Two years, maybe, with the Covid rules?

My best guess.

PG: Preston (assuming he comes back) -- Sears -- Brown
SG: McDay -- White
SF: Roderick -- Towns?
PF: Vander Plas -- Carter -- Clayton
C: Wilson -- Granger

Going to be interesting to see how the lineup and PT shakes out. Also, still think we need one more big boy at the Center position in case foul trouble becomes an issue.

We have 2 more spots left. An athletic 4/5 grad is coming --I feel it.

Wowzers. Definitely was not expecting to be reading this!

I think Carter starts. Maybe not game 1 but eventually. I'm not sure who comes off the bench. McDay? Ben Rod? Before this news I was thinking that Sears is too good not to start with him beginning games alongside JP.

Definitely good problems for Boals to ponder during the off-season.

I do not want JC if he puts us at risk of messing with what seems like great starting 5 chemistry.

He will. I'm not too concerned about that. Those numbers last year were aberrations.

Whoa. I mean seeing him in Indy was one thing. Seeing him coming hOUme is another.

So - I'm glad to have him back. He's obviously got talent and experience. I worry a bit about lineups and minutes and how he fits and how much better it makes us. We need an athletic 3&D wing. He's not really that. We needed a rim protector. He's not that either. More talent is always good, but it will be up to Boals to figure out how best to mix and match now.

Sears NEEDS minutes. But he's blocked by JP.
Under Saul, Carter played the 4 and BVP the 5 - but now we have Wilson - and none of them are rim protectors.

My out of the box thinking as it stands for next year is
PG - Sears
SG - Preston
SF - Carter
PF - BVP
C - Wilson

Sears is our best on-ball defender with quickness and if he's only seeing 18-20 minutes a game for a 2nd year I think he bolts. Plus it frees up JP to work off the ball and post up or have a play run for him.

BVP as a point forward at the 4 is ideal. He's way too slow to guard the 3 and gets into foul trouble trying to guard bigger 5s.

Wilson is a perfect MAC center, even if he's undersized for NCAA tourney teams. Can't play him anywhere else.

That leaves Carter either coming off the bench, or maybe playing SF?. Do we honestly think a former all-MAC player and Xavier transfer comes here to play 15 minutes a game off the bench? I doubt it. He has the offensive game to play the 3 - though not NEARLY the outside threat of BRod/McDay - but can he guard the 3? I just don't know where you put him.

Moving BRod and McDay to the bench is fine with me, as long as they're still getting minutes and doing what they do best, which is guard (McDay) or hit the 3 ball (BRod).

If you want your best defensive unit I think you go
PG - Sears
SG - McDay
SF - ? (Would like to say Brown but he's too small for the 3 IMO)
PF - BVP
C - Wilson

If you want your best shooting lineup you go
PG - Preston
SG - McDay
SF - Roderick
PF - Carter
C - BVP

If you want your best offensive efficiency lineup you go
PG - Sears
SG - Preston
SF - Roderick
PF - BVP
C - Wilson

If you want your big lineup you go
PG - Preston
SG - Roderick
SF - Carter
PF - BVP
C - Wilson

Minutes breakdown:
BVP: 38-40
Preston: 32-34
Wilson: 32
Sears: 24-26
Carter: 22-24
Roderick: 22-24
McDay: 16-18
Brown: 4-8
Others?: 4-8

Edit to add: seeing the limited minutes available. Assuming nobody leaves (hopefully) and with the addition of Carter, you HAVE to think AJ Clayton is a redshirt candidate at this point don't you?

We do not know what version of Jason Carter is coming back with his injury history but if he is even anywhere close to what left Ohio a few years ago we might see MOSTLY a 7 man rotation. Well see some of Sears and Preston on the court at once along with either McDay or Roderick. Since Vander Plas is probably one of the best hybrid forwards outside of the P6 you might see BVP essentially at SF with Carter at PF and Wilson at C if the situation allows for it. If Granger can add a whole lot of muscle and White can give Boals confidence that he is a 40% 3 point shooter (or if Carter is a shadow of his former self) they might get more time than I'm expecting. I'm thinking Clayton might redshirt if team health allows it. Brown and Towns make the end of the rotation which is too bad because Brown is actually a pretty good mid-major guard.

I have not read anything as to the question as to if your 5th year of eligibly still does not count if you use the one time free COVID transfer during your career or if you graduate transfer right before your fifth year. There might have to be a rule that in some cases it does count. Otherwise, teams can stockpile guys like Jason Carter and not count them against the total. If the rule allows and the University allows Boals might STILL have two scholarships in his pocket.

He would make the fourth player on the roster with 1000+ points in his career (along with Preston, BVP and Wilson). Not many schools can put that kind of firepower on the floor.

I’m not buying a “lesser role” for Carter. He didn’t score at X like he did his last year here, but he still played a lot of minutes for them (against Big East competition) and had some big games. I would be surprised if he didn’t average 30mpg for us next year.

I had a talk with a long-time member of the Newark boys basketball program about a month ago. He reminded me of a prediction I shared with him about 4-5 years ago that a couple of MAC players from Licking County - Carter out of Johnstown HS and Kent's BJ Duling out of Newark HS - would both contend for MAC player of the year honors before their time was up. He made sure I wouldn't forget how that prediction was an impossibility with both players transferring from their respective MAC schools. After today's news . . . ??

Nice breakdown by GraffZ06... Very happy to have Jason back! He can play the 4 and 5 in the MAC at a high level and should give both our starting bigs plenty of fresh legs come playoff time as well. Will he start? I think the main thing that this team has shown is that putting others first and not worrying about the accolades is what has made them special. I have faith that whatever the lineups are, it will be done in the interest of putting the best combos in and nothing more. Oh, and as someone added before, he is a member of the 1000pt club. Yowza!
Still would like to see a low post defender/shot blocker... Doesn't need to rebound, pass, or score... Just defend, foul and cheerlead when not in.
GO BOBCATS! (Just like that)