As the SLU basketball team puts this year’s disappointing performance behind them and gears up for next year, they will have to do so without two veteran players, who have elected to leave SLU early. Junior Austin McBroom and sophomore Tanner Lancona have both announced via Twitter that they intend to transfer after this year.
On March 19, McBroom tweeted: “Thank you to all my SLU fans, media, teammates and everyone who has supported me through the years I’ve been at SLU.”
In a following tweet, he said: “Sad to say I will no longer be attending SLU after this year. Currently looking for a new home for my final year, I’ll will keep you updated. Much love.”
The same day, Lancona retweeted a post from a college basketball coach in California, where he played in high school, which announced his decision to transfer.
Both players are likely leaving due to their lack of playing time. Although McBroom averaged 20.2 minutes a game and began the season as starter, he saw the court considerably less later in the season, including seven games with single-digit minutes. In his last nine games, McBroom averaged just nine minutes per game.
This was undoubtedly frustrating for the veteran player, who saw 21.5 minutes a game last year and was the fifth-leading scorer.
Likewise, Lancona averaged just under 10 minutes per game, and played in fewer than 10 games this season.
With the exception of Ash Yacoubou, none of the Billikens were regularly guaranteed a spot on the court. Head coach Jim Crews rotated players often, never settling on a single starting lineup throughout the season; this was a result, he says, of inconsistent performances from the entire team.
“You have to earn things,” he said in an interview last week. “No one earned enough to do it consistently. If I say we’re going with these eight, but they’re not consistently providing help-side defense, or they’re turning the ball over, why keep doing that? You have to earn your minutes. We didn’t have enough consistency to earn minutes.”
Regarding McBroom’s lack of playing time specifically, Crews said, “If you have older guys that are inconsistent and younger guys, you need to go with the younger guys. It doesn’t mean you’re eliminated. All you had to do was get more consistent.”
Crews has not yet officially commented on the two player’s decision to leave.
It is unclear at this time where the players intend to go. Due to NCAA eligibility rules, McBroom, who is set to graduate this year, can begin playing next season, assuming he transfers to a school with a graduate program not offered at SLU. Lancona will be required to sit out for one season.
In addition to the transfers, the Billikens will likely lose senior Grandy Glaze who, despite an additional remaining year of eligibility, is unlikely to return to SLU.
Senior John Manning is also graduating this year, leaving the Billikens with only three upperclassmen for next year: Ash Yacoubou, who will be the team’s only senior, and Reggie Agbeko and Mike Crawford, who will be juniors.
In addition, the losses of Manning, Glaze and McBroom mean that next year will be the first SLU team that is exclusively made up of Jim Crews recruits. The three players were all recruited by the late Rick Majerus, while Manning and Glaze were the last current players to play for him.
