2011 Recruiting Target- Juan'ya Green

It's been a number of days since my last update, and I was struggling to decide who to write about next. Due to the fact that he is one of the players on this list that I have seen most recently, I decided to go with Archbishop Carroll's Juan'ya Green.

Juan'ya Green, a 6'3 junior at Archbishop Carroll in Philadelphia, is listed by many of the recruiting sites as a shooting guard, and even a small forward by a few. When I saw Green last month at a Donofrio Classic game in Conshohocken, he spent most of the game sharing the backcourt with 2011 Pitt commit John Johnson. During their time on the court together, Green primarily handled point guard duties with Johnson at the 2. Green could project as a point guard at the college level.

At 6'3, with a strong build, Green has great size for a point guard. In addition to that size, he plays a truly calculated game, rarely making mistakes. During the game that I saw, he didn't attempt many shots from the perimeter, but did demonstrate an ability to get into the paint, either scoring himself or distributing the ball to his teammates. Green's game is well-rounded, fundamental, and smart.

For quite some time, Green was considered a lock to attend Villanova. He stated to multiple media sources that Villanova was his clear leader, but over the past year that interest has waned. Many believe that Green would still be Nova's to lose if they started to recruit him heavily again. While Nova was the apparent leader for Green this time last year, another local school is perceived by many to be a frontrunner in his recruitment now. And that school is Temple.

One reason, and a big one, that Temple is considered to possibly have the inside track on Green is his high school coach, Paul Romanczuk. Romanczuk played under Temple head coach Fran Dunphy at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid 1990's. Temple is not alone in their recruitment of Green, however. Saint Joseph's is another local school recruiting the Philadelphia guard. In addition to Nova, Temple, and Saint Joseph's, a number of other schools are interested in Green. Maryland is one of those schools, but they picked up a verbal commitment from 2011 New Jersey point guard Sterling Gibbs, possibly taking them out of the picture. George Mason is another school that has offered Green. A few recruiting websites have mentioned Green taking a visit to Providence over the summer, putting them also in the mix. A wide range of other schools, from Big East to ACC to Big Ten to Atlantic 10 have also expressed interest in Green.

The Hawks and Temple are both local teams with an interest in the crafty guard. It will be extremely interesting to follow the recruiting at both of the Big 5 schools, since a number of top prospects list both programs. In addition to Juan'ya Green, Aaron Brown, Darrun Hilliard, and Devin Coleman are other guards with interest from both schools.

The decision of one of these players could certainly impact the decision of another. It will be interesting to follow over the summer months.

Picture of Juan'ya Green Courtesy of Phillyhoops.net