New Transfer Steven Verplancken, Jr.

[wazzuwildcat03]

We got another shooting guard transfer from Southern Illinois. He averaged just under 7 ppg for the Salukis last year and will have 2 year of eligibility left. Not a bad pick up, but nothing to jump over joy about either. He shot around 40% from 3 point range and did a great job of not turning the ball over. Southern Illinois is in the Missouri Valley Conference. Definitely a higher level conference compared to the Big Sky. One thing I noticed he was not a volume shooter so maybe that was part of the problem at SUI. He didn't shoot enough. He played 1 year at a D2 and was awesome there as a Freshman and played 2 years at Southern Illinois. I'm assuming with Steven and Keith both shooting guards coming in there is no chance Jawara comes back, but you never know. Here is Steven's Verbal Commits profile and highlights from last year.

https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/steven-verplancken-jr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn74-Q-6LLY

 

[oldrunner]

He had a good freshman year, averaging 16+ PPG, 4+ APG, 5+ RPG. I don't know what happened his second year, but his PT and numbers went way down. At one point in his first year he was leading the league in 3 point shooting percentage. Last year he shot 40% for 3s which is still very good. One thing seems clear, we are loaded with wings right now.

 

[sacstateman]

He had a good freshman year, averaging 16+ PPG, 4+ APG, 5+ RPG. I don't know what happened his second year, but his PT and numbers went way down. At one point in his first year he was leading the league in 3 point shooting percentage. Last year he shot 40% for 3s which is still very good. One thing seems clear, we are loaded with wings right now.

Olds, his freshman year was at Glenville St., a DII school....he played 2 seasons at SIU and shot a reasonable percentage but not close to league leading....Your tweet, I believe, was after the 3rd Conference game of last season after he went 4-5 against Missouri State...real early in the season....

 

[oldrunner]

He had a good freshman year, averaging 16+ PPG, 4+ APG, 5+ RPG. I don't know what happened his second year, but his PT and numbers went way down. At one point in his first year he was leading the league in 3 point shooting percentage. Last year he shot 40% for 3s which is still very good. One thing seems clear, we are loaded with wings right now.

Olds, his freshman year was at Glenville St., a DII school....he played 2 seasons at SIU and shot a reasonable percentage but not close to league leading....Your tweet, I believe, was after the 3rd Conference game of last season after he went 4-5 against Missouri State...real early in the season....

Yes, I just saw that. This COVID year gets me sometimes. He is not automatically eligible to play next year and will have to win an appeal with the NCAA. If he can't get the waiver, he has a RS year to use. He could end up being a 6th year senior. Although unsigned, he is still committed and planning to be here soon. This has been a truly unique recruiting year.

 

[sacstateman]

Because of covid, I think he still has 2 years of eligibility left....Even if he redshirts, he will come back in the 2023-2024 season as a Junior....

 

[oldrunner]

Having seen him in person, though only once, I would say that he would have a strong chance of starting for us. He is a Bamforth sort of shooter and a natural leader. He just has that swagger that great shooters have. This was a better pick up than many might think. However, he is not just a shooter. His game looked quite complete to me.