Wright State recruits will ease seniors’ exit

Four may have a chance to play next season, coach says.

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 3:38 AM Thursday, November 12, 2009

FAIRBORN — Wright State basketball coach Brad Brownell thinks his program has a lot to offer recruits, one of them being the four graduating seniors from this season’s team.

“A lot of times you lose a class of four seniors,” said Brownell Wednesday, Nov. 11, as he signed four players who will enter school as freshmen next year. “We’re going to lose a class of four starters. That’s one of the reasons we got a class like this. They’re thinking, ‘When I get there as a freshman, I’ve got a chance to play.’ That’s something that helped us with this bunch.”

Six-foot-9 Vandalia Butler center A.J. Pacher; 6-7 Cole Darling of Holt, Mich.; 6-4 Kegan Clark of Jeffersonville, Ind.; and 5-11 Cory Stanton of Springfield, Tenn., are augmented by 6-4 Matt Vest of Chaminade Julienne, who is entering WSU next fall but will be redshirted a year before accepting a scholarship in 2011.

Vest, son of WSU Hall of Famer Mark Vest, is about a year younger than most high school seniors and Brownell and the Vest family felt Matt needed another year to develop.

Even waiting, Vest should find plenty of opportunity for playing time. This year’s Raiders have no sophomores, and when Todd Brown, Ronnie Thomas, Cory Cooperwood and John David Gardner finish the season, their positions will be up for grabs.

“We’re losing some good players,” said Brownell, whose three WSU teams have each won at least 20 games. “They’ll (juniors) fill in some, but there are still gaping holes there.”

From their stated sizes, it appears the signed recruits fill needs at every position.

“I like the guys I’ve got coming a lot,” Brownell said. “They bring a nice mix. We’ve got a little of everything in terms of positions. We’ve got some quality skill sets.

“Physically, the two bigger kids (Pacher and Darling) need to get stronger and tougher, but that’s the way a lot of kids that size are as freshmen.

“Cory Stanton is a kid who has some explosiveness and is an outgoing kid, so I like his personality. Kegan is kind of a jack-of-all-trades right now, but physically, he’s more ready to play than all of them.

“I think it’s a very good, deep class. How good they prove to be remains to be seen.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.