With most of last year’s starters gone, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball coach Solomon Bozeman said he expects a more balanced offense this season.
Three key players from last year, Rashad Williams, Joe French and Lonnell Martin Jr., ran out of eligibility. Two others, Kylen Milton and Ismael Plet, transferred elsewhere.
Most of UAPB’s scoring came from those five players, with nobody else averaging more than 5.2 points per game. Williams led the way with 17.7 points, followed by Milton with 17 and French with 15.1.
Bozeman, speaking to the media during SWAC Media Days in Atlanta on Friday, said it will be hard to replace those players, but he thinks the Golden Lions can step up as a group.
“I think this year’s team is going to be more spread out,” Bozeman said. “Last year, we had some individual guys that could go get it. … But I think this year’s team, we’re going to have six to eight guys average between 6-14 points, 15 points, so I think we’ll be more spread out. We’re going to have a more balanced attack.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Three players return from last season. Trejon Ware started 12 games at point guard. He didn’t score much, but he led the team with 97 assists and was a key defender. He had 32 steals, second most on the team.
Robert Lewis started 10 games at forward and led the team with 23 blocks. Zach Reinhart saw limited playing time as a reserve guard.
UAPB had nine returning players entering last season. Having just three this year means the Golden Lions will be young. Bozeman said in the transfer portal era, this will be the new normal.
“Definitely hard, but at the end of the day, you gotta get the job done,” Bozeman said. “I look at the group we have. We have some guys that are hungry, guys that love to work. That’s just the new norm, so we gonna figure it out. Like I said, I love this team.”
The Golden Lions are adding 11 new players to the roster, including three Division I transfers: Monmouth forward Klemen Vuga, North Texas guard Christian Moore, and Charleston Southern forward Quentin Bolton Jr.
Vuga, a 6-foot-9 senior from Slovenia, started one game for Monmouth last season but had a much better campaign the year prior, averaging 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Bolton, a 6-foot-6 junior, appeared in 11 games for CSU last year, averaging 7.6 points per game. Moore, an Arkansas native from Jacksonville, was a reserve player for the Mean Green.
The rest of the newcomers come from a mixture of Division II, junior college and high school. Bozeman raved about the size and length of this year’s team, saying most of the roster will be 6-foot-5 or taller with long wing spans.
Last year’s team led the SWAC offensively, scoring 80.1 points per game, but came in last defensively, allowing 81.8. Bozeman said this year’s team will have a similar offensive mindset, but he hopes for better production on the defensive end.
“We always recruit guards that can score it,” Bozeman said. “Trejon Ware is going to have a bigger role, but Christian Moore, as well, from North Texas can really shoot the basketball, make plays. We got other guys that can really shoot it and do some things, as well.
“It’ll be a more balanced attack, but I think this year’s team is blessed with our length and size. We’re going to challenge this team on the defensive end.”