For the final 14 seasons, Belmont’s males’s basketball workforce has gained a minimum of 20 video games every season. That stretch options 5 journeys to the NCAA Match.
Regardless of the consistency, the Bruins discover themselves in a a lot completely different spot from the place they had been when the streak began in 2010-11 season.
For one, Belmont was within the Atlantic Solar earlier than a decade run within the Ohio Valley Convention, in the end giving approach to becoming a member of the Missouri Valley Convention previous to the 2022-23 marketing campaign.
However on a deeper look, the roster is now constructed a lot in a different way from the vast majority of these groups. Gone are the times the place they will depend on gamers to develop up by means of this system.
The Bruins return 18% of their scoring from final season with quite a few key contributors leaving by way of the Switch Portal: Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland), Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Cade Tyson (North Carolina) and Kyler Vanderjagt (Central Michigan).
“It’s a extremely uncomfortable place for us with having that a lot turnover and dropping that a lot expertise,” Belmont head coach Casey Alexander mentioned.
The Bruins went into the Portal themselves and signed Brody Peebles (Liberty), Carter Whitt (Furman), Jonathan Pierre (Memphis) and Aidan Noyes (Richmond).
Peebles tallied 10.7 factors per sport with the Flames final 12 months. Whitt was a statsheet stuffer for the Paladins by averaging 7.9 factors, 3.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per sport. Pierre gained a nationwide championship with Nova Southeastern earlier than becoming a member of the Tigers for a season.
“We felt like our high precedence needed to be to get some expertise and a few older guys,” Alexander mentioned. “If you happen to get the proper of particular person that matches your model of play and the tradition of your program, then it takes little or no time to actually really feel like [they’ve] been there for the length.”
With greater than 2,000 gamers within the Switch Portal, Belmont’s roster turnover is indicative of the present state of the game.
Whereas the Portal allows groups to rebuild shortly and create seeming tremendous groups, Alexander fears there are some unfavorable long-term results.
“If you happen to’re wanting on the high quality of the groups and the gamers and the product that you simply see on TV and March Insanity and every part else, [the sport’s] higher than it’s ever been,” he mentioned. “However I feel that’s fairly short-sighted for that to be all that you simply’re .
“It’s a fantastic product, however the behind-the-scenes work for 363 groups and the coaches and the rosters and the directors and the followers, by-and-large, I feel is considerably worse, and it’s due to what we’ve gone by means of. If all you care about consequently, it’s good. If you happen to care about every part that goes into the outcome, it’s in a extremely robust place… It’s fairly outstanding how far off the rails we received so quick.”
Coach Alexander just lately joined the Mid-Main Insanity Podcast. Hearken to the total episode.