Find this entry over on a Montana State blog. Some very high praise for the newest Vikings:
More signing day news: Portland State gets two great ones
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/bobcat-blog/?p=1882
I’d have to declare Portland State the early signing day winners. The two players Tyler Geving announced today, guard Chehales Tapscott and center Brandon Cataldo, are bona fide prospects. Let’s take a look at them.
Brandon Cataldo, C, 6-10, 270 pounds (Rainer, Ore.): If your name is mentioned anywhere near Josh Smith’s, the man child out of Kentwood, Wash. that I’ve seen play, you know you’re doing well. And Cataldo’s name has. While Cataldo isn’t the five-star recruit that Smith is, he is a three-star and he does appear to have a ton of skills for a big man with his impressive stature. While you wonder a little bit about his ability to get up and down the court, considering this brief look at the big man, here’s what Geving said about him.
Physically, I think Brandon is ready to go. The challenge for him is going to be coming from a small school (Oregon 3A) to major college basketball. But, he has fared very well on the AAU circuit against a lot of top players and held his own. That has been a good measuring stick for him. Brandon is a good back-to-the-basket player who can step out and shoot it. He’s also a gym rat which you don’t find from a lot of big guys. He is always looking to get better. He has skills and over a four-year period I expect him to be dominant big man in the Big Sky Conference.
Chehales Tapscott, G, 6-5, 205 pounds (Clackamas Community College): Players from the NWAACC, a league I’m fairly familiar with, are always very interesting. Apparently Tapscott isn’t only the best player (he was named the league tournament MVP) in the junior college league, one blog has said he is “widely considered to be the best junior college player in the Northwest.” I’m inclined to believe that. My alma mater, the University of Puget Sound, used to play Tacoma Community College, an NWAACC team, once a year in exhibition games and you always thought, “Wow, those TCC kids are good. Now if someone could just get them to execute one set play, they might be in business.” That Tapscott averaged over 20 points and close to 12 rebounds from the guard position playing in that type of league is not the only reason he appears like a nice find for PSU. As the Portland State release points out, he also averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds as a high school senior at Century High in Oregon, where some very good high school basketball is currently being played. He was named first-team All-State at the 5A level that year, which leads me to believe grades were probably his issue. If he’s cleared them up, he should contribute right away for the Vikings.
More signing day news: Portland State gets two great ones
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/bobcat-blog/?p=1882
I’d have to declare Portland State the early signing day winners. The two players Tyler Geving announced today, guard Chehales Tapscott and center Brandon Cataldo, are bona fide prospects. Let’s take a look at them.
Brandon Cataldo, C, 6-10, 270 pounds (Rainer, Ore.): If your name is mentioned anywhere near Josh Smith’s, the man child out of Kentwood, Wash. that I’ve seen play, you know you’re doing well. And Cataldo’s name has. While Cataldo isn’t the five-star recruit that Smith is, he is a three-star and he does appear to have a ton of skills for a big man with his impressive stature. While you wonder a little bit about his ability to get up and down the court, considering this brief look at the big man, here’s what Geving said about him.
Physically, I think Brandon is ready to go. The challenge for him is going to be coming from a small school (Oregon 3A) to major college basketball. But, he has fared very well on the AAU circuit against a lot of top players and held his own. That has been a good measuring stick for him. Brandon is a good back-to-the-basket player who can step out and shoot it. He’s also a gym rat which you don’t find from a lot of big guys. He is always looking to get better. He has skills and over a four-year period I expect him to be dominant big man in the Big Sky Conference.
Chehales Tapscott, G, 6-5, 205 pounds (Clackamas Community College): Players from the NWAACC, a league I’m fairly familiar with, are always very interesting. Apparently Tapscott isn’t only the best player (he was named the league tournament MVP) in the junior college league, one blog has said he is “widely considered to be the best junior college player in the Northwest.” I’m inclined to believe that. My alma mater, the University of Puget Sound, used to play Tacoma Community College, an NWAACC team, once a year in exhibition games and you always thought, “Wow, those TCC kids are good. Now if someone could just get them to execute one set play, they might be in business.” That Tapscott averaged over 20 points and close to 12 rebounds from the guard position playing in that type of league is not the only reason he appears like a nice find for PSU. As the Portland State release points out, he also averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds as a high school senior at Century High in Oregon, where some very good high school basketball is currently being played. He was named first-team All-State at the 5A level that year, which leads me to believe grades were probably his issue. If he’s cleared them up, he should contribute right away for the Vikings.