Kelly Lyell

kellylyell@coloradoan.com

Leon Gilmore III has reopened his recruitment, which means the CSU men’s basketball program is once again looking for the power forward it needs to be successful next season.

Gilmore, a 6-7, 230-pounder who told the Coloradoan on March 28 that he would sign with CSU, didn’t respond to voicemail or text messages Monday or Tuesday. But his junior college coach said he has reopened his recruitment after learning that assistant coaches Ross Hodge and Leonard Perry were leaving CSU.

“He’s opened up his recruitment,” Trinity Valley Community College coach Kris Baumann said. “I just spoke with him (Tuesday) morning. He enjoyed his visit and everything, and Ross Hodge did a tremendous job recruiting him. And I think with Ross and Leonard Perry leaving, some of the situation has changed there. Not that he’s not interested; he’s just decided to open his recruitment back up.”

Baumann said a number of other schools are recruiting Gilmore, including UNLV, Stephen F. Austin and Florida International. The first day of the spring signing period is Wednesday.

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CSU is the only school on the list that he’s visited, Baumann said.

Power forward was the program’s biggest need going into the spring recruiting season, coach Larry Eustachy, Perry and Hodge had said. Someone to fill the void created by the graduation loss of Tiel Daniels, a 6-foot-7, 234-pounder who averaged 9.4 points and 7.6 rebounds a game this past season.

One possibility is Pape Diatta, a 6-7, 210-pounder out of the College of Southern Idaho. Although considered a small forward by recruiting analysts, he was a force in the paint this past season, averaging 12.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game while earning all-region honors.

Diatta “really enjoyed his visit” to Colorado State University last weekend, his JUCO coach, Jared Phay said in an email Tuesday. And “Colorado State remains a strong option.”

Diatta, who also has offers from Oregon State, Penn State and Loyola (Chicago) is visiting Georgia this weekend, Phay said.

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Odds are good that CSU coach Larry Eustachy has some others in mind, but whether the Rams can land them remains to be seen. Especially with their top recruiter, Hodge, leaving to become the associate head coach at Arkansas State under the newly hired Grant McCasland and Perry headed to Pacific in Stockton, California, to become associate head coach there. Hodge’s hiring was announced Tuesday; Perry’s job on Damon Stoudamire’s staff has not been formally announced.

CSU has as three to four scholarships to offer this spring, Eustachy said last month. And the coach said he felt good about the quality of prospects the program was attracting. CSU had three seniors — Daniels and guards Antwan Scott and Joe De Ciman — in its starting lineup last season and another, Fred Richardson III, among its top reserves.

Starting guard John Gillon, who will be a senior, is expected to return along with fellow guards Prentiss Nixon, J.D. Paige, starting forward Emmanuel Omogbo, backup forwards Kimani Jackson and Toby Van Ry and two players who redshirted last season — guard Anthony Bonner and forward Nico Carvacho.

CSU hopes to get Gian Clavell, a 6-4 guard, back as well. He has applied for a medical redshirt to repeat his senior season after suffering season-ending hand and shoulder injuries after 10 games. Clavell was the Rams’ leading scorer, averaging 20.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists, before he was sidelined.

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Devocio Butler, the only player CSU signed during the fall signing period, told the Coloradoan last week that he’s firmly committed to the Rams. Butler, a 6-5 guard from Atlanta, averaged 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game this past season at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas.

“I’m just happy to be a part of the Ram Family,” Butler tweeted Tuesday.

Gilmore averaged 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds a game last season at Trinity Valley in Athens, Texas.

“After signing day (Wednesday), he’ll have a myriad of others,” Baumann said. “A lot of schools, after they can’t get who they want, they’ll go to the next tier and make offers, and I know Leon is on a lot of their lists.”

Gilmore was rated a top-150 recruit by 247Sports.com and others coming out of high school in suburban Houston. He played in eight games at Creighton in 2014-15, averaging 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds while playing 4.9 minutes a game. He missed the last six weeks of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on an injured knee.

Baumann said Gilmore might still sign with CSU after exploring his other options.

“I know he really enjoyed his visit out there and he said a lot of really positive things about Colorado State,” Baumann said. “I just think the staff changes with him became a factor, and he wanted to open up his recruitment again.”

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.