Emarion Ellis commits to BU

[ManMythLegend]

Oh yeah baby! I think all of Braves nation is getting super-psyched!

No mention of Duke - wonder if his minutes will go down to 25-30 now with all of this talent, and Pettigrew and Ellis with more size and good ball-handling.

Didn't mean to discredit any of the other guys on the team. I just specifically mentioned guys I can see on the court being a nightmare match up for a lot of teams if we wanted to play fast and long. I still think Deen has a large role. What he lacks in height I feel he makes up for in leadership. He's a general when he's on the court.

[ManMythLegend]

You have to give this staff credit for finding a sweet spot in all the chaos with Sophomore, immediately eligible transfers. The new rule will force them to sit out a year now if they want to move again which should help stabilize the roster. The top portal guys are getting too much NIL money for BU to even be in the ballpark. Having recruited most of these guys in HS has certainly helped our cause. Still concerned that the only bigs on the roster for next year are Meta, Thomas and Atlason, who is more of a stretch 4. They need to replace Linke and Bilew with bigs who can help us next year. Still confused why they are still around not having signed NIL deals. It sure sounds like Brian is done recruiting for this year in the PJS article though. Really excited for next year!

I don't know where Linke and Biliew stand but at one point heard rumors of early graduation for them. It would be in poor taste for BW to openly comment he's still recruiting without there being any official announcement on these two. So yeah don't really know what's going on but me thinks it's not off the table that another scholarship or two become available.

[tomahawk chop]

I don't know where Linke and Biliew stand but at one point heard rumors of early graduation for them. It would be in poor taste for BW to openly comment he's still recruiting without there being any official announcement on these two. So yeah don't really know what's going on but me thinks it's not off the table that another scholarship or two become available.

I do not think those two are graduating this year. I do believe we are done recruiting for the coming season. I think we now have all the pieces we need to be successful.

[NashvilleBU]

Ellis is an upgrade to Montgomery at the 3..lock
Leons is a lock at the 4
Burch and Deen will mix at the 1
Hickman/Finland/Pettigrew (probably 2 will rise to the top) will mix at the 2
Hannah/Thomas/Jonovic (probably 2 will ride to the top) will mix at the 5….this position is my biggest worry but the MVC plays small so I think we should bode well mixing them in with 1 big, 4 guards.

[basketball nut]

Ellis is an upgrade to Montgomery at the 3..lock
Leons is a lock at the 4
Burch and Deen will mix at the 1
Hickman/Finland/Pettigrew (probably 2 will rise to the top) will mix at the 2
Hannah/Thomas/Jonovic (probably 2 will ride to the top) will mix at the 5….this position is my biggest worry but the MVC plays small so I think we should bode well mixing them in with 1 big, 4 guards.

I might be wrong but Hickman will run the point just like he did the second half of last season. We have to remember he hadn't played PG since JH. I'm hoping that his shot comes back. If so we should be in good shape.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

I might be wrong but Hickman will run the point just like he did the second half of last season. We have to remember he hadn't played PG since JH. I'm hoping that his shot comes back. If so we should be in good shape.

I think we will see a lot of Pettigrew running the point as well.

[basketball nut]

I think we will see a lot of Pettigrew running the point as well.

That's possible as we know coach plays a rotation offense

[Da Coach]

I think we will see a lot of Pettigrew running the point as well.

Lot of different opinions on the PG position, so I'll add mine. I think we'll see Duke running the point most of the time. He's a proven commodity, lead the team to the MVC title, and did a good job this past season. He does have some shortcomings (no pun intended), mostly on defense, but he is the only true point guard on the roster.
Duke will be the 2nd highest returning scorer behind Leons, and the top returning 3-point percentage shooter on next season's team, and IMO Bradley will be better when he is on the floor. Also, Duke's 1.48 assist/turnover ratio is the best among any returning guard. I don't think Pettigrew is really a point guard (he had only 9 assists in 27 games this past season). Hickman is quite capable of handling PG duties, and maybe Burch will prove capable of filling in at PG in a pinch. But barring an injury to Duke, I don't anyone else as the primary PG.

[basketball nut]

Coach, wouldn't disagree but CH ran the point as much as DD as he worked Dean on the wings trying to free him up for more open shots. I still think those 2 will start together and they are both smart players.
if I was picking an early starting line up I would guess Dean, Hickman, Ellis, Leons and Hannah

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Lot of different opinions on the PG position, so I'll add mine. I think we'll see Duke running the point most of the time. He's a proven commodity, lead the team to the MVC title, and did a good job this past season. He does have some shortcomings (no pun intended), mostly on defense, but he is the only true point guard on the roster.
Duke will be the 2nd highest returning scorer behind Leons, and the top returning 3-point percentage shooter on next season's team, and IMO Bradley will be better when he is on the floor. Also, Duke's 1.48 assist/turnover ratio is the best among any returning guard. I don't think Pettigrew is really a point guard (he had only 9 assists in 27 games this past season). Hickman is quite capable of handling PG duties, and maybe Burch will prove capable of filling in at PG in a pinch. But barring an injury to Duke, I don't anyone else as the primary PG.

I think Deen is a fine pg too, but Wardle mentioned yesterday on ESPN radio that he sees Pettigrew as a pg with a lot of potential. I think we'll see him try a lot of Pettigrew running the point during the pre-Valley season to see how that works. Deen may take on the role of "Mr. Offense" off the bench.

[Old Coach]

Too me Ellis is an upgrade from Montgomery just by the way he can handle the ball, a way better dribbler and we really seemed to lack that from the outside.....great addition...

Probably doesn't matter specifically, but I saw Pettigrew as the replacement for Montgomery, and Ellis as the upgrade for Duke. Either way, you now seemingly have 3 very athletic starting guards.

1. Ellis
2. Hickman
3. Pettigrew
4. Leons
5. Hannah

First 4 off the bench are probably Deen, Thomas, Davis, and Burch. Unless you start Thomas at the 5 because you expect Hannah to play a lot of minutes at both the 4 & 5. Regardless this is probably your top 9 rotation with Atlason and Jonovic at 10 & 11.

[tomahawk chop]

Probably doesn't matter specifically, but I saw Pettigrew as the replacement for Montgomery, and Ellis as the upgrade for Duke. Either way, you now seemingly have 3 very athletic starting guards.

1. Ellis
2. Hickman
3. Pettigrew
4. Leons
5. Hannah

First 4 off the bench are probably Deen, Thomas, Davis, and Burch. Unless you start Thomas at the 5 because you expect Hannah to play a lot of minutes at both the 4 & 5. Regardless this is probably your top 9 rotation with Atlason and Jonovic at 10 & 11.

Your starting 5 looks about right, thing is we have a lot of combinations we can use because we have several players that can play multiple positions.

[Stryker]

Coach, wouldn't disagree but CH ran the point as much as DD as he worked Dean on the wings trying to free him up for more open shots. I still think those 2 will start together and they are both smart players.
if I was picking an early starting line up I would guess Dean, Hickman, Ellis, Leons and Hannah

Wardle stated multiple times that he didn't really have a choice but to run Hickman at point a lot this past season, and Hickman is a better fit for the spot. Hickman did a lot right and was a very smart player so that helped as he filled in for the point, but I don't think he is a natural point. I would expect Deen and a newcomer to share the point next season, possibly with Hickman spelling it based on match ups, but Hickman will primarily be at the 2 spot.

[bradleyfan124]

Wardle stated multiple times that he didn't really have a choice but to run Hickman at point a lot this past season, and Hickman is a better fit for the spot. Hickman did a lot right and was a very smart player so that helped as he filled in for the point, but I don't think he is a natural point. I would expect Deen and a newcomer to share the point next season, possibly with Hickman spelling it based on match ups, but Hickman will primarily be at the 2 spot.

It is nice to have players that are interchangeable

[bradleyfan124]

I am going against alot of you guys. I think it is great some many players are interchangeable between positions. I am going to add I think Jonovic will be playing more of a major role than what alot of you think. For the short period of time here he has done very well in the offense. And with several more months of drills and workouts he will get better. I think he needs work on defense but hopefully that will get better also over the summer