After signing 18 players in his first two years at St. John’s, Steve Lavin can afford to be more selective in his third try.
So Lavin and his staff are now focusing on a few players in the Class of 2013, including point guard Rysheed Jordan of Philadelphia, forward Jarell Martin of Louisiana, forward Ish Wainright of Maryland, forward Jermaine Lawrence of New Jersey and forward Maurice Ndour of Monroe College.
Having already landed point guard Tyler Ennis from the Garden State, Syracuse is now working to pull a couple of top forwards from Jersey as well.
Orange head coach Jim Boeheim had an in-home visit Monday with 6-foot-8 Tyler Roberson of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic and then went with assistant Adrian Autry to watch 6-10 Jermaine Lawrence of Pope John on Tuesday.
“He told me about the program and the school,” Roberson said of Boeheim. “I learned a lot more about the school. He thinks I would fit in great.”
One of the elite prep programs in the nation is undergoing a coaching change.
Former associate head coach Todd Simon will take over at Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep for Michael Peck, who is the new head coach of the Idaho Stampede, the D-League affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers.
“It is with tremendous honor and humility that I have accepted the position as Head Coach of Findlay Prep,” Simon Tweeted.
Anthony “Cat” Barber will likely choose from among three schools, legendary AAU coach Boo Williams told SNY.tv Tuesday night.
“He’s going to probably decide between Kansas and Alabama and N.C. State,” Williams said.
Dave Telep of ESPN.com reported earlier that Louisville was no longer recruiting Barber, a top point guard out of Hampton (Va.) High.
As the Knicks head towards the beginning of training camp Oct. 2 in Greenburgh, N.Y., they officially made a few tweaks to the roster on Tuesday afternoon.
The team announced on Tuesday that it has signed forwards John Shurna and Mychel Thompson, point guard Oscar Bellfield and center Henry Sims.
Shurna’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, confirmed to SNY.tv on Monday evening that his client had come to terms with the Knicks on a one-year, partially guaranteed, which basically amounts to a training camp invite. While terms of the contracts were not disclosed, per team policy, the deals for Thompson, Bellfield and Sims likely amount to training camp invites as well.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post was updated after an interview with Boo Williams, and reflects the fact that N.C. State is not recruiting Troy Williams.
Add Troy Williams to the growing list of elite prospects who may wait until the spring to sign.
Williams, who at one point was poised to decide this past May between North Carolina and Kentucky, may now wait until the spring.
“He’s leaning more toward signing late,” Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith told SNY.tv Tuesday.
“He talked to Boo Williams, his uncle, and they seem to be wanting to see who signs where, who goes [to the NBA], who doesn’t go.”
Added Boo Williams: “Right now, it looks like we’ll sign late because we just can’t make enough school visits. How the schedule works out, we can’t make among school visits. We’ll probably only make one or two at the most.”
For at least one game this summer at the Nike Global Challenge, Trey Lyles was more impressive than his Canadian teammate Andrew Wiggins.
The 6-foot-9 power forward raised more than a few eyebrows among the nation’s elite coaches when he put up 27 points and 11 rebounds in Canada’s win over Brazil.
So when Lyles decommitted from Indiana and opened up his recruitment, it’s really no surprise that virtually every top program in the nation wants to get involved.
