I had a chance to catch up with Waverly Austin from Dallas, TX in the class of 2010 last night to get an update on how the recruiting process is going for him.
At 6’10/235lbs Austin is a good athlete who runs the floor well and does a good job crashing the boards on both ends. He finishes strong inside and has a nice touch out to the mid-range. On the defensive end he blocks or alters a lot of shots with his leaping ability.
PHR: What schools are showing the most interest right now?
WA: Georgetown, Florida State, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas and Florida International.
PHR: What schools have offered?
WA: Florida International but I believe many of the others will soon.
PHR: What are you looking for in a college?
WA: I want early playing time and academics are important to me.
PHR: Did you have a dream school growing up?
WA: Yes Georgetown, which I am taking an official visit there this weekend.
PHR: Do you have a timetable for when you will commit?
WA: I want to make my decision before the basketball season starts.
PHR: Do you have anymore official visits setup?
WA: Not yet I will after the RBK All-American camp in July.
The afternoon press conference that was set-up for Renardo Sidney to make his announcement on where he will play college ball next year had no surprises. After earlier in the week when UCLA dropped out of his recruitment, it was a no-brainer that he would end up at cross-town rival USC.
Now the only thing holding Renardo Sidney from finalizing the committment is get a qualifying SAT score when he takes the test March 16, 2009.
He has had an outstanding senior campaign posting big numbers and leading his team to a 24-3 record thus far. He is avgeraging 24.0 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
Renardo Sidney a 6’10/255 power forward is planning on ending his recruitment this Sunday, when he will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. PDT. Renardo is a top ten player in the class of 2009; the schools in the running for his services include UCLA, USC, UNLV, Virginia, Mississippi State, Texas and UConn.
Renardo still needs to take the SAT and qualify to gain NCAA eligibility for next season. The rumors going around the west coast are that he is a done deal to UCLA if he can qualify.
Renardo Sidney is having a very impressive senior campaign averaging 26.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game.
Tristan Thompson a consensus top five prospect in the class of 2010 who was dismissed from St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) team last week for public insubordination has found a new school. The talented forward who is verbally committed to (Texas) has decided to finish his year at Findlay Prep (NV) which is ranked #3 in the ESPN Rise Top 50 rankings.
Tristan has been granted eligibility and started to practice with the team, he will suit up for Findlay Prep (NV) this Friday when they travel to Dallas, TX to take on Duncanville (TX). Findlay Prep is currently undefeated with a record of 28-0. At Findlay Prep (NV) Tristan joins fellow Canadian in Corey Joseph along with fellow Texas commit Avery Bradley.
This is a huge pick up for such an already talent heavy team, it will be interesting to see how he gels with his new teammates. The team has a high level of chemistry so it will take him some time to figure out what his role will be with them. There is no denying the tremendous amount of talent that Tristan has along with his huge upside.
Findlay Prep (NV) has been invited to participate in the inaugural ESPN Rise National High School Invitational tournament being held in Bethesda, MD at Georgetown Prep on April 3-5th.
North Carolina vs. Duke is the number one rivalry in college sports and it takes place tonight at “Cameron Indoor Stadium”. This is a huge night for recruits to be on campus to watch one of the biggest games of the season.
Duke has a few players coming on campus who have already verbally committed to play in “Cameron Indoor Stadium” which are Josh Hairston (Courtland, VA) and Tyler Thornton (Gonzaga, DC) of the class of 2010.
The big surprise of the night is that Harrison Barnes (Ames, IA) a consensus top five player is making the trip half way across the country for an unofficial visit. This will be his second unofficial visit to Duke University which could make some people think they could be his leader. He has also visited Kansas on two unofficial visits this season along with going to Iowa State home games this year.
DeMarcus Cousins has narrowed his list down to a final five which include Memphis, Rice, Washington, N.C. State and Kansas State. He also said that if Coach Mike Davis of UAB was to be hired at another school that university would be added to his list of schools.
Lance Stephenson (Lincoln, NY) Class of 2009
Lance Stephenson has updated his list of schools which now includes Maryland, USC, St. John’s and Kansas. That means that Memphis has been eliminated from his schools of interest. He also said he plans on making his announcement in March, hopefully after the PSAL AA championship at Madison Square Garden on the 21st.
Kyle Irving (St. Patrick, NJ) Class of 2010
Kyle Irving holds scholarship offers from Villanova, Duke, Memphis, St. John’s, Rutgers, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Virginia, Virginia Tech, UConn, Florida, Providence and many others. He said after the season he is going to narrow it down to 10 then narrow it down to 5 sometime before next season. More
This past weekend at the Comcast Center there was a special surprise guest in attendance for the Terrapins game against the University of Miami. The guest was five star recruit Lance Stephenson (Lincoln, NY) who decided to take an official visit to Maryland last weekend.
The official visit came as a big surprise since in the past few weeks; University of Maryland never got mentioned in his list of schools he was considering. The school list includes St. John’s, Memphis, USC and Kansas. One thing on “Terrapins” side might be that his high school teammate James Padgett signed with Maryland in the fall.
The recruitment of Lance Stephenson will continue to be long and drawn out and when it comes down to it he is destined to be a one and done player at the college level next year. So it should be interesting over the next few months to see if anymore surprise school show up on his radar.
Lance Stephenson is averaging 32.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game this season.
Reebok Grassroots Basketball Division has opened their registration on PrepChamps yesterday for two of their main camps during the spring and summer.
Reebok Headliner Tryout Camp, which is one of the top camps in the country for high school-aged basketball players, will open on PrepChamps.com. This two-day camp is held in various cities across the country. Top players at each site will earn invitations to one of the summer’s three premier exposure camps: Reebok All American Camp, Reebok Breakout Underclass Camp, and Reebok Proving Ground Regional Combine. These camps are open to players in the graduating class of 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
“I think it (Headliner Tryout Camp) had a major impact, my launching pad; it gave me an opportunity to show what I can do. It was a great event and impacted my recruitment in a major way,” said Erick Green, a past attendee who is now committed to play basketball at Virginia Tech next year.
The Reebok Proving Ground Combine was created to get the best players from various regions of the country in front of college coaches. With just 80 players per camp location, coaches will be able to accurately evaluate players they’re interested in. This camp takes place July 7th-8th and will include players who have been invited based on their performance at the Reebok Headliner Tryout Camp, in addition to other players who can register on a first-come, first-serve basis starting February 1st on PrepChamps.com.
Avery Bradley, a past Proving Ground attendee who has committed to play basketball at the University of Texas next year, said, “Attending the Reebok Proving Ground camp really helped me improve some of the flaws in my game. The camp showed me how to use teamwork and hard work. One thing that really stood out was how close the Reebok family is and that made me want to be a part of it.”
For more information on these camps, dates and locations visit PrepChamps.com, the premier online recruiting community for high school sports.
About PrepChamps
PrepChamps is an online social recruiting community for high school sports helping athletes to improve their chances of getting recognized and recruited by college coaches and recruiting coordinators. High school athletes showcase their talents by creating an online profile, posting statistics and photos and uploading highlight videos on http://www.PrepChamps.com. In addition, PrepChamps hosts nationwide football combines and serves as the official recruiting partner of several high school sporting events including the Reebok Basketball Summer Championship. In less than a year, PrepChamps has helped almost 70,000 athletes, coaches, fans and parents in 34 sports connect through its free online community.
DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore, AL) gave an update on his recruitment at the 2009 Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, MA.
Memphis and Coach John Calipari now are the leader for his services, after he re-opened his recruitment since UAB would not give a written agreement letting him out of his letter of intent if Coach Mike Davis was no longer at the university.
Other schools that have been named by Cousins to receive an official visit in the spring include Kansas State and N.C. State. He also listed Wake Forest and Virginia Tech as schools of interest.
UAB is completely eliminated from his list of schools regardless if Coach Mike Davis is there next year. Cousins said “UAB is out of the picture, but I’m still down with Mike Davis,” he said. “It’s a bad situation down there, and nothing is going to change. Even if Coach Davis is there, I’m not going there.”
He helped lead his team to a 67-54 victory over Lincoln, NY at the Spalding Hoophall Classic on Monday afternoon. He finished the game with 17 points, 20 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 2 assist and 3 turnovers.
Today one of the top shooters in the class of 2011 was at the Carrier Dome taking in the Big East match up between top 15 schools, Syracuse Vs Notre Dame. Syracuse took advantage of this big game and atmosphere to get hoops recruit Trevor Cooney to check out the school on a un-official visit.
Trevor Cooney a 6’3 shooting guard has a very impressive skill set for a player his age. He is an excellent shooter from anywhere on the court and also has the ability to finish inside when he attacks the rim. The best part of his game is his high basketball I.Q. and fundamental skills. He does a great job trying to get all of his teammates involved with his great floor vision.
He currently holds offers from Wake Forest, Syracuse, Delaware, Rutgers, St. Joseph, Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia. Others showing interest include Georgia Tech and Notre Dame amongst others.
Last season as a freshman for Sanford, Cooney averaged 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.
I had a chance to catch up with Waverly Austin from Dallas, TX in the class of 2010 last night to get an update on how the recruiting process is going for him.
Reebok Grassroots Basketball Division has opened their registration on PrepChamps yesterday for two of their main camps during the spring and summer.
Grassrootsballin 