Meet the JuCo Transfers: Pacific’s Alec Kobre
By James Pigott
Nov 29, 2013; Eugene, OR, USA; Pacific Tigers head coach Ron Verlin looks to his players against the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
In their inaugural season in the WCC in 2013-14, the Pacific Tigers made a trip to the semifinals of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. However, they will need to rebuild if they want to achieve that level of success next season after losing 7 seniors and 2 transfers, including 7 of their 8 top scorers from last years squad. The Tigers only return 16.6% of their minutes from last season and only 15.5% of their points.
Due to the major holes in the roster, Ron Verlin has added many junior college transfers to his roster for the upcoming season, one of them being 6’3 guard Alec Kobre from Santa Rosa Junior College, the same school that Portland guard Bobby Sharp, former Pacific guard Sama Taku, and future LMU guard Matt Hayes.
Time at Santa Rosa JC
Needing to develop strength, Kobre redshirted his initial season at Santa Rosa. As a redshirt freshman in 2012-13 , Kobre didn’t play too many minutes but learned from a great shooter in Bobby Sharp, playing behind the current Portland Pilots 3-point specialist.
Like Sharp and Hayes, Kobre is a long range bomber who converted on 44.8% of his 3-point attempts and made over 3.5 of them per game in his sophomore year en route to averaging 15.3 points per game. In his breakout sophomore season, he helped lead Santa Rosa to the California Community College Athletic Association State Tournament and was named tournament MVP after scoring 17 points in the championship game.
Impact at Pacific
With so many unknowns on Pacific’s roster, it is hard to say how large of an impact Kobre might have.
He will be one of the many guards who will look to join leading returning scorer T.J. Wallace in the backcourt. If he is making shots at a high rate, there should be little doubt as to whether he will get a lot of playing time or not. But like all junior college transfers (including the many coming to Pacific), the question of adjustment to Division I basketball needs to be addressed and played out.