Andrew Nicholas to Monmouth

Earlier this afternoon, 6'6 Eastern York High School senior Andrew Nicholas verbally committed to the Monmouth Hawks. Nicholas, who originally committed to Rutgers last summer when Fred Hill was at the helm, was apparently close to pulling the trigger to Saint Joseph's earlier this summer. At one point, Nicholas claimed to narrow his list of schools down to Saint Joseph's and Penn State. Shortly thereafter, both schools seemed to back off the talented lefty.

Nicholas is not the only player from his high school to commit to Monmouth today. According to Adam Zagoria, in the article linked below, Austin Tollitson, a 6'1 point guard from Easter York, also committed to Monmouth.

Andrew Nicholas seemed destined to be a Hawk earlier this summer. Well, today he signed with the Hawks. To the surprise of many, it was Monmouth, not Saint Joseph's. SJU does appear to be in the market for a sniper in the 2011 class, and I will provide you with names as I hear them.

Zagsblog- Nicholas to Monmouth

Indiana Junior to Visit SJU

Indiana has long been a hotbed of basketball talent. In fact, the 2012 recruiting class in the Hoosier state is considered to be one of the best in the nation. One player from Indiana that seems to have caught the eye of the Saint Joseph's coaching staff is 6'5 Southport guard Michael Ramey. The Hawks have shown interest in Ramey for quite some time. In March, according to an Indystar.com article, coaches from Saint Joseph's and Arizona State visited Southport to evaluate both Ramey and 2012 guard Kellon Thomas. A number of other schools are in the mix for the talented guard, and Ramey has apparently scheduled visits to three of them.

According to IndyStar.com's Twitter , Ramey has unofficial visits now scheduled for Saint Joseph's, Wyoming, and William and Mary. At the moment, most of Ramey's offers are coming from mid-majors, but he has the attention of a number of high-majors. Big Ten schools Indiana and Michigan are among the schools keeping tabs on Ramey.

Michael Ramey Video Clip

Photo Above Courtesy of Rivals.com

Index of Articles on Chris Wilson Signing

As numerous sites began indicating yesterday morning, Saint Joseph's did in fact get their first verbal commitment in the 2011 recruiting class. The commitment came from Terry Sanford High (NC) point guard Chris Wilson, who plays his AAU basketball with the powerful CP3 squad. Yesterday came the reports that Wilson signed, and today came the newspaper articles. Below I have linked a number of articles on the signing.

Fay Observer Article on Chris Wilson

Ray Parillo Article- Philadelphia Inquirer

Dick Jerardi Article

ESPN Blurb on Wilson's Signing

In the ESPN article above, they have Chris evaluated as a 90 using their grading system, and ranked as the 39th best point guard in the nation in his class.

In the Dick Jerardi article linked above, he mentions that the Hawks have two remaining scholarships for the 2011 class, and one of the top priorities is a lockdown shooter. Who that shooter is remains to be seen, as the Hawks are no longer actively recruiting former Rutgers commit Andrew Nicholas.

Stay tuned for further updates on the Chris Wilson signing as well as any information on new recruiting targets.

Reports: Chris Wilson is a Hawk

According to Evan Daniels of Scout.com, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com, and the CP3 AAU team's Twitter page, Sanford High School senior Chris Wilson is Saint Joseph's first signing in the class of 2011. I generally don't like to post news like this without multiple sites reporting it, but this story sounds legitimate to me.

For the past year, Wilson has been considered one of, if not the top, point guard target of the Saint Joseph's coaching staff. At 6'2, Wilson is a strong true point guard. While so many guards today are combination guards, Wilson sounds like he is in the mold of a true pass-first point guard. After signing one of the best recruiting classes in school history in 2010, the SJU coaching staff knew that it needed to find itself a true point guard in 2011. Aside from Chris Wilson, they were looking at Elijah Carter, Juan'ya Green, Devin Coleman, and a few others. If these reports are true, the staff found their man in 2011.

Wilson announced a few days ago that he had a top 5 list of schools, featuring Boston College, Old Dominion, Clemson, Stanford, and Saint Joseph's. It sounds like Wilson knew at the time where he would be playing his college basketball.

Check back throughout the day as more news and information leaks out on this signing.

Evan Daniels Twitter

Zagsblog Twitter

CP3 Twitter

Photo Above Courtesy of Scout.com

Darrun Hilliard is the Newest Villanova Wildcat

Late Tuesday afternoon, reports began to surface that Liberty High School senior Darrun Hilliard had made his college decision. At a 5 o'clock news conference at his high school on Wednesday, Hilliard made the announcement. The talented guard will be playing his college basketball in the Big East conference, for Jay Wright at the Villanova Wildcats.

Entering the summer, Hilliard was already receiving significant recruiting interest. Temple and Saint Joseph's both offered the 6'5 guard during his high school season. Hilliard also took in the Saint Joseph's home game against Dayton this season. Hilliard is the fourth local 2011 recruit to choose a Big East school. John Johnson (Pitt), Jaylen Bond (Pitt), Aaron Brown (Pitt), and now Darrun Hilliard will all see each other in two years in Big East conference play. In the end, Hilliard chose Villanova over "Iowa, Michigan, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, and Boston College," according to Groller's Corner Blog .

I got the opportunity to watch Hilliard's high school, Liberty, take on Penn Wood in the state playoffs this past winter. In the game, that Penn Wood won en route to a birth in the state championship game, Hilliard was arguably the best player on the court. While Penn Wood boasted a number of Division 1 prospects, including Penn State football commitment Shawn Oakman, West Virginia-bound senior Aaron Brown, and Hartford-bound Tyree Johnson, it was Hilliard that most impressed. In the game, Hilliard showed an ability to knock down shots from three, while also getting to the rim with ease. At the rim, Darrun is able to finish with both hands.

Hilliard joins a recruiting class that includes guards Tyrone Johnson, Ashcraf Yacoubou, and big man Markus Kennedy.

Photo Above Courtesy of Lehigh Valley Live

Evan Cummins Making a Name for Himself

It happens every summer on the AAU circuit. High school players that have flown relatively under the radar during their high school seasons suddenly attract the attention of college coaches. One player from the Northeast that has caught the eyes of many college coaches is Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) rising junior Evan Cummins.

Northfield Mount Hermon is one of the more recognizable names in the world of high school basketball. Last season, 8 graduates of Northfield Mount Hermon played college ball in the Ivy League. 24 NMH graduates played Division 1 college basketball last year. With numbers like that, it's clear that NMH head coach John Carroll and the teachers at the high school have their students prepared for college.

Head coach John Carroll was nice enough to break down Evan Cummins' game and recruitment for me yesterday. According to Carroll, Evan has played his way to roughly a dozen scholarship offers. Saint Joseph's is one of the schools to extend an offer to Evan, along with Providence, UMass, Boston University, Florida Atlantic, and several others. In addition, Evan is currently hearing from other schools in the PAC-10, Big East, ACC, Atlantic 10, and Ivy League conferences.

This summer, Evan played on the NE Playaz AAU team. The 6'8 forward is "very athletic with tremendous defensive ability," according to his high school coach. John Carroll went on to say that Evan is a "tremendous passer for his position" and "an elite player in transition on both ends of the floor."

Evan is clearly a talented player on the court, and according to his coach a terrific student. It looks like Evan will have plenty of choices when it comes time for him to make a college decision. He is certainly a player that coaches will continue to keep tabs on.

Photo of Evan Cummins courtesy of NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com

Dayton Signs First 2011 Recruit; Randall to Rutgers

Now that the July Open Evaluation Period has ended, many rising high school seniors are aware that their time to make an impression on college coaches has come to an end. As a result, a number of highly regarded players have made their college choice in the past 48 hours. Locally, North Jersey post player Derrick Randall, who saw lots of early recruiting interest from the Saint Joseph's, made a verbal commitment to Mike Rice and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Over the past month, Rutgers has been considered the frontrunner for Randall, with Virginia Tech also heavily in the mix. Randall, who played at Paterson (NJ) Catholic last year, is considered more of a defensive and rebounding presence right now, with his offense still coming along.

In the Atlantic 10, the Dayton Flyers received a big commitment on Sunday. Percy Gibson, a 6'8 power forward from Detroit, chose Dayton over schools such as Temple, USC, and Minnesota. Dayton was one of the Atlantic 10 schools that inked a tremendous 2010 recruiting class. Dayton, along with Xavier and Saint Joseph's, signed what many people considered to be top 25 caliber classes. Gibson's signing puts Dayton off on the right foot in the 2011 class. With names starting to drop off the board, and the month of July now over, the next couple of weeks could be interesting.