Wabash Valley fielding five D1 prospects

Wabash Valley College (IL) is turning out Division One players at quite a pace these days. Last year, the Warriors were led by LaKeith Blanks who is now at New Mexico State. And in 2004, first year head coach Toby Madison had three players sign Division One letters during the early signing period.

Both Antwon Coleman and Jerell Jamison signed with Bobby Lutz and the Charlotte 49ers in November.

“Antwon has got a very, very unique combination of tremendous size and skill and agility. He's about 6-6 ½, goes about 290, got great hands, good feet. He's dominant in the post. If he gets it on the block, it's very hard to guard him,” Madison said. “The best thing is his passing. He's just an incredible passer...I'm very familiar with Charlotte from my days at Appalachian State and they don't have anybody in the front court who can pass like him.

The 49ers envision Coleman as a power forward.

“One thing Charlotte likes about him is they know their weight coach is very good, when they get a hold of him, they can help him to shed some weight,” Madison said.

Jamison, a 6-foot-5, 195 pounder originally from South Carolina, will join Coleman at Charlotte.

“His recruiting would have been a lot heavier had he not been recovering from stress fracture in his foot this fall. He couldn't play much in September when all the people were coming in here,” Madison said. “He played the night Charlotte was here. Coach Lutz and an assistant, they just loved him.”

What Madison loves about Jamison is his toughness.

“He's a tough kid, plays as hard as anybody. He plays like his life is on the line every single time,” Madison said. “They're not going to ask him to score a lot of points and hit a lot of shots, but ask him to do those little things and he does that.”

A third signee from Wabash is Walter Chancellor, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound forward who inked his letter with Wright State.

“He's sort of still a work in progress, but he's been great for us. Since I got here in the fall he gets better and better every day,” Madison said of Chancellor, who is similar in stature to Coleman. “He's not nearly as skilled as Antwan, but he runs floor, has incredible lateral movement, gets up off the ground. He's not going to step out and hit a lot of outside shots, but he's solid from the free throw line, does a good job of getting to the line. Where he has really improved is with his back to the basket.”

Even with three early signees, the action probably isn't over at Wabash. Kevin Bridgewaters is a sophomore guard, but he will have three years left to play. Bridgewater was at Western Kentucky last year, but did not play due in part to a coaching change for the Hilltoppers.

“(Schools are) probably concerned with whether he can get enough hours to graduate. He's working on it, may need a little summer work to get eligible,” Madison said. “A lot of people that were in really liked him, but they just didn't need a guard. If he waits a year, he'll be recruited by a lot of people. Wyoming, New Mexico State, Charlotte, UAB, they all liked him...As the season goes on it will be interesting to see what happens.”

Bridgewater, at 5-foot-9, was the leading high school scorer in Kentucky his senior season, averaging 37 points a game. He has scored more than 20 four times for the Warriors this season and is averaging about 21 a game.

Also, keep an eye out for Tyler Ray, a 6-foot-8 sophomore.

“If he can make it, he'll be a D1 player,” Madison said. “Basketball wise he's Division One, but academics may end up keeping him to D2. He is being recruited by the elite of D2, Metro State, Kentucky Wesleyan. They understand it will be a wait and see.”