John Becker’s Coaching Tree Helps Secure Guillory
Anotha one. (DJ Khaled voice)
Almost a week after one of the top Canadian prospects Sam Alamutu announced his intentions to sign with Vermont, the Catamounts snagged their second big fish in as many weeks, this time with 6’3†combo-guard Evan Guillory.
Guillory originally hails from Joplin, Missouri, but has spent the previous year attending the prep school New Hampton in New Hampshire. The combo-guard was a big time contributor in his first year at New Hampton, as he helped them capture their first ever NEPSAC title with signature wins over other top prep programs such as Vermont Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon and Brewster Academy.
Vermont’s recruiting pipeline typically doesn’t extend out to places like the Mizzo, but there might have been an extra connection that helped sway Guillory to the Catamounts. New Hampton head coach Andrew Gale, who previously served under John Becker’s tutelage, spent four years with the team as a graduate assistant coach for the Cats. Something tells me that these two have had plenty of conversations and that Guillory might just be the start of a long-list of future Catamounts to come through New Hampton.
There’s a lot of similarities between Guillory and Vermont’s other recent recruit, Sam Alamutu. Both are incredibly strong, athletic and offer great versatility on both ends of the court. The two have similar slashing mindsets and will help push the Cats attack. Defensively, the duo of Guillory and Alamutu should be able to slide between the 1 – 3 spots with ease.
What really separates these two from recruits Vermont has seen in the past is their constant ability to play above the rim. High-flying dunks and chase down blocks will become the new norm at Patrick Gym. Life can change in an instant, but looking at Vermont’s young nucleus of talent in Aaron Deloney, Eric Beckett, Georges Lefebvre and now Sam Alamutu and Evan Guillory and you best believe that America East Title will be staying in Burlington for quite some time.
Again, much like Alamutu, Guillory was seemingly under-recruited and only held a small handful of scholarship offers from other programs per Verbal Commits. In all likelihood this is a butterfly effect from the on-going pandemic. Without camps and AAU tournaments, players like Guillory and Alamutu aren’t able to showcase their skills in front of scouts and go largely unnoticed in the eyes of more high-major programs.
🚨 Attention D1 Coaches 🚨@NHSHuskySports unsigned senior Evan Guillory (@Ev_Guillory) is under-recruited!
College ready two-way player!#BeSeen ðŸŽžï¸ @hoopmajor_john pic.twitter.com/NaaBISR5Sb
— NERR (@NERRHoops) October 28, 2020
Their loss is Vermont’s gain. Credit to John Becker and his coaching staff, who have built an incredible program at Vermont by identifying talent that most schools overlook. In a typical year it’s possible that the likes of Guillory and Alamutu would’ve picked up more offers from bigger programs had they been able to compete at various circuits across the country.
Guillory has been a fast riser since he arrived at New Hampton and it’s almost a shame he wasn’t able to showcase his talent for more programs. According to New England Recruiting Report (NERR), Guillory ranks second in his class for all of New Hampshire and 16th overall in all players from New England. The only player ranked higher than Guillory from New Hampshire? 4-5 star prospect and UCLA commit, Mac Etienne. That’s some pretty good company.
“Last year, (Guillory) was a powerful jack of all trades, who would infuse energy onto the game with his physicality and high-motor. While that’s still the case, he’s more ready to play a leading role offensively while continuing to set the tone for the team defensively.â€
– New England Recruiting Report
Guillory will draw a lot of comparisons to current Catamount combo-guard, Ben Shungu – and rightfully so. Their style of play is very similar and both set the tone defensively with their energy and bulldog mentality. Another player comparison would be former Cat, Dre Wills. Both Shungu and Wills have been major contributors for Vermont during their America East reign and if Guillory can emulate the same type of success the Cats should be in for another prosperous four years.
Stay locked in for more on Guillory and all of Vermont’s latest recruiting news. Who knows when Guillory will actually be allowed to come to Burlington and work out with the team, but being a stone’s throw away in New Hampshire certainly makes it a bit easier. For now we extend our congratulations to Evan and his family and welcome the Guillorys to Catamount country!
I just stay humble til I gotta show that savage in me 👹💨!! Tag @overtime @BleacherReport @SLAM_HS pic.twitter.com/walwchjFWr
— Ev Guillory 💙💙! (@Ev_Guillory) July 20, 2019
