August 18th Odds and Ends

-News broke yesterday, the 17th, that Saint Joseph's incoming freshman CJ Aiken got the OK from the NCAA Clearinghouse, and will be able to suit up this year for the Hawks. Aiken is generally considered the "prize recruit" in the 2010 recruiting haul for the Hawks. Over the past several months, a number of people, primarily fans of rival schools, have questioned whether Aiken would be eligible to play this coming season. Those questions have now been answered, and Aiken will bring his athleticism (on display in this video) to SJU this year.

-Last week, I wrote about rising Indiana junior Michael Ramey. Ramey is scheduled to take an unofficial visit to Saint Joseph's, but no date has been set. I was able to find out some more about Ramey yesterday from Indianapolis Star sports reporter Kyle Neddenriep. Although Kyle was uncertain as to when Michael Ramey would make his unofficial visits to SJU, Wyoming, and William and Mary, he said that he was told that Ramey's college decision could come before his upcoming basketball season began. As for his game, Neddenriep said that Ramey's "range is unlimited" and "he can shoot from anywhere." In addition to his perimeter game, Neddenriep also noted that he demonstrated an improved mid-range game this summer. He also told me that Ramey is more athletic than he is given credit for, but needs some work in becoming a better defensive player.

-ESPN released their Atlantic 10 Summer Shootaround today. Clicking here will take you to the homepage. In their team capsule on the Hawks, the folks at ESPN had this to say:


Saint Joseph's: First the bad news for the Hawks: Leading scorers Darrin Govens and Garrett Williamson have graduated. Now the good news: C.J. Aiken, Daryus Quarles and Langston Galloway (who looked at LSU, Stanford and Oklahoma State before joining his uncle, Saint Joe's assistant coach Geoff Arnold) are on campus. The freshman trio forms one of the best recruiting classes Phil Martelli has had in years and ought to help the Hawks get out of their sub-.500 blues.

In their segment on best and worst case scenarios, they had this to say:

Best case: It all depends on the incoming class. C.J. Aiken, Daryus Quarles and Langston Galloway make up the best class Phil Martelli has had since, well, you know. If all three live up to their hype, St. Joe's could vastly improve on its recent slide into 20-loss territory.

Worst case: The incoming class takes a year to congeal (as so many do), and the talented youngsters aren't good enough to make up for the loss of leading scorers Darrin Govens and Garrett Williamson. Either way, St. Joe's should improve, but if this worst case plays out, that improvement won't have anyone recalling the 2003-04 Elite Eight run anytime soon.

Not the most insightful or detailed breakdown, but it's nice to hear what the national media has to say about the Hawks. One glaring flaw in their analysis is the mention of the Hawks tremendous three-player recruiting class. If it was a three-man class, it would be a very good one. ESPN forgot to mention two incoming freshmen, Ronald Roberts and Pat Swilling Jr. To be fair, both players did sign with SJU late in the recruiting process. Still, both will be major contributors on Hawk Hill from day one, and certainly deserve a mention.