Former BBall Players and how they are doing

[panchosanchez99]

2 hours ago, Triple B said:

Kind of confusing but grubers post, minus the very first sentence, is a c&p from somewhere. What you pulled out was what Yetna said his plan was when at USF following the CBI year. 

I actually just read again and saw that. I was going to reply to him that I misread it; but since you pointed out, I acknowledge here. This is what happens when I do several things at once, very quickly.

[bcgruber]

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At 26, Fairfield's Alexis Yetna could soon begin final college basketball season: 'Been through so much'

By Mike Anthony,Staff writerJan 17, 2024

 

 

 

 

Alexis Yetna has transferred to Fairfield for his final season of college basketball. He was the American Athletic Conference freshman of the year in 2018-19 for South Florida, and he later played at Seton Hall. Yetna has two degrees and is pursuing at third at Fairfield.

Fairfield athletics/contributed photo

Alexis Yetna tacked a logical plan onto the end of his dominant 2018-19 season with the South Florida men’s basketball team. The American Athletic Conference freshman of the year, he would return as part of a deep and experienced team, refine his play as a sophomore and then leave for the NBA. 

 

“It was, OK, I'm coming back, determined to get drafted,” Yetna, now a graduate student at Fairfield, said before the season. “That was the goal. I was excited. That was the opportunity and the situation. But, obviously, things didn't go as planned.”

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Four years later, Yetna, a 6-foot-8 forward from France, is 26 years old and pushing through the final stages of yet another grueling knee rehabilitation process that has sidelined him for well over a year. He could be part of the Stags' lineup down the stretch of what's become a promising season, beginning his final year of NCAA eligibility as an injection of frontcourt muscle to complement a guard-dominant rotation.  

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Fairfield, in the meantime, is rolling. Coach Jay Young resigned from his position just three weeks before the season opener and the Stags started 1-6.  They have since won nine of their past 10 games to improve to 10-7 overall, 4-2 in the MAAC.

"It's a really good group," interim coach Chris Casey said. "They practice hard. They're about each other, pick each other up. They're selfless. It's been a fun group to be around, to watch them come together. Any time you have a group that wins some games, it's going to help their confidence. I think they believe that they're very good. I think they are, too. With that comes some expectations and some high-level work. I've just enjoyed watching them come together. They came out of a difficult situation and turned that negative into a positive. I want us to keep doing that." 

Yetna is waiting — no, working  — in the wings. If he's able to return, and return to form, Fairfield could have a significant addition to help a push toward the top of the standings and into the postseason. Yetna has attended three colleges now over seven years, playing three seasons and sitting out three more. An accomplished student, he is working toward a third degree while trying to harness, one final time, the ability that once made him among the most dynamic and intriguing young players in America.

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“I think he can be the best player in the MAAC,” Young said before he resigned.

Yetna, who transferred from Seton Hall, spent all of the season ramp-up at Fairfield on recovery from surgery to correct defective cartilage — his second major knee surgery in three years. There's no timetable for his return, but he is expected to play this season.   

"He's still working on some things rehab-wise, trying to strengthen that knee and that leg," said Casey, who was previously an assistant on Young's staff. "He's still working on getting the strength and stability back. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to coach him, so I know him only as I see him on film, and obviously he's an extremely talented player. My hope is that he gets back to that level. I want that for him. He's such a good kid. He's putting in extra work on that knee and that leg every day."

 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 10: Alexis Yetna #10 of the Seton Hall Pirates goes up for a layup past Tyler Polley #12 of the Connecticut Huskies in the first half during the 2022 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images

In choosing Fairfield as his final destination, Yetna assured his journey would come full circle, in a sense. He spent a prep year at Putnam Science Academy way back in 2016-17, alongside guard Hamidou Diallo, who went on to play at Kentucky and then for the Thunder and Pistons in the NBA. The NCAA ruled Yetna ineligible for the 2017-18 season because he had played two years in prep school (Putnam, and Mt. Zion in Baltimore prior to that) after graduating high school in France. South Florida coach Brian Gregory was very vocal on the matter, ripping the NCAA’s ruling as a disservice to Yetna and noting that Yetna had completed high school in three years.  

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As a redshirt freshman for the Bulls in 2018-19, Yetna averaged 12.3 points and 9.6 rebounds. A torn patella tendon knocked him off the NBA fast track, though, and cost him the following season. He returned in 2020-21 to average 9.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, then transferred to Seton Hall and averaged 8.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 2021-22. The knee damage, and ensuing surgery, sidelined him for all of last season.

Yetna never considered giving up basketball. 

“My journey is not over,” he said, smiling through most of a 20-minute Zoom conversation in early October. “I've been through so much, it would be a shame to stop. I love the game. A lot of ups and downs. It just taught me about resiliency, to be honest. Just keep grinding. It's a game of consistency, man. You have to be consistent. Sometimes it's going to be good for you. Other days, it might be bad. But you have to keep working every day.”

Yetna officially joined the Stags Aug. 9, a day after his 26^th birthday. Freshman teammate Peyton Smith was just 17 at the time, and he turned 18 on Sept. 16. If there are rosters with wider ranges in age across college basketball, there aren’t many.

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“I feel like I’ve been through so many situations and positions in my life that I can relate to all the guys,” Yetna said. “I have been in college for a number of years. I know how this goes. To be able to talk to the guys — they are really willing learners — it feels like this was meant to be.”

Yetna has a bachelor’s degree in economics from South Florida and a master’s in business administration with a concentration in management from Seton Hall. He came to Fairfield, where he has decided to pursue a master’s in industrial engineering, after a second spin through the transfer portal.

“This time it was more complicated, because last year I didn't play and I was coming in still injured, and it's my last year,” Yetna said. “So there was a lot to take into account about what direction I wanted to go — high-major or mid-major, the costs and benefits. It came down to a few schools, but the relationships I developed with [Fairfield] coaches really made a difference.”

Young was entering his fifth year at Fairfield. He was a Rutgers assistant under Steve Pikiell when Yetna played himself onto the national recruiting radar at Putnam. Young, in building this year's roster, also remembered vividly Yetna’s early success under Gregory and assistant Tom Herrion at USF, where Yetna on two separate occasions posted double-doubles in three consecutive games. He once lit up East Carolina for 28 points and 13 rebounds on 11-for-13 shooting.

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Connecticut's Adama Sanogo is guarded by Seton Hall's Alexis Yetna (10) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Jessica Hill / Associated Press

Can he do such things again? Can he be successfully integrated, mid-season, into a deep, talented, perimeter-oriented lineup? Fairfield's top four scorers are guards: graduate Caleb Fields (14.3 points a game), redshirt senior Brycen Goodine (13.7), senior Jalen Leach (13.1) and junior Jasper Floyd (10.1). The leading rebounders are Floyd (5.8 a game), senior guard/forward Louis Bleechmore (5.5) and 6-foot-10 freshman forward Peyton Smith (5.0).

"I don't think it's complicated but we've approached it as we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Casey said of adding Yetna to the rotation. "Right now the focus is to get him stronger to where he can actually have a chance to play 5-on-5. So I haven't paid much attention yet, and I haven't coached him. I do think he's an outstanding player, and we want to get him back. But first he's got to get healthy. He's got to be able to practice and then it's going to take a little bit of time for him to know what we're doing, and a little bit of time for him to get his game legs back. It's not as simple as, 'He's cleared now.' You've got to know what you're doing offensively and defensively, and you've got to get your conditioning back. There's a process to that." 

Yetna’s time at Seton Hall spanned a coaching change — Kevin Willard to Shaheen Holloway, prior to last season — and included another surgery and over a year of rehab. In the offseason, he entered the portal, which has transformed the way college coaches build teams on a year-by-year basis.

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Fairfield, like most programs, has players coming and going with regularity. Forward Supreme Cook, who averaged team highs of 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Stags last season, entered the portal late in the process and wound up transferring to Georgetown, where he's averaging 11 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds. Cook's departure left the Fairfield staff in need of a frontcourt player with high-impact potential. Young called Herrion to learn more about Yetna, and began recruiting him.  

“The one thing everybody raved about was his character and how hard he works,” Young said.

Yetna visited Fairfield, where he met with program doctors and discussed potential timelines for a return. He later visited Ole Miss and West Virginia. At one point, he called Young to inform him that he would not be attending Fairfield. 

"He was going to stay at the high-major level," Young said. "He handled it the right way. I had an awesome conversation with him. After a while, I didn't hear anything [about a commitment] and I called one of his guys in France. He said, ‘Funny you should mention that.’ It went from there. Whatever situation he [considered] didn't materialize, and we were back on the board."

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Fairfield was 13-18 last season (9-11 MAAC, seventh place). The Stags last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1997.

“I feel like there are a lot of good things ahead of us,” Yetna said before the season. “We can do something that this place hasn't experienced in a long time. It's not mission impossible. It's concrete. It's there. ... The way I play, I feel like it translates to any conference, any level. I have a different outlook on the game. I appreciate it more. I have a more analytical view to the game now, understanding all the intangible aspects that I couldn't see before, beyond just playing hard.”

Yetna’s parents remain in France, his father an engineer and his mother a tax collector. He hasn’t been home to Paris since 2019. That feels like another lifetime, with a pandemic and all the injuries and surgeries and rehabs and transfers since.

He used to think about the NBA quite often. That’s still the dream. But at 26, and back in Connecticut to start over yet again, Yetna stays in the present much better than he did when he was 19, 20 or 21.

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“I just try to put the most assets on my side, and the rest — what I cannot control, I cannot control,” he said. “The Florida sun, I miss it. But besides that, I'm happy to be here. I have so much love for this state and it's good to be back.”  

[Mike Stuben]

I was talking to a guy named Joe DeSantis at a Tampa Tarpons game back a few months ago. He is a former coach who is now a radio broadcaster for Fairfield MBB. He was asking me about Yetna, as it seemed he was a big part of their plans for this season. I keep checking and he hasn't played yet. 

He was both super talented, combined with the right physical tools. Such a shame so many injuries derailed him. 

[Triple B]

4 hours ago, panchosanchez99 said:

I actually just read again and saw that. I was going to reply to him that I misread it; but since you pointed out, I acknowledge here. This is what happens when I do several things at once, very quickly.

Reading it fast can totally see how the mistake could be made. After some faux pas of my own in the past, I now read each post 5 times before replying ....

And gruber, if you pull something from an article like that, you can just post the article's link and acknowledge it, https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/article/alexis-yetna-working-toward-fairfield-debut-final-18416921.php, rather than the whole article itself.