Is Yannick Atanga Gonzaga's last real option for the class of 2010?

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So, EDZ has been doing a great job addressing the summer's biggest questions recently and one of the things that I have learned over the past few days is that this summer's recruiting is not one of those major questions.  We've gone over the recruiting situation a lot and we were really expecting to learn a lot about Gonzaga's recruitment of the 2010 class in July but now that the evaluation period is over, it appears that the odds of Gonzaga skipping the 2010 class all together appears to be very likely.  Over the past few weeks, players that we thought Gonzaga had interest in have committed elsewhere or left the Zags completely off their lists.  Two legitimate targets seem to remain in 2010 but we can never completely count this staff out as the international recruiting scene is something that is hard to gauge. 

2010: Who's Out

In the intro I said that their was only two legitimate prospects remaining in 2010 and that is because I, and probably  most Gonzaga fans, constantly forget about North Idaho College's Guy Marc-Michel.  Before we get to that, here is a list of the guys that are now off of the board as far as we are concerned.

Joe Harris, guard from Chelan, WA:  Being that Joe is in Gonzaga's backyard, we thought that Mark Few could have the inside track on Joe but the 2009 class made it clear that perimeter guys were not really a major thing for this class.  Joe committed to the University of Virginia today and it seems to be a great fit with former WSU coach Tony Bennett at the helm.  Tony's a great coach and Virginia is a first class institution so it's good to see him to go a good place.

Ben Vozzola, wing from Las Vegas: We will be seeing plenty of Ben as he recently committed to the University of San Diego.  This is a tremendous get for the Toreros as Ben appeared to be getting some high-major looks after a very impressive July.  Vozzola is a guy that we would have loved to see at Gonzaga but Bill Grier should be getting a player that can come in and play right away.

Others: So they may not have committed elsewhere but there are a few guys that we think we can call off as being Gonzaga targets.  LaBradford Franklin, the point guard from California just does not fit into what Gonzaga needs in 2010.  Franklin has been getting serious interest from Pac-10 programs as well as local California mid-majors.  Alex Dragicevich, another wing with major abilities hasn't listed Gonzaga interest in quite some time but absolutely blew up in July.  He got offers from Oklahoma State, Xavier, and Notre Dame.  Expect him to be a Golden Domer.

continue reading this post after the jump to learn what's next for Gonzaga recruiting...

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We're all about simplicity here at The Slipper Still Fits and one of the perks about blogging is figuring out all the tips and tricks to make this thing run better.  For that reason, we decided, since we are both very much visual learners, that it'd be easier to sort out this whole recruiting situation if we just mapped it out.  Now I'm sure you've heard other names here and there but the thirteen guys with designated "pointers" are, at this point, the only ones who we believe are still in the running for an opportunity to play basketball at Gonzaga.  Now, this map is merely a representation of North America so we aren't making any statements about what kind of recruiting is going on overseas but I'm sure there is some.  Now for your viewing pleasure...here is the map.  2010 prospects are designated with the red pointer and 2011 guys are blue.  Click on the various pointers to find out who the player is and a little blurb about them.  You can click the link below the map to view it in a larger window..Enjoy.

One of the cool things that I should mention as well as that if you are close to one of these players, you can drive up or down to a game of theirs and let us know what you think. Okay, now enjoy!

Update: Also adding current players with yellow pointers (make sure to zoom out to see Elias). Should clear up where the pipelines could be exploited!

(Map looks better in the wide version of the site)

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From left to right, Jordan Railey, Cezar Guerrero, and Jordan Tebbutt will all be on display in Las Vegas beginning Wednesday.

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Starting today, Las Vegas will be the home for every prominent college basketball coach in the country. Las Vegas will be the host city for four tournaments that will be going on simultaneously over the next five days. Nearly all the top recruits from the 2010, 2011, and 2012 class will be playing in one of these tournaments, and the competition should be absolutely top notch. This week will serve as a chance for the Gonzaga staff to begin to narrow down the focus for the 2010 class, while also being a fixture at the games of many of the prominent 2011 recruits we have already discussed.  

All three tournaments have interesting storylines for the Gonzaga coaching staff and they will certainly be fixtures at each of them.  The Center Stage Tournament will be the site of some good local Pacific Northwest basketball, the Adidas Super 64 holds probably the most loaded field as far as numbers are concerned, and the Reebok Summer Championships holds a couple of players that are national players to watch. As Coach Rice mentioned in the interview we will be putting up shortly, this week should provide Gonzaga with the names they are ready to focus on for the next year or so.

continue reading after the jump for info on all Gonzaga recruits in Las Vegas...

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2010 point guard LaBradford Franklin holds offers from Gonzaga and many other WCC and WAC schools.

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Just a few updates from the folks at Rivals and Scout that I thought were worthy of passing along...

First off, the most recent article regarding Kyle Wiltjer from the Arizona Rivals.com network:

"I'm hearing from mostly Pac-10 schools," he said. "Gonzaga,Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, Oregon and a little bit from Kansas.

Kyle also went on to claim offers from Gonzaga, Arizona State, Oregon and Oregon State, San Francisco, and Santa Clara.  Since it was written by the Arizona Rivals guy, there are quite a few questiosn regarding how much he is hearing from Sean Miller and at this point it seems pretty minimal, which is good.  Arizona would be a huge offer for Kyle and one that may change his recruiting quite a bit.  But with the way he has been playing this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if he started to reel in offer after offer from some top programs.  He is in no real rush to make a decision however, and said he probably will wait until next summer.

Scout.com had a piece on Gary Bell Jr. two days ago where he claimed to have three offers from Gonzaga, California, and Washington.  He says that he, like Kyle Wiltjer, is in no rush to make a choice:

"I tell everybody that I want to wait," Bell told Dawgman.com "Everybody tells me to go to U-Dub because they want to see me play. My relationship with Washington is cool. All of the coaches there, I've got a real good relationship with them all.

Bell talks about how his summer is going so far and the writer points out a few times that his recruitment is probably just kicking into high gear.  Bell attributes that to more exposure from Seattle Rotary and the fact that he is splitting time at point guard with Tony Wroten.  

Lastly, there was a rare update regarding San Diego 2010 point guard LaBradford Franklin from Rivals.com:

"Cal is really interested, and Gonzaga offered," Franklin, whose dad and mother both competed athletically in the SEC, said. "Pepperdine and Fresno State offered. Basically, all the WCC and WAC schools have offered. I also had some interest from Virginia Tech and Nevada too."

LaBradford is a guy that we really like a lot but with GJ Vilarino signing late and Gonzaga's recruitment of Gary Bell Jr., it's hard to imagine a huge need for point guard in the 2010 class.  From everything we have heard though, Franklin is a hidden gem because he didn't play his junior season and should absolutely blow up his senior year.  He said that he is very interested in the Cal program and that is something we are probably going to be hearing a lot more often with Mike Montgomery and the helm.

Like we have said, Gonzaga will have three open scholarships in the next two years.  What happens with those three is anyone's guess but I think we'd be stunned if Mark Few used two scholarships on a pretty weak 2010 class.

Kyle Wiltjer (left) and Gary Bell Jr. should be the answer for the class of 2011.

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It really, really should be this simple. 

Gonzaga is in a peculiar situation as far as scholarships are concerned because in the next two years, they will more than likely only have three available scholarships unless someone transfers or blows up and goes to the NBA early.  Seeing as how either of those are unlikely since Gonzaga rarely has transfers and rarely sends kids early to the NBA, Mark Few and the coaching staff are going to have to be VERY careful about how they use the available spots.

With that being said, two sports are free for the 2010 class with Bouldin and Foster graduating and one spot is open in 2011 with Steven Gray being the only one to leave.  The 2010 class is rather slim as far as "need" recruits are concerned.  Guys like Joe Harris, Alex Kirk, LaBradford Franklin are options for 2010 but there are only two guys in 2010 that Gonzaga should consider.  One of them is by default and that is Guy Marc-Michel and the other is California (via Cameroon) big man Yannick Atanga who would be a great fit.  

One of those two would be my choice for 2010 and one scholarship should be saved for 2011 so Gonzaga can go after Gary Bell Jr. and Kyle Wiltjer.

With that being said, it is going to be difficult to snag these two but the reward is well worth the risk.

continue reading after the poll....

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Kentridge guard Gary Bell Jr. may have two more years of high school left but he may already be Gonzaga's top prospect.

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Back in March and April, we heard reports of the Gonzaga coaches heading over to the west side of the state to evaluate and watch elite 2011 recruit Gary Bell Jr. The Kentridge combo guard has been on the Gonzaga radar for a long time, and picked up an official scholarship offer from the Zags when he was at the team camp a few weeks ago. It's clear that Gary is a priority recruit for Gonzaga in 2011, so we decided to check in with Dave Jamison, the head coach at Kentridge high school. We would like to thank Coach Jamison for taking the time for the interview, and providing Gonzaga fans with a good understanding of Gary as a basketball player, and where his recruitment curently stands.

Slipper Still Fits: What camps has Gary attended with both Kentridge and Seattle Rotary this summer, and can you talk about his experience at those camps?

Coach Jamison: He's done a lot with Rotary since spring, after the state tourney, but I don't really know all the places.  He is going to Georgia soon and will be at Indy and Vegas but I don't really get involved at AAU.  He hasn't gone to any individual camps just the team camp.  He's playing basically everyday so we are trying not to kill him.

I thought we did a lot better at Gonzaga as the week went on.  We have a lot of football kids and Gary had a bruised knee so we hadn't had a lot of time together and we were still getting used to each other.  We had some bumps but we played well in a few games and beat Bellarmine but Gary played very well.

Slipper Still Fits: It seems that Gary made a huge jump between his freshman and sophomore season. Can you talk about the improvement you saw in his game, and where you'd still like to see him continue to improve?

Coach Jamison: He's gotten a lot bigger and stronger, as he put on a few inches and about 20 pounds.  His dad is 6'4'' so he has size in his family, and he is getting pretty thick.   He's lifting hard and getting better.  As far as his game, overall he is pretty sound.  Coaches like him because he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses but he has to adjust to shooting in traffic.  But he is a good catch and shoot guy for Rotary and did that for us his freshman year.  Over Christmas, he really improved as a point guard, and I think he has really developed quite well and started getting to the paint more.

continue reading more of our interview with Coach Jamison after the jump...

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We are only two days away from the month of July, which means that the recruit evaluation period will officially be underway. With the change in recruiting rules, July will be the only month that the Gonzaga coaches will be allowed to go out and watch AAU tournaments in person, and evaluate prospects in a competitive environment. However, one advantage that Coach Few and the staff has, is that sometimes elite talent shows up at the Gonzaga Team Camps. During the first team camp, 2010 recruit Joe Harris was in attendance with his Chelan teammates, and this week, both Brett Kingma and Gary Bell Jr. are in attendance with their high school teams. Today, I had the opportunity to watch Gary Bell in person, and wanted to give Gonzaga fans a scouting report on the impressive 2011 guard.

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La Mirada's Derrick Williams could visit Gonzaga in the very near future. Can Gonzaga land their seventh 2009 commit?

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When Tim Floyd announced his resignation at the University of Southern Cal, shock waves were felt throughout the college basketball world.  One area his departure affected was 2009 recruiting.  USC had one of the most promising 2009 recruiting classes in the nation before Floyd's exit and now it has all but vanished.  One such decommitment from USC is Derrick Williams.  Williams, listed as a 6'7'', 210 pound forward, was a late bloomer in the 2009 class but is now attracting all sorts of attention.  He is visiting Memphis as we speak and will also visit Arizona but has one last visit to take.  One school vying for that last visit is Gonzaga and we were lucky enough to check in with Derrick's AAU coach who has been a key figure guiding him during this difficult process.

The Slipper Still Fits: What were the reasons behind Derrick originally committing to USC, and was it strictly the coaching change that led to his decommitment, or were there other factors?

Lionel Benjamin:  One of the main factors for his initial commitment was because he really wanted to stay on the West Coast and the relationship that he built with Tim Floyd during high school.  Floyd really took Derrick's recruitment on his own, whereas most had assistants handle it, and people were probably shocked that Floyd wanted Derrick as much as he did and that meant a lot to Derrick.  It was just a different standpoint then most schools took and he became very close to them during the process.  They formed a very good connection and Floyd was very understanding and supportive of him and just a good guy and coach.

The main reason for the decommitment was because he wanted to play for Floyd and all the investigation and stuff like that going on.  He hung with USC  as long as possible but he was there for Floyd and it was discouraging because they had a top five class before Floyd left  and once that happened, all the other recruits jumped ship and that was really tough.

TSSF:  How do you think Derrick's game transfers to the next level? Is he more of a small forward on the perimeter, or a post up power forward at the collegiate level, or will he play both?

LB:  He is what is now known as a hybrid four.  He's more of a three-four, than a four-three.  I say that because he's not really a post up type player but can post up when there is a match up problem.  He causes problems because, at his size, he can put the ball on the floor and he can defend anyone on the floor.  He is quick enough to guard a point guard and has the size to go defend in the paint.  Especially on the high school level he causes a match up problem because most players that are that size play down low but he is most skilled on the wing.  He's like a Rashard Lewis type player where he can shoot, defend and post up at will.  You can't really pigeon hole him because he can do a lot of things like start the break it just depends what the school wants from him.

A lot of schools like Gonzaga are recruiting him like an Austin Daye type guy.  I've talked with Mark Few and Coach Giacoletti on and off during the season and they want him like that especially with Austin leaving so early it surprised a lot of people and now they are looking for someone to fill Austin's big shoes.  It's crunch time right now and every school is going hard.  They all feel he is going to fill the void they need and I think he can fill it at a place like Gonzaga.

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