“20 in 60”: #3 Five New England Preps to Watch in 2012-13

The New England Prep Schools have some of the best high school talent in the country just about every year.  If the Friars are going to have recruiting successes over the next couple of years a major part of that success will be determined on how well they can recruit the New England Prep School players. Several of the PC’s primary targets are at these schools.

Below is a quick run-down of some of the prep schools featuring the primary recruiting targets on PC’s radar.

1.       Brewster Academy

Each year Head Coach Jason Smith brings in some of the best high school talent in the country to the Brewster program.  The 2012-2013 season is no exception, as Brewster will once again have a roster filled with high major prospects.

Providence is heavily recruiting two of these prospects.

Jared Terrell is a 6’4 combo guard who transferred in from New Hampton Prep. Jared has a Big East ready body right now and is a real handful when driving to the basket. At this point in his career Jared is still a streaky shooter, but the times I have seen him he has demonstrated very nice form on his shot.  Jared is ranked 48^th in the ESPN Top 60 for 2014.

The other player PC is recruiting is Ron Patterson, a 6’3 SG who originally committed to Indiana as a member of the 2012 class. He has reclassed to 2013 and decided to do a post-grad year at Brewster when he was not admitted to Indiana. The first thing you notice about Ron is his incredible athletic ability and large wing-span. He looks like he could be a terror on defense in the right program.

Both of these players have said they will be at Late-Night madness, but there are now some reports that Terell will not be coming after all. Local PC fans will be able to catch Brewster in action at the National Prep Invitational at Rhode Island College on Saturday Feb 2^nd against St. Thomas Moore  and Sunday Feb 3^rd against Vermont Academy.

 

2.       Wilbraham & Monson

A very familiar name surfaced at Wilbraham &  Monson this summer when Goodluck Okonoboh,  a 6’9 center, decided to transfer in from Tilton. At the same time he also reclassed to 2014 and switched his AAU affiliation from BABC to Mass Rivals. Okonoboh’s stock had fallen over the last year playing in the shadow of Nerlens Noel  at Tilton and for BABC.

Sometimes change is good and that appears to be the case with Goodluck. While playing for Mass Rivals late in the summer he had some impressive games, particularly defensively. Offensively he is still a work in progress, but the potential in definitely there.

As a result Okonoboh has found his way back into some Top 100 lists for 2014, and is a prime recruiting target for several high major programs. Gooduck recently has listed PC as one of the programs still recruiting him the hardest.

Wilbraham and Monson will be at the National Prep School Invitational on Friday February 1^st against the Canarias Basketball Academy and Saturday February 2^nd against Notre Dame Prep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n38EcX757AM

 

3.       Kimball Union Academy

Abdul Malik Abu, one of PC’s major recruiting targets for 2014, plays for Kimball Union in Meriden NH. A member of the PC staff was at every one of Abu’s AAU games with Expressions this summer watching both Abu and Terrell.  Malik is a 6’8 power forward who seems to be improving every time I see him. He is a very physical player and is a real beast on the boards.  What makes Abu so special is that he is able to combine this physical play with outstanding athletic ability. The past couple of times I have seen him he has continued to show some new low post moves and has noticeably improved his outside shot.  Malik is currently ranked 46th on ESPN’s Top 60 for 2014.

 

4.       New Hampton Prep

New Hampton currently has two players that are very much on PC’s radar. Noah Vonleh is a 6’9 SF-PF who is one of the top players in the country. Most Friar fans already know all about Vonleh. After reclassing to the 2013 class Noah will be very hard to get, as PC is no longer being listed in his top schools by the various recruiting services. At this point, however, I would never count out Coach Cooley when it comes to building relationships with recruits.

The other player on the New Hampton roster that PC is after is Jeremy Miller, a 6’9 PF in the class of 2015. Jeremy already possesses a great outside shot for a 6’9 player but needs to work on his low post skills. When I last saw him at the PC Elite Camp you can tell he is already doing this. Still a young player, Miller could be one of the top players in his class if he continues to improve.

New Hampton will be playing in the Prep School Invitational at RIC on Thursday January 31^st against St. Andrews.

 

5.       Cushing Academy

Cushing Academy also features two players who are being recruited by the Friars. The first is Kaleb Joseph, a 6’3 PG who is also a member of the Mass Rivals AAU team. Joseph had developed into a true point guard and now has several high major programs after him, including  Providence College. Currently ranked 61^st on Scout’s top 100 for 2014, Joseph definitely fits the mold of large point guards that PC seems to be emphasizing in their recruiting.

PC was also one of the first to offer Joseph’s backcourt partner, Jalen Adams, a 6’0 SG who may be one of the best players in New England for the class of 2015 – definitely someone to keep an eye of for the future.

Cushing will also be at the Prep School Invitaional at RIC on Thursday  January 31^st taking on South Kent

These are just some of the prep schools that PC has recruiting targets at this point. In addition you have to remember that recruiting is constantly changing as there is so much talent in the New England Prep schools.

 

Other players at New England Prep Schools that PC is involved with include:

• Donovan Mitchell   6’4  G/F  2015  Canterbury
• Jaquil Taylor   6’8  C/F 2014 Beaver Country Day
• Matt Cimino   6’10  PF 2014 Worcester Academy
• Josh Sharma   6’11  C/F 2015 Northfield Mt. Hermon
• Aaron Falzon   6’7  PF 2015 St. Mark’s  (attending Midnight Madness)
• Alec Brennan   6’10 PF 2014 Milton Academy
• Terrance Mann   6’5 G/F 2015 Tilton School
• Jared Reuter   6’8  C/F  2015 Tabor Academy  (attending Midnight Madness)
• Luis Montero   6’7 G 2015 Wilbraham & Monson
• Andrew Simpson   6’5  G/F  2015 Brimmer and May
• Bonzie Colson   6’5 PF 2014 St Andrew’s
• Henry Bolton   6’1  G 2014 St Andrew’s

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