Evans: Bamisile 'a heist' for Northwestern
You didn't have to be John Wooden to figure out Northwestern's problem last season. It's right there on the stat sheet, where the team finished last in the Big Ten in scoring (65.9 ppg) and shooting (40.2%).
The Wildcats are in desperate need of guys who can create their own shot off the dribble, shoot from deep and just flat-out put the ball in the basket. They may have gotten all three of those things in one when they landed 2020 combo guard Joe Bamisile last week.
The only bad news is that he can't start right away; he won't arrive in Evanston until the season after next.
But Northwestern needs scoring, and if it's one thing that the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder has shown in his high school career, it's that he can score. The explosive guard averaged an impressive 28.7 points per game for Chesterfield County (Va.) Monacan last season, along with seven rebounds and three assists.
Bamisile scored more than 40 points in a game twice, with a high of 48 in a one-point win over Powhatan in the season opener. He shot 49% from the floor and 30% from beyond the arc on the season. He also had a 43-point performance against Bird on Jan. 30 in which he made eight of nine shots from beyond the arc.
“I can score at all three levels,” he says.
Rivals' basketball recruiting analyst Corey Evans was watching Bamisile play in the Atlanta Tip-Off Classic on the day that he committed, and this is what he tweeted.
We asked Evans to elaborate a week later, and he doubled down and was effusive in his praise of Bamisile.
"Pure scoring guard. Super-long arms. Tough as hell. Big time-athlete," he said, rattling off attributes that could very well form Northwestern's wish list. "Can really get it going via the jumper. Can be an immediate scoring piece at the highest level."
And in Evans' opinion, it might not take Bamisile very long to reach a level to be productive in a league like the Big Ten.
"Has to refine game more, but dude competes like no one else," he said. "Giant motor. Doesn’t give up on any plays. College-ready, both with length and strength, where he can guard three spots on the floor."
It's difficult to imagine a scouting report more tailor-made to Northwestern's needs that that one.
Northwestern sees Bamisile as a combo guard, a guy who can be the lead guard with the ball in his hands, or play off the ball as a shooting guard. In either case, his primary role will be to score.
Bamisile's commitment on April 20 was a boost to a Northwestern program that desperately needed one after a barrage of negative news. Coming off of a dismal 13-19 (4-16 Big Ten) season, three Wildcats (Jordan Ash, Aaron Falzon and, most surprisingly, Barret Benson) announced they were leaving as graduate transfers. Assistant coach Billy Donlan also left to take a head coaching job at Missouri-Kansas City.
Those transfers leave Northwestern with four scholarship slots to fill for next season -- and that's after the arrival of the Wildcats' highly touted 2019 class that includes four-star wing Robbie Beran and a pair of three-stars in guard Boo Buie and forward Jared Jones.
Bamisile's commitment won't help the effort to find four more players who can play next season, but it shows that the Wildcats' struggles since the end of the season have not slowed down their recruiting efforts.