More on B.J. West

Sam Wasson at his BleedCrimson.net site has more, via the NMSU sports information staff, on new Aggie B.J. West:

Menzies Adds B.J. West to Aggie Men's Basketball Roster
swasson
May 6, 2009

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State men's basketball head coach Marvin Menzies has signed B.J. West to a National Letter of Intent, Wednesday, May 6. West is a power forward/center from Cheneyville, La.

"When B.J. visited campus, he was obviously a perfect fit for us at NM State," Menzies said. "He is an extremely talented big man with a huge upside. We are optimistic he can come in and compete for minutes right away...

Go here for the full post.

Hawaii officially has a center

Bob Nash now has a tower in the middle but one who apparently is agile and runs the court well despite his size.

Rainbow Warriors Sign Junior College Post Player
5/6/2009

HONOLULU –
University of Hawai`i men's basketball coach Bob Nash announced the signing of junior college transfer Douglas Kurtz to a national letter of intent. Kurtz is the third player to join the Rainbow Warriors’ 2009-010 recruiting class.

Kurtz, a native of Brazil, comes to Hawai`i via Marshalltown Community College in Iowa. The 7-foot-0, 265-pound center averaged 9.6 ppg and 5.8 rpg as a sophomore for the Tigers and led the conference in both field goal percentage (.671) and free throw percentage (.847). Kurtz was named All-Region XI honorable mention. As a freshman, Kurtz averaged 6.0 ppg and 5.4 rpg, while shooting 59.1 percent from the floor...

Go here for the remainder.

Dayton Morinaga has more:

7-footer signs with UH
Dayton Morinaga
Honolulu Advertiser
May 7, 2008

The University of Hawaii men's basketball team filled a big need with the signing of a big recruit.

Douglas Kurtz, a 7-foot, 270-pound center, signed a national letter of intent yesterday to play with the Rainbow Warriors starting in the 2009-10 season.

"We needed a big, physical player and he definitely provides us with that," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "Douglas is a strong 7-footer who has his best basketball in front of him. He's strong, can run the floor and plays hard. Offensively, he has good hands, is active around the basket and has a nice, short jump shot..."

Go here for the remainder.

Not a big matter but a curious one

This is really a trivial concern but something we thought still worth posting. Why did Utah State sign Dominique Cooks? (we're assuming he was on scholarship this past season). Cooks was a freshman guard out of Australia whose playing time was curtailed due to injury and solid play by those in front of him in the rotation.

Now it's been announced he isn't returning to Logan. We don't know if the departure was by mutual agreement or something different.

Our curiosity was piqued because most of the time foreign players are brought in because of high level talent or good potential or even sometimes as a package deal in order to land a blue-chipper type. We're not certain but it appears Cooks didn't necessarily fit into any of these categories.

For most schools, the tuition cost for a foreign student is prohibitive unless the player is really worth it -- say very good and ready to start or battle for a starting spot.

Utah State men's basketball is obviously the athletic money-maker in Logan so Coach Stew Morrill should and probably does have some leeway in who he signs. He must have seen something in Cooks which led to the initial signing.

But for whatever reasons, it wasn't meant to be.

Jason Groves on Justin Standley

At his blog, Jason Groves has a transcript of his conversation with new NMSU Aggie recruit Justin Standley. What Groves did is a great idea and we wish more reporters offered direct Q-and-As.

Here's the link.

Standley is a great young man who will a fine addition to the Aggie basketball program. He won't be causing problems connected to wanting more playing time, he is a good student and he understands that hard work is the only way to achieve what he desires. This is great for Justin and a good move by Marvin Menzies at landing someone who understands and accepts his role and puts his team first.

Utah State adds two prepsters, one player departs

These two were about the world's worst 'secret' if you will but at least the official announcement is out. But weren't Aggie fans looking for another big to be signed this go-around or are we misinterpreting the chatter and thinking about the following year's signing class?

Aggies sign two prep stars
Shawn Harrison
Herald Journal
May 6, 2009

Character is an important attribute in order to play basketball for Utah State head men’s basketball coach Stew Morrill.

The veteran coach has stressed that more and more of late. So, it should be no surprise when the two most recent additions to the team were announced Tuesday that Morrill used the word character.

Preston Medlin and Tyrone White signed National Letters of Intent to become Aggies, beginning with the 2009-10 season. The two players are both guards and each have four years of eligibility...

Go here for the remainder.

New Mexico State lands a big

Coach Marvin Menzies has signed a big (on May 5) but a kid with a strong whiff of academic eligibility problems for 2009-2010 season. But he also sounds like someone worth waiting for if he has sit out.

Brandon West's ESPN Evaluation:

February, 2009: This long and very athletic forward is an aggressive live body on both ends of the court... Go here for the remainder.

Go and scroll down to "Basketball Recruiting Scoop" to read more about the young man.

Message board chatter is often unreliable (that's right up there with the sun rises in the east in the tell-us-something-we-didn't-know category) but it isn't that difficult to get into an SEC school and attending Louisiana State supposedly was West's desire. The kid appears to be a solid talent but if Trent Johnson didn't think he was eligible... But then again, LSU has so many different options when it comes to signing players and maybe there was no need to take a chance.

By the way, what is this kid's present height and weight? Both numbers seem all over the map in various articles we located.

Fresno has a transfer

From the BarkBoard's Save Mart Center MB, poster Kamcgee2001 has a note about a new transfer to Steve Cleveland's program. Ultimately, there is a link to this article:

Former Lobo Wills Going to Fresno State
Mark Smith
Albuquerque Journal
Monday, 4 May 2009

Former University of New Mexico men’s basketball player Jonathan Wills is heading back to his home state.

The 6-foot-6 guard, who announced last month he was leaving the Lobos, told the Journal he will transfer to Fresno State at semester’s end. Wills said he trimmed his final choices down to the Western Athletic Conference school, Santa Clara, San Diego and UC Riverside...

Go here for the remainder.

Tyrone Hanson has (yet) another new team

Give credit to Sagebrush reporter Juan López for digging up the latest on former Wolf Packer Tyrone Hanson. It's always difficult to read the proverbial tea leaves but Hansen doesn't come off like he is any wiser for his continuing travails. It will certainly come as a surprise to the existing Jackson State players that it's Hanson's team next season.

Ex-Pack player finds new team
Juan López
Nevada Sagebrush
May 5, 2009

Former Nevada basketball forward Tyrone Hanson will play for his third team in four seasons after he was dismissed from the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.

Hanson said he will play at Jackson State University for the 2009-10 season.

Hanson played at Nevada during the 2006-07 season. As a freshman, he showed glimpses of being a solid player as he averaged 1.6 points and one rebound per game in 8.1 minutes played per game. He played in all 30 games and seemed to be headed for an even more successful sophomore campaign before he was dismissed from the team because he violated team rules...

Go here for the remainder.

This ends that

Hawaii basketball fans can rest easier:

UH star not draft-eligible
Dayton Morinaga
Honolulu Advertiser
May 5, 2009

Roderick Flemings will not get selected in next month's NBA Draft, and it has nothing to do with the talent level of the University of Hawai'i standout.
Advertisement

Flemings is not eligible for the NBA Draft because the NBA league office has not received his paperwork for early entry...

Go here for the remainder.

New Mexico State will have a new backcourter

We have it on good authority -- the recruit himself -- that Justin Standley out of Oakland, CA's McClymonds High, is coming to New Mexico State.

We'll have an article coming out on the Rivals network at some point but here's a link to a 2008 article we did on Standley.

Also, Jason Groves has previously written about Standley in his blog and the Las Cruces Sun-News. Here's one link we located.

Jason Groves throws a bone to Aggie fans

The New Mexico State coaching brass have done a superb/aggravating (it depends on your vantage point) job at keeping its 'recruiting cards' close to the vest. Actually, inside the vest which is hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar and locked away in a secret vault, guarded by a battalion of Brinks guards and trucks, Green Berets and F-15 fighter jets.

But Jason Groves has somehow entered the sanctuary and offers a couple of recruiting possibilities today: B.J. West and Deshawn Gomez. Here's where you need to go to read about the pair.

After attempting to google B.J. West and coming up empty we are tempted to think Marvin Menzies is going after the basketball version of Sidd Finch. ;-)

Why the Pack will still be formidable

No, the apocalypse hasn't struck Reno despite a series of setbacks and disagreements. Chris Murray has his take on why Nevada fans should be hanging in there:

Five reasons for Wolf Pack basketball optimism
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
5/3/2009

Wolf Pack basketball fans have had a lot to digest over the past few weeks, with the loss of coach Mark Fox (to Georgia), Richie Phillips (to injury), Ahyaro Phillips (to dismissal), Malik Cooke (to a probable transfer), Mark McLaughlin (to a release) and then the news of Steven Bjornstad asking out of his letter-of-intent. There's not too much to cheer about in there, but here are five reasons for optimism...

Go here for the remainder.

Sultan Toles-Bey goes to the Big Sky Conference

One-time Fresno State recruiting target Sultan Toles-Bey is heading north to Sacramento State. We haven't a clue if this was a factor in Fresno State's decision to sign a different point but the Bulldogs didn't need a scoring point, not with the scorers already on Steve Cleveland's roster plus the new kids coming in this summer.

...SULTAN TOLES-BEY

Toles-Bey, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound native of Compton, Calif., spent the last three years (redshirt in 2007-08) at Fresno City College. Last year, he was named the state co-player of the year and first team all-conference after leading Fresno City to a Central Valley Conference championship, a 34-1 overall record and a perfect 12-0 league mark. Toles-Bey averaged 17.4 points, 5.1 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 44.9 percent (198-441) from the field, 43.6 percent (113-259) from the three-point line and 78.7 percent (100-127) from the free throw line. Fresno City won its first 34 games of the season and was ranked No. 1 in the state heading into the state tournament, but lost in the quarterfinals to Riverside Community College, 71-67..."

Go here for the full release.

Oy vey! Now Steven Bjornstad isn't coming to Nevada

What's that line from "The Godfather" where Michael (Al Pacino) is lamenting...oh here it is: "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."

We're starting to feel the same way about Nevada men's basketball. Any thoughts or forecasts that the tempests have blown over are incorrect.

Pack recruit Bjornstad asks out of letter-of-intent
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
5/1/2009

Nevada basketball recruit Steven Bjornstad asked for a release from his national letter-of-intent and Nevada turned down the request, one of his high school coaches said Friday.

Jim Sevall, an assistant coach on Bjornstad’s Columbia River (Wash.) High team, said Bjornstad asked for the release earlier this week. Wolf Pack athletic director Cary Groth has denied the release request, Sevall said, but Bjornstad will appeal the decision to the NCAA, where the National Letter-of-Intent Committee will review the case.

“The athletic director told him she doesn’t issue releases,” Sevall said...

Go here for the remainder.

New Mexico State and defense -- unrequited lovers?

One of the repeated refrains heard in Las Cruces throughout this recently completed season is that New Mexico State needed to be introduced to the concept of defense, both individually and collectively. A 'defense, here's Coach Marvin Menzies' squad -- Coach Marvin Menzies' team, here's defense' pas de deux.

Sure, we're having a bit of exaggerated fun with this but let's seriously explore the charge. We'll present a series of statistics as jumping off points but also need to offer that we saw Marvin Menzies's 9-7 in-the-WAC squad in person but once this season. So heads up given, we are pretty much riding shotgun alongside numbers on this journey.

The Aggies finished last in scoring defense in 2008-2009, allowing 74.2 points per league game, prompting an immediate and probably growing chorus of "shame, shame." In balance, NMSU simultaneously averaged 73.5 points a contest, first in the WAC.

Now it's a given that a fast-paced, high-scoring offensive team (such as NMSU) also allows more points due to the increased number of possessions available in a game. So keep this factor in mind even as it's close to an offensive/defensive scoring numbers push.

As for proficiencies, New Mexico State shot a very commendable .451 from the floor -- third in the conference. The Aggies held opposing teams to a lesser .440, sixth in the WAC.

Now what's also curious in looking at actual numbers is that New Mexico State's conference opponents collectively took 63 more three-point attempts than the Aggies attempted (319 to 256) even though the numbers made are close -- 102 for opposing teams to New Mexico States' 97 -- and the Aggies shot 38% from treyland to 32% for collective opponents.

So what are the foremost factors at play here? Stout Aggie three-point defense in terms of made attempts? In-the-paint 'D' forcing opponents into a greater number of outside shots? More of a NMSU design to protect the inside, thus allowing long distance opportunities that WAC opponents were simply unable to make? A simple imbalance due to other WAC team offenses designed for long distance shooting regardless of proficiency? What else?

Now we're not sure exactly how to quantify this but we believe rebounding is a key factor if the Aggies wish to notch improved defensive numbers in opponent overall shooting. In conference play, NMSU averaged 2.6 less rebounds than the collection of the other WAC teams but most importantly, allowed opponents to grab 108 more offensive boards. Consider that the latter often then result in putbacks and short shots -- obvious high percentage ones -- that inflate the shooting percentages and scoring averages of opponents.

Also, consider (we can hear the respective groans all the way from Las Cruces) the youthfulness and inexperience of the 2008-2009 Aggies. Please bear with us, here's the class breakdown among the New Mexico State players who saw the vast majority of the minutes available:

Jonathan Gibson -- junior

Jahmar Young -- sophomore
Wendell McKines -- sophomore
Gordo Castillo -- sophomore
Robert Lumpkins -- sophomore

Hernst Laroche -- freshman
Chris Gabriel -- freshman
Terrance Joyner -- freshman
Hamidu Rahman -- redshirt frosh
Troy Gillenwater -- redshirt frosh

Minus viewing any actual statistics, any neutral observer of such a team makeup would say this is a composition more than likely in need of defensive improvement but with the age/experience latitude necessary to make such an advancement. In fact, we're ultimately surprised this season's New Mexico State team actually achieved a .440 defensive shooting number especially considering that its three 'bigs' were all freshman.

One factor that would truly benefit the Aggies gaining greater defensive prowess would be the stepping up of one or two of the squad into the role of topflight defender. So who has the mindset to work into such a role? Remember, it doesn't necessarily have to be the extremely athletic -- more the most determined.

Of course, the experience of viewing New Mexico State in 'real time' just once leaves a gaping hole in our framework so what did you witness this season?

Was the above:

On target?
About parallel with the best of Dostoyevsky?
Close but no cigar?
Missed the mark entirely?
Equal to Charles Bukowski's worst?
A waste of your time?