Much to my surprise when checking the men's basketball roster, there was an unfamiliar name. This recruiting is all well and good, but they're going to start running out of those chairs with the nice AU logo on them sooner or later, and then they're going to have to go into Hughes and grab one of those dingy chairs that I spilled cranberry juice on all through my freshman year. You know the chairs I'm talking about, they smell like your grandmother's house if your grandmother really let herself go after having her fantasy football season crippled last year by Tom Brady's injury...but I digress.
Let me be the first American University basketball blog... Back up. Let me be the first American University website (since my friends at AUEagles.com haven't gotten a chance yet) to welcome Jordan Borucki as the newest American University Eagle. Details are sparse (read: non-existent) about how Jordan came to be on the team, but let me tell you everything I know about him. He's listed as a 6'3" 180lb. guard. Now, because I'm ignorant, I thought that would make him the tallest guard on the team, but it goes to show you that people who know relatively little can still operate in the blogosphere (see: Huffington Post). It turns out that freshman Josh Snodgrass and sophomore Simon McCormack (both 6'4") and Troy Brewer (6'5") all have more height than young Eagle padawan Jordan Borucki.
So how did he come to play at AU? Google reveals (and Facebook confirms) that he has played for both Venice Senior High School in Los Angeles and the Kent School in Connecticut. Though his coach at Kent did this blogger no favors by not entering any game stats (that I can find), the diligent team over at VSHS did. Borucki, in 12 games in the '07-'08 season, averaged 11.6 points, 1.9 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game. Not shabby for a junior year effort, though that 25% 3-pt percentage on 5-20 shooting makes me wince a little bit. Maybe he improved on that at Kent, but then again, for a point guard he doesn't need to be the second coming of Garrison Carr.
Not sure exactly where Jeff Jones is going to play Borucki. I figure Luptak is going to start and be backed up by either McCormack or Joe Hill. Borucki will really have to impress the coaching staff to try to get even a couple of minutes, but he'll face stiff competition from the plethora of other freshmen guards: Snodgrass, Daniel Munoz, and Blake Jolivette (CORRECTION: Munoz and Jolivette are BOTH Rivals 2-star recruits in the Derrick Mercer archetype, yes I said it, now pray that one or both of them lives up to it).
The bad news for the huge freshmen recruiting class (seven of them!) is that I think they'll be very well acquainted with the bench by the end of the season. Either that, or they'll get quite a lot of playing time because the games won't be close enough to keep the starters in (which would be much worse than them not playing at all as far as I'm concerned). I couldn't even begin to accurately guess what the AU depth chart looks like right now, but hopefully I'll get a clearer picture soon.
One last note before I leave you all to mull this post is that I owe an apology tonight. This apology goes to Matthew Wilson. Why? Because I had it in my head that the team had no seniors, but au contraire, mon frère, there is a lone standard bearer for Class of 2010. I'm not sure where Wilson will fit into the lineup because Vlad the Impaler will definitely start at small forward once he becomes eligible (which my sources have informed me will be in time for the DePaul game). Wilson doesn't have the size to play at the 4 or 5 slots, and barring something bizarre, Hendra and Luptak will be the starting backcourt. Anyway, Matt Wilson, I'm glad you're here to be a senior. Make us all proud!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
My take:
ReplyDeleteLumpkins at center, Hendra at the 2 or 3, and Vlad at the shooting PF spot are the only guaranteed starters at this point.
I heard through the grapevine that Jolivette is coming in to be the starter at PG, but that was before they signed Munoz who decommited from Boston U after they changed coaches.
From what i saw last year, I'm not sure Luptak is ready to start...he can't score or distribute consistently. To be fair, that wasn't asked of him last season. But he is a solid defensive stopper of the bench and will get minutes.
My gut is that M. Wilson, Snodgrass, McCormack or Bersch are battling for the other starting wing spot beside Hendra. They need someone else who can consistently score to not create too much pressure on Hendra and Vlad to carry the load.
There is no depth right now behind Lumpkins and Vlad. It basically Grafft who is still rail thin and two freshman. I think you'll see a lot of 3 guard sets this year. If Lumpkins gets into foul trouble, the Eagles are in big trouble.
Obviously a lot of insight in this comment. Thanks for that! Very surprising to hear that you think Luptak won't start, but Munoz and Jolivette are certainly very highly touted, especially by ESPN.
ReplyDeleteThe depth issue is a big one, which is why losing Mike Technow was such a sad loss.
Assuming the 2 spot goes to Hendra, that will be quite a battle for the 3. I think Snodgrass has the best build for it, but I guess we'll see.
Keep commenting, you've obviously got some sources we don't here.