Recruits

[sittingon50]

Anyone been tracking young Mr.'s Meikle & Edwards?

[ZagNative]

I've been trying, but there's not much to report from press stories at this point. Lucas scored 16 points in one of the early games, but I saw a tweet to the effect that Bellarmine has been struggling early. Recent tweet:

LeftCoastRecruiting @LC_Recruiting

2013 Lucas Meikle with 9 pts in a losing effort. Bellarmine has struggled so far this year.

Ryan was out the first game with an injury but it looks like he's back:

Joe Terry @joseph_terry

Glacier boys beat Great Falls High 57-47.

15 Dec Joe Terry Joe Terry @joseph_terry

Seeing some nice hustle out of Ryan Edwards for Glacier. Big man getting close to a double-double. A few nice passes too.

Here is the kids' schedule as I have it for the month of December. (Check with the school to verify it's accurate before you leave home) Hope some folks will be able to check out the games in the Spokane area, and maybe Maynard G Krebs can report on some games on the coast ...



I wonder if the two of them will plan to take in the Baylor game while they're in the area.

[duper]

what could find

Lucas Meikle is averaging 15.8 points a game for Bellarmine prep who is struggling at 1-3 so far.

Ryan Edwards's team hasn't lost as far as I can tell. I only found one box score Edwards had 10 pts, he had less than 11 rebounds because the team leader had 11 and it wasn't Edwards.

[Zagtana]

Heard a couple of weeks ago that Edwards had an ankle injury and would miss 2-3 games. Haven't heard if he is back yet or if he is 100 percent.

[JIMMYMAC]

please post if he's supposed to play in CdA this weekend. Would love to go watch him in action. Last time I saw a future zag play in Cda it was Dranginis during the north south all star game and was well worth it.

[dnj116]

A 7 ft. center who has committed to Gonzaga that plays in Montana's AA boys basketball league should be averaging more impressive numbers, in my opinion. Granted, it sounds as though he may be injured, but this isn't exactly the most competitive of leagues.

He appears to be a "project" big, and by all means I hope he surprises us all with the work he puts in, becomes a nice story, etc. However, currently, I am of the opinion that our current recruits are somewhat of a step down (on paper) from what I have come to expect as a Gonzaga fan.

Of course I don't pretend to be as knowledgeable as our coaches when it comes to recruiting, and I ultimately have the utmost faith in them. But to me, this means that the coaches may (or at least should) be continuing their search for players to replace Harris, and in a year Sam, Kelly (and maybe Karno).

In sum, although these players obviously have the potential to become good role players, their lack of putting up big numbers on their high school competition puts up a "red flag" in that we will need some higher impact recruits to go along with these players. Will they blossom into good role players for us? I certainly hope so, and I will cheer for them the whole way. However, in order to stay competitive with the best teams out there, we will be needing some top-shelf recruits -- from wherever -- to join this core. *rant over*

[FlyZag]

A 7 ft. center who has committed to Gonzaga that plays in Montana's AA boys basketball league should be averaging more impressive numbers, in my opinion. Granted, it sounds as though he may be injured, but this isn't exactly the most competitive of leagues.

He appears to be a "project" big, and by all means I hope he surprises us all with the work he puts in, becomes a nice story, etc. However, currently, I am of the opinion that our current recruits are somewhat of a step down (on paper) from what I have come to expect as a Gonzaga fan.

Of course I don't pretend to be as knowledgeable as our coaches when it comes to recruiting, and I ultimately have the utmost faith in them. But to me, this means that the coaches may (or at least should) be continuing their search for players to replace Harris, and in a year Sam, Kelly (and maybe Karno).

In sum, although these players obviously have the potential to become good role players, their lack of putting up big numbers on their high school competition puts up a "red flag" in that we will need some higher impact recruits to go along with these players. Will they blossom into good role players for us? I certainly hope so, and I will cheer for them the whole way. However, in order to stay competitive with the best teams out there, we will be needing some top-shelf recruits -- from wherever -- to join this core. *rant over*

Be careful getting caught up in how many stars a kid has. Remember Mike Hart failed to garner a single scholarship offer.

Also consider the level of coaching a player in a AA Montana league might have. Then think of how said player will improve given a red-shirt year working exclusively with the coaches one-on-one. I do believe our coaches have seen this kid many times. He's been on campus before.

Sure he could turn out to be less than perfect... but I defer to the coaches who get paid a lot of money to evaluate talent and have been VERY successful doing so in the past.

[cjm720]

Be careful getting caught up in how many stars a kid has. Remember Mike Hart failed to garner a single scholarship offer.

Also consider the level of coaching a player in a AA Montana league might have. Then think of how said player will improve given a red-shirt year working exclusively with the coaches one-on-one. I do believe our coaches have seen this kid many times. He's been on campus before.

Sure he could turn out to be less than perfect... but I defer to the coaches who get paid a lot of money to evaluate talent and have been VERY successful doing so in the past.

+1

[Shanachie]

Heard a couple of weeks ago that Edwards had an ankle injury and would miss 2-3 games. Haven't heard if he is back yet or if he is 100 percent.

From the game article December 12:

Playing without 7-foot center Ryan Edwards for the second straight game, the Wolfpack was much smaller in its half-court sets, playing 6-2 senior wing Logan Iverson in the post for stretches to get some height down low. The Pack looks to get Edwards back from an ankle injury in the next few weeks.

He had 10 points and 6 rebounds in his first game back

[dnj116]

Be careful getting caught up in how many stars a kid has. Remember Mike Hart failed to garner a single scholarship offer.

Also consider the level of coaching a player in a AA Montana league might have. Then think of how said player will improve given a red-shirt year working exclusively with the coaches one-on-one. I do believe our coaches have seen this kid many times. He's been on campus before.

Sure he could turn out to be less than perfect... but I defer to the coaches who get paid a lot of money to evaluate talent and have been VERY successful doing so in the past.

Not saying anything about how many stars each kid has/doesn't have, their recruiting ranking, etc. What I'm looking at is their objective stats thus far this year and in years past.

I realize that some players turn out to be better than expected (i.e., Mike Hart). However, you pretty much summed up what I said in my post -- that I will defer to the coaches making good recruiting decisions, that the players may very well develop to become good role players, etc.

My point was that although these players will play their respective roles for the team -- whether by redshirting, providing hustle, or whatever it may be -- they aren't exactly on the same level as our recent recruits with the stats they are able to put up against their counterparts in that lower level of competition (see Bell, Pangos, Dranginis, Spangler, Karnowski) and will almost certainly need time to develop before they come in and provide the impact a more polished player would be able to.

We will certainly need some role players in the future, and how they develop over their years at Gonzaga is left to be determined. However, what we are presently missing are recruits that will provide an instant impact upon putting on a Gonzaga jersey, with the exception of Gerard Coleman. I base that opinion not on how many stars each recruit has received from scout, rivals, etc., but based upon what they are accomplishing thus far in high school basketball. To remain a top level team in college basketball, you need those higher level recruits that did put up big numbers in high school -- as a litmus test of what the player's current skills are -- to then improve upon that in college and have more of a fighting chance of becoming a good player on a perennial top 25 team.

I feel as though that is a fairly objective way of looking at the situation. Not throwing either player under the bus by any means, but I do see room for recruiting additional players in addition to these two. . .

[Angelo Roncalli]

Not saying anything about how many stars each kid has/doesn't have, their recruiting ranking, etc. What I'm looking at is their objective stats thus far this year and in years past.

I realize that some players turn out to be better than expected (i.e., Mike Hart). However, you pretty much summed up what I said in my post -- that I will defer to the coaches making good recruiting decisions, that the players may very well develop to become good role players, etc.

My point was that although these players will play their respective roles for the team -- whether that be redshirting, taking time to develop, provide hustle, or whatever it may be -- that they aren't exactly on the same level as our recent recruits with the stats they are able to put up against their counterparts in that lower level of basketball competition. (Bell, Pangos, Dranginis, Spangler, Karnowski).

We will certainly need some role players in the future, and how they develop over their years at Gonzaga is left to be determined. However, what we are presently missing are recruits that will provide an instant impact upon them putting on a Gonzaga jersey, with the exception of Gary Coleman. I base that opinion not on how many stars each recruit has received from scout, rivals, etc., but based upon what they are accomplishing thus far in high school basketball. To remain a top level team in college basketball, you need those higher level recruits that did put up big numbers in high school -- as a litmus test of what the player's current skills are -- to then improve upon that in college and have more of a fighting chance of becoming a good player on a perennial top 25 team.

I feel as though that is a fairly objective way of looking at the situation. Not throwing either player under the bus by any means, but I do see room for recruiting additional players in addition to these two. . .

You lost me at Gary Coleman. I thought he died.

[Zagtana]

please post if he's supposed to play in CdA this weekend. Would love to go watch him in action. Last time I saw a future zag play in Cda it was Dranginis during the north south all star game and was well worth it.

Jimmy Mac -
From the 12/15 Daily Interlake (Kalispell) ... ''Ryan Edwards scored 10 points and had six rebounds in his return from an ankle injury.
'It was a good feeling to get back on the court,' Edwards said.
'It’s still a little tender out there on the floor.'
Glacier heads to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for a two-game set later this week. The Pack will play Lake City on Friday and Coeur d’Alene on Saturday.
Glacier now 3-0 on the season.''

So, sounds like although still on the mend, Edwards will play in CDA.

[bigblahla]

Recruits? Yes please.

Go!! Zags!!!

[dnj116]

You lost me at Gary Coleman. I thought he died.

Ha! Sorry, "Gerard" Coleman.

[combatcorpsmangulaw]

Evaluating 7' high school kids is a dart throw

For numerous reasons, 7' high school kids develop later than more 'normal' size kids on the basketball court, especially at the college level.

Athletically speaking, if a 7' freshman can walk and chew gum at the same time; it's truly a gift for a college coach.

There are always exceptions but, in general, 7-footers have to grown into their bodies.

That said, there are exceptions i.e. our Polish kid. But, that's rare.