2020 Recruiting

DoubleDipper wrote:Leyi Adebayo, also from Melbourne, and a youth club teammate of Zac Triplett, reportedly made an official visit to The Bluff last week and it would appear he's narrowing his choices to UP, UC Riverside, and USD.

Leyi must have confused his universities (and his coasts), instead of choosing Portland, he chose Princeton.

@VerbalCommits wrote:2020 Otero JC (CO) G RayQuawndis Mitchell has received an offer from Portland.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/rayquawndis-mitchell

I’m aware of six players currently being recruited by UP that are not mentioned in this thread but as I’m expecting a coaching change at the end of the season and before the signing period begins, I’ve been holding off posting their names as the new staff will no doubt have their own ideas about recruiting.

But I decided to make an exception in the case of one player who popped-up today with a name we’ll all love, DeMarcus Sharp!

He may never come to Portland, but as we all loved seeing D’Marques Tyson and Bobby Sharp at UP (they played together one season), it would just seem right that the 6-4/180 point guard from Columbus, Missouri via Colby Community College should get a shout-out here.

DoubleDipper wrote:But I decided to make an exception in the case of one player who popped-up today with a name we’ll all love, DeMarcus Sharp!

He may never come to Portland, but as we all loved seeing D’Marques Tyson and Bobby Sharp at UP (they played together one season), it would just seem right that the 6-4/180 point guard from Columbus, Missouri via Colby Community College should get a shout-out here.

DeMarcus has decided to stick close to home and has committed to Missouri St.

On a positive note, coach Porter and Johnson have recruited the best shooter out of Australia.

Check out these highlights of Aust National Champs. The kid is absolute MONEY

Go to Youtube and search Zac Triplett - 6"5 Guard - U20 Australian Championships

This kid was recruited super hard by a heap of colleges... Pilots have a good one here like some of the Aussie Pilot girls...

Good job coach Porter & Johnson!

OZBaller wrote:On a positive note, coach Porter and Johnson have recruited the best shooter out of Australia.

Check out these highlights of Aust National Champs. The kid is absolute MONEY

Go to Youtube and search Zac Triplett - 6"5 Guard - U20 Australian Championships

This kid was recruited super hard by a heap of colleges... Pilots have a good one here like some of the Aussie Pilot girls...

Good job coach Porter & Johnson!

Thanks for checking-in, OZ, and welcome to PN.  Yes, we know we have a shooter in Zac, and just hope he still decides to come to UP if Coach Porter or Coach Johnson leave.

Hey, if you know any more female players like Kaylee, Alex, or Keeley, let them know about UP.

From this video and the other two videos of Zac posted on pages 1 and 2 in this thread, it never shows him dribble-driving, going to or above the rime, or playing defense.  Can he, or is that something he'll have to learn when he gets to UP?  

Hey DD
Yeah kid can defend you will see in that clip I said, he defended some elite Guards, he’s long and tough and can get to the ring, but shoots it so well, he’s a threat with ball in hand and half a second.
I see another Aussie girl from Perth 2021 signed with pilots

Could be the new Saint Mary’s

I know of seven UP recruits that have been publicly announced that we haven’t discussed at any length here earlier because we expected a coaching change…only one is a high school senior, Hayden Curtiss, 6-9/210 Mount Si HS, Snoqualmie, WA.

The video is the Washington 4A Championship game...#10 Hayden and Jabe Mullins are interviewed toward the end of the tape.   Jabe, a former UP recruit, signed with SMC.

Interesting that Luke Sikma is pictured in the tweet from Mt. Si as Luke attended Bellevue HS...but maybe he's rightly the only UP player they could think of.  

Javante Hawkins a 5-10/160 PG from Kansas City, MO. and Butler Community College, KS.  Javante is a "qualifier" out of high school and will have 3 years of eligibility remaining.



Interesting that Javante was apparently more interested in the UP Dance Team in the background than any of the UP players from this photo taken during UP's game against Oklahoma in the Moda Center in 2017...

Jaylon Holmes 6-6/185 PG from Merrillville, IN, and now attending Lincoln Trail College, IL...the same school that UP recruit Dante Combs attends.  Hmm, a 6-6 point guard! Jaylon will have two years of eligibility remaining.



Jaylon is #24

DeAnthony Tipler 5-11/160 PG from Ashland, MS, and now attending Northeast Mississippi Community College.  Two years of eligibility left...



Not sure if DeAnthony often scores 41 points, but it's pretty impressive..

RayQuawndis Mitchell 6-5/200 SG from Blaine, MN.  Mitchell spent a year at Idaho before transferring to Otero Junior College in Colorado.  Two years left...



Mitchell is #21

Russell Harrison 6-7/190 SF, and teammate of recruit Elijah Gonzalez (whom we’ve discussed at some length on PN), at Clarendon College in Texas.

Like Gonzalez, who played a year at St. Peters before heading to Clarendon, Harrison played one year at NAIA Wayland Baptist before arriving at Clarendon.



Harrison is #10

Eddie Davis 6-7/205 PF from Port Lucie, FL, and now attending Colby Community College KS.  Two more years of eligibility...



Eddie is #11

Found another one...

DeAndre Gholston 6-5/210 SG from Gary, Indiana, and now attending Tallahassee Community College after transferring after 1 year at Kent State.  Two years remaining...

What do you assess as the greatest need, and at what classes?  And can we assume that the coaches are recruiting all in for 2020-21, rather than building a roster for the long-term? As I see the roster for next year, it breaks down as:
PG - Sr, So
SG - Sr, Fr
SF - Sr, Jr
PF - JR
C  - Sr, JR
(notes: I classified Jacob as a SF, and D as a C, although neither is the prototype for those roles.  I did not classify Turner or Watson as I do not know what of any role they will play. Feel free to correct any of this.)

DoubleDipper wrote:Darius Harding is a 6-5 JUCO wing from Elizabethtown, KY, going to school at Motlow State Community College in Tennessee. He has at least seven other known offers from school much closer to home...

To no one's surprise, today Darius committed to Northern Kentucky.

DoubleDipper wrote:Finally, an offer to a local kid, Tanner Toolson, from Union High in Vancouver, USA.

Tanner has reclassified to the Class of 2022 to "serve our savior" on his LDS mission for the next two years.

Tanner, an all-state selection in Washington, says he wants to play for one of the Utah schools, and if he has to, he'll walk-on at BYU.

DoubleDipper wrote:…only one is a high school senior, Hayden Curtiss, 6-9/210 Mount Si HS, Snoqualmie, WA.

Hate to call anyone a "project," but it's obvious Curtiss is very raw, and will need to redshirt a year or go to a non-D1 school to grow and get some experience...and does Porter have the luxury of redshirting a kid?

Curtiss’ emergence as a presence down low was a key factor in the Wildcats postseason run. He averaged 13.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and posted seven double-doubles in his last 13 games, and hit 20 of 22 shot attempts in the 4A state tournament.

That’s in part because of how he’s grown physically. Curtiss came into the program as a 6-foot-2 freshman and was the 10th man on the school’s c-team.

https://scorebooklive.com/washington/2020/03/24/late-blooming-hayden-curtiss-a-2020-center-from-mount-si-picks-up-offer-from-university-of-portland/

up7587 wrote:What do you assess as the greatest need, and at what classes?

My guess for the four open scholarships -

1) Hayden Curtiss, and hopefully they give him a proper developmental redshirt year. Not a "burn a year" like Phillips in 2019 or Collinsworth in 2020.

2) Javaunte Hawkins.

3) Some tall, athletic SG/SF from JUCO.

4) Another tall, athletic SG/SF from JUCO.

What reasons do you see Hawkins? He is in the same class as Adams and same size, too.

up7587 wrote:What reasons do you see Hawkins?  He is in the same class as Adams and same size, too.

Honestly, just a guess.

@jeffborzello wrote:Utah Valley forward Isaiah White is expected to grad transfer, sources told ESPN. Averaged 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds this season.

Put this one in the "pipe dream" category...he'll be off to a high major, but it would have been great to see the Pilots pull in grad transfers named Isaiah White in consecutive seasons

Dean Murdoch wrote:

up7587 wrote:What reasons do you see Hawkins?  He is in the same class as Adams and same size, too.

Honestly, just a guess.

Just a guess, are you kidding me?

Any guy who's twitter handle is @JayMcBuckets is the kind of player UP needs!

Rebounding on both ends and buckets is UP's biggest need, IMO...the stuff in between will be vastly improved if the team can up its scoring by about 8 points per game and double its second-chance point possibilities.

Easy for me to say...

DoubleDipper wrote:Rebounding on both ends and buckets is UP's biggest need, IMO...the stuff in between will be vastly improved if the team can up its scoring by about 8 points per game and double its second-chance point possibilities.

Easy for me to say...

Agree on this. To me one way to increase scoring is much better efficiency in the paint. Look how Fowler, who is not the tallest inside player but gets great position and finishes well, improved the women's team immensely. If any of the men can figure out how to do those things, it will be a big improvement.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

@jeffborzello wrote:Utah Valley forward Isaiah White is expected to grad transfer, sources told ESPN. Averaged 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds this season.

Put this one in the "pipe dream" category...he'll be off to a high major, but it would have been great to see the Pilots pull in grad transfers named Isaiah White in consecutive seasons

You're right, the pipe dream committed to USC today.