WKU Basketball: WKU Will Be Fine With Mitchell Robinson Leaving
Yesterday, the Western Kentucky basketball team lost their highest rated recruit of all time.
Mitchell Robinson, ranked the #1 center in the nation and #8 player in the 2017 recruiting class according to 247Sports, left the Hill even after taking summer classes and going through several practices with Rick Stansbury and his teammates.
With no returning players and the absence of Robinson, you may say the Tops are screwed. But, that is not the case.
This team will be experienced and talented; Talented enough to win the Conference USA tournament and make an NCAA tournament run.
What to know about the 2017–2018 Hilltoppers:
The off season has been very entertaining for Hilltoppers fans, but this next season will be the most entertaining season Western Kentucky fans have seen in decades.
The Hilltoppers will be featuring a team with a guard who made 25 starts for Virginia, a team who made it to the Elite Eight in 2016.
A power forward who played for Kansas, a team who made it to the Elite Eight in 2016, and started for Ole Miss earlier in his college career.
A guard that was a McDonald’s All-American nominee and the #57 player in the class of 2017 according to 247Sports, who would be the highest ever recruit in WKU basketball history if not for Robinson.
A former Syracuse commit who was ranked the #70 player and #16 power forward in the class of 2015, according to 247Sports.
A guard who was the leading scorer of a Buffalo team that made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances
A guard who was ranked the #3 JUCO player in the nation, according to JUCORecruiting.com and also broke the three-point record at his former school with 151 threes, beating out former record holder and Ole Miss standout Marshall Henderson.
An underrated guard who was Mr. Basketball of Kentucky last year and turned down an offer from Coach Calipari to play for him to become a Hilltoppper.
An underrated three-star forward who was recruited by Memphis and Texas.
A guard who was named the 10th Region Player of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches and had a huge showing in the Kentucky state tournament last year.
The Hilltoppers might also have their leading scorer and rebounder back for his senior season.
So now that you know the talent that has been brought in by Coach Stansbury, that leaves us with one big question — who is going to fill the void of Robinson on the floor?
There are two main canidates:
Dwight Coleby:
Coleby started off his career playing at Ole Miss for two years, then transferred to Kansas and played there last year. His prior experience against very high levels of competition will be of a lot of help. Coleby should be dominant in the C-USA, despite struggling against Big 12 competition.
At Kansas, Coleby did not have great stats. He played only 5.6 minutes a game. But the most impressive thing that Coleby did in the 5.6 minutes per game is block 0.5 shots per game. This gives you an early glimpse of how good of an interior defender he is. With the 20+minutes per game he will likely receive this year he will average well over two blocks per contest.
Coleby provides the Hilltoppers with a low-post scoring presence who can get up for offensive putbacks. At 6'9", you could say Coleby is undersized, but he makes up for his height in his strength. Even though he weighs 245 pounds, he is a hustler who is not afraid to get on the floor for a loose ball, and will relentlessly defend the opposing teams best post player.
Statline Prediction:
Points: 9.2 | Rebounds: 6.8 | Assists: 1.7 | Blocks: 2.2 | Steals: 0.8
Moustapha Diagne:
Before becoming a Hilltopper, Moustapha Diagne was formerly committed to Syracuse. He was ranked a four-star recruit and the 70th best player and the 16th best power forward in the 2015 class, according to 247Sports.
He never got the chance to play at Syracuse because of academic reasons so he decided to play JUCO basketball instead. At Northwest Florida Junior College he averaged 10.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in the 2015–2016 season.
Though underdeveloped, Diagne has the will and potential to be a star. He has three years of elgibility left, but stated that he wants to be one of the top prospects in the 2018 NBA Draft class. When you hear that statement you would think Diagne has a big ego, but he is actually a team player. When asked about his interest in the 2018 draft, Diagne stated:
Diagne’s impact may not always show up in the statbook but he will give the Hilltoppers an amazing effort at all times. He is a tremondous rebounder and just like Dwight Coleby, he is the type of player to give the extra effort in games that doesn’t always show up in the box score. Diagne has a knack for finishing at the rim, an attribute that will make him a force to be reckoned with for opposing defenses. Diagne averaged around a block per game for the NWF Raiders, at Western Kentucky you will see that stat and others improve each year he is here.
Statline Prediction:
Points: 7.8 | Rebounds: 8.9 | Assists: 1.8 | Blocks: 1.4 | Steals: 1.4
This 2017–2018 will be one of the most exciting teams Hilltopper fans have seen in a long time. The amount of talent that has been brought in for this year has been overlooked due to Robinson, but that is no longer the case.
What do you think? Will Dwight Coleby and Moustapha Diagne hold the fort down at post? How will the team react with the absence of Mitchell Robinson? Let us know in a comment below, via Twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page.
