Finally some news!!! First off I would like to apologize for my poor blogging at the end of the season. My schedule was very out of whack and as a result I did not blog to my fullest potential. Now on to some news.
I have been waiting and obsessively searching the web for recruiting news ever since Brendan Kilpatrick's scholarship opened up. I wish good luck to Brendan and hope that he will find a way to stay healthy. The long and arduous wait has finally come to a close today with Vermont landing 6-8 forward Josh Hearlihy, a transfer from Tulane. Josh will have two years of eligibility left when he joins the team for the 2016-2017 season. Josh's basketball story is quite unique. Before his senior season of high school basketball in California, he committed to play basketball for Utah in the Pac-12. During his senior season he was dealing with health issues stemming from a rapid growth spurt. His health issues combined with a very poor season for Utah caused the Utes to reconsider their scholarship offer. This resulted in Utah asking Josh to release THEM from their scholarship obligation. I have never heard of this happening and I sure hope it doesn't happen very often. What a terrible thing to do. So he decides to prep at Northfield Mount Hermon before attending Tulane. While at Tulane he barely played and scored a whopping 43 points in two years. Now he comes to Vermont to try and solidify a patchwork frontcourt that will be replacing Ethan O'Day. In watching his highlights from NMH, he handles the ball very well for a big man. He showed some good court presence and a nice lefty jumper. He seems like like the type of smart, tough player that finds success at Vermont. He is not very athletic and a little on the thin side but his game is very reminiscent of Matt Glass. I have stopped really trying to judge a transfer's impact as it seems like a futile endeavor. Until they step on the court and play in meaningful games, judging their team fit is impossible. Ryan Pierson put up decent numbers at Northeastern and never produced for Vermont. So what does this mean for Vermont? Becker is clearly comfortable with the team he is going to have for this season. A few weeks ago when asked about recruiting, Becker said he wanted kids he "loved" not just liked. I completely agree with this line of thinking and this move tells me that there were very few 2015 big men available late that Becker felt would fit. More than many other college coaches, Becker focuses on the players fit on the team as a whole. He believes chemistry on and off the court is important and wants every player to contribute to the "family atmosphere" Becker emphasizes. This does however put some significant pressure on Drew Urquhart and Darren Payen. Drew U looked very good at the end of last season and if he can build on that success it will go a long way to solidifying the frontcourt. The wildcard in all this is Darren Payen, the 6-8 transfer from Hofstra who sat out this past season. If he can make an immediate impact the frontcourt may even be stronger than last year. Payen is the key to next years team. Accepting this transfer signals to me that Becker feels that Payen can make an impact. It is going to be a very long wait for the upcoming season. At least Vermont offered several prospects for 2016 and beyond this week to jumpstart the recruit watch all over again.
