July 1, 2011
Here are the Leopards Coach Sims inherited from his predecessor.
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Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
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Victor Gentry 2 PG Jr* 5-11 188 Yes 68 OK Keene, NH
Gary Pooler 3 SG So* 6-0 202 Yes 42 OK Rib Lake, WI
Billy Weiler 5 PG So* 5-11 207 Yes 28 OK Philadelphia, PA
Willard Davis 10 SG So 6-4 209 Yes 65 OK Johnsonburg, PA
Stephen Thames 13 SG Jr* 6-3 203 Yes 30 OK Mount Joy, PA
Joseph Burford 14 PG Sr 6-2 179 Yes 75 OK Warminster, PA
Stephen Diaz 20 SF Sr 6-7 238 Yes 32 OK Abington, PA
Louis Hewett 22 C Fr 6-7 202 Yes 28 OK Fort Washington, PA
Kyle Cox 24 SF Jr* 6-4 207 No 25 OK North Versailles, PA
DeWitt Leiva 32 PF Sr 6-8 231 Yes 93 OK State College, PA
Dana Broughton 34 SF Fr 6-6 224 Yes 83 OK Center Valley, PA
Bastian Hirt 35 PF Jr 6-6 208 No 57 OK Recklinghausen, Germany
Donnie Pope 41 PF Fr* 6-9 237 Yes 74 OK Three Springs, PA
Robert Castleman 45 C Sr 6-8 260 Yes 79 OK Belfast, ME
Clark Nolan 50 C Fr 6-9 256 Yes 33 OK Whitehall, PA
DeWitt Leiva is the team's biggest star. If his overall ratings can be believed, the senior big man could play for any team in the country. DeWitt is an elite defender and a rugged rebounder. He doesn't look like he'll be much of a scorer, however. Leiva is also an outstanding student, the kind of man Coach Sims wants his program to produce.
Leiva's classmate
Robert Castleman will start alongside him in the post. He's a big, strong dude, the team's best inside scoring threat by a wide margin. He also possesses a decent touch from outside the arc, especially for a 260-pound wide load.
Stephen Diaz, another senior, looks like he should be another low-block banger, but he's actually a perimeter player. His combination of defensive awareness and a decent amount of quickness allows him to guard opposing wings. We'll depend on Diaz for scoring, too; he has the team's smoothest mid-range jumper.
Second year shooting guard
Stephen Thames is unpolished, but he seems to have some potential. At his best, he'll take over games with his quickness and his long-range marksmanship. At his worst, he'll be a turnover machine whose man torches him on a regular basis. We'll probably see some of both, even within a single game.
Point guard
Billy Weiler, a city kid from Philly, will have the keys to the Leopards offense. Billy looks like he'd be at home behind the plate; in fact, he was a very good high school catcher. He is the team's only decent passer, and one of its few capable ballhandlers. Weiler can't guard anybody, however, gambling for steals rather than locking down on his man. Our staff thinks there's a player in there. We'll see.
Guards
Joseph Burford and
Victor Gentry will probably be the first men off the bench. These veterans don't do any one thing particularly well, but they're not too bad at anything, either. Both Joseph and Victor are quick and athletic.
I'm curious to see what kind of player
Willard Davis turns out to be. A sophomore guard, Davis can jump out of the gym and has a nifty mid-range jumper.
Freshman
Clark Nolan is the best of the reserve big men. He's a less-accomplished version of
Robert Castleman. Unlike Castleman, however, Nolan is in terrible shape, lacking the stamina to play effectively for long stretches.
Wing
Dana Broughton intrigues me. He will get some playing time, because he's one of the few players on the roster who has the combination of qualities Coach Sims is looking for in the players he recruits. Dana is intelligent, and he has the potential to develop into a tough defender. He's also a good shooter who could become a very good one. If Broughton, a first year, demonstrates he can hold his own as a college basketball player, he'll earn more playing time...possibly at the expense of the veterans with less upside and much less time to develop.
(Once the Lafayette roster features players with whom we're familiar--because I recruited them, or because they've been around a while--I'll post their individual "cards' here, too.)