Touring Around the Northeast
We’re getting ready to look at the top high school players in the country after our spring and summer evaluations. But first, it’s time to look at what we’ve received in the mailbag lately, as it’s been a while since we last did so.
Before delving into them, I want to thank those who let me know how much they liked the features on Vermont senior forward Matt Sheftic and Boston College freshman forward Jared Dudley that were done late last season. Both features were enjoyable to do, as all player features are, and these are two good young men and two good stories. I also want to thank those who have passed on information on high school prospects to watch, some of which I will share here.
Boston College’s Move to the ACC
One fan writes about Boston College moving to the ACC. He touched on several points, and I’ll try to look at them all.
“I’m a huge UConn fan and we are all disappointed with the lack of loyalty by BC. I’ve heard that BC alumni are very disappointed over the move. I really think the move is going to backfire on the school. For the students, it’s horrible. For the players, even worse with every game being a flight. No local rivals. Boston is a pro town. I just don’t see it working out at all for BC. Any chance the alumni can get the school to change it’s mind? Or is it too late?”
The first thing to note is that it is too late to change; the Eagles will join for all sports next year.
How will the move turn out? In football it could be tremendous; the Eagles field a competitive program and will be in perhaps the best conference in the country. They won’t contend for a national title, but they remain a fairly consistent bowl team and will occasionally be good enough to crack the top 25 at the end of a season. They will also be doing this in a much stronger conference, as the Big East will likely remain more of a mid-major conference in Division I-A as none of the incoming schools are national powers (although Louisville may be knocking on the door). In baseball it could be very difficult; the ACC is loaded with national powers and the Eagles haven’t made the NCAA Tournament out of a Big East that is not nearly as good.
In basketball, it will be interesting to see how the move ultimately pans out. The fact that Boston is a pro town is meaningless as far as the conference they are in goes. The professional sports focus means that only when the Eagles are doing very well or when a big-time opponent comes to town that rarely plays here (like Duke) will the game be a tough ticket. Moving to the ACC won’t change that, although at first I expect that there will be new interest because the ACC is new and intriguing to the casual sports fan or one who knows little to nothing about college beyond the Boston schools. Teams like North Carolina, Wake Forest and Maryland don’t come to Boston often. The Eagles have only played North Carolina once (when they upset the Tar Heels in the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament), haven’t played Maryland in more than 12 years and Wake Forest in more than 18 years. Also, they have never played Florida State.
Travel is an interesting subject, as the Eagles would not be the only team to have to fly for most/all conference road games. In fact, as some of the conferences spread out more geographically, more teams will face this. UMBC, which joined America East this year, had to fly to every conference road game save for Binghamton, but they did not see a big rise in their travel expenses. Granted, the Eagles’ shortest road trip in the ACC will be to Maryland, but UMBC’s experience should give some idea of what they will see.
But all of this is relatively minor compared to something else – the Big East is not done re-shuffling. The dichotomy between the football schools currently in the conference and the five Catholic schools that either don’t play football at all or don’t play in Division I-A (Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova) is quite large, and sooner or later the Big East will split again along those lines. All in all, the athletic as well as academic reasons made the move to the ACC by far the best move for them to make at this time and for their future.
As far as local rivals go, the Eagles won’t have any in their conference, but that won’t be a problem. Providence will continue to play them every year, at least as long as Tim Welsh is the head coach there, while Boston University and Holy Cross will play them. They also still have the Commonwealth Classic with Massachusetts, which isn’t likely to end anytime soon.
St. Joseph’s Fan Lauds Rhode Island Fans in Big Game
A St. Joseph’s fan sent an e-mail about the terrific matchup in Kingston, Rhode Island between the Hawks and Rhode Island Rams late last season. As you’ll see, he enjoyed the experience, almost as much as I did. He writes:
“I drove up to RI on Saturday morning for the game. It was a great experience that I will long remember. Your fans were tremendous, the facility is fabulous, and you gave our Hawks the kind of test-by-fire that is invaluable as the tournament season approaches.
Some of the away games I have attended this year have had some strange, vile moments due to fan behavior. As SJU’s star rose we became a bigger and bigger target to knock off, but also to abuse in some fans minds.
The RI fans had tremendous class and should continue to be proud of the SJU games at URI over the past two years. I will definitely pencil in a road trip to Kingston on next year’s schedule.”
Basketball has become very big in Rhode Island lately, especially with Jim Baron rebuilding the Rams, the success of Providence and Brown improving under Glen Miller. The Ryan Center has just added to the appeal, and with good reason: it is a tremendous facility and the fans make for a tremendous atmosphere.
What’s Ahead for Rhode Island?
Sticking with the Rams for a moment, Tom, a URI fan, asked about them recently. He writes:
“How is URI recruiting going this year I heard they got a commitment from Bethel is it true would he be a good get who else are they involved with and how are their chances? How good is Jon Lucky?”
URI has a key recruiting year this season, as their roster is dotted with several seniors with an emphasis on the frontcourt. Scott Hazleton, Marcel Momplaisir and Jamaal Wise are seniors, so the Rams will need to add some bodies up front. Adding to that is the Rams getting an early commitment from Jim Baron, Jr., the head coach’s son. The younger Baron, a 6’2″ shooting guard, plays like the son of a coach, with a solid stroke from long range and an old school style of play. As of this writing, he is their only early commitment.
The player he alludes to is Chris Bethel, a 6’5″ combo forward from the strong Bronx (NY) St. Raymond’s program whose head coach has nothing but words of praise for. The Rams were a player in trying to land his services, but he committed to conference rival Fordham about a week before this column.
The Rams are excited about Lucky, and rightly so. Jim Baron said in July that he and classmate Will Daniels had already enrolled and were working hard in the weight room. Lucky should at least play a lot of minutes right away, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he starts even though Baron is all about senior leadership. Lucky will give them a lot of size in the backcourt when he runs the show alongside Dawan Robinson, who could be a Player of the Year candidate in the Atlantic Ten.
DePaul Recruits
John asked about a recent DePaul commitment and one of the Blue Demons’ top remaining targets. (For the record, John does not disclose whether or not he is a Blue Demons fan.) He wants to know what kind of player Jabari Currie is, including which guard position he can and will play, then asks if I have had the chance to observe Rashad Woods.
Currie, a 6’5″ combo guard from Detroit (MI) Persing High School who recently committed to DePaul, has some work to do to play the point, though he certainly has shown some ability. He was among the top seniors in assists at the Reebok ABCD Camp in July and showed that he can get to the basket, made 49% of his shots and had a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio. He did not shoot exceedingly well from long range there, so he’s a scorer with some point guard ability.
Woods was a no-show at the one spring event I expected to see him at. The 6’6″ combo forward from Houston (TX) Westbury High School was with Heritage Christian Academy at the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament last December, offering a look at what he can do. The lefty has a good frame and is a good athlete, and while he didn’t play exceedingly well at the tournament, the potential is certainly there. He didn’t shoot the ball well from long range there and otherwise didn’t put up good numbers, but he’s a high-major/high-major minus prospect.
Dean Smith and the NBA Draft
A while back, Jerry Hollingsworth passed along an article from tarheeldaily.com, entitled Why not open the NBA Draft to all?, which got some interesting thoughts from former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith about the NBA Draft. Smith has an idea that, if nothing else, merits consideration for future action by the NCAA.
His idea: let every college basketball player put himself into consideration for the NBA Draft.
It would require some eligibility rules being amended by the NCAA – things like players being able to have an agent, so long as the agent is gone before classes begin the following year. Those who still don’t want to play college ball can try playing in Europe or the NBDL in the United States. But the basic idea is to let every player try the NBA Draft without consequences.
We will be looking at the subject of the NBA Draft later on, but Smith’s idea is an interesting one to consider.
Tommie Liddell Update
Loyal reader Clark Hightower sent along an update on Tommie Liddell, a fifth-year prep player from the St. Louis area who will be playing at Chatham (VA) Hargrave Military Academy this year.
He notes that Liddell will primarily play both guard positions, even though most list him as a wing forward – and he feels Liddell has been under-recruited due to that perception. Liddell wasn’t a big star at the Reebok ABCD Camp, where he averaged 6.4 points per game and shot just 30% from the floor, but he made the All-Tournament team at the loaded Reebok Big Time Tournament. He has committed to his hometown school, St. Louis.
More on an Up-and-Comer in North Carolina
One player who impressed at the Playaz Spring Fling among the underclassmen was Maurice Marley, a 6’8″ forward who played for new program D-One Sports. Team administrator Chuck Sykes wrote in to tell us that Marley has re-classified to the class of 2008 (he was originally in the class of 2007), and he will be attending powerhouse Trinity Christian School in Fayetteville, NC.
Additionally, Sykes shared that Marley had a great weekend at the Reebok Junior ABCD Camp, and the AAU program placed seventh in the 15-under AAU Nationals. The future is certainly bright for the program overall, and Marley in particular.
