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Here and There in Friartown

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News, notes, and opinions on Friar basketball (and other topics) while wondering if the Utah Jazz are really going to carry four point guards on their roster this year. 

  • Don’t look now, but one of PC’s key 2016 recruits, Wenyen Gabriel, is blowing up. He has already received several new offers since the start of the July Live Period and is now drawing interest from Duke and Kansas. The question is does the PC coaching staff feel that they have a solid enough relationship with Gabriel to keep on recruiting him hard or do they back off? This is probably always one of the toughest decisions in the entire recruiting process.
  • After watching Bryce Cotton play in the NBA Summer League the past two weeks it is becoming perfectly clear that he belongs in the NBA. I just don’t know if it will be with the Utah Jazz. The Jazz already have three point guards signed to guaranteed contracts and would have to carry four on their roster in order to keep Cotton. Even if Utah does keep all four point guards it would not be the ideal situation for Cotton as he would probably wind up bouncing back and fourth between the Jazz and the D League. If the Jazz don’t trade one of their point guards I would love to see Cotton get the chance to make another team.
  • I am not as confident that Ricky Ledo will be in the NBA this year. It did not seem that the Knicks were giving him enough opportunities to show what he could do this week in Las Vegas. In addition there is speculation that the Knicks may look to add more free agents to fill out the end of their bench.
  • PC assistant coach Jeff Battle has hit the ground running on the recruiting trail during the July Live Period. He is involved with several players down south including Maliek White, Dylan Painter, Quentin Jackson, and Devonte Green. Don’t be surprised if PC’s 2016 recruiting class includes a couple of Jeff Battle recruits.
  • The biggest difference between the Big East Conference and the “Power Five” conferences is that The Big East does not have blue blood schools at the top of their conference like Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, and Michigan State that are capable of bringing in multiple “one and done” players every year. While the middle and the bottom of the Big East may always be on a par with the “Power Five” conferences, the top of the Big East will always be playing catch-up.
  • How important is it for a high school player to attend their local college? Taking a look at ESPN’s Top 50 in the class of 2015 31 of the 50 players decided to go to colleges out of state. Of the 19 players who decided to stay in state five are from Texas. It looks like staying local can be a factor for recruits but frequently it is not the deciding factor.
  • Congrats go out to John Rooke who has been named the Director of the Center of Business, Entertainment, and Sports Management at Dean College.
  • Friar recruit Wabissa Bede today was named MVP of the Hoop Group Elite Camp. The class of 2017 point guard recently received an offer from the Friars when he was on the PC campus for an unofficial visit. He currently plays AAU ball for the Mass Rivals and will be attending Cushing Academy in the fall. Friar fans should keep an eye on him as he is going to be a special player.

3 Comments

  1. Jeremy Nunes

    July 18, 2015 at 12:34 am

    Unfortunately teams like PC almost have to back off when you’re recruiting a kid and teams like Duke and Kansas come calling.

  2. Thomas Walters Jr

    July 18, 2015 at 2:10 am

    Cotton is so Good that Three players will have to step Back for the team to Win and help Cotton become the best in the NBA I’m sold on this player

  3. Fred Pucillo

    July 18, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    Stay with him Duke And Kansas haven’t offered yet and may not

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