Gonners Diverse List Includes Big 10 Suitor
Josh Gonner, a cat-quick 6-2 shooting guard from Hutchinson C.C. in Hutchinson, Kan., has a diverse list of colleges courting him this spring.
While in Hutchinson last week for the NJCAA Tournament, JUCO Junction sat down with Blue Dragons Asst. Coach Eric Duft for the latest skinny on Gonner.
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Duft said that Gonner has planned three visits for the spring. He used one of his five allotted trips early to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Gonner will visit Southeast Missouri State the weekend of Apr. 11. Josh's older brother Dainmon, attends the Cape Girardeau based school.
Duft said that Gonner has also pledged visits to Ole Miss and Illinois. While neither school has officially extended a scholarship offer, both are serious enough that they want Gonner to visit their respective campuses this spring.
Three other programs are angling for official visits this spring. Duft said that Louisiana Tech, Manhattan and East Carolina are hoping to secure Gonner's fifth and final visit. Of those three schools, Louisiana Tech has offered.
Gonner was a first-team Jayhawk West all-conference selection this winter, averaging 18.5 points and 2.6 steals per game as Hutch reached the Region VI quarterfinals. He also shot 82 percent from the charity stripe and connected on 74 three pointers in 2002-2003.
"Josh does nothing great but he does everything well," explained Duft. "He shoots it, handles it, passes it, can defend the one through the three and is a tremendous athlete with great stamina."
Duft said that Gonner will need to work on his strength for the Division I level.
JUCO Junction has watched Gonner the past two years at Hutchinson and have been impressed by his ability to hit big shots late in games. He possesses many of the qualities outlined by Duft above, but definitely will need to get stronger for the D-I ranks.
Gonner plans on making a spring decision, and you can count on JUCO Junction to keep you posted on his situation as signing day approaches.