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Lyrik Shreiner is going to be a new name for most Bearcat fans, he certainly is for me. Before last week I had not even heard his name be mentioned with the Bearcats, and yet here we stand, with the Bearcats in the running for the Glendale, Arizona native.
Shreiner has been an under the radar name in this class nationally. He is a consensus top 60 shooting guard nationally, but until very recently he was widely expected to reclassify to the class of 2015 by going to prep school for a 5th year. The interesting thing about Shreiner potentially going to prep for a year is that it would be about exposure, not grades as is usually the case. He has a 3.4 GPA and scored a 28 on the ACT so getting accepted to most schools wouldn't be an issue. Alas prep school is not happening, he is staying in the class of 2014.
Still, despite the uncertainty surrounding his classification Shreiner garnered a lot of interest with his strong senior year. Nebraska was reported to offer, likewise for Louisville. Kansas, UConn and Memphis expressed interest as well. That uptick in recruiting almost certainly played a part in the decision to stay in the class of 2014.
Regardless of who showed interest before it is down to the Bearcats and the Cougars now. Washington State just made a new hire with Earnie Kent and he has made a splash in recruiting, nabbing two commits in the last 8 days, including one from SoCall guard Jackie Davis. How that effects things with Shreiner is hard to tell. Likewise its hard to tell how Wazzou's connection to Westwind Prep under the previous administration changes the equation.
In this situation the Bearcats and the Cougars have something in common, namely two scholarship spots to fill, and it is conceivable that Kent and Cronin could both choose to hold onto those last two spots for next year. Personally I think that Shreiner would be a good option for the Bearcats in the long term, I just don't know that he would give the Bearcats the scoring punch they need for next year.
That is not to say that Shreiner is not a capable scorer, because he is at the high school level. He got on everyone's radar in February because he had a 65 point game where he shot 26 for 27 (26 for fucking 27!). On the surface Shreiner is Mick's kind of guy, he is 6'4" with a massive wing span (for playing defense), he has the frame to add 20 pounds (for playing defense) and ample athleticism (for playing defense). Thankfully for the rest of us he can use all his tools on the other side of the ball. But the question still remains, can he help next year? Can he make an impact as a scorer next year?
The answer to that question is probably maybe. I don't doubt that Shreiner is on the list and a possible future Bearcat, he seems like Mick's kind of guy. But my personal opinion is that Shreiner isn't first on the list, but that he is high up on that list. Here are a couple of clips of Shreiner, #1 in white.