Rob Harrington from Prep Stars talks SU Recruiting

PrepStars: 'Cuse Still Succeeding by CineSport

Special thanks to Moqui on the link

2013-15 Recruiting update

The staff has watched the following during the High School season.

2013
BeeJay Anya C Stated recently that he believes SU is a good fit for him.
Nerlens Noel C Still list SU but the main competition comes from UConn, UK, and Providence.
Tyler Ennis PG
Malik Price-Martin  PF SU is involved but he has been connected to OSU and Louisville for awhile now.
Goodluck Okonoboh PF
Stanford Robinson SG
Rondae Jefferson SF According to the guys over at scout, Pitt and SU are out in front for the time being in this recruitment.
Jaylen Brantley PG
Kennedy Meeks C The latest big man to be offered by SU. Meeks is considered a Georgetown lean.

2014
Phil Booth SG
Chris McCullough PF Plans to decide by next summer. SU should be in this battle until the end.
Noah Vonleh PF Told Dave Telep from ESPN, that SU and North Carolina were his 2 dream schools. SU has been there from the jump.

2015
Isaiah Briscoe PG Recruitment is sill early but it looks good for SU at this point.
Karl Towns C Skilled big man that SU is trying to get an early start on.

Jerami Grant highlights vs Jamesville-Dewitt

Grant is #25 in white

Jerami Grant gets the upper hand against DaJuan Coleman

Jerami Grant and his Dematha high squad won in easy fashion against DaJuan Coleman's Jamesville-Dewitt squad 83-57. Grant had 11pts and 10rbs, while teammate and 2013 target BeeJay Anya chipped in with 8pts and 5rbs. Coleman struggled early on with foul trouble but in the end finished with 19pts and 10rbs in the loss.

DaJuan Coleman vs Jerami Grant this Saturday

The High School squads of the lone two members of SU's 2012 class are scheduled to meet this weekend at the National High School Hoops Festival at Dematha High. You can find more information on the tourney in the following link NHSHF.

Notable games with SU targets in action
Saturday December 10th
Paul VI-Stanford Robinson SG 2013 vs West Charlotte 3:45
Dematha-Jerami Grant commit, BeeJay Anya C 2013 vs Jamesville-Dewitt-DaJuan Coleman commit 7:30

Sunday December 11th
Paul VI-Stanford Robinson SG 2013 vs Episcopal 2:45
Jamesville-Dewitt-DaJuan Coleman commit vs St. John's College H.S. 4:30

Noah Vonleh highlights from the National Prep Showcase

Current status of the 2012 class during the Bernie Fine madness

Harvey Grant, the father of Jerami Grant, told the Post Standard yesterday that his son remains committed to SU. DaJuan Coleman on the other hand declined to make a comment and said he'll wait until he knows more about the situation. Please note that Bernie Fine had no involvement in the recruiting of these two. So in my opinion unless JB and his staff gets fired, then the 2012 class should be alright.

Noah Vonleh stands out big in the National Prep Showcase

Vonleh who is one of SU's main targets for 2014 dominated the competition leading his team to a pair of wins. Vonleh avg 17pts and 17rbs in the games combined, displaying improved quickness and athleticism during the process according to those in attendance. Other cuse targets such as Nerlens Noel, Jaylen Brantley, and Jared Terrell had good showings as well.

Amile Jefferson

After visiting all of the schools on his final list, surprisingly Jefferson has decided to wait and sign in the spring. Haven't heard anything recently as far as interest from SU for Jefferson, but I thought it was worth noting that anything can happen between now and then.

National Prep Showcase 18th-20th

This weekend several Cuse targets in the 2013/14 class will be participating in the National Prep Showcase. The event will take place at Albertus Magnus College, located in New Haven, CT for those who might be interested in attending. For more info on all of the scheduled games you can check out the link. www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/events/event/4/National-Prep-Showcase.php

Notable games and SU targets in action
Saturday November 19th
La Lumiere-Johnnie Vassar PG 2014 vs Lee Academy 5:45
New Hampton-Noah Vonleh PF 2014 and Jared Terrell SG 2014 vs Kiski 7:30

Sunday November 20th
New Hampton-Noah Vonleh and Jared Terrell vs Blair Academy 1:30
La Lumiere-Johnnie Vassar vs Vermont Academy 3:15
Tilton-Nerlens Noel C 2013 and Goodluck Okonoboh PF 2013 vs Kiski 5:00
Wilbraham & Monson-Jaylen Brantley PG 2013 vs Winchendon 6:30

Signing day

Today is the first day where recruits make their commitments official by signing their letter of intent. DaJuan Coleman and Jerami Grant are both expected to sign today. Update: Both Coleman and Grant have signed their letter of intent to Syracuse.

2013 Spotlight: Tyler Ennis

Tyler Ennis is not only considered the best player in Canada for the 2013 class, but he is also one of the best PG's in the nation. He recently enjoyed his visit at SU for their midnight madness and currently has a lot of interest from the staff. Ennis has offers from Kansas, Iowa St, Georgetown, Villanova, and Georgia Tech among others.

Introducing Isaiah Briscoe

The class of 2015 is a long time away but one of the early standouts is Isaiah Briscoe, who has already visited SU a few times already. He recently stated to Rivals, that SU is his current favorite and a commitment was almost made before deciding to hold off and wait. Briscoe though young at this stage is definitely one to watch down the road. Outside of SU, he currently holds offers from Zona, Baylor, Cincy, and Pitt.

Introducing Al Freeman

Al Freeman is a 2013 combo guard, who is expected to visit SU this weekend. He's currently ranked #9 by ESPN, #18 by Scout, and #24 by Rivals. Outside of SU, Freeman has interest and offers from Arizona, Georgetown, Villanova, and many more.

2013 Spotlight: Goodluck Okonoboh

The next Syracuse University target in the class of 2013, is a 6'9 215 center and goes by the name Goodluck Okonoboh. Goodluck is a very bouncy, high energy big man that gets off his feet quickly and plays mostly above the rim. He is very active around the rim with most of his points coming off of put backs and dunks. His main asset though is his top notch shot blocking ability. As has been a recent trend for SU recruits, Goodluck seems to be no different in that he has a long wingspan that would prove to be handy in the back of the 2-3 zone. Besides Syracuse, he currently is receiving interest from Minnesota, Missouri, Gonzaga, Pittsburgh and West Virginia to name a few.

-Christian Claps

Christian can be contacted at Christian.Claps@gmail.com 

Coleman picks the hometown Orange

After some strong pushes by UK and OSU during the past few months. DaJuan Coleman in the end decides to stick with the hometown school and will play his college ball at Syracuse.

Coleman to announce decision tomorrow

Turns out that SU did indeed get the last official visit, which should definitely make the odds big in SU favor on where he plans to play his college ball. UK and OSU are the other options but as I've stated before it looks to have been a race between SU and UK. Update: All signs point towards SU winning this battle but there is also some UK buzz as well to add to the suspense.

DaJuan Coleman to visit SU this weekend

According to the Syracuse Post Standard, instead of visiting Ohio State this weekend, Coleman will be officially visiting Syracuse. Personally I would've loved to see SU get the last visit as originally planned, but expect the coaching staff to put their best foot forward in closing the deal here.

Post Midnight Madness update

-SU has currently put themselves in good shape as the current favorite for Nerlens Noel. Nothing as far as an upcoming commitment has been brought to my attention at the moment though. 

-I'm now hearing that OSU is currently running out of steam and it's looking like SU vs UK till the end for DaJuan Coleman. Signs still point towards SU having the slight edge but I would still be cautious if I'm a SU fan.

-Expect to hear the name Tyler Ennis a lot moving forward. Both sides have mutual interest as of late, so it should be interesting to see where things go in this recruitment.

Midnight Madness tonight!

After what looked to be an embarrassing and lame scheduled of events, SU has put together one of the best Midnight Madness nationwide for tonight. Below will be the list of SU recruits planning to attend, and a list of where other recruiting targets are attending.

SU
Jerami Grant Commit
Nerlens Noel 2013
Goodluck Okonoboh 2013
Tyler Ennis 2013
Isiah Briscoe 2015
Zach Radz 2015

Others targets
Jaylen Brantley 2013-UConn
Amile Jefferson 2012-UConn
Noah Vonleh 2014-UConn
DaJuan Coleman 2012-Kentucky
Al Freeman 2013-Kansas
Monte Morris 2013-Marquette
Stanford Robinson 2013-Rutgers
Jermaine Lawrence 2013-St. John's

2013 Spotlight: BeeJay Anya

There are big boys in the 2013 class, and then there's Beejay Anya from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD. Beejay Anya at 6'8 and 255 pounds is an absolute load in handle in the paint and strong as a bull. Anya possesses an incredible 7'9 wingspan. Longer then anyone else in the 2013 class. Over the past two seasons Anya has been working hard to shape up his body and it has certainly shown an increase in productivity in his game. Anya currently holds offers from Virginia, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Texas, Ohio State and UCLA to name a few.

-Christian Claps

Christian can be contacted at christian.claps@gmail.com

Scouting Amile Jefferson

Jefferson's recruitment has been kind of an mystery as of late. Over the past year it seemed as though Villanova would be tough to beat, but as of now they're hardly mentioned in the recruiting battle. As far as SU is concerned, I've been told that landing Jefferson is going to be tough. He's looking for a school where he can play right away and have an immediate impact. SU which has Rak Christmas, CJ Fair, and 2012 commit Jerami Grant already in the fold. Is going to make it a tough sell on Jefferson for minutes at the forward spot.

Moving on, here goes an scouting report that I did on Jefferson back in the late spring.

The following breakdown is a game between Jefferson's Philly's Finest against a tough B-More Elite squad. His team ended up losing a close game but he put up an impressive stat line in do it all fashion of 21pts, 11rbs, 7ast, 5blks.

Positives: Very active with a long and lean frame, which enables him to play multiple positions. Solid ball handler able to breakdown defenders and take it inside with ease. Terrific finisher that is able to score with either the left or right hand. Good passer with a high B-Ball IQ and good feel for the game. Despite slim frame he has no problem playing inside, battling for boards and blocking shots. Despite being the best player on his team, he never forced the issue and pretty much let the game come to him by picking and choosing his spots when to become aggresive.

Negatives: Needs to get stronger, looks to be no more than 180lbs at this point. Easily blocked out of the post by bigger and stronger players due to lack of strength. Has a slow release on his jumper in which he only attempted a couple but missed them both. Decent athleticism but not an run n jump super athlete. His team wasn't that talented so I would've liked to see him display a little bit more leadership on the court, as he was a little too interested in whining to the refs about calls than getting his teammates to settle down.

Overall Projection: Jefferson has the qualities to be a very good college player right away. The best thing about him is that he is far from a finish product and once he gains weight and develops an consistent jumpshot lookout. IMHO I believe he's a 3,4 in JB's system but probably more suitable for the 3 anywhere else.

Nerlens Noel sticking with 2013

According to Adam Zagoria, Noel has decided to stay in the 2013 class. I still believe this could end up like the Andre Drummond recruitment. We'll just have to wait until the spring/summer to see how things will play out. Expect SU to firmly be in the mix throughout.

A few notes

-DaJuan Coleman tells the Post Standard that he expects to make a decision around early November. It's still a three team race between SU, OSU, and UK. A few things to watch out for is that OSU is really trying to lock Tony Parker down for an commitment. Which would definitely knock Coleman out of the mix. UK on the other hand is currently one of the favorites for Willie Cauley, who could make an commitment to them after he visits their midnight madness. October should be an interesting month to see how things break down in this recruitment.

-Nerlens Noel still hasn't made it official yet about joining the 2012 class. My thoughts is that this could end up just like the Andre Drummond situation, if he claims to still be in 2013. No sense of a player of his talents to stay another year in High School if he finds the right situation for college in 2012. Expect SU, UConn, UK, and Providence to battle it out in this one.

-Outside of Noel, who may or may not be a 2013 recruit, the SU staff has shown the most interest in big man BeeJay Anya during the open/contact. Anya as most would know is an teammate and close friend of recent commit Jerami Grant. It's also worth noting that the big man has a ridiculous wingspan of 7'9.

-Keep an eye out on Dwayne Morgan, 2014 SF from Baltimore. Morgan who currently attends the same High School that CJ Fair went to, blew up in a big way last week impressing the likes of Dave Telep in the process. Not much is known about Morgan at the moment but SU, UConn, Maryland, and UNC among others have already shown interest.

Noah Vonleh update

Vonleh was first discovered by JB and the SU staff over an year ago. He has recently stated that SU are the ones recruiting him the hardest at the moment. Vonleh has seen his stock rise in a big way over the summer and now has offers and interest from UNC, UCLA, Kansas, and Arizona among others. It's still very early in the game, but so far the SU staff has let Vonleh know that he's a must get for the future.

Nerlens Noel to join the 2012 class?

According to several scouts, the word on the street is that Noel will officially be joining the 2012 class soon. Expect SU to continue being heavy players in this one. Noel plans to visit SU for their midnight madness, which would make it his third time visiting the school.

Keeping up with the 2013/14 classes

Coaching staff's around the country are allowed to watch and have contact with prospects since the start of this month. The following names are some of the notables that JB and crew have been keeping tabs on during this period for the next two classes.

2013
BeeJay Anya C
Goodluck Okonoboh PF
Nerlens Noel C
Tyler Roberson SF/PF
Stanford Robinson SG
Ishmail Wainwright SF
Kuran Iverson SF
Dayshon Smith PG
Steve Haney SG
Kendrick Nunn SG

2014
Chris McCullough PF
Wayne Selden SG
Kevin Zabo PG
Noah Vonleh PF
Jared Terrell SG
Kahari Beaufort SG
Dwayne Morgan SF

Tyler Cavanaugh commits to Wake Forrest

Cavanaugh gave his commitment to Wake Forest tonight while on his official visit to the school. It might come as a surprise that he decided to end things already, but after SU received their commitment from Jerami Grant recently, you had to figure that things would've cooled off on both sides and it was probably in Cavanaugh's best interest to end up elsewhere.

Breaking down the competition for DaJuan Coleman

What most thought would be a lock for SU, has turned into an heated battle between three schools. As Syracuse, along with Kentucky and Ohio State are battling for the services of the talented big man. Things could change as time goes along with the two schools competing against SU. Kentucky on one hand, are also competing to land other top quality big men such as Perry Ellis(deciding between KU and UK tomorrow), Mitch McGary, Willie Cauley, and Robert Carter. Ohio State has expressed major interest in landing Tony Parker, a top 50 big man from Georgia who has recently visited their campus and has stated on numerious occasions that the Buckeyes are his favorite at the current moment. Syracuse from the jump when it comes to Coleman has let him know that he's their first, second, and third option for the center position in the 2012 class. Any commitment from those other targets at either school could give Coleman second thoughts about going there and making his decision to where orange and staying home easier.   

Could this JD duo complete SU's 2012 recruiting class?

DaJuan Coleman and Tyler Cavanaugh could be considered a ying and a yang. One is a 6'8 280 pound bruiser who has been nationally ranked for the past four years. The other is a 6'8 215 pounder with an inside/outside game. One has been on front pages of magazines, news papers, and internet sites. While the other has gained notoriety in the last year thanks to a relentless work ethic and a strong summer AAU showing.

DaJuan Coleman and Tyler Cavanaugh are both seniors on the Jamesville-Dewitt High School basketball team this season. While they have played together for the past four seasons, there is a realistic possibility that could continue on past this season. Coleman currently lists offers from Syracuse, Kentucky and Ohio State. While Cavanaugh's list is a little more modest, with offers from Syracuse, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, George Washington, La Salle and Davidson to name a few.

Coleman has long remained a top priority for the home town orange. Coach Jim Boeheim and assistant Mike Hopkins have been mainstays at Coleman's JD games for the past four seasons and have developed a strong relationship with him. However he is currently scheduled to take visits to both Ohio State and Kentucky in the upcoming weeks, causing panic to some of the orange faithful.

Cavanaugh has risen from the shadows of playing with Coleman to carve out his own niche. After a very positive showing this summer, teams recently have been coming out in groves to check out the lankey 6'8 forward. Cavanaugh has recently stated he is in no hurry to make a college decision and will weigh out his options.

Syracuse fans will be keeping an eye on both Coleman and Cavanaugh this upcoming season, hoping that this dynamic duo makes their way to the SU hill.

-Christian Claps
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
Christian can be contacted at christian.claps@gmail.com

Grant commits to the Cuse

After several twist and turns over the past few weeks. Jerami Grant finally decided on his college choice and gave Jim Boeheim and The Orange their first commitment for 2012. Grant was one of the staff main targets for 2012, so they deserve a lot of credit closing the deal on this one.

Andrew Wiggins update

Wiggins, the consensus #1 player in the 2014 class listed Florida St, UNC, Duke, Kentucky, and Syracuse, according to Evan Daniels from scout. Florida St, due to his Father former Pro Mitchell Wiggins connections to the school, will be the team to beat.

Scouting Jerami Grant

I was able to watch a couple of Grant's games over the summer. Here goes my evaluations from those games.

Evaluation #1

Positives: High energy player with a strong wiry frame. Very athletic with long arms that are perfect for the zone. Able to finish strong inside with both hands and through contact. Comfortable operating either from the inside posting up or driving strong to the rack from the outside. Does a good job blocking out for rebounds(lost art in H.S. ball these days ) and altering shots. Right in line with the rest of his family members as hard working players who give it their all.

Negatives: Game is pretty much limited from the FT line and in. He did manage to hit a three but his other two jump shots were pretty ugly as neither hit the rim. Handle is decent but at this point more of a drive and go than dribble breakdown. In which playing against teams like Marquette is going to be crucial, because he isn't going to be able to just do a simple blow by drive against them. Did a great job by going to the line 17 times but only connected on 7. His release is not slow a la Scoop but does tend to bring the ball above his head before he gets his shot off, which I'm sure contributes to his inconsistencies from the outside.

Overall: Grant is a very good prospect with a bright future, who continues to improve as time goes along. At this point I would say his game is very similar to CJ's. The main difference is that Grant has the offensive skills to do more damage on the inside in the post besides dunks and put backs. Needs to work on his jumper and probably adding another 10-15lbs before he hits college wouldn't hurt.

Evaluation #2

High level athlete with some big time finishes around the hoop. Even some of his dunk attempts that were missed due to being fouled were vicious. Does a good job getting to the line very often. Needs to improve on his jumper to reach the highest potential. Would have liked to see him crash the glass more and use his length (7'2 wingspan) to block and alter more shots.

Grant to decide soon

I'm hearing there is a good chance that Grant could make a decision anytime now. It would be surprising if he chooses ND at this point, so it's mainly a battle between SU and Rutgers. I still would favor SU but Rutgers has definitely made a strong bid lately.

Grant enjoys visit from SU

Jim Boeheim and Red Autry were both in town yesterday to watch Jerami Grant and his teammate BeeJay Anya workout. Both would conduct their scheduled in-home with the Grant family later on, which went really well according to Grant. Grant is expected to have visits from ND today, and Rutgers tomorrow before making a decision.

Final three for Jerami Grant

According to Grant's High School coach Mike Jones from Dematha High. SU, Rutgers, and Notre Dame makes the final cut. Notre Dame which hasn't been involved at all till this point is the major surprise. It's worth noting that Grant has a brother that is already on the ND roster. Interestingly enough ND will have Tyler Cavanaugh, another 2012 SU target on campus for an official visit this weekend.

Update:
According to Mike Jones, Grant will have in-home visits with all three schools this weekend. Fri-SU, Sat-ND, Sun-Rutgers.

Chris McCullough highlight video

Here goes a look at the consensus top 10 2014 PF from NYC Chris McCullough. McCullough recently enjoyed his visit at SU this past weekend.

Jake Layman commits to Maryland

Layman who was currently visiting Maryland, along with fellow forwards Jerami Grant and Amile Jefferson. Decides to pull the trigger first and make his pledge to Maryland official tonight. Will this have any effect on Grant's decision? Or will he settle on the rumored second choice Rutgers?

Ricardo Ledo commits back to Providence once again

Ledo was scheduled to make an announcement a few weeks ago but delayed his decision. It was then rumored that even though it was most likely that he would still end up at Providence, several folks in his camp wanted him to look elsewhere and keep his options open. Well that didn't last long as he joins a terrific recruiting class so far at Providence.

Tentative visit list for September

Here goes a look at some of the prospects that plan to visit SU during this month.

Chris McCullough PF 2014 9/3
Shavar Newkirk PG 2014 9/3
Stefan Jankovic PF 2012 TBA
Isaiah Whitehead SG 2014 TBA
Jermaine Lawrence PF 2013 TBA

The list will be updated as more dates become confirmed.

Dakari Johnson new highlight video

Few months ago Johnson got all Cuse fans excited by saying that they were currently recruiting him the hardest. He also stated last year that the Cuse was his dream school. His recruitment will definitely be an interesting one to watch because I have received word recently that as long as Mr. John Calipari is around, Kentucky will be very tough to beat out in this one.

Main targets 2012-2014

With the fall setting in soon, it's time to take a look at who some of the main targets for the B-Ball staff are moving forward.

2012

DaJuan Coleman C
Jerami Grant SF
Jake Layman SF
Tyler Cavanaugh PF
Ricardo Ledo SG

2013

Nerlens Noel C
Kuran Iverson SF
Monte Morris PG
Jaylen Brantley PG
Jermaine Lawrence PF
Goodluck Okonoboh PF
BeeJay Anya C
Tyler Roberson SF
Brandon Austin SF

2014

Noah Vonleh SF/PF
Dakari Johnson C
Isaiah Whitehead SG
JaQuel Richmond PG
Chris McCullough PF
JaQuan Newton PG/SG

Hello Everybody

My name is Dean Francis, most of you guys are familiar with me from the syracusefan.com message board. A message board in which I first started to post on back in the year 2000, at the tender age of 16 lol. Anyway I've decided to take my talents towards the solo route, which is why I decided to start this blog. Expect to see the same type of content that I've provided for the past several years. I hope everybody enjoys the blog and feel free to ask any questions.