Jeff Borzello, Marquette Recruiting, Providence Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

HOOP SKILLS BIG EAST RECRUITING SCUTTLEBUTT

PROVIDENCE EYEING 2011 POINT GUARDS

As reported last week by NBE Sports, Providence has been very active in the recruitment of Brewster Academy junior (2011) point guard Naadir Tharpe and will have the floor general on their campus this week.

“He is scheduled to attend Midnight Madness at Providence College next week,” Brewster coach Jason Smith said of Tharpe.

Tharpe is not the only 2011 point guard target of the PC staff as Gahanna (OH) Lincoln High School’s Stevie Taylor has also received a scholarship offer from the Friars and will be making a campus visit later this fall.

Taylor has an unofficial visit set for November 13th-15th where he will plan to see two early season games and meet the coaching staff and academic support staff.

“According to the coaching staff, Taylor’s game fits perfectly with Keno Davis’ up-tempo dribble drive offense,” a source with knowledge of Taylor’s recruitment told NBE Sports on Tuesday.

Providence assistant Chris Davis has been recruiting Taylor very hard since the staff saw him in action to close the July evaluation period at the Best of Summer Tournament in Los Angeles.

EARLY LEADER FOR COLLIER AFTER FIRST VISIT (by Jeff Borzello)

Devon Collier has trimmed his list to four schools – and could have a leader.

“Yes. It’s St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence, Oregon State,” New Heights Director Kimani Young said in a text message last week. “Those are the schools that have shown him the most interest and done the best job recruiting him thus far.

Adam Berkowitz, Collier’s AAU coach, also confirmed the news.

Collier is a versatile 6-7 forward from St. Anthony (N.J.) who plays his AAU ball with New Heights. He visited Oregon State this past weekend and told Adam Zagoria that the Beavers were his leader.

“Devon had a great visit at Oregon State,” Young stated in an e-mail message to NBE Basketball Report Tuesday evening. “He really enjoyed it but he will take all his visits and make his decision after looking at all his options.”

CAREY FACED WITH A DECISION (by Jeff Borzello)

Newark Eastside (N.J.) guard Tariq Carey continues to pick up interest and attention from various schools.

“I got invited up to Villanova Midnight Madness,” Carey said in a text message. “I just picked up Oklahoma and Temple.”

Carey was also invited to the St. John’s Elite Camp on the same weekend as ‘Nova’s Midnight Madness.

“I’m not sure,” Carey said when asked which school he’ll visit that weekend. “As of now, I like St. John’s, but I think I took a lot of visits there, I want to see something new.”

PINKSTON COMMITMENT RUMOR FALSE (by Jeff Borzello)

A story in the ESPN.com “Rumors” section this past weekend might have led some to believe that Jayvaughn Pinkston was primed to commit to St. John’s.

New Heights Director Kimani Young was quick to debunk the story.

“Those rumors were untrue,” Young said.

Young confirmed that Pinkston was likely to wait until the Spring signing period to choose a school, and also confirmed that St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova, Marquette and Tennessee were the primary schools that Pinkston was considering.

“Miami and West Virginia are on the outside looking in,” Young added.

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