Caleb Dressler commits to Hawaii
Caleb Dressler is a big man with a big future.
In the near future, he will bring his skills to the Hawaii basketball team. Dressler, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound center, said he is committed to playing for the Warriors.
He is currently a senior at Evergreen High School in Vancouver, Washington. He said he will sign an official letter of intent during the “early” signing period, which runs from Nov. 9-16.
“It’s Hawaii – it’s beautiful,” he said. “But mostly, it felt like a home atmosphere. I could see myself fitting in, and battling for playing time at my position.”
Dressler is a self-described “back-to-the-basket center” who was named the MVP of his league last season. He averaged a double-double as a junior last season, and is expected to be one of the top high school players in the state of Washington this season.
“My game is back-to-the-basket, but I can step out to mid-range,” Dressler said. “I just really like to get after it. I’ll try to get rebounds at both ends (of the court), take a charge, play defense, what ever it takes to help the team win.”
Over the past two years, several top-tier programs have recruited him, including Gonzaga, Oregon, Washington and Washington State. The only schools he visited, however, were Hawaii and Montana State.
He was in Hawaii during the weekend of the ‘Ohana Hoopfest, and said the atmosphere of that event helped sway his decision.
“I loved it,” he said of the haka dance performed by the team. “I could see myself doing something like that.”
His singing is already on display, whether he likes it or not. A year ago, Dressler posted a YouTube video of himself singing, and he said he can’t delete it.
“It was just something I did when I was younger and I can’t take it down now because that e-mail doesn’t work,” he said. “So I have to live with it. I’ve heard about it from everybody I know already, so I’m fine with it.”
Dressler is also a quality student, and said he has already achieved the necessary test scores to be eligible as a college freshman in 2012. “Everything is ready to go,” he said.
Here is a video about Dressler from OregonLive.com during a summer tournament:
THANKS, DAYTON !
Welcome Aboard, CALEB !
Looks like a Legit Big man with a A MOTOR — That explains the 14+ rebounds per game; and All The Inside Skills. Plus Lefties can mess up The Other Team’s D — since he’s developing skills with both hands, fakes and alternate moves/option series, i’d expect he can drive a lot of opposing inside players frustrated with their inability to neutralize him and into further foul trouble; good physicality, comfortable with contact and good finisher inside, even in transition and already has confidence with his jumper out to mid-range; reasonable to expect most of the skills, will improve and weaknesses minimize through his senior season; especially with his good work ethic, smarts, good athleticism and apparently highly coachable
Looks like he would help Any Program;
— Coach Gib& Co.: GREAT Get and a Real Good Program Foundation as a four-year player!
Prospects: A full year with Vander (likely) and several years with Davis Rozitis and Christian Standhardinger should give Caleb (and vice-versa with Davis) freedom to move inside outside, while providing a reliably Strong Inside Game (Offense, Defense and Rebounding & More Rebounding — THAT is a Real Strong Basis for a Reliable And High-Performing Team … This Looks like the kind of Team where Practice Days are usually tougher than game days and that’s a good thing …
i guess those top programs didn’t offer and was only interested…their lost is our gain..now out to get that 6’6” athletic high-flying scoring guard
PRO-“Ready” Shooting/Score-at-Will WING would be Great …
IF High Flyer is Also Dead-eye Shooter that is a Future Pro …
NEED Always-ON Sharp Shooter (to replace Zane)
CAN also develop from within team (Jawato supposed to be Zane-in-Training; Brereton, Stokes and (maybe — not yet proven?) Joston Thomas;
Need At Least Two, Three Better, to shut down All Zone D’s…
[For the Prayers to Be Answered — You GOT TO ASK …]
We’re Lucky to Have The Coach that KNOWS and Regularly Does The Work …
[GET the Contract DONE !]
CD: like you DVD (thanks oregonLive.com, WI).
welcome to the TEAM, Ohana (now, also means family atmosphere?)
Hawaii & you belong to each other; the admiration is mutual, Aloha!
you beat “the Bigs’ rush”; of course your 3.5 GPA says it all.
many kids got game; you got that “mental game, too”.
Brah, one thing you gotta practice and be prepare for is… signing autographs-
if you don’t believe me, go ask a former UH undefeated-season qb.
coach Kelly Blankenship did everything right, and says “sky is the limit”.
7-0, 2×6-10, 6-8, 2×6-7 front-TEAM will be too.
coach Gib will treat you like his own son; you will be the model of his kids!
we’ll have someone to compete with the successes of Red Rocha.
i can only imagine the 2012-13 season being the biggest and best season ever…having miles, stokes, jefferson and jace..possibly blakes…already mature brereton and garbage man wiseman..a talented and hopefully unstoppable thomas..with two great bigs vander and davis..addition of stanhardinger and dressler..no word on biggs?
He looks soft to me and can’t get off the ground. Hopefully he gains some toughness and tenacity this year as a senior in HS. You can’t teach 6-10 but he’s got a ways to go. Just my opinion…
that’s pretty much most of hawaii big men…but i guess it’s pretty hard to come by for hawaii bringing in 6’10 or taller with 30-35 inch verticals…the good thing is that vander and rozitis can both shoot it and run the floor…dressler comes in as a freshman with 4 years and not 2 like most hawaii recruits in the past
RE: Getting off the Ground
i think “Air-Time” is More of a “Fan’s Issue” …
While it IS Great to Get Up in the Air … the Rim is Only @ 10 feet, and they still call goal-tending … so the “Air” Game is mostly for show and flash — Good for getting fans excited and two more (same) points …
THIS Might be a Good Question to Ask Gib Thursday Night [Hoops Talk AM 1420 6pm — haven’t heard he’s scheduled but he’s been on the last two weeks and IF i was him or his staff, i would always have someone available or there to keep the discussion realistic and grounded…
What makes LeBron great is how fast he moves horizontally (AND HIs Decent jump shot which forces defense to play more honest) …
MOST of the Air guys still only get 6 to 7 rebounds [Joston Less Than 6 rpg];
Rebounds are TWO things — By Definition it’s a Missed Shot by the other team — so it IS a reflection of our WAC-Lowest Defensive Shooting Percentage AND it IS the end of opportunities to score (on that possession) for the other guys…
He’s a pretty Big Body for a HS player (to go along with his height); i would worry that his 240 could balloon to 280 or 300 pounds like our previous SLOW centers (unnamed, they were still valuable) if i didn’t see how fast he moves. It actually looks like he has a pretty high percentage of quick-twitch muscles (maybe not enough to be a high flyer but the team only needs two or three of those — they often are bad shooters, too).
The TWO BIG Positives i saw:
1) He has A MOTOR — like a Good Defensive Lineman, they just never stop and that’s how they get the rebounds and blocks …
2) He Has RESULTS — 14 RPG is awesome in ANY League — 12 and above Requires Attitude and Work Ethic –There is Nothing SO Overly Cliche and available as players with “Potential” –UH had too many 6-8, 6-9, even 6-10 guys with potential;
Because he works hard — i EXPECT he’ll become a Work-out Bear in the weight room as well — esp. because he will have to Bang With Standhardinger, Brererton and Wiseman everyday… the influence of the work-out addicted (Knows the Value) guys on the team cannot be over-stated (for the incoming freshman) and should (will) rub off …
30-35 inch verticals — IF ANY of the Hawai’i bigs has ability to get to that — the (very good) UH training program can help them get there — [In the Pro Camps that measure, UH athletes usually do better than most…] … I’d Welcome Gib to prove me wrong, i haven’t foreseen us becoming a Kentucky type program anytime soon … Gonzaga, Baylor or Butler maybe …
[ RE: High-Flyers: Jackson Wheeler – who i’m guessing a lot of people here might not agree with – points out that Fans don’t wanna hear it, but winning NCAA games, even at a high level still requires a good half-court game .. somewhere along the way you gotta face & beat good half-court teams …
My View is more along the line that a solid half-court ‘ability’ (defense, blocking out, shooting) is needed for when someone’s trying to slow your team down; to go along with 40 minutes of hell defense-offense …]
Caleb — i hope someone told you ’bout this site — jump in and put us in our place — we can handle — but few will be more interested in your total great experience and well-being than this group …
…and with any luck at all… we all got a ways to go …
Vander didnt look like much when he got here. Quite an improvement since then.
Eagle.. I was only giving MY opinion at this time! He may have a lot of potential, and yes, he’s 6’10” which is a great start. I just noticed he doesn’t get off the ground much, even on some wide open layups in his highlight reel he is flat-footed. I hope he could develop. Maybe he’ll grow into something great. BTW…your use of extremely random capitalization and punctuation makes it hard to read your posts..but again, that’s just my opinion.
Warrior Fan
Thanks, i noticed he wasn’t leaving the ground much, too …
Yet (maybe) didn’t have to …
i’m thinking “the motor” is more of a factor than the vertical; both help and definitely rather have both; but i think verticals are sometimes over-rated (i had a 38 to 42 myself depending on the day and how measured), but it was the hustle, attitude & bodying out that got the rebounds … maybe like Melton Werts, Charles Barkley, or even Dennis Rodman… it’s only conjecture at this point, but per minute played i would expect “motoring” Hans Brereton would out-rebound “high-flying” Joston Thomas (although he’s clearly capable); and Standhardinger maybe beat ’em both (if he were allowed to play this year)…
Just my opinion, too, but the Capitalizations are substitutes for “Bolding” or larger fonts that would show up in more advanced format(s) but are not available here; …Highly Intentional and Not “Shouting” (nor read that way by editors) as some people with Primarily “e-mail” background might interpret …similar to your use of “MY” (perhaps more judicious or restrained;}
When i go back and re-read whatever i wrote the “bolds” (Caps) jump out just as intended … just format and emphasis … sorry for any added difficulty …
…. no criticism was intended (and after re-reading, doesn’t seem to be there)