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BIG EAST NEWS & NOTES (9/17/2009)

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Today’s issue of the Big East News & Notes is jam packed with news from around the Big East conference. Several recruiting notes with an update on Bryon Allen at Thomas More and an injury note on his big teammate, Andre Drummond. Also, recruiting updates on Devon Collier, Jayvaughn Pinkston, Jesse Morgan, Tobias Harris, Josh Selby and Shabazz Napier are found in the links.

With one decomittment from the class of 2010, Marquette could be out of another commitment as one current verbal commit has found himself in some trouble in Texas. Pitt and Marquette have some injury items of concern. The young PC Friars have hit the court and will look to Sharaud Curry, who has overcome his injury issues, as a 5th-year leader. Also, a story on UConn’s Gavin Edwards and Mike Tranghese’s new job below…

Also, Big East fans can look for another Staff Support series later today from Ray Mernagh. This one should be a good one as the subject was also a star player in the 80’s under Rollie Massimino.

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Pat Stevens checked in with NBE this morning from his prep school tour about New England. Wednesday’s workout at St. Thomas More School (CT) saw Bryon Allen (6-2 SG/Upper Marlboro, Md.) get a visit from Bob Huggins. Allen recently opened his recruiting back up after being a verbal to West Virginia. Providence and Virginia have expressed recent interest in him and he is still considering West Virginia.

Andre Drummond (2012/6-11 C/Middletown, Conn.) is out of action and could return by the annual Prep Tip Off the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. He’s currently in a walking boot recovering from a stress fracture.

Look for more notes from Pat Stevens in the coming days on NBE and also at his website, PatStevensBasketball.com.
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The recruitment of Devon Collier is narrowing its focus and the Big East is well represented with Collier Considering Four Big East Schools (ZagsBlog.com) among his six.

“The schools recruiting him right now are Seton Hall, St. John’s, Rutgers, Providence, Oregon State and Maryland,” New Heights’ Adam Berkowitz told ZagsBlog.

The 6-foot-8 Collier has had recent in-home visits with Providence and St. John’s with Seton Hall coming up next week. A date with Rutgers is also in the works.

Collier has always intrigued NBE with his potential as he has an array of skills for a player his size. However, seeing him consistently apply those skills has not happened often, which leads to him being ranked in the top 50 by some and in the 125 range by others in his class. His recruiting list, which read Virginia, West Virginia, Villanova, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Xavier and Syracuse at the Reebok AA Camp back in July, has completely changed in the last two months.

Collier would be a great addition for any of the Big East schools currently on his list. All four are trying to establsih, or re-establish, ties to the New Heights program and St. Anthony’s of Jersey City (NJ) where Collier plays his high school basketball. With his size and skills, there is a great deal of potential that could blossom in college.
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Elite forward prospect Tobias Harris continues to be a coveted prospect in the class of 2010 by several Big East schools. The home visit schedule for Harris and his family reads like a who’s who of college basketball. One Big East head coach greatly impressed Harris’ father. According to Torrel Harris, Bob Huggins was ‘Awesome’ (ZagsBlog.com) in his visit with the Harris family.

“Huggins was awesome. Huggs [is] the man. Huggs the man,” Torrel told Adam Zagoria.

The 6-foot-8 Tobias is currently considering 11 colleges and has hosted nine for in-home visits. Besides the visit from coach Huggins of West Virginia, St. John’s, Syracuse, Louisville and Notre Dame from the Big East have made visits with Connecticut scheduled to visit by the weekend. Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maryland, Kentucky and Georgia Tech are the others still under consideration.

While there was some talk about a possible decision following the in-home visits, that no longer seems to be the case as the Harris family is looking to narrow it to five schools and take official visits.

“After Saturday we’re gonna marinate on it for a week and then a week later we’re gonna cut it down,” Torrel Harris told ZagsBlog.com. “We’re going to go over everything, ain’t gonna rush it on cutting it down because everyone came in here with a plan.”
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Another update from ZagsBlog.com centers on South Kent (CT) School wing Jesse Morgan and NYC-Bishop Loughlin forward Jayvaughn Pinkston as Morgan Has Big East & SEC Interest and Pinkston Has Home Visits (ZagsBlog.com) on tap.

Morgan is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard out of Philadelphia that has Connecticut, Seton Hall and Florida showing him the most interest currently. Morgan has always been highly interested in UConn and it looks like the interest is still strong.

“It’s the school, the history. I just want to get there,” said Morgan to ZagsBlog on UConn and his hopes to visit the campus in the future.

Georgia, Pittsburgh, Temple, La Salle and UMass have also shown interest.

As for Pinkston, the 6-foot-6 beast had home visits on Monday with St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts and Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl, according to ZagsBlog.com.

Villanova head coach Jay Wright is scheduled for September 22 and Seton Hall is also scheduled to come in that week with Marquette, Miami and Arizona also possibilities to visit as well. The plan is still pointing towards Pinkston being a spring signee.
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The Big East interest in Lawrence (MA) Academy guard Shabazz Napier continues to be strong and growing. Early in this fall recruiting period Napier Has Drawn a Crowd (NE Recruiting Report) to Lawrence as assistants from St. John’s, Rutgers, Providence and Villanova have been in to visit him this week.

The class of 2011, 6-foot, sharp-shooting guard also has Connecticut and Pittsburgh also in contact.
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Here is a story on the recruitment of Josh Selby from the Baltimore Sun: Lake Clifton’s Selby Hosting College Coaches.

Connecticut, Kentucky, Kansas, Florida State, Baylor and Oregon have already conducted in-home visits with Selby and hsi mother, Maeshon Witherspoon. Miami is expected in soon and Tennessee and Syracuse are also working on dates. Selby will play this season for former Orange big man Herman Harried at Lake Clifton. Selby is still planning to decide in the spring, according to the article.
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A troubling story out of Hillsboro (TX) that could impact the 2010 recruiting class at Marquette as Three Texas Basketball Players are Accused in a Woman’s Rape (Houston Chronicle). One of the accused is 20-year-old Monterale Clark, who is verbally commited to the Golden Eagles. Clark is charged with charged with second degree felony sexual assault and are being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond in the Hill County Jail.

The 6-foot-10, 222-pound Clark averaged 15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game as a freshman last season at Hill College is Hillsboro (TX).

Todd Rosiak updates the comings and goings of the last several weeks within the MU program on his Golden Eagles Blog for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It began when freshman forward Brett Roseboro of Quakertown (PA) left the team on August 23 and transferred days later to St. Bonaventure. Senior point guard Maurice Acker, who’d quit the Golden Eagles in June to focus on his academics, rejoined the team on Aug. 29.

Also impacting the class of 2010 recruiting is the de-commitment on September 3 of guard Aaron Bowen. Bowen, of Jacksonville (FL), committed last November to the Golden Eagles. His decommitment and the uncertainty of Clark leaves us to believe that Jamail Jones is the only current 210 commitment for MU likely to sign in November.

Marquette is very much in the mix for local standout Vander Blue, a Wisconsin de-commitment, Carson Desrosiers and Cameron Clark, any of which could decide in the coming weeks.

Now, in addition to all the turnover, sophomore guard Darius Johnson-Odom is expected to be out for at least a month after suffering an injury to his left foot in a recent workout. He is in a protective boot and will be out at least until the beginning of official practices in October. However, we have seen how tricky a foot injury could be…
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Some bad news out of Pittsburgh as returning started Jermaine Dixon has re-injured his foot and the Pitt Guard could be Out 8 Weeks (Pittsburgh Tribune Review) which would have him returning to the court about the time of the season opener. One source close to the program says he does not expect Dixon to miss any game action, but foot injuries can be tricky. The original injury was the same that kep Levance Fields out of the line-up for 12 games, 11 in the Big East, during the 2007-2008 season and this week’s procedure was the same that Fields underwent last September when he reinjured the foot during the summer. Fields did not miss any games last season.

Still, for a team that lost four starters (Fields, DeJuan Blair, Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs) not having two expected starters for at least the full preseason is a blow to their development. Earlier this month, junior Gilbert Brown was suspended for academic reasons from school for the first semester. Brown is eligible to return December 20th if reinstated by the school and basketball program. There is hope Pitt will be back at full strength when Big East playe begins, and they will need to be, they start off with a brutal six-game stretch of league play.
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Speaking of foot injuries, Sharaud Curry knows all too well how an injured foot can derail a season. Curry suffered a broken foot in the preseason of the 2007-2008 season and ended up with a medical redshirt after only playing 8 minutes that year. Now, Curry is a 5th-year senior on a very youn Providence squad that Keno Davis will lead into Big East battles this season. This season, the Friars Look to Curry for More than Just Leadership on the Court (Providence Journal) as he will be called upon to carry the burden scoring as well.

Earlier this week, Keno Davis’ Young Friars Team Took the Court Together (Providence Journal) for the first time as they began their preseason workouts allowed by the NCAA.
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Gilbert (AZ) resident and former Mesquite High standout Gavin Edwards has been a key role player for Jim Calhoun’s Connecticut the past three seasons. Now, as a senior, Edwards will play a larger role this season in attempting to help the Huskies find their way to back-to-back Final Fours. Doug Haller of AZCentral.com has a Conversation with UConn’s Gavin Edwards in preparation for the upcoming season.
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Next up in CollegeHoopsNet.com’s 144 teams in 144 days is #74 St. John’s. CHN has St. John’s pegged for 11th in the Big East. That seems to be a little low for me, but, the onus is on Norm Roberts and his team to prove everyone wrong and finish higher!
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Former Big East commission Mike Tranghese has landed an interesting new position as a consultant for Memphis University. Memphis Hires Former Big East Commissioner (SNY.tv) to advise the athletic department in their quest to join a BCS league. The current C-USA program has natural rivals in Cincinnati, Louisville and others in the Big East…