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No Tall Tale Here: ULM Basketball Is Back & Bigger Than Ever

No Tall Tale Here: ULM Basketball Is Back & Bigger Than Ever

Men's Basketball Oct 12
By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist

MONROE, La. – ULM basketball coach Keith Richard calls it a "funny story," but it's really more of a tall tale.

In it, lies the origin of a retooled roster for the Warhawks that looks nothing like what we've typically seen roaming around Fant-Ewing Coliseum. 

"Late last year, we were scoring against somebody like we did last year," Richard recalled recently. "But we couldn't stop the other team, which happened numerous times."

So Richard turned to his associate head coach Ryan Cross and made a statement that turned into a mission.

"I told him, 'Ryan, we've got to change the look of this team next year,'" Richard said. "He made a mental note of that. I mean in the spring, he got in that car and on that phone and in that airplane and now we've gone from the smallest team in the league to the biggest."

Last year, ULM didn't have one player that weighed more than 200 pounds. Now the Warhawks have a roster with seven players who range from 7-foot-1 to 6-7, and at least five who are listed at 200-plus pounds.

"This may be a lot different team," Richard said. "We're huge, for us and for our league. We may go from being the smallest team in the league to the biggest team in the league in one year. And we're very athletic. Big and athletic."

A squad that averaged 6-4 in height in 2018-19 is lengthier at 6-6 in 2019-20

"I'm really excited about this team," Richard said. "It's a completely different team, in a way, than what we had last year. I know that last year was a lot of fun in terms of watching our team play offensively. We were smaller with a lot of really good guards."

Infusing size, bulk and length to a returning nucleus that includes guards Michael Ertel and JD Williams, along with forward Tyree White has given Richard a roster unlike anything he's ever assembled at ULM.

"All in all, the three returnees, we need them to be good," Richard said. "No question about it. But all the other guys we brought in have really shown us some good things. We've got a chance to put all this together."

Ertel, a junior, is the leading returning scorer at 15.5 points per game. He drained 80 3-pointers while handing out 99 assists last season and earning All-Sun Belt Third-Team honors. Williams posted 12.2 points per game last season. The duo helped pace an offense that averaged 79.2 points per game, the most by a Warhawk squad since 1993-94 (82.0 points per game). The Warhawks also smashed the school record for 3-pointers made with 353, surpassing 288 in 2017-18.

ULM lost two major players from last season's bunch, including four-year mainstay Travis Munnings, who left as the No. 5 scorer in school history with 1,722 points in a program-best 134 games. Only Calvin Natt (2,581) Glynn Saulters (2,134), Henry Steele (1,933) and Anthony Jones (1,817) scored more for ULM.
       
Munnings (15.2 ppg., 7.8 rpg., 2.6 apg.) finished as one of four players with 1,000 points and 900 rebounds in school history.

One-year wonder Daishon Smith, who is now playing professionally in Hungary, averaged 21 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.2 steals in leading ULM to a 19-16 season and the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals.

"We shot the three well," Richard said, looking back. "We ended up sixth in the country in 3-point shooting. I know our fans loved watching us play at home and we had some big games at home. It was really, really fun.

"Of course, we've got Michael Ertel back and JD Williams back and Tyree White," Richard added. "So we've got some good things going on."

None of the newcomers are expected to replace the lost offensive production of Smith and Munnings, but their size gives ULM a chance to be a stronger defensive team with more depth and versatility.
       
The biggest man on the roster is center Chris Efretuei, listed at 7-1, 260 pounds. Efretuei is a transfer from South Plains (Texas) College.    

There's also 6-10, 220-pound center Dadou Traore from Clarendon College. Traore added 15 pounds of muscle since arriving on campus, has a vertical jump of 41 inches and a 7-2 wingspan.

Additionally, ULM added 6-8, 190-pound forward D'Andre Bernard from East Tennessee State, 6-10, 220-pound forward Luke Phillips from Hill College and 6-7, 240-pound forward Elijah Ifejeh from Hill College.
       
"This is how big we are," Richard said. "Tyree White, 6-8 from last year and a good athlete. We're played him at the back-up center position and he played well late in the year. We're playing him at a wing guard position this year. That's how tall we are, and he's playing really well."

Guard Erie Olonade (5-11, 180) from Bossier Parish Community College and guard Josh Nicholas from Indian Hills Community College are other newcomers to watch.

"This is what excites me – how do I put all this together?," Richard said. "How do I help them? I enjoy that part of coaching. We may have three or four different teams within our team. If we want to play big, we can play big. If we want to play small, we can play small. Do we want to play medium, do we want to play athletic, do we want to play physical? A lot of different things that we may be able to do."

ULM opens the season with back-to-back home games, hosting Louisiana College in the season opener on Nov. 5. Four days later, the Warhawks host Alcorn State for an 11 a.m. tip-off on Nov. 9, ahead of an afternoon kickoff for ULM football against Georgia State. The Warhawks then hit the road to face Texas A&M and Mississippi State. After taking 12 days off around Thanksgiving, ULM closes out the month by hosting Northwestern State on Nov. 26.

The Warhawks will play just over half of their games inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum, where they posted a 14-3 record and averaged 3,341 fans per game.

"It was a fun home season," Richard said. "A lot of people enjoyed watching us play and we have some of those players back. I do think people are excited about us and want to come watch us play."
 
JD Williams dunk vs ULL 2019

 
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