The Liberty Flames began this season with one of the most high profile freshmen classes to arrive on campus in quite some time. Led by Brody Peebles and Joseph Venzant, this class was expected to make an immediate and lasting impact on the men’s basketball program. As we’re roughly halfway through the season, let’s take a look at the freshmen’s progress through the season so far.
DJ MOORE
The 6’3″ point guard, Moore began the season expecting to redshirt which was expected after he enrolled a year early from Worthington Christian in Ohio. McKay opted to burn his shirt in the third game of the season as he made his debut against Iona. Moore’s playing time has been sporadic recently, playing less than two minutes in each game against Stanford, BYU, and Stetson. He did see a few minutes of playing time in each of the past three ASUN games.
McKay’s take – “DJ Moore keeps getting better. I’m trying to find minutes for him. It’s hard to go 10 deep sometimes.
BRODY PEEBLES
Scoring over 3,000 points during his high school career in Alabama, Peebles joined the program expected to have an offensive game that would translate to the next level. He has become a mainstay in the rotation, starting in three games while playing in all 19 games so far this season. He has shown flashes of his ability to catch lightning in a bottle with his explosive offensive exploits, highlighted by his 18 points scored in a game against Delaware State earlier this year. He has scored in double figures on six occasions so far; expect that number to increase as he becomes more comfortable in the offense.
McKay’s take – “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse because we’ve only played one ASUN game, but they’ve had seasons that are worthy of all-freshmen consideration.”
BRYSON SPELL
The 6’9″ forward from Virginia Beach, Spell is currently being redshirted this season, and he has not seen any playing time.
JOSEPH VENZANT
Venzant was inserted into the starting lineup in game three and he has not left it since then. The 6’3″ guard from Midland, Texas is currently averaging 21.8 minutes, 4.8 points, and 4.7 rebounds per game. He’s already proven his ability to be an elite defender, frequently getting the assignment of the top offensive player from Liberty’s opponent. Over the past two games, he has gotten the tough assignment of FGCU’s Tavian Dunn-Martin and Jacksonville’s Kevion Nolan. Led by Venzant, that tandem, two of the top scoring guards in the conference, they were held to a combined 4 of 25 from the field. Venzant has also had a chance to show off his crazy athleticism in the open court on a couple of times already this season.
McKay’s take – “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse because we’ve only played one ASUN game, but they’ve had seasons that are worthy of all-freshmen consideration.”
