2014 Recruiting

Jason Todd is a solid pick up. I was just about to write something about how the staff can figure things out considering all of the recent prospects who have cut Portland off their lists. Recruiting isn't an exact science, and there is a trade off on who a Mid-Major School targets. I'm really excited for the future of this Portland team. Add a few Big Men and this could be a really solid team.
Way too early lineup for 2015-2016 Pilots:
PG: Wintering, Jazz Johnson
SG: Pressley, Xubi
SF: Jason Todd (AKA Robin)
PF: Gaby Taylor
C: ????

That leaves 7 Open Scholarships over 2 seasons. Obviously biggest need is a BIG MAN, and with not too many options for true centers, it's got to be either a European or JUCO transfer that fills that need. Something could change and a prospect could pop up here in the next year, but based on previous experience, I wouldn't be surprised to see either a European or JUCO guy come in. Also, wouldn't mind adding a pure shooter to this roster.

DeanMurdoch wrote:Rev tweeted that he's off to Chicago early today.

Could he be going to say hello to Lamont Walker? He's a 2014 SG out of Morgan Park HS in Chicago.

Or it could have been just a stopover for a connecting flight....

Re: Walker....I just don't see him coming from the Chicago inner-city to UP.  There are a number of geographically closer schools that have made offers after watching his AAU performances, but I don't think UP is one of them.

There was a time UP brought in student/athletes from US cities east of the Rockies, but I just don't recall any lately......have there been any?  I recall Lemont Daniels from Pine Bluff, Arkansas via North Platte, Nebraska CC, in the mid-90's, but that's about it....but there must be others that my fading memory can't recall.

DTLegend wrote:.......I was just about to write something about how the staff can figure things out considering all of the recent prospects who have cut Portland off their lists. Recruiting isn't an exact science, and there is a trade off on who a Mid-Major School targets.......

...........Obviously biggest need is a BIG MAN, and with not too many options for true centers, it's got to be either a European or JUCO transfer that fills that need....

Looking over the list of NW recruits on UP's radar for 2014, it would appear Todd is a better all-around prospect than those who went elsewhere.  He reminds me a lot of Jake Ehlers, but much more competitive, IMO.

Re: a big man...I totally agree with your assessment of overseas or JUCO, DTL.  The coaches have obviously made themselves known in Europe through multiple trips, and I know they're scouting some JUCO players NOW!

DoubleDipper wrote:Or it could have been just a stopover for a connecting flight....

Well considering he tweeted that he's in New Hampshire this morning, you're probably right.

Lay off me, it's the offseason! Not much to talk about besides recruiting speculation...

[quote="DoubleDipper"]

DeanMurdoch wrote:

There was a time UP brought in student/athletes from US cities east of the Rockies, but I just don't recall any lately......have there been any?  I recall Lemont Daniels from Pine Bluff, Arkansas via North Platte, Nebraska CC, in the mid-90's, but that's about it....but there must be others that my fading memory can't recall.

Hmm... Cincinnatus Powell was from Baton Rouge....

Wintering is from the east coast. Of course he had an inside connection to the program through TJ Campbell.

Elgin Baylor was from Washington DC...

In August SB Nation characterized Todd as follows:

Jason Todd (Jackson HS, Mill Creek) 2014, 6-foot-6, 200 pounds
He does not have the same athleticism as former UW-stand out Jon Brockman, but their games are similar. Todd plays every possession hard. He always makes the extra pass, he is a vocal leader on the court, and he is an aggressive rebounder. He needs to work on his ballhandling, but just about every other aspect of his game is fundamentally sound. Boise State, Davidson, Portland State, Portland and Santa Clara are recruiting Todd.

In May Seattle SB Nation quoted Jason and said this:

Jason Todd (2014) is a two-sport star from Jackson HS in Millcreek. The 6'5" forward is currently drawing interest from various schools from the Pac-12, Mountain West, WAC and WCC. Todd led Jackson to an appearance in the 4A state tournament and was later named as an honorable mention on the AP All-State team. He also was voted as the WesCo 4A South player of the year. The all-around player averaged 20 points per game for the Timber Wolves. "I'll rebound, defend, run the floor and battle like a warrior," Todd said. Todd is also an accomplished pitcher for Jackson's baseball team; he says he hopes to have a good idea of what sport he wants to pursue after his AAU season with Friends of Hoop. Schools from the ACC, Pac-12 and SEC have shown interest in Todd's future on the baseball diamond.

I assume he is not going to play power forward so let’s hope his work on his outside shot pays dividends.

wrv wrote:In August SB Nation characterized Todd as follows:

Just for clarification, WRV, the article you quoted by Kevin Cacabelos on SB Nation is from August 2012....

It's curious that he was drawing interest from so many schools for basketball, as mentioned in the article, but did not actually receive that many offers, as far as we know.

He plays basketball and pitches and is a position player in baseball....hmm, he's starting sound like more and more like UP Hall of Fame member Bill Krueger......

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Wintering is from the east coast. Of course he had an inside connection to the program through TJ Campbell.

You're correct, Alec came to UP from the east coast, but as you noted, he's a protégé of TJ, and if you were to ask Alec where he's from.....he'll tell you Arizona.

Geezaldinho wrote:Hmm... Cincinnatus Powell was from Baton Rouge....

Ha-ha, when I said, "I just don't recall any (recruits) lately," I should have realized "lately" is a relative term for some.  

But it was Cincy and Jim Benjamin from Louisiana, and Jessie Perry from Alabama, and Ken Faulkner from Chicago, and the guys from East St. Louis, IL that I was thinking about when I wrote that.

I saw Cincy just a couple of years ago in the Dallas area and helped him (belatedly) celebrate his 70th birthday on the golf course.....still as smooth as silk.  

Offer showed up on Verbal Commits this morning to 2014 C Jon Galloway! 6-10, 225 out of Salesian in Richmond, CA. 3 stars on Scout, 2 from ESPN.

As DTLegend has said, this is a glaring positional/class need. Great to see an offer to this kid from UP.

edit: Galloway appears to have visits set up with Montana, UC Irvine, and Cal Poly over the next month and a half. Also has offers listed from Pacific, Sac State, UC Davis, and Pepperdine. I think each recruit can take a maximum of five visits (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so the next step is to be one of the two remaining schools to get this guy on campus.

The only YouTube highlight I can find on Galloway is - wait for it - him winning a wing-eating contest. Love this kid already!!

DeanMurdoch wrote:Offer showed up on Verbal Commits this morning to 2014 C Jon Galloway! 6-10, 225 out of Salesian in Richmond, CA. 3 stars on Scout, 2 from ESPN.

Galloway is making the short trip east to Stockton for an unofficial visit to Pacific today.

Would sure like to see him get a visit in to Portland in the very near future. With the graduation of van der Mars and Barker looming after 2014-15, it would be nice to have a quality post get a year in the system before those two leave.

@CoachReveno wrote:@CoachReveno: Met with 2 fantastic prospective student-athletes this weekend. 1's committed to sign in Nov, working on other. Now another long flight...

So unless Rev had a long flight out east to visit Gabe Taylor (Portland, OR) or Jason Todd (Mill Creek, WA) I guess UP's recruiting class is up to three for 2014?

This must be the one Rev is working on!

KUAHoops wrote:6-6 Slovakian point guard Oliver Tot / Kimball Union Academy offered by Portland and Lehigh this week. #KUA

A 6-6 point guard? This 18-year-old is already on Slovakia's national team, played with them at the European Championships. Also, started for Slovakia's u20 team at the Euro U20s.

Wow.

Nice Tweet from Rev stating that he met with two recruits this weekend and got a verbal from one of them.

From previous clues he left on twitter it seems like he was in New Hampshire first and then met with a recruit in maybe Vienna, Austria? or at least thats my guess from the vine that Rev posted.

Pretty fun stuff

DTLegend wrote:.....From previous clues he left on twitter it seems like he was in New Hampshire first and then met with a recruit in maybe Vienna, Austria? or at least thats my guess from the vine that Rev posted......

Yup, been there a number of times, his vine shows the back/side of Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

As Coach Wolf spent a couple of weeks this summer in a few of the former Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe, it's plain there was a plan to go after one or two players that he observed.

As countries like Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia surround the Vienna area.....I would expect the recruit(s) are from one of those countries and the palace was an easy/convenient place to meet.

(Since it's always fun to guess, I'm gonna guess Slovakia; although Jasonn Hannibal is in Slovenia   ).

DeanMurdoch wrote:This must be the one Rev is working on!

KUAHoops wrote:6-6 Slovakian point guard Oliver Tot / Kimball Union Academy offered by Portland and Lehigh this week. #KUA

A 6-6 point guard? This 18-year-old is already on Slovakia's national team, played with them at the European Championships. Also, started for Slovakia's u20 team at the Euro U20s.

  Oops, missed seeing your post, DM......

Yea, I think you've hit the nail on the head.....first Rev is in New Hampshire where Kimball Union is located, and then he's a few miles from Slovakia in Vienna.....hmm, too much to be a coincidence.

My guess is Tot was observed by Coach Wolf this last summer in Slovakia along with another PR.....Rev got a verbal from Tot, and was/is working on a verbal from another back in Slovakia.....

How's that for complete collaborative guess work on the part of a few PN posters!

DoubleDipper wrote:My guess is Tot was observed by Coach Wolf this last summer in Slovakia along with another PR.....Rev got a verbal from Tot, and was/is working on a verbal from another back in Slovakia.....

I'd say he's still working on Tot or else we would have heard something from that Kimball coach. Let's hope the other guy he's working on is.....ohhh, let's say at least 6-11.

This is shaping up to be an extremely interesting recruiting class, that's for sure.

DeanMurdoch wrote:I'd say he's still working on Tot or else we would have heard something from that Kimball coach. Let's hope the other guy he's working on is.....ohhh, let's say at least 6-11.

Yea, you're right, of course.

After doing a little online looking while at the women's soccer game, it would appear UP's mystery commit is probably a "big," but it's going to be up to him or one of his buddies to tell us….the coaches can’t.

I had an opportunity to look at some Oliver Tot video this morning, and just from what I saw would project him as a good ball handling wing…..with the ability to play PG at a pretty high level too.  Let’s hope young Oliver can find his way to Portland.

Wait, is it confirmed that Tot is still undecided and the mystery recruit is the verbal?

DTLegend wrote:Wait, is it confirmed that Tot is still undecided and the mystery recruit is the verbal?

I don't think so. I just guessed that if Oliver was actually committed, then @kuahoops would have said that instead of - or along with - saying that he got offered from Portland and Lehigh.

DTLegend wrote:Wait, is it confirmed that Tot is still undecided and the mystery recruit is the verbal?

We think Oliver Tot currently has a total of two offers, UP and Lehigh.….so just for grins, I thought I’d check Lehigh’s PG situation, as we know it.

They have one senior PG, who’ll be gone next year, but they have two freshman PGs and one committed for next year.  Now, three PGs would seem a lot, especially at UP, but in addition to those three, Lehigh has offers to 10 more PGs for next year, including Mr. Tot.   

I don’t know if Tot will commit to UP, but if he’s any good at math, I doubt he’ll commit to Lehigh.

KUAHoops wrote:KUA guard Oliver Tot is stacking offers. William and Mary join Lehigh and Portland. There will be more.

Wow. Make that four for Tot as he's now got offers from Lehigh, Portland, William, and Mary.