Moe Harkless may be preparing for a move to the NBA, but St. John's coach Steve Lavin continues to hunt for players to fill his ark - and he has his eye on a deep shooter.
Former Montana State commit Marco Bourgault, a 6'6, 200 pound shooter from Northwest France, plays for Monroe Community College in New Rochelle alongside coveted forward recruit Orlando Sanchez.
Bourgault is averaging 10.2 points/ 3.9 rebounds/ 1.7 assists per game for the 30-3 Mustangs, shooting 41.8% outside the arc and 47.9% inside the two-point line. He has taken just under 66% of his shots from outside of the three-point line.
Bourgault had a four year college offer with Montana State. But much like former St. John's target (and fellow Frenchman) Remi Barry, the NCAA's interpretation of his high school course work didn't meet eligibility standards.
From mslacat's blog (covering Montana hoops) late in 2009:
Bourgault was 2-3 weeks into classes at Montana State when the NCAA Clearing house ruled he was a half credit short of meeting his core requirements. The translation of high school credits from foreign countries has been a sticking point this year and the rulings caught both Montana State coaches and Marco Bourgault by surprise. Bourgault decided that to attend Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg in Massachusetts.
Born in June of 1990 - making him 22 when the 2012-13 season begins - Marco Bourgault played at Notre Dame Prep after being ruled ineligible, with Memphis' Antonio Barton, Providence's Ron Giplaye, and DePaul's Cleveland Melvin.
After Notre Dame Prep, Bourgault (photo at right from Cholet Basket) ended up at Monroe Junior College. He tore his ACL and missed most of his freshman year with a medical redshirt. Monroe claims that he will be eligible for 3 years of college basketball.He has also played club basketball in France for the under-21 side of Cholet basketball, where it is said* that he averaged 12 points/ 4 rebounds/ 3 assists, shooting 54% from the field and 40% from outside the arc.
He named Maryland the leader for his services in January, but sources indicate that Bourgault is very interested in joining the Red Storm for his final two years of eligibility. In January, Rivals wrote about how he shares a trainer with Terrapin recruit Alex Len.
Bourgault is also known as Marc-Antoine Bourgault.
Bourgault, Orlando Sanchez, and Monroe College are currently in Hutchinson, Kansas, at the Junior College national tournament. He had 4 fouls in the game, only scoring 3 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists in an 81-69 against Indian Hills. The 30-3 Monroe College Mustangs play top-ranked South Plains College tomorrow at 6pm Central Time.
Expect no news on his recruitment - or Orlando Sanchez' - until their season is over, obviously.
The Rumble will look for streaming audio, and post on the site.
For now, an old highlight video of him, with Cholet Basket - in his younger days.
Also: read a 2008 interview with Bourgault.
* Full disclosure: I couldn't confirm the statistics on the Cholet basketball site.
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