Greetings. I'm a big UMBC basketball fan, live near their campus, and attend all their home games. I wanted to stop by here and congratulate you on getting Chauncy Gilliam. Also, since you probably know little about him, I wanted to offer my honest opinion on him so you have an idea what you're getting.
Positives: Chauncy was by far the most athletic player on UMBC's team last year. Though not tall, he is broad and is not afraid to knock bodies around. He has a smooth shot and can handle the ball decently. Nice three-point touch. He started at shooting guard for most of the year. Good all-around skills with no glaring physical weaknesses. He probably does not excel at anything in particular but is decent in all aspects of the game. I think he would have developed into a first team America East selection (he was third-team this year).
Negatives: There is one very big negative I observed of Gilliam. He tends to disappear in games on occasion, and often at critical junctures. UMBC was not a very good team this past year (only four wins), and they started and played lots of freshmen. Gilliam was clearly their go-to guy by default (the only decent veteran player on the team, really). However, in several games that were close, I would watch him closely, and he would become more passive instead of stepping up and carrying the team. There were long stretches where we needed someone to step forward and he would barely touch the ball. I was always a bit confused by this, as there were other times that he would knock down 20 points in a half and just take over a game. As I said, he was third-team all-conference this past year, but I honestly thought he had talent to be higher. I think a lot of it was that the team did not have a good year and it was probably a bit demoralizing for him. At Akron, where he will probably be more of a role player, he should fit in very nicely.
Also, he was declared academically ineligible last year and it was reported he would sit out the first half of the season at least, but when I showed up for the opening game he was playing. I have no idea what happened there but he suddenly became eligible.
I always like Gilliam as did my son. He will be disappointed to see him transfer as it will be a HUGE hit to an already reeling program. But I wish him the best moving forward and will root for him at Akron. He is a huge talent with a nice upside.
