Martin Breunig in the House?

by Craig Yamada

Just when you thought all hope was bleak at best with UW’s search for a big man for the 2011 class, Coach Fortier pulls a rabbit out of his hat and scores a visit from Martin Breunig. Breunig was part of the mass exodus known as the 2011 Maryland recruiting class. With the departure of Gary Williams, Breunig joined two other future Terps in asking for a release of his LOI. And this morning, his wish was granted.  As Vince Vaughn would say “grab that net and catch that beautiful butterfly pal.”

Breunig , according to Ben Weixlmann of Heardthisblog.com, will make a visit to Montlake tonight per his assistant coach, Bryan Clayton. (Thank you Alex Kline from Recruit Scoop). If you read through the article, Washington is among a long laundry list of potential suitors including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, USC, CAL, Temple and St. Louis. However, UW is reportedly his only scheduled visit prior to the Wednesday deadline.

Chris Fetters of Dawgman.com was the first to report of the possibility of Breunig drawing UW interest following Breunig’s request out of his LOI.

Breunig is 6’9″, 235 LBS and currently plays PF for St. John’s Military Academy in Wisconsin. He hails from Germany and could be the perfect Deutchland encore to Detlef.

For those who haven’t seen him play before, here is his highlight reel.

Breunig plays a bit of a point forward role for his team currently. He has a quick first step and has a litany of tools at his disposal. He can post up and absorb contact to finish above the rim. He also has amazing body control around the basket. He gets up and down the floor with ease and thrives in transition. He isn’t a traditional “banger”, but would give UW a nice option in the post and around the perimeter. He could definitely help stretch out zone defenses with his triple threat of skills. He sees the floor well and can get to the rim off the dribble drive against small and big defenders.  He has shown the ability to clog the middle and be an avid shot blocker.

Huge upside in my humble opinion. The only aspect that remains to be seen is his rebounding ability. He will need to build his upper body and become a better post presence, but the raw talent is definitely there.

Breunig will start his visit tonight. Let’s hope Romar and Chill can get him to sign the dotted line before Wednesday.

All for now.