JU Dolphin basketball teams hope for improvement with mix of returning players, transfers

No two college basketball programs on the First Coast have mined the transfer portal more extensively than the Jacksonville University men's and women's teams.

The Dolphins men have gotten bigger. The Dolphins women added leadership.

It's less than a week to go before first-year men's coach Jordan Mincy and fourth-year women's coach Darnell Haney will begin to see if their moves will pan out. The JU men open at Swisher Gym on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. against Trinity Baptist, and the women have a noon tipoff that day at Minnesota.

More: Gene Frenette: JU basketball counting on Jordan Mincy to be a game-changer

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As usual, with a full offseason and preseason of preparation, both coaches are brimming with optimism that last year's losing records (JU men, 11-13, JU women 4-17) will be reversed.

"I've got butterflies about opening night," admitted Mincy at JU's basketball media day on Tuesday at Swisher Gym. "You want to make sure the guys are performing the right way and excited to see all the hard work they've put in and how successful they can be."

The JU women's team averaged more than 20 victories in the five seasons before last year when a rash of injuries and COVID-19 protocols led to the third-lowest winning percentage in school history. Haney likes his team's chances to be better ... much better.

"We're very close to being relentless, what we define as JU basketball," he said. "You're going to see a team that gets after it, will run, rebound, share the ball and is going to play together."

The Dolphin men lost nine transfers but have a solid core of returning players in junior guard Kevion Nolan and sophomore swingman Tyreese Davis, and junior foward Bryce Workman.

All three averaged in double-figure scoring last season (Nolan is the top returning scorer at 16.6 points per game) and Workman was among the best big men in the ASUN at the end of last season, scoring a conference-high 33 points against Stetson in what turned out to be the team's final game of the season.

A few days later, JU had to withdraw from the ASUN tournament because it lost players to the conference's COVID-19 protocols.

Haney welcomes back a talented group of guards, led by junior Deshari Graham (12 points, 4.5 rebounds per game), sophomore Da'Nasia Shaw (7.3, 4.0), freshman Ashley Malone (6.8, 2.1) and sophomore Makayla Edwards (7.2, 5.4).

But in their effort to improve, both coaches dove headfirst into the portal and snared players from power conferences.

The big get for the men is 6-8 junior Osayi Osifo, who grew close to Mincy (who came to JU after six years under Mike White at Florida) while playing for the Gators. Osifo averaged 10 minutes, 1.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for UF last season, and brings a reputation as a player with a non-stop motor.

"Having a relationship with him, knowing his energy level and what he would bring to the table, I wanted to have Osi and other individuals to complement Bryce, who I knew could score," Mincy said.

Also counted on are 6-10, 250-pound sophomore center Mike Marsh, who averaged 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds for Dodge City Community College last year; and 6-8 junior Rod Brown, who has made three college stops before JU and averaged 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds at New Mexico last year.

Along with 6-7 freshman forward Isaiah Broady, JU has more than made up for the loss of the 6-9 Boozer twins, Cameron and Zameron, who transferred to Auburn-Montgomery.

"It's something we've never had here, to be honest," Davis said of the prospect of playing with four teammates 6-7 or taller. "It should be fun."

The JU women will benefit from two graduate transfers, point guard Taylor Hawks, who averaged 11.2 points for Jacksonville State as a junior and made second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference and post player Asiah Jones (6-3), who averaged 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 12 games with Virginia Tech -- after three years at Southern California.

"She's the little general," Haney said of Hawks, a Gainesville native. "She takes care of business on the floor and off the floor, and does a great job of leading our team. She's got a little Chris Paul in her. She does all the little things right, is a great defender and can shoot it."

Of Jones, Haney said: "she's super-athletic and can score in a variety of ways."

Hawks could have stayed in Jacksonville State, which joined the ASUN this season and played against JU. But she said she needed a change.

"A new city, new atmosphere, different coaches ... I have really gelled with the new team," she said. " It's been a great experience so far."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JU men's, women's basketball teams beef up rosters with transfers