HAMILTON, Ont - Men’s basketball coach Amos Connolly took advantage of March break to bring his first recruiting class together to get a feel for wearing Maroon.

Widely viewed as one of the top recruiting classes in Canada, Connolly brought his five top-100 commits on campus for academic meetings and to get sized for uniforms looking ahead to the 2011-12 season. The group includes: Brett Sanders (Stoney Creek, Ont.), Aaron Redpath (Ajax, Ont.), Joe Rocca (Sarnia, Ont.), Adam Presutti (Oakville, Ont.) and Nathan McCarthy (Burlington, Ont.).

While not strangers to the McMaster campus, the high school break afforded the first opportunity for the five touted recruits to get together and start what promises to be an exciting period for fans of Marauder basketball.

On seeing his first group of recruits on the floor of the Burridge Gym, Coach Connolly remarked, “It’s pretty gratifying to see them together in Marauder colours, and out there on the floor where they are going to play.”

Connolly was quick to credit his assistant coaches for helping to assemble the incoming class, adding, "As a staff we worked hard to identify and then attract these outstanding players to McMaster and we`re dedicated to building from the ground up and developing our players into being the best they can be. This is just the beginning. We are strategic in our approach to recruiting and have already begun to identify players that we think will augment our current roster, including this remarkable class, down the road.”

Knowing that expectations will be high, Coach Connolly is confident he has laid the foundation that will bring McMaster back into national championship contention.