Recruiting Report: Jose Orrantia (2016)
Jose Orrantia is one of the best players in the state that you may have never heard of. The senior, a 6-foot-2 and 180-pound combo guard with a knack for getting to the hoop, has been a four-year starter at…
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Continue ReadingJose Orrantia is one of the best players in the state that you may have never heard of.
The senior, a 6-foot-2 and 180-pound combo guard with a knack for getting to the hoop, has been a four-year starter at Mountain View High School in Loveland. Michael Jobman, his high school coach the past three seasons, has high praise for Orrantia, one of the finest players in Mountain View history.
“I think pound-for-pound he’s as good a player as there is in Northern Colorado,” Jobman said. “I really do. Obviously his ability to take the ball to the basket is as good as possible. He just has to continue working on shooting. He’s a good shooter, but he’s streaky.
“His ability to take the ball to the basket is what sets him apart from other point guards.”
Orrantia is masterful in his slashing. He’s quick enough to get around many players but, more than anything, has the skill and intelligence to finish shots around the basket.
“The thing I do best is attack the basket,” he said. “I’m aggressive. Scoring, getting people to the right spots and just being a vocal leader out there.”
At 20.4 points per game through nine, Orrantia is Class 4A’s sixth-leading scorer. Oh, and this month he broke the Mountain View single-game scoring record with 35 points in an outstanding 64-54 win over Arvada West. The Wildcats were a bit shorthanded without the services of one of the state’s best shooters ever in Luke Neff, but Orrantia’s performance trumped all other storylines in the game.
The backcourt stalwart has tallied at least 18 points in eight of nine games. He also put in 16.9 points per game as a junior, 11.7 as a sophomore and six as a freshman.
“One thing I like about him is he’s never scared to take the open look,” Jobman said. “If he gets an open look, he’s going up with it. He’s a star player, but he makes kids around him better. He’s playing with a lot of young kids, sophomores and juniors.”
Orrantia has yet to receive an offer, but another grassroots season spent on a stacked Colorado Titans team with two top ten prospects in 2016, Justinian Jessup and Chris Helbig, plus guys like 6-foot-11 Frank Ryder, Jake Hornick, Michael Scheid, Landon Taliaferro and Kevin Mitchell, helped prepare him for his senior season and the collegiate level. Orrantia mentioned interest from Division II and Division III schools, with the most recent interest coming from D-II programs Regis University and Metro State in Denver.
The Mountain Lion also rebounds pretty well, 4.7 boards per game this season, and defends the perimeter with length and solid athleticism, as evidenced by his 1.9 steals per game. Orrantia has a seasoned game as far as being able to put the ball on the floor, score and have the offensive awareness to locate his teammates. For the next level, the consistency of his jump shot will be tested.
“My freshman and sophomore years I was always just going to the basket,” he said. “Now I’m more of a shooter. I worked on it all summer.”
In the classroom, Orrantia has also worked hard to raise his grades. He’s currently sitting at a grade point average of 2.5 with an ACT score of 16. He’s retaking the ACT, he said, and is hoping to boost his GPA more, as well. His recent momentum, on and off the court, is promising. The No. 41 ranked prospect in 2016 is one of the better unsigned seniors in Colorado.
“I think the sky is the limit for Jose,” Jobman said.