Derrick Wilson, a a 6-foot-1 guard from Anchorage, AK, has verbally committed to Marquette over Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and DePaul.
“When I went to my official to Marquette I fell in love with everything about it,” Wilson said by text. “The coaches and players are all great people. I like what they had to offer academically and I feel I can really contribute to the basketball program.”
Hanner Perea, a 6-foot-8, 212-pound power forward originally from Colombia, verbally committed to Indiana over Baylor Sunday after a visit to campus.
“Oh, yes I did,” Perea, the No. 4 power forward in the Class of 2012, said by phone.
“I like them,” he added. “The No. 1 thing I like about it is the coach. All the coaching staff and Coach [Tom] Crean. I love the way he coach everything. I love the way he is. I like the team.”
Perea, out of La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere School, joins 6-2 shooting guard Ron Patterson and 6-11 center Peter Jurkin among Hoosiers’ recruits for 2012. (more…)
The Top 3 players in the Rivals Class of 2012 are all centers.
Now one of them is off the board.
Isaiah Austin, a 7-footer from Burleson (Texas) Grace Prep, committed to Baylor during the Adidas Nations Global Experience Monday night on CBS College Sports.
Austin is ranked No. 2 nationally by Rivals.
Baylor reached the NCAA regional finals last season before losing to eventual national champion Duke.
The other two big men in the Class of 2012 are 6-9 Andre Drummond of St. Thomas More (Conn.), who said he may announce his list this month, and 6-10 DaJuan Coleman of Jamesville-DeWitt, who lists Syracuse, Ohio State, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Louisville, UConn, Florida and North Carolina.
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Indiana also landed a commitment from 6-11 rising junior center Peter Jurkin of United Faith Christian Academy (N.C.) and the Indiana Elite travel team, according to reports. Jurkin, a native of the Sudan, also considered North Carolina, Tennessee and Clemson…6-11 junior big Kyle Caudill of Bera (Calif.) Olinda committed to Boston College, per Scout.com.
Even Chane Behanan admitted to being surprised at his most recent performance.
After averaging 14.7 points and leading the Hawks to the championship game, the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Behanan was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va.
“I was shocked,” Behanan, the No. 6 power forward in the Class of 2011, said Sunday night in a phone interview. “I felt good this morning. A lot of people came through that camp and I was the most outstanding one so I was kind of happy.”
Behanan’s phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook the way you might expect, but he did pick up an offer from Indiana Sunday. (more…)
J.P. Tokoto had just returned from seeing “Karate Kid” with his friends late Tuesday night, when his phone rang at 12:01 a.m. Wisconsin time
“It was Coach [Roy] Williams,” Tokoto said by phone from the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va.
The 6-foot-6 Tokoto had spoken to the North Carolina coach numerous times but this call was different. Tuesday marked the first day college coaches could call members of the Class of 2012.
“I was very excited,” Tokoto said. “It wasn’t my first time talking to him so at first I thought it was just another phonecall with coach Roy. I was not expecting at the end of the conversation to get an offer, which took me by surprise and left me speechless.” (more…)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Moses Abraham, a 6-9, 237-pound power forward from Temple Hills (Md.) Progressive Christian, is headed to the Big East.
“He gave a verbal to Georgetown,” said Joe Boncore, Abraham’s mentor.
A native of Nigeria, Abraham just returned Thursday from a trip to Indiana and chose between the Hoosiers and the Hoyas.
“He just got back from Indiana,” Boncore said. “He loved everything about the school. His uncle wants him to go to Georgetown so he’s gonna go to Georgetown.”
Boncore said Abraham could help the Hoyas in a big way next year, especially if Greg Monroe were to return and he could learn from him. Numerous draft projections have Monroe going as a lottery pick. (more…)
Doron Lamb will join Josh Selby in announcing during the Jordan Brand Classic April 17 in New York City.
“Yes. At the Jordan Brand Classic,” Calvin Lamb, Doron’s father, told TheShiver.com. “We were thinking about doing it there anyway, and then they approached us so it worked out.”
Selby, a 6-3 guard out of Baltimore (Md.) Lake Clifton, previously said he would make his announcement then, too.
Selby is mulling Kansas, Kentucky, UConn and Arizona.
The 6-4 Lamb, a Queens native who plays at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, is considering West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky an UConn.
“It doesn’t really matter if it’s close to home. I just want to go somewhere that it fits me and fits my family and it’s the best decision for me. That’s where I’ll go,” Lamb told me last month. (more…)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Fuquan Edwin played his final high school game Thursday night when top-seeded Paterson Catholic lost to No. 2 St. Anthony, 63-49, in the North Non-Public B title game at Rutgers.
The 6-foot-5 Edwin led his team with 22 points and 6 rebounds, but only one other teammate (Kyle Anderson) managed double figures.
Another Paterson native, St. Anthony guard Elijah Carter, killed the Cougars with a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds.
“He had a terrific game. He shot the ball well. He got into the lane. He dished off to his teammates. He just opened the floor for his teammates and that’s what killed us,” Edwin said of the St. Bonaventure-bound Carter. (more…)
Indiana coach Tom Crean fired assistant coach Roshown McLeod and McLeod will not be with the team for this week’s Big Ten tournament.
“There is never a good time for something like this, but it is a decision that had to be made moving forward,” Crean said in a statement.
Crean sent McLeod recruiting on Saturday so the assistant was not with the team when it beat Northwestern 88-80 in OT at Assembly Hall.
A Jersey City, N.J. native and former standout at Duke and St. Anthony High School, McLeod was an Indiana assistant for two seasons. (more…)
NEW YORK – Midway through the fourth quarter in the PSAL championship game at Madison Square Garden, Leroy Isler approached his teammate Michael Taylor during a timeout.
“Yo, work hard to get open. You’re not working to get open,” Isler told him.
Before Taylor could utter a single word of protest, Isler added: “We need you to get open.”
A 6-foot-6 junior guard, Taylor took Isler’s words to heart. He scored 11 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, including a critical game-tying 3-pointer and two go-ahead foul shots, to lift Boys & Girls to a 55-50 victory over Cardozo before 3,658.
(photo courtesy Ravi Rozier)
“Adam Zagoria sees the story behind the daily happenings.”
~ St. Anthony Coach Bob Hurley
Zagoria covers the New York Knicks and Big East hoops for NBA.com and SNY.tv. He also appears as a Big East Basketball Insider on SNY and 1050 ESPN Radio.
He is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, SI and Basketball Times.
