Stephen Domingo wants to be a Pied Piper for Georgetown.
In fact, Hoyas coach John Thompson III may have no better recruiter right now than the 6-foot-7 small forward from San Francisco St. Ignatius Prep.
Having already committed to Georgetown in the Class of 2013, Domingo is now working on a slew of his teammates with the USA U17 team.
“I’ve been working on Jahlil [Okafor] and Johnathan Williams and then a couple of other guys,” Domingo told SNY.tv from the U17 trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“And Beejay [Anya] and Dakari Johnson.”
If all those players make the final 12-man roster, Domingo will have several weeks to get in their ears about Georgetown.
Prior to the FIBA World Championship in Lithuania, the USA will train and compete June 22-25, in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. During that time the U.S. will participate in the 2012 Spain U17 International Invitational, featuring U17 teams from Australia, Latvia and host Spain, June 24-25.
The USA will then open World Championship play June 29 against Australia. The top four finishing teams from each group will advance to the medal round with the quarterfinals staged on July 6, the semifinals on July 7 and the finals on July 8.
The way Domingo pitches it, if the USA wins that will only help him recruit some guys to Georgetown.
“We can bring momentum that we’re carrying here over to Georgetown and we can get a national championship over there like we’re going to get a gold over here,” he said.
Asked whom his pitch is working the best on, Domingo said: “I know ‘J’ [Johnathan] really likes them, I know Jahlil likes them. I know Beejay likes them. He’s from around that area.
“We’ll see, but they all like it.”
The 6-9 Okafor told SNY.tv Georgetown was one of the first schools to contact him last Friday with Louisville’s Rick Pitino being first.
Anya, out of Washington, D.C. DeMatha Catholic, said Georgetown is one of many schools recruiting him, but has special ties to Indiana with AAU teammate Stanford Robinson and former AAU coach Kenny Johnson both tied to Indiana now.
And the 6-10 Johnson listed Georgetown on a list of suitors that also includes Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, Louisville and others.
For his part, Domingo says he’s playing well at the U17 practices and hopes to keep contributing among the final 12.
“I’m just playing well so far, shooting the ball well, trying to be physical on defense,” he said. “We ve had a couple practices with this new 14 [person] team and we’re just thankful to be moving in the right way.”
Asked what it felt like to wear the Team USA jersey, Domingo said: “It’s a great feeling. It’s the highest honor. It’s an opportunity that a lot of people wish for. A lot of people but the majority of people don’t get the chance to do it.
“So I’m honored to do that and I’m going to use the opportunity to get better with my teammates and represent the country and bring home the gold.”
