Adam Zagoria, Louisville Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

ZAGS BIG EAST RECRUITING ROUND-UP FROM SUPER SIX

January 15, 2008

by Adam Zagoria

In addition to the five players already committed to Big East programs, several others were on display at the Nike Super Six who are being heavily recruited by schools in the conference.

Mount Vernon junior Sherrod Wright, a 6-4, 190-pound small forward, scored 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting and grabbed 11 boards in Mount Vernon’s 66-60 win over Paterson Catholic.

Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino says Xavier and Pittsburgh have offered and Louisville and Rutgers are also involved.

“He needs to work on his defensive intensity,” Cimmino said. “He has to keepon playing the whole game.”

St. Patrick 6-7 junior Paris Bennett holds offers from Temple, La Salle, Rutgers and St. Joseph, but still has to find his niche on the court,according to Celtics coach Kevin Boyle. Bennett had four points and six rebounds in the win over St. Raymond.

“I think he’s still up in the air a little bit,” Boyle said. “He needs to define himself a little more as far as what level he is. Rhode Island came to see him the other day. Fordham’s been by. Lately he’s played better. He’s got to score a little more. He’s got to find what his niche is. Is he Atlantic 10, is he MAAC, is he low Big East?”

Paterson Catholic sophomores Trevor Clemmings and Fuquan Edwin both hold offers from Seton Hall, and Edwin also has an offer from Rutgers.

After transferring from Paramus Catholic, the 6-6 Clemmings made his season debut against Mount Vernon, finishing with seven points, five rebounds and five blocks.

“Trevor, he’s a big kid, he grabbed some rebounds, had a couple dunks, it’s just tremendous to have him back,” PC coach Damon Wright said.

Clemmings was the only PC player capable of putting a body on Kevin Jones, Mount Vernon’s 6-8 forward headed to West Virginia.

“He’s very big,” Jones said. “It’s kind of hard going up against him. He’s very athletic. We just had to use our body a lot to make contact and finishour shots. He was definitely a difficult matchup.”

The 6-5 Edwin is one of the most fluid young players out there, and can be a monster on the boards and in transition even though he managed just six points and six boards against Mount Vernon.

Durand Scott, a 6-3 shooting guard from Rice, holds offers from several schools, including Rutgers, Seton Hall and Xavier, yet he has been coping with a bad back that has limited his game. He did score 14 points and grabbwd two rebounds in the loss to St. Benedict’s.

“He’s still struggling,” Rice coach Moe Hicks said of Scott’s back injury. “It’s coming gradually. It’s a day at a time. Back injuries are serious.”

Be Sociable, Share!

•