Recruiting class almost complete for next year
By Blake Twisselman
With the departure of seniors Jim Howell, J.R. Patrick and Alex Kargbo, the men's basketball team will look to reload in 2004-2005 with three new faces.
The coaching staff has remained hard at work on the recruiting process to fill the roster for next year, and find prospects for the 2005-2006 campaign. The Broncos still have one scholarship available for next season, and will welcome two incoming freshmen and a community college transfer to the squad next year.
The first of the Bronco newcomers is Brody Angley, a two-sport star from Enterprise High School in Redding. Angley was an all-state running back, who was described by Santa Clara Associate Head Coach Steve Seandel as "a really good athlete who probably should have played D1 football." Ã The highly-touted running back received looks from Nebraska, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, California, Texas AandM and UCLA to play football.
The 5-foot-11-inch point guard wasn't too bad on the hardwood either. Angley averaged 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds as a freshman in high school and became the Northern Section MVP last season despite missing some games due to a football-related hamstring injury. Angley was rated as one of the top-15 point guards on the West Coast by Sports Illustrated and was touted as "the top point guard in Northern California" by his high school coach, Mike Worley.
The Broncos also reeled in Mitch Henke, a 6-foot-7-inch, 190-pound swing man, who averaged over 21 points in his senior season for Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minn., where the team finished first and third in the Minnesota State Tournament the past two seasons. Henke was a high school teammate of Kris Humphries, who just finished his freshman year at the University of Minnesota and declared himself for the NBA Draft.
(Henke) "is a tough-nosed rebounder who could play a lot for us right away," Seandel said. "He was a really highly-recruited player from some of the Big Ten schools. He's competitive as hell and knows how to defend and rebound."
Joining Henke in the low post is Tristan Parham, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. Parham was heavily recruited by Indiana State out of Thornridge High School in Dolton, Ill., but opted to attend Coffeyville. Parham averaged only six points and four rebounds last season. However, Seandel is not concerned with Parham's statistics, and thinks he could "develop a little more confidence as a scorer."
"We felt one of our needs was to get quicker and a little bit more athletic on the front line," Seandel said, "and (Parham) can run, jump, defend and rebound."
Angley and Henke signed in the fall and Parham was just announced last week. Around this time last season, the Broncos signed junior college transfer Doron Perkins out of Southwestern Oregon Community College, who ended up leading the Broncos in scoring in 2003-2004.
"You would normally like to get your guys early on," Seandel said. "But a lot of JC guys don't sign until later, because their coaches don't want them to lose focus after they've signed onto another school."
With three signed-and-sealed new Broncos and one more scholarship available, fans can hope that the Bronco brass has found the right mix of new players to join a core of strong returning talent which could lead the Broncos back into the NCAAs next year.
û Contact Blake Twisselman at (408) 554-4852 or jtwisselman@scu.edu.