Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News observes that the overall HS talent this year is down. Not a downward spiral or a piece bemoaning diminishing fundamentals. Simply that 2008 recruits are not as good as the past couple of years or ahead.
The class of 2008 stinks.Usually, I’d try to be more elegant in making such a statement, but working hard to massage the truth seems like a waste of effort. I could be less elegant, too, you know, and not be any less accurate.
I spent the first four days of the NCAA’s summer evaluation period looking for greatness at the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic and Nike’s LeBron James Skills Academy. And I saw plenty — it’s just that all of it was contained in the junior, sophomore and freshman classes. The seniors mostly were uninspired and uninspiring.
…
All of this does not mean your team’s top 100 commitment is as worthless as a Zimbabwe dollar. The 2003 class had hidden gems such as Dominic James (No. 49) and Darren Collison (No. 96).
If you’re a fan of Connecticut looking forward to No. 36 Kemba Walker at point guard, or if you’re eager to see No. 28 Scotty Hopson play the wing for your Mississippi State Bulldogs, you’ve got cause to be excited. They’ll make your teams better. But, on the whole, their classmates won’t be changing the future of the game.
Kind of funny to see some comments below his piece, where you could see some school partisans getting really bent about this. Can’t rain on the parade of hope in recruiting classes.
It echoes a lot of what I’ve been reading. There is no clear top-tier talent in this class. Players with potential, and some with talent, but just a lot more question marks about the kids.
Finishing up with the camps from earlier this week, Ashton Gibbs kept looking better at Rbk U.
Pittsburgh bound 6-2 rising senior combo-guard Ashton Gibbs (West Orange, N.J.) exploded for 17 and 23 points in the last two sessions on Monday. Gibbs is a great mid-range shooter off the dribble, who has the quicks to get to the rim.
And Gibbs believes in defense. I have to admit, I am feeling a lot better about this verbal.
Another of Pitt’s ’08 verbal was part of the subject of a story about his relationship with his teammates and friends. Travon Woodall and Rutgers bound Mike Rosario actually live at Fordham bound Jio Fontan’s house.
The three boys first met in Rosario’s hometown of Jersey City in the sixth grade. Woodall had recently come to live with Jio and his father, George Fontan, when his own home life was less than stable. Travon and Jio grew up playing youth basketball in Paterson, but they soon became regulars at the Jersey City Boys Club, and later opted to commute from Paterson to St. Anthony.
“People (in the family) felt that if they removed themselves from friends and everything (in Paterson), they would have a better focus on developing,” Hurley said. “And certainly with the dedication they’ve shown to travel back and forth from Paterson to Jersey City for the last three years is just extraordinary, and George’s commitment to the kids is unbridled.”
A definite must read.
