September 2009

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (9/30/2009)

We take a Wednesday trip around the Big East to get readers caught up on some of the latest happenings in the conference. Not as heavy on the recruiting news as much of it has been discussed in previous articles, but there is an additional look at the Josh Selby recruitment, from the eyes of his mother and a few notes on Cory Joseph. Also, Connecticut is working on extending Jim Calhoun’s contract, maybe that has slowed their recruiting process with some of their top targets? Elsewhere, Mick Cronin does get an extension from Cincinnati, Devin Ebanks shwoed a new side to his game last season and a Notre Dame season preview is linked in below. Also, a look at the imapct of the social networking tool Twitter and the interaction between fans and recruits.

Read all these, and more, below…

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Don’t forget, for the latest news, notes and recruiting, be sure to check out the NBE Football Report.

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HOOP SKILLS BIG EAST RECRUITING SCUTTLEBUTT

by RAY MERNAGH/NBE Sports

With Tennessee forward Casey Prather giving Billy D and Florida his word on Tuesday night that probably eliminates the Gators from the J.J. Moore chase. Moore is the extremely underrated wing from Brentwood (NY) now playing at South Kent (CT) School. Moore, and Moore’s mother, are particularly fond of Pittsburgh (Brandin Knight is really working this hard) but J.J. is still planning on visiting Louisville last we heard. Not sure how high Louisville‘s true interest is in Moore as they seem to love Wayne Blackshear out of the Chicago area. One high-major assistant told me that Moore is an “elite-level wing who’s right there with the top players in the country.” His opinion was then conformed by three other peers, one who adamently said Moore will be a “huge get” for somebody.
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Roscoe Smith of Oak Hill has been at the top of a lot of recruiting boards across the country and he’s tabbed two Big East schools, Georgetown and UConn, to be on the list of his first three visits (the other being Duke). Smith will visit the Hoyas first, follow that up with the Dookies, then hit UConn third. Smith hasn’t lined up a date with the two remaining schools in his top five — Florida and Kansas. Smith is a 6’7″ small forward that impressed the hell out of us in July when we saw him in Akron for the King James Skills Event and at the King City Classic in Cleveland. Smith’s visit list is curtesy of Jody Demling, maybe the best pound-for-pound recruitnik going right now (he’s the Money May of the recruiting world). Demling focuses on Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana for the Louisville Courier-Journal but as you can imagine, that brings a lot of national-level type coverage.
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Patrick Lucas-Perry is the younger brother of Michigan’s Lavell and a 2011 point guard out of Flint, Michigan (Powers HS). Lucas-Perry has been offered by Stan Heath and South Florida, as well as Michigan and Michigan State. Notre Dame is also looking hard at him. NBE will talk to Lucas-Perry in the near future and get his thoughts on things up to this point.
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Martinsville (VA)’s Heat Academy is the new home to class of 2010 big man Waverly Austin. His next home could be the Big East as Austin confirmed to NBE Sports yesterday that his two leaders are from the Big East.

“Yes, South Florida and Cincinnati are my leaders,” Austin said. “I like the oppurninty to play right away and the schools are recruting me the hardest.”

Austin also told NBE he continues to field calls from Connecticut, Seton Hall and Indiana.

Austin is now planning official vists to UC and USF. The Bearcats are also coming in for an in-home visit as well. The 6-foot-11, 247-lb Fredericksburg (VA) native previously took an unofficial visit to USF “which was really good” indicated Austin.
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A final nugget — We’ve learned that Bobby Gonzalez and assistant Derm Player are on their way to an in-home visit with 5-star recruit CJ Leslie in North Carolina today. Here’s a tip of the hat to the Seton Hall staff for getting in on such an elite, national talent. We saw Leslie this summer at both aforementioned events in Northeast Ohio and he’s a monster athlete with a motor to match. Check him out here.

Today’s Big East Recruiting Scuttlebutt is brought to you by…

PHILLY NATIVE JESSE MORGAN GETTING BIG EAST INTEREST

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Jesse Morgan has long been a fixture in the Philadelphia basketball scene. Playing at Prep Charter earlier in his high school career and finishing up last season at Olney High School, the 6-foot-5, 180-pound guard always has had a big reputation as a scorer. In his senior season at Olney last year, after a brief stop at Apex Academy in Pennsauken, Morgan averaged 27.8 points a game, along with 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, leading the Trojans to the Public League A Division regular-season title.

However, even with his ability to dominate games offensively, with a sweet jumpshot and nasty cross over to get to the rim, college recruiters have taken a wait-and-see approach with Morgan as he continues to work at getting his academic record in order. That quest has led him to a prep year at South Kent (CT) School, a private boarding school on a 500-acre campus in the hills of Litchfield County.

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JAYVAUGHN PINKSTON UPDATE & OTHER RECRUITING SCUTTLEBUTT

by RAY MERNAGH

One of the bigger recruiting battles going for NYC area talent is being waged for New Heights AAU and Bishop Laughlin HS star JayVaughn Pinkston. Pinkston has Seton Hall‘s Bobby Gonzalez and staff coming in for a home visit this evening.

Pinkston has long been considered a spring-time commit but we caught up with New Height Athletic Director Kimani Young and he had the following to say when asked about Pinkston’s recruitment: “As of now it’s still a spring commit,” said Young, “but the door is not closed if he’s content with a choice right now.”

So if somebody brings it strong in the home, and Pinkston feels comfortable with the campus/academic-side of things, he could make the move earlier. You would think if an earlier commit from Pinkston were to happen it would favor one of the local institutions — like a Seton Hall — because of the familiarity that’s already present vs a far-off school that Pinkston isn’t able to visit at the drop of a hat (or a 20-45 minute car/train ride).

Last night, Gonzalez and his staff made their in-home presentation to Devon Collier, another New Heights player. The visit went very well and Seton Hall will get a future visit as Collier Will Visit Five Schools (ZagsBlog.com) officially: SHU, Providence, St. John’s, Oregon State and ‘probably’ Maryland.
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Shawn Kemp Jr is playing at Hargrave Military this year and has just re-opened his recruitment. Kemp is a high-potential guy, and that term “potential” is why Anthony Grant at Alabama has come to a mutual decision with Kemp that he’ll open it back up and they’ll be able to watch him some more. Jerry Meyer at Rivals broke the story and points out that the 6’9″ Kemp was recruited by the old staff at ‘Bama.
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ZagsBlog.com also has an update from Brandon Knight following his weekend visit to Connecticut, which went very well. However, the Fort Lauderdale (FL) Pine Crest point guard is still looking like a spring decision. With Kyrie Irving, Josh Selby and Tobias Harris all eliminating UConn from their lists in recent days, the Husky fans were hoping for some good news in short order. They might have to wait a little longer…

Cory Joseph, another 2010 point guard, and small forward Roscoe Smith are both scheduled to visit for their first practice celebration the weekend of October 16th.
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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (9/29/2009)

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Here is a Tuesday morning run through the Big East. A couple articles looking at the year ahead for West Virginia as well as Pittsburgh. Also, the Big East Tournament will remain 16 strong for the immediate future, at least.

On the recruiting front, updates on Tyrone Johnson, Kyrie Irving, Chasson Randle, Michael Gilchrist, Achraf Yacoubou, Roscoe Smith and a look at how Providence hopes to fend off the big boys of recruiting for prized 2012 local prospects such as Alex Murphy and Ricky Ledo.

Read about all these, and more, below…

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POPE & SETON HALL FEEL “ITS OUR TIME”

by RAY MERNAGH

Herb Pope is 6’9″ and 235 pounds of basketball skill. Seton Hall fans are no doubt dreaming about Pope catching the ball in the short corner with a defender on his back and watching him turn to face up his guy from about 10-12 feet out. It’s difficult to imagine a defensive assignment that coaches will try to prevent more than this particular one.

Why?

Because the options available in that scenario are numerous. In fact, given Pope’s skills I thought of five right away.

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CLASS OF 2011 INTRO: VINNY ZOLLO

Former UK commit for Billy Gillispie is wide-open despite rumors of another commitment

Vinny Zollo has already made a college choice once, despite just beginning his junior year of high school. In the spring of 2008, following a freshman season at McClain High School in Greenfield (OH), Zollo verbally committed to then-Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie following an unofficial visit. However, now that Gillispie is no longer the coach at UK, Zollo has re-opened the process and is exploring new options.

That is not all that is new since the early commitment to UK. Zollo has also relocated and now attends George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester (KY). Playing for coach Scott Humphrey, Zollo averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds as a sophomore.

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HOOP GROUP FALL JAM FEST RECRUITING NOTES

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There was some hoops on this basketball Saturday courtesy of the Hoop Group who welcomed teams to the RAC on the Rutgers campus (as well as a couple local high school gyms) for their 2009 Fall Jam Fest.

NBE was represented by Matt Whitfield who spent a good portion of the day getting caught up with some of the local talent that made this another excellent event put on by The Hoop Group.

Below are the recruiting notes Matt gathered during his time Saturday at the Fall Jam Fest…

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DESMOND HUBERT RECRUITING UPDATE

Class of 2011 NJ Playaz big man is seeing recruiting stock soar

One of the fastest rising players in the eyes of college coaches is the NJ Playaz big man Desmond Hubert. He has quickly become of one the most highly recruited post players in the 2011 class and he told NBE’s Matt Whitfield Saturday at the Hoop Group Fall Jam Fest at the RAC that he has “about 10 offers” and named Villanova, Pittsburgh, Miami, West Virginia, Penn State, Cincinnati, Xavier, St. Joe’s, Virginia Tech, Providence and St. John’s as the offering schools.

Hubert is also getting “medium interest” from North Carolina, who is sending an assistant to his high school on Monday to watch him workout, and Duke. In early November, he will make an unofficial visit to both schools along with North Carolina State and Wake Forest, two schools showing “high interest.”

Hubert also has a trip planned to Maryland coming up as well as November 7th to Penn State for their football game with Ohio State and then the following weekend he is planning to visit Pittsburgh when their football program hosts Notre Dame.

Additional schools showing interest in Hubert include Harvard, Princeton, Texas, Connecticut, Kansas, Georgetown, Kentucky, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana, Clemson, among others.

TOBIAS HARRIS CUTS LIST TO 7 SCHOOLS

Elite 2010 forward prospect Tobias Harris has finished up his home visits and has cut his list to seven schools.

“It’s been real hard cutting this list down, I just want to thank all the schools that have been recruiting me, it has been a great blessing,” Harris said in a statement released on his twitter page.

After talking it over with his family earlier this evening, they have decided to concentrate on seven schools.

“My final 7 schools are Maryland, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky & Syracuse….In no type of order,” Harris said via Twitter.

RECRUITING NOTEBOOK: JUAN’YA GREEN UPDATE; MORE INTEREST IN TARIQ CAREY

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BY JEFF BORZELLO

With one of the top players in Philadelphia’s class of 2011, John Johnson, committing to Pittsburgh last week, what does the picture look like for another prospect from the City of Brotherly Love?

Juan’ya Green, a 6-3 guard from Archbishop Carroll (Pa.), has long been considered a strong Villanova lean. However, Green said he has no favorite at this point.

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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (9/25/2009)

The countdown to Midnight Madness and the official start of college basketball practices stands at just three weeks from today. Recruiting and visits are still in full swing for another week and much of today’s update is spent in the midwest taking a look at the recruitment of players such as Jeremiah Davis, Branden Dawson, Chasson Randle, Jay Parker, Lavonte Dority and JUCO PF Dwight McCoombs.

Elsewhere around the landscape on a pretty quiet Friday is the opening of the Carmelo K Anthony practice facility at Syracuse, the preparations at Providence for Midnight Madness and a interesting article with a couple excellent college basketball writers discussing what has been in the news much of the summer around college hoops.

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TAYLOR’S G-LIFE FANTASY ISN’T REALITY

by RAY MERNAGH

Tyshawn Taylor, the one-time Marquette recruit who ended up at Kansas, took the idiot factor to a whole new level via the progress that is social networking — in this case facebook. Taylor posted some deep thoughts about always being a “G” about things, because you know, what else does a young man who’s potentially nine months away from being a first round pick have if not his street cred?

Taylor’s ramblings, just quoting song lyrics according to his coach Bill Self, were followed by three confrontations between the basketball and football teams on the KU campus. Taylor, G that he is, sprained a finger in the fracas and is out 3-4 weeks. No word on whether the finger was sprained pulling the trigger of the Morris twins BB gun. There is word that one of the Morris’ allegedly threw/pushed a football player down a flight of stairs — those pranksters!

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RECRUITING UPDATES ON RONALD ROBERTS & MYLES DAVIS

NJ Playaz/St. Peter’s Prep duo continue to see schools added to the mix in their recruitment

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Bursting onto the scene as a sleeper in the class of 2010, Ronald Roberts has quickly seen his list get longer and longer.

The 6-foot-6 combo forward from St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.) now has at least 14 schools on his radar, including several offers.

“Offers: Rutgers, Temple, St. Joe’s, Fordham, St. John’s, Providence, George Washington, Northeastern,” Roberts said in a text message. “Interest: Seton Hall, Villanova, Penn State, Notre Dame, Boston College, Indiana.”

He has not planned any visits at this point, but he knows which schools he wants to check out – for the most part.

“St. Joe’s, Providence, St. John’s and two others,” he said. “I’m still trying to decide.”

While reports during the summer said that Indiana was his favorite, Roberts said that is not the case.

In fact, Roberts said his favorite is Syracuse, but he said that he thinks they have no scholarships available for their 2010 recruiting class.

“No, the Indiana analysis made it seem like I want to go there, but I don’t know where I want to go,” he said. “Out of the schools that are looking at me, no favorites.”
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Davis continues to add schools

After an impressive summer in which he made an impact at nearly every event he attended, Myles Davis is rising in the eyes of many colleges across the country as a top target in the class of 2011.

“My new offer is Providence,” Davis said. “My new schools that are recruiting me kind of hard [are] Georgetown, Virginia and Purdue.”

The 6-foot-2 shooting guard, also from St. Peter’s Prep (N.J.), has offers and/or interest from George Mason, Marist, Rutgers, Saint Joseph’s, Fordham, St. John’s and Massachusetts.

Davis added that he has not taken any visits recently, but plans to once his schedule is free.
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CATCHING UP ON ANGEL NUNEZ AT IS8

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Class of 2011 Nunez is an elite prospect in prep ranks that Big East schools have checked in on

By Zach Smart

Eric Martinez knew he had to do it.

He knew if Angel Nunez was going to pan out at that next level, his progression would need to take place in a disciplined, heavy-structure environment where much emphasis is placed on academics.

Enter, The Winchendon School (MA), a prep school and traditional hoops hotbed.

Martinez, Nunez’ advisor and a friend of NBA player Francisco Garcia—who starred at Winchendon in 2001—has close ties with coach Michael Byrnes.

So, Martinez felt it was the best decision to take a top-flight prospect and move him into a lower-density area where he’d be going up against star-spangled squads every night.

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RECRUITING UPDATE ON KADEEM JACK; MANY BIG EAST INVOLVED

Kadeem Jack could be sought after 2011 recruit by Big East programs

Currently, Rice HS C/PF Kadeem Jack is an intriguing prospect in the class of 2010, standing in at 6-foot-9 and tipping the scales at a lean 205 pounds. After several very good showings in the spring on the AAU circuit with the NY Gauchos, not much was seen of Jack between his time at the St. John’s Elite Camp on July 1st and the Summer in the City event July 31st as he spent time working on his academics. That does not mean he was not working on his game.

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CARSON DESROSIERS COMMITS TO WAKE FOREST

According to the The Eagle-Tribune Online, Lawrence (MA) Central Catholic and Windham resident Carson Desrosiers ended the his recruitment just hours ago and committed to play college ball on a full scholarship at Wake Forest University.

Desrosiers had been a high target for Big East schools such as Syracuse, Providence and Marquette. He recently narrowed his choices down to Wake Forest, Arizona State and Marquette, scheduling official visits to all three. Desrosiers had taken a trips to Winston-Salem (NC) two weeks ago to check out Dino Gaudio’s program and Arizona State this past weekend, but the 6-foot-11 C/F decided to end the process and commit to Wake Forest today.

BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (9/23/2009)

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Lots of information today in the News & Notes around the Big East. As usual, with no actual basketball to report on, recruiting news dominates the column as colleges continue to criss cross the United States making home visits and scheduling top targets for official visits to their campus. Following an official visit last weekend, DePaul picked up a pair of solid commitments from players out of the Chicago-area and now look to make a local pick-up next. Brandon Knight will have coaches coming by Pine Crest today and he heads for an official visit this weekend to the Big East. A unique tie to the 2010 star prospect could help that BE school land this big prize. Michael Bradley, a 6’10 big man also embarks on a Big East visit this weekend. Two elite 2011 recruits make a surprise visit last weekend to a Big East school. Also, some of the top 2012 prospects from around the country are seeing plenty of love from Big East schools.

Additional recruiting notes on Dorom Lamb, Jayvaughn Pinkston and Gilvydas Biruta can be found as well as links to stories on Brian McKenzie at PC, Lance Stephenson at UC, how the Big East schedule is put together, the husband of the current Women’s US Open tennis championship is a former Big East player, a preview of Syracuse, a look at the recent Marquette news and coaching staff updates at Rutgers and Seton Hall are below…whew! Happy reading!

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: DEPAUL

According to Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal, DePaul received a verbal commitment today from Las Vegas small forward Moses Morgan. Morgan is a 6-foot-5, 200-lb forward who is the son of former Indiana Hoosier Winston Morgan.

Morgan visited DePaul last weekend, one week after taking a trip to his father’s alma mater. The weekend has now produced a pair of verbal commitments for Jerry Wainwright as emerging DC point guard Brandon Young made a verbal commitment to the Blue Demons shortly after taking his official visit to the Lincoln park campus last weekend.

DWIGHT POWELL RECRUITING UPDATE

by RAY MERNAGH

One of the more refreshing kids we saw this past summer was 6-foot-10 post Dwight Powell. Dwight is yet another player out of Ro Russell’s Grassroots Canada program and his development has been helped immensely by the folks at IMG Academy (Vince Walden and Dan Barto), where Powell attends school and plays his high school ball in Florida.

If you interviewed Powell about a random subject, say music or school, in the dark you’d probably come away thinking you just talked to a future Prime Minister of Canada. That perception might be accurate, but the political life will probably have to wait until the basketball career is over. Powell is a post player with an outrageous amount of skill for running the floor, catching and finishing, as well as a really good perimeter game (can handle and stroke it).

Powell will visit Harvard this weekend but we’re told that the Stanford Cardinal put themselves in a really good spot over the weekend with what those around Powell say was “a very impressive visit.”

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