Montana goes down under to find newest Grizzlies
11/15/2019 11:26:00 AM | Men's Basketball
From Jack Lopez to Fabijan Krslovic, Montana has found plenty of recent success in the land down under.
Add two more to the list, with Josh Bannan and Hunter Clarke signing their National Letter of Intent this week.
Bannan, a 6-8 forward, and Clarke, a 6-5 guard, have known each other for years. The two have played with each other and against each other in the Australian circuit, and were roommates over the summer while playing semi-professionally.
The pair visited Montana together in April, both making verbal commitments.
DeCuire said he and his staff identified the two Australians early, which helped establish long-forming relationships. Associate head coach Chris Cobb first noticed the duo while attending a tournament in Australia, and DeCuire also has connections to the Australian leagues, through his previous coaching stops.
It doesn't hurt, he said, that Montana's style of play is conducive to that of Australia.
"The way we run our program, I think they found that the things they want they could get here," DeCuire said.
Bannan, a native of Victoria, played junior club basketball with the Blackburn Vikings before joining the Centre of Excellence this past spring. Bannan traditionally plays the small and power forward positions, but can stretch the floor when needed to. He had additional reported offers from UC Riverside and UC San Diego.
"Josh is going to bring a high level of scoring to our team," DeCuire said. "He's versatile and has the ability to score at the rim, but he can also space out and is shooting the ball from three really well right now. He has versatility from different positions, which creates matchup problems."
Clarke has several ties to the United States, and even Montana. Born in Australia's capital of Canberra and raised in Adelaide, he moved to California in sixth grade when his father, Marty, became an assistant coach at Saint Mary's. Clarke lived in California for about four years before moving back to Australia and receiving a scholarship offer at the NBA Global Academy at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence. Clarke's older brother, Anderson, is in his second season as a graduate manager with the Griz.
"I think Hunter's IQ is something that is undervalued," DeCuire said. "He has a feel for the game and his No. 1 weapon is his ability to shoot the ball. He has a quick release and a high release, and he has length, so he shouldn't struggle to get shots off."
Both Bannan and Clarke are currently competing at the Centre of Excellence, which is part of the NBL1, a semi-professional Australian league that is on par with the NBA G-League, and even features some G-League players.
Clarke has been enrolled at the NBA Global Academy since June 2017. In 12 games in 2019, Clarke averaged 10.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Bannan totaled 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game during his first season.
The NBA Global Academy serves as the NBA's hub for the top male and female prospects from outside the U.S. to train. It has produced future NBA players, including Andrew Bogut (2005 No. 1 overall pick), Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills.
"We definitely expect them to be a little bit more ready to play than most freshmen because of their level of competition and the time spent on player development in Australia," DeCuire said.
Despite just turning 18, Clarke averaged 16.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game across seven contests for Australia Basketball's U20 national team over the summer. Bannan nearly averaged a double-double with 13.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game while helping his squad, Team Victoria, to a gold medal. Both players have been in the Basketball Australia circuit for several years, also playing for the U17 national team in 2018, where they finished sixth at the U17 World Cup in Argentina.
Clarke first received a letter from Montana in early high school, when he was living in California, but things really took off in August 2018, when Cobb traveled to Australia to see both players play.
"The school is amazing and the community feels a lot different than a place like L.A.," Clarke said. "There was a more wholesome feel. You go into a restaurant and everyone says hello, and I kind of liked that. It was more relatable to Australia."
Added Bannan: "I love basketball and I knew playing in the U.S. would help me as a basketball player, which has made it easier working towards what I want to achieve. I really knew I wanted to go to college in America. That's always been a goal and aspiration of mine."
In addition to Bannan and Clarke, Montana also signed California prep stars Robby Beasley and Brandon Whitney this week.
Add two more to the list, with Josh Bannan and Hunter Clarke signing their National Letter of Intent this week.
Bannan, a 6-8 forward, and Clarke, a 6-5 guard, have known each other for years. The two have played with each other and against each other in the Australian circuit, and were roommates over the summer while playing semi-professionally.
The pair visited Montana together in April, both making verbal commitments.
DeCuire said he and his staff identified the two Australians early, which helped establish long-forming relationships. Associate head coach Chris Cobb first noticed the duo while attending a tournament in Australia, and DeCuire also has connections to the Australian leagues, through his previous coaching stops.
It doesn't hurt, he said, that Montana's style of play is conducive to that of Australia.
"The way we run our program, I think they found that the things they want they could get here," DeCuire said.
Bannan, a native of Victoria, played junior club basketball with the Blackburn Vikings before joining the Centre of Excellence this past spring. Bannan traditionally plays the small and power forward positions, but can stretch the floor when needed to. He had additional reported offers from UC Riverside and UC San Diego.
"Josh is going to bring a high level of scoring to our team," DeCuire said. "He's versatile and has the ability to score at the rim, but he can also space out and is shooting the ball from three really well right now. He has versatility from different positions, which creates matchup problems."
Clarke has several ties to the United States, and even Montana. Born in Australia's capital of Canberra and raised in Adelaide, he moved to California in sixth grade when his father, Marty, became an assistant coach at Saint Mary's. Clarke lived in California for about four years before moving back to Australia and receiving a scholarship offer at the NBA Global Academy at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence. Clarke's older brother, Anderson, is in his second season as a graduate manager with the Griz.
"I think Hunter's IQ is something that is undervalued," DeCuire said. "He has a feel for the game and his No. 1 weapon is his ability to shoot the ball. He has a quick release and a high release, and he has length, so he shouldn't struggle to get shots off."
Both Bannan and Clarke are currently competing at the Centre of Excellence, which is part of the NBL1, a semi-professional Australian league that is on par with the NBA G-League, and even features some G-League players.
Clarke has been enrolled at the NBA Global Academy since June 2017. In 12 games in 2019, Clarke averaged 10.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Bannan totaled 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game during his first season.
The NBA Global Academy serves as the NBA's hub for the top male and female prospects from outside the U.S. to train. It has produced future NBA players, including Andrew Bogut (2005 No. 1 overall pick), Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills.
"We definitely expect them to be a little bit more ready to play than most freshmen because of their level of competition and the time spent on player development in Australia," DeCuire said.
Despite just turning 18, Clarke averaged 16.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game across seven contests for Australia Basketball's U20 national team over the summer. Bannan nearly averaged a double-double with 13.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game while helping his squad, Team Victoria, to a gold medal. Both players have been in the Basketball Australia circuit for several years, also playing for the U17 national team in 2018, where they finished sixth at the U17 World Cup in Argentina.
Clarke first received a letter from Montana in early high school, when he was living in California, but things really took off in August 2018, when Cobb traveled to Australia to see both players play.
"The school is amazing and the community feels a lot different than a place like L.A.," Clarke said. "There was a more wholesome feel. You go into a restaurant and everyone says hello, and I kind of liked that. It was more relatable to Australia."
Added Bannan: "I love basketball and I knew playing in the U.S. would help me as a basketball player, which has made it easier working towards what I want to achieve. I really knew I wanted to go to college in America. That's always been a goal and aspiration of mine."
In addition to Bannan and Clarke, Montana also signed California prep stars Robby Beasley and Brandon Whitney this week.
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