COACH AND PROGRAM
Ryan McKeaney was the first to leave. The little-used sophomore forward told Vermont coach John Becker he was transferring in March.
Brendan Bald was the next to go. Becker was disappointed but not surprised when the former America East defensive player of the year informed him that he was quitting the team to concentrate on getting ready for law school. Bald, who is remaining at Vermont, is hoping to graduate a semester early.
Forward Chris Santo who played in only 14 games as a freshman left in April.
Four McGlynn's departure was the most unexpected. The America East freshman of the year, the only player in Division I to lead his team in scoring despite not starting a single game, waited until June to announce his decision to transfer to Towson, a Colonial Athletic Association team that went 1-31 last season.
Vermont Catamounts
Last Season 24-12 (.667)
Conference Record 13-3 (2nd)
Starters Lost/Returning 1/4
Coach John Becker (Catholic '90)
Record At School 24-12 (1 year)
Career Record 24-12 (1 year)
RPI Last 5 years 190-92-117-92-127
All of a sudden, after worrying about how he was going to distribute playing time, Becker headed into his second season as the Catamounts coach concerned about having enough bodies to practice. He was down to nine scholarship players.
June is awfully late to find players to fill out a roster, but Becker managed to bring in a graduate student, two transfers -- who aren't eligible to play this season but will take the place of the departed sophomore class -- and a freshman.
"We had two kids from last year's team transfer down to Division II," Becker said. "We had four leave. We had Brendan leave. We had two kids graduate. We had quite a bit of turnover. & There's a lot going on in my head."
Depth has been a big part of Vermont's success because it allows the Catamounts to maintain their intensity on defense. Last season, nine players logged 11 minutes or more per game, and only one played more than 30 minutes. Rotating in fresh bodies helped Vermont hold its final seven regular-season opponents to an average of 51.1 points per game. In the America East championship final, the Catamounts limited Stony Brook to a season-low 43 points and 29.3 percent shooting.
In spite of the spate of departures, Becker believes he has the depth to give 10 players significant minutes each game, which means defense and rebounding are likely to remain the Catamounts' signature.
"It sounds crazy, but we weren't as deep [last season] as we are this year," Becker said. "We played five guards and five bigs last year. This year, we'll probably end up playing six guards and four bigs."
But where will the scoring come from? Vermont doesn't have a returning player whose scoring average was in double figures last season, but Becker thinks someone will emerge. He points to last season when most believed Bald would be the go-to scorer, but it was a freshman, McGlynn, who ended up filling that role.
Even though he's been around for a while, Luke Apfeld (9.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, .539 FG, .803 FT) could turn into the Catamounts' counted-on scorer. The 6-7 junior forward has gotten better each season despite missing more than two years after three ACL surgeries. His knee troubles aside, he continues to be one of Vermont's more athletic players.
Apfeld, who doubled his scoring average from his freshman to sophomore years, is Vermont's top returning scorer.
"He's probably going to play more perimeter this year than he did last year so hopefully he can knock down some shots and stretch the court like we need our power forwards to do," Becker said. "He's our energy guy."
Becker wouldn't mind getting more scoring out of Brian Voelkel (4.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 5.1 apg) but he's wary that increasing Voelkel's point production might come at the cost of everything else he does for the team. The 6-6 junior forward was the most outstanding player of the America East championship despite averaging four points a game over the three games.
Voelkel has long been more of a facilitator than a scorer, and the Catamounts run much of their offense through him. He is also the conference's top rebounder.
"The one thing he hasn't done a lot of is score," Becker said. "He doesn't even really want to score. & He'll pass up some open looks, which can be frustrating. He shouldn't do that. He'd just rather give someone else an easy layup than score himself.
"A lot of teams don't guard him. If he could just make a couple 15-footers and keep the defense honest, that's going to open up passing lanes for him to do what he does easier. But I do walk the line because I don't want Brian to look to score every time he gets the ball."
Voelkel's former high school teammate, 6-2 junior Sandro Carissimo (7.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg), didn't come to Vermont as a point guard, but he's made the position his own.
"He's finally got to the point now where he's comfortable running the team and being a point guard," Becker said.
Because Carissimo is also a good scorer, Becker -- who likes to have multiple ball-handlers on the court at the same time -- will at times pair Carissimo and 6-3 junior guard Josh Elbaum (1.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg) in the backcourt. "Josh is nice because he's different than Sandro," Becker said. "He's a change of pace point guard."
Ben Crenca (4.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg), 6-10 senior center, has been cursed by injuries most of his career. He tore his ACL his freshman year and didn't return until midway through his sophomore season. Last season, he started off well, then tore a meniscus and missed a month. When healthy, he is a true, back-to-the-basket big man.
Clancy Rugg (5.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg), a 6-8 junior forward and former walk-on who earned a scholarship, was the first frontcourt substitute off the bench last season.
No one benefited more from the departures of Bald and McGlynn than Candin Rusin. After sitting out last season as a transfer from Marist, the 6-4 junior guard was behind those two on the depth chart. Now he's the likely starter at the two-guard spot.
Rusin will have competition for the job from one of Becker's late roster additions. Trey Blue had bounced around his college career, going from Fordham to Illinois State and never finding a home. The 6-3 guard has enrolled at Vermont as a graduate student with only one year left to redeem his college career.
Last season at Illinois State, Blue averaged just 1.2 points and 0.7 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game. The year before, when he played 14.9 minutes a game, Blue averaged 4.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
"We're pretty confident he's going to be able to come in here and pick things up and be able to contribute right away for us," Becker said.
Ethan O'Day (Northfield Mount Hermon/Mansfield, Conn.) is a 6-9 skilled freshman forward who with added strength could become a very effective player. Brendan Kilpatrick (Malvern Prep/Norristown, Pa.), a 6-5 freshman forward, may have to wait his turn playing behind Voelkel.
Another of Becker's late additions, 6-5 freshman forward Harrison Taggart (St. Paul's School/Wallingford, Vt.), chose to graduate from prep school over the summer and enroll in Vermont. Becker likes his versatility.
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: B
BENCH/DEPTH: B
FRONTCOURT: A
INTANGIBLES: B
It is too soon to tell if the massive roster turnover at Vermont is addition by subtraction or a symptom of a larger problem. Regardless, the Catamounts will need time to mesh the new and veteran players, and that might lead to a slow start to the season or a lost year, depending on how quickly the players adapt to one another. Vermont also must address its scoring concerns. Defense and rebounding will get the Catamounts only so far. They also need to find a few players who can put the ball in the basket.
But if Apfeld and Crenca can stay healthy, Voelkel can add a bit of offense to his all-around game and at least one of the newcomers can take on some of the scoring load, Vermont should be right back up among the elite teams in the conference.
The Catamounts always seem to find a way to stay near the top of the standings. If they can overcome all the departures, this season should be no different.