Re: 2014 Recruiting

by Guest Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:33 am

DoubleDipper for the win!

@CoachReveno wrote:...Excited to announce signing of 7-0 Philipp Hartwich from Cologne, Germany. He is a very good athlete with great hands. #pilotstrong

by Guest Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:35 am

And no pressure, Philipp! Laughing

Welcome to UP.

@CoachReveno wrote:Just watched a great workout with our 3 senior bigs and Coach Jackson and come by to my desk to see NLI from our next great big...

by DTLegend Thu Apr 17, 2014 12:50 pm

Officially the 2014 recruiting class consists of

Jason Todd
D'Marques Tyson
Gabe Taylor
Philipp Hartwich

You may have reailized this about me already but I am an optomist so naturally I'm excited about this class. I feel like there is a balance in this class that we haven't had in a while. Additionally, when I think back to last year's class, I feel like we were trying to plug holes where we could and while the staff did a pretty successful job of that, this years class seems a little more thought out and it seems as if it was put together with 2, 3 years in the future in mind.

I feel like some of these freshman will see playing time, and I truely beleive the fastest way to get on the court is by proving that they can be solid on the defensive end.

by NoPoNeighbor Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:03 pm

Thinking about the forward positions for this coming season... Of the 4 freshmen coming in, Jason Todd and Gabe Taylor may be the ones needed to make an immediate impact. Every other position goes 2-deep before we get to the freshmen.

PG = Wintering, Pressley, Carr, Zubi
SG = Pressley, Sharp, Tyson
SF = Bailey, Todd, Pressley
PF = Voldy, Taylor, Barker(?)
C = VDM, Barker, Hartwich

I wouldn't be surprised to see more instances of VDM and Barker on the floor together next season, with Barker being a more versatile front court player who can play the 4 or the 5.

Also thinking about potential redshirts... given the balance of the classes, there is no motivation to redshirt any of these guys. Doing so would only exacerbate the problem by piling up more scholarships in the 2015 recruiting class.

That being said, Hartwich and Tyson seem to be the least "needed" for next year, speaking purely in terms of depth at their positions. I am hopeful, however, that Tyson will be enough of a scoring threat that he can't be kept off of the court!

by blacksheep Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:25 pm

up7587 wrote:DoubleDipper for the win!

@CoachReveno wrote:...Excited to announce signing of 7-0 Philipp Hartwich from Cologne, Germany. He is a very good athlete with great hands. #pilotstrong

Wait, DD wins. It took 28 pages of his posts mentioning lots of prospects before he makes any mention of Hartwich and you want to give him a prize? Laughing

by wrv Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:50 pm

This Hartwich guy appears relatively quick in the short video we saw. I like discussions of a player's athleticism, particularly if he is over 7' tall.

Looking forward to seeing that young man on the court.

Go Pilots.

by blacksheep Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:24 pm

wrv wrote:This Hartwich guy appears relatively quick in the short video we saw. I like discussions of a player's athleticism, particularly if he is over 7' tall.

Looking forward to seeing that young man on the court.

Go Pilots.

Not sure if this is the video you were talking about, but here's a link to the press release, which includes a short video.

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2014/4/17/MBB_0417142625.aspx

by Guest Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:02 pm

blacksheep wrote:Not sure if this is the video you were talking about, but here's a link to the press release, which includes a short video.

by Guest Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:51 am

Hard not to get excited about an athletic 7-0 guy joining the program.

These guys don't exactly grow on trees. Big props to the staff for unearthing what seems to be a great find for the Pilots.

by **PilotNut** Sat Apr 19, 2014 2:03 pm

Agreed, and I hope he is in fact a diamond in the rough!

Welcome, Philipp!

by Guest Sat Apr 19, 2014 5:24 pm

PilotNut wrote:Agreed, and I hope he is in fact a diamond in the rough!

Welcome, Philipp!

I hope he's just a diamond!! cheers

by PurplePrideTrumpet Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:07 pm

I would say this is confirmation of the new class.

by DoubleDipper Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:26 pm

Just back from a bit of a tour and trying to catch up with the PN posts…..

Early on the first morning of the LOI period in the US…….and apparently a day or two before Hartwich’s paperwork came through, I was just outside Dusseldorf visiting with a fellow UP grad when her “Portland news alert” directed her to an NBBL blogger’s note on NBBL kids playing college ball in the US that included Philipp’s name as a future Pilot.

Small world.

by DoubleDipper Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:45 pm

DeanMurdoch wrote:Offer for JUCO forward Aaron Cheatum popped up on Verbal Commits today. Cheatum is 6-7, 240 from the East LA College Huskies.

Other offers from Auburn, Bradley, Bakersfield, IPFW, Fullerton, UCF, Utah Valley, Northern Arizona, Portland State, and Idaho.

As we've noted before, VC can be very good, but is often inaccurate......

Cheatum is joining Coach Kent at WSU.

by DoubleDipper Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:50 pm

DeanMurdoch wrote:One name jumps out at you.....Sean Obi is transferring after a fine freshman year at Rice. Would imagine he'll draw interest from plenty of high major schools with the kind of numbers he put up this season, though.

Beyond that...yeah, Desmond Simmons still seems to make the most sense if you're talking possible transfers to UP. Pretty highly touted guy out of HS and has been an off-and-on starter for UW the past two seasons. Could play right away, too...wondering if he's the type of guy that could be targeted to help fill the Rhino void.

Ha ha, yea I guess Obi drew interest from a high major.....he's committed to Duke!

Simmons hasn't signed yet, but indications are he'll end up at New Mexico if they can find room.

by DoubleDipper Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:59 pm

UP recruit, 6-8 PF Devenir Duruisseau from Sylmar HS in Palmdale committed to San Jose St. a few weeks back, but when it was announced SJSU would be ineligible for the post season because of the team's academic standing, Duruisseau de-committed and has reopened his recruitment.

You never know....

by Guest Fri Apr 25, 2014 1:06 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:You never know....

Umm, are there any open roster spots at UP for 2014 players? I thought they were all taken.

by DoubleDipper Fri Apr 25, 2014 1:34 pm

up7587 wrote:Umm, are there any open roster spots at UP for 2014 players? I thought they were all taken.

Ha-ha, you are correct, but it's always fun to speculate about possibilities......

I suspect that if there are to be any further additions to the UP roster, they will have to be walk-ons.

If anyone were going to transfer, I think we'd know by now.

At one point I was a little concerned about Xubi just because of his lack of floor time, nagging injuries, and being so far from home.....but he assures me he plans to attend both summer sessions while continuing to improve his game and then head home for a couple of weeks between the second summer season and the beginning of the fall term. Very Happy

by DoubleDipper Sat Apr 26, 2014 11:55 am

DoubleDipper wrote:OK, this is a surprise. Matt Carlino is graduating and will transfer from BYU for his final year of eligibility.....

Apparently Carlino has gone all Catholic on us (well Jesuit, anyway) and will end up at Marquette. Rolling Eyes

by DoubleDipper Thu May 01, 2014 10:10 am

DeanMurdoch wrote:......Desmond Simmons still seems to make the most sense if you're talking possible transfers to UP. Pretty highly touted guy out of HS and has been an off-and-on starter for UW the past two seasons. Could play right away, too...wondering if he's the type of guy that could be targeted to help fill the Rhino void.

Simmons has ended up in Moraga.....

St. Mary's gets a very accomplished banger for his final year.....

Hat's off to Coach Bennett for some excellent moves to bring in transfers this year!

by Guest Thu May 01, 2014 10:21 am

DoubleDipper wrote:Simmons has ended up in Moraga.....St. Mary's gets a very accomplished banger for his final year.....Hats off to Coach Bennett for some excellent moves to bring in transfers this year!

This conference just keeps getting better and better. I thought I saw something yesterday that said Simmons was off to UC Santa Barbara, so a bit of a surprise to see him off to Gael land.

p.s. this puts SMC at 13 scholarships for next year. Maybe some academic scholarships will come floating in to replace the ones lost by the violations (I can't find the eye-roll smiley, so use your imagination here).

by Guest Thu May 01, 2014 12:48 pm

@UBCElite wrote:Alec Monson to Univ.of Portland.Congrats to a great baller.9th senior we have taken in 11 years. 9th scholarship landed. Kudos! #itswhatwedo

Whaaaaaaa? 6-5 SG from Olympus HS in Salt Lake City.

I guess the next question is, who's out?

by DTLegend Thu May 01, 2014 1:15 pm

Yeah this is coming out of nowhere. I haven't heard anything yet. I'm keeping my ear to the ground though.

by NoPoNeighbor Thu May 01, 2014 1:28 pm

Two Alecs on one team?!

by NoPoNeighbor Thu May 01, 2014 1:38 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:Simmons has ended up in Moraga.....St. Mary's gets a very accomplished banger for his final year.....Hats off to Coach Bennett for some excellent moves to bring in transfers this year!

SMC is loading up on transfers! BUT... something's gotta give on their roster. I thought they were supposed to be penalized 2 scholarships for the coming season?! Verbal Commits lists 13 scholarship players:

Aaron Bright
Joe Coleman
Kerry Carter
Garrett Jackson
Desmond Simmons
Brad Waldow
Joe Rahon
Jordan Giusti
Emmett Naar
Calvin Hermanson
Dane Pineau
Evan Fitzner
Jock Lockdale