Matt Whitfield, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting

ISAIAH EPPS READY FOR BIG YEAR

Plainfield’s Epps Jubilant After Win, Has Bright Outlook Ahead

By Matt Whitfield

“I loved it, it was a good game, it was competitive and I loved it,” said Isaiah Epps after a 73-61 hard fought, come-from-behind win against Paterson Catholic last Sunday in the Hoop Group Tip-Off Showcase at Seton Hall’s Walsh Gymnasium.

Isaiah Epps has a lot to be happy for this holiday season. Coming off the Paterson Catholic game, which he was named the MVP of, Epps and has Plainfield teammates may not want to admit it but they have one of the most dangerous backcourts and perhaps best lineups of any non-parochial team in the state of New Jersey.

While Epps may be the centerpiece of the team he has a lot of help in the backcourt too.

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Fellow guard Anthony Baskerville has shown the offensive skills and firepower to be a valuable option next to Epps. Also in the backcourt is fearless, slashing multi-sport athlete Tyrone Johnson. Johnson, only a sophomore is one of the states top football and basketball players. When Epps and Johnson are out on the court together, Johnson often shows inner athlete in him taking it hard against defenders much bigger than him while Epps shows the ability that should allow him to transition easily to the point guard position in college, as he looks to dish it off to Johnson or someone else. The Plainfield team is a young team mostly comprised of Juniors but as head coach Jeff Lubreski sees it, “sometimes you here the cliché getting better everyday these kids are because their youthful. “

Epps himself is a guard who draws comparisons to former Maryland star Juan Dixon. On the court, the smooth ball handling Epps has shown he can be a leader and catalyst of the Plainfield offense. At 6-foot-2 he’s also not their biggest player but his game shows he might as well be five feet taller as he has a knack for rebounding and hitting the three. He is rated consistently as a four star recruit amongst recruiting services in the Class of 2010. For a Junior Epps already has a good selection of schools to choose from as he rattled off Pittsburgh, Kansas, Maryland, Seton Hall, and Rutgers when asked for an update on his recruiting list. Epps also indicated he had a scholarship offer from each school.

When looking at schools, Epps said he’s looking at places where he can have the opportunity to start right away, or at least get a lot of early minutes, and be a leader. That being said, education is also an important aspect to Epps as well as he said, ”it’s not all about basketball” and that getting a good education will play a role in his recruitment.

For now, despite all the headlines, Epps is just a junior at Plainfield High School who enjoys hanging out with his family. He told me his favorite basketball player was Lebron James because “he looks for his team before he scores.” Epps, like James, may have a future in the NBA one day himself. The next basketball in the future of Epps will be the Jingle Bells Jubilee Holiday Tournament being played December 27th through 30th at Paterson Catholic High School. The event, organized by The Playaz Basketball Club will bring New Jersey powers such as Linden HS, Paterson-Kennedy, Paterson-Eastside, St. Peter’s Prep and Passaic HS, along with Plainfield. Also, NYC power Bishop Loughlin and highly touted Monsignor Bonner of Philadelphia round out the field.

Like the Hoop Group Tip-Off Showcase of last weekend, the NBE will be at the Jingle Bells Jubilee this weekend to see Epps and the others in action.

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