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August 14th,
2006
By Joel
Welser
Broadcast Basketball
Albany
Great Danes
Overall Rank:
#90
Conference
Rank: #1 America East
2005-06:
21-11, 13-3, 1st
2005-06
postseason: NCAA
 There are few
questions regarding
Albany, the most important being whether the
Danes can continue their success from a season ago, or slip back
to mediocrity with the departure of three solid players. It
will be a decisive campaign for Coach Will Brown and the Albany
program. However, with Jamar Wilson and Brent Wilson returning,
this squad has two legitimate stars and a dynamic inside-outside
combination.
Who’s Out:
The
Danes lose their third, fourth and fifth leading scorers in
Lucious Jordan, Kirsten Zoellner and Levi Levine. Without
Zoellner and Levine, Albany’s inside game will mostly depend on
unproven players. Seldom used forward Jerrad Knotts has also
run out of eligibility.
Who’s In:
It is hoped
that Brett Gifford and Mike Yocum can immediately contribute in
the frontcourt. Gifford, a 6-11 center, has a size advantage
over his competition at the starting center spot. He was a
consistent double-double threat in high school and is a big time
blocking threat. His lack of experience may keep him out of the
starting lineup in November, but that might not last too long.
Yocum, despite being a prep teammate of super scorers Wayne
Ellington and Gerald Henderson, put up good numbers the last
couple of years. The wings will get some help with Reid
Anderson and junior college transfers Carl Ross and Michael
Knight. With the depth in front of him, Anderson isn’t expected
to make a huge impact, but that is not the case with the juco
transfers. Ross is a solid athlete and a good defender. The
6-4 guard played at Fresno State two years and appeared in 25
games, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds. At the least,
Ross will provide a spark off the bench, on both sides of the
floor. Knight has D1 experience playing at Maryland-Baltimore
County before heading south to St. Petersburg College and will
add to the seemingly endless depth on the wings.
Who to Watch:
The
Wilson’s will do much of the scoring, but a trio of wings will
have to be successful if the Danes want to get the Great back in
their name. Jon Iati and Jason Siggers will battle for a
starting gig on the wing. Iati started four games last season,
averaging 6.7 points per contest. Siggers has a height and
rebounding advantage over Iati and that may be enough to earn
him the starting gig. No matter who starts, both will see
plenty of minutes and will have to step up in the scoring
department to cover for the absence of Jordan. Brian Lillis, a
6-5 junior, is the most interesting and important player. The
Urbandale, Iowa native is listed as a wing, but has spent most
of his time running the point. The idea is to have Lillis at
the point so Jamar Wilson can spend more time doing what he does
best…scoring. In the end, if that concept continues to work,
Jamar Wilson will score over 20 points per game and will once
again earn the conference player of the year honors.
Final
Projection:
After Brent
Wilson, the frontcourt is full of questions. Jimmy Covington
and Brian Connelly averaged less than nine minutes per game as
freshmen and one can only expect so much from the incoming
freshmen. However, with minutes to go around, expect Covington,
who was a relatively highly touted recruit for the America East,
to at least hold his own under the basket. Gifford isn’t a
horrible option either, if things don’t work out with
Covington. It won’t be easy with Vermont in year two of their
rebuilding campaign and teams like New Hampshire and Maine
making strides to earn their first trips to the NCAAs. Yet,
we’re putting our money on the Danes continuing their success
and not falling back to the middle of the pack.
Projected
Post-season Tournament:
NCAA
Projected
Starting Five:
Brian Lillis,
Junior, Guard, 4.4 points per game
Jamar Wilson,
Senior, Guard, 17.7 points per game
Jason Siggers,
Senior, Guard, 5.0 points per game
Brent Wilson,
Junior, Forward, 10.4 points per game
Jimmie
Covington, Sophomore, Center, 0.8 points per game
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