I Bleed Blue and White

Some more Jayvaughn Pinkston coverage for you today as Adam Zagoria wrote a really nice column about the newest member of ‘Nova Nation. In case you missed it last night, the 6′6″ Brooklyn native committed to Jay Wright and becomes the 3rd member of the Wildcats’ 2010 recruiting class.

Credit: NY Daily News

In the article, several experts have glowing reviews of Pinkston’s game, even going as far to compare him to a former NBA great:

“He’s a Jamal Mashburn clone,” said New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski. “He has very soft hands. He has very good skill with the ball. He can handle the ball on the perimeter. He’s not going to guard a perimeter player right now. He can pass the ball, can get to the basket, he can shoot 3’s. He has a strong body where he can post and score inside. He’s a really skilled player who has a mature understanding of the game. He’s got to learn to bring it every single night, which hasn’t always been the case in the past. He’s as good as we have in the metropolitan area.”

Pinkston is very excited to be going James Bell and Markus Kennedy as the newest Wildcats.

“I’m very excited to be committing to Villanova,” Pinkston said. “It’s one of the top programs in the country. I want to play with and against the best players in the country and playing for Villanova will afford me that opportunity. I’m excited and thankful.”

“I just think that there were too many positives that he couldn’t turn down right now,” Kimani Young, Pinkston’s mentor, said. “He got a great place to go to. It’s just as good an opportunity for him as it is for Nova to get him.”

Villanova has one lone remaining target in guard Cory Joseph, who will wait until the spring to decide. Villanova is in Joseph’s final 5, but many believe that UConn currently leads for the standout guard.

…Pinkston will add some nice toughness and bulk to the team when he arrives…hopefully that outside game continues to develop, but he strikes me as exactly the kind of kid who will relish the roughness of the BIG EAST…very excited to have him on board…

News leaked out tonight that Class of 2010 forward Jayvaughn Pinkston, widely considered the top player in New York City, was going to publicly commit to Villanova tomorrow. It appears the story broke sooner than expect. The New York Post is reporting that Pinkston has officially committed to Jay Wright and the Wildcats.

Pinkston becomes the 3rd member of the 2010 class.

Pinkston confirmed the report via text message saying only, “Yes, it’s true.”

You might remember that Pinkston originally was set to commit to Tennessee during the early signing period, but cancelled his announcement. Days later Tennessee received a commitment from Tobias Harris, which many have speculated aided Pinkston in re-considering. Now, he’s a Wildcat.

Pinkston becomes the 3rd member of the Class of 2010 joining James Bell and Markus Kennedy. Pinkston is a strong-bodied forward with a developing outside game. He’ll be a perfect fit in Jay Wright’s scheme and brings a lot of toughness that may remind many of Dwayne Anderson.

Let’s all welcome Jayvaughn to the Villanova family!

James Bell and Markus Kennedy both officially joined the Villanova family yesterday when they signed their Letters of Intent to play for Jay Wright, but could their be a 3rd on the way?

Jayvaughn Pinkston

Scout ran a Signing Day Blog yesterday and reported that Jayvaughn Pinkston may in fact sign during the early period. There was talk earlier this week that he may hold off on committing until the spring. Now he may sign and end the process.

7:51 – Just got off the phone with New Height coach Kimani Young. He told us that there is a strong possibility Jayvaughn Pinkston signs during the early period. He’s looking at Marquette, St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall and Tennessee. He also said Ashton Pankey would sign next week. He’s visiting Houston this weekend. He was at Maryland for an official visit recently.

It has been widely thought that Villanova has led for for Pinkston for some time now, with Tennessee a close second. Marquette, Seton Hall, and St. John’s are also involved. Pinkston is considered the best player in New York City, and is an undersized PF at 6′6″ who has been rapidly developing a better handle and jumpshot. His stock has been soaring.

…I could see this going a number of ways…most notably him waiting until the spring to sign…I initially thought he was going to hold off to see what Mike Gilchrist did, but maybe he doesn’t care…or he’s decided to head somewhere other than ‘Nova…

…Stay tuned…

Today was the first official day that Class of 2010 players could sign their National Letter of Intent to play college basketball at a particular school. The early signing period lasts for one week and will end on November 18th.

Both 2010 Villanova verbal commitments have announced that they will be signing their letters of intent to play for Villanova tonight!

When that happens, both James Bell and Markus Kennedy will be officially part of the Villanova family! Welcome to the fold guys!

Markus Kennedy

James Bell

Kennedy is a 6′9″ power forward who has been described as a skilled passer out of the post with a great scoring touch. Bell, a 6′5″ wing ranked 76th nationally by Rivals, is a rangy athlete that can take it to the hoop as well as knock it down from outside. He’s also a great defender, which is something that Jay Wright requires of all his players.

This is a great follow-up to 2009’s heralded quartet. James Bell looks to step into Reggie Redding’s spot on the roster while Kennedy will provide quality depth in the seemingly-always-think ‘Nova frontcourt. Hopefully both come in next year ready to play and keep Villanova at the forefront of the college basketball scene. It seems that we may have finally gotten to the point where we are reloading, not rebuilding.

From here, it appears that it may be Cory Joseph and/or JayVaughn Pinkston or bust for 2010 recruiting. Both Joseph and Pinkston look to be signing in the spring.

Just a quick note, but JayVaughn Pinkston will NOT be attending Hoops Mania tonight. Adam Zagoria just tweeted that nugget, but says that Pinkston is still considering Villanova.

…Tough break…I think a lot of ‘Nova fans thought he could potentially commit after a visit tonight…but the plan for him has always been to hold out until the spring…

…For anyone thinking this has anything to do with Yacoubou’s commitment yesterday, the two have no bearing on each other as they play different positions…

For those who are wondering who WILL be attending tonight, VUHoops put together a list of who is confirmed. Obviously, that is an incredible list of talent.

2010s

• Markus Kennedy (verbal)
• James Bell (verbal)
• Cory Joseph

2011s

• Achraf Yacoubou (verbal)
• Mike Gilchrist
• Tony Wroten
• Desmond Hubert
• Juan’ya Green
• Tyrone Johnson
• Malcolm Gilbert (maybe)

2012s

• Amile Jefferson
• Savon Goodman
• Ryan Arciadano
• Kyle Anderson
• Tariq Carey
• Omar Calhoun (maybe)

Adam Zagoria updates us on the JayVaughn Pinkston recruitment, which has reached a crucial stage. Pinkston just had an in-home visit from Bobby Gonzalez and the Seton Hall staff last night, and according to Pinkston’s mother, the visit went well.

Pinkston is lining up visits to St. John’s Red Storm Tip-Off on October 22nd, as well as Villanova’s Hoops Mania the following day. Pinkston may also visit for Tennessee’s exhibition game against North Alabama on October 31st (don’t miss out of Halloween Jay!).

Kimani Young, Pinkston’s mentor, has previously stated that Pinkston will most likely sign with a school in the spring, but now, plans may be changing.

“It’s still up in the air whether he’s going to sign early or sign late,” Young said. “We have to talk. He’s just not 100 percent sure.”

…So, add another to the list for Hoops Mania…I’m hoping that Mike Gilchrist will also decide to make the short trip for the event…should be quite the spectacle coming off a Final Four season…

Adam Zagoria updates the recruitment of 2010 prospect JayVaughn Pinkston, who had an in-home visit from Jay Wright on Tuesday. According to Zagoria, the visit went great, and the Wildcats have now have put themselves in the lead for the 6′6″ forward from New York.

“[Coach Wright] talked about how Jay would fit in and what they’re doing. He talked about the success he’s had with guys from New York City, Allan Ray, Curtis Sumpter, Jason Fraser, and now with Corey Fisher and Antonio Pena.

“He talked about how at a place like Villanova it’s important how well they do academically. A kid like Curtis Sumpter was a future NBA first round pick and then had two torn ACLs. Now he’s an average player overseas but he has his Masters degree and has a  future in the finance world. You can’t say that would’ve happened at other schools.

Pinkston is also due to have in-homes with Seton Hall and Marquette next week, but at this point it looks like Villanova has thrown itself out in front.

…Interesting, I was convinced they were taking a wait-and-see on Pinkston until Mike Gilchrist decided…but maybe they are ramping up the pressure…I said it in a previous post but Pinkston strikes me as a Reggie Redding type…more of an inside game for now but his ball-handling is pretty decent for a guy his size and with some work he could definitely be a perimeter player with an inside game…

The guys over at VUHoops relay a story from Dick ‘Hoops’ Weiss of the NY Daily News on Class of 2010 prospect Jayvaughn Pinkston. According to Weiss, Pinkston unofficially visited Villanova last Thursday. Pinkston, who plays for Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn, says that the visit went well. He also visited Tennessee last week, and is being recruited by several other Big East schools.

Here’s ESPN’s evaluation of Pinkston courtesy of VUHoops.

“Pinkston is an absolute horse inside the paint. He’s incredibly strong with a tremendous work-ethic, and unmatched toughness and aggressiveness. He’s a very high volume rebounder, who is equally effective in traffic or out of his area. The vast majority of his point production comes by the rim albeit in a number of different ways:  He runs diligently in transition; knows how to seal and score on the block; goes by or overpowers defenders on his way to the bucket; and finishes everything through contact. He’s worked very hard to develop his perimeter skills and while his shooting range now extends to about 18 feet and his handle is solid, pulling him away from the basket takes away from what he does best. Despite being somewhat undersized, he’ll have no problems playing the 4 at the next level thanks to his length, athleticism, and physical prowess. Defensively, he’s a good on-the-ball post defender thanks to his low center of gravity and also effective from the weak-side because he’s so active and quick to rotate.”

…Unless he grows, Pinkston will continue to be undersized at power forward, especially in the rugged Big East if he ends up there…I almost disagree with ESPN on the evaluation though, it seems like Pinkston could really reach his ceiling if he developed into a combo-forward a la Sam Young i.e. someone who can stroke it from outside but is equally deadly in the paint and driving to the hoop…

…Anyways, we’ve got Markus Kennedy already in 2010, and many consider us done for this cycle unless Kennedy or James Bell decided to switch…it never hurts to keep as many doors open as possible though, and it speaks volumes about the work that our staff does…