Trevor Dunbar feature on SLAM...

[britton ransford]

Here's a great feature on Washington State freshman point guard Trevor Dunbar and his journey to the Pac-12 from Matthew Snyder of SLAM Magazine online.

Excerpt...

"The previous Saturday night, upon returning from Grad Night festivities with his departing St. Ignatius senior class, Dunbar had checked in with the Washington State coaching staff via text message.

Dunbar knew that a scholarship offer had recently opened up after a point guard, once committed to the Cougars, had reneged and opted for a different route. Rumor had it that Dunbar was the next name on the list. The next morning, he woke up, tapped his phone and came across this message, from Wazzu.

If we offer, will you come?

"I was like, Yeah," Dunbar says, laughing. "I had visits set up to St. John's that Monday, and I was ready to look at Maryland and Towson, too, but [Washington State] was just the best fit. This way, I get to stay on the West Coast."

That the reaction to Dunbar's commitment triggered a seismic spike of responses on Twitter should give you a sense of his local celebrity, which has reached the point where his highlight reels on YouTube become hotly anticipated events. (They're worth a gander.)

These vids are a showcase for Shift Team, a movement begun by Dunbar that is dedicated to players who showcase a certain level of on-court swag and smooth. Dunbar was the ringmaster, darting this way and that like a record continually skipping. Defenders never quite seem able to catch his beat.

Despite all the Internet clicks (Kyrie Irving is a frequent collaborator on Twitter, and a member of Shift Team) high-major scholarship offers were slow in coming -- until new Washington State coach Ernie Kent extended his hand to Dunbar."

LINK: http://www.slamonline.com/college-hs/college/trevor-dunbar-washington-state/



This post was edited on 6/27 2:17 PM by Britton Ransford

 

[YakiCoug]

Nice read. I had forgotten about Tajuan Porter at Oregon. I hated what he would often do to WSU.

 

[ElComanche]

I have said one and i will say it again.Dunbar and Redding will be the cougs PG's this season. Somehow a few posters think that Kent can play the same players and have different results. Experience counts only if they are good experiences and one is capable of better play. If one does not have the ability to improve upon one's performance. and learn from them, then the experiences make one lose confidence... Getting one s ass continually kicked by better talent is not a good experience.

 

[jourdand]

Very few in the basketball world think this kid is PAC 12 material,couple that with his size and it could make for an epic story. sounds like a great young man it will be fun to watch him in the years to come also love his confidence!

This post was edited on 6/27 4:24 PM by jourdand

 

[ElComanche]

Interesting comments, but if St Johns and Maryland ,plus Towson State(*a good program) were interested ,that says a lot about him.When i watch highlite reels ,i am looking to how a player handles situations and makes use of teammates . One can generally tell if he is playing for himself or is playing within a team concept. A Players stats stats shows his consistency or lack of. If a player performs well in big games ,he probably is playing against quality opponents.I watched Chauca s tapes and liked the kid, But after watching Dunbar who is quicker and faster,i thought i would take him over Chauca in a flash.If the rest of the PAC 12 think that he cannot play they are in for a big surprise.A players ability to jump high is a great attribute in basketball. But some of the best PG s i have seen and played against were Dunbar s size and could not jump. However,their basketball intelligence ,quickness and strenght made bigger stronger players look slow and they made their ballhandling a miserable experience when they faced him. A quick player will also be able to penetrate and disrupt teams defenses. I am glad that Dunbar is focusing on his defense as he has the physical ability to be a good defensive guard. The conditioning program (summer) will help give him the strenght to keep bigger players from penetrating at will He can make them more worried about protecting the ball then penetrating and trying to make a play. An example is a player like Rorie who dribbles high and is vulnerable to be picked clean by a quick fast defensive player..Dunbar does not need to block shots to be a good defensive player.He can put ball pressure on the opposing teams PG and be disruptive. I look forward to seeing him play at the D 1 level.