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.