While watching Virginia Commonwealth dismantle Akron in the NCAA Tournament Thursday, Ohio signee Maurice Ndour found himself itching for his first one-on-one with Zips star forward Demetrius Treadwell, who had his way with the Bobcats last season.
“I haven’t seen an Ohio guy that makes him work,” Ndour said. “He’s going to have a hard time guarding me. I’m not going to say it’ll be easy for me or him.”
Ndour, two-year veteran of Monroe College (N.Y.), has plenty on his plate in order to live up to his self-imposed expectations when he arrives on campus this summer after spending time in his native Senegal for the first time since moving to the States two years ago.
He’s the eldest of a class of four newcomers who will vie for a chance to make an impact for Ohio when its season tips off in November.
Incoming players often enter a program bearing lofty expectations and team goals similar to Ndour’s, Ohio coach Jim Christian said. And although that sometimes leads to a bumpy adjustment period, Christian said he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I think they all should come in wanting to be that guy … but those are challenges,” Christian said of Ndour’s desire to guard his opponent’s best player. “I’d love to see everybody on the team accept challenges. It’s a little easier said than done.”
Monroe College coach Jeff Brustad said Ndour is “the hardest worker” he has coached in 11 years with the Mustangs, but added Ndour went through a several-month adjustment period before blossoming into a double-double machine.
Ndour is Ohio’s only newcomer who will be making the transition from junior college to Division-I ball, but he’ll be one of three players with the potential to make an impact under the basket.
Joining him are incoming freshmen Antonio Campbell, a Covington, Ky. product, and Wadley Mompremier, who hails from Miami Senior High School (Fla.). The trio will give the Bobcats numbers down low, as they will join now-juniors T.J. Hall and Jon Smith on the interior.
The help will be much obliged, as Ohio averaged four fewer rebounds per game than its opponents in 2012-2013 — the second-worst margin in the Mid-American Conference.
Christian said the new additions are the first step in developing a cadre of talented big men that can take care of business on the interior.
“That’s the hardest piece at our level — to get good young players,” Christian said. “To think we’re going to come in to get a player that’s going to be an all-conference player as a freshman — we’re not getting it, but neither is anybody else.”
The outlier of Ohio’s incoming class, in terms of size and position, is D.J. Wingfield, a lanky 6-foot-5-inch shooting guard who has become accustomed to having the ball in his hands in big situations. He and Akron signee Isaiah Johnson led Walnut Hills High School (Cincinnati) on a 23-game win streak en route to its first-ever state Final Four appearance this season.
Christian was one of almost 11,000 in attendance for the state semifinal game at Ohio State’s Value City Arena Friday to witness Wingfield in his element for the last time before he arrives on campus and dons a Bobcats practice jersey.
The Eagles fell by seven points in a game Christian said was decided in the final 30 seconds.
Nonetheless, Christian liked what he saw. Wingfield scored 20 points and added nine rebounds.
Where the newcomers will stack up on Ohio’s depth chart remains to be seen. Christian said it’s facetious to even speculate on the subject until players make the transition to college — not only on the court, but academically and socially as well.
But from the moment they step on campus, they’ll be rubbing shoulders with the Bobcats’ nine returning players — all of whom went through similar transitions.
What will be bred as a result, Christian said, is a productive chance for players to prove themselves worthy of playing time.
“The one thing I do know is there will be competition at spots next year — every spot,” Christian said. “When you get that, you get great practices, guys focusing and having attention to detail because they want to have a job or keep a job.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
