What Impact Will Frank Otis Have On Weber State?

One of the biggest transfers into the Conference that is eligible to play this year is Frank Otis for Weber State. Otis transferred from SMU, and eligiblity-wise will be a junior.

He played two seasons for SMU. As a freshman, he averaged 2.4 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 13.9 minutes. As a sophomore, he averaged 2.1 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 11.0 minutes. As a sophomore in his role he posted very solid rebound rates, and shot 55% from the field (albeit on 42 FGA).

Otis is a 6'6'' F who is primarily a low post player, which is important because that is probably the area where Weber State is the weakest. While Otis probably won't start this year, he will definitely be in the rotation. In addition, with the graduation of Kyle Bullinger and Darin Mahoney after this season, Otis looks likely to be a starter next year (obviously a lot of things could happen between now and then).

Weber State (and Big Sky) fans, what do you expect from Otis? Will he be a significant contributor this season?

Montana State Offers Matt Colbert Scholarship

From the Twittersphere, from someone named (hopefully not literally) Madzilla:

Marcus Colbert, post falls, Idaho offered by Montana state

I don't know a ton about COlbert, other than that he is a PG that is very quick and explosive. Mslacat had this to say about him:

Colbert avg 16 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 4.9 apg for Post Falls last season he is an explosive playmaker. Saw him @ Griz camp thought he was great

Excellent stuff from Mslacat as always, as he is very keyed in to Montana (and especially Montana State) basketball. It will be interesting to watch, Colbert seems like he could do some nice things in the Big Sky.

EDIT: Alson heard Idaho State has been active on Colbert, but has not offered a scholarship at this time. Montana had him at their basketball camp, but I am not sure if there is an offer on the table for him right now.

Montana State Makes an Offer To Trey Dickerson

Here is a scholarship offer made by Montana State, via the Twitter feed of Trey Dickerson:

Picked up a offer from Montana State today

Short and to the point!

Dickerson is a 6'0'' G from California. Here are his stats last year, and here is an interview with him. Judging by other things I am reading (such as on his Twitter feed he says he is waiting for an offer from San Diego St), it doesn't seem overly likely that Bozeman will be his college choice, but we will see how things pan out. He certainly looks like he has the talent to be dynamic in the Big Sky.

UPDATE: Sources now say that an offer has not been made yet, but might be. I'll update more if I hear anything.

UPDATE 2: Dickerson will be visiting Montana State on October 1.

An Early Look at Portland State's Schedule

Portland State was one of the last schedules released among the Big Sky teams, so let's take a look at some of their key games, most notably their out of conference slate.

They start the season on the road on November 11 against Denver out of the Sun Belt Conference. While not a marquee game by any stretch of the imagination, Denver has been a respectable team over the past couple of years, so a road win to start the year would be solid.

Two other conference road games of note are against Oregon and Oregon State, and it would be huge if they could beat even one of the in-state rivals. They will play Oregon on December 12 and Oregon State on December 18th. Oregon is coming off of a solid first year under Dana Altman, and Oregon State has recruited some nice players under Craig Robinson, but these are games the Vikings should go into thinking they can win. Their other non-conference road games come against Utah Valley and Cal State Fullerton.

Their home slate, like is customary for Big Sky teams, is not one that is going to excite a lot of fans. They take on Seattle, Linfield, Walla Walla, and Cal State Bakersfield. On the one hand, this is not a lot of competition and they should win these games. On the other hand, it could be nice confidence builders for them before the Big Sky season. Late in the year they will get a home Bracket Busters game.

They will also play in the Jim Thorpe Classic in Laramie. There they will take on the hometown Wyoming Cowboys, and then have neutral court games against Louisiana Tech and Maryland East-Shore. Talent-wise they should come out of that 2-1.

This will be an interesting season for Coach Tyler Geving and Portland State. After a couple of bad seasons following the departure of Ken Bone, expectations are starting to pick back up, as on paper this team has the talent to finish near the top of the Big Sky. How they fare in the non-conference slate will certainly be a harbinger of what is to come in conference play. With their schedule, 9 wins should be a reachable goal, and anything less than 8 would be a little disappointing, in my opinion.

What do you think? What is a reasonable expectation for the Vikings in the non-conference?

Stacy Davis Will Be Visiting Eastern Washington

Just ran across this tweet from Stacy Davis:

yeahh i go to Pepperdine this week, Fresno St next, Saint Marys after and then Eastern Washington. should be fun thouu broo

Davis is a 6'7'' F from Arizona who averaged about 23 PPG and 10 RPG last year.

30 Days, 17 Hours to Midnight Madness

As of the time I post this, according to the ticker on Rush The Court.

Basketball season is getting closer!

A Few More Thoughts on Joel Bolomboy

I wrote a little about Joel Bolomboy, a F recruit out of Texas that committed to Weber State in the last week, but I had a few more thoughts on the biggest takeaways from his commitment.

1) The Big Sky can recruit with bigger conference schools - Bolomboy had offers from New Mexico, Texas A&M, Fresno St, and others, and he still chose Weber State. The key is for Big Sky schools to be able to identify the players earlier than others and stick with them longer (obviously easier said than done). According to The Standard, "Weber State was the first school to recruit Bolomboy, starting in his sophomore season, and also the first to offer him a scholarship."

2) Bolomboy fills a need for Weber State - Darin Mahoney will be one of the top shot blockers and defenders in the Big Sky, but he will be a senior this year. Kyle Bullinger is a part-time post player, and he is a senior. Frank Otis will be solid after transferring from SMU, but he will be a junior this year. They will need some big men, and Bolomboy fits the bill.

3) Bolomboy has the potential to be one of the best defenders in the Big Sky - He is athletic and has a long wing span (which is a bit of a cliche, but still worth mentioning) and a quick jump, which allows him to be a solid shot blocker. He is still developing there, and could be a force on the glass and defensively inside for Weber State. He is certainly not lacking in confidence: "I'm really good at rebounding. I'm better on defense," Bolomboy said. "I can shoot really good for my size, dribble the ball. I can jump very high, very explosive in traffic." If WSU can develop him properly, they will have a really good one.

What are your biggest takeaways from the signing of Bolomboy?

Eastern Washington Player Goes From Basketball To Football

In 2009-10, Alden Gibbs averaged 2.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.3 SPG (though his ESPN stat profile says he is 0 feet, 7 inches tall, which makes his numbers even more impressive in that light).

Today, he is a cornerback on the EWU football team. The Spokesman-Review has a good article on how that happened.

Alden Gibbs found himself in a strange place in the early spring of 2010, shortly after completing his first season as a small forward on Eastern Washington University’s men’s basketball team.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who had made his way to Cheney via College of the Siskiyous in Weed, Calif., he just reached a “mutual agreement” with then-head coach Kirk Earlywine to look for playing time at another school.

Gibbs’ idea at the time was to transfer to a lower-level college in California. Until then, however, he was without a team to play for the first time since he was in grade school.

But then Taiwan Jones, one of the friends he had made on campus and a standout running back on the Eagles’ football team, suggested Gibbs might want to stay at Eastern and give football a try.

And come Saturday, Gibbs will find himself in another strange place when he makes his first start as the Eagles’ right cornerback in their 2011 season opener against the University of Washington at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

Big Sky Recruiting Interests

Some excellent stuff from Sea-Town Sports, a lot of which talks about guys Big Sky schools are interested in. So, without further ado.

Forward Mitch Brewe (Sr.) out of Seattle Prep gained an offer from Army last month to go along with his offer from Drake. UC-Santa Barbara, Montana and St. Mary's are also showing strong interest. The 6'8" forward sees himself as a Matt Howard type of player at the next level. He is looking to make a commitment in the early-signing period to avoid having it as a distraction during the season.

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Kennedy Catholic's Mitch Penner (Sr.) has always put up numbers in high school career, but because of the lack of competition in Seamount I wasn't sold on him until I saw him play for the Emerald City Pioneers this summer. He's the real deal. He'll probably play the two or three in college because of his size. However, his best strengths are his high motor and hustle. Penner has two D1 offers from Army and Hartford and an offer from NAIA school Carroll. Currently he is drawing some interest from mid-major D1 schools. Cal Poly, Colgate, Denver, Holy Cross, Portland St., San Francisco and UC Riverside.

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Lake Washington's point guard, Matt Staudacher (Sr.) is a name to remember this upcoming season. Perhaps he's been overlooked on Friends of Hoop with both Zach Lavine (Jr.) and Mike Washington Jr. (Sr.) starring at the guard position for the team. Regardless, Denver, Idaho St., Montana, Penn, and Portland St. have shown some interest. Staudacher describes himself as a smart playmaker that can compete and shoot the ball well.

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The top combo guard in the state, O'Dea's Sekou Wiggs (Sr.) is close to gaining an offer from UC Davis. Montana St. has also entered the picture. Cal Irvine, Cal Poly, Idaho, Portland St. and San Francisco have all offered. You can read our interview with him here.

Tajai Johnson Visited Sacramento State

From NorCal Basketball:

Vallejo's Tajai Johnson is visiting Sacramento State this weekend and Langston Morris-Walker of Berkeley High is down in El Paso at UTEP.

His MaxPreps profile.

UPDATE: Tajai Johnson has also visited with Portland State, according to Cameron Schott.

A Great Story on 9/11

Eamnonn Breannan from ESPN asked current college players for thoughts, reactions, and memories from 9/11, and compiled it all here.

Still, in advance of Sunday's 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, I decided to ask some current college basketball players to discuss their personal experiences during and after that tragic day.

Some were directly affected; Penn State forward Billy Oliver knew four families that lost loved ones in the attacks, and Illinois forward Meyers Leonard's brother Bailey Leonard has since been deployed to Afghanistan twice. Some grew up in the New York area and were in the city at the time. Others watched in horror from afar.

Together, we talked about memories, fears and lessons learned. I compiled their responses below.

If you're looking for a tidy 9/11 story neatly wrapped and tied with a bow, this isn't it. There are no overreaching conclusions here. Instead, we just talked. This is what came out.

Man In The Red Bandanna

In case you haven't seen this video yet, go and do so now, and take a tissue with you.

Man In The Red Bandanna

Ten years later: remembering a man who led people to safety after terrorists struck the World Trade Center on September 11th - a former Boston College lacrosse player whose trademark was a red bandanna

Just an amazing story and typical of the heroes created on September 11.

Kyndahl Hill Visiting Weber State

Word on Weber State message boards is that 6'7'' forward Kyndahl Hill is visiting Weber State this weekend.

Hill was seen as a top football recruit, but he decided to choose basketball, where he averaged 13 PPG and 8 RPG last season as a junior.

"I can bring toughness," Hill said. "I think being able to deal with tough situation and the physicality [of football] will help me out. I've thought about this a lot, and I knew it'd be tough, but I think I made the right decision."

After signing one Texas recruit in Joel Bolomboy, Weber would love to nab another, as Hill's pedigree certainly suggests he would be an elite athlete in the Big Sky.

UPDATE: This is confirmed via TexasHoops twitter account.

Patrick Mitchell - The Best Player on North Dakota's Team

When people think about the future of North Dakota basketball (which, I know the majority of people DO lay in bed at night thinking about the future of North Dakota basketball), the first thing that comes to mind is their five-member class of 2014, and for good reason. As a class, they had a very successful freshman year, and they provide a lot of hope for the future, particularly when North Dakota enters the Big Sky next season and is eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

For next season, however, their best player is probably Patrick Mitchell, who will be a senior. The 6'8'' F averaged 10.6 PPG and 5.8 RPG last season for the 17-16 Sioux.

Mitchell is a solid all-around player... he doesn't dominate in any area, but he does a little bit of everything. Probably his best attribute is his versatility on offense. He shot 37% from downtown (on 140 attempts), but he also shot a solid 49.6% from 2s, and got to the line a solid 105 times. His 52.7 EFG% was second on the team behind only Brandon Brekke.

He also had the highest DR Rate on the team, at 19.6%, which was about 200th in the nation. For a team that does not have a lot of height (or, frankly speaking, talent) down low, this is huge for UND. Mitchell can also make some opponents think twice in the lane, as he had a 6.8% Block Rate, 92nd in the nation.

He could stand to improve his FT shooting a bit, as he shot only 63.8%, and any improvement would make a difference since he is adept at getting to the line.

Mitchell is not the most athletic guy you'll find at this level, but he is a very good player, and a big key to what UND wants to do this season. He will be missed after his graduation. In the end, I think Sioux Blog probably said it best:

... it’s important to note that while Huff is the most talented player on the team, Mitchell is probably its best player.

Walk-On Mitchell Schwab at Montana State

Good article about walk-on 22 year old freshman Mitchell Schwab at Montana State from Star Valley Independent. Every program needs guys like this... just really solid characters who provide leadership to the team.

From reading the article, you get the impression that whether or not Schwab plays a minute for the Bobcats, he is going to have a positive impact on the program:

“I just want to give it all every single practice,” he replied. “If I don’t do that I  can’t improve. The hardest workers will get the spots. I feel like I have a lot more faith that I’m going to improve with this staff.”

Good stuff right there.

Tip of the cap to mslacat for the link.

Potential Montana and Montana State Recruiting Targets

Nobody is more plugged in on these schools recruiting than Mslacat, who has a couple of great posts up on potential recruiting targets for Montana and Montana State:

Montana Potential Recruitign Targets
Montana State Potential Recruiting Targets

In addition, his twitter account is a must follow for fans of those schools, and really for Big Sky basketball fans in general. Dare I say you are not a true Big Sky basketball fan unless you follow him on twitter.

Check the articles out, full of great information.

Walk-On Earns Scholarship

This has made the rounds a bit in the college basketball blogiverse over the past couple of days, but the best write-up came from Jeff Eisenberg over at The Dagger.

The video is about a 5'4'' guard from Green Bay named Eric Valentin, and how he was awarded a scholarship. Great video and great feel good moment!

If you haven't already, go read the article and watch the video!

Where Will Southern Utah Finish In The Summit League?

A little old, but a look by Rush The Court at the Summit League:

Southern Utah – The next team to leave the Summit League, Southern Utah is looking to the future but has to deal with the reality of next season first. Last year their defense was one of the worst in the conference, and it should be a point of emphasis this offseason. They signed Chris Nsenki, a 5-A all-state player from Kansas City, Missouri. He will be given his opportunity to make this team his own, but as a freshman in the Summit League, it’s hard to predict how he will perform. Needless to say, Thunderbird fans are pretty excited with the kid’s athleticism.

The writer checking in on the Summit League projected the Thunderbirds to finish 9th in the Summit, which shouldn't be much of a surprise. They finished 8th last season after being pretty bad offensively and very bad defensively.

They would like to leave the Summit League strong, but I think the biggest thing will be getting into a good position heading into their entrance into the Big Sky. It will be interesting to see if they can build some momentum, because the Big Sky is looking like it could be especially tough in 2012-13.

Another Joel Bolomboy Article

We saw a couple days ago how Texas F/C Joel Bolomboy signed with Weber State, and another article about it has popped up from The Standard.

Bolomboy is a long, athletic post player with an approximately 7-foot wingspan who runs well and is a shotblocker.

"I'm really good at rebounding. I'm better on defense," Bolomboy said. "I can shoot really good for my size, dribble the ball. I can jump very high, very explosive in traffic."

Weber State was the first school to recruit Bolomboy, starting in his sophomore season, and also the first to offer him a scholarship. He says he also had offers from New Mexico, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, Hartford, Long Island, IUPUI, and St. Francis.

While other schools wanted him to redshirt, the Wildcats' staff won Bolomboy over with the chance to play as a freshman. He took an unofficial trip to Missouri State, but decided on Weber State after an official visit to the Ogden campus Sept. 2-4.

I will have more to say on Bolmoboy in the coming days, but it certainly looks like Weber State got a good one, and Wildcat fans are rightfully very excited.

Portland State Schedule Released

Finally, Portland State has released their basketball schedule. A rundown of the schedule can be found here.

The Portland State men's basketball program has released its 2011-12 schedule, featuring 12 homes games, 16 road games, two neutral site games and an ESPN BracketBuster contest.

Will have some more to say on the schedule in the coming days.