DePaul Recruiting, Georgetown Recruiting, Louisville Recruiting, Marquette Recruiting, Pat Stevens, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Providence Recruiting, Rutgers Recruiting, Seton Hall Recruiting, St. John's Recruiting, USF Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting, Zach Smart

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.