Brian Fish has anticipated the time when his Montana State men’s basketball program could narrow its recruiting focus, from bringing in many players to address wide-ranging needs to zeroing in on exactly the right individuals.
That day arrived Wednesday.
Guard Isaac Bonton (6-2, 175) from Portland’s Parkrose High School and center Luke Schultz (6-11, 230) from Our Lady of the Hills High School in Fredericksburg, Texas, signed National Letters-of-Intent on the first day players are allowed make commitments binding this fall. The early signing period lasts one week.
In Bonton, Fish signed what he calls “a perfect-fit guard. He can play the point, he can play two, he can play the three. I like his toughness, I like his ability to score, I like his ability to make plays. But I also like the flexibility of having another guy who can grab the ball off the rim and bring it. He can do that, or he can shift out to a wing and be a scorer for us. His versatility is very impressive.”
Bonton earned First Team All-State honors as a freshman at Columbia Christian High School, leading that team to a state title and earning all-tournament honors, before joining the Parkrose squad. He earned all-state honors at Parkrose as a sophomore and junior, landing all-conference honors twice and league player of the year honors once. He scored 48 points in a playoff game as a sophomore.
“He can play the classic point guard” role, said Parkrose coach J.C. Alexander, “but he can also score. The most-known term (for Bonton) now is combo guard. He is a tremendous passer and he prefers to get his teammates involved to getting going himself.”
Alexander said Bonton’s most noteworthy trait is not measured by stats or awards. “Isaac’s ability to lead is tremendous, and he’s grown so much from sophomore year until now, his senior year,” he said. “His pure desire to want to get better – he wants to be the best – and his work ethic really show. All the success he’s had comes from his work ethic, and that’s admirable. As his coach it’s great knowing your player wants to work like that.”
Like Fish considers Bonton’s abilities a match on the perimeter in MSU’s system, the Bobcats’ third-year head coach also said Schultz is fits the bill on the inside. “You don’t get many 6-11, 230-lb kids with a 7-3 wingspan. We thought he was a little bit hidden because he’s out in the middle of Texas, and we think he has a big-time opportunity to become a really good player. His upside is off the chart. He’s a lot more athletic than you think, but I all of a sudden with him we will be able to go one-on-one in the post (defensively) without having to double. That will help us lock up on the perimeter. The last phase of our recruiting was to add some size inside, and Luke brings it. He could come in an impact us right away.”
Schultz averaged 17.7 points and 13.8 rebounds a game at Our Lady of the Hills last year as a junior, when he earned First Team All-Class 3A and was district player of the year. He also earned all-state honorable mention honors as a sophomore.
“The first thing about Luke is that he has great work ethic,” said Schultz’s prep coach Chris Ramirez, “and there’s no question his best basketball is ahead of him. He runs the floor very well, he’s very athletic for a big man, and on the defensive side of the ball he alters shots and blocks shots and rebounds exceptionally well. He takes up a lot of space in the paint, has a presence down low, he’s a great option to play inside-out, he has a good touch the basket but he has a nice, soft shot, as well. He likes to shoot the three, we don’t ask him to do that much in our system, but he’s really good around 15 to 18 feet.”
Ramirez said Schultz is likely to make drastic gains physically after arriving at MSU. “He’s definitely going to muscle up there in Bozeman,” he said. “He’ll get stronger and get better in every facet of the game.”
Fish said the addition of Bonton and Schultz marks the next step he hoped for in his program’s development. “We wanted to sign a guard and an inside player,” he said. “We thoroughly vetted a number of players, so Isaac and Luke are guys we know as well as anyone we’ve recruited because we only needed to sign two players and not six or seven. I’m really excited about that. Luke wants to be at Montana State, and Isaac wants to be at Montana State. Never underestimate the importance of players wanting to be at a University.”
