Jon Rothstein is reporting that Providence will host Illinois as part of the inaugural Gavitt Games series announced in May 2014 between the Big East and Big Ten conferences. Its fitting that Providence will be one of the Big East teams participating and hosting a game on Dave Gavitt Court at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Continue reading Providence to Host Illinois for Inaugural 2015 Gavitt Tipoff Games
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.
Continue reading #pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 7/3/14
The NBA Draft showed how silly it can be by leaving a lot of very good college players off the board, including Bryce Cotton. But one thing that stuck out to me was the number of guys that got drafted who were top 100 recruits coming out of high school. It goes to show you just how important recruiting high level talent really is for programs. Obviously not every top 100 guy is going to pan out but it’s a numbers game and the more talent you acquire, the more likely it is that talent will develop and translate to on-court success. As an example, using ESPN’s top 100 high school player rankings, of the 24 non-international players drafted in the 1st round last night, 19 were in the top 100 in their class coming out of high school. Of those 19, 8 were ranked in the top 10. The 5 unranked guys were Nik Stauskas, Elfrid Payton, Doug McDermott, C.J. Wilcox and Josh Huestis.
Ed Cooley has upped the talent level at PC in his time in Friartown and this weekend he will be hosting a lot of talented recruits. 2015 recruits Donovan Mitchell and Steve Enoch will be on campus this weekend with Mitchell already at PC today and Enoch heading to URI and PC tomorrow.
With the news that Tramaine Isabell committed to Missouri on Thursday, Ed Cooley and his staff are going to have to weigh the available options against standing pat and going into the season with what they have right now. The only two names I have heard PC interested in at this point are Armel Potter and Ricky Council. I’ll profile both guys individually early next week.
We learned last week at this time that Wake Forest transfer, Tyler Cavanaugh, had received a call from Ed Cooley. Cavanaugh visited George Washington on Tuesday, per Adam Zagoria. Syracuse.com’s Donna Ditota reported last week that Cavanaugh plans to take 3 to 4 visits before deciding. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein had this to say today:
Wake Forest transfer Tyler Cavanaugh visited George Washington this past week and is also considering Butler and Dayton. The 6-9 forward averaged 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds last season and has two years of remaining eligibility.
Continue reading #pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 6/27/14
The NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, VA is widely considered one of the best camps each summer. There are a lot of instructors/coaches/speakers that the players recognize including current and former NBA players and the talent pool of the campers is very deep.
Here are the PC recruits that are in attendance this week:
A couple of the PC recruits even got up extra early to do work on their own before camp started today:
Scout.com updated their class of 2015 rankings today and there was even more movement than in the ESPN release of their top 100 earlier in the week.
Rob Harrington discussed some of the PC related movement in this article:
Isaiah Briscoe moved up 10 spots, from No. 26 to No. 16. Briscoe has performed tremendously at every stop this spring and summer, showcasing a leaner body, quicker first step and more controlled (but not too controlled) style. He ranks among the most talented, confident and aggressive scorers in the class.
Antonio Blakeney (pictured, above) vaulted from No. 39 all the way to No. 20. He has emerged as one of the most prolific shooters and scorers in the EYBL and now projects as a potential, or even likely, McDonald’s All-American.
When Malik Beasley is in the house, people tend to notice. Beasley is one of the country’s most explosive leapers and also is a capable, if streaky, jump shooter. He had been unranked but now sits at No. 58. If he can tighten his ballhandling, he’s another prospect who could make another big jump later.
And then there’s another spring wonder, Steve Enoch. The athletic and skilled power forward from Connecticut debuts in our rankings at No. 61 and may be able to rise from there. He has proved he can hold his own against other national-caliber big men and now simply needs more exposure to solidify his place. His recruitment likely will blow up in July.
To see the entire top 100, click here.
PC Recruits:
Continue reading Recruiting News: Scout.com Updated Class Of 2015 Top 100 Recruit Rankings
ESPN updated their class of 2015 rankings from the top 60 to the top 100 and there was a decent amount of movement. Adam Finkelstein offered “Ten things to know about the ESPN 100” to give some insight to how they make their choices and where some spots stand.
To see the entire top 100, click here.
PC Recruits:
Continue reading Recruiting News: ESPN Updated Class Of 2015 Top 100 Recruit Rankings
Another weekend of competition where coaches cannot observe but that hasn’t stopped them from offering a lot of players. You’ll see below the guys that PC has offered lately. Nike EYBL continues action for the 2nd weekend in a row with Session #3 in Hampton, VA on route to the Peach Jam in mid-July. The Adidas Gauntlet picks up where it left off in the April live period with session #2 in Indianapolis this weekend. PC is heavily involved with many elite players that are playing in both the Nike EYBL and the Adidas Gauntlet. Those two AAU circuits are widely considered to be the two best in terms of talent and organization. Here are all of the events this weekend courtesy of CBS Sports’ Jeff Borzello:
May 16-18
May 17-18
Continue reading #pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 5/16/14
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