UPDATE: Some more Yacoubou coverage, courtesy of Mike Kern at the Philadelphia Daily News. These are the kind of quotes that get you fired up.
“[Jay Wright] had built a wonderful program there,” said Randy Harper, Yacoubou’s legal guardian and the coach of his AAU team, Lamar Odom’s “Rich Soil,” which Wildcat junior Corey Fisher also played for. “He wanted to go somewhere where he could reach his full potential, leave a legacy. Somewhere where the coach would demand excellence of him. Jay Wright’s that guy.
” [Fisher's] blossomed as a player, and a man. [Wright] did such a wonderful job taking him from a young man to a man. When [Yacoubou] made his visit, he loved it. He saw Scottie Reynolds diving for loose balls, in the summer. I guess what happened was, there was no need to wait [to make a decision].
“He’s just a hard-nosed, no-nonsense player who got what he wanted.”
Original Post: Achraf Yacoubou, a junior from Long Island, committed to Jay Wright and the Villanova Wildcats last night, according to Newsday. Yacoubou, ranked #76 in his class, is a a big guard that can play both the 1 and 2, something that drew him to Jay Wright’s system.
“Ash is a 1-2 combo guard. That’s one of the things he liked about Villanova. They let their guards play any position,” said Randy Harper, Yacoubou’s guardian. “I told him maybe he should wait, but he’s a decisive young man. When he wants something, he goes and gets it. He wanted Villanova. He thinks Jay Wright has the right idea and the right kind of hard-nosed players.”
“Coach Wright demands a lot and that’s the kind of coach he wants to play for,” Harper said. “He thought Villanova was the best fit and figured he might as well commit now and concentrate on his next two seasons at LuHi.”
The commitment comes on the eve of Hoops Mania, which Yacoubou will be attending with several other big time recruits. It won’t hurt to have the first commitment of 2011 working the crowd.
Yacoubou had a final 3 of ‘Nova, Kentucky and UConn.
…Not sure about the insiders (certainly not one myself) but this came completely out of left field in my eyes…regardless, he looked to be the top option for his role in 2011, and has a plethora of attributes (namely his defense and shooting) that will guide him to early PT for the team…
…Congrats to him and welcome to the ‘Nova family!!…
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October 22, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bob and Bob, Chris. Chris said: Achraf Yacoubou commits to 'Nova!! First guy in the 2011 class, which is setting up to be a great one! Congrats Achraf! http://bit.ly/3CbMyg [...]