The Saint Mary’s Gaels hit a familiar Australian pipeline to land the commitment of Dane Pineau, a forward. The 6-9 Aussie is reportedly among the better players in what is a strong group of young players that includes a few who starred in the United States during the summer in Dante Exum and Ben Simmons.
Still, Pineau is just one member of a recruiting class that now has three significant pledges at Saint Mary’s. Pineau will join Oregon wing forward Calvin Hermanson, the top recruit in that state this year, and super skilled guard Cullen Neal from New Mexico. Neal, the son of New Mexico assistant coach Craig Neal, and Hermanson both merit serious consideration for inclusion in any top-150 national list in the 2013 class, and are perhaps among the most underrated players nationally.
If Pineau has a game that translates to success in the West Coast Conference, Saint Mary’s is more than situated for continued success under coach Randy Bennett (pictured), as Neal and Hermanson will form a deadly offensive combination at the “2” and “3” going forward.
The Saint Mary’s program also landed a good incoming freshmen from SoCal in Chris Reyes, a 6-7 forward that achieved similar status to Hermanson and Neal last year. Reyes was perhaps a tad undersized to garner major offers from BCS schools, but it could be to their detriment if he excels in college as he very well could.
Kellon Hassenstab runs Hoopniks.com. Follow him on Twitter @hoopniks.