Recruiting Update

[LXRF]

If that was the highlight of the night then it must have been quite a boring night, no offense to Kevin. 

Kidding aside, congratulations to Kevin and a big thanks to Pat Burke who Kevin will be replacing.

It was an upbeat night with talk of ongoing recruiting in a number of unexpected places.  Congrats to Kevin and Pat steady Ram supporters through the past years.

[ace93]

It was an upbeat night with talk of ongoing recruiting in a number of unexpected places.

Uh-oh, that's going to get 85 going.   

[El Jefe]

Duquesne's Donovan Jack, a 6'9" F from Reading, PA, has been granted a release from his NLOI.  I don't know whether there are conditions on the release regarding other A-10 schools.  I do know that Fordham recruited Jack and that a number of other school forums (St. Bona, GW, Niagara, to name a few) are suggesting their coaches should be on the phone.  Jack reportedly wants to major in physics.  It's a shame we have not yet built that new science facility.    

[fordhamfan24]

Should we be expecting any more signings anytime soon?

[The Grinch]

Just saw this posted by:

Alex Kline‏@TheRecruitScoop

After working out in front of Charlotte, 2013 CIA Bounce (CAN) forward Isaiah Watkins will workout in front of Stanford & Fordham today.


 

[PeterMartin08]

Just saw this posted by:

Alex Kline‏@TheRecruitScoop

After working out in front of Charlotte, 2013 CIA Bounce (CAN) forward Isaiah Watkins will workout in front of Stanford & Fordham today.

yep - top target. high-major ceiling.

[JCMB]

yep - top target. high-major ceiling.

This could be something VERY special.  I found this article from last fall about Watkins.

http://fivestarbasketball.com/commitment-corner/09-16-2011-watkins-latest-big-man-to-draw-interest-at-st-benedict-s-1

[JohnG92]

yep - top target. high-major ceiling.

Now we're talking!

[Ram69]

Duquesne's Donovan Jack, a 6'9" F from Reading, PA, has been granted a release from his NLOI....Jack reportedly wants to major in physics.  It's a shame we have not yet built that new science facility.  

Didn't Jean Prioleau major in physics at Fordham?  It's not a common thing in D-I today to see talented basketball players taking on such a demanding course of study....except for at a few places like Harvard, Stanford, and (maybe) Duke. 

[ace93]

Didn't Jean Prioleau major in physics at Fordham?  It's not a common thing in D-I today to see talented basketball players taking on such a demanding course of study....except for at a few places like Harvard, Stanford, and (maybe) Duke.

Yes, Jean Prioleau was a physics major.  Andrew Nicholson, the soon to be St. Bonaventure graduate, is a physics major as well.

As for Duke, I recall reading a good time back now an article which dealt with the majors chosen by many Duke basketball players and how a very large number of them were Sociology majors.  I can't speak to Harvard or Stanford.  Where did you read/hear that they had basketball players majoring in physics or similar?

[Rich93]

Yes, Jean Prioleau was a physics major.  Andrew Nicholson, the soon to be St. Bonaventure graduate, is a physics major as well.

As for Duke, I recall reading a good time back now an article which dealt with the majors chosen by many Duke basketball players and how a very large number of them were Sociology majors.  I can't speak to Harvard or Stanford.  Where did you read/hear that they had basketball players majoring in physics or similar?

There was an article about Stanford giving all of its athletes lists of easy classes and majors.  I posted it a while back but cannot find it now. 

[El Jefe]

There was an article about Stanford giving all of its athletes lists of easy classes and majors.  I posted it a while back but cannot find it now. 

For an interesting read on graduation rates of major football, basketball and baseball programs, see the annual analysis by a Stanford blog:

http://stanford.scout.com/2/1066657.html

[RAM71]

One time Fordham recruit, Joel Wright, has signed a NLI to Texas State.

I wonder if we play them again next year? 

[Ram69]

Yes, Jean Prioleau was a physics major.  Andrew Nicholson, the soon to be St. Bonaventure graduate, is a physics major as well.

As for Duke, I recall reading a good time back now an article which dealt with the majors chosen by many Duke basketball players and how a very large number of them were Sociology majors.  I can't speak to Harvard or Stanford.  Where did you read/hear that they had basketball players majoring in physics or similar?

Frankly, I'm not sure where (or even if) I heard it.  Maybe it was when Taj Finger was being recruited by Stanford....though, as it turns out, he ended up majoring in communications (like a lot of athletes at less prestigious schools).  I do remember watching pre-game introductions of Duke players, many years ago, and hearing majors cited like molecular biology, chemistry, and pre-med (when the opposing team players all seemed to be majoring in things like "Recreation Management" and "Exercise Science").  But, as I said, that was many years ago, and it seems that a lot of the Duke players now are more likely to be declaring themselves pre-NBA than pre-Med.  That's why my original post said "and (maybe) Duke."  

An old Chaminade buddy of mine, whose father had played for the N.Y. Giants, went to Notre Dame back in the sixties when I was at Fordham.  Back then (maybe today, for all I know) ND had interhall tackle football.  My friend excelled both on his dorm team and the ND interhall all-stars who supposedly played and beat several good D-II schools.  Anyway, my friend was asked by Ara Parseghian to go out for the ND varsity team.  He decided not to, realizing that (good as he was) he'd probably just end up on the "taxi squad."  He also said that, if he had made the team, he would have been the first engineering student to play ND football in over thirty years.  As an Aerospace Engineering major, he once stumbled on a listing of a course in "Astrophysics" that wasn't in the official ND catalogue.  Wondering whether it might be interesting, he checked it out.  It turned out to be a gut course populated almost exclusively by athletes....basically a high-school level "general science" course on planets and such things.    

[ace93]

That ND story does not surprise me, though perhaps that it occurred that long ago does come as a surprise.

I have not looked into Stanford's roster, but according to the Harvard site, of those that are mentioned I counted 3 sociology, 1 economics and 3 psychology. No majors mentioned for the freshmen and sophomores.

[RamFan78]

This could be something VERY special.  I found this article from last fall about Watkins.

http://fivestarbasketball.com/commitment-corner/09-16-2011-watkins-latest-big-man-to-draw-interest-at-st-benedict-s-1

It would be nice to close the deal for once on one of these high potentials. My concern is he is getting more and more attention from bigger programs which decreases our chances.

[Battering Ram]

It would be nice to close the deal for once on one of these high potentials. My concern is he is getting more and more attention from bigger programs which decreases our chances.

yes, it would but I think Watkins is in the class of 2013 so the only thing we can get in the near term is a verbal commitment until the November signing season rolls around.

[Fordham Road]

guy has 40 offers. Likelyhood of coming to fordham= 0%.

[FU85]

     I would be putting more effort into trying to lure Donovan Jack to FU than putting in major time in trying to sign Watkins who has many better offers than FU. Man's got to know his limitations.

[ace93]

     I would be putting more effort into trying to lure Donovan Jack to FU than putting in major time in trying to sign Watkins who has many better offers than FU. Man's got to know his limitations.

There is some debate on the A10 board as to whether Jack would have to sit out a year.  Some say that Willie Moore who was also released by Duquesne wanted to go to Dayton, but is looking elsewhere b/c he does not want to sit out the year the A10 requires when a player is released for an NLI from another A10 school.  Others are saying that rule does not exist anymore.

[85]

Is Pecora planning on doing a one shot recruiting class announcement for this year? I think that's what he did last year as well.  I know Myers had his own little signing conference but nothing has been made public on the other two guys.

[Rich93]

Is Pecora planning on doing a one shot recruiting class announcement for this year? I think that's what he did last year as well.  I know Myers had his own little signing conference but nothing has been made public on the other two guys.

I think that is a safe assumption.  Peter mentioned that Thomas and Leonard signed.  I hope that there is no announcement because we waiting on our 4th guy (Agbeko or someone else) to commit and sign.  For some reason I get the feeling that Agbeko will go to prep school but who knows. 

[ace93]

We tend to do one announcement after the signing period ends.  This year the signing period ends on May 16th.  Someone mentioned a long time ago that there are rules limiting how many announcements you can make.  I'd be curious to see if other announcements people see are ones made by the school or by the athlete.

[In-The-Know]

There is some debate on the A10 board as to whether Jack would have to sit out a year.  Some say that Willie Moore who was also released by Duquesne wanted to go to Dayton, but is looking elsewhere b/c he does not want to sit out the year the A10 requires when a player is released for an NLI from another A10 school.  Others are saying that rule does not exist anymore.

It's a moot point. He's now being recruited by BCS schools and there's the slim chance, as stated by his high school coach he recommitts to the Dukes. you won't see him in the A-10.

[PeterMartin08]

I think that is a safe assumption.  Peter mentioned that Thomas and Leonard signed.

Thomas, Leonard + Jermaine, all signed.

[Rich93]

Thomas, Leonard + Jermaine, all signed.

Did you get a feel for potential other signings for the spring?  seems the most speculation has been about Agbeko, any new information on him or others for 2012? 

[friarsbob]

We tend to do one announcement after the signing period ends.  This year the signing period ends on May 16th.  Someone mentioned a long time ago that there are rules liming how many announcements you can make.  I'd be curious to see if other announcements people see are ones made by the school or by the athlete.

  I talked to coach the other night after his talk and asked why he could not mention Myers by name since we all knew already that he had signed. He said the rules are that you can only announce once; additional announcements are seen as using the signing as an inducement to other prospects to also sign up

[RC74]

That ND story does not surprise me, though perhaps that it occurred that long ago does come as a surprise.

ACE, it's hardly a new development. Haven't you ever seen "Horsefeathers"? Groucho plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College, and Zeppo is his son Frank, who convinces his father to recruit professional football players to help Huxley's team.
And there is a serious class:

[shortshot]

  I talked to coach the other night after his talk and asked why he could not mention Myers by name since we all knew already that he had signed. He said the rules are that you can only announce once; additional announcements are seen as using the signing as an inducement to other prospects to also sign up

Stupid rule probably going back to the days before social media spread through out the internet. If a young man is receiving offers from a program, rest assured he is tracking their other commits for positive and negative impact on his playing time.

[85]

Agreed, fairly otudated rule, especially if you have a video snipet of the kid signing. what is the rule, peopel can only view it once ?