Johnnies looking to add walk-ons

[61cygni]

http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/id/7111524/st-john-red-storm-looking-good-men

Sounds like some potential feel-good stories are there.

"He divvied the group up into four teams, and they played full-court knockout -- if your team scores, you stay on the floor. But each player was allowed to dribble only one time per possession."

I like the sound of that drill!

 

[Kitaman]

They seem to be reeling right now. Coach out recuperating from surgery, and they can't field a full practice. At least they should be able to find some suitable walkons being a NYC school.

 

[UconnDon]

Why not a full practice?? Are they that short after ineligibles?? Or short due to other reasons??

 

[HuskyBballFan]

8 scholarship players

 

[DogMania]

Well at least they won't run out of small forwards.

 

[Scot-e]

I saw that over the weekend and I think it is a great idea if you are short a few practice players or have issues with the APR.

 

[alexd]

Why not a full practice?? Are they that short after ineligibles?? Or short due to other reasons??

SJU found out 2 weeks ago that 3 of their 9 freshmen did not qualify.

 

[Ts5034]

I actually saw a tweet from somebody that they were holding an open tryout for the walk on spots. How does that work here at Uconn? Ive never heard of Calhoun doing anything like that

 

[Dann]

this is just a nice hide everything/pr stunt write up going on. i have a friend who is from the area and casually watches the huskies but he was one heck of a bball player growing up. he walked on as a frosh at a MAAC school in and got some pt right away. kid has a motor u wouldn't believe. anyway, his spot was taken his jr year for a ship player and a coaches relative and that was it for his bball career. he graduated last spring, humble. 2 weeks ago he was called and sju tried to get him in some type of grad classes and enroll him quickly with the hopes that they could put him on the team knowing how the roster there was in trouble. it didn't work out for him in the end, i dont think he was 100% sold on it...he told me on friday that they may be showing 40 kids or w/e there for tryouts but there are several quality kids on campus that will be the walkons, the spots are already all set accept for 1. its all just a feel bad for me pr stunt by sju. they will have there 8 ship guys(mostly young team) and 2 "walk ons" that will play. then there will be roster fillers for the rest. the espn writeup mentions one of the kids who is actually a player, the kid from Minn....when sju's roster is final it will look young and weak but they will finish in the 10-13 range this year in the BE. bubble ncaas.

on another note i know sju is a rival of sorts to us bball wise but them coming back to life should be alot of fun for our husky-storm rival and the local bball following. msg/nyc press is alot better when they are atleast competitive. i hope everyone is aware of what lavin is dealing with right now and i hope JC has reached out to him considering JC's battles over the years...

 

[ctchamps]

Speedy recovery JL. They lost three freshman because they didn't qualify. How did the lose the other two schollies.

 

[aceboon]

Speedy recovery JL. They lost three freshman because they didn't qualify. How did the lose the other two schollies.

I'm wondering if they ever filled them, probably would've made sense to hold a couple instead of giving out 12 scholarships all in one year.

 

[DogMania]

I actually saw a tweet from somebody that they were holding an open tryout for the walk on spots. How does that work here at Uconn? Ive never heard of Calhoun doing anything like that

I'm not sure how JC does it. The Walk-ons obviously have to be discovered and invited to join the team somehow. My guess is that there is some process where those interested get their name and resume out there. Just about all the walk-ons are ex-high school stars that simply aren't D1 scholarship material. I imagine those who are invited to show what they've got come recommended. I seem to remember in the past the team having a handful of walk-on candidates early on that are cut down to just a few depending on how many can hold their own in practice and how many the team can take that year.

Does anyone remember the Sammy (kid from France) story. Wasn't it one of the coach's or player's hair stylists that told them about Sammy one year that they needed some PG help. The team was very talented and he didn't play much, but he was a lot of fun when he did. But I digress.

Sometime they get a very good D2 transfer such as EJ Harrison...I think that was his name. But that's not the norm.

I imagine that most are discovered from intramural hoops who have developed a reputation on top of what they did in high school. They're probably invited to scrimmage with the team and are selected based on their ability to hold their own against the scholarship players...i.e. not embarrass themselves...plus overall chemistry with the players and coaches.