2017 Recruiting

it should be noted that Ferguson was a recruit of the terry porter coaching staff. Granted it was late last season when there was not a great deal of time to recruit...

StudentPilot wrote:Not sure, but I think Xavier (or his mom) pays about $17,000 per year to live and eat on campus....give or take, plus a guy's got expenses!

Easy, move back to mom's basement.

piloted wrote:it should be noted that Ferguson was a recruit of the terry porter coaching staff. Granted it was late last season when there was not a great deal of time to recruit...

True, but Andre knew he was just coming in for the year to backup Wintering in case he was hurt, and that he'd probably have a hard time finding playing time.

Andre got some really good experience at UP, but now he's ready to find a place he can play regularly....

I believe room and board per year is somewhere along the lines of $13,000 (depending on your meal plan, dorm situation, etc), but once you add in books and fees and cost of living and all of that, the total cost is probably very close to $17,000 per year.

I also had the great fortune of being able to attend UP with tuition remission thanks to a parent being an employee. But students who have tuition remission are typically not allowed to get any other scholarship (to help defray additional costs) other than something from an outside organization. So while it's incredible to be able to have tuition covered, it does make it difficult to get any other scholarships to help cover any non-tuition costs.

I certainly wish Xavier all the best. He's a terrific kid who grew up in North Portland and really proved himself as a player once given the chance. I would love nothing more than for him to stay on the team and continue to contribute.

Regarding the other transfers... I can't help but feel disappointed about Maker.

Not only because I believe he has potential, but also because I know the tremendous amount of time and effort spent working with the NCAA to get him eligible, working with tutors/advisors to help him academically, navigating the internal politics of bringing him back after his suspension, etc.

I can't think of another student-athlete over the past several years who embodied the term "it takes a village" as much as Chier.

He has an amazing personal story of overcoming incredible adversity, and I hope he finds success wherever he goes. I'm just bummed out it isn't able to happen on The Bluff after all the efforts made on his behalf.

DoubleDipper wrote:A relative of the Casper College point guard, who was also a teammate of Xavier Hallinan at Central Catholic, tells me SF 6-7/210 (same size as Chier Maker) Josh McSwiggan, is being recruited by UP, and that Josh was in Portland in mid-December during winter break to watch the Pilots play South Dakota and OSU at the Rose Garden on an unofficial visit.

Josh McSwiggan, from England, redshirted last year at UTEP when Coach Cantu was there.  Denied a year of eligibility by the NCAA due to a lack of high school credits (knowing the British system, that sounds incredibly wrong to me), he transferred to Casper College where he plays alongside former UP PF, Colin Russell.

Wherever Josh plays D1 ball, he’ll apparently have only 2 years of eligibility, but according to a statement I saw from UTEP Coach Floyd, he could still petition the NCAA for a third year if he accumulates enough college credits before his senior year.

Oh, and I was also told by someone else that McSwiggan’s high school girl friend, who is now a sophomore on Casper’s women’s team, is hoping to transfer to Concordia-Portland to play for former UP assistant, Sean Kelly.  

Josh's Bio from the UTEP basketball site:

2015-16
Sat out the season and will have three years of eligibility beginning with the 2016-17 campaign.
PRIOR TO UTEP
Member of the Great Britain National Team ... rated eighth in the country among players born in 1995 by Hoopsfix.com ... played for Charnwood College in Loughborough, Leicestershire ... was the team's 2012-13 Under-18 MVP and the 2013-14 Under-19 Coaches Player of the Year ... member of the Under-14 national championship team ... averaged 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks during his final season at Charnwood College, which competes in the EABL (Elite Academy Basketball League) ... shot 55 percent from the field and 79 percent from the line ... won two gold medals in England's regional competition and was also a part of England's Under-16, Under-17, Under-18 and Under-20 squads ... participated in the Luol Deng Camp, earning MVP honors when he was 15 ... also recognized as the eighth-best player in the country at the Luol Deng Camp ... member of the Loughborough Student Riders club team that competed in Basketball England National League Division 2 ... in his final season with the Student Riders, collected 8.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.4 spg with a .450 field goal percentage and .800 free throw percentage.

PERSONAL
Full name is Daniel Joshua McSwiggan ... parents are Daniel and Natalie McSwiggan ... has one brother and one sister ... born 10/11/95 (Belfast, Ireland) ... undeclared major.

And a comment from the UTEP basketball discussion in which UTEP coach Floyd was asked about our prospect:

Tim Floyd on McSwiggan in March[2016?]

"I don't like him, I love him," Floyd said. "I think he's going to be terrific. Whoever beats him out better bring a sack lunch, because it's going to be a full day's work. He's a talent. He can shoot it, he can run and jump, he's an athlete and he can pass it."

Finally, this from the same board lamenting the transfer from UTEP:

"Wasn't but a couple of months ago that Cantu was touting McSwiggan and K. Jones and couldn't wait to see them on the floor next season. . . ."

And a link: https://utep.forums.rivals.com/threads/josh-mcswiggan-gone.5640/

If coach Cantu can bring him in the fold here, that would be a coup. The competition for Josh might be steep.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

wrv wrote:Other than his two sons, however, I am uncertain the Pilots are currently recruiting any in state talent for next or future years. (?)

I wasn't sure if there was much coming out of Oregon the next little bit so I did a bit of looking on ESPN's site.

Zach Reichle (2017 SF from Wilsonville HS) appears to be a Pac-12 level talent and recently cut down to 11 schools including Boise State, Harvard, Oregon, Oregon State, Pepperdine, Princeton, Santa Clara, Stanford, St. Mary's, UC Irvine and Utah. It does seem odd that three WCC schools are on his list but not Portland.

Isaac Bonton (2017 PG from Parkrose HS) we know about, but the Pilots have gone in a different direction with Walker.

Just happened to notice that Zach Reichle had a pretty good game Jan. 31, pouring in 56 points in the No. 1 Wildcats' 89-47 win over Milwaukie. Reichle, now an Oregon State commit, did it efficiently, hitting 20 of 25 shots, including 9 of 13 from 3-point range. Reichle also had eight rebounds, six assists and five steals, and went 7 of 7 from the free throw line.

A couple of weeks ago, Isaac Bonton, a 6-2 senior guard who is headed to Montana State, did his work by scoring 52 points in a 90-89 double overtime loss to La Salle Prep. Included in Bonton’s performance was scoring all 11 of Parkrose’s points during the first overtime.

Another player, Jefferson's 6-2 senior Geno West, rated by some as the top high school guard in Oregon, recently scored 53 points, had eight rebounds, six steals and six assists in Jefferson’s 110-63 win over Franklin as the Democrats remained unbeaten in PIL play.  West has no known D1 offers, and it would appear UP is not recruiting him.

As I recall, Calvin Hermanson and Silas Melson each scored 52 points at least once in their prep careers, and they are doing pretty well in the WCC. (Terrance Jones (Kentucky) and Kevin Love (UCLA) each scored 50 during their high school days).

Bonton and Antecivech(sp?) are real losses if either or both could have been corralled notwithstanding the coaching change. I doubt that Reichle would have come here unless there were a large payoff, ala Cam Newton's father. I suspect we just don't do that here . . .

Does anyone know anything about Wilifred Likayi? 6'7" PF out of Benson Tech. ESPN has him as a 3-star recruit, second-highest rated in the state behind Reichle (and just ahead of Bonton).

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/view/state/order/true/state/oregon

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Does anyone know anything about Wilifred Likayi? 6'7" PF out of Benson Tech. ESPN has him as a 3-star recruit, second-highest rated in the state behind Reichle (and just ahead of Bonton).

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings/_/view/state/order/true/state/oregon

Interesting. I know next to nothing about him, but I know his team didn't make the state tournament....that's an issue for me. If you're a legit Upper WCC talent, your team goes to the state tournament in Oregon. And should do well.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Does anyone know anything about Wilifred Likayi? 6'7" PF out of Benson Tech. ESPN has him as a 3-star recruit, second-highest rated in the state behind Reichle (and just ahead of Bonton).

I saw him play in the 2015 Les Schwab Tournament and thought he was very bouncy and rangy and could shoot the 3-ball, but it's my recollection he was playing for Parkrose, not Benson....  Do you suppose there are two guys, one named Wilifred as NPN suggests, and one named Wilfried that I saw at the tournament.

I'd heard Wilifried was playing for Parkrose again this year alongside Bonton, and if that's true he's definitely in the playoffs as the #14 seed in the 5A bracket after beating #3 Springfield on the strength of Bonton's 36 points.

Anyway, regardless of where Wilifried plays, he did not seem like a D1 player when I saw him 15 months ago, but he may have developed enough to be a candidate for the Big Sky, not the WCC.  I'd once heard that former UP Coach Eric Jackson was looking at him on behalf of Montana State....the school that Bonton will attend upon graduation.

Sparsely used "UP Basketball" YT channel uploaded highlight reels of the 4 outgoing transfers:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOtqHEBSAu-Tk4_B_Rv4cDg

DoubleDipper wrote:I saw him play in the 2015 Les Schwab Tournament and thought he was very bouncy and rangy and could shoot the 3-ball, but it's my recollection he was playing for Parkrose, not Benson....  Do you suppose there are two guys, one named Wilifred as NPN suggests, and one named Wilfried that I saw at the tournament.

Hey now, it wasn't I who suggested that his name is Wilifred, and that he goes to Benson. Blame that on ESPN! Upon further investigation, it does appear that DD is correct... It's Wilfried Likayi, and he plays for Parkrose:

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/6740965/5721de1e0dcb0d12f8835d94

And while Verbal Commits joins ESPN in mistakenly listing him as a Benson student, they do corroborate the interest from Montana State:

http://verbalcommits.com/players/will-likayi

SoundVoltex wrote:Sparsely used "UP Basketball" YT channel uploaded highlight reels of the 4 outgoing transfers:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOtqHEBSAu-Tk4_B_Rv4cDg

Thanks for that...I'm really going to miss those guys, especially Chier and his fabulous athleticism.

Who knew UP would have so many one-and-dones!

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Hey now, it wasn't I who suggested that his name is Wilifred, and that he goes to Benson. Blame that on ESPN! Upon further investigation, it does appear that DD is correct... It's Wilfried Likayi, and he plays for Parkrose.

Haha, yeah I remembered the strange spelling of his name from the tournament when I thought it was misspelled in the program.  As I recall he may have played his freshman and sophomore years at Benson before transferring to Parkrose in 2015.

Again, it's been awhile since I've seen him, but he did not look to be WCC caliber...regardless of ESPN's outdated and misspelled ranking of him.  

I think Max Preps ranks Geno West the #1 guard in Oregon, but ESPN doesn't recognize him.  With no known D1 offers, ESPN might be more accurate,.

Saw Coach Porter at the Oregon 6A Tournament at the Chiles Center yesterday, but I have no clue where his assistants are recruiting. If they are on the road, it has to be a good bet at least one will be watching Georgia Highlands (30-1) forward Kyvon Davenport and guard Ty Cockfield in the final-four of their regional tournament tomorrow.  Those two, plus Josh McSwiggan, have got to be near the top of the list to fill the vacant scholarships in 2017….unless, of course, they are waiting to use one on a D1 transfer.  

Davenport recently scored the 1000th point of his two year JUCO career and is now the all-time leader in points scored and rebounds at GHC, and he was named the conference player of the year averaging 17.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game. He has 20 double-doubles this season.

Ty Cockfield was named first-team all-conference averaging 16.6 point per game.

McSwiggan (14 points/5.5 rebounds per game) and his Casper College team (23 wins/8 losses) hope to continue their postseason winning ways tonight in their JUCO regional final four-game in Gillette, Wyoming….brrr.

EDIT: Casper won, in part because of the strong play of former Pilot Colin Russell who had been out for awhile with an injury.

DoubleDipper wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:One offer, to SG Shawn Olden, does not make a lot of sense to me simply because the Pilots are very deep at shooting guard.  

Apparently the offer did not make a lot of sense to Olden either, as he did not include UP on his "Top Schools" list. (TCU, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, UNLV, Kansas, and UConn).

The former Pepperdine guard chose an already good program on the rise, TCU.

Stonehouse wrote:Regarding the other transfers... I can't help but feel disappointed about Maker.

Not only because I believe he has potential, but also because I know the tremendous amount of time and effort spent working with the NCAA to get him eligible, working with tutors/advisors to help him academically, navigating the internal politics of bringing him back after his suspension, etc.

I can't think of another student-athlete over the past several years who embodied the term "it takes a village" as much as Chier.

He has an amazing personal story of overcoming incredible adversity, and I hope he finds success wherever he goes. I'm just bummed out it isn't able to happen on The Bluff after all the efforts made on his behalf.

I totally concur….it’s really heart breaking to see him leave.

Three weeks ago when Chier indicated he was transferring he said the bottom line was playing time.  Chier loves to play basketball almost as much as he loves life, and sitting on the bench was not only a surprise to most of his fans, it was a great disappointment for him.

He has all the individual skills to be a professional player, and his entire basketball life he’s been allowed/expected to be the player that could individually takeover a game, but in D1 it’s got to be a team game or you lose, and in his short time at UP he just didn’t picked up the nuances of the team game enough to break into the starting lineup.

Chier has worked so hard at his academics and his basketball while adjusting to the culture and weather in Portland, and all this while carrying the burden of worry about his family back in South Sudan where, according to the headlines, “one million people are on the brink of starvation in South Sudan” during the civil war there.

The "village" is still helping Chier, but now it's doing so to help him determine the next phase of his life and help him find a place to play.   He would consider playing professionally somewhere, but he’d rather get a college education while playing.

For now Chier is spending his spring break playing basketball in Egypt while representing his native South Sudan in the African qualifiers for the Continental Championships.  Hopefully immigration agents will know the difference between the Sudan and South Sudan when he attempts to reenter the US after the next immigration ban goes into effect.

DoubleDipper wrote:Another player, Jefferson's 6-2 senior Geno West, rated by some as the top high school guard in Oregon, recently scored 53 points, had eight rebounds, six steals and six assists in Jefferson’s 110-63 win over Franklin as the Democrats remained unbeaten in PIL play.  West has no known D1 offers, and it would appear UP is not recruiting him.

West's 28 points led Jefferson to the 6A title in the Chiles Center today.

DoubleDipper wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:Another player, Jefferson's 6-2 senior Geno West, rated by some as the top high school guard in Oregon, recently scored 53 points, had eight rebounds, six steals and six assists in Jefferson’s 110-63 win over Franklin as the Democrats remained unbeaten in PIL play.  West has no known D1 offers, and it would appear UP is not recruiting him.

West's 28 points led Jefferson to the 6A title in the Chiles Center today.

What's his GPA?

Geezaldinho wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:Another player, Jefferson's 6-2 senior Geno West, rated by some as the top high school guard in Oregon, recently scored 53 points, had eight rebounds, six steals and six assists in Jefferson’s 110-63 win over Franklin as the Democrats remained unbeaten in PIL play.  West has no known D1 offers, and it would appear UP is not recruiting him.

West's 28 points led Jefferson to the 6A title in the Chiles Center today.

What's his GPA?

A verified 3.5

Has UP ever had a Jefferson Democrat on the roster?

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Has UP ever had a Jefferson Democrat on the roster?

If so, I doubt anyone on this board can recall one, but now would seem a good time to change that.

As noted by Coach Porter on the day he was hired, “we need to protect our recruiting borders,” and recruiting Geno West now, and Kemaka Hepa for next year (a package deal?) would go a long way toward increasing the popularity of UP basketball in the Portland area while also improving the program.  

As mentioned in an earlier post, West has no known offers (Hepa has at least 20, including 7 from the Pac-12), but looking at the box scores, his play this season has been exceptional.  But not having seen him play, I have no idea what kind of defender or team player he is, and at 6-2/160, he would have to get bigger and stronger to play against WCC opponents.

Apparently West is a SG, and UP needs a point guard or two to pair with JoJo (25th in the nation in assists, btw), unless as NPN suggests, Jazz moves to PG.

A friend who watched Jefferson during the 6A games at the Chiles Center said Coach Porter was also watching the games. With a lot of other high school and JUCO games being played around the country, there must have been something TP wanted to see badly enough to keep him home.

The last Terry Porter show of the season is tonight (Monday), maybe this would be a good time to ask him if he saw any players during the tournament who might be potential UP recruits.  He can’t give you names, but he can infer…..

Geno West

Kemaka Hepa

Hepa has offers from a number of big time schools, including Pac-12 schools, and those type of offers are sure to increase. He will be a hard pull to the U. Unlikely that giving West a scholarship changes Hepa's signing with more highly rated programs.

We want help at the point, the question is where best to seek it. Looks like coach Porter has his eye on some JC prospects now.

When I saw this guy (the one on the left) in November he was wearing a "hipster" suit, a bow tie, and Harry Potter glasses....

When Tahirou Diabate arrives back on campus in early May for summer school he's going to have to arm wrestle Malcolm Porter for that #1 jersey, last worn by Bryce Pressley.