Montana Grizzlies Sports, Football and Basketball : Grizzoulian

Next season, the Griz will look to play a more up-tempo, quicker offense. With that goal in mind, they're tailoring their recruiting accordingly. One player they're targeting: Anthony Johnson of Yakima Valley Community College. He was in Missoula today visiting campus.

Here's a little information on Johnson, who was East Region MVP of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

"He's a scorer," Funk (his coach) said. "He can get to the basket and the free throw line, but he's also got a canny mid-range pull-up shot that you don't see much anymore. And the knock on him all year was that he had no three-point shot, but he was 7-for-14 from three in the (NWAACC) tournament. He's really quick, long-armed, and a great on-the-ball defender too."

Over the course of the season, Johnson saw his recruitment steadily rise and now a number of schools all throughout the Pacific Northwest are looking at taking the next step.

"Anthony is getting looked at by a lot of Division I schools right now," Funk said. "Montana is coming in to see him tomorrow and Eastern Washington and Portland State have been recruiting him and would like him to visit. Idaho and Weber State also came to see him play this year and I've talked to one of the Boise State coaches about him."

Funk also noted that many of the schools in the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference have been recruiting Johnson all season long. The high-scoring guard is considering all options and is essentially looking at taking as many official visits as he can before making an educated choice.

"I think he's basically looking for that best fit," Funk said. "It's everything from academics to the level of play to the playing time situation to what his role would be on the team to the chance to get to the (NCAA) Tournament. He's married, so he's got his wife to consider as well."

Wow. He has to figure out if Montana is the right fit from him, but based on his skill-set, he's the perfect fit for Montana: quick, athletic guard who can get to the rim but still keep defenders honest with a dangerous mid-range jumper. Although he showed he's capable of making a 3-point shot, it's great to know that is not something he depends on. With a player like this—combined with the additions of Selvig, McGillis, Taylor, Stockton and Ward—it's very likely the Griz will have the most talent in the 'Sky. As we know, talent is not everything, but when you get versatile talent like this, it goes a long way.