I've recently written on the stacked 2012 recruiting classes of the WCC's two up and coming teams, Loyola Marymount and San Francisco. LMU looks to continue their ascent in the conference standings next season with their incoming freshmen while USF is trying to battle a serious case of the transfer bug and maintain their place in the standings with their class. Of the conference's "Big Three" only BYU has a full class at this point, with 5 incoming players. Saint Mary's, as of now, will be adding two new players next season. Gonzaga, the king of the conference, will be losing four players in the offseason, two to graduation and two to transfers. To fill that hole for next season they currently have nothing. No signed letters of intent and no verbal commitments.
A national powerhouse program, like Gonzaga, doesn't recruit simply for the next season's roster. Powerhouses are able to sustain success over the long term. That said, thanks to Gonzaga's recent recruiting classes I am confident the Zags could win the WCC next year without adding a single player to the roster. I hope they don't have to, and am equally confident that is not why the Zags are already looking forward to their 2013 class.
Lucas Meilke, who currently a junior at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, visited Gonzaga last Sunday. He left with a scholarship offer and has since verbally committed to the program. I do a pretty good job of keeping up with recruiting and evaluating talent as best I can online from here in Chicago, but this recruit came out of left field. Even the best blog covering the Zags (The Slipper Still Fits) was taken by surprise with this one.
Meilke is a 6'8'' 175lbs forward that MaxPreps.com ranks as the 15th best high school player in Washington. His ability in the post is limited by his slim frame, but he's only a junior so he should easily add muscle between now and Midnight Madness 2013. While he isn't able to overpower in the paint he has a number of other skills that allow him to be an offensive threat. His light size makes it easy for Meilke to dribble past stronger and slower defenders in the paint where he can finish at the rim thanks to his height. He also possesses a nice jump shot that extends out into three point range.
As of now there is very little on the web about Meilke so that's pretty much the extent of what I know about this kid. However, the Zags staff must know much more. Being an in state recruit and playing at a school that participates in Gonzaga's Team Camps the staff have been able to watch Meilke progress over his three years at Bellarmine Prep.
If Meilke stays true to his verbal commitment and ends up a Zag in 2013 he will be coming off the bench behind Sam Dower and Kelly Olynyk who will be in their senior year and potentially Przemek Karnowski (if he ends up a Zag for 2012... stay tuned) who would be a sophomore. While little is known about Meilke at this point it is clear that Gonzaga will have a need at the power forward position from 2013 on, so I feel good about offering him a scholarship. If Meilke gets stronger without losing his speed or shot he could end up being much more than a recruit who fills a hole. I hope that happens, but we've got a while before we'll know.
No comments:
Post a Comment