In one of the more bizarre developments of the 2009 preseason, starting point guard R.J. Hall has been ruled academically ineligible.The story is interesting for two reasons. 1) Hall was a member of the National Honor Society at Bloomfield Tech in high school and an honor roll student. In my experiences at Marist, I always saw him with a portfolio to-and-from class. He's probably one of the last guys I would've expected this from. 2) Hall has been ruled academically ineligible by Marist, NOT the NCAA. Marist holds students to higher standards and proved that academics still have a place in athletics.
The situation is similar to Ben Farmer's during the first semester of the 2005-06 season.
Hall's absence will open up a tremendous window of opportunity for Devin Price. While he may not be polished, he certainly has the attitude and athleticism to play the position. Dejuan Goodwin will start at the point, but don't be surprised to see some roster shuffling in the backcourt.
Others news and notes
- Korey Bauer has recovered fully from the flu he battled two weeks back. His role will be emphasized since Drummond is not available for the first semester.
- As far as Menelik Watson goes, there won't be any formal announcement in regards to his red-shirting this season. The NCAA does not have a formal deadline, the team just chooses not to play a certain player for the entire season. They then apply for the red-shirt after the season. A player is eligible to be red-shirted for injury purposes as long as he doesn't play in 30 percent or more of his team's games. The post-season declaration of a red-shirt is important because this is where David Devezin ran into trouble with his paperwork.
5 comments:
That's too bad. Is he still able to practice with the team? If not that may really mess with the chemistry. Plus, is Marist really big enough to start the season without Watson? Carter and Johnson have length but are not physically imposing for the four spot, and Marist would be counting on Bauer playing practically every minute of the game before Drummond is eligible.
He cannot practice with the team as long as he's ineligible, I believe.
I think they'll be fine in Drummond's absence. It gives the team a chance to work on smaller lineups. Like Martin said last year, it's all about four days in March. Getting the guys prepared for the conference schedule will be more important than the wins and losses. It gives the young guys a chance to grow.
The loss of Hall is a crushing for this team as they start to build a program from scratch. They have many questions to answer and point guard was one of them. Fan's saw 2 RJ Halls last year pre and post the Siena debacle. I am sure the staff was looking forward to a healthy competition this fall between Hall and Price to see who was best suited to run the show on the floor. Now, the process of answering that question is deferred for at least 7 games before a competition can even begin, let alone conclusions drawn. Collateral damage will come from having to re-assign Goodwin to the point from the SG and for whomever is moving down from the wing.
I agree that Marist can improve a heck of a lot this year and still not dramatically increase their wins. The MAAC looks very strong this year, wins will be tough to come by. However, the do need to win some games in non-conference since even the most casual of basketball fan knows even the best of those teams aren't remotely considered college basketball powers. Winning isn't the only indicator of improvement, but it sure is the easiest one for the fans to understand.
Are you kidding me... M. Watson isn't playing this season? Is this due to him playing in England or he's actually injured? That seriously sucks... I agreed he seems a little out of shape but felt he would be strong/ productive in the middle for Marist mid season on... im so disappointed .. man that suck ...
If he doesn't play at all, then there is no postseason paperwork at all. Completely different situation than Devezin.
Post a Comment