(Photos courtesy Andrew Mills / The Star-Ledger)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Ronald Roberts, a 6-foot-8 forward from Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep who has committed to St. John’s, said he was uncertain of his plans now that head coach Norm Roberts’ future is in doubt.

The New York Post on Thursday reported that Roberts would be let go at the end of the season. The team is NIT eligible and the school likely won’t make any official announcement until after Sunday night’s NIT selection process.

“I’m just going to see what happens. I’m really not sure. I’m disappointed, but I just don’t know what to do at this point,” Roberts said after scoring 16 points as St. Peter’s beat Seton Hall Prep, 64-54, to win the New Jersey Non-Public A North title at Rutgers.

Sources close to the St. Peter’s program said several Big East and ACC schools continued to call with inquiries about Roberts even though he has signed with St. John’s.

Roberts would have to be let out of his Letter of Intent to transfer. Sources close to St. Peter’s Prep say there is no “out clause” in his NLI with St. John’s. Devin Ebanks had one at Indiana and ultimately landed at West Virginia after Kelvin Sampson was let go. If there is a coaching change,the administration could opt to let him leave.

Norm Roberts and his staff did not appear at the game because they attended the wake for Dolores Braica, the mother of assistant coach Glenn Braica. The funeral was Friday.

“I’m just focused on winning a state championship with my team right now,” Roberts said.

St. Peter’s faces Camden Catholic in Saturday’s Non-Public A final.

As for the St. John’s situation, multiple outlets are reporting that the school is targeting Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg, a Plainview, N.Y. native and Fairleigh Dickinson graduate who has three NCAA tournament appearances on his resume.

The Hokies face Miami in an ACC tournament quarterfinal Friday.

Reached by phone Thursday, Greenberg said, “I can’t visit right now. I’m getting ready to prepare my team for the ACC tournament.”

Greenberg, 53, has also been mentioned in connection with the Rutgers job.

Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti has yet to make a public pronouncement on the future of head coach Fred Hill.

One source said he thought Greenberg would prefer Rutgers to St. John’s if both were options.

“It’s a state school. You have greater resources at a state university,” the source said. “With Jersey being the basketball state that it is, I think it would be a more attractive situation for him [at Rutgers].”

That same source said Hofstra coach Tom Pecora would be more likely to land the Fordham job than the St. John’s one.

“It will be hard for him to get the St. John’s job because Hofstra isn’t winning quite to the extent that they were four or five years ago,” the source said.

Fordham interim coach Jared Grasso remains in the mix for the full-time job and has the support of his players.

Robert Morris coach Mike Rice, a Fordham alum, has also been linked to the job.

St. John’s, Rutgers and Fordham will  have to wait to interview several of these candidates.

Robert Morris and Siena, coached by Fran McCaffery, are both in the NCAA tournament with automatic bids.

Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, coached by Paul Hewitt, could get at-large bids.

McCaffery has been linked to the Rutgers job, and Hewitt to St. John’s.

Hofstra could be headed to the NIT.

ST. ANTHONY DOWNS PATERSON CATHOLIC

This time St. Anthony was the underdog and Paterson Catholic was the favorite.

And for a second straight year, the dogs won.

One year after losing to the Cougars in their own gym in the semifinals of the North Non-Public B bracket, No. 2 St. Anthony hammered No. 1 Paterson Catholic 63-49 in the North Non-Public B final at Rutgers.

St. Bonaventure-bound guard Elijah Carter, born and raised for 12 years in Paterson, killed the Cougars with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Oregon State-bound forward Devon Collier added 14 points.

“It feels good,” Carter said. “I grew up with them playing against them when I was younger so  it feels good to come out and get the win,” Carter said.

“I wasn’t really a factor in the game last year. I worked the whole summer to improve my game and today I came and played a good game,” Carter added.

The previously unbeaten Cougars (28-1) were ranked No. 3 nationally by PrepNation.com and ESPN.com.

The Friars will seek their 25th state title under legendary coach Bob Hurley Saturday against Trenton Catholic.

“I’m ecstatic,” Hurley said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a team that has made this much progress during the season.”

St. Anthony has now beaten four teams this season that downed the Friars a year ago.

Seton Hall-bound forward Fuquan Edwin led the Cougars with 22 points and Kyle Anderson scored 10. Junior guard Myles Mack managed just 9 points on 3-for-12 shooting.

St. Anthony stifled PC with a variety of zones and defensive schemes and the Cougars never got within single-digits after trailing 27-16 at the break.

“Just today, I just got to give credit where credit is due,” PC coach Damon Wright said. “They just came out and played a better basketball game than us.”

PC didn’t reach its ultimate goal of winning its first Tournament of Champions title, but they did become the first Paterson team to win the prestigious City of Palms Classic. They captured their third straight Passaic County title. And they won their first 28 games of the season.

The underdog won again this year. But this time the dog was St. Anthony.

NOTES

Among the head coaches on hand were Hill, Grasso, Pecora, Dr. John Giannini of La Salle and Jose Rebimbas of William Paterson. Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato, Holy Cross assistant Guillermo Sanchez and Quinnipiac assistant Eric Eaton were also on hand, as was the entire Rutgers staff.

For more on Bob and Dan Hurley, read the feature about their recruiting pipeline to the Big East.

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Branden Frazier, a 6-foot-3 guard considered

Frazier chose Hofstra over Southern Illinois, Kent State, La Salle and Fordham.

Frazier is averaging 14.7 points for Loughlin, which plays Wednesday in the CHSAA Class ‘AA’ Intersectional semifinals.

“At the end of the day, Branden decided that staying in New York would be best for his development as a player and as a person,” New Heights coach Kimani Young said by email. “[Hofstra coaches] Van Macon and Tom Pecora have done a great job with New York City guards like Branden Frazier that have come in under the radar like Charles Jenkins (Colonial Athletic Association Player of The Year) and Antoine Agudio (Hofstra’s all-time leading scorer). It’s a great opportunity for Branden.”

According to Young, the decision was made Monday night after he met with Frazier and his family.

“I think the decision was wearing on him,” said Young. “This frees him up so he can finish up strong with Bishop Loughlin.”

(Photo courtesy He/Daily News)

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Maurice Harkless, a

Harkless is currently considering Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Louisville, UConn, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence, Arizona, Florida State, Hofstra, Villanova, and Rutgers.

He has not committed to UConn, despite a published report to the contrary.

“Maurice Harkless is still narrowing down his college choices,” said Nathan Blue, his AAU coach. “Any talk of him being committed is premature.  I, along with his high school coach and mother, will be making sure he’s comfortable about what school he chooses on Wednesday on SNY.”

Harkless has a 7-2 wingspan and is ranked No. 50 in the Class of 2011 by Rivals. Blue also said he has an A- average.

ST. JOHN’S LEADS FOR GRACE

Davontay Grace says St. John’s is his leader after visiting the Big East school Wednesday night.

“He’s really liking them,” Thomas Jefferson coach Lawrence Pollard said Thursday. “That’s where he wants to go. He was at the game [Wednesday night against Stony Brook]. That’s the place where he wants to be.”

Pollard said Grace also has an offer from Hofstra and interest from West Virginia, Providence, Marquette, Virginia Tech and Georgetown.

A Levance Fields prototype, Grace is averaging 20 points and 8 assists this year for Jefferson.

He poured in 30 points Sunday as Jefferson posted a 105-86 victory over Edison in the 35th annual Kangaroo Classic.

“I think he can be a Levance Field-type player, a little scoring, a little slashing, a little bit of setting people up. He can do a whole lof of winning for them,” Pollard said.

(Photo courtesy Daily News)

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Kimani has been on both sides of the college recruiting game and knows it as well as anybody. He’s in a unique position to be able to advise young men on their futures because he’s worked at the college level and the AAU level.

In this interview, Kimani breaks down the recruitments of his Big 3 seniors: JayVaughn Pinkston, Devon Collier and Ashton Pankey.

Of the 6-foot-6 Pinkston out of Bishop Loughlin, he says: “I think that Villanova is probably the perfect scenario for a kid like JayVaughn and many other kids in New York City, a place where winning has been there. A great academic institution. The coaching…But his options are still open.”

Pinkston will visit St. John’s for Red Storm Tip-Off on Thursday, and then he will go to Villanova’s “hoops-mania” on Friday.  Then he will probably go to Seton Hall the following weekend. He is also considering Tennessee and Marquette.

Kimani says Pinkston may wait until the late signing period.

On Devon Collier, the 6-8 lefty from St. Anthony, Kimani says, “He’s been to Oregon State, he’s been to Providence, so probably both of those schools have a lead now because he’s spent the most time there.” Collier will also visit St. John’s this weekend and Seton Hall next.

Ashton Pankey, a 6-8 big also at St. Anthony, will visit Maryland this coming weekend. He’s also looking at Rice, Houston, Hofstra and Drexel.

“If you want to play at the highest level, Maryland would probably be the leader right now,” Young says.

Stay tuned to ZAGSBLOG and SNY.tv for future news on these three players.

JONES TRIMS LIST

Five-star forward Terrence Jones of Portland, Ore., has trimmed his list to five and is no longer considering Arizona or Kansas.

Jones will choose from among Oklahoma, Washington, UCLA, Kentucky and Oregon, according to his mother, Linda Mashia-Jones.

“We will not be making an official visit to Kansas or Arizona,” she wrote in an email. “We are going to make our decision out of the five schools we currently have.”

Jones said that because Arizona received commitments from Rod Odom and Daniel Bejarano, “they have decided to go in a different direction.”

As for Kansas, she said, “I believe they are interested in Terrence but he is not a high priority for them. I wish both Arizona and Kansas the best of luck.”

“We still plan on taking our official visits to UCLA on Nov. 6 and Kentucky on Oct. 27 for their Blue and White game. We will also take an unofficial visit to Oregon Oct. 31.”

Jones has already visited Oklahoma and Washington.

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Memphis Sheffield shooting guard Chris Crawford chose Memphis Thursday over Tennessee. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Crawford is the No. 66 prospect and No. 16 shooting guard in the nation.

“I thought long and hard with my mom and prayed on it,” Crawford said at his press conference, according to Dan Wolken of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I just really didn’t want to leave home. I felt like I’d be good here in Memphis. It was really a toss-up but I wanted to play here in front of my family and win a national championship.”

“He’s just a player,” one Division 1 head coach said.

Crawford joins a blockbuster recruiting class that already includes Joe Jackson, Will Barton and Antonio Barton.

Will Barton is ranked No. 11 and Jackson No. 12 in the Class of 2010.

“It’s exciting because now we have a spot-up shooter and another scorer,”  Jackson, who played with Crawford on the Memphis Magic Elite AAU squad that won the Adidas Super 64 tournament in Las Vegas this summer, told Wolken. “We’re trying to be No. 1 in the nation.”

PANKEY TO VISIT MARYLAND

Ashton Pankey, a 6-8, 220-pound forward from St. Anthony, will take an official visit to Maryland for Midnight Madness Oct. 16.

“Yes, they’ve officially offered. He’s going on a visit,” said Jeff Rivera of New Heights.

Rivera said Pankey’s list included Maryland, Drexel, Houston, Rice, Hofstra and Oregon State.

No visits are set besides Maryland.

“He’s supposed to go visit Drexel as well but we haven’t confirmed that yet,” Rivera said.

Pankey doesn’t receive quite the attention of teammate Devon Collier or former teammate and current Villanova frosh Dominic Cheek, but the former Archbishop Molloy big man is a rebounding machine.

“First of all, he’s a rebounder. That’s the one thing you can’t do too much of. You can dribble too much, you can shoot too much, you can even pass too much, but no coach has ever taken anyone out of the game for having rebounded too much,” Tom Konchalski told me today about Pankey.

By the way, how about the tremendous delegation job done by the folks at New Heights. Kimani Young is the point man on JayVaughn Pinkston, Adam Berkowitz is handling Collier’s recruitment and Rivera is looking after Pankey’s recruitment. Talk about organization.

Tennessee, by the way, visited Pinkston Thursday at Loughlin.

ST. JOE’S CROSGILE SIDELINED

Saint Joseph’s freshman guard Justin Crosgile will be sidelined for the start of the season after suffering a torn ligament in his left thumb.

That’s a tough break for Crosgile, whose commitment to St. Joe’s I broke, and who is a great kid.

Crosgile, who was injured in a pre-season pick-up game, will undergo surgery and will possibly be sidelined for six to eight weeks.

The 5-11 freshman guard from Paterson, N.J., and DePaul High School was the North Jersey Player of the Year in 2009. He averaged 24. 5 points as a senior while also earning All-State Second Team honors.

The Hawks begin practice on October 17 and will open the Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena on November 13 hosting Drexel.

FORDHAM-VILLANOVA SET

Fordham will take on Villanova Dec. 19 at the Izod Center.

(Photos courtesy Daily News, St. Joe’s athletics)

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I’m working on a feature story on brothers Ashton and Sterling Gibbs of Scotch Plains, N.J., both of whom are playing for USA Basketball teams this summer.

Check back later for the full story, but I’m posting this college update first.

Sterling, a 6-foot point rising junior guard out of West Orange (NJ) Seton Hall Prep, says Villanova is his leader at this point.

“I would say right now the favorite would be Villanova,” Gibbs said Thursday by phone after he scored 13 points as the U.S. beat Venezuela 102-76 in the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mendoza, Argentina.

“I just like the way that they play and how their guards play. They’re just an open offense. There’s not real set plays. They just like to have players who could just make plays.”

Temple Gibbs, the boys’ father, said in an interview that the Villanova assistant coaches had seen Sterling play but that an official offer likely wouldn’t come until head coach Jay Wright sees him in person.

Sterling said he’s also hearing from Oklahoma, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Indiana and Maryland.

Temple said they would take a visit to Oklahoma’s Elite Camp in August.

As for when he might decide, Sterling said: “I can’t even say right now. I think if the right school offers, that’ll determine my decision.”

Ashton is a rising sophomore at Pittsburgh who on Thursday was named to the U19 team that will compete in the World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand.

Could Sterling imagine following his brother to Pitt?

“I’ve been looking into it, I like Pitt a lot,” he said. “Even though me and my brother don’t play alike, I think I can still succeed in that offense. And I like the way Jamie Dixon coaches and the way they took care of my brother, I’d imagine they’d do the same thing for me.”

WESTERN KENTUCKY PICKS UP COMMITMENT

Western Kentuckyi coach Ken McDonald secured a commitment from 6-8 Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God forward Stephon Drane.

Drane, who averaged six points and six rebounds last season, was a teammate of Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall.

“I just felt really comfortable down there when I visited three weeks ago,” Drane told Highschoolhoop.com. “I just liked everything about the school, and when I committed today they were real excited. They said I could consider myself part of the family.”

FREE THROWS

Jodie Meeks can return to Kentucky if he is not drafted, provided he doesn’t hire an agent, doesn’t sign any contracts and asks for reinstatement…North Carolina will play Texas Dec. 22 in Texas, according to Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com…Roscoe Smith, a 6-8 forward who played at Baltimore (MD) Walbroo, will suit up for Oak Hill Academy next year, according to multiple reports…Former Seton Hall forward Brandon Walters has visited Siena, Manhattan and Hofstra.

]]> http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/06/19/gibbs-says-villanova-is-his-leader/feed/ 0 http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/06/02/louisville-offers-hinds-williams-to-visit-virginia/ http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/06/02/louisville-offers-hinds-williams-to-visit-virginia/#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:45:10 +0000 Adam Zagoria http://www.zagsblog.com/?p=17295 Here are a few recruiting and hoops notes from the local New York/New Jersey area…

**Louisville has offered Jabarie Hinds, a 6-foot, 160-pound point guard from Mount Vernon (N.Y.). Hinds teamed with George Mason commit Sherrod Wright to win the SNY Invitational this year and could be the next great player out of “Money Earnin’ Mount Vernon.”

Louisville is also involved with 6-8, 205 pound junior SG Rod Odom of Concord (MA) Middlesex School; J.J. Moore., a 6-6 junior SF from Brentwood (NY) Brentwood; and 6-3 SG Mike Taylor of Brooklyn Boys & Girls. Moore also reportedly holds an offer from Rutgers.

**Taylor, who holds numerous offers, helped the Metrohawks win the recent Gym Rat Challenge averaging 23 points as the team went 7-0. He was named MVP.

**LIU signed Jamal Olasewere, a 6-6 forward from Springbrook (Md.) who averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks for a team that went 27-0 and won back-to-back Maryland 4A titles.

**Derrick Williams, a 6-7, 250-pound power forward from St. Anthony in Jersey City, will visit Virginia this coming weekend. Seton Hall, Hofstra and Fordham have also offered.

**Devon Collier (pictured), Williams’ 6-7, 205-pound St. Anthony teammate, has several schools working him hard, according to St. Anthony assistant Ben Gamble.

“West Virginia, Michigan, Seton Hall and St. John’s, those are the schools that are really interested right now,” Gamble said. “West Virginia has been watching him as long as anyone. And Seton Hall, too. He’ll eventually get offers from all of them.”

**Rasheem King, a 6-4 wing from Xaverian in Brooklyn who averaged 9.8 points and 11 rebounds with 6 assists, will visit Binghamton tomorrow (Wednesday).

**Brian Bernardi, a 6-2 shooting guard in the Class of 2012 who plays at Xaverian, had 32 points with 6 3’s in a recent loss to Juice.

**Aishon White of Union High (2010) and Jordan Robinson of Rutgers Prep (2010) will play for the NIA Eagles in Newark next year. Billy Diamond, White’s advisor, passes on the White news, and Alex Schwartz had the Robinson tidbit.

**Central Jersey Each One Teach One is opening a new prep academy called CJEOTO Academy. Ian Turnbull is the Sr. Director and Head Coach.

The postgrad program is designed to help scholarship level high school basketball players reach the next level. Only high school graduates will be accepted. The prep season runs Oct. 15-March 15 and will include 35-40 games in Somerset, N.J.

**Linden (N.J.) High will hold its team camp June 8-11 with 16 games a night for four nights. The four sites are Linden High, the PAL and two local middle schools, Soehl and McManus.

If anyone has any questions about the team camp feel free to call/text Marty Luc on his cell phone: 908-403-3865.

Lance Stephenson

The Panthers will meet the Playaz sophomores in Sunday’s final at 11.

Stephenson, who did not speak with reporters about his college plans, added 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers. He was 10-of-11 from the stripe.

Hofstra-bound guard Chaz Williams scored 10 of his 18 points in the third quarter for the Panthers. He added five rebounds.

Arizona-bound guard Kevin Parrom tallied 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting  and added 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

Pitt commit Lamar Patterson tallied eight points for the Panthers.

Pitt-bound big man Dante Taylor (unexplained absence) and Villanova commit Maalik Wayns (knee) did not play for the Panthers.

Jayvaughn Pinkston, a 6-5 junior out of Bishop Loughlin, led all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, 10 rebounds and 3 assists for New Heights.  He picked up his fourth foul with 6:23 left, though. Pinkston, who has indicated he may not return to Loughlin under its new coach next year, was 5-of-11 from the stripe.

Hakeem Harris of Blair added 15 points for New Heights. St. Anthony junior forward Devon Collier battled foul trouble and finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds for New Heights.

In the first semifinal, the Playaz beat RISE 69-66.

St. Peter’s Prep guard Myles Davis tallied 23 points fro the winners and Paterson Catholic guard Myles Mack tallied 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

6-8  PC big man Derrick Randall added 10 points, 9 rebounds and 8 blocks. Kyle Anderson had 2 points and 10 rebounds for the Playaz.

6-8 N.C. State-bound big man Richard Howell did not play for RISE, but 6-2 senior shooting guard Isiah Stokley scored a game-high 19 points

THOMAS TO VISIT IONA

Quintrell Thomas will visit Iona on Monday. the 6-8 Thomas, who is leaving Kansas after one season, is also considering Siena, St. Joe’s and UNLV.

His AAU coach, Derrick Bobbitt, said he wouldn’t announce until after Memorial Day.

Former Fordham wing Mike Moore committed to Hofstra on Friday night.

“I did it last night,” Moore, a New Haven, Conn., native, said by phone. “I just liked everything. It was a good fit for me. I felt comfortable making the decision. I know the administration cared about basketball. I liked the facilities. It’s a well-rounded athletic program.”

The 6-foot-5, 192-pound Moore chose Hofstra over VCU, Northeastern, Creighton and Cal-State Fullerton. He will sit out one year as per NCAA regulations and then have two years left.

“They have Charles Jenkins and Nathaniel Lester and we’re going to be a three-guard lineup,” Moore said. “They want me to come in and score.”

Moore appeared in all 28 games this year for Fordham, averaging 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds. He shot 38.7 percent from the field, including 42-for-139 from behind the arc, and added 29 assists, 27 steals and 12 blocks.

Over his two-year career, Moore scored 513 points and pulled down 176 rebounds in 56 career games.

Moore and guard Trey Blue both obtained releases from Fordham. Blue committed to Illinois State.

CHANEY TO VISIT XAVIER

On the Allan Chaney front, the former Florida forward continues to take visits.

“He liked Temple,” his travel coach Calvin Bunkley said. “He’s at Virginia Tech right now [Saturday] and is definitely visiting Xavier.”

Bunkley said it was “up in the air” whether Chaney would visit Rutgers or Seton Hall.

ALL QUIET ON THE WALL FRONT

A source at Kentucky said there was no update on John Wall’s status as of Saturday.

The 6-4 Wall is the No. 1 prospect in the nation and is due to cut his list anytime. He has Baylor, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Memphis, Miami and N.C. State.

Kentucky is considered a frontrunner to land Wall even though the Cats just got a commitment from point guard Eric Bledsoe of Parker (AL) High.

(Photo courtesy Fordham U)