While Oregon State forward, Jack McGillis, represents a marquee addition by coach Wayne Tinkle to the UM Men's Basketball roster for 2007-08, the other two recruits -- quietly added to the UM men's roster three weeks ago -- give a solid hint at what the Grizzly basketball program will look like in the future.
Figure that it's only a matter of time, now that McGillis has reportedly announced his plans to transfer to UM, that Tinkle will announce the enrollment of the three, thus filling all the holes in the Griz roster for 07-08.
The eye-opener for me is the addition of EWU freshman guard Michael Taylor, a 25-game starter for the Eagles in 2006-07. No official announcement has been made yet by UM, but you can find McGillis' and Taylor's names on the posted Griz 2007-08 roster here.
The Griz roster also shows the addition of the son of a well-known Grizzly small forward with the addition of 6'-6" Tyler Hurley, most recently of the Anaconda Copperheads. Hurley's father is Rob Hurley, a slashing small forward who played from 1980-84 during the heyday of coach Mike Montgomery's Griz Basketball program.
McGillis, a Hellgate H. S. all-stater who in 2005 chose Oregon State over Larry Krystkowiak's Griz, will return to Montana to play for Tinkle after sitting out a redshirt year. Both McGillis and Taylor will be eligible for the 08-09 season, McGillis as a junior and Taylor as a sophmore.
Taylor departed an EWU program in turmoil after the firing of coach Mike Burns in late May. Incoming coach Kirk Earlywine has retained only three letter-winners (one starter) from Burns' 06-07 squad. Taylor played in all 29 EWU games as a true freshman in 2006-07, and started in 25 while averaging 24.4 minutes per game. He made 53 of 118 field goal attempts for a 44% average, and 32 of 80 (40 %) from 3-point range. Taylor scored a total of 165 points on the season for a 5.7 per game average and played solid defense in the Eagles' 85-78 loss to the Griz in Missoula on Feb. 3.
Hurley led the Copperheads to the state Class A tourney, where they were eliminated in Saturday morning play. Hurley joined UM's other in-state recruit, Glendive's Derek Selvig, on the state Class A All-State squad. Selvig's father, Doug, is also a Griz Great, best known for one of the most-famous last-second shots in Griz BB history... a scoop-shot from an errant rebound for a bucket to overtime and an eventual win over Don Monson's top-10 ranked Idaho squad in 1989.
As a sophomore, McGillis played in 32 games for the Beavers last year, starting in six. He averaged 20 minutes per game, and shot 40 percent from the field while averaging 5.7 points per game. He made 38 3-point goals (36%) and shot 73 percent from the free throw line. McGillis' break-out game came against California when he scored 24.
