Recruiting 2021

[FWalum]

Maybe not too early to start looking at Caleb Furst, a 6-foot-9 freshman, playing for 1A Blackhawk Christian.  He would certainly seem to fit into our niche of players most interested in the atmosphere that Valpo basketball has to offer. Here is an article from the Fort Wayne News Sentinel and before anyone complains... no it was not written by Tom Davis. I know that they are 1A, but they played 12 3A and 4A teams in the regular season and were probably the 2nd best team in the Fort Wayne area.

Blackhawk Christian freshman Caleb Furst

[NativeCheesehead]

Watching our guy JFL in the ISHA semis and Evanston has this freshmen who just keeps nailing threes, including a great transition jumpshot. He's getting some eyeballs on him tonight.

[VU2014]

Valpo was showing interest in Lance Jones who plays for Evanston.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/WolvesILL/status/1010636648026198024
https://twitter.com/WolvesILL/status/1010617183800569856

[vu72]

Looks like there were a bunch of players at Valpo's Elite Camp.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgZS1ZIW0AEHruf.jpg:large

[VU2014]

Some 2021 Region names to keep an eye on. Maybe a future Valpo Basketball player in this group.

https://twitter.com/EvanWalls6/status/1011946644521308161

[VU2014]

2021 appears to have the potential to be a strong recruiting class out of the State of Indiana.

https://twitter.com/patmhickey/status/1017452507839258624

Top 5 players from Evansville area in stacked 2021 basketball recruiting class
Pat Hickey
Evansville Courier & Press
July 12, 2018

https://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/college/evansville/2018/07/12/top-5-players-evansville-area-stacked-2021-basketball-class/771828002/

[VU2014]

I was talking to someone who follows HS hoops pretty closely in NWI and he mentioned that Chris Mantis has the chance to develop into the real deal. The kid is already 6-6 and has some skills. His grandfather is a legendary basketball player and his older brother was a HS star. Nick Mantis is played for Don Bosco Prep for a year and will be competing in his first season of CBB this year at Cedarville. I'm surprised Nick get more D1 interest. I'm Chris is on the coaches radar. He attended the Valpo Elite Camp back in June.

https://twitter.com/bopat10/status/1017161994720423937

Chris Mantis | 6'5 SG | G3 Grind 2021 | Lowell HS (IN)
Mantis is a really solid shooter when set and doesn't have any fear to reel off shots quickly. He's pretty solid on defense due to his size. He could use a little more weight and muscle to his body at this stage. He likes to push the ball hard up the floor, a good asset for any young player to have. https://www.prephoops.com/2018/04/circle-city-shootout-2021-standouts-pt-1/

2021 Spring Preview: Top Breakout Prospects
By Eric Gardner
03/8/18

...

-Blake Sisley 6'7 PF Heritage Hills
-Douglas Koznieczny 6'5 SF South Bend St. Joseph
-Brett Bosley 6'4 SF Paoli
-Chris Mantis 6'1 SG Lowell
-Michael Eley 6'2 SG Fort Wayne Snider

...

Chris Mantis just had his older brother come through the state so the name is already out there but Chris looks like the better prospect right now. Really long and active and tends to impact a lot of areas of the game. If he can do even just a portion of that during AAU, you will really take notice of that. https://www.prephoops.com/2018/03/2021-spring-preview-top-breakout-prospects/

[VU2014]

2021 Spring Preview: Northwest Indiana's Best
By Eric Gardner   Share
Posted On: 03/6/18

Something new we are looking at this year is looking at different regions or quadrants in the state. There are many areas and hotbeds of talent in the state and we want to take a little bit more of a microscope to them to see what the nuances of the state will produce in each class. This is our look at Region 1 in Northwest Indiana.

1 Kyle Ross 6'6 PF Andrean

2 Rocco Muratori 6'10 C West Lafayette

3 Douglas Koznieczny Jr. 6'5 SF South Bend St. Joseph

4 Adam O'Dell 6'6 PF South Bend St. Joseph

5 Quimari Peterson 5'10 PG Gary West

6 Crishawn Christmas 6'3 SF Gary West

7 Chris Mantis 6'1 SG Lowell

8 Luka Balac 6'0 PG Munster

9 Max Grimes 6'1 PG Lafayette Jeff

10 Ashton Beaver 6'0 PG Lafayette Jeff

11 Max Jacobsen 6'1 PG Harrison (WL)

12 Joseph Phinsee 6'0 PG McCutcheon

13 Colton Jones 6'1 PG Valparaiso

14 Cooper Jones 6'5 C Valparaiso

Breakdown: When breaking down prospects into quadrants or regions, we look at those different areas with regards to distance, rivalries, and hotbeds of talent. In the first quadrant, it is the Region and surrounding areas. From as far south as Lafayette all the way east to South Bend.

This area of the state looks a little more built up than in years past. There are quite a few players from the Lafayette area and the Region has some legit top end talent to play around with. South Bend isn't particularly deep right now but the two South Bend St. Joseph's players are really solid.

This area should produce some DI talent and as many as four or five. Past that, there is tons of depth and there are many intriguing players to watch with guys like Max Grimes, Quimari Peterson, and Luka Balac. This is the deepest part of the state outside of the Indianapolis area and that isn't usually the case anymore.

https://www.prephoops.com/2018/03/2021-spring-preview-northwest-indianas-best/

[RS]

I wonder if Douglas Koznieczny is the brother to VU women's basketball player Nicole Koznieczny since she also graduated from South Bend St. Joseph. Also are the Jones boys related to former VU and Valpo HS star Mike Jones?

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/TheJrKonieczny/status/1036757244048809985
https://twitter.com/INPrep/status/1036760769944268800

Douglas Konieczny
Height: 6'6
Position: G/F
School: South Bend St. Joseph
AAU: Hayward Hoops
https://gridirondigest.net/topic/10367-prep-hoops-freshman-showcase/

https://twitter.com/ZachFleer270/status/1021119023579361280
https://twitter.com/INBBallSource/status/1013591446673412096
https://twitter.com/Hayward_Hoops/status/1011960425091616768
https://twitter.com/TheJrKonieczny/status/976998283569696768

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3btEvAMJnY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_qiM-h3Xrk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W2fC_ORbj0

[FieldGoodie05]

https://twitter.com/TheJrKonieczny/status/1036757244048809985
https://twitter.com/INPrep/status/1036760769944268800

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10383128/5ab4597fd45ea20d50e5550b

[wh]

Impressed with his quick release, especially considering his age. Reminds me alot of a young Alec Peters.

[wh]

Impressed with his quick release, especially considering his age. Reminds me alot of a young Alec Peters.

On second thought I think likening him to a young Ryan Broekhoff is more accurate.

[bbtds]

I wonder if Douglas Koznieczny is the brother to VU women's basketball player Nicole Koznieczny since she also graduated from South Bend St. Joseph. Also are the Jones boys related to former VU and Valpo HS star Mike Jones?

Nothing concrete to show that they are siblings but Nicole and JR (Doug) are both from LaPorte and went to SB St Joe, although Nicole went to LaPorte Kesling Middle School and was a Slicer, as many Crusaders were (Tonagel, etc.).

[FieldGoodie05]

I wonder if Douglas Koznieczny is the brother to VU women's basketball player Nicole Koznieczny since she also graduated from South Bend St. Joseph. Also are the Jones boys related to former VU and Valpo HS star Mike Jones?

Nothing concrete to show that they are siblings but Nicole and JR (Doug) are both from LaPorte and went to SB St Joe, although Nicole went to LaPorte Kesling Middle School and was a Slicer, as many Crusaders were (Tonagel, etc.).

Her player bio says she has (2) brothers and one is named J.R.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/roster/2017-18/9159/nicole-konieczny/

[VU2014]

Probably scouting Brandon Weston.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/brandon-weston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4wCSRCMlbs

https://twitter.com/LFAHoops/status/1041068879022358528

[VU2014]

Coach Gore was in South Bend yesterday. Probably out recruiting and building the relationship with Valpo offer JR Konieczny.

https://twitter.com/SJhoopsquad/status/1050543947204956160

[VU2014]

A local kid to keep an eye on.

https://twitter.com/Igotthis32/status/1051947543410745348

[VU2014]

This kid is going to be a stud. Hopefully the coaches build a strong relationship with him and we show him Valpo is a place where he can make some noise in the tourney. He'll probably be around campus at least a couple times per year with his sister playing on the women's team.

https://twitter.com/Hayward_Hoops/status/1054736615283834880

[VU2014]

Chris Mantis' stock has been rising. It would be awesome to get another region kid to play for his local school. His brother is pretty good player and rehabbing a injury right now. Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember hearing Chris' grandfather was a legendary Indiana HS basketball player.

https://twitter.com/camantis23/status/1055278258227462144
https://twitter.com/bopat10/status/1054216618975354880

I know it's selected highlights but he doesn't look like a freshman in this tape. He has some polish to his game.
https://twitter.com/camantis23/status/974104615485628416

[FWalum]

Watching Caleb Furst, 6'10" sophomore at Blackhawk Christian along with Butler assistant coach Omar Lowery and several Purdue assistants. Blackhawk coach Davidson has had most every Indiana D1 school (and a whole lot more schools from all over the country) at open gym or at their first 2 games. Would love to hear that VU was showing interest in this kid who is a devout Christian and has made a choice to go to a small Christian school.

Update: Haftime 1A Blackhawk Christian 59 4A Fort Wayne North Side 24.
Final: 1A Blackhawk Christian 98  4A Fort Wayne North Side 44

[M]

Love the size!  What AAU team does he play for?

[IrishDawg]

Love the size!  What AAU team does he play for?

Indy Heat - He's currently got offers from Purdue, Butler, IU, Iowa, Northwestern and Ohio State and he's currently the 31st ranked player nationally in his class.  The likelihood that he winds up at Valpo (or Butler for that matter) is so small that I don't blame the coaches for not spending a ton of time recruiting him.  That's not to say that they never have, but when they reached out, if they didn't get a sense that there was mutual interest, then they are doing the right thing.

[FWalum]

Love the size!  What AAU team does he play for?

Indy Heat - He's currently got offers from Purdue, Butler, IU, Iowa, Northwestern and Ohio State and he's currently the 31st ranked player nationally in his class.  The likelihood that he winds up at Valpo (or Butler for that matter) is so small that I don't blame the coaches for not spending a ton of time recruiting him.  That's not to say that they never have, but when they reached out, if they didn't get a sense that there was mutual interest, then they are doing the right thing.

I have not asked his coach whether Valpo has ever contacted him or his parents, I can try to find that out.  All I was getting at is that he and his parents have made some interesting decisions concerning his education and basketball competition.  He was "invited" to attend school with his good friends and D1 prospects Luke Goode at Homestead High School and also his teammate Jalen Blackmon at Marion and decided to remain in the Blackhawk Christian schools.

Lowery certainly looked very chummy and actually somewhat intimate with his parents (hugs all around after the game) so I don't know that Butler is out of the running.  This kid and family strikes me, and I could be completely wrong, as someone who could look to go to a school where he would be a game changer at a school that fits his and his family's values rather than just another high level recruit, other people who know the situation better than I have told me the same thing.