Brits in College: Week 6 Recap

By Rowan Shiell
Almost all the British players were in action this week after taking time off to catch up on their studies or reflect on the short season.  At this point, teams will look to to pick up crucial nonconference wins to boost their RPI standing. This increases the chances of being offered one of the 68 places in the NCAA tournament, come March.

Come January it will all be about conference play.

Player of the Week

Keith Rendleman | North Carolina-Wilmington | Senior | Forward

Rendleman had a good week as UNCW (5-6) split two games. The 6’8” senior scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a loss to Davidson (6-4), on Saturday, bringing UNCW’s road record to an alarming 0-6.

On Wednesday they had much better luck, at home, as they took down UNC-Greensboro (2-7) 87-73. Rendleman had 23 points, 12 rebounds, a block, an assist and a couple of steals.

That was Randleman’s fourth double double of the year and he tied his season high in points scored in a game.

Rendleman, who was born in Bedford, was a much highly coveted American football recruit coming out of high school. UNCW was one of the only schools to offer him a basketball scholarship hence even though they are currently banned from post season play, due to low APR scores; Rendleman chose to come back for his senior year. He could have transferred to any school he wanted and be immediately eligible to play. An opportunity three other players took advantage of.

Best of the Rest

Andrew Lawrence | College of Charleston | Senior | Guard | @andrewcofc04.

After missing the previous game, due to an injured ankle, Lawrence came back strong as CofC (6-4) defeated Old Dominion (1-10) in the first ever meeting between the two programs. Lawrence had a workman like game as he filled the stat sheet with 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and five steals, on Tuesday.

Alasdair Fraser | Maine | Junior | Forward | @bigali15

Tough week for Fraser as Maine dropped both of their games. On Friday they lost to Army (5-5) by 32 followed by a 25 point drubbing at the hands of Marist (4-6) on Sunday.

Fraser gave a good account of himself on the boards, grabbing 11 against Army and nine against Marist. He scored 50% of his field goals against Army for 12 points but was three of nine against Marist for six points.

Ashley Hamilton | Loyola Marymount | Senior | Forward | @thekingash

Hamilton had 13 points and eight rebounds in his only game which was a three point loss to Ole Mississippi (8-1).

Ben Mockford | St Francis NY | Junior | Guard | @BenMockford

St Francis (NY) (2-7) lost another game to St John’s on Saturday. That’s five losses in a row now. Mockford had nine points and three rebounds.

Will Neighbour | Arkansas Little Rock | Junior | Forward

Neighbour scored five points and had five rebounds in 19 minutes of action against Tulsa (6-4), on Saturday. He fouled out but UALR (8-4) won.

Monday UALR lost to Louisiana Tech by three points. Neighbour scored seven points making half his six field goal attempts, to go with five rebounds.

Extras

• Aaron Geramipoor seems to have fallen out of favor with his coach. The 6’11” junior missed a game due to an ankle injury and his coach, Kevin Willard, had this exchange with Brendan Prunty ;

Q: “Is Geramipoor OK?”

A: “He has a boo-boo.”

Q: “Is it a one-game boo-boo? Two-game boo-boo?”

A: “With him we might have to send him to the hospital. Who knows with that kid. We’ve had enough. We spend more money on medical bills. I mean — Kevin Johnson’s our backup right now. If he keeps playing the way he is, I think Aaron’s going to have a hard time getting back in.”

That was after a game against NJIT on the 04/12/12. Geramipoor hasn’t played since. Prunty speculated that due to Geramipoor’s history of injuries maybe Willard might want to develop another big man to take Geramipoor’s spot.

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• Providence has gotten two players just as they are winding down their non-conference schedule. The Friars piled up an 8-2 record playing with only seven players. Kris Dunn, whom many regard as the best point guard in the 2012 class, is back from a shoulder injury and forward Sidiki Johnson, an Arizona transfer, should make Providence a stronger team. Not sure how this will affect Lee Goldsborough in the long run but his playing time has dwindled over the last two games

• Western Illinois (8-3) has won five games in a row. Junior center, Mike Ochereobia who is originally from Hackney, is playing just under 10 minutes a game for them.

• Speaking of winning streaks, VCU (8-3) has also won their last five games with quality wins over Belmont and Western Kentucky. 6’3” Teddy Okereafor, from London, is averaging 1.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and a solid 2.4 assists per game in just 11.9 minutes per outing.

• Nevada, featuring backup wing man Patrick Nyeko, has also won three in a row.

• Iowa Hawkeyes (8-2), featuring 6’10” sophomore center Gabriel Olaseni, is undefeated in December, in five games. Olaseni averages 9.1 minutes a game.

Thoughts on how the Brits are getting on so far? Anyone else who deserves a mention? Let us know in the comments!