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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (7/24/2008)

WOW. There is a lot to cover today in news and notes around the Big East and in the recruiting game with the AAU events getting underway in Las Vegas and Orlando. We tried to find a little bt of something on every team in the Big East, but came up just a little short today, but still, plenty for everyone to read and digest.

If you are a glutton for Big East notes…read on…

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Jody Demling of the Louisville-Courier Journal has spent the last two days in Vegas and has a Las Vegas, day one and a Las Vegas, day two report on his Recruiting Blog, along with other updates. I have plucked some of his Big East-related items out readers will find interesting:

Louisville 2010 target Chim Kadima had 12 points – hitting only 8 of 15 free throws – as the Wisconsin Playground Warriors downed the Houston Superstars 80-72. Earlier, Demling reported in his blog that Kadima Gets U of L Interest as assistant coach Ricard Pitino checked out the 6-foot-4 Milwaukee Lutheran guard at the recent Kentucky Hoopfest. Playing this summer for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors, Kadima also lists interest from Big East schools such as Marquette, DePaul and ,a href=http://w3.nbebasketball.com/index.php/big-east-team-pages/notre-dame/>Notre Dame.

Currently, BABC point guard Phil Pressey is just taking it all in. The 5-foot-8 point guard from the class of 2010 has been getting a lot of attention as one of the elite pure point guards in his class. For now, he is going to play out the summer and then take a look at his recruiting situation. Demling reports that schools showing the most interest in his play early are Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut from the Big East and other top programs such as Wake Forest, Texas and Missouri.

For Jody Demling, the local schools of interest are Indiana, Kentucky and Louisville in his coverage area for the Louisville Courier Journal. One interesting player that he is following is 6-foot-5 class of 2010 wing Flavien Davis of Milwaukee Lutheran, a cousin of current Louisville Cardinal Jerry Smith. All thee Locals are in on Wisconsin Star, including Louisville, and they are joined by his hometown school, Marquette, as well as other high-major programs.

Team Breakdown junior Brandon Knight, who netted 26 points and two assists is a day one victory against the Northwest Panthers, said he doesn’t have a list yet, but Kentucky was mentioned along with Duke, Florida, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Georgia Tech.

Ari Stewart, who plays for Worldwide Renegades Orange, had 22 in a loss to John Wall and the D-One Sports team. Stewart has a final five list of Miami (Fla.), Xavier, Wake Forest, Oregon and South Florida and expects to make a decision in the next few weeks.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino made it to Vegas for some games on Tuesday. He watched Indiana Elite LNO junior guard Terone Johnson and then checked out the Atlanta Celtics and U of L top target Noel Johnson.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino spent time watching shooting guard Aaron Dotson out of Seattle. Dotson attends the same high school that produced current Card Terrence Williams, Rainier Beach. With a strong performance in Vegas with coach Pitino watching, the 6-foot-4 Dotson Rises from Underdog to Favorite and would welcome a UL scholarship offer.

Chicago Elite 6-foot junior guard Lavonte Dority of Chicago Foreman High School mentioned UK along with Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, DePaul, Wisconsin, Marquette, New Mexico and Florida as potential suitors. He’s a solid, solid point guard.

Derrick Favors, considered one of the top two or three players in the country, has a long list of schools that includes Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Florida State, Kentucky, Texas, Connecticut, UCLA, USC, Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. He said there are no favorites.

Memphis White Station guard Joe Jackson is playing with the Memphis Magic team in the Main Event lists Memphis, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Louisville, Kansas and UMass.
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Adam Zagoria reports that Seton Hall incoming freshman Melvyn Oliver is Waiting on Clearninghouse (ZagsBlog.net) to approve his final academic record for eligibility this coming season. Oliver is a 6-foot-11, 350 lb center that will add depth to the Pirate front court this season if eligible.

Zags also updates readers on Seton Hall Target Arsalan Kazemi, a 6-foot-7 power forward, originally from Iran, who is attending the Patterson School in North Carolina. Seton Hall has offered him a scholarship while Syracuse and West Virginia are among the schools tracking him this summer on the AAU and camp circuit.

The Las Vegas Sun also has a recent story on Kazemi, where he re-iterates the same three Big East schools as those he is interested in: From Iranian Hoop Courts to Las Vegas, With Love.
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The Charleston Daily Mail has the story on Dan Jennings, the recent WVU Recruit (that) Has Taken Unexpected journey from NYC to Oak Hill and, eventually, Morgantown (WV).
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While Jim Boeheim has to put some of his recruiting duties aside as Boeheim is Ready to Go for the Gold (Syracuse Post-Standard) with the USA Olympic Team, he has a chance to get out and see some of the AAU action in Vegas.

When the Olympics are over and coach Boeheim returns to Syracuse, he will be making quite a statement as to who one of his top 2010 recruiting targets are, as will Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech, Rutgers’ Fred Hill, Gary Williams of Maryland and others as Hewitt, Boehiem Williams Scheduled to Speak at Bishop Maginn Clinic (Fox 23 News) on September 13th. Bishop Maginn is home to top 2010 guard prospect Taran Buie, a target of each head coach in the class of 2010.
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The Post Tribune has a story on the reigning Big East Player of the Year, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, and how Harangody is Happy to Give a Little Back to the local community he grew up in.
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The Charleston Gazette speaks to Hargrave Military Academy head coach Kevin Keatts, The Croupier in Regards to WVU Signee Roscoe Davis and learns the odds of Davis being eligible to join the West Virginia program for the 2008-2009 season are around 50/50.
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Pittsburgh had tried and tried to line up an opponent for a December 17th date in Madison Square Garden. Deals for potential takers Memphis and Alabama, both who have played, and lost to, Jamie Dixon and the Panthers in MSG in recent years have fallen through and it now looks like the game is a no-go. With Siena Finalizing its Basketball Schedule (Albany Times-Union), a date in Pittsburgh looks to be set for December 18th.

The Panthers are slated as a pre-season top 10 team for 2008-2009 and seem to be locked into a rotation already that is very heavy on experience, led by Levance Fields, Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and Gilbert Brown and may also include Mike Cook. Right now, the question is their two-guard position, but strong summers have a couple very interesting candidates that have impressed former guard Keith Benjamin in the Pittsburgh Summer Pro-Am league as the Battle Shapes Up for the Shooting Guard Spot (Tribune Review) at Pitt.
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The New York Daily News takes a look at Former OSL Coach Oswald Cross Who Resurfaces With New York Panthers and is a possible August addition to the St. John’s coaching staff under Norm Roberts once the AAU season is complete.

Speaking of St. John’s, Jeff Goodman in his Good ‘n Plenty: A College Hoops Blog he reports that the Redstorm and Kansas were the only high majors tracking elite prospect Lance Stephenson in Vegas to this point. He asks the rhetorical question, referring to some of the cautions associated with the sometimes emotional guard, that he is unsure what it tells him that they were the only head coaches to see him play.
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Andy Katz has a great story on Jim Calhoun as Calhoun Endures More Cancer Treatments (ESPN.com) to fight off his most recent bout with the disease. The article is part of the ESPN Insider series, so you need an account (come on Andy! If Jeff Goodman and the NBE Basketball Report can be free, you can, too! Ha ha). Anyway, coach Calhoun is doing well and spending a lot of time with the current players while the assistants log a little extra recruiting time.

The story also updates a little more on the situation with Stanley Robinson, who has the possibility to come back in December if he can get the academics in order and recruit Ater Majok, who is finishing up academic requirements in Australia and will hope to join the program in mid-season (December).

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