Tag Archives: PC recruiting

Recruiting News

Alex Owens Announces Commitment

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Alex Owens becomes the second player in the class of 2015 to commit to Ed Cooley. Owens spent the weekend on campus and attended the Elite Camp on Saturday. He flew home Monday afternoon but not before announcing his commitment via Twitter:

Owens announced his top 3 schools on July 27th and Providence is the only visit he took since making that announcement. The other schools he was considering were Missouri and Central Florida. He had previously verbally committed to UCF in the fall of 2013. Owens adds another big body to the Friar frontcourt and currently joins PC’s other commit in the class of 2015 Ryan Fazekas.

The next step for Providence is to add a guard or two to the mix in this class and they will have 3 scholarships to do so. Don’t be surprised if they pocket one of those scholarships to try to find a transfer in the winter or spring.

Check out Alex Owen’s Friar Crystal Ball page here.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

Recruiting News

2017 Guard Javon Taylor Verbally Commits to Friars

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Ed Cooley and the Friar faithful certainly needed a commitment to get the bad taste out of their mouths after Donovan Mitchell pledged to the Louisville Cardinals. I’m sure everyone was thinking the next commit would be from a player in the class of 2015. Instead, class of 2017 member Javon Taylor gave Cooley his verbal commitment after the Elite Camp held on campus on Saturday.

The Friars are hoping there will be another commitment before the weekend ends with 2015 big man Alex Owens on campus.

Check out Javon Taylor’s Friar Crystal Ball page here.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

Recruiting News

Malik Beasley Cuts List to 8

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Malik Beasley announced via his Twitter account that he has cut his list to a top 8.

https://twitter.com/malikk_5/status/497896675290402817

Beasley had a very good spring and summer at camps and on the AAU circuit where he ran with the Georgia Stars. He’s described as “a long athletic true shooting guard” by ESPN’s Scouting Report. The Georgia native is ranked 48th overall in the nation in the class of 2015 by the 247Sports Composite rankings and has visited UCLA, Georgia and Georgia Tech unofficially so far with plans to visit St. John’s unofficially over the weekend while he is in town for the Big Strick Classic at the Gauchos Gym. Beasley is also high school teammates with PC recruits Kaiser Gates (2015) and Kobi Simmons (2016).

I’m not all that surprised to see Providence not make the cut. The Friars will hopefully get some good news over the weekend with big man Alex Owens in town for the Elite Camp Saturday. Owens has Providence in his top 3.

Check out Malik Beasley’s Friar Crystal Ball page here.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

Recruiting News

2015 Guard Donovan Mitchell Commits to Louisville

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Well this one hurts. There really isn’t much else a coaching staff can do when recruiting a player. Ed Cooley followed Donovan Mitchell around like a shadow beginning in April 2012. When Mitchell broke his wrist last spring the Providence staff still sat and watched Mitchell’s team play while he sat on the bench in street clothes. These guys were serious about Donovan Mitchell and they were the first. Unfortunately they weren’t the last. Mitchell’s huge July this year led to a lot of attention both from the national recruiting media and some blue blood programs.

In the end it’s hard to blame Mitchell for choosing Louisville. They have had a lot of team success including a national championship in 2012 and have a recent history of developing NYC guards. Maybe we all weren’t listening when Mitchell repeatedly talked about wanting a big school or maybe we just wanted to believe he would change his mind and choose the tight knit family atmosphere that Ed Cooley and his staff have worked hard to develop. He told Scout.com’s Evan Daniels “I’m needed here and I love it.” Well he certainly was needed in Friartown but will be heading to Louisville next fall.

Check out Donovan Mitchell’s Friar Crystal Ball page here.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

Recruiting News

Donovan Mitchell Trims List to Final 5

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Donovan Mitchell initially said he would cut his list down further at the end of August from the 10 he tweeted out on July 31st.

He must have done a lot of thinking over the last few days because he has already cut the 10 down to 5.

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/496096893995200512

Mitchell is scheduled to take an unofficial visit to Villanova on August 4th followed by an official visit to Louisville August 7th-8th.

Perhaps this can be seen as good news for Providence fans as maybe the September decision is still in the cards. The sentiment in Friartown is that the longer it takes for Mitchell to decide, the worse it is for Providence’s chances. After having blown up during July some blue bloods got involved but Kansas and Indiana didn’t make the cut which surprises me. Mitchell spoke highly of Norm Roberts (Kansas) and mentioned he wanted to visit Indiana.

Of the schools in the final 5, Mitchell has visited or will have visited all 5 by August 8th so maybe a decision is closer than it appears.

Check out Donovan Mitchell’s Friar Crystal Ball page here.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

Recruiting News

Catching Up After the July Live Periods

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Now that the July live periods have come and gone the PC staff will be doing the same thing as the players they were on the road watching all month: evaluate where they stand with players.

The coaching staff will have meetings to discuss where they think they stand with players just as those players will have meetings with their families, mentors and coaches. Players have already begun cutting lists and Providence has even made their way onto some of those lists. Here is a catch up of where Providence stands after the three July live evaluation periods:

Lists Cuts and Commitments Elsewhere

2015 Donovan Mitchell

Continue reading Catching Up After the July Live Periods →

Recruiting News

Donovan Mitchell Cuts List

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Donovan Mitchell told Scout.com that he has cut his list to a top 10. He then tweeted that list:

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/494847100442918912

It shouldn’t be surprising to see Providence make the cut as Ed Cooley and his staff have been recruiting Mitchell as a priority recruit in 2015 for over a year and haven’t missed a single one of his AAU games over the last 2 years – even when he was injured. Scout.com’s Evan Daniels tweeted earlier in the week the Mitchell will visit Villanova on August 4th and Louisville on August 8th. Daniels also recently wrote: “No player improved his stock in July more than Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy standout Donovan Mitchell.”

In a recent interview with Corey Evans of HoopsIntel.com, Mitchell had this to say about Providence: “Providence has been there for two years and it is very appealing. I just want to be able to enjoy the coaching staff, which I do with Coach Cooley. It is a great school for basketball and great school in general.” So there’s still hope in Friartown. Mitchell also told Evans that he will look to cut his list down from 10 to 5 at the end of August.

Continue reading Donovan Mitchell Cuts List →