Who in the WAC had the best signing class?

Couldn't find anything of consequence to post so we're substituting this:

First off, nobody truly knows the answer posed in the headline question until at least a couple of years pass and second, there isn't a person alive who has witnessed all the signees, so making judgments as such is a fun exercise, but nothing else.

So with that warning, PTW plunges in.

There is not a person alive who wouldn't go with Fresno State as the top batch of recruits.

FRESNO STATE

* Aaron Anderson OK HS point
* Braeden Anderson Canada HS power forward
* Tanner Giddings CA HS center
* Marvelle Harris CA HS shooting guard
* Broderick Newbill MO HS wing
* Robert Upshaw CA HS center

Each player above has starting potential although Giddings is the furthest away and would benefit from a redshirt year next season. BAnderson has the highest ceiling (NBA potential) and Upshaw is also up there. All are also good athletes. Probably the best news is that Upshaw shouldn't be a one and done and more than likely not a two and done either.

UTAH STATE

* Sean Harris CA JC power forward
* Marcel Davis UT HS point
* Riley Bradshaw MT HS shooting guard
* Quincy Bair UT HS wing
* Spencer Butterfield CA JC wing
* Marvin Jean NY JC wing
* Tenale Roland IL JC IL point

There are a lot of nice parts here too although lower ceilings. Bradshaw appears to possess the top potential. If their collective minds are 'right' -- meaning willingness to perform in certain roles for the JC guys in particular -- then this batch will makes the Aggies very tough once again.

These two classes stand above the others.

HAWAII

* Caleb Dressler Washington HS center
* Orel Lev Israel HS shooting guard
* Isaac Fotu New Zealand HS power foreard
* Keith Shamburger TR SJSU shooting guard
* Brandon Spearman IL JC shooting guard
* Manroop Clair WVA HS point

Talk about guessing -- who, other than the UH staff, has any idea on Lev and Fotu? Shamburger will certainly help a year from now but Dressler will need time. That leaves Spearman and Clair who look like they can contribute right away but it's been a matter of accepting roles, or not, with UH hoops of late. Such has been the genesis of the movement of late on the Rainbow Warrior roster. The guess here is that Spearman will do fine and that Clair will be the best shooting point in a long time in the islands but he'll need to focus on getting the ball to his teammates.

IDAHO

* Denzel Douglas WY JC point
* Ty Egbert ID HS power forward
* Marcus Bell IA JC power forward
* Robert Harris AZ JC point
* Antwann Scott TX JC shooting guard

The new backcourters won't need to be gamechangers (this is the team of Barone and Madison in 2012-13), just willing to perform assigned tasks efficiently. Odds are two of the three will pan out, Egbert will likely redshirt and Bell looks like he'll be a starter at the four.

NEVADA

* Rafael Carter CA JC center
* Marqueze Coleman CA HS shooting guard
* Cheikh Fall CA JC center
* Cole Huff CA HS wing

The original plan was for Carter to redshirt a season but that will likely be dependent on what Fall shows as well as how much Devonte Elliott and Kevin Panzer have developed. Huff may also redshirt but Coleman looks like he can help right away.


NEW MEXICO STATE

* Kevin Aronis CA JC shooting guard
* Materj Buovac IN HS wing

Both should see trial minutes early and often and that will continue if their respective shots are dropping.

LOUISIANA TECH

* Demetrius Moore FL JC power forward
* Alex Hamilton FL HS shooting guard
* Jaron Johnson TX JC wing
* Sean Young OK HS center

Moore should help right away, Hamilton possibly and Johnson definitely. Young is probably going to redshirt.

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY

* Louie Garrett UT JC
* Mike VanKirk CA HS
* Xavier Jones IL JC
* Alex Brown IL JC
* David Andoh FL PREP

Brown (shotblocker) and Jones (scorer) are projected starters inside and outside respectively. VanKirk is 7-foot-1 but will need time. Garrett is athletic and should fill in off the bench while Andoh has promise but faces adaptation to the physicality of the college ranks.

SEATTLE

* Isiah Umipig TR Cal State Fullerton shooting guard
* Emerson Murray California TR California shooting guard

Each will redshirt next season.

TEXAS STATE

* Joel Wright TX JC power forward
* Darius Richardson TX JC shooting guard
* Ray Dorsey TX HS shooting guard

Wright is a high-flyer and should get immediately playing time, as should big guard Richardson but Dorsey less so.

DENVER

* Griffin McKenzie TR Xavier power forward who will redshirt
* Nate Engesser CO HS shooting guard
* Jalen Love IN HS shooting guard
* Bryant Rucker TX HS point guard
* Dom Samac FL PREP power forward

The trio of backcourters have the best chances of contributing first but the Pioneers have two sophomore guards returning who will play the vast majority of backcourt minutes.

TEXAS ARLINGTON

* Vincent Dillard TX JC guard
* Greg Gainey TX JC forward
* Deon Rodgers TX HS forward
* Drew Charles TX HS guard

Dillard and Gainey will be the immediate contributors, Rodgers will help if he can control his weight and Charles is a darkhorse for possessing the best potential but he'll need some time.

TEXAS SAN ANTONIO

* Hyjjii Thomas TX JC shooting guard      
* Tank Mayberry TX JC center        
* Edrico McGregor ID JC forward
* Lucas O'Brien AZ HS center

Thomas is extraordinarily athletic and on the cusp of his skills matching his jumping and running prowess, Mayberry weighs in at 285 after dropping 60 ot so pounds, McGregor is out of the Bahamas, also athletic and with some scoring and rebounding skills while O'Brien runs the floor well and has accuracy from outside but will need some extra vittles before he is ready. This is a darkhorse class with quite a boom possible -- check back in a year.       

Hey, do let us know who we missed and also mis-evaluated. Criticism relished, renumerations more so.

A Paul George feature plus Chris Murray all over WAC recruiting

Paul George sacrificed as a youngster in order to get out of being ball-and-chained in the paint. Go here for the details.

+++++

Chris Murray goes out (vacation) with a ginormous bang -- he offers to-date assessments on the recruiting class of each WAC team. Go here and be prepared to click away. This will kill any productivity at work today.

WAC RECRUITING

There are surely still more announcements that will be made but here is what we have compiled so far. Who have we missed? Who should be included that is missing? One thing for sure is that each school should sell a lot of programs what with the dramatic roster turnovers.

Boise State

Coming:

Tre' Nichols 6-foot-0 195 McClennan Community College (TX)
Thomas Bropleh 6-foot-5 220 New Hampton Prep School (NH)

Redshirts:

Sam Hicks 6-foot-9 260 (freshman)
Sean Imadiyi 6-foot-7 200 (senior)

Departing other than graduation:

Tyler Young  6-8  215

Will be redshirting:

Drew Wiley 6-foot-7 215 UOregon


Fresno State

Coming:

Tyler Johnson, 6-foot-2 170 CA HS
John Ryan 6-foot-8 245 CA HS
Kevin Olekaibe 6-foot-1 175 NV HS
Tim Steed 6-foot-4 220 Highland College (IL)

Redshirt:

Jonathan Wills 6-foot-6 200 (junior)

Departing other than graduation:

Paul George
Brandon Sperling
Taylor Kelly


Hawaii

Coming:

Jordan Coleman 6-foot-4 180 CA HS
Josten Thomas 6-foot-7 235 College of Southern Idaho
Vander Joaquim 6-foot-10 240 College of Eastern Utah
Trevor Wiseman 6-foot-7 200, CA HS
Bo Barnes 6-foot-4 180 Westwind Prep (AZ)
Bobby Miles 6-foot-1 190 CA HS
Dominick Brumfield 6-foot-8 210 Big Bend College (WA)

Not sure about Andre Almeida -- Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler said he isn't going to release him from his Cornhusker LOI in order for Almeida to follow the Brazilian assistant to Hawaii.

Redshirts:

Zane Johnson 6-foot-6 210 (junior)

Departing other than graduation:

Jeremy Lay
Ji Xiang
Aleksandar Milovic

Idaho

Coming:

Djim Bandoumel 6-foot-8 215 Monroe Junior College NY (awaiting NCAA Clearinghouse okay)
Idell Bell 6-foot-2 180 North Idaho College
Renaldo Parker 6-foot-8 240 North Idaho College
Gary Winston 6-foot-1 185 Washington HS
Deremy Geiger 5-foot-9 160 Grayson County Community College (TX)
Stephen Madison 6-foot-6 190 HS Oregon

Redshirts:

Joe Kammerer 6-foot-9 240 (freshman)
Landon Tatum 5-foot-11196 (junior)
Brandon Wiley 6-foot-6 220 (senior)


Louisiana Tech

Coming:

Holton Hunsaker 6-foot-2 Utah HS (will re-sign after completing his LDS mission)
James Johnson 6-foot-7 240 CA HS
Antwon Roshell 6-foot-10 260 John Logan CC (IL)
Romario Souza 6-foot-9 240 College of Southern Idaho
Stojan Gjuroski 6-foot-7 190 Life Center Academy (NJ)
Kenyon McNeaill 6-foot 180 ARK HS
Jamison Sterns 6-foot 215 TX HS

There has also been talk about Adrien Coleman, a transfer from Nebraska, walking on but no confirmation.
Plus, November signees Scottie Farrington and Josh Brown are now headed to Louisiana Lafayette

Nevada

Coming:

Jordan Burris 6-foot-6 190 CA HS
Jordan Finn 6-foot-4 190 Air Force Prep
Illiwa Baldwin 6-foot-11 270 Pratt Community College (KS)
Deonte Burton 6-foot-2 180 CA HS
Derrell Conner 6-foot-0 165 Kankakee College (IL)
Kevin Panzer 6-foot-9 190 CA HS

Redshirts:

Malik Story 6-foot-5 225 (junior)
Olek Czyz 6-foot-8 240 (junior)
Jerry Evans 6-foot-7 180 CA HS (freshman)
Devonte Elliott 6-foot-8 210 (freshman)

Departing other than graduation:

London Giles
Luke Babbitt
Armon Johnson


New Mexico State

Coming:

Tshilidzi Nephawe 6-foot-10 240 Stoneridge Prep CA
Christian Kabongo 6-foot 4,190 God's Academy (TX)
Renaldo Dixon 6-foot-8, 210 Quality Education Academy (NC)
Kofi Mensa 6-foot-4 170 Mountain State Academy (WVA)

Departing other than graduation:

Jahmar Young


San Jose State

Coming:

Derek Brown 6-foot-1 175 CA HS
Keith Shamburger 6-foot-0 175 CA HS
Wil Carter, 6-foot-8 210 Salt Lake Community College
Calvin Douglas, 6-3 190 City College San Francisco
Brylle Kamen 6-foot-7 230 Western Nebraska College

Departing other than graduation:

C.J. Webster


Utah State

Coming:

James Walker 6-foot-1 CA HS
Brockeith Paine 6-foot-2 Midland College TX
Ben Clifford 6-foot-8 200 Utah HS
Antonio Bumpus 6-foot-3 195 Harcum Community College

Redshirts:

Jordan Stone 6-foot-11 245 (possible LDS mission returnee -- is he coming back this next season or the following one?))

Departing other than graduation:

Modou Niang
Tyrone White
Anthony DiLoreto
Jaxon Myaer

Our first attempt at a compilation of WAC newcomers

We're trying to create a to-date, complete list of both 'newly' signed recruits plus redshirts who will be on the active rosters in the WAC for next season. Please let us know who we have missed.

Boise State

Chris Kupets, 5-foot-11, 180 Hill Junior College, TX
Ben Mills, 7-foot, 210 Wisconsin HS

Sam Hicks 6-foot-9, 260 (redshirt freshman)
Sean Imadiyi 6-foot-7, 200 (redshirt senior)


Fresno State

Tyler Johnson, 6-foot-2 CA HS
John Ryan 6-foot-8, 245 CA HS

Jonathan Wills 6-foot-6, 200 (redshirt junior)


Hawaii

Jordan Coleman 6-foot-4 CA HS

Aleksandar Milovic 6-foot-7, 220 (redshirt junior)
Zane Johnson 6-foot-6, 210 (redshirt junior)


Idaho

Djim Bandoumel 6-foot-8, 215 Monroe Junior College NY
Idell Bell 6-foot-2 North Idaho College ID
Renaldo Parker 6-foot-8, 240 North Idaho College ID
Gary Winston 6-foot-1, 185, Washington HS

Joe Kammerer 6-foot-9, 240 (redshirt freshman)
Landon Tatum 5-foot-11, 196 (redshirt junior)
Brandon Wiley 6-foot-6, 220 (redshirt senior)


Louisiana Tech

Holton Hunsaker 6-foot-2 Utah HS (will re-sign after completing his LDS mission)

Scottie Farrington 6-foot-9, 220 Odessa College TX
Josh Brown 6-foot-4, 190 Odessa College TX
James Johnson 6-foot-7, 240 CA HS

There has also been talk about Adrien Coleman, a transfer from Nebraska, but no confirmation.


Nevada

Jordan Burris 6-foot-6 CA HS

Malik Story 6-foot-5, 225 (redshirt junior)
Jerry Evans 6-foot-7, 180 CA HS (redshirt freshman)
Olek Czyz 6-foot-8, 240 (redshirt junior)
Devonte Elliott 6-foot-8, 210 (redshirt freshman)


New Mexico State

Tshilidzi Nephawe 6-foot-10, 240 Stoneridge Prep CA


San Jose State

Derek Brown 6-foot-1 CA HS


Utah State

James Walker 6-foot-1 CA HS
Brockeith Paine 6-foot-2 Midland College TX
Ben Clifford 6-foot-8, 200 Utah HS

Melvin Grussing has more on WAC interest in AVC players

Melvin Grussing at his marvelous site on Antelope Valley College (CA) basketball has a further update on which AVC players are being recruited by what schools, including a number of WAC mentions. He notes Louisiana Tech was at practice yesterday.

Here are the WAC items:

Donald Williams, 6-foot-5, freshman guard - LT and Fresno State interest (he is a qualifier and can transfer after this season)

Matt Stern (brother of Idaho's Corey Stern), 6-foot-7, sophomore, forward - offer from Idaho

Rod Singleton, 5-foot-10, sophomore point - offers from Utah State and Boise State

DeWayne Dedman, 6-foot-11, freshman, center - offer from Fresno State (Dedman has to first earn his AA so his move to D-1 is a ways away)

Some recruiting updates

This may take a diagram but we'll attempt to type out an explanation.

The inimitable SeldomSceneSmith posted at the Scout Utah State site basketball message board that a California junior college backcourter -- one enrolled at Antelope Valley College -- is being recruited by Utah State.

SeldomSeenSmith noted this information was discovered at the JucoJunction site, a Rivals entity devoted to tracking recruiting of junior college basketballers.

Then we remembered that Melvin Grussing maintains the very best junior college team basketball site we have ever read -- one titled Antelope Valley College Men's Basketball. So off we went there to see if further information was available.

It was.

Go here. The entry is loaded with mention of a number of WAC teams pursuing various AVC players.

Antelope Valley College (southern California) is one loaded-with-talent basketball squad. Look for almost every one of the WAC teams to be consistent visitors to Palmdale throughout the fall and winter.

We don't know if this has any significance but Dieter Horton, AVC's head coach, was in the same position at Fullerton College when his frontcourter Michael Earl signed on with the Aggies.

Utah State and its recruiting

So how in the heck does Utah State Coach Stew Morrill do it? It being entering a new and tougher league, quickly rising to the top tier and staying there. There's probably much more than PTW is even aware of that contributes to this success but here's our best take:

Of all the schools in the WAC, USU employs a proscribed, move-by-move offensive system. Some players adjust and benefit, some don't and transfer -- the latter is especially true for backcourters arriving in Logan. This design, when operated proficiently, makes the whole better than the sum of its parts.

The USU offensive style appears as the antithesis of the in-vogue dribble-drive creation offense John Calipari and others have so prominently displayed of late -- the one in which it seems there are no 'plays' being run, more a creating offense by breaking down defenders off the dribble and going to the hoop or passing to the open teammate if then double-teamed.

Morrill typically cannot land the type of backcourters needed to run the 'Calipari' style. That's no judgment -- just a reality. Instead, he brings in high basketball IQ types who do well in running set plays, rarely commit unforced errors, play a physical game and sometimes have surprisingly good athletic ability.

The primary keys to Morrill's offense are patience, unselfishness and definitely the setting of screens. It would be interesting to view a before and after the game set of photos of an Aggie opponent because there would definitely be bruises and welts in the latter that weren't appearing in the former. It's a style that gets an opposing player thinking after a while -- pondering how to stay close to his man by maybe taking a shortcut here or there and hopefully bypassing another pounding absorbed by fighting through screen after screen. But taking these alternate routes more often than not lead to an open jumper or a defensive breakdown that allows a route to the basket.

The above is a prelude to digging into Utah State's recruiting. Morrill, as with every other WAC coach, cannot land the so-called blue-chippers. Guys like Luke Babbitt and Herb Pope are anomaly recruits -- exceedingly rare. So he pursues the hard workers, the blue collar guys, who will submerge their egos and work within a team framework for the common good.

He hits more than he misses.

But we also see the need for at least a bit of a caveat. Of late, the Aggie coaching staff has brought in a number of guards and wings who ended up departing over lack of playing time and/or difficulty in adjusting to their assigned role. Were these departees worthy of the gamble, not good fits for the system or simply a byproduct of the nowaday basketball mindset of "I want playing time now"? Who really knows?

Here's that lineage: Stavon Williams, Dominique Cooks, Richard Sirju, DeUndrae Spraggins, Desmond Stephens, Deremy Geiger (apparently) plus even Brandon Brown who eventually ended up at Idaho. We don't know what was behind the move north but Brown never played for the Aggies.

As for bigs, Morrill and Company have done a much better job at minimizing turnover. We could only locate Michael Earl and Brayden Bell as transfers. The Earl signing though was truly mystifying. Yes, he shared most valuable player honors in the California junior college ranks as a sophomore at Fullerton College but his style of play was an utmost finesse one and we're still not surer why Morrill and Company reached out.

However, Utah State has obviously managed to remain successful regardless of any comings-and-goings so they are certainly doing things right enough to prevent any sort of argument about roster changes.

One concern we do have is who will replace Jared Quayle a year from now? He is going to be in the running for WAC most valuable player (who in the world predicted this at the time of his signing?) and we don't see a replacement on the current roster.

More WAC recruiting items

July is the ground zero month for college basketball recruiting so many more 'items' than usual are being splashed across the 'net.

Let's begin with Jordan Railey.

everydayezag
The Slipper Still Fits
July 12, 2009

If, and it's a big if, Gonzaga decides to recruit a big for the 2010 class, it wouldn't surprise me if Jordan Railey becomes one of the main targets. The 6'10 Railey has a slowly developing offensive game, but could be an immediate impact player on the defensive end. Railey reminds me a little bit of Sam Dower at this point of his recruitment, as it appears that Railey is hearing mostly from mid-majors right now, but after a big July, he could be hearing from every school on the West Coast. "Colleges coaches that I've talked to say they really like my hands and my feet- those are the two main things they tell me," Railey said of the feedback he heard from coaches during the contact period. "The only thing they said I really need to improve on is my physical strength, but that's a given since I'm still growing into my body."

Railey currently boasts offers from Portland and Utah State, while also noting interest from Cal, Cal Poly, Gonzaga, San Francisco, Santa Clara, St. Mary's and Washington State. If Railey can continue to dominate on the defensive end, and show the potential to improve offensively, I could see the staff making a run at either him or Yannick Atanga. However, I'm just not sure how many scholarship will be used for 2010, with so much talent and apparent early interest from highly rated prospects in 2011."

Here's a kid with a Fresno State interest mention:

Jon Perryman
ArizonaVarsity.com
July 13, 2009

Scottsdale Christian Academy (Ariz.) rising senior wing/post player Hayden Johnson is starting to turn some heads after his Arizona Premier team finished up as tournament champs at the recent Mullens event in Oklahoma, downing the Nebraska Bison team 49-47 in the finals.

Johnson averaged 10 points per game and had a game high 10 rebounds against the Tulsa Bulldogs (their only loss), and a game high 14 points against Waco while holding their top player in check...

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

Nevada, Fresno State -- each WAC school actually -- plus many others are eyeing this young man:

A.W. Prince
BearTerritory.net Senior Writer
July 14, 2009

He might be the most talked about point guard prospect on the west coast right now, and yet, few have heard his name or seen him play. After a summer spent blowing up on the AAU summer schedule for Belmont Shore, that's about to change. LaBradford Franklin is more than legit, and Cal fans are about to see why.

Why was Franklin so hidden?

He didn't play his junior year. The California Interscholastic Federation's San Diego Section ruled that Franklin, a junior from Temecula (Calif.), plus two incoming transfers from the state of Oklahoma, were all ineligible at San Diego high...

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

A Hawaii youngster has decided to attend Chaminade over walk-on possibilities at Hawaii and Idaho.

Minns to join Silverswords
Jason Kaneshiro
Honolulu Star Bulletin
July 14, 2009

Kamehameha graduate Pi'i Minns, the Star-Bulletin boys basketball Player of the Year, will continue his career at Chaminade.

Minns, a 6-foot-3 guard, led Kamehameha to the state championship last season. He averaged 12 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Warriors...

Go here for the remainder.