Friday, October 24, 2008

Basketball Primer: Freshman Evan Ravenel

Al Skinner is coming off his worst year since the Troy Bell turnaround. He has a solid nucleus of young returning players, some new faces and a star in Tyrese Rice. Can it all come together and get BC back in the postseason? We will soon find out. In the meantime, let's take a closer look at one of the new pieces: Evan Ravenel.



Evan Ravenel, F/C, 6'8, 260lbs


What you need to know
Ravenel was a late bloomer who gained a little more attention as a high school senior. Unfortunately not all of the attention was good. Ravenel was suspended for three weeks last January for getting in the face of an official. He's a bit undersized for a big man but uses his body and weight well. Because of our lack of depth on the frontline he could be thrust into the regular rotation.


Strengths
He is a good rebounder. Supposedly has a good work ethic and motor. Better athleticism than you'd expect from a guy of his build.


Issues
Still raw offensively. Will be asked to guard bigger men throughout his career.


Miscellaneous
Ravenel was featured in this "dunk of the day" last fall. He's not exactly skying like Sean Williams, but he's graceful.


Outlook
I don't expect Ravenel to be a starter or even major contributor this season. However, unless Al goes small and up tempo on a regular basis, Ravenel will get some minutes. We don't need points from him...just rebounds, rebounds, rebounds. If he shows he can bang in the ACC and improves his post skills a bit, there could be decent upside for him at BC.

4 comments:

05Eagle said...

Wow, it must have been the only dunk that day.

LAEagle said...

haha that was almost as bad as candace parker's "dunk"

G.A. said...

Supposedly he has good offensive skills. As we know, big men in Al's flex need to be able to pass from the top of the key. Either he or Dunn will get playing time behind Southern.

CEW said...

For a guy who is 6'8", that dunk was decidedly not graceful.