There's been a lot of discussion over on the other board and here regarding Buzz being able to fill out next year's roster and build a strong recruiting class for 2009.
Not only, though, is there immediate needs for this year, but there will be a dramatic shift in the roster balance for 2009-2010. How Buzz fills out this year's roster is going to dramatically impact his recruiting for 2009-2010. The meeting with Tyshawn Taylor tommorrow, could turn out to be the key on how the next two years' rosters look.
I kinda drew thru the two scenarios, a best case scenario and worst case scenario, Ultimately I think it ends up somewhere between the two scenarios. I may end up compeletely off base here in my analysis, so feel free to fire away.
BEST-CASE SCENARIO
2008-2009
ASSUMPTION: Christopherson out, Hazel out, Taylor stays
Open scholarships: 2
Needs: PF/C, SG/SF. The rumors of Jimmy Butler and Jamie Vanderbeken from Tyler CC (Fulce's JUCO) come to fruition and end up at MU, and MU will end up with a full roster of 13 scholies for 2009.
PG: James (Sr), Acker (Jr), Taylor (Fr)
SG: McNeal (Sr), Cubillan (Jr), Butler (So)
SF: Matthews (Sr), Fulce (So)
PF: Hayward (Jr), Mbakwe (So)
C: Burke (Sr), Vanderbeken (Jr), Otule (Fr)
2009-2010:
Open Scholarships: 3
PG: Acker (Sr), Taylor (So)
SG: Cubillan (Sr), Butler (Jr)
SF: Fulce (Jr), E. Williams (Fr)
PF: Hayward (Sr), Mbakwe (Jr.)
C: OTule (So), Vanderbeken (Sr)
Needs: This will be tough to judge how exactly Buzz goes. Buzz will probably need to recruit another PG, and perhaps a SG, although I could anticipate E. Williams getting minutes at SG. Would definitely need a PF, and I would assume Jamil Wilson would be getting an offer as a PF.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO
2008-2009
ASSUMPTION: Christopherson out, Hazel out, Taylor out, Mbakwe out
Open scholarships: 4
Needs: PF, a PF/C, SG, and best available player. All four bailing would leave MU in a major roster hole for 2008-2009 and completely knock the balance of the classes out of whack. Buzz would absolutely need to bring another PF/C on board at minimum to get the roster up to 10. I would say in this scenario, it would be likely Buzz fills out 3 of the 4 spots, and either banks the last scholie or takes a flyer on a transfer (preferably a veteran SG or PG).
2008-2009
PG: James (Sr), Acker (Jr)
SG: McNeal (Sr), Cubillan (Jr)
SF: Matthews (Sr), Fulce (So)
PF: Hayward (Jr)
C: Burke (Sr), Otule (Fr)
2009-2010:
Open Scholarships: 3-7 (depending on how many are filled for 2008-2009)
PG: Acker (Sr)
SG: Cubillan (Sr)
SF: Fulce (Jr), E. Williams (Fr)
PF: Hayward (Sr)
C: OTule (So)
Needs: everything and the kitchen sink will be needed in this scenario, depending on how many scholarships are/are not filled for 2008-2009, and the positions Buzz is able to fill. We're going to need guards regardless in the 2009 class, but in situation, we would need to get a PG and a SG at minimum, perhaps more than 1 of each. We'd also need to get multiple bigs as well, preferably a couple of JUCO bigs to allow for some roster balance.
Let's just hope that it ends up in the best-case scenario as I illustrated above or at worse, we only lose 1 more player off the current roster/commit list. Otherwise, Buzz could have a very tough recruiting situation on his hand for 2009-2010, but judging from the good news we're already getting, I'm optomistic he won't have to deal with the worst-case scenario.
