CIS Hoops.ca

This season has witnessed a plethora of early commitments by players to CIS programs, a larger than normal number for this point in the recruiting process.  Historically, most recruits waited until late spring, early summer (many to ensure they were accepted into the schools they committed to).  This is a very good indicator that Canadian high schoolers are considering and commiting to the CIS route with much more conviction.  This area is covered extremely well by Barry Hayes of Hoopstars Canada, Nolan Shulman of Flagrant Fouls and the Dean of Ontario High School scouting Jim Thomas of the All-Ontario Scouting service.  I am borrowing much of the information on these newest CIS recruits from these fellows.

Here is a look at some of the more recent recruits:  McMaster has gained commitments from 6'4" Aaron Redpath, a tremendous perimeter shooter from Ajax J. Clarke Richardson and also smooth-shooting 6'3" Joe Rocca from Sarnia St. Christopher's.  Mac also earlier announced that 6'7" Brett Sanders (Saltfleet) would attend next season.  The young Marauders are quickly building their second consecutive strong recruiting class, adding to this season's strong freshman class of 6'7" Taylor Black, 6'5" Satar Wahidi and 6'0" Kyle Giedraitis plus second-year transfer 5'11" Kenan Etale.  Mac also has several regulars scheduled to return next season including 6'3" Victor Raso (will enter 3rd), 6'4" Scott Laws (will enter 4th), 6'6" Cam Michaud (will enter 4th), 6'2" Jordan Tew (will enter 3rd) and 6'8" Scott Brittain (will enter 5th), giving Mac, on paper, as much quality depth as any team in the country.

Hard-working Ryerson coach Roy Rana earlier got 6'11" Ryan Evans from Ottawa and today announced that 6'9" 245 lbs. Nem Stankovic is returning home to the T.Dot after spending three seasons south of the border.  Stankovic was one of the top high schoolers in Ontario in his graduating year in 2006-07 while starring at Vaughan Road Collegiate in Toronto.  Stankovic played his first two seasons at Chicago State ('07-'08; '08-'09), where he played one season with present Brock transfer Tshing Kasamba (St. Catharines, ON/St. Francis).  Stankovic played in 50 games over 2 seasons, averaging about 7.5 minutes per game and scoring 1.2 ppg.  Stankovic played last season ('09-'10) at Tennessee Temple, a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was a regular starter.  With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Stankovic should be an immediate impact player in the Rams lineup.  Ryerson press release on Stankovic commitment

Congratulations also to York Head Coach Tom Oliveri who was officially named full-time Head Coach in a press release earlier today.

Acadia will bring in at least 5 new faces for next season including Carleton transfer Anthony Ashe (6'4" SG), U of Winnipeg transfer Chris Jordan (6'4" SF), Husson U transfer Phil Leighton (6'0" CG), D1 transfer Jonathan Tull (6'3" SG) and Top 50 prospect Sean Stoqua (5'10" PG), son of former Ottawa Rough Rider Pat Stoqua.  Sean plans to be a two-sport athlete and will compete for the quarterback role on the Axemen football team.

Lakehead gets 6'2" New Brunswick provincial team guard Alex Robichaud (6'2" CG)  Press Release

Guelph gets 6'3" shooting guard Jack Beatty who most recently played with the REDA Development team out of Hamilton.

We have been tardy in our coverage of some roster churn with the Windsor Lancers beginning with 5'9" Tyrone Bramble no longer being on this season's roster, although he remains in school.  Coach Chris Oliver was encouraged by the effort and progress Bramble was making in getting more time in the Lancers rotation however still made the difficult, but in my opinion, correct decision to have Bramble focus on his academics.  As Oliver says, "If we bring in a transfer, we want them committed to getting their degrees.  We have done this before and will continue to do so."  Good on Oliver and the Lancers to maintain focus on producing athletes who earn degrees and succeed in the classroom.   6'2" Troy Barnes was scheduled to join the Lancers in the second term but continues to focus his efforts in the classroom and is not on the Lancers roster currently.  6'5" Justin Wiltshire sat out the 1st semester focusing on academics also and is working his way back into getting a significant role in the rotation while big 6'11" Ryan Wood joined the squad in the second semester, playing periodically before spraining his ankle, missing some games before returning this past weekend to play 13 and 8 minutes in the two games in Thunder Bay against Lakehead.