After a dominant performance for himself in his team's recent loss to Hillcrest Prep Academy, South Mountain Junior College's talented and tough 6-foot-9, 225-pound sophomore post Connor MacDougall had looked as though he was prepared to see his college recruitment begin to take new heights. But instead, much like his recruiting experience in high school, MacDougall would decide to pull the trigger with a college program just as fast as his college recruitment would begin to take shape.
The decision would come down to relationships, as MacDougall would elect to give a verbal commit to the University of New Mexico and head coach Craig Neal this weekend - joining former Corona Del Sol HS teammate Dane Kuiper in the Lobos' program.
South Mountain JC assistant coach John Ortega advised me that it would be very difficult to sway MacDougall from going to New Mexico, where his very close friend Dane Kuiper was already attending. Even with numerous bigger college programs looking to get involved with MacDougall this season, the ACCAC's top overall prospect would make his decision this weekend to play for the successful Mountain West program.
MacDougall chose to commit to the Arizona State Sun Devils in high school as a mere junior, and after heavy interest from a large numbers of programs. While a junior prospect at Westwind Prep Academy, MacDougall received scholarship offers from such programs as New Mexico, Oregon State, Cal, Portland, Utah State, Utah, Northern Arizona, Colorado, Saint Mary's and Boise State, before signing with the Sun Devils.
MacDougall saw very little playing time during his freshman season for the Sun Devils. MacDougall was a very seldom used player for ASU, only playing a total of 23 minutes on the season, before a season-ending injury caused him to miss much of the season. As a result, MacDougall decided to transfer from the PAC-12 program and landed at South Mountain Junior College this season.
MacDougall will be a dominant post prospect for SMCC this season, and should be the ACCAC conference's top overall prospect. But now he can focus on his sophomore season, and won't have to worry about, what would have been, a crazy recruiting process.
Congratulations to Connor and his terrific family on this tremendous accomplishment and college decision from our staff here at Arizona Preps.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: A division-I transfer from Arizona State University, MacDougall looks as a high-major post player should look physically and he has the athleticism and toughness to go with it. MacDougall runs the floor very well for his size and is a strong finisher on the low block. He does not shy away from physical contact. In fact, he relishes it and he uses his large physical frame to gain good inside post position and make plays inside the painted area. A good scorer on the low block with a soft touch out to 15-18 feet. Plays like a big and enjoys scoring around the basket. Also a strong and active rebounder. Runs the floor hard. A capapble shotblocker. MacDougall is capable of playing either the 4 or 5 positions on the floor, although he is at his best as a four man, where he is able to use his quickness to create matchup problems for opposing low post defenders. An excellent competitor that plays better against better competition. Looks to be the best overall prospect in the ACCAC conference this season.
