The North Central Missouri College men’s basketball success over the past season is beginning to bear fruit on the recruiting trail, with an Illinois connection from assistant coach Brandon Gossett playing a huge factor in the Pirates gaining two commitments earlier in April.
High-scoring combo guard Camron Donatlan committed to Coach Jeremy Esry, after spending the last year at Iowa Central. Coming out of high school at West Aurora in Illinois, Donatlan, a three-sport standout in the prep ranks, went the football and track route at the University of Wyoming. One spent only one semester in Laramie before landing at Iowa Central.
Now committed to basketball and NCMC, Donatlan is joining a program that spent nearly two months ranked #1 in the country last season in the NJCAA Division Two national pollls. Donatlan is expected to enter NCMC as a sophomore, with one year of eligibility for the Pirates.
Coach Gossett’s connection to Donatlan is West Aurora, as Gossett is a 2012 West Aurora graduate. Â
A second North Central commitment with West Aurora ties is 6’9″ center Carleton Williams, who played at the prep ranks for two years at the Illinois school, before moving to Birmingham, Alabama, graduating in 2016. Going the junior college route out of high school, Williams had stints at Coffeyville, Kansas and Mount San Antonio, California. He will have one year of eligibility at NCMC.
