Updated Bona roster

[Chuck]

Update on Bonnies roster. Currently with 9 scholarship players (4 more available scholarships).

Potential depth chart
C Noel Brown (Sr.)
PF Duane Thompson (Fr.) Lajae Jones (Jr.) Ebrahim Kaba (Fr.)
SF Lajae Jones (Jr.) Chance Moore (Jr.) Jaxon Edwards (Jr.)
SG Jonah Hinton (So.) Miles Rose (Fr.)
PG Dasonte Bowen (Jr.). Jonah Hinton (So.)

The first three
— 6’11” Noel Brown: strength of his game is interior defense, but his offensive game rapidly improved as the season progressed. How about following for a surprise? Noel was the 2nd leading scorer at 17.6 points per 40 minutes. His 71.0 FG% was by far the best on the team. Noel is a solid replacement for Chad.

— 6’8” Duane Thompson: received 2 late P-6 offers (Virginia Tech and Seton Hall). Became important front court reserve on a Putnam team with extremely talented bigs. Left a year early from Putnam (most likely would have been a starter as a senior at Putnam and see many more P-6 offers). Duane is talented offensive player with drives to basket and solid jump shot. Clearly one of the better 3 point shooters during last summer pickup games. Much prefers facing the basket on offense. A complete opposite to Barry Evans. Barry struggles with offense, but excels on defense and rebounding. Duane (a good athlete) lacks Barry’s extreme athleticism, defense and rebounding skills. Schmidt "We are really excited about Duane's decision to join the Bonnies. Duane is an athletic, long wing who has a ton of upside. He can score the basketball and make an impact in a lot of different ways on the court. Duane also knows how to win, winning a national prep championship last season with Putnam Science Academy. He was really well coached and will be well prepared for the college level because of his experience at PSA. We expect Duane to make an impact with the Bonnies next season.”

— 6’5” Miles Rose is very athletic, who can take the ball to the basket. He needs work with his jump shot. Saw minimal time at start of his senior year at Putnam. Playing time continued to improve until he became a starter in February. Schmidt "We are thrilled with the addition of Miles and his family to the program. He is an athletic and strong scoring combo guard who we think fits our system perfectly. We've obviously had a lot of recent success with guys from Putnam Science Academy; they run it like a college program and really coach the guys up. It's also always exciting to add local talent, this time from Rochester. Miles will be ready to play and we expect him to contribute right away next season."

[bonniefanatic508]

If we use all 4 scholarships I think we need:
2 more bigs, another PG and another wing. If we use just 3 then two more bigs and a pg

[ceharv]

Thanks Chuck, with another almost complete roster turnover, and a bunch of signings of what appear to be players with similar styles, I was getting lost and this helps a lot.
One change I suggest is that I think Kaba, despite being a typical 4 in size, was signed as a guard. I wonder if we got him signed early with a promise of giving him a shot at playing guard. If I am correct about him being a guard it leaves us with an opening at the 4, although maybe Thompson is the answer there. Even if so, it looks like another big is a need, as someone to back up Brown and help Thompson, so I agree with bf508 that bigs need to be the focus for the remaining ‘ships, plus maybe another traditional PG.

[atlbonnie87]

Thanks Chuck. A few points from me:

Agree with just about everything lineup wise but I’ll say this. Chance Moore was the 3 for Missouri State last year, but he shifted to the 4 plenty. He’s the exact same size as Assa, but a better athlete. I’m not sure if it’s him or Lajae starting at the 4, but I’m fairly confident both are starting and one will be at the 4. We know Mark has committed to playing undersized 4’s. Hopeful Thompson can be the starter at some point here, but I think he’s behind. My two cents.

We need to add 2 bigs. No other way around that. Even if one is a freshmen with a plan to RS (like Melian). Gotta get 2 more behind Noel.

Seems like we need a backup PG. Bowen ended the year injured. Hinton and Rose are combo’s. But another one wouldn’t hurt.

Love the wing depth. It’s as athletic of a group that we’ve had in a long time. I was hoping we’d add a proven outside shooter. But I’m not sure that’s going to happen at this point.

Agree on what was said about Kaba. I’m very curious to see where he fits on the floor.

[bigcat]

Didn’t we all say last year’s team was the most athletic group we’ve had in a long time? Posters were hoping we played faster and pressed more.

Every preseason it’s something related to “more of XXX than we’ve had in a long time”. Current roster seems to have more length and athleticism but we lost size and experience… and you never know until we see them in action.

Not sure how coaches mold a brand new team each summer/fall — especially with a coach as complex as Schmidt. We obviously had chemistry issues last season. I read that Schmidt says Jones “fits our system”. Curious as to what system. Last year our offense was disjointed and inconsistent. We just need players who we can count on — game after game, and in the clutch.

I’ve read where a few P6 coaches say they will go with fewer scholarship players than normal since they are no longer building for the future. They are putting their NIL money and resources into 8 or 9 players instead of 11/12. Masked some sense.

[ohs73]

I just hope that these newbies, esp the frontliners, can shoot the damn ball. Fg accuracy was a sore spot last season.

[letsgobonas]

We need quickness on the floor... quickness gets better ball movement, better jump shots, better everything... it looks as if Bowen is very quick in his videos, which is something we so desperately need.

The slower pace of play over the last couple of seasons has been a real hindrance to maintaining consistency.

[Cassian]

This is a friend's son - kid is all-county in Tampa, tremendous upside, no NIL would be needed, 6'4", great grades etc... Trying to get him a look. Four year player who will grow and pretty damn quick.

Thoughts?

youtu.be/kwfLIMNSVsw?si=jUe-YM_CPuijcpWt

[glenlaw]

May 18, 2024 9:49:28 GMT -5 Cassian said:

This is a friend's son - kid is all-county in Tampa, tremendous upside, no NIL would be needed, 6'4", great grades etc... Trying to get him a look. Four year player who will grow and pretty damn quick.

Thoughts?

youtu.be/kwfLIMNSVsw?si=jUe-YM_CPuijcpWt

I think it's a good highlight tape.  Your friend should send it in to the coaching staff.  Too bad the season over and they can't get a live look.  Is he considering a prep year?

[ctm77]

May 18, 2024 9:49:28 GMT -5 Cassian said:

This is a friend's son - kid is all-county in Tampa, tremendous upside, no NIL would be needed, 6'4", great grades etc... Trying to get him a look. Four year player who will grow and pretty damn quick.

Thoughts?

youtu.be/kwfLIMNSVsw?si=jUe-YM_CPuijcpWt

Get him in a good JUCO and work from there. Needs to play against better comp than the second-lowest classification in his state.

[Cassian]

sorry second highest classification 6A

[atlbonnie87]

May 18, 2024 9:01:42 GMT -5 bigcat said:

Didn’t we all say last year’s team was the most athletic group we’ve had in a long time? Posters were hoping we played faster and pressed more.

Every preseason it’s something related to “more of XXX than we’ve had in a long time”. Current roster seems to have more length and athleticism but we lost size and experience… and you never know until we see them in action.

Not sure how coaches mold a brand new team each summer/fall — especially with a coach as complex as Schmidt. We obviously had chemistry issues last season. I read that Schmidt says Jones “fits our system”. Curious as to what system. Last year our offense was disjointed and inconsistent. We just need players who we can count on — game after game, and in the clutch.

I’ve read where a few P6 coaches say they will go with fewer scholarship players than normal since they are no longer building for the future. They are putting their NIL money and resources into 8 or 9 players instead of 11/12. Masked some sense.

I’m not sure who said that but I certainly didn’t. Last year’s team was arguably the least athletic we’ve had under Schmidt.

[Chuck]

Next 3 players
— 6’9” Ebrahim Kaba: recruiting took off after impressive tournament in Atlanta at end of June, averaging 28.5 ppg & 8.6 rpg. This performance earned following from Made Hoops “is in strong consideration to jump into the Top-150 of our rankings.” Is described as a 6’9” sharpshooter. Last 6 months has been developing his game at IMG Academy in Florida. Schmidt "He's an athletic, highly skilled scoring wing who can really rebound," Schmidt said. "He fits our system and is a great kid who has been well coached. He has a tremendous shot with range; he can knock down the three. We are looking forward to getting him on campus and welcoming him into our program."

— 6’7” LaJae Jones: by far Bonas’ highest ranked JUCO signing (7th in nation), 2nd team JUCO All American, MVP of national JUCO tournament (Jonathan Hall was the MVP of the 2008 JUCO tournament and he became a star for Bona). Led Barton in scoring, rebounding, block shots, FG%, 3s FG% and made foul shots. Has solid game from both inside and outside. Very impressive shooting from 2s (54%) and 3s (42.2%). Very effective in getting to the line. Averages 4.4 FTA per game, higher than any Bonnie last season. Barton won national JUCO championship and lost just 1 game the entire season. Barton was the #1 seed for the tournament. Schmidt "Lajae is a highly skilled, scoring forward. He's someone that can get a bucket in a lot of different ways. He is position flexible as well; we see him some in the point forward role. He's going to be a tremendous player for us for two years.”

— 6’5” Chance Moore: Big time recruit out of high school with 14 P-6 offers. ESPN 4 star recruit, 84th ranked player, Sports Illustrated All-American finalist and McDonald’s All-American nominee. Signed with Arkansas, but saw minimal PT and transferred to Missouri State. Averaged 10.7 ppg at Missouri State. Considering he is only 6’5” Chance is a solid player inside the arc with his shooting, rebounding and block shots. Very impressive making 54.6% of his 2 . Among starters, only Yann had a better FG% at 55.3% from 2 point shots. Impressive in getting to the line as he attempted 4.5 FTA per game, which is more than any Bonnie last season (must be solid driver to the basket). Despite solid game inside, he attempted more 3 pointers than 2 pointers and struggled making just 29.5% from 3s. Schmidt "Chance has been a very productive player at a good level for the last couple years. He is ready to make an immediate impact for us in the fall. Chance fits our up and down style well.  We can't wait to get him in a Bonnies uniform." 

[u518370]

Thanks for starting this thread, Chuck. It's fun to speculate how this group will come together and what they should be focused on adding with the remaining scholarships.

I expect Brown and Bowen to be the anchors. Hard to know how the minutes will be distributed around them. I think Chance Moore is likely to be a key piece as a combo forward. I am most intrigued by Kaba, as it feels like his upside is pretty high.

Would love to see them add a serviceable big man to provide depth and injury insurance behind Brown.

Go Bonas!

[Chuck]

In OTH, JP Butler mentioned following in regards to Lajae “by landing what one source described as the white whale of its 2024 recruiting class.”

JP has an interesting comment about Lajae “this might be as big of a “get” as any for Bona in the transfer portal era.” JP added the following to his article.
— Second Team JUCO All-American.
— Checked in at No. 7 on jucorecruiting.com’s list of top 100 junior college players in 2023-24.
— Described by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, who broke the news before Jones posted it on social media, as “one of the best junior college transfers in the country.”

Add being named MVP of JUCO National Tournament, you have a player with very impressive credentials. Best player for Bona since transfer portal? JP very well could be correct.


www.oleantimesherald.com/newsletter/bona-lands-juco-all-american-guard-jones/article_a6224d8a-0690-11ef-86a3-bf564012930f.html
www.jucorecruiting.com/2024-junior-college-basketball-top-100-player-rankings