Category Archives: Recruiting News

Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 5/9/14

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This weekend is another in which college coaches are not allowed to be on the road evaluating players but there will still be a lot of high major talent playing. The most notable tournament of the weekend will be the Nike EYBL Session #2 in Dallas. There are other tournaments with PC recruits this weekend including the Hoop Group Providence Jamfest and the Wallace Prather Memorial Classic which is hosted by the Atlanta Celtics who feature two 2016 PC recruits in Braxton Blackwell and Joshua Langford. Here are all of the events this weekend courtesy of CBS Sports’ Jeff Borzello:

May 9-11

May 10-11

Other big news for this weekend is that the Friars will have a 2014 PG recruit on campus. Larry Austin, the former Tennessee commit, visited Xavier last weekend and will take in Friartown this weekend. Craig Belhumeur at FriarBasketball.com spoke to LA’s high school coach, Blake Turner, who told him that a visit to Cal, where former Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin was just hired, is still in the cards at a later date. Another source told me that Austin may also visit Kansas State but Turner told me that visit is “possible, but not 100% confirmed.” You just never know with 18 year olds but Larry, his coaches and his family have been methodical since he got his release from the Volunteers so my gut tells me he will consider all options carefully and I believe it’s likely he takes all of his scheduled visits before deciding. For those that have been asking for some video on Larry Austin, enjoy below:

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Ed Cooley, Recruiting News

2014 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team Training Camp Invites Announced

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The invitees have been announced for the USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team training camp which will be held in Colorado Springs from June 10th-19th. Ed Cooley is on Billy Donovan’s staff this year and the talent of the players invited to camp is impressive. 10 players are in the class of 2014 and all are already signed with their respective schools for next season. 11 players are members of the class of 2015 with 4 of them already verbally committed to schools. That leaves 7 uncommitted guys. Of those 7, PC has been mentioned with Isaiah Briscoe of Roselle Catholic (NJ).

It’s unclear if Briscoe will end up making the team as there are a lot of talented guards in training camp but at the minimum, this opportunity will give Cooley 9 days to coach Briscoe and start to build a relationship with the young man. He is currently ranked as the 19th best player in the class of 2015 by ESPN and Rivals while 247Sports ranks him at 17th best. Along with Providence, Briscoe claims offers from Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Florida, Florida State, Indiana, Miami (FL), Michigan, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, SMU, St. John’s Syracuse, UCLA, Villanova and Virginia with interest from Kansas and Kentucky.

If that list appears daunting, it’s because it is. I would classify Briscoe as a long shot for PC but Ed Cooley has a real opportunity to build a relationship and give Briscoe a feel for how he would be coached by the Friar’s head man.

Opportunities like this one are why Cooley being involved in USA Basketball is so huge for himself and the Providence program. It gets his name out there and gives him a chance to coach some of the top talent in the USA while maybe even building a relationship with a recruit or two along the way.

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Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 5/2/14

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Last weekend was a massively important weekend for recruits and coaches alike because it was the only live evaluation period that coaches can attend until the 3 that are in July. For some players, they were the ones that needed to make an impression and get noticed by a coach. For other players, it was more about a coach making an impression and being noticed in the stands by that player. Unfortunately the timing of the end of the season banquet in Providence kept head coach, Ed Cooley off the road last weekend but his assistants were out in full force spread all across the country. To that end, I’ve added a new feature to this site. You can find the link at on the left side of the top menu. It’s called “Where is Ed Cooley and the staff?” and it has a map of the USA with markers to indicate a coach being on the road somewhere. Check it out and give me your feedback. As for where the assistants were during the only live period of April: Andre LaFleur was out in Sacramento for the EYBL Session #1, Bob Simon was in Dallas for the Adidas Gauntlet and Brian Blaney was in Pittsburgh for the Hoop Group Jamfest. Here is a list of events that will be happening this upcoming weekend even. Even though coaches can’t be there, the media and scouting services still can so there will be plenty of updates next Friday. List courtesy of Jeff Borzello at CBSSports.com:

Before I get into last weekend’s AAU action, there is some more immediate recruiting going on for the class of 2014.

  • 2014 PG Larry Austin will visit Xavier this weekend but Providence is strongly in the mix and Austin will take an official visit next weekend to Friartown.

  • Wednesday, 2014 PG Devonte’ Graham cut his list down to 2 schools, Kansas and NC State. On Friday he committed to Kansas.

https://twitter.com/im_dat_kid_dtae/status/461534464498487296

  • On Thursday, 2014 PG Shelton Mitchell got his release from his NLI with Wake Forest. His former lead recruiter was Jeff Battle who is a good friend of Ed Cooley’s I would expect to see PC mentioned with Mitchell.

  • Also on Thursday, it was announced that Kansas PG Naadir Tharpe would be seeking to transfer closer to home because of some medical issues with his daughter.

  • Last Friday Jared Terrell getting his release from his NLI with Oklahoma State became official. The 2014 SG is said to want to be closer to home and the 3 schools expected to be involved were Boston College, Providence and URI. Rumors are that Terrell will visit PC and BC next week and make a decision. My guess is Boston College gets him because of Preston Murphy taking an assistant position with the Eagles on new coach, Jim Christian’s staff.

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Recruiting News

Recruiting News: Scout.com Final Top 100 In Class Of 2014 Released Today

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Evan Daniels over at Scout.com released his final ranking for the Class of 2014 today. Similar to the Rivals final list that came out on April 24th Three of the 4 members of Providence’s committed Class of 2014 are in the final top 90 with the lone member not in the top 100 being recent PG commit, Kyron Cartwright. The biggest difference between Rivals and Scout is that they have Jalen Lindsey at 84 while Rivals has him at 69. Chukwu and Bentil are in similar slots on both lists.

To see the entire top 100, click here.

PC Commits:

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Recruiting News

BREAKING: 2014 PG Devonte Graham Cuts List to Two

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Devonte’ Graham’s situation became a bit of a national story when former Appalachian State coach, Jason Capel, refused to release Graham from his National Letter of Intent. Graham enrolled at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire instead of the college in North Carolina. The main reason that was rumored as why Capel refused to release Graham is because he believed NC State had tampered with Graham after he signed with App State. Capel got axed after a disappointing 9-21 season and new coach, Jim Fox gave Graham his full release on April 9th. After listing a final 5 of Kansas, NC State, Providence, Virginia and Virginia Tech, Graham visited Kansas, NC State and Virginia. He didn’t commit to any of those three and it was rumored that he and his mom were trying to set up visits with PC and Virginia Tech but that now seems to be a mute point. Graham tweeted this earlier:

https://twitter.com/im_dat_kid_dtae/status/461534464498487296

It now appears even more likely that NC State, the place where tampering was rumored to have occurred, will be his destination. It will become a total lock if Myles Turner announces he is going to Kansas at 4pm today because the Jayhawks only have 1 open scholarship and they want Turner more than Graham. I don’t think NC State will be a surprise to most people involved as rumors of them being a lock started soon after he was granted his release. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a commitment announcement in the next day or two depending on what Myles Turner says today. This also puts to rest the rumors of a Graham/Terrell package deal to Providence.

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Recruiting News

#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 4/25/14

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  • This is a huge weekend for recruiting as it is the only weekend in April that college coaches can attend events and there are a number of high profile events for them to attend. The Nike EYBL, widely considered the top AAU league in the country, has Session #1 this weekend in Sacramento. Because of the recruiting calendar, coaches won’t be able to attend Sessions 2-4 so the next time coaches are allowed to watch the EYBL is the Peach Jam in mid July. This means that if your team is playing in the EYBL, you better be playing and playing well this weekend in Sacramento or you might just fall between the cracks until July. There are also a number of other events and PC recruits are playing at many of them. Here is a list provided by CBS Sports’ Jeff Borzello:
    1. Nike EYBL Session #1 (Sacramento, CA)
    2. Adidas Gauntlet #1 (Dallas, TX)
    3. UA Pittsburgh Jam Fest (Pittsburgh, PA)
    4. UA Jayhawk Invitational (Olathe, KS)
    5. Gulf Coast Hoop Fest (Biloxi, MS)
    6. All-America Availables JUCO Showcase (Dallas, TX)
    7. Double Pump Hoop Fest (Anaheim, CA)
    8. Pangos Spring Spectacular (Las Vegas, NV)
    9. Kingwood Classic (Spring, TX)
    10. Las Vegas Tip Off Classic (Las Vegas, NV)
    11. Southern Exposure Showcase (North Augusta, SC)
    12. Adidas Spring Classic (Indianapolis, IN)
    13. Nor Cal Spring Showcase (Sacramento, CA)
    14. Nike Spring Showdown (Romeoville, IL)
  • ICYMI – Rivals.com released their final Top 150 for the Class Of 2014 yesterday. 3 of PC’s 4 commits are on the list: #61 Paschal Chukwu, #69 Jalen Lindsey and #89 Ben Bentil. When I asked Eric Bossi for his thoughts on those 3, he said the following:

In brief Chukwu is a long term stock. Love his mobility and ability to rebound and protect the rim. Has to get stronger. Lindsey has all of the physical tools that you could want. But, the motor and production have got to be more consistent. Bentil, would blossom and likely outplay his ranking if he accepts being an energy guy, a grinder and dude who saves possessions on the glass.


But, I would imagine Providence fans have to feel pretty good about the level of talent that is coming into the program.

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Recruiting News

Recruiting News: Rivals Final Top 150 In Class Of 2014 Released Today

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Eric Bossi over at Rivals.com released his final ranking for the Class of 2014 today. Three of the 4 members of Providence’s committed Class of 2014 are in the final top 90 with the lone member not in the top 150 being recent PG commit, Kyron Cartwright.

To see the entire top 150, click here.

PC Commits:

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