Breaking: Providence in Kaleb Joseph’s Final 3

An already hot summer on the recruiting trail is heating up even more in Friartown. Fresh off of landing a commitment from ESPN’s 32nd ranked player in the class of 2014 in Jalen Lindsey, Providence is one of only three schools remaining in the race for Cushing Academy point guard Kaleb Joseph.

The 6’3 Joseph is a New Hampshire native who has seen his stock explode over the past 14 months. An utter terror off of the bounce, Joseph led Cushing to a NEPSAC Class AA championship this past spring, and has continued his strong play into the summer with his AAU team, the Mass Rivals.

Joseph announced late tonight that he has shortened his list of schools to three: Providence, Syracuse and West Virginia.

This is another example of Providence’s staff relentlessly following a target. Joseph was on campus for Fanfest and the Mal Brown scrimmage in October, Ed Cooley frequented the Cushing campus this year, and throughout the summer Cooley and his assistants have been front and center seemingly everywhere Joseph went.

Joseph took off at Cushing

A commitment from Joseph (#51 nationally per ESPN) would give Providence two early top 60 prospects and send them well on their way to a top 10 recruiting class nationally.

The Friarbasketball.com staff was all over Joseph this season, watching him playing in five events over the past year.

On November 21, Craig Leighton provided a detailed look at Joseph in his Closer Look series. Here are some notes from Craig at the time:

I have seen Joseph play numerous times over the course of the past year at such events as the St. Andrew’s Christmas Tournament, the National Prep Showcase at Rhode Island College, and at the Providence Jamfest. He has continued to impress with his athletic ability, ball-handling skills and desire to facilitate as a playmaker to make his teammates better…

Joseph is going to be one of PC’s primary targets for the 2014 class. His size and style of play will be a perfect fit for Ed Cooley’s system. The Friars have been on him from the beginning and I would be shocked if the PC is not on his final list of three or four schools. Another high character kid, Joseph would make a great addition to the Friar program.

I’d most recently seen him at the Fitzy Games playing for Mass Rivals this spring against BABC where Joseph led a furious comeback. Here’s how I described a spurt he went on:

A Pettway basket gave BABC a 45-32 lead early in the second half, but a tremendous block from Adams seemed to ignite the Rivals.  That’s when Joseph took over.

He scored on three straight possessions (a pair of three throws, a dunk off of a steal and a pretty spin and lay-in) to pull the Rivals within 45-40.  After Adams made a jump shot to make it 47-42, Joseph’s next flurry followed.

Joseph scored the game’s next seven points, highlighted by a fadeaway in which he was fouled and a crossover that I’d labeled “ridiculous” in my notes to give Mass Rivals their first lead since early in the first half with 12:30 to play.

He scored 13 points in under five minutes.  During that span a 12 point deficit became a one point edge, 49-48.

Our staff also provided reports on Joseph from the Hoop Mountain, the St. Andrew’s Christmas Tournament, and the National Prep School Invitational.

In one of the better games of the prep season, we were in attendance for Cushing versus Abdul-Malik Abu and Kimball Union in the NEPSAC semis. Here our highlights from that one.

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Make no mistake, this is a swing recruit for Providence. Cooley could potentially have two huge building blocks in place to sell to fellow 2014 prospects as he rounds out this class. Lindsey was the first domino to fall, the Friars are well positioned with 7’1 center Pascal Chukwu (ESPN’s 58th ranked player in 2014 nationally) and Joseph would give them one of the truly elite point guards in this class.

Providence will explode if Joseph chooses the Friars.

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