Will Wade discusses McNeese’s five transfer signees

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Since Will Wade came to Lake Charles to be the next head coach of the McNeese men’s basketball team, the Cowboys have seen a huge change to their roster with both players leaving the Cowboys, and players joining the Cowboys.

McNeese’s 2022-23 Roster:

• F: Ty McMillan
• PG: Trae English
• G: Donovan Oday
• G: Rhyjon Blackwell
• G: Johnathan Massie
• F: Roberts Berze
• G: Rashad Bolden
• F: Dionjahe Thomas
• G/F: Justin Norris
• PG: Wesley Fields
• G: Zach Scott
• F: Zach Blackwell
• G: Harwin Francois
• F: Malachi Rhodes
• F: Christian Shumate

McNeese’s 2023-24 Roster as of April 13th:

• F: Ty McMillan
• PG: Trae English
• G: Rhyjon Blackwell
• F: Roberts Berze
• F: Dionjahe Thomas
• PG: Wesley Fields
• F: Zach Blackwell
• F: Malachi Rhodes
• G: DJ Richards
  • Transfer from UTSA
• G: Javohn Garcia
  • Transfer from College of the Sequoias
• G: Zach Harvey
  • Transfer from UC Santa Barbara
• F: CJ Felder
  • Transfer from Florida
• G: Mike Saunders Jr.
  • Transfer from Utah

Clearly, a massive change this offseason for the Pokes as Will Wade has taken over the reins, and on Thursday morning he discussed the new additions for McNeese, and more.

“I’m excited about the initial group of five here, we’ve got another four or five coming, in the next month or so, but excited about this initial group, we’ve got some good versatility,” said Wade.

As of Wednesday night, McNeese had four transfers in DJ Richards from UTSA, Javohn Garcia from the College of the Sequoias, Zach Harvey from UC Santa Barbara, and Mike Saunders Jr. from Utah, but coach Wade revealed on Thursday morning, that the Pokes added one more in former Boston College, and Florida forward, CJ Felder.

“CJ Felder is somebody who, look, he averaged double-digits in the ACC, you know, you get somebody like that, that’s a good player, he played high-level basketball in the ACC and in the SEC, and produced under both of those circumstances, so I think he’s going to be a very very good player for us.”

Another thing Coach Wade discussed on Thursday was the recruiting restrictions he must abide by that currently prevent him from partaking in off-campus recruiting activities. “I can’t leave campus, I can’t leave Lake Charles to go recruit, so you know, some schools are gonna go do in-home visits with these kids, Felder’s the only kid that we have that did an official visit, the rest of those kids, they haven’t even seen Lake Charles. You know, kids are going to do home visits with these kids, and my assistants can certainly go out, but I can’t, so it’s going to be more important to get these kids on campus where I can spend time with them on campus.”

For the full press conference to hear Coach Wade discuss each of the five transfer signees in depth, the new addition of assistant coach Brandon Chambers, and much more, click here.

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