Adam Zagoria

TALENTED JEFFERSON TRIO DRAWING INTEREST

Big East schools looking hard at Thomas Jefferson (NYC) trio

By ADAM ZAGORIA

NEW YORK – One team with a boatload of young talent is Thomas Jefferson High in Brooklyn.

In senior guard Keith Spellman, junior forward Joel “Air Jamaica” Wright and sophomore point guard Davontay Grace, the Orange Wave have three players college scouts are keeping an eye on.

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WEST VIRGINIA HOMECOMING AT MSG

Mountaineer freshman trio and NJ vets return to NYC tonight

by Adam Zagoria

West Virginia plays a road game Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, but it will be a homecoming for several Mountaineers.

Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones, Darryl “Truck” Bryant and Wellington Smith all played high school ball in New York or New Jersey and should have a large fan following when West Virginia takes on Stephen Curry and No. 23 Davidson in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic. No. 6 Texas meets No. 15 Villanova in the nightcap. Both games will be shown on ESPN.

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Dominic Cheek: A Star Emerges from City Streets

Check out this video piece on Dominic Cheek by Collin Orcutt and Michael Preston of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Cheek, a senior at St. Anthony’s of Jersey City, is expected to choose a college at any time. The highly rated Cheek has visited Kansas, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Memphis and Rutgers and will make one of those schools very happy when he signs a letter of intent this coming spring.

CHEEK PICKS UP MEMPHIS, LOUISVILLE OFFERS

St. Anthony’s star has busy summer as one of nation’s elite prospects in 2009

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Dominic Cheek is piling up the offers as he heads into the summer before his senior year.

Cheek, a highly athletic and skilled 6-foot-5 wing from St. Anthony of Jersey City, recently picked up offers from Louisville and Memphis.

“I talked to Rick Pitino and everything,” Cheek said at the Rumble in the Bronx at Fordham University. “It was exciting.”

He added that former Pitt and current Memphis assistant Orlando Antigua is recruiting him for John Calipari’s team.

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DAN JENNINGS RECRUITING UPDATE

By ADAM ZAGORIA

One of the top centers in the Class of 2009 is Dan Jennings of Staten Island, N.Y.  The 6′9 Jennings says he has offers from Marquette, DePaul, Louisville, Minnesota, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Xavier, St. John’s, Rutgers and Seton Hall.

At one point Pittsburgh was one of his favorites, but when assistant coach Orlando Antigua left for Memphis, “I haven’t got a real big call yet (from Pitt).”

“Louisville has been calling often,” he added. “St. John’s been calling me.  Minnesota been calling me.”

Jennings said he wants to “take my time during the process.”

“I’m not going to rush it. I”m just going to take my time.”

Jennings spent last season at national prep powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., but will prep a fifth year next season.

“I’m thinking about Brewster (N.H.) Academy or South Kent (Conn.),” he said. “I’m not sure yet. I’m going to look at the schools and see.”

South Kent will also likely add 6′6 former St. Raymond’s of the Bronx standout Kevin Parrom, who is considering Marquette, St. John’s, Rutgers, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Providence, Clemson and Rhode Island.  He has been to Rutgers and St. John’s unofficially.

The Connecticut school is also bringing in 6′5 Mike Burwell, a first-team All-State selection from Cardinal McCarrick High in New Jersey. Michigan and Indiana are recruiting him the hardest, as well as South Florida, UMass and UCLA, his high school coach said.

For more recruiting news from Adam Zagoria, including the latest on Lance Stephenson, be sure to check out zagsblog.net.

ST. BENEDICTS’ BIG MAN TO VISIT RUTGERS

by Adam Zagoria (story originally appeared on ZAGSBLOG this morning)

Rutgers is in dire need of frontcourt help, and the Scarlet Knights will get a crack at impressing one of the top big men in New Jersey when 6-9 junior Greg Echenique of St. Benedict’s visits campus Thursday.

“His family is in town and they’re going there for a visit, and it’s important,” St. Benedict’s coach Danny Hurley said Monday night after watching his father’s team, St. Anthony, win the Tournament of Champions with a 69-36 victory over Newark Science. “It’s an important day for Rutgers to make a big impact.”

Echenique has already been to Rutgers by himself on several occasions. Now his parents are visiting from Venezuela and the family has already taken a trip to Penn.

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ZAG’S BIG EAST TOURNAMENT NOTES (Pt. 1)

Adam Zagoria is at the Big East Tournament and sent us some notes from this afternoon as Villanova began to make their case for the NCAA Tournament while likely pushing Syracuse into the NIT.

Also, Seton Hall point guard Eugene Harvey got a visit from his former high school coach, Danny Hurley, who can relate to some of the struggles Harvey has gone through of late.

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ZAG’S RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and assistant Scott Adubato were among
those on hand Monday night for St. Anthony’s 84-71 win over Paterson
Catholic in the North Non-Public B semis at St. Anthony.

Rutgers head coach Fred Hill and assistant Darren Savino; Villanova
associate head coach Brett Gunning; Fordham assistant Jared Grasso; and St.
Peter’s assistant Kyle Anderson (whose 6-5 8th grade son Kyle Jr. is headed
to Paterson Catholic) were also in the gym.

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ECHENIQUE EMBARKS ON VISITS

by Adam Zagoria (originally published at Zagsblog)

The season is over for 6′9 junior center Greg Echenique and St. Benedict’s Prep, and now Echenique is attempting to visit as many schools as possible before the college season comes to a close.

There are still nearly 10 schools involved for the services of the Venezuelan big man who averaged 11.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocks for the 24-1 Gray Bees. The list includes Rutgers, Villanova, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame of the Big East; Duke, Maryland and Miami of the ACC; and Penn of the Ivy League. Despite previous interest from Florida, Echenique has not heard from that team’s coaches in two weeks.

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JERSEY HOOPS PLAYOFF ROUNDUP

by Adam Zagoria

There were a few shockers in the New Jersey state basketball playoffs onThursday. Here’s a quick rundown of some of what happened, and a look aheadto the coming days.

**Pittsburgh-bound G Ashton Gibbs tallied 28 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals as Seton Hall Prep handled DePaul, 60-38, in North Non-Public A.

**DePaul junior Justin Crosgile, who holds offers from St. Joe’s, St.John’s, Rutgers and has interest from Michigan and Notre Dame, managed just 13 points in that game after coming back from a high ankle sprain.

**Providence-bound C Bilal Dixon tallied 10 points as No. 1 Queen of Peace was stunned by Immaculata, 57-55, in North Non-Public A. Uncommited uniorguard Javae Gilchrist, one of the most exciting players in North Jersey,scored a game-high 20 points in that game.

**Iona-bound G Kyle Smyth of Don Bosco had 8 points and 7 assists as DonBosco knocked off Delbarton, 58-39, in North Non-Public B. Senior teammateGeorgio Milligan scored a game-high 22. With No. 1 Queen of Peace havingbeen ousted, this bracket now looks like No. 2 Bosco’s to lose.

**The North Non-Public B playoffs kick into high gear today. Seton Hall-bound PG Jordan Theodore and No. 4 Paterson Catholic, the newly minted Passaic County champs, host No. 5 St. Mary of Rutherford. Paterson Catholic also features sophomores Fuquan Edwin and Trevor Clemmings, who hold offersfrom Rutgers and Seton Hall, and Jayon James, who has offers from Seton Hall, Xavier and Fordham.

In Jersey City, No. 1 St. Anthony with its six Division I players meets No. 8 Morristown Beard. On display for the Friarswill be Rutgers-bound G Mike Rosario; Pitt-bound G Travon Woodall; Fordham-bound G Jio Fontan and Fordham-bound F Alberto Estwick; Marquette-bound G Tyshawn Taylor; and star junior wing Dominic Cheek.

In Elizabeth, No. 3 St. Patrick, the two-time defending Tournament of Champions winner, will host No. 6 Eastern Christian. The Celtics feature Kansas-bound F Quintrell Thomasand North Carolina-bound G Dexter Strickland. The semifinals in this bracket take place Monday, with the final set for Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Rutgers.

ZAG’S HURLEY NIGHT RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

By ADAM ZAGORIA

A slew of Big East and other Division I coaches were in the gym at St. Peter’s College Thursday night for “Hurley Night,” a nationally televised doubleheader featuring Danny Hurley’s St. Benedict’s team and Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony team.

The Hurley family came out on top in both games on ESPN and father and son are now a combined 49-1 on the season.

St. Benedict’s handled North Carolina-bound Ed Davis and Benedictine (Va.), 58-44, in the first game, and Rutgers-bound Mike Rosario and St. Anthony knocked off Tyreke Evans and American Christian (Pa.), 64-53, in the second game.

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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (2/20/2008)

Connecticut survived a scare on their home floor against DePaul on Tuesday night. It was their second dramatic win in their last two games increasing their winning streak to 10 games.

Tonight in the Big East, Marquette travels to meet St. John’s, Cincinnati welcomes South Florida and West Virginia head to Philly to meet Villanova. Earlier this morning we had our Wednesday Big East Game Previews post where you can find the links to local media game stories and previews, as well as our match-up analysis and a prediction from the NBE Blogger on each outcome.

Also this morning, we had the latest edition from Brian Crownover on the Philly HS Beat where Brian ran into Bob Huggins and Billy Hahn of WVU on the recruiting trail last night.

Included below in today’s update is a Louisville recruiting update courtesy of Zagsblog as well as notes on the recruitment of Scotty Hopson who has a couple Big East schools taking an interest on the newly appointed McDonald’s All-American.

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ZAG’S PRIMETIME RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

Adam Zagoria spent Friday night at the Primetime Shootout at the RAC on the Rutgers campus. Zags filled us in on some of the recruiting developments of several Big East targets. Read more below to see who Samardo Samuels hopes joins him at Louisville. Zags also updates the recruiting situation of a pair of Oak Hill standouts as well as getting an update on Keith ‘Tiny’ Gallon whose recruitment has taken a turn with John Brady out at LSU.

You can also check Adam’s blog, Zagsblog for more updates on the action. He talked with Mike Rosario on his All-American honors and reviews St. Benedict’s 68-62 win over St. Patrick. His Primetime Shootout Notes also indicated the Rutgers staff was on hand for St. Anthony’s 71-33 win over John Carroll (MD) where Rosario scored 32. Pitt’s Jamie Dixon was also in the building Watching Travon Woodall and other potential targets.

Adam Zagoria is a staff writer at the Herald News in West Paterson, NJ, where he covers college and prep basketball, football and baseball, as well as the U.S. Open tennis tournament. He also has two popular books published: She’s Got Handle and Ultimate: The First Four Decades on Ultimate Frisbee.

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ZAG’S RECRUITING ROUND-UP

January 25, 2008

By ADAM ZAGORIA

The list of nominees for the McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Game on March 26 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee is out and numerous future Big East players are on it.

Twenty-four boys and girls will be chosenfrom a pool of more than 2,500 nominees. Among the New Jersey players nominated are Seton Hall-bound PG Jordan Theodore; Providence-bound F Bilal Dixon of Queen of Peace; Louisville commit Samardo Samuels of St. Benedict’s; the St. Anthony crew of Travon Woodall (Pitt), Mike Rosario (Rutgers) and Tyshawn Taylor (Marquette).

The New York list includes West Virginia commits Darryl “Truck Bryant of St.Raymond and Kevin Jones of Mount Vernon; UConn-bound Kemba Walker of Rice; Syracuse-bound Mookie Jones of Peekskill; and Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains, who put up a tournament-record 44 points Monday at the Big Apple Invitational and is looking at Seton Hall and St. John’s, among others.

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NIKE SUPER SIX RECAPS

January 17, 2008

On Sunday afternoon, six of the top teams in the NYC/NJ region convened at Madison Square Garden for the Nike Super Six event. Ray Floriani and Adam Zagoria took in the action from the event as Mount Vernon staged a furious late rally to edge Paterson Catholic, St. Benedict’s edged Rice and St. Patrick got by St. Raymond’s.

Five players headed to the Big East next year played in the Nike Super Six Invitational. The group included Paterson (N.J.) Catholic point guard Jordan Theodore(Seton Hall), Rice (NY) point guard Kemba Walker (UConn), St. Raymond (N.Y.) point guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant (West Virginia), Mount Vernon (N.Y.) forward Kevin Jones (West Virginia) and St. Benedict’s (N.J.) power forward Samardo Samuels (Louisville).

Earlier this week we had a Zag’s Recruiting Round-up from the Nike Super Six as Adam Zagoria took a look at some of the top potential Big East prospects from the action. Today, we take a look at the notes from Ray and Adam on the action and, especially, on the players headed to the Big East next year.

Click on ‘Read More’ below to view the rest of the article.

Mount Vernon 66 Paterson Catholic 60

by Ray Floriani

New York City – For just over three quarters Paterson Catholic did what was needed. The Cougars were running the break, penetrating and taking care of the defensive end. Then, the final six minutes it all came unglued. Mount Vernon rallied down the stretch to post a 66-60 victory.

Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino was hesitant to trap or press the quick, athletic Paterson Catholic. Down double digits with just over 5 minutes to play he had no choice. It worked as the young PC squad suddenly came unglued and Mount Vernon rallied for the 66-60 win.

West Virginia will benefit from the services of a major addition in Kevin Jones next season. The Mount Vernon big man earned game MVP honors with a 25 point 19 rebound effort. Thing I liked most about Jones was when PC’s defense collapsed on him and limited the touches , Jones never stopped working. Some marquee players don’t see the ball and they stop working , or worse, sulk. Jones just kept active on both ends and in the fourt quarter he was dominant. One sequence late in the game saw him sprint down court while PC was in transition and eventually block a shot on the wing. Bob Huggins has the real deal headed to Morgantown next year.

“We couldn’t match their (Mount Vernon) intensity the last three or four minutes,”Paterson Catholic coach Damon Wright lamented during post game interviews. “We just couldn’t close it out. We are young and their (Mount Vernon) maturity just paid off especially the last quarter.”

Notes:
• Cimmino used a little ploy to get Sherrod Wright going.” He’s (Wright) a North Carolina native and wants to play for UNC,”Cimmino said. “At the start of the fourth quarter I pointed out to Sherrod who was in the stands.” None other than North Carolina coach Roy Williams who saw the junior swingman score 13 of his 20 points the final quarter and play a huge role in the Mount Vernon comeback.

• Impressed with Lance Brown who led PC with 16 point 8 rebounds. A junior forward, Brown did a nice job getting in the lane and finishing.

• Seton Hall got a really nice lead guard in Jordan Theodore. The PC senior runs the break well and gets in the lane. Whether in transition or breaking down defenses Theodore finds teammates with beautiful fingertip pinpoint passes. He scored 12 points whit 5 assists and 5 steals. Spoke to a PC assistant who feels Theodore will get appreciable minutes at the Hall either spelling Eugene Harvey or teaming up with him in stretches. “The thing about Justin,”the coach added, “is he also plays outstanding defense.”

• There was absolutely no need to motivate players on this date. “At Madison Square Garden, a top notch opponent, the kids are in a ‘ candy store’ ,” said Cimmino.

• There was no shot clock used in the games. New York state employs one while New Jersey doesn’t. Cimmino was asked the effect of having no shot clock to which he replied in jest, “you mean we didn’t have one today.” Simply, none was necessary.

St. Benedict’s 55 Rice 52

by Adam Zagoria

New York – Louisville commit 6′9 Samardo Samuels came off the bench to score 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed 13 boards in St. Benedict’s 55-52 victory over Kemba Walker and Rice.

Samuels earned MVP honors despite being benched to start the game by head coach Danny Hurley, who was less than impressed with Samuels’ behavior during and after the team’s loss last week to Academy of the New Church(Pa.).

St. Benedict’s, currently ranked No. 2 in the Prepnation.com national poll, had been No. 1 and undefeated prior to that loss.

“Sometimes you look at these kids, he’s 6-9, he’s 245,” Hurley said of Samuels. “He’s built like a man, and sometimes it’s hard to realize that they’re teenagers and that they make mistakes.

“Some other coaches would maybe have looked at what happened this week and said, ‘No big deal.’ I got from my old man (St. Anthony head coach Bob Hurley) and other coaches, small things are a big deal with me.”

Walker, a UConn commit, scored a game-high 18 points but also made eight turnovers in a losing effort for Rice. The Raiders were coming off a thrilling 81-74 overtime victory over St. Raymond the night before. Walker poured in agame-high 29 in that game and exerted his will down the stretch.

A Few More Notes From Ray Floriani:

Dexter Strickland of St.Pat’s announced after the St.Raymond’s game that he would attend North Carolina. Strickland originally was heavily involved with Michigan State.

Among the college coaches in attendance was UCONN assistant Patrick Sellers. When he took his seat Sellers took friendly condolences from fellow assistant Orlando Antigua of Pitt. Sellers was still replaying the action of a day ago when Georgetown knocked off the Huskies on a Roy Hibbert trey. “That’s a shot myself, coach Calhoun, our whole team would give anytime,” Sellers said, “and he (Hibbert) goes and hits it.”

Thought St.Pat’s was not too fluid and a little rough around the edges. Still, Kevin Boyle’s club earned a 64-56 win over a good St.Raymond’s club. Kansas bound Quintrell Thomas was a force (25 points) inside and a big difference maker.

St.Pat’s and St.Anthony’s are headed on a collision course in the New Jersey Parochial B section of the state tournament. And that’s one many of us can hardly wait for.

Even with 6 outstanding programs, the Super Six drew just about 4,000.

A Few More Notes from Adam Zagoria:

Walker and WVU commit Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant may have been a little tired after their thriller Saturday night. Bryant scored 17 points on 5 of 19 shooting in a game the Ravens lost to St. Patrick, 64-56. St. Raymond had been undefeated coming into the weekend before losing back-to-back games to Rice and St. Patrick.

Another WVU commit, 6′8 Kevin Jones was a monster on the boards, finishing with 25 points and 19 rebounds to earn MVP honors. He made 11 of 28 shots, but was just 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.

All these teams will jump back into action in showcase games next weekend. St. Benedict’s and Paterson Catholic will face off Saturday in the Dan Finn Classic at the Jersey City Armory. Rice and St. Patrick would meet in the McDonald’s Classic in Erie, Pa., assuming both teams win their first-round games.

ZAGS BIG EAST RECRUITING ROUND-UP FROM SUPER SIX

January 15, 2008

by Adam Zagoria

In addition to the five players already committed to Big East programs, several others were on display at the Nike Super Six who are being heavily recruited by schools in the conference.

Mount Vernon junior Sherrod Wright, a 6-4, 190-pound small forward, scored 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting and grabbed 11 boards in Mount Vernon’s 66-60 win over Paterson Catholic.

Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino says Xavier and Pittsburgh have offered and Louisville and Rutgers are also involved.

“He needs to work on his defensive intensity,” Cimmino said. “He has to keepon playing the whole game.”

St. Patrick 6-7 junior Paris Bennett holds offers from Temple, La Salle, Rutgers and St. Joseph, but still has to find his niche on the court,according to Celtics coach Kevin Boyle. Bennett had four points and six rebounds in the win over St. Raymond.

“I think he’s still up in the air a little bit,” Boyle said. “He needs to define himself a little more as far as what level he is. Rhode Island came to see him the other day. Fordham’s been by. Lately he’s played better. He’s got to score a little more. He’s got to find what his niche is. Is he Atlantic 10, is he MAAC, is he low Big East?”

Paterson Catholic sophomores Trevor Clemmings and Fuquan Edwin both hold offers from Seton Hall, and Edwin also has an offer from Rutgers.

After transferring from Paramus Catholic, the 6-6 Clemmings made his season debut against Mount Vernon, finishing with seven points, five rebounds and five blocks.

“Trevor, he’s a big kid, he grabbed some rebounds, had a couple dunks, it’s just tremendous to have him back,” PC coach Damon Wright said.

Clemmings was the only PC player capable of putting a body on Kevin Jones, Mount Vernon’s 6-8 forward headed to West Virginia.

“He’s very big,” Jones said. “It’s kind of hard going up against him. He’s very athletic. We just had to use our body a lot to make contact and finishour shots. He was definitely a difficult matchup.”

The 6-5 Edwin is one of the most fluid young players out there, and can be a monster on the boards and in transition even though he managed just six points and six boards against Mount Vernon.

Durand Scott, a 6-3 shooting guard from Rice, holds offers from several schools, including Rutgers, Seton Hall and Xavier, yet he has been coping with a bad back that has limited his game. He did score 14 points and grabbwd two rebounds in the loss to St. Benedict’s.

“He’s still struggling,” Rice coach Moe Hicks said of Scott’s back injury. “It’s coming gradually. It’s a day at a time. Back injuries are serious.”