SIU basketball Summer Saluki hoops practice is a learning experience
Remember when you screwed up in high school and someone put you back in line by letting you know - loudly. The early-morning Saluki basketball session last week showed who is going to be the teacher-leader of the 2019-20 season, and that person may surprise you.
The Dawgs were running a drill in which if a team missed a shot, they needed to engage their reverse gear back the other way, quickly, to guard against the other team's fast break. When one group of practice players did not transition from offense to defense fast enough, I heard a rebuke shouted louder than the longtime PA man for Saluki basketball calls out made Saluki three-pointers.
"Get the (bleep!) back!" shouted usually soft-spoken senior starter Aaron Cook. This year it will be the senior roster players, not coaches, who will control how competitive the team will be.
"Our seniors (returners Cook, Eric McGill, and transfers, Ronnie Suggs and Barret Benson) are showing the way for the rest of the team in developing great habits on and off the court," said SIU head coach Bryan Mullins. "We are a long way from where we want to be as a team, but we'll get there."
It's been a frantic go for Mullins and his young assistants. The first few weeks were all about recruiting.
"We looked to get two types of guys," Mullins said. "We wanted to get some young freshmen to build for the future, but we also signed several JUCO and grad transfers to give our seniors a chance to vie for an MVC Championship."
Mullins looked to the template of last year's successful first-year coach, Darian DeVries of Drake, for his inspiration in replacing eight of 13 2018-19 roster players.
"DeVries did an amazing job in making his team very competitive," Mullins said. "He brought in key transfers and a few selected freshmen." That's almost exactly how Mullins has handled it.
As far as impressions of those new players, I liked what I saw of Harwin Francois, Marcus Domask, Benson and Lance Jones at last week's practice. Benson is valuable because of his size and maturity. SIU will really need at least three "bigs," so Benson will combine with 6-foot-7, 240-pound sophomore bruiser Sekou Dembele - and possibly Malik William - to form a triad of frontcourt players.
Dembele is still raw on defense and must learn to play defense without fouling. But he could be a difference-maker with his inside scoring and rebounding.
Benson is near 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds - about the size of last year's five spot star, Kavion Pippen. He's not much of an offensive juggernaut, but he is mature and a quick learner. He is a super shot blocker, passer and rebounder. Mullins is waiting to get word from the
NCAA on whether he will have to sit out a transfer year or is eligible this coming season.
If William is eligible, then look out MVC! He will be one of the best five spot men in the MVC and make the rest of the team even better.
Domask and Francois are hot-shooting wings who can shoot the three and also are good passers. They may be needed to generate offense and so may not redshirt - especially sophomore Francois.
Both Domask and fellow freshman Lance Jones are two of the more impressive first-year prospects I've seen in the last 10 years. Both are physically ready to play even at their young age. Jones is not only solidly built (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) but is a great passer and driver to the hoop. He's not as great a three-point shooter as Domask or Francois, but opponents can't leave him alone at the line without consequences.
The eligibility to play in 2019-20 of William is perhaps a determiner of whether the Dawgs will be really good this season. He is already practicing with the team but needs a waiver from the NCAA to play this year.