The Bobcat Nation

Well it appears we have 5 new Bobcat men's basketball Players. One JC player and 4 High schoolers.

Watching Twitter this afternoon, Tyler Hall, Mandrell Worthy, Sam Nuemann and Quinton Everett all anounced announced their signings with Montana State. Quinton Everett additionally posted a an instagram picture of he and former Bobcat Pete Conway (who coached Everett last year) with the following caption:

This man Pete Conway is the reason behind my success that i have had these past two years..He gave me the chance to play ball again and also gave me the chance to further my education..God place this man in my life for a reason and i am really grateful to know him..I am able to live out my dream because he took a chance on me even though i sat out a couple years..I am very grateful for this dude

I thought that was a very classy move.
Additionally it is being reported in a couple places that the Bobcats have also signed 6-7 Preston Beverly of Elsinore high school in California. Preston is a appears to be still growing as he was listed at 6-3 as a sophomore, 6-5 as a junior and is now listed at about 6-7. Depending on where you look his primary position in college will be either the PF or SF. He is said have pretty good hops, with deep three point range. In looking over a few stats that I can get a hold of he also appears to be a darn good rebounder, as all his rebounding totals were between 12-17. I am still I am still trying to get his 2013-14 stats. Here is a little write up:

2015 WING PRESTON BEVERLY

When I circle games at beginning of season of must see games, Elsinore (Wildomar, CA) vs Perris is always one of them. Friday was no different as I watched two future California D1 Ambassadors go head to head. 2015 6'5" Preston Beverly, a wiry sharp shooter finished the night with 29pts 17 rebounds and 3 blocks for elsinore, most importantly the win and share of the league title.

Perris 6'5 forward Deandre Johnsten finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds as Perris struggled in the second half to chase Beverly off the 3 point line. He repeatedly hit big 3 after big 3 when his team needed it. He also had a monster dunk that should have been an "and one". When I watched Elsinore in early December I saw future signs of the leader Preston was becoming. I knew that he was definitely a rising star who had an incredible IQ for the game.

Of course it helps when you have a coach like Pete Retinger who has formed the area's powerhouse and produced D1 players year after year. Preston is the type of floor genral you exspect to lead your team off the court as well as on. I cant wait to work with this young man. He's truly a guy that makes every coach's job easier.

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Sorry folks it turns out that while the California papers are reporting Preston Beverly did sign with Montana State they actually for got to mention the "Billings" part of the University name. It does sound like though MSU-Billings got them selves a pretty great player.

BTW: I liked it better when they were Eastern Montana University.

Now if you don't mind I have to get this omelet off my face.

Thanks for all you do mslacat!

I hope we are actively looking for a big man or two. Looks like Fish's teams will more closely resemble Durham's teams-terminally undersized.

Cobbled this together from a Montana State press release and my previous interviews of the kids.

MSU men sign three during first day of signing period
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Quinton Everett will sign but did not today. He is expected to sign tomorrow or Friday. He had an academic issue to clear up. As mslacat said, Preston Beverly is headed to Billings.

Last spring when Coach Fish was hired, I said that he would find players. So far, he has shown that. The recruiting class looks very good.

I always thought Huse was a better than average recruiter. The problem was once they got to Bozeman, they plateaued out pretty quick and never met expectations.

Recruiting is great, but I'm really looking forward to how Fish and his staff develop the talent they recruit to Bozeman.

wbtfg wrote:I always thought Huse was a better than average recruiter. The problem was once they got to Bozeman, they plateaued out pretty quick and never met expectations.

Recruiting is great, but I'm really looking forward to how Fish and his staff develop the talent they recruit to Bozeman.

I'll agree with you to a point. The part I'm not in agreement is that many time a big part in identifying talent in choosing a kid to recruit is getting the kid that has room to grow and develop. As you said, the other big part is having the staff that can help a talented player reach his sealing.

wbtfg wrote:I always thought Huse was a better than average recruiter. The problem was once they got to Bozeman, they plateaued out pretty quick and never met expectations.

Recruiting is great, but I'm really looking forward to how Fish and his staff develop the talent they recruit to Bozeman.

I would agree, but it also seemed Huse did not recruit the correct kids to fit his system. Example about 3 years in I was talking to Huse and he said he really needed to increase the athleticism and quickness of his players in order to play the type of defense he wanted. He did that but then he played an offence more suited for slow down bring it up the court basketball and the players he recruited to Bozeman had a skill set of running and pushing the ball on offence. When you plugged these guys into Huse's offence they struggled they simply did not know how to plays slow ball efficiently. It was like deciding you need a vehicle with a bigger engine so you buy a Porsche and use it to drive around your ranch to check on cattle it is not going to work that well.

As far as Fish goes it looks like he has done what he said he would, and he has recruited the players who on paper seem look like high ranked top notch Big Sky recruits but the proof will be in the pudding. He still needs to answer, how good is his evaluation ability (at the Big Sky level), did he get the right players to fit his system and most of all can he put it all together into a package that can compete for titles in the Big Sky. I am always the eternal optimist when it comes to Bobcat Basketball (even after what I feel is being burned by Huse) so I have extremely high expectation for the Bobcat 2-3 years down the line but realistically only time will tell about this recruiting class.