Torero Time 6/7/2026: Preseason Roster Review

    Here we are folks, the start of the J.R. Blount era at The Craig. As the portal drama starts to wind down in the mid major conferences, Blount's first roster at USD looks to be set. The start of a new era has brought in 11 new players, nine of which are coming from the portal. Blount completely had to overhaul the aging and flailing Toreros of last season and succeeded in bringing an upgraded caliber of athlete and a mixed group of mature veterans and exciting young talent. Using the 247 portal class rankings the Toreros are first in the WCC ahead of of Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount. I think this class shows that there is genuine enthusiasm behind J.R Blount by the financial lever pullers at USD, as well as all the talk about how  well positioned USD would be in the NIL may have some truth to it. As an NIL contributor to the program this does make me happy, but that backroom financial talk is not why we are here. We are here to talk some roster construction and some early outlooks for this Toreros squad. 

Freshmen Class 

Starting with the two incoming freshmen, three star point guard Chace Holley out of Lynwood, California and three star prospect small forward Brannon Martinsen from Santa Ana, California. Chace Holley a six foot combo guard who has excelled in his final two years of high school ball who will be more of a project compared to Martinsen. While watching Holley's available film it is clear he is a very fundamental player on both ends of the court which is complimented by his good athletic ability. He has shown the ability to score at all three levels to some degree, slashing to the rim of the dribble and knocking down open threes. Holley on the defensive end was his most impressive trait despite being on six feet, he moves well laterally and kept the ball in front him well. Brannon Martinsen from Sierra Canyon High School is an exciting prospect for this squad and I would expect to find minutes in the cracks of Blount's rotation. Using 247, the number 21 prospect in the state of California with offers from Illinois, Cal, and New Mexico stands at 6'6 205 lbs. Martinsen's size and length combined with his ability to hit catch and shoot threes, attack off the dribble, and play in the post will be valuable to the Toreros not only in the future but I believe this season. On the defensive end he has shown an ability to guard 1 through 5, but at the next level he'll need to add to his frame to do that. Watching games from his senior season I fully believe he will be able to carve out a small role this season with the ability to grow his game and play a key role next year. 

Incoming Transfers

The first Blount team was aggressive in the portal to address the issues of athleticism, size, and scoring. Lavin's last squad although improved on the offensive end, it was still undersized and inconsistent in finding points. Starting with the guards there is already improved size and scoring for the Toreros through veteran players in Marqui Worthy Jr from UC Riverside, Davion Hill from Ball State, and former Zag Dusty Stromer who was at Grand Canyon last season. 

Marqui Worthy Jr. is a sturdy built guard at 6'4 215 lbs who excelled at getting to the basket last season for UCR averaging 16 ppg. Worthy expertly uses his size and frame to attack opposing guards on offense showing real skill at getting to the rim as well as being able pull up from midrange and knock down open threes at a clip of 33% on 149 attempts. 

Dusty Stromer who is familiar to WCC fans from his time in Spokane as a Bulldog, is a former high profile recruit for Gonzaga back in 2023 who has yet to really find his stride. Blount brings in Stromer as a high upside player for the Toreros, only averaging 6 ppg last season for the Lopes his 6'6 frame will be welcomed addition on the both ends of the floor. If Stromer as a 2/3 can find consistency from beyond the arc he will help really stretch the floor for Blount. 

Davion Hill the Ball State transfer who averaged 14 ppg last season and shot 46% from the field will be a welcomed piece to this offense as a scorer. After a slow start to the season last year his final 18 games saw a jump in his scoring. Hill also shot 33% from three on 109 attempts matching both Worthy and Stromer at that mark will help with the consistency beyond the arc. Hill also is built thick at 6'2 225 will add to the size of the Torero frontcourt. 

Additionally point guard Braylon Roman was added from D2 NW Florida State, a smooth combo guard who has shown real skill in his two years there. The 6'3 guard will crack the rotation this year as relief for Worthy at point with good ball skills and three level scoring, its more of a wait and see if his game can translate to this level. 

Moving onto the backcourt where this team has the highest potential to really grow and turn into real threats to opponents. Jevon Hill who was the D2 leader in three point shooting at Central Missouri with 121 makes on 262 attempts for a 46% hit rate which is unreal, but get this he's 6'9. After watching his film from last season his footwork and ability to move in space with and without the ball make him a real threat. It isn't just catch and shoot, he is able to create his own shot especially against similar 4s and 5s. Hill is also able to play in the post with a good vertical and real athleticism at his size make him a real mismatch on the court. You worry about his game translating to the next level but shooting should carry to some effect and his size and frame with his ability to move will make him a very fun watch at the very least. 

Next is the pure slasher from Grambling State, Antonio Munoz who led GSU in scoring last season as a freshman and is an athletic freak with the ball in his hand. This pure slasher averaged 12 ppg on 47% shooting for the Tigers and can absolutely move on the court. Munoz is a great pickup for the Toreros because of his microwave ability and his 6'6 frame making his a real issue to guard. Munoz showed an ability to score against tournament teams, 12 against Cal Baptist, 16 against Iowa State, and 19 against Ohio State. Munoz does get a little handsy on the defensive end fouling out three times and getting four fouls in nine games which may hamper his minutes and how he's deployed but expect him to make an impact on the Toreros offense immediately.

Terry McMorris from Eastern Illinois was also added as depth piece for the Toreros this season. McMorris is a 6'7 sophomore that averaged 7 ppg in 26 minutes for the Panthers of Charleston, Illinois. His size and ball skillset will need some developing but there is a lot of raw talent in him that can be refined alongside Martinsen and Munoz over the course of the season. 

The center was a source of stress last season with the undersized and unathletic Boskovic getting a majority of the run and Diop who just never panned out as a prospect for Lavin. Blount has countered with going out and getting UMBC forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn and UW Milwaukee forward Sekou Konneh alongside Alejandro Aviles who was already with the program. Tanchyn stands at 6'10 and Konneh at 6'9 these are large bodies that will rotate with one another through rotations. Tanchyn is an athletic big who is long in the post. He showed an ability to really alter shots at the rim and move well at his size. Konneh is your more traditional center with a thicker build who plays a real power game as a center. It will be interesting to see how these minutes shake out with Jevon Hill in that big mix. 

Lineups & Minutes 

I just want to take a little time to think through starting lineups and rotations with this group just projecting out how I see this team playing out. Now with this many new pieces and a first year head coach I expect to minutes and lineups to fluctuate early and often during non-conference play for the Toreros as a feeling out period. 

PG: Marqui Worthy          →  Braylon Roman  

SG: Davion Hill                →   Dusty Stromer 

SF: Dusty Stromer            →   Antonio Munoz  → Brannon Martinsen

PF: Jevon Hill                   →  Terry McMorris  → Alejandro Aviles

C: Jose Roberto Tanchyn  → Sekou Konneh 

This is the group I see getting the majority of the minutes this season kind of in order, I don't think you see much of an impact from the remaining Lavin era players outside of Aviles. There are some questions over positioning and how this lineup gets deployed, with Stromer stretching out to 3 and using Munoz as the 6 man off the bench. I think it is also very likely that D. Hill is first off the bench to replace Stromer at the 2 with Munoz starting at the 3. Jevon Hill can fluctuate between the 4 and 5 pretty often, especially if Blount wants to get out and run a little bit with this group. 

There are a few red flags with this construction and that is the lack of a true starting point guard, Worthy only averaged 3 assists last season at UCR and are you comfortable with Roman starting at PG his first year playing D1 ball? Chace Holley probably is not ready to play significant minutes at PG for the Toreros this season. I hate this saying but without a true distributor outside of Roman getting significant minutes there really is only 1 ball to play with, can one of these guys evolve their game to become a more traditional point guard. That is just a question mark for distribution next season to make this group of athletes go. How effective will this team be at knocking down the three, you are really hoping Stromer and Hill can improve their output and consistency as well as hoping Jevon Hill doesn't regress to harshly in his jump back to D1. Lastly going back to lineups and minutes changing often early, how long will it take to figure out? While I will have patients in the non-conference portion to figure out how this team will gel they'll still need to be competitive early and you can't spend the first two months only feeling out this squad if you are J.R. Blount. 

Overall I think this is a really intresting group that will be exciting to watch, there is a lot of great individual talent that I am optimistic will come together to hum come conference play this season. It is a serious step up in athletic ability and size and there is genuine hope that this team can compete in the WCC this season.