Friar Basketball

Quick Hit Recruiting Notes

T. Thompson

Quick hit thoughts on recruiting as Providence searches high and low for frontcourt help.

1. ESPN’s Adam Finkelstein reported that Brewster Academy power forward Taurean Thompson received an offer from Providence this week. Friarbasketball.com’s Craig Belhumeur followed that report up with a tweet on Wednesday night noting that plans are in the works for Thompson to visit officially, perhaps as early as this weekend.

On Thursday morning I received word that head coach Ed Cooley and Associate Head Coach Andre Lafleur were on their way to Brewster to see Thompson and top 100 teammate Alpha Diallo today. Both prospects are top 100 recruits new to Brewster this season. Thompson comes from St. Anthony in New Jersey after two injured plagued seasons, while Diallo is a New York native who will slot in at small forward at the next level.

Diallo is visiting Virginia Commonwealth this weekend, and may have departed prior to PC’s staff arriving, while the push for Thompson appears to be picking up. Thompson has twice visited Syracuse over the last month and has been thought to be leaning toward the Orange by national pundits. Now healthy, Thompson’s stock could rise considerably at Brewster this season.

2. The Friar coaching staff is reportedly going hard after Levi Cook, a big man if there ever was one.

The 6’10, 300 pound Cook was teammates with current Friar Jalen Lindsey at Hungtington Prep in West Virginia and is considered a four star prospect per ESPN.

Cook is a one-time West Virginia commit who reopened his recruitment just over a year ago. He’d been committed to the Mountaineers for two years prior to de-committing.

3. Putnam Science power forward Sedee Keita was on campus for Late Night Madness last weekend, but the Friars were not able to secure a commitment while he was in town. The staff will hold their breath as Keita visits Penn State this weekend.

4. Additional 2016 big men to keep an eye on? The Friars reportedly offered North Carolina big man Isaiah Whaley last week and have been mentioned with 6’10 Nik Popovic and high upside center Gorjok Gak. How far along the staff is with either of the latter two prospects is unclear.

5. Finally, as noted here over the weekend, 2018 Brimmer and May guard AJ Reeves was offered by PC as he visited for Madness. Reeves has the makings of one of the top 2-3 players in all of New England in his class.

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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