Recruiting 2016

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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:31 am

Make it official. 6-10 PF Devin Kirby out of Basha HS mentioned above just announced on twitter he was offered by the Bobcats. ESPN gave Kirby a 76 rating. this a point better than Bobcat target Jalen McDainiel who is rated 75. BTW I am told one reasons his stats were so low last year was that he was nursing a knee injury most of the season. Here is what ESPN had to say about him.
ESPN Analyst
Updated 01/23/2015
Strengths:
Kirby is a lengthy 4-man with blossoming face-up skills and a quick 1st step. He has an ideal frame for the next level due to his long arms and big hands. He is bouncy around the rim and he is quick off the floor. He gets most of his points in the form of put-backs or finishing in transition with a dunk. He handles the ball well in the open court and he shows a solid feel for the game (good passer).
Weaknesses:
Kirby needs to continue to polish his face-up skills (ball handling) and mid-range skills at the elbow. His jump shot needs to smoothen out and it's range needs to increase.
Bottom Line:
Kirby has a great frame and some physical tools. If he works on his skills and fundamentals, his future is bright.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by RobertCats » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:30 pm

Fish said that he will have 4 kids visiting during the Gold Rush game and "they wouldn't be visiting if we really didn't want them." Said exposing kids on the atmosphere of the football games is a big selling point. Hope we have a great atmosphere for them.


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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Thu Aug 20, 2015 6:39 pm

RobertCats wrote:Fish said that he will have 4 kids visiting during the Gold Rush game and "they wouldn't be visiting if we really didn't want them." Said exposing kids on the atmosphere of the football games is a big selling point. Hope we have a great atmosphere for them.


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That is interesting. I expected Fish to bring in 1-2 prospects high priority prospects on both the Gold Rush game and the Home coming game but 4 is a lot of kids to have in. Huse used to say 3 prospect was his max at any one time. Also as I mentioned before it really appeared as best I could tell he only brought in 1 prospect at a time. I think it is safe though to say that the 4 guys he brings in will be the top notch guys.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by msu_agfan » Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:40 am

These guys are sounding great so far. Is recruiting always this interesting/exciting? I think the guys will like the game atmosphere, but I believe they are going to be impressed with the talent level of recruits that Fish has brought in from last year. Looking forward to hearing some positive things, but mostly just cant wait for the season to start :!:


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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:48 am

msu_agfan wrote:These guys are sounding great so far. Is recruiting always this interesting/exciting? I think the guys will like the game atmosphere, but I believe they are going to be impressed with the talent level of recruits that Fish has brought in from last year. Looking forward to hearing some positive things, but mostly just cant wait for the season to start :!:
What is most interesrting about watching Fish recruit this year is that he does not have the presaure of rebuilding the team through recruiting in 2016. He only needs to sign 2 or maybe 3 players which is really on the low side for an average D-1 recruiting class, but I still think it is important that he builds on the success of last years recruiting class if he wants to move this team to the top of the Big Sky. In years past at this time the coaches would focus on one upper level athlete at a given position, and then have 2 fall back players who were about a notch below the upper level guy and then a "we need to sign someone guy" as a last resort. For example about 2-3 years ago Huse said he needed to sign a true high school big man and that was the main focus of his fall. He had a kid out of Seattle who was 6-10 and was getting a ton attention mid tier west coast D-1 schools. He visited Bozeman the first game of the football season. Huse thought he had him, but Hawaii swooped in and the kid looooooved Hawaii where he committed. Huse had his next 2 choices (solid Big Sky Prospects) in Bozeman in October but they committed to Boise State and UC Santa Barbara (BTW neither kid stuck with those teams) finally just before the Signing period Huse invited to Bozeman at the last moment a 6-7 kid who as far as I know had no other D-1 offers and Huse got his big man commit. Now the theory is as low major program you need to try to get those difference making players, but at the same time you can not spend all of your resources chasing pipe dreams and not get the players you need.

From what I can tell of what Fish is doing he is chasing the Difference making players like Jalen McDanield and Adrio Bailey and as these guys recruitment explodes he simply goes out and hedges his bets by getting involved with other difference makers like Devin Kirby and Robinson Idehen. His theory is much more aggressive he has the confidence he can get/steal one of these away from the so called bigger schools, he may or may not get the guy he originally wanted but he will get one of them. That what makes this fall so interesting to me will Fish land one of these top big men or point guards



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:38 pm

By the way, for the possible European players we could be looking at here are the two guys I am hearing the most about.

Johannes Leth Nielsen 6-9 forward Virum, Denmark. Rumored Offers: Montana State, Iona & Lafayette Interest Bucknell & Holy Cross
He has a reputation as a scorer but appears to be a decent rebounder also, but not a true inside banger. He has range beyond the three point range. Every box score I could find from the European championship this summer had him with 20 or so points and 9-12 rebounds.

Henri Langton 6-9 (I have seen him listed anywhere from 6-8 to 6-10) forward/ center Charwood Academy Basketball UK
He is more of a true inside big guy, but yet is still known more for his offence than rebounding and defense. He averaged about 10 points and 8 rebounds last year, in his first year with Charwood. Charwood was one of the top teams in Britain last year and upset in the UK championship game. They had a lot of players average double figures last year , all but Langton though graduated. Langton, though always seem to have his biggest games against bigger competition. People are expecting a big statistical year for Langton this year. He was moved up from the UK U-16 to the U-18 team this summer.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:57 am

Have a name of one of the recruits rumored coming in for for the Gold Rush football game. He is 6-2 PG Harald Frey out of Oslo Norway. He averaged 15.5ppg, 3.7rpg, 3.5apg and 2.2 spg Baerum (team name) while his team won Scania Cup, the Norwegian the U19 championship. His teammate Johannes Dolven who is described on the net as Baerum's "second best scorer " has already committed to Drake.

Here is some video on him.
[youtube][/youtube]

He will also be visting Drake and Miami Ohio while in the states.

Here is a summary of stats based on the difference teams he has played for over the years.

http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Har ... mary/49262



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by SonomaCat » Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:09 pm

Well, we do have a nice history of success with athletes from Norway at MSU .....



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:21 pm

Frey can shoot from deeeeeeep . In that YOUTUBE video he was nailing 3 pointers 2-3 feet beyond the international three point line at 22'-2" (the Ncaa is at 21'-9"). He looks like he has decent ball skill and that will be important. We lose Marcus this year and Matlock the following year so getting a quality (non-project) will be important.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by RickRund » Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:22 pm

Am I correct to assume that the European players tend to be more fundamentally sound. Not sure if that is as true today but they tended to have better fundamentals in past years..


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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:46 am

I have herd from multiple sources in Washington that 6-2 Malachi Flynn from Bellarmine HS Tacoma Washington will also be in Bozeman this week for an official Visit from September 2-5 for the Bobcat Football game opener and Gold Rush Game. I am hear he has offeres from Montana State, Cal Poly, Cal Davis, Pacific, Montana and Eastern Washington, plus is getting looks from Washington, Washington State and Nevada. I was also told Gonzaga invited him to walk-on. He had a real good summer which lead to more interest and offers, still he is not very widely known by the Scout, Rivals and ESPN evaluator. He is not listed on any of their sites. Funny thing is, though of all point guards it appears the Bobcats are pursuing he is the guy I am getting the most feed back on. That's probably why he was at the top of my list. Flynn is a scoring point guard who can shoot it from deep three or fake and drive to the hole. Flynn is also a pretty accomplished track athlete in the sprints.

Here are some evaluation notes on Flynn from Transition Hoops who cove Montana Idaho Oregon and Washington. Flynn is listed as the 16th best Basketball prospect in the northwest.
#16 Malachi Flynn (6'1 PG Bellarmine HS, WA) - Flynn plays with a great tempo and whether its making the 3 or the pull up jumper, he always seemed to make the right play. He picked up multiple D1 offers after a consistent summer knocking down shots.

STRENGTHS
Knock down shooter. Solid handle and can shoot off the dribble. Scrappy defender. High basketball IQ.

WEAKNESSES
His body needs to mature

On a related note. 6-2 combo guard Cameron Hunter out of Olathe East High School in Kansas committed to North Dakota State over the week end. Montana State had offered him but I am not sure how high he was on their list.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by blueandgoldblitz » Tue Sep 01, 2015 12:56 pm

Ever since I watched Children of the Corn, I've been terrified of people named Malachi :shock: 8-[



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Wed Sep 02, 2015 3:58 pm

So tomorrow will be all Football and I understand so I will post this today. We will have 2 players in Bozeman for official visits for tomorrow's Gold Rush football game and they are the guys I have mentioned before Malachi Flynn from Tacoma Washington and Harald Frey from Oslo Norway. I was told a while back that we would have four recruits in but I can only confirm two and I think that is it. I have heard there was plans for a third recruit, a JC Big man from England but arrangement for a family member to come could not be made and they will come later this year. I had also heard the coaches might also be bring in a Big man from Arizona this week but that turned out to be false. As I have also posted before the coaches have to scholarships that will become available through graduating senior and with those scholarships they are looking to sign a high school Point Guard and High school big man. They are only looking at 1 JC seriously right now and would spend a 3rd scholarship if needed to sign him, otherwise they would hold pat with 2 signees until the spring and see if a third scholarship opens up. The JC they are looking at they feel will look real good in Blue and Gold and they know this because they have seen him in those colors.

Interesting thing about this weeks recruiting then is that both are 6-2ish point guards who's games are almost identical. Flynn appears to be a little more athletic and Frey seems to have a little deeper range. Since this is the first week-end of Bobcat on campus recruiting, I am guessing these are the coaches top prospects at point guard. This will be Flynn's first on campus visit, so if he waits to commit until he takes all his visits it could be some 5-6 weeks from now before we know. I am not 100% sure about Frey but I think this is his first visit also, but and after leaving Bozeman Friday he will travel to Drake and Miami (OH), in some order and get his vists taken in one long recruiting trip. This is typical for Foreign players with multiple offers. Theoretically Frey could have all his trips in a decision made by mid to late next week. Now if the Bobcat coaches have there way, they will get one of these recruits to to commit on their trip and get it all done by Saturday. I would, though, find it hard to believe that the coaches would sign both if they both chose to commit (yea I realize I am being a little optimistic here) they just don't have the scholarships. So will it be first to commit first to get the scholarship? That could be interesting. I don't know who they may have ranked higher or if they even do. It is also interesting for Frey, what if he commits and then has to go on to at least 2 other colleges for trips that could be tough. I would bet the coaches would try to cancel the other trips and send him right home and I would not pull my offer to Flynn until Frey makes it home. That is best case scenario. Worst case it you wait for Frey and Flynn to make their choice and the Bobcat coaches bring in a couple more point guards for the Home Coming Game along with maybe a JC big man from Wyoming.

I must admit I am pretty positive about Fish's ability to close the deal with recruits he did such a great job last year of doing it. Also hoping my friend Nathan is posting about a Montana State commit the first part of next week.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by msu_agfan » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:44 am

I hope we get a great point guard. I have a question. What if both of these guys want to commit? Do we need to honor both of our "offers"? Just a recruiting question I guess. How much are we married to an offer we make? What ways can we back out of one?


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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Fri Sep 11, 2015 11:33 am

Been a busy week but I thought I might bring folks upto speed on recruiting rumors. Again for the record all my info should be considered rumors as in none of the info comes from MSU coaches or MSU prospects, but even if it did once I passed it along I think it becomes rumors again.

Point guards Malach Flynn and Harald Frey were both on campus for the Gold Rush game last week. Both are said to have had a great time. There is no indication that either Committed.

Harald Frey: After leaving Bozeman Frey went on to at least 2 other visits (Drake and Miami Ohio) but I have not heard a peep as to what happened then. There is almost no acknowledgement any where on the net or message boards that he visited. I would think by this time he has finished his visits and either home or on his way home. Could be ready to make a commitment.

Malachi Flynn: Flynn is still uncommitted I have heard. Word out of Washington is that he wants to visit the University of Pacific, before making a commit. My sources in Washington also say Pacific may be considered the slight favorite over Montana State. Pacific also has hi as their #1 PG target for 2016. No word yet whether he will visit Cal Poly, EWU or UC Davis.

Rumor has it the coaches are looking to bring in PG Diikymbe Martin out of Riverside California, while waiting on the two above mentioned Point Guards. As a note of interest Martin is actually more higher rated by the national recruiting services than either Flynn or Harald. Remember though neither Harald nor Flynn are ranked period by the scouting organizations becuase of where they play ball. Little info on Martin: 3 star rated by Scout and Rivals. ESPN gives him a 72 ranking
ESPN Analyst
Updated 07/22/2015
Strengths:
Martin will not dazzle you with blinding quickness, but his savvy and poise for this game at such a young age is impressive. He has a solid looking frame with decent length and his basketball IQ is impressive. His head is always up dissecting the defense with his eyes and he is a true point guard who knows how to get his teammates involved or he can nail the pull-up jumper.
Weaknesses:
Martin needs to continue to improve his quickness and he needs to continue to develop his ability to change speeds to keep defenders from crowding him. In addition, his pull-up game is solid, but he needs to extend the range on his jump shot and become a reliable 3-point shooter.
Bottom Line:
Martin is one of the more polished point guards out west for his age. It will be interesting to see how his body develops in the coming seasons because he has somewhat of a thick frame at this stage.
Big men

Jalen McDaniels Committed to San Diego State a couple days ago. He visited them last week and was suppose to take a trip to Washington but I am not sure that happened.

Devin Kirby: 6-10 PF/C from Basha high school in Chandler Arizona is currently on an official visit to Montana State as I type this. Kirby is an interesting case. During and after his sophomore year he was considered to be one of the hot younger prospects in the state of Arizona. In an early December game last year (Junior) he was undercut during an attempted alley-oop and dislocated both knees and broke his tibia. He was just cleared to play basketball this past July 15th. He has not been seen by a lot of coaches his recruitment has cooled off. Currently he has offers from MSU, Brown, Dartmouth, Georgia Southern, Grand Canyon Loyola Chicago, Northern Arizona and Rice, but Arizona State, San Francisco and Cincinnati has been showing a lot of interest. Plus Wake Forest sent coaches down to watch just last Wednesday for a private work-out Kirby. Kirby's older brother Maurice Kirby is a senior 6-9 PF on Loyola Chicago basketball team after originally signing with Virginia Tech out of high school. Interestingly also Kirby plays along side 6-9 Center Klay Stall who just committed to Utah State so Kirby is used to playing the power forward spot. The two players are rated almost exactly the same. ESPN ranks stall 1 point better 70 vrs 69, but scout and rivals have Kirby a 3 star prospect and Stall a 2 star prospect and ironically Stall is also just coming off an injury. Over all I think some programs backed off because of the injuries to Kirby's knees, but from what i can tell non of his ACL/MCL were too effected by the injury. Kirby could be a little bit of a chance but boy I think he could also be a pretty big sleeper and that is why Wake Forest sent coaches down to work him out.

ESPN gives him a 69 ranking. Here is their evaluation
ESPN Analyst
Updated 08/27/2015
Strengths:
Kirby is a lengthy 4-man with blossoming face-up skills and a quick 1st step. He has an ideal frame for the next level due to his long arms and big hands. He is bouncy around the rim and he is quick off the floor. He gets most of his points in the form of put-backs or finishing in transition with a dunk. He handles the ball well in the open court and he shows a solid feel for the game (good passer).
Weaknesses:
Kirby needs to continue to polish his face-up skills (ball handling) and mid-range skills at the elbow. His jump shot needs to smoothen out and it's range needs to increase.
Bottom Line:
Kirby has a great frame and some physical tools. If he works on his skills and fundamentals, his future is bright.
Depending on who/if any may commit between Kirby, Flynn and Frey look for 2-3 prospects to be brought in for the Home Coming game, including Kavell Bigby -Williams.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by mslacat » Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:34 am

Recruiting update:
As reported in another thread Fish and His staff have gotten a commitment from the point guard they wanted in 6-1 Harald Frey of Oslo Norway. Parker Gabriel has a nice write up on him here:

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/bl ... b73d0.html

Harald Frey and Malachi Flynn were the only 2 point guards that I know of that were brought in this spring and they were both brought in on the same week end. Frey had a standing offer from Drake and New Jersey Institute of Technology (yes D-1) when he committed to the Bobcats. The University of Miami (OH) had offered but pulled that offer when they got another commitment. Flynn was not going to make a commitment until visiting U of Pacific, which he did last weekend. With the Bobcats out of the picture Flynn committed to Pacific yesterday night.

On the Big man front:

Delvin Kirby
On his twitter Page 6-10 high school-er Delvin Kirby has said he will announce his decision tonight. As far as I know he is the only big man (high school or JC) to have taken an official visit to MSU this fall so far.

Kavell Bigby-Williams
According to Parker Gabriel the coaches took an official visit to Gillette JC to visit Kavell last week. From every thing I hear Kavell is definitely interested in the Bobcats.

I have been under the impression this fall that the coaches want to sign (in no particular order) a high school point guard, a high school Big Man and Kavel Bigby Williams (3 total). I think that is still the way they hope to go, but some are telling me they may only sign 2 this fall. So it could get interesting.

Normally home coming week end is a big recruiting week end for both men's and women's basketball, so I would expect Fish has at least one big man prospect scheduled, but I have not heard any names yet. Depending on what Delvin Kirby does tonight, though, I could they could cancel any trips.



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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by Hawks86 » Tue Sep 22, 2015 8:13 pm

Kirby just commited. =D^ =D^ =D^ =D^ =D^


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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by LongTimeCatFan » Tue Sep 22, 2015 8:24 pm

Hawks86 wrote:Kirby just commited. =D^ =D^ =D^ =D^ =D^
He'll probably start as a freshman.

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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by TomCat88 » Tue Sep 22, 2015 8:27 pm

Quite the acceptance letter he sent in on Twitter.


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Re: Recruiting 2016

Post by CatBlitz » Tue Sep 22, 2015 8:38 pm

So how tall is he? I've now seen 6'7, 6'9", 6'10, 6'11".


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