NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Illinois was two deep on Wednesday for Josh Sharma, a 7-foot junior from Northfield Mount Hermon.
Illini head coach John Groce and assistant Dustin Ford watched Sharma, who managed just 2 points as NMH was crushed by Brewster (N.H.) Academy, 84-61, in the semifinals of the National Prep Championships at Albertus Magnus College.
Creighton assistant Pat Sellers was also among those in the stands.
“Definitely could’ve played harder, definitely missed some opportunities for a rebound here or there,” Sharma told SNY.tv. “It was not a good performance from us overall.”
Illinois, Wisconsin, UConn, Vanderbilt, Creighton and Boston College are among those recruiting Sharma, an athletic big man who can run the floor, block shots and hit the 3.
But Groce showed he was committed by flying East one day after losing to Michigan. He and Ford were then going to fly back to the Chicago area for more recruiting, including checking in on 2015 commit D.J. Williams.
“I like Illinois, I like them a lot,” Sharma said. “They’ve been recruiting me for a while now.”
Sharma took his first official to Wisconsin over winter break.
“I like them a lot, too,” he said. “They develop their bigs really well. They have [Frank] Kaminsky. He wasn’t really regarded as their best player going in, but now he’s one of the most developed bigs in the Big Ten, which is a competitive conference.”
Sharmka said he will try to get his visits done this spring and summer.
“I haven’t really thought about where yet,” he said. “Maybe Illinois. I like Vanderbilt, too.
As for Illinois: “I talk to them a lot. I know Aaron Cosby is there from NMH. He’s a good guy. I like what I’ve heard so far about them.”
FALZON ‘UP IN THE AIR’
Aaron Falzon, a 6-8 2015 forward from NMH, said he holds offers from Boston College, Providence, Harvard, Georgia, Rutgers, Seton Hall and “a couple more.”
He plans to take a few visits in the summer or fall.
“It’s all up in the air right now,” Falzon said after scoring 14 points, with three 3-pointers in the loss.
“I’ve got a number of schools but everything is up in the air.”
FREE THROWS
Notre Dame assistant Anthony Solomon watched 2015 Brewster F Jared Reuter…Drexel assistant Matt Collier watched uncommitted 2014 IMG Academy F Kerem Kanter, the younger brother of Enes Kanter of the Utah Jazz…UCLA assistant David Grace was on hand for Bruins pledge Jonah Bolden of Brewster…Iowa assistant Andrew Francis and Creighton assistant Pat Sellers watched 2015 G Donovan Mitchell of Brewster.
