Duke Emerges as Big Winner in Early Signing Period; Who’s Left on the Board?
The NCAA early signing period for basketball
The NCAA early signing period for basketball
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebG4qWVYpuk&w=560&h=315]No foul was called on Minnesota’s Austin Hollins on this play where he appeared to rake Syracuse’s C.J. Fair across the face — leaving him bloodied in a Maui Invitational quarterfinal.
“I forgot who passed me the ball, but I cut down a lane and I went up for the dunk, and I felt like I hit my face,” Fair said after No. 8 Syracuse won, 75-67 . “Then as I came down I seen blood on my hand, and then from there I knew it was something bad.”
Fair stayed in the game and finished with his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
One of the advantages of playing high-profile early-season tournaments in New York City is recruiting.
Coaches can spend time around the tournament watching local players, and can also promise prospects who commit that they will return home to play in front of family and friends in future years.
Exhibit A of that is expected to happen this week when Roselle (N.J.) Catholic guard Isaiah Briscoe and Iona (N.Y.) Prep wing Matt Ryan — both members of the Class of 2015 — watch Arizona and Duke compete in the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden.
Seton Hall forward Patrik Auda did not bend the screw in his surgically repaired foot but will be reevaluated by doctors in a month, as first reported by SNY.tv Monday night.
The 6-foot-9 redshirt junior was evaluated by doctors Monday and is not expected to play for at least a month as the program looks to protect his health going forward.
“He could be back in two weeks, but I’m going to take a longer approach, make sure we don’t risk anything for his future,” Pirates coach Kevin Willard told Jerry Carino of Gannett New Jersey on Tuesday. “My goal is to take a look at him before Christmas. We sat down and (Providence on Dec. 31) is what we want to shoot for (for a potential return). He could play sooner, but the problem is (if you rush back) you keep aggravating it and eventually you’re doing to do something (worse). A lot of guys keep playing with this (with the help of cortisone shots), but to me that’s not worth it.”
Rashad Vaughn didn’t have to go far for his official visit to UNLV.
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Minnesota attends high school in Las Vegas at Findlay Prep.
Vaughn will be at UNLV Tuesday night for the Illinois game, he told SNY.tv.
“I’m still deciding on the last two,” Vaughn told SNY.tv recently, referring to his other two official visits. “I’ll probably trim it sometime, I don’t know when.”
Highly touted freshman guard Rysheed Jordan practiced
The Maui Invitational field for 2015 is set.
The loaded field joining Chaminade at the Lahaina Civic Center will include Indiana, Kansas, St. John’s, UCLA, UNLV, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. The Championship Round will be held Nov. 23, 24 and 25, 2015 on Maui.
This outstanding group includes four of the top-10 winningest programs in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball history – Kansas, St. John’s, UCLA and Indiana. Led by UCLA’s NCAA-record 11 national championships, the seven Division I schools have won 19 national championships, made 47 trips to the Final Four and earned 204 bids to the NCAA Tournament.
The eight-team field has also had tremendous success recently. The group had 44 former players begin the 2013-14 season on NBA rosters. Both Kansas and Indiana were No. 1 seeds in the 2013 NCAA Tournament and all seven Division I teams have earned an NCAA Tournament bid since 2010.
