Nicholls hoops looking for 2014-15 growth

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Nicholls State basketball coach J.P. Piper has been at the school for 13 years, first as an assistant and for the past 10 years as the head coach. By now, there isn’t much to summer routines that the coach doesn’t have memorized.

But just because it’s the off-season doesn’t mean there’s any time for slowing down. To that end, the Colonels’ coach is hard at work on bringing in the next class of players to don the Red and Gray.


On that front, Nicholls has added four players to its 2014 recruiting class since the end of last season.

They are: Quinton Thomas, a 6-foot-2 guard out of Baton Rouge; Richie Lewis, a 6-foot-2 guard from the state of Michigan, Chad Simpson, a 6-foot-7 forward from Australia, and Luka Kamber, another 6-foot-7 forward originally from Germany who transferred to Nicholls from Louisiana-Lafayette.

In all, the Colonels have 12 players currently on scholarship with room for one more, Piper said, plus the usual assortment of walk-on players expected later this summer.


Finding one or more standout players that can replace the Colonels’ two leading scorers from last season – not to mention two of the most decorated players in the school’s basketball history – in Jeremy Smith and Dantrell Thomas won’t be easy.

Thomas placed seventh in the Southland Conference last year in scoring at 15.9 points per game and was named Third-Team All-Southland. Smith placed second on the Colonels in scoring (13.9 PPG) and also had one of the highest shooting percentages in the nation.

The duo led Nicholls to a 14-15 record (10-8 conference) last season and a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament. With those two players having graduated and Nicholls set to feature just one senior in guard Shane Rillieux, the 2014-15 Colonels could be in for a struggle, Piper cautioned.


“My experience has been that when we don’t have a lot of seniors, we struggle,” said Piper, who will be entering his 11th season as Nicholls’ head coach later this year. “It may be a tough year for us. I think our most talented skill guys in terms of scoring are younger, so it may prove to be difficult for us to replace Jeremy and D.T. quickly.”

What the Colonels will do in the meantime is focus on coming together as a team.

Piper recalled that one of his best teams was his 2008-09 squad when Nicholls had seniors such as Ryan Bathie and Justin Payne, but future stars like Anatoly Bose and Fred Hunter were still developing.


That team finished 20-11 overall and tied for the second best record in the Southland Conference.

“It was more of a team concept,” Piper said. “We don’t have seniors now, but I really feel like we’re going to have to play a team game and depend on our system to really help us get buckets, whereas last year, late in games Jeremy or D.T. just took over.”

In addition to Rillieux, the Colonels are hoping returning players like T.J. Carpenter, Amin Torres and JaMarkus Horace, all who are going into their junior years, can step up.


For his part, Carpenter showed his potential last year by scoring a season-high 20 points in a game against Loyola in December. Later in the season against McNeese State, he led the Colonels with 19 points in a game that ultimately clinched a spot for Nicholls in the Southland Conference Tournament.

“These are guys that kind of took a backseat last year to Jeremy and D.T. who will need to step up this coming year for us to continue to have the success we’ve been having,” Piper said. “When Bose left, people asked how we would replace him. When Fred (Hunter) left, it was the same question. I think it’s a great compliment to our program and our kids to ask that question now about (Smith and Thomas).

“Somebody has to step up so I hope next year or the year after, you’re still asking how you’re going to replace (someone else).”


SCHEDULE STILL BEING WORKED ON

In the meantime, the Colonels are still working to add to their 2014-15 non-conference schedule.

According to Piper, the school has received contracts from two Big Ten members, Michigan and Wisconsin, which would continue a recent trend of Nicholls playing that conference’s schools.


Nicholls played at Michigan State two years ago and at Indiana last season.

“We have gotten a great reception from the Big Ten,” Piper said. “We called Michigan and they said, ‘Let’s do the game and get you up here.’ It was the same with Wisconsin. Those are the only two that are done. I’m hoping in the next week or two, it all comes together. We’re in negotiations with several other schools.”

Specifically, Piper said Nicholls is in talks with UCLA and is trying to become part of an event that will have them playing at Arkansas and North Texas.


“I think we’re close, but those things aren’t done yet,” he said. “We’ll still probably be looking for one more as the summer wears on.”

Nicholls hoops