Jeff Borzello

NBE POST-SEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAMS & AWARDS

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The regular season is complete and the Big East Tournament tips off Tuesday so be sure to visit our 2010 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for the full tournament schedule and the links needed for Big East basketball fans to purchase tickets to any or all of the 2010 Big East Tournament sessions.

Throughout the day the majority of NBE writers and contributors contemplated, debated and discussed our post-season awards for the Big East conference. Its been another great season with 16 teams battling it out for 18 games each through the 71 days of Big East action from December 26th through this past Saturday. After much deliberation…here are the NBE Big East 2009-2010 season awards:

NBE Big East Player of the Year: Scottie Reynolds, Villanova

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ANGEL NUNEZ IMPRESSED WITH SYRACUSE VISIT, TALKS RECRUITING

2011 forward prospect has checked out several Big East schools, wants to see Pitt, Kentucky, UL and UConn

by JEFF BORZELLO

A record crowd was in the Carrier Dome last Saturday night to watch Syracuse knock off Villanova and take control of the Big East standings.

The electric atmosphere that was heightened by the ESPN Gameday crew and an NCAA on-campus crowd of 34,616 added to the excitment and the Orange staff took full advantage by using the festivities as a recruiting tool bringing in several highly touted recruits.

One of those in attendance was 2011 prospect Angel Nunez, a 6-7 native New Yorker now playing at Winchendon Prep (Mass.).

“It was fun. The atmosphere was overwhelming,” Nunez said. “I went with [Winchendon teammate] Khem Birch.”

Nunez talked to NBE last night about his trip to Syracuse and his thoughts on recruiting, which included his interest in visiting other schools such as Pitt, Kentucky, Louisville and UConn in the future and what he will be looking for in his future college home. To see the latest you can sign up for NBE Premium access and SUBSCRIBE (HERE) to read on below…

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CLEVELAND MELVIN PARTS WAYS WITH UCONN

Baltimore native backs off verbal commitment with the Huskies

by JEFF BORZELLO

6-foot-7 forward Cleveland Melvin and Connecticut have parted ways, Notre Dame Prep head coach Ryan Hurd confirmed to the NBE Basketball Report.

“[It was a] mutual decision,” Hurd said Thursday night. “[He] wants to be a wing. UConn wanted him to play the four. No hard feelings either way.”

Melvin announced his commitment to the Huskies back in November, choosing them over DePaul, Memphis, Seton Hall and South Florida.

The athletic senior currently does not have a new list of schools.

“[It] just happened,” Hurd said. “Maybe in the next day or so.”

The story was first reported by Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com.

TARIQ CAREY UPDATE; LAWHORN DECIDES, HANNER CLOSE

by JEFF BORZELLO

One of the more underrated players nationally in the class of 2012 is New Jersey product Tariq Carey.

College coaches know all about the 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, though.

Carey is getting plenty of early attention from Big East schools and he has a ‘dream school’ out of the ACC showing him interest. NBE gets the latest update from the 2012 prospect that is sure to become a well-known name in recruiting circles in the near future…

Also, Danny Lawhorn contacts NBE about his commitment and a source updates Jamir Hanner who might be closing on on his…

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TREVOR COONEY COMMITS TO SYRACUSE

Orange add 2011 guard out of Delaware to kick start ‘11 recruiting

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Syracuse’s roster is filled with players from all over North America: New York City, Texas, Philadelphia, Florida, Michigan, Canada, Maryland and New Jersey.

Soon, the Orange will add Delaware to that list, as 2011 prospect Trevor Cooney committed to the program on Friday.

“I felt the most comfortable with Syracuse as a school and also had the best relationship with the coaches,” Cooney told the NBE Basketball Report.

He chose the Orange over Notre Dame, West Virginia and Maryland, but also held offers from Villanova, Wake Forest, Virginia, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Delaware.

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UNSIGNED 2010 UPDATE: MOSES ABRAHAM

Progressive Christian Academy is home to Nigerian import that has schools in hot pursuit

Sometimes plans change. And that is exactly what happened with 6-foot-9 big man Moses Abraham this winter.

After arriving in the US from Nigeria around the Thanksgiving holiday, the plan was for Abraham to enroll at Progressive Christian Academy and get acclimated to basketball and life in America. He would then spend a summer honing his skills and getting exposure on the AAU circuit, presumably with the powerful DC Assault program.

Instead, as word circulated among college coaching circles of a highly talented big man, more colleges came to get a look and suddenly Abraham was in huge demand with many of the top programs in America.

“His body is college ready [and] he is the most athletic big man in the country,” Progressive Christian head coach Taj Hawkins told NBE’s Jeff Borzello at the National Christian Academy Classic last weekend.

Jeff Borzello has more on Abraham’s game and recruitment from the NCA Classic below…

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NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY CLASSIC RECRUITING NOTES

BY JEFF BORZELLO

FORT WASHINGTON (MD) – With state playoffs starting around the country, there are not many inter-state tournaments left in the season. However, one under-the-radar event left to play was the NCA Classic at National Christian Academy in Maryland. The set-up was three high schools from North Carolina coming up to play three high schools in Maryland – Progressive Christian (Md.) vs. Mt. Zion Academy (N.C.), Princeton Day School (Md.) vs. Christian Faith Center Academy (N.C.) and National Christian (Md.) vs. Kestrel Heights (N.C.). Although it did not receive much attention, there were plenty of talented and highly-touted players at the event.

Players at the event gave NBE school lists that included Georgetown, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Providence, Connecticut, Pittsburgh as well as schools from the ACC, Big 12, SEC, PAC 10, Big 10 and more. Read on for scouting reports and recruiting updates from many of the top players that performed this weekend…

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BIG EAST OR SEC FOR KC ROSS-MILLER

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Former Kentucky commit K.C. Ross-Miller seems ready to make a college decision – and there is a fairly clear order on the final schools he is considering, according to his father.

This past fall Tim Miller, the head coach of God’s Academy of Irving (TX) and father of K.C. Ross-Miller told NBE Basketball Report that a decision would likely be made in February or March and sign in the late signing period for 2010 recruits so they could judge the future point guard situations of each prospective school on their list. It looks like they have stayed true to their word and a decision could be coming in the near future, as early as next week, and it could very well be either a Big East school or a school from the SEC as they are the current top two schools on his list.

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THE ‘REAL’ DANNY LAWHORN UPDATE; COLEMAN COMMITS TO UL

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Late last week, the Facebook and Twitter accounts for prep school school senior Danny Lawhorn sent shockwaves through the recruiting world: it was posted that he was committing to Connecticut.

However, shortly after, it was apparent that someone had hacked into Lawhorn’s social networks and posted the commitment messages.

“I don’t even know,” Lawhorn told the NBE Basketball Report last week by phone. “Like, a few people have my password so I’m assuming that was it. I’m going to see who did it.”

While the commitment announcement might have been premature, the fact that Connecticut is Lawhorn’s favorite is no secret.

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WINNING DNA PART OF PITTSBURGH PROGRAM

Despite heavy personnel losses from a year ago, Jamie Dixon’s team is in the big East hunt again

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Back in October, Pittsburgh was picked to finish ninth in the Big East by the league coaches. Not surprisingly, the Panthers were looking forward to proving people wrong.

“This is nothing new to us,” senior guard Jermaine Dixon told me at the time. “I love being an underdog, I love that. I love to have that challenge, and [my teammates] feel the same way as me.”

Dixon and his teammates have been arguably the biggest surprise in college basketball this season, starting the season 15-2, including 5-0 in the Big East.

With the loss of four starters, namely forwards Sam Young and DeJuan Blair and guard Levance Fields, Pittsburgh had very low expectations this season. However, sophomores Ashton Gibbs and Nasir Robinson and juniors Brad Wanamaker and Gary McGhee have made sure the Panthers did not miss a beat. Additionally, since the additions of Dixon and junior Gilbert Brown in December, Pittsburgh has not lost a game.

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HOOPHALL CLASSIC REPORT: MONDAY

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Archive on Monday’s Hoophall Classic live blog coverage: HERE!

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After a light Sunday with only three national teams playing – called “the calm before the storm” by one media member – the Monday of the 2010 Spalding HoopHall Classic at Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass. was one of the best days of the year in high school basketball. There were four national games, all televised on ESPNU. St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) faced Bishop O’Connell (Va.), St. Anthony (N.J.) took on Westchester (Ca.) and DeMatha Catholic (Md.) battled Mater Dei (Ca.). Furthermore, the marquee match-up of the tournament was St. Patrick (N.J.) against Findlay Prep (Nev.). The gym was packed with fans, coaches and plenty of media, and the games were certainly not a disappointment. Here is a look at some of the top performers of the day:

Note: Top committed players that were featured on Monday included Kendall Marshall (14 points, 5 rebounds and 7 turnovers, North Carolina), Myck Kabongo (20 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists, Texas), Sidiki Johnson (5 points, Arizona), Aaron Brown (14 points, Temple), Devon Collier (1 point and 6 rebounds, Oregon State), Ashton Pankey (DNP, Maryland), Derrick Williams (21 points and 7 rebounds, Richmond), Eli Carter (9 points and 5 rebounds, St. Bonaventure), Kareem Jamar (17 points and 6 rebounds, Montana), Kyrie Irving (30 points, Duke), Derrick Gordon (10 points, Western Kentucky), Chase Plummer (4 points, UMBC), Josh Daniel (6 points, Wagner), Tristan Thompson (8 points and 6 rebounds, Texas), Victor Oladipo (15 points and 16 rebounds, Indiana), Tyler Lamb (23 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, UCLA), Keala King (9 points and 5 rebounds, Arizona State) and Gary Franklin (17 points, California).

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NBE LIVE: MONDAY AT THE SPALDING HOOPHALL CLASSIC (7:00 PM UPDATE)

The Stars of the Future have been on display all weekend at the 2010 Spalding Hoop Hall Classic and today’s Martin Luther King Day line-up is no exception. NBE’s Jeff Borzello is at Springfield College’s Blake Arena for today’s exciting action and will be keeping our readers updated all day on the action. Here is today’s schedule we will be reporting on:

11:00 AM: ST. BENEDICT’S PREP (NJ) vs. BISHOP O’CONNELL HIGH SCHOOL (VA)
1:00 PM: ST. ANTHONY HIGH SCHOOL (NJ) vs. WESTCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL (CA)
3:00 PM: ST. PATRICK HIGH SCHOOL (NJ) vs. FINDLAY COLLEGE PREP (NV)
5:00 PM: DEMATHA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL (MD) vs. MATER DEI HIGH SCHOOL (CA)

Check below for our live blog update…

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HOOPHALL CLASSIC REPORT: SUNDAY

BY JEFF BORZELLO

The first day of the 2010 Spalding HoopHall Classic was an eventful one. Northland edged Oak Hill by one point in the final minute, Austin Rivers went down with an injury, stars Tobias Harris and Reggie Bullock had monster games and Doron Lamb shut down Jared Sullinger. The second day did not have the same sort of hype, as there were only two national games on the original schedule – and one was changed at the last minute.

Simeon (Ill.) took on Neumann-Goretti (Pa.), while Paterson Catholic (N.J.) was supposed to face St. Frances Academy (Md.). However, Paterson Catholic had to pull out in the last week because they needed more in-state New Jersey games. “I’m not sure what happened,” PC junior guard Myles Mack told me on Friday. In its place was Newton North (Mass.), a public school outside of Boston that did not carry the same sort of weight as Paterson Catholic. Either way, here is a look at some of the top performers from Day Two:

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DORON LAMB GETS DEFENSIVE; TALKS RECRUITING

BY JEFF BORZELLO

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Jared Sullinger is listed at 6-foot-9 and more than 260 lbs. Doron Lamb is 6-foot-4 and no more than 175 lbs.

However, that did not stop Lamb from shutting down the top-ranked big man better than anyone else has throughout the course of Sullinger’s career.

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HOOPHALL CLASSIC REPORT: SATURDAY

BY JEFF BORZELLO

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – With all the games that high school teams around the country play these days, it seems that the impact of marquee match-ups has been diminished. However, that is certainly not the case with the 2010 Spalding HoopHall Classic, arguably the premier event of the winter. This season’s edition features the nation’s top-five teams – St. Patrick (N.J.), Northland High School (OH), Findlay College Prep (Nev.), Westchester High School (Ca.) and DeMatha Catholic (Md.) – as well as Oak Hill Acadamy and plenty of other big-time squads and players. The event kicked off on Friday at Blake Arena on the Springfield College campus with some local Massachusetts action, but really kicked up a notch on Saturday with four headliner games. Here is a look at some of the top players from the day.

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AUSTIN RIVERS INJURY, RECRUITING UPDATE

Doc Rivers updates injury status, recruitment of son Austin

BY JEFF BORZELLO

A gym that had erupted in cheers from many of Austin Rivers’ exploits throughout the day suddenly went silent with the highly-touted 2011 guard crumpled to the floor in pain.

In the fourth quarter of Winter Park’s win over Gonzaga College High School (D.C.) Saturday at the 2010 Hoophall Classic, Rivers went down after getting his heel stepped on from behind. He was writhing in pain, grabbing his knee. Rivers was carried off the court, in visible pain.

It was an ugly scene, and many onlookers expected the worst: a knee injury, or a torn ACL.

However, that was thankfully not the case.

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TYLER OLANDER RECRUITING UPDATE

Versatile forward keeping options open with transfer from Worcester back home

BY JEFF BORZELLO

One month ago, Tyler Olander was a likely class of 2011 prospect playing at Worcester Academy. However, he has since transferred back to E.O. Smith High School in Connecticut and will be in the class of 2010 – for now.

“I didn’t reclassify – 2010 is my class,” Olander clarified to the NBE Basketball Report on Saturday. “I don’t know what I’m going to do next year. I’m considering a post-grad year but I’m not sure yet.”

On the recruiting front, Olander has sifted through his multitude of offers and now has a top three: Connecticut, Florida and Wake Forest. He also said that Rhode Island and Virginia are also under consideration.

Olander plans to check out campuses after the season; he has yet to go on an official visit.

“[I’m looking for] a good education and a place where I can reach my potential as a player and develop into an NBA prospect,” Olander said.

Olander is a 6-foot-9 forward and one of the top prospects in New England. He is mobile and athletic and can finish effectively around the rim.

He missed the National Prep Showcase in late November with a hand injury, but he is fully recovered and back on the court.

“The season is going real good so far,” Olander said. [But] I want to work on my all-around game and strength – upper-body strength.”

Many eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Olander was leaving Worcester for E.O. Smith, but he doesn’t regret the decision.

“Worcester wasn’t the right spot for me academically,” he said.

With Olander’s potential and talent, his college prospects certainly won’t be hurt by his transfer – no matter when he decides to enter college.

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ALEX MURPHY COLLECTING OFFERS, ISAIAH SYKES HAS LEADER

BY JEFF BORZELLO

Alex Murphy has a lot of things going for him. The 2012 prospect is the younger brother of Florida freshman, Erik, and has been on the nation’s radar for a couple of years already. He is a versatile forward who is still growing into his skill set, and is a top-three player in a loaded New England class.

As a result, it’s no surprise that he has more than a dozen offers at this point, and even more interest coming his way from national powers.

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COLEMAN TO VISIT LOUISVILLE, RHOOMES WITH BIG EAST OFFERS, HEWITT WAITING ON OFFERS

by JEFF BORZELLO

One of the more difficult recruitments to read this year has been that of Justin Coleman.

The 6-foot-5 swingman from Virginia was relatively unknown until he excelled at the NBA Players Association Camp in June and leaped onto everyone’s radar. Since then, there has been little news about his recruitment, and many say it is due to academic troubles.

As a result, most expect Coleman to end up at prep school or junior college next season. He is not throwing in the towel just yet, however. He transferred to Huntington Prep in West Virginia this season and plans on visiting a Big East school in the near future.

On Tuesday, Coleman told NBE Basketball Report in a text message that he will be taking a trip to Louisville this weekend.

“Yes,” Coleman confirmed.

The Cardinals recently received a verbal commitment from 2011 swingman Wayne Blackshear.
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Rhoomes holds four offers, will reclassify

A fast-rising big man in the New York area, Ryan Rhoomes came onto the scene after a strong summer performance at several events, including the Reebok U All-American Camp.

Not surprisingly, Rhoomes’ school list has grown considerably since July.

Currently, he has offers from St. John’s, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Cincinnati, with interest from Pittsburgh, Marquette and Iowa State.

“I had two home meetings with St. John’s and Virginia Tech,” Rhoomes said. “And West Virginia came to my school.”

Furthermore, Rhoomes told NBE Basketball Report that he plans on reclassifying to the class of 2011.

“[I need] to develop more,” said Rhoomes, who will attend South Kent (Conn.) next season.

With his college decision pushed back for another year, Rhoomes does not have a timetable for when he will pick a school.

“I want to [choose a school this year],” he said. “But I don’t really know what I want in a school yet.”
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Hewitt awaiting influx of offers

As the number of available 2010 point guards diminishes, one player who expects his recruitment to pick up is Jelani Hewitt.

The 6-foot-3 Florida native is an explosive scorer who can fill it up in a hurry. His offensive ability has led to plenty of interest from a variety of schools.

“My recruiting is going to increase a lot as the season goes on and as my team keeps winning,” Hewitt told the NBE Basketball Report on Tuesday.

Right now, he has offers from James Madison and Nebraska, but he says that more are on the way.

“Schools like Georgia, Fresno State, UCLA and Alabama are about to offer,” Hewitt said.

He added that he has no visits planned, but will make a decision in the spring.

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NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS FESTIVAL REPORT

BY JEFF BORZELLO

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – When it is a Saturday during the college basketball season and there are still dozens of assistant head coaches in the stands at a high school tournament, you know it must be a loaded event. That was the case at the National High School Hoops Festival at Wise High School in Upper Marlboro, Md. on Saturday. Coaches from Connecticut, Virginia, South Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts and many other schools were in attendance to watch 10 of the best schools in the mid-Atlantic region.

The day started with Paul VI (Va.) vs. Wise High School (Md.), followed by Mountain State Academy (W.V.) vs. National Christian Academy (Md.), St. Mary’s Ryken (Md.) vs. Montrose Christian (Md.), West Charlotte (N.C.) vs. Bishop O’ Connell (Va.) and wrapping up with a showdown between DeMatha (Md.) and Benedictine (Va.). Here is a look at some of the top players in the event:

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