fan of the mid-major 4 year players. With the nostalgia set aside... I am excited to see what will pop up. Thanks Lee...
ReplyDeleteI have always loved watching players develop over a 4 year career as well. I do get very excited about finding out who joins the team from the portal!
DeleteStill kinda crazy to see 3 guys walk away from a program like Vermont, with so much playing time available to them. Back to back NCAA, always an America East contender. The only 3 returning players that saw the floor will be Veretto, Faleye and Hurley. Nick F saw some time too but not a lot. So many minutes up for grabs. This off-season and next season we will if the coaching staff can bring together essentially a whole new team.
ReplyDeleteThe available minutes will certainly be a selling point for the coaching staff.
DeleteSmith Jr and Jorge were two of the highest recruits in Vermont history.... Could you please elaborate on this? As I understand it, Smith Jr. had some high major offers early in his career, but they were later rescinded.
ReplyDeleteProspect ratings systems like Rivals, ESPN, 247 were high on both Ochoa and Smith Jr. I do believe interest in Smith had waned a bit but he was still rated highly on those lists.
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