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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Stanford Recap: Two Verbals,
One More Possible?--(Oct. 16, 2001)

Stanford picked up a verbal from Matt Haryasz (6'-10" Sr. C) last week, which is a very good get for the Cardinal. Haryasz, who played this summer with Elliot Glabman's Arizona Heat Rising Stars team, was impressive at the Big Time in Vegas, and had all kinds of schools jumping on his bandwagon. But ultimately, it came down to Stanford and Arizona State, with Pepperdine and UCLA also involved late. Matt joins Dan Grunfeld (6'-5" Sr. F) from Milwaukee (his dad is the GM of the Bucks), who was also solid this summer at ABCD Camp, a sort of "old-school" very fundamental player who played with the George Karl-sponsored Wisconsin Friends of Hoop team. The Cardinal are still reported to be looking for one more player, preferably a point guard, either as a scholarship player or perhaps as an invited walk-on to bolster the backcourt roster for next year. And the Cardinal probably can't wait for the class of 2003 to fill that spot. Stanford likes to have at least three solid ballhandlers available in the backcourt (even though they usually have only two at a time on the floor). Tony Giovacchini is a senior this year and will graduate, and Julius Barnes will be a senior next year. It's also widely speculated that Casey Jacobsen will turn pro at the end of this season, although that's a very big open question right now. The bottom line is that current freshman Chris Hernandez will be the only point guard on the roster with any significant experience with Coach Montgomery's offensive sets in two seasons if the Cardinal don't take a guard from the class of 2002. Our guess: Look for the Cardinal to pick up one, and maybe even two ballhandlers, perhaps not starters, but guys who can contribute when needed, who could develop into solid players.