WKU Basketball: Meet the Toppers — The Front Court
WKU begins its 2016/17 season on Saturday at Diddle Arena and leading up to tip off on Saturday, we’ll be looking a bit more indepth at the squad Rick Stansbury will helm for the first time, bit by bit.
Today, we will gander at and break down the Toppers’ front court.
Ben Lawson | Senior Center | 7–1
Big Ben has steadily improved year after year for the Hilltoppers, and this year looks to be much the same. Lawson has averaged 4.1 points over his career at WKU, and based off of impressions in the first two exhibition outings, he has the potential to be a huge piece going forward in Rick Stansbury’s offense. Stansbury has said that he is glad to have a big guy who can run the floor like Ben can, and that is something that we will probably see throughout the season.
Anton Waters | Senior Forward | 6–7
Anton is Anton. He is a guy who can beat and bang down low, but he won’t be an outstanding numbers guy. He will be a player who can put a few points up per game consistently, and that is his role. Waters came from Gulf Coast State College after the 2014–15 season, and then saw 33 games last year for the Tops, starting 19 of those. He put up 144 total points last year, averaging just 4.4 points per game.
Justin Johnson | Junior Forward | 6–7
He was a star as a sophomore, and he’ll be a star this year as a junior. Johnson is what I would call “the guy” for WKU. He brings emotion and hard work to the table, and is starting to show the ability to lead alongside fellow tenured teammate Ben Lawson. Johnson started 26 of his 34 games played last year, and averaged 14.9 points per contest. This year might be a different year for Justin, getting used to a different coach and a free offense, but I still suspect high totals in multiple categories. He might even come off of the bench for Stansbury, but still play starter minutes. He’s even shown us his newly-developed three ball in the first two exhibitions.
Willie Carmichael | RS-Sophomore Forward | 6–8
Willie played big-conference ball at Tennessee for one year and sat out with WKU last year, giving him three more seasons with the Hilltoppers. Carmichael has the potential to be a huge factor this season. He is extremely athletic and has length to go along with it. Give it some time as the season goes on and we’ll probably see him finish an alley-oop or two.
Jabari Mcghee | RS-Sophomore Forward | 6–7
Mcghee is the same situation as Willie, excpet Jabari will have to wait until the second half of this season to play due to transferring to WKU midseason. Jabari didn’t see much time at Tennessee, only playing in 14 games in the season and a half he was there, averaging 4.4 points per game as a freshman, and 3.8 ppg during the first half of his sophomore season.
During the Ray Harper years, it was guard play that carried the Tops but, at least in the first year of Stansbury, there’s plenty of excitement for what the Toppers front court has to offer.
