45otseoj wrote:Kyle wrote:No new recruits for UNI next year, but one name Valley fans will recognize by the end of next year is Chis Olivier.
He is a 20 year old prep school recruit who will be a RS freshman next year and chose UNI over Iowa, Kansas State, Indiana, and Illinois State. We were actually out of scholarships last year and Austin Pehl agreed to give his up in order to get Chris. He played high school ball at Seton Acadamy in Chicago. They put out a lot of quality basketball players including Ohio's PG DJ Cooper.
UNI had a glaring hole at this player's position. Why didn't he play this season?
His motor was a major question out of high school. Has that improved from his prep days?
He broke his foot the second week of fall camp, otherwise Tuttle may have redshirted instead-didn't get back on the court until December and wasn't really fit until January.
He has lost weight since HS and even prep school-conditioning was/is probably the biggest question for him. He came in at close to 275 and has shed most of the 'baby fat' and been putting on muscle instead. CO is definitely a high energy guy when he's in-hasn't seen a shot in close that he won't take on offense or go after the block for on defense-and he goes after rebounds as aggresively as Eric Coleman used to for UNI. He will be a nice compliment to Tuttle inside, especially if Tuttle can add some muscle weight to be able to hold his ground on defense better.
Personally, I like the prospects for all of UNI's redshirts from this year. Jevon Lyle will play some minutes at PG and the 2 and will be a pest to people on defense (he is as quick if not quicker than Mitchell but taller/longer), Matt Bohanon can shoot from anywhere and is harder to guard at 6'5" than our usual wing players, and Nate Buss is an intereting player in the mold of an Ethan Wragge/Ben Simons tall "3" player more than an inside player. But Olivier will add the depth and bulk to the front-line.
