July 1, 2016
Here are your 2016/17 Lafayette College Leopards!
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#24 LAFAYETTE General
Player # Pos Yr Ht Wt Sch Acd Status Hometown
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Richard Leak 2 PG So 6-0 190 Yes 66 OK Ludlow, MA
Jack Senn 4 SG Fr 6-2 174 Yes 89 OK Manville, NJ
Justin Judkins 5 SG Jr 6-1 196 Yes 94 OK Middletown, OH
Otis Hall 10 SF So 7-0 234 Yes 43 OK South Charleston, OH
Todd DeHaven 12 PF Fr 6-10 222 Yes 81 OK Philadelphia, PA
Don Torres 13 PG Fr 6-1 172 No 75 OK Mays Landing, NJ
Joe Lien 14 SG Jr 6-3 195 Yes 11 OK Newton, NJ
Armando Brown 15 PG Sr 6-0 204 Yes 82 OK New York, NY
Alvaro Kinard 20 SF Sr 6-5 190 Yes 51 OK New York, NY
Raleigh McGinty 21 C So 6-10 245 Yes 56 OK Stanhope, NJ
Johnathon Blouin 23 PF So 6-9 221 Yes 41 OK Allentown, NJ
Scott Cavanaugh 30 SF Fr 6-6 215 No 45 OK Albany, LA
Daniel Warnock 32 SF Fr 6-8 226 Yes 44 OK Spotswood, NJ
James Standard 41 C Fr 6-10 231 Yes 50 OK Easton, PA
Samuel Davis 53 C So 6-11 229 Yes 97 OK Greensboro, NC
After two or three years of remarkable stability, things are going to look a lot different this season.
We have to replace the 3,468 minutes logged by last year's seniors. The four members of
Graham Sims' first recruiting class scored almost 60 percent of the team's points and grabbed about 68 percent of its rebounds. So, even though we're coming off a 27-6 season, punctuated by a 14-0 romp through the Patriot League, there will be a lot of questions that need to be answered.
Fortunately, the returning starter is a good one. Junior guard
Joe Lien was the team's leading scorer last year, with a 17.4 average that placed second in the conference. How will Joe respond to being the one player that opponents will key on, without potent offensive players like
James Sanders or
Hubert Song beside him?
The other projected starter whose name will be familiar is
Alvaro Kinard. In each of the past three seasons, the lanky wing has begun the year as a starter, and each time he's played himself onto the bench. His talent is unquestioned. Will he become the player we've always thought he could be in his senior year?
Sophomore
Samuel Davis, who demonstrated ability as a rebounder and a rim protector last year, will begin the year as our starting center. Will he play like a young
James Sanders, with perhaps a little less offense and a little more intimidation? Or will we be roughed up in the post for the first time since Graham arrived in town?
Promising freshman
Todd DeHaven will be running with the first unit at our first practice. Todd has the potential to be a capable, well-rounded big man, one who can score, rebound, and play defense. Will he be ready to do those things in his first year of college ball?
Senior
Armando Brown averaged 18 minutes per game as our leading backcourt reserve last season. He played well, limiting turnovers and shooting efficiently. Armando should be ready to run the point for us this year, but he'll be challenged by talented sophomore
Richard Leak and emerging junior
Justin Judkins. Richard and Justin are also good ballhandlers; Richard is a good defensive player, and Justin a more promising scorer. Who will inherit the position that
Hubert Song had on lock for four seasons?
In short,
Joe Lien is the only sure thing about this year's Lafayette team.
Raleigh McGinty,
Johnathan Blouin, and
Otis Hall could end up outplaying the presumed starters and take their spots in the frontcourt. Freshmen
Daniel Warnock and
Jack Senn could demonstrate their readiness for prime time.
We've never been ranked in the pre-season polls, but there we are at #24 this year. Is that ranking based on the body of work our seniors submitted, or a prediction of where this year's team could end up?
We're about to find out.