Pat Stevens

HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT LOOK-BACK: CITY OF PALMS

BY PAT STEVENS — The top holiday tournament in terms of drawing the best field of teams from across the country has traditionally been the City of Palms in Fort Myers, Fla.

Current Big East standouts Lance Stephenson (Cincinnati/Lincoln, N.Y.) Maalik Wayns (Villanova/Roman Catholic, Pa.), Greg Monroe (Georgetown/Helen Cox, La.), Samardo Samuels (Louisville/St. Benedict, N.J.) and Taylor King (Villanova/Mater Dei, Calif.) all played in the event in recent years.

City of Palms alums that were recent Big East standouts and are now current pros include DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh/Schenley, Pa.), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse/Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Paul Harris (Syracuse/Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and Demetris Nichols (Syracuse/St. Andrew’s, R.I.).

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (VOL 3.1)

BY PAT STEVENS

The early returns from the prep school ranks look to be another good season ahead with the Big East signing the most prep school players of any conference in the Fall Signing Period.

Originally there were 13 expected Big East signees for the Fall Signing Period, however that number fluctuated some during the eventful week in mid-November.

In total, 10 prep school players signed with Big East teams – Russ Smith (Louisville/South Kent), J.J. Moore (Pittsburgh/South Kent), Austin Carroll (Rutgers/Brewster Academy), CJ Fair (Syracuse/Brewster Academy), Ron Giplaye (Providence/Notre Dame Prep), Gerard Coleman (Providence/Tilton School), Markus Kennedy (Villanova/Winchendon School), Nate Lubick (Georgetown/St. Mark’s), Isaiah Epps (Pittsburgh/Hargrave Military Academy) and Waverly Austin (South Florida/Heat Academy, Va.).

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BIG EAST RECRUITING NOTEBOOK FROM WEEKEND

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Here are several recruiting notes NBE has received over the last several days…

From Zach Smart at the opening weekend of the IS8 Fall League:

Russ Smith, 6-0 170 G South Kent Prep (CT) was in action at IS8 with the NY Panthers. Smith informed NBE he has a long list of schools offering and then included Auburn, Baylor, Arkansas, Houston, Virginia, UMass, La Salle, Temple, St. John’s, Louisville, Providence, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Stanford, George Mason and Fordham.
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Jabarie Hinds, 5-11 G Mount Vernon (NY) HS. The class of 2011 scoring point guard had one of the weekend’s top performances as he put on an offensive show. Hinds is currently looking at offers from Oklahoma State, UNLV, Wake Forest, St. John’s, Louisville, Seton Hall and James Madison.

Thus far, Hinds has taken one official visit, to St. John’s.
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Devon Collier, 6-8 Sr., St. Anthony: This versatile New Heights product can score the rock in a variety of ways. On Saturday, it was his strap-up style of defense that stood out. Collier recorded around 10 blocks and used his freakish athleticism to commit several thefts and instigate turnovers. He’s become more adept and handling the ball and passing. One area for improvement is shooting. If Collier wants to play the 3-spot in college, he needs to extend his range and shoot the three better. His jumper is starting to come along at the mid-range level, but he must be consistent as he’s got a number of schools pushing for him. St. John’s, Providence, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Oregon State and Maryland is currently Collier’s list.

“Of that group, all of them have offered,” said Berkowitz, Collier’s coach/advisor.

“You know, Maryland is the lone question mark, we’re still trying to gage how serious they are about him.”
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Jayvaughn Pinkston, 6-6 Sr., Bishop Laughlin: Residual effects of not playing as much with New Heights showed on Saturday. Pinkston was also negated as opponents trapped, pressed, and played zone on a smurf-sized court to keep Pinkston at bay. Still, the physical specimen boards up and plays with a brand of toughness that is foreign at this level. Pinkston, a versatile scorer who can float freely and go to work in the paint, has extended a feathery jumper that now ranges around 18-20 feet. Pinkston is slated for visits at Big East schools such as St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova and Marquette. Visits to Tennessee and possibly Arizona are also being considered. Kimani Young says the key for this big dripping with potential is to stay focused on academics. He’s right. More have been murked by the math midterms than by the machetes. Take it from me, a 23-year-old who still remembers his final exam grade in high school trigonometry. I’ll give you a hint, the test was out of 100 and I scored the same number that Patrick Ewing wore on his jersey!!!
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Lucious Jones, 6-4 Jr. St. Anthony’s: His identity is as a shooter. This guard can dial in from downtown and loves to give the ball to a big and have him kick it back out to him on the perimeter. Jones is also unselfish, he can pass the rock and get big men involved. The kid from Sports University All-Stars is receiving mid-level interest right now. If he continues to improve and his numbers spike at the New Jersey perennial power this season, Jones could be a solid pick-up for any of the local Big East programs.
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Jordan Allen 6-5, Jr.: Ready to step up his leadership role at Bayshore HS, where he’s the best player. Been living in the weight room and working out with Jerry Powell to up his stock. Combination wing can pass the ball, and slash to the cup with ease. Mid-range game is getting there, but consistency problems need to be rectified for next season. West Virginia, Clemson, Illinois, UMass, St. John’s, all in active pursuit. Redstorm coach Norm Roberts and assistant coach Glenn Braica are showing the most interest thus far. Former member of the Playaz Baskteball Club, Allen now plays with the Panthers under Gary Charles.
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Myles Davis, 6-1 St. Peter’s Prep: Shooter, slasher, and playmaker all rolled in one. Davis shows a propensity for shooting the ball, as he’s really been recognized as a shooter throughout his career. Still, Davis is proving that he’s more than just a one-trick pony with his increased slashing. He’s shooting less and going to the cup more.

Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, George Mason, St. Joe’s, St. John’s, Wake Forest, Purdue, are all schools on his front list. Davis has offers from Fordham, Marist, Providence, Rutgers, Rice, and plenty more. Georgetown is in heavy pursuit.
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Pat Stevens has been taking a prep school tour of some of New England’s top programs. From Thursday’s visits to Winchendon (MA) and Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)…

Winchendon’s Markus Kennedy (6-9 C/Yeadon, Pa.) is supposed to come off crutches today and hopes to be back on the floor shortly. Staff from Villanova are expected in to visit him again this week.
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Winchendon’s Angel Nunez (2011/6-7 WF/Bronx, NY) made mention of Villanova, West Virginia and Rutgers all having been in to see him already. NBE will have more on Nunez from his time in NYC this past weekend for IS8 action by tomorrow.
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NMH’s Aaron Cosby (2011/6-2 CG/Louisville, Ky.) said he feels Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State and Stanford are coming at him the hardest.
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And one final update, NBE caught up with South Kent (CT) School point guard Danny Lawhorn last week. The 6-foot, 155-lb senior (class of 2010) previously played at Hartford Public High School, but decided on South Kent because “it’s not that far from home and plays a nice schedule.”

Nearly a year ago, Lawhorn committed to Boston College just before the start of his high school season. However, this past July he decided to re-open the process and de-commit from Al Skinner’s program.

“I was committed to BC until they started recruting other guards and [had] no more interest in me,” Lawhorn told NBE in an email last week.

Since he has opened his recruiting back up, Lawhorn says he has been in contact with St. John’s, St. Bonaventure, UMass, St. Peter’s, Auburn, Villanova, Texas A&M, Fordham, West Virginia, Baylor, Miami, Californa, DePaul, Houston, UAB, South Florida, Maryland, Rutgers and Kansas State.

‘VEGAS WEEK’ REVIEW: BIG EAST FOCUS (PART I)

by PAT STEVENS

Five players have new interest from Big East teams as a week of super tournaments in Las Vegas kicked off the second summer evaluation period with the Adidas Super64, Reebok Summer Championships, Center Stage, Nike Main Event and GBOA Challenge of Champions.

Here are five new names on the Big East recruiting radar that stood out while in Vegas…

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (VOL 2.3)

By PAT STEVENS — For thoughts on the incoming Big East recruits from the prep school ranks, we checked in this week with the NEPSAC Class A’s four winningest coaches in recent years. Whit Lesure of Bridgton Academy (ME), Jere Quinn of St. Thomas More (CT), Mike Byrnes of Winchendon School (MA) and Jason Smith of Brewster Academy (NH) have seen all, or most, of the prep school standouts of New England heading to the Big East and they gave their thoughts on each so Big East fans have a preview of what to expect in the future.

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MEMORIAL WEEKEND LOOKBACK: TOC PLAYER NOTES

By PAT STEVENS — With Bob Gibbons’ Tournament of Champions in North Carolina and the Nike Memorial Day Classic in Georgia, this past weekend served as the third weekend of tournaments with truly national fields of competition during this two month old spring season.

Here’s a look back at the TOC on who’s establishing themselves as the nation’s top prospects and how the Big East is involved…

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PREP SCHOOL EXIT INTERVIEW: VINCENT COUNCIL

by Pat Stevens

Providence get another from Brooklyn, N.Y., in former Lincoln H.S. guard Vincent Council who prepped at Patterson School in North Carolina.

This summer…

I get there (Providence) May 26th for the first session of classes. I’m back in New York. I’ve been working out hard right now on my jump shot and strength.

Picked Providence over…

Rutgers, Central Florida, Arkansas, and South Florida.

Positives from Prep School…

Learned how to play against older kids, how to be a leader, how to win, how to be off the court and on it.

Got better or different opportunity this year…

I got better, stronger, and more patient.

On playing next year with fellow Providence guard recruit Johnnie Lacy…

I think it’ll be fun. He’s somebody I never knew about. It’s nice because we’re from different places.

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (VOL. 2.2)

By Pat Stevens

It’s been a unique spring with the draft having no sure-fire order or locks at the top as well as a number of high profile young players having been still undecided on which college they would attend.

This time last year, there was a particular player whose story was an intriguing one on where he fell on both fronts, and he’s back in the news again with a recent switch from Cincinnati to Mississippi State.

He made waves two summers ago against underclassmen at the Nike Hoop Jamboree and then a month later at the Nike LeBron James Skills Academy where he gave fits to then top rising seniors Greg Monroe (Georgetown) and Samardo Samuels (Louisville). Talk of lottery pick surrounded his name.

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PREP SCHOOL EXIT INTERVIEW: ORIAKHI/COOMBS-MCDANIEL

AAU and prep school teammates are bound for UConn and Big East next

by Pat Stevens

Pat Stevens (PS): -Feeling when committed…

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (JCM): It was at a tournament in Florida they offered us. I had no idea they were going to offer me. On our visit there we played a little, we went to Coach Calhoun’s office with our parents, and he said they were going to continue to recruit us if we didn’t commit. But we said we wanted to commit. My family was really excited. They knew more about the program than I did at the time.

Alex Oriakhi (AO): It got pretty hectic after we committed. Everybody found out. Coach Calhoun produces the most pros so that was a big reason I decided on UConn. Being able to go with Jamal was big. We’re best of friends and everywhere we go we help our team and I know we’re going to do that next year for Connecticut.

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (VOL. 2.1)

by Pat Stevens

Pat Stevens has been around the basketball recruiting and reporting scene for several years. Since 2004, Pat has covered the Prep School ranks, New York City AAU events, and the top All-American camps primarily for Hoopmasters.com. He launched CSTV.com’s recruiting coverage in 2006 as its Recruiting Editor and has additionally contributed to Scout, Rivals and MaxPreps. You can also see more of his recent reporting at Pat Stevens Basketball in anticipation of his launching a new national site in the coming weeks.

Pat is keeping NBE Basketball Report readers and Big East fans up to date on the happenings on the prep basketball landscape and how it will impact the Big East. Here is his latest Prep Corner column for the site…

UNDERCLASSMEN EVALUATED

There’s a good number of high-level returning prep school talent that had staffs in to see them the past few weeks during the April live period that allowed college coaches to visit schools.

Already committed are 2010 6-foot-8 PF Nate Lubick (Georgetown/St. Mark’s, MA), 2010 6-foot-9 SF Evan Smotrycz (Michigan/New Hampton, MA) and 2010 6-foot-7 SF Max Esho (UMass/Lee Academy, ME).

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APRIL LOOK-BACK: REAL DEAL AT THE ROCK

by Pat Stevens

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Real Deal on the Rock is the second big national event of the spring AAU season, highlighted by bringing together some of the elite teams from all four Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Under Armour sponsors as well as a majority of the other top teams from across the country.

Here’s a look back on who’s establishing themselves as the nation’s top prospects and how the Big East is involved with many players not previously profiled on NBE…

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APRIL LOOK-BACK: BOO WILLIAMS INVITATIONAL

by Pat Stevens

HAMPTON, Va. – Boo Williams’ Invitational is the annual national event that kicks off the spring AAU season. The top Nike teams from across the country play at Boo’s extraordinary one year-old sportsplex that hosted four courts of 17-Under division games going on each day throughout the weekend.

Here’s a looks back on who’s establishing themselves as the nation’s top prospects and how the Big East is involved…

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (Vol 1.4)

Pat’s weekly run through the prep school ranks and its impact on the Big East

by Pat Stevens

This week you can go one-on-one with Omari Lawrence as well as get a rundown of the Big East recruits in the latest all-star action, recruiting updates as the spring signing period is underway and what to look for from the newest Big East targets on the AAU trail coming up…

One on One with Omari Lawrence:

Pat Stevens (PS): -Feeling when committed…

Omari Lawrence (OL): It was great. Me and my family and the coaches had met and we decided that’s the place for me. We had the press conference later near a gym I grew up playing at and a bunch of the media came.

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (Vol 1.3)

by Pat Stevens

It has been a busy week for NBE’s top prep school basketball guru. Pat Stevens has spent time down in Virginia taking in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and then headed over to the Boo Williams Invitational. He also did a Q&A session with Louisivlle recruit Mike Marra that can be found on our Louisville Team Blog Site and early tonight provided a Kevin Parrom Update as the Xavier-commit could become a hot commodity among Big East schools if he asks to be released from his letter of intent and if that request is granted in the wake of Sean Miller accepting the coaching position at Arizona.

In this edition of the Prep Corner, there is news and notes about a couple other players on the prep circuit still looking for a college home as members of the class of 2009, some notes from the recent All-Star games and information from Pat’s time down at the Boo Williams Invitational.

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KEVIN PARROM UPDATE

NYC native will have Big East options if opts out of Xavier LOI

By Pat Stevens

There are new developments with Kevin Parrom and his recruiting situation as the days go by with the head coach he committed to play for at Xavier having left to take the job at Arizona.

Parrom, a listed 6-foot-6 wing, is from the Bronx, N.Y. and played at St. Raymond’s High School (N.Y.) then transferred to South Kent School (CT) for his senior year this season, along with teammate at St. Ray’s and St. John’s recruit Omari Lawrence. The two are part of the New York Panthers on the grassroots circuit.

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (Vol 1.2)

St. John’s getting a visit from prep guard, other updates of Big East prep players

By Pat Stevens

Spring Signing Period options are thin for the country and it’s no different for Big East schools looking to draw talent out of the prep school circuit this season. But for one, the story is apparently not over with.

Malik Stith was arguably the top player in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference playoffs en route to leading Bridgton Academy of Maine to its fourth prep school championship in the past five years.

Stith came to Bridgton as a St. John’s commit by way of North Carolina, where he won a state championship with East Mecklenburg HS, and also with ties to Hempstead, N.Y.

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NBE PREP CORNER WITH PAT STEVENS (VOL. 1.1)

Pat Stevens fills in readers on the happenings in the world of prep school basketball

The NBE Basketball Report would like to welcome Pat Stevens as a new contributor to the site. Pat has been around the basketball recruiting and reporting scene for several years. Since 2004, Pat has covered the Prep School ranks, New York City AAU events, and the top All-American camps primarily for Hoopmasters.com. He launched CSTV.com’s recruiting coverage in 2006 as its Recruiting Editor and has additionally contributed to Scout, Rivals and MaxPreps. You can also see more of he recent reporting at Pat Stevens Basketball in anticipation of his launching a new national site in the coming week.

Look for Mr. Stevens to be a regular contributor with NBE in the upcoming months.

PREP SCHOOL CORNER

By Pat Stevens

First let me thank the NBE Basketball Report for the opportunity to contribute. The site has clearly made an impact with its following and is a clear and concise resource for the fans who not only follow their team but also the league that’s given us plenty of memories over the years.

It’s fair to start with some background on the Prep School basketball scene that has evolved over the years. ..

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