RealGM

I just read that Aaric Murray a C prospect from Lasalle is transferring, he has been impressive in his freshman & sophomore seasons & i just can't see why he's transferring & going to take a year off when I'm sure the NBA GM's have their eye on him because of his size, athleticism & soft touch around the basket.

does anyone know where he is going to go? A major program i assume, what are your thoughts?

Here's the link: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basket ... ansferring

They also lose their next two best players to graduation, so unless they have an incredible recruiting class, they will be really hurting next year.

It seems odd he didn't want to stay & be the man & instead sit out the year....wtf??

Are you a Lasalle fan Huuminh?? what are your thoughts on their program??

I do not have anything against Murray, but I do feel that he is a bit of a selfish player. When I have seen him play, he does not seem focused on winning and spent a lot of his time camped out on the perimeter. Not all that high on his long term potential because of the mental aspect of him as a player.

And for the record, Murray transferred to WVU. It was reported that his attitude was toxic and he did not have the right work ethic. Given, I think it was a mutual decision for both Murray and the coaching staff. He was benched a few times because of his poor play. There were already some selfish basketball personalities on the Explorers last year. The coaching staff wanted to rid itself of that.

Cheers Jman, I hope WVU can handle him & straighten up his attitude.

What are your thoughts on the Lasalle program??

Sik Infant wrote:Cheers Jman, I hope WVU can handle him & straighten up his attitude.

What are your thoughts on the Lasalle program??

Well, most of the players that were deemed "selfish" are gone. Over the years, I always thought that LaSalle underachieved with an exceptional amount of talent. With that said, there were injury problems over the years as well.

I'm not sure what I think of the coach yet. But, I think that the players he has recruited are a start in the rebuilding process. In my A-10 addition for breakthrough players next season, I list Sam Mills and Earl Pettis as breakout players for the program. Mills looked very good in the offseason and I think he will make a big jump from his freshman to sophomore year. Earl Pettis (the Rutgers transfer) is steadily improving and, with higher usage, should have a good senior season. Tyreek Duran should also have a good season, and I expect him to be a go-to weapon along with Pettis. I also like the long term potential of freshmen Rohan Brown, Matt Lopez, and Jerrell Wright. Look for Wright, in particular, to have a very good season.

All in all, LaSalle has to keep recruiting from the Philadelphia/New Jersey area because there are some gems out there. They have some good pipelines in the big 3 New Jersey schools and there are other similar teams that fly under the radar in the state. And, I think that they have a shot to land some talent if the coaching staff puts the work in. This coming season, I see them as a 500 squad and maybe an above average team in the A-10. It all depends on how much these players improve and how far along their freshmen can come.

Cheers Jman for the insight, I'm a UNC fan but I've had a bit of an affinity for La Salle since the days of Rasual Butler but I haven't been paying too much attention as of late, I hope they do well this season & I'll keep an eye on them.

I'm glad they are dropping their 'cancerous' players even though I think Aaric was their best player talent wise.

EDIT-Double Post.

I'm hoping Sam Mills and Duren really develop into stars in the A-10 by their senior seasons. They have the talent imo. I used to love Butler as well. But, the team to look out for in the A-10 this year is clearly Duquesne. TJ McConnell is the best point guard no one has heard about.

Cheers Jman, What do you think La Salle need to do to get over the hump(regular tourneys)?

How does their recruiting compare to the rest of the A-10?? Obviously Philly has a lot of untapped talent & you mentioned they recruit heavily out of Jersey?

They need to land a star Philly recruit and do a better job playing together. Their system has- over the years- looked a bit too much like pickup ball. They need more structure and to recruit some 4 star guys, or at least do a better job returning and developing the 3 star players.

Well, historically, they recruit out of the Tri-State with a focus on Philly- which is an obvious choice considering where they are located. So most of the players come from Philadelphia. But, I recall that they recruited some guys from Paterson Catholic in New Jersey recently before it closed. (The Williams Brothers) In the A-10, I would say that they are a middle to upper middle of the pack recruiting school.

I think my affinity for La Salle is now full blown support, Philly is a basketball hotbed in a bit of a slump & a turnaround is just around the corner.

I hope La Salle get that star Philly recruit & upset the apple cart somewhat, I read on Wikipedia that La Salles endowment is 55 million which in comparison to UNC's 1.9 billion is chump change but as Butler & before that George Mason has shown that the smaller schools can compete.

I don't have a twitter jman so I can't follow you but do you have a website??

I might start writing here, but for now I do have a blog site in my sig. If you are interested in LaSalle, I list Sam Mills and Earl Pettis as two of my A-10 breakout candidates for next season. Let me know what you think.

I just checked out your blog via the breakthrough players thread, great analysis, well done.

Thanks, I'll take any ideas for an article(s). So let me know.

Well funnily enough Jman I'm always looking for(& can never find) articles on things such as Internationals playing in the NCAA,2/3 star recruits that are superstars waiting to happen & I'd love a breakdown players article which would be the opposite of breakthrough players, by that I mean players that have come in to college with a mass of hype but regressed for whatever reason.

I think you may be the man for the job lol.