2015 power forward Josh Speidel from Columbus North High School has committed to the University of Vermont. He picked the Catamounts over 14 other scholarship offers. Vermont has established a strong pipeline from Indiana over the last few years.
The college decision came down to Vermont, Ball State, Illinois-Chicago and Loyola of Chicago. "I've been praying about it, and just felt this was the school for me," said Speidel about his college decision.
I was a bit surprised by a few things. One that he decided to make his decision so early in his senior year. There were some programs showing interest like Northwestern, Gonzaga and a few others. The second surprise was that Speidel did not take all his official visits before making his decision. His only official visit was to Vermont.
Speidel played very well at the adidas Unrivaled camp in July against many top players and in front of many high-major prospects. Northwestern was in the picture with Speidel for a very long time, but the showing in Chicago piqued their interest. Head coach Chris Collins attended many Indiana Elite games in July. The Wildcats offered Speidel's teammate Kyle Guy but never extended a scholarship to the Columbus forward.
Josh Speidel had a fantastic junior season at Columbus North. He averaged 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists as the Bulldogs went 20-6. He was an extremely consistent performer the entire season. He carried his strong school season onto the travel circuit where he had many great performances against the nation's best prospects.
Speidel will be the 5th Indiana native on the Vermont 2015-2016 roster. He joins 2012 Ben Davis graduate Dre Wills, 2014 prospects Ernie Duncan (Evansville Harrison) and Zach McRoberts (Carmel) then classmate Everett Duncan (Evansville Harrison.) That is the definition of a recruiting pipeline.
Vermont went 22-11 during the 2013-2014 season. They lost in the first round of the NIT to Georgia. The Catamounts have had six straight 20-win seasons and 7 out of the last 8 years. This is John Becker's fourth season as the Vermont head coach. He has had a 20-win year every season at Vermont.
Josh Speidel is set-up to have a very good career at Vermont. He has shown dedication to improving throughout high school. His skill set has improved each season. He has found a way to be productive against bigger and more athletic opponents on the travel circuit. That will make the transition to college slightly easier for Speidel. The style and system of Vermont seems to be a very good choice for Speidel.
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