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An undefeated men’s basketball season was never in the picture for the Lions this year. Head Coach Max Good and his staff did, however, go undefeated this off-season, landing all four of their recruits for the 2009-10 season. Edgar Garibay of Compton, Calif., Givin Kalipinde of Alexandria, Virg., Quincy Lawson of San Diego, Calif. and Alex Osborne of Los Angeles, Calif. have all signed National Letters of Intent to join the Lions this fall.
“These four are the people we coveted the most and are all front-line choices,” said Good.
“We brought only four people on our campus and we got all four. That’s an excellent retention rate.”
The four incoming freshman will not only aid the Lions with their excellent basketball skills, but will also add much-needed depth to a team that was forced to use a seven-to-eight man rotation last season.
“When [Osborne] visited he said ‘Wow, there’s going to be great competition in practice next year,’” said Good. “This year [with so many injuries] there were times when it was hard coming up with ten players to practice with. We will have competition for playing time next season, which in the long run makes everyone better.”
Osborne, a 6’7” power forward, joins the Lions after completing his senior season at Pacific Hills in Los Angeles. He averaged 16.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals while leading his team to a 28-7 overall record. Osborne was ranked second in the league in rebounds, and third in scoring.
“Alex gives us some much-needed size,” said Good. “He is a strong rebounder and his basketball IQ is impressive.”
The 6’6”, 185 lb. Lawson, who like Osborne signed his NLI this month, is coming off an impressive senior season in which he earned first-team All-CIF San Diego section honors after averaging 22.7 points, 7.4 and 4.5 blocks per game. Lawson was the No.37 ranked small forward on ESPN for this year’s recruiting class.
Kalipinde, who committed to LMU during the early signing period in November, is the Lions’ most highly rated recruit. Kalipinde was given a scout’s grade of 90 on ESPN.com and is the No. 28 shooting guard in this year’s national recruiting class. After growing up in Zambia, Africa Kalipinde came to Virginia in the fall of 2007 where he made himself known on both the basketball court and soccer field. Kalipinde turned down scholarship offers from NCAA Division-I schools in soccer to play basketball at LMU.
Garibay, who checks in at an impressive 6’10” and 240 lbs., committed to LMU in November after considering other schools such as UNLV and New Mexico State. Garibay has spent the past year playing for a prep school in Las Vegas, Nev., but has been a constant presence among this year’s Lions team, attending multiple games in Gersten this season as well as joining the team at the WCC Tournament.
“All four bring particular skills and an impressive work ethic and we are fortunate to have gotten them,” said Good. “On any given night next season all four of them are talented enough to make significant contributions.”
The men’s basketball team will return 13 members of this year’s roster, losing only seniors Corey Counts, Marko Deric and Chris Kanne. Along with the four new recruits, juniors Larry Davis and Drew Viney will be coming off of their redshirt seasons and will also see their first minutes as Lions.
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