#pcbb Weekly Recruiting Update 4/11/14

• PC received some good recruiting news minutes after the final buzzer sounded in Dallas on the 2013-2014 season Monday night – Kyron Cartwright announced he was going to be a Friar next season. His commitment adds more depth to the point guard position for PC next season. Kris Dunn was the only point guard on the roster and coming off a second shoulder surgery it was crucial for Ed Cooley to have some insurance. To read more about Cartwright’s commitment and some quotes from him, click the links below.

2014 PG Kyron Cartwright Commits to Providence

Quotes from New 2014 PC Commit Kyron Cartwright

It's Official🎉🎊Committed to Providence College🙌 Catch me in Black and Grey next yr. #pcbb #friartown #BigEastChamps pic.twitter.com/cUozS6W5od

— K (@Cartwright_2014) April 8, 2014

• More interesting recruiting news came about on Tuesday this week when coveted 2014 point guard Devonte’ Graham announced on Twitter that he got a release from his National Letter of Intent to App State by new coach, Jim Fox. Graham is now officially one of the best available players left on the board in 2014 after having a break out year under Jason Smith at Brewster Academy. A number of high majors are involved and have already spoken to Graham since his release. Thursday night had Cooley joined by Nebraska’s Tim Miles and Virginia’s Tony Bennett at Brewster for a workout. Friday it will be Kansas’ Bill Self along with coaches from Cincinnati, Florida and Virginia Tech. Graham would be a great fit at PC because of his shooting and playmaking abilities but the competition is obviously stiff. Ed Cooley and Providence has a legit chance with Graham and will likely be one of the teams on his final list before deciding.

https://twitter.com/im_dat_kid_dtae/status/453971383832559616

• 2015 point guard recruit, Justin Robinson for St. James (MD) played in the Metro Challenge 60 a couple weeks ago and Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi had this to say about Robinson: “A long and speedy ball handler, Robinson is a confident player who gets into the lane, pushes things in transition and is able to play at top speed without being out of control. He is wiry strong, competes on both ends of the floor and looks poised to have a breakout summer playing for Boo Williams in the Nike EYBL.” In addition, Robinson did an interview with PressBoxDC.com’s Justin Silberman this week. He has offers from UMass, Old Dominion, Providence, Radford, Saint Peter’s and Virginia Tech. Robinson followed former Montrose Catholic coach, Dan Prete from MC to St. James during the offseason and led his team in assists with 7.9 apg. His recruiting is just starting to take off and Ed Cooley was the first high major coach to make an offer. It remains to be seen what will happen with the 2015 class because PC is still heavily involved with Devante’ Graham but you can never have too many guards. Some highlights from the interview include Robinson discussing what he enjoys most about the game of basketball and what his goals are for for himself and his team next season:

“One thing I enjoy most about the game is that every time I was on a team, even if we weren’t the best, we always had team chemistry.”

“Individually, I want to become more of a coach on the court and a better floor general for my team. I just want to make everybody else around me better. I want to keep up the intensity, get more looks and let everybody know that I’m supposed to be known on the national level, like it should have been for a long time.

A team goal is that I want us to win our conference and be the best team that we can be. I also want us to win some national games, and hopefully we get invited to the National High School Invitational.”

• Another Maryland recruiting name that came about at the Metro Challenge 60 a couple weeks ago is Drew Edwards who plays for Calvert Hall. Bossi had this to say about Edwards:

Edwards may be a bit more of a combo guard than a true point guard. However, given some opportunities to run his team throughout the day, Edwards looked very comfortable. He is a high IQ player who plays a well-rounded game. He’s a threat to make jumpers from deep, can attack either right or left and always seems to make the right decision. Plus, he’ll get in there and get a tough rebound when he needs to. Edwards plays for Maryland 3D during the spring and summer and should be a hot name on the East Coast. He listed offers from Dayton, LaSalle, Richmond, Bucknell, Providence and Virginia. He said that he likes the idea of playing more point down the road. “I’m being recruited as both a one and a two,” said Edwards. “I kind of like the point better and feel that I make good decisions with the ball in my hands. I feel comfortable in that role.”

• The Mary Kline Classic rosters were released on Wednesday and 2014 PC commit Ben Bentil is on Team Perseverance along with former PC recruits Abdul-Malik Abu and Jared Terrell. The games will be played on May 31st at 6pm at West Orange HS in New Jersey. There is some big time talent playing in all 3 games: underclassmen, upperclassmen and seniors. There are a bevy of future Big East players including 4 Seton Hall commits and 2 Villanova commits to go along with Bentil. Former PC player Brandon Austin played in this game last year. On the upperclassmen roster are PC recruits Rawle Atkins, Cheick Diallo, Mustapha Heron and Unique McLean.
• Kevin Farrahar over at FriarBasketball.com had a great in-depth piece on Jalen Lindsey that is a must read for all PC fans. I think the Friar Faithful are going to really embrace this kid.
• ESPN released their final class of 2014 player rankings this week. Jalen Lindsey and Paschal Chukwu were ranked among the top 100 on this list with Lindsey finished at 84th in the class and Chuwku finishing 61st. Ben Bentil appears in some services top 100 but not ESPN.
• ICYMI – earlier this week, Jalen Lindsey’s former HS coach, Drew Maddux gave Coach Cooley major props during his weekly appearance on the Siriux XM College Sports station program “On Campus with Bill King”. Maddux does a regular weekly spot on the show every Tuesday morning from 7-8am and had this to say about Cooley:

[soundcloud url=https://soundcloud.com/pcbb1917/drew-maddux-on-campus-with]

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