CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- College basketball recruiting has changed with the current pandemic. No on campus visits, conversations are held through apps like Zoom or FaceTime.
SIU has been able to expand their roster despite the challenges; challenges all colleges and universities are experiencing.
SIU signed four players in the month of April and two things stood out to me. SIU has never had a player from Canada in the program's history, and this class has signed two. Kyler Filewich, is a 6'9", 250-pound post player from Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. J.D. Muila is a 6'8" forward from Ottawa. The incoming junior (Muila) spent the last two years at Indian Hills Community College (Iowa).
"It's a global game obviously and we have a lot of connections in Canada and basketball up there has been exploding the last ten years and they are great players, they have a ton of great players up there and I think it's a relationship thing and for us with those guys, J.D. and Kyler, they fit our program, they fit what we are looking for and we really feel we can help them as well," SIU Men's Basketball Coach Bryan Mullins said.
The other thing that stood out to me, two players that signed are making the jump up from the division two ranks. Something you don't see often.
Anthony D'Avanzo, a 6'8" grad transfer from Lewis University and Steven Verplancken, a 6'3" guard from Glenville State. D'Avanzo will be eligible to play immediately and Verplancken will have to sit a year due to the NCAA transfer rule and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
"The thing with Anthony from Lewis being from that program, the success they've had, knowing the situation, knowing the coaches there, knowing his high school coaches, just the type of kid he is, the type of family he comes from, his brother went to school down here at Southern Illinois so there's a lot of connections there and his upside, I think he's getting better as a basketball player and I think his best year of basketball will be this year and the years after he leaves us," Mullins said.
"With Steven, with his ability to play and impact the game in so many different ways, he can pass, shoot and dribble, he can guard."
"He shot 45 percent I think from three this year, 50 (percent) from the field, he's a very efficient player, he's 6'3" 200 pounds so physically he's ready to play at this level."
SIU signed four players in the month of April, leaving two scholarships left.
"We're still pretty busy, we're still looking to add the right pieces to our program so we are constantly still recruiting and again it's not going to be just because someone is available we are going to sign them, we are going to do our homework and make sure we know who we are inviting into our program and in terms of a freshman and a transfer, grad transfer, it's always been about the right fit for us."
Two scholarships available, Coach Mullins mentioned it's all about fit, so does that fit come in the shape of a guard or maybe a forward? Is there still a need at a specific position?
"I think we have the flexibility right now on the roster where if we find a really good player in the frontcourt or in the backcourt that it would still work and we wouldn't pass that up so we are just looking for guys that fit us and guys that would be great for Saluki basketball."
