After a long July on the recruiting circuit with the New England Playaz, Naadir Tharpe has a list of schools in mind but plans to wait until he gets back to Brewster (N.H.) Academy to cut his list.
“I don’t have any top schools,” Tharpe, who previously decommitted from Providence, said Monday morning. “I’m basically looking at everybody until I get back to school and talk to my coach [Jason Smith] about what schools fit me the best.”
The 6-foot, 170-pound Tharpe listed St. John’s, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Minnesota, Iowa State, Marquette, Providence and Oklahoma. To read more of this story, click here
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.” To read more of this story, click here
Back home in Toronto with his mother, Cory Joseph finally made a decision.
The 6-foot-3, 170-pound point guard out of Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep chose Texas over UConn, Villanova, Minnesota and UNLV.
“Yeah, I did,” he said by phone from Toronto. “Coach [Rick] Barnes and the staff, we have a good relationship. The style of play, they go up and down. I really feel like it can excel my game to the next level there. It was the best fit for me.”
Joseph is the No. 3 point guard in the Class of 2010 and No. 7 overall player, according to Rivals.
Joseph averaged 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in leading Findlay Prep to the second of back-to-back National High School Invitational titles.
In choosing Texas, Joseph will join Findlay teammate and fellow Canadian Tristan Thompson, a 6-9 forward who signed with the Longhorns in November. To read more of this story, click here
Check out this video interview with Findlay Prep senior point guard Cory Joseph, who plays Saturday night in the Jordan Brand Classic at MSG.
Joseph is considering UNLV, Minnesota, Texas, Villanova and UConn and said he plans to announce in either Las Vegas or his hometown of Toronto sometime in the near future.
“I don’t have any official date set yet when I’m going to announce, but as soon I feel 100 percent, it should be soon,” he said.
With one day to go before Brandon Knight is slated to announce his college choice on ESPNU, his high school coach says he doesn’t know where Knight is going.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Pine Crest coach Dave Beckerman said Tuesday by phone.
Beckerman has been away for a few days on a cruise and expects to meet again with Knight on Wednesday morning. Knight is supposed to announce on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Maurice Walker is taking his time.
The No. 12 center in the Class of 2010, Walker is currently on spring break from Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy and is mulling his college options.
The 6-10, 300-pound Walker said he’s considering Rutgers, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Virginia, UConn, Marquette, Penn State, Providence and Minnesota and has offers from all of those except Georgetown and UConn.
Asked if he had any favorites, Walker listed Pittsburgh and Minnesota. He has visited Pitt and will trip to Minnesota April 9.
There has been speculation about whether Pitt has a scholarship to offer, but Walker said he was told that a scholarship would be available. To read more of this story, click here
**Click the Video Player at right for my interviews with Tom Konchalski, where he talks New York and New Jersey high school playoffs and recruiting**
CALIPARI MAKING A RUN AT CORY JOSEPH
Just when you thought recruiting of the high-level senior guards had settled down comes the news that Kentucky coach John Calipari is making a run at Cory Joseph.
UNION, N.J. — Two schools in hot pursuit of Cory Joseph squared off on ESPN’s “Big Monday,” with UConn knocking off No. 3 Villanova, 84-75, at the Wachovia Center.
Joseph, a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Findlay (Nev.) Prep ranked No. 3 among point guards in 2010, was not at the game but he is considering both UConn and Villanova, along with Texas, Minnesota and UNLV.
“[I'm just gonna commit] whenever I feel 100 percent. . . . I am not sure if I am gonna pick out of the [full list of] five. I have no set time,” Joseph told Alex Schwartz of Rivals.com while playing this past weekend at the Primetime Shootout in Trenton, N.J.
Also at the Primetime was Joseph’s friend and fellow Canadian, Myck Kabongo, a junior guard at St. Benedict’s Prep. To read more of this story, click here
There are four elite guards in the Class of 2010 who have yet to announce their college choices.
Brandon Knight, Doron Lamb, Josh Selby and Cory Joseph are all headed toward a spring signing bonanza and college coaches and fans are anxiously waiting to see how the dominoes fall.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Joseph of Findlay (Nev.) Prep is still considering the same five schools that have been on his list for some time: UConn, Villanova, Texas, Minnesota and UNLV.
“Cory still has the same five on the list. There’s nothing new or different,” Findlay coach Michael Peck said. “I don’t know that he’s made any movment.” To read more of this story, click here
In the wake of this weekend’s holiday events, here are a few recruiting tidbits on three of the top unsigned guards in the Class of 2010:
**Cory Joseph — Despite published reports that the Findlay Prep guard is down to UConn and Villanova, Joseph insists he’s still also considering Minnesota, Texas and UNLV.
“No, I still have all five schools,” Joseph wrote in a text.
After a long July on the recruiting circuit with the New England Playaz, Naadir Tharpe has a list of schools in mind but plans to wait until he gets back to Brewster (N.H.) Academy to cut his list.
