Jimmies announce 2023 recruiting class
University of Jamestown men's basketball head coach Danny Neville announced the 2023 recruiting class on Friday afternoon. This year's recruiting class for the Jimmies includes four transfers and eleven high school players. The class is comprised of five players from North Dakota, three from Minnesota, three from South Dakota and one each from Alaska, Idaho, New Jersey and Oregon.
"We knew when recruiting the class of 2023, we were going to have to try and replace some veteran leadership. Those veteran leaders were Mason Walters and Marc Kjos, who had been together since 2019-20 and won 93 games in four years. The 2023-24 season will be the first without seeing one of those guys on the floor." said Coach Neville.
"We felt like we needed a great mix of high school kids and transfers to replace those seniors. And that's what we feel like we did with this class. These fifteen young men all fit our culture and what we are trying to do as a program. We filled a lot of our needs for the upcoming year, and these guys are a perfect addition to the group that we have returning." "We're extremely excited about this year's recruiting class."
Incoming recruits listed alphabetically by last name:
Spencer Barr (5'11 Guard – Aberdeen, SD)
Spencer joins the Jimmies after finishing up his high school career at Aberdeen Central. Barr was named First Team All-Conference, First Team All-State, Mr. Basketball finalist, and holds the most points scored in Golden Eagles arena with 51.
Silas Bennion (6'1 Guard – Eugene, OR)
Silas comes to Jamestown after spending three years at Lewis-Clark State College. He leaves Lewis-Clark having scored 603 points, 263 assists and 337 rebounds. Silas is originally from Eugene, Oregon where he had a successful career at Churchill High School.
Antonio Chandler (6'6 Forward – Piscataway, NJ)
Antonio comes to Jamestown after playing 3 years at NCAA Division 2 Franklin Pierce University where he was a very important piece to their success, leading the team in offensive rebounds. He attended Piscataway High School where he led his team to a 23-4 season and was named All-Area and First Team All-Red Division.
Tate Grossman (6'4 Guard – Harvey, ND)
Tate comes to Jamestown after his high school career at Harvey-Wells County, where he set the career scoring record. Grossman had senior season averages of 21 ppg, 9rpg and 5 apg.
Camden Justice (6'4 Guard – Dell Rapids, SD)
Cam is from Dell Rapids and was named All-Conference honorable mention for class A in South Dakota. He averaged 12 ppg, 5rpg, and 3 apg.
Bryer Kaczynski (7'0 Forward – Lidgerwood, ND)
Bryer comes from Lidgerwood North Dakota and holds many school records including blocks in a game (14), blocks in a season (95), career rebounds (215), rebounds in a game (19) and season average rebounds (10.5).
Covy Kelly (6'1 Guard – Garden Valley, ID)
Covy comes to Jamestown after spending two years at Walla Walla CC, where he shot 199-436 from three-point range for a 46% clip. Covy is originally from Garden Valley, Idaho; where he attended Garden Valley High School and set the schools single game scoring record with 54 points. He went on to lead his team to their first State Championship in program history. Covy scored 45 points in the State Championship game, breaking the single game scoring record at the State Tournament in the 1A Division II classification.
Matthew Matheney (6'4 Forward – Bemidji, MN)
Matthew comes to Jamestown from Bemidji Senior High School, where he helped lead his team in FG percentage at 59%. He was a Section Academic Team champion and played AAU for the Wisconsin Playmakers and the Minnesota Comets.
Jack Rosendahl (6'2 Guard – Thief River Falls, MN)
Jack comes to Jamestown after his high school career at Thief River Falls, where he helped lead them to a 26-3 record. His senior year, he averaged 17 ppg, 6rpg, and 3 apg while shooting 40% from three.
Jackson Simmons (6'2 Guard – Woodbury, MN)
Jackson joins the Jimmies from East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota where his teams won the conference each of his four years. He was one of the top scorers in the 4AA program as a sophomore. Jackson played his last two seasons of AAU for Grassroots Sizzle.
Colton Spencer (6'3 Guard – Palmer, AK)
Colton joins the Jimmies after finishing his sophomore year at Everett CC. While he was there he average 13 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 3 apg. He was named First Team All-Defense and led his team to a 25-8 record.
Ayden Stainbrook (6'4 Guard/Forward– Pembina, ND)
Ayden comes to Jamestown from North Border after an impressive high school career for the Eagles. He was a ND Mr. Basketball finalist, ND Class B Senior Athlete of the Year, Midco Class B Player of the Year, 2X All-State team and 3X All-Region team.
Garrett Sullivan (6'6 Forward – Rugby, ND)
Garrett joins the Jimmies after his senior season at Rugby High School where he battled injury for his entire senior season. Despite this, he still managed to set the school record for free throw makes in a row and be a key leader.
Riley Thorpe (6'2 Guard – Ellendale, ND)
Riley joins the Jimmie's after finishing his career at Ellendale High School. He won district 5 and region 3 senior athlete of the year and a 3x All-District selection while averaging 14.3 ppg. He also shot 36% from three, leading the Cardinals to a 21-3 record.
Malek Wieker (6'1 Guard – Aberdeen, SD)
Malek comes to Jamestown after having a respectable career at Aberdeen Christian. Malek holds the school record for three-pointers in a single season with 89. Wieker's accolades include 3x All-Conference, 2x Co-MVP of Conference, All-Area Team, 2x All State Tournament Team, and 3x All-Stater. Malek also qualified for 4 straight state tournaments.