Xavier should pursue Fordham transfer forward Eric Paschall

Fordham's Eric Paschall will transfer, per the school. Three years of eligibility remaining. Long line for this one.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 23, 2015

Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Eric Paschall announced today that he has been granted permission to contact, meaning that he is open to leaving Fordham and entering the transfer market. Fordham Coach Tom Pecora has been fired, which probably went a good way toward precipitating this move.

Paschall is a 6'6", 205-pound forward who has three year of eligibility remaining. He posted a game line of 15.9/5.5/1.0 on a shooting line of .419/.315/.794. Perhaps the most notable of his stats were a usage rate of 27.3% and a shots% of 30.4%, indicating that he was the go-to guy for Fordham when he was on the floor.

As far as scouting goes, Paschall is a classic tweener forward. His outside shot is not advanced enough to allow him to be a permanent three, but he is a bit undersized for a four. His OReb%/DReb% of 5.7%/14.2% are respectable though, and he is a very athletic and determined presence in the paint on both ends. He was slowed by an ankle injury for much of the final month and missed three of the team's last four games.

Looking at the Xavier roster going forward, this would put Paschall in the same eligibility class as Makinde London, Kaiser Gates, and Edmond Sumner. By the time Paschall became eligible, Jalen Reynolds and Sean O'Mara would be anchoring the very big man positions and Makinde London would be an energetic if slender frontcourt presence. Trevon Bluiett fits nicely as an undersized stretch four or scoring wing, and JP Macura can slot in at the three.

Adding Paschall would give Xavier a player of Bluiett's size who could defend the three or four hard and do the dirty work at both ends of the floor. I think he is talented enough and fills the right role that I'd like to see Coach Mack go after him hard; what do you think?