The 6-foot-2 Oak Hill Academy guard pledged to the Hoyas Saturday over Louisville, Memphis and N.C. State.

“D’Vauntes is a versatile player who can play either on or off the ball,” Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. “He is a strong guard at 6-2 and currently weighs 225 pounds. He can score and create off the dribble and has great 3-point range. He also is a lock-down defender.”

Click here to read the full story at FiveStarBasketball.com.

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The Hoyas made international headlines when their exhibition game Aug. 18 in Shanghai against a Chinese military team ended in a benches-clearing melee.

Thompson pulled his team off the floor in Olympic Sports Stadium with 9 minutes, 32 seconds remaining and the game against the Bayi Rockets tied at 64. Ironic, since it was billed as the “China-U.S. Friendship Basketball Match.”

“Like most experiences in life, it’s not a smooth, straight line,” Thompson told SNY.tv Tuesday during an open gym at St. Benedict’s Prep. “There are bumps, there are hiccups, and so that was just part of that. Overall, I thought the trip was great for our team.”

Three days after the brawl broke out, Georgetown came back and faced another Chinese team, the Liaoning Dinosaurs, in what turned out to be a more peaceful encounter. The two sides greeted each other warmly before the game and exchanged gifts. The Hoyas won in a rout, 91-69.

Perhaps lost in all the hubbub about the brawl was the play of Georgetown’s freshmen class.

With talented guards Chris Wright and Austin Freeman now departed, Thompson must rely on frosh Tyler Adams, Jabril Trawick, Otto Porter, Mikael Hopkins and Greg Whittington to help forge a new identity.

“We have five, and four of them played very, very well over in China,” Thompson III said. “Tyler Adams is still hurt.”

The coach is especially pleased with the 6-foot-9 Whittington, who is listed as a forward but will play guard.

“He’s a two,” Thompson III said of the Columbia, Md., native. “He’s played a year in the D.C. area. He’s a very good offensive player, and he’s just now learning he can be a really good defensive player, too. But he can score. He can shoot and score.”

Thompson III compares him to 6-7 junior forward Hollis Thompson, but said, “I don’t think I’ve had one [guard] his height that can do the things that he can do.”

Coach also likes Trawick, a 6-5 guard who excelled in the New York IS8 league in the spring, Porter, a 6-8 forward from Missouri, and the 6-8 Hopkins out of DeMatha.

“All four of the ones that played had good trips to China, so we’re ahead of the game,” he said. “We’re ahead of the game because that’s why we took the trip, to get those guys acclimated to what we want to do.”

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After leaving St. Benedict’s, Thompson III and assistant Robert Kirby were slated to have their in-home visit with 6-8 St. Anthony point guard Kyle Anderson. Anderson is mulling the Hoyas, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Florida and UCLA and is due to announce Tuesday.

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Kyle Anderson

“The Georgetown visit was great,” the 6-foot-8 St. Anthony point guard said by text. “I met with Coach [John] Thompson [III]. We viewed the campus. We watched film and I also met big coach [John Thompson Jr.)."

Anderson is also friendly with incoming Georgetown guard Jabril Trawick, his former teammate with the Playaz Basketball Club. Trawick played in the New York IS8 spring league alongside Rutgers freshman Myles Mack, Anderson's former Paterson Catholic and St. Anthony teammate.

Next up for Anderson is a visit to St. John's Wednesday with his parents, Suzanne and Kyle Sr.

“It’s close to home,” Anderson said recently of St. John's. “Coach [Steve] Lavin is a great coach so I’ll be playing for a great staff. The incoming freshmen are coming in this year that will be sophomores in the Big East.”

After that, Anderson takes his official to Florida Sept. 16-17. He will also host several in-home visits before announcing Sept. 20.

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Here’s the video of the brawl that broke out between Georgetown and a Chinese men’s basketball team Thursday night.

The benches cleared and fights erupted all over the court with about 9½ minutes left in the fourth quarter. The rest of the exhibition in Beijing between Georgetown and the Bayi Rockets was called off.

Vice President Joe Biden was in China, but did not attend the game. On Wednesday, he watched the Hoyas beat the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons 98-81.

The Washington Post reported Georgetown and Bayi players tackled and threw punches at each another. Chairs and water bottles were tossed as the Hoyas headed to the locker room with the score 64-64.

“Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said in a statement. “We sincerely regret that this situation occurred.” Georgetown and the Rockets are scheduled to play again Sunday night in Shanghai.

The two teams are slated to meet again Sunday in Shanghai.

(The AP contributed)

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NEW YORK

But the Hoyas are getting a nice piece in 6-foot-5, 200-pound combo guard Jabril Trawick, who aggressively attacked the rim and put up 25 points and 8 rebounds Sunday when the Playaz beat the New York Panthers, 75-73, in the quarterfinals of the iS8/Nike Spring Classic.

“I think Jabril Trawick is one of the most underrated players in the country and I’ve been saying that to people for months,” Playaz coach Jimmy Salmon said.

Trawick attends Abington Friends outside Philadelphia but has played with the Playaz on and off for two years. On Sunday he provided the perfect wingman to Rutgers-bound point guard Myles Mack, who scored a game-high 26 points.

Both players relentlessly attacked the basket in transition, with Trawick throwing down several monster dunks.

“I was told the New York Panthers and the Playaz, they have a rivalry going together,” Trawick said. “I was just looking up for the challenge and it was great to get this big win.”

Trawick out-played St. John’s-bound forward Amir Garrett, who finished with 10 points in the loss.

“I got a lot of heart so I’ll go at anybody,” Trawick said. “You can’t come to me soft. I’m going to go right at you next, so that’s how it was today. I wasn’t playing around.”

A natural two guard, Trawick said the Georgetown staff sees him as a combo guard who could play both positions.

“They want me to start working on my point guard skills more,” he said. “They want me to work on ball-handling, basically be there helping out the point guard and playing the two.”

Trawick is part of a recruiting class ranked No. 13 nationally by ESPN.com that includes fellow four-star signees Otto Porter, a small forward, and center Mikael Hopkins and three-star center Tyler Adams and three-star face-up forward Greg Whittington.

“We’re going to be there real early on June 6 because we have summer classes,” Trawick said. “I keep in touch with Otto, Mikael, Greg and Tyler.”

Freeman and Wright have been the face of Georgetown basketball for the past several years, but Trawick is hoping to launch a new era.

“I’m trying to have a better career than they did,” he said. “As you can see they left a great mark at Georgetown, Austin and Chris, and everybody loves them. They did great stuff for the school.

“By the time of the end of my run, I want to have an even better run than they did.”

OLIVER TO RIDER

Charles Oliver, a 6-1 shooting guard from Scotch Plains-Fanwood who competes for the Playaz, has verbally committed to Rider.

Oliver averaged 21 points last season and finished with 1,150 career points. He was 8 of 10 on 3-pointers in a game against Roselle Catholic in which he scored 28 points, and also scored a career-high 31 points in a win over St. Benedict’s.

Quinnipiac, Iona and Mount St. Mary’s also offered, according to Scotch Plains-Fanwood coach Dan Doherty.

“I think it’s a great situation for him,” said Doherty, who also coached Lance Thomas and Derrick Caracter. “Tommy Dempsey is good with the guards. He’s staying close to home which is important to him. I think he’s just really starting to reach his potential basketball-wise. He’s still in the process of leaning. He has a really big upside in college. I think Rider got a nice little deal. I they’ll work well together.”

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(Photos courtesy Rivals, NJ.com)

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At 6 feet 10 inches and with natural shot-blocking abilities, Nerlens Noel may well be the best defensive player in the Class of 2013.

“Nerlens has cat-like reflexes, incredible instincts, quickness, reflexes for a guy his size,” said Tilton (N.H.) School coach Markus O’Neil. “He has uncanny shot-blocking ability.

“He can do a lot just naturally on defense. He’s got a decent frame on him. He needs to continue to get stronger and build his offensive skills.”

O’Neil said Kentucky, Georgetown and Syracuse have offered Noel and other major programs are involved. John Calipari, John Thompson III and Jim Boeheim have all been through to check out Noel, the No. 6 prospect in the Class of 2013 per Rivals, and teammate Wayne Selden, a 2014 small forward.

“Those schools have all been in,” O’Neil said. “Those guys are heavyweights.”

Michigan, Iowa State and Providence are also involved.

“We put the word out there that Nerlens is going to start thing seriously about college at the end of this summer,” O’Neil said. “It’s too early. He’s not thinking about it yet.”

DJIMDE TO ILLINOIS

Ibrahima Djimde, a 6-9, 250-pound big man from Huntington (WV) Prep, will sign Monday with Illinois.

He chose the Illini over Duquesne, Indiana and Old Dominion, per Huntington coach Rob Fulford.

“Illinois is getting a very good player in Ibby,” Fulford said. “He rebounds and defends at a very high level. He will be an instant impact post player for Coach [Bruce] Weber].

“He has greatly improved his face-up game and mid-range jumper. As this part of his game continues to develop, he will be able to move to the power forward spot.”

CHRIS WALKER BLOWING UP

During the fall, Chris Walker was considered one of the top sophomores in the country. Since AAU basketball started this spring, the 6-9 forward has impressed scouts, coaches and competitors who once doubted him, just as he once doubted himself.

The 2013 star out of Holmes County in Florida said, “I never thought that I would have a chance to actually play college ball one day.”

Walker, who used to reach out to Calipari and numerous scouts through Twitter, wanted to prove everyone that he deserved a shot to be the best.

“I wanted to try to get Kentucky and everyone else to check me out and find out who Chris Walker is,” he said.

Now, it appears as if everyone knows who this athletic freak is.

Baylor and Mississippi offered the native of Bonifay this week. The Bears and Rebels join an elite list of schools who have offered, including Florida State, Florida and Alabama. He also has interest from Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, UConn and Ohio State. A fair number of those teams are close to offering.

The 2013 star speaks his mind and has always considered staying close to home by going to Florida or Kentucky. However, he remains wide open in his mind.

“I’m just an open prospect looking for scholarships and interest,” he said.

Walker, who began dunking in the fifth grade, hopes to cut his list down by the end of the summer and take more visits. Sooner or later, Coach Calipari will offer the sophomore who used to Tweet him all the time asking for looks. Now, Coach Cal is watching Walker in action and Walker has a smile on his face because of that.

RECRUITING RUNDOWN

2011 guard Shaq Stokes of Lincoln High in New York is considering two schools that are extremely different from his hometown. Stokes took an official visit to Colorado State earlier in the week and landed in Hawaii for another official visit on Thursday night. With TCU and Western Kentucky out of the race for him, it appears to be a 2-team race at the moment.

Another 2011 guard took two official visits this week. Kelvin Amayo of NIA Prep took a trip to Towson on Tuesday and left for the College of Charleston on Thursday night. Both Pat Skerry and Bobby Cremins have impressed the Newark guard. Seton Hall is also involved with Amayo, who will announce this week on ZAGSBLOG.com and SNY.tv.

2012 guard Charles Mann of Union Grove in Georgia is set to take an unofficial visit to Georgia Tech on Wednesday. He recently picked up an offer from the school he considers to be his “dream school”, UConn.

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Otto Porter

The No. 18 power forward in the nation per Rivals.com, Porter chose Georgetown over Missouri, which recently underwent a coaching change.

“He liked what they had to offer,” Otto Porter Sr. said Tuesday by phone, referring to the family’s visit this past weekend.

“He’ll be able to handle the ball some, score some, they are looking at him to play two or three different spots.”

Porter joins 6-9  center Tyler Adams, 6-8 power forward Mikael Hopkins, 6-8 guard Greg Whittington and 6-5 shooting guard Jabril Trawick in Georgetown’s loaded 2011 class.

The Hoyas lose Austin Freeman and Chris Wright to graduation and will need an infusion of scoring and leadership.

“They’re going to lose a lot of scoring and some leadership so he’ll be filling in some of the scoring and rebounding,” Porter Sr. said. “They’re looking at him to come in and help out right away.”

The news was first reported by Scout.com.

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6-9 PF Brandon Mobley said his weekend visit to DePaul was “great.” He will decide between DePaul, Seton Hall & Auburn…6-9 F Desmond Hubert of New Egypt, NJ., also said his visit to North Carolina was “good” and “fun” and will decide between the Heels and Maryland…St. Patrick SG Chris Martin visits UAB Friday and VCU middle of next week…6-11 Lekan Ajayi of Quality Education (N.C.) told me he’s down to Oklahoma State, Wake Forest and Tennessee…NIA Prep wing Kelvin Amayo, who has picked up interest from Rutgers, was invited to the Capital Classic April 17…New Manhattan coach Steve Masiello has yet to hire anyone for his staff…Florida coach Billy Donovan has added former head coaches John Pelphrey (Arkansas) and Norm Roberts (St. John’s) as assistants. Roberts spent this past year as an SNY analyst. Donovan is replacing all three assistants because the former ones left for other gigs: Richard Pitino is reportedly headed to Louisville to fill Masiello’s spot, Rob Lanier is reportedly going to Texas to fill Rodney Terry’s position; and Larry Shyatt took the Wyoming job….Harvard coach Tommy Amaker turned down the Miami job. “I am appreciative of and flattered by the interest shown in me by other fine universities, but I am proud and honored to represent Harvard,” Amaker said in a statement released by the school. “I look forward to continuing my efforts to teach, lead and serve at this great institution.”

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Below are highlights from last night’s Villanova-Rutgers and Georgetown-Syracuse games.

VILLANOVA-RUTGERS HIGHLIGHTS

GEORGETOWN-SYRACUSE HIGHLIGHTS

Freeman captures Big East Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career after scoring a game-high 28 points to lead Georgetown to an 80-75 win at Seton Hall in the Hoyas’ only game of the week.

He shot 10-of-13 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Freeman made all five of his free throw attempts, pulled down five rebounds and dealt three assists while committing only one turnover in 35 minutes. Freeman, who is from Mitchellville, Md., is averaging 18.5 ppg, which ranks third in the Big East.

Coleman notches Big East Rookie of the Week for the second time this season after scoring a career-high 19 points in a 72-67 victory over No. 19/15 Louisville in the Friars’ only contest of the week.

He shot 7-of-12 from the floor, grabbed three rebounds, dished three assists and made two steals. PC’s perimeter defense helped force Louisville into 4-of-23 shooting from 3-point range. A native of Boston, Mass., Coleman is averaging 11.3 ppg this season.

BIG EAST Player of the Week

AUSTIN FREEMAN, Georgetown, G, Sr.

BIG EAST Rookie of the Week

GERARD COLEMAN, Providence, G, Fr.

BIG EAST Honor Roll

Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut, G, Fr,

Averaged 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in a 2-0 week which included wins over Villanova and Tennessee.

Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame, G, Sr.

Averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds in a 2-0 week, which included a career-high 28 points in a win over Marquette.

Nasir Robinson, Pittsburgh, F, Jr.

Averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor in wins over Syracuse and DePaul.

Marshon Brooks, Providence, F, Sr.

Scored a game-high 27 points in a 72-67 victory over Louisville in the Friars’ only game of the week. He was 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Corey Fisher, Villanova, G, Sr.

Averaged 22.0 points and 6.5 assists in a 1-1 week against two 10 teams on the road.

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — John Thompson III is in his 11th season as a head coach. On Tuesday night, he went with a particular strategy for the first time and only because of a promise from one of his players.

No. 23 Georgetown had a three-point lead over Seton Hall with 8.7 seconds to play. Rather than give the Pirates a chance at a tying 3-pointer, Thompson ordered his players to foul well before a shot could even be attempted so it would be a 1-and-1 situation.

It all worked out when the Hoyas grabbed the rebound of the missed free throw with 5.2 seconds left and added two more free throws for an 80-75 victory.

Read the full story at SNY.

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