Marshall Men's BBall: Who’s Left and What’s Next?

There’s no doubt that this offseason has brought the most change to the Marshall Men’s Basketball program in over a decade. In the last month, the Herd has parted ways with legendary coach Dan D’Antoni, promoted Assistant Coach Corny Jackson, lost four players to graduation, and another five players to the transfer portal. Newly appointed Head Coach, Corny Jackson, has had to hit the ground running to reshape and retool this roster. We know Marshall has been extremely active in the portal and for good reason; they have about half the roster to replace. Let’s break down who is currently under scholarship and what types of players the staff may target in the portal.

The Herd currently have 7 players under scholarship (9 players on the roster including walk-ons Creighton Thieneman & Kycen Pruett), which means they technically have 6 available spots to reach the 13 scholarship limit for Division One Men’s Basketball teams. We know that the team will be led by their senior front court duo of Obinna Anochili-Killen and Nate Martin, but outside of that the roster is pretty grim. Wyatt Fricks returns as a solid rotational piece off the bench. Ryan Nutter showed some flashes as a pesky defender, but needs to take a major leap offensively in order to be playable for more than 10 minutes a game. Kyle Braun seems to be returning for his redshirt-junior year, but hasn’t given the Herd much in his previous 3 seasons. The last 2 players under scholarship are the 2 incoming freshmen, Will Moore and Erich Harding. Moore seems to be more ready to contribute this upcoming season than Harding, but it is still a tall task for any freshman to crack the rotation.

As you can see there are a lot of holes to fill. The staff has been doing their due diligence and have been linked to dozens of transfers. Let’s dive into what this roster needs and the type of players the staff should target. Guards, guards, and more guards. The staff should be using at least 3 of these open scholarships on guards. In college basketball, you will go as far as your guards can take you and Marshall needs a plethora of them. The top priority will probably be finding an experienced guard or two. With two potential all-conference bigs, Coach Corny knows better than anyone that he must compliment them by finding a playmaking guard. When filling these guard spots, it’s important to make sure they have diversified skill sets, similar to how Jon Elmore, CJ Burks, and Jarrod West’s games all complimented each other. Two experienced, plug and play guards should help round out the starting lineup and there may be some appeal to taking a shot on an inexperienced, but talented guard. We know Corny can develop guards, so I will be extra curious to see how he rounds out the depth chart there.

As for wings, Marshall should probably take two. In an ideal world the staff finds an uber athletic, slashing wing, similar to the likes of Taevion Kinsey (long shot, I know). It seemed like this past year’s roster was missing some athleticism. The hope is that you find a wing that can guard 1 through 4 and can generate offense in isolation and off-ball. The second type of wing the staff should target is a specialist. Kam Curfman filled that role in previous years, but his size and increased offensive responsibility limited his effectiveness. Getting someone with legitimate size, 6”5” - 6”7” range, will help space the floor for Marshall’s uptempo offense. The two former Herd players who were a prototype for this build are Austin Loop and Dago Pena.

For the final scholarship, Corny and his staff should look for a reserve big man. As mentioned a few times before, Marshall has two reliable big men returning, but outside of them the front court has a depth issue. We know Wyatt Fricks can come in and provide solid minutes in that 4 spot, but outside of him there is no one besides true freshman Erich Harding. The staff needs to build out this front court depth by adding a versatile big man that can plug in at both the 4 and 5 spot. This will provide insurance for when either Obinna or Martin get in foul trouble or (knock on wood) get injured. There are a couple different ways to approach this spot. The staff could target a veteran to come in and play his role for a year or two while Harding develops or they can take a gamble on a project with high upside and more years of eligibility. At the end of the day, I would target the best player available in this situation.

It is clear that there is a lot of work to do for the staff as the transfer portal season continues. It’s important to note that finding the right fit is just as important as bringing in talent, so the staff must be careful with bringing in guys that match the culture they want to establish. There should be some commitments in the coming weeks and it will be very interesting to see how Corny plans to fill out the rest of the roster ahead of his first season at the helm.