OTTO PORTER
JTIII’s biggest recruiting coup since Greg Monroe, Otto Porter is a long, smooth swingman from Missouri with an already refined midrange game. While he probably won’t have as much of an impact as Monroe did his freshman year, Porter should see significant minutes early on in the season. His versatility and basketball IQ fit perfectly within the Princeton offense, and his court vision and pace should let him play a “point forward” role. Like his fellow freshman swingmen, he’ll have to bulk up a bit, but there’s no reason why Porter can’t contribute immediately.
JABRIL TRAWICK
At 6-foot-5, with explosive hops, quickness, and a tight handle, Jabril Trawick has the tools to be a solid combo guard. But it’s his Philadelphia-bred, hardnosed competitive edge that will provide his biggest contribution to the team this year. He’s a bulldog on defense and plays with the pace of Chris Wright (albeit with even less of an inclination to pass). His instinct to attack the basket should provide a welcome spark to the Princeton offense when it stagnates. His biggest challenges will be mental—staying in the offense and not letting his alpha dog mentality get the best of him—but his intensity and tenacity could help toughen the team’s character as he spells Markel Starks at the point.
TYLER ADAMS
The graduation of last year’s starting center Julian Vaughn leaves Henry Sims and unproven sophomore Moses Ayegba (who is out for the season with a torn ACL) as the only returning center-sized bodies on this year’s roster. That means Tyler Adams, a 6-foot-9, 270-pound former Duke commit from Mississippi, could see significant action backing up Sims when the Hoyas bang with the bigger bodies of the Big East. At one point rated the sixth-best center in his class, Adams has the wide frame and bruising instincts to become the team’s go-to on-ball post defender. But he’ll have to work on his conditioning, as he’s struggled with injuries that kept him out of most of Kenner League play and prevented him from seeing any action on the China trip.
MIKAEL HOPKINS
A national top-100 prospect from Austin Freeman’s alma mater DeMatha, Mikael Hopkins is a shot-blocking 6-foot-8 forward with a great face-up jumper and the makings of a reliable post-up game. He’s bulkier than Porter or Whittington, but he’ll still need to put on some extra mass if he’s going to score reliably down low in conference play. Still, his offensive game is already pretty refined, and he could contribute this year by playing creatively within the offense, knocking down midrange jumpers, and playing hard defense on the opposing team’s small forward.
GREG WHITTINGTON
Another versatile 6-foot-9 swingman from Maryland, Whittington is an excellent shooter, connecting on 40 percent of his three point attempts and 60 percent of his field goals in high school. But he’s the skinniest in the trio of thin freshmen forwards and seemed weak in Kenner League play. Realistically, he’ll be competing with Aaron Bowen for the back end of minutes at shooting guard. Still, if he puts on weight, he could eventually blossom into an efficient, multi-purpose weapon for the team in the years to come.
