Prep Notes: New London's Hass to Augustana; Madison Memorial's Blue plans to trim list
posted by Mark Miller at 7/22/2009
By Mark Miller
Wishoops.net Editor The feel for the coaching staff, the university and the town were enough to sway New London senior Trevor Hass.
After visiting Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, during a grassroots tournament last month, the 6-foot-4 Hass gave a verbal commitment to play college basketball at the NCAA Division II school Tuesday.
“Honestly, I didn’t consider other schools,” Hass said. “Augustana was the top on my list the whole time. I visited the school when our AAU team played in a tournament on campus and came away impressed.
“It’s a good education, first and foremost. I like the coaching staff and I like the town and campus. It’s compact and it’s not that big. It felt right to me.”
An Associated Press All-State honorable mention pick and the Player of the Year in the Bay Conference as a junior, Hass averaged 21.2 points per game while helping New London to an 18-6 record and a spot in the WIAA Division 2 sectionals.
Hass and classmates Korey Jagiello and Max Frederick anchor a strong returning nucleus for coach Matt Hintz.
“I think we will have another strong season,” Hass said. “We have a lot of guys back who have gotten bigger and stronger. Hopefully, we can take the next step if we get back to sectionals.”
Hass, who fared well on the grassroots circuit in the spring and summer while playing alongside backcourt teammates Jordan Mach of Antigo and Jack Schalow of Kaukauna on the Wisconsin Blizzard-Schalow squad, picked Augustana over a scholarship offer from the University of Mary, a rival in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
“The coaches at Augustana said I will play either the two (wing guard) or three (wing forward),” said Hass, who is also an outstanding quarterback in football. “I’m excited about the opportunity to compete at that level.”
Madison Memorial’s Blue plans to trim list in coming weeks Madison Memorial senior Vander Blue opted not to travel with the Milwaukee Spartans to a grassroots tournament in Las Vegas this week.
Moreover, Blue’s grassroots coach, Shelton Kingcade, said Wednesday the ultra-athletic and highly regarded 6-3 wing guard plans to narrow down his list of potential colleges during the early part of August.
That is a change from a week ago when both Blue and Kingcade indicated during a grassroots tournament in Mequon that a final decision could come as early as this month or early next month.
“At this point, Vander plans to narrow his list down the first week of August,” Kingcade said. “He’ll narrow it down to a top five or so and then decide.”
When asked if Blue might wait on a final decision until after taking some official visits to schools in September and/or October, Kingcade said, “That depends on the schools and whether they are willing to wait. It is a possibility if they can keep a scholarship open that long.”
More than 20 NCAA Division I high-major schools have extended a scholarship offer to Blue, who verbally committed to attend Wisconsin in the spring of 2008 but then officially re-opened his recruitment at a press conference last May.
Wisconsin remains heavily involved with Blue and is considered by some the frontrunner for the returning first-team all-state guard. Marquette is also involved with Blue along with a handful of other schools from every high-major Division I conference in the country.
St. Catherine’s McWhorter receives scholarship offers Racine St. Catherine’s senior Steve McWhorter recently received scholarship offers from three NCAA Division I schools, according to the Wisconsin Scholars Facebook page.
Eastern Kentucky, North Dakota and North Dakota State have extended scholarship offers to McWhorter, a 6-2 combination guard who started for the Angels’ WIAA Division 3 state championship squad last season.
An outstanding student who has played very well for the Scholars in the spring and summer, McWhorter is also receiving recruiting interest from UW-Green Bay and previously received a scholarship offer from NCAA Division II Mankato State.
Brookfield Academy’s Huff earns second scholarship offer Brookfield Academy senior Troy Huff recently received his second NCAA Division I scholarship offer as North Dakota State offered to the 6-3 wing guard who plays on the grassroots circuit for Playground Elite.
Huff previously earned a scholarship offer from Montana.
Fall Creek’s Reetz earns scholarship offer from Northeastern Fall Creek senior Jordan Reetz recently picked up his first NCAA Division I scholarship, though many other Division I programs are showing strong interest.
According to Al Harris of 43 Hoops, Northeastern University extended an offer to the 6-6 Reetz last week.
Harris said other Division I programs are showing interest, including Drake, Loyola, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Oregon State, Quinnipiac and UW-Milwaukee. Division II programs recruiting Reetz include Augustana, Mankato State, Michigan Tech, Southwest Minnesota State and Winona State.
Madison Technical College announces recruiting class Six players from Wisconsin will join the highly successful men’s basketball program at Madison Area Technical College in the fall.
The list of newcomers includes five 2009 high school graduates and one transfer student. The list includes:
* Antowan Epps – A 5-10 guard from Oconto High School who earned first-team all-Packerland Conference honors while averaging 16.2 points per game and 5.6 assists per game.
* Garrett Borgrud – A 6-7 center from Deerfield High School who earend first-team all-league honors in the Southern Division of the Trailways Conference while averaging 13.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg.
* Max Findreng – A 6-2 wing guard from Elkhorn High School who earned first-team all-conference laurels in the Southern Lakes Conference while averaging 13.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg.
* Xavier Jones – A 5-9 point guard from WIAA Division 1 state champion Madison Memorial. Jones earned honorable mention all-league honors in the Big Eight Conference.
* Gau Deng – A 6-6 forward from Oshkosh North High School via the Sudan. Deng came off the bench to provide valuable minutes to a North squad that advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament.
* Derrick Nillissen – A 6-0 wing guard from Bowler High School. Nillissen graduated from high school in 2008 and was planning to play at Lakeland College, but he never suited up for the Muskies. Nillissen averaged a state-best 27.9 ppg and 6.2 rpg as a senior.
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