With all sports in the United States cancelled or suspended indefinitely, it’s never too early to start looking to the future. While the NCAA has banned all in person recruiting visits, that hasn’t stopped the men’s basketball staff from extending offers in an effort to round out the 2020-2021 roster. Earlier this week Josiah Freeman was released from his letter of intent, leaving the Bulls with 11 of their 13 scholarships allotted for next season. As it stands now here is the breakdown of scholarship players:

The positional breakdown for next season slants surprisingly F/C heavy, given that the Bulls only tend to play one big man at a given time. With David Skogman and Tra’Von Fagan’s ability to stretch the floor, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bulls play more two big lineups next season with either of those two paired with a non-shooter (Mballa, Hardnett, Bertram). Regardless, only going two deep at the lead guard, off-ball guard, and wing positions could present a problem for the perimeter oriented Bulls. Head Coach Jim Whitesell and staff, have taken steps to address these depth issues this week, offering two JUCO players, PG Malik Zachery and wing Goodnews Kpegeol.

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Malik Zachery Bio

Position: Point Guard

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 175 lbs

Previous School: Chipola College

Hometown: Syracuse, NY

Recruitment

247 Rankings (out of high school):

• Grade: 0.8875
• National Ranking: 184
• Position Ranking: 36 (PG)

Offers and Interest:

• Offers (out of high school): UMass, Siena, Canisius, High Point, Binghamton
• Offers (out of JUCO): Buffalo, Cal, Ole Miss, Nebraska, UMass, Fresno State, Sam Houston State, Eastern Michigan, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern Illinois, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, Coastal Carolina, Stony Brook, Canisius

Player Breakdown

Malik Zachery is a true PG, hailing from Syracuse, NY originally. The local product was a three star recruit coming out of high school, but elected to head the JUCO route. Zachery’s recruitment has since picked up after starting 31 games at #9 Chipola College as a freshman where he averaged 8.5 PPG and 5.8 APG. As a sophomore, Zachery was only able to appear in 4 games due to injury, leaving him with 3 years of eligibility.

Zachery is a smooth pass-first PG, that owned a 2.52 assist to turnover ratio in his freshman season. Jayvon Graves and Jeenathan Williams will likely shoulder a heavy portion of the scoring load next season, and Malik Zachery could provide a strong playmaking complement to that pair without needing many shots. While Zachery doesn’t always look to score, he’s capable of making shots, owning .458 FG | .321 3P | .745 FT shooting splits in his freshman season.

Highlights

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Goodnews Kpegeol Bio

Position: Wing

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 195 lbs

Previous Schools: Southwest Mississippi (JUCO), Kansas St.

Hometown: Maplewood, MN

Recruitment

247 Rankings (out of high school):

• Grade: 0.8628
• National Ranking: 425
• Position Ranking: 75 (SG)

Offers and Interest:

• Offers (out of high school): Kansas State, Saint Louis, UMass, Saint Joseph’s, St. Bonaventure, Akron, Iona, Georgia State, SIU-Edwardsville, Hampton, Southeast Missouri State
• Offers (out of JUCO): Buffalo, Hofstra, Grand Canyon, Towson, South Dakota, Coastal Carolina

Player Breakdown

Goodnews Kpegeol is an athletic wing that enrolled and redshirted at Kansas State in the spring of 2019 before transferring to Southwest Mississippi CC. Kpegeol did a little bit of everything averaging 12 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.8 SPG, and 0.8 BPG in his redshirt freshman year.

His game looks to be similar to that of Jeenathan Williams. Kpegeol uses his length and athleticism to create havoc on defense and finish on offense. He also flashed the ability to knock down the three, shooting 34.5% on 1.9 attempts per game. Kpegeol has enough on ball skill to slot into the 3 spot next to Jeenathan Williams at the 4, and create match-up problems for less athletic MAC teams.

Highlights

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Below is the scholarship breakdown if Zachery and Kpegeol were to commit to UB, and if Tra’Von Fagan were to receive a medical hardship waiver granting him a sixth year of eligibility.

Bringing in two JUCO players with three remaining years of eligibility would be a savvy move by the staff. These players with experience would supplement a core that will be looking to get back to the top of the MAC while also maintaining long term continuity in the program.