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Gerard Coleman scored 20 points and Tilton defeated Marianapolis Prep 62-50 for their third consecutive NEPSAC Class B title.  While Coleman was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player the final game was far from his finest as he struggled to get going against a Marianapolis 2-3 zone that was focused on stoppingn him. 

Two days later Coleman led Tilton into the quarterfinals of the National Prep Championshiop, where they earned a national title a year ago.  They faced Hargrave Military Academy in a rematch of last year’s final in the opening round and looked like they were on their way to being blown out when they fell behind by 20 early in the second half.  But Coleman put the team on his back and scored an incredible 29 second half points, finishing with what turned out to be a tournament high 43 points in the game. 

While Tilton wasn’t able to overcome their 20 point deficit, Coleman’s performance was none the less extremely impressive as he was lethal in the open court as always, slashing along the baseline, pulling up in the mid-range area, and even making shots from behind the arc. 

Adam Finkelstein
New England Recruiting Report

Adam Finkelstein is a contributor to the Cox Sports’ “Go Friars” blog. For more insight from Adam and others on major college basketball recruiting, visit www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com

Joseph Young, who signed a National Letter of Intent with Providence during November’s Early Signing Period, is having a huge senior year at Yates High School in Texas. 

Young is the marquee player on a Yates team that has been rewriting the Texas record books this season.  They set two state records in a 170-35 win over Houston Lee on January 5th (a game in which Young scored 37 points).  The first for most points in a game and the second for most points in a half, after taking a 100-12 lead at halftime…that’s right halftime. 

This past Monday night Young scored 35 points and Yates defeated Jones 114-80 to advance to the Class 4A Region Semi-finals and set another state record by scoring over 100 points for the 11th consecutive game. 

Monday’s win was the 53rd straight for Yates, dating back to last season and their run to a Texas state championship.  This season they’re not only the heavy favorite to repeat as Texas state champions but are also the top ranked high school team in the entire country according to the Rivals network.  ESPN Rise and USA Today both have Yates ranked as the second best team in the country.   

As for Young, he is averaging over 30 points per game, continuing to stroke the ball from behind the three-point line and reportedly showing some improved athleticism playing off the bounce. 

Adam Finkelstein
New England Recruiting Report

Adam Finkelstein is a contributor to the Cox Sports’ “Go Friars” blog. For more insight from Adam and others on major college basketball recruiting, visit www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com

Greedy's generating excitement around the program

Lots of talk has been generated around the article about “Providence Human Highlight Reel Jamine Peterson”, primarily around the discussion of Greedy going pro. He’s nowhere near ready at this point, and it’s hard to imagine that he would bring the subject up himself, but it’s great that PC has someone who can at least generate that type of talk and excitement around the program.

If we can see anywhere near the improvement in the next 12 months that we’ve seen from Greedy in the previous year, we’ll be looking at one of the best players in the Big East next season, meaning PC will have one of the best players in the country on their roster. Should be fun to see where he can take his game from here…

To read the full article, click HERE.

Kyle Wright has decided to leave the Providence basketball program according to multiple reports but will stay enrolled in the school in hopes of graduating next spring. 

Wright’s decision gives PC an open scholarship for next season and now the question becomes what will Coach Davis and his staff opt to do with it.   

The most obvious option is to look to sign the best available player.  ESPN listed a few possibilities in their rumor section today including Kadeem Jack (an athletic 6′8″ power forward from Rice High School in NY), Jon Horford (a more skilled and versatile, but less athletic, 6′8″ forward from Grand Ledge High School in Michigan), and Joel “Air Jamaica” Wright (another forward and New York native with explosive athleticism who was previously committed to Fordham). 

In addition to those three let me also throw Tyler Olander’s name out there.  The 6′9″ forward is skilled, lefty, and would be a perfect fit for Davis’ system.  Another option would be to take another guard and look to solidify the point guard position with Sheraud Curry’s departure.  Bryon Allen a senior guard who is currently at St. Thomas More in Connecticut told SNY’s Adam Zagoria last weekend that he plans to visit Providence following the season.  Allen was previously committed to West Virginia and is also considering Siena, Boston College, and Oregon. 

But there’s nothing to say that Providence will definitely look to fill this open scholarship right away.  Keeping one spot open gives them great flexibility heading into the spring to pursue quality transfers and also be involved as currently committed players re-open their recruitment with the undoubted coaching carousel that takes place every year. 

Adam Finkelstein
New England Recruiting Report

Adam Finkelstein is a contributor to the Cox Sports’ “Go Friars” blog. For more insight from Adam and others on major college basketball recruiting, visit www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com

If you listened closely to Keno’s post game press conference – it’s obvious how much he believes WVU’s size is why they’re so good.  And Bob Huggins doesn’t disagree.

The following are excerpts from last night’s post game press conference following Providence’s 14 point loss to the Mountaineers.

“The problem is that they have 4-5 inches (in height advantage) at every position,” said Friar coach Keno Davis.

“We start him (Ebanks) off on most people’s best shooter,” said WVA coach Bob Huggins of the long-armed Mountaineer. “He’s hard for little guys to score on – he has good feet and he does a good job of keeping people in front of him. He’s not just big, he’s long.”

“It’s not a fluke that they’re rated top 10,” added Davis. “They’ll pose a lot of mismatches for whoever they meet in the NCAA Tournament. Their size and their physical play takes every team, even the best teams in the league out of their offense.

“They out-physicaled us, out-sized us.”

Coach Phil Seymore & the Lady Friars basketball team have quietly put together a really nice season. Currently @ 15-10, PC recently beat Cincinnati at Alumni Hall and Cox Sports was on hand to televise the game.

Adam Finkelstein of the New England Recruiting Report had some great feedback on the players featured in some recently posted video profiles from the NPSI.

If you didn’t see the interviews, check the postings here in the Go Friars blog or check out our Youtube page: youtube.com/coxsports.

Ron Giplaye

Ron Giplaye:

What really impressed me about Giplaye at NPSI was his work on the glass. It was no secret that he was a great rebounder but to watch his ability to evalte through contact and quick second jump showed why he projects to play much bigger than his size next year inside the paint for PC.

 Nate Lubick:

Lubick is a skilled and intelligent player with deceptive athleticism.  What makes the kid special is the plethora of ways he can impact a game: he scores inside and out; is a runner & finisher in transition; great passer; high volume rebounder; and phenomenal team defender.

 Alex Murphy:

Alex Murphy had a huge game at the NPSI.  He scored 27 points and was the best player in the floor in my opinion.  While his size and tremendous skill set obviously make him very special what really set him apart in my book is his tremendous feel for the game.

 Andre Drummond:

 Drummond is an incredible talent!  He’s already a staple of Team USA’s development program and will be traveling to Germany with the u18 national team this summer.  He was ranked the top prospect in the national class of 2012 coming out of this summer by every major scouting service and visited Providence for an unofficial visit in August!

Naadir Tharpe

 Shabazz Napier and Naadir Tharpe:

Napier and Tharpe are two of the top guards in 2012, not just in New England but in the entire country.  Although they’re both point guards they’re very different in that Napier is more of a scorer and Tharpe more of a distributor.

Look for Providence to continue to recruit both but it’s too much to hope for to see both of these guys in a PC uniform given that they play the same position in the same recruiting class.

Ricky Ledo:

Ledo is a local kid whose recruiting stock went soaring upwards this summer.  He has great size for the wing at 6′5″ and is an absolutely explosive athlete both in terms of his first step and leaping ability.  There isn’t much he can’t do from a skill standpoint and just needs to continue developing his decision making and basketball I.Q.

Let’s hear from a stellar trio of Friar prospects that Cox Sports was able to catch up with at the NPSI. Check your guide for Cox Sports’ coverage from the Prep Invitational…

We’ve been following Ron Giplaye throughout his season at Notre Dame Prep. He was recently in Rhode Island to play in the National Prep School Invitational in Kingston, and we had a chance to catch up with him.

This is someone Friar fans can expect to see a lot of over the next four years. Looking at this footage, it’s clear why Nate Lubick was one of the most sought after players in the country coming out of St. Mark’s.

Cox customers – check your guide and tune into Cox Sports’ coverage of the NPSI, including Lubick’s St. Mark’s team as they took on the Winchendon School in what was a great matchup.