Class of 2020: College Commitment Breakdown (D-II)

Barring any last minute decisions, the college destinations of the Class of 2020 in Oregon have been determined and this month, many of those getting ready to start their college basketball careers will have enrolled in school.  Here’s a list of those who are heading to the Division II level.

Prospect	Height	Position	High School	College
Gaige Ainslie Gaige Ainslie 6'7" | PF Central Catholic | 2020 State OR	6’8	PF	Central Catholic	Central Washington
Brian Goracke Brian Goracke 6'5" | SF Churchill | 2020 State OR	6’5	SF	Churchill	Point Loma Nazarene
Connor McClean Connor McClean 6'5" | SF Mountainside | 2020 State OR	6’5	SF	Mountainside	Dominican (CA) (walk-on)
Tucker Pellicci Tucker Pellicci 6'11" | C Franklin | 2020 State OR	6’11	C	Franklin	Hawaii Pacific
Payton Richardson Payton Richardson 6'3" | SF Western Christian | 2020 State OR	6’3	SG	Western Christian	Seattle Pacific
DeRay Seamster DeRay Seamster 6'1" | CG Central Catholic | 2020 State OR	6’1	SG	Central Catholic	Chaminade
Jett Sheng Jett Sheng 5'9" | PG Catlin Gabel | 2020 State OR	5’10	PG	Catlin Gabel	CETYS (Mexico)

Breakdown: While the class may have lacked sure-fire Division I players directly out of high school, there was good depth with Division II guys in 2020.  The GNAC as usual struck landing a couple of guys with 2A star  Payton Richardson Payton Richardson 6'3" | SF Western Christian | 2020 State OR of Western Christian choosing Seattle Pacific and versatile post Gaige Ainslie of Central Catholic heading up to Central Washington.

The rest pretty much stayed on the West Coast.   Brian Goracke Brian Goracke 6'5" | SF Churchill | 2020 State OR actually had Division I offers to choose from but it was about fit for the 6-foot-5 athletic swingman from Churchill and he ended up picking one of the top D-II programs in the country in Point Loma Nazarene.  A couple of Portlanders are headed to the Hawaiian Islands with Central Catholic combo guard DeRay Seamster DeRay Seamster 6'1" | CG Central Catholic | 2020 State OR going to Chaminade and  Tucker Pellicci Tucker Pellicci 6'11" | C Franklin | 2020 State OR off to Hawaii Paciifc.   A senior who decided to take the walk-on route is  Connor McClean Connor McClean 6'5" | SF Mountainside | 2020 State OR  from Mountainside who will be joining Dominican in Northern California for 2020-21.

Finally there’s Catlin Gabel’s Jett Sheng Jett Sheng 5'9" | PG Catlin Gabel | 2020 State OR who is going to CETYS which is located in Mexico.  CETYS is actually in the provisional process of becoming the first-ever Division II program in Mexico and the shifty point guard picked the school as much for the opportunities there off the court as there was on.

Here are some players who are Oregon high school graduates prior to 2020 who will be making their D-II debuts in 2020-21:

Breakdown: As usual, a number of players will continue their careers at the NCAA Division II level after starting at junior college.  Of note is Minnesota-Crookston dipping into the Pacific Northwest to land Leonard Dixon of Mt. Hood CC and Ethan Channel of Portland CC.  Both players have the potential to contribute immediately, Dixon with his perimeter shooting and Channel with his overall athleticism.  Channel’s teammate with the Panthers, Tariq Harris, is also heading east.  The rugged forward signed with D’Youville in New York, which is a program reclassfying from D-III to D-II this season.  Also going away from the West Coast is Jaden Dewar.  The 2017 Roosevelt graduate played this past season at North Idaho.

On the West Coast, Western Oregon may not have landed an Oregon prep directly out of high school but they did garner the signature of Cameron Benzel.  The Oakland alumnus comes off of two solid seasons as a stretch four at Umpqua.  Joining him in the GNAC will be Tyke Thompson who actually enrolled at St. Martin’s at the semester break after his time at South Puget Sound.  The West Salem graduate is a versatile player who can play multiple positions.  And finally heading West is Rodney Hounshell.  The 2017 West Linn grad had a number of D-II/NAIA  opportunities after a good sophomore campaign at Lane but found the right fit at Hawaii Pacific.