| Subject: NIAGARA BEGINS SUMMER PRACTICE AT SQUARE ONE |
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Niagara Gazette
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Date Posted: Wednesday, July 03, 11:21:10am
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Greg Paulus heard basketballs bouncing. But he was more concerned about what he didn’t .
There was no chatter, no goofing around and it wasn’t because they were that invested in the task assigned to them. So Paulus stopped the drill, realizing the players weren’t talking because they didn’t know each other.
Not all of the new players have arrived on campus for summer workouts yet, but all of the players are new. Niagara does not have one returning player from last season’s squad, with five graduating and seven departing through the transfer portal.
Even in an era of constant player movement, the Purple Eagles meet the extreme.
Players have more control over their circumstances in college athletics than ever before and Paulus had adapted to the transfer rules, bringing in eight new players last season and 10 the previous year, with 13 coming through the portal. But adapting to new rules doesn’t change his approach to actually coaching.
“We have an in-depth conversation and then they make a decision that they feel may be best for them,” Paulus said. “But for us, before they got here, we told the truth, during their time here, we told them the truth and that’s something that we’re going to continue to do with recruits that come into our program.”
When Paulus built his team a year ago, it was hard to foresee having to completely rebuild it again after the season. In December, a U.S. district judge in West Virginia ruled in favor of athletes seeking a second transfer without penalty of sitting out a year.
A player like Dre Bullock, who transferred from Louisiana Tech and averaged 8.5 points per game on 53.8% shooting, looked to be a rising star in the MAAC and a guy to build around this year, but the ruling allowed him to transfer to South Dakota. In May, the NCAA and a coalition of states suing the organization reached a settlement to give athletes unlimited transfer ability as long as they meet academic requirements.
Not only could that change how teams recruit, but who they recruit. Top Division I teams have largely moved away from large freshman classes to older transfers, preferring experience and maturity in their one-and-dones.
Bringing in freshmen can also seem like a fruitless endeavor for a program like Niagara’s. Paulus and his coaching staff could put time and resources into developing a young player, only for him to leave after a year or two.
But Niagara’s approach has been to find the best players possible. The Purple Eagles had four freshmen in 2022-2023, but one last year. They have now added freshmen A.J. McBride, Landon Williams and Will Shortt, along with sophomores Damondre McKnight, Justin Page and Jahari Williamson.
“We want to help them become the best versions of themselves, whether they’re a freshman, sophomore, junior or a senior or fifth-year player,” Paulus said. “Our goal of helping individuals holistically has not changed for us, and we’re going to continue to invest and pour into our guys in that way.”
The type of player Niagara recruits also hasn’t changed, with the Purple Eagles continuing to lean into versatility. They only had three players 6-foot-7 or taller a season ago and have three players taller than 6-6 this season, in Jhaylon Martinez (6-11), James Henderson Jr. (6-9) and Shortt (6-8).
Paulus likes to switch ball screens on defense and didn’t have one set point guard last season, relying on several players to bring the ball up the court and run the offense. With size and shooting gobbled up by bigger programs, Niagara has thrived at getting into the paint to score its points, which likely won’t change with a roster that has four players who shoot better than 35% from beyond the 3-point line.
And although Niagara doesn’t have many big players, nine of its 13 players are 6-4 or taller.
“We want to make sure that, collectively, we can have guys that can do multiple things on the court, make multiple winning plays,” Paulus said. “And that’s, that’s what we’ve tried to identify this spring. The key word that we’ve used with our team for this week, that we’ve used in recruiting the last few months, is versatility.”
But for now, forget who is playing where. Niagara’s players are just trying to learn each other’s names.
No matter how many transfers Paulus has added in the last few years, the Purple Eagles have always had a few players who were around previously. Whether it’s to show new guys around campus — because of the portal window, five or six players committed without visiting the school — or to let them know how things are done within the program, all of those things fall upon the coaches now.
“They are giving us a great opportunity to see where we can provide guidance in helping them get to know one another, meeting them where they are, so then they can get to where our standards are,” Paulus said. “ … We’re at Square One.”
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