This year’s American men’s basketball roster features four freshmen: Wyatt Nausadis, Shane O’Reilly, Eric Michaels and Julen Iturbe. While each of these players will look to make an impact on a veteran-heavy team that is predicted to finish second in the Patriot League, they will also look to set a new direction for the future of AU basketball. This year’s freshman class is the first that head coach Duane Simpkins was able to bring in based on his recruiting priorities.
From a basketball perspective, Simpkins has a clear archetype for what kind of players he wants on the court. He wants players who can execute all three skills of passing, dribbling and shooting, along with players who take pride in their defensive abilities. From a positional standpoint, Simpkins seeks guards who are physically adept and have good height and athleticism, with the ability to put the ball on the floor and be playmakers. For the big men, Simpkins looks for centers who can stretch the floor and help meet his goal of the team shooting around 30 3-point shots every game. Simpkins also emphasized that while they will try to get the best players possible, it’s all about how that talent fits into the team’s playstyle.
But it is not just a player’s on-the-court attributes that Simpkins searches for when scouting a player on the recruiting trail. He cited four aspects that he looks for when American begins to target a player: character, work ethic, toughness and humility.
“If we’re intrigued enough by a prospect, now we’re going to start doing our homework. We’re going to talk to the family members, if we go to the gym where they are, we’re going to try to bump into a teacher, or a janitor, we want to find out who they really are,” Simpkins said in an interview with The Eagle. He also wants players who can fight through adversity, saying that “even when things aren’t going well, [the prospective players] still have their hands up, they’re still giving energy to their teammates.”
While there may be players who are rising sophomores that they notice and write down so they can keep tabs on their growth as players, Simpkins said he mainly tries to focus on rising juniors and seniors. He has certain traits he is looking for in players. But aside from that, it’s open season as to how they can get them. Geographically, Simpkins said that American will go wherever needed to get the players they want, but also emphasized both his and the program’s strong ties to the D.C. area. He mentioned that the D.C. area has some of the best talent and coaching in the area, and that players from here usually have an easier time adjusting to college basketball. Simpkins pointed to his time as a player as something that he uses on the recruiting trail. He also mentioned American’s location in D.C. and the opportunities that it provides for life post-basketball, as well as the ability to put recruits in contact with players currently on the roster, as assets that he can use when convincing players to come to the University.
However, the college sports landscape has changed immensely since Simpkins went through the recruiting process as a player. Athletes can now capitalize on their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) through endorsement deals, and can also transfer as many times as possible without losing years of eligibility. While Simpkins does support players making money off of NIL deals, he emphasized that if a player makes it clear their number one priority in choosing a school is how much money they can earn, then that player would not be a good fit at AU.
“We don’t want any prima donnas in our program… There’s a certain segment of recruitable athletes that want to try to monetize their Name, Image and Likeness, which is great, but there’s a vast majority of (players) that they’re going to base their college decision on that (NIL money), and we're not going to recruit those kids,” Simpkins said.
As for the impact of the transfer portal, Simpkins said it would take time, “maybe two, three years,” to assess its true impact. Since Simpkins has taken over, American has lost two key players to the transfer portal: Johnny O’Neil to Santa Clara, and Jermaine Ballisager Webb to Portland.
Players leaving the Patriot League to chase NCAA Tournament and NBA dreams has become a common theme during the transfer portal era, with examples including 2023-24 conference player of the year Braeden Smith transferring from Colgate to Gonzaga, and former Chicago Bulls guard Andrew Funk transferring from Bucknell to Penn State, where he led the Big Ten in 3-point percentage. Simpkins recognized that with schools such as North Carolina, Virginia and St. Joe’s on the schedule, it’s possible that if one of AU’s players has a good performance against them, there will be eyes on them from outside the Patriot League encouraging them to transfer. However, Simpkins feels that AU, both on and off the court, can provide players with the best opportunities to succeed, and thus finish their college careers in D.C.
Eric Michaels is a player who epitomizes the qualities Simpkins is seeking. Originally from Poughkeepsie, New York, Michaels attended Blair Academy, a boarding school in New Jersey. He cites spending his high school years away from home as something that has helped his adjustment to college life and Division I basketball.
When asked why he chose AU, he cites many reasons that Simpkins emphasized, saying that “It's right in D.C., really close to a lot of things… a really nice place to live. [The] education is really nice here. [The] people are really nice here. The environment, the culture, is definitely outstanding.”
On the court, Michaels backs up grad student Matt Rogers at center, who Michaels said has been a great asset to helping him adjust.
“He’s always there to pick me up, help me whenever I'm not doing as good as I need to be, and he always sees the vision that I'm trying to reach, and he wants me to attain that goal that I want [to reach],” Michaels said.
As for the off court attributes that Simpkins wants in a player, Michaels fits those to a tee, saying that “I’m not going to stop no matter what happens, no matter what setback I have to endure, I'm just going to keep going… for my team … for the people who believe in me.”
The nature of college sports makes it so that a high roster turnover each year is to be expected. It is not like professional sports where successful teams can keep their cores together for over a decade. College sports give at most five years with a group of players if lucky. A coach’s job is not just to build a roster that can survive this turnover, but also to create a system that players can slide into, as little transition time is afforded if a program wants continued success.
Michaels is one of the many players who will spend four years at American University while Simpkins is in charge. But the job of Michaels, Iturbe, Nausadis and O’Reilly is not just to be more names in the record book. It is to build a culture and help bring a winning mentality to Bender Arena, one that will outlast both their time, and Simpkins’ time, at the school.
“You’ve got 13 scholarships, and everybody isn’t going to play, but we’ve got certain profiles that we like,” Simpkins said. “They all have a toughness to them.”
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Emma Brown, Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Nicole Kariuki.
