Former A-10 Standouts Hope to Impress in NBA Summer League Debuts

Temple's Khalif Wyatt- Khalif will be playing for two NBA teams in this years summer league. He will be vying for a spot on either the Philadelphia 76er's or the Dallas Mavericks. Since trading Jrue Holiday on draft night, the 76ers are in rebuilding mode with the rookies and young players they have on their recently updated roster. Sixers new General Manager Sam Hinkie is starting from scratch and it would be a perfect situation for the young man. Wyatt can provide much needed assistance in the backcourt for this youthful Philly team. I am definitely looking for Khalif to make the Sixers roster rather than the stronger Mavs squad. It is understandable for the Mavs to take a look at Wyatt considering the struggles of point guard Darren Collison in D-Town last season, but the Sixers situation is more realistic for the former A-10 player of the year. As well, the possibility of center Dwight Howard joining the Mavericks will hurt Wyatt's chances of making the team. Dallas would no longer be looking for a young rookie point guard to contribute to their team, they would instead focus their search on bringing in a proven veteran that can help them compete for a playoff run. 

La Salle's Ramon Galloway- General Manager Tim Connelly traded the 27th pick in the NBA draft to get the leading scorer in the NCAA last season in Virginia Tech's Erik Green. Connelly's thoughts about Green... "He scored the ball. It's hard to lead the country in scoring, especially coming from a power conference like the ACC. We had a clear deficiency last year in shooting and he kind of checks that box." From that draft night trade, Tim Connelly and the Denver Nuggets showed that they are in need of scoring on their roster thus, they made an extremely smart moving in bringing in scoring guard Ramon Galloway who can put the ball through the net at ease. As A-10 basketball fans, we all saw Ramon's unquestionable ability to score the ball and now, we all hope he can either score enough to make the Nuggets roster or score enough to catch the attentions of NBA front offices around the league.

Saint Joseph's C.J. Aiken- Unfortunately for Aiken, the Sacramento King's have a lot of power forwards on their roster. They have veteran Chuck Hayes, former University of Kentucky 1st rounder and potential filled 24 year old Patrick Patterson, high motored Rider University product Jason Thompson, and former 16th overall draft pick in the 2009 NBA Draft in James Johnson. Besides Hayes, these forwards are youthful and have some nice talent that they could build on in the future. However C.J. Aiken could but part of the future due to his inside/outside game. With the excess amount of power forwards the King's have, it is very unlikely for the former Saint Joe's forward to make the team. It is indeed possible for C.J. to make the team, but it will be a very arduous task for him to achieve. If Aiken were unable to make the King's or any other NBA roster, European could be calling for his services. 

NBA Draft 2013 Player Profiles: A-10's Ramon Galloway & C.J. Aiken Hope To Hear Names Called

It is every basketball players dream to get drafted into the NBA. All those training sessions, studying, sacrifices, and traveling might finally pay off after years and year of dedication. When both Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver announce each pick, players watching at home are biting their finger nails and working up cold, nervous sweats. Unfortunately, the young aspiring NBA player's hoping to get drafted, will not hear their names called on June 27th, 2013. Combo guard Ramon Galloway of the La Salle Exlporers and C.J. Aiken of the Saint Joseph's Hawks hope they are not part of the disappointed group that fail to hear their names said next to the name of an NBA franchise.

Point Guard Ramon Galloway-2nd Round-Undrafted: Remember the 2011 6'1" scoring AP All-American Third Team point guard Jacob Pullen who played at Kansas State? For those of you who don't, he was a terrific scorer who was not completely comfortable playing the point guard position. He had all the skills to put the ball through the net and he created his own shot with ease, but his height was a big issue. At 6'1", Galloway has a similar issue. Ramon has a knack for scoring the basketball, but has issues being a traditional point guard. His inability to act as a true point guard might leave him without a team to go to after all 60 picks have been called this Thursday. Third Team AP All-American Jacob Pullen didn't get drafted and I unfortunately believe Galloway will not get drafted either. The Philadelphia 76er's are in need of a scorer and backup point guard and they could potentially draft the heralded Philadelphia product in the second round. On a negative note, Jacob Pullen was once brought into the Sixers summer league team and they ended up not signing him which is concerning to Galloway since they have very similar styles of play. Though the former Explorer guard is unsure of his future in the NBA, European teams will be calling Mr. Galloway's phone if he isn't chosen. The man can play and owning his skills overseas in Europe for a few years might actually lead him to the NBA one day.

Tweet by @itzonly1_Ramon (Galloway) before the draft yesterday "I'm up getting ready to go to the gym. Today is a special for me and my family. No matter what after…" Great positive attitude by Ramon.

Power Forward C.J. Aiken-2nd Round-Undrafted: Aiken leaves Saint Joseph's after his Junior season to pursue his dream of becoming an NBA player. Some believe he left for the NBA too early, but nobody should blame him. The Saint Joe's forward has led the A-10 in blocks the last three seasons and has a nice outside game to combine with his defensive skills. Though Aiken averaged under 6 rebounds per game, his elite shot blocking ability can't be taught and his ability to stretch the floor is valued at the next level. I don't know if he will get drafted, but I am predicting the Philadelphia 76er's will take a gamble on him with one of their second round picks. The Sixers recently took their chances drafting Philly product Lavoy Allen from Temple and signing Villanova's Maalik Wayns, so it is very possible that Aiken can hear his name voiced by Deputy Commissioner Silver this Thursday. If not selected, C.J. could be signed by the Sixers before the season begins. The Sixers will most likely be in dire need of help.

As we all found out last night, both Galloway and Aiken were not drafted. Hopefully a team will sign them as free agents and give them the shots they deserve. 

Contribute Your Pre-Season A-10 Team Rankings

As seen through my blog posts from this week, my team rankings are....1.VCU 2. UMASS 3. La Salle 4. St. Louis and you know the rest of my teams if you have looked at my other articles. Please comment below to list your personal A-10 Conference team rankings. Comment as anonymous or with a username, it doesn't matter to me. I am interested to see what you guys are thinking! Thanks.

Severe and Fordham at #11, The Youthful Bonnies at #12 Spot, Diminishing Duquesne at #13

11.  Fordham Rams- Conference play was not too kind to the Bronx located Fordham Rams. They went 3-13 in conference play and lost 10 in a row until winning at St. Bonaventure in one of the strongest homecourt advantages in the A-10.(How my Bonnies lost at home to Fordham is mind boggling) Moving forward...the Rams went 7-24 last season and they can't go anywhere but up in the 2014 season. Rams leading scorer and point guard Branden Frazier returns for his Senior campaign and promising Freshman guard in Mandell Thomas returns for his Sophomore year after a nice Freshman season. Class of 2013 point guard Jon Severe from the famous Christ the King High School in Queens, New York which has produced notable NBA player like Speedy Claxton and Lamar Odom, comes to Fordham after turning down offers from notable programs like Florida, Kansas State, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Cincinatti, West Virginia, and Creighton. I am sure Fordham is ecstatic to have this young man and I am positive that Mr. Severe was intrigued at the thought of building up this Fordham team from the ground up. Watching Christ the King High School play, Severe is one of those tough nosed Queens product point guards who has guts. He chose Fordham over big time programs...this kid has A LOT of guts. Fordham will have a tough time this season, but if implemented into the lineup right away, this Mr. New York State Basketball kid could show Fordham Basketball supporters that he can improve the squad each season. I am not going to lie...I am rooting for this team and I am rooting for Severe to get this program relevant. If the Rams can get out from the bottom of the pack this year, they will consider this season much improved and something to build on in the future. The Rams return more experienced players than the Bonnies therefore, I have them at them ahead of St.  Bona.

12. St. Bonaventure Bonnies (best name in all of sports)- Dear Demitrius Conger and Eric Mosley, the Bonnies will miss you... A LOT! There will be a lot of new faces in Olean, New York this upcoming season and the Bonnies, will have a difficult season ahead of them. After Canadian and NBA first round draft pick Andrew Nicholson led the Bonnies to the NCAA tournament in the 2011-2012 season, St. Bonaventure struggled with physical forward Demitrius Conger and point guard Eric Mosley who have both graduated. Senior forward Matthew Wright from Toronto and Junior seven foot center Youssou Ndoye will need to improve greatly for the Bonnies this season. While starting 21 out of 26 games for the Bonnies last season, Wright battled a torn plantar fascia to the bottom of his left foot and if healthy, he should see his production increase. As well, possible starting point guard Charlon Kloof will need to step his game up this season if he were to be the starting point guard and pilot for this Bona bunch. Even though I said "possible"starting point guard, Kloof will and has to start. He was a key contributor in the Bonnies recent NCAA tournament run and will need to average double digits to guide his team in the right direction. Kloof is a big 6-3 guard and St. Bona will need his size and defense to keep the other terrific A-10 guards from controlling the game. Yup, I said it...Kloof is terrific and I believe he will be terrific for the Bonnies. This is his team, his time, and his moment. I believe in him and so should Bonnie fans. The Bonnies could surprise some NCAA/NIT bound teams this year with some upset wins because of their great home-court atmosphere, nonetheless the road games will be troubling for them because of their youthful roster. I know the Bonnies went 3-5 at home and 4-4 on the road last season, yet St. Bona has the home court advantage to disturb visiting teams and turn that home record from a negative to a positive record. This Bonnie squad will need to take care of business and beat Fordham, George Mason, and Duquesne(twice) in order to be relevant in the A-10. They will also need to somehow steal two wins from La Salle/Richmond in each home-and-home series.  The defensive side of the ball will be key for St. Bonaventure if they are set on receiving a decent seed in the A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn. The Bonnies allowed A-10 foes to shoot great percentages from the field last season and as Bonnies fan found out firsthand, there were tons of defensive breakdowns. Hopefully Head Coach Mark Schmidt can fix their woes.

13. Duquesne Dukes- Duquesne is going to have another bad season. I know last years squad was dreadful, but 5 players from last years terrible team have transferred and will not be back next season. I am not sure if that benefits or hurts this year team, but the Dukes are in trouble regardless. Coach Jim Ferry's 2013 recruiting class is not the best by any means and those young players will not be able to win games against the strong A-10 competition. Hopefully Duquesne can get their program back to where it once was in years past, but this is not the year that the Dukes do that. They will definitely finish in the bottom three for sure. The Dukes just hope to see improvement from last seasons 1-15 record in A-10 play. 

Saint Joseph's in the #9 Slot, Once CAA Powerhouse George Mason at #10.

UPDATE: Saint Joes moves from #8 to #9 spot and George Mason moves from #9 spot down to #10.

9. Saint Joseph's Hawks-  Remember when the Hawks received the most votes at the 2012-2013 media day to win the A-10? The team from the city of brotherly love was the popular pre-season pick to be crowned A-10 champs. Saint Joe's season looked promising due in part to guard Carl Jones, guard Langston Galloway, forward C.J. Aiken, and 3rd team all-conference forward Ronald Roberts Jr. all returning. Now, Galloway and Roberts Jr. are back for their Senior years. The Hawks best player in Jones is gone and Aiken leaves school to pursue a professional basketball career, but Saint Joe's returns the majority of its roster from last years once promising group. After last years sub-par season, I expect them to do better than last years bunch. Yes, they will do better. I feel that this team is motivated to win for coach Martelli after the brutal off-season he has experienced. Coach Martelli sadly lost his sister because of heart failure and additionally lost his sister-in-law from cancer. When tragedy strikes, teams can be brought together and perform at unseen levels but, there needs to be talent as well. The good news for Saint Joe's is that they do have the talent that is necessary. The Hawks return two extremely solid and experienced players, therefore I pick them to finish in the middle of the pack this season. If Saint Joseph's has a 20 win season and makes the NCAA tournament...it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Phil Martelli is an elite coach in college basketball and his team is motivated more than ever. However, the NIT is a more realistic landing spot for this 2013-2014 team.

10. George Mason Patriots- The addition of George Mason into the Atlantic 10 is a great one. The powerhouse CAA program will have to step up their play this season due to the A-10 being a much stronger and talented conference. From my perspective, this team is very unpredictable. They won 22 games in a weak CAA Conference and they went through lots of good moments and lots of truly bad moments last year. They had extremely close games with New Mexico, Maryland, Bucknell, and they beat a good Virginia squad and beat a decent Richmond Spider team. Now, here are the bad moments of the Patriots. GMU ended up losing twice to an okay Delaware squad, once to a below average Drexel team at home, once to Georgia State at home, once to a 10-20 UNC Wilmington team, and they struggled to beat a bottom feeding and now fellow A-10 team in Rhode Island. George Mason could surprise some critics in the A-10 by coming up with some good out of conference victories and beating a top A-10 team once or twice. They are most likely to end up finishing anywhere from 5 to 8 in the conference but if Paul Hewitt gets this team on track, they could have a nice season with the good defense and smart play that we are accustomed to see by George Mason in years past. George Mason star and scoring machine Sherrod Wright will need to be lights out for the Patriots to be a force this year. Although George Mason returns most of its team from last season, those role players around Wright will need to up their games in order for George Mason to have another 20 win season. The Patriots will be comprised of Senior student-athletes who can help this team be a good one, yet the biggest issue with this team is that they will need to adjust to the competition of the Atlantic 10. Like I mentioned before...from top to bottom the A-10 is undoubtedly stronger than the CAA. George Mason's lone signature win last season was against Virginia who didn't even make the NCAA Tournament. They can't afford to lose once to Duquesne, Fordham, and URI in order to finish in a decent position in the A-10. I truthfully believe that Mason will be a force to reckon with for years to come in the A-10, but I don't believe the Patriots can make the jump from the lesser CAA to the more powerful A-10 right away. Former CAA member VCU was able to make that jump last season, but VCU had the players to do so. All you George Mason fans out there should be excited for this season and for seasons to come. This might not be the Patriots year, but in time... moving to the A-10 will benefit every single aspect of their program.

My #11, #12, and #13 teams will be my next post. Thanks for reading.

Optimistic GW at #7, Brotherless Richmond Spiders at #8.

7. George Washington Colonials- When someone attempts to do pre-season rankings, they usually make one pick that is totally wrong and this might be that pick for me. GW has experienced Senior big man Isaiah Armwood leading this Colonial team, Indiana University transfer guard Maurice Creek coming to the DC area with hopes of reviving his NCAA career and improving the colonials, and Sophomore forward Patricio Garino returns after his impressive Freshman season. The Colonials also return most of its role players from last years roster. This team might come out of nowhere and come up big in A-10 play and make a run at the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, from my personal opinion people don't realize how big of a deal the loss of guard Lasan Kromah to UCONN is. He was a great complementary piece in the backcourt to frontcourt big man Armwood. GW will definitely be missing him during the conference stretch. As well, I personally think the injury prone Maurice Creek is not the answer to George Washington's plans of winning a significant amount of games this year in the A-10. Many GW fans are excited for this up coming season and they definitely should be, but they shouldn't get too excited just yet.

8.  Richmond Spiders- Last year, the Spiders went 7-1 at home and 1-7 in away games in conference play. Okay...we can all conclude that winning one game on the road in the A-10 is unacceptable. These Spiders need to improve their away from home record in order to have a better season. This team needs to go at a minimum of 4-4 on the road to be in the mix for an NCAA birth. Richmod at the #5 spot may surprise some, but with home-and-home series games against St. Bonaventure and Fordham...chances are they improve their away record and possibly their overall record from last seasons 19 win club. If the pesky Spiders can get some quality wins outside of conference, they will have a notable resume come tournament time. This is a rock-solid Spider roster that consists of Senior forward Derrick Williams, Senior guard Cedrick Lindsay, Junior guard Kendall Anthony, and gifted Sophomore forward Alonzo Nelson-Ododa from Atlanta, Georgia. This year the University of Richmond program will be without the reliable guard Darien Brothers because of graduation, yet with a workforce of all-around players and a favorable schedule... Richmond could be one of the most improved teams in the A-10. The only question mark for this team would be guard play. The Spiders will have inexperienced guards managing the team. Moving forward, people should put their money on forward Derrick Williams to have a much improved Senior year after missing 8 conference games last year in which his teammates went a mediocre 5-4. Yes...5-4 doesn't sound bad, but who knows what could have happened in those 9 conference games. Mr. Williams might have bolstered his team to a 7-2 record throughout that 9 game stretch. Richmond should aim to go 11-5 or 10-6 in conference in order to show the tournament committee that they belong in the big dance come March. A record of 11-5 or 10-6 should place the Spiders near the #5 position in the A-10 standings. However, the loss of Darien Brothers might be too much to overcome. Richmond at the #8 position is more realistic. 

Intriguing Rhody Slotted at #5, Dayton Flies in at #6

5. Rhode Island Rams- The Rhody Rams get a lot of firepower for the 2013-2014 season. The Rams get 6-4 guard E.C. Matthews who is rated as a Top-100 recruit and 4 star in the 2013 class by ESPN, forward Hassan Martin who received offers from notable programs in K-State, Iowa State, Providence, and Creighton, power forward Gilvydas Bruta who transferred from Rutgers after averaging nearly 10 points and 5 rebounds per game as a Freshman, forward Jarelle Reischel who transferred from Rice after averaging nearly 6 points in limited playing time, and guard Deshon Minnis who transferred from Texas Tech to be closer to home. As well, the Rams return their leading scorer from last seasons squad in Senior guard Xavier Munford who averaged 17.4 points per game and Rhody also returns Junior starting guard Mike Powell who averaged nearly 9 points per contest. Munford had a nice season and Powell shot a poor percentage last season and luckily for them, some of the pressure should be off of both of them this year with the nice additions Coach Hurley has pulled off. The question mark for this Rhode Island team will be if all the transfers and incoming recruits can mesh quickly enough in order to do some damage this year. I may move Rhody up in my rankings soon due in part to my bias of Coach Hurley who I have seen Coach numerous times, but I am going to wait a little bit. As of right now I am going to leave the Rams at the #11 spot due to the uncertainty of all of these transfers bonding and meshing before conference play begins. Chemistry might occur too late for the Rams but if they happen to be clicking on all cylinders, they could be another dark horse along with GW that can potentially be a top 5 or 6 team in the A-10 Conference. 

6. Dayton Flyers- The NIT has been a popular landing spot for Dayton since the 2009-2010 season, the Flyers  have been in the NIT a whopping 3 times since then. Head Coach Archie Miller took his 2011-2012 squad to the NIT and after a down year in the A-10, Mr. Miller is looking to route the Flyers to the NCAA Tournament. As all A-10 programs know, UD is always a tough out. I truly may regret picking them this low in the conference standings. Though the Flyers lose starting guard Kevin Dillard and forward Josh Benson, guard Vee Sanford returns and former Ohio State guard Jordan Sibert is now able to put on the Flyers uniform. Sibert was ranked #37 in the nation for the 2010 class by Rivals.com and he should make an immense impact this upcoming season. UD returns a bunch of players from last years 17 win group and their young but promising forwards should improve their play from last season. The frontcourt for the Flyers might have some trouble banging bodies with some A-10 foes but, I do like these forwards for the Flyers. Senior forward Devin Oliver and Sophomore forwards Dyshawn Pierre and Jalen Robinson have the capacity to do damage. However, I am not completely positive that they can produce at a level that makes them a standout ball club. They may prove me wrong, but I do not believe this is the year that the young UD Sophomore forwards turn the corner completely. Senior forward Devin Oliver should do his job in the frontcourt along with Senior forward Matt Kavanaugh(suspended last season), but I do not know if the two younger forwards can live up to the hype. That said, guard play from Sanford and Sibert will propel this team to a good season. UD should be in the thick of things when March comes calling. Only time will tell to see if Dayton will be receiving another familiar bid to the NIT.



My #7 and #8 teams will be my next post. Thanks for reading.