Recruiting Rundown: Montana State, North Dakota, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado

For all of October and the first half of November, I was working on previewing the Big Sky, culminating in this long-winded diatribe about the conference. In this, I missed a lot of recruiting news. In a series of three posts over the next week or so, I will go through the teams and the recruits they have signed thus far, in alphabetical order.

I started with Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, and Montana, so let's move on to the next four...

Montana State
I wrote a bit about their signees last month, but Brian Fish was very active in his first recruiting cycle for the Bobcats.

They signed 6'4'' guard Tyler Hall, a guy that can shoot the ball well and who Fish says has very high upside. He shot 35% from deep and seems to still be improving. He reportedly had more than a dozen DI offers. Another signee was 6'6'' forward Sam Neumann from St Paul. He can also fill it up, shooting 38% from three-point range last year and scoring 19 PPG. The other high school guy they signed was 6'3'' guard Mandrell Worthy, who averaged 23 points/6 rebounds/5 assists per game last year. He has done everything for his high school team, including playing four positions.

They also got a verbal commitment from 6'2'' JUCO guard Quinton Everett, He is another guy that shoots it well, and should handle the ball well also. From the recruits, Brian Fish's preference to play fast, and have multiple guuys that can handle the ball well and shoot it from the outside seems clear. So far, things are off to a good start on the recruiting trail.

North Dakota
Brian Jones was very busy in the early signing period, as UND signed four guys. One is a transfer from Denver named Drick Bernstine, a 6'8'' forward. He averaged 2.1 PPG and 2.4 RPG for Denver before transferring after the spring semester last year. He will have three years of eligibility left. Jones said he reminds him of Boris Diaw in that he can do everything on the court, and is very skilled. UND has been very active on the transfer market the past couple years, and they have another nice player in Bernstine.

Continuing their Minneapolis pipeline, they got 6'6'' Josh Collins, who plays for De LaSalle high school, a program that is always good. He is a very good athlete that should be able to guard multiple positions and fill in some different roles. 6'4'' Adam McDermott averaged over 16 PPG last year, and is a very good outside shooter. He is the nephew of Greg McDermott, so you know he has good basketball in his genes. Last is 6'4'' Cortez Seales, a combo guard who averaged 16.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG last year. He will be a versatile member of the backcourt who can finish at the rim, which should be a good complement to McDermott.

It's an impressive four man group for North Dakota.

Northern Arizona
The Jacks have been one of the best recruiting teams in the conference, and that continues this year. They signed five guys in the early recruiting period. One is 6'5'' forward Brady Twombly, who Murphy says brings "very good size on the wing and he is a proven shooter." He is from California.

In addition to Twombly, NAU got a whopping four guys from Florida. Majestic Tejada is a 6'1'' guard that was their first commit. He looks to be a true PG that looks to get his teammates involved first before looking for his own shot. Corey Brown is a 6'8'' forward who is teammates with Tejada who is an excellent athlete and rebounder, as he averaged nine boards per game. You have to think they were excited about getting guys who were high school and AAU teammates.

Junior Searcy is a 6'4'' guard that is a skilled scorer. He is a combo guard who averaged 22 and 6 last year, with coaches having great things to say about his work ethic. Last is 5'11'' guard Michael Green, and the quotes about him show he is an explosive guard that can play on both ends of the court. The press release calls the group the "Florida Four," and they look like big-time building blocks for an NAU program that is constantly improving.

Northern Colorado
The Bears got two guys in the early signing period, with the first being 6'2'' guard Jordan Davis from Las Vegas. He averaged 17 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds last year. He originally committed to Eastern Washington, but de-committed and re-opened his recruitment. He also had offers from Northern Arizona and Hawaii, and looks like a good get for BJ Hill and staff. He was the primary ballhandler of his high school team last year, and is solid attacking the rim. They also signed 6'3'' guard Miles Seward out of Canada, who averaged 17 PPG last year. He is a good shooter that will help in the backcourt.

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Montana State Gets Four Committments

Brian Fish has gotten a head start on next year's recruiting class with three different commitments. I am not sure who reported these first, but I'm getting my information from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

The first recruit was Illinois shooting guard Tyler Hall, who Fish first started to recruit as an assistant for Oregon. Last season, he averaged 11 PPG, and shot 56% from the floor and 35% from downtown. Per Gidal Kaiser, he had more than a dozen DI offers, including from Nevada and fellow Big Sky member Northern Arizona.

Fish was on Hall’s trail for a long time, according to Hall and Quad City Elite AAU coach Darren Bizarri. Fish began recruiting Hall during the spring of 2013 — before Hall sprouted from 6-1 to 6-4, scored 31 points in a July 28, 2013 AAU championship game in Fort Wayne, Ind., or averaged 20 per game during an April 2014 AAU tournament in Wisconsin.

The next recruit was small forward Sam Neumann from famous Cretin-Durham Hall in St. Paul, MN. Neumann is 6'6'', and averaged nearly 19 points per game last season. He also averaged 14 PPG as a freshman and 16 PPG as a sophomore. In his career he has made over 100 threes and shot 38% from downtown last year.

“I knew right in the first five minutes I talked to coach Fish that he would be a guy Sam would want to play for,” Kline said Monday. “I was interested to see how they would hit it off on the in-house visit.

“When the MSU coaches left, I said if Sam felt comfortable and solid in Bozeman, this is going to be the place for him,” Kline said. “Trust and faith in his coaches is important to Sam, and coach Fish established that right away.”

Finally, Washington point guard Mandrell Worthy became the third verbal commit. He is 6'3'', and had offers from Seattle and Big Sky member Idaho. Last year, Worthy's team went 23-6 as he averaged 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists per game, playing as many as four positions throughout his career. He can score, but also seems quite adept at doing all the little things necessary for the team to win.

“Out of necessity, and needing someone with his skill level to score for us when he was a freshman, I basically played him at the 4,” Liley said. “We had enough things we could do that would get him into space so that he’d be able to take advantage of one-on-ones or get off a couple screens to score.

“As much as he scores, his best attribute is the fact he is — he does what it takes for us to win, but he is an unbelievable passer and he makes everyone around him better. That is what Montana State is getting.”

With the signees, we can perhaps see a bit of the style of team Fish will try to build - a quick, athletic squad that can hit shots from the outside. He appears to be off to a nice start in Bozeman.

EDIT: In my original post, I missed the commitment of JUCO guard Quinton Everett. He is 6'2'', and plays for Gillette Junior College. He played last year at Little Big Horn College. Here is a scouting report from Colter Nuanez. From reading it, Fish's desire to play an up tempo game looks even more apparent.

Film: None. Everett plays for former Bobcat great Pete Conway, the head coach at LBHCC. Last season, Everett averaged 19 points per game for Conway’s squad. He shot 42 percent from the field, 35 percent from beyond the 3-point line and 62 percent from the free throw line. If he can improve his percentages, he can average 25 points per game next season.

A scouting report on Everett reads: Ultra strong and excellent quickness and running ability. Iffy “3” shooter or he would be a high-major prospect. Gets a ton of rebounds (5.7 per game), loose balls and finishes with authority at the rim. Can make mid-range shots and 3s, but is a drive 1st, shoot 2nd type of small forward. Will play best for an up-tempo team that keeps him in the open court offensively. Mid-major “3” at lead with an outside shot to play for a higher major team if he’s in the right offensive scheme, improves his shooting.”

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