Profiles: Mangisto Arop

Manny Arop

Class: FR.
HT: 6-5
WT: 175
Hometown: Hamilton, ON (National Elite Development Academy, Canada)

I was going to try to provide a nice response for Manny, but in all honestly, theslipperstillfits blog did as good a job as can be done reporting on him, click here to check it out.

Profiles: Chris Pontarolo-Maag

Chris Pontarolo-Maag

Class: RS-SR.
HT: 5-11
WT: 175
Hometown: Quincy, WA (Quincy)

Chris is a prototypical Zag. He is the type who works tirelessly for the team. He attempted to try out for the Zags in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He was not accepted until 2007-08 and redshirted as he did not play in any games. This season he finally got a chance to log some minutes for the Zags, He played in 7 games getting 14 minutes and totaled 3 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds. Don't expect him to get much more time this season, but he will be there on the bench as vocal as ever. During High School he had first team All-Central Washington Athletic Conference and All-North Central Washington honors as well as a 3.99 GPA. P-Maag is a fan favorite for his tireless work ethic and appreciation for the game.

Profiles: Andy Poling

Andy Poling

Class: RS-FR.
HT: 7-0
WT: 232
Hometown: Portland, OR (Westview)

Andy ended his senior season at Westview with a 2nd Team All-State and ranked as a top 20 center in the nation. Andy recently was diagnosed with Celiac disease, which means he has a severe allergy to wheat gluten. The disease is not life threatening as long as he watches what he eats. Poling has struggled with his weight due to the disease, but seems to be slowly adding weight since his diagnosis. He came in and redshirted last season to get some time in the weight room and to acclimate to the college environment. Poling has an old school game, and is capable of scoring down low with the bigs, you can expect to see him blossom by his junior season into a nice frontcourt player.

Profiles: Demetri "Meech" Goodson

Demetri Goodson

Class: SO.
HT: 5-11
WT: 165
Hometown: Spring, TX (Klein Collins)

Meech is a lightning quick point guard out of the Houston, TX metro area. Goodson's brother Mike Goodson is a NFL draft early entry from Texas A&M. Meech played football in High School through his Sophomore year and played well enough to warrant scholarship offers all over the Big 12 despite being out of football for two seasons. He is probably one of the top 2 or 3 fastest players in all of college basketball. Goodson is the future of Gonzaga when it comes to the point guard position. He is a smart gutsy kid who is not afraid to drive the lane on larger, tougher opponents. He can step outside to hit the three occasionally and has excellent court vision. His best attributes are probably his ability to bring the ball up the court as fast as anyone and his mentality. He plays the game like a winner, like someone who is out there every night to will his team to victory. I expect Meech to be a leader for the Zags going forward.

Profiles: Robert Sacre

Robert Sacre

Class: RS-SO.
HT: 7-0
WT: 247
Hometown: North Vancouver, BC (Handsworth Secondary)

Robert comes from quite a pedigree. His Mother, Leslie Sacre, was a College Basketball player for LSU and his Father Greg LaFleur played five seasons in the NFL as a tight End. Robert has great size and strength and the ability to be thunderous around the basket. He has some offensive ability and the potential to blossom into a top center prospect for the NBA. During this last season Sacre began coming off the bench as a backup center to Josh Heytvelt and was looking to solidify his role as the starter for the following season, unfortunately in October he suffered a Stress Fracture in his right foot which sidelined him for the rest of the season. He was eventually Redshirted. Many analysts and experts thought the Zags were one big man short of a Final Four run this season, and Sacre was most likely that big man. I expect Sacre to make strides this season in his offensive production and maybe even become a All American candidate later in his career at Gonzaga.