As if Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick wasn’t loaded enough, now the Celtics appear to be on the verge of adding two more impact players in brothers Julian and Chris Washburn, who are moving from Texas to New Jersey.
Julian (a 6-8 senior) and Chris (a 6-7 sophomore) are the sons of troubled former NBA player Chris Washburn.
“They have not enrolled yet in school but they did visit the school,” St. Pat’s coach Kevin Boyle told me the other day. “These kids are thinking about moving up to New Jersey. If that happens, then there’s probably a good chance that they enroll…I’m sure that we will know very shortly.”
If the brothers enroll, they will join a team that already includes wing Michael Gilchrist, the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2011, and point guard Kyrie Irving, the No. 9 floor general in the Class of 2010.
The Celtics also feature talented role players Chase Plummer, Kevin Boyle Jr. and Western Kentucky-bound guard Derrick Gordon.
Julian, a 6-8 senior wing ranked No. 20 among small forwards by Rivals, visited Seton Hall unofficially last week.“He’s a very talented, versatile forward,” a Big East assistant coach said.
St. Patrick was already in the conversation — along with Oak Hill (Va.) and Findlay (Nev.) Prep — for consideration as the top team in the nation. Now the Celtics have added even more height and depth. “We may have as many as 13 kids 6-4 to 6-8 1/2 in the school who play basketball,” Boyle said. “And eight kids — six freshman and two sophomores — between and 6-4 and 6-8, and most of them are pretty athletic.” Once again the Celtics will play a loaded national schedule including at least a couple on ESPN: Jan. 18 — Findlay (Nev.) Prep, Springfield Hoophall Classic, Springfield, Mass. (ESPNU) Jan. 23 — St. Benedict’s, Homeless Classic, Elizabeth, N.J. Jan. 30 — Memphis (Tenn.) White Station, Brian Doherty Classic, Newark, N.J. Feb. 6 – Taft (Calif.) or Westchester (Calif.), Nike Extravaganza, Calif. Feb. 12 – Oak Hill (Va.), Primetime Shootout, Rutgers, ESPN2 Feb. 13 – Rice (N.Y.), Primetime Shootout, Trenton ST. RAY’S LOSES THREE PLAYERS St. Raymond’s of the Bronx will lose three players and head coach Oliver Antigua says “tampering” was involved, according to a story in the New York Post.
Juniors Jose Rodriguez, a 6-foot-5 wing, and Joey DeLaRosa, a 6-foot-11 forward, left St. Raymond’s to play for Impact Basketball Academy and attend Trinity International in Las Vegas. Impact is run by Joe Abunassar, who has trained several NBA stars, including Al Harrington, Sebastian Telfair, Kevin Garnett and Chauncey Billups… Antigua said he knew of McBride’s intention to transfer earlier in the summer, but he wasn’t expecting Rodriguez and DeLaRosa’s departure. “I was surprised that they took that route because all through the two-year process we’ve done nothing but try and help them academically and improve individually as players,” Antigua said. “I think obviously there was some tampering going on by some outside sources who are trying to get their hands on these kids and use them to their benefit.”MARQUETTE ELITE CAMP The Marquette Elite Camp began today (Saturday) and features several top players from New York and the nation: JayVaughn Pinkston, Corey Edwards, Jermaine Sanders, J.J. Moore, Rodney Hood (Miss.), and Justin Coleman (Richmond, Va. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
