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.
Joseph is a 2010 combo guard. Villanova’s 2010 class already has James Bell and Markus Kennedy in the fold.
…I like it, but I’m still kind of torn on what is happening with our recruiting…Joseph is a great, great player and as a guy who can play the point and the wing, he’s got a lot of value…so I guess if he wants to come, you celebrate…but how does that affect 2011, or even James Bell for that matter?…
…A lot of this depends on what happens with Corey Fisher I suppose…
In a report to North Star BBall, Alex Schwartz discusses the consensus #1 prospect in 2011, Michael Gilchrist. The article talks about Gilchrist’s game, his accomplishments, and his modesty through it all.
Gilchrist has been considered the top basketball prospect in the country since last year, regardless of age, and while many have predicted that he’ll end up with John Calipari at Kentucky, that’s not written in stone just yet.
“It’s a foregone conclusion that he will be a Wildcat one day, right? Yes, pretty much. Yet, it might be that he ends up as a Villanova Wildcat. Two well-informed independent sources with knowledge of the situation have told me that it is their opinion that, at the end of the day, Michael Gilchrist will be going to VU and not UK. While they are not citing any specific knowledge of this and are not saying it’s a done deal, they are commenting that they think “Gilly” will choose to stay closer to home and go to the surging Big East power. It it nearly a definite yes that Michael Gilchrist will be a Wildcat, but the question is this: What type of Wildcat will the world’s best prospect be?”
We’ve been hearing for months and months now that it’s Kentucky and Villanova for Gilchrist. What will he do? He doesn’t strike me as the Derrick Rose type of kid that wants to be pushed right to the NBA while World Wide Wes puts cash in his family and friend’s pockets. Gilchrist has his head on straight and in more than one interview has been described as shy even.
…A commenter yesterday basically gave up on Gilchrist in a ‘Nova uni…I say we still have a big chance…
“Villanova is in the mix,” he said. “I am looking to see what they end up doing as far as the 2010 class. Right now I don’t have any favorites,” he added. “All of the schools are equal right now.”
This shouldn’t come as any shock considering Jay Wright and his staff have stepped up their efforts to woo 2010 combo guard Cory Joseph. While that may not work out for ‘Nova in the end, it’s a safe bet to say the ship has probably sailed with Gibbs.
…To me, Gibbs is probably the guy who goes to Seton Hall or Pittsburgh and ends up killing us for 4 years…
There’s a new name on the recruiting map for Villanova, and from the sound of it, he’s still a little unknown at this point. Bill Kipouras of The Salem News pens an article on 2011 G Michael Carter-Williams from Hamilton, Rhode Island, and it’s all good news for Villanova fans. Carter-Williams is receiving attention from all around the country, but one school currently stands out to the 6′4″ prospect. According to Kipouras, it’s Villanova.
“Jay Wright is the Villanova coach, and Michael likes the way he coaches and treats his players,” said his mother. “Academically, it’s a great school. Michael’s only seen Villanova on TV, but he’s read up on the school, and he loves the graduation ratio there.”
Carter-Williams has never visited Villanova’s campus, but will be making an unofficial visit shortly.
…’He’s only seen them on TV’…that is right along the lines of what we’ve discussed all offseason and how the national exposure was going to pay big dividends in the next few recruiting cycles…
…I like the description of the kid, and he sounds like exactly the type of player that would thrive in Wright’s system…but he’s still just getting on the radar so right now he’s probably not at the top of the board, but definitely a kid to keep an eye on…the only thing that concerns me is how his mother says he wants to commit by November…
Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog just twitteredthat 2010 PG Cory Joseph will be making two visits this weekend. The first will be on Saturday to Villanova before making the trip up to UConn on Sunday.
…Great to see he is stopping by for an unofficial while he’s out East…we’ve mentioned before that 2010 recruiting is likely closed up save any defections, but of course the door has to be left open in case there are any early NBA-entrants (i.e. Corey Fisher)…
…That would leave a hole in the backcourt, which is an area that somebody like Kyrie Irving or Cory Joseph could fill…so if Joseph is squeezing in a visit, his interest in ‘Nova has to be real…
Things keep getting better and better in the Tony Wroten recruitment. ZagsBlog chatted with him yesterday at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 game at Madison Square Garden. Wroten talked about his recruitment, and about how he loves the Big East style of play in general. But right now, he revealed two schools were at the top when asked if he had any favorites.
“‘Nova and Syracuse, they’re the top two,” he said.
Wroten added that he likes “Villanova’s guard play and how they get after it.” Wroten had planned on visiting both UConn and Villanova on his trip to the east coast, but couldn’t find the time. Wroten also added he will be trimming his list of schools down as he starts to plan visits.
…Obviously a long way to go in this one but after reading his comments about ‘Nova, you can’t help but get excited…
Courtesy of YouTube user Hoopmixtape here is a quick highlight tape of Villanova target Tony Wroten playing for his AAU team Seattle Rotary. As you see, Wroten has the goods.
…This kid is a PG too, I can’t get over it…he’s tall, aggressive, he can handle the ball…I’d like to see some more video of him because some of that looks like some of the stuff you’d see at Rucker Park, but there’s no doubting his talent level…
“My top three is UConn, Villanova and Kentucky. They are showing me the most love equally,” he said Monday by phone.
Zagoria goes on to say that when he saw Yacoubou play this past season vs. Dominic Cheek and his St. Anthony’s squad that Yacoubou was the most impressive player on the floor, netting 23 points in Lutheran’s upset victory.
…If you go back and read about Yacoubou’s performance against St. Anthony’s, you’ll see that Zagoria mentions that UConn was solely at the top for him…fast forward 6 months and now there’s a 3-way tie at the top…2011 has the potential to be a haul similar to (or possibly bigger than) the recently enrolled Class of 2009…
Jeff Borzello of NBE Basketball Report gives everyone an introduction to Class of 2011 SG Achraf Yacoubou. As Borzello says, it’s odd that there is little to no information out their for the Top-40 prospect.
Yacoubou has been offered by a host of schools from around the country, including Big East stalwarts UConn, Pittsburgh, and Villanova. Despite a recent ankle injury that has slowed him down, Yacoubou raised some eyebrows this past spring and summer when he played at several tournaments around the country. Yacoubou cited his shooting ability and defense as his biggest strengths, while admitting his ball-handling needs the most work.
When asked what he’s looking for in a school, Yacoubou had this to say:
“I’m looking for a place when I can really learn,” said Yacoubou, who wants to get a business degree. “I want a big campus and a team that can get me to the next level. I mostly like the Big East and the ACC,” he said. “The Big East is a tough conference and very competitive. And the ACC is the same thing, just a little more up-tempo.”
Yacoubou is planning 3 visits before the upcoming school year, to Villanova, UConn, and Kentucky. He has already been to see both ‘Nova and UConn before.
…I’d never even heard his name before this article from NBE…but he sounds and looks like a similar player to Trevor Cooney…if they both have offers, it could be that the staff would take whichever wanted to come first to fill that shooter role in 2011…
