[Sly Fox]

You guys keep asking for big men and once again Coach McKay has delivered ...


Joel Vander Pol
6' 10" Power Forward
Ft. Myers (FL) Evangelical Christian School


From the SW Florida fishwrap ...

ECS basketball player Vander Pol commits to Liberty

BY DAN DELUCA • ddeluca@news-press.com • June 27, 2008

Evangelical Christian School basketball player Joel Vander Pol has made a verbal commitment to attend Liberty University, an NCAA Division I school in Lynchburg, Va.

The 6-foot-10 forward informed Flames coach Ritchie McKay on Thursday of his decision.

"The coaching staff made things very easy," said Vander Pol, who will be a senior this fall. "They were very interested right off the bat. It was also important for me to have a Christian education and they're going to give me one for free."

Vander Pol averaged 16 points, 10.9 rebounds and 7.3 blocked shots per game for the Sentinels last season.

Click Here for Full Story


And here is a 1-on-1 interview from back in May done by his AAU team.

[Fumblerooskies]

Maybe one of our Florida posters can vouch for the level of competition his HS faces.

[Sly Fox]

Clearly the staff liked how looked stacked up against high calibre AAU competition. But I get the feeling his school plays on a fairly small stage. Frankly that helps keep the wolves away until signing day.

A year ago he was listed at 6'7" so his stature both physically and in the recruiting world have increased substantially in the past 12 months.

His nickname, not surprisingly, is the Flying Dutchman. So hopefully he has some hops.

[jcmanson]

Vander Pol averaged 16 points, 10.9 rebounds and 7.3 blocked shots per game for the Sentinels last season.

This may be our only available scholly depending on the 2 we had taken away. Would be nice to get those back, but we shall see.

[LUconn]

I think his stats are most likely misleading if he plays for a small christian school. He's most likely 8 inches taller than everybody else in the league. But it sounds like he held his own in the AAU circuit.

[Hold My Own]

But it sounds like he held his own in the AAU circuit.

We like that

[olldflame]

If I'm not mistaken, LU has done pretty well with post players of Dutch ancestry in the past.

[Fumblerooskies]

If I'm not mistaken, LU has done pretty well with post players of Dutch ancestry in the past.

But we have NOT done well in the recent with players of similar physical and scholastic make-up. That is why I ask about the competition.

[olldflame]

Poor Russ. Doomed forever to be the standard bearer for underachieving players from christian or home school backgrounds. I honestly don't believe this coaching staff would have recruited him, which would have been a loss to LU as a school, but probably a gain as a basketball program. I think all of the newcomers we have who fit this general category (Sanders, McMasters, Floyd, Curry, etc.) have other credentials (primarily AAU) to verify they can hold up to D1 level competition. As far as I know, Russ did not.

[Rocketfan]

For the record, we were asking for big men for 2008.....not 2009.

[olldflame]

For the record, we were asking for big men for 2008.....not 2009.

For the record. What do you consider big?

[BJWilliams]

Id think that anybody over PA's height would be considered a big man


But on a more serious note we have some pretty tall guys coming in. Id guess some are lookin for right around that 7 foot mark and in the neighborhood of 200 pounds

[SuperJon]

Id think that anybody over PA's height would be considered a big man

That's just dumb. That means Seth Curry could be playing center.

But on a more serious note we have some pretty tall guys coming in. Id guess some are lookin for right around that 7 foot mark and in the neighborhood of 200 pounds

7 foot 200 pounds would be insanely skinny and would get knocked around like crazy. I don't think they're wanting a seven footer. They're wanting someone 6'8-6'11 that can play with the back to the basket and post up. We have big men but they play more of a small forward position. They don't post that much. Maybe some of the bigger freshmen will.

[BJWilliams]

Id think that anybody over PA's height would be considered a big man

That's just dumb. That means Seth Curry could be playing center.

But on a more serious note we have some pretty tall guys coming in. Id guess some are lookin for right around that 7 foot mark and in the neighborhood of 200 pounds

7 foot 200 pounds would be insanely skinny and would get knocked around like crazy. I don't think they're wanting a seven footer. They're wanting someone 6'8-6'11 that can play with the back to the basket and post up. We have big men but they play more of a small forward position. They don't post that much. Maybe some of the bigger freshmen will.

Well yeah itd be dumb to have someone around 6 foot playing center (maybe in middle school basketball). I was trying to lighten things up a bit.

If we could pick up somebody in the height range you mention and around the 230-235 range who could hold his own on rebounding and had good touch around the basket that would be pretty awesome. Im interested to see what these incoming guys can do. Does Coach Gillespie work just with the football team or is he somebody that could work with the other sports too? Im sure if he got a hold of a couple of the bigger guys it would do a lot of good

[LUconn]

Id think that anybody over PA's height would be considered a big man

That's just dumb. That means Seth Curry could be playing center.

Chill out. He said on a more serious note. That means he wasn't serious.

[SuperJon]

My bad. Didn't see the on a more serious note part. I just assumed it was something he was serious about and didn't think through.

[olldflame]

I really think some conclusions have been jumped to on this board about Carter McMasters and Austin Smith by people who have never seen them play and based on 2nd and 3rd hand information. Just because someone has the versatility to shoot from the perimeter does not mean they are a pansey under the basket. They're 6'10 for cryinoutloud! Let's wait and see what they can do.

Baker we have seen, and even though he may be a bit enamored with his outside shot, how can you blame him with a stroke that pure? He also has shown he can rebound at the D1 level.

[Rocketfan]

For the record, we were asking for big men for 2008.....not 2009.

For the record. What do you consider big?

Someone listed on the roster with a "C" next to his name not a F/C.....a post player who plays in the post and doesn't shoot 3's while being skinnier than shawn bradley. I want some beef that can rebound.

[olldflame]

For the record, we were asking for big men for 2008.....not 2009.

For the record. What do you consider big?

Someone listed on the roster with a "C" next to his name not a F/C.....a post player who plays in the post and doesn't shoot 3's while being skinnier than shawn bradley. I want some beef that can rebound.

Last year's roster:

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... 1&TeamID=6

Note the letter next to Alex McLean's name.
Note also the only name with a "C" next to it.
Note also the other "beefy" player on the squad and his contributions.

The leading rebounder in the BSC the past 2 years was 6'5 (maybe) and 205.
The second and third leading rebounders in the NBA would be more accurately described as "skinny" than "beefy" (Camby and Chandler).

P.S. If Shawn Bradley, or anyone remotely resembling him were to come to LU it would be the biggest thing to happen to this program in more ways than one. People forget what an absolutely dominant player he was at BYU.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Maybe one of our Florida posters can vouch for the level of competition his HS faces.

A couple Decent public Schools but nothing special... I just hope his rebounding and blocking numers dont change

I just dont know... I like the Idea of an Aaron Gray type player I just hope he plays like that... I would really like a Big Body like RocketFan though... Its a little tougher to block shots and get rebounds on the DI level as opposed to your Christian High School District...

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

How Much Does He weigh?

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

You guys keep asking for big men and once again Coach McKay has delivered ...

Eaaaaasyyyy Buddy, we dont HAVE anything yet, He hasnt delivered anything yet

[jcmanson]

It's not like there's a bunch of 6'10" 280 lb guys on the low-mid d1 level out there. There's not that many guys like that period.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

I just think they are easy to obtain if we just LOOK or will TRY to get... Problem is, we dont want them, so I hope that this other stuff works out

[ToTheLeft]

It's not like there's a bunch of 6'10" 280 lb guys on the low-mid d1 level out there. There's not that many guys like that period.

Exactly. We aren't gonna land Big Baby Davis here, so we take what we can get....