Oregon basketball gives recruiting attention to Cuesta’s Coleman

Cuesta College's Calen Coleman, left, is fouled by Hanckcock's Taylor Pruett. Tribune photo Jayson Mellom. ©

Could we see a Cuesta College player go to the Pac-12?

I caught up with Rusty Blair, the head men’s baskeball coach of the San Luis Obispo junior college, today after the Cougars made a playoff run that resulted in two of their players being named first-team all-state for the first time since 2009 and only the second time in program history.

Those who’ve followed the program know that 6-7 sophomore wing player Malte Kramer is a commodity on the recruiting circuit.

A near 50-percent career 3-point shooter at Cuesta, Kramer has scholarship offers from Mississippi Valley State, San Jose State, Seattle U. and UC Riverside, according to Blair, and Pepperdine made a campus visit in pursuit of the German sharpshooter Wednesday.

But there’s also been an exciting development with Kramer’s lesser-known all-state teammate, 6-3 guard Calen Coleman.

Originally from Bakersfield, Coleman has always been an Oregon fan and even came to Cuesta with the hope that Blair could somehow be his connection to Eugene. After a standout career at San Luis Obispo High, Blair played at Oregon in the late 1960s-early 1970s.

Now, it seems, in anticipation of a couple of backcourt losses, Oregon might be interested in filling a spot with a junior college guard looking for immediate playing time. Blair said the Ducks requested information on Coleman this week, and he was putting together a package when I reached Blair by phone Wednesday.

“He’s 6-3½, 195 pounds, he’s cutting and slashing to the basket and he’s going to score,” Blair said of Coleman. “He’s strong, very athletic and probably one of the quicker players in the state of California, and on top of that, he can knock down the outside shot.

“During the season, Calen would actually take over games when we’d be down, and it was just the dribble-drive offense where he would take the ball.

“Calen is a guy that might be undervalued right now. I’ve seen enough Division I games to see how he could be successful at the major Division I level, be someone that could really go out there and produce because of his quickness.”

Kramer averaged a team-high 16.5 points per game, shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range. Coleman shot just 36.6 percent on 3s in comparison, but he averaged 16.1 points per game and his overall field goal percentage (47.6) was better than Kramer’s. Coleman led the team with 49 steals and ranked second with 5.8 rebounds per game.

Check out Cuesta’s full stat sheet HERE.

Coleman’s recruitment with Oregon might not pan out, but it’s fair to point out that, especially since the all-state honor, his stock appears to be on the rise.

“He does have four D2/NAIA offers,” Blair said. “I feel Calen is a Division I player. He would still like to pursue that, but he also has stuff in his back pocket.”

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