Jalen Moore gains another fan

Josh Gershon tweets a thumbs-up for Utah State commit Jalen Moore: "I'm liking 2013 Utah State commit Jalen Moore. 6-7 SF with ball skills and three-point range. Skinny but high basketball IQ. Good pickup"

Utah State and Colin Gruber

Utah State (and others) are interested in 2011 Harbor High backcourter Colin Gruber, who plays in Santa Cruz, CA (on the California coast, 30 miles or so west of San Jose). Gruber is coached by his father who played with Stew Morrill at Gonzaga way back when.

Go here for a feature we recently did on the younger Gruber.

It's Marcel Davis Day

Marcel Davis gets the full treatment today as Jared Eborn and Shawn Harrison offer features on the 2012 verbal to Utah State. Utah and BYU were showing interest.

That looks like it for now.

Tony Jones offers up USU recruiting names

Tony Jones has dipped into recruiting for Utah State. He has posts here, here, here and here. Tony has certainly been a great addition this season to WAC coverage and we're hoping for many, many more years to come.

Matt Korcheck to UTEP

A prep 'big' mentioned in conjunction with a couple of WAC schools has committed to UTEP.

6-foot-8 Arizona high schooler Matt Korcheck has given a verbal to the University Texas El Paso, per an article at the Rivals Arizona Preps site. In the article, mention is made of Fresno State and Utah State having offered.

This illustrates one of the conundrums of recruiting information. Now we don't possess any 'inside' information in the Korcheck matter but would certainly like to know if the Bulldog and Aggies offers were current. The reason we ask is a pair of recent Rivals and Scout commitment articles listed schools for each player that we know had pulled out of the recruitment process and thus were no longer offering a scholarship.

Go here for the Korcheck article and a Rivals sub is required.

James Walker to Utah State

Talked with Los Alamitos High (southern California) backcourter James Walker tonight and he indeed has agreed to sign with Utah State come November. Obviously, he didn't get to witness the Spectrum rockin' and rollin' during a basketball game but he said he saw tape of such -- Stew Morrill and Company made sure of that. He's being looked at more as a 1 guard.

Greg Hicks says James Walker to Utah State

Scout's Greg Hicks is reporting that James Walker of Los Alamitos High has given a verbal commitment to Utah State -- the link requires a subscription. Walker visited Logan this past weekend. We hope to talk with him tomorrow.

Jared Eborn on USU's new commit

Jared Eborn/Deseret News has more on Stew Morrill's latest acquisition:

Juco hoops standout commits to Utah St.
Jared Eborn
Deseret News
October 8, 2009

Utah State's basketball team is in good hands with Jared Quayle manning the point guard position this year.

A source close to the basketball team told the Deseret News that USU coach Stew Morrill received a commitment from a big-time junior college guard recently that will make sure the Aggies continue to have a solid presence at the point for at least two more years...

Go here for the remainder.

Paul Garnica heads to Northern Colorado

Paul Garnica photo courtesy of Texas Basketball Inc.

Paul Garnica tripped earlier to Logan but has decided to cast his lot with Northern Colorado of the Big Sky Conference. Longtime Texas basketball figure Max Ivany has this on his web site:

Paul Garnica To Northern Colorado
Texas Basketball Inc.
October 1, 2009

I received a call at lunch time today from 2010 PG Paul Garnica of San Antonio Lee & the Texas D-1 Ambassadors. "Coach, I wanted you to be the first to know that I have just committed to the University of Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference." Garnica has had a healthy recruitment this fall with school visits from UT-Arlington, Stephen F Austin and others. If you'd asked me three weeks ago I would have said he's going to Utah State. He had a nice visit to their campus earlier in the month. When I asked Paul what the deciding factors were he said, "Coach it just felt right...like Family. The coaches were great, and the players were cool. I especially liked their big man when we ran in open gym. The business school is what I wanted in an education and the campus and dorms are awesome."

Go here for the remainder.

Here is an ESPN evaluation of Garnica.

A visitor to Utah State

SeldomSeenSmith is back with an item about another backcourter who has tripped to Logan:

"The Ags received a visit from Brockeith Pane, a 6'2" guard from Midland JC who's a D1 kickback from the University of Houston."

In researching the young man, Rivals had him listed at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds as a high school senior. He is out of the Dallas area. It seems he played scoring guard in high school but began transitioning to the point with his AAU club in the spring and summer of his junior year. Paine also played football as a prepster.

As a freshman at Houston, he and earned Conference USA Player of the Week honors in late November 2007 by posting a two-game average of 23.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals.

Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle offered these July 2007 observations of Pane in summer workouts:

"Brockeith Pane: Where Zamal Nixon has the slender, willowy body that you would expect of a kid right out of high school, this guy is sculpted like a linebacker. Pane is another who can shoot it from the outside or take his man off the dribble, but his offensive game doesn't appear to be as polished as Nixon's. No, Pane's strength appears to be defense. And by that, I mean Brian Latham-style defense. Pane doesn't quite have the handles that Nixon possesses (only Lanny can match Z on the bounce), but he's not a liability with the ball, either. And with that rocked-up body, Pane can also take contact in the paint and still finish the play."

Here's an old analysis of Pane by Blue Zertouch (TexasHoops.com) from 2007 when Pane committed to Houston:

"Texas Hoops Analysis: BROCKEITH is a strong guard who can be streaky from the 3 point line but can still score if his perimeter shot isn't falling. He has the strength to finish at the rim against bigger players, can take contact on the dribble and still keep his path to the goal, has a nice mid-range jumper and is tough to keep out of the lane. He is a good ball handler but can get a little sloppy with his passes, has the body to play physical defense on the perimeter and likes an open court game that gives him freedom to play his game and go 1 on 1."

Utah State had a visitor

Prospects are out and about and one has visited Logan, Utah -- that being Texas backcourter Paul Garnica. He's 6-0, 160 and a top scorer in the state. Damon Sayles at TexasHoops has an article today about Garnica's visit. A Rivals sub is required.

At Texas Basketball Inc, Coach Max Ivany posted this on Garnica in October, 2008:

"The key guy for Lee is 2010 PG 6'0" Paul Garnica. In late May, Garnica got promoted to the top Texas D-1 Ambassador group. He was simply too good to keep out of the lineup. Keep in mind that to this point we've had guards off that group commit to Arizona, Lamar, and two others who have been offered by San Francisco and Colorado. Garnica belonged in this group! He hit 10 three pointers in a game as a freshman at Lee. It goes without saying he can heat it up from the perimeter. As I got to know Paul, what became obvious is that he is a real student of the game while also possessing an "annoying street edge" to his repertoire. Annoying that is to the opposition. He's a great team mate and very unselfish. He prides himself on deflections and steals defensively, many times drawing the assignment on the other team's most talented offensive player. One drawback Garnica has is he can occasionally be nonchalant when handling the ball. As he continues to mature though, I see this occurring less and less. He has above average grades, even drawing the interest of the Ivy league's Cornell who were in the Lee gym watching him in last week's athletic period."

For those with long term memory ability

Here's a 2012 kid that Utah State has offered although it seems like the young man will end up in the PAC-10 or maybe Gonzaga. From the Gonzaga fan sute The Slipper Still Fits:

ON THE RISE

Another big-time player is in the making in Oregon. Landon Lucas, a 2012 post prospect out of Portland Sunset High School, has the attention of a number of schools out west. Oregon State, Portland State and Utah State have already offered, and Arizona, California, Stanford and Washington are recruiting the 6-8 Lucas. According to his travel team coach, Garry Ward of the Northwest Panthers, Lucas is an excellent student with a strong competitive streak.

Rivals had this mention about 2012 recruit Landen Lucas. Don't worry that Gonzaga isn't mentioned, because the Zags are on the radar, and Lucas was a participant at the elite camp this summer. (side note...the correct spelling is Landen, so we will have to let Rivals know about the wrong spelling)

Cross Korchek off the Aggie list

6-foot-8 Arizona prepster Matt Korchek had an offer from Utah State but has narrowed his choices down to three other schools" Pavific, UTEP and Northern Arizona. Weber State apparently also had extended an offer.

As usual, Anthony Ray has the scoop at his Rivals Arizona Preps site. A Rivals sub required.

Here is a 2008 article on Korchek.

Shawn Harrison on USU's signing of Anthony DiLoretto

So much has already been said and posted about all this so we'll leave it with two thoughts:

1) DiLoretto probably says a special prayer at night thanking his lucky stars that he won't be facing the wrath of The Refraction-ers (had he signed with another WAC team).

2) He better have an extra large pair of ear plugs on January 2 because the New Mexico State fans are surely working up quite the greeting, even as this is being typed.

How would the Dookies handle this young man if he arrived to Cameron with an opposing team?

Utah St. hoops adds big man
Shawn Harrison
Herald Journal
August 25, 2009

Classes began Monday at Utah State University, and there was a new big man on campus, literally.

The Aggie men’s basketball team recently added a center to the roster. USU head coach Stew Morrill made it official Monday with the announcement.

Anthony DiLoreto is a 7-foot-1, 230-pound athlete from Minnetonka, Minn., and will be a freshman this fall. With Western Athletic Conference MVP Gary Wilkinson gone, DiLoreto will compete for the vacated post position.

While 7-footers are a welcome sight to any program, this one comes with some extra baggage. DiLoreto was arrested in connection with a Wisconsin bank robbery a year ago in which he was the get-away driver for a teenage friend. Two weeks ago, he entered a plea of no contest to aiding and abetting robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 22. With no same or similar offenses, the plea will be vacated and the charges dismissed in one year...

Go here for the remainder.

Here is an August 2008 article on the bank robbery but it sure leaves a number of unanswered questions.

Here is another 2008 article, this one from November.

A Canadian backcourter goes to the Big East -- USU came close

Here's a kid LA TECH wanted (that Canada connection again) and one that Utah State got very close to:

BC Lands 3 Star Point Guard
Eric Hoffses
EagleAction.com
August 24, 2009

Al Skinner and his staff received the second commitment from the class of 2010, when 6'2" point guard Brady Heslip committed to Boston College over the weekend. Heslip joins forward Kevin Noreen in the 2010 recruiting class...

...Heslip was not void of a list of some impressive offers.

"I had offers from Cincinnati, Georgetown, Utah State, San Diego, Louisiana Tech, East Carolina, Rice, Fairfield and Brown," said Heslip...

..."I took an unofficial visit to UCLA before BC, but they couldn't give me an offer right away. I was considering Cincinnati and Utah State as well. After I took my visit to BC I knew that's where I wanted to go," said Heslip...

Go here for the remainder and a Rivals sub is required.

Vaughn Autry to Utah State

According to Dave Keefer at the Rivals CaliforniaPreps site, Junipero Serra point Vaughn Autry has verbally committed to Utah State.

He's listed at 6-foot-2, with Dinos Trigonis of the Full Court Press site describing Autry as a "quick lead guard can beat defenders off the dribble with regularity."

Again, here is Autry's MySpace site.

It looks like Stew Morrill has his replacement for Jared Quayle.

Texas prepster with a Utah State mention

Here's a Texas senior that includes a mention of Utah State interest:

Damon Sayles
TexasHoops.com Senior Writer
June 30, 2009

San Antonio Lee guard Paul Garnica remembers the negative comments he used to receive as a freshman. He was told he needed to check his attitude if he wanted to be considered a great basketball player.

"I was young. I've matured over the years, and I'm listening to my coaches," said Garnica, now a 5-foot-11, 160-pound incoming senior. "I used to talk a lot. Now, I don't have to talk as much. I just let my game speak for itself."

Garnica focused on keeping his emotions at bay as a sophomore, even more so as a junior. As he prepares for his final high school year, Garnica's attitude has taken a back seat to his sharpshooting resume. Those same people once looking for Garnica to blow up in a game are now mesmerized by his remarkable ability to put the ball into the basket...

Go here for the remainder and a Rivals sub is required.

Long Island has offered the kid. Weber State is also mentioned as checking him out.

Utah State looking at a Wisconsin 'big'

Stew Morrill knows he needs a 'big' to help fill the hole that will be present when Gary Wilkinson graduates after this season -- Nate Bendall notwithstanding. Here's another kid the Aggies have offered but note that he's a 2010 recruit:

Ben Mills
6-10 205
Hartland, Wisconsin

He's unofficially tripped to Logan (besides many others) and supposedly has 11 offers to date. Most seem to be at the mid-major level but Minnesota is starting to pay attention.

Here's a link to a message board that has some summer posts and a couple of recent updates and a photo of Mills.

Here a link to an early October article.

In other news about power players, 6-10 215 Washingtonian Nate Budinich was being looked at by USU but his offers were from Eastern Washington and Montana State. He just committed to the latter.

Jay Drew with his USU recruiting updates

Maybe because he's out in the western part of the U.S. but Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune doesn't get the props for his basketball recruiting coverage that some of the big names in the eastern section of this country enjoy. But he's right up there in our book and he's back again with the scoop on the latest for Stew Morrill and the Aggies:

First, West Jordan High's Rayes Gallegos, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, decided to sign on with Doc Sadler and Nebraska. Well, it's a verbal actually.

Then Brandon Davies gets some space:

Jay Drew
Prep Sports
The recruiting trail
September 15, 2008

Basketball: Provo's Davies enjoys Utah State visit

Here's a little bit of good news for Utah State fans: their team's horrible showing on the football field Saturday night didn't turn off their coveted basketball recruit.

Provo High's Brandon Davies, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound power forward who is a four-star recruit according to Scout.com, said Monday night that he visited Utah State over the weekend, and liked what he saw, "except for their football team, which is not good at all..."

Go here for the remainder (it's the link to Drew's recruiting column which unfortunately doesn't allow linking to each particular article.

Our guess (and take it for what it's worth) is that Davies goes with BYU.

More on Utah State recruiting

The Aggies coaching staff sure seems to be spending a lot of time and attention in the Lone Star State.

6-8 195 Mesquite (TX) forward Cory Remekun is the latest Texan target. Utah State has offered but there's been no official visit. There's a long list of suitors and Remekun offers gracious words about Colorado State.

Here's the link if you have a Rivals subscription.

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6-9 190 Aaron Thompson, also out of Texas, has been offered by Army and Utah State but has taken no official visits as yet. He doesn't sound too keen on joining the military and not yet sold on the Aggies. Again, here's the link if you have a Rivals subscription.