GU gets commitment from Canadian prep

Robert Sacre, a 6-foot-11, 248-pound junior center for Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver, B.C., has made an oral commitment to play his college basketball at Gonzaga University.

Sacre, according to his high school coach Randy Storey, made his decision on Thursday, selecting GU over several Pacific-10 Conference schools, including Washington and Oregon State, who were heavily involved in recruiting process, as well.

“He’s verbally committed to Gonzaga,” Storey said of Sacre, who averaged 17 points and 10.5 rebounds as a sophomore last winter when Handsworth went 31-9 and finished third in the British Columbia provincial playoffs. “There were 42 schools who were actively recruiting him, but I think Robert just wanted to put the whole thing behind him and concentrate on the upcoming season.”

Sacre is the son of former Louisiana State tight end Greg LaFleur, who spent several seasons in the National Football League, and former LSU women’s basketball star Leslie Sacre.

“He’s got great bloodlines,” Storey said of Sacre, who has been a regular starter since his freshman year in high school and played on the Canadian National junior team last summer. “What’s impressive about him is his potential. He’s an athletic kid who is almost 7 feet tall, and big kids who can run the floor, catch the ball and move like him are a rare commodity.”

Storey said he thinks Sacre will eventually become the best high school basketball player ever to come out of British Columbia.

“He’s a once-in-a-generation kind of kid,” Storey explained. “Will he be as good, eventually, as Steve Nash? That’s hard to say, because of Steve’s work ethic, which is second to none. But he’ll be the best BC has ever produced out of high school.”

Sacre is the second high school junior to commit to becoming part of GU’s 2007 recruiting class. Earlier this summer, Steven Gray, a 6-foot-3 guard from Bainbridge High School, announced he will accept a scholarship from the Bulldogs.