Little Rhody's Little Scholarship Situation?
With their deep, talented roster in the 2016-2017 season, URI has made use of all 13 of their scholarships. Given the upcoming graduations and final (concurrent) seasons of the Ram's starting frontcourt, Hassan Martin and Kuran Iverson, 2 scholarships were available to Coach Hurley and his staff for the 2017-2018 season. Dan Hurley and his staff have done an increasingly better job at recruiting and bringing in transfers as the team has continued to improve.
With the first open scholarship, Rhode Island received their first verbal commitment from Daron "Fatts" Russell on 9/20/16, who comes from Imhotep Institute Charter High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first obvious element of his game to me is an attribute that has been sparingly talked about, his Philly toughness. The mental and physical strength he shows at 5'10 in the PG position is necessary to succeed at the college level. This toughness is directly connected to why he has been labeled as a consensus three-star recruit. URI's successful 2014-2015 season revolved around the grit that players like TJ Buchanan showed in the face of adversity. "Fatts" may be another steal on the recruiting trail for Hurley and his staff, similar to Cyril Langevine. Just like his brother, DeWayne Russell has shown at Grand Canyon University, Daron can GET BUCKETS. Considering that the offensive side of the ball has always been Rhode Island's weakness under Dan Hurley, this is a welcome addition. Lastly, URI secured Russell's services over the likes of fellow A10 team, La Salle and NCAA tournament-caliber teams in SMU and Seton Hall.
Up to this point, there is still 1 scholarship available for the Rhode Island coaching staff to work with and no big news on the direction they are going to go with it. My advice is to find another scorer, no matter what position he plays but preferably someone in the front court. The Rams will be deep and extremely talented again at the guard position in 2017-2018, with E.C. Matthews almost certainly returning, along with the likes of Jared Terrell, Jarvis Garrett, Christion Thompson, Stanford Robinson, Jeff Dowtin, and the incoming Daron Russell.
Meanwhile, the front court will have talent of their own but they are largely inexperienced as is. Returning to clog up the paint will be the likes of Cyril Langevine, Nicola Akele, Michael Layssard, Andre Berry, and Michael Tertsea. Redshirting Tertsea was a well-calculated decision in my book. The 6'10 big man from Makurdi, Nigeria has been able to strengthen himself, both physically with head athletic trainer, Daniel Marshall and mentally from watching URI's games. The hope is that he can be a tremendous rim protector for Hurley's club next season.
Moreover, I have seen more than enough from Michael Layssard when he was first recruited to know that he can be eventually a candidate for A10 Player of the Year one day (his game is similar to current A10 POY favorite TJ Cline). Furthermore, Andre Berry needs to continue his conditioning and keep improving on the defensive end. Thus, he can consistently get minutes under Hurley and have big games like he did at Dayton and home against UMASS late last season. Cyril Langevine, URI's "Man-Child" has drawn comparisons to Hassan Martin and he looks like an exact clone of #12. I don't think that anyone has anything to worry about with Langevine. Besides needing some work finishing at the rim and off the glass, Langevine has all the skills and intangibles to be a consistent force and an A10 first team player. The most experienced player that will be remaining in the frontcourt is Nicola Akele. While his 3-pt percentage is pretty good, he will have more opportunities in the next season and he needs to take advantage of it. Coach Hurley once praised TJ Buchanan's skills in 2014-2015 and how he could foresee those same elements in Akele's game. Let's face the facts, Nicola Akele will never be exactly like TJ Buchanan, but he does not need to be. The lanky forward from Treviso, Italy needs to keep excelling at all the fundamental parts of the game and his 3-point shooting. "3-and-D" players are essential at the collegiate level for successful basketball teams. Once Akele locks in on his defensive skills, he will be a monster. With all of this said, they need a frontcourt player who can consistently score since there will be no more big production coming from Kuran Iverson and Hassan Martin.
Clearly, if a high-caliber prospect or a transfer with comparable talent to Stanford Robinson and Kuran Iverson is available to recruit to Rhode Island, the Rams better...
