Recruiting Update

[B2Bomber]

Just wondering how recruiting at Fordham is affected (if at all) by the circus going on regarding Frank's departure and Gray's Anatomy...oops...sorry, couldnt resist.

[ram it 66]

Word from Draddy is that Tuckahoe all-star Sky Williams
will be attending Manhattan College in the Bronx this fall.
He was a huge scorer for the Tigers.

[FU85]

Ram it 66
     Saw him play but did not think he was a Maac player, probably a good d2 player but it will certainly be a step up from the comp he played at in section 1 class c.

[RAM71]

Word from Draddy is that Tuckahoe all-star Sky Williams
will be attending Manhattan College in the Bronx this fall.
He was a huge scorer for the Tigers.

As a walk-on, correct?

[rambacker]

Fordham has offered developing 6' 7" Wing Terry Larrier from JFK High School in the Bronx, who has recently transferred to Our Savior New American. I posted on him here a while ago.  He's a strong defender, good shooter and a slasher that can rebound, and is Class of 2013.  He also has offers from Drexel, Monmouth, Siena, and a few other schools.

[VTRAM]

I know a lot of names have been mentioned for our last remaining scholarship for next year but have we shown any interest in the player below:

10   John Powell   6'7"   PF   Brimmer and May

Tenth ranked player in a very deep Mass 2013 class and plays with Jake Fay. Seems like he would be a very nice piece

[71]

Fordham has offered developing 6' 7" Wing Terry Larrier from JFK High School in the Bronx, who has recently transferred to Our Savior New American. I posted on him here a while ago.  He's a strong defender, good shooter and a slasher that can rebound, and is Class of 2013.  He also has offers from Drexel, Monmouth, Siena, and a few other schools.

"Developing" in skill or size (or both)?

[Stringer Bell]

I think we have way too many Brimmer & May players already.

[ram it 66]

As a walk-on, correct?

Yep, Sky Williams is called a "preferred walk-on."

[rambacker]

"Developing" in skill or size (or both)?

In skill.

[VTRAM]

I think we have way too many Brimmer & May players already.

I thought that as well and you could say that the fact that they get killed each year on the Prep school circuit means that the level of player is a cut below. That being said I want to see how they do this year with Fay and this Kid as Seniors who are both currently Top 15 players in mass.

[ace93]

Let's recruit one other guy from Brimmer & May the following year so that by the time Canty is a senior we can have a starting line-up of all B&M guys.   

[85]

And........thank you for your support....oh wait that's Bartles & James....never mind

[El Jefe]

BU granted a release today to Jake O'Brien, a 6'9", 220 lb. forward who played at BC HS.  O'Brien scored 1,000+ pts for BU during his first three seasons, and sat out last year due to injury.  He has one more year of eligibility left and, because BU is moving to the Patriot League, is eligible immediately.  I believe Fordham has one scholarship open if they want to rent a player for a year.  I am curious to know whether the Rams might be interested.     

http://www.goterriers.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/obrien_jake00.html

[ace93]

Why does their move to the PL make him eligible immediately?  Their move is effective 2013-14 which makes it even less clear to me. 

[El Jefe]

Why does their move to the PL make him eligible immediately?

Sorry, I should have clarified.  They are moving from the America East, which has stated that BU is ineligible for their tournament championship.  CBSSportsline (link below) indicates he would be eligible immediately due to the post-season ban.  Although the article mentions UConn is in a similar position, the situations are slightly different.  It may be possible that BU could make the NCAA tournament despite not playing in the America East conference tournament.  In that case, the CBS reporter would be wrong. 

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/19564213/boston-university-star-forward-transferring-out

P.S.  The Boston Herald reports that O'Brien has already graduated and is eligible immediately.  NOt sure if it is because BU cannot play in the conf tournament or because he can transfer to any school having a graduate program not offered by BU. 

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/high_school/?p=5091&srvc=sports&position=recent_bullet

[T1L]

BU granted a release today to Jake O'Brien, a 6'9", 220 lb. forward who played at BC HS.  O'Brien scored 1,000+ pts for BU during his first three seasons, and sat out last year due to injury.  He has one more year of eligibility left and, because BU is moving to the Patriot League, is eligible immediately.  I believe Fordham has one scholarship open if they want to rent a player for a year.  I am curious to know whether the Rams might be interested.     

http://www.goterriers.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/obrien_jake00.html

Question isn't if Fordham would be interested in O'Brien, but if he has any interest in us. If his reason for leaving is because BU won't be eligible for their conference autobid and thus his chances of going to the tourney are slim, coming to Fordham isn't likely to fix that problem.

[97Ram]

Don't know anything about him but his stats suggest he'd be the best shooter on the team if he came here.  I say go get him. 

[ace93]

P.S.  The Boston Herald reports that O'Brien has already graduated and is eligible immediately.  NOt sure if it is because BU cannot play in the conf tournament or because he can transfer to any school having a graduate program not offered by BU. 

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/high_school/?p=5091&srvc=sports&position=recent_bullet

I suspect it's the latter because technically they are still eligible for the post-season. Coming from a school like BU it will be tougher to find grad programs elsewhere that BU does not offer.

[The Grinch]

Alex Kline‏@TheRecruitScoop

Fordham has offered 2013 wing Spencer Weisz of Sports U

[joeb]

ALL-ESSEX COUNTY
FIRST TEAM
Spencer Weisz, Seton Hall Prep, 6-5, 195, Jr.
Well-rounded player who started all 29 games this season and will bring back much-needed experience next year. Averaged 12.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and two steals for first-year head coach Kevin Williams.

[rambacker]

More:  http://www.sportsuallstars.com/16usummer.htm

and a photo:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://o2.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/600x450/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/88c7f30e2f474e14d2c7495005de4cbd&imgrefurl=http://bloomfield.patch.com/articles/third-seeded-bengals-fall-to-university&h=450&w=497&sz=71&tbnid=QswjxwXyqufPHM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=102&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dspencer%2Bweisz%2Bphotos%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=spencer+weisz+photos&usg=__AfonsE0U4ZUnL13Zr9P_kOXrB5k=&docid=62xgAxsNa0L6IM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RUr_T_7IDOmN0QHXj4GLBw&sqi=2&ved=0CGwQ9QEwDA&dur=687

[joea]

And yet more

2013 swingman Spencer Weisz (Seton Hall Prep, NJ) is another Sports U player with D1 offers, and he holds seven at the present time. Weisz claims verbal offers from Yale, Penn, Brown, Colgate, Holy Cross, New Hampshire, and UMBC, to go along with interest from Princeton, Fairfield, Davidson, and James Madison. He’s taken unofficial visits to Yale, Penn, Colgate, and Princeton, and says that academics and a family-oriented coaching staff are at the top of his priority list.

Here is an interesting link to an Academic Elite recruiting site

http://hoopgroup.com/elite-camp-updates/recruiting-trail-notebook-academic-elite-1/

[El Jefe]

Melvin Johnson, a 6'3" SG from the Bronx, has been released by Miami.  Because he had not yet enrolled in classes, I have read that he would be eligible to play in 2012-13.  He is a former Rice HS and St. Benedict's standout who is rated 92 by ESPN.  Rambacker reported that Fordham was interested in him before he signed with Miami in September 2011.  He also had had offers from Va Tech and Xavier, among others.  Given the late stage of the year, with classes a month away, he will have to choose quickly.  Although we seem to be set at the guard position, he might be an improvment over what we have currently.

[LXRF]

Melvin Johnson, a 6'3" SG from the Bronx, has been released by Miami.  Because he had not yet enrolled in classes, I have read that he would be eligible to play in 2012-13.  He is a former Rice HS and St. Benedict's standout who is rated 92 by ESPN.  Rambacker reported that Fordham was interested in him before he signed with Miami in September 2011.  He also had had offers from Va Tech and Xavier, among others.  Given the late stage of the year, with classes a month away, he will have to choose quickly.  Although we seem to be set at the guard position, he might be an improvment over what we have currently.

El J, Why was Johnson released by Miami?  Might be relevent for us to know.

[El Jefe]

El J, Why was Johnson released by Miami?  Might be relevent for us to know.

Unclear.  From the NY Post:

Former St. Benedict’s Prep star and Bronx native Melvin Johnson has asked and received his release from his National Letter of Intent with Miami, The Post has learned.

One the nation’s top shooters, the 6-foot-2 Johnson parted ways with Miami, “for mutual reasons,” his mother Kizzy Gladden said.

“It was because of circumstances beyond our control,” she told The Post, declining to elaborate. He has been cleared by the NCAA’s Clearinghouse, Gladden said.

Johnson, she said, has two remaining official visits left, which he plans to take. In September, the former Rice standout picked Miami over Virginia Tech, Georgetown, South Florida, Dayton and the College of Charleston. A four-star recruit by Scout.com ranked as the No. 14 shooting guard in the Class of 2013, he led St. Benedict’s to a 35-3 season and it finished 15th in the USA Today national rankings.

Former St. Benedict's Prep star Melvin Johnson.was given his release by Miami on Wednesday. “We want it [done] as soon as possible,” Gladden said. “Classes start in a month. I’m hoping the next week, week and a half. We don’t want to make a circus out of it.”

“I didn’t want to go through the process again,” she added. “It’s rough. It’s hard for me and him. But I see everything happens for a reason.”

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_school/basketball/bronx_product_johnson_asks_for_and_C2X20VV7U7cfg02EsTd9oK?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Basketball

[El Jefe]

Zagsblog reports that Melvin Johnson may have had a problem with test scores.  His H.S. coach, Mark Taylor of St. Ben's, reportedly states that is is fully qualified.  I read elsewhere that Miami may have wanted him to red shirt and he was unwilling.  In any event, he is a top 100 player looking for a landing zone.

[85]

As we know Mark Taylor played for us.......

[Rich93]

This is a classic case of nothing to lose.  If we were to bring him in and he does not qualify no big deal we are not depending on him.  If he does qualify then we have a another guard for our 3 guard offense who is a top 100 talent.  It would make the back court more crowded but if he is that good you bring him in and deal with it.  Of course Pecora may decide the he likes our back court as it is and does not want to change anything.  His call but it is an interesting decision. 

[rambacker]

This would make for a very crowded backcourt.  Bryan Smith is very much like him, although he is a big-time shooter/scorer.  I believe we offered him.