College Preview – Vaughn Autry

Ok in the first part of this two-part post I addressed how I look at true freshman when doing a preseason preview of college team. In the second part of this I want to look more closely at the freshman the Griz fans think I am short-changing – Vaughn Autry.

When I thought about doing this post, I decided I needed to really take a fresh look at Autry, so I contacted a handful of people. These are all folks who evaluate talent for a living, and one of them has seen Autry play over 25 times in the past 12-18 months I gave them a rundown of my initial logic in coming up with my Griz Preview to get their opinions. I also read all of the Egriz comments. Unfortunately I have only seen Autry once for about 15-20 minutes in an open gym situation, so I really do not feel that is enough to develop an independent opinion.

My Initial thoughts
When I wrote my previews of the Montana state and Montana previews the one area I struggled with was evaluating the Montana back court positions. I really scratched my head trying to get a handle how it will shake out and what was/is Tinkle and his coaches planning based on their recruiting choices. Here are my thoughts.

Montana Men’s Basketball Preview (part 1)

Now that all of the players are on campus, I am going to get started previewing the four Montana State and Montana basketball programs players. This is a look at the Montana Grizzly men’s program players. Part 1 will cover the Back Court,- point guard (1), shooting guard (2) and the small forward (3) positions.

Back Court (guards and wings)

The Griz return only two back court players from last year’s team. To rebuild the back court they will have at their disposal an all conference honorable mention player, a back up returnee, three junior college players and two highly touted freshman recruits. I am confident that the Griz have the type of players to make them successful, but the real question is, which of these players will earn minutes in the regular guard rotation, and which are relegated to the bench or a redshirt.

Will Cherry 6-1 (PG, SG)
As an All Conference honorable mention player and returning starter, as a true freshman, Cherry is the only player whom seems to already have a starting position locked down. The only question will be will he start at PG or SG spot. The rest of the back court will be built around Cherry, and the players who emerge as the best fit with him, will determine which spot he plays. My guess that given a choice Tinkle would prefer to start him at the shooting guard, but if Stockton can not nail down a starting spot look for him to man the point guard spot, and one of the new players manning the shooting guard spot.

Shawn Stockton 6-1 (PG)
Stockton and Cherry are the only true point guards on the team. Stockton is a solid floor general who is tough quarterback on the floor. He knows Tinkles system and can run it to a tee, and I think this will give him a leg up on landing a starting spot. He is not as dynamic as some point guards but his stability might be exactly what the Griz need. If he falters though there are three experienced JC players and two very talented freshmen who could push him for the starting spot.

Art Steward 6-4 (SG, SF)
Steward in my opinion is the best of the three junior college recruits and is the only true small forward in the bunch. As such I think he will lock down the starting small forward spot. Steward is a very balanced player who can score the ball, rebound, and play solid defense. He is the perfect glue type player that can make the players around him better. While Steward is a little undersized for the 3 spot he makes up for it with his athleticism and hustle. He is also a decent three point shooter which is an area the Griz will need help this year.

Rating The Griz 2010 Basketball Class (part1)

This is the first of two articles on the Grizzly men’s basketball recruiting class of 2010. It will take the same form as the articles I did on the Bobcat Men’s class. The caveat I have is that about a month ago it appeared that Wayne Tinkle and his staff were still looking at signing a JC combo guard. I have not heard of any signing so I do not know if they are still looking. If they did sign another guard though it could signal that a retuning or recruited player will not be suiting out for the Griz next fall and that of course will effect thins post. I will address this if and when it happens.

Talent

This is the second great recruiting class in a row that Tinkle has signed. last years class was hurt when prize recruit Thurmond Woods ended up leaving before the start of the 2009 season, but Will Cherry was every thing he was made out to be. I really think Kareem Jamar and Vaughn Autry enter the program with the credentials and roster opportunities to make a big splash in the Big Sky as true freshman.

Top Freshman – These recruits in my opinion have the potential to one of the top five freshman in the Big Sky next year, but to do so they will need to put the work.

Signing Day Preview: Griz Men

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.

Montana Men:

Signed in the Fall:

Michael Weisner 6-7 Combo Forward – Walla Walla, WA
Vaughn Autry 6-2 Combo Guard – Gardenia CA
Billy Reader 6-8 Forward / Center – Lake Owsego, OR

Commits

Kareem Jamar 6-5 Guard/Forward – Los Angeles, CA

OK this is were as a Bobcat fan I might get into trouble with the GrizNation, but since January I have been hearing rumblings that Jamar commit to the Grizzly is more of a commit if he end ups “going that level” but he may reconsider if he gets a bigger offer. The problem, though, is that when ever I ask someone who the “other schools” might be I never get a firm answer. So is this really Jamar’s thinking or is this some “experts” opinion. Recently I had the following exchange with Greg Hicks of Scout.com

July Evaluation Period: Grizzly Men

This is the second in a series of four posts, looking at what positions the Montana State men’s, Montana State women’s, the Montana men’s as well as the Lady Griz basketball programs may be looking to evaluate and ultimately fill roster spots next year. This post will cover the Montana men’s program.

The Grizzly program will graduate league MVP candidate PG/SG Anthony Johnson, as well as returning starters SF Jack McGillis and SG Ryan Staudacher, and bench player SF Vassy Banny. This will open up four scholarships for the coaches to work with. It appears that Tinkle is looking primarily at high school recruits but he does seem to at some JC’s on his radar, mostly at the wing position.

Griz recruit: Arthur Steward

I have been told that the Griz are recruiting Arthur Steward of Casper JC in Wyoming. Steward is a well know commodity to both Montana D-1 schools and a lot of Montanans. Steward graduated from Casper Natrona high school in 2007 and was a recruiting target of both Montana and Montana State. Both schools have been following him since. Steward signed with Northern Colorado out of high school but never played for them, instead he attended Wallace JC his freshman year. He only played in their first 10 games, though, before quitting. Last year he attended Casper JC, but did not play basketball. I am told he will play with Casper JC this year as a sophomore.