This will be the second of three live evaluation periods in the month of July where college coaches are allowed to attend and evaluate recruits. These three live periods are so critical as coaches can start to really focus on specific targets and maybe even have a new player catch their eye so they can offer and get involved. I’ll be taking a look at some of the major grassroots events that are in this second live period and giving you a list of PC recruits that will be in attendance at each one. This will be a working document so if/when I see a name that PC is recruiting at one of these events and I don’t have the player listed I will add him. Also, if you want to keep track of where Ed Cooley and the rest of the PC staff is during this live period, click here.
The Peach Jam is the culmination of the Nike EYBL circuit and acts as the playoffs. Only 24 teams qualify and there is a play-in game Wednesday to determine that 24th team. I could write up a big preview of this event but the guys at D1Circuit.com have done an absurdly good job at putting together this preview so I would be doing a disservice to try to write anything further. This is an absolute must read for all recruiting junkies especially because, as you’ll see below, there are a TON of PC recruits at the Peach Jam this year.
With Friday being the 4th of July I am releasing the weekly recruiting update a day earlier than normal. This weekly update will return to it’s normally scheduled Friday next week. This will be the final recruiting update prior to the first July live period which begins at 5pm on July 9th. For more information on the recruiting calendar over the next few weeks, check out this page.
News came down Wednesday afternoon that Josh Fortune was transferring to Colorado. This ends one of the more bizarre and confusing player transfers I’ve ever seen and I doubt the real reasons will ever be truly made public. Whatever the reasons, it seems Fortune was looking for a fresh start and he will get that at Colorado which is much further from his home than Providence, for what that’s worth.
Fortune leaving has left a bit of a hole at the shooting guard position. After the various swings and misses this spring, Ed Cooley and his staff are apparently on the fence about bringing someone in at this late stage. I’m told that Armel Potter is anxious to have the PC coaches watch him play live which is something that hasn’t happened as of yet. Potter is mulling over possibly playing somewhere during the July live periods but no decision has been made on that. I was told that Potter hasn’t spoken with Cooley yet but I get the sense that if Cooley calls with an offer, Potter will be on the next plane to Friartown. The former Florida Atlantic commit has offers from Appalachian State, Ball State, Iona, Niagara, Tennessee Tech and some other mid majors.
A new name in the class of 2015 for Friar fans is a player who is also new to New England prep basketball. Andrew Robinson, along with twin brother Aaron, decided to do a prep year at Putnam Science Academy this upcoming season. Andrew is the more heralded prospect and he is the one that PC is showing increased interest in. The Robinson’s older brother is former Syracuse guard, Billy Edelin.
The 6’5 wing player had offers from Binghamton, Delaware, Drexel, LIU-Brooklyn, Marshall, Robert Morris, Siena and Towson after his last season at Springbrook in Maryland. He averaged a team high 17 ppg for the Blue Devils and also pulled down 6.4 rpg last season. Since announcing in late April that he will be prepping at PSA this year, he has received interest from Providence and Dayton. After speaking with a couple people familiar with his game from high school and watching some of the highlight tapes (see below), it seems like Robinson is athletic enough to play in the Big East but needs to hone his ball skills and increase his quickness. It should also be noted that Andrew is not just talented on the court. He had a weighted GPA of 4.04 at Springbrook and was the sports editor for the school newspaper.
In the July live period he will be at the Reebok Classic Breakout Camp from July 8th-11th then at the Hoop Group Summer Jam Fest from July 18th-20th.
The other new name is in the class of 2017 and will also be making his New England prep basketball debut this upcoming season. Hamidou Diallo is a 6’3 shooting guard from Flushing, NY. He runs with the NYC Jayhawks on the AAU circuit where he led the 15U team to the Elite 8 at the Pittsburgh Jam Fest during the April live period. He attended URI Elite camp on June 27th and attended NERR Elite 75 camp on June 30th and got an offer from Fairfield while on a recent visit there with another PC target from PSA, Mamadou Diarra. Diallo is young and still growing into his body but he’s a name that will likely become more familiar over the next couple of years to those that follow New England prep basketball.
pcbb1917.com - Providence College Basketball 