FULL Roster Breakdown - 2022/23 AceBoy Sports Group Reapers

What’s up everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your week and are ready for a great weekend! Before that though, you’re kicking off your Friday the right way with a lovely read from me!

Last week the Bermuda Basketball Association had their draft for the upcoming 2022/23 League, and let’s just say it was an interesting event. This post is going to breakdown the players that will be part of the 2022/23 ABSG Reapers squad, and what I think we can achieve for this season. Before we get started, if you haven’t done so already, hit that subscribe button!

Now, lets get stuck in!

Draft Process and Selections

The draft took place on Wednesday October 5th, 2022, and lasted for about an hour. The lottery to determine the draft order was held just before the draft began and we ended up with the second overall pick. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep the same squad together that we had in the league just past which was our title winning season. Gershon Kurt is in the UK pushing towards his professional aspirations while in university, Aidan Cassidy is focusing on his bodybuilding endeavors, Schyler Smith was not able to commit time outside of his career as a firefighter, Keishun Swan, Seth Hardtman, and Ethan Medieros all returned to school abroad, and both Mykal Glasgow and Raushon Tankard were both selected by other teams.

The draft was carried out in a snake order, meaning that the team selecting first overall would select last in the second round, and the team selecting last in the first round then selected first in the second round, and so on and so forth. This was meant to provide an equal distribution of talent among the teams, so time will tell if that was actually the case.

Full Squad Breakdown

Despite this, our draft was still successful and we were able to put together another young and exciting team for the new season. Below we will take a look at the players we selected in each round and what they’ll bring to the table:

1. Jorel Smith - While we couldn’t bring back the same backcourt as last season with Mykal being taken with the first overall pick, we were still able to retain our floor general. Jorel is arguably the best point guard in Bermuda, with multiple national team call-ups and plenty of highlights from last season. He will be leaned on to provide the bulk of our scoring without Gershon and Mykal on the team, a task he is probably looking forward to! With a deadly three-point shot, a smooth floater, and shifty handles, Jorel will be a staple yet again for the Reapers.

2. Zakai Bean - Without Gershon and Keishun, we desperately needed another mobile big man, and why not go for someone who gave us the business last season? Zakai is an absolutely beast in the paint, and will provide us with a solid pick-and-roll option who is also a solid low post defender. I look forward to handing him a few drive-and-dish opportunities myself!

3. Jadon Springer - Going into the draft, height and mobility were also going to be important for us, and at this point in the draft there was no better option than Jadon. Joining us again this season, Jadon will now slot into the starting center role with Gershon in the UK and will be relied upon to gather as many rebounds on both ends of the court, and put away an easy lob from Jorel here and there. To ask the 6’7” big man to average a double-double this season should not be a tall (pun intended) task at all.

4. Zavante Garnett - Replacing Gershon, Keishun, and Schyler was never going to be an easy task, but adding Zavante to Zakai and Jadon is as close as close can get, maybe even better? What the 6’1” forward lacks in height, he more than makes up for in hustle and flat out energy. He is the definition of someone who you love to play with, but hate to play against. He definitely made things difficult for us last season playing for The Answers, but hopefully he can be our own answer (see what I did there?) to any rebounding and defending questions that might be asked of us.

5. Jericho Tucker - In trying to keep the same squad together as best as possible, it was a no brainer to bring Jericho back into the fold. After acquiring him halfway through last season, we now get to enjoy the smooth scoring forwards abilities for a full campaign. The 6’4” forward can shoot, handle the ball, and rebound with efficiency, and we look forward to having that on our team once again.

6. Naphtali Smith - As our squad is mainly made up of Team Hurricane Basketball Academy alumni and current players, we made sure to keep that trend going when this guy was available. Nap is a silky smooth scorer and at 6’2” he is a nightmare matchup as a shooting guard, but will he challenge yours truly for the starting spot? Nap is going to bring a bunch of youthful energy to this team, and I for one am excited (and surprised) he fell this far in the draft.

7. Kanye Raynor-Simmons - Following our haul of bigger players in the first few rounds, we suddenly needed to turn our attention to guards and wings. While myself, Nap, and Jorel are up for the game time, we can’t do it all. This led us to another Team Hurricane standout, Kanye, and tough, direct, and quick guard who is new to the league and who I’m sure will provide valuable minutes and surprise quite a few people who passed on him.

8. Marlon Darrell - Recommended to us by Mykal, this next pick was a blast from the past and someone I’m looking forward to playing with again. I liken Marlon as player to a lite version of Mykal, he’s going to score, rebound, and run the floor. He was a member of Team Hurricane and I actually met him when he was on the U14 National Team and I was on the U16s. He moved to the states to continue playing ball, and it’ll be interesting to see how much he’s developed.

9. Jason Gonsalves - I’ll keep this one short, this dude sucks. But in all seriousness, I’m looking forward to another fun season with these guys and hopefully we do have what it takes to go back-to-back, just as long as this one in particular shows up ready to hoop!

10. Daniel Greyson - With our last pick, we decided to take someone who absolutely loves the sport and is infatuated with playing the game and being involved. Daniel might not be the most talented player, but he’s got a massive heart, always shows up to play, and is someone everyone knows will give 100%. He’s also got a decent three-point shot, so… maybe a game winner in his future?

Season Expectations

As I mentioned last week and again in this post, this team is not on the same level from a skill perspective as last season’s title winning team. That is in no way meant to disrespect the guys we have now, who are all some of the better, younger players in Bermuda. However, it will always be tough to replace both Mykal and Gershon, anyone will admit to that. While we are till trying to trade for Mykal and Raushon, it will be difficult knowing that they are two of the better players on the island, and teams will want equal quality in return. Fortunately for us, a lot of players (Mykal included) have already requested trades so they can play with certain players and team reps - something I tried to advise the BBA of before they went ahead with a draft league, but hey, you live and learn right?

We’re probably the youngest team in the league, so it will be a bit of a learning curve for some of the younger guys on the team. A few of them will be taking a step up in workload from their previous roles last season, most notably Jadon, Zavante, and Zakai, but I know they’re up for the challenge. Hopefully these increased roles will also mean national team call-ups for a few others, as they definitely have the talent to do compete for a spot.

Anyways, that’s your Reapers squad for the 2022/23 season! You can follow the season on our team Instagram page, and make sure to tune in to the company page for the livestream games, which will be announced ahead of time.

Enjoy everyone! And chat next week!

Jason