dustin commits to gonzaga

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Recruiting Update: Dustin Villepigue
Commits To Gonzaga--(Oct. 5, 2000)

Dustin Villepigue
(6'-9" Sr. PF)

One of the better local big men in this year's rising senior class is Dustin Villepigue (6'-9" Sr. PF) from Simi Valley, and we learned on Monday when we spoke with him that Dustin's then-impending commitment to Gonzaga, was not yet finalized, and he asked us to hold off for at least a day from making any announcements, presumably so he and his family could mull over the various offers he'd received from schools like St. Louis, UC Santa Barbara, Nebraska, SMU, and a few others.

But last night, too late for us to report it, Dustin committed to the Zags, and in the process broke a lot of other coaches' hearts, including one local SoCal school. But evidently the lure of Gonzaga's past accomplishments, their new coach, and his recent visit proved more tempting than any potential which he saw for himself at the other schools on his list. Dustin took a visit last weekend and was impressed with Gonzaga's head coach, Mark Few, with the rest of the coaching staff and the team, and thus committed last night.

Dustin will join a Zags team that last season finished 26-9, and which has a number of top players who will return for his freshman (2001-2002) year, including among them some members of the current squad: Casey Calvary, Germayne Forbes, Zach Gourde, Matt Kincaid, Jay Sherrell, Mark Spink, Dan Dickau, and Jimmy Tricco, as well as Mario Kasun, Alex Hernandez, Blake Steppe, Cory Violette, Anthony Reason, and from this year's current recruiting class of seniors Josh Reisman (some are calling this a "soft" commitment, whatever the heck that's supposed to mean) and Dustin. By some accounts we've read, the Zags will have 11 players on scholarship this year, and with Dustin's commitment, that should mean that there is at least one more spot on the Gonzaga roster, unless that schollie is given to one of the current walk ons (note, not all of the players above on the current roster are scholarship guys, so that's what accounts for the difference in numbers).

As we've previously Dustin had a solid summer and some truly excellent performances at this year's ABCD Camp, and then played at the adidas Las Vegas Big Time with the Double Pump All Stars, at the Best of Summer, and then at the Slam N Jam/EBO "Elite 8x2" up in Berkeley to close out the summer period. Villepigue (pronounced "Villa-peg". . . the name is actually French, and thus would be "Villa-peejay" if we were all in Paris. . . but we're not there, so its pronounced "Villa-peg". . .), is a strong 6'-9" power forward who can also step out to the short corner to shoot the jumper, and who also has a decent enough handle to put the ball on the floor, so he can slash to the hole, and work inside with his back to the basket or facing up.