Silver and Blue Sports » Basketball Recruiting

‘Round the Rim – ‘12 Class is the Focus

awprince — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:59:27 +0000

Unless Nevada finds a late rising ‘11 standout, it certainly appears that the Pack will be pocketing three available scholarships for the upcoming ‘11-12 basketball season. When combined with Nevada’s two projected losses, Wolf Pack head coach David Carter, who brought a ton of talent to Reno a year ago in what was a massive recruiting haul, could sign as many as 5 newcomers for what will be Nevada’s first year in the Mountain West Conference.

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Listen to The Howl: 4-Star Player on Saturdays

TheHowling — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:58:40 +0000

If you’ve followed Nevada football for any length of time, especially here at Silver and Blue Sports, you’ll know we don’t put much stock into star rankings for prospects by national recruiting services like ESPN, Rivals and Scout. It’s not the Nevada way, and under Hall of Fame Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault, it’ll never be something that the Silver and Blue care that much about.

We could give a detailed explanation for our dismissal of star rankings, but we think this quote sums it up about as succinctly as we’ve ever heard.

“You don’t have to be a 4 star player on paper, you just have to be a 4 star player on Saturdays.” That’s a quote from tonight’s guest, Nevada associate head coach, Ken Wilson.

A.W. Prince and Coach Wilson join us on this episode of The Howl to talk about the defensive line, who’ll replace Dontay Moch and Ryan Coulson, the team’s confidence after last year’s dream season and recruiting the Republic of Texas.

The Howl: Episode 61

00:00 – 16:45 Coach Wilson
16:46 – 37:30 Football Recruiting, cankles and chocolate milk
37:31 – 53:51 Basketball Recruiting

‘Round the Rim – PG to Watch

awprince — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:45:56 +0000

Jesuit high school in Sacramento (Calif.) has sent a handful of talented players to Nevada in the past two decades, including potential All-WAC senior cornerback Isaiah Frey. One of the Marauders top prospects in the Class of 2012 is Akachi Okugo, a point guard with plenty of athleticism and skills. Silver and Blue Sports put together a video production of Okugo’s junior season, and caught up with the 6-foot-1 standout to get the latest on his recruitment.

Nevada is certainly keeping an eye on Okugo, and for good reason. He’s a very quick, intelligent and fearless playmaker that understands the balance between scoring, yet still getting his teammates involved in the game. Okugo is also a solid three-point shooter, with a plus mid-range game.

As his junior video shows, he can get to the rim and score fairly routinely.

A close friend of another Nevada hoops recruiting target, Arik Armstead, Okugo shows a knack for finding the open man in transition, getting in the passing lanes and playing with confidence. He’s also an excellent athlete and projects to be in the 6-foot-2, 200-pound range after his senior season. Okugo’s game has always reminded us in part of former Kansas PG Jacque Vaughn, who spent a number of years in the NBA.

Like all players, there are some areas where Okugo is looking to improve. He’s working on becoming more physical, especially on the defensive side of the ball. He’s also looking to move better without the ball in his hands, which is something all point guards have to consistently work at.

Nonetheless, we expect the lead Marauder to have a big senior season.

“I know this summer that Nevada, plus a number of other schools, will be at some of my games with Team Superstars,” Okugo stated. “So I’m just trying to put in the work and get better every day. No matter what happens with recruiting, I’m not going to stop working on my game. I want to be ready to go when I get to college.

“Yes, I’m hearing from the Wolf Pack, plus UC-Davis and some Ivy League schools. Those are the main ones.

“With Nevada specifically, I like them because I’ve seen what they do with their talent. They also have a winning record almost every year and their coach was a point guard. Those are some of the things I’m looking for in a program.

“It’d be an honor to work with (Coach Carter).”

Catching up with Noisat

Silver and Blue Sports also caught up with a recent visitor to Nevada, 6-foot-8 big man Jacob Noisat. We featured the Chabot College prospect last week in ‘Round the Rim (premium feature).

“It was a good trip,” Noisat said. “Just got back home here a little while ago, so I’m still kind of taking it all in. They have a lot of talent, that’s for sure.

“I liked everything I saw.”

Noisat, who appears to be a very rugged, 225-pound power forward, averaged just under a double-double per game a year ago as a sophomore at Chabot College in Hayward. He shot 58 percent from the floor.

“I still have a trip to Point Loma near San Diego to take, and I’m talking with Cal Poly as well,” Noisat added. “I’m not sure when I will visit there, so I don’t really have a timeline. I’m just trying to take my time with it all. Nevada did offer, and they gave me a lot to think about.”

‘Round the Rim – The Final Pair?

awprince — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:00:34 +0000

As we’ve chronicled since the end of the most recent hoops season, Nevada, which has yet to add a player to the roster while seeing three players depart, will be adding some talent this summer. Even though the late signing period has come and gone, a handful of prospects the Wolf Pack staff have been scouting are still on the board. Who is Nevada likely to add?

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Listen to The Howl: Casey Moore

TheHowling — Sat, 28 May 2011 20:56:27 +0000

For the 2nd time in 4 years, Nevada football lost one of it’s top offensive coordinators to a BCS program when Jim Mastro, the Wolf Pack running backs coach, departed for UCLA. Prior to that, O-Line assistant coach Chris Klenakis took the same position at Arkansas. It really isn’t that surprising to those around the coaching profession. With the production of Nevada’s Pistol offense, the statistics have been noticed by every program in the country.

Two years ago, Casey Moore was a graduate assistant at Stanford under now 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. When Andy Buh made the move to Nevada before the historic 2010 season, Moore came with him, and after 1 year as the quality control coach, he’s now leading one of college football’s most prolific rushing attacks.

Coach Moore and A.W. Prince join us to talk about his interview with Coach Ault, the two stand out running backs during Spring football and what Colin Kaepernick can look forward to playing under Coach Harbaugh in the NFL.

The Howl: Episode 60

‘Round the Rim – Big Tripper

awprince — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:59:44 +0000

One of the more enjoyable aspects of covering the future of Nevada athletics is the way that both Wolf Pack football and basketball have appealed to extremely talented, yet often underrated and under-ranked prospects across California. From recent NFL Draft selections like Colin Kaepernick and Virgil Green to the reigning WAC Hoops Freshman of the Year, Deonté Burton, there are numerous recruiting cases where Nevada signed players with elite ability.

That’s why the latest update from Arik Armstead is so intriguing. For Nevada fans who have yet to hear about the Pleasant Grove high school product, Armstead is arguably the best two-sport prospect in the country. On the gridiron, he’s the No. 1 ranked player in the Class of 2012. That’s not just in California, but nationally as ranked by both Scout.com and 247Sports.com.

At the conclusion of his senior year, Armstead projects to a 6-foot-8, 300-pound defensive end at the college level. He has shown the ability to dominate on both sides of the ball, which is evident in this complete, junior season video that Silver and Blue Sports recently put together.

Click on the link below to view the video;

Arik Armstead Complete Junior Video

Photo by A.W. Prince of SilverandBlueSports.com

While the rest of the nation will follow Armstead’s football recruitment closely (he has already given USC a verbal, which is where his brother Armond plays), the one aspect that most fans have yet to truly understand is how important the game of basketball has always been to him. We also feel that he’s an extremely underrated hoops prospect.

Anyone who has watched him grow up knows he loves hoops with a passion, and that he is also an extremely talented, well-trained young basketball prospect in his own right. All the things that make him such a great football prospect, with his quick feet and great hands, also make him a standout big man.

He’s a terrific frontcourt prospect with power and range, possessing the ability to shoot from well beyond the arc.

Silver and Blue Sports has a handful of Armstead basketball clips from last summer, when he was just 16 years old, that show off more of his game.

Arik Armstead ‘10 Summer Hoops Clips

Additionally, the Elk Grove native is one of the few prep players who truly know the game inside and out. There aren’t a lot of players who haven’t played in the league, nor in college, that Armstead doesn’t know about. Just ask him about Nevada.

“Well, they’ve had a lot of players, especially more recent guys, who are in the NBA,” Armstead said. “They’ve been one of the top programs on the West Coast too, and I know Coach Carter is there. He’s a really good coach. Him and my Dad are really good friends.

“I followed JaVale (McGee), Armon (Johnson) and Luke Babbitt, and I know they have had guys like Ramon Sessions and (Kirk) Snyder who have played in the league. That’s all pretty recently. They’ve had some L.A and Bay Area guys too.”

Armstead’s knowledge isn’t limited to the West Coast. You can ask him an array of college hoops questions and he’ll keep up with the best of them, especially regarding various players and past NCAA Tournaments. That’s what can happen when you’ve grown up around a number of NBA and college players, which is largely due to his father’s status as one of the top basketball trainers in the country. Guss Armstead, the co-Founder of the Sacramento Professional Developmental League, also brings in a ton of talent every summer to train. From guys like Ryan Anderson (Cal, currently Orlando Magic) and Matt Barnes (UCLA, currently the L.A. Lakers) to former college greats like Gerry McNamara (Syracuse) and current rising big man Festus Ezeli (Vanderbilt), there’s been a bit of everything on the summer hoops scene in Sacramento.

“I’ve been playing basketball since I was 5 years old,” Armstead added. “So yes, it was my first love. I’ve always been around college and NBA guys ever since I can remember. Probably the biggest influence from any of them would be Mike Wilks. He played in the league for 10 years and stayed with us every summer. I’d work out with him all the time.”

Wilks, a former WAC Player of the Year during his days at Rice University, is one of just many players that has trained with Guss Armstead.

So why is Armstead going to trip up to Nevada in the near future?

“Nevada was my first basketball offer, and like I said my Dad has a great relationship with Coach Carter,” Armstead said. “They’ve been friends a long time. College basketball is something I’ve always wanted to play, so why not? That’s one of the best matches I could imagine for me.”

‘Round the Rim – The Future

awprince — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:29:01 +0000

With 10 returning players on his team next season, Nevada head coach David Carter knows the key to recruiting this year is not finding immediate impact players. He did that last year by adding players like Deontè Burton, the 2010-11 WAC Freshman of the Year, plus transfers in Olek Czyz and Malik Story and a host of talented freshmen. So what does the future hold for Nevada? ‘Round the Rim features a trio of prospects who could be part of Nevada’s future.

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‘Round the Rim – Rising to the top

awprince — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:59:19 +0000

Nevada head coach David Carter and his staff have been connected with a number of late-rising 2011 prospects since the season ended. Some of those players include TCU signee Adrick McKinney, a 6-foot-8 JUCO big man from the Lone Star state, and Hawaii signee Dillon Biggs, a lengthy 6-foot-6 prep forward from Los Angeles. But after watching that duo sign elsewhere, Nevada has set their eyes on a new ‘11 duo, including super athletic combo guard Darnell Taylor.

Like Biggs, Taylor is arguably one of Los Angeles top senior athletes that had yet to sign with a school. The Crenshaw high school athlete has quality size at the guard position that includes a very physical frame. That’s what always caught our eye when we saw him play previously; he’s a tough kid and a tough guard. Taylor will man you up and plays solid defense.

The development that really improved Taylor’s stock was at the offensive end. He’s become much more aggressive going to the hole instead of settling for open jumpers. That was very evident against Fremont just over two months ago, when our friends at BallisLife.com put together the following video production;

Taylor showed some big-time hops and overall aggressiveness that made coaches stop and pay attention throughout his senior year, and that game is just one example. Silver and Blue Sports expects the Wolf Pack staff to bring Taylor up for a visit in the next thirty days.

You can also check out another video of Taylor from the prestigious Torrey Pines Tournament in San Diego below;

Another potential Nevada visitor within that same recruiting time-frame, or in the early part of the summer, could be the aforementioned Wishon. A monster 7-foot-2, 270-pound big man from Charlotte (North Carolina), Wishon has spent the past year attending Fork Union Military Academy (FUMA) this fall.

Silver and Blue Sports confirmed a few weeks ago that Wishon did not play for the Blue Devils and legendary FUMA head coach Fletcher Arritt this past season, but he did attend the school. Prior to his year of prep school, Wishon attended Concord high school for his first three seasons and then played his senior year at First Assembly, where he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game to lead the team to the state finals.

Nevada checked in on Wishon this past week and reportedly liked what they saw from the Charlotte native, as he displayed good hands and good feet for a player his size. A number of schools have watched him in the past as well.

What’s important for Nevada fans to remember about any players in the ‘11 recruiting class is patience. Both could potentially make an immediate impact, as one brings a lot of toughness to the floor and the other a lot of size. However, it is more than likely that with the Wolf Pack returning all 5 starters, including WAC Freshman of the Year Deontè Burton (who made this spectacular dunk against New Mexico State, plus this one against Hawaii) and their top 5 reserves, impact is a lot to ask. Wishon will without a doubt need time to develop more of his game, and that’s something that has been documented in the few stories about his game. Like Taylor, he sounds like he’s more than willing to put in the time though and possesses a great work ethic.

Looking a year ahead, another name for Wolf Pack fans to monitor is lengthy 6-foot-5 wing Nick Stover. Stover, the younger brother of UCLA center Anthony Stover (and a prospect who Nevada recruited very hard), continues to grow into his frame. He has huge feet, and we believe he could grow a lot more over the next 18 months.

There’s not a lot of video of Stover, but he averaged close to 16 points per game and 8 rebounds for the Windward Wildcats this past season. It was a memorable junior season for Stover, as he helped lead Windward to their second California state championship in three years, topping Salesian high school in a competitive final. Of course, Salesian happens to feature another potential Nevada Class of ‘12 addition in point guard Dominic Artis, which we’ve featured a few times on prior ‘Round the Rims.

Even if he doesn’t gain a lot of size, Stover is a pretty legit wing as it stands. USF has offered him, and the Pac-10 is also watching to see if he grows more. We believe Nevada might pull the trigger soon on him as well. They watched him this past week in Los Angeles.

Listen to The Howl: Receiving Corps

TheHowling — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:00:48 +0000

With the NFL Draft just a week away and Nevada likely to have at least 3 players drafted, you might forgive pundits if they were to say the Wolf Pack will be in rebuilding mode next season. But take one look at Nevada’s loaded receiving corps, with it’s mix of veteran returning starters, talented new comers and wild cards like Shane Anderson and Corbin Louks and it looks a lot more like reloading.

Wide receivers coach Scott Baumgartner joins us this week to talk about his corps of receivers, how Louks at receiver might give Nevada opponents ulcers, the loaded 2010 class of Nevada recruits and what each of the three quarterbacks in waiting bring to the table.

A.W. Prince and Mark Littlefield also join us to bring down the Silver and Blue game, talk about some basketball recruiting and the departure of coach Dennis Gates to Florida State.

The Howl: Episode 59

0:00 to 26:18 Coach Baumgartner
26:19 to 35:27 Observations from the Silver and Blue game
35:28 to 39:40 Football recruiting news
39:41 to 48:07 Ty Thompson, the rest of the secondary and the 2010 recruiting class
48:08 to 54:36 The departure of Coach Gates
54:37 to 64:01 Basketball recruiting and outro

Listen to the Howl: Spring is in the air

awprince — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:50:24 +0000

With Nevada’s annual Silver and Blue game on tap this weekend, plus the late signing period for Nevada basketball on the doorstep Spring is most definitely in the air. The competition at Wolf Pack Park has been intense, with players at numerous positions all trying to make an impression on Chris Ault and his staff, and perhaps claim a starting job in 2011. Additionally, Wolf Pack hoops, out on the recruiting trail, continues to eyeball a number of prospects and transfers with the hope of bringing just a pair of them to Reno.

No doubt about it, Spring has been as busy as ever around the University of Nevada, with both the football and basketball programs trying to mainly sort out their talent.

A.W. Prince and Mark Littlefield join us for the latest edition of The Howl. We get the latest on Nevada Spring football from Littlefield, who has covered the Pack as closely as anyone this session, plus get a few updates from Prince, who has been following Nevada basketball’s recruiting efforts.

Click the link below to listen;

Listen to the Howl: Ep 58

(Running Time 65 minutes)