the importance of recruiting

[citygriz]

the story of the montana basketball program over the past several years is pretty much written in the recruiting, as one is reminded from reading mslacat's blog.

during our two recent n.c.a.a. appearances, we benefitted from some pretty good luck on the recruiting trail. criswell had walked on and become a star, matt martin and andrew strait had developed into nice players, and virgil matthews and kamarr davis were key jaycee recruits who contributed mightily. mix in dhlouy and hasquet, and you had the basis for a couple of n.c.a.a. appearances, including one great upset win over nevada.

but then our recruiting turned sour. gus chase was no kmarr davis, and austin swift, dave vanderjagt, eric van vliet, sean watson, zach graves and cameron rundles were all busts for one reason for another--and for the most part, have not had much success since their departures.

have we turned it around?

that's the test for next year. stockton remains a question mark, moikubu and ward have yet to play, while cherry, hutchison and woods wait in the wings. six key players on whom the fate of the montana program rests. i think we've got two good ones in ward and cherry, but one thing is certain--the program can't afford the kind of busts we've had the past three years.

 

[Gallatin Griz]

Excellent analysis, citygriz. It is easy to forget how many recruits started here and did not finish as Griz. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Ballhog]

No question that recruiting is very important. That said I don't think that any team has more talent
over the last three years than the Griz. Every team has players that don't stick.
A hallmark of any program is player development. One of the things that contributes greatly to
Gonzaga's sucess is the way that most of their athletes get better.
Coach Tinkle is an excellent recuiter.

 

[Tanker]

Every team does have players that do not stick, but why is the most important question. And in fact, getting players to stick IS about recruiting.

 

['68griz]

And, if they do stick, but are no better as seniors than they were as freshmen, what's the problem?

 

[montanatarheel]

No question that recruiting is very important. That said I don't think that any team has more talent
over the last three years than the Griz. Every team has players that don't stick.
A hallmark of any program is player development. One of the things that contributes greatly to
Gonzaga's sucess is the way that most of their athletes get better.
Coach Tinkle is an excellent recuiter.

I would say the last 2 years psu has had the most talent. But i think next year will be by far the most talented team we have had with tinkle lets just hope the wins follow.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Speaking of recruits, we can all watch Will Cherry on TV this saturday, 3/21. The HS CA State Championship will be broadcast 8pm Mountain Time. For those with DTV that would be channels 694 and 696. I am not going to miss it. We can all get an idea of his game against the best CA has to offer. I am really looking forward to watching this game.

Does anyone know if Hutchinson's HS team is still playing? If so, will their tournament games be televised on maybe FSN Northwest. Speaking of Hutchinson, why are we not as stoked about him as we are Cherry? Cherry grades out as an 80, meanwhile Hutchinson is an 85.

For me it is because of where Cherry plays, and we have not had this kind of Guard here very often. Also, I really want to be excited about a GRIZ big man. However, I am reserving that excitement due to our bigs not living up to lofty expectations the last few years. I also do not like that most our bigs taller than 6'8" tend to take too much of an liking to the perimeter. I would prefer them be utilized inside more often. I hope Hutchinson will be an inside threat offensively.

I have a feeling Selvig will be more like Hasquet. Qvale still has alot of work to do offensively, but has a bright future. At least he is a willing student with a good attitude. Do our bigs realize their development inside is the difference between being an average run of the mill program and being an NCAA tourney team? All the other pieces are in place.

 

[grizindabox]

Washington basketball is fininshed for the year. Mark Morris HS was eliminated in two games from the 2A tourney.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Washington basketball is fininshed for the year. Mark Morris HS was eliminated in two games from the 2A tourney.

What kind of year did Hutchinson have? Any other solid 1A prospects coming up in the future?

 

[grizindabox]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2008884562_webprephoops19.html

This link shows that he is playing in the Washington 2A vs 1A all star game, and he is 2A player of the year, just not sure if the means for his conference or all of 2A.

 

[oldtimer griz]

City, I'm not too sure about your assessment of bad recruits. Gus Chase was an NAIA division 1 all american and his team went to the championship. Austin Swift is starting on a NCAA division 2 team in the elite 8 right now. Zach Graves and Dave haven't had the greatest times but they are still both young players. Cameron Rundles was the freshman of the year when he played and had plenty of suitors when he decided to transfer and ended up at a division 1 Wofford. So these players I can't say were busts but I think it had more to do with transition between coaches remember all of them were Coach K recruits. If we want to talk about recruits, Banny has not gotten a lot of time is he a bust? What about Ceylon? Just questions not saying they are bad players I just want to defend those players from before.

 

[citygriz]

well, oldtimer, i suppose the truth is somewhere in the middle. i saw gus chase play one game at sac state, and one play where his shot was swatted into the stands convinced me he was just too small to be a d-1 power forward. i think he was listed at 6'5" but i question whether he was even 6'3". we thought we had another kamarr, but we weren't even close.

utah has a very good aussie post player, luke nevill. the other night i watched washington state play st. mary's in the n.i.t., and they had a big tough aussie post player, aaron baynes. vandy too has a good aussie post player. but in vanderjagt, we got a bona fide seven footer who lacked the bulk of a post player and the skills of a power or small forward. he averaged 5 points at central washington, while zach graves averaged seven at chico state. hardly the stats you're looking for in a d-1 player.

but i concede the points on swfit and rundles. i saw swift in high school, and thought we were on to a terrific player. it galled me that we blew off his redshirt year by playing him about 20 minutes. what krysko was thinking, i have no idea. and swift's numbers have confirmed that talent--i think mslacat reports he averaged 15 ppg last year as a starter at cal poly pomona. of course, we all know rundles had talent. i guess you'd have to be close to the team to know what happened there.

still, for whatever reasons--lack of talent, personality conflicts (van vliet was just a thug), none of these kids panned out for us, and that has really hurt the program these past few years.