Men's 2018 Basketball Recruiting

[mslacat]

Well right after writing the above post yesterday afternoon I started to hear some more buzz about the Bobcat men's 2018 recruiting. I got the names of a couple high school kids we have started to talk with plus a possible JC kid but I am not sure if the names I got are offers or simply interest. One of the names I got turned into a confirmed offer last night.

Dameane Douglas 6-6 SG/SF Memorial HS Fresno California. Douglas is more of a shooting guard than a small forward prospect. He has played guard most of his career but then between his soph and Jr season he grew 3 inches and is said to have grown another inch this summer. His recruitment like wise has taken off. Last year for Hanford West he averaged 25 points 15 rebounds a game. Over the this summer it was announced that he will be transferring to San Joaquin Memorial High School which is considered to be a big step up in competition. Douglas plays on the same AAU team as Bobcact targets Junior Ballard and Jonah Geron who are listed above. According to a couple twitter accounts after Dameane scored 25 pts, (Junior Ballard 14 pts) in the AAU tourney semi finals and then 28 points in a finals loss Coach Fish personally offered him in the gym. Douglas high game last year was a 42 point 21 rebound game in January. He is also a decent football QB/WR/athlete prospect following in the shoes of his father who played in the NFL for Philadelphia Eagles. Currently Douglas has offers from Montana State, Fresno State, Cal Poly, Fordham and Cal State Northrige, but a whole lot of other team (including Montana) showing a lot of interest.

Here is some video on Douglas

http://www.hudl.com/v/24JEp8

[mslacat]

Hey you miss me!? It appears things are happening a lot quicker than I anticipated. While I was typing the above post MSU sent out another offer. The Bobcats offered 6-4 Gary Williams

Gary Williams 6-4 Combo guard from Gahr High school in Cerritos California. Williams averaged 15 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steels a game. He is listed as a Combo Guard but for Fish I see him playing the shooting guard primarily. He is ranked as the #18 2018 prospect in Southern California by Prep Hoops S. Cal.. He comes from a basketball family as his Dad and Uncle played D-1 basketball. Gary is a solidly built guard with long arms (which Fish loves) all around guard who can hit the three, mid range or take it inside. If you watch the video below you will notice how he is not afraid of contact and can score with body's draped all over him, but also has a pretty quick release on his perimeter jump shot. I always try to find some good quotes from coaches or evaluators and I have some below but this is a kid coaches (including opposition) have nothing but positives to say, about his relentlessness and his attitude. Very well respected kid! MSU is his only offer currently but USC, UC Santa Barbara, Pacific, Wyoming, San Jose State, Grand Canyon, and Boise State have all been showing interest recently.

Westcoastelite 7-22-17

'Gary Williams of Gahr HS (2018) hard to stop when there's an opening. Long strides, length w/ great reach, finishes above the rim

Joel Francisco ESPN 7-12-17

6-4 Gary Williams (Gahr) is a talent..Ideal frame/smooth shot/D1 athlete...assertiveness and improving ball skills will be key

FullCourtpress.com 3-16-17

Gary Williams 6’4” 2018 Gahr (Cerritos CA)
Assertive wing with strength can finish through contact on his drives to the hoop.

Westcoastbasketball.com 7-12-16

Gary Williams (Cerritos, CA/ Gahr)

2018, SG, 6-foot-4, 160 pounds

Joel's take: A year from now Williams could be one of the more sought-after wing-types in the state. Willowy frame with great length, budding athleticism, and improved ball skills and savvy describe this up-and-coming prospect.

2016-17 highlites

[phantom]

Hard to know who a coaching staff is really serious about until official visits start this fall. Then, you'll have a much clearer picture of who is serious about who. At this time of the year, coaches throw offers out to kids to keep them interested and have them try to find more out about a school, plus you have kids who will claim they have an offer because a coach calls them and says they'd really like to have them come to "X University".

[mslacat]

Hard to know who a coaching staff is really serious about until official visits start this fall. Then, you'll have a much clearer picture of who is serious about who. At this time of the year, coaches throw offers out to kids to keep them interested and have them try to find more out about a school, plus you have kids who will claim they have an offer because a coach calls them and says they'd really like to have them come to "X University".

I would tend to agree with what you for the most part, but when you look at the recruiting rumors you are hearing you can get a Big Picture view at what the coaches could be thinking for the current recruiting period. If you look at the guys who the coaches the vast majority of the player we are (rumored) to be looking at are your 6-3 to 6-6 shooting guards/ Small forward. No true point guards and only 2-3 bigs. The other thing is that we clearly are recruiting California really hard this year after pretty much ignoring it in past year. Additionally Eric Jackson was hired to recruit the Midwest, and this year he seems to be paying big dividends. Finally it appears Fish has almost complete abandoned the JC recruiting. There is only 1 JC player that I have heard rumors that we could be recruiting since April. The one JC kid mentioned is a British small forward who was placed in the JC by Bobcat assistant Chris Haslam who had a break out year last season. I think we are talking to him but am not sure though we have even offered him. The other thing I look for is recruits names coming from multiple sources connected to MSU. The more I hear the more it appears there is a stronger than average connection going on there, and that prospect


So based on what I am hearing/see out there with their 4 scholarships it looks like the coaches are really putting an emphasis on get at least two wings that can score the ball and have some size (both or either height or muscle) of the confirmed commits 10 of 14 fall into that category . Of the guys listed so far (and 2 more that I need to list) the two that I am hearing the most Buzz about are 6-8 forward Mack Anderson and 6-4 guard Malachi Smith (Wisconsin), but we really will not know until around September 9th (football gold rush)when the coaches will most likely bring in their first batch of recruits.

[mslacat]

Hard to know who a coaching staff is really serious about until official visits start this fall. Then, you'll have a much clearer picture of who is serious about who. At this time of the year, coaches throw offers out to kids to keep them interested and have them try to find more out about a school, plus you have kids who will claim they have an offer because a coach calls them and says they'd really like to have them come to "X University".

I would tend to agree with what you for the most part, but when you look at the recruiting rumors you are hearing you can get a Big Picture view at what the coaches could be thinking for the current recruiting period. If you look at the guys who the coaches the vast majority of the player we are (rumored) to be looking at are your 6-3 to 6-6 shooting guards/ Small forward. No true point guards and only 2-3 bigs. The other thing is that we clearly are recruiting California really hard this year after pretty much ignoring it in past year. Additionally Eric Jackson was hired to recruit the Midwest, and this year he seems to be paying big dividends. Finally it appears Fish has almost complete abandoned the JC recruiting. There is only 1 JC player that I have heard rumors that we could be recruiting since April. The one JC kid mentioned is a British small forward who was placed in the JC by Bobcat assistant Chris Haslam who had a break out year last season. I think we are talking to him but am not sure though we have even offered him. The other thing I look for is recruits names coming from multiple sources connected to MSU. The more I hear the more it appears there is a stronger than average connection going on there, and that prospect


So based on what I am hearing/see out there with their 4 scholarships it looks like the coaches are really putting an emphasis on get at least two wings that can score the ball and have some size (both or either height or muscle) of the confirmed commits 10 of 14 fall into that category . Of the guys listed so far (and 2 more that I need to list) the two that I am hearing the most Buzz about are 6-8 forward Mack Anderson and 6-4 guard Malachi Smith (Wisconsin), but we really will not know until around September 9th (football gold rush)when the coaches will most likely bring in their first batch of recruits.

[mslacat]

The Coaches are at the last and biggest recruiting event/week-end of the summer with almost most of it in Las Vegas. There are also some events happening in Europe so Haslam and/or Fish may be over there. I have a couple more G/SF prospect that were offered earlier this week but I have been too lazy to post them here.

Dylan Belquist 6-7ish SF out of Los Gatos high school in Los Gatos Cailifornia. Belquist prefers to be called a guard but he is listed at any where from 6-6 to 6-8 and I would guess he would play at the forward spot for the Bobcats. Last season he averaged 19 points 8 rebounds 2 assists 2 blocks a game for Gatos HS. Has been named to the De Anza League first team last two year, and freshman of the year before that. He is an aggressive scorer with deep three point range and the ability to put it on the floor and drive. Hr reminds me of Tom Domako the way he uses his three point game to set up drive. He can be a frustrating player to guard on the perimeter. Belquist is ranked as the 11 best prospect in Northern California by The NorCal Report

He currently has offers from Montana St, UC Davis Cal Poly, Utah State U.C. Riverside UTEP & San Francisco and a handful of other showing interest.

Video


Jared Martin 6-5 PG/G/SF Saguaro High School Scottsdale AZ. Martin averaged 21 points 5 assists 8 rebounds 2 blocks a game last year. He playes point guard for his high school team, and that is where his high school coach thinks he will play in college, for his AAU team he plays shooting guard and small foward. Like most of these guys Fish is looking at he is a very good 3 point shooter(some say best in Arizona) with range but is very comfortable posting up smaller guards.

He Currently has offereds from Montana State, Californai Babtist, Cal State Northridge, Loyola Marymount, UCSB and Northern Arizona, and about 10 other schools showing a stron interest.

ArizonaPreps.com

Martin is a guard prospect with excellent size and a nice offensive skill set, which allows him to make shots from almost anywhere on the floor. He has a sweet shooting stroke with excellent range, which makes him very difficult to defend for opposing guards. He is the best pure shooter in Arizona's 2018 class of prospects.

Prep Hoopz AZ 7-13-17

Jared Martin 6’5 SG Saguaro 2018:

Martin demonstrated a strong transition to a combo guard role. He has improved his passing skills and has a solid handle. He still looked more comfortable in the 2 spot with others creating for him or with him creating from the wings. In addition, he demonstrated an improved ability to take a defender on the block and create shots for himself

Prep Hoopz AZ 4-29-17

Jared Martin (17-Black, Saguaro High School *2018) and Ian Burke (17 Black, Brophy Prep *2018) also got a shoutout from the coach for playing well so far this season. Martin, in particular, recently received an offer from Loyola Marymount, so he’s without a doubt a second-level talent. Burke, according to his head coach, is as smooth of a point guard as you’ll find.

Video a little old


Rumor alert Someone from California told me that the Bobcats and Junior Ballard (listed above) are trying to arrange an official visit to Bozeman in September.

[phantom]

Hard to know who a coaching staff is really serious about until official visits start this fall. Then, you'll have a much clearer picture of who is serious about who. At this time of the year, coaches throw offers out to kids to keep them interested and have them try to find more out about a school, plus you have kids who will claim they have an offer because a coach calls them and says they'd really like to have them come to "X University".

I would tend to agree with what you for the most part, but when you look at the recruiting rumors you are hearing you can get a Big Picture view at what the coaches could be thinking for the current recruiting period. If you look at the guys who the coaches the vast majority of the player we are (rumored) to be looking at are your 6-3 to 6-6 shooting guards/ Small forward. No true point guards and only 2-3 bigs. The other thing is that we clearly are recruiting California really hard this year after pretty much ignoring it in past year. Additionally Eric Jackson was hired to recruit the Midwest, and this year he seems to be paying big dividends. Finally it appears Fish has almost complete abandoned the JC recruiting. There is only 1 JC player that I have heard rumors that we could be recruiting since April. The one JC kid mentioned is a British small forward who was placed in the JC by Bobcat assistant Chris Haslam who had a break out year last season. I think we are talking to him but am not sure though we have even offered him. The other thing I look for is recruits names coming from multiple sources connected to MSU. The more I hear the more it appears there is a stronger than average connection going on there, and that prospect


So based on what I am hearing/see out there with their 4 scholarships it looks like the coaches are really putting an emphasis on get at least two wings that can score the ball and have some size (both or either height or muscle) of the confirmed commits 10 of 14 fall into that category . Of the guys listed so far (and 2 more that I need to list) the two that I am hearing the most Buzz about are 6-8 forward Mack Anderson and 6-4 guard Malachi Smith (Wisconsin), but we really will not know until around September 9th (football gold rush)when the coaches will most likely bring in their first batch of recruits.

If you want to see who the Bobcats are really interested in, see if there is a particular kid that Fish has tracked this summer. If the head coach is tracking someone (as opposed to evaluating) that shows the recruit that he is a top priority. Also, I wouldn't put the recruiting into a box, such as they've abandoned JC recruiting. At this time of the year, they aren't going to be recruiting JC kids. They are working on HS kids. As the calendar turns to fall, then the coaching staff will make a determination on the best course of action between taking 4 HS kids vs. a JC kid or a transfer. I'd guess they'll sign a couple of HS kids in the fall, maybe even 3, then wait and see what their needs are during the season before signing a couple of more kids in the spring.

[mslacat]

Evaluation Period is over for the summer and the coaches have a little more than a month to make their list of players they want to bring, get a home visit, and convince their first group to make the trip to Bozeman if everything goes right that should be during the Football teams Gold rush game.

Over the week end that coaches made an offer to another player.

Franco Miller 6-2 combo Guard from Tabernacle Baptist HS in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Miller is built like a pro player at a muscled 210 pounds the video below just does not do him justice compared to the photos posted of him on twitter this weekend he definitely looks more like a football player than basketball. I don't have his official high school stats but it appears he averaged around 20 points 6 rebounds 4 assists and 3 steals a game. Wyoming was the first to offer Miller about 2-3 months ago but after three games this weekend (averaging 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists 3 steals) against some of the top AAU teams, Montana State, St Bonaventure & Illinois Chicago all offered last Saturday, with Arizona State, Tulane. UNLV and Wichita State showing interest. The only area of concern for ma might making sure I checked his birth certificate he looks a few years older than 18 year old.

[mslacat]

Another recruit

Zeke Quinland 6-7ish SF/PF Hillcrest Prep Academy AZ As I understand it Zeke played his senior year in 2016-17 Life Christian High School in Akron Oregon last year and this year he will be doing an additional year at Hillcrest Preparatory Academy in Arizona. I have seen him listed at any where from 6-6 to 6-8. He has been playing the post positions in high school but has recently developed a nice perimeter game, and is expected to play both the wing and stretch forward this year at Hillcrest. Life Christian is a 2A small school in Oregon, and despite dominating at that level did not get a lot of recruiting attention. I don't have his exact stats but averaged about 20 points, 9 rebounds and shot 50% from the field and 39% from three. He had high games of 35 points 12 rebounds & 33 points 10 rebounds. In 2017 he was ranked as the 14h best college prospect in Oregon. Last year he had offers from Colgate, Idaho State and Colorado Christian. Since reclassifying to 2018 Montana State is his first offer, but you might think some of those other schools might be in the picture.

Arizona Preps 6-30-17

Zeke Quinlan SF 6’6 1/2” 208 Hillcrest Prep

-Quinlan is a strong driver and has toughness with a high motor. He has a college ready body and he can pull-up off the dribble plus shoot the 3pt shot off the catch. He may need to improve his shooting consistency from deep but hit some in each game. He also just got back from a broken wrist, so he will only get better. He is an outstanding rebounder using his body and he is a plus athlete. He was a 2017 player and he is re-classing and attending Hillcrest. The family is from Oregon and he attended Life Christian HS-OR last year.

{quote} Quinlan of Life Christian HS in Beaverton. The explosive post player dominated in Oregon’s 2A ranks by simply being bigger and stronger than the opponents. In order to improve his stock with college programs, Quinlan will need to show the ability to consistently play at a high level against bigger and more talented athletes.[/quote]

PrepHoops OR 4-22-17

3) Zeke Quinlan (6’7/Life Christian/2017) – The talented forward has lead his team to a #6 state ranking while playing in the toughest 2A league in the state. Quinlan is capable of dominating physically at the 2A level and this athleticism that has college coaches drooling. He has a developing mid range game and the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIcFx22 ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

[msu_agfan]

Dylan Belquist 6-7ish SF out of Los Gatos high school in Los Gatos Cailifornia. Belquist prefers to be called a guard but he is listed at any where from 6-6 to 6-8 and I would guess he would play at the forward spot for the Bobcats. Last season he averaged 19 points 8 rebounds 2 assists 2 blocks a game for Gatos HS. Has been named to the De Anza League first team last two year, and freshman of the year before that. He is an aggressive scorer with deep three point range and the ability to put it on the floor and drive. Hr reminds me of Tom Domako the way he uses his three point game to set up drive. He can be a frustrating player to guard on the perimeter. Belquist is ranked as the 11 best prospect in Northern California by The NorCal Report

He currently has offers from Montana St, UC Davis Cal Poly, Utah State U.C. Riverside UTEP & San Francisco and a handful of other showing interest.

Video



Rumor alert Someone from California told me that the Bobcats and Junior Ballard (listed above) are trying to arrange an official visit to Bozeman in September.

I just watched a video for Belquist, I can see him being a great asset for the Bobcats. Here is the youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SShQVEt ... e=youtu.be (couldn't figure out how to embed)

Any word on recruits coming in to visit for Gold Rush week?

[Hawks86]

https://twitter.com/CoachJDowner/status/900091203403759616

[mslacat]

I did a write up up above on Mr. Williams. I also rechecked VerbalCommits.com and his twitter page and it seems Montana State is still his only offer. That said though reading the quotes from the evaluators it sounds like he is a Brian Fish kind of player with the possible exception he is a good three pointer shooter but that that deep threat shooter that Fish loves. As far as visitors go we might not get quite as good info this year as last. Parker Gabriel had an inside source that provided him (and then us) with a list of almost all if not all recruits who came on campus. With Parker leaving last week and his replacement not arriving until late this month I don't think we might get as complete info as we did the last two years. That means we will have to rely on Twitter and other internet sources to figure out who is coming on campus. On the plus side most AAU coach LOVE to promote who their players are visiting (much like the tweet above that identified Gary Mathews).

[mslacat]

Just a little recruiting update on recruiting and prospects.

Bozeman recruiting visits: It is pretty safe to say that Sept 9th, Sept 30 and Oct. 10th will all be dates that the coaches will have recruits in as those are the 1st three football games of the season and those are always key recruiting events. I think it that there is also very possible that we could have a recruit or two outside these dates. It just happens sometimes when a recruit tries schedule multiple recruiting trips at one trip. This is especially true for foreign recruits, where they take one trip to the USA and just goes from one School to the next, but if the coaches get their way it will be on a home football game.

What Fish seems to be looking for: We should have 4-5 scholarships to fill this season, we lose 1 big man, 2 guard/wings and 1 combo forward. Of the 20 or so recruits I have heard rumor about 15-16 of them have been wings (shooting guard and small forward). There are a few recruits that are listed as combo guard but when you look at they are more scoring guards than point. In the few conversations I have had with Fish about his recruiting style aside from recruiting positions, he also has recruits certain traits each year that he feel are important for the team to add or replace (traits like rebounding, athleticism, speed, shooting ect), so I like to look at what his recruits may have in common. Most (but not all) of his recruit have a high level of athleticism which to be honest is not too surprising. Most of the guard fall into two categories. #1 DEEP 3 point shooters. If you go through and read the evals above it is loaded with players who have NBA three point range, and this seems to be a common theme with Fish every year he always seems to want to add more shooting depth. There are quite a few athletes who described as the best 3 point shooter in the state. If the recruit is not deep shooter it seems that they are looking a muscular, athletic and physical shooting guard. There are more than a quite of few of these recruits that already look like college player who have been in the weight room for 2 years. Gary Williams who I list below is one of them. To different degrees they have the shooting ability to take a three or drive to the hoop take contact and score the ball. Those are some of my thoughts we will just have to see what happens and if I am right.

James Moors 6-9 f/c Westlake High School, Auckland New Zealand. the only true big man I could confirm on our list, cut his recruiting list to his top three to visit and MSU came in forth!

Gary Williams 6-4 Combo guard from Gahr High school in Cerritos California. is the first recruit to announce a trip to MSU on September 29th and 30th. MSU is still his only offer but has a lot of schools looking hard at him.

Zeke Quinland 6-7 SF/PF Hillcrest Prep Academy AZ will take an official visit to Montana State the week-end of Sept 8th and 9th, as it was announced literally while I was typing this post. I did a write up about him above. MSU was the first to offer him Idaho State and Colgate have also offered.

Mack Anderson 6-8 Bozeman - The only big man type that I know we are still actively recruiting. Coaches though are looking at him as small forward / 3 point shooting stretch 4. I have heard he will be visiting most likely one of the 1st two weeks. The coaches are very high on him and he is a priority. He has Offers from Montana State, Montana, and Air Force, and interest from Boise State, Dartmont, Denver Pepperdine and Idaho

Kelton Samore & Khalil Chatman are two 6-7ish athletic power forwards/small forwards from Oregon that we were recruiting hard when Branden Lincoln was an assistant but since he has left it seems we may have fallen off their radar, as far as can tell. Khalil Chatman (3 star recruit)in particular seemed to be a guy we really had a chance with. I don't know if they are still on our/their radar.

Europe: Never know what going on their but I have hear 3 names but I can not confirm them. One could be a Bigby-Williams type big guy, in terms of they are very high on him, but would like to keep him under the radar. So no name mentioned there.

JC recruits: The coaches don't seem to be recruiting the JC ranks real hard but they are actively making it to JC recruiting events and they have a few kids on their board. Keep your eye on Casper JC just south in Wyoming rumor has it MSU and asst. Haslam has place 1/4 to 1/3 of their current roster on that team from guys he has seen in Europe (I know 1 from Oregon as well) and connected them with the Casper coach.

[mslacat]

Bozeman's own Mack Anderson's recruiting is really gaining traction. As far as I know he still only has the three offers (Montana State, Montana and Air Force), but he is getting more and more interest from more D-1 schools. Recently I have heard that South Dakota and West Point have been showing a lot of interest also. I have not heard if he has got an official visit scheduled but I would have to imagine the Bobcat coaches want him in the week-ends of the Sept 8th or 29th.

[mslacat]

Bozeman's own Mack Anderson's recruiting is really gaining traction. As far as I know he still only has the three offers (Montana State, Montana and Air Force), but he is getting more and more interest from more D-1 schools. Recently I have heard that South Dakota and West Point have been showing a lot of interest also. I have not heard if he has got an official visit scheduled but I would have to imagine the Bobcat coaches want him in the week-ends of the Sept 8th or 29th.

Now hearing Washington State showing interest, but still only the 3 offers

[bobcatfan4life]

Looks Like Mack Anderson verbally committed to the Griz. Just saw this on the twitter for Colter.

[mslacatfan]

Looks Like Mack Anderson verbally committed to the Griz. Just saw this on the twitter for Colter.

Ouch.... that one hurts.

Fish is now 0-2 on Montana recruits. Howard to ewu, who's brother played here. And now this guy, in the bobcats backyard, choosing the Griz....

I am a fan of coach fish, but wtf???

[MSU01]

Looks Like Mack Anderson verbally committed to the Griz. Just saw this on the twitter for Colter.

Ouch.... that one hurts.

Fish is now 0-2 on Montana recruits. Howard to ewu, who's brother played here. And now this guy, in the bobcats backyard, choosing the Griz....

I am a fan of coach fish, but wtf???

2 is not exactly a large enough sample size to draw any real conclusions from. Fish has had his hits and misses in recruiting like any other coach, but the hits are turning out to be better players than MSU has had in a while (Hall, H. Frey).

[mslacat]

It is hard to argue with a coach who has two consecutive freshman of the year (first ANY coach/program has ever had consecutive FOY) and who could darn well make it three in a row in 2017-18, BUT 0-2 in getting the best Montana Athlete and 0-2 head to head against the Griz (Anderson and Espy) it is hard to swallow. We should have 1-3 recruits in this week end and hopefully this can help wash this bad taste out of my mouth!

[mslacatfan]

It is hard to argue with a coach who has two consecutive freshman of the year (first ANY coach/program has ever had consecutive FOY) and who could darn well make it three in a row in 2017-18, BUT 0-2 in getting the best Montana Athlete and 0-2 head to head against the Griz (Anderson and Espy) it is hard to swallow. We should have 1-3 recruits in this week end and hopefully this can help wash this bad taste out of my mouth!

agree, overall Fish has done some amazing things turning the program around. And I love the recruits he has brought in..... BUT..... it would be nice to get a solid montana recruit once in a while. They are few and far between, but they are out there.

I have read quotes from Fish saying how he wishes we could fill the basketball arena more often with sell out crowds (like the cat-griz game)..... Having a winning program is definitely the best way to do that... but having a couple Montana kids on the roster doesn't hurt either..... especially a Bozeman kid.