UCLA trip wows Singler, Duke next

Prep Notebook

The Kyle Singler recruiting show appears to be winding down.

Singler, South Medford’s Division I basketball recruit, has put Duke and UCLA at the top of his wish list and said Monday that he’ll make a verbal commitment by the end of the school year and probably sooner.

Singler took an unofficial visit to UCLA last weekend and liked everything he saw. In two weeks, he’ll tour the Duke campus in Durham, N.C. and could make a decision on his future prior to the Class 4A state tournament March 9-11.

Singler can’t sign a letter-of-intent — the binding document that would officially connect him to a school — until November, but an oral commitment would effectively end the recruiting process.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward was treated like royalty on his trip to Southern California. Touring the Westwood campus with good friend and fellow prep hoops star Kevin Love, the highly-recruited pair huddled with Bruins coach Ben Howland, met with an academic adviser and then watched the Bruins romp to an 84-73 win over Arizona at Pauley Pavilion.

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"It was everything I expected — and more," said Singler of his visit. "I really liked the campus. Everything seemed close together and looked new."

At the game, UCLA students chanted Singler’s and Love’s names. The more zealous ones painted "Singler" and "Love" on their chests. T-shirts and posters were handed out.

Movie stars occupied many of the seats.

"I think it would be a good fit for me," Singler said of the Westwood campus. "There isn’t much not to like."

Singler and Love, a 6-10, 240-pound center, developed a strong friendship while playing on the same Portland AAU travel team that won several national tournaments last summer. It’s no secret they would like to play on the same college team.

"I think we'll talk before we make our decisions," Love told the Long Beach Press Telegram newspaper. "What fits him best, and whatever fits me best is where we'll end up. But I think with the chemistry we have on the court, that we need to be together..."

Singler is just as eager to visit Duke in two weeks, and you can bet the Blue Devil students at Cameron Indoor Arena will do their best to outdo the Bruin faithful and make Singler feel welcome.

Arizona, Kansas and North Carolina have also been on Singler’s short list of colleges. But, from the looks of things, UCLA and Duke have pulled into the lead.

When you wrestle and your last name is Gutches, expectations of greatness are almost inevitable.

But the latest Gutches to grapple at the high school level — freshman Brock — has a refreshing perspective about the sport and where he fits in.

Brock’s older brother, Bryson, and his cousin, Les, were three-time state champions and Les was a three-time NCAA champion and a two-time Olympian.

Les’ younger brothers, Jason and Chad, were also state-caliber wrestlers.

"I just try to fill my own shoes, not the ones that were made in my name," Brock Gutches says.

The younger Gutches, who carries a No. 2 state ranking at 103 pounds, scored a mild upset in the championship finals of the Southern Oregon Conference district tournament last Saturday when he posted a 7-3 victory over No. 1 ranked Mitchell Lofstedt of Roseburg.

Brock Gutches, who started the season at Churchill High in Eugene before his family moved back to the Rogue Valley, has won 37 of 38 matches. His only loss was a 6-5 decision to Lofsted at the Coast Classic in December.

Brock Gutches has attended several clinics with Les Gutches, most recently in Burns last summer.

"He doesn’t put any burdens or expectations on me — he just wants me to wrestle my best," Brock Gutches says.

Grants Pass High basketball coach Bill Cowell doesn’t pretend to know much about wrestling, but he knows a pin when he sees one, especially when it’s his son doing the pinning.

Sophomore Mike Cowell put the squeeze to Klamath Union’s Brandon Ray in the final period of their 119-pound, third-place match at the district tournament. The victory earned the younger Cowell, who trailed 11-6 when he got the fall, a trip to the Class 4A state tournament.

Bill Cowell’s oldest son, Matt, plays basketball for Southern Oregon University and his middle son, Billy, is a senior on this season’s GP hoop team. How did Mike Cowell migrate to wrestling?

"He just wasn’t interested in basketball," Bill Cowell says. "The other two would be out in the driveway shooting, but Mike was always doing something else."

Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail dhunt@mailtribune.com.