Now that we know Ryan Harrow is moving on, let's take a look at the guard situation. If you have the stomach for it, that is. If you don't then just go and amuse yourself over here.
PG: Lorenzo Brown / Jaqawn Raymond / Kendall Smith*
SG: Scott Wood / CJ Williams / Jaqawn Raymond / Kendall Smith*
(*Kendall Smith is an all-purpose force and as such I consider him a possible backup/breakout star at all five positions.)
We'll survive with that rotation at shooting guard, probably, though the lack of any sort of reliable ballhandling beyond Lorenzo Brown is kind of a problem. A number of folks asked about Cully Payne yesterday--Payne was the transfer from Iowa who'd been recruited by Gottfried when he was at Alabama--but he's off the table, committed to Loyola, and in my opinion not worth bringing on board. He couldn't play in 2012, anyway.
This morning, Brett Friedlander wondered if there's a Justin Knox-type out there for State to scoop up, but then Dave Telep was all psshhhh.
The question is, given the timing and the circumstance, is there someone like Justin Knox out there available for State?
"Probably not," said recruiting expert Dave Telep. "I just don’t think there are any point guards capable of competing in the ACC left out there."
Unless a graduate student looking to play one final year at another school emerges suddenly, that means Gottfried will either have to look to the junior college ranks or bite the bullet and try to find a backup point guard from a group that includes incoming freshman Jaquan Raymond, and small forwards Scott Wood and C.J. Williams.
But perhaps that grad student option has emerged. I would be interested in exploring the option laid out by Eric Angevine here:
Gottfried can look to the junior college ranks, which might be a perfect option for the short-term backup position. However, an intriguing option exists in the form of two Ole Miss grads who still have some time remaining on their collegiate odometers. Trevor Gaskins and Will Bogan have both completed their undergraduate careers at Mississippi, and are looking to transfer and play a final season elsewhere. As we saw with Justin Knox at UNC and John Fields at Tennessee, graduating players with eligibility left can transfer and play immediately, as long as lip service is paid to the notion of finding a graduate course of study that is technically not available at the player's original school. Dress it up as an academic decision, and mum's the word.
As Angevine notes, Gaskins is not a difference maker, though he did log about 20 minutes a night with a major-conference program last season. I don't think we could do any better than that. His 2010 line isn't bad, it's just totally unremarkable. But plenty good enough for a one-year rental, as far as I'm concerned.