SMU Basketball Youth Motion Formally Underway

In his second season main the SMU males’s basketball program, head coach Andy Enfield may have introduced in one other giant group of transfers. He went the opposite path.

Instead, Enfield and the Mustangs introduced in 5 true freshmen. They be a part of a roster with three returners, three transfers and a pair of redshirt freshmen.

“I really like the roster. I think we’re more talented than we were last year, just a little bit younger,” Enfield mentioned. “We have seven freshmen — two redshirt freshmen, five true freshmen — and we have six upperclassmen. So it’s a mix of experience and young guys that will learn as they go.”

SMU did not simply herald any freshmen. It introduced in among the greatest freshmen within the nation. The class of Jermaine O’Neal Jr., Billy White III, B.J. Davis-Ray, Jaden Toombs and Nigel Walls ranked within the Top 10 of courses within the nation.

That group got here in and went to work.

“It’s a lot. Five is a lot (of freshmen), and then two redshirts, so over half the team,” Enfield mentioned. “But they’re very talented. It’s OK to have freshmen as long as they’re talented and they can learn. They have such great work ethics. They’re in the gym early, they stay late, they’re in the gym in the morning by themselves. They come in during the day with coaches. Really impressed with all the freshmen in the classroom and how much they want to be great basketball players.”

The mixture of expertise and excessive expectations means the freshmen aren’t being eased into something. Toombs has been thrown up in opposition to the 7-foot-2 Samet Yiğitoğlu in follow.

There’s been nothing pleasant about it.

“We’re fighting every day,” Yiğitoğlu mentioned. “The practices are going hard every day. We’re fighting. It’s not like we’re teammates. In practice there are no teammates. … Most of the time we play against each other, we’re killing each other actually.”

When Sam Walters was a freshman at Alabama, he performed in all 37 video games because the workforce went all the way in which to the Final Four. He is aware of what it’s prefer to be requested to contribute on a workforce that had huge targets.

“On a team with a lot of freshmen and young guys, I think I can be a guy that some of these young guys can lean on and look to,” Walters mentioned. “I was in their shoes, especially on a talented team like we have this year. I think that experience helps a lot of the guys.”

While the objective is to show the freshmen and convey them alongside, they are not going to be babied. There are some issues that must be realized by way of expertise and even by way of failure.

So the extra skilled gamers, like Jaron Pierre Jr., are discovering that steadiness of when to be extra hands-on or extra hands-off.

“I got called ‘unc’ once, so it’s been great just having those younger guys coming fresh out of high school,” Pierre mentioned. “Being able to tell them I’ve been in their shoes before, so when I see them doing some things, I kind of get on them. At the same time, I take a step back and let them learn like I had to learn when I was in their shoes.”

The expertise is there. That’s apparent to the gamers and the coaches alike. The offseason has been about permitting that expertise to proceed on the subsequent degree.

That takes time and work. Work the veterans are taking possession of.

“They look amazing. They look real amazing,” senior guard Boopie Miller mentioned. “But just teaching them every day, being patient with them each and every day. Teaching them the small things about defense, running the plays correctly at a certain time. Getting guys comfortable like I am on the court so they can come in the game and feel free to play basketball.”

The 5 freshmen weren’t introduced in to simply sit round, both. They had been introduced in to play, and they’ll get their alternatives and are anticipated to contribute after they do.

“We made a strategic decision to recruit freshmen, five freshmen in this class,” Enfield mentioned. “It’s a very highly rated class nationally, and they’re all very good players. With that comes responsibility. They have to be ready to play. Our bench will be made up of mostly freshmen this year. We did that to give them playing time early in their careers, and we expect them to be ready to go.”