Ed Cooley and Providence got great news on April 10th when Makai Ashton-Langford called the Friar head coach from his dorm room at Brewster Academy to commit after getting his release from UConn nearly two weeks prior. Ashton-Langford cannot sign a second National Letter of Intent because NLI rules prohibit an athlete from signing more than one per calendar year. Instead, Ashton-Langford signed a grant-in-aid package with Providence. Brewster Academy head coach Jason Smith tweeted that Ashton-Langford signed his scholarship paperwork on Wednesday making his commitment to Providence official.
Providence lost out on Makai Ashton-Langford the first go-round when the Worcester native committed to UConn and Kevin Ollie in September. This time Ed Cooley closed the deal and got a commitment from Ashton-Langford shortly after he was on campus for an official visit. Cooley built up a great relationship with both the player and the parents when chasing the Mass Rivals point guard the last several years and it appears that relationship was the key to Providence securing the services of the top-35 player. Ashton-Langford took an official visit starting April 7th after Cooley went up to Brewster Academy to meet with him on the first day coaches could be back on the road recruiting after the Final Four dead period.
Camp Errol was founded by Calvin Jones and named in honor of Errol Clinton who was killed at the age of 15 by a random act of violence in the city of Providence. E.R.R.O.L. stands for Education, Respect, Responsibility, Opportunity and Leadership. This Saturday Camp Errol will be hosting an All-Star game at CCRI Warwick and there will be several Providence recruits playing, including top local targets in the Class of 2018.
The updated player rankings from Scout.com continue and this week they updated their Class of 2018 rankings. Providence has a host of players on this list ranging from a local Providence native to a Canadian player attending school in Florida, not to mention some other local talent attending NEPSAC schools. The coaching staff at Providence has a clear connection in the mid-atlantic with Jeff Battle and Ivan Thomas spearheading connections there with both Boo Williams players and other area programs. Brian Blaney continues to canvass the New England prep basketball scene and Ed Cooley is everywhere. Here are players Providence is involved with on Scout’s latest Class of 2018 Top 100:
Providence is in the midst of a tough stretch on the court after falling at the hands of St. John’s at home on Wednesday night to fall to 3-6 in Big East play. A stark contrast in guard talent was on display with the Red Storm getting 48 of their 91 points from their starting backcourt of freshmen Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds. Providence coveted Ponds in the 2016 class and the decision ultimately came down to the Friars or Red Storm. Ed Cooley and his staff have certainly shown an eye for identifying talent and the next few days provide yet another opportunity in Providence’s backyard to catch some top prep talent at the National Prep School Invitational being played Thursday through Sunday at Rhode Island College. Here are some of Providence’s targets that will be in action at RIC over the next few days:
With two recruits signed in the Class of 2017, Ed Cooley and his staff have had the opportunity to forge more relationships with players in the Classes of 2018 and 2019. This weekend plenty of talented players in 2017, 2018, 2019 and even 2020 will be on display at the Zero Gravity Prep Classic. This annual event will be held at St. Andrew’s in Barrington, RI over the weekend and will feature not only some of Providence’s top local recruiting targets, but there will also be plenty of talented players across the board that may not end up attracting interest from the Friars or haven’t yet but will in the future. Nearly 40 different schools will play over the course of the three days at St. Andrew’s. The Providence staff will obviously be a bit busy on Saturday afternoon, but I would expect to see some Providence coaches in Barrington at some point over the weekend.
Multiple sources have informed pcbb1917.com that 2017 point guard Makai Ashton-Langford has moved up his visit to Providence — originally scheduled for September 17th — to Wednesday, August 31st. He is expected on campus as early as 1pm. This comes on the heels of Ashton-Langford moving up his visit to UConn from September 10th to September 3rd. The September 3rd visit was originally supposed to be taken to Louisville but the Cardinals got a pledge from another point guard in the class of 2017 and were removed from consideration by the Worcester native.
UPDATE 1:43pm, 8/31: I was told today’s visit is not an official visit for Ashton-Langford.
pcbb1917.com - Providence College Basketball 