The University of Portland has been doing well in recruiting this spring and summer, including now getting a pretty significant transfer.
Ben Sullivan, the 6-9 power forward who played at Cal State Northridge this last season, will transfer to Portland this fall. Sullivan is a pretty talented face-up four, who has continued to get bigger since he graduated from Lake Osweko (Ore.) High in 2002.
Sullivan will join an already strong class for the Pilots. Head Coach Michael Holton announced a five-member, 2003 class this spring that included 69 PF/C Chris Jackson from Australia; 6-5 SF/PF Devon Peal of Granada Hills (Calif.) Kennedy; 6-8 PF Dreshawn Vance from Walnut (Calif.) High, 6-2 SG Sean Smith, from Vancouver (Wash.); and transfer 6-3 combo guard Darren Cooper from Eastern Washington.
Jackson will help the Pilots frontline considerably. Vance was considered a great get, being one of the best mid-major frontcourt players available in the spring. Peal is a great athlete, which will improve the Pilots’ overall athleticism. And Smith is a dead-eye shooter.
Cooper, who very well could be the most talented of the group -- an athletic, quick combo guard -- will not enroll this fall, however. He will spend a year at a JUCO to improve his academics and enroll at Portland in 2004. His absense this fall created the available scholarship for Sullivan.
Sullivan made the choice to return home and play for Portland after a year at Northridge.