Gryphons bolster backcourt

The Gryphons men's basketball team has received notification of commitment from Burlington native, Brady Heslip, a 6-foot-2, 180lb guard, one of the top outside shooting recruits in the province.

With Nick Pankerichan graduating, the Gryphons were in need of some backcourt help and it will be interesting to see what kind of role Heslip takes on in his first year. I watched a couple of highlight videos on him (Youtube is always clutch!) and this kid looks like a very solid outside shooter. He's got a quick release and seems to have good court sense too. While most of his highlights showed Heslip spotting up from 3-point land, it also looks like he can distribute the basketball and drive to the net. Being a little on the small side, I think Heslip translates well into a good combo-guard, a la Dan McCarthy.

Rookie guards seem to step in and contribute faster than big men in the OUA, as indicated by last year's OUA All-Rookie team (of the 6 players on the team, 4 were guards and that didn't include McCarthy who was also very solid and just missed the nomination). Heslip could come in and provide some instant offence for the Gryphons off the bench.

With McCarthy, Mike Petrella, Jon Moscatelli and potentially Charles Agyemang returning next year, I don't see Heslip cracking the starting lineup in his inaugural year. Petrella showed some great signs late in the year and McCarthy has a ton of upside that should translate into results in his second year. Moscatelli will likely be counted on to be the main scoring option for the Gryphons, but needs to improve his defence.

Stay tuned for more Gryphons updates - I still think they need to address the frontcourt with Duncan Milne graduating and Adam Bering and Duncan Reid yet to show that they replace Milne's 30 minutes a game. Bering's 2008-09 season was inconsistent and derailed by a concussion and Reid played limited minutes and looked raw when he did play. Both guys have potential to contribute and their summer workouts will be critical.

MT