Boucher fits an up-tempo system

Perhaps the JUCO big man to have blown up the most this past season is Northwest College's Chris Boucher. The 6'10" stretch four averaged 22.5 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, and 4.7 blocks per game in NJCAA's Division-I. He was efficient, too; Boucher shot 58% from the field, 44.4% from three point range, and 75.8% on free throws.

Those staggering numbers could earn him some prestigious post-season accolades.

"My staff and I, we're sitting there, watching all of the (NJCAA) Tournament games, and there are some great players. But if we're talking MVP, the impact he had for our team changed every game for us," Boucher's coach Brian Erickson told Gopher Illustrated.

"I've kind of said it all year, but he could be the MVP of the entire nation. We have seventeen teams in our region, and the coaches submit the top players to see who can become All-American, and he was our region's number one. I think he'll be a First Team All-American, and we'll see about Player of the Year."

Erickson has seen major improvement in his star player.

"He's really gotten a lot better since day one. A year and a half ago, he had a hard time dribbling with his left hand; that's how much he's improved. He's worked hard here."

Because of his height and length, Boucher has received a lot of playing time as a post, but his ever-improving skill allows him to play on the perimeter as well.

"We haven't seen a ton of him driving from the perimeter and finishing in the lane, but we've been working on it all year. Him kind of him believing in himself and trusting himself to do it in a game is what I've wanted to see. And towards the end of the year, he started to do it a lot more," his coach said.

"He had at the (NJCAA) Tournament, he did a dribble stepback for three and knocked it down. The other coach was just like 'Oh my gosh.' You know that's an NBA move for a 6'10 player to do."

For now, though, his coach believes that Boucher is best suited to primarily play power forward, and described his game to Gopher Illustrated.

"He's got a few moves back-to-the-basket, but that's not what he does. I think he could play a three at a high major just because he's so long and can get down and guard anybody. But really he's a stretch four that can catch on the break or spot up. He's still raw in my mind, and that's hard to say because he is a high-major guy.

"The next couple of years, wherever he ends up, he's got to keep working on his faceup game. He faces up a lot, but usually just shoots it. He can rip through, jab step, but I think he can be a pro here in a couple years if he can keep developing some of those moves," he said.

"He needs to gain a little bit of weight, but he's played against some mid- and high-major big men this year and held his own. Big guys can move him around, but he's one of the best I've seen timing his jump to block a shot. A big guy might back him down a little bit, but he's so long and athletic that he still seems to block their shot.

"And offensively, with one of those true bigs, who's going to be able to step out and guard him. This year we've had some guards purposefully try and match up with him. But then that creates a mismatch down low, so Chris will feed it to the post. I think he'll be fine. He does need to gain some weight. If a program needs him to be an inside presence, he's going to need a redshirt year."

Despite his performance this year, Boucher's recruitment started off slow just because he was focused on the season.

"This entire year, he kept telling me: 'Coach, I just want to win basketball games.' And I've said 'well, we need to worry about your future,' but he always says 'let's worry about it in March after the season.' So now that we're there, I think we're going to start thinking about it.

"He hasn't really put time into talking with coaches. They call him, they text him, but he's just been so busy with school and basketball that he hasn't put a time really into even answering them. So the rest of the week, we're going to sit down and talk about it," Erickson explained.

They'll have a lot to talk about -- Boucher's recruitment is starting to take off.

"It's been kind of TCU, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Arizona State have been pretty big. All those teams plus Gonzaga were at our practice last Monday. Washington State's been in there. After the game, Memphis talked to me. Tubby Smith at Texas Tech was there, and they offered him a full ride. There are probably ten to fifteen other schools that talked to my assistant.

"I think his recruitment is going to get pretty big. My phone has been blowing up," he said. "TCU, Oklahoma State, Washington State, and Minnesota have all offered. Gonzaga didn't offer, but they really like him. Texas Tech offered him, as did Memphis and Iona. Pitt offered; they just called a couple days ago. There are a lot of smaller Division-I schools that offered too: Portland State, Idaho State, Montana State, Prairie View A&M, and Indiana State."

Arizona State, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, and TCU seem to be showing the most interest.

"Minnesota has shown a lot of interest. I've been talking to some members of their staff since December. (Assistant coach) Ben Johnson is a guy that I've been texting and was just here. He was at the NJCAA Tournament," he said about the Gophers.

"For Oklahoma State, (Assistant coach) Chris Ferguson has been up here once and (assistant) James Dickey came up here once, but I've been talking to Ferguson a lot more. They came up to practice one day, and weren't able to stick around for the games, but they really like him," he said.

"At TCU, I've been talking with (assistant) Coach (Chris) Tifft. Someone from their staff has probably came up about five or six times, and the head coach has been up here three or four times. They were at both of our games at the NJCAA Tournament and both of our practices, as well."

(Assistant coach) Barret Perry at Arizona State came up for one our last games of the year and one of our practices, and he was at a game a week ago."

Erickson believes that some of Boucher's production this year is a result of the uptempo system he's playing in. He believes it's critical that his star forward will play for a program with a similar playing style.

"Last year, he played at New Mexico Junior College, and they played a little slower. He averaged like twelve (points), seven (rebounds), and three (blocks). This year he's doubled those numbers playing a little bit faster, so I think he would like to play faster because he's long and skinny and can run the floor hard.

"Chris can block a shot by being the first guy down the court. I think he would be great in an uptempo system like pressing, but I think a faster offense would fit him for sure."

And while Boucher excels playing fast, he's taken the entire recruiting process slow, and Erickson says that won't change anytime soon. Spring Signing Day is April 13 this year, but don't expect the 6'10 big to have announced his commitment by then.

"Hopefully in about five to seven days, we'll start to narrow things down to five and then maybe to three, and start taking visits. In terms of making a decision, we'll see how (teams' recruiting) classes play out, but I don't think he'll have to sign right on Signing Day because I don't think he'll necessarily be ready."