Check out our interview with three of the top players in North Jersey who are signing in the early signing period: Tamir Jackson of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, who is headed to Rice; Lance Brown out of Paterson Catholic, who committed to Fordham; and Karon Abraham of Paterson Eastside, who will play at Robert Morris.
They talked about the challenges of coming out of an inner-city like Paterson and also the challenges inherent in the recruiting process, where college coaches tell you all kinds of things to try to get you to sign with them.
The 6-foot-1 Jackson has a fascinating story. He initially committed to UAB, then decommitted when the felt it wasn’t the right fit for him and later signed with Rice. Still, Jackson said his father continued to get calls from major programs, including UCLA, Texas, UConn, Memphis, Miami and Providence.
“I told them I’m going to Rice,” he said.
For Tom Konchalski’s thoughts on Jackson and other top Jersey recruits, go here.
Also, Jerry Carino of the Courier News has a short feature on St. Joseph’s commit Carl Baptiste of Hunterdon High School.
“I’m real excited. I can’t wait,” said the 6-foot-8, 240-pound Baptiste, who chose Saint Joseph’s over La Salle and Delaware. “I’m excited for my high school season this year, and I’m really excited to get working and be able to play at that high level.”Baptiste joins Justin Crosgile of Wayne (NJ) DePaul CAtholic and David Bruce of Linden in Phil Martelli’s recruiting class. Both of those commits were broken here at ZAGSBLOG.
