Quick Hit Thoughts on Recruiting

Some quick hitters as the July live period winds down.

1. USC landed a verbal from 6’0 combo guard Khalil Dukes this weekend after the Hartford native exploded for a pair of 40+ point games at the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas this week (topping out at 48 points).  Dukes is more scoring guard than lead guard, but has emerged into one of the more explosive scorers in the country this summer.  His size may have caused Big East teams to shy away, but Providence had been in contact over the past few months.  USC was the first high major to offer and had pursued him aggressively for weeks.

2. Malik Abdul Abu, the class of 2014 power forward, has enjoyed a breakout AAU season for the emerging Expressions Elite.  Adam Zagoria reported this week that Expressions coach Ty Boswell noted that Ed Cooley is pursuing Abu and top 50 teammate Jared Terrell more aggressively than any other head coach.

Abu is a wide-shouldered power forward out of Marblehead, MA who plays for Kimball Union in New Hampshire in NEPSAC’s Class AA.  The league, long dominated by Tilton, should be more wide open this season.  St. Mark’s, led by Nik Stauskas (Michigan) and Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona) stopped the Rams four year championship run this spring, but with both St. Mark’s stars departing, along with Nerlens Noel and Georges Niang from Tilton, there will be an opportunity for an upstart to emerge.  Could that team be a Abu-led Kimball Union?

The 6’8 power forward will only see his stock continue to rise, and he’s already received offers from elite programs like Michigan State.  His name was barely on the national map three months ago, but that has changed after such a solid summer.  A 26 point, 15 rebound effort this week won’t hurt that stock.

3. No one has been more on top of the recruitment of Boston University transfer than Chris Disano of collegechalktalk.com.  He tweeted Sunday that O’Brien was very impressed with Providence after visiting this weekend and took to the staff’s pitch of playing time as a stretch four.

Disano noted earlier that Temple would be difficult to beat in this race, and he still has a visit to Virginia upcoming this week.

O’Brien would be a no-brainer for the Friars at this stage.  Simply put, Providence needs more players in the frontcourt with experience and a feel for the game.  Inconsistency has hampered PC’s frontcourt for years.

4. Providence has also offered Expressions power forward Alec Brennan out of Milton Academy.  Brennen is a skilled, 6’10 2014 prospect who has a great touch for a young big man.  Here is a workout video from this spring:

The 2014 class could be a huge one for the Friars.

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