Louisiana Basketball Officially Adds Antwann Jones To 2021-22 Roster

[Hatch]

You are correct in all of your information. The injury to Kobe happened after he had committed to us, we did not recruit damaged goods, he got hurt after he commmitted. And Charles is not injury prone, he decided to opt out like many other players in HS, College and pro sports due to covid. I am not sure about Cadwell, as I don't know his injury background, but as far as Charles and Julien, I would not say they were damaged goods. Gordon was a different story, I think we knew he had injury issues, but the upside on Gordon was worth the risk as he was a high level recruit. And even with his injuries, in his first year with us, I think he out performed the expectations (due to the injury). We were not sure how much he would play at all for us, he ended up playing in 20 games and starting 3. He averaged almost 11 minutes a game off the bench, shooting 43% from the field and 38.5% from 3 point land. He was also a 74% FT shooter. If he is healthier he can be a very good bench player for us. My only issue with him and I have stated this before, is that he is not a guy who is capable, at this point, of creating his own shots. He is a really good 3 point shooter when he has open 3's, but unlike Cedric and even Devin Butts last year, Gordon is a spot up guy. Now some of that may have to do with injury, but to me he looks like a guy that you try to get the open pass to for the shot, not a guy that can create his outside shot opportunities. He also was slow around the basket for a big guy. But that probably was injury related. At 6'7", 220 lbs, I would hope he would become a better rebounder. Remember he was a ESPN Top 100 recruit even without playing his senior year due to injury.

Bottom line is that Gordon can shoot the ball, when he is in the game, we have to make sure we run plays that give him the best opportunity to score, that has to be on the coaches. A guy that is a 38.5% 3 point guy, is a good shooter. Only Cedric Russell shot better on the team from 3 point land then Jacobi Gordon, unless you count Theo Akwuba who hit 2 of 2 last year. And of guys that averaged at least 10 minutes per game he was our #2 FT % guy on the team, better than Mylik Wilson, Theo Akwuba, Ty Harper and Devin Butts, who all shot over 70% from the FT line.

Gordon entered the transfer portal last week. This was either due to him seeing Brown coming in, Gueye returning, and Julien healthy and knowing minutes would be limited, or perhaps the staff asked him to move on in order to make room for Antwann Jones. Either way I think we saw last year he had the talent but the previous injuries really limited his game and made him a liability on the defensive end.

[cajuns80]

Kobe had signed in November before suffering the knee injury in February of his senior year. Cadwell was coming off of a successful freshman year at the JUCO level and decomitted from one of the top mid major programs in the country in Buffalo. From what I understand Joe Charles suffered a broken leg as a freshman but played as a Sophomore and Junior before opting out of his Senior year due to Covid. Feel free to share if you have further knowledge on any of those.

Joe tore an ACL, then broke his leg in the offseason of his Junior year which is why he then opted out of senior year. Cadwell had knee surgeries before arriving on campus. Cadwell wasn't even going to play college basketball and was in school as a student at Texas.

[CajunT]

Joe tore an ACL, then broke his leg in the offseason of his Junior year which is why he then opted out of senior year. Cadwell had knee surgeries before arriving on campus. Cadwell wasn't even going to play college basketball and was in school as a student at Texas.

What about AU?

[Hatch]

Joe tore an ACL, then broke his leg in the offseason of his Junior year which is why he then opted out of senior year. Cadwell had knee surgeries before arriving on campus. Cadwell wasn't even going to play college basketball and was in school as a student at Texas.

I do remember Cadwell being enrolled at Texas but I think that was taking classes while still in High School or over the summer. He went from playing High School ball in the Spring of 18 to Daytona St in the fall of 18. He had not missed significant time with an injury prior to arriving on campus. I forgot that he didn't just commit but actually signed a letter of intent to Buffalo in November of 18. Buffalo went through a coaching change after the 18-19 season and he decided to follow Coach Morris here along with Gueye.

I was unaware that Charles had incurred other injuries, just remember seeing he was opting out. Still he was offered as a Sophomore and committed as a Junior. I still wouldn't call either damaged goods.

As far as Au goes he did play 2 full years of JUCO ball at what appears to be full strength, I don't think he ends up as a 2nd team JUCO all-american if hobbled. I don't know when the knee issue first came up but he did have a minor surgery before the start of last season.

[Cajunsmike]

And there is the first built in excuse for the 21-22 Cajun basketball season.

I wasn’t sure what it would be but was sure the excuses would be flying sooner rather than later. It’s the Big Fish’s M.O.

I don't think this will be as much of an issue as my original post made it sound. Consider the portal is open until July 1 and we may see someone leave prior to then. As stated in another thread, don't be surprised if Dou Gueye has a European opportunity pop up prior to fall semester starting in August. Finally, an opportunity to redshirt both Joe Charles and Carter Domingue is available to the program. My understanding is both are open to that possibility. Those decisions don't have to be made until October or early November. The roster size issue will work itself out. Better that than the alternative.

[axg8750]

I don't think this will be as much of an issue as my original post made it sound. Consider the portal is open until July 1 and we may see someone leave prior to then. As stated in another thread, don't be surprised if Dou Gueye has a European opportunity pop up prior to fall semester starting in August. Finally, an opportunity to redshirt both Joe Charles and Carter Domingue is available to the program. My understanding is both are open to that possibility. Those decisions don't have to be made until October or early November. The roster size issue will work itself out. Better that than the alternative.

Agree with You, Mike. After the injuries last season it will be refreshing to have a deep bench.

[cajuns80]

I don't think this will be as much of an issue as my original post made it sound. Consider the portal is open until July 1 and we may see someone leave prior to then. As stated in another thread, don't be surprised if Dou Gueye has a European opportunity pop up prior to fall semester starting in August. Finally, an opportunity to redshirt both Joe Charles and Carter Domingue is available to the program. My understanding is both are open to that possibility. Those decisions don't have to be made until October or early November. The roster size issue will work itself out. Better that than the alternative.

Maybe he will redshirt Michael thomas. He needed to redshirt last year. Game was way too fast for him.

[Cajunsmike]

Maybe he will redshirt Michael thomas. He needed to redshirt last year. Game was way too fast for him.

Redshirting Michael Thomas will probably not happen as he basically had a free redshirt last season due to 2020-21 not counting towards eligibility. I am not sure if he redshirted this season if if would save a year of eligibility.

[zephyr]

Whether we recruit previously injured players or not, I think the main theme to many people here's hesitation is that our program just seems to have an excessive amount of injuries that derail us every year and give the staff built in excuses.

[ZoomZoom]

So the moral of the story is don’t let facts (injuries) get in the way of a narrative, from either side of the issue.