Georgetown Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Marquette News, Pittsburgh News, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall News, Seton Hall Recruiting, South Florida Recruiting, St. John's News, St. John's Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, Transfers, Villanova News, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (4/22/2008)

St. John’s and Pittsburgh are seeing players leave their programs, the Panthers will plug the hole with another incoming JUCO recruit, while St. John’s still has yet to add anyone new for 2008-2009.

St. John’s is in the mix for a transfer from Florida with Seton Hall and Rutgers. Seton Hall looks to be adding more height and is still involves with another C. The Pirates and Redstorm have been hit hard by commitments not making it very long in the program since Norm Roberts and Bobby Gonzalez took over at their respective schools. This continuous game of catch-up in the spring recruiting period attributes heavily to the attrition rates at both schools.

Teeng Akol has a pair of Big East schools at the top of his list. 2010 NYC elite recruit Doron Lamb heavily favors the Big East and a couple schools seem to be separating themselves from the pack.

Scottie Reynolds will definitely return to Villanova next season. The annual Lance Thomas spring rumors are alive again. Tom Crean continues to raid Marquette and Mitch Albom takes a look at the one and done phenomenon in college basketball.

We will have another one-on-one interview with a Big East prospect from last weekend’s Pittsburgh Jam fest this afternoon…so, check back for all the latest news regarding the Big East basketball conference.

If it is spring time in Queens, that can only mean it is transfer time for Norm Roberts’ St. John’s program and like clockwork St. John’s Loses a Pair (NY Post) of guards as Larry Wright and Mike Cavataio have decided to leave the program.

This makes 10 players who have signed with St. John’s since 2004 to either never enroll or leave the program before their eligibility was used up out of 21 players. If you count Doug Wiggins, who backed out of his commitment prior to signing a letter of intent, Norm Roberts is batting .500 as 11 out of 22 players to commit in four years have not made it through the program.

With no recruits committed for the 2008-2009 season, St. John’s will be sifting through the leftovers the rest of the spring.
*********************************

As we mentioned last night, according to an internet Report: Melvyn Oliver to Seton Hall (zagsblog) looks to be a foregone conclusion. Oliver is the 6’11, 350 lb center who attended Mississippi Elite Christian Academy this past season. For more on his commitment, as well as a deeper look at SHU’s spring recruiting possibilities, please visit our report on our Seton Hall Team Page.

With the attrition at St. John’s, we were doing a quick look at some of the other teams and how they are doing with their commitments and keeping them in school. Seton Hall is another one that has been having some trouble holding on to those coming to campus. In the two years that Bobby Gonzalez has been the coach, only six of the 12 players that we reported as commitments as expected to be playing next year. Larry Davis, Kashiff Pratt, Joey Cameron, Chris Smith, Mike Glover and Charles Okwandu were all reported as commitments for Bobby Gonzalez. Glover still could move off this list if he is ever cleared by the NCAA. This leads to high volumes of spring signees and, from past experience, the spring signing period is really a crapshoot in terms of quality available, and more than not, there are reasons why these players are still available that make them risks. Always playing catch-up is a tough position to be in when trying to move up the ladder in the Big East…

Definitely heading towards one of the top targets for Big East schools in the class of 2010 is Bishop Loughlin’s Doron Lamb. Recently, Alex Schwartz caught up with Lamb and got his thoughts on his game, AAU basketball and schools he is interested in for college: Doron Lamb – Heading to the Big East (Northstar Basketball).

Lambs mentions Rutgers, Georgetown, Louisville, St. John’s and Seton Hall as schools that have extended offers. He’d like to hear more from Syracuse, but right now, Rutgers and Louisville seem to be the teams coming after him the hardest, and he has notices.
*******************************************

As reported previously, former Mt. Vernon star Jonathan Mitchell will be transferring from Florida and is looking to head closer to home. Mitchell Sets Visits (Zagsblog) to Seton Hall and St. John’s, two schools very familiar with the transfer process, in early May and is also looking into setting up a trip to Rutgers.

Mitchell is a 6’7 forward who has the versatility to be a face-up ‘4’ and could definitely fill a void at each of the three Big East programs he is reportedly looking at. Mitchell will have two years of eligibility after sitting out the 2008-2009 season.
*******************************************

When your 6’11 and unsigned in the spring recruiting period, you are going to be getting a lot of recruiting attention. That is exactly what is happening with Maurice Sutton from Largo MD) High School. Sutton is originally from Newark (NJ) and Sutton is to Visit Seton Hall (Zagsblog) this coming weekend. The 6’11, 200 lb C also has Boston College, Kentucky, Syracuse and Villanova showing a lot of interest. This past weekend, Sutton scored 17 points in the Derby Festival Basketball Classic in Louisville and had a chance to learn more about Kentucky and meet with UK coach Billy Gillispie, although Sutton is Still Waiting for an Offer from Kentucky (Louisville Courier-Journal) at this time.

The reported commitment of Melvyn Oliver, another 6’11 player, could impact Sutton’s interest in SHU who will also have centers Augustine Okosun, Mike Davis and John Garcia on next year’s roster. However, Sutton can get up and down the floor better than the others and his length could be a better fit at the back of the SHU press, which definitely lacks a shot-blocking threat against the better finishers in the Big East.
*********************************************

There were several unsigned seniors taking part in the Pittsburgh Jam Fest and IMG’s 6’11 big man Teeng Akol was one receiving attention from several coaches. So, what is the recruiting status of Teeng Akol (courier-journal)? It looks likely he will decide between West Virginia and South Florida, although others, including Kentucky, have reportedly taken a look at him recently.
*********************************************

Pittsburgh announces one JUCO player is joining the team next season while another is being discarded. Cassin Diggs will leave Pittsburgh after just one season, accusing Jamie Dixon and staff of being ‘manipulators’ during the recruiting process when promising him more playing time.

Pitt also announced the signing yesterday of Tallahassee CC guard Jermaine Dixon, the younger brother of current NBA player and former Maryland star Juan Dixon. The Pitt staff hopes the Florida JUCO Guard Will Fill Void at Pitt (Post-Gazette) in the backcourt.

Dixon was a two-time all-Panhandle Conference first-team selection and became the first player in Tallahassee Community College history to lead the team in scoring (20.9 points per game), rebounding (6.7 per game) and assists (98) last season.
*******************************

Not much of a surprise, but it is being reported by Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com today that Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds Will Stay in School and resist the temptation to test the NBA waters this spring.
*******************************

VUHoops.com, a Villanova blog, has a Rumor: Lance Thomas to Transfer from Duke.

It seems each spring the Lance Thomas rumor mill gets cranking. If you remember in 2006 the recruiting tug of war between Duke and Rutgers with Thomas eventually picking the Blue Devils. Last year, the transfer rumors raged like California wild fires on Thomas with him supposedly transferring to either Seton Hall, Louisville or Rutgers. Now, this year, he could be leaving Duke again and following Taylor King to Villanova. Stay tuned…
*******************************

Tom Crean is brining more than just his family with him to Indiana after bolting from Marquette. Crean has already added two of his Marquette assistants, Tim Buckley and Bennie Seltzer, and now former Marquette commitment Nick Williams Follows Crean to Indiana (Press-Register).
**********************************

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press has some choice thoughts as the One-and-Done Players Make a Joke out of College Life.

Be Sociable, Share!

•