NMU head men’s basketball coach Bill Sall announced the ’Cats have added five student athletes to the basketball roster, with the hopes of adding two more before the end of the offseason.
“I think we’ve addressed some of the needs we’ve had,” Sall said. “We were able to get some really good players from a variety of spots, and some of the players will be able to make an improvement right off the bat for this team.”
Marquette native center Vejas Grazulis has committed to NMU after playing four years at Marquette Senior High School. Grazulis’ brother, A.J. Grazulis redshirted this past season for the Michigan Tech Huskies.
“We feel like Grazulis has a really high ceiling with his potential,” NMU assistant coach Will Hill said. “He will probably redshirt for us his first year, but we know he’s going to have a ton of contribution for this team down the line.”
Guard Naba Echols has committed to NMU after winning back-to-back state championships at Mitchell High School in Memphis, Tenn.
Echols played 35 games at Mitchell in his three years on their varsity squad, averaging 10 points per game and 2.8 assists per game.
“[Echols] is a dynamic point guard, which is something we really needed to have if we were going to move this team forward,” Sall said. “He’s a tremendous leader who really understands the game well, so we’re really excited to have him.”
The Wildcats were able to recruit Isaiah Johnson from Whitefish Bay, Wis. who Hill said was highly scouted by other programs.
“We had a huge recruiting battle with a lot of GLIAC and Division I schools, he’s a kid that a lot of people were after,” Hill said. “He’s a lot like Jordan Perez, not in playing style but in body style. He can play multiple positions, he can play the point, he has a high motor and we’re really excited about him.”
The ’Cats will be returning nine players from last season, which saw the ’Cats finish 7-15 in GLIAC play, 9-19 overall and finishing 14th out of 16 teams in the conference. After dealing with injuries to many of the team’s starting players, the ’Cats dropped their last five games.
“We’ve added some much needed depth to our roster,” Hill said. “Frankly, we didn’t have enough bodies at the end of last season to finish the year, which made a disappointing ending. Overall we had a good season with some great wins that we experienced, and our players are learning what it takes to play college basketball.”
Sall said the year of experience will be beneficial on the court this season.
“Last season was a step in the right direction,” Sall said. “We have a good nucleus now that’s been around the block and really understands this program, and I’m looking forward to see us take another jump in the right direction.”
