Guy Landry Commits Following Visit to Spokane: Catching Up With the Newest Zag
by Bob_Bell on Apr 24, 2011 9:09 AM PDT
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While it gets harder and harder for their to be surprises in recruiting, the Gonzaga coaching staff managed to pull off one of the quickest recruiting coups in recent memory, as the Zags landed a commitment from Guy Landry of Midland CC. Landry, who just started receiving interest from the coaching staff a couple of weeks ago, provides an instant replacement for Mangisto Arop, as he is an elite athlete and a willing defender on the perimeter.
After finishing up his visit to Spokane on Saturday, Landry knew where he wanted to continue this basketball career. Despite a visit to Wichita St. last weekend, the elite athlete discovered that Gonzaga was the best fit for the next stage in his career.
"Pretty much," Landry said of committing. "They wanted me to take the weekend to think about it and make sure. I told them this is where I want to be."
There were numerous factors that helped Landry find his comfort zone at Gonzaga. However, the one aspect that kept coming up was the opportunity to play against the best competition and compete for a National Championship.
"First of all, it's (Gonzaga) is one of the best programs in the country," explained the Midland CC star. "I went to high school in LA so I have ties on the West Coast. The team has so many foreign players, so I know I will be comfortable. They (Gonzaga) obviously have a great coach. He is one of the best coaches in the country and they play a big-time schedule. I just thought it would be a good fit for me."
As we explained earlier, the process from the beginning of his recruitment, to the time he committed was only a couple of weeks. In a world where coaches typically invest months, if not years, of interest and time, it is certainly interesting to see how quickly this process occurred.
"Not long ago," said Landry of when the Zags started recruiting him. "When they found out that Manny was going to ask for his release, which was only two weeks ago, they started recruiting me. Tommy (Lloyd) took a trip down here to Midland and he told me straight up that they didn't recruit me before because they didn't have any scholarships. So, when they knew Manny was leaving, which opened up the last scholarship, I was interested and did my homework. I just thought it was the best fit for me."
With perimeter defense and athleticism being such an issue for recent Gonzaga teams, the interest in a player like Landry should come as no surprise. As he explained, Landry is willing to do anything to help his team win.
"I'm an all-around player. I can do so much on the court," Landry explained. "I rebound well and I play defense. I can score, I can pass and I'm a good teammate. Anything that I have to do on the court for my team to win, I will be willing to do that."
Now that he is committed, Landry will return to Spokane this summer to enroll in classes and play with the team. After getting to play with some of the guys on his visit, Landry is sure that he will be able to adjust and be a good fit in this program.
"The guys were unselfish when we were playing together," the newest Zag said. "The guys play really hard. My coach at Midland did a great job of preparing us so that it won't be so hard to transition when we get to Division I."
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Nice trade off...
I liked Manny, but I believe if he REALLY bought into our system, and wanted to be here, he would,,, put the dots together, body language, playing time, he was really tight with Villarino,,, not one thing says anything for sure, but put it all together, and he asked to leave..best of luck, sincerely..
All in all, I don’t feel at all awkward about saying “the king is gone, long live the king”. Landry gets me even more pumped for this season! Thinking of him, GBJ, and Meech out there… and Stocks in there now and then setting up baskets on silver platters!
Our backcourt WILL be a strength this year,,, and if you don’t think E will rebound this year, or that Dower will improve even more, Oly relaxes a bit more, Sacre softens his hands a bit by tossing bricks around with Jerry Rice!!!
BRING ITTT!!!
A nice get
I wonder what that does for the young man from USC?
Kid from SC
I’d like to see him at UW!
by Yakazag on Apr 24, 2011 10:44 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Oh yeah
I forgot about him…I think Landry is a much better fit and has eliminated the need for the other guy. Landry seems like a great addition on the court and off, which was the biggest problem with the USC transfer.
by CLT_ZagsFan on Apr 24, 2011 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions
Seems like this guy does a little bit of everything
Not seeing him play it’s tough to make too many judgements, but he seems to a guy who can rebound, score if he has to, defend, and be an athletic presence that we will sorely need. From the stats I’ve seen, he appears to be a little turnover prone, so it will be interesting to see how he is able to adapt to the the speed of the D-1 game. A good get regardless, let’s hope he adjusts to our system quickly.
Don't forget
He’s also older (I want to say 22?) so he should be pretty mature physically and mentally. I love this get!
Also, I found it interesting that the tough scheduling seemed to play a huge role in attracting him…
by CLT_ZagsFan on Apr 24, 2011 12:22 PM PDT up reply actions
I have decided to kind of take a wait and see with Landry.
Not a lot of vids or articles on him out there so it is hard to get a feel for this so called “good get.”
Since this feels like a straight up trade for Arop, it seems like an upgrade because lets face it, Arop was doing nothing for us.
If he can guard the perimeter I will like him plenty!
Looks like he has given a verbal but will "commit" Tuesday per this on Twitter:
llcoollandry Guy Landry
@ @d_white24 I committed will sign Tuesday
Woops, I meant he will sign Tuesday....too much candy!
Woulda been nice if I could have scored some “cash easter eggs” today instead of just candy!
One more thing: WELCOME to Gonzaga Guy Landry!!~ can’t wait to see yous throw down some tomahawk jams!! And here’s to your first triple double!!
GO ZAGS!
Had a chance
To meet Landry while he was on campus this weekend. I tried not to talk too much basketball with him but he seems really excited to play in Few’s offense and in his opinion, he will be a major contributor this season (love the confidence). He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and the teammates he has hanging out with seemed to like him as well.
I know that I would much rather have Landry than Bryce Jones so I’m glad the staff could land this guy. Now let’s get some big men for 2012!
by i_am_a_ZAG on Apr 24, 2011 1:49 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Thanks for the firsthand!
He sounds like he will fit just fine at GU.
Juco
From what I understand, this kid has 2 years of eligibility left. And as nice as Carter was this past season, I am not totally thrilled with bringing in players who only have 2 years of eligibility. When choosing between Landry and the SC kid I really am happy to see us take Landry. I’ve seen Jones play a bunch and while he is a decent player, he is not what the Zags need at this time.
Overall I just wanted to say that I hope we don’t start habitually using scholarships on Junior College players with only two years of eligibility left. While it’s nice to say that he brings in “experience,” developing a player over 4 years is obviously the better option in the long haul.
Normally I'd agree
but this guy is too good to pass up on.
we needed immediate help
Now that Steven is gone it leaves a big hole. We’re really young at the 3 and we had an extra scolly so it probably made more sense do pick up a wing with a little more development .
Sure, developing players over 4 years is better
But when you whiff on recruits, there are unexpected injurys, transfers for lack of playing time,ect. …it becomes bandaid time.
Not saying these Jucos can’t help {see JP Batista} but we do need to bridge the gap.
Trend
I agree that we have a hole, but as long as we keep plugging these holes with JC players, new “holes” will open up twice as often. All I am saying is that there have been some other programs (Northwestern has, and it is never good to be mentioned with the likes of them..) who have fallen into a very bad pattern of replacing jucos with more jucos. Not saying it is going to happen, just being a little weary considering the last few seasons.
I really hope this works out and I have gotten the chance to find more info on Landry and hopefully he’ll live up to his potential. Sorry for being so pessimistic, maybe its still that Jimmer hangover..
5 freshman are coming in next year
Normally I would be concerned about the consistent recruitment of JC players… but the occasional player to bridge a gap while current younger players and new recruits are found and develop is OK… But considering we have so many freshman and sophomores already, with 5 incoming recruits and 3 schollys open next year likely going to HS guys, I am totally in agreement with picking up a star JC and waiting for the ’11 and ’12 recruits to find their way.
Carter is being used in the same way… He was brought on to fill an immediate weakness developing at the PG/SG position, and we signed GBJ/KD/KP to be the incoming guards.
I hope you're right
but how do you know he’s good? Like everyone else I haven’t been able to find anything useful on him.
Here's some stuff
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/81759/guy-landry
I really wonder what held Landry back from getting recruited by DI schools. 88 grade and has a lot of athleticism. I wonder if academic issues held him back from getting recruited more (after all, I don’t see any other explanation).
Supporting the Giants, Niners, Sharks, Warriors, Golden Bears and Zags since 1987
USC
he was comitted to USC after high school, his twitter page even had USC as the background until he committed to Gonzaga. Apparently he wasn’t academically eligible for the NCAA, but oh well, I have a feeling Guy is going to be a late bloomer.
Academic issues
He apparently had academic issues stemming from the fact that he is foreign born. He first went to prep school but didn’t like the lack of quality education he was getting, so he went to a cc.
So, what about Bryce Jones then.
He was supposed to be in this weekend on an “official” visit too.
Wonder if he made it up and also, is it possible to get both Landry and him too? Maybe we get both and someone else is still going to transfer, like one of the M&Ms?
Anyone see him at GU this weekend?
He was supposed to visit this coming weekend but rescheduled
It looks like his recruitment is all but dead. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him under Coach Fisher at SDSU and I think that would be a great fit for him.
He's visiting this week, I believe Wednesday
From what we’ve heard, the staff really wants Bryce and is pursuing him hard.
I’m not sure how exactly the scholly situation will work out if the Zags land Bryce but he’s still very much in play.
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2012
we’ll have a few scollies available. And I’m pretty sure landing Bryce Jones would be the ultimate death blow to hoff/keita
interesting....
I think both Hoff and Keita have great potential…. They really havent had time to develop..we need defense whick Keita can do, and an offense threat which Hoff can provide, I hope we give these guys more of a chance. It seems with everyone they are trying to bring in, that obviously either Hoff or Keita will transfer. Not enough playing time to go around.
JSH
IMO
Keita is Larry G with less offensive skill. I agree on Hoff, he can be an offensive threat from the 3 but anywhere else he is average at best.
If you don't like my fire then don't come around...
Gotta wonder
How many times did we hear during the season the time it takes for a JC transfer to transition to D1? The coaches, Ehlo, and ESPN guys all talked about it taking at least half a season for them to catch on. Do you think after having the same amount of time to adjust it will be a contest between GBJ and Landry? It will be interesting to see who gets the time come January. My money is on Bell. Would have liked to see another Big instead. As always JMO.
go Zags!!
It'll be interesting
to see how long it takes Landry (and to a lesser extent GBJ) to catch up to/surpass MC. I hope that Landry doesn’t take as long as Carter did, I get the feeling that his size and experience will make his transition easier. At least I hope so.
I still
Think that’s a fallacy about marquise not being ready to play. I think few finally learned some patience and let him play. I don’t think anybody plays good when they get yanked every time they make a mistake..
by 1AndDone on Apr 26, 2011 6:24 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Watching him play
I saw him consistently take weak drives only to either get blocked, stripped, or knocked over. It seemed like his go to moves that worked in JuCo weren’t hacking it. I don’t think Few gave him a long leash, but he certainly didn’t get yanked for every mistake.
Can't see anywhere that Guy Landry made it official
and signed today as was the plan.
Nothing on his twitter….nothing on the scouting services. Nothing on the Zag site…nothing here.
Is something up? Just wondering.
Maybe...
he heard Bryce Jones was visiting today.
If you don't like my fire then don't come around...
Looks like mother nature is not trying to impress
Bryce Jones nearly as much as Landry. Feels like Seattle around here….wet, cold, windy, dreary.
the extra "front" is supposed to be "door"....woops.
Last time I was over on the coast they mailed me back a ticket for not paying the toll on the Narrows bridge. Woulda been nice if I could have figured out HOW to pay it whilst crossing it….confusing as h*ll! A rip off indeed.
the narrows
Exact same thing happened to me. You get on the bridge and the booth is on the right side, the sign on the left says “do not change lane” what the hell? I didn’t see any sign prior to the bridge indicating the need to be in the right lane. Total scam.
by Yakazag on Apr 27, 2011 7:37 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
EXACTLY!!!
I was expecting the booth to be somewhere up ahead and was at the ready to pay. By the time you made it across, you were left scratching your head!
In Spokane, we had a toll and it was right before the bridge. You could not cross unless you paid it. No chance of confusion.
On the Narrows, I thought the lane that was over to the right was for like large trucks or something. Adding to the confusion is the fact {unknown to us at the time} people who live over there prepay annually so most of the cars go straight through. And it makes it harder to change lanes, even IF you thought you could {sign says no changing} so that it would even be possible to pay. I tried to contest it by mail and basically they gave me the finger. Absolute Scam!
So, ZAG FANS…beware the Narrows! You MUST approach from the extreme right lane and veer off the road to pay and the signs do not tell you this. But the ticket sure will!!~
the narrows
It’s so ridiculous that its funny! Even funnier is that I was driving my wives car and the ticket was mailed to her! I contested also and got the same finger.
by Yakazag on Apr 27, 2011 9:43 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
LMAO!
Thanks for making me laugh. Misery does love company, haha.
Maybe we should have mailed them a pic of “the finger” in response to the ticket. And they probably would’ve mailed us a picture of handcuffs.
GO ZAGS!
actually
just read some posts by him..
feeling the GU vibe and can’t wait to put on the #10 jersey. :)
Also see he cancelled a visit to UT once he visited GU. ;)
If you don't like my fire then don't come around...
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