As I’m sure many of you are aware, we live in a completely different era of college basketball than we did just a few short years ago. Transfers are more prominent than ever and getting to know these new young men putting on your favorite teams’ jerseys can certainly be a hassle. So I’m here to provide you with an in-depth look at the three Western Illinois newcomers that I see making an impact alongside returners Trenton Massner and K.J. Lee in the backcourt this season.
Stats Glossary (can skip and come back to reference if need be):
GP: Games Played
GS: Games Started
PPG: Points per game
RPG: Rebounds per game
APG: Assists per game
TOPG: Turnovers per game
SPG: Steals per game
BPG: Blocks per game
2P: 2-point percentage
3P: 3-point percentage
3PR: Percentage of shots that came from three
FT: Free throw percentage
MPG: Minutes per game
PPP: Points per possession
Quinlan Bennett #1 6’4 Guard
2 years at Triton College (JUCO). 1 year at Lamar (D1).
Eligibility remaining: 2 years
2020-2021 season: 15/14 GP/GS. 9.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 2.7 TOPG, 1.20 SPG, 0.07 BPG, 50.4% 2P, 25.0% 3P, 6.5% 3PR, 57.9% FT.
In Coach Rob Jeter’s media interactions during the offseason, he’s consistently praised two leaders: Trenton Massner and Quinlan Bennett. After missing last season with injury, Quinlan is now in his 5th season around a college basketball program and has played 27.5 MPG across 15 games at his other Division 1 stop (Lamar) before this. That’s an experienced resume for this roster that really only Massner and Vuk Stevanic can match.
As far as Quinlan’s game on the court goes, he projects to be a tertiary scorer offensively, but perhaps Western’s most important defender. He’s a guy that can realistically guard anyone 1-4 because he does a lot of things well. His energy level is evident and consistent game in and game out. He’s always in a solid defensive stance. He plays with great anticipation: constantly providing weakside help, jumping passing lanes, and recognizing the opposition’s offensive concepts/plays. His hands and arms are always giving his opposition fits: poking balls loose, getting deflections, obstructing their vision, and just being overall pesky. On top of it all, he has a strong, athletic frame to help him maximize his defensive talents.
Offensively, Bennett is a slasher type who is going to demand very few touches. In his 2020-2021 season at Lamar, only 15.9% of his offensive-possession-usage came from primary on-ball reps (P&R ball-handler and isolation), one of the lower rates you’ll see for a guard. Instead, much of his usage comes from quickly attacking closeouts off-the-bounce, cutting to the basket, and getting out in transition. He’s not going to stretch the floor much. For his career he’s only 8/27 (29.6%) from three across 76 games, shooting only 1 3PA per 58 minutes and 47 seconds he’s on the court. However, he’s not as rim-reliant as you’d expect when seeing the low three-point volume. Despite only taking 8 threes in his one season at Lamar, he still ended with 48% of his field goal attempts being jumpers. Here’s where you often see him attacking closeouts as I mentioned before. He does a good job of recognizing his advantages when his defender is scrambling to recover from helping on one of his teammate’s drives (again, sounds like a nice fit alongside Massner). He can use jab step with success, has good burst on his first step, and can quickly change direction with a simple crossover to create space if need be. Despite jump shots traditionally being more efficient behind the three-point line, Bennett still managed to be 61st-percentile efficiency-wise in his limited sample at Lamar.
That still leaves about half his shots coming around the rim. As previously mentioned, he loves to get out and score in transition, excels as a cutter, and again, loves attacking closeouts. All of these forms of offensive production stem from an overarching theme –attacking opponents when they are at their weakest. When he’s able to get all the way to the cup, he scored at a good 1.26 PPP rate.
Alec Rosner #2 6’3 Guard
4 years at Winona State (DII).
Eligibility remaining: 1 year
2021-2022 season: 26/26 GP/GS. 18.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.2 TOPG, 0.96 SPG, 0.04 BPG, 53.9% 2P, 42.3% 3P, 39.9% 3PR, 82.5% FT.
I really like this fit next to Trenton Massner. Alec Rosner isn’t a guy who’s going to consistently need the ball in his hands to be effective. He was a 97th-percentile scorer in Division II last season, and much of this scoring came in the flow of the offense; he’s far from isolation reliant (in fact, only 18 of his 343 field goal attempts came in isolation last year).
He did a lot of his damage coming off screens, handoffs, and scoring in the pick-and-roll, three categories where he was one of the higher volume scorers at the DII level. Rosner scored at an incredibly efficient 1.12 PPP in these situations. He does more attacking off the bounce than you’d expect. He’s not the most explosive athlete that’s going to create a bunch of separation with quickness, but he plays with good pace. You’ll see in a few of these clips, he does a great job using hesitation moves to either (1) shield off chasing defenders and put them on his back or (2) get defenders in front of him on their heels. On top of that, he has showcased extraordinary touch around the rim. Layups aren’t normally highlight-caliber plays, but Rosner has some really fun ones. It will be interesting to see how his ability to attack the basket translates to a higher level with bigger, more athletic rim protectors challenging him.
What should almost certainly translate is his ability to knock down outside jumpers. He shot a fantastic 42.3% from beyond the arc with about two-thirds of his jumpers coming in catch-and-shoot situations. Only 40% of his shot attempts came from behind the arc last season, but I’d expect that number to take a fairly significant jump, likely pushing towards the 50% mark this year.
An area I was pleasantly surprised with in Rosner’s game was his passing ability. You see the 1.2 assists per game and think “oh, he’s not going to be much of a playmaking guard, especially jumping up a level in competition,” and that’s more than okay when you’re playing next to Trenton Massner. While his assist numbers certainly aren’t gaudy. Rossner does an excellent job of recognizing when the defense is helping and where his team has an advantage, an element of his game that should continue to be impactful at the Division 1 level.
Overall, I think Rosner should be the early favorite to be the 2nd leading scorer on this Leatherneck team.
J.J. Kalakon #10 6’5 Guard
2 years player at Olney Central (JUCO). 1 year at Triton College (JUCO).
Eligibility remaining: 2 years
2021-2022 season: 35/30 GP/GS. 8.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.6 TOPG, 1.26 SPG, 0.57 BPG, 56.4% 2P, 31.1% 3P, 27.0% 3PR, 80.5% FT.
While the scoring numbers don’t jump off the page, Kalakon certainly has the ability to make contributions on the offensive end. He’s most likely not going to be the first, and possibly not even second option for this Leathernecks offense when he’s on the court, but Kalakon has shown the ability to excel playing a low-volume role in the past. Last season at Triton he was the 8th, yes, 8th leading scorer on his own junior college team. That’s because Triton had a 95th-percentile offense that had one of the most balanced scoring attacks basketball fans will ever see with eight players averaging between 8.9-to-12.4 points per game. Kalakon himself scored his 8.9 PPG taking only 6.46 field goal attempts per contest, for a really impressive 1.385 points per shot.
Even better, when Kalakon does do his scoring, he’s not limited by the ways in which he can get those points. He scores in spot-ups, transition, off-cuts, and off-offensive rebounds. All of these are ways that don’t require him to have the ball for much more than a couple of seconds. That sounds pretty ideal for a guy playing alongside one of the most dynamic guards in the conference in Trenton Massner.
Last season, Kalakon scored at the 83rd-percentile on jumpers last season pouring them in at a rate of 1.07 PPP, while showcasing the ability to shoot both off-the-dribble and off-the-catch. He’s probably not gonna be a high-volume shooter on this squad, but he can knock down the open ones.
Kalakon’s ability to attack the basket is also a lot of fun. He has a strong frame and plays wonderfully through contact, two things that are signs he should be able to remain effective despite the jump in competition level. He’s not going to ever be the shiftiest guy on the court, but he does a fantastic job of using his body to get to his spots and then shielding off defenders and finishing through contact. He scored 1.244 PPP at the rim last season.
Playmaking is another area Kalakon should be able to contribute. He comes from a program, in Triton, of consistently great success. They’ve had a winning percentage greater than 83% each of the last eight seasons and haven’t had a losing season in this century. In order for a program to have that kind of sustained success, it must be built around great team principles, and that certainly includes sharing the basketball. Kalakon is a willing passer that has grown in that area in all three seasons. He went from 1.9 assists per game as a freshman, to 2.5, and then to 3.4 last season. Additionally, his assist-to-turnover ratio has also improved each of the last three seasons, beginning at 1.10, to 1.67, and then to 2.09.
Kalakon also has the potential at 6’5 with solid length to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a tough guy that ideally guards 2s and 3s at the Division 1 level, but in the right spots could guard some 1s and 4s as well.
He had some inconsistencies that could be cleaned up. Trition did some things schematically (1-3-1, heavy force-weak principles) that gave him less straight-forward on-ball repetitions so some inconsistencies are to be expected, but regardless showed some flashes of defensive playmaking.
His former head coach, John Clancy, also had some high praise for the young man. “JJ was our leader and in my opinion our most valuable player on [our] final four team that won 30 games! He brought it every day and made everyone else around him better!”
In case you didn’t realize, Quinlan Bennett also spent time at Triton before transferring up to Division 1.
Here’s how some stats line up:
Player | School | Class | PTS | TRB | AST | TOV | STL | 2P% | 3P% | FT% |
J.J. Kalakon | Triton | So | 8.9 | 5.6 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 1.26 | 56.4% | 31.1% | 80.5% |
Quinlan Bennett | Triton | So | 8.3 | 5.5 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.26 | 55.1% | 33.3% | 57.1% |
Quinlan Bennett | Lamar | Jr | 9.6 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 50.5% | 25.0% | 57.8% |
J.J. and Quinlan’s stats during their last year at Triton are strikingly similar, and Quinlan was able to step up to Division 1 and remain impactful (albeit the efficiency probably wasn’t as good as Quinlan hoped). JUCO basketball, especially at a program like Triton, isn’t as far off from Division 1 basketball as some people tend to think. Kalakon and other players transferring up in class certainly can compete.
If you made it this far, we at Reaching The Summit certainly appreciate your continued support and I hope you’re as excited for the season to start up as we are! Part Two, Previewing Western Illinois’ Impact Newcomers in the Frontcourt is now up and can be found here.