The Wyoming basketball team saw its top remaining recruit visit another school this weekend and then commit to the Cowboys.
Irshad Hunte (otherwise known as Iggy) was at UC-Santa Barbara this weekend for an official visit and his high school coach, Tom Lewis, said the experience didn't match up to what his prize pupil had experienced in Laramie, Wyo.
"He had visited Wyoming and contemplated committing after he returned, but his mom wanted him to visit another school, so he went to UC-Santa Barbara this weekend. After he got back he knew he wanted to commit to Wyoming.
"He went on a couple of unofficial visits there and then his official visit and it was just a different comfort level for him at Wyoming than anywhere else," Lewis continued. "He liked the coaches, he connected with the players and the weather didn't scare him because he is from Toronto originally."
According to Lewis, Hunte stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 205 pounds. As a wing and a stretch four last year he averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per game for Saddleback Valley Christian School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Along the way he was named the League MVP as well as First Team All-CIF.
Lewis said Hunte had scholarship offers from Wyoming, Nevada, Cal-State Fullerton, UC-Riverside, UC-Santa Barbara, Rice, Idaho, Loyola Marymount, Fairfield and James Madison.
"They (Wyoming) is getting a major league athlete," Lewis said. "He is the side of a 6-foot-7 kid who can run like a guard and can elevate. He has to have a 40-something inch vertical. He gets off the floor very quickly. That is how he can average three or four blocked shots as a guard."
Lewis went on to say he believes Hunte's best days are ahead of him, saying he can get to the rim now and hit the pull-up jumper, but once he puts his athletic ability together with a more developed skill set, sky is the limit.
"He is a Pac-12 athlete who needs to develop his skills to match the athletic ability."
Off-the-court, Lewis called Hunte the most popular kid he has ever met and said when he would get on Hunte for something on the court the rest of the school was quick to Hunte's defense. Lewis said Hunte has a personality that draws people in and makes him easy to know.
Lewis said the Wyoming coaches got to know him due to their frequency of seeing the young man. Lewis thought Wyoming Coach Larry Shyatt saw Hunte play this summer with the Southern California All-Stars at least nine times and Lewis was impressed with the way Wyoming recruited Hunte.
"They, by far, did the best job of recruiting Irshad," Lewis said. "They touched base with everyone they needed to talk to and they were by far the most professional in their recruitment. They said what they were going to do. They did what they said they were going to do. They did a more thorough and professional job than anyone else who looked at Irshad."
https://wyoming.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1807894
Irshad Hunte (otherwise known as Iggy) was at UC-Santa Barbara this weekend for an official visit and his high school coach, Tom Lewis, said the experience didn't match up to what his prize pupil had experienced in Laramie, Wyo.
"He had visited Wyoming and contemplated committing after he returned, but his mom wanted him to visit another school, so he went to UC-Santa Barbara this weekend. After he got back he knew he wanted to commit to Wyoming.
"He went on a couple of unofficial visits there and then his official visit and it was just a different comfort level for him at Wyoming than anywhere else," Lewis continued. "He liked the coaches, he connected with the players and the weather didn't scare him because he is from Toronto originally."
According to Lewis, Hunte stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 205 pounds. As a wing and a stretch four last year he averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per game for Saddleback Valley Christian School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Along the way he was named the League MVP as well as First Team All-CIF.
Lewis said Hunte had scholarship offers from Wyoming, Nevada, Cal-State Fullerton, UC-Riverside, UC-Santa Barbara, Rice, Idaho, Loyola Marymount, Fairfield and James Madison.
"They (Wyoming) is getting a major league athlete," Lewis said. "He is the side of a 6-foot-7 kid who can run like a guard and can elevate. He has to have a 40-something inch vertical. He gets off the floor very quickly. That is how he can average three or four blocked shots as a guard."
Lewis went on to say he believes Hunte's best days are ahead of him, saying he can get to the rim now and hit the pull-up jumper, but once he puts his athletic ability together with a more developed skill set, sky is the limit.
"He is a Pac-12 athlete who needs to develop his skills to match the athletic ability."
Off-the-court, Lewis called Hunte the most popular kid he has ever met and said when he would get on Hunte for something on the court the rest of the school was quick to Hunte's defense. Lewis said Hunte has a personality that draws people in and makes him easy to know.
Lewis said the Wyoming coaches got to know him due to their frequency of seeing the young man. Lewis thought Wyoming Coach Larry Shyatt saw Hunte play this summer with the Southern California All-Stars at least nine times and Lewis was impressed with the way Wyoming recruited Hunte.
"They, by far, did the best job of recruiting Irshad," Lewis said. "They touched base with everyone they needed to talk to and they were by far the most professional in their recruitment. They said what they were going to do. They did what they said they were going to do. They did a more thorough and professional job than anyone else who looked at Irshad."
https://wyoming.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1807894
