2014 Recruiting: Gonzaga Offers Donaven Dorsey

Recruiting has quietly picked up over the past couple weeks in both the 2013 and 2014 cycles. In 2013, we have seen the junior college prospects potentially go to the wayside and a few new high school prospects rise up. 2014 is the class most are targeting as one of the more pivotal classes in recent memory. That class will be relied on as a sort of 'torch-passing' from guys like Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell. A number of names have popped up that would be ideal for the 2014 class but one position that appears to be a major target is the small forward spot. Last week, it was reported that the staff had offered California wing Isaiah Bailey and yesterday, this tweet came across:

Got that offer from gonzaga today. #blessed

— Donaven Dorsey (@donaven_dorsey) September 27, 2012

Most folks from the west side of Washington probably have heard of Dorsey as he is one of the most promising prospects in the Seattle area. Currently playing for Timberline High School near Olympia, Dorsey is about as prototypical as a prototype wing can be. He stands at 6'6'' and is just shy of 200 lbs. Playing this summer for ICP Portland, Dorsey was one of the more exciting prospects this past summer as he showed flashes of being a high major prospect. Here is a snippet from a recent Scout piece:

When Dorsey plays as he did Saturday afternoon at Durango it isn't hard to understand why he has attracted so much attention this year. His spin move at the elbow against Louisiana Elite sent coaches scrambling for their notebooks, and this was also after he caught fire from outside. The athletically built 6-foot-6 wing is a slasher who can also impact the game under the hoop as well. Inconsistent play has limited Dorsey's offers thus far but he has several Pac-12 programs, including Washington, monitoring him closely.

Reading several pieces on Dorsey, the above blurb seems to be what folks write about the most. First off, he has the size and athleticism that college coaches are desperately looking for but consistency has been the issue. He got his first offer last month from Portland State and from all reports, it sounds like things are going to heat up for Dorsey. Gonzaga has struggled typically to bring Seattle area kids over to the East side of the state in recent history so getting Dorsey will be tricky, especially if his childhood favorite Washington comes through with an offer:

"I grew up rooting for Washington," Dorsey said. "I like their coaching and the style of play they run. They go up and down the court and there's a lot of driving and kicking."

UW has consistently shown interest in Dorsey as have a number of Pac-12 programs. He averaged about 16 points per game last season in high school play and if he continues to make strides this season, the expectation is that he can be a top player on the west coast. For now, the Zags are his second offer which puts them in a good spot if they can work to build the relationship going forward. With many prospects on the 2014 radar, it is hard to gauge what the priority list looks like but from our vantage point, Dorsey looks to be one to watch over the next few months.