2018 Recruiting

DoubleDipper wrote:UP has offered 6-10/240 Jeff Otchere, a redshirt freshman at Garden City Community College. Otchere, from Bronx, NY, spent a redshirt year at Delaware State last year and will have 3 years of eligibility at the D1 level. Probably a long shot for the Pilots as he has more than 20 offers, many of which are from East Coast school, but as he's also been offered by PSU and SCU, I think UP has to match their offers.

Otchere has trimmed his list to just five schools:

Utah State
Fordham
Youngstown State
Stony Brook
Washington State

Coming to UP was always a long shot, and according to the staff he was not a high priority in their quest for a big man....a backup at best, but they loved his "motor."

DoubleDipper wrote:
AJ Edu will be flying from England to take part in Basketball Without Borders as part of the NBA All-Star Game weekend in LA, but college coaches are not allowed to watch the international prep players during that tournament.....but it wouldn't surprise me if AJ is invited back to the States in March for an "official" visit on the Bluff.

What is the status of our interest in Edu? Has he either visited or arranged a visit, if known? Does he remain among those he Pilots are considering?

Welcome, Miles Turner! This is great--a good decision by him in my completely unbiased opinion!

wrv wrote:What is the status of our interest in Edu? Has he either visited or arranged a visit, if known? Does he remain among those he Pilots are considering?

AJ Edu was spotted at the UP men's soccer game last night, but I believe he's now left town to visit schools like Colorado and Georgia Tech, and probably more.

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:That’s great! Welcome to the Bluff! My only question is “why us over Purdue?”

Several Purdue professors were interviewed recently and they were pitching the removal of the word "man" from our vocabulary.

I hope many of you got to watch at least some of the OSAA Boys 6A championship at the Chiles Center the last few days. The high-pitched screaming from the sold-out crowd during the championship game was both deafening and fun...something most of us would love to have happen at Pilots games.

Kamaka Hepa, the highly recruited Jefferson post that has committed to Texas, showed he's a very good player, but it was pretty obvious that tight, physical defending really throws him off his game and frustrates him.  It will be interesting to see where he finally ends up after a year or two at Texas where the linebacker sized opponents will have their way with him unless he matures.

Grant finally beat Jefferson (I think they'd lost to them eight straight times), 63-62, to win the title. Based solely upon what I saw, Jefferson senior Khalil Chatman (6-7 SF) is worth a look by the Pilots (I think Coach Eric Jackson expects to have him come to Montana State), as he carried the team on his back the entire game with 30 points and 12 rebounds, but he also committed the foul that led to the game winning free-throws by Grant with just 7.2 seconds left in the game.

Khalil Chatman would be a good addition. We need more size, other than McSwiggan, and more aggression at what can sometimes be described as the small forward spot, though maybe not with this offense. I have no idea whether he can shoot the 3 ball but we could use 6'7" with a willingness to mix it up and drive to the basket.

But if we have not been on him, others would seemingly have an edge.

So if Coach Porter pays for one of his sons again next year, we have three more scholarships open as of now? Is that right?

We lose two seniors (Tyson, Hartwich) and two transfers (Smoyer, Stone). We add one commit (Phillips). That leaves three spots.

We're real thin at the SF position, and I'd love to see us sign a good local player. I imagine our coaches watched Chatman play throughout the state tourney? They must have decided against him, otherwise there would be an offer reported by now.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:I imagine our coaches watched Chatman play throughout the state tourney? They must have decided against him, otherwise there would be an offer reported by now.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/khalil-chatman-96750

Rivals has a reported offer by the Pilots, though I'm not sure when that was posted or how accurate it is - note the site specifies Montana with the offer, not Montana State as is believed to be accurate.

The kid tweeted out that he got a Montana State offer in 2015, and that he got a Detroit offer in 2016 (where his older brother now plays after transferring from Michigan), but nothing since. I find it very hard to believe that one of the top high school players in Oregon didn't get a single additional offer in his junior or senior seasons. Might just be one of those kids who don't feel a need to tweet every time a school reaches out to him, so there might be plenty of unreported offers for him out there - possibly even one from our Pilots.

When I wrote,

based solely upon what I saw, Jefferson senior Khalil Chatman (6-7 SF) is worth a look by the Pilots

I should have ended with, "compared to anyone else in this year's OSAA Tournament."

I've heard Khalil's grades as "very average," and to be honest, I don't believe Khalil is WCC material, nor as a coach would you really want to put up with all the craziness from his dad, U. of Detroit assistant coach and UP grad, Canaan Chapman.  

Khalil is very athletic, but during the tournament there was no indication that he could shoot, as virtually all of his points came off dunks, something he could achieve against the smaller high school players, but something all together different against D1 opponents.  

With the departure of Joseph, it would be nice to bring another Portland player onto the roster, but I did not see any player at this year's tournament who I projected as a WCC player.

A quick look at the PAC-12 transfer list came up with the following names...though there's only 142 total on the list so far, usually they end up with 800+ when all is said and done.

Tory Miller-Stewart: 6-9, 245 from Kansas City. Was Colorado's starting center until going down with a season-ending injury in November. Gradute transfer, eligible immediately with one year left.

Devenir Duruisseau: 6-8, 225 from Palmdale, CA. Played for Washington in 2015-16 and 2016-17 but never really got off the bench. I seem to remember his name from recruiting threads a few years back?

.....or if it's an all new team a school might need, within the last 72 hours the Evansville Purple Aces coach was fired after 11 seasons, and eight Purple Aces players have announced their intention to transfer.

With zero walk-ons on the roster, five seniors graduating, and an additional eight players transferring, Evansville should probably hire a new coach soon with the LOI signing period beginning in three weeks.

DoubleDipper wrote:.....or if it's an all new team a school might need, within the last 72 hours the Evansville Purple Aces coach was fired after 11 seasons, and eight Purple Aces players have announced their intention to transfer.

Similar situation at Pitt: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22792196/eight-pittsburgh-panthers-basketball-players-asking-release-wake-coaching-change

I wonder if Crisshawn can convince any of his former teammates to come west!

@jakewinderman wrote:Ar’Mond Davis, who’s transferring from Alabama, currently has offers to play at UCSB, UIC, Oakland and Northern Kentucky. Horizon League or Big West would be a great spot for Davis.

Just mentioning because he's from Tacoma and I see he's getting offers from some quality mid-majors.

Don't really know much about his game, so I'm not sure about his fit with the Pilots. Listed as a 6-6 shooting guard, but doesn't really have eye-popping three-point shooting numbers. Was a respectable 34.4% in two seasons with Southern Idaho, but shot just 26.7% in his only season with Alabama (2016-17).

Eligible immediately with one season to play.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

@jakewinderman wrote:Ar’Mond Davis, who’s transferring from Alabama, currently has offers to play at UCSB, UIC, Oakland and Northern Kentucky. Horizon League or Big West would be a great spot for Davis.

Just mentioning because he's from Tacoma and I see he's getting offers from some quality mid-majors.

Eligible immediately with one season to play.

Based upon a TP interview I saw at the end of the season, I would say a SG is not what the team is looking for. And now, after the transfer requests from Joseph and Austin, it's even more imperative UP land some "inside" players.

TP did say "nothing was off the table" in terms of grad transfers, JUCO transfers, transfers in general, or guys right of high school, but he wants some guys in the 6-7 through 7-foot range who either take up a lot of room in the middle or are athletic with a long wing span, and "can shoot free-throws."

I saw one "tall" potential recruit on campus a couple of days ago, but unless StudentPilot has spotted others, it's been pretty quiet on the recruiting front.

To answer NPN's question from a week ago, yes, there are currently 3 scholarships available!

DoubleDipper wrote:
I saw one "tall" potential recruit on campus a couple of days ago, but unless StudentPilot has spotted others, it's been pretty quiet on the recruiting front.

Nope, I haven't seen anyone, but a few of us just spent our spring break trying help the suffering citizens in Puerto Rico, so I might have missed some visits.

It's been six months since the hurricane, and the place where we were, just 30 miles up in the hills from San Juan, still had no running water or electricity.  I don't know all the politics involved, but the folks in the village where we stayed have been asking the US for badly needed generators since September. We were able to help with a couple of generators, and that was our main purpose for being there...to set up a generator and to get the wells running.

I spent three days with a 93 year-old man (a WWII Veteran of the US Army) who had been surrounded by plastic water bottles, as it was his only way to bathe or cook or drink. At least he now has a cistern on his roof to give him some water, and some of his neighbors now have running water and lights from the generators we installed.

Before anyone asks, no we did not visit JoJo's hometown, we understood before we began our trip that his parents and grandparents were doing well and had electricity.

It was a gratifying experience to help, but it was like landing on another planet when we arrived in Miami from San Juan on Sunday and saw March Madness on the TV after literally being in the wilderness for a week.

StudentPilot wrote:
Nope, I haven't seen anyone, but a few of us just spent our spring break trying help the suffering citizens in Puerto Rico, so I might have missed some visits.

It's been six months since the hurricane, and the place where we were, just 30 miles up in the hills from San Juan, still had no running water or electricity.  I don't know all the politics involved, but the folks in the village where we stayed have been asking the US for badly needed generators since September. We were able to help with a couple of generators, and that was our main purpose for being there...to set up a generator and to get the wells running.

I spent three days with a 93 year-old man (a WWII Veteran of the US Army) who had been surrounded by plastic water bottles, as it was his only way to bathe or cook or drink. At least he now has a cistern on his roof to give him some water, and some of his neighbors now have running water and lights from the generators we installed.

Before anyone asks, no we did not visit JoJo's hometown, we understood before we began our trip that his parents and grandparents were doing well and had electricity.

It was a gratifying experience to help, but it was like landing on another planet when we arrived in Miami from San Juan on Sunday and saw March Madness on the TV after literally being in the wilderness for a week.

I applaud your service, StudentPilot! It makes me really happy to hear that UP students are still performing service to those in need! While I was there many students went to Haiti to help after the earthquake. I spent a few Spring Breaks helping the immigrant communities around the West Coast as well. It really makes you appreciate everything and everyone you have.

Well done, SP! It is good to have a reminder of what really is important.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

@jakewinderman wrote:Ar’Mond Davis, who’s transferring from Alabama, currently has offers to play at UCSB, UIC, Oakland and Northern Kentucky. Horizon League or Big West would be a great spot for Davis.

Just mentioning because he's from Tacoma and I see he's getting offers from some quality mid-majors.

Don't really know much about his game, so I'm not sure about his fit with the Pilots. Listed as a 6-6 shooting guard, but doesn't really have eye-popping three-point shooting numbers. Was a respectable 34.4% in two seasons with Southern Idaho, but shot just 26.7% in his only season with Alabama (2016-17).

Eligible immediately with one season to play.

I've heard two reports: 1) He's headed to Malibu to play for Romar, or 2) He's headed to Malibu to play for Romar.

Don't know the validity of either report, but they were from two usually reliable basketball junkies, one in Southern California, and the other in Seattle.

Coach Ben Johnson recently flew to New Zealand to take a look at 7-2/265 center Callum McRae, and tonight Verbal Commits is reporting UP has made him an offer.

I've  heard that GU, Colorado, and Utah are taking a hard look at him and want him to visit, but so far, the only other offer listed by Verbal Commits is Cal Riverside.

Pretty difficult for a young man his size to play a lot of minutes as an 18 year-old, and from the couple of videos I've seen, McCallum looks like another candidate to redshirt while developing strength and stamina.  Other WCC teams have done very well in the past with big centers taking up a lot of room...but a number of them had to overcome nagging knee, hip, and back injuries.

As a comparison, when Phil arrived on campus in August 2014, he was 7-0/210, but listed at 225, as I recall.     

Interesting name, DD.

Checking out McRae's stats for New Zealand at last summer's U19 World Cup, McRae got more minutes than Angus McWilliam (who's committed to a pretty good program at TCU). Tai Wynyard (Kentucky) and Sam Waardenburg (Miami) got the most of the "big men" minutes for that team.

wrv wrote:What is the status of our interest in Edu? Has he either visited or arranged a visit, if known? Does he remain among those he Pilots are considering?

I would guess UP's interest in AJ Edu is high after his visit a couple of weeks ago, but since then other schools have visited him in England and he's made more visits in the States.  I saw a fan site that indicated he's been in the Southern US, and is apparently visiting Tulane University this weekend.

AJ was recently named the Defensive POY and First-Team in the Elite Academy Basketball League, which is made up of 15 schools, including AJ's school, South Gloucestershire & Stroud College, and Josh McSwiggans's school, Charnwood. The EABL is closely equivalent to a top California high school league. Edu was the league's best in efficiency, rebounding and blocked shots while averaging 18.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.7 blocks per game.

This is the lastest video I've seen that gives us a chance to meet AJ, but there are lots of AJ Edu action videos online:

Saw a really tall guy on campus yesterday, from a distance I thought it was Phil Hartwich by his build, but it turned out to be "Jacob Tryon from LA" on a visit to campus.

I told him the weather wasn't always like this, but some of the players with him just laughed and said something like, "it just seems like it's always like this."

Jacob is tall and skinny, but the guys who worked out with him said he was a very good shooter....even from the free-throw line.

StudentPilot wrote:Saw a really tall guy on campus yesterday, from a distance I thought it was Phil Hartwich by his build, but it turned out to be "Jacob Tryon from LA" on a visit to campus.

And BOOM:

Jon Rothstein wrote:East LA JC  Fr. Qualifier Jacob Tryon has committed to Portland, per a source

Jacob Tryon, 7-0/205, with a 7-2 wingspan, is from Temecula, California and will enter UP this summer as a sophomore after one year at East LA Community College.  A quick look at his stats shows he played 30 games, averaging 12 pts, while shooting 56% from the field (including 19/38 from behind the arc!!), had a 68% free-throw percentage (but 13/16 once conference play began), and 6 rebounds per game.

It would appear Jacob graduated from high school in 2016, then redshirted a year before playing one year at East LA.  

Jon Rothstein wrote:East LA JC  Fr. Qualifier Jacob Tryon has committed to Portland, per a source

@VerbalCommits wrote:2018 East Los Angeles College (CA) F/C Jacob Tryon has committed to Portland.

Coach Cantu retweeted this, so that makes it official.