Rocket Docket

Committing to not committing

Late Sunday college basketball free agent Kyle Vinales announced on Twitter his intention to transfer to Toledo.

Jus committed to the University of Toledo#gorockets

Around lunch time Monday that Tweet was taken down and replaced by this one:

After praying and talkin to the people closest to I've decided to wait a little longer to make my decision. I'm still open to recruiting.

My thoughts:

-I sense Vinales got a little trigger happy after enjoying his visit to Toledo over the weekend. He soon came down from the high, perhaps with the help of someone talking in his ear, and chose to back off of his pledge. Perhaps another school has entered the picture? I don't know. What I do know is Vinales, who eclipsed 1000 points scored in his first two seasons at Central Connecticut, is being courted by some of the best mid-majors in the Midwest. He's a high-impact guy.

-Vinales reportedly left Central Connecticut, where he was first team Northeast Conference, because he had little faith his team could make the NCAA tournament. Think about that. A quality player is thinking about transferring to Toledo because he likes the Rockets' chances of dancing in March. Times have certainly changed with this program.

-I sense Toledo is still in good standing with Vinales. We should know more soon. His arrival would be a major coup for the Rockets and make for a crowded and talented backcourt. 

Here's a preliminary depth chart for 2014-15, provided Vinales re-commits and no players transfer out.

Point guard

Juice Brown, senior

Josh Lemons, junior

*I expect the staff to sign a point guard in next year's class. Also, Drummond and Williams can give minutes at the point.*

Shooting guard

Kyle Vinales, junior/Justin Drummond, senior

Jonathan Williams, sophomore

*An abundance of talent here*

Small forward

Justin Drummond, senior

Angel Aparicio, junior

Jordan Lauf, sophomore

*Could Drummond slide up a position?*

Power forward

J.D. Weatherspoon, senior

Zach Garber, sophomore

*I expect the staff to sign someone in November, either here or at center*

Center

Nathan Boothe, junior

Aubrey Williams, sophomore

*I expect the staff to sign someone in November, either here or at power forward*

Toledo men's path to 2013-14 MAC title just got easier

Toledo is among three teams that will be favored next year to win the MAC men's basketball title, a group that also includes Akron, Western Michigan, and maybe Buffalo.

Actually, strike Western Michigan. The list is down to three.

The Broncos, who shared the MAC West title this year with Toledo — sort of — suffered a crippling blow Tuesday with the announced departure of league freshman of the year Darius Paul. As you probably recall, Paul, who won the award in a landslide, shredded Toledo for 28 points and 12 rebounds in a pivotal late-season test at Savage Arena. The high school teammate of Rocket freshman Nathan Boothe, Paul averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 boards. Had he stayed at WMU, he would have collected at least one MAC player of the year award.

Granted I caught Paul on two good nights (he scored 15 points in the first game against UT) but he is as physically dominant of a freshman as I've seen in the league. 

My gut tells me Paul wants to play at a higher level, perhaps at Illinois where his brother Brandon recently wrapped up a fine career.

This news is bad for Western Michigan, bad for the image of the MAC, and bad for the little guy in college basketball.

But make no mistake. It's good for Toledo.

Rockets news and notes

We have an assortment of things to discuss, beginning with Friday's Faith Not Fear football scrimmage in Mentor.

As I wrote, the defensive line played well in a game that honored one of its own.

Additional thoughts/notes:

-Defensive coordinator Tom Matukewicz called the game from the press box, a departure from his rookie season when Tuke was on the sideline. Campbell said he's not married to either way, but hinted Tuke might be more comfortable working in the box. More times than not a defensive coordinator is on the sideline. But that's not a hard-and-fast rule.

-Chaz Whitaker played with the first team at free safety. D.J. Larkins, who began the spring No. 1 on the depth chart. was with second team. It's a long way until the season opener, so I wouldn't glean too much from this. Whitaker made a couple of nice plays.

-Tough day for freshman quarterback Logan Woodside. A couple of turnovers and some bad passes. That's to be expected of an early enrollee. Better he make those mistakes now than had he waited until the summer to arrive. Woodside, I feel confident in saying, will win the back up job. I've heard solid reports. But the game appears to be moving too fast for him at the moment.

-Liked at times what I saw from Cassius McDowell and Dwight Macon. Consistency is the next step. Both of these offensive skilled players could be factors, or they could be afterthoughts. Their call.

Now for some basketball thoughts ...

-Both the men's and women's teams have a scholarship available to use this offseason. I do not expect the men to bring in anyone who will compete for playing time next year. The roster already is filled with enough guys worthy of getting 10 mpg or more. Expect Kowalczyk to bring in a transfer who will sit out the 2013-14 season or to bank the scholarship for next year's recruiting class. I don't see him using it on a high school player, but I am not ruling that out. ... As for the women's scholarship, it will become available if/when sophomore Taylor Carver leaves the program. The Rockets need a point guard,one who can provide quality minutes immediately. There's only one type of prospect that fits that description this late into the recruiting process — a junior college transfer. 

-UT men's assistant Ryan Pedon is leaving for Illinois where he'll be special assistant to Illini head coach John Groce. Pedon did a great job at Toledo. He is affable, energetic, and a tireless worker. I recall an instance or two in which he sent me a text message at 6 a.m. I have some thoughts on who Kowalczyk might hire to replace Pedon, but I will save them for later in the week.

UT high on list of Indiana recruit

Yesterday we published a piece on UT women's assistant coach Vicki Hall, a tireless worker who has transitioned well from playing to coaching. In it I spoke to a Indiana prep guru who informed me UT is the leader to land a quality prospect out of the Hoosier state. Her name is Kayla Brown, a 6-1 junior who can play three or four positions beginning with point guard.

The guru, Garry Donna, is a long-time friend of Hall's and made her aware of Brown last month after the Ball State game in Muncie, Ind. Brown has since attended a game at Toledo and lists the Rockets as her favorite.

A few links on Kayla Brown:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20130124/LOCAL0103/301240316/Athlete-spotlight-Westfield-girls-basketball-player-Kayla-Brown-driving-succeed

http://www.ncsasports.org/womens-basketball-recruiting/in/westfield/westfield-high-school/kayla-brown8

http://www.ihigh.com/hoosierauthority/video_916909.html

 

 

MAC men's awards - My vote

Yesterday I revealed my vote for MAC women's awards. My thoughts on coach of the year (Cullop) and freshman of the year (Fontaine) were consistent with the majority of voters. I missed on player of the year, choosing Shafir over a crowded field won by Akron's Tecca. I still contend I had it right. Expect to see Shafir have a strong MAC tournament, mostly because she wants to lead her team to the NCAA tournament, but also because she'll be motivated to prove voters wrong.

Now for my men's vote ...

Freshman of the year: Darius Paul, Western Michigan. It was announced today the Broncos forward won the award by a landslide, picking up 18 of a possible 24 votes. Paul, the brother of Illinois standout Brandon Paul and the high school teammate of Toledo's Nathan Boothe, is a future player of the league. He dominated Toledo twice.

Before we move on, two other awards not voted on by the media were announced today. Akron's Zeke Marshall earned defensive player of the year for the second straight season, and Western Michigan's David Brown was named the league's top sixth man. Both of these guys lit up Toledo this year. Brown twice.

Coach of the year: Keith Dambrot, Akron. If you win the league, attain the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and lead your team to a spot in the top 25, you'll probably get my vote. Besides, who else deserves consideration? Jim Christian inherited an Ohio team that returned everyone from a Sweet 16 run. Western Michigan's Steve Hawkins and Toledo's Tod Kowalczyk each did a fine job, but their works are not consistent with my vision of coach of the year. I probably would have voted Kowalczyk had Toledo finished stronger and won home games late in the season over Western Michigan and Ball State. A 12-4 league mark, rather than 10-4, would be worthy of consideration.

Player of the year: Zeke Marshall, Akron. I've spoken to several media members, some who voted for Marshall, some who voted for Ohio's D.J. Cooper. This was a close call for me, but I just love Marshall's shot blocking ability and presence in the paint. The knock on him early in his career is he was soft. Not anymore. He will be in the NBA next year, possibly as a first-round pick. Cooper is excellent, but there was another MAC point guard that put up even better numbers. Toledo's Julius Brown had more assists in league player and a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Cooper. Now, I'd take the senior Cooper over the sophomore Brown, but the extent of the difference is not as great as some might think. Anyway, Marshall was the best player in the league this year.

MAC awards - My choices

We in the basketball media recently voted for MAC specialty awards. Women's winners will be announced Tuesday, followed by men Wednesday.

Here is how I voted for women. I'll post a similar breakdown of the men's vote tomorrow.

Player of the year: 1. Naama Shafir, UT. 2. Crystal Bradford, CMU. 3. Rachel Tecca, Akron.

Explanation: Bradford was my clear-cut favorite after her destruction of Toledo at Savage Arena. She lost that edge after her clunker (six points, eight rebounds) in a rematch loss in Mount Pleasant. The winner should be Shafir, who struggled at times to find her shot but almost always produced in the biggest moments of big games (Bowling Green, Ball State, rematch against Central Michigan). Shafir will win this because she is respected around the league, and Bradford is not (see last year's freshman of the year vote. Bradford was clearly the most deserving but voters were turned off by her atittude. Remember, she was suspended for an oncourt fight).

Coach of the year: 1. Tricia Cullop, UT. 2. Brady Sallee, Ball State. 3. Jodi Kest, Akron.

Explanation: I can't tell you why I voted for Cullop over Sallee. I can only tell you why I voted for Cullop. If that makes sense. With two new assistant coaches she navigated Toledo to the top 25, to win streaks of 15 and 11, and a 15-1 MAC mark. If Sallee wins in his first year, I won't say a word. What he has done at Ball State speaks for itself. The Cardinals were picked to finish last in the West and ended up securing the No. 2 seed in the MAC tournament. And they have like seven scholarship players. Sallee did this with mirrors   

Freshman of the year: 1. Nathalie Fontaine, Ball State. 2. Mackenzie Loesing, Buffalo. 3. Marquisha Harris, Western Michigan. 

Explanation: Fontaine was the leading scorer on the MAC's second best team. The native of Sweden is athletic and long. Future player of the year in this league. 

Live blog from UT women's hoops at BGSU

Join Rocket Docket for in-game blog vs. BG women!

Results of over/under contest

Good job picking over/unders. None of the eight contestants finished below .500, and five of you went 6-4. Congrats to Rocketdowney who posted a stellar 8-2 mark, missing only on Fluellen's rushing total and the average attendance.

Standings:

Rocketdowney 8-2

Kurtis Winzenried 7-3

Campbell 4 President 6-4

Afluellen fan 6-4

TampaRocket 6-4

Terry Bryant 6-4

Jim Carmack 6-4

Abaduiluvu 5-5

The verdicts ...

Percentage of snaps taken by quarterback Terrance Owens: 65

Verdict: Over. I don't want to add up the numbers, but Owens played pretty much exclusively save for three games. And one of those games, Arizona, was a wash between he and Dantin.

Rushing yards by David Fluellen: 875

Verdict: Over. I missed badly here. Fluellen finished with 1,498 rushing yards. No one saw that coming though.

Regular season wins: 8.5

Verdict: Over. Rockets won nine games.

Catches by Cordale Scott: 10

Verdict: Over. Scott had 12 catches.

Sacks allowed by offensive line: 20

Verdict: Over. Toledo allowed 26 sacks.

Long field goal by J.D. Detmer: 52 yards

Verdict: Under. Detmer hit a long field goal of 47 yards.

Touchdown catches by Bernard Reedy: 12

Verdict: Under. Reedy had six TD grabs.

High point total allowed by defense: 48

Verdict: Under. Eastern Michigan scored 47. And if anyone had Eastern Michigan scoring the most points against Toledo, you automatically win this contest.

Different starters at cornerback: 3.5

Verdict: Over. Norrils, Best, Dukes, and Haynes each started at least one game.

Average attendance for home games: 22,157

Verdict: Under. An average of 20,551 fans turned out to the six home games.

Getting to know Utah State

Things to know about Toledo's opponent in the Dec. 15 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ...

-Utah State is a difficult draw for the Rockets. The WAC champion Aggies are ranked No. 18 in the latest AP poll and ended the regular season on a six-game win streak. Their only losses came by a combined five points on the road at Wisconsin and BYU, and their 10 wins mark the most successful regular season in school history. The outright league title is Utah State's first since 1936.

-Uta State will join the Mountain West Conference on Jan. 1.

 -The Aggies are stingy. They rank eighth nationally in scoring defense (15.4 ppg) and sacks (3.25), 12th against the run (111.4 ypg), and 15th in total defense (322.7 ypg).

-This is an uninmaginable state: Utah State is outscoring opponents 131-6 in the first quarter and is the only team in the nation to not allow a TD in the first 15 minutes of a game.  

 -Utah State is 7-2 overall against Mid-American Conference teams, which includes a 24-23 loss to Ohio in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

 -The Aggies have not played in back to back bowls since 1960-61. They are 1-6 in bowls.

-Offensively, running back Kerwy Williams has rushed for 1,277 yards and 12 TDs. Quarterback Chuckie Keeton has thrown for 3,144 yards and 27 TDs. Four pass-catchers, including Williams, have recorded five receiving TDs.