Two wing players named Dwight from Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, the No. 1 junior college in the nation, both signed National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.
St. John’s has received a commitment from Dwight Hardy (pictured), a 6-foot-2 shooting guard out of The Bronx.
“He signed with them today, yes, he did,” Indian Hills coach Jeff Kidder said. “St John’s placed him into our program two years ago but that’s where Dwight wanted to go all along.”
A native of The Bronx, Hardy played at John F. Kennedy High in New York.
“He can really score points,” Kidder said. “He’s a tremendous shooter and scorer and he’s kind of an old- school scorer. He knows angles and is going to be a terrific fit for St. John’s the way they play.
“Dwight Hardy is a great teammate, a great student. He will have a terrific two years at St. John’s after he’s done here.”
Dwight Buycks, a 6-3, 185-guard from Milwaukee, is part of a five-man recruiting class at Marquette.
“He had Kentucky recruiting him, Iowa,” Kidder said. “It’s been done since this summer [with Marquette].
“He’s different than Dwight [Hardy]. He’s a big-time athlete, a slasher, a driver. Dwight’s more of an IQ player coming off screens, coming off traffic.
“I can’t imagine a junior college having two better players. They’re both averaging about 14 or 15 points right now. We’re ranked No. 1 in the country right now.”
Buycks was part of a five-man recruiting class at Marquette that also includes Junior Cadougan, Jeronne Maymon, Brett Roseboro and Erik Williams.
“In many respects, they are Big East ready and will all have to make an impact from the first day they arrive,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “It is rare when you take over a program to have four commitments prior to the completion of the summer and we were able to do that this year, and that is because of the daily commitment from our staff to develop trusting relationships with the best players in the state, and the best players in the country.
MU’s first recruiting class under Williams is currently ranked No. 5 on ESPN.com’s list, 13th on PrepStars.com and 14th overall by Rivals.com.
OMARI LAWRENCE, KEVIN PARROM UPDATE
St. John’s also got a Letter of Intent late Wednesday from Omari Lawrence of South Kent (Conn.) He will also hold a press conference Thursday night at 164th and Jerome Ave in The Bronx.
“He went home to the doctor, took the papers home and was going to sign everything with his mom,” South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson said. “That was the idea. He was going to do it at home. He should be coming back in the next day or so. He got cleared and should be all set.”
The 6-4 Lawrence suffered a separated shoulder over the summer.
As for Lawrence’s teammate Kevin Parrom, who is headed to Xavier, Jefferson said he also went home to deal with his signing.
“Kevin has not signed but will sign tomorrow [Thursday] when he gets home with his dad,” Jefferson said.
Ryan Brooks, a 6-8 forward at South Kent, sent his scholarship papers into Rhode Island by fax.