Brian Fish has been on the recruiting grind since taking over as Montana State’s head men’s basketball coach in April of 2014.
Three years ago, Fish signed four prep players as part of his first recruiting class. Only Zach Green will return for his senior season next fall. Point guard Joey Frenchwood and center Bradley Fisher only lasted a year, while forward Quinn Price made it two seasons before injuries forced his retirement.
The following recruiting season, Fish signed program pillar Tyler Hall during the early period, the first of two straight Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year honorees to sign with the Bobcats. Hard-nosed forward Sam Neumann, a starter for the duration of his sophomore season last winter, was also part of that class as was Mandrell Worthy, a slashing guard who asked to transfer this off-season. Fish also signed guard Quinton Everett in the fall of 2014, his first junior college transfer.
In the spring of 2015, Fish hit the junior college circuit, signing point guard Nahjee Matlock along with posts Sarp Gobeloglu, Shy Blake and Tyson Kanseyo. Only Gobeloglu lasted more than one season, but even he left the program midway through his senior year last fall.
MSU guard Harald Frey (5) defended by Montana forward Fabijian Krslovic (20)
The trend of signing prep standouts in the fall continued when point guard Harald Frey and post Devin Kirby joined Fish’s charges in the fall of 2015 and slashing guard Isaac Bonton and high ceiling big man Luke Schultz pledged to the Bobcats in the fall of 2016. Last spring, Fish again hit the junior college circuit, signing swingman Joe Mvuezolo Jr., guard Devonte Klines and center Benson Osayande. Fish also rolled the dice, signing Division I transfers Keljin Blevins (Southern Miss) and Konner Frey (Utah Valley), both who had to sit out last season due to NCAA rules.
This spring, the typical recruiting frenzy has morphed into a decidedly more directed quest, one in search of a single player to add to a team with lofty expectations next season. Bonton and Schultz fill the scholarships left by Everett and Gobeloglu. This spring, Fish and his staff needed to fill just the spot vacated by Worthy’s transfer.
“I have great friends at Oregon (where Fish spent four seasons before coming to MSU), great friends who just went to the Final Four and you still see guys leave constantly because they are looking for greener pastures,” Fish said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon. “You see guys who are the leading scorer on a Power 5 team and they want to leave. I have friends who are getting ready to have successful years and their two leading scorers are getting ready to transfer. What are you really looking for? How does it get any better than being the leading scorer, the go-to guy on a winning team?
“So to keep our team in tact and continue to build it, that’s a win. There were rumors floating around that Tyler was going pro. Those things get started and they become a storm in themselves. To keep the group together and see how hard they are working right now in the weight room, that’s been really encouraging because it’s bonding us better together. And those things pay off.”
As Fish broke down film of last season, he realized it was a rare occasion that Hall, a unanimous first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection as a sophomore, and Frey, MSU’s second straight BSC Freshman of the Year, took rests on the bench together. Fish wondered what his attack might look like if he could get both his star guards breathers simultaneously and unleash them against opponents together fresh at times other than the start of each half.
Montana State sophomore Tyler Hall /by Brooks Nuanez
Fish wanted to find the perfect fit with his remaining scholarship. He felt a player with poise, savvy and solid ball handling skills who could knock down an open 3-pointer would fit the mold quite nicely.
“We had 24 games last year that were decided by six points or less,” Fish said. “We need ball-handling guards. Harry was our only real one. Things started jumping at me.”
Fish also knew his team needed to remedy its weakness of having no spot shooters outside of Hall and Frey. In MSU’s epic 109-105 triple overtime loss to last-place Southern Utah in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament in March, the Thunderbirds ran a 1-3-1 zone that trapped Hall and Frey regardless of where they caught the ball. SUU allowed MSU to skip the ball over the top of the defense to open shooters, mainly Klines, Everett and Mvuezolo. The trio combined to make just 5-of-20 3-point shots as MSU suffered the only first-round upset of the tournament to complete Fish’s third season with a 16-16 record that included 11 Big Sky victories.
“The way they guarded Tyler and Harry, the third guy was getting open shots so I knew I needed a ball handling guy who can stretch the floor, shoot it and make good decisions,” Fish said. “That was the top of the funnel. We brought four, five guys in for visits the last few months but I was looking for a specific thing. It took awhile. I think it frustrated the coaches because we were bringing so many guys in.”
The final week of April, Fish found his fit. The fourth confirmed official visitor to MSU came from Helsinki, Finland. Lassi Nikkarinen, a 6-1, 175-pound point guard with Finland National Team experience, averaged 16 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals in nearly 31 minutes per game for HBA-Marsky Helsinki in Finland’s 1st Division. In 24 games, he shot 45 percent overall and better than 41 percent from 3-point range.
Lassi Nikkarinen/ contributed
“He had what I was looking for and the personality of what our team needs,” Fish said. “His film was good and the guys enjoyed playing him off the floor.”
Nikkarinen, who is 20 years old, also played on Finland’s U18 national team. He teamed with Arizona stud center Lauri Markkanen, a likely NBA Lottery pick this summer. Nikkarinen’s father, Eero, is a well-respected basketball coach who has won national titles at both the professional and junior levels in Finland.
“He was the most talkative guy on basketball of any kid we have ever brought in and that was very encouraging,” Fish said. “I think one of the things I’ve been putting a lot of times in my mind was we are finally starting to flip this now to an older team instead of a younger team so the guy coming in has to be more mature and be able to talk ball.”
Hoops in Finland has taken a significant step, Fish said, with evidence lying in Markkanen’s rise, fellow Finn Hannes Pöllä signing with Oklahoma and Nikkarinen fielding offers from Niagara, Appalachian State and Hofstra before signing with Montana State. .
Nikkarinen first landed on Montana State’s radar because of MSU assistant Chris Haslam, a native of the UK, and his connection to former University of Utah standout Hanno Mottola, one of the great Finn players of all time. Haslam and Mottola crossed paths many times during their international careers playing basketball in Europe. Haslam also played a key role in helping the Bobcats land Mvuezolo, a native of Great Britain.
“It’s all about relationships and Chris is a huge part of that,” Fish said of his program’s international recruiting efforts. “After 13 years of playing over there, a lot of his ex-teammates are coaching over there. When we took the job, we were concerned about being able to get enough players from our state so we thought we’d have to look at the overseas market as a way to make up for some bodies in our state. We’ve done that and it’s been successful for us.
“Lassi checks a lot of boxes. He’s just what we need. Hopefully, we can continue to find good players abroad.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
