Cougfan: Cougs hot on big man!!!

by Jeff Nusser on May 15, 2009 4:07 PM PDT Comment 7 comments

I hope my sarcasm came through on the headline a little bit. Cougfan.com says we're after big man Steven Bjornstad, a 6-10 senior who has already signed a letter of intent with Nevada. He wants out; Nevada says no. (Stop me if you've heard this before.)

This doesn't make sense for next year on a number of levels, which is why I left it off the front page. If Nevada was going to let him out, they probably would have done so already. Second, even if they do, we have no scholarships. We just gave a scholarship to Charlie Enquist, so unless there's an imminent transfer we don't know about (all indications are against that), this seems far fetched.

It's a premium story, so I don't know what exactly the coach is saying, but I can speculate about Bone's motives. My guess? They're trying to get in with the guy so that if he decides to go to prep school they'll be on his radar next year.

This FanPost does not necessarily reflect the views of the site's writers or editors, who may not have verified its accuracy. It does, however, reflect the views of this particular fan, which is just as important as the views of our writers or editors.

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He's an interesting prospect....

I got to watch him on one of my visits to the Tacoma Dome this year. The thing I remember most is that he had trouble keeping his jersey tucked in. lol

He’s really skinny but he’s a good player and I don’t think I saw him change expressions one time during the game I saw him compete in. If he gets the ball near the basket he’s going to score, at will. His teammates were so overmatched it was sad because if you put this kid on one of the better teams at the tournament, they easily would have won it. I was shocked River took second place and it was almost solely because of this kid.

I’m very intrigued with his potential at the Pac-10 level. I would redshirt him, try to put a few pounds of muscle on him and see what happens. He could ind up pretty special with the right kind of coaching.

by SW WA Coug on May 15, 2009 6:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Here's the scoop

WSU is one of 6 teams that have contacted Bjornstad’s high school coach to express interest in him if he is released from his letter of intent. Teams aren’t allowed to contact the player directly in these circumstances. His coach has said that Bjornstad doesn’t know where he is going to be playing next year, but it won’t be Nevada or another WAC school. WSU, two WCC schools and a school in Texas have contacted him.

My question is this: If he is so good, why didn’t Bennett recruit him? WSU wasn’t getting beat by WAC schools for talent and, according to scout.com, there wasn’t any interest in him at all from the previous regime.

by HitKing69 on May 15, 2009 11:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Good question

Late bloomer? But like I said, him being at WSU next year still makes no sense.

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on May 16, 2009 6:02 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Nevada won't release him....

What other choices would he have besides attending prep school? If Bjornstadt convinces Nevada he’s not coming, what are Nevada’s options?

This is a bad situation for both. Nevada loses a recruit and Steven doesn’t have a place to play. Nevada’s loss is somebody else’s gain. It’s probably too late for them to find a replacement, at least one that’s 6-10 and as good as this kid is.

This is the part of recruiting I don’t like. We’ve experienced this very thing first hand and had to re-recruit all four of Tony’s commits when Bone came on board. Fortunately for us, he was able to keep three of them and release the fourth, a win-win for both parties, that freed up a slot for someone else. By a stroke of luck, that turned out to be Reggie Moore, if I’m not mistaken. Enquist ended up with Boeke’s scholly.

What would Coach Bone have done if Anthony Brown, Xavier Thames or Brock Motem would have decided they didn’t want to be Cougs? My guess is that he would have released them.

If Bjornstadt ends up at prep school, that makes him available to us next year, no problems. Other than we don’t seem to have any slots available. Just saying….

by SW WA Coug on May 16, 2009 9:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This kid is incredibly mysterious

Some like what they see while others seem to think he is a stiff. Nevada has done great over the years evaluating Washington talent and talent in general. So why would they make such a poor evaluation? Why would they not let him out of his LOI when they let MacLaughlin and another go?

He’s an interesting one and the mystery will continue for most likely over another year.

by BornCoug on May 16, 2009 8:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

My personal feeling is that he can get it done....

From what little I saw of him, I thought he was a very cerebral player. I say that because it would have been so easy for the coach to make him a one man show and Bjornstadt could have put up some incredible numbers. That’s such an easy temptation to succumb to at that level.

There were times where he might not even touch the ball for minutes at a time when River got into their offensive sets. He was surrounded. River had trouble inbounding the ball against pressure but Steven was talented enough that he was able to handle it by himself at times. That’s not a skill you see in a big man like him very often. At just about any height, he’d still be an excellent player.

If I was Coach Bone, I’d want this kid on my roster. In my opinion, he’s got the physical and mental makeup to make an impact. I could easily project him as a starter by the time he graduates. He’s typical of the type of kid Wazzu is famous for turning into a great athlete.

by SW WA Coug on May 17, 2009 10:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs