A new local hoops season begins with local teams learning to deal with the 'new normal' senior transfers staying and going.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With the 2016-2017 college basketball season set to begin this weekend, there is no denying that on the mid-major level these are changing times. Even major power programs don't like it.
Cleveland State, Akron and Kent State are evidence of that. The core of this national change is the bevy of transfers that nudged right up to 800 at the end of last season.
The most critical are the senior transfers; players who have graduated but have a year of eligibility remaining. These are often key players, even if they are not the premiere talents on the team. What they bring in experience, physical maturity and consistency can be the difference between winning and losing, particularly in critical games.
Critical begins Saturday with the Coaches vs. Cancer doubleheader at Youngstown State. It is a tipoff of local rivalry games with Cleveland State vs. Kent State at 5 p.m., followed by Youngstown State vs. Akron.
At Akron, the upside is a top Mid-American Conference contender as coach Keith Dambrot was able to keep his best senior players -- Isaiah Johnson and Kwan Cheatham -- after last season, even though the players admit they were approached to leave.
At Cleveland State last season, the sudden transfer of Trey Lewis (Louisville) and Anton Grady (Wichita State) turned a projected 2016 Horizon League title contender into a 9-23 team. The Vikings now have depth and experience, led by senior forward Demonte Flannigan.
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"It happened so fast, we really couldn't recruit to catch up,'' coach Gary Waters said. "It has taken us a year to start that process again finding the kind of players we like."
At Kent State, coach Rob Senderoff was able to hang on to his best player after last season, senior Jimmy Hall, who was also approached to transfer. But he did lose senior starting point guard Kellen Thomas to transfer, and none of that process sits well with him, especially on a team with nine first-year players.
It's to the point now that coaches dread the end of the season, knowing that rising seniors, eligible to transfer and play other places immediately if they have graduated -- can expect the phone calls to start coming.
"I was never recruited as a high-major player coming out of high school,'' Hall said. "So it was interesting and different when they (phone calls) started coming."
At Akron, Cheatham and Johnson heard from their fair share of high-major suiters as well.
"When you are 6-9, and can shoot, you kind of expect it,'' Cheatham said. "I wasn't surprised. I'm a 6-9 dude who can pass and can shoot. But then again, I knew where my home was at, where I felt comfortable. I never had a thought of leaving."
Caught in between are coaches who suddenly find themselves losing key players just when their experience in the program makes them the most valuable.
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"That's what you are seeing from a lot of these major colleges right now going after these fifth-year guys,'' Dambrot said. "They are looking for experience, maturity and depth, just as much as they are looking for talent. A fifth-year senior off the bench for a quality program could be the difference for a lot of these teams.
"More and more you see there is not that much difference between our (mid-major) players any more and theirs. The real difference is experience, maturity and depth.
"The big boys want that just as much as they want talent, particularly off the bench. If they can get 12 to 15 minutes or more of physical maturity and Division I experience off the bench for a year, while a freshman is learning, growing and red-shirting, that's a win-win for them. But programs like ours can't afford to lose those kind of good players."
The fact that Cheatham, Johnson and Hall are still at Akron and Kent State respectively is built on loyalty, and the knowledge that it is not a given the grass is greener. Lewis left CSU for perennial powerhouse Louisville with the high expectation he would play in the NCAA Tournament.
Instead Lewis became caught up in a program mired in a sex scandal that forced the school to penalize the program any postseason rewards. Grady left for Wichita State with the same ambitions. But injuries, including to Grady, made Wichita State a shell of what it was expected to be.
Meanwhile, CSU floundered. And Lewis and Grady, who could have been icons of a successful program, are now footnotes. That has not been lost on Cheatham, Johnson and Hall.
"I've been here three years,'' Cheatham said. "I've got a lot of equity built up. It's like a breath of fresh air to know I have one more year and I know what I've got to do.
"I see a lot of people out there who really didn't do that good, but now all of a sudden they're going high major. I'm like 'wow'. You kind of ask yourself, what if. ... But you can make anything happen where you're at instead of looking for it somewhere else.''
Cheatham and Johnson join a core of young proven guards at Akron, so their decision was easier than Hall's. Three senior starters for Kent graduated after last season, along with the unexpected loss of Thomas and there was not a lot of proven producers left. It could have been easy for Hall to leave, too, but he didn't.
He actually transferred to Kent as a sophomore after a troubled freshman season at Hofstra. So Hall has deep loyalty to Senderoff.
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"I thought about how well I have played here, how much Sendy has helped me and put me in a position to be successful,'' Hall said. "I just feel like I couldn't take that chance going away.
"Sendy called me in and told me we would build a team ready to play, and I believed him. He's been a man of his word to me, so I trusted him. It's about loyalty. Sendy stuck his neck out for me when others didn't, and now I'm doing the same.''
With Hall, Kent should not bottom out like Cleveland State. But Senderoff admits he is desperately missing one component.
"We haven't completely settled in at point guard yet,'' Senderoff said. "It's pretty clear the one veteran guy we miss right now is Kellen."
COACHES vs. CANCER DOUBLEHEADER
Who: Akron, Cleveland State, Kent State, Youngstown State
Where: Youngstown State's Beeghly Center
When: Saturday. Games at 5 p.m., approximately 7:30 p.m.
Schedule: Kent State vs. Cleveland State; Akron vs. Youngstown State.
The matchups:
Kent State vs. Cleveland State -- Two teams in a state of rebuilding due primarily to the loss of transfer players. Cleveland State has rebuilt its roster after 2015 transfer defections led to a 9-23 campaign. The Vikings, a dark horse threat in the Horizon League, are athletic and deep and have some proven veterans in senior forward Demonte Flannigan (11.4 ppg/5.4 rpg) and versatile junior wing Kenny Carpenter (6.8 ppg/2.8 rpg). Freshman Evan Clayborne (6-8, 225-pounds) is one to watch.
Kent State has elite power forward Jimmy Hall (16.4 ppg/7.9 rpg) back, but three senior starters graduated plus the loss of starting point guard Kellen Thomas to transfer has led to nine new players for 2016-2017. This uncertainty has a few national previews picking the Golden Flashes to possibly win less than 15 games. That has not happened at KSU since 1998. Transfer PG Kevin Zabo (San Diego State/Indian Hills JC) will be key to a winning season.
Akron vs. Youngstown State -- Akron, consistently one of the top teams in the state, has the most veteran lineup in the field led by baseline seniors Isaiah Johnson (13.6 ppg/7.6 rpg) and Kwan Cheatham (7.2 ppg/4.9 rpg), plus three proven perimeter sharpshooters. One of the clear favorites in the Mid-American Conference, developing young depth will be key for coach Keith Dambrot, so look for junior Jimond Ivey to have a breakout season.
YSU is known for its ability to score, particularly with 3-pointers, and returns a proven marksman in junior guard Cameron Morse (20.3 ppg). If coach Jerry Slocum can develop some level of defensive toughness, which the Penguins never seem to have, then this could be one of the surprise teams in the Horizon League.
