Adam Zagoria, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting

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.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP

Rutgers commit Pat Jackson of Brooklyn Boys & Girls was nursing a sprained ankle and did not play last weekend when his team won a pair of showcase games. Boys & Girls beat Christian Brothers Academy (N.J.), 47-45, at the Battle on the Boardwalk Saturday and then knocked off Providence-bound forward Bilal Dixon of Queen of Peace (NJ), 63-44, Monday at the Big Apple Invitational at Baruch College. Dixon finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds to earn the Sportsmanship Award.

In other games of interest at the Big Apple Saturday, Dalton Pepper, a 6-6 junior shooting guard out of Fairless Hills (Pa) Pennsbury, poured in 40 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 74-49 win over Manhattan Wadleigh. Pepper is down to four schools, including Seton Hall, Villanova, West Virginia and Miami.

Not to beoutdone, Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains dropped in a tournament-record 44 in an 82-79 OT win over Brooklyn Canarsie. Kilpatrick has visited St. John’s and plans to visit Seton Hall.

On Monday at the Big Apple, Louisville-bound Lamont “Momo” Jones had 29 points as American Christian beat Indiana-bound Devin Ebanks and St. Thomas More, 83-72. American Christian played withoutstar Tyreke Evans, who is recovering from a concussion.

Elsewhere, Louisville-commit Samardo Samuels dominated inside Saturday with 24 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks as St. Benedict’s beat Paterson Catholic, 57-52, at the Dan Finn Classic in Jersey City, N.J. St. Ben’s junior shooting guard Tamir Jackson added 16 points. 6-9 junior Greg Echenique, who said he’s considering Duke, Rutgers, Penn, Pitt, Maryland and Miami, added nine points and seven boards.

“(It was) a little too much Samardo, but you’ve got to give Tamir credit. He was knocking down jump shots,” said Seton Hall-bound guard Jordan Theodore of Paterson Catholic, who finished with eight points.

Echenique was one of several high-profile recruits at Rutgers Wednesday night for the Scarlet Knights’ 80-68 upset of No. 18 Villanova. Also on hand were his sophomore teammate Tristan Thompson, a 6-8 forward with offers from numerous Big East teams; St. Patrick 6-6 freshman Michael Gilchrist, who has already been called a potential future lottery pick; and St. Raymond’s (NY)6-6 junior forward Kevin Parrom, who lists Rutgers, St. John’s, Pitt, West Virginia and Xavier at the top of his list.

Paterson Catholic is loaded with sophomores and juniors being heavily recruited. The sophomore trio of Jayon James, Fuquan Edwin and Trevor Clemmings hold a group offer from Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez. PC will meet Plainfield this Saturday night in the Cougar Classic at Paterson Catholic. Plainfield features 6-2 sophomore guard Isaiah Epps, who also holds an offer from Seton Hall.

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