#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 8/22/14

There wasn’t a ton of recruiting news this past week as the Friars were in the midst of their Italy trip. I would expect to start hearing more next week when the staff is back in the States. Visits will likely begin to be set up and the picture at the guard positions on the recruiting trail in the class of 2015 should get a little more clear.

As for some of what did occur this past week:

 

2015 shooter Kenny Williams committed to VCU on Tuesday. I was a little surprised by this as Williams had just received an offer from UNC and was fresh off a visit to Chapel Hill when he ended his recruitment and pledged to Shaka Smart.

2015 forward Kaiser Gates cut his list down to 8 and PC didn’t make the cut. Gates plays AAU ball with 2016 Friar target Braxton Blackwell and 2016 guard Kobi Simmons. Gates and Simmons are also high school teammates at St. Francis in Georgia.

2015 guard Barry Brown cut his list to a final 4 on Sunday and Providence didn’t make the cut. Brown’s name was brought up recently for the Friars but I believe it was mainly because he played AAU ball with recent Friar commit Alex Owens. I don’t think Providence was ever a really serious player for Brown’s services.

2015 big man Alex Illikainen has scheduled two official visits: Iowa August 30th and Oregon September 13th. Iliikainen was also recently offered by Wisconsin. He seems to fit the mold of big men that Bo Ryan have produced in recent years. I still maintain that Illikainen will end up at home-state Minnesota.

2015 guard Dupree McBrayer told Russ Wood of Rivals.com that he plans to take official visits in September or October. Providence got involved with McBrayer towards the end of his senior year at The Patrick School. He will decide on a school for his prep year very soon. McBrayer told Wood that the schools with the best chances of receiving an official visit are “Minnesota, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Creighton.”

2015 point guard target Justin Robinson tells me he is visiting Virginia Tech next weekend and is still working on finalizing dates for his other visits. He has been texting with the Providence staff while they have been in Italy and plans to visit Friartown soon. UPDATE: Robinson’s official visit dates are set:

https://twitter.com/5Alive_/status/502928719259111424

 

Jeff Ferrucci interviewed 2015 guard Curtis Cobb earlier this week. Cobb told Ferrucci that PC has offered but he hasn’t “heard from them in a while now.” Despite that, Cobb goes on to say “[Providence is] in a good spot in my recruitment right now.” Cobb lists “Wake Forest, URI, Temple, UConn, Rice, Providence and others” as schools he has offers that are recruiting him right now. Cobb has been hearing from Wake Forest, Minnesota and BC the most. Cobb said he is most looking for “coaches that really communicate with me and are real big on development.”

OnTheRadarHoops.com’s Jonathan Hemingway gave his Summer Stock Risers and a few Friar targets made the list:

Honorable Mention

Kobi Simmons of Alpharetta, Ga., certainly is on a path of stardom after this July. He made an appearance in the Adidas Nationals on ESPN earlier this month. This follows and equally impressive outing at the NBPA Camp in June leads many to believe that he earn a 5-star rating going into his junior year of high school.

Class of 2016 guard Trent Forrest of Chipley, Fla., raised his stock with play at the Elite 32 last month. At 6-4 his brings size and IQ to the floor, which schools like Miami, Wake Forest and Wichita State have all noticed. Look for him to be one of the top returning players for the Alabama Challenge next year.

Adam Finkelstein and New England Recruiting Report have an article with video interview for CoxHub.com with two New England prep players in the class of 2016 in Wenyen Gabriel and Saul Phiri. Both players attended Providence’s Elite Camp on August 9th.

NYCHoops.net Staff Writer Deborah N. Harris did a piece on Putnam Science Academy guard Hamidou Diallo. Diallo will begin his first year with PSA this fall and is a member of the class of 2017. Here are some highlights from the article:

Focused on maximizing his high school academic and athletic experience, Diallo recently made a big decision to reclassify to the class of 2017 and transfer from John Bowne High School (Flushing, N.Y.) to Putnam Science Academy (Conn.) for “more exposure and to get better academically.” Despite the transition to an out-of-state school, Diallo said that he still will be playing with NYC Finest (N.Y.) and AAU travel team NYC Jayhawks (N.Y.) at the conclusion of the regular season.

Playing alongside AAU teammate 6-foot-8 big man Mamadou Diarra during the regular season, Putnam Science will be getting a player in Diallo that is exponentially improving with each passing day. Things that Diallo has worked on at the beginning of the summer has already been incorporated into his vast skill set.

Diallo can be a matchup problem. He is stronger than he looks, being able to effectively exploit open lanes and finish strongly at the rim. Diallo also has the ability to stroke it from deep and has somewhat of a midrange game. He never loses his composure if he is being guarded well by opposing guards, as he simply gets the ball in motion, moves well without the basketball and puts himself in nice positions for his next touch.

On the defensive end, Diallo is solid. Though he believes he needs to work on his “footwork,” which would come in handy when playing transition defense, what Diallo lacks in foot speed he makes up for with his length and quick hands. He is responsible for a lot of deflections in the backcourt, which makes it difficult for opponents to get the ball to teammates in the halfcourt.

Formerly flying under the radar because of his once undersized stature, Diallo’s recruiting surged with the marketability of his taller height. At the conclusion of his eighth grade year, Diallo was 5-foot-4, mainly playing a point guard role because of what his height would dictate he would be playing at the next level. However, over the next two years, Diallo experienced a sudden growth spurt that would amount to one foot, resulting in the 6-foot-4 Diallo that recruits see today.

Diallo picked up Division-I offers from Iona, Fairfield and California State-Bakersfield. He is also receiving interest from Providence and Quinnipiac.

Diallo also had a new mixtape come out this week:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGfK4dYysYk]

 

Highly ranked 2017 wing Jordan Tucker spoke to John Pavia earlier this week about his experience practicing with the players that will compete in the Under Armour Elite 24 game Saturday in Brooklyn. Tucker currently has a 247Sports Composite National Ranking of 32nd in the class of 2017. He also was one of the players that attended the Providence Elite Camp on August 9th. On the visit to Providence, Tucker told Zagsblog.com “it was cool. I like the coaching staff. They’re really cool.” Tucker also told Zagsblog.com that the schools on him the hardest are Providence, Syracuse, Villanova and Oklahoma.

CoxHub.com posted an article with a video interview of 2017 PC commit Javon Taylor this week. Check that out here.

FriarBasketball.com’s Kevin Farrahar and Craig Leighton put out Episode 2 of their Recruiting Provcast over the weekend.

Danny James posted a nice article on CoxHub.com on the Providence recruiting philosophy under Ed Cooley as well as documenting some of the hits and misses that have occurred over the last 3+ years since Cooley was hired.

Follow me on Twitter: @pcbb1917

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