Around CWOSSA: Recruiting (and Returning) Update

Updated 1/28 - 1:50pm

By now, we all know that Bluevale's 6'4" 5th year guard Stefan Cvrkalj will be heading to Lehigh University next fall.  Here's a quick look at some other "recruiting and returning" news out of the CWOSSA region:

Higgins Yet to Commit
Ryan Higgins, the star SF for Guelph St. James, is probably CWOSSA's next best recruit in the class of 2011.  He's had interest from a variety of places, ranging from low/mid D1 schools through CIS.  A recent report indicated that the Western Mustangs are "prominently involved" among CIS clubs, and Western coach Brad Campbell got a good look at Higgins when the Lions were down in London over the winter break for the UWO Purple & White tournament.  

Top D8 SG's to Return
The top two shooting guards in the District 8 league will both be returning next year.  Alex Thompson (6'1"/G - St. Mary's) and Tyler Schneider (6'2"/G - Resurrection) are coming back for a 5th season of high school.  Both clubs will again feature solid rosters bolstered by a number of returnees and should be among the "upper echelon" of CWOSSA teams. 

Thompson has been listed as a "top 50 player" among Canadians (including those at prep schools in the States) in the class of 2012 by FlagrantFouls.com (#48 overall) and should be seeing his post-secondary interest continue to increase.

Schneider projects as a solid CIS player, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up locally at the University of Waterloo, where his father Tom was voted as one of the top 5 players in UW history as part of Waterloo's 50th anniversary celebrations.  As a side note, Schneider's younger brother Adam will be in grade eleven next year allowing the two to play together on the same team.   

Wood Top 30 in Class of 2012
Speaking of top recruits next year, former Bishop Mac junior star Connor Wood (6'3" SG) is listed as #28 overall among Canadians in the class of 2012.  Wood, of course, now plays with the REDA program in Hamilton along with his younger brother, Mitchell, and another "CWOSSA alum", former Jacob Hespeler junior star Jason Quiring. 

Connor's interested schools currently include McMaster, York University, Guelph, and several NCAA D-1 schools including Elon College out of the Big South Conference.  The Big South was a destination for former KCI star Borko Popic (Virginia Military Institute).

Rez Front Liners 50/50
Two of Rez's grade 12 forwards, Andrew Mwangi (6'3"/SF) and Mike Pereira (6'4"/SF-PF) are possible returnees as well.  Both have submitted university applications, but may elect to return for a 5th year.  At this point, it's still too early to tell.  Mwangi, last year's D8 MVP, has applied to Western, Toronto and the University of Waterloo.  Pereira, meanwhile, has probably seen his post-secondary stock improve dramatically this season, especially after his stellar performances at the St. Benedict Tournament in Cambridge.  He's got tremendous wingspan and can alter shots inside despite being slightly undersized for a "next-level" PF.  Offensively, he's a solid finisher in traffic inside, and can also step out and hit the three. 

We'll keep an eye on that situation.  Of Resurrection's 13 players on the roster, 12 are in grade eleven or grade twelve (i.e. 4th year).

Saeed Among Royals to Return
Speaking of teams with a solid number of (potential) returnees, the JF Ross Royals in Guelph are in that luxurious position.  5'11" PG Sham Saeed, arguably one of the quickest players in CWOSSA and a candidate for the D10 MVP this season, will be returning.  Virtually the entire JF Ross roster is eligible to return and it would appear that mostly everyone is keen to do so. 

The University of Guelph Gryphons have traditionally enticed most of D10's talent to stay at home (3 D10ers and 6 ex-CWOSSA players on their roster) so I'm sure they will be heavily involved with Saeed and 6'3" guard Jack Cornett, among others.

And Elsewhere in Guelph...
Lourdes PG/SG Mike Finoro has received interest from a "handful" of CIS schools, but at this point is still undecided as to his plans of returning for a 5th year. 

McDonald Gaining CIS Interest
One of the top guards in CWOSSA, North Park guard Cale McDonald has stated that he "would like to play CIS basketball next year".  He has been receiving interest from the University of Toronto, York University, as well as Wilfrid Laurier.  His heady play and deep three-point range should see him suiting up for a team next fall.

Bluevale Players Not Named "Cvrkalj"
Bluevale's 5th year guard, Karsten Beney, will be heading to Wilfrid Laurier University next year --- as a member of the Golden Hawk football squad.  As for the Knights' top fourth-year players, both 6'6" F Perrin Smith and 6'4" G/F Ian Farquharson will be returning for a fifth year of high school.

Smith has received some interest from local schools --- Laurier and Guelph.

Galea Bolstering Raiders' Record and Post-Secondary Stock
KCI veteran Alex Galea has helped the KCI Raiders "quietly" get off to a 7-3 start in league play.  He's poured in an average of 15.0 PPG in league play, and KCI coach Nick White noted in a recent Mark Bryson blog post that he believes that Galea "has the potential to play at the CIS level if he opts to take that route".

Reyhani To Stay Local
SJAM 6'1" SG Ben Reyhani will be attending unviersity in Waterloo at either Wilfrid Laurier or Waterloo.  The super-scoring fourth year player is undecided on returning for a 5th year at this point.

Mark's Grade 11s to Watch
Of the current "rookie class" in CWOSSA, three forwards have really gotten the eye of scouts already with their combination of size and skill. 

6-foot-5 St. Mary's forward Adam Voll might be the most intriguing prospect currently among grade 11s.  His development has been tremendous since a season ago, where he was a very good junior player.  He has tremendous athleticism (throwing down a variety of dunks), is a great finisher at the rim and can do things on the defensive end as well in terms of blocking shots and the like.  He's kind of an "in-between" player right now --- not quite a small forward in terms of his ball handling but not quite a power forward bulk-wise.  Still, the sky seems to be the limit with this kid and Coach Hergott has been bringing him along slowly by having him come off the bench for most of the start of the season.  Voll is making it hard for his coaching staff to not put him in the starting five, and I think that we'll see that at some point before the season is over.

Cory Kenning over at Resurrection is a 6'6" PF/C for the Phoenix, who currently acts as their "6th man" in a crowded frontcourt that features the two forwards mentioned above (Mwangi & Pereira).  He's only been playing organized basketball for a number of years but his development has been tremendous during this stretch.  He has range out to close to the three-point line, is a solid foul shooter (75% range) and also works well with his back to the basket.  It's a matter of time before the secret is out at Resurrection that this kid is a solid next-level prospect.

The last of my three is Jacob Ranton over at WCI.  At 6-foot-5 and still growing, he's already got CIS-level size at the small forward position.  He's historically grown up being a guard, so has the SF skillset as well, including deep range from the three-point stripe.  Look for him to continue to develop along with some of the other solid members of that youthful WCI squad --- who will likely be playing together for the next two years.
 
As for the guard class among rookies, Javon Masters (Forest Heights) and Sean Samuel (Huron Heights) are two that can fill it up at will and will likely garner some next-level interest as well.  Adam Anagnostopoulos (WCI) isn't required to do the scoring that those other two are for his club, but he's a heady PG and --- as most people often forget --- he's only in grade 10.

6-foot-3 SG/SF Filip Cvrkalj at Grand River is in a "crowded backcourt" to say the least, but has already received interest from about three CIS schools.

Information/Details To Add?
Just let me know - shoot me an e-mail:  mark (at) cwossabasketball.com