Yes. A big determining factor as to where Marek plays is the level of play for the 3 centers this season. They are 205, 210 and 210 pounds, so there is no beef. But they are 25-30 pounds heavier than Marek.
If Braswell emerges as a solid player, it will probably take PT away from the centers, as JB will react by playing Marek more at center.
If one of the centers emerges as a solid player, it could make it hard for Braswell to get a lot of PT, even if he plays solidly. You know Elijah, Quincy and Marek are all going play a lot.
I think Hughes is an interesting figure. He's a scorer but mostly as a shooter (~70% of his FG attempts were from three) so, at least from what we saw last year, he's a little one-dimensional that way. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing as the game tends to focus now on threes and layups, but it's certainly worth noting.
The other interesting thing is that we were a good defensive team and mediocre rebounding team two years ago (while Hughes was redshirting). Last year, with much of the same personnel, we were a terrible rebounding team and a decent but not great defensive team. Now there were other factors -- not a great year from Chukwu or Frank) but the other factor was that Hughes was added to the mix at 32+ mpg.
So none of this is to say Hughes either won't play a lot (he will) or that he's a bad player who won't get better (he's at least decent and could improve in Year 2). But, there is a big difference between playing 28-30 mins and playing 36-38 mpg. Add to that the fact that Guerrier, as promising as he is, is a freshman and Marek, as valuable as he is, will likely get into foul trouble at times (or maybe often) and you could see a world where Braswell finds his way into the rotation.
Hughes at around 30 mpg, Guerrier at around 32 and Marek around 34-35 would leave roughly 23 mpg up for grabs with, IMO, only Edwards being a potential factor. I don't know that it would happen but it's not at all crazy to think, IMO, that Braswell is a kid who could put up minutes numbers similar to those Southerland put up as a soph and jr. (~15 mpg) and, if he plays well, who knows, maybe a bit more.
I agree that JB tends to go with the veterans in most cases and tends to run a shorter rotation but there's really not enough returning to rule out guys like Braswell or Edwards (or Girard/Washington for that matter) from working their way into minutes.
