Colonials Corner

Two down, three to go.

Robert Morris men’s basketball coach Mike Rice announced that 6′3 guard Brook Turson and 6′5 forward Malcolm Lemmons officially signed national letters of intent to play basketball for the Colonials beginning in the 2010-2011 season.

Turson is a physical shooting guard from Plymouth, OH who shoots a high percentage and has played in multiple spots on the floor for his high school team. He’s averaged almost 21 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, and 5 assists per game in his high school career and will be the number one option on his team this year.

Lemmons is an athletic wing who can play guard and forward and will have the unique experience of already being part of a “team” rather than being a high school star transitioning to the more ensemble makeup of the college game. Lemmons attends Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C., one of the top high schools in the country and one that regularly churns out quality Division I athletes. Thus, Lemmons already has experience as being part of an ensemble cast. That status – and less gaudy statistics than most – likely helped him land at RMU.

Both players are reportedly solid academically, and Rice said in his official press release that both will compete for quality minutes right away.

After the jump, check out the official scouting reports on the two signees and a quick look at how the roster/scholarship situation shapes up for next year.

A quick note before we proceed: I rely heavily on ESPN/Scouts, Inc. and Recruit Recon/CAA Insider for grades. Rivals.com tends to be less up to date for the type of players brought in at Robert Morris’ level. Even then, though, there can be some missing information and some hiccups. However, I use all three sites as a compilation of names to see who the Colonials might be looking at. Obviously, my ideal preference is to have a local newspaper article dealing a player’s recruiting process, but those are harder to come by.

On the ESPN/Scouts, Inc. scale of 40-100, Turson was rated at 81. They classify that as meaning he “could be a three- or four-year contributor with an opportunity to eventually start at a mid-major program”. However, ESPN/Scouts, Inc. has three tiers of college hoops – high major (Duke, Pitt), mid-major (Butler, Gonzaga), and low major (RMU, Morgan State). For comparisons sake, the same service rated Russell Johnson as an 87 two years ago, Lijah Thompson as an 85, Karon Abraham as an 80, Brad Piehl as a 79, and Velton Jones as a 75.

For more on those grades, check out the explanation here.

Lemmons, meanwhile, isn’t rated by that service because they’ve yet to examine video of him. Thus he’s rated as a 40 and will only be graded once they see film. However, Recruit Recon has seen him play and rated him as a 2.5 on a 5.0 scale. For information on their grading system, check this link out. Lemmons checks out as a low to mid-major prospect. They have not seen Turson yet so he has no grade. Recruit Recon is also updated pretty often, as Bill Martin and the rest of the guys see a ton of footage.

One final note on the two prospects – Turson had an offer from Central Michigan and chose Robert Morris instead, while Lemmons had interest from places like Boston University, Bucknell, and Vermont, among others.

Now, Robert Morris has three other scholarships to fill. One has possibly been claimed, as reported on here in weeks past. Wilbur O’Neal, a 6′7, 250 pound forward from Harcum Junior College has already verbally commited to the Colonials. Assuming he stays committed and makes it in, the Colonials technically have just two spots to fill.

So what holes do the Colonials have and who are they looking at to fill them? Well, the depth chart for next year looks something like this (includes the two signings and verbal commitment, as well as what class they’ll be next year):

Now, there is some flexibility there. Abraham and Jones can be in the lineup at the same time. Wallace can play the guard spots easily. Lemmons can play guard and forward. And Johnson can play the wing if Rice decides to go with a taller lineup.

I figure the Colonials want one more guard, likely a true point guard with some scoring ability, and a big man.

The problem with pinpointing who the Colonials want and will get is that it’s wide open at this point. The Colonials finished second in the race for St. Anthony HS guard Elijah Carter, as he picked St. Bonaventure instead. Had he picked RMU, he likely would have signed with Turson and Lemmons.

One guard that appears on several lists is 6′1 Calvin Newell. The Charlotte native is playing in a prep school right now, was rated as an 89 by ESPN/Scouts, Inc, and has interest from Nebraska, Charlotte, Niagara, and others. Also apparently in play and on several lists is his prep school teammate Aishon Waite, who is rated at an 84 and being pursued by James Madison, Rider, La Salle, and Houston along with RMU. The final guard of note, and the one appearing on the most lists,  is 5′9 Dondre Whitmore. The Trenton Catholic (NJ) guard is a 77 according to ESPN/Scouts, Inc. and the Colonials would have to deal with Fordham, Rider, Iona, and their rival Mount St. Mary’s.

At forward, a couple names pop up frequently. Wayne Newsom, a 6′7 225 Piscataway (NJ) prospect, and 6′6 Markese Tucker, anothr Trenton Catholic prospect, are on almost every list as being RMU targets. Both are rated as 79s by ESPN/Scouts, Inc. while Tucker gets the slight push over Newsom by Recruit Recon as a 2.5 to 2.0 winner. Iona is interested in both, while other MAAC and NEC schools are variously intereted in one or the other. Also on multiple lists is 6′7, 215 David Samuels. The New Rochelle, New York native is ranked as an 86 by ESPN/Scouts, Inc. and has a litany of schools after him. We’re talking well over 20 schools listed as possible suitors on different sites, ranging from South Florida to Rutgers to Hofstra to RMU.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled, but the next round of commitments won’t come until well after the new year as the college season winds down.