There is certainly a "Buzz" around the men's basketball program in the last 24-48 hours. R.A.T.T. there is a full complement of 13 scholarship players on the basketball team and 2 walkons filling out the roster. Looking at them by seniority:
Centers:
Joey van Zegeren (6-10, 225) r-Jr
Satchel Pierce (6-11, 250) Fr
Power Forwards:
CJ Barksdale (6-8, 235) Sr
Marshall Wood (6-8, 230) Jr
Greg Donlon (6-8, 230) Jr (Walkon)
Small Forward:
Christian Beyer (6-7, 200) Sr (Walkon)
Shooting Guards:
Will Johnston (6-4, 205) Sr
Adam Smith (6-4, 170) r-Jr
Ben Emelogue (6-5,205) So
Ahmed Hill (6-4, 185) Fr
Justin Bibbs (6-5, 175) Fr
Jalen Hudson (6-5, 190) Fr
Point Guards:
Devin Wilson (6-4, 185) So
Malik Mueller (6-3, 210) r-Fr
Assuming Johnston remains on scholarship, we are out of scholarships with a walk-on as our only Small Forward. If Buzz elects not to renew Johnston's scholarship, there are a few Small Forward candidates to still recruit.
(All information from 247sports)
TJ Lang (6-6, 195) 3-stars, former VT commit
Malek Harris (6-7, 190) 4-stars, former Marquette commit
Personally, I would be surprised if we keep Johnston on scholarship if we knew that one of these guys, or another SF recruit, would accept an offer. I don't see Buzz as the kind of guy to leave a walk-on as his only option at a position. The only way I see Johnston staying on scholarship is if we move Wood, Emelogu, or one of the incoming freshmen to the SF position as a starter
Comments
I think that if we get Shane Henry he will switch off between the 3 and the 4. Emelogu, Bibbs, and Wood can also play the 3 as well. Lang isn't coming back and Harris is probably unlikely as well so Henry is probably our top target right now.
I think Johnston should stay on scholarship. You can't always look at it only from an in-game perspective. The guy works hard and has the most hustle on the team. That's something that other guys see in practice and can feed off of. You need guys like that around the program.
Also kind of feels scummy to yank a scholarship from an existing player who is trying hard.
As said in a previous post, Buzz likes to have 3 guards on the court, so one of those shooting guards will play the 3
The only way I see Johnston staying on scholarship is if Buzz has decided he needs to have two open up next year for recruiting purposes. The only reason Johnston was on scholarship this season was that Clarke failed to qualify academically so that scholarship was open after all good recruits were committed. Johnston knows that and wasn't expecting to be on scholarship this season even if JJ. had returned. It was a chance to reward a guy for hard work because of circumstance.
As for top options, I agree that Henry is the most likely unless Bibbs former teammate opts out of his NLI at Missouri. Either way I anticipate seeing a lot of Wood in the three role regardless of who comes in along with Bibbs or Hill off the bench.
I think you mean Hill's former teammate, Gant. Also, I think Hill has said that he is a pure shooting guard and Buzz has recruited him as a 2. He will likely play the 2 the whole season barring injuries or more attrition.
In the past, hasn't Buzz has used 3 guard lineups a lot? I don't know if the lack of a true SF is really an issue. The key is going to find guys who can rebound from the guard position.
I would not be surprised to see both Hill and/or Bibbs starting this season.
Wilson
Hill
Bibbs
Barksdale
JVZ/Pierce
Off the bench:
Smith
Emelogu
Wood
Hudson
Mueller
Talent wise I wouldn't argue with you but Buzz has pretty well known feelings about starting freshmen. He did it once and it went really badly, effected the kids for a few years so he sort of has it as an unwritten rule that he doesn't start freshmen if he can possibly avoid it.