Offseason - Shockers

by **Aargh** » April 18th, 2012, 9:10 am

New players are expected to arrive around the first of June. There should be some reports from summer pickup games. Reports from summer pickup games are more "interesting" than valuable.

Fred Van Vleet is getting so much hype and attention from the media that there's no point in posting more links than anyone is interested in reading. Rivals has moved him up to #138 and he's mentioned in a Rivals opinion piece as possibly the most underrated player in the class. If his game is half as good as his hype and his game translates to D1, he'll be a good player.

Details are sketchy and there's no published info, but Carl Hall has an eligibility issue. It seems he played a couple games of football before his heart condition stopped his football career. That started his eligibility clock. Then he apparently sat out a year while evaluating his health for the ability to continue in sports. His 5 years to play 4 is over. WSU is applying for a hardship exception to let him play. I can't say that's more than a rumor, but it seems to have legs.

Greg Heiar (associate head coach) is on the short list for the coaching job at Southern Mississippi, where he was an assistant under Larry Eustachy (now at Colo. St.) before Marshall hired Heiar at WSU.

Garrett Stutz was in Portsmouth at an NBA evaluation camp. His team won the tournament. Garrett led everybody there in scoring and rebounding and made 1st team all-tourney. I think he was second in voting for tourney MVP. The refs must have let them play, because Garrett only had about one foul per game and played in the range of 25 minutes per game. The NBA scouting report on Stutz was that 10 years ago he would have been a lock as a draft pick, but probably not now in a more perimeter-oriented NBA. He's likely to make a very good living playing somewhere and could be in an NBA uniform in a couple of years.

Still no word on eligibility questions about Deontae Hawkins (6'7" combo forward who's apparently a lot better at basketball than the SAT's) and Henry Uwadiae (7' Nigerian who's transferred prep schools so many times in the last year that Shox fans have lost track of him). WSU has offers out to couple of 6'8"/6'9" guys, so somethig is going on in the front court.

**Sponsor**

by **Khan4Cats** » April 18th, 2012, 11:05 am

That would really suck for Hall if it's true. UNI had a football player a few years ago that ended up in a similar situation, but were able to get the waiver. I hope since it was medical, and as long as it was documented, he will get cleared as well.

As for Stutz, I fully expect to see him in an NBA camp and then probably getting a shot in the D-League. You can't teach height, plus there is enough skill to merit a look.

by **DoubleJayAlum** » April 18th, 2012, 12:22 pm

Wow, that news about Hall is a big deal. Many here know that I thought Stutz was remarkably overrated, at least when playing against real centers. On the other hand, I was very, very impressed with Hall and thought he had more to do with the Shocker's success against bigger, stronger teams than Stutz. My opinion of the Shocks entering the season was that they will be just fine across the front line, but struggle a bit in the back court. If Hall is done, that would certainly change my impression.

I haven't expected Hawkins to qualify. Further, if he does, I would expect we may not know until mid summer. If he somehow does get qualified, it would probably be a world record improvement in standardized test scores!

by **Wufan** » April 18th, 2012, 6:45 pm

News on Hall is unconfirmed, but has real legs to it. At this point I'm not concerned.

by **MikeKennedyRulz** » April 19th, 2012, 11:13 am

DoubleJayAlum wrote:I haven't expected Hawkins to qualify. Further, if he does, I would expect we may not know until mid summer. If he somehow does get qualified, it would probably be a world record improvement in standardized test scores!

Wow, you sound kinda bitter. Like someone stole your chalupa or something.

by **Wufan** » April 21st, 2012, 6:06 am

Wufan wrote:News on Hall is unconfirmed, but has real legs to it. At this point I'm not concerned.

Now confirmed. Hall is seeking a 6th year due to medical hardship.

by **DoubleJayAlum** » April 21st, 2012, 7:31 am

That's too bad. Hall was a beast and I enjoyed watching him work.

These issues usually come down to documentation. If there are medical records that WSU can find indicating that Hall couldn't play during the one season, they should be fine. Heck, it may even be sufficient to have the treating physician write a report now, saying that back in '08 or whenever, Hall was unable to play due to his medical condition.

by **glm38** » April 21st, 2012, 7:25 pm

Too bad about Hall. I liked watching him play too. Hard working blue collar type of player. It'll be a real blow if he's not available.

by **MikeKennedyRulz** » April 25th, 2012, 12:22 pm

Shox reportedely get a 2012 commit today from Chadrack Lufile (6'9" Juco PF). He commented on his twitter account that he had committed to WSU. I posted more info in the recruiting forum.

by **Aargh** » April 25th, 2012, 11:01 pm

Lufile is not the most skilled player, but he appears to have a good work ethic and an understanding of fundamentals. He had a lot more BCS schools going after him than most of the JuCo AA's WSU has been signing the last couple of years, so somebody must be seeing something.

12 and 7 in JuCo last year. 6'9" and 260. He's in great basketball shape, so that weight is effective weight. He's not much of a shot blocker, but he does get some steals. Averaged 1 assist and 2 TO's per game last year. Shot 38% from 3, but only 44% FT last year.

I don't know for sure what to make of this guy. I don't see him as a big difference maker, but I can see him effectively eating minutes at the 4 or 5.

WSU is likely to have a front line of Orukpe (7'0"), Lufile (6'9"), and Early (6'8") seeing time together from time to time. Throw in Wiggins (6'6") at SG and the team is pretty tall, but I don't know how well that team could defend against smaller and quicker opponents.

WSU could be the mystery team next year. WSU appears to have the potential to beat or lose to any Valley team on any night. The Shox appear fully capable of beating CU and losing to SIU. There's a lot of talent and athleticism, but a lot of inexperience.