Saturday, July 10, 2004

Recruiting - Hoops

Some notes from the NIKE camp, including this on CJ Miles:

Kansas, Texas, Georgia Tech, Arizona and North Carolina are the top choices for Miles, a 6-5 forward. When asked about his interest in Illinois, Miles said, "I haven't canceled anybody out yet. It's still wide open.''

Here's a note on Andrew Bynum, also from the NIKE Camp:
ABOVE THE REST: The buzz at camp has been about Andrew Bynum's low-post play. The 6-11 senior to-be at St. Joseph's of Metuchen (N.J.) had the best first full day of any big man and, in one game, clearly outperformed highly regarded Duke recruit Eric Boateng of St. Andrew's (Del.). "I find I really like playing against the best in the country," he said.

Bynum narrowed his list of college possibilities to UConn, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Rutgers and Georgetown and said yesterday only Duke could still get into the mix. He gives no school an edge, but finds Rutgers enticing because two of his close friends, Anthony Farmer and Jaron Griffin, as well as top Jersey prospect J.R. Inman, already have committed to coach Gary Waters.

More on the camps, including the strange phenomenon of the shrinking player. Wake Forest seems to have two of them, both seemingly shrinking 2" or more........... Magnum Rolle is another recruit we are after, after de-committing to FSU....... Also notice we are in the final 6 of Eric Boateng:
Recruiting junkies, you know what that means. Boateng, a 6-10 center from England by way of a Delaware private school, is a top-25 recruit who has frustrated recruiting writers all over the country, for more than a year, by refusing to list the schools he was considering.

Thursday night, Boateng stopped playing with the media and gave it up. In order, he said he was considering these six schools, and only these six: Georgetown, Michigan, Duke, Villanova, UCLA and Georgia Tech.

Who is heating up the Adidas camp the most after two days - looks like Rashad Woods, who does have an offer from GT. Unfortunately, we do not appear to be in his top 5.

Here are some recruiting notes around Syracuse, including mention of Marcus Johnson, who has GT on his list:
Still, the Orange remain interested in Marcus Johnson, a 6-6 forward from Westchester High in Los Angeles who has the sleek athletic lines of former UNLV star Stacy Augmon. Johnson, a self-professed lifelong Syracuse fan, said Thursday that Devendorf's decision will not impact him.

"I'm not worried about that," Johnson said. "Coach Boeheim assured me that there's still room for me. I'm just weighing my options."

Those options include Texas, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Connecticut, plus Syracuse. Johnson said he'll probably wait to make some official visits, but if he were to commit early, it would be to Syracuse.


The media over at UConn thinks they might land him - link here.

Here's mention of Kevin Rogers, Andrew Bynum in regard to UConn:

To that end, one of the top recruits on the UConn wish list is Andrew Bynum, a 6-foot-10, 280-pound center from Plainsboro, N.J., who attends St. Joseph's in Metuchen, N.J. As recently as three weeks ago, Bynum did not even appear on many lists of top 100 rising seniors, but after attending the Nike Skill Academy in Oregon in late June with 15 other top prospects and his performance this week at the All-America Camp, the "Baby Shaq" doesn't figure to remain under wraps any longer.

"I wanted to know if I could play with the top guys in the country," Bynum said of his time in Oregon. "It was great for me. It was one-on-one workouts. There were more coaches there than players."
There are plenty of colleges on Bynum's list besides UConn. Close-to-home Rutgers is after him, and he's also interested in Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, North Carolina, and Duke.

"Playing time as a freshman is important to me, that's why maybe schools like North Carolina and Duke may be not for me," said Bynum, who wears a size 18 sneaker. "Georgia, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, and Georgetown actually guaranteed that. But it's going to come down to the campus, and if I like the coaches."

Bynum, still considered a raw talent with a lot of developing to do, said UConn hasn't guaranteed any playing time, but he likes the way UConn's Emeka Okafor and the rest of the Huskies' big men have developed quickly.

"UConn ranks real high with me," he said. "They have a lot of good big men, but they said I would definitely have the opportunity to play. I could see myself in that kind of role."

Bynum's dad, Ernest, who lives in North Carolina, is a former player at Long Island University who stands 7-1. His mother is 6-feet tall. Bynum, who carries a 3.3 grade point average, wants to major in engineering or business - two strong programs at UConn - but has not begun to think about official visits yet.

"My mother and my brother will help me make the decision," Bynum said. "I have to have a good education - my mom is insisting on that."

Somewhat smaller, but perhaps more athletic is 6-8, 225-pound forward Kevin Rogers, from Dallas, who has also had an impressive showing at Nike Camp and has also peeked UConn's interest. His name has jumped to among the nation's top 60. At the moment, UConn's competition for Rogers includes an impressive list of Kansas, Texas, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Arizona, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Baylor.

"Basically, I'm going to consider distance, good facilities, playing time, and good academic programs in business because I want to major in accounting," Rogers said. "The distance thing is more for my parents, but they said if that's the best situation for me, then I should go. I'm very interested in UConn. The fact that they won the national championship really isn't a factor, but it's nice to have a school like that recruiting you. That's really a privilege."
As mentioned Kevin Rogers is buddies with CJ Miles and they would like to attend the same school.