Vishal "The Sniper" Banipal will be headed to Idaho State this season. He is a 6'1'' combo guard originally from Alberta, Canada, who played one year in the USA at Southwest Academy in Lansing, Michigan.
In the midst of a strong year, Banipal received NCAA interest from Liberty, Central Michigan, Idaho State and a load of Junior College offers.It certainly is late for a player to sign for this season, but such is life for Bengals basketball. He is a solid outside shooter (hence the nickname) and appears to have decent athleticism. Still, being signed so late, it is hard to envision him having much of an impact this season.
"The Sniper" as his teammates referred to him, figured he would need to take the JUCO route in order make the jump to the NCAA, however when he received the call from Idaho State, the rest was history!
"It was the happiest day of my life," expressed Banipal.
"Thank God I got that call from Idaho State. I knew I could play D1 basketball but I was prepared to take the JUCO route."
The Alberta product will enter his freshman year with the ISU Bengals, who compete in the Big Sky conference. The official visit has been taken, the papers have been signed, and this Canadian will be on campus sooner than later.
Last I heard, this guy hadn't even shown up on campus yet, and classes started Monday. The silver lining in all of this is that if, and it's a big if, he and some of the sophmores exhibit even "average" ability, then the cupboard won't be quite so bare for the next coach. He could plug some holes with JC players and at least have some depth to work with. Of course the other side of it is that if these players turn out like all of O'Brien's other players, it will take a good 2-3 years to dig out of this mess.
ReplyDeleteWe will see, I have a hard time seeing Banipal contribute much at all anytime soon... obviously no other D1 offers (from reading the article) and no prep time in the summer. Time will tell, I suppose. It will be an interesting experiment.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is gonna make an impact on the team for sure. Dont under estimate him, he is a hard working and determined player. Has a lot of weight on his shoulders being the only East Indian playing in NCAA as well.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Vishal!
Ive seen this guy place once randomly while he was versin my frineds prep team, hes pretty sick, he was leading the team and ripping it up, sick player in my opinion
ReplyDeleteGo vishal, my homie, you all will be surprised, growing up with vishal and, playing with him I know he'll adjust to the ncaa, and then out shine his team.
ReplyDeleteGo