Thursday, March 30, 2017

Skyler Nash commits to Vermont

I told you I would be posting today!

Vermont finished out the 2017 recruiting class by getting a commitment from 6-5/210 shooting guard Skyler Nash. He is a player who has overcome a lot and taken a circuitous route to reach his goal of playing division one basketball. Nash is from Chicago, IL where he was being heavily recruited by Big 10 schools early in his high school career. He then got very sick and during the process of figuring out the cause, doctors discovered a carcinoid tumor. Nash had the tumor removed and the cancer has been in remission. The recovery took a long time and as a result Nash missed a substantial part of his high school career. He decided to go to Gould Academy, a prep school in Maine, to restart his basketball career. He was able to do so and now he has been able to reach his goal of playing college basketball. What an incredible story of perseverance and drive. Now on the basketball court Nash is going to bring athleticism and toughness. He has a strong body and can finish around the rim with authority. Has a nice looking outside shot and should be a very good rebounder for Vermont. Looks like one of those players who will be able to do a little bit of everything to help his team win. He has a chance to be a great player for Vermont and contribute from day one. His commitment completes what I think might be the best recruiting class Becker has put together. The big 2014 freshman class was very good and has proven to be a very strong class. This class is diverse, brings a high level of athleticism, and looks to be full of mentally strong players. Between Stefan Smith, Bailey Patella, Ra Kpedi, and now Nash, Vermont has another great group to help take the reins when this senior class departs. This group will have a chance to compete for minutes right away and learn from the tremendous upperclassmen currently on the roster. Vermont is going to incorporate eight new players next season between the four redshirts and the four recruits. That is a lot of new blood and energy that will be infused into an already strong roster. The trajectory the Vermont program is on right now is incredible and it is a credit to the family atmosphere and winning culture that the coaching staff has cultivated. Getting a recruit to visit the school, fall in love, and commit directly following the visit shows how easy it is to tell that playing at the University of Vermont is a special experience. There is going to be an incredible amount of excitement surrounding this program again next season and it would really reach a fever pitch if the new area plan is officially implemented. Go Cats Go!!

9 comments:

  1. Wow. Great 2 days! Looking forward to seeing these guys play. Thanks for posting.

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  2. I knew how good we were going to be this past year and none of my friends quite believed me until we got on that roll with the 21 game winnings streak. I think I actually might be even more excited about this kid Nash than I was about Lamb. Next year should be a blast. I think it might be a good think that Dalyrimple and Hearlihy bounced. It's funny too because people were excited about Hearlihy before even knowing that Henson was coming with him, I kind of feel bad for Josh. He's going to be one of the oldest seniors in the country after doing a PG year and being a double transfer. Anyways, lets see what Becker does with PT next year. Between Ernie, Trey, Nash, Patella, Smith from Toronto, etc...guys are going to need to know their roll. Didn't even mention Ward.

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    1. Yeah dalyrimple and hearlihy were not going to get any minutes. Nash is going to be very good and I can't wait to see what Lamb does in year two. The playing time is going to be a challenge but Becker always seems to find a way to get the guys to fit. The "winning is the only thing" attitude certainly helps get guys to buy into their role.

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    2. Yeah winning certainly helps guys except their roll. If you look at what Coppenrath's body looked like as a freshman compared to his senior year it's crazy how much he grew. Lamb is going to absolutely be a monster for us the next three years. I'm actually excited to see what Sam Dingba is going to do for us as well. I can see him catching some lobs and blocking a lot of shots for us with that 7'3'' wingspan. Kid is an inch taller than Blakely and his wingspan is an inch longer too. Elbows above the rim all over the place.

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    3. Also, do you think Patella or Stefan Smith are going to redshirt next year? I wonder if this will be the year that Everett starts getting real playing time. I feel like any time I'v ever seen him play he just comes in and swishes threes. I kind of want to see what he can do for us this year. Again it's just such a minutes thing.

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    4. I think both Patella and smith might be too good to redshirt. I like Everett's game as well. There are a lot of new guys to fit into the rotation. There will be some real battles for playing time and I wouldn't be surprised to see the bench rotation ebb and flow much like it did last year. Dingba has a chance to fill some of the space left by dre wills as the defensive specialist and energy guy.

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