Showing posts with label Brendan Bailey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brendan Bailey. Show all posts

August 19, 2015

Gonzaga Set to Host Elite Recruits & Kraziness in the Kennel




The College basketball season officially kicks off October 2, 2015 and the 2015-16 Gonzaga schedule is nearly complete. Gonzaga should have another strong year, leading to the potential of a very long run in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Coming off a one of the most accomplished seasons in school history, culminating in an appearance in the Elite Eight, the Zags should enjoy great success on the recruiting trail. The exceptional season lead to additions of elite transfers Nigel Williams-Goss and Johnathan Williams II, as well as one of the most highly-ranked high school recruits in school history: Zach Collins.

Kraziness in the Kennel


Kraziness in the Kennel is Gonzaga's annual preseason scrimmage event, giving a first look of the new roster to the fans. It will take place on October 10 at 4:00 pm during Fall Family Weekend. It is free to the general public and doors open at 3:00 pm, but make sure you show up to the McCarthy Athletic Center early because the line will be rather long and seats will be limited. Last year's event featured a dunk contest, 3 point shootout, and the scrimmage.

Zach Collins will visit for Kraziness


Fresh off a long and successful AAU season, 2016 7'0" center Zach Collins and his dad, Mike, have booked a trip to the Kennel for Fall Family Weekend. This is Zach's first trip to Gonzaga since his commitment. Zach's impressive summer included representing the United States for the FIBA U18 3x3 World Championships in Hungary, as well as holding his own against 5-star big men Thon Maker and Edrice "Bam Bam" Adebayo at the prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp. Despite this, pundits from 247Sports and Scout neglect to give him a fair rating, while Rivals and ESPN have him slotted in the top 40, and have continually praised him in the AAU season, giving us reason to believe he could break into the top 30 soon. Regardless, Zach is expected to have a strong senior year in high school at Bishop Gorman, likely leading the team in points, rebounds, and blocked shots. Early signing period begins in mid November, and GU and eager for this instant-impact big man to officially join.


Brendan Bailey will visit October 9


2016 6'8 top 100 wing Brendan Bailey recently cut his list to 5 schools (Gonzaga, Marquette, Michigan, San Diego State, and Utah) earlier this week. He will visit Gonzaga October 9, during Fall Family Weekend. Zach Collins and his dad could help in the recruitment quite a bit, since they will also be at GU then. Brendan and Zach Collins played AAU together for Dreamvision last year, and they have grown to become good friends. Likewise, Brendan's dad, Thurl, and Zach's dad also seems to have a great relationship. Zach really wants Brendan to join him at GU. Brendan has already used up 3 of his official visits (San Diego State, UConn, and Marquette) but he did previously visit GU for one of Gonzaga Team Camps over the summer. Much like 2015 commit Jesse Wade, Brendan has decided to take an LDS Mission right after the conclusion of high school, so he will not arrive in college as a freshman until 2018. Brendan is one of the best shooters in the country and his lanky frame allows him to defend well and rack up rebounds with ease.


Killian Tillie will visit Gonzaga


2016 6'8" French power forward Killian Tillie has come to the states to visit Georgia Tech, Utah, and Gonzaga, and each of those schools have offered him scholarships. For months, it has believed to be a battle between the Zags and the Utes for his services. He comes from an athletic family and his brother played basketball at Utah for 4 years, but didn't play significant minutes there. Tommy Lloyd's first international recruit to play for GU was none other than a French big man, Ronny Turiaf, who has sustained major success at GU and has been a solid contributor in the NBA when healthy. Tommy brought in a number of international big men to GU over the years other than just Turiaf (J.P. Batista, Robert Sacre, Elias Harris, Kelly Olynyk, Przemek Karnowski, and Domantas Sabonis) and each of those mentioned have had quite the careers at Gonzaga, so hopefully that factors into Killian's decision. Killian is a very good athlete with a high motor. He blocks shots, shares the ball, defends well, and shoot out the the 3 point line. I'd love for Killian to slide into small forward for the Zags, but with added muscle and weight, he could become a very strong threat in the post.
Zach Collins played against Killian in the U18 3x3 World Championships this summer and they were able to chat. Zach wouldn't mind Killian as a teammate:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

June 15, 2015

Zach Collins to Play in NBPA Top 100 Camp, Eventful Summer



Zach Collins is one of the skilled basketball players who have been invited to the prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp, which will be held June 16-20 on the campus of the University of Virginia. The NBPA Top 100 Camp is an event hosted by the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association), where current and former NBA players coach and guide prospective basketball stars. Another 2016 prospect, 6'8" wing Brendan Bailey, has also been invited to the camp.

This has been a huge year for Zach Collins, who rose to #37 in Rivals' class of 2016 rankings after a strong junior year high school campaign. A couple weeks later, Rivals recruiting analyst thought Zach still looked a bit under-ranked. The 6'11" power forward/center from Las Vegas, NV accumulated more than 30 offers before narrowing his final college list to Cal, Gonzaga, New Mexico, San Diego State, and Utah, before he ultimately chose Gonzaga the day after the Zags were awarded a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, on their way to the Elite 8.

Collins has been been a part of three Nevada State Championships at Bishop Gorman High School. For years, Zach has been coming off the bench as one of the best 6th men in the country, patiently waiting and battling alongside two of the best big men in the country, 5-star 2015 prospects Chase Jeter (Duke commit) and Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV commit). Despite coming off the bench, Collins averaged 9 points and 7 rebounds in his 2014-15 high school season.
Zach has been gaining a lot of notoriety in the Spring and Summer AAU basketball circuits. He teamed up with former 2016 Zag recruit Payton Pritchard to form a dominant inside-outside combination for the 17U Team Fast squad in the Adidas Uprising this Spring. Collins was one of the top rebounders and shot-blockers at those Adidas events. Here are some highlights from his strong showing at one of the Adidas evtns in April:


Collins then followed that up with an impressive performance alongside Jalek Felton, P.J. Washington, and Payton Pritchard in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships, where his team was tops among all other American squads and represented the USA in Hungary, where they only lost in overtime twice before falling to France in the Elite 8.

Most recently, Zach played in a tournament last weekend, where he dominated with an average of 21 points and 15 rebounds on his way to being named first team all-tournament. It's not too shabby that he had a high over 29 points in the tournament and in his low game, he still managed to drop 15 points.

There is still much more to come for Collins this summer. At the end of the month, Zach will participate in another high school tournament. From July 8-11, he will fly over to Atlanta, GA for the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Finale for a 32-team bracketed tournament. He will then make his way to New York for the Adidas Uprising All-American Camp from July 15-17. Zach will then get a chance to play in his hometown (Las Vegas) for the Adidas Uprising Summer Championship from July 22-26. After that, Zach will make a trip over to Long Beach, CA for the Adidas Global Nations event from July 31-August 3.

Zach Collins is certainly having a very busy summer, but he has bit more in store before his expected arrival at Gonzaga in Fall 2016. After summer is over, Zach will gear up for his senior year at Bishop Gorman and will leave everything on the court to lead his school to a fifth straight state title. This time around, however, he will show off his skills in a starting role. Mid November will see another Gonzaga basketball season begin, and that is also when Zach Collins will have an opportunity to sign a letter of intent to play at Gonzaga.

Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)