June 13th Odds and Ends

Nothing new from me today, but there is info floating around on other sites about some SJU recruiting targets. A number of the names belong to 2013 players. On that front, this Wednesday, the 15th, is the first day that college coaches are permitted to call players from the 2013 class. It is likely that a number of names mentioned below will be getting calls from the Saint Joseph's coaches.

This past weekend, the Nike Elite 100 took place at Saint Louis University. One of the players that caught the eye of ESPN.com's Dave Telep and John Stovall was Union, New Jersey forward Tyler Roberson. Roberson is a 6'7 combo forward in the class of 2013 who already owns a scholarship offer from the Hawks. You can read what Telep and Stovall wrote about Roberson here.

Locally, the biggest event of the weekend was the Rumble in the Bronx. Once again, the event featured a loaded field including a number of teams from Philadelphia and New Jersey. ESPN was also on hand to cover that event. Adam Finkelstein was on hand on behalf of ESPN and has a terrific recap here. 2012 center Blaise Mbargorba, who currently holds offers from the Hawks, Temple, and Vanderbilt, has made "huge strides in the past year" according to Finkelstein. Blaise is one of the big men that the staff has targeted in the 2012 class. Marcus Gilbert, Charles Cooke, Ja'Quan Newton, Miles Overton, and Villanova signee Savon Goodman also get written up.

According to Alex Kline of TheRecruitScoop, Saint Joseph's will get an unofficial visit from 2013 Saint Anthony (NJ) guard Halice Cooke tomorrow. Cooke is a 6'2 shooting guard who played sparingly on a Saint Anthony team that finished the year ranked number one nationally.

Brian Bosworth of NBE Basketball Report has a write-up of 2012 New York wing Jeffland Neverson. Neverson's name has been linked with the Hawks for quite some time, and the Hawks pop up again in this article. Neverson is a 6'5 wing who, according to Bosworth, showed an ability to play the 2 guard this weekend at the Rumble in the Bronx. That article, which breaks down Neverson's game and school list, can be found here.

Finally, last Thursday night, the annual Rasual Butler All-City Classic took place. The event features a freshman, sophomore, and junior game. Alex Schwartz has an article up on the NBE Basketball Report site, which breaks down the games. One of the Hawks top targets in the class of 2013, point guard Rysheed Jordan, gives his school list. As does Chester forward Rondae Jefferson. Both players mention the Hawks. That article 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.

Hawks Close to Offering 7-Footer

According to Alex Kline of TheRecruitScoop, Saint Joseph's is close to offering a scholarship to Peddie (NJ) center Blaise Mbargorba. In the tweet, Alex lists Blaise as a 2012 recruit, but most other online publications have him as a senior and 2011 player.

The 7-footer played last season at North Jersey power Saint Benedict's before transferring this year to Peddie School. Last year at Saint Benedict's, Blaise didn't see too much action, playing behind a number of high-major guys. He then transferred to a Peddie team that really struggled during the 2010-2011 season.

Due to his size and competitive nature, many high-major schools have been tracking Blaise over the past two years. The center is a native of Cameroon, only moving to the States in high school.

His ESPN evaluation has this to say:

"Mbargorba is a definite project, but one who has clear potential. Very few players of his size can match his mobility and high motor, and while he needs to get stronger in his upper body and drastically improve his skill level and basketball feel for the game, those are all things that can be accomplished with hard work and experience."

That evaluation can be found here .