Signing Day Preview: Lady Griz

This Wednesday will be the start of the spring signing day which will go until mid May and I wanted to update on various rumors and as well as my opinion (guess) on what the four programs are doing and who they could sign during the late period.

The current trend that all four programs have been following the past 3-4 years is to primarily sign high school kids in the early period and JC transfers in the late period, and this year they look to no different.

Lady Griz

Signed in the Fall:

Jordan Sullivan 6-1 Combo Forward – Sidney, MT
Carly Selvig 6-2 Center / Forward – Glendive, MT
Kellie Cole 5-8 Shooting Guard – Bozeman, MT
Lexi Nelson 5-8 Point Guard – Butte, MT
Torry Hill 5-7 Combo Guard – Anaconda, MT

Montana-Wyoming All-Star: Montana Girl’s

The Midland Roundtable has announced their Montana rosters for the annual Montana versus Wyoming All Star games that will be played on June 11 in Sheridan, Wyoming and June 12 at Rocky Mountain College in Billings.

This year version of the Montana Girls all-star roster does not feature a major star like Jos Tinkle, but I think it will be a long time before we see a basketball player, for either boy’s or women’s team for quite a while. Jordan Sullivan of Sidney, has been playing in Tinkle’s shadow the past few years, and is clearly the star of this team. Sullivan has the capability of playing guard, forward or center for this team but will most likely play inside for Montana. Sullivan who signed with U of Montana is a complete player, who is a walking double double but can also handle the ball and pass out of the double (triple) team.

The Montana team also feature three other players who signed with the University of Montana in guard Lexi Nelson of Butte, guard Kellie Cole of Bozeman and center Carly Selvig of Glendive. Nelson is a spark plug guard who can sore points in bunches, Cole is a very balanced player who gets it done on both offense and defense side of the ball. Carly Selvig is known more as a defensive stopper prior to her senior year but has shown a new found offensive game this year. Unfortunately Anaconda’s scoring machine Torry Hill blew out he knee this past February and will not be available this June.

Prospect Update: Lady Griz

This is the final of four updates on signee’s /commits from the four Montana State and University of Montana basketball programs. Part 1 featured an update on the Montana State men’s program. Number two updated the Montana men’s program while #3 focused on the Bobcat Women’s prospects. This final update will focus on the Montana’s Lady Griz prospects.

2010 Signees

• Kellie Cole 5-8 G Bozeman HS – Cole and Bozeman are out to a 4-0 start and looking like one of the better teams in AA. Cole is averaging 18 points a game, and is really shooting the ball well from 3 point range.
• Tory Hill 5-9 G Anaconda HS – Hill has always been known as a scorer, and last year averaged close to 25 points a game and it appears she is looking to improve on that this year. Hill currently sports a 32 points a game for Anaconda, including a 39 to 41 point dual she had with Libby’s Jackie Mee. Hill may have lost the individual battle but her team won the game.

Future players start their season

The high school basketball season across the United State is just starting to get into high gear, and most of the 18 recruits signed or committed to the four Montana D-1 prospects have already started their season with most of the rest getting under way this coming week-end.

Around Montana a few players started their season last weekend with Carly Selvig’s (Glendive), Lexi Nelson (Butte), Kellie Cole (Bozeman) and Blake Brumwell (Big Sandy) getting a game. The remainder of the Montana players and teams kicking in the next couple of day’s.

From out of the state of Montana, Bobcat women’s signee Ausha Cole leads the pack in games already played with 9 games under her belt. Bobcat men’s signee Chris McCall is the only player to yet kick off his season, but his Cheyenne high school team starts it season tonight.

Montana State’s two Australian recruits Kate Webb and Emily Nelson are a whole different ball game. These two women have already finished their high school career and the whole Australian under 18 basketball system is so different than the here in the United States.

Early signing period: Wrap up (Part 1)

I have been waiting for a few last Big Sky schools to announce their final recruits, but it just seems that Weber State and Northern Colorado are in not hurry to announce their Fall letter of intents. I am primarily going to look at the four Montana programs In Part 1, and then have a complete list of all the Big Sky program signees as I believe they now stand in Part 2. I will create a page called commitments in the coming days that I will keep a running and updated list.

Montana State Men’s fall Letter of Intents

Notes: This is by far Brad Huse’s best freshman class and maybe best class period, since he took over the program.

Chris McCall, G, 6-3, Fr, Las Vegas, NV (Cheyenne)
Notes: The prize of the early recruiting period. Has the ability to play all three front court positions and could help feel the immediately fill the voids left by Bynum and Navarre. I am not predicting a starter by any means but a solid contributor. The best guard prospect Huse has signed while at Montana State.

Shawn Reid, F, 6-5, Fr, Post Falls, ID (Post Falls)
Notes: The sleeper of the class, an injury last season and hidden up in the North West, has kept him under the recruiting radar. An athletic, big and skilled wing player who is primed for a great season. Physically a late bloomer the Coaches are hoping they found another Erik Rush.

Casey Trujeque, G, 5-8, Fr, Los Angeles, CA (Price)
Notes: The Kid with a chip on his shoulder. Trujedue was over looked by a lot of larger programs because of his size. Talented small guards have proven that they can excel in the Big Sky. He is a pure point guard, who could contribute early. I talked to a couple sources in California ( granted one with a Bobcat bias) and they both feel he will play significant minutes next year.

Blake Brumwell, F-C, 6-8, Fr, Big Sandy, MT (Big Sandy)
Notes: The Project, of the group he has the raw materials and skills to be a good post in the Big Sky conference but, will need some time to adjust from Montana Class C to the Division 1 level.

Lady Griz announce Signings

The Montana Grizzlies have announced the signings a five state of Montana products to robin Selvig’s Lady Griz program. In a press release the Lady Griz have confirmed that guard Lexi Nelson of Butte, forward Carly Selvig of Glendive, Jordan Sullivan of Sidney, guard Tory Hill of Anaconda and Kelli Cole of Bozeman will all join the Lady Griz program for the 2010-11 season. These five signing should fill all currently open scholarships for the Lady Griz this year and barring some other unforeseen defection should finish their class.

Here is a press release from the University of Montana:

Lady Griz stay in state for 2010-11 signees

by: Joel Carlson of UM Sports Information
Friday, 11/13/2009

University of Montana women’s basketball coach Robin Selvig announced Thursday that Kellie Cole, Torry Hill, Lexie Nelson, Carly Selvig and Jordan Sullivan have signed National Letters ofIntent and will join the Lady Griz program next year.

All five players are from Montana. Cole is from Bozeman, Hill is from Anaconda, Nelson is from Butte, Selvig is from Glendive and Sullivan is from Sidney. Selvig and Sullivan are cousins and also nieces of Coach Selvig.

Hill, Selvig and Sullivan have played together on the Big Sky Hoops AAU summer basketball team. Cole and Nelson have been teammates on the Spokane Sandpipers AAU team.

“It was a great year for recruiting in Montana, so we were hoping to get these kids,” Selvig said. “All of them could have gotten recruited by a lot of schools.

“We always want to get the best players we can, regardless of where they come from, but Montana has been good to us over the years. We always want to get the best Montana players if they’re good enough.

Signing day (or week)

Today marks the start of the Early Signing period for basketball, and a few other sports. The early period spans from November 11th thru 18th so actually it is an 8 day week. The “regular” or late signing period last a little over a month starting in mid April. Despite this it can not be over emphasized how important the early signing period is for coaches and their programs.

Earlier this week I read in an article that stated 81 of the top 100 prospects in the country had already committed and were expected to sign this week. Since that time I know a few other have committed and it would not surprise me if by the time November 18 rolls around the number of available top 100 kids falls into the single digits.

Obviously the Montana programs do not get many chances to recruit top 100 players, I would guess that from the pool of athletes they recruit from the percentages of players signing is not that high, but I would guess that the percentage is pretty close to 75% of their top prospects. One of the things that will keep this number lower are player / prospects who hope their stock will rise (to Pac-10 etc.) if they wait until spring. Additionally there will be some late bloomer / sleepers who will emerge after their senior year of basketball.

Recruiting: Where are the Griz at?

With the early signing period starting on November 11 and last through the 18th I thought I would take a look at where the Grizzly programs currently stand, as I know it. It is very possible that there are a commit or two that I do not know about.

I think it has been a very productive fall for all two programs and for the most part they have filled most of their projected open scholarship. When I say, projected scholarships, I am talking about the number of seniors on the team plus open scholarships. It highly like that there will be at least one scholarship that may open up on a team due to underclassmen deciding to leave.

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Torry Hill Commits to the Lady Griz

Torry Hill from Anaconda high school has committed to Robin Selvig to play basketball for the Lady Griz starting in the 2010-2011 season. Hill who averaged close to 25 points a game for the Anaconda this past two season has lead Anaconda to two strait class A championships.

Hill is expected to play both the shooting guard, and point guard for the Lady Griz. Hill is known as a scoring machine with a very quick release on her shot, the ability to shoot from the perimeter or take the ball to the hoop. At the shooting guard she has bee compared favorably to former Griz great Sonya Roberts. At the point she will give the Griz the Griz a counter part to current young point guard Ashley Ferda. While Hill does not have quite the foot speed of Ferda she will give a very potent offensive weapon from the point.