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Recruiting News

BREAKING: 2014 PG Larry Austin Commits to Xavier

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Providence was putting a lot of effort into 2014 PG Larry Austin from Illinois but it wasn’t enough as Austin gave his commitment to Chris Mack and Xavier today. After getting his release from Tennessee following Cuonzo Martin taking the job at Cal, Austin had plenty of suitors but only actually made one visit and it was to Xavier.

Providence will continue the search for another guard but the herd is really starting to thin. Naddir Tharpe may get his tires kicked now as it would probably be better to bring in someone who would only tie up a scholarship for a year or two than reach for an available high school senior point guard.

 

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#pcbb Links of the Day 5/10/14

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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:

Continue reading #pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 5/9/14 →

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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#pcbb Links of the Day 5/3/14

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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.

Continue reading #pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 5/2/14 →

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#pcbb Links of the Day 5/2/14

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