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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (6/29/2009)

The final days of June are slowly slipping by and the crazy month of July is staring at us from around the corner. NBE is gearing up for a huge July as we will have coverage live from the Adidas it Takes 5ive in Cincinnati, the Lebron James Skills Academy in Akron, the King City Classic in Cleveland, the Reebok All-American Camp in Philadelphia, the Hoop Group Elite Camp in Reading, the Reebok Summer Classic East, the Chicago Classic, the First Eight and the Hall of Fame Invitational in Springfield (MA), the Joe Brown Memorial Classic, Hoop Group Harley Jam in Morgantown, the Big Shots in Myrtle Beach, the Peach Jam in North Augusta, Summer in the City and anything else we can get to this summer.

Of course, we will have our live updates, like we have done in the past at the Primetime Challenge and Rumble in the Bronx, so fans can follow along the action by visiting our site and see the updated recruiting news and what coaches are where during the month. We will continue to bring it all to you for free. Donations to our site are gladly accepted and we will certainly pass the hat and you can help the NBE become even better with a donation of any size.

Here is a Paypal link to send in a donation via the Paypal system, which accepts all major credit cards:

We value all our visitors and we hope to continue to build and promote NBE in the future. We look forward to reporting on all the July action and we expect our readers to find our July coverage to be as complete as any website or network out there!!!

This past weekend, Jeff Borzello was in Neptune (NJ) for the Hoop Group’s HBC Metro Summer Showcase. He will have some player recaps very soon for NBE and here are a couple links to check out with some good recruiting updates from the top players who competed this weekend:

Hoop Group HBC Metro Summer Showcase (Saturday)
Hoop Group HBC Metro Summer Showcase (Sunday)

Also this weekend a couple individual stories to check out…

Class fo 2010 Intro: Jelan Kendrick
Class of 2010 Riser: Kadeem Jack

There is also a lot to cover in today’s News and Notes with Lance Stephenson’s legal issues and recruiting once again the hot topic around the internet. Also around the Big East, Marquette is losing a player expected to contribute next season and they are awaiting the arrival of a pair of freshmen as the NCAA Clearinghouse is looking more closely at transcripts of international players prior to clearing them for summer school. A couple of Big East assistants look to be the finalists for the Holy Cross head coaching job. Pitt’s new freshmen look to be ready for important roles this coming season. Also, more recruiting updates on several Big East targets, including one who committed to an ACC school recently…

The new hot team on the Lance Stephenson recruitment chase appears to be Cincinnati as ‘Born Ready’ and his family visited UC this weekend. Adam Zagoria reports that Lance Stephenson to Cincinnati (ZagsBlog.com) could come to reality this week. However, the Brooklyn Criminal Court case in which Stephenson and Lincoln HS teammate Darwin ‘Buddha’ Ellis have been charged with groping a fellow 17-year old female classmate last school year is still not settled. At a hearing Monday morning, Lance’s Case was Adjourned Again (ZagsBlog) until July 15th. If found guilty, Stephenson could face up to 90 days in jail plus fines. It is believed his college choice would come after the settling of his court case.

According to Zags, other potential schools in the mix include Memphis, Missouri, Pittsburgh and UNC-Charlotte, according to a source close to the Stephensons. it remains unclear how interested those schools actually are, however…

Stay tuned!
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A couple Big East assistants remain in the mix as Holy Cross is Down to Two (ZagsBlog.com – scroll down) finalists in their search for a head coach to replace Ralph Willard, who is now an assistant coach for friend Rick Pitino at Louisville. Today, Sean Kearney, the associate head coach under Mike Brey at Notre Dame is interviewing for the job and on Tuesday, Jamie Dixon’s right hand man at Pittsburgh, Tom Herrion, will interview for the position. A decision is expected on Wednesday.
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Louisville recruiting always seems to have something brewing and right now U of L is on the Trail of a Point Guard for 2010 (Louisville Courier-Journal), Cory Joseph, of Findlay Prep.

The 6-foot-3 guard is looking to narrow his list by the end of the summer and is also looking at Ohio State, Florida, Kansas, Memphis, Minnesota, Texas, Arkansas, Connecticut, Villanova and Texas A&M are among the schools he’s considering.

The Cards have been very active in Joseph’s recruitment for and he indicated to the C-J that they are one of his top choices.
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Here is a recruiting article on Dayton as the Flyers are Going After Guards (Dayton Daily News) in their current recruiting efforts. Several of their targets are also being courted by Big East programs as well.

Jalen Steele of Knoxville (TN) visited Dayton for the Duquesne game last season and, along with Indiana native Jesse Berry, Chicago’s Brandon Spearman and Cleveland’s Cameron Wright, currently have Dayton at, or near, the top of their recruiting lists.

Steele, who is being recruited by Marquette, Clemson and Xavier and has about 20 scholarship offers according to the Daily News article, averaged 21.3 points last season in leading Fulton High School to its second consecutive state title.

Berry has offers from Cincinnati and Butler and has a visit to Arizona scheduled for early August.

The 6-foot-3 Spearman, who is ranked as the 71st-best prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, has offers from DePaul, Iowa State and Bradley and also visited Marquette last week.

The 6-5 Wright, who averaged 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists as a junior for Cleveland Benedictine, was once committed to Ohio State. Notre Dame is also in the mix.
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Will Regan was a target, at times, of several Big East schools and Providence was one of his finalists. However, Regan will head to the ACC as the Upstate NY Forward is the first to Commit to UVA in Class of 2010 (Virginian Pilot).
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Pittsburgh saw last year’s starters DeJuan Blair and Sam Young go in the NBA Draft, although later than expected, and Tyrell Biggs and Levance Fields, who in all made up 80% of the Elite 8 team’s starting line-up, have also graduated from the program, leaving the Panthers with a much different look next season. Next year’s roster willl have four true freshman and two red-shirt freshmen and the Freshmen Figure to Play alot for Pitt Next Season (Post-Gazette). From early reviews of their starts in a pro-am summer league, this might be a group that surprises some people earlier than expected.
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Todd Rosiak’s blog at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a plethora of Marquette news recently, including his Open Gym Report where he fills in readers on how several of the Golden Eagle newcomers look.

Freshmen Junior Cadougan and Youssoupha Mbao have not made it to campus as of Sunday evening and Cadougan and Mbao are in a Holding Pattern as the NCAA has made the international players be certified through the Clearinghouse prior to summer school. This is a new development from the NCAA. Cadougan is expected shortly, however, Mbao’s situation may take some more doing before he gets the all clear from the NCAA.

Also in MU news, Maurice Acker, who started the last seven games last season in place of an injured Dominic James, will not return to the team this coming season. Acker foregoes his Senior Season (Journal-Sentinel) to concentrate on earning his degree at the conclusion of his fall semester in December. Acker will be in his fifth season as a college student. He played one year at Ball State and sat out a season at MU as a transfer student. The was James’ primary back-up the last two seasons.
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