Class of 2022 G Amarion Dickerson (OH) Portal from RMU [Interest Only]

[Cuse4Life29]

Highlights from Alabama vs Robert Morris for anyone that wants to check out Dickerson in action.

I'd take him in a heartbeat.

 

[AZOrange]

I'd take him in a heartbeat.

Yeah if you saw that game there was no doubt

 

[ezbeezy214]

Sorry, Womack.
Tell us what role Dickerson is going to play for us.
How does he fit?

Defensive versatility
Rim Protector
Slasher
Athlete

 

[orangejunkie]

Dickerson is a stud athlete. Red wanted to run all year but didn't have the athletes to be successful. Not a great 3 point shooter, but has a lot of other strengths. He would improve our defense which was a weakness all year. We couldn't get stops when we needed them in tight games. We would go through stretches when we couldn't score. Improving the defense will help with that issue. Given the names mentioned so far, it looks like Red is intent in improving our physicality at the guard position, wing, and center. This is all conjecture of course, when we eventually see who they offer, we'll know Red's priorities.

 

[Sherman20]

Chill out. Not everything that is happening is out for public display on the internet. You will have plenty of time to tell us how much better a coach and GM you would be after the roster is constructed.

Better yet, you have already given up on next year. Why not come back in September 2026 to tell us how bad that team will be.

It’s ironic because Matt was one of the guys early to mid season preaching some patience (or at least having a wait and see outlook), as opposed to some posters on here who were like Red is not the guy by December. Now he’s gone the opposite direction. I was also taking a wait and see outlook during the season. Now, I’m personally skeptical that Red is the answer as head coach, but I think we will at least get better players this offseason. And then we’ll see what Red can do with better talent and if he proves to be a good coach.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Defensive versatility
Rim Protector
Slasher
Athlete

We don't have enough shooters to have another guy who doesn't make 3s in the starting lineup. That's all I'm saying. The pieces have to fit, and I don't see his fit as a starter. Good bench guy, sure. Defensive / energy sub, sure. But between him and the PGs we're reaching out to, where are the shooters?

 

[Melancer46]

We don't have enough shooters to have another guy who doesn't make 3s in the starting lineup. That's all I'm saying. The pieces have to fit, and I don't see his fit as a starter. Good bench guy, sure. Defensive / energy sub, sure. But between him and the PGs we're reaching out to, where are the shooters?

To be fair we still have no idea who the PG is that we're targeting that dasher has eluded to. There hasn't been any reported interest in a guy that fits the criteria he's given.

 

[ezbeezy214]

We don't have enough shooters to have another guy who doesn't make 3s in the starting lineup. That's all I'm saying. The pieces have to fit, and I don't see his fit as a starter. Good bench guy, sure. Defensive / energy sub, sure. But between him and the PGs we're reaching out to, where are the shooters?

Hypothetically if this goes forward, Right now there is a a unit with JJ as guard and White/Dickerson at 4 and Freeman at 5. Freeman is the spacer and Dickerson is the rim runner. Setting screens for JJ or Donnie in the mid range would be the half court offense and that can work. We don’t have enough bodies to say not enough shooting yet. At the moment, Fennell, Anthony and Womack would be the fill and the latter 2 wings are technically shooters but are freshman. I’ve said we need a new PG and Wing to be our best players for any real progress, but I see the vision and fit.

 

[pearl31]

this is a guy you take if you can get him - and to have seen what he's capable of and then to still say we shouldn't take him means you got some kind of odd agenda or just have poor judgement

 

[ezbeezy214]

Hypothetically if this goes forward, Right now there is a a unit with JJ as guard and White/Dickerson at 4 and Freeman at 5. Freeman is the spacer and Dickerson is the rim runner. Setting screens for JJ or Donnie in the mid range would be the half court offense and that can work. We don’t have enough bodies to say not enough shooting yet. At the moment, Fennell, Anthony and Womack would be the fill and the latter 2 wings are technically shooters but are freshman. I’ve said we need a new PG and Wing to be our best players for any real progress, but I see the vision and fit.

White and Dickerson is where the issues you envision could happen.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Defensive versatility
Rim Protector
Slasher
Athlete

Reminds me of a bigger version of Stevie Thompson. He probably shoots better than Stevie.

 

[IthacaMatt]

this is a guy you take if you can get him - and to have seen what he's capable of and then to still say we shouldn't take him, just means you got some kind of odd agenda

No, it doesn't mean I have some "odd agenda".
Everyone has said our 2 priorities are PG and C.
The next priority is more shooting.
This guy is filler. This is not necessarily what we most need, or even 2nd most.
That's all. Not our areas of highest need.

 

[hoopsupstate]

We don't have enough shooters to have another guy who doesn't make 3s in the starting lineup. That's all I'm saying. The pieces have to fit, and I don't see his fit as a starter. Good bench guy, sure. Defensive / energy sub, sure. But between him and the PGs we're reaching out to, where are the shooters?

Starting is a little different with Red. He plays a lot more people and different combinations. He could be your first forward off the bench. He’s better offensively than White.

 

[pearl31]

No, it doesn't mean I have some "odd agenda".
Everyone has said our 2 priorities are PG and C.
The next priority is more shooting.
This guy is filler. This is not necessarily what we most need, or even 2nd most.
That's all. Not our areas of highest need.

The overall highest priority for the team is tenacious, athletic players who can both defend and score. This guy is that and then some

 

[asj410]

Don’t know why but Amarion reminds me our Southy a bit

I immediately thought the same thing when I saw his pic on ESPN. Looks a lot like Southerland, especially with the beard and headband.

 

[orangefog]

Don’t know why but Amarion reminds me our Southy a bit

Gassy?

 

[ezbeezy214]

Reminds me of a bigger version of Stevie Thompson. He probably shoots better than Stevie.

That’s aging me but optimistically he’s Jerami Grant without the time to improve his shot

 

[Wrinkle]

They can play there for maybe 10 minutes, but Saddiq White would be like having Maliq Brown at center - best case scenario. Either one of them at center will be outweighed by 40-60 pounds by the guys they would be asked to guard.

We'll have to see. If freeman is the same player I don't want him guarding anyone regardless of size and weight. White will probably play above his weight class with toughness and athleticism but defense in the frontcourt is certainly a big question

 

[eastcuse]

The overall highest priority for the team is tenacious, athletic players who can both defend and score. This guy is that and then some

Exactly, people are so hung up on "positions" and height/weight. This guy had 82 blocks last season! Our entire team had 83 blocks. And I know people are going to say "but what was the competition like," I don't think there was a player on our team who even left the floor to contest a shot 82 times last season

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Exactly, people are so hung up on "positions" and height/weight. This guy had 82 blocks last season! Our entire team had 83 blocks. And I know people are going to say "but what was the competition like," I don't think there was a player on our team who even left the floor to contest a shot 82 times last season

That is an incredible data point.

 

[orangejunkie]

No, it doesn't mean I have some "odd agenda".
Everyone has said our 2 priorities are PG and C.
The next priority is more shooting.
This guy is filler. This is not necessarily what we most need, or even 2nd most.
That's all. Not our areas of highest need.

Your point is a good one but we just had a season with a player (Bell) who was mainly a spot up shooter and because he was so one dimensional he could be shut down in a lot of our games. He did tease the fan base with an occasional breakout game but didn't do much in the ways that a winning team needs.

To find a Bell type shooter that could put the ball on the floor, rebound, and play defense would be ideal but as others have said, we may not find that guy and those players will not want to play at SU when they get much better opportunities and offers from winning P5 schools. Players like Dickerson will cost a lot of NIL money and he wouldn't be brought here to come off the bench. He's a baller that just watching the Alabama game, he was the equal athlete to those guys and got his points his way.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I agree hes a great player, but also agree with Matt that he’s a rough fit with who we currently have for next season. If JJ was not the shooting guard I would feel more excited about him as a potential pickup.

 

[Cusefan69]

That is an incredible data point.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

How does that work with 2 Mc Donalds AAs who play the same position on the bench?

About as well as you would expect

 

[Melancer46]

this is a guy you take if you can get him - and to have seen what he's capable of and then to still say we shouldn't take him means you got some kind of odd agenda or just have poor judgement

While I disagree with Matt on this guy being the type of player we should target, I don't think this is really fair to him. Given our desperation for shooting, I don't blame him for questioning the fit. I just tend to think it's sort of the position that this program is in where we desperately need tone setters on defense as well as shooting and you're likely not going to get guys that solve both of those issues.

At the end of the day, this is college basketball. You can still be a good team even if you're not a good shooting team. What you absolutely cannot win with is what we had the last couple years: poor shooting AND poor defense.

I think Dickerson is one of those guys that will endear himself to fans and teammates/build momentum with his high-effort plays. Sort of like what Bobby Portis is for the Milwaukee Bucks, except Portis is heavily slanted towards scoring and toughness while Dickerson is slanted towards defense and toughness. I wish he were a better shooter, but if he was, we'd probably have no chance at getting him to begin with.