Thursday's WAC roundup

Kevin Cacabelos writes that both UH and Idaho are still in the mix for Washington prep guard Sekou Wiggs: "Speaking of Sekou Wiggs (2012), the 6'4" guard from O'Dea told me he is strongly considering attending prep school next fall. Wiggs holds offers from Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Hawaii, Idaho, Portland St., San Francisco and UC irvine. The signing period ended two weeks ago, but Wiggs could conceivably still sign a financial aid agreement with one of these schools. Wiggs could be hoping a year at prep school will convince Cal, Washington St. or another school to offer him."

With no particular insight into this matter, bet on prep school as some of these offers may no longer be active. 

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Again per Cacabelos, Add a new name (to us) to Coach Cameron Dollar's roster: "[David] Trimble played point guard and led Davis HS to a 4A state championship this past March. He is an unselfish guard who always seemed to be making the right pass, taking the right shot and sticking to his man on defense. He will be a quietly effective player for Cameron Dollar."

He is coming out of Davis High in Washington -- here's a March feature on Trimble.

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Plus, Dollar and Seattle have already offered another WA prepster: "DJ Fenner (2013) from Seattle Prep HS is a top five player in the state. According to an interview with the Slipper Still Fits, Fenner currently holds one offer from Seattle U and is receiving interest from Gonzaga, USC and Washington State among other schools. The 6'4" shooting guard/wing prospect needs to improve the range on his jumpshot and his ball handling this summer to improve his chances of landing more offers"

And one more: "Last month I posted this update on Tucker Haymond (2013), a 6'5" wing from Garfield HS. Since then, Richmond, Oregon, Lehigh and Portland have started recruiting Haymond - those four schools are showing the most interest at this point. Haymond currently holds two offers from Seattle University and Western Michigan. This summer, Haymond will be playing for Seattle Rotary's top team." 

Here is the Twitter feed for Cacabellos. Bookmark/Follow it as he is the best at info coming out of the Seattle and state of Washington area. 

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InsideRunnersSports offers a pair of Texas San Antonio recruiting posts, here and here. Nevada also receives a mention in the latter.

Wednesday's WAC basketball roundup

Nevada receives a mention in the recruitment of 2013 SoCal backcourter Jordan Matthews, per Josh Paunil.

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MinerRush has tweeted this: "Former UTEP G @Perez23 has narrowed his potential schools to Penn St., Nevada, and Purdue"

Mike Perez is a shooting guard out of Arizona with very good athletic ability and solid shooting skills.


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This Jason Groves tweet has some Aggie fans hyperventilating. Credit to realaggie at the AggieAlert MB for bringing this to attention.

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Marcus Thompson writes about Big Wen and the Golden State Warriors.

The Mavs, Texas Arlington hoops

Scott Cross heads the Mavericks' program which is coming off a Southland Conference championship after posting a 15-1 record, 24-9 overall.

It looks like three seniors have moved on -- Bradley Gay, Bo Ingram (the second leading scorer at 12.8 points a contest) and LeMarcus Reed III (the leading scorer at 17.8 points per game) -- the latter two very effective as wings. Four newcomers are arriving.

The TA backcourters:

* Cameron Catlett, 6-3/185 guard senior

5.5 points per game, 86 assists and a second-on-the-team 48 steals.

* Luke Davis, 6-1/160 guard sophomore (didn't play last season)

* Jamel Outler, 6-2/180 guard junior  (didn't play last season)

* Jorge Redmon, 5-9/160 guard senior

An outside shooter, he averaged 43% from long distance.

* Shaquille White-Miller, 5-9/165 guard junior

Just 4.8 points per game but a team-leading 123 assists as a regular starter.

As for recruits in the backcourt:

* Drew Charles guard TX HS 6-foot-2

Crafty with long distance shooting talent, he understands how to play plus how to use his teammates efficiently.

* Vincent Dillard Jr. guard Colby KS College 6-foot-5

12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, shooting 42%, 37% and 59% respectively, he's a creative lefty who performs best in transition.


The TA frontcourters:   

* Kevin Butler, 6-5/210 forward senior
 
Producing 10.8 points and 5.9 rebounds a game, Butler led the Mavs with 51 steals.

* Brandon Edwards, 6-6/210 forward junior

4.3 points (shooting 60%), 4.4 rebounds and 23 blocked shots in 15 minutes a contest.
   
* Karol Gruszecki, 6-5/195 forward senior

41 of his overall 55 shots were of the trey variety, he shot 37%.

* Nicholaus Osbourne, 6-0/200 forward junior

Played just 32 minutes last season.

* Jordan Reves, 6-10/240 forward senior

A starter last season, Reves averaged 9.1 points (shooting 55%) and 7.8 boards per game, plus 57 shotblocks overall, all in 24 minutes a contest
    
* Stuart Lagerson, 7-0/210 center junior

He's a backup with some inside shooting and shotblocking prowess.

The Maverick frontcourt recruiting class

* Greg Gainey forward South Plains C.C. 6-foot-5

14 points (on 62% shooting) and 5.4 rebounds a game   

* Deon Rodgers forward TX HS 6-foot-6 245 

A knee injury slowed his senior season but he's thick, posts up and seals well as an inside scorer.


In summary, a fantastic last season in the Southland Conference will be met with an initial who knows one in the Western Athletic Conference. It will be a one season trial whose finish will be determined by the level of  returnees and newbies stepping up in scoring and also playing effective defense and rebounding.

The Mavs shot 45% overall in 2011-12 to 41% for opponents and out-boarded the competition by six a game.

Turnovers played a hand in Texas Arlington's losses last year and will need reducing since the Mavs will likely not shoot as well this go-around. There is also minimal size in the frontcourt.

College Park Center is a brand new facility and the new homecourt for the Mavericks, who were able to play in it four times late in the  2012-13 season.

Thank heavens for Matt Sonnenberg

All PTW has for you today in the digest is one lone item:

* Matt Sonnenberg emerges from the embargo in Logan to promise more player grades and team previews.

Monday's WAC hoops post

Here's is an interesting article involving Fresno State's Braeden Anderson, which at least partially accounts for his setting foot in the San Joaquin. Plus, a second one.

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Denver Associate Head Coach Mike McKee is the centerpiece of this very interesting post about scouting reports.

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Don't like doing this but PTW simply must disagree with Tommy Dee on his evaluation of Joston Thomas. JT isn't going to be positioned as a volume shooter or ranked in the top three (more than likely four) in having plays run for him as an NBA team member and, if not getting shots, his motor stops and he fades into the background far too often. Credit username 343 at the Warrior Sports Network MB for digging this up. For Thomas, it's overseas where he can be a #1 or #2 guy.

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Oh yes, a big shout out to our veterans along with a wish that all the politicians and generals would just stay away from any and all Memorial Day ceremonies. The grunts have been used enough.

Remember Terrence Joyner?

Michael Scotto reports on Mississippi Valley State backcourter Terrence Joyner, who had a rather ignominious departure from New Mexico State after testing the prowess of the security personnel at the El Paso airport. Now, he's readying himself for the the NBA.

Sundays's angels singing WAC basketball hymns

Joey Natale tweeting: "Missouri, Nevada an USC are now showing interest in 2013 Team Nebraska PF Akoy Agau"

He's 6-foot-9, 230 pounds with mucho offers to date.

Here's talk and tape:



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Marek Warszawski in his latest WarZone, pulls no punches: "Whenever San Jose State hires a coach or athletic director, the phrase "sleeping giant" is always invoked. Sleeping? That giant has been comatose for decades."

The Spartans fans will settle for narcolepsy but Bleymaier, despite some carry-on baggage, won't in his last go-around.

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Count on Robert Kuwada to keep it coming as he features what Kevin Olekaibe is up to this spring and summer.

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Has there been an embargo on basketball news in Logan, just nothing to report or vacations coincidentally taking place simultaneously?

San Jose State University offers a backcourter

From Steve Hu's latest in NorCalPreps (a Rivals sub is required): "Isaiah Taylor 6-foot-2 PG The Village School (2013) Texas Pro: The former St. Mary's Berkeley product is now in the Lone Star state. He is bigger in stature and still plays with an aggressive nature in driving to the paint. Taylor states that he has offers from George Mason, Lehigh, Northeastern, and San Jose State. In addition to the move to Texas, Taylor also reclassified to the 2013 class. His size and quickness for a point guard makes him an attractive prospect."

John Carlson with interest from Idaho

Do keep in mind that interest can mean many things but here's an item in a recent article indicating the Idaho Vandals are at least checking out a Reno area talent: "Damonte Ranch senior John Carlson said without the exposure from playing with the Wolverines, the interest he is getting from Idaho, Sacramento State and Southern Utah would probably be nonexistent."

Carlson is 6-foot-7, 185 and a 2012 player.

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.

Saturday's WAC roundup

Dayton Morinaga checks in on Hawaii hoops, covering the question regarding the Rainbow Warriors being Vander-less or not next season.

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Fresno State assist coach Byron Jones is interviewed -- this link thanks to masetheface at the Bark Board Save Mart Center MB.

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Checking in on former Fresno Stater Bracken Funk's season at Hawaii-BYU: 12.4 points (second on the team) and 7.7 rebounds (tops on the team) per game, 50% overall shooting, a team-leading 49 steals and the same with 21 blocked shots.

Closing out the week on WAC hoops

Per Robert Kuwada, freshman Grant Hefeng is leaving the Bulldog program, seeing no PT in his future. The only question is the timing but maybe this was known for some time but now just announced.

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Jim Hilley doesn't straddle the fence in his feelings about the WAC.

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InsideRunnerSports fleshes out the latest recruiting possibility for the Texas San Antonio.

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Does the hiring of Gene Bleymaier by SJSU turn over a new leaf for Spartan athletics? GB has certainly got to feel he has something to prove in what will be his last AD position.

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Not WAC-related but good ol' Deadspin has an article up on college athletic departments monitoring Facebook and Twitter through third-parties for "trigger words."

Thursday's WAC hoops roundup

Chris Murray reports that Coach David Carter is thisclose to both an extension and added $$$ to his annual pay.

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Dan McCarney reports on Texas San Antonio's 2012 bundle of recruits plus the loss of a would-be senior. 

More press for Terry's recruiting prowess

Kellon Hassenstab has national praise for Coach Rodney Terry's first full group of recruits:

"While many fans are aware of the storyline that led 7-footer Robert Upshaw to Fresno State, the reality is that coach Rodney Terry’s first full recruiting class addresses the program’s needs and should set them up in good position for the future. While Upshaw is a top-50 prospect and clearly the headliner, there’s other room for excitement. 6-5 forward Broderick Newbill is a glue guy, and former Kansas-signee Braeden Anderson should have a niche in the frontcourt. Another newcomer with some acclaim is 6-3 shooting guard Marvelle Harris, reportedly one of the most underrated players in SoCal."

This is not a knock on Steve Cleveland -- simply an observation -- but are there any remaining Bulldog aficionado holdouts still believing that the change in coaches is one still open to debate?

Wednesday's WAC orange spherical digest

Tales of the tape, NBA draft style:

* Joston Thomas

6-foot-5 without shoes, wingspan 6-foot-8.25, 12.8% body fat, 29" standing vertical

* Troy Gillenwater

6-foot-6 without shoes, wingspan 7-foot-2, 15.3% body fat, 33.8" standing vertical

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Idaho assistant Ray Lopes has moved into the Pac-12 with Washington State. Job one: land players from a region the Cougars don't currently have access.

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Brian Murphy reports that the Sun Belt Conference has declined Idaho's advances.

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InsideRunner Sports has new on another possible D-1 transfer heading to AlamoTown.