When Jesse Perry showed up at Logan Junior College two years ago, he weighed only 179 pounds. He is a powerful prospect now at 210 pounds.Props go to Puffdaddy for sharing this article to the BZ Basketball Board today on prospect Jesse Perry - a 6-8 210 forward who can hit the trey - plays for Logan JC in Carterville, Ill along with UCLA 2010 recruit point guard Lazeric Jones.
JC standout Perry could provide matchup problems for UA opponents
from TusconCitizen.com
Wild About AZ CatsRoundball Recruiting Roundup & the Rest
by Javier Morales on Mar.22, 2010, under Sports
Former Arizona coach Lute Olson used versatile junior college transfer Eddie Smith to jump start his career in Tucson in 1983.
Smith, a 6-7 wing player who could rebound and knock down the perimeter shot just the same, was a JUCO player of the year and All-American at Dodge City (Kansas) Community College before signing with Olson. Smith’s versatility was a perfect complement to another JC transfer, center Pete Williams, who anchored the frontcourt as an unrelenting rebounder.
Twenty-seven years later, UA coach Sean Miller is trying the same approach for success by recruiting a versatile JC forward named Jesse Perry, who like Smith hails from the nation’s heartland. Smith is from Wichita, Kan., and Perry is a St. Louis native.
Perry, 6-8 and 210 pounds, averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds this season with Logan Junior College in Carterville, Ill. His most impressive stat, however, is his three-point shooting percentage — a scorching 48 percent, according to Logan assistant coach Kyle Smithpeters.
“I will say this: He didn’t force a lot of shots,” Smithpeters told me Monday night after I asked if he knew how many shots Perry attempted from beyond the arc. “He took a lot of good shots. Sometimes it got to a point where the team we played pressured him on the perimeter and Jesse made up for it by penetrating.
“He is really good off the dribble. He can create his own shot. That made him dangerous both on the perimeter and in the paint. It caused a lot of matchup problems for our opponents.”
Miller’s recruiting doctrine: Get a player who can beat you more than one way.
Look at Xavier’s current roster, built by Miller and orchestrated into the Sweet 16 by Chris Mack, who learned his craft under the young Arizona coach.
The Musketeers are loaded with players who cause matchup problems.
Jordan Crawford, a sophomore transfer from Indiana, is one of the nation’s most versatile players. At 6-foot-4, he leads Xavier in scoring (20.2 points per game) and steals (46), averages 4.8 rebounds a game and is second on the team with 99 assists. Terrell Holloway, a 6-foot sophomore, is the Musketeers’ starting point guard who is a nightmare to scout.
Not often does a team’s assist leader also be the player with the most free-throw attempts. Holloway leads his team in assists (132) and he also is the leader in free-throw attempts (169, making 144 for 85 percent). That means he is as valuable distributing the ball as he is taking his own shot by being aggressive to the basket.
Nic Wise was similar to Holloway in that he led the Cats in assists (103) and he attempted 156 free throws. However, Derrick Williams, as an assertive inside player, led Arizona with 232 free-throw attempts.
Williams, like his namesake Pete Williams, stands to improve if Perry opts to sign with the Wildcats during the spring signing period, which starts next month. Smith’s versatility on the wing made Pete Williams more of a threat by loosening the inside. Perry can do the same thing for Derrick Williams (especially if the UA is unable to land interior prospect Kadeem Jack of Manhattan, N.Y., Rice High School).
“Arizona’s system fits Jesse’s style,” Smithpeters said. “He has the physical presence to play good defense. And on offense, he can play with his back to the basket. With his size, he can shoot over smaller defenders on the perimeter. He also has the strength to box out.”
That was not the case when Perry graduated in 2008 from St. Louis Gateway High School, where he was a three-star player and 39th-rated small forward overall according to Scout.com.
“Jesse was a good prospect out of high school — a top 150 to 200 kind of player,” Smithpeters said. “However, he was not nearly the perimeter player he is today. His shot was not there and there were some questions about his ball-handling ability. If you compare what he was his freshman year, in the last game of last season, to now, you would not believe he is the same player.
“He came in here at only 179 pounds. He was a stick. In his first summer, he worked out hard and built his weight to 195. Last summer, he gained about 10 to 15 pounds and he is now a solid 210 pounds.”
Perry, who is being recruited by UCLA, South Carolina, Southern Illinois and Iowa State, can use that strength to provide a much-needed consistent inside-outside scoring threat the Wildcats lacked this season.
His 18 points a game is a bid modest, but in one five-game stretch, he averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game for Logan. The Volunteers also feature seven sophomores who are being recruiting by Division I schools, according to Smithpeters, so Perry had to buy into the team concept and not pad his scoring average.
“I think of him as a natural leader. He asks questions. He wants to improve his game. He’s focused,” Smithpeters said.
“He’s not caught up in the statistics. The kid just wants to win. He plays the game the right way. He plays hard all the time. He’s really fun to watch. He goes after that extra rebound, blocks shots, rebounds … and then he goes out and hits 48 percent of his three-pointers.”
Three of his teammates are headed for prominent Division I programs, including point guard Lazeric Jones, who has committed to UCLA. Jones was at one time recruited by UA assistant coach Archie Miller, who noticed Perry while scouting Jones. Bruin coach Ben Howland has learned how valuable Perry is while watching his future point guard play for Logan.
Howland extended Perry a scholarship offer four weeks ago, according to Smithpeters. Perry might visit UCLA and could reschedule a visit with South Carolina, which canceled its recruiting visit with Perry last weekend because of scheduling conflicts. Perry could also make up his mind after touring the UA campus.
“That’s a possibility,” Smithpeters said. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens. It’s his call. If he feels like it’s the best situation for him, he can make up his mind. He will obviously play where he feels most comfortable.”
NOTES: The two other prominent Division I prospects on Logan’s roster are 6-9 power forward Andre Clark and 6-10 center Antwond Roshell. Clark is being recruited by Alabama, Cincinnati, DePaul, Iowa State, Louisiana Tech and Providence. Roshell is being recruited by one of the Cinderellas in the NCAA tournament — Northern Iowa — and also Idaho State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, DePaul, South Alabama and Tennessee Tech. … An interesting development could involve Roshell and Perry facing each other in November if Roshell goes to Idaho State and Perry to Arizona. The Wildcats host Idaho State on Nov. 14. … Perry was a recruiting target of St. Louis coach Rick Majerus out of high school but reportedly Perry had difficulty qualifying academically. Smithpeters said Perry’s academic standing now is favorable. “From what I understand, Jesse’s doing a fantastic job in the classroom,” he said. “In my opinion, he is not a JC kid academically. He has passed every class and these are some legitimate, very tough classes. To be recruited by UCLA, you have to be a pretty sound student. He came here and has done his work. He has put himself in a position to get the chance (of playing in Division I) that he deserves.”
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