Jimmies announce 2022 recruiting class

Maxwell O'Neill, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·3 min read

Jun. 2—JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown announced the 2022 recruiting class of 14 players that includes four players from North Dakota and 10 players from seven other states.

The Jimmies are coming off a 26-10 season that saw the team make the Sweet 16 in the NAIA National Tournament for the second time in the last four years.

The class sees head coach Danny Neville and his staff bring in a set of brothers in Lance and Lane Pitner, who starred for South Prairie High School, leading the Royals to a 12-8 record. Lance was named to the Class B Lion's All-Star Game while Lane made it to the All-District 12 team.

The class includes four transfers, guard Colby Vazquez from Skyline College (Ca.), forward Marcus Sherwood from Umpqua Community College (Ore.), forward Jimmy Llinas from St. Xavier University (Il.), and combo guard Reid Gastner from the University of Minnesota-Moorhead.

"There is a couple guys in there that I think could be difference-makers for us," Neville said. "Obviously, transfers you get, you hope they're panning out sooner rather than later. We really like our high school class, there are a couple kids in that class as well that we like."

The class has 10 guards and three forwards and one combo guard/forward. The guards are Jacob Axmaker, Taven Coon, Jayden Hall, Bauer Klimek, the Pitner brothers, Tabor Robison, Quinten Snell, Logan Topp and Vazquez.

Forward Carson Woodford from Redwood Falls, Minnesota, will join the Jimmies after a four-year career at Redwood Valley High where he was able to surpass 1,000 career points and set multiple team records, collecting 53 blocks in a single season and 340 rebounds. Woodford will join his brother, Cole, on the roster.

"I think it's a great opportunity to be able to play with my brother," Cole Woodford said. "Time flies throughout the years of college and playing basketball and I'm looking forward to finishing my career here with him by me the last couple years."

The Woodfords and the Pitners are not the only familial connections among the Jimmies class as Robison comes to the program from Horizon High School in Northglenn, Colorado. While Robison is the only member of his family on the basketball team, as he is related to Theorius, a junior Jimmies wrestler and Theo who is a graduate assistant for the wrestling team.

The class includes a local class B player in Griggs-Midkota's Logan Topp who averaged 13.1 points per game, 3.2 assist per game, and 2 steals per game for the Titans. Topp is not the only North Dakota native to be joining the team as he is joined by the aforementioned Pitner brothers and Center native Hall.

Quinten Snell, who hails from Shakopee, Minnesota, played for the Shakopee High School Sabers while compiling a 65-16 overall record over his career, including a 25-4 record as a senior. He joins junior Will Cordes as Shakopee natives on the UJ roster.

The three tallest players in the class are Woodford, Sherwood and Llinas, all standing at 6 foot, 7 inches.