He's 6'10" and he's getting bigger.
He's senior center Bobby Garbade (rhymes with car-raid), and yesterday he informed the Princeton coaching staff during an on-campus visit that he wanted to be part of the Tigers' next recruiting class. Pending admission, Garbade (pictured on the right above) joins Denton Koon and Clay Wilson, who each verbally committed to Princeton earlier this year.
Tonight I spoke at length with Garbade's high school coach Chris Sinicki, who has coached the future Tiger for the past three seasons at Seton Catholic Central High School in Binghampton, NY. Sinicki's exclusive quotes and analysis plus links to player evaluations and videos of Garbade can be found after the jump.
"He has some room to grow up, but I think more importantly he has room to grow out as well, which I know he's going to have to do and he knows he has to do to play at the next level. He's probably put on 40+ pounds since he walked in here as a freshman," said Sinicki, who is in his 13th year as the Seton Catholic's head coach, and his eighth year as the school's Athletic Director. Sinicki estimated Garbade currently weighs in at 235 pounds.
Last season Sinicki's Saints went 17-5, falling in the state regional finals to the eventual state champion, Westhill. Garbade averaged 13.5 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game as a junior.
"I'm sure you hear this all the time, 'he's a great kid' and this and that but Bobby comes from a great family," Sinicki added. "His dad [Rob Garbade - JS] played college basketball at St. Bonaventure, his mom is a teacher in the Catholic school system. He's a delight to coach. He's very respectful. He works hard. He develops his game. He cares about his teammates. There's not a selfish bone in his body. He cares that we do well, thus praise and statistics aren't as important to him as it might be to others."
"We're a Class C school in New York State. We only have about 270 kids in our whole school, but we are a Class B school for basketball. We play in a league with teams that are two and three sizes bigger than we are." Sinicki said. "We're always playing up to competition and Bobby could be the most dominant player in our league this year. He certainly is from a size standpoint."
Asked about the Princeton-bound Garbade's skill set, Sinicki responded that Garbade has "basketball skills and basketball ability for a guy his size. He's not a guy that's growing into his ability that has size but still needs to fine-tune his game. He has basketball skills right now and now he just has to improve upon those."
"He's a very, very good passer. He's very unselfish. He has a great feel for what's going on," described Sinicki. "In talking to Coach Johnson, he believes a lot of things we do offensively mirror in a lot of respects what he tries to do with his big guys and he thinks Bobby will be a very, very good fit if he continues to work hard and improve upon his overall game."
Johnson is always trying to remove 1-5 position labels from his Princeton players and the same may also hold true for Garbade in select circumstances. Questioned if Garbade was a true center, Sinicki told me that his team plays "a three guard and two forward system. Bobby does have the ability to run the floor. He also can shoot the ball from about 17'. He's a very good free throw shooter with soft hands. I think in certain situations I wouldn't just label him a center. He certainly can play in the post and can also play at the foul line. He can either be the receiver in the post or the passer in a high/low situation."
"We share the ball and I have to tell Bobby to take more shots. There are certain times where he has to be more dominant. I think it is more of a mindset than anything from a basketball standpoint," added Sinicki. "He knows now that he has to bring it every night and try to dominate every time he takes the floor."
Garbade's trip to the Princeton campus went so well that he returned to New York State having made a pledge to join the team in 2011. "He told me he felt very comfortable on his visit, he told me he fit right in with the players. When I talked to him on his way back yesterday he felt very comfortable in his decision," Sinicki stated. "I think it is a great fit academically for him but it is also a great fit from a basketball standpoint for him. I think he wants to go somewhere where he is comfortable with the style of play and I know Coach Johnson will push Bobby to take his game to another level."
Yesterday was the culmination of a seven month recruiting process that began in March. "Coach Johnson was in our gym at the end of last season watching Bobby and this has been going on since then," said Sinicki. "He made the decision yesterday with his visit. Coach looked him in the eye and asked him some questions and made sure Bobby was ready to take it to another level and come to Princeton and work very hard academically and athletically."
11 months from now, Garbade will start his freshman year as literally the biggest man on campus.
A limited Scout profile for Garbade can be found here.
Mid-Atlantic Hoops ranks Garbade as the 110th best overall senior prospect and 18th best center in "West Virginia, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York."
Read an Athlete of the Month feature on Garbade from the January 2010 SCC Sentinel.
Very brief video highlights of Garbade from WICZ news packages can be found here, here and here.
Garbade was named to the 2009-10 BCANY All-Section 4 team.
Garbade also placed on the Elite 10 Boys Basketball Team and the STAC All-Central/East Conference squad.
J.J. Huddle's Ohio High called Garbade one of the "Top 17U Performers We Saw" at West Virginia Jam Fest. Garbade played his AAU ball with Westchester Hawks.
