Photo By Adam Koszo
Blaise Vespe was frustrated. He was frustrated at the redundant charade that is NCAA Division-I recruiting, with coaches showing considerable interest and then not following up with a scholarship offer.
He was frustrated about being buried on the depth chart behind four star and five star guys at IMG Academy, the Florida power at which he spent a post graduate season.
Rather than deteriorate and internalize setbacks, however, the high motored 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward channeled his aggression with a kill or be killed mindset.
“I just had the realization that this could be it,” said Vespe, who has worked his way into meaningful minutes on a Florida Gulf Coast University (8-3) team that will play at St. Bonaventure on Friday.
“It was just the sense of urgency that comes with knowing it could all be coming to an end if you don’t get an offer. I just told myself, that I’m going to have to play my ass off and play with confidence and that I’ve got nothing to lose. I just wanted to set up my life for the next four years.”
The self revelation he underwent led to a massive transformation in Vespe’s game. During the final 12 games of the season, Vespe averaged 19.7 points and 12 boards.
Playing alongside Justin Taylor (now at Syracuse) and 6-foot-6 wing AJ Storr (now at St. John’s), Vespe emerged into a sleeper recruit for then-coach Chad Myers (currently on staff at New Mexico State).
His ability to be workmanlike on the glass, hit open 3-pointers, and score on hard forays to the rim matched the want and desire within him.
Then, at the 11th hour, former Penn State head coach Pat Chambers called.
Chambers had supplanted Michael Fly, with the hopes of recharging a program which has undergone ups and downs over the last several years.
The major selling point for Vespe, Chambers’ first ever commitment since he arrived at the doorstep at Fort Myers in March, was the authenticity of Chambers’ pitch.
He wasn’t going to solely tell him everything he wanted to hear during the recruitment process.
He was going to coach him hard. And, as was the case during his one year stay at IMG, everything would have to be earned.
“I wasn’t highly touted out of high school, so during the first two months at IMG, I knew I just had to differentiate myself,” Vespe, who played at Philadelphia-based heavy hitter Neumann Goretti before a post-graduate season at IMG, recalled.
“Whether it is coming first in the sprints or trying to outwork everyone around you, you have to push yourself to the point where the coach just has to play you.”
This mentality has resonated with Vespe at FGCU, where he is the lone freshman in a class that includes Purdue transfer Isaiah Thompson (13.1 PPG), sharpshooting Stetson transfer and former Westminster Academy (FL) guard Chase Johnston (11.4 PPG), among others.
Vespe has been tasked with applying multi-positional defense and utilizing versatility in his debut season.
He got extended playing time during a gritty 67-62 victory over Mercer last weekend, scoring eight points in eighteen minutes and applying physical defense on Mercer’s 7-foot-2, 240-pound Center David Craig.
“I thought the whole experience of playing at Goretti prepared me for moments like that,” Vespe said.
“My time at Goretti built me into a guy who can guard everything. I had to guard Jalen Duren, there was that and the challenge of guarding other big men in the Philadelphia Catholic League.”
Vespe has always been ahead of his time, physicality wise. The tweaks to his frame occurred during the summer of his freshman year in high school.
Already 6-foot-6 at age 15, he worked with trainer John Porter and packed 20 pounds of muscle onto a then-spindly frame.
Vespe was quick to cite tight bonds as a component that’s played into a relatively new team’s ability to mesh quickly. Whether it’s team dinners, trips to Top Golf, or a massive cleanup in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, everything is done in unison.
“Coach Chambers basically told us that in order to be successful on the court you have to have a great relationship off the court,” Vespe said.
“There are no cliques within the team and there are no egos in the way of allowing us to connect. We don’t care who gets the shot or who gets the shine. We want to win as a team.”
