Robert Morris’ Andy Toole doesn’t fret over transfers
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Holding tight to reality, Andy Toole isn’t afraid to share what he believes to be the truth about college basketball.
“Some fan bases might not want to get overly attached to a roster every year,” Robert Morris’ 11-year coach said.
No one knows better than Toole — and his colleagues at Pitt and Duquesne, Jeff Capel and Keith Dambrot, would agree — how much the landscape has changed in one of the nation’s most popular sports.
The NCAA transfer portal is brimming with more than 1,500 names, and Robert Morris (six), Duquesne (seven) and Pitt (five) are far from immune.
• Only three players — Kam Farris, Enoch Cheeks and Kahliel Spear — will return to Robert Morris from the 2020-21 team that finished last in its first season in the Horizon League.
• Pitt lost four starters: three to the portal, one to the NBA Draft.
• Duquesne changed course at midseason when two starting guards left. Five other players followed after the season.
Yet, the Ivy League-educated Toole, a starting guard at Elon and Penn at the outset of this century, isn’t convinced the sport necessarily needs to suffer. It’s just another reason for coaches to roll up their sleeves and go to work, even if it means going bleary-eyed from watching video of that transfer who might save your job.
“I don’t know if we can figure out if it’s good or bad for college basketball,” he said. “Like everything, there will be pros and some cons to it. It will be dependent on how guys work out in certain situations.”
For example, consider the Baylor-Houston national semifinal in this year’s Final Four: Six of the 10 starters were transfers. You would have a difficult time convincing those teams’ coaches and fans the ready availability of transfers — no more sitting out one season — is a bad thing.
But Toole waves a cautionary flag. He can live with transfers and doesn’t judge those who leave, but he prefers it be for the right reasons.
“There is always adversity in your college career. There’s always difficulty. There are always challenges,” he said. “If guys are making decisions to go other places, it’s because they actually have a better opportunity vs. they just want to, maybe, change addresses.
“Those are the things you try to weigh, but you don’t ever want to take someone’s opportunity away to go somewhere they think they can be better or more successful. It’s on that person to go make themselves successful there. That’s the one thing I hope doesn’t get lost in all of this.”
Meanwhile, Toole said it’s a waste of time for him to worry about it.
“If guys don’t want to be here and guys think there is a better opportunity for them, you wish them well and go and try and keep working at what’s best for your team, for the guys that are here.”
Toole lost three players who averaged 33 or more minutes last season, including A.J. Bramah, who shot 51.1% while averaging a double/double (21 points/10.3 rebounds). He put his name in the portal Feb. 12 after playing in only 12 games and ended up at Arizona State.
Also gone are guard Dante Treacy, who averaged 4.8 assists after helping RMU win the NEC Tournament in 2020, Cameron Wilbon (5.5 points per game), little-used Olisa Ngonadi and freshmen Trayden Williams and Pat Suemnick.
Toole said he was a bit surprised when Treacy, Williams and Suemnick decided to transfer.
“A guy (Treacy) who played a lot of minutes for us and a guy we had great respect for as a player, and still do,” Toole said. “But, obviously, he needed to do what he thought was best for him.”
Treacy had committed to Radford before re-opening his recruitment.
Radford transfer commit Dante Treacy (@DanteTreacy) tells me that he will be reopening his recruitment, as Radford has a new Head Coach now. He averaged 6.8 PPG and 4.8 APR this past year.
— jake lieberman (@jakelieberman2) April 29, 2021
Toole said he believed Suemnick and Williams had bright futures at Robert Morris.
“But they have to feel that same way. We have to try and move forward with the guys who are on our roster, the guys who want to be here, the guys who want to work.”
Toole and his staff worked hard this offseason restocking the roster. After leaving the Northeast Conference for the more competitive Horizon, Toole knew the Colonials (4-15, 3-12) needed more size, physicality and talent. Eight players have signed letters of intent.
“That’s one of the things we noticed going into the Horizon League. Just an increased level of physicality,” he said. “Guards who are 6-2, 6-3 or bigger, wings who are 6-5-plus. Forwards who are 6-8, 6-9. We had to, across the board, become a bigger team.”
The list of newcomers includes:
• Guard Tristan Jeffries, 6-foot-4, the only high school player among the group.
“Strong, physical body,” Toole said. “Ability to get to the basket. Uses his size and strength to create space. Really good mid-range pull-up (shot). Fits the mold of who we believe can become a very strong, physical, effective guard in the Horizon League.”
• Former St. Bonaventure forward Justin Winston (6-8).
“Hunts shot, very good around the rim. Really strong around the rim defensively, which is an area where we got beat up a little bit in the paint,” Toole said. He has been practicing with team since January.
• Former La Salle forward Brandon Stone (6-11, Southmoreland).
“Can face up and step up to the 3 and make 3s,” the coach said.
• Ferron Flavors, Jr., a 6-3 guard from Oklahoma State who started his career at Cal Baptist. He was a 45% 3-point shooter who averaged three per game at Cal Baptist.
• Rasheem Dunn, 6-2 guard from St. John’s, who competed against RMU when he played at St. Francis Brooklyn. He averaged 29 minutes and 9.4 points at St. John’s.
“He and Ferron both bring a ton of experience and maturity to the situation. Hopefully, guys we can rely on for leadership, as well,” Toole said.
• Michael Green III, another NEC alum from Bryant. He was NEC rookie of the year two years ago and all-conference this season with a 16 points-per-game average.
“Unbelievably quick,” Toole said.
• Matt Mayers, a forward from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College. He was a junior college All-American last season.
• Mattia Acunzo, a 6-8 forward who went to Kennedy Catholic High School and averaged 5.9 points last season at Toledo.