Vermont secures another commitment

The 25-26 Vermont frontcourt is taking shape. The Cats got a second commitment of the week from Ben Michaels, A 6'8" forward from Ipswich, UK who just completed his freshman year at Buffalo and has three years of eligibility remaining. Michaels had a strong freshman year which saw him average 8.1 points and 4 rebounds in 22.4 minutes per game, including 15 starts. This is another awesome addition to the Catamounts and already gives them a formidable core group. Michaels played his high school ball at Long Island Lutheran (NY) where he played with big time NBA prospect VJ Edgecombe, who just completed his freshman year at Baylor. Michaels freshman season culminated with a spot on the MAC all-conference freshman team. He has great size and athleticism and plays with a high motor. This past season he showed some strong shooting potential, knocking down 24 threes. There is room to grow, but Michaels has all the makings of a reliable stretch four. He also proved to be a disruptive defender, racking up 19 steals and 23 blocks. He was coached this past season by former Catamount assistant coach Hamlet Tibbs so you know the coaching staff was well informed while pursing Michaels. With Michaels and Yalden joining Noah Barnett, it has the potential to be a complete 180 from the difficulties in the post this past season. Time will tell, but this looks like a home run start to the offseason roster reload. 

Sunset, Sunrise

For the first time in a while the reflections of the season include a bit of uncertainty and goals that were left unachieved. This season was a true test for the Vermont program as adversity was plentiful and the forward progress was slowed. It is easy to look at the past season and pick apart the things that went wrong and the disappointments that were endured. The season was a roller coaster full of ups and downs and certainly puts more pressure on the offseason than in past years. However, the fact that the Vermont program has reached a point where a 21 win season that fell short of a championship is a "down year", should provide some solace for how strong this program has become. The grit and mental toughness that this group demonstrated down the stretch was incredibly fun to watch and inspiring.

I think back to the season opening win against UAB and that win maintained its worth the whole season through. It showed where Vermont could have been if they had been able to field a consistently healthy team throughout the season. Nobody wants to make excuses, but the fact is that the roster was ever changing and it made finding that classic Vermont program continuity and chemistry that much harder. Despite those challenges this team was still able to rattle off a 10 game win streak and was playing their best basketball of the season until the Shamir Bogues injury was one too many. In a weird way, this season was a herculean effort by the players and staff to take this group and overcome their flaws to put themselves in a position to compete for a title. 

The main culprit this season was the difficulty in finding consistent offense. It was the worst offensive performance by a Becker team after a somewhat difficult offensive year the season before. Roster building is always a complicated process and the new NIL/portal era of recruiting has thrown a major wrench in the offseason. Finding pieces that fit and filling team weaknesses has never been both easier and more complicated at the same time. There are more options available but more competition for available players. There will assuredly be a concerted effort this offseason to give the Cats more balanced offensive options in an effort to get back the offensive efficiency that started this run of success. 

I will miss the incredible defensive intensity and excitement that Shamir and Ileri brought to every game and it will be weird to see the team without Nick after a half dozen years at Vermont. It will be exciting to see the TJ and TJ show (health permitting) one more time. The America East has been decimated by graduation and the portal so far with I believe only TJ Hurley returning from the all conference teams. The rosters across the league are barren and the league will be wide open. Despite Vermont's own roster needs, they are the only team returning an all conference player and if TJ Long comes back healthy they would return two. 

On a personal note, as you know I stopped responding to the comments during this season. Don't worry!

Ultimately this was for a good reason as I have gone back to school part time to get my Masters degree in Sports and Performance Psychology. With the extra time devoted to school I had to make some time cuts somewhere and I wanted to make sure I could continue writing the blog. I think I will be able to return to answering comments over the summer as the recruiting picks up. I am very excited for the potential of a midlife career change and have been really enjoying the classes thus far. 

Speaking of recruiting, NIL has finally come to the Green Mountain State! In honor of the late Barry Stone, a celebrated former player, alum, and Catamount superfan, the Cats now have an NIL fund that we the fans can directly contribute to. This will help Vermont Men's and Women's teams compete for players, particularly with other mid-major programs who have already dove in to the NIL deep end. With University resources being squeezed across the country, this is the best way that Catamount country can directly contribute to the success of the program. 

Here is the link if you would like to donate: Barry Stone Fund

Spread the word!

Once again thank you for reading and reaching out. This blog continues to be an amazing experience that has created community connections and given me a wonderful opportunity to share my love for basketball and Vermont. 

Vermont gets their big man

Hop on the Gus Bus!

The first portal commitment of the offseason for Vermont comes from Gus Yalden, a 6' 9", 260 lb forward from Appleton, WI. The Cats have been looking to add a big on the portal over the past few off-seasons and they have found their guy in Yalden, who has three years of eligibility left. Yalden has had quite a circuitous journey on his way to arriving at Vermont. Early in high school, he drew major power 5 interest and was rated as a 4 star prospect. He then went to IMG Academy (FL) where he struggled through foot injuries. Then after stops at the Asheville School (NC) and La Lumiere (IN), he committed to play basketball for his hometown Wisconsin Badgers. I remember following his recruitment at the time because he played for the Albany City Rocks AAU team and Vermont had expressed some interest. He red-shirted his freshman year at Wisconsin and ran into a few off-court issues. After the season he transferred to Seton Hall where he played 8 minutes a game across 26 games. Yalden comes to Vermont with a tremendous opportunity to step in a play a big role for the Catamounts. There were a few things I remember when following his recruitment. One was I thought the "Gus Bus" nickname was awesome and there was also a lot of "Baby Jokic" talk about his style of play. Being compared to the greatest basketball player of all time is a big swing but it gives an impression of how diversified his game is at his size. I love the fit at Vermont. Minutes are plentiful and he has a well rounded game. Watching interviews with Yalden, he describes himself as a "glue guy" who can do a bit of everything to help his team. He has a true back to the basket game, finishing with both hands around the hoop. He has a nice shooting touch on a little one-legged turn around and could develop into a good outside shooter. Yalden shines as a passer and is capable of playing off the dribble. He also plays with a ton of personality and fire. This is the type of post scorer the Vermont coaching staff has been searching for and Yalden gets a chance to prove himself at the college level. I think about how Ileri Ayo-Faleye had similarly red-shirted and not played much before coming to Vermont (also with 3 years remaining). The coaching staff was able to unlock his potential and he became a great player. This is a really good start to the offseason and gives the Cats some recruiting momentum as they reload. The America East will be more wide open than ever next season and adding Yalden to the returning group of guards is a great start. So excited to see the roster take shape!!