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Several sources, including a commenter on this blog, have indicated that JC point guard Lloyd Phillips will not play for the Montana Grizzlies this year.

For the speedy guard who was enrolled in summer school classes at UM this summer, it was a combination of eligibility issues and the possibility of bigger offers to come. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to see this kid play but from what I hear he was a potential high-major player who would've stepped right in as the starter at point guard. We'll have to wait and see how this trickles down.

Odds are, this moves Cameron Rundles back to the 1, his natural position, and then putting someone like Ryan Staudacher or Matt Martin at the 2. Losing someone of Phillips' nature is big but it's something the Griz should be able to overcome.

Phillips will be playing his ball at Iowa Western Community College this year.

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On Friday, I wrote that Lloyd Phillips and Sean Watson were in as Griz recruits and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor still needed to get some paperwork figured out. Well, I was wrong.

Tinkle announced Friday that junior college transfers Sean Watson and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor would join the Griz for the 2007-08 season. They join prep recruits Derek Selvig of Glendive and Brian Qvale of Williston, N.D., in the 2007 recruiting class. Selvig and Qvale signed last November.

Tinkle said the Griz have one more scholarship to give and “we have a guy that we're trying to work all the paperwork out with.” Jucojunction.com reports that player is 5-10 point guard Lloyd Phillips of Allen County (Kan.) Community College.

Tinks on Watson:

“He handles the ball, he's athletic, can shoot it and score,” said Tinkle, who added that Southern Mississippi, Louisiana Tech, St. John's and Texas Tech were some of the other schools recruiting Watson. “When I saw him play I thought what a great defender. He keeps his man in front of him.”

Info on Elgin-Taylor:

Elgin-Taylor is a 6-1 point guard who averaged 13 points and 5.5 assists for Irvine (Calif.) Valley College last season. He was named first team all-conference.

“He can play both guard positions,” Tinkle said. “He's a quarterback who runs the team. He's a very, very tough-nosed defender, just a tough-minded point guard who runs your team and sets the tone defensively.”

It's looking good so far. Tinks says it best later in this article, "It looks like a talented group. The challenge will be getting them to gel." Just like last year, this year's team looks phenomenal on paper but it doesn't mean a thing if they don't fill their potential and gel as a team.

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An official announcement is expected to be made later today but Wayne Tinkle spoke last night in Great Falls about the class of incoming recruits.

"We've signed a couple of junior-college players, one from Texas and one from Kansas, who I think will really help us in the backcourt," Tinkle said. "Along with the high school kids we signed in the fall, it really is shaping up to be a pretty darn good class."

"One kid's a 6-1 combo guard. The other kid's a 6-3, 6-4 wing who will add a lot of toughness and athleticism. Both are highly touted players," Tinkle said. "Then we've got a third kid who we've got to go through the process and finish the paperwork on who I think will really add to the class as well. We're pretty excited and looking forward to it."

Well, this is kind of what we expected. I'm almost certain the first two players are Lloyd Phillips and Sean Watson with the third questionable kid being Ceylon Elgin-Taylor. Phillips is listed at 5-10 and is more of a strong shooting speedster than a combo guard. He's closer to a pure point than people like Zach Graves and Matt Martin.

There was also news on the upcoming schedule:

"We're looking to go over and play Gonzaga in Spokane and it looks like we'll be in a tournament with Washington State in Spokane also," he said. "Air Force and Mississippi Valley will be there.

"We open up with Colorado State in Missoula. So we're going to be challenged the first couple of weeks out of the game, but that's the way we wanted it."

The games against Gonzaga and Wazzu in Spokane were expected but it's good to hear about some other teams. I love that we now know who we'll be opening with. It makes hoops season seem just a little bit closer.

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It's been known for a bit that the Griz coaching staff knocked down three recruits — Sean Watson, Lloyd Phillips and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor — during the spring signing period. What hasn't been known is when the coaching staff was planning on making an official announcement. Here's what head coach Wayne Tinkle had to say on the matter:

We will be releasing the names of our signees in the coming days.  Not trying to hold out on anyone, just making sure that all of the paperwork etc is correct!  It should prove to be one of our better classes in some time!  Thats on paper anyways...they still have to get here and perform both in the classroom and on the court!

Well there you go. He sounds pretty enthusiastic.

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The Griz basketball program signed its fifth recruit as Lloyd Phillips out of Allen County Community College has decided to play for the University of Montana.

Phillips is a bit small at 5'10" but he's only going to be a sophomore and has the ability to shoot the ball as he made 48.3% of his shots from distance while averaging 17.2 ppg and 3.5 assists this past season.

The guard position is pretty stacked with these type of guys as the Griz now have four young point guards if you toss tweener Zach Graves into the bunch. It's five total if you decide to count Matt Martin as a 1. The starting job is all locked up in Cameron Rundles but it will be a fight for the spots behind him.

Rundles has shown he can play the two in the Big Sky so this will a lot with two point guards on the floor.  It will make be easier for guys like Phillips, Graves and Cox to find time if Staudacher and Martin aren't knocking down shots.

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