Lijah Thompson leaves RMU

In a surprise move, center Lijah Thompson has decided to forgo his senior season at Robert Morris and will instead enroll at Lincoln University, a D-II school. Andrew Chiappazzi of ColonialsCorner.com was the first to report. A few thoughts:

• Lincoln just got a heck of a center: Lijah is a big, tough center. He played three very solid years and I was really looking forward to his fourth and final season, where he apparently was making great strides in all parts of his game. In his last season, Lijah averaged 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Lijah always made his presence felt on the defensive end and was the best rebounder on the team, a big weakness of the Colonials.
• You’re up, kid: What does Lijah’s departure mean for the frontcourt? Things are definitely pretty slim. The recent departures of Thompson, Vaughn Morgan, and Jervon Presley (Never played a game at RMU) increases the roles of sophomore Stephan Hawkins and freshmen Jeremiah Worthem and Aaron Tate. I thought Hawkins was the most improved player RMU had last year and he has the size and length to be a pretty dominant shot blocker and rebounder, but has to keep improving. Worthem is extremely talented but seems to be more of an inside-out player (think of the likes of Russell Johnson and Jamal Olasewere) than a post player. It sounds like Tate is a good defender and rebounder, but is only 6’5”.
• Lineup changes? Ideally, Toole would have liked to play a lineup with Thompson at center and Mike McFadden at power forward, moving Lucky Jones to small forward. Now? There are plenty of options. You could simply replace Thompson with Hawkins, or move McFadden to center and start Worthem at power forward. When Toole wants to go small, he can move Jones to power forward and potentially play two point guards with Anthony Myers-Pate and Kavon Stewart taking the floor, much like we saw last year when Myers-Pate and Velton Jones played together.
• The Expectations should stay the same: Look, losing a tough, experienced center obviously sucks, but it’s not like he played last year. While RMU lost two greats in Russell Johnson and Velton Jones, Toole still brought in one of the best recruiting classes in the history of Robert Morris basketball. There’s been a ton of turnover in the NEC and RMU is as talented as anyone. There’s no reason to still not expect the colonials to be in the NEC championship hunt. It’s NCAA’s or bust. Again.

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella 

Julian Boyd has a torn ACL

2011-2012 NEC player of the year and Long Island University forward Julian Boyd has torn his ACL for a second time, according to Jon Rothstein.

This is a huge deal for LIU, who was really counting on Boyd to come back and be the star for the Blackbirds. The reigning three-time NEC champions have lost Jamal Olasewere (last years NEC player of the year), Kenny Onyechi, and C.J. Garner due to graduation and will likely lose Boyd for the season, leaving a huge burden on point guard Jason Brickman to carry the team.

Health hasn't been in Boyd's favor. Following his freshman season he was diagnosed with noncompaction cardiomyopathy, which, in its simplest terms, negatively affects the ventricles in the heart. Because of this diagnosis, he was forced to take a medical redshirt. Last season Boyd was suspended the first two games due to his actions in a fight. Shortly after he came back, he tore his ACL and was granted another medical redshirt and a sixth year of eligibility. 

Despite the awful luck, I wouldn’t hold my breath on the NCAA granting Boyd another medical redshirt. I’m not sure if there is a precedent for that.

Rothstein noted that January is the best-case scenario for a return, which I don’t buy. Lets think about this in a best-case scenario for LIU: Boyd tore his ACL June 1 and was able to keep it under wraps for this long. A January return would be a seven month recovery, which is Jerry Rice-like. 

Rothstein is a very optimistic guy, but the plan for LIU going forward will probably be to operate as if Boyd isn’t coming back. That’s a tough break for LIU and the NEC, as Boyd, despite his health concerns, could have had a shot to take his game to the professional level.

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella

Russell Johnson strikes a deal overseas

Great news Colonial fans! Former RMU forward Russell Johnson has struck a deal to play overseas in Spain for Penas Huesca (also known as Lobe Huesca for sponsorship reasons). As far as I’m concerned, the news was broke by head coach Andy Toole via twitter.

This is awesome news for Russell, who has always had great talent and still has his best basketball ahead of him. Russell was a guy who has seen time since his freshman year but never seemed to reach his full potential until he came on strong the second half of this past season. Russell is a great rebounder (second in school history) and has a solid inside-out game.

I’m not too familiar with Eurobasketball but Lobe Huesca sems to have a pretty good history. Right now they’re in the second tier of the LEB Gold division with twelve other teams. They went 11-15 last season and made the playoffs as the eighth and final seed, where they lost the best of five series 3-1 to the eventual champs Lucentum.

We wish the best to Russell Johnson for his continued success. It’s not everyday you get to play the game you love for a full-time living.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella