I just had a talk with Jason McEndoo at the Montana State women’s basketball game. He informed me to two things: 1, the cell phone number I have for him is completely wrong, hence why he didn’t answer nor was there a voice mailbox, and 2, he did not interview with the University of Idaho football program.
Earlier this week, I heard from a usually reliable source that the Montana State offensive line coach had interviewed with the Vandals for the same position. He said on the contrary, he is busy monitoring early morning workouts and is excited for the upcoming season.
McEndoo was named the FCS Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association following last season.
Apologies to Coach Mac for feeding the rumor mill.
KYLE WEINDEL St. Louis, Mo. B.S. Exercise Physiology, Ball State, 2003 Ball State, 2000-03; 2002 All-American Munciana Volleyball Club: Assistant Coach, 2005-07 Ball State (men’s): Assistant coach, 2005-07 St. Louis: Assistant Coach, 2007 Ohio: Assistant Coach, 2008-present
Well, apparently I didn’t think enough like Peter Fields enough. Late Thursday, a half hour after the background check cleared, Kyle Weindel was named the ninth coach in Montana State volleyball history. Continue reading →
I finally have a little time to sit down and really analyze this class. It’s been insanity the last few weeks at the Chronicle, what with Cat-Griz basketball, the new volleyball coach search, divisional prep wrestling and a high school hoops season in full swing, all to be covered by two guys.
Before I start, two pieces of disclosure. First – I honestly believe Montana State got 12 good recruits. I think having less in the amount of scholarships meant Rob Ash and his staff had more resources to pour into each kid. Of the 15 kids who came to campus, 14 got offered. Of those 14 who got offered, 12 signed with the ‘Cats. That’s an unheard of “conversion” rate. Can’t help but think being able to spend more time and resources on a kid helped out.
Second, every recruiting class is great the day it signs. The kids wouldn’t be scholarship college football players if they weren’t talented. This breakdown is simply based on what I see on film. The No. 10 ranked player in the class is by no means a certain bust. Heck, for all anyone knows, the best player in this class isn’t even a Bobcat yet. Who thought Cody Kirk would rush for more than 1,300 yards? Who thought Aleksei Grosulak would lead the team in tackles as a freshman? Without further ado, here’s what I see on the film I’ve been provided on these 10 future Bobcats.
Side note: the film Noah Joseph, MSU recruiting coordinator, gave me has just Dakota Prukop, Fe’ao Vunipola, Vince DiGiallonardo, Zach Hutchins and Austin Barth on it. Jackson Mahlum’s film was given to me by Jackson’s father and MSU hall of famer Tom Mahlum. The other videos are off of YouTube. The two kickers aren’t analyzed .
1. Dakota Prukop, 6-2, 177, QB, Vandergrift High (Austin, Tex) – From the very first second I watched this, I could tell a few things: it’s easy to see why Prukop fell through the cracks of the FBS to an FCS team. He is raw and thin. It’s also easy to see why he was recruited as a safety by the likes of Texas A&M and Rice. The kid is an ATHLETE. Watching him throw, he mechanics are not very good and his footwork is lacking. But he has a phenomenally quick release and he can throw on the run. You can teach mechanics and footwork much easier than you can teach a quick release. The kid is raw, but I can see why The Sports Network said he was one of the top prospect signings in the FCS.
2. Fe’ao Vunipola, 5-11, 210, Pittsburg High (Pittsburg, Calif.) – WHOA. That’s my first impression. I don’t think Vunipola is the most talented athlete in this class (although he is close) but based on his film, he seems to have the one thing you truly can’t teach to a defensive player – he is fearless. The physics of football are the same as any physics on planet earth. The difference between someone who is a huge hitter, someone who can lay guys out and the someone who wraps up and brings someone to the ground comes down to one thing – mentality. Vunipola’s tape isn’t long, but his hits are fierce. You have to remember, this in an 18-year-old high school kid. If he is already fearless enough to lay the smack down now, imagine what he could become. I also had a conversation with an assistant about this class, and he said the leader of the pack as far as kids who won’t redshirt in Vunipola. Look for him to make an immediate impact on special teams.
3. Kris Cooper, 6-3, 265, DL, Serra High (Gardena, Calif.) -Cooper was the mystery man of signing day. He’s the one kid who I didn’t have at least an indication from that he was coming here. Like his signing, his film is somewhat of a mystery too in that I can only find junior year highlights. Regardless, the kid is explosive as all hell. The film doesn’t really show if he holds blocks well because, well, he got through ALL of them. He already has a big frame and appears to know how to play with his hands, something that Zach Minter lives on. Kris Cooper junior year
4. Marshall Womack, 6-5, 251, OL, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) – Good punch, great footwork, great athlete. Womack is the smallest of MSU’s three OL recruits, but in my opinion, he is the best. He gets off the ball well and moves well, both things crucial in MSU’s scheme (that could change with a new OC….) In his pass-pro drops, he never stops moving his feet, a great sign of being well coached and being a good athlete. One thing I always look at in young offensive linemen is their stances. Womack’s is great. Butt low, head up, not leaning over, ready to be an athlete. And he comes from one of the best HS football programs in the country. Lake Travis won five straight Texas 4A state titles.
5. Zach Hutchins, 6-3, 225, DE, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) – Two things that stick out right away – first, he has been well coached and two, he is versatile. His film has him lined up at both strong and weak end as well as all three linebacker spots. He can blitz affectively and play with his hand down. Nothing about his tape was spectacular, but he holds blocks well (fundamentals) and makes the plays that come to him. In Montana State’s defense, playing strong end and being able to hold blocks is a crucial component. Hutchins also gets some points in the rankings because he is playing against top-notch competition. Bishop Gorman plays a national schedule, finished in the top-5 nationally last season and played three games on ESPN.
6. Doug Hanson, 6-4, 265, Mission Viejo (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) – The first thing I looked at when I saw Hanson’s size was his legs. A lot of time HS linemen, especially ones who commit to FCS schools, are very top heavy. Not so with Hanson. His legs are THICK. That means he will be able to build upper body strength and get huge, rather than trying to thicken up his lower body, a trying task. I like his footwork, his get-off and his ability to finish. Doug Hanson
7. Jackson Mahlum, 6-2, 212, Frenchtown – It’s a little tough to gage Mahlum’s speed because Frenchtown throws so little and the quarterback under throws him so often. The thing that jumped out about this film was Mahlum’s ability to adjust to the ball in the air, his ability to catch the ball with outstretched hands (underrated amongst prep tight ends) and his ability to come back to the ball, make a catch, then get up field. He’s got good pedigree too, with Cody Kirk as his cousin and his dad an MSU hall of famer.
8. Vince DiGiallonardo, 5-11, 180, DB, Polson – The kid has great balance and I really like the way he runs. His running mechanics are smooth, which tells me when he gets to a college football program, the training will increase his speed tremendously. His film is hard to draw much from because it’s poor quality and it’s him competing against Northwestern A players. But the few punt returns and runs they show, he has great balance. Great balance plus good running form means a piece of marble ready to be sculpted so to speak. In other words, if the kid hones his footwork, he will be a good player.
9. JP Flynn, 6-5, 290, Bettendorf (Bettendorf, Iowa) – He is every bit of his listed size, I will say that first and foremost. He isn’t the athlete Womack is or the mauler Hanson is. He stands too high quite often and doesn’t finish on pass blocks sometimes, but he seems solid in most aspects of the game. The difference between Flynn and Hanson is Hanson uses leverage still despite his size, while Flynn simply uses his size. With a little coaching, all of Flynn’s deficiencies can be fixed. Like they say, the one thing you can’t teach is size and Flynn has a whole lot of that. JP Flynn
10. Austin Barth, 6-5, 210, QB, Columbia Falls -All but two of the snaps on Barth’s film, he took snaps out of the shotgun. That’s a red flag to me right away. I know MSU runs a lot of its offense out of the gun, but DeNarius is under center often times as well. If you aren’t used to taking snaps under center, it’s a learning experience to say the least. Also, this film is a bit perplexing because it doesn’t have many highlights? It’s mostly Barth throwing bullets to receivers and running backs in the flats. He has a powerful arm and a big frame, but I didn’t learn much. To be honest, I thought he was the third-most impressive quarterback based on film, behind Prukop and DiGiallonardo. Ash was asked during the signing day event “why two quarterbacks and a third kid who played QB?” He said “Because we could.” I read into that as Barth was their guy from the outset, he committed last winter, stuck with his commitment, then MSU landed the much more heralded Prukop. Either way, never sleep on a kid who is 6-5 with a gun for an arm.
We have a rare away pre-game blog. Sort of. It’s just extra info from this week’s press conference and call to Sac State head coach Brian Katz. On with the show. Continue reading →
By now you might have heard that the Griz beat the Bobcats on Saturday. Yeah, it’s almost a week later, and for that I apologize. I also forgot the pre-game blog (maybe that’s why MSU lost – nah, not really.)
They lost because of three main things: not taking advantage of Will Cherry playing the least amount of minutes he’s played all season; not guarding a 7-footer who can hit threes on back-to-back 3-pointers late; and either going 3-for-9 after cutting the lead to 56-53 OR missing nine free throws OR missing 14 3s. Your pick. Personally, I’m going with the bad shooting in the final few minutes, especially after Selvig and Cherry were on the floor and trying to go after them, even down 56-50, might have fouled them out. (NOTE: Not 100 percent sure if they did and Cherry/Selvig didn’t get called for hacks or what).
ERIK RUSH
“It’s more like a soccer atmosphere when we play – fans come to the games and just chant the whole time. They have flags in the stands, they get after it.”
Brawl vs. Pap John’s Omonia Nicoisa Jan. 8
“Did you hear about what happened?”
“That was crazy, definitely one of the craziest things I’ve been through,” he chuckled.
“The fans had come because they had a history with our team.”
“I guess something had happened with the soccer team and they were coming for revenge. They wanted to make something happen (in our) game.”
Smoke bomb
“We were talking about how the fans were getting a little rowdy and ‘it’s getting chippy out there.’ We were just like, ‘Let’s play the game out, beat these guys and go on home.”
“Right when that happened, a smoke bomb came in. I ran behind one of my teammates – I didn’t know what was going on and ran behind my teammates into the shower area. I didn’t see the smoke bomb, all I heard was it hit the floor.
“In my mind, I’m thinking it’s a grenade or something, ‘oh this is crazy, it’s about to go down. Like, I’m about to die.’”
“We had to run past it to get out of the actual locker room. I’m the last one in the shower, cause I’m counting down the seconds, like it’s going to blow. But then I figured, ‘I better get out of here while I can. I ran right past it and noticed it was a smoke bomb. Obviously, my mind wasn’t working right at that time. I ran out of the locker room and right to the tunnel that leads to the court.”
Fans were taunting teammates, had gotten on floor and “were throwing chairs and water bottles. My teammates threw some stuff back. From then on, it was just a royal rumble.”
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do at that point.”
“Luckily, I got grabbed by some security people from the home team when I got separated from my teammates.”
Missoula never compared
“No, definitely not. In Missoula, you might get some heckling… students might say some things about your family, whatever. You think that’s far in college, they’re going too far there.
“They would never step onto the court and charge you, like what happened here.”
“I’m contributing to the team a lot.”
“It was in a blowout victory, though, but hey, I’ll take it.”
All-Star game
“That was pretty cool.”
“The next day, we were watching film and they told me, ‘Hey, you made the All-Star team.’ Another teammate of mine made, it too, and we went to where it was played. Dunk contest, 3-point contest “I didn’t get involved in the dunk contest” fatigue after
“It was real cool. I’m actually honored I was chosen in my first year.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that. I guess I’m part of history right there.”
Adjusting to life & food
“Right now, it’s kind of cold out here. It’s a little nippy … but it’s not as bad as Montana, obviously.”
7 degrees Celsius is 45 Farenheit
Greek food
“It’s a lot of Greek food. You have to be careful, though. There’s a lot of fat in the food – you can put on the pounds a little bit.”
“I try to eat healthy” shops for groceries, cooks himself
A lot of different cultures – Russian and German restaurants there, too
“Everybody speaks English, which is really nice. The younger generations, anyway.”
Playoffs
“I don’t really know. If you win the league, I think you get the first round bye.”
“It’s like a playoff before the playoffs. We get ready to play that before the actual playoffs.”
“I think that has something to do with who goes into the Euroleague Challenge next season.”
“It’s coming down to it, definitely is crunch time. We’ll see who’s real coming up.”
I just heard from a reliable source that Montana State offensive line coach Jason McEndoo interviewed for the same position at the University of Idaho earlier this week.
The Vandals are in search of a new o-line coach and Mac is about as good a candidate as is out there. McEndoo was named the American Football Coaches Association FCS Assistant Coach of the Year last season.
Robb Akey is Idaho’s head coach. Before taking over at the helm for the Vandals, Akey was the defensive coordinator at Washington State. McEndoo is a Washington State alum.
I haven’t been in touch with Coach Mac yet, so this is all speculation. John McDonnell left Idaho last week to coach offensive linemen at Tulane.
In other news, Memphis quarterbacks coach/play-caller Kevin McGiven is expected to be named the Bobcats’ new offensive coordinator soon. According to sources, McGiven is the choice to replace Brian Wright, but he hiring is still in the paper work/background check stage. I will report more when I know more.
BRAD HUSE
Mo & Jourdain
“They bring some toughness, real-life experiences. In a lot of instances, they’re more mature just because of those experiences.”
“They’re selfless people.”
Well-like, bring personality to program.
Basketball aspect
“It wasn’t our intent to necessarily go out and find international players. That’s not the case, it just happened out that way based on our contacts out in recruiting cycles. It led us to guys we think are valuable to our program, important to our program.”
Grooming them
“Unfortunately, when you get them as transfers it’s a very small window and there’s a lot of limitations from what you can do from an NCAA standpoint practice-wise out of season. You wish you had more time with them. These guys are eager; they certainly bring the right focus and energy. They’re engaged.”
“In Mohamed’s situation, he’s asking questions and constantly trying to learn and refine and become a better player. We’ve seen growth from him and certainly Allou over their time here.”
“They’re driven to learn and improve.”
“Mohamed’s a kid who really likes to watch film. He likes to watch a lot of film and continue to learn in his position.”
“We’ve seen growth from him on both ends of the floor this year.”
International students
“They are getting an opportunity to get an education. There’s that benefit, certainly.”
“With technology the way it is, you become lifelong friends.”
MoFallJourdainAlloucompressed MOHAMED FALL
“It wasn’t very hard because people around me made it better,” Fall said. “They welcomed me, made me feel like I was at home. I’ve got friends around here that really care about me. They made life in general in Bozeman easier.”
Process to get here
“In some ways because you’ve got to work on I-20s, visas, all this paper work and it takes sometimes weeks to get through,” Fall said. “But at the end of the day, I’m here and I’m doing the thing I love.”
“I do go home pretty much every summer and I’m planning on going home this summer,” Fall said.
“Every culture has it’s positives and negatives. Some things in America that are good and bad. The same thing, some things in my culture are good and bad. I just try to take things – some things are good here and some things are good in my culture, and cobine them to get the best out of them.”
Future living
“Right now, wherever basketball takes me,” Fall said.
“It definitely requires a lot of work; the game is faster than what I’m used to playing juco. But I’m getting better at it, adapting.”
Getting started
“We used to play soccer on the basketball court right before the basketball players come to play at 5. One day my friend just asked me if I could stay and play with them. I was like ‘I don’t think I like basketball – you get to catch the ball with your hands and it feels like cheating for me. And I think it’s really soft.’ The next day, he talked me into it, was like ‘you are very athletic and you’ve got size, so soccer is not really for you.’ I was like ‘OK, whatever, go get me shoes and I’ll step on the court and I’ll play.’”
Started playing. “First play of the game, I blocked a shot and everybody was like ‘Whoa.’ I was like ‘What did I do?’ My friend was like ‘You just made a big play.’ ‘OK, I just batted the ball from him, he shot it right in front of me.’
“It got fun, we ran up and down and I made a lot of mistakes, traveled a lot, turned the ball over pretty much every time I had it. But it was fun, I liked the rhythm. I thought maybe I’ll do this to stay in shape along with soccer.”
Blocking shots got him into the game more
“I wasn’t looking for it, and it’s just something that came to me. I didn’t know it was going to be that big of a deal for everybody. When I did it, everybody started jumping around and high-fiving. I was like ‘OK, I think I should keep doing this.’”
International students/community, better to adapt
“Yeah, they send me e-mails and invites for dinners and stuff like that so we can kind of catch up and chat a little bit about what is going on back home.”
“I have Allou, which is great. He’s a funny guy, he’s goofy. He’s a goofy kid.”
Junior College calls “come to US”
“I was recruited when I was in Washington, D.C. After graduating from high school, I knew I was going to come to the US and study something. I knew that since the US was really big into basketball and I’m getting good at it, I might as well just work and get better at my basketball skills so I could get, eventually, a scholarship. Whatever I can get to save.”
“There’s a lot of people back home that helped me, woke up every morning at seven and worked out until like noon with me, then go to school. It was really hard, those people really helped me a lot – I owe them everything I do now.”
“In the area I was living, I started emerging as the best basketball player in my neighborhood. That wasn’t the case when I started playing. Those people helped me work so hard, made me the basketball player I was.”
“When I came to DC, it carried over. I would wake up in the morning, take my backpack and go around the neighborhoods and play all day. It made me tougher, and next thing you know junior colleges started calling.”
Studies film intently
“They’ve got a head start on us. Especially me, because I didn’t pick up basketball until high school. I cannot do everything they do because they’ve learned before I did and they know more. It’s like I have to work twice as hard to do what they do know; I have to catch up on everything.”
“Now I’m playing with them at the same level, but they know the flow of the game better. I have to study more and catch up the time I’ve lost during my childhood.”
Diploma
“Just being proud of myself. It’s a goal I’ve set and I’ll be happy when I achieve it. It’s a big thing – during your whole life your parents work really hard to keep you in school and keep you in the right lane and make you do the right thing. If you get a college degree, it’s a way to thank them, say ‘thank you Mom, thank you Dad for all the work you’ve put in me. This is my degree, and I’ve got it for you. I’ll keep working to thank you for all you did.’” JOURDAIN ALLOU
“I think it’s kind of the same story. I started with soccer, swimming and other sports also.”
“It happened that my school needed someone to get some rebounds and blocked shots. Because I was athletic, everybody knew me at my school as a super athlete, I guess. So the coach went and talked to my physical education teacher at the school to see if I could join the team. The teacher said, ‘Yeah, no problem.’ So I go play with the team and they start liking me and my game. That’s how it started.
“Thank g-d” One day, an MSU coach came for a visit in Africa, “and he saw me play on the street. He liked my game, so he went and talked to my high school coach and they both talked about the situation.”
First started playing
“Yeah, it felt strange because I never learned how to play basic basketball. Learn how to dribble the ball with one hand, two hands. I didn’t learn all this stuff. I was 12, 13, 14 when I started really. My friends also helped me, that’s how I learned how to play.”
Junior College calls “come to US”
“For me, it was a little bit different. I had no idea about the NCAA stuff. I knew about (the) NBA and I liked Michael Jordan. Everybody loves Michael Jordan.”
“It’s different, because I didn’t have an idea about how it works here. I never thought about coming here – it never crossed my mind to think about the United States. That’s why I thank G-d first, I say thank G-d because he knows what’s best for everybody. That’s how the opportunities came to me to play here.”
“It was a little bit hard because the level was high. High school was, I mean, I saw some guys who can do a lot of stuff. Shooting and not missing, so it was a little bit hard. I learned the game over time.”
“In my first year here, I had to go watch film every time so I can learn the game and be on the same page as everybody. Now, it’s a little bit easier because I’ve been here and I kinda of feel the game. It’s a little bit easier now.”
Go back home
“I’ve never went back yet. I hope after I’m done, yeah, I might go back.”
Uses Skype with Mom
First meeting
“I don’t know. I might break down, I don’t know. It’s been a long time … the situation in my country was not stable, was really a mess. I was praying that my family and friends and other people are safe. Most of them are safe, so I’m happy. I’m blessed, I’m thankful to G-d for that. That’s all I can ask for. As long as they’re healthy.”
After Fall speech
“That’s the right thing, the right way. My mom is really hard on me about school. She wouldn’t let me come here to play basketball unless I get good in school. If I’m not going to school, I was not coming here. So I tried to stick to it because I respect my mom and I love her. I try to do the right thing for her and my dad, also.”
“This degree will mean a lot. It’s like I finished what G-d gave me. That’s also to say thanks to him.”
