Another new commitment- Sean East - transfer from UMass

[lightsout]

Welcome to Bradley Sean! Great get by Wardle and staff.

Looking at the UMASS roster and the name Sy Chatman stands out, if I recall this correctly Bradley had real interest in him coming out of high school a couple years ago.

[Tommy]

Wow, beat out Creighton for his services. I love to see that! Eat that, Creighton!

Welcome to the family, Sean! You made the right choice.

Lose a Sean, gain a Sean. The circle of life.

[Da Coach]

Sean Houpt is also a lefty, though he will apparently not be with the team next year.

[Dub]

This Sean East looks like a ball player. My only concern watching his hilights: can he pass the ball?

[Dub]

This Sean East looks like a ball player. My only concern watching his hilights: can he pass the ball?

I'll attempt an answer to my own question. Last year Sean East averaged slightly higher in assist per game than Darrel Brown (4.9 v 4.7), playing fewer minutes than Brown ( 28.1 v 34.8 ).

I'll accept my own answer, specifically that yes, he can also pass.

I'm in now.

[bradleyfan124]

I'll attempt an answer to my own question. Last year Sean East averaged slightly higher in assist per game than Darrel Brown (4.9 v 4.7), playing fewer minutes than Brown ( 28.1 v 34.8 ).

I'll accept my own answer, specifically that yes, he can also pass.

I'm in now.

I went thru the same thought process. He seemed to bring the ball up court without passing but then I saw his Average assists per game. I think we are watching his scoring highlights but his assists are as important

[Da Coach]

This Sean East looks like a ball player. My only concern watching his hilights: can he pass the ball?

I have always wondered why the people who put those highlight videos together for kids love to show only scoring highlights, and sometimes 50 different ways that a kid can dunk a ball, but they don't usually include other important aspects of their game.

Sean East's average of 4.9 assists per game is quite impressive, especially considering he is a freshman and only played 28.1 minutes per game. He was the only player in the Top 10 in assists in the Atlantic-10 who played less that 31.3 minutes per game, and some averaged as much as 38.4 minutes per game-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/assists/year/2020/seasontype/2/group/3

He also played on a UMass team that ranked in the lower half of the Atlantic-10 in FG% and 3pt% and nearly all other offensive categories. Assist numbers rely a lot on your teammates' ability to get the ball in the basket.

East's 4.9 assists in 28.1 mpg translates into 7.0 assists per 40 minutes, compared to Darrell Brown's 5.4 assists per 40 minutes. His assist to turnover ratio was 1.84, which is also very good, especially considering he was just a freshman. Darrel Brown's assist/turnover this past season was slightly better- 1.96, but Darrell's freshman year it was 0.94.

East's assists of 4.9/game and assists/40 min of 7.0 would both rank 2nd in the MVC this season, ahead of Darrell Brown.
His assist/turnover ratio of 1.84 would rank 4th in the MVC among point guards who played more than 20 minutes per game.

[BRAVE82]

Found this great article out of Louisville...

https://bigredlouie.com/2020/03/31/louisville-basketball-local-transfer/

[Big Mike]

Found this great article out of Louisville...

https://bigredlouie.com/2020/03/31/l...ocal-transfer/

Nice find and interesting read for sure, let's hurry up and get that signing date here quick!

[Mikovio]

It kind of reminds me of Phil Gilbert, who was overshadowed at East St Louis by Darius Miles, flew under the recruiting radar but was a star in his own right.

It'd be awesome if he's immediately eligible, either via waiver or an NCAA rules change.

[Jim]

Dave Reynolds' updated article mentions that Sean had "offers from Creighton, New Mexico, Colorado State, Southern Illinois among others".
https://www.pjstar.com/sports/202004...nd-point-guard

East chose Bradley over offers from Creighton, New Mexico, Colorado State and Southern Illinois, among others. His departure from UMass was a result of a roster numbers game. East believed his best option was to transfer.
Since Bradley is much closer to his hometown of Louisville, the waiver to play right away should be an easier sell.

He looks like he will be fun to watch provided he also involves the other players in the offense. What are the rules for getting a waiver? Why would being closer to his hometown have any impact on him getting a waiver when other athletics come from foreign countries?

[Mikovio]

The hardship waiver rules are whatever the NCAA believes they are on a case by case basis. I fully expected Kingsby to get one because of his health issue, the LSU program's turmoil and moving closer to home. Moving closer to home is something they consider but I don't know if it will be enough here. It's all just subject to the whims of the NCAA.

[BradleyBrave91]

Wow! Don't bypass looking at that video of East and enjoyed seeing the other new players plus Mast. Certainly will be keeping my season tickets for an exciting year ahead!

[elmerb]

He's quick! Looks like the real deal.

[Da Coach]

After watching his videos, there are a couple moves that Sean East has that I like.
One is the quick crossover which allows him to get to the basket for layups and easy shots. That is something Darrell Brown didn't have in his arsenal, and it made DB rely more on his perimeter shooting. MVC teams are very good at defensing that kind of move, so you don't see guards get too many points at the basket like that. But East looks like he is very good at it.
The other move is the "teardrop" shot or the "floater". He drives a little way into the lane then lobs up a quick shot before defenders get a chance to block it. He must be pretty good at that, too, because the videos show him taking a lot of those kinds of shots. A point guard who has the ability to get into the lane like that can be very valuable, especially because we'll also have good big men. He can obviously score with that move, but it will also lead to a lot of assists to guys like Childs, Henry, and the other big guys we'll have.

The coaches really like Sean East and they held off accepting commitments from some other pretty good point guards in order to land him. Drew Adams' and Kristof Kendrick's connections to the Indiana high school and AAU scene really helped us with landing East.