SlackChat: Top Newcomers and Predicted Starting 5

We continue this week’s SlackChat on the men’s basketball team leading up to the season start in a couple of weeks, on November 9th hosting North Florida. This week’s discussion is who you think the 2 best newcomers will be (there’s a lot to choose from) and your predicted starting five.

Daniel Swanberg: The 2 newcomers catching my eye early are Bryson Williams and Kevin Obanor. While Williams doesn’t get the media hype that comes along with the Obanor transfer, I think he’s probably the biggest piece to the frontcourt puzzle. Our frontcourt hasn’t been a strength in the last few seasons. Ever since Odiase & Tariq went to the NBA…. we haven’t been a dominant Final Four caliber squad. Williams is going to be put in a tough spot playing the undersized 5 position, along with Santos-Silva. He must step up to perform, and Mark Adams and crew picked him to lead the bigs for a reason.

Obanor doesn’t need an intro. I saw what he can do, and I think he gets even more of an opportunity to shine this season with our Red Raiders. If he can drill his three-pointers along with all his other skills in hand, watch out.

My picks for starters (who I want to see, but don’t think it’ll happen):

G – McCullar
G- Agbo
G- Shannon
F- Obanor
F- Williams

Michael McDonald: I’ll take Kevin Obanor and Sardaar Calhoun as as top newcomers as far as minutes and production, but I have to mention that the guy I’m most excited about is KJ Allen. He’s getting a lot of praise from Adams lately regarding his commitment to trimming up a bit, his athleticism, and how he may be the best passer on the team. I don’t have him starting, so that’s the only reason I don’t have him as top newcomer. He was Adams first recruit while he was still trying to put a staff together, so I’m rooting hard for him.

With that, here’s my stab at the starting 5:

Kevin McCullar
Sardaar Calhoun
Terrence Shannon, Jr.
Kevin Obanor
Marcus Santos-Silva

As I put this together, I realized how much potential this team has and how much fun they’ll be to watch. So many good players – let’s hope they gel quickly and get on a roll.

Seth Jungman: Picking just two is incredibly difficult because there are so many. Just to remind everyone here are the transfers:

* Kevin Obanor (6-8/235) Oral Roberts
* Davion Warren (6-6/205) Hampton
* Daniel Batcho (6-11/235) Arizona
* Sardaar Calhoun (6-6/210) Forida State
* Bryson Williams (6-8/240) UTEP
* Mylik Wilson (6-3/175) Louisiana
* KJ Allen (6-6/255) East Los Angeles College
* Adonis Arms (6-5/200) Winthrop

Trying to pick the two best, I think I’d have to go along with Dan, which are Kevin Obanor and Bryson Williams. I tend to think that they’ll get the most minutes, with Obanor being the best shooter on the team and Williams being an incredibly productive inside player that will likely impress you with his dizzying array of inside moves.

With that being said, I think that there’s only so many guards and Wilson will have a pretty decent impact because of his defensive abilities. Calhoun will also be able to make an impact because he’s also a tremendous shooter. Warren averaged over 20 a game for Hampton and I don’t expect that, he’ll be an excellent scoring options. Arms is so versatile and does so many things well, just an all-around terrific player and one of the better passers on the team.

My starting 5 with all of that?

G Kevin McCullar
G Sardaar Calhoun
F Terrence Shannon, Jr.
F Kevin Obanor
F Bryson Williams

Second 5?

G Mylik Wilson
G Adonis Arms
F Davion Warren
F Chibuzo Agbo
F Marcus Santos Silva

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