The St. Mary's vs. Grand Canyon 1st Round NCAA tourney game should be a fun one. Both teams have Kids with Bay Area ties. Obviously Aidan Mahaney for the Gaels and Jovan Blacksher Jr. PG of GCU is originally from Oakland. I've watched both kids since they were 10yrs old. Blacksher is a former WAC Tourney MVP with NCAA Tourney experience. The Gaels better be careful!!
St. Marys vs. Grand Canyon
- Thread starter Hoop Royalty
- Start date
Bennett’s gonna have to pick up the pace of his offense with Mikey Lewis and Zion Sensley arriving next season.
that was a bad match up for st. marys ... grand canyon had the length to affect st mary's shooters
Was going to say the exact thing. Tourney play is all about matchups and this couldn't be worse for St Marys.
Plus Bennett bench is non existent and that hurt him bad. Impressive game by the Lopes but they will run into a more athletic and stronger Bama team next. Should be fun to watch.
Lewis & Sensley will both provided some much needed athleticism. But I'm curious with the fit for Mikey Lewis. He's a scoring PG who's used to playing on the Ball. But both Mahaney & Marciulionis control the Ball.
I say with great confidence that Sensley and Lewis will enter the transfer portal at the end of next season.
He could have started at 99.8% of high schools In America and took a bench/6th man role with Prolific
Will be interesting to see how st Mary’s uses him
Hate to say it, but I kind of agree. I could see Mikey and Zion both being one year and gone from the Gaels. But for different reasons.
Mikey will transfer.
I think Zion has the ability to literally jump onto 2025 draft boards with his unique skill set and frame. He puts in the work at St Mary’s, and he could be their first lottery pick as soon as next season.
He is ranked right about where Reed Sheppard was, Kyshawn George, Carlton Carrington is another name.
Cody Williams who is project no 1 overall
6’8 190
Zion Sensley 6’8 170
Don’t be surprised if by this time next year, we are talking about a St Mary’s tournament run to the sweet 16, with Zion Sensley as their leading scorer!
Zion has a nice upside. But after watching him struggle to score vs Salesian in NorCals He is Not even close to being NBA ready!
I agree with with you that Mikey will be in transfer portal. Had offers from Illinois & Kansas!
hmmmm.. was it strategic to go low first or just doubted your ability to play at ku and will get better for a couple years then level up
I agree too. I dont think he'll want to sit for two years behind Mahoney & Marciuolonis... He probably should have went to Cal.
In most cases Saint Mary’s is notorious for not playing frosh much. Mahaney was a rare exception. Jordan ford sat his whole frosh year. I would think sensley would be at a position of need and play because their wings are so limited athletically. Lewis had Mahaney, marciluinas and a very good frosh point Ross in front of him.
It wouldnt be heavily weighted on playing time but it would be more another school and their guys will approach "x" player and ask him what his current NIL deal is and most of the time the offering school give ask "y" booster if they can give the player this much and it's more likely a yes. Have to remember now the cat is out of the bag. These guys are paid athletes. Not students. Gotta love America and capitalism.
Notorious for not playing frosh and having a thin bench. Bennett rarely goes deep into bench and his top 5-6 get all the minutes. Bit him during the GCU game. Sensley seems like a guy who has so much to learn. Didn't exactly learn a ton at Riordan. I can't imagine him getting meaningful minutes fresh year. Mahaney was groomed for that system at campo.
If you saw Sensley at the beginning of the season up to the NorCal Final, Sensley definitely improved his overall game and sense of team offense and defense by the end of the season. I'm not sure how much he learned at PP. He held Centennial's McDonald's All-American Carter Bryant to 15pts while being the game's leading scorer with 24pts.
McKeever redshirted (and grew to 7'2", dude's a skyscraper!). He'll probably get a lot of floor time next season, especially if Saxen chooses not to use the eligibility year he apparently has remaining.
Kiddman32, hope you are right but I have doubts. You look at the kid from Creighton (Kalkrenner) who is 7'2 but athletic and gets up and down the court. Mckeever only makes an unathletic st marys even that much slower. Doesn't shoot it that well either. Hate to be harsh but I don't see it.
Wow he played a lot this year before he got hurt. He’s more of a 4 than a 3 but he would of started next year. That’s a loss for the Gaels.
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