Connecticut Recruiting, Georgetown Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Marquette Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Providence Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting, Zach Smart

BASKETBULL NATIONAL INVITATIONAL NOTES

Basketbull event reels in torrent of talent

by ZACH SMART

Springfield, Mass.–The hoop gurus at Basketbull continue to light up the northeast basketball landscape with the prestigious National Invitational throughout the city where the game originated.

Jermaine Sanders‘ game is heating up this summer. Coach Hicks’ latest stallion has added on to his all-around game. The Rice junior has shed the tag of shooter, evolving into a versatile scorer and game changer.

Sanders’ summer success has naturally run parallel with his emergence on the recruiting front.

Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Maryland are all expressing interest in Sanders.

At Rice last season, Sanders was the robin to Durand Scott’s batman in the backcourt. He was the Manolo to the Miami-bound guard’s Scarface, the bowinkle to his Rocky the moose.

Sanders has been eating up the AAU circuit in Jaws-size bites. The New Heights young gun scored his team’s first 11 points, quieted down for a bit, then proceeded to go to work in the second half.

He reeled off a personal 6-0 spurt with a strong take, mid-range jumper, and a stickback.

Ultimately, Sanders was a weapon of mass destruction (I know, I know, it’s only basketball) against Vermont-based VBG.

The flurry of tall shooters simply had no answer for him.

Sanders took many matters into his hands, pulling down boards and creating offense.

He ran the floor. He cradled the rock and triggered good fast break life.

He got free for easy layins. He contested every shot with his long, suddenly dieseled up arms of the law.

ZSMART’s Top Ringers:

Jayvaughn Pinkston: It’s not even close…Jumbo forward who boards up and has the potential to emerge into a DeJuan Blair-Jamal Mashburn hybrid. Needs to shed perceived attitude issues but at 6-foot-6, 220 he’s a pretty accurate depiction of the real deal. The hunted one, St. John’s, Villanova, Marquette, Louisville, UConn, West Virginia, LSU and Tennessee are all in store for the big kid who scores at will.

Carson Desrosiers -This 6-10, 200-pound big’s stock has risen, significantly, in the past year. After a road swing that featured stops at California and Las Vegas, CD is proving why Marquette, Providence, Syracuse, Purdue, UMass, Kansas, Arizona State, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest all want a piece of him. He’s fundamentally sound in all aspects of his game and does things most forward-centers at his level can’t. He’s got range on a moist jumper he extends to the 3-point line. He’s been working on getting into the paint more, running the floor and blocking shots. Big fella needs to pack muscle onto his spindly frame and become more of an interior presence.

Devon Collier: Versatile scorer and a legit passing big man. This 6-7, 210+ forward has a good face-up game although his postwork needs work. Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, UConn, St. John’s, Villanova, Rutgers and Memphis are all potential suitors. Look for Collier to take the world by storm his senior year at perennial power St. Anthony’s in Jersey City.

Nadir Tharpe -He’s been turning heads since he was 14…The sky is the limit for Tharpe, one of the top guards along the eastern seaboard. Navigating offense on John Carrol’s talent-laced New England Playaz squad, Tharpe is getting solid looks from UConn, Providence and Marquette. These schools will try to intrigue this young man to go East…Big East, that is…

Andre Drummond: athletic 6-9 forward-center will play under Jere Quinn at St. Thomas More next season. It should be interesting to see his performance level at the Division-launchpad. Originally favoring UConn, the Hartford native is now weighing his options. Rutgers, West Virginia and Providence are all schools he’s also considering.

John Johnson: Highly-regarded 6-foot off guard from Philly averaged 19.9 points his sophomore season at Girard College HS, his campaign underscored by a 37-point outburst against Plumstead Christian. Johnson has two Class A championships in as many years. He dropped 17 points in the junior All-American game as a frosh…Spurred the Warriors uptempo offense before Rick Pitino and a host of other coaches at Springfield College this afternoon.

Coaches around and about today:

John Beilein, Michigan
Rick Pitino, Louisville
Norm Roberts, St. John’s
Dave Bike, Sacred Heart

-a surplus of assistants from Rutgers, Georgetown, George Mason, Georgia, Fordham, Tech, Manhattan, and so on…you get the picture!

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