Tuesday's WAC news journey

Doug Benton's NorCalPreps article on Sunday's Nor Cal Clash event, which pitted the top 2013 talents against those in the 2014, contained these recruiting items:

* Rae Jackson, El Cerrito, 2013 guard (formerly of Rodriguez High in Fairfield) holds an offer from San Jose State University, among a number of potential destinations.

* Kendall Smith, Deer Valley, 2013 guard also has San Jose State University on his long list of colleges to check out. "He is going on an unofficial visit to San Jose State in the next week or two..."

* D'Erryl Williams, Sheldon High, 2013 combo guard, is exploring the possibilities of San Jose State University as well as a handful of other schools.

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Thanks to Krimson Krazy for posting the link to the Kelsey Crooks memorial.

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Kevin Cacabelos is out with his Top 25 Seattle basketball talents and Coach Cameron Dollar is naturally after some:

* D.J. Fenner (Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Seattle University, UC Irvine, Utah)

* Tucker Haymond (Idaho State, Montana State, Seattle University, Western Michigan)

Speaking of the Redhawks, Director of Athletic Communications Jason Behenna provided PTW with the information necessary to finally determine Coach Dollar's 2012 recruiting class and we thank him for it.

Neither Nkosi Ali nor Kentari Nettles signed with Seattle (as we had come across elsewhere) so here is the Redhawk roster for 2012-13:

Backcourt transfers Emerson Murray (California) and Isiah Umipig (Cal State Fullerton) are redshirting this season.

Backcourt:

* Luiz Bidart, 6-foot-1, guard redshirt freshman

* Sterling Carter, 6-foot-0, guard, junior -- 10.1 points but 37% overall shooting, 36% from long distance, just 23 free throws attempts on the season

* Jarell Flora, 6-foot-0, guard, sophomore -- 3.4 points per game, shot 43%

* Prince Obasi, 6-foot-2, guard, senior -- 4.8 points per game, shots 41% overall, 38% from long distance, 73 assists

* Emmanuel Chibuogwu, 6-foot-6, guard, freshman

* D'Vonne Pickett, 6-foot-0, guard, junior -- Central Arizona transfer, he scored 11.7 points and passed for 5.5 assists a game this past season, shooting 42% overall, 36% from three-point range and 53% from the foul line.

* Allen Tate, 6-foot-5, guard, senior -- 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, shot 35%

* David Trimble, 6-foot-1, guard, freshman

Frontcourt:

* Jack Crook, 6-foot-11, center, freshman

* Tidiane Diop, 6-foot-8, forward, senior -- 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, shot 45% overall

* Louis Green, 6-foot-9, center, senior -- 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds, shot 54% overall

* Chad Rasmussen, 6-foot-7, froward, senior -- 5.2 points per game, 36% overall shooting, 36% from long distance, shot four free throws in 505 minutes

* Deshaun Sunderhuas, 6-foot-9, forward, redshirt freshman

* Clarence Trent, 6-foot-6, forward, junior -- 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, shot 46% overall

Monday's WAC roundup

Chris Murray has the next basketball destination for Olek Czyz and it's not Poland.

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Missed an interesting feature back on April 11 @ Seattle U Hoops.

Isiah Umipig and Emerson Murray transferred in after the season from Cal State Fullerton and Cal respectively. D'Vonne Pickett came up from an Arizona JC. Not sure where Kentari Nettles and Nkosi Ali, two other JC guys, stand at this point with Coach Cameron Dollar.

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Blair Thomas writes "I'm a die-hard fan of Seattle U basketball because..."

A Seattle basketball re-do

PTW posted an earlier look at the Redhawks for this coming WAC season, ending with the idea that they were undersized.

We were on to something but that's because we missed two other Seattle signees.

* Nkosi Ali

 Ali at 6-foot-10, 210 and out of Georgia, led Highline Community College (Washington) in scoring (16.3 points) and rebounding (10.2) per game last season, shooting 55% from the floor. He's particularly strong on the offensive boards.

Ali signed with the Redhawks back in 2010 but obviously had to go the community college route. It's unclear if he is transferring at one or two seasons at Highline but likely the latter.

Here's some earlier video:



* Kentari Nettles

 Nettles as a high school senior

He's 6-foot-9 and 230, out of Alabama and signed with South Alabama back in 2010 but was dismissed before playing there. Records show he was next at Pearl River Community College in Mobile where he averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds as a freshman and apparently sat out this last season at Highline. 

Here's a background story on him.

Thursday's a.m. WAC basketball roundup

Can Seattle U become the Gonzaga of the WAC? That appears to be the most prominent question of the day and, hey no knock towards the Redhawks, but just how many Gonzagas are there in the basketball world? It's also a comparison that invokes a false equivalency (the WCC versus the WAC).

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The Upset site has an article titled "Geography, Justice, and the Expansion Tsunami" and that alone should make fans want to read it. The WAC is prominently featured.

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The Big Sky Commish recently uttered this via Brian Murphy's column: " "We're in a better place than the WAC is." It's certainly worth a read.

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Shawn Harrison adds more on Sam Orchard's Aggie affiliation.

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The News Star writes about Trevor Gaskins joining the squad in Ruston.