Summer Updates

It may only be June but the future of Vermont basketball begins now. Many of the new players have already arrived and the rest will be arriving sometime later in the week. Timing the players arrival with the Becker basketball camp is a stroke of genius as the community/family feel to the program is on full display. Players from the past, present, and future all come together for the camp. It is a great opportunity to showcase the success and feel of the Vermont program. This week also marks the official visits for what I would consider Vermont's top 2015 targets. Josh Speidel and Everett Duncan will be on campus this week to see if Vermont is where they would like to continue their basketball careers. Duncan is the younger brother of incoming freshman Ernie Duncan and the chances of landing him seem solid. He is a nice player with great length and shooting ability. Speidel is the player that would be a coup for the program. He is garnering some interest from a few Big Ten schools and I believe he is the last piece to creating a new top tier team. Speidel is friends with both Ernie and Everett so there is a chance the family feel could be the selling point. While on the subject of the future, here are a few updates about what some of the incoming freshman have been up to since their high school careers ended.

Drew Urquhart made the Canadian junior national basketball team. This is an impressive accomplishment considering he missed his entire senior season of basketball. The Canadian scouts have raved about the 30 pounds of muscle that Drew put on this past year. The team is competing right now in the FIBA championships in Colorado Springs. Canada is undefeated thus far and will play in the gold medal game tonight against the USA. I have watched several of the games and Drew has played very well. He plays hard and has a great understanding of the game. His outside jumper has looked solid and he has demonstrated some impressive athleticism with a few nice dunks. In the semifinal Drew played the entire overtime period and hit a big three to put Canada ahead for good. The negatives thus far are that his free throw shooting has been poor and a few too many turnovers. The rust from the year off shows up with passes that are not quite where they need to be and being a little loose with the ball as he adjusts to the speed of the game. Watch the gold medal game here.

Zach McRoberts played on the Indiana senior all star team that played a series of games following the completion of the high school basketball season. McRoberts started every game and looked very impressive. He showed and improved outside shooting touch, especially beyond the three point line, and continued to play tough defense. The Indiana scouts rave about his ability to defend any position on the court and he seems to provide leadership on whatever team he is on.

That is all for now. I will provide some more updates as the summer moves on.