Niagara: Incoming Size Adds To Depth

Niagara

With four starters, and several contributing reserves back for a team that finished 26-9 a year ago, the Purple Eagles don't need a lot of help for the coming season.

Still, recruiting brings some much-needed height to a program that graduated its only player (Benson Egemonye) over 6-foot-7 who was active this past season.

Niagara certainly has the "biggest" freshman class in terms of size with three players whose heights are 6-foot-11, 6-8 and 6-8 eligible to play for the coming season.

The three will provide some front-court depth and, probably, bring greater contributions down the road.

Incoming Freshman

- Andre "Scooter" Gillette, a 6-foot-8, 205-pound center/forward. Gillette averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game at Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia last season. Philly sources who have seen him play describe him as an athletic post player who runs the floor extremely well and is an above-average shot-blocker. Of Niagara's three incoming players, he seems to be the most advanced, and is likely to quickly be in the team's playing group.

Eligible Redshirts

- Luuk Kortekaas, a 6-11, 200-pound center from Tiel, Netherlands. Kortekaas, right now, is a tall project. He has played for age-level national Dutch teams and reports indicate that he possesses an above-average jumper out to three-point range. He redshirted last season in an attempt to build up physically.

- Eric Williams, a 6-8, 225-pound forward from Champlain-St. Lambert School in Montreal. He will probably be the oldest "freshman" in the MAAC this season, turning 22 in December. He redshirted last year while recovering from knee surgery. He is described as being a tough, physical inside player with a nice touch on his mid-range jumper.