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Here and There in Friartown

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News, notes, and opinions on PC basketball (and other topics) while waiting for that next big man to sign on the dotted line.

  • Let’s see. In March the Friars were the fifth tallest team in the country out of more than 350 division one programs. What on Earth happened?
  • The NCAA Notice of Allegations on the University of North Carolina has been posted and there are five Level One Violations (the worst kind) listed, including a lack of institutional control. If the NCAA really wants to punish the Tarheels, they should make them ineligible for the post season in 2017. Having them ineligible in 2016 would only hurt the current players on the roster who have done nothing wrong. Moving the postseason ban to 2017 would give everyone a chance to make other plans and would result in the program being punished, not the players.
  • The recruiting of Paschal Chukwu after he decided to transfer has been fascinating. I have never seen the fan bases of the Blue Blood schools get so excited over a player who averaged 2.6 points per game last year.
  • Chukwu visited Kansas this week even though the Jayhawks just gave out their last two available scholarships over the last 10 days. If I was Paschal I would be a little concerned with how badly Kansas really wanted you if they didn’t save a scholarship.
  • It used to be that when a very good high school player committed to PC I would get excited over being able to watch their progress over their four year career with the Friars. Those days are gone. Now I am thrilled if they are here for more than two years.
  • It was announced today that Rysheed Jordan’s career at St. John’s is over and he is going pro. I think this is a case of a kid who decided partway through the season that he was going pro and shut down his academics. When he later on decided it may be a mistake turning pro it was too late to get his academics back in order. It’s a shame.
  • I have really not seen LaDontae Henton’s name associated with any of the workouts that NBA teams are having. I sure hope some teams give him a shot.
  • John Carlos Reyes, a 6’10 shot blocking center from Georgia, is scheduled to visit PC this weekend. No inside information, but I would not be surprised if we hear some good news very quickly on Reyes.
  • The last thing in the world Brandon Austin needed was an article written about him not getting another opportunity at a high major school. In your situation, Brandon, silence is golden.
  • I am not as concerned as others are about the decline in recruiting in the Big East Conference this year. They only have five top 100 players committed for the 2015 class after having averaged 10 top 100 players over the prior four years. Programs like Villanova, Marquette, St. John’s, Georgetown, and the Friars will continue to bring in their share of top talent. Everyone has to remember there are only 10 schools recruiting players in the new Big East as opposed to 15 or 16 teams in the old Big East. The only school that is really a concern on the recruiting front is DePaul and hopefully their new arena will help them keep some of the local Chicago talent at home.
  • The one Friar that fans may be overlooking for next year is Kyron Cartwright. I can see him improving a lot and having a very good season next year.

4 Comments

  1. Ed Paluch

    June 6, 2015 at 12:29 am

    Agree on all points Craig!

  2. Derec Lamendola

    June 6, 2015 at 12:35 am

    PACSH CHUKU IS A TRADER And Pacheal Chuku IS Going TO THE WORS School Goood Luck And We Won’t Seee YOU For Long Time You Are TADER And Becuass I HATE Pachal Chukuw And HE GOING TO North Carolina Have FUNN BUT Ges We Got Jaylin Lisnaday And Junior Derec Lamemdola Beentil And Kris Dunn SO DO YOU KNOW IM GOING SAY COACH COOOLEY IF YOU DON’T LIKE Pachal Chukw He TRADER And We Be Right This Year 2016 COACH COOOLEY GO BACK GET ALOT Guyas

  3. Joshua Michael Corrente

    June 6, 2015 at 10:09 am

    Agree on Cartwright. A small Providence team may look to grind teams down by 30+ minutes of ball pressure in the for-court (up-court or whatever term is being used these days). Cartwright also has good court vision for lead passes, so if you have wings that, so if you have bigs and wings that can get in back of defenses (even off the press) you can keep pressure opposing defenses and push the game into your end of the floor.

  4. Jeremy Nunes

    June 6, 2015 at 11:38 am

    Great article! I agree on all points, especially for punishing UNC. I think the Friars may be at their best when Cartwright is handling the ball and Dunn can move around to get open and assume more of a 2 guard role.

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