Cincinnati Recruiting, Connecticut Recruiting, Georgetown Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Marquette Recruiting, Pittsburgh News, Rutgers Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (10/1/2009)

The calendar has flipped again. There is a definite chill in the air here in the Northeast and it means college basketball season is coming quickly. With Midnight Madness festivities just two weeks away, excitement for the upcoming season is continuing to build.

In today’s news and notes, there are a few recruiting updates on Michael Gilchrist, Roscoe Smith, Vander Blue and Marquis Teague. Also, Jamie Dixon and Pitt will be putting on a health fair in the memory of Dixon’s younger sister who passed away from a heart ailment in 2006 at the age of 26 as part of their annual Basketball Fan Fest.

NBE will have a few additional recruiting stories later today for our readers…

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Villanova basketball recruiting is certainly as hot as ever. Earlier today we had a Bradley Beal Update as the elite 2011 shooting guard listed ‘Nova as a team on his radar. In the class of 2011 it gets no bigger than Michael Gilchrist and the NJ Basketball Star is to Visit Villanova unofficially this Saturday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Gilchrist, who has been on the campuses of Rutgers and Michigan the last two weekends, wants to make unofficial visits to Kentucky, Connecticut, Oregon, and Louisiana State before the start of the high school basketball season, per the Inquirer article.

Before fans get too excited about the prospects of Gilchirst suiting up for their favorite team in 2011, the Inquirer reminds readers that Gilchrist’s uncle, William Wesley, and John Calipari are close friends and that recruiting advantage has been reported on often.
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Adam Zagoria reports that Roscoe Smith Cuts List to Three schools as Georgetown, Connecticut and Duke are the final trio with Kansas, Florida and UCLA now out of the mix.

Zags reports that Coach K, Jim Calhoun and John Thompson III all have been to Oak Hill (VA) Academy this week to visit with Smith.
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It is becoming very clear that the recruiting battle of schools Chasing Vander Blue (Sports Bubbler) of Madison (WI) Memorial HS will be fought out between Wisconson and Marquette. UCLA, Arizona and Florida are also thought to be involved, but all signs point to this being a local battle between the two Wisconsin schools. Blue attended elite camps at both and recently attended a Wisconsin football game. Blue was originally a verbal commitment for the Badgers, but has re-opened his recruitment. After several quiet months, it looks like the process is back in full swing with Wisconsin represented by assistants Howard Moore and Greg Gardand and Buzz Williams all heading to an open gym at Memorial last night to see Blue.
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According to the Indianapolis Star’s High School Notebook from yesterday, Pike High School basketball standout Marquis Teague is still considering scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Purdue and Wake Forest, according to his father, Shawn Teague. Once thought as a candidate to commit early, that no longer seems to be the case.

“We really don’t have a timeline anymore,” Shawn Teague told the Indy Star. “I think we’ll probably go through the season so he can watch the teams and get a more accurate assessment of who he’d be playing with and that team’s style of play.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where he commits and isn’t completely comfortable with his decision. We talked about that; there are so many kids who commit and then end up de-committing. We want him to be 100 percent sure.”

Teague visited Cincinnati unofficially last weekend and is expected to take trips to Louisville this coming weekend and Kentucky next.
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Jamie Dixon and the University of Pittsburgh are doing their part to help promote heart awareness Saturday with the Maggie Dixon Heart Health Fair as part of the annual basketball Fan Fest at the Petersen Events Center. Dixon Puts Effort Where His Heart Is (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) after attending third a funeral in as many years for a family member who passed away from a heart ailment.

As most will remember, in April 2006, Dixon’s sister, Maggie, died at age 28 from a heart arrhythmia.
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