By ALEX KLINE
As the July live period has come to an end, college staffs are huddling together to come up with a game plan on how to attack the classes of 2012, 2013, 2014 and even 2015. Here is a rundown of some of the activity from recent days.
Temple offered Terrence Samuel, a 2013 point guard from New Heights (pictured courtesy New York Post). Samuel and his teammate, Shamiek Sheppard ’13, will take an unofficial visit to Iowa State the last week of August. While both have an offer from the school, Sheppard states that he is currently favoring the Cyclones.
La Salle and Dayton offered Kedar Edwards, a 2012 wing from Long Island Lightning. Edwards, who plays high school basketball in Florida, already had offers from South Carolina and Manhattan. Despite being far from New York, the Gamecocks are making a strong effort at Edwards, who is very interested in them, among others.
Rutgers hosted Isaiah Whitehead, a 2014 guard from Juice All-Stars, for an unofficial visit on Tuesday, according to his mother, Ericka Rambert. The New York product has also set up a visit to Syracuse for August 16th. Rutgers will also host 2014 standouts Chris McCullough and Conrad Chambers of Team Scan on Wednesday.
North Carolina will host TJ Warren, a 2012 forward from Garner Road, for an unofficial visit on Thursday. Warren recently trimmed his list to Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina, N.C. State, and Texas. Outside of the Tar Heels, every school has offered him. UNC is expected to offer Warren on the spot.
Louisville will host Brannen Greene, a 2013 forward from the Charlotte Royals, for an unofficial visit on Wednesday. Greene, whose phone has been buzzing with calls from John Calipari, Thad Matta and Coach K, among others, has other visits planned but will check out the Cardinals facilities first. Greene visited Duke unofficially in June.
Minnesota is the latest school to offer Brandon Taylor, a 2012 power forward from Team Philly. The Gophers joined Miami (FL), Siena, Drexel, George Mason and others who have offered. While Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint has been to a majority of Taylor’s games this summer, he has a top three of the Dragons, Miami and Penn State at the moment. While Taylor wants to visit Miami and is intrigued by the high major looks he is getting, a lot of signs point to Drexel. For example, Taylor’s former high school teammate, Frantz Massenat of Trenton Catholic, is the starting point guard at Drexel and the two are extremely close. Look for more offers to come in for the undersized forward.
Robert Morris added a late 2011 commitment from Lucky Jones, who started for Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony squad. Jones, who was heading to play D2 basketball, decided to spend the summer with Sports U and ended up with an offer from Andy Toole and company.
Michigan picked up two commitments for the class of 2013. Derrick Walton, an in-state point guard, and Zak Irvin, a wing from Indiana, both selected the Wolverines within 24 hours of each other. Despite committing so close in time, a package deal was not in the works. The Wolverines now boast a solid four-man class of Walton, Irvin, Austin Hatch and Mark Donnal.
Maryland offered Daniel Dingle, a 2012 forward from the Long Island Lightning. Dingle now has offers from Auburn, Miami (FL), Dayton, Seton Hall, UMass, Temple and Arizona.
St. Peter’s recently offered a trio of local 2012 players. Amadou Sidibe, Ronny Paden and Terry Brutus all received scholarship offers from the Peacocks staff.
Georgia Tech offered a trio of 2013 stars from around the northeast. Allerik Freeman of Team Nike Florida, BeeJay Anya of Team Takeover DC and Tyler Ennis of CIA Bounce all picked up offers from the new Yellow Jackets coaching staff within an hour. Ennis also picked up an offer from Louisville.
Colorado and San Diego are the latest schools to offer Jordan Loveridge, a 2012 forward from Utah Pump N Run, who had a breakout summer after being a virtual unknown entering July.
Virginia is the latest school to offer Maurice Watson, a 2012 point guard from Team Philly. The Cavaliers are the second high-major school to offer Watson, along with Texas Tech. He also has 16 other mid-major offers. Among those offers is Hofstra, a school that hosted Watson and 2012 New Heights forward Jimmy Hall for an unofficial visit on Tuesday.
The younger brother of former Villanova star Allan Ray picked up his first offer. Quinnipiac offered Kendrick Ray, am2012 guard from the BC Eagles.
Stanford offered Isaiah Lewis, a 2013 point guard from the Albany City Rocks, to add to his long list of offers. Currently, Lewis has offers from the Cardinal, along with UConn, Kansas, Arizona, Ohio State and many more.
Florida offered Mass Rivals duo Noah Vonleh ’14 and Zach Auguste ’12. The teammates also attend New Hampton. Along with the Gators, Vonleh recently added an offer from UCLA, while Auguste picked up offers from West Virginia and Missouri.
Missouri also offered Stefan Jankovic, a 2012 forward from CIA Bounce, despite only being able to play in one AAU event this summer. Jankovic had to sit out due to a stress fracture, thus his recruitment is still a bit slow entering his senior season.
Temple hosted Quenton DeCosey, a 2012 wing from Sports U, for an unofficial on Tuesday. DeCosey tripped to the Owls campus in June, as well, and has an offer from them.
Kansas is the latest school to offer Stephen Zimmerman, a 2015 PF from Dream Vision (NV). The Jayhawks join UNLV, UCLA & Uconn.
Isaiah Watkins ’13 of CIA Bounce has new interest from George Mason, GW, Kansas, Michigan, Virginia, W-Virginia, Arkansas & Temple.
2012 C Richard Peters of Westwind lists UConn, Fla, Washington, Wash St, Clemson, SHU, Marquette, Texas Tech & Alabama, per his mentor, Kevin Scarlett.
