Wake Forest's 2016 recruiting class may not be complete. Today, Eurohopes tweeted that Spain's Eric Vila will be visiting five colleges this week, and Wake Forest is one of them. Vila also plans to visit Texas A&M, Wichita State, Houston, and Utah. What do we know about the forward from Spain?
Class of 2016 Eric Vila ('98) is visiting Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Wichita State, Houston and Utah during this week. 6'9 Forward from Spain.
— Eurohopes (@Eurohopes) March 22, 2016
Eric Vila is a 6'9" forward from Spain who weighs 200 pounds and most likely projects to play either the small forward or stretch 4 position at the college level. He currently plays for FC Barcelona II, which is FC Barcelona's reserve team. He needs to get stronger in his upper body in order to play in the paint, but he has enough quickness to take other 4's off the dribble. He possesses a very nice outside shot, and is more than just a catch-and-shoot player. In addition to his college choices, he also has the option of staying in Spain and playing professionally.
It's always difficult to project how international stats will translate to college stats, just because his competition in Spain is drastically different than what you would find in the NCAA. At the U-16 European A Championships in 2014, he averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 46% from beyond the arc, and his team won the Bronze medal. His performance dropped in the U-18, but it seems that he may have been one of the younger players in the competition.
Vila's offers should speak to what basketball coaches think of his game. It's likely that he would be a 4-star prospect if he were playing high school in the United States. Sorry for sounding like Fran Fraschilla there. If Wake landed Vila then that would mean that Wake would have just one scholarship to utilize for the 2017 class, but it would improve Wake's roster this upcoming season, and provide the Deacs with another outside threat. Year three is a big year for Manning, and it makes sense that he is looking to bolster the talent on the roster.
Blogger So Dear will continue to track this situation. You can follow Eric on Twitter @EricVilaM.