Samford G AJ Staton-McCray transfers to Miami

[DMoney]

From miamihurricanes.com

University of Miami head men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga announced Thursday the addition of transfer AJ Staton-McCray to the 2024-25 roster.

A 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard, Staton-McCray joins the Hurricanes after spending four seasons at Samford where he averaged 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 84 total games played.

“AJ is a very athletic, multi-positional player whose toughness and defensive ability will fit in very well with our current...

Continue reading...

 

[Allabouttheu95]

I don’t know about the ceiling of this team but this is by far the deepest team L has had in years

 

[C A N S]

Did we really need another combo guard? The depth in the front court continues to be awful.

 

[Ozone]

Welcome to the U!

 

[bobbo31]

Great pickup. I would argue this is the best transfer pickup this off-season. This kid rebounds very well for a 2/3, is a great defender at 6'5 so probably could guard 1 thru 4 and shoots the 3 at 42%. This is the type of pickup who isn't going to be worried about being the focal point and you can probably move him between being a 6th or 7th man and a starter depending on the matchup.

 

[bobbo31]

Did we really need another combo guard? The depth in the front court continues to be awful.

This isn't another combo guard. He's a 2/3 with some size, he fulfills a huge need. I would love to have another 4/5 as well but this is a good pickup.

 

[Brooklyndee]

Did we really need another combo guard? The depth in the front court continues to be awful.

That is a staple of coach l is it not? I can only think of one team we had any kind of front court depth. Just hope this team will at least shoot efficiently enough and show an ability to get to the rim. Otherwise it'll be another long year.

 

[King of Allapattah]

Great pickup. Former HS teammate of Paul Djobet. Epitome of a 3 and D player. Will be a glue guy. By far deepest team Coach L has had in a while, probably ever. Welcome to Miami!!

 

[IncaneInTheBrain]

I was just thinking the only missing piece was a bigish rotational wing. L beat me to it.

Once again, this dude isn't a star, but when you're filling bench roles, this is the type you're choosing from.

 

[IncaneInTheBrain]

Great pickup. Former HS teammate of Paul Djobet. Epitome of a 3 and D player. Will be a glue guy. By far deepest team Coach L has had in a while, probably ever. Welcome to Miami!!

Not only deep, but old as s#it too. 8(!) seniors by my count. That's usually a good sign.

 

[Da Jumbo Mutombo]

This tells me we want to still play "small" at times and Cleveland will be asked to play the 4 and this guy will be the 3.

 

[AmherstCane]

This tells me we want to still play "small" at times and Cleveland will be asked to play the 4 and this guy will be the 3.

This team has a lot of versatility.

 

[Da Jumbo Mutombo]

This team has a lot of versatility.

It does, I just wish we would've gotten one more high quality ball handler.

If either Pack or Blackmon get hurt, that's gonna force Bethea to be a PG in those rest minutes.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

I was just thinking the only missing piece was a bigish rotational wing. L beat me to it.

Once again, this dude isn't a star, but when you're filling bench roles, this is the type you're choosing from.

Come on....if not for a ****** referee, this kid would have led Samford to a first round win over Kansas.

 

[Gables Canes]

Really like this pickup. This kid is a great defender and improved his shooting a lot this past season. This takes some of the stress off djobet and Swartz.

 

[JayCane20]

What was his deal at the end of the year? Injury? Doghouse? Benched? Played 13 MPG in the conference tournament after averaging 21 MPG on the season.

Really efficient player considering he really didn’t log that many minutes… assuming he was a 6th man or something.

Obviously different levels of competition but played 10 MPG less than Wooga and nearly put up the same stat line and same shooting %.

 

[TheRichtShow]

Echoing others here - very good addition to likely round out the 2nd unit. As miserable as last season was, this roster rebuild gives us a lot of reasons to be excited about next year. This is my guess at the depth chart:

C: Kidd, Huie
F: Johnson, Djobet
G/F: Cleveland, Staton-McCray, IJA
G: Pack, Swartz
G: Blackmon/Bethea, Bethea/Blackmon, Divine

For the 13th spot, I'd expect a HS/International Big, either a stretch 4 or athletic 5.

The biggest change from the past few years IMO is that we won't be entirely reliant on our starting 5 to score. Huie and S-M were double digit scorers last year, Bethea and Swartz are 2 of the most talented scorers in their class, and Blackmon avg'd 21 PPG

 

[DMoney]

I like this addition and Huie because they are true role players. Wooga was an elite shooter but he thought he was something he was not.

 

[Pentagon Cane]

What was his deal at the end of the year? Injury? Doghouse? Benched? Played 13 MPG in the conference tournament after averaging 21 MPG on the season.

Really efficient player considering he really didn’t log that many minutes… assuming he was a 6th man or something.

Obviously different levels of competition but played 10 MPG less than Wooga and nearly put up the same stat line and same shooting %.

25 minutes against KU.

 

[Pentagon Cane]

This tells me we want to still play "small" at times and Cleveland will be asked to play the 4 and this guy will be the 3.

My sense they are happy with Kidd, Johnson and Huie in yhe front court with Cleveland getting some minutes at 4 if we want to go small.