Vermont gets another commitment for the 2016 class

Vermont added another piece to next years team, getting a surprise commitment from Kian Dalyrimple. Dalyrimple is a 6-5 combo guard from Half Hollow Hills West, NY. I say surprise for two reasons. One is that there is no online recruiting trail of any kind (which is very rare these days). The other reason is that I was unaware that Vermont has any more scholarships available. After counting there was one spot left (not counting Josh Speidel's scholarship) as the NCAA allots 13 scholarships per team. It is rare to have to do so much digging to find information about a recruit. From what I can see his recruitment followed a similar path to Trae Bell-Haynes. The Vermont coaching staff saw Bell-Haynes at a spring tournament and was somewhat shocked to see that he was not being recruited. They offered him and he committed prior to ever stepping foot on campus. It looks like the coaching staff watched Dalyrimple at the 2016 Hoop Group Spring Jamfest in late April. Dalyrimple's team won the 17U division and he was named MVP. The only other recruiting info I can find is a small write up from the 2015 GymRat CHALLEGE. In that write up  he is described as a "versatile player" with "good spring around the basket". It mentions that he needs to work on his "ball handling" and his "defensive positioning". The snippet concludes with  "good overall potential and looks like he will fill out. Could be a D1 or D2 player". In reading tweets and write-ups from his High School/AAU career he is a strong three point shooter who scored in bunches. After watching the highlights he looks like a player who will need to work and and refine his game. The shooting looks strong but many other aspects of his game looked like they needed improvement. He did not look exceptionally athletic and the competition level looked weak. He ran the floor well and showed good overall instincts but the increase in level of competition looks like it could be a difficult adjustment. Maybe he is going to redshirt this year while he adjusts? All of this is complete speculation on my part as there is so little information to go on. Seems like a good kid with the body and shooting ability to become a role player. Bell-Haynes had a similar lack of information and he turned out to be a great player so who knows. If Dalyrimple is a hard worker who appreciates the opportunity to play DI basketball he could find a role. Ultimately this feels like a hail mary by the coaching staff and kind of a head scratcher. Seems like one of those players (Santo, Taggart) that will ultimately end up at a D2 school. The coaching staff must see something they like. The one viewpoint I could see in support of a move like this is that putting together a team full of studs at Vermont is tough because most players that come to Vermont do so because of the availability of playing time at a winning program. In order to fill out a team you do need players who are willing to play a much smaller role. Sometimes that means taking a chance on a player who is being overlooked by in the hopes that they grow into a role player to fill out the roster. If he doesn't pan out he will likely transfer and free up a scholarship. If he does work hard and develop his game he can fill an important role alongside the big time recruits. They have had success with some of this type of player (Blakely, Wills, Bell-Haynes, Rohrer). It sometimes seems unfair to pass judgment on a player before he ever steps foot on campus and as such I would like to end this post by saying that any player with a good head on his shoulders who is willing to work hard is welcome at Vermont anytime. It is great that all his hard work has paid off and he earned a scholarship. I am happy that Dalyrimple wants to be a part of the Vermont program and hope that he can find a role on the team.

Vermont lands Quinnipiac transfer Samuel Dingba

The wait for Vermont recruiting information is over as 6-5 forward Samuel Dingba commits to the Catamounts. Dingba is transferring from Quinnipiac so he will sit out this season and join the Cats for the 2017-2018 season with two years of eligibility left. Vermont recruited him out of high school so the coaching staff is very familiar with his game. I like the move to bring in a transfer instead of shuffling a scholarship to the 2017 class. This will help bridge the recruiting gap with a more experienced player when the huge junior class leaves. He was highly recruited out of high school and was a considered an immediate impact player for Quinnipiac. A slew of injuries limited his first two years of college and as a result he did not live up to expectations. He can fill several positions for the Cats due to his defensive versatility. He is a very long 6-5 and a good shot blocker. The defensive versatility is a big plus for Vermont. Many of their current players are versatile offensively and more one dimensional defensively. With the switch to a more offensive minded team it is important to have a player who can come in a play tough defense. His greatest strength is his rebounding. Even in his limited minutes was very tough on the boards. In the game against Vermont this past season he played 22 minutes scoring 6 points a grabbing 7 rebounds (4 offensive). I was impressed by his ability to go get the ball in traffic. If you like advanced statistics, his per 40 minute numbers back up his strong rebounding ability. In his two years at Quinnipiac he averaged 8.6 and 10.3 rebounds per 40 minutes respectively. His offensive game is raw and as a result he struggled to get consistent minutes. He also struggled with foul trouble. Health will be the key factor in determining his success at Vermont. A healthy Dingba could be a solid contributor off the bench and a valuable rotation player. If he continues to struggle with injuries he may never be able to play consistent enough minutes to reach his full potential. Time will tell and the impact of transfers in notoriously difficult to predict, but right now this is a positive addition to the Vermont program. This offseason has been excruciatingly slow to follow so I hope this jump starts the information train.