Northern Colorado Adds Two Recruits

Within the past week, Northern Colorado has added two good-looking recruits to their program.

The first was last week, when 6'5'' wing man Dominique Lee committed to play for the Bears. Like fellow signee Corey Spence, Lee played as Casper College. Former Casper College coach Joel Davidson is now an assistant at UNC.

Last year, Lee averaged 13.8 points and 7.6 rebounds, and is described as having versatility similar to Derrick Barden (though not quite that level of explosiveness). While he should be a nice piece offensively, he will arguably be an even bigger force on the defensive side.

"I'm also really excited about what he brings defensively. Those same qualities he brings on offense are going to allow us to do some of the same things that we did with Derrick [Barden] this year – switching ball screens, doing different things like that because [Dominique] has such great athleticism and feet."

If Lee can bring that type of versatility, UNC suddenly has the core of a good defensive team, with Barden and Spence in there as well. He can play many positions, which will help offset the loss of Emmanuel Addo upfront. He should have an immediate impact and will be solid in his two years for the Bears.

The other signee was a freshman-to-be big man named named Jeremy Verhagen. Verhagen has incredible numbers, although it appears it was against a little lower competition in Arizona. He led all high school players in the state in blocks and rebounds last year. His stat line was - 17.6 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 7.2 blocks per game.

He's 6'10'', and has a lot of room to grow physically. He is skinny, and can play a bit away from the basket. Hill is excited about his rebounding and shot blocking ability:

"Rebounding has always been my biggest stat as a coach," Hill said. "To get another guy in this program who likes to chase it, rebound outside his area is very exciting. Blocking shots hasn't ever been something we emphasize here, but he's obviously going to be a guy who brings that into the mix with his length, timing and feet on the defensive end. It's going to be fun for Bear fans to watch.

He had originally committed to Grand Canyon University, and apparently had some interest from Northern Arizona at one time. With his frame, it's tough to tell how big of an impact he will make right away, but UNC surely has big plans for him.

Not long ago, it looked like the frontcourt was the main weakness for the Bears.With these two signings, things are looking a lot more settled now.

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