The Gryphons men's basketball team has landed a couple of top recruits to try and bolster their frontcourt depth.
6'8" forward John Brutto was the third ranked high school centre in all of Canada, averaging a filthy 22 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocks per game.
Dan Latka is a 6'11" centre who will be expected to play bigtime interior defence with Duncan Milne having graduated. He was his high school's MVP for the last two seasons in Parry Sound and will likely compete with Duncan Reid and Adam Bering for minutes at the 5 position this year.
I'm really excited to see what these two players bring the floor. We've commented at length about the Gryphons lack of frontcourt size, especially given the loss of Milne, who anchored the position for the better part of 5 years.
Guelph has also recruited Adrian Achonwa, a 6'3" guard to join the team next year. Achonwa played high school ball just down the road at Centennial CVI in Guelph, the same school that produced Dan McCarthy just a year ago. It'll be interesting to hear what Dan has to say about Adrian and we'll try to get on that soon.
The recruitments of Brutto, Latka and Achonwa brings the number of men's hoops newbies to 5 as they will join Matt Howlett and Brady Heslip who were added earlier.
Still waiting on news about new recruits for the women's team but with Kris Yallin being the only graduating member, I don't expect to see many new faces there this year.
MT
Showing posts with label Bering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bering. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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
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
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