2021 Recruiting Rumors and Discussion

[mslacat]

Tallest guy I remember was Greg Walters at 7'.

How tall was Tryg Johnson. Thought he over 7 foot.

Tryg was 6-10. He and Phil Layer lived a few doors down from me in South Hedges. When asked how tall he would always say 6-11 by the McHale method. Mchale gave his basketball height as with shoes on, because "I wear shoes when playing basketball". Walters was a solid 7'-0" by the time he finished his career (he played 4 years plus had a medical redshirt year) When he showed up at MSU he was 6-10 at best, but he just kept growing if someone would have told me he was 7-1 his senior year I would have believed Them.

Huse signed Michel Swita a 7-1 or 7-2" player if I remember correctly out of North Idaho JC, whom Huse thought would be a terror in the Big Sky. He was incredibly slow of foot, and minor injury prone. Never made an impact on the team.

[mslacat]

I am very intrigues by this commit, but also very cautious. Over the past 15 or so years we have signed 8-10 players who were over 6-10, and the only one that seems to have made an impact on the team has been Delvin Kirby. Huse signed a few 7 footers but none were D-1 players. Bradley Fisher and Michel Swita come to mind . Big men today need to be able run the floor or they become a liability on defense and the fast breaking. For me it will all be about how good his foot word is and can he run the floor. If not I do not care how tall he is. On the positive, I hear the kid is a workaholic, and his year in europe has really helped him. He was starting to get a lot of attention from Pac-12 and others. MSU was his first D-1 offer, and had a very good engineering school and he jumped on it. Could be a real steal.

[imacat]

Huse signed Michel Swita a 7-1 or 7-2" player if I remember correctly out of North Idaho JC, whom Huse thought would be a terror in the Big Sky. He was incredibly slow of foot, and minor injury prone. Never made an impact on the team.
[/quote]

I don’t necessarily like to rag on Bobcat coaches but this is typical Huse. I don’t think he ever developed an integrated recruiting strategy to build a team. When he left, the program was a train wreck.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Tryg was 6-10.

He still is! Or pretty close to that. I think I shocked Tryg at a women's game. He was there cheering on his daughter who plays for Sacramento State. I told him I remembered him playing for the Bobcats and what great memories seeing him back in the fieldhouse brought to me. I still have a game program with Tryg on the cover with Hashley, Epperly, and Maclin carrying Bethal Debnam off the Dahlberg Arena floor after that team upset the griz in Missoula for the first time in a long time.

But I digress...I have a good feeling about this kid. Eventually one of these big guys will turn out to be a good player-right? Injuries are probably the biggest concern. That's a lot of mass to move around on those knee joints. It's definitely worth the risk of a scholarship.

[bobcat99]

Well you can’t teach size so I guess that part is good. Saw he only had D2 and JUCO offers coming out of HS. That’s a bit concerning because at 7 foot 3 you would think the offers would be much better. I’m guessing they see some upside and are willing to try and develop.

I would guess he doesn’t move well laterally.

[Hawks86]

[DwaineF]

Some incite into this young man's dedication to get better: https://www.prephoops.com/2021/01/colle ... donar-u22/

[thefrank1]

He and Howard side by side would be very impressive.

[BelgradeBobcat]

https://msubobcats.com/news/2021/4/14/m ... cB5854E1F4

Some good quotes from Sprinkle in this link.

[duelalumnicat]

" I am very intrigued by this commit, but also very cautious. Over the past 15 or so years we have signed 8-10 players who were over 6-10, and the only one that seems to have made an impact on the team has been Delvin Kirby."

Nice to hear from you mslacat. Don't forget the sadly departed Al Beye.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I don’t see that 7-footers have as much impact on the game as they used to. We’ve faced a few of them over time and at the beginning of the game it’s always like “Wow, he’s 7-1” or whatever. As the game goes on I tend to forget about him, as he drifts into the background. Ends up with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 4 fouls. Only plays 16 minutes as the game is too fast. I think the rest of the players are so much more athletic that the height advantage is neutralized. I suspect most of the 6-7 or 6-8 guys can out-jump the tall guys. Does anyone know what his vertical is? That said, it sounds like this is our best chance to have an accomplished tall guy. I’m sure that Coach Sprinkle has seen enough to think he’ll be successful. He certainly is a hard-worker and a good student. Go, Jasper!!

[wapiti]

How tall was Dewey? (Dwayne Michaels)

I think he was 6'10. He had am impact on the floor. Especially on defense and rebounding.

[mslacat]

This is a weird year with all the Covid Protocols it has been tough for me to follow our fall signees and it is tough to figure out how what our needs are based on who is coming back. I have heard through sources (none coaches) that it appears pretty solid two seniors are coming back, one senior will not and the fourth most likely will not no but final decision has been made. Our available scholarships will not be effected by seniors decisions. Based on those that have left the program I believe we have two open scholarships. The coaches are looking at a ton transfers and JC plus a few high schools. in my opinion they are looking to add a guard who can play point (or at least very good ball skills) and can shoot the three (surprise). Second a big man who can play immediately (three point shooting is preferred, but maybe not required).

Prospect Name to keep an eye on Broc Finstuen 6-4 Sr transfer from Pacific U. (11.2pts 6rbs) was coached by coach Russell at Casper

Ranking Committed/signed recruits (by impact next year)

RaeQuan Battle 6-5 G/SF (transfer U of Wa) 4-star out of high school some what of a little disappointment so far for UW (5pt/GM) but he is one of 6 transfers from UW. Counting on Danny to get him back on track. He has the rep and a big type scorer. Not the shooter Tyler Hall was but can score from deep, mid range or going to the basket. (BTW one thing that has me nervous about Battle is that his official signing has yet to be announced)

Great Ososbor 6-8 F - I could have easily put him #1 but since he is a freshman I gave that to Battle. Ososbor could be the next great Bobcat player. Started his basketball career as a point guard. Had a growth spurt over 2 years and now 6-8ish. Unlike a lot of late growth athletes, this guy is filled out and built like a college senior. I can not wait to see what he looks like after a year in the MSU weight program. He is uber-athletic, tough physical player, fights for every rebound, looks for his shot, and great ball skills. Because his high school team did not play this winter, he was allowed to play on a club team with former college players. He was a beast. If we can keep him for 4 years he could be someone special.

Alex Germer 6-8 sg/sf/pf This is the guy I know best. Has the opportunity to play as a freshman. So versatile. Deep deep three point range but has the size and body to post up. Actively looks for his shot. Maybe more of a scorer than a rebounder for us, but the type of big guy Danny loves.

Patrick McHahon 6-6 G/F Hate to do this, but it does describe his game. Think of a Kral Ferch LT, maybe not as fast, but taller. He is an aggressive take it to the rim player without fear. The knock on him after his junior year was his 3 point shooting (26% 3FG), so he worked on it. His senior year he shot 38% from three, and was quoted as saying he needs to get it above 40% for college.

Sam Lecholat 6-6 PF It was tough to follow his progress this winter. He had multiple 30+ games and a handful 14ish point games. He is a tough nosed hard working undersized 4 (we used to call power forward) He is a good three point shooter so he can stretch the floor. He also has the body to bang. I have heard comparison to Danny Robison a little shorter, but more muscle.

Jasper Reinalda 7-3 C I have no idea! Lately I am not a big proponent of true big men in the Big Sky conference. There used to be 2-3 6-10 players on every team. Now it is tough to find a 6-10 or taller player who can run the floor and not become a liability. Not to mention most ref's usually call a foul on a true big man while he's taking off his sweats on the bench. Give me a 6-8 guy like Bello who has some athleticism and can run. Jasper is going to be either huge get or a huge bust. If he can run the floor, aggressively look for his shot and take up space in the middle he could be nightmare in the Big Sky or become the next Bradly Fisher. Again I have no clue. I have not been able to find any video of him longer than 4 seconds. On the plus sire thought he put up some pretty good numbers in 19-20 for what I believe was a pretty good Corvallis OR HS team.

BTW if you like true big men keep your eye on 2022 big man recruit 7-2 William Berg out of Stockholm, Sweden. I think he and the Bobcats are REAL close, That could be a HUGE front line in the 23-24 season

[mslacat]

How tall was Dewey? (Dwayne Michaels)

I think he was 6'10. He had am impact on the floor. Especially on defense and rebounding.

Dewey was 6-10, with a 7'-2" plus wing span (hell his shoulders where about 6 wide)

[tetoncat]

[lv2hoop]

Proud Dad post here .... we can’t wait to drop Patrick off at MSU here in June!!

[HelenaCat]

Welcome! We are really excited about Patrick coming here. MSU had another great player from Alaska, Jason Erickson, so we are hoping for lightning in a bottle again.

[Cataholic]

Cant wait to see Patrick in Bozeman!!

[MSU01]

Welcome! We are really excited about Patrick coming here. MSU had another great player from Alaska, Jason Erickson, so we are hoping for lightning in a bottle again.

And don't forget about Scott Harry from Homer, Alaska who played for both MSU's football and men's basketball teams! Looking forward to watching Patrick play, sounds like he's going to be a great player at the Big Sky level!

[AFCAT]

Heck, Alaska has been pretty kind to MSU for the past few years. Two football players on the roster and now basketball.