Roster Complete

Vermont wraps up their roster with a little more international flair. Mario Brunetto a 6'11" forward originally from La Spezia, Italy becomes the final commit for this recruiting cycle. Brunetto spent the 2024-2025 season at Eastern Michigan (playing in only 4 games) before spending last season at Arizona Western College where he averaged 10.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and shot 36% (40-110) from three in 15.7 minutes per game. This is a great "unlock the potential" final add to the roster. Brunetto has guard skills in a forward's body and he has loads of potential waiting to be unleashed.  He is comfortable initiating the offense off the dribble and has shown the ability to be a knockdown shooter. He is still finding out how to best maximize his skillset and the Vermont coaching staff will get a chance to work with Brunetto to find a role that fits him best. I read an article on basketunderreview.com about how free throw percentage can be an indicator for year to year fluctuations in three point percentage. Link here. Basically bad free percentage + good three point percentage = potential for drop in three point shooting the following season and vice versa. Brunetto was a 91% (63-69) free throw shooter last season so the potential for making an impact with his perimeter shooting is real. Brunetto will look to round out his game and work with the coaches to reach his full potential. Roster complete. Can't wait to see what this group of Catamounts will look like on the court. 

Sublime Gbiegba commits to Vermont

Vermont reaches back into the international recruiting pool, landing a commitment from 6'8' forward Sublime Gbiegba out of France. Gbiegba currently plays for Cholet U21 and is coming off a breakout season that saw him average 13.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. He is a consistent low post threat who is strong on the offensive glass and displays good touch around the rim. He has demonstrated a good feel for the game with his passing and offensive movement. Gbiegba is a perfect compliment to the current Vermont frontcourt. The coaching staff has been looking for another back to the basket threat in the low post and has found a very intriguing and high ceiling option. This roster has quite a bit of versatility and good length in the frontcourt. Gbiegba has just begun to scratch the surface of his potential and will look to continue that growth as he transitions to college basketball. With last years starting frontcourt returning, Gbiegba will have good veterans to learn from and a chance to make an immediate impact. With one more scholarship to go, the coaching staff has done an excellent job finding players with skillsets that complement each other and fit the Vermont program. 

Vermont adds another

Zach Romich a 6'3" guard who prepped this past season at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire has joined the Catamounts. Romich is from Groton, MA and had a standout career for Groton-Dunstable High School. He is know for his high level three point shooting and being a high IQ, high character player. He is from quite the basketball family with several of his older siblings having played college basketball as well. He played on a Kimball Union team that had several other DI commits and played AAU for the New England Storm. He is a winner who is a relentless worker and a team leader. He has really raised his stock over the past year with his elite shooting and confident floor game. He gets a chance to join the Vermont program and bring that winning mindset and work ethic while getting a shot to play his way into a future role. Vermont has often found great value in bringing in players looking for a shot and even if that might have been in a bygone era, it is still great for building team culture. When filling the last few spots on a roster, culture fit, buy in, and work ethic are incredibly important. In this new age of college basketball, projecting the future roster is impossible, but what will always be true is those culture building intangibles make a huge difference. 

Cash Chism commits to Vermont

The Catamounts landed their first high school recruit of this offseason, receiving a commitment from 6'2" guard Carter "Cash" Chism out of Mount Pleasant, Texas. Chism wrapped up his high school career with a strong senior season at Mount Pleasant High School where he became the school's all time leading scorer, racking up 1,758 career points. He was first team all district and offensive player of the year as well. Chism is a pure scorer who can create shots from anywhere on the floor. Deep range from the perimeter and creative finishes in the paint. One of those players that can get hot and will his team to victory. Landing a young player who can play both guard positions is great at this point in the recruiting cycle. Even though roster building for the future is harder and harder to gauge these days, there is a lot of value in getting a young player who can grow into role. Chism's type of shot creation is something that the Cats have been looking for each season. A player that when the offense breaks down can improvise and create. Recruiting season is winding down with 2 more spots to fill. 

Vermont lands another one

The Cats continue to build their roster for next season, adding 6'6" guard Daniil Glazkov from Krasnodar, Russia. Glazkov attended IMG Academy in Florida where he was a 4 star recruit and has spent the last two seasons at Loyola Chicago in the Atlantic 10. He is a powerful and crafty guard who plays with great pace and poise. He has a well rounded skill set and great positional size. Glazkov is a strong rebounder from the guard position, has good play-making instincts, and is a physical defender. He never really found his footing at Loyola and will look to make a larger impact with the Cats. Towards the end of last season he had a 7 game stretch where he played 23 minutes a game and averaged 6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and shot 10/22 (45%) from three. It is a small sample size but he was productive with the increased minutes. This has all the markings of a "diamond in the rough" addition for the Cats. He is good fit in the Vermont system that values high IQ basketball and well rounded play on both sides of the ball. These last few scholarships are always the hardest to fill as the roles and minutes are less clear and it is incredible to snag a player with such a high ceiling. Glazkov was highly regarded coming out of high school (On3 had him as the 69th ranked prospect in the 2024 class) and the coaching staff will look to find a way to help him reach his full potential. The run on big guards continues and the flexibility and versatility of this roster is very intriguing. Three more spots to go. 

John Broom commits to the Cats

Vermont continues to build their roster, securing a commitment from 6'5" guard John Broom from Jacksonville, Alabama. Broom has spent the last three years at South Alabama, medically redshirting in 2023-2024 before playing the last two seasons. He burst on to the scene with a strong freshman season, starting every game for the 21-11 Sun Belt regular season champion Jaguars. That season, Broom averaged 5.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and finished with 50 steals and 21 blocks across 32 games. He was named to the Sun Belt preseason all conference third team prior to last season. He struggled to crack the rotation out of the gates before regaining rotational minutes at the end of December. It was a tale of two halves for Broom, averaging 5.8 minutes per game over the first 11 games before jumping up to 20.4 minutes the rest of the way. This is a strong addition for Vermont. Broom rated as South Alabama's best defender during his freshman year (according to evanmiya.com) and has been a plus offensive player both seasons. He is the type of two way player that can thrive in the Vermont system. He has shot 44/118 (37%) over his two seasons and will bring that coveted "3 and D" element to this Catamount group. If he returns to his freshman year form, he will be a big time contributor for Vermont. He has a very high ceiling and is coming from a winning basketball program so he will be used to the high expectations. He is known as a relentless worker and has a skill set built for Vermont basketball. The coaching staff is really loading up on big guards who have the versatility to slide into the small forward spot. It feels like system fit has been prioritized this offseason as the new players skill sets play to the strengths of Vermont basketball. 

Another NE10 player to the Cats

Vermont received a commitment from 6'6" guard Hayden Johns out of Cambridge, Ontario. He completed a prep year at the Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania before spending his freshman season at St. Anselm. That makes three St. Anselm players into the America East (Will Davies and Johns to Vermont, Jovan Ristic to UMBC). Former Vermont assistant Chris Santo is running a very successful feeder program. Johns got off to a hot start this past season before missing the rest of the year following an injury. He received both a NE10 Rookie and player of the week honors and averaged 10.9 points per game in the 9 games he played. Johns scored 10 points in 23 minutes against Vermont in the exhibition game this past season. Coming out of prep school he was know as a physical finisher around the rim and has the versatility to play multiple positions. Johns has nice potential in the America East as a Swiss army knife type player. The coaching staff is taking a swing on a player who could bring versatility and toughness when he recovers fully from his injury.