Around the Web: June 22

1. According to Brian Snow of Scout.com, Chicago shooting guard Sterling Brown is planning on visiting Providence at some point.  The Chicago native listed Louisville, Oregon State, Xavier and Illinois among schools he plans on visiting.  Snow notes that Georgia Tech may have an in as Brian Gregory recruited his brother, Shannon Brown, to Michigan State when he was an assistant there.  Scout ranks the 6’4 shooting guard 82nd in the class of 2013.

2. NBE Basketball notes that 6’8, 270 pound Quadri Moore (NJ) has an offer from the Friars.  PC, Seton Hall, Rutgers and Georgetown are among the Big East schools to offer one of the most highly sought-after power plays on the East Coast.

3. While word on Columbian power forward prospect Tony Trocha’s recruitment has been difficult to come by since he failed to get a qualifying score last month, he’s been playing well for Columbia at the u-18 championship (Kris Dunn was a late cut for the Americans after he injured his shoulder).  Trocha has struggled offensively, but had 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks versus Puerto Rico and 24 points and 10 boards against Mexico.

Playing for a struggling Columbia squad, Trocha has often misfired from the floor, but had been averaging over 4 blocks per game at last check.  There is still no word on whether he’s close to qualifying for 2012.

5. Sports Illustrated’s Luke Wynn checks in with an interesting piece on recruit Khadeem Lattin and his decision to head to Spain to play for Canarias Academy this past season.  The 2014 prospect made the decision after visiting Europe with his AAU team – a decision that has been met with scrutiny from a variety of corners, including his own family.

In a world of generic pieces on young prospects, Wynn’s article is an insightful look into the development of players in the United States and overseas, while examining the different places where pressure comes for these young kids.

For followers of the prep scene, Canarais Academy is a familiar program, as they travel throughout America to play the top prep teams and have landed a number of players into high major programs over the past couple years.  Wynn notes that the NCAA is looking into the academic practices of the Academy.

6. Props to the Pawtucket Times’ Brendan McGair for digging out information about Kiwi Gardner’s status this week.  Ed Cooley told McGair that Gardner is scheduled to be back on campus this week and said he hoped a roster that has been in flux for a while will be settled by July 1.

Gardner and point guard recruit Ian Baker are two of the big question marks at this point, as Baker has yet to sign a letter of intent and has reportedly suffered a knee injury that could jeopardize his season.

With the status of Arizona transfer Sidiki Johnson called into question this week (Snow reported on Providence’s Scout board that Johnson was leaving PC for Iona earlier in the week) there are a lot of questions to be answered in a short amount of time if things are to be sorted by the beginning of July.

How the roster shakes out could play a factor in where Rhode Island transfer Billy Baron winds up, as the son of the former Rams head coach is said to be transferring to one of Providence, Purdue, or Canisius where his father landed after being fired from URI.

Baron should be eligible immediately, as the NCAA granted Trey Ziegler a waiver to play for Pittsburgh right away after his father was fired from Central Michigan this spring, and Baron would provide a level of experience and maturity that has been lacking from Providence’s bench in recent seasons.

It’s been quite a journey for Baron who initially verballed to URI before changing his mind and going to Virginia, only to transfer home to Rhode Island during his freshman season.  After sitting out the first semester a season ago, Baron found his footing in his fourth game for the Rams, scoring 24 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in a double overtime win over Boston College.

He scored at least 14 points in each of the next four games (including 22 on 4-9 from 3 versus Fordham) and went on to produce against some of the best of the A-10, scoring 22 against Xavier and 25 on Dayton (7-8 FT, 4-5 3s).  He scored at least 22 points five times and ended the year averaging 13 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

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