2015 Recruiting

The celebration continues:

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2015/4/21/MBB_0421153607.aspx

wrv wrote:The celebration continues:

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2015/4/21/MBB_0421153607.aspx

Rev channels NoPo:

"Now, the final piece to this class will be a strong post player," Reveno noted. "While we feel we have a few players who can move between both forward positions giving us some exciting versatility, we need a true five to help shore up the inside on both ends of the floor."

Can't disagree with that.  All we need is DD to issue his press release.

Welcome Ray Barreno!

@Fchavezeptimes wrote:Former Faith Chrisitan hoops player Ray Barreno has committed to University of Portland. He played this past year at NMJC in Hobbs.

16.6 minutes per game--7th on the team,
6 points per game,
3.6 rebounds per game,
In Junior College.

The program would be better off with a 6-6 or 6-7 athlete that can run and defend.
I guess the coach thinks he needs someone beside himself to defend Phillip in practice, but this guy will not help win any games on the court.

The good news is Jackson looks like a good player.

SoCalPilot wrote:I guess the coach thinks he needs someone beside himself to defend Phillip in practice, but this guy will not help win any games on the court.

Well, at least one SEC school thought he could help them win games at that level. I'm inclined to trust coaching staffs over us nerds looking at a season stat sheet.

Also, I haven't seen any video but one could probably assume that the presence of a pretty solid PF in Cullen Russo - who's off to Wichita State or Minnesota - cut into Barreno's post touches with NMJC.

Terry Cahill wrote:Well, at least one SEC school thought he could help them win games at that level. I'm inclined to trust coaching staffs over us nerds looking at a season stat sheet.

Yeah, his numbers were close to zero at Tulane and they are not impressive at NMJC, but the two UP coaches who saw him in Hobbs were impressed enough to make his signing a priority once it was known Connor Clifford would not be coming to UP.

It would appear he will be unlike any center UP has had in the recent past due to his size.  If he arrives this summer at 6-11/265, I'm confident Coach Scott will increase his strength and agility to where he can go to 275 with more muscle and be very, very, effective.  At 265 he's already 25 to 30 pounds bigger than Thomas and Riley at the same height.

The coaches are paid to bring in good student-athletes and win games....I too have to believe the UP staff knows they have a BIG guy who is able to distribute the ball inside out and still score often enough to pull away at least one and possibly two defenders.

At 20 years of age, Ramon Esteban Barreno has the maturity, experience, and strength to lead the Pilots on the court, and as attested by his 3.9 GPA from Faith Christian Academy in El Paso, he can also lead in the classroom.   Hard to say what his major will be at UP, but when he started at Tulane almost two years ago, he was a biomedical engineering major.

Much like Mexican student-athlete Jorge "Cokie" Rochin before him, I really believe Barreno will be a crowd favorite....and will be the scourge of opponents.

Terry Cahill wrote:Also, I haven't seen any video but one could probably assume that the presence of a pretty solid PF in Cullen Russo - who's off to Wichita State or Minnesota - cut into Barreno's post touches with NMJC.

Yeah, I wouldn't be too concerned about Ray's touches, boards, or points.  At least five players from his NMJC squad have signed with D1 programs and another is on a visit this weekend.

Whatever the coaches saw in Ray during their visits to Hobbs and his visit to Portland, they liked him enough to pursue him over any transfer or grad student....or even a Euro with very good skills.

Hey, if he can grab a rebound and not get it ripped away, I'll be happy!  Better still, if he can power through a foul and dunk once in a while. We'll all see, next Fall.

Go Pilots!

OK, update time for next year's scholarship roster:

Freshmen (4): Jazz Johnson (G), Chiir Maker (G/F, redshirt?), Colin Russell (F/C), Rashad Jackson (G)
Sophomores (4): D'Marques Tyson (G), Jason Todd (G/F), Philipp Hartwich (C), Gabe Taylor (F)
Juniors (3): Alec Wintering (F), Jarrel Marshall (F), Ray Barreno (C)
Seniors (2): Bryce Pressley (G), Max Livingston (G/F)

2 things jump out at me: finally we have some balance in our classes, and how different the Pilots will look next season. I look forward to seeing this new look & style team on the court to see what we have.

Great! So that should do it for the 2015 class. We've got all 13 scholarships filled for next year. As PilotNut points out, we've got much improved class balance. And...

Good position balance:
PG: Wintering, Johnson
SG: Pressley, Livingston, Tyson, Jackson
SF: Marshall, Todd, Maker
PF: Taylor, Russell
C: Barreno, Hartwich

Geographic distribution:
Northwest: Livingston, Tyson, Todd, Taylor, Johnson
California: Pressley, Russell, Jackson
Other U.S.: Wintering, Marshall
International: Hartwich, Maker, Barreno (H.S. in Texas)

Given all of this, I'd say there are two potential redshirt candidates: Maker (potential academic issues) and Jackson (sufficient depth at SG).

The question remains, what is Rev doing in London?

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Great! So that should do it for the 2015 class. We've got all 13 scholarships filled for next year.
. . .

The question remains, what is Rev doing in London?

Finding players for 2016, hopefully.

up7587 wrote:

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Great! So that should do it for the 2015 class. We've got all 13 scholarships filled for next year.
. . .

The question remains, what is Rev doing in London?

Finding players for 2016, hopefully.

Player, singular. Only one scholarship available for 2016, as of now.

Isn't it two available? (Pressley & Livingston)

Edit: Yeah, one. Forgot about Monson. Where's he doing his mission, anyway?

This description of Barreno is from the UNT board. It appears to be reprinted from a description of Barreno coming out of high school. The role suggested may be how the Pilot coaches see Barreno contributing. I understand too that the bigs playing ahead of Barreno at his JC were D! players, for what its worth. I am sure we will find out early in the upcoming season if he is going to contribute—I suspect he will on the defensive end.


RAY is a big bodied paint player with very good feet and mobility for a player his size. He can really sit down on the block and call for the ball, catches the ball in close to the rim and finishes well. He can take up space defensively, can push his man off the block and can challenge shots and clog the lane on drives to the hole. He has good hands, moves quickly to the ball and rebounds and works hard. He will have to work to stay in shape and polish off his skills but his has some good tools to work with.

London does have the British Museum, Rosetta stone and the National Gallery and all, and wonderful plays. For a cultured man like Reveno it may be a good break from the trials associated with basketball. The Lithuanian center can even show him the better places, but who knows.

wrv wrote:London does have the British Museum, Rosetta stone and the National Gallery and all, and wonderful plays. For a cultured man like Reveno it may be a good break from the trials associated with basketball. The Lithuanian center can even show him the better places, but who knows.

Nailed it.

@CoachReveno wrote:Bunch of other tourists and I just watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. #recruitingbreak

Though very early, I am interested in the collective thoughts regarding the quality of this recruiting class as opposed to last year's class and prior years.

From my perspective, Marshall and Johnson are clearly D1 players who will contribute immediately. Maker, if he can surmount his academic challenges is a gem. Jackson is described as an excellent defender with good aniticipation and good hands--he can shoot too. Barreno and Russell will make us stronger defensively, and perhaps stronger on the boards. In the event we add another, well . . .

My optimism always increases this time of year. But this class appears to an excellent class by UP standards, as was last year's. The two added together appear to support an optimistic outlook for  team fortunes.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:The question remains, what is Rev doing in London?

Just as Telly Davenport was the backup in the event Rashad Jackson didn't sign, Rev was "camping out" with the backup (probably Karolis Kundrotas) if Ray Barreno had not committed.

Remember too that Coach Wolf had been the "Europe recruiter," but now that he's in a position that does not allow him to recruit, Rev is in England recruiting for the future....2016 and beyond.

Kundrotas' academy/club team, Barking Abbey/Essex Crusaders just won the Basketball England Championship....and Barking Abbey is considered the best spot in England to find really good D1 caliber student-athletes.....so it would seem a good place to build a relationship.

At 6-11, Kundrotas is the second tallest man on the team:

wrv wrote:Though very early, I am interested in the collective thoughts regarding the quality of this recruiting class as opposed to last year's class and prior years.

I totally agree with your assessment, wrv.

Now it will "just" be a matter of melding all the new guys with the returning players and figuring out what position(s) are best suited for each individual to result in a TEAM!  

Alec is a PG, but Jazz, who is also a PG, may be too big a scoring threat to play only as a backup.

Jason saw a lot of minutes as a freshman, but will he see a diminished role with the addition of Jarrel, or will Jarrel play a bigger role in the PF position along with Gabe and Colin?

Ray is the center with Philipp backing him up, but will we often see a "bouncier" lineup that does not include a center, but instead has guys like Rashad and D'Marques playing prominent roles?

I don't expect Chiir on court this coming season, but for many reasons, personal and athletic, that is probably a good thing.

I expect Bryce to be the team leader and for him to realize that it is NOT selfish to shoot/drive the ball himself.  This team is going to have many more scoring options then past teams, so it's going to be interesting to see how Bryce and his teammates spread the floor and who will emerge as the "go to guy" in the clutch.  

It's really hard to say if Max will have any other role besides "practice player," but all winning teams have such players who make all their teammates better.

Rev and his staff will have a whole different set of problems this coming season, but they are good problems.  What lineups will be the most productive on any given night, will playing more than an eight man rotation be too disruptive to the flow of the game, and how's everyone going to get significant playing time?  

Stay tuned....opening night is less than seven months away!  

Not trying to be a killjoy, but is it a possibility that Maker will not be admitted and hence another scholarship becomes available? Hence a trip to London has two purposes, as a backup plan assuming two scenarios, one concerning Barreno and one Maker.

wrv wrote:Not trying to be a killjoy, but is it a possibility that Maker will not be admitted and hence another scholarship becomes available? Hence a trip to London has two purposes, as a backup plan assuming two scenarios, one concerning Barreno and one Maker.

In a word, no.

It is expected that Chiir will be enrolled at UP this summer, along with all the other recruits, but it is not clear what hurdles he must overcome to be eligible to play basketball for UP.

Regardless, it is my understanding that he will be using one of UP's 13 men's basketball scholarships.

Barreno:

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2015/4/22/MBB_0422154645.aspx

With an interesting comment from the UNT board:

Mean Green Icon


Posted Today, 04:00 PM
"The hope should be that we have a better big man that we are interested in. The thought of losing a kid to Portland freaking St. is just depressing."

wrv wrote:With an interesting comment from the UNT board:"The hope should be that we have a better big man that we are interested in. The thought of losing a kid to Portland freaking St. is just depressing."

Man, I'd definitely feel the same if UP had lost Ray to Portland-freaking-State.  

wrv, do you think they'd feel better if you posted on their board that Ray signed with the Pilots who play in the 9th ranked conference in the country.....not to the Vikings who play in the 26th ranked conference?  

BTW, according to Ken Pomeroy, UP finished the season at #149, PSU at #252, and North Texas was at #246, with Conference USA ranked #17.

Probably should just let the wound heal. Maybe we can tell them about us when and if we play them. They also suggest that poor Barreno, by signing with us(or the Vikings), has chosen obscurity. Maybe he has, but we will be watching.

wrv wrote:Maybe we can tell them about us when and if we play them.

I remember the last time the Pilots played UNT. I was mildly annoyed with the outcome, especially given the results of the previous two days!