Louisville Recruiting, Marquette Recruiting, Notre Dame Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Providence Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting, Zach Smart

JABARIE HINDS WEIGHING OPTIONS; BIG EAST RECRUITING NOTES FROM IS8

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by ZACH SMART

It was during a Westchester County high school football game under the evening lights when I encountered Patrick Theodole. Beyond the Section I sports junkie pleasantries, we became immersed in conversation.

The topic? Not football.

Instead, we talked the leaps-and-bounds growth of Jabarie Hinds. Hinds, who cooked opponents to the recipe of 37 points per game down at Bob Gibbons and has evolved into more of a prolific scorer while developing a dependable jumper, has become the hunted in the world of Big East recruiting.

I rattled off a number of top-flight Division-I schools that were actively hounding the latest guard from Westchester’s richest hoops real estate. It certainly elicited a response from Theodole, who’s one of the Knights’ many assistant coaches under longtime coach Bob Cimmino.

“Oh, there’s more schools on his list than that,” Theodole said, reacting to my list of around 8-10 potential Division-I suitors for Hinds.

Theodole—who teaches at Hastings High School, my alma mater—is not wrong here.

“They all seem hungry,” said Hinds, a junior guard who was Pippen to Sherrod Wright’s Jordan, operating offense for the Knights last season.

“I got offers from Oklahoma State, UNLV, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, St. John’s, James Madison, Louisville, and a couple more.”

Hinds has no favorites, no leaders yet. He hasn’t cut any schools from a list that’s akin to a 7-year-old’s Christmas gift list in length.

You can’t write off any team yet. The blink-quick, springy guard still has two years of high school remaining.

Even James Madison, which may or may not be at the bottom of his list, has a tie to Hinds. Former Mount Vernon standout Jomo Belfor, who plays against Hinds during the Knights’ traditional open gyms, played for the Dukes a few years ago.

Hinds keeps his former teammates, many of whom Mount Vernon molded and launched to Big East careers, close to his presence. Kevin Jones (West Virginia), Mike Colburn (Rutgers) and Jonathon Mitchell ((Rutgers) remain tight with Hinds.

“I learned a lot (from the older guys). I played behind Mike Colburn when he was in high school, so I learned a lot from him. (Former Mount Vernon Knights now playing in the Big East or elsewhere) always come up to the gym, in the off-season we work out. We play open gym. They teach me a lot of stuff, and you know, I teach them stuff too.”

As the lone acclaimed player—and one of the few players who played a significant role on last year’s squad—returning, Hinds has rapidly evolved into the face of this storied program.

He knows he’s going to hold some ownership of the team this year.

“Everything is mine now,” said Hinds. “I’m the captain. I’m the only starter back right now, so everybody’s got to work for a spot and go hard in practice every day.

Is keeping a perennial power intact a heavy burden?

“Always,” said Hinds.

“The pressure is there, big time. We need to play hard, go hard every day in practice, make sure we take no plays off, and we should be alright.”

If Hinds continues to orchestrate the offense and grow as a scorer, his future hardwood home should be better than alright.

JUMP BALLS:

Jordan Allen, a 6-foot-5 junior at Bayshore HS, has emerged into a highly sought after product on the recruiting market.

While Allen hasn’t narrowed his list down to favorites, he’s received an uptick in interest from Providence, UMass, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt attended one of Allen’s practices during the last days of the contact period.

“Providence has been going pretty hard right now,” said Allen. “Coach (Pat) Skerry, I’ve been in contact with him. Notre Dame has been showing me some interest, too. That’s it for right now. Before school started, I was hearing from Seton Hall.”
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Devon Collier is currently on his visit at St. John’s. The hotly pursued 6-foot-8 forward from St. Anthony’s has also visited Oregon State—where Craig Robinson, our commander-in-chief’s brother-in-law, is loving his game—and Providence. Collier took his visit during StormFest weekend, SJU’s midnight madness.

The Johnnies look revved up to re-write the script this season, with DJ Kennedy exploding for emphatic, extravagant, and violent dunks. Newly-minted Johnnie junior Dwight Hardy, who was dominant in the Orchard Beach league this summer, was also impressive. He netted threes and showed some range.
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Corey Edwards, a New York point guard with savvy and game managing skills beyond his years, is wide open right now. The 6-foot-1 junior at Christ The King said Villanova and West Virginia are no longer the leaders. Rick Pitino and Louisville have shown interest, taking in one of his workouts during the open contact period. Coaches from Pittsburgh have also started to take notice. Edwards, who averaged 12 points and seven dimes his sophomore season is primed for a breakout campaign at Lamar Odom’s alma mater. This comes after a successful summer playing for New Heights on the AAU circuit.

Edwards, who visited Marquette over the summer, enjoying the gut-busting antics of funnyman forward Jeronne Maymon but detesting the weather, is taking his time with the recruiting process.

“No new visits yet,” Edwards said.

“George Mason coach (Jim Larranaga) wanted me to go to their midnight madness but I couldn’t make it out there. Right now, I’m wide-open. West Virginia is no longer (leading the list). They just got some guard from Cincinnati.”
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editors note – NBE has been unable to confirm the commitment for WVU that Edwards was referring to.
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Tyquan Goodlet, a 6-foot-3 combination guard at St. Anthony’s HS, is receiving the most interest from Big East schools such as Providence, St. John’s, Rutgers and Marquette. He visited Rutgers this fall, taking in the Rutgers/Pitt football game. The class of 2011 playmaker has watched his stock balloon over the summer and through the fall. A crafty guard who loves shredding up defenses and taking it to the cup on the big men, Kimani Young has Goodlet pegged as “New Heights’ favorite player to watch.”
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