Goshen, IN — The Goshen College men’s basketball program announced its third recruit signing of the spring Monday, adding 2007 Jay County High School (Portland, Ind.) graduate Scott Bruggeman to its roster beginning in the 2007-2008 season. Bruggeman, a 5-11 combo guard, joins 6-8 Kalamazoo Valley Community College transfer Kyle Laker (click here for related article) and 6-7 Zeeland West High School (Zeeland, Mich.) graduate Taylor TenHarmsel (click here for article) as the Leafs’ inked prospects to date.
“We honestly couldn’t be happier that Scott has chosen Goshen to continue his academic and playing careers, simply because he is the type of young man that we want here, in all areas,” said Cory Furman, Goshen head assistant coach. “He’s a very fundamentally sound player, but perhaps his greatest strength lies in his leadership abilities. By all accounts, Scott leads the teams that he plays on. That attribute can’t be quantified.”
Bruggeman does bring a long line of calculable assets to the program, as he led Jay County to an overall record of 54-20 in the last three years, including the school’s only trip to the IHSAA State Finals as a junior. A three-year starter and four-year varsity member, Bruggeman averaged 11 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game as a senior, shooting 54.8 percent from two-point land and 32 percent from beyond the arc. Bruggeman was twice named to All-Olympic Athletic Conference honors, and was selected to participate in Kent Benson’s annual East-West All-Star Games this June — an event taking place at New Castle High School’s Chrysler Fieldhouse.
“Scott is an unbelievable young man, and has great character,” said Craig Teagle, Jay County boys’ head coach. “He doesn’t worry about doing what’s popular, he just does the right thing. His attitude, commitment and effort just rubs off on his teammates. When Scott Bruggeman is on the floor, you play together. He makes everyone around him much, much better.”
Jay County’s coach of nine years, Teagle guided the Patriots to the 2005-2006 Class 3A State Championship, eventually dropping a 51-43 decision to New Castle in Indianapolis’ Conseco Fieldhouse. Bruggeman helped guide the Patriots to a 20-7 record in that season, while leading Teagle’s team to a 19-5 record and sectional championship as a senior.
“Our team accomplishments with Scott as our lead guard speak for themselves,” Teagle said. “We always say that good players are involved in every play on the basketball court. That’s Scott Bruggeman. Scott led us with 113 defensive deflections this year, and that’s one of the big stats we keep. He started our defense, and was a coach on the floor for us. Now, when we meet for team workouts in the morning or weights after school, there’s this big hole. Our coaching staff looks around and says, ‘What are we going to do without Scott Bruggeman?’ Of course, he’s there, still doing those things with his former teammates, but we know he won’t be next year. We cannot replace him.”
Bruggeman will graduate from Jay County in June with an academic honors diploma, carrying a cumulative GPA of 3.68 and a class rank of 40 out of 260 students. An Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 100 Showcase selection, Bruggeman was recruited by several NCAA Division III institutions, but said he chose Goshen for both its academic and athletic merit. Bruggeman said he plans to study business once at Goshen.
“I felt really comfortable at Goshen, and the academic side and basketball side matched up really well,” Bruggeman said. “It’s a very nice campus, and it seems like a great place to get an education. Coach (Stan) Daugherty and Coach Furman were very honest with me and seemed to have a very good relationship with the players. They gave me an idea for the future of the program, and it seemed very genuine. I just hope I can go there and help the team continue to break some records and try to keep everybody in line.”
Bruggeman arrives to Goshen with the state of the men’s basketball program in transition, as Daugherty announced his resignation as head coach on May 2 (click here for related article). Furman has since assumed the day-to-day operations of the program as the college continues its search for the next head coach.
“Scott is comfortable waiting out this process, and we are thankful for that,” Furman said. “I believe that Goshen basketball will be better for having Scott Bruggeman as a part of it, as will the entire campus. I think he will only improve as a player, and the intangible qualities he brings are the types of things that make good teams great. We are very excited to have Scott joining us next fall.”
Furman said the program plans to announce additional signings in the coming days. Check back to this website for those announcements, as well as information regarding Goshen’s head coaching search. To contact Cory Furman, call him at (574) 535-7497 or click here to send him an email.
|
  Scott Bruggeman
|
| |
|
|
