Gomez is official

Deshawn Gomez signed on Thursday. I hope to talk with him in the next day or so so keep an eye out for that. It's still way early but the Aggies seem to be developing some depth in the backcourt and the frontcourt. Gomez and redshirt Justin Standley are both guys that are considered combo guards. And with Watson joining the team next year and B.J. West and I assume N'doye, there is a mix of players now along the front line.

De'Shawn Gomez

With the regular signing period ending next Wednesday, there is a good possibility that the Inglewood guard could be an Aggie next season. Gomez came to Las Cruces for a visit over the weekend, which means to me that there is a high likelihood he could commit since it's so late in the recruiting season. Last week, the Aggies announced they had signed big man B.J. West to a scholarship and Northern Cali guard Justin Standley will be here as a possible redshirt. It's unclear who would receive the additional two scholarships at this point but it looks like another guard could be on the roster. When the recruiting period began, Menzies said he wanted to go after size and a combo guard type player, which appears to be just what he brought in.

Lobo coming to the WAC

Not sure if you saw this or not. Don't remember Willis too much, other than he was a good shooter, kind of got lost in the mix at UNM. Fresno is building up a pretty good stable of guards if Cleveland can stick around to see it all pay off.

Standley to NMSU ... kind of

Justin Standley, a point guard that played his senior season at McClymonds High in Oakland, CA, will be at NMSU in the fall in some form or fashion, most likely as a non-qualifier who could potentially red shirt.
I spoke with him tonight, following are some comments with commentary where needed. Here's a Kevin McCarthy story on him from 2008.

On his academic situation
"I just have to finish a sign language course over the summer for a foreign language class so I can't come out until August."
Standley transferred from Aamador Valley High prior to his senior season (more on that in a minute). He said that McClymonds didn't offer this particular class, but by all indications, Standley is a solid student and he says qualifying shouldn't be an issue for him. Obviously he knows what he has to do and is going about doing it.

On if he would be willing to redshirt
"They told me that I needed to get faster and stronger to play at the Division I tempo. I would redshirt if I had to. It would give me a chance to continue to get my knee stronger and still practice and learn the system."
Standley said he tore five ligaments in his knee his freshman season in high school. It kept him off the court until the summer prior to his junior year.
"It slowed me down and I'm still working my way back."

On his career
"Transferring to McClymonds opened doors. It took a while but I started prove myself. It's a winning program that produce athletes so college coaches would come to our gym and it made it easier."
McClymonds is 89-6 the last three years and Standley played with four college signees as a senior.

On his court leadership
"It became a habit over the years. My AAU coach preached to me and told me to use my IQ level to help other out and now I feel like it's my job. It was hard at a new school being a leader but eventually it happened."

WAC change

Apparently cost saving is a big topic of the WAC meetings this week. Cutting down on expenditures is one reason next year's WAC tournament in Reno will not include the play-in game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeded teams. Nothing official from the WAC yet, but that could be announced in the next couple of weeks as well as the much potential move of the WAC tournament to Vegas.

Two recruits

Dallas area big man B.J. West was on campus last week. West is a 6-9 power forward who I am still trying to find some info on. Word is he had a good visit and could be the player to get the open scholly the Aggies have if academics work out.

6-foot-1 combo guard Deshawn Gomez from Inglewood, Calif., could also slated to be on campus this week. Here is a link to his stats last year in high school, looks like a capable scorer.

Women's update

Here is a story on the latest NMSU women's signee Jasmine Lowe, a guard from San Francisco that basically replaces the departed Brittany Palmer. It also includes the news that assistant Joel Washington has left the team to attend to his family in the midwest. I also learned that junior college transfer center Areyal Ledeatte will also not play next year.

Darin Spence said the women's schedule is almost complete and it includes 18 home games, which is a lot for any college basketball team and could be huge for this particular program as it attempts to bounce back from a down year. The Thanksgiving Classic includes games against Stephen F. Austin and the first of a home-and-home series against Michigan. Southern Illinois is the fourth team playing in the Classic. Kansas comes to town on Jan. 3 to finish that particular contract after the Aggies went to Lawrence last season. Other home games include Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State North Dakota, North Dakota State and Alcorn State.
I believe other than conference play, that leaves UNM and UTEP as the only non-conference road games. The home game vs. the Lobos is Dec. 2