Miles, Price Turn Heads in LA

Earlier in the week, I profiled thirteen players in the class of 2012 that were getting recruiting interest from the Hawks. Two players from that list, Baltimore forward Isaiah Miles and Detroit shooting guard Jodan Price, are currently participating in the Nike EYBL event in Los Angeles. Miles plays for Baltimore Elite while Price suits up for The Family. Both players caught the eye of Rivals writer Eric Bossi yesterday.

I recently wrote a feature article on Miles, where one of his high school coaches, Geoff Reed, said that Saint Joseph's was recruiting Miles the hardest at the moment. That is a good thing for Hawk fans, considering the fact that Bossi wrote that "it will be a surprise if the 6'7 rising senior's recruitment doesn't heat up come July." My article on Isaiah can be found here.

Price, a 6'6 shooting guard from Detroit, listed eleven schools yesterday, with both Saint Joseph's and Temple included in the list.

Eric Bossi's recap, including comments on both Miles and Price, can be found here.

Saint Joseph's 2012 Recruiting Targets: Big Men

Yesterday, I took a look at seven players in the class of 2012 that either have interest from the Hawks or have committable offers. Everyone mentioned yesterday was a perimeter player. Today I will look at the big men in the class of 2012 with interest from the Hawks. This list is smaller, but does contain a few noteworthy names.

Devontae Watson: 6'10 center from Lincoln Park High near Pittsburgh. Watson possesses great size at 6'10 and also a 92 inch wingspan. At the moment, his strengths are rebounding and defense, as he is a relative newcomer to the game. I spoke with his high school coach, Mike Bariski, last week. That article can be found here.

Evan Cummins: 6'8 forward from Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts. Cummins has offers and interest from Saint Joseph's, Notre Dame, Stanford, Harvard, Boston University, Davidson, and several other schools. Over the past few months, I have written a number of stories on Cummins. The most recent article, which also profiles teammate Ethan O'Day (who just picked up an SJU offer), is linked here.

Ethan O'Day: 6'8 forward from Northfield Mount Hermon. No, that is not a typo. Ethan is the second player from the same frontcourt with an SJU offer. Lucas Shapiro wrote an article on TheRecruitScoop last week on Ethan, in which Ethan claims to have recently picked up an SJU offer. That article can be found here.

Jaylen Bond: 6'7 forward from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School in Pennsylvania. Jaylen will be doing a prep year at Saint Thomas Moore next year. Jaylen played high school basketball at La Salle Prep, and then at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, with current Saint Joseph's rising sophomore CJ Aiken. Originally a 2011 Pitt signee, Bond has opted to go the prep school route and re-open his recruitment. Since he re-opened, Jaylen has heard from Tennessee, Temple, La Salle, and Saint Joseph's. That list is courtesy of the article from NBE Basketball Report found here.

Donovan Jack: 6'9 forward from Reading Central Catholic (PA). Donovan's name is one that has been on the SJU staff's radar for quite some time. Also a terrific student, the lefty has wide-ranging interest, from Patriot League schools to high-majors. Donovan is getting looks from a number of the Philadelphia schools too, including Temple and Saint Joseph's. Both Coach Martelli and Coach Dunphy have been looking at Donovan since last winter, and both still seem to be looking over a year later.

Blaise Mbargorba: Blaise is a 7-footer who played this past year at Peddie School in New Jersey, after playing the previous season at Saint Benedict's Prep. I have seen Blaise listed at times as a 2011 recruit, and other times as a 2012 recruit. Either way, he is being mentioned here. According to Jay Gomes of NJHoops, the native of Cameroon has offers from Saint Joseph's and Vanderbilt. An article from this past weekend, linked here, has Blaise with interest from West Virginia, Saint Joseph's, Providence, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. The article, written by Dan Martin, provides a detailed look at the type of player that Blaise is and his thoughts on the recruiting process.

With that, the list of 2012 names is at 13. There is a good chance (great chance) that I am also leaving people out. If you know of anyone else getting looks from the Hawks in 2012, please let me know.

Saint Joseph's 2012 Recruiting Targets: Guards and Wings

Over the past few months, I have profiled a number of players in the class of 2012 that have either interest or offers from Saint Joseph's. In an effort to compile names, I have listed below names of interest for Hawk fans. Of course, names will be added to this as the spring AAU season continues. As much as possible, I provided links to other articles, either by me or by other recruiting sites, next to each name.

Today we will look at guards and wings, then tomorrow take a look at the big men.

Guards and Wings:

Dallas Anglin: 6'2 guard from Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey. Anglin recently took an unofficial visit to SJU and holds an offer from the Hawks. An article on that visit from Philahoops.com can be found here.

Lionel Greene: 6'2 guard from City College in Maryland. According to Alex Kline's Twitter, Greene picked up offers from Seton Hall, George Mason, and Saint Joseph's this past week. Greene is an athletic combo guard from Baltimore.

Jodan Price: 6'7 shooting guard from Detroit Country Day (MI). Jodan is a shooting guard out of Detroit that has recently picked up interest from both Saint Joseph's and Temple. According to Ben Weixlmann of HeardThisBlog (here), Price has recently been visited by SJU and Temple assistants, and hopes to visit both Philly schools in June.

Terry Rozier: 5'11 point guard from Shaker Heights High School in Ohio. Rozier has had himself a terrific spring running with All Ohio Red. As a result, he is attracting some serious attention. Saint Joseph's is one of the schools expressing interest. Exactly how much interest on either end isn't known at the moment, at least not to me. Saint Joseph's is a school that Rozier is listing at the moment though. An interview with Rozier, where he mentions SJU, can be found here.

Sheldon Jeter: 6'6 wing guard from Beaver Falls High school in Pittsburgh. Jeter picked up an offer from the Hawks back in February. An article that I did after he picked up his offers from SJU, Temple, and Penn State can be found here.

Michael Ramey: 6'4 shooting guard from Southport High School in Indianapolis. In an interview with Kyle Neddenriep of the Indy Star (here), Ramey listed Ball State, Fordham, and Saint Joseph's as his three favorite schools. He also has recent interest from Nebraska, Clemson, Minnesota, Georgia Tech and others. Ramey shot 52 percent from 3-point range during his junior campaign.

Isaiah Miles: 6'7 small forward from Glenelg Country School just outside of Baltimore. I could have included Isaiah in tomorrow's write-up, but his strengths as a shooter led me to include him here. Isaiah is a player that is receiving a significant amount of attention from the Hawks' coaching staff at the moment. I spoke with one of his high school coaches, Geoff Reed, recently and that article can be found here.

Devontae Watson: A First Look

When you stand a shade over 6’10, it is a challenge going unnoticed. For Devontae Watson, a junior at Lincoln Park High School in Midland, Pennsylvania, the days of going unnoticed, and flying under the radar, are coming to a sudden end. I had the opportunity to speak with Devontae’s high school coach at Lincoln Park, Mike Bariski, yesterday afternoon.

According to his high school coach, Devontae is an evolving player who, like many big men, is a relative newcomer to the game of basketball. He did not even play basketball as a 9th grader, and then transferred into Lincoln Park, where he started as a sophomore. At the moment, Devontae checks in at 6’10 ½ and 195 pounds. In addition to his size, Devontae also possesses a tremendous wingspan of right around 92 inches. According to his coach, Devontae, despite his size, runs the court like a six-footer and jumps with ease.

This athletic ability has made the transition into organized basketball easier for Watson, but his coach maintains that his best days are ahead of him. Shot-blocking and rebounding are Devontae’s strengths at the moment, and his offense is a continual work in progress. Devontae’s go-to move on the offensive end is a jump hook to his right, but his repertoire will continue to expand this off-season and into his senior year.

As mentioned earlier, shot-blocking is one of Devontae’s greatest assets. Lincoln Park took on Philadelphia’s Math, Civics, and Sciences in March for the PIAA Class A championship. In the first half of that game alone, Bariski said that Devontae had nine blocks. In the second half, MCS made adjustments and stopped taking the ball into the paint. Devontae finished that game, a 70-55 loss, with an unofficial tally of 13 points and 13 rebounds.

According to Bariski, his star junior is also a very nice kid. Although he is nice, polite, and respectful, his coach explained that he also has a mean streak. He is not the type of player that will get pushed around and not push back. As a senior this coming season, Devontae will take on more of a leadership role, one that his coach thinks will come naturally.

Although still a newcomer to the game, college coaches are certainly taking notice of Devontae’s potential. At the moment, Devontae has at least six scholarship offers. Four of the scholarship offers are from schools in the Atlantic 10: Saint Joseph’s, Temple, Dayton, and Duquesne. Cleveland State and Robert Morris have also extended Devontae scholarship offers. Akron is another school that may have just offered Devontae. Both Penn State and DePaul are also keeping a close eye on him.

This summer, Devontae is playing AAU ball with the King James Shooting Stars. Two other highly-regarded Pittsburgh-area players, juniors Sheldon Jeter and Tyler Scott, are on the same AAU team. Over the AAU season and summer months, Devontae is likely to continue opening eyes with his athletic play. As his recruitment continues to intensify, and as he looks to take home a state championship next season, you can check back here for updates.

Photo Courtesy of http://duphoops.blogspot.com/

Philadelphia Players Turn Heads at Hoop Group Southern Jam Fest

Over the weekend, the Southern Hoop Group Jam Fest took place at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, Virginia. AAU season is currently in full swing, and the Jam Fest was just one of many high-profile events over the weekend. The folks at Hoop Group do a tremendous job of recapping their events, and while reading over the recaps, I came across a number of familiar names. As anyone who follows high school in the Philadelphia area knows, the area is littered with talented freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. A handful of those talented players got themselves some publicity over the weekend. Their names, and links to the articles, are provided below.

The Team Final 16U team took home the title over the weekend. The team stars Chester sophomore Rondae Jefferson, Princeton Day School (NJ) sophomore guard Davon Reed, Saint Pat's sophomore forward Austin Colbert, and a number of other big-time prospects. The link below details the success that Neumann-Goretti sophomore Johnny Davis had over the weekend. In the article, he claims offers from Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Delaware, as well as interest from Rutgers and Seton Hall.
Johnny Davis Getting Press

Two of the most talented freshmen in the area are, without a doubt, Roman Catholic's Shep Garner and Neumann's Ja'Quan Newton. Garner and Newton both play in the Team Final 15U backcourt together. As the article points out, there are unlikely to be many backcourts in that age bracket with their firepower. That article can be found here.

Another Roman Catholic guard, rising senior Montana Mayfield, also got himself some positive press this weekend, primarily due to a 31-point outburst for his NJABC team. Mayfield talks about his game and recruitment here.

Isaiah Miles: A First Look

Glenelg Country School, located in Howard County, Maryland, has traditionally been better known for its academics than anything else. The college prep school, however, is now garnering attention in basketball circles, and a significant amount of that attention is due to 6'7 junior Isaiah Miles. Earlier today, I had the opportunity to speak with Glenelg assistant coach Geoff Reed about his talented junior forward.

The Baltimore Sun's Matt Bracken, in his article on Miles (here),detailed the attention that he received as an 8th grader making his high school decision. As an 8th grader, Isaiah already had a buzz, and surprised many when he selected to play his high school ball at a school known more for academics, instead of attending one of the Class A powers in the Baltimore area. According to his coach, Isaiah selected Glenelg due to the school's academic reputation and the fact that he could start there on varsity as a freshman.

Since that high school decision, a few years have passed, and the high school junior continues making a name for himself at Glenelg. At the moment, Isaiah stands between 6'7 and 6'8, and weighs in at right around 210 pounds. He has come a long way since entering Glenelg as an extremely lanky freshman. Coach Reed explained that Isaiah takes his sessions in the gym seriously, and is aware that he needs to continue to bulk up in order to reach his potential.

This past season, Glenelg had their best season in school history, going 27-4. With their recent success, they are ready to upgrade to Class A next year, joining traditional powerhouses like Calvert Hall and Saint Frances Academy. While the schedule will certainly be much tougher next year, Glenelg only graduates one senior this year, so they will be ready to face off against their new Class A opponents.

For Glenelg, Isaiah predominately plays the role of a face-up 4. In that role, he is able to operate frequently in the pick-and-pop. This past season, Isaiah connected on a team-leading 46 three-pointers on an impressive 41%. When asked where Isaiah projected at the college level, Reed said that coaches want to utilize his ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter. In order to play fully on the wing in college, Isaiah will need to continue improving his ball-handling skills, which have already come a long way over recent months.

This summer, Isaiah is running with the famed Baltimore Elite program. He has already put in a number of impressive performances this summer, including 15 points in a winning effort over Davon Reed and Rondae Jefferson's Philadelphia-based Team Final.

As would be expected, a number of schools are actively pursuing Isaiah. According to his coach, those schools include South Florida, James Madison, Towson, Saint Joseph's, UMass, Xavier, and West Virginia. Most of his contact with James Madison has been with the school's assistant coaches, and West Virginia sent an assistant to Glenelg this past season to check him out. As a result, Isaiah was invited to West Virginia's upcoming Elite Camp. George Washington was also looking at Isaiah, but that is now up in the air due to the recent firing of head coach Karl Hobbs.

According to Reed, Saint Joseph's is the school most actively recruiting Isaiah at the moment. The point-person for the recruitment has been SJU assistant coach Dave Duda. Over the recent open contact period, SJU head coach Phil Martelli also made several trips down to Maryland to watch Isaiah work out. The visits from the head coach had a positive impact on Miles, who was impressed by the coach's visits.

At the moment, Isaiah is nowhere near ready to make a college decision. When looking at colleges, it should come as no surprise that academics are of great importance. Coach Reed also noted that Isaiah is from a close-knot family, so location could possibly play a role in his ultimate selection. With a strong start to the spring AAU season, interest in Isaiah is likely to only increase. Check back here throughout the summer for updates on Isaiah's play and recruitment.

Photo of Isaiah Miles above courtesy of Maryland.247sports.com