Vermont landed a commitment from 6'3 guard Brenton Mills who is a grad transfer from Allen, TX and will have one year of eligibility remaining. If the name sounds familiar that is because Mills played his first two seasons at Binghamton before spending the last two seasons at Bowling Green. Vermont was looking to add some experience through the portal and they did so with Mills. He has played 106 career games (85 starts) and made both the all freshman team and the all America East third team following his sophomore season. Mills is a good depth add for the Catamounts. He reminds me of Kam Gibson in that he is a low turnover, offense first guard who will be able to give minutes at either guard position as long as he can get up to speed and improve on the defensive end. At Binghamton, he was a high volume three point shooter, knocking down 36% (85-231) from deep. He will be looking to recapture that magic returning to the America East as he struggled from distance during his time at Bowling Green, shooting only 27% on much lower volume (34-124). I am sure that what drew Mills to Vermont was to find a winning program where he can contribute and have an opportunity to make it to the NCAA tournament in his final college season. With Deloney returning, TJ Long joining from Fairfield, and now Mills, the Cats have very quickly done a great job of addressing their number one offseason issue, which was guard depth. They still need another point guard and probably want another frontcourt player for depth. Based on Becker's comments when Deloney recommitted, he hopes to have the roster finalized this week and I would expect more news in the coming days as I am guessing they are hosting visits this weekend. The weather is cooperating nicely so hopefully I will be writing again soon!
Please write more! I love the reports! Any info on Sobel from Middlebury? I think Becker recruited Mills out of high school.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are enjoying the posts! When I saw a list of schools interested in Sobel, Vermont was not one of them so it doesn't seem likely.
DeleteI hope we get these guys to commit to defense, but very good job reloading.
ReplyDeleteAs always the defense will be the key but I do like what they have brought in on the offensive side of the ball.
DeleteThey are doing a great job building a strong contingent of guards. Any solid 3 men maybe in the mold of Vokel or Robin Duncan? We desperately need a big, a legitimate big not a stretch 4… thanks for the updates.
ReplyDeleteThe Duncan production will be difficult to replace and as of right now that is still something they are looking for. Getting legitimate bigs to come to the America East is very challenging. I think we might be in for stretch fours for life.
DeleteI would guess that they play 2 bigs next year with most lineups some combo of Veretto, Fayele, Joba and Fiorillo. But agreed, get as much talent as possible and let’s see what happens!
ReplyDeleteI think it is very likely to be three guards and two of the bigs as well. The coaching staff has done a good job of molding the transfer portal talent each year so we will see!
DeleteDoes Alamuntu get any run next year?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure. His shot looked better toward the end of the season. If he improves his offense he will get minutes. He will still be only a sophomore eligibility wise next season so he has time to develop.
DeleteI do understand that it is difficult for America East to attract a true big 5... but one can always hope. It is an element that good push UVM into a better position when NCAA March Madness happens.
ReplyDeleteHope is always good! It would definitely give them a bump up in the non conference if they were able to land a true five.
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