I Bleed Blue and White

Credit: PhillyHoops.net

NBE Basketball Report has an update on 2011 prospect Trevor Cooney, a prospect who is rapidly picking up major interest. Villanova has been in the lead pack (maybe even the outright leader) for a while, but it seems that Jay Wright has been reluctant to push for commitments so far in 2011.

This type of tactic could prove dangerous, as we’ve already seen in the Sterling Gibbs recruitment. Now Cooney, who holds offers from schools such as Villanova, Syracuse, Maryland and Wake Forest, just picked picked up an offer from both Pittsburgh and Ohio State. He was also invited to the Duke Elite Camp in what could be an audition for an offer. Here’s Cooney on recent events:

“Pitt has offered and Duke has invited me to their elite camp,” Cooney said in a text message earlier Friday. “The new ones are Ohio State and Pitt and I plan to visit Duke, [Villa]nova and Syracuse this month.”

It is easy to see that Cooney’s recruitment is picking up. Not that much of a stretch considering he plays on Team Final with Michael Gilchrist, Dion Waiters and Rakeem Christmas. There are bound to be loads of college coaches at those games.

…It’s good that Cooney is planning to visit ‘Nova even with all these new offers and interest rolling in…thinking ahead to 2011, we’ll be losing Corey Stokes to graduation, so a shooter would be a nice addition…

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…

A couple more recruiting nuggets to ponder over concerning Sterling Gibbs and Jaylen Bond. We’ll start with Gibbs, who according to ZagsBlog, visited Seton Hall on Tuesday. Gibbs has been saying Villanova is in the lead for awhile now, but that seems to be changing. After his visit with the Pirates, Gibbs says they are making up ground.

Sterling Gibbs

Gibbs is still planning an unofficial visit to Villanova this summer, along with a host of other schools, but according to his father, Sterling is looking at making a committment to a school by the end of the summer. Then again, he’s in the Class of 2011, so there is no rush.

…This isn’t a total surprise…it appears Jay Wright is in no rush to start taking commitments for the 2011 class with targets like Mike Gilchrist and Tony Wroten still giving us a hard look…

On another front, NBE Basketball Report has a few stories from the Summer Primetime Shootout, including one with an interesting piece of information on a possible Villanova target. Jaylen Bond is a 6′7″ forward from Plymouth-Whitemarsh (PA) and claims to have a Villanova offer.

Here is NBE’s take on Bond:

“Jaylen Bond is built like someone who could take James Bond in a fight, and that is saying something. A combo forward with a huge frame, broad shoulders, large hands, and big feet, Bond just might have another inch or two in him (then again, he may not, as he has an older brother, Julian Bond ’10, who is only about 6’1). Jaylen is a phenomenal athlete, and for a player his height and build his athleticism is almost unreal. A dunking machine and a one man highlight reel, Bond’s game is actually more than just being a high flier. He can step out and take 15-foot jumpers and is quite comfortable doing so. Though he is not a fantastic rebounder, Bond does grabs boards. He runs the floor well and masks some of his weaknesses with his athleticism, but he does need to work on his overall game, and the improvement will come with time if he puts in the effort. Assuming Bond continues to progress, he has a chance to be special.”

Jaylen Bond

…It is the first I’ve heard of Bond, and sometimes you have to take it with a grain of salt when a prospect claims an offer, but it appears that at the very least he is on Jay Wright’s board…

…Maybe plan B in case Gilchrist goes to Kentucky like so many have speculated?…

2011 local prospect Rakeem Christmas recently cut his list to 8 schools according to ZagsBlog. The Philadelphia big-man is ranked the #6 overall prospect for 2011, and the top defensive player in the country. Christmas cut his list to the following schools:

• Baylor
• Florida
• Georgetown
• Indiana
• Ohio State
• Oklahoma
• Texas
• Villanova

And lastly, here’s Christmas on the whole matter:

“I appreciate the interest that many coaches have in me but these are the schools that my family and I think would be a good fit for me” the 6-foot-9 Christmas, out of Philly Northeast Catholic, said in a statement.

“My family and I are thankful to everyone that has offered me a scholarship and participated in my recruiting. I’m looking forward to my season at ANC and playing for Coach [Kevin] Givens. I’ve played with some of the players during the summer and I had a good time. After summer is over I want to make sure that I do well and improve in class and on the court.”

…2011 isn’t that far off when you consider that Villanova may already be done for the 2010 class with James Bell and Markus Kennedy…it will be a battle for Christmas so hopefully Jay Wright can convince him to stay local…

Way back when, during that amazing Final Four run, we talked a lot about how it wasn’t only right then that Villanova would reap the benefits, but that they would in the future as well. One of the biggest points was on the recruiting front, where Villanova has primarily been entrenched on the East Coast scene, albeit with success.

Tony Wroten Jr. is a Top-10 player in the Class of 2011, and more importantly, hails from Seattle. The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently talked with Wroten, and he listed Villanova amongst his favorites.

Obviously a lot can change, but this is incredible news for our program. Expanding your recruiting base and becoming a more national program will only help to create sustained success in the long run, so this is very encouraging news, even if we don’t land Wroten in the end.

…I bet I’m not the only one fantasizing about a class headlined by Mike Gilchrist and Wroten right now…speaking of which, we added him to the Recruiting Page as it looks like we’re firmly in play for Wroten for the time being…

A while back we took 2010 guard Kyrie Irving off the recruiting page because it didn’t look like he and Villanova matched up. While that still be the case, ZagsBlog’s latest update on Irving suggests that Villanova may still be in the picture, even if they are barely in it.

“Jay Wright is trying to keep them in the game,” Boyle said. “If Kyrie’s willing to wait, they might have a chance. If Corey Fisher has a good year and is the No. 20 or 30 pick in the NBA Draft” that might open things up at Villanova.”

It’s an interesting scenario to say the least. Irving comes from a program that has been a mini-pipeline for us in recent years, but he’s really looking for an opportunity where he can play right away. It’s no secret that Villanova has a loaded backcourt, and so it makes sense that Villanova has faded with Irving.

You never know though, and Fisher certainly is talented enough to have a breakout year and put himself in contention for a 1st round selection.

If you’ve following the recruitment of 2011 prospect Trevor Cooney, it won’t come as much surprise to you that the shooting guard from Hockessin, Deleware is really liking the Villanova Wildcats. The Maryland Scout site talked with Cooney recently about the recruiting process.

“I’m really close to the Villanova staff and the staff at Syracuse, Delaware, and Rutgers,” he said.

The guard, who says his strength is his basketball IQ, is quite aware of which schools are nabbing the top prospects. One school, known for its’ ability to develop guards, has garnered the notice of Cooney.

“It definitely shows what they can do with the players they bring in and develop,” Cooney said about the Villanova Wildcats.

Things are definitely looking good with Cooney thus far. He’s a lethal shooter and a tremendous athlete, who I think would fit great into the system that Jay Wright employs.

Now, let me preface this by saying who knows what this really means. As you’ll see when you click through to the article, Gilchrist says that he wants to be recruited heavily. So he may just be playing Villanova and soaking in all the love they are showing him. But, for now, let’s just be happy.

Credit: Akira Suwa (Philadelphia Inquirer)

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an update on super-recruit Michael Gilchrist of St. Patrick’s in New Jersey where they talk with him about recruiting, amongst other things. This sequence of quotes from the article are sure to make any Villanova fan give the old silent fist pump.

“It’s wide open,” the 6-foot-7 swingman said. “I want to be recruited heavily.”

The 15-year-old even elevated his arms, motioning that Kentucky and Villanova are neck and neck.

“Michael loves Villanova,” said Cindy Richardson, Gilchrist’s mother. “It’s Kentucky, Villanova. Villanova, Kentucky.”

Seriously?

“Yes,” she said.

I take the ‘elevating of the arms to mean that Gilchrist threw up a big V, but I could be misinterpreting that. Anyways, we’ve all heard for the better part of a year now that Gilchrist is a lock to John Calipari (first at Memphis, now at Kentucky) and that still may be true, but it’s always good to keep hearing your name mentioned. Kudos to Jay Wright and the rest of the staff.

Keep in mind that Gilchrist is a 2011 recruit, so he won’t be signing anywhere for a while.

It’s now after the scheduled 1:30 announcement, and since it was reported here last night, as well as here, we are going to go ahead and talk about it ourselves.

Markus Kennedy, a 6′9 250-pound forward has committed to Villanova. He joins SG James Bell in Villanova’s Class of 2010. Kennedy originally started out at St. Patrick’s in New Jersey before transferring to Living Faith Christian Academy, but you could say that the St. Pat’s pipeline remains open for the time being.

Interestingly enough, this may very well close out Villanova’s recruiting efforts for 2010. From all accounts the staff had targeted at least one guard and a forward for this class, and they seemingly have gotten their man at both positions.

It’s a long way until these guys sign the dotted line, so nothing is completely official yet. I’m sure Villanova will keep tabs on players like Justin Jackson in case anything changes, but you have to be excited about landing Kennedy.

He’s not the consensus All-American talent that Mouphtaou Yarou is, but landing a kid that is on the rise like Kennedy just a year after landing Yarou is a credit to Jay Wright and his staff.

Welcome to the family Markus! And if you want to get to know him a little bit better, check out this amazing article on his relationship to his mother growing up.

Kyrie Irving has cut his list of potential colleges down, and the list does not include Villanova. ZagsBlog reports that Irving, rated the #4 PG in the Class of 2010, has left off notables such as UConn and Rutgers in addition to the Wildcats.

…If you follow recruiting as much as I do, this isn’t a total shocker…when Dominic Cheek committed to Villanova it seriously hurt our chances to land Irving…oh well…should be some news tomorrow to lift your spirits…