GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro men's basketball coach Mike Dement announced Tuesday a fourth National Letter of Intent commitment, this one from Poulsbo, WA, native Taylor Hoffer.
Hoffer is a 6-7, 215-pound forward who played his high school ball at North Kitsap HS. He is ranked among the Top 30 players in the state of Washington this season, earning all-league honors the last two seasons and a spot in this year's Class 3A / 4A All-State Game. He averaged 15.7 points and 14 rebounds per contest this past season for North Kitsap, leading them to an 18-7 mark.
The Spartans got onto Hoffer through an old friend of UNCG associate head coach Rod Jensen. Al Gleich, a longtime coach in the area, had known Jensen from his days as an assistant coach and head coach at Boise State. Gleich picked up the phone and called to see if the Spartans could use another big man.
"We received some film of Taylor and liked what we saw. We asked for some more film and started making some calls," said Dement. "Taylor is a real lunch-pail kind of a kid. He works hard on both ends of the floor and really plays hard. He has good range so we think he could step out on the perimeter, as well as playing down low. He is a young man who wants to get better and will work at his game to get bigger and stronger. He extends that work ethic to the classroom where he has a phenomenal high school GPA. We are anxious for Taylor and all of the freshmen to arrive this summer."
Hoffer is the third player to sign this spring and the fourth in the incoming freshman class. He joins guards Kyle Randall (Youngstown, OH / Kennedy Catholic [PA]) and Korey VanDussen (Zeeland, MI / Zeeland East) and forward Brian Cole (Dacula, GA / Dacula HS) in the Spartans' incoming class for next season. Cole had signed in the fall during the early signing period, while VanDussen and Randall signed last month.
Randall, a 6-2 guard, averaged 26.5 points per game this past season and was the Pennsylvania Class A Player of the Year. Randall, who finished his career with a Mercer County record 2,022 points, is rated one of the Top 30 point guards in the nation by ESPN and Scouts, Inc. He also averaged 5.5 assists per contest as Kennedy Catholic went 26-3 on the year and was the Class A runner-up.
VanDussen (pronounced Van DUH-sin) finished third in the Mr. Michigan Basketball balloting this year after leading Zeeland East HS to the Class B state finals and a 27-1 record. Zeeland East won its first first regional crown since 1947 behind VanDussen's 20.1 points per contest. A four-year starter, the 6-2 VanDussen was a two-time Class B All-State selection and two-time Area Player of the Year.
Cole was a first-team all-region selection (8-AAAAA) again this season and averaged 19 points per contest, including a career 33 against Parkview this season. Cole is rated one of the Top 40 centers in the nation by ESPN and Scouts, Inc.
- UNCG -