Recruiting Update: Nathan Bittle (2021 Crater HS)
It may have only his first-ever Les Schwab Invitational, but Nathan Bittle sure looked like a veteran. The lanky 6-foot-11, 185-pound big man totally burst onto the scene at Liberty High School over the five-day tournament, earning All-Tournament honors against…
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Continue ReadingIt may have only his first-ever Les Schwab Invitational, but Nathan Bittle sure looked like a veteran. The lanky 6-foot-11, 185-pound big man totally burst onto the scene at Liberty High School over the five-day tournament, earning All-Tournament honors against some great competition. He exerted dominance on both ends of the floor, showed new aspects of his game, and did it all in front of multiple college coaches who continue to try hard recruiting the nationally ranked Class of 2021 standout.
“It was a great experience and I think me and my team improved a lot with it, knowing there are way better teams than us,” Bittle said. “It’s way better than a tournament we could have had back at home. Playing Bishop Gorman, whatever they’re ranked in the country, playing Jeff – just being able to play 6A schools that aren’t in our league helped us to grow and become to know who we are as a team.”
Bittle didn’t waste any time making an impression at the LSI. In Crater’s first game against Clackamas – a much anticipated matchup against fellow junior Ben Gregg – Bittle exploded for a tournament-high 41 points. After tough battles against Jefferson and Bishop Gorman, the Comets finished things off with a big win over Midwestern League rival Churchill in a game that could give a glimpse of what’s to come in conference play. Over the course of the event, Bittle ended up leading all players in scoring (29.0), rebounding (13.8), and blocks (3.5)
During the tournament, Bittle started off utilizing the three as his main offensive weapon, but after getting (relatively) bottled up by Jefferson the big man started to do something a bit different with his game. He looked to attack the basket from the perimeter and the results were quite positive.
“My dad and I, we’ve been working on that,” Bittle said. “We were shooting and he was saying you’ve got to get that pump fake in, one dribble pull-ups, finish at the rim, stuff like that. So I’ve been carrying that to working out before the game to doing it in the game.”
Bittle continues to get recruited hard by college programs across the country, this fall he had the opportunity to make his first two official visits – to UCLA and Arizona. “They were both great visits,” Bittle said. “Both coaches for UCLA and for Arizona were great, the facilities were just crazy and nice, the schools are nice, and they both have what I want to study. They’re both great schools. I’m going to keep an open mind but I’m definitely going to consider them as I consider schools.”
Another school on Bittle’s long list of suitors is Oregon. Ducks head coach Dana Altman and assistant Kevin McKenna sat courtside for three of Crater’s games (they missed the first as it wasn’t open to Division I coaches to watch), and during our interview Altman actually came over briefly to say hello to the big man.
“I go up there on unofficials there to watch games and it’s great,” Bittle said. “But I’m just going to keep an open mind.”
Bittle and the Comets continue their season on Wednesday night back at home against Eagle Point. He currently ranks as the top player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2021 rankings.