Ken Yamoto, co-head coach
Recruiting
We have just two players (C Kirk Reeves and SG Brett Mosley) graduating after this season. So we’re going all out to recruit two high-flyers to replace them. We’ve shot high in the past couple seasons, but have backed off going after some of the very best recruits. I think we need to be more aggressive this year and go hard after a few of the top players.
We did aim high and were reasonably successful at getting excellent recruits at least minimally interested in us, but really lighting a fire within them was another matter. Going into September we focused on two high school seniors. Our home visits to them and to others went extremely well. We got one of them to verbally accept our scholarship offer in mid-September and then the other to commit to us at the beginning of October.
PG Mike Williams, 6’0”, Salem, VA. He’s a 5-star recruit who is ranked as the #23 best recruit and who we evaluate as an A+ recruit. He averaged 20.6 ppg, 8.5 apg, 4.4 rpg, and 4.2 spg as a junior. He was a top 10 player at the Indy Elite Camp and a top 5 player at the Big Apple Showcase. He’s an outstanding outside shooter who also likes to drive to the hoop, a high scorer, and an excellent passer and ball-hawk. He’s strong defensively. Our biggest competition for him came from Virginia Commonwealth, UCONN, and West Virginia.
PF Chris Greenfield, 6’8”, Washington, MD. He’s a 4 star recruit who is ranked as the #44 best recruit and who we evaluate as an A+ recruit. He’s an excellent inside shooter and scorer and is a strong rebounder and defender. He had good, but not outstanding showings at the Indy Elite Camp and the Big Apple Showcase, but is a hard worker. It was touch-and-go on getting him, but we edged out Illinois, Florida, Temple, and Duke.