WCC March News, Transfer and Recruiting Notes

Jan 16, 2014; Malibu, CA, USA; Pepperdine Waves guard Austin Mills (13) brings the ball up court in the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Firestone Fieldhouse. Gonzaga defeated Pepperdine 70-53. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Fielding-USA TODAY Sports

It’s the offseason, and you know what that means. It means transfer season.

In the last few days, three players have announced they will be leaving their respective WCC schools. In the grand scheme of things, that number isn’t too significant. However, all three players will negatively impact their former schools depth, and the schools head coaches will either need to delve into the transfer market or find a high school senior (or two) that is uncommitted – which is rare in the spring.

On top of that, some recruiting news broke recently (ok, maybe a lot), which will also be covered below.

Former LMU Elijah Stewart Released From LOI

The new coaching regime received another huge blow in recruiting as four-star recruit Elijah Stewart requested he be released from his letter of intent.

Stewart committed to former coach Max Good and LMU in late September (read about his initial commitment) and not much information was out on the Westchester High School prospect. During his senior year, Stewart’s recruitment started to blow up and he received a great deal of praise from recruiting analysts around the country. In fact, during an exchange on twitter between Evan Daniels (Rivals) and Jeff Goodman (ESPN), Daniels had this to say about Stewart:

This is a pretty big loss for LMU, as evidenced by the twitter exchange above. Not to mention, Stewart is ranked 94^th in the ESPN top 100 list.

In addition to losing Stewart, the Lions lost Compton High School point guard Kyron Cartwright. With all the turn over that has occurred in Westchester, this was the last thing that LMU and its new head coach Mike Dunlap needed.

A school to look out for in Stewart’s future recruitment: UCLA. A school to look out for in Cartwright’s future recruitment: Providence.

Julian Clarke Transfers from Santa Clara

The Broncos depth took a hit when it was announced that Julian Clarke would travel back up north to play for the University of Toronto next season and pursue his Masters of Science.

The move makes sense, considering Clarke is a Toronto native. After playing three years at Santa Clara, including one redshirt season, Clarke will have one year of eligibility remaining. He will be available next season for the Varsity Blue’s (sweet name, huh?)

Clarke averaged 1.7 points and recorded three starts throughout his career. He averaged 3.2 points this past season.

A Pair of Pepperdine Guards Depart From Malibu

Just like the Broncos, the Waves bench took a hit when walk-on point guard Austin Mills and Jeff Van Dyke announced they planned to transfer.

Mills, a sophomore, averaged 9.8 minutes and 2.4 points during his career at Pepperdine. He served as a backup primarily – although he did record one start his freshman season – behind Lorne Jackson last season and freshman Jeremy Major this season.

Jeff Van Dyke, a freshman, played in 18 games and averaged 0.8 points this season for the Waves.

The reasoning behind the two players’ departures is unknown, but it is likely to pursue more playing time elsewhere. Good luck to both of them in their future endeavors.

Santa Clara Lands Australian Wing

Kai Healy from The Scots College in Sydney, Australia committed to play for Kerry Keating and the Broncos back on March 1^st.

There is a not great deal of info available on Healy, considering he is from down under, but it is known that he plays ball for one of the best schools in Australia and has represented Australia on the world circuit.

This commitment reminds me slightly of that of Pepperdine’s Marley Biyendolo, who redshirted this season. The 6’5” shooting guard will scratch and claw for playing time in a Broncos backcourt that should consist of seniors Brandon Clark and Denzel Johnson, sophomores Jared Brownridge and Jalen Richard, redshirt freshman Jarvis Pugh and freshmen Stephen Edwards and Evan Wardlow. Redshirting would not be out of the question for Healy in his first year at Santa Clara.

Foreign JUCO Product Pledges to Pacific

I’m slightly late on writing about this, but the Tigers have landed Sami Eleraky, a 7-footer out of the City College of San Francisco.

Eleraky hails from Denmark, and was originally committed to California out of high school, but ran into some problems with the admittance problems. He bounced around several lower level schools before recently finding his home in Stockton, Calif.

The Denmark big man is the sixth commit in the Tigers 2014 class, three of which are JUCO’s. Even then, the Tigers have another scholarship available.

Eleraky will have three seasons of eligibility left. He is a much needed addition to a frontcourt that consists of Gabriel Aguirre, freshman Jacob Lampkin and JUCO commit Eric Thompson.

German Forward Commits to San Diego

Cameron Nuebauer of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. has pledged to Bill Grier and the San Diego Toreros.

Nuebauer, who hails from Germany, primarily had offers from teams in the American East and the Patriot League, according to New England Recruiting Report.

This is what the aforementioned source had to say about Nuebauer: “He is a skilled and versatile perimeter forward with a good feel for the game who will likely see the majority of his minutes as a face-up four-man at the next level where his ability to handle and pass the ball should prove to be assets.”

He joins Marcus Harris and Khalil Bedart-Ghani as the Toreros 2014 class. Since the Toreros have no more available scholarships, that likely does it for USD in recruiting 2014 prospects.