This will be the last 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 third 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.
This is likely where you will see Ed Cooley and the PC staff spending a lot of time because Donovan Mitchell will be at this event. Mitchell isn’t the only one though and the staff will likely be able to go between the Fab 48, the Adidas Super 64, The 8 Tournament and the Las Vegas Classic as the events are all within easy driving distance of each other.
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.
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.
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.
The Northeast Hoops Festival was played last weekend in Hanover, MA. ESPN’s Adam Finkelstein recapped the event and mentioned a few PC recruits that were there. On 2015 Cheick Diallo: “[the] combination of sheer size and talent is obviously staggering, but equally impressive is the…motor..as..[he] play[s] tremendously hard on both ends of the floor.” On 2015 Jarred Reuter: “This was as good as Brewster Academy and New England Playaz big man Jarred Reuter has looked in quite some time. He logged major minutes to showcase his improved conditioning, was as assertive as he’s ever been going to the rim and seems to be figuring out how to best utilize his wide and powerful frame to create space and cause mismatch problems.” On 2017 Makai Ashton-Langford: “recently reclassified Makai Ashton-Langford (Mass Rivals) solidified [himself] as [one] of the best point guard prospects the Northeast region has in the 2017 class.” On 2017 Tomas Murphy: “ew England Playaz forward Tomas Murphy wasn’t necessarily at his best after missing time during the high school season with injury, but there wasn’t another ninth-grader who made as many plays that translate to the next level, as he combined jump hooks over both shoulders with rhythm 3s.”
The So-Cal Hoop Review was played last weekend. ESPN’s Joel Francisco mentions some of the elite players in the field. PC recruit 2015 Bennie Boatwright is mentioned under the “Best Shooters” category by Francisco:
Bennie Boatwright 2015, PF, 6-8, 210 pounds
Boatwright is a gawky 4 who is still growing and could reach 6-10. His jump shot is smooth and his range is around 25 feet. He isn’t overly bouncy or quick and he struggles handling the ball against pressure. In addition, he needs to learn to affect the game more consistently in rebounding and defense.
Paschal Chukwu will be playing in the Jordan Brand Classic Regional game today at 4:30pm at the Barclays Center. To see the full roster of players in this game, click here. There are a good amount of future Big East players that will play so if you are in the area, it might be worthwhile to skip out of work and head to the Barclays Center for this one.
Kyron Cartwright is expected to sign his National Letter of Intent with PC today.. The Spring signing period began on April 16th and goes through May 21st.
Devonte Graham has named his final 5 and PC made the cut. He has scheduled 3 visits already and he hasn’t been clear on whether he will take all 5 visits. It looks like NC State will be tough to beat but I’ll never count Ed Cooley out. The visits that are planned so far are to Kansas (April 18-19), N.C. State (April 20-21) and Virginia (April 25-26).
There is a charity all-star game being held Saturday at 5pm at East Greenwich HS. You can see the details and rosters below the video but this is a great cause and there will be a good number of PC recruiting targets participating. $10 admission at the door.
At 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 (5pm) many of New England’s top high school basketball prospects will come together at East Greenwich (R.I.) High School for the first annual 2eZ All-Star Game, The $10 admission will benefit event for Meeting Street School student Jake Downey.
The money raised will go directly to Jake Downey, a loving 11-year-old boy and the son of beloved teacher and coach at East Greenwich High, Bob Downey. Jake was born with congenital hydrocephalus, which caused brain injury and several serious medical complications. Jake is unable to walk and requires complete assistance for all his daily needs and care. Jake attends The Meeting Street School with many other kids like him that thrive each day with their special abilities. Through the all-star game money will be raised for a handicap van that will improve the daily life of Jake and his family, along with a donation to the Meeting Street School.
A dunk contest will prelude the all-star game. Here are the rosters, named with a “Space Jam” theme:
(College commitments in bold)
“2eZ Squad”
Unique Mclean | 6-2 G | Brooklyn, N.Y. (Hoosac School)
Jalen Adams | 6-2 G | Boston (Cushing Academy)
Jared Terrell | 6-4 G | Weymouth, Mass. (Brewster Academy) – Oklahoma State
Abdul-Malik Abu | 6-8 F | Boston (Kimball Union Academy) – NC State
Jarred Reuter | 6-9 F | Rochester, Mass. (Brewster Academy)
Crew Ainge | 5-10 G | Wellesley, Mass. (Kimball Union Academy)
Curtis Cobb | 6-4 G | Fall River, Mass. (Wilbraham & Monson)
Tomas Murphy | 6-7 F | Wakefield, R.I. (Prout School)
Max Twyman | 6-2 G | Rye, N.Y. (Brewster Academy)- Albany
Saul Phiri | 6-3 F | Haverhill, Mass (Worcester Academy)
Tommy Hunt | 6-1 G | Smithfield, R.I. (St Andrew’s)
Tyler Nelson | 6-2 G | Haverhill, Mass. (Central Catholic HS) – Fairfield
“2eZ Monstars”
Kaleb Joseph | 6-3 G | Nashua, N.H. (Cushing Academy) – Syracuse
Donovan Mitchell | 6-2 G | Greenwich, Conn. (Brewster Academy)
Terrance Mann | 6-5 F | Lowell, Mass. (Tilton School)
Tyler Lydon | 6-9 F | Pine Plains, N.Y. (New Hampton School) – Syracuse
Bonzie Colson | 6-6 F | New Bedford, Mass. (St. Andrew’s) – Notre Dame
Marcel Pettway | 6-6 F | North Providence, R.I. (Wilbraham & Monson)
Jackson Donahue | 6-0 G | Stonington, Conn. (Northfield Mount Hermon)
Dmitri Floras | 6-1 G | Merrimack, N.H. (MacDuffie School)
Bruce Brown | 6-4 G | Boston (Vermont Academy)
Zach Lydon | 6-8 F | Pine Plains, N.Y. (Bridgton Academy)
Tyree Weston | 6-1 G | New Bedford, Mass. (Cheshire Academy)
Ben Chester | 5-6 G | East Greenwich, R.I. (East Greenwich HS)
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