Nearly half of his team's offense from this past season is gone. The team is losing its leading scorer from the past two seasons and the conference's defensive player of the year.
But with the signing of four recruits for the upcoming season, Binghamton University men's basketball coach Al Walker is optimistic about the Bearcats' prospects for the 2006-07 season.
Two junior college guards -- Marvin Lee from Pratt Community College in Kansas and Richard Forbes from Howard Junior College in Texas -- are both set to join the Bearcats in the fall semester. They'll be joined by freshman forwards Miladin Kovacevic and Lazar Trifunovic, both from Serbia.
"I really like where we're at," Walker said after the announcement of the signings Wednesday. "We've got 12 guys in the program who, on paper, all have significant size or skills or talent. I think it's a nice group. We'll have to wait and see what happens in November and December (when the regular season starts), but it looks like it's a group that has some talent."
Between graduation and transfers, BU is losing 49 percent of its offense from this past season.
The Bearcats lost three starters --Andre Heard, Sebastian Hermenier and Schafer Jackson -- from this past season's team that went 16-13, the program's best record since moving to Division I five years ago. BU went 12-4 and finished second in the America East Conference, both program records, before losing to sixth-seeded Vermont in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Walker said he sees Lee as a potential replacement for Heard, a first-team all-conference selection who averaged a team-best 17.1 points per game last season.
Lee, a 6-foot-2, 210 pound guard, averaged team highs of 14.2 points and 6.4 rebounds for a Pratt CC team that went 18-13. He was a first-team all-region selection who also led his team in steals (50).
"He's a big, athletic kid," Walker said. "We think he'll help us right off the bat."
Forbes, a 6-foot guard, averaged 10.8 points and 2.3 assists for a Howard JC team that went 35-2 and finished fifth at the NJCAA Division I Tournament. He averaged 18 points a game at the national tournament and was an all-tournament selection.
Forbes is BU's first scholarship player from New York City, Walker said. Forbes played at Far Rockaway High School and led the Public School Athletic League with 32.0 points a game, outscoring NBA guard Sebastian Telfair.
Kovacevic (pronounced ko-VA-che-vitch), a 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward originally from Belgrade, averaged 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds for Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va., this past season. Trifunovic (tri-FOON-oh-vich) is 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, and played club basketball with Kovacevic in Belgrade. Trifunovic played on the 16-and-under Serbian National Team. | 