After their spectacular run to the CIS Nationals semi-finals last season with basically 6 or 7 players in the rotation, one of the off-season objectives for St. Mary's Head Coach
Ross Quackenbush was addressing the Huskies depth, both up front and in the back court. After a stellar recruiting class, the return of a key element from last season and some late-summer additions including a pair of U.S. imports, consider the mission accomplished. As previously mentioned, St. Mary's has added 6'1"
Shane Morrison, a City of Toronto high school all-star from a few years ago, to lead his back court with incumbent star 6'2"
Mark McLaughlin. As well, 6'8"
Luke Reynolds (C.P. Allen) plus 6'1" guard
Jack Gallinaugh (J.L. Ilsley) committed in the spring time followed quickly by 6'2"
Jazz Cain (Prince Andrew H.S.) stating his intentions to attend in early summer. However, the Huskies have been very fortunate to have 4 more players due in when training camp begins tomorrow at the Tower. For starters, 6'5"
Aaron Duncan is back in school and should be ready to go for training camp. Duncan has been one of the top players in the AUS during the past 2 seasons and typically can flirt with a triple/double on most nights. He will add another athlete to the wing position which is needed after the departure of 6'4"
Cordell Wright. Most impressive of the newcomers is likely to be
6'8"
Derrick Coleman (pictured), a native of Detroit, MI, (Denby H.S.) who played one season (2004-05) at Oakland (MI) University (NCAA Division 1), getting into 18 games with 1 start and then spent 2005-06 at Schoolcraft College, a JUCO in Michigan. Coleman is athletic, can score inside and can be a defensive presence. Another American import, 6'4" lefty
Brandon Mullins from Louisville, KY transfers in after spending his freshman season at Spalding University, an NAIA school in Louisville, with the Golden Eagles. For those U of L Cardinal fans out there, Spalding's gym is named after the late former Card great
Derek Smith, one of the stars of Louisville's 1980 NCAA national championship team and Spalding's Athletic Director is
Roger "Instant Defense" Burkman, another key member of that 1980 NCAA champion under Hall-of-Fame coach
Denny Crum. Finally, St. Mary's welcomes a walk-on who has looked impressive during informal pre-season runs, 6'3"
Zack Wallace, originally from Mississauga St. Martin high school via Seneca College. Wallace is a competitive guard who should add even more depth to the athletic Huskies back court. St. Mary's turned a somewhat-mediocre regular season into a very successful run deep into the CIS playoffs and with the new talent augmenting the 4 returning starters, look for the Huskies to probably push for a Top 10 ranking early in the season.
After their spectacular run to the CIS Nationals semi-finals last season with basically 6 or 7 players in the rotation, one of the off-season objectives for St. Mary's Head Coach Ross Quackenbush was addressing the Huskies depth, both up front and in the back court. After a stellar recruiting class, the return of a key element from last season and some late-summer additions including a pair of U.S. imports, consider the mission accomplished. As previously mentioned, St. Mary's has added 6'1" Shane Morrison, a City of Toronto high school all-star from a few years ago, to lead his back court with incumbent star 6'2" Mark McLaughlin. As well, 6'8" Luke Reynolds (C.P. Allen) plus 6'1" guard Jack Gallinaugh (J.L. Ilsley) committed in the spring time followed quickly by 6'2" Jazz Cain (Prince Andrew H.S.) stating his intentions to attend in early summer. However, the Huskies have been very fortunate to have 4 more players due in when training camp begins tomorrow at the Tower. For starters, 6'5" Aaron Duncan is back in school and should be ready to go for training camp. Duncan has been one of the top players in the AUS during the past 2 seasons and typically can flirt with a triple/double on most nights. He will add another athlete to the wing position which is needed after the departure of 6'4" Cordell Wright. Most impressive of the newcomers is likely to be 
6'8" Derrick Coleman (pictured), a native of Detroit, MI, (Denby H.S.) who played one season (2004-05) at Oakland (MI) University (NCAA Division 1), getting into 18 games with 1 start and then spent 2005-06 at Schoolcraft College, a JUCO in Michigan. Coleman is athletic, can score inside and can be a defensive presence. Another American import, 6'4" lefty Brandon Mullins from Louisville, KY transfers in after spending his freshman season at Spalding University, an NAIA school in Louisville, with the Golden Eagles. For those U of L Cardinal fans out there, Spalding's gym is named after the late former Card great Derek Smith, one of the stars of Louisville's 1980 NCAA national championship team and Spalding's Athletic Director is Roger "Instant Defense" Burkman, another key member of that 1980 NCAA champion under Hall-of-Fame coach Denny Crum. Finally, St. Mary's welcomes a walk-on who has looked impressive during informal pre-season runs, 6'3" Zack Wallace, originally from Mississauga St. Martin high school via Seneca College. Wallace is a competitive guard who should add even more depth to the athletic Huskies back court. St. Mary's turned a somewhat-mediocre regular season into a very successful run deep into the CIS playoffs and with the new talent augmenting the 4 returning starters, look for the Huskies to probably push for a Top 10 ranking early in the season.
1 comment:
Who says that the return of Duncan is a good thing? When Duncan had been playing SMU could barley play together. Lets see if Duncan can change his ways and let his team do the scoring not always him.
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