I Bleed Blue and White

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…

ZagsBlog is reporting that Memphis will have to forfeit its Final 4 appearance as well as all 38 wins from its 2008 season. The NCAA began an investigation in January into whether somebody else forged Derrick Rose’s ACT test. Rose, now with the Chicago Bulls, has not spoken to the matter.

“Honestly, I don’t care,” Antonio Anderson, a member of the ‘08 team told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. “We know what we did. We didn’t do anything wrong, but it is what it is.”

This will be the 2nd time that newly anointed Kentucky coach John Calipari has had to forfeit a Final 4. The first time was in 1996 when he was the coach at Massachusetts and Marcus Camby took money from an agent.

…Well, we’re in a head on battle with the cheater for Michael Gilchrist’s signature, so this only tarnish’s Cal’s reputation more…the guy is such a slimeball in my opinion…

…On the other hand, I feel bad for some of those kids, because more than likely most of them did nothing wrong, and now they’ve lost a great accomplishment…

2010 forward Markus Kennedy is going to announce his college choice this Wednesday according to ZagsBlog. Kennedy has narrowed it down to West Virginia, Temple and Villanova. He was in Morgantown last weekend for a visit, and visited both Temple and Villanova at the end of this week.

The press conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Living Faith Christian Academy.

…I definitely think we’re in the driver’s seat for this one…should we land him Kennedy should be a nice option for us down low in the coming years…he’s a pretty skillful big man…

According to ZagsBlog, the relatively new Big East/SEC Invitational games have been set for next season.  Here are the matchups:

• UConn vs. Kentucky – Dec. 9th at Madison Square Garden
• St. John’s vs. Georgia - Dec. 9th at Madison Square Garden
• Syracuse vs. Florida – TBA in Tampa Bay, FL
  
• DePaul vs. Mississippi State – TBA in Tampa Bay, FL
  

These games are always fun to watch, and we can all remember former Villanova player Malcom Grant’s heroics against LSU two seasons ago in the Big East/SEC Invitational.  I can’t wait to see UConn vs. Kentucky too, as two great coaches in Calhoun and Calipari square off under the bright lights of MSG.

Top JUCO transfer Jarrid Famous, who had some interest in Villanova, has committed to South Florida according to ZagsBlog. The 6′11″ big man from Westchester Community College had  just taken a weekend trip out to Arizona, and many thought that both Arizona and Missouri were the front-runners for his services.

Famous has family near the South Florida campus, which may have played a part in the decision. Famous is expected to officially announce his choice Wednesday night.

…Well, Stan Heath is certainly amassing some talent down in Florida…they are definitely a program on the rise…the Big East will be down next year, and Famous gives them another legitimate big man to pair with Gus Gilchrist…Dominique Jones is an up and comer in the conference as well…

…Am I crazy to think that South Florida could be dancing next year?…

Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog and SNY.tv has a great article up about Mouphtaou Yarou and Dominic Cheek as they prepare for the Jordan Brand Classic this weekend. Zagoria talks with both players about their final seasons in high school, and about their futures at Villanova. Yarou’s guardian had some very encouraging words about Yarou.

Credit: SNY.tv

“He could definitely be one of the best,” said Chris Timba, Yarou’s guardian. “His goal is to be the best. He has soft hands, big hands, he can shoot a little bit outside, can shoot inside, can shoot the 10-footer, can put it on the floor a little bit. You’re talking about a big-time player.”

Zagoria also talks to Cheek about his injury troubles this year, and to Yarou about how much Jay Wright meant in his recruitment.

By the way, the Jordan Brand Classic game will be played this Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. in Madison Square Garden. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster if you are in the area. Yarou will play on the home team in white jerseys, while Cheek plays on the away team which will wear black jerseys.

ZagsBlog has an update on Jarrid Famous, and the Junior College prospect looks to be making his college choice soon. Famous has a trip to Xavier lined up for the weekend of April 10th, and is almost positive that will be his last visit before making a decision.

While he has taken an unofficial visit to Villanova, it is hard to envision him committing to the Wildcats.

…Don’t get me wrong, Famous is a serious talent and could really help Villanova next year as they are losing 3 frontcourt guys in Cunningham, Clark and Anderson but Villanova has essentially 6 new players coming in if you include Taylor King and Maurice Sutton, so having Famous as a 7th is extremely doubtful…with this we’re officially removing Famous from the recruiting watch list…

According to ZagsBlog, The Big East has handed out 4 more awards today, and 2 Wildcats have picked up some hardware.

Dante Cunningham was named The Most Improved Player in the conference.

“Cunningham, who was already a solid starter at Villanova going into his senior campaign, took a big jump in 2008-09.  Last season, the 6-8 forward averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds.  Going into The BIG EAST Championship, Cunningham owns a scoring average of 16.4 points per game and a rebounding mark of 7.3.  Both averages lead the team.  He helped lead the Wildcats to a 25-6 record.  A native of Silver Spring, Md., he has reached double figures in scoring in 30 of his last 33 career games.”

The conference also announced that Corey Fisher has been given The Sixth Man Award.

“Fisher also made significant contributions to Villanova’s success, which included a school record number of victories in the regular season.  Coming off the bench, the 6-1 sophomore provided a consistent offensive spark.  He is third on the team in scoring with a 10.8 average and has 86 assists and only 58 turnovers.  A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Fisher has reached double figures in scoring in nine of his last 11 games.”

UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet was named The Defensive Player of the Year for the 2nd straight year, and West Virginia’s Alex Ruoff received The Sportsmanship Award.

…Congrats to both Dante and Corey…frankly, if they hadn’t won these awards I wouldn’t have known what to think…well deserved for both players and a true testament to the work ethic of both players…

I haven’t done any updates yet on Jarrid Famous, which is a mistake on my part. Back in November, ZagsBlog reported that Villanova was actively recruiting the junior college prospect.

Famous, a 6′11″ forward/center from Westchester Community College (NY) is a player that many consider to be the top JC player available. Famous recently took a visit to Missouri, with Xavier up next.

…Famous is a guy that I would love to have…I think he would provide some solid frontcourt help immediately…Mouphtaou Yarou is a great prospect, but it’s hard to rely on freshman…and with Pena having his ups and downs, Famous could be a nice option…

…I don’t think that Villanova ultimately lands Famous (I’d bank on Mizzou) but he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on if he ends up visiting this spring…

If you haven’t heard about Class of 2011 stud Michael Gilchrist, I’m here to help you out. Right now Gilchrist is ranked as the #1 SF for the Class of 2011 by Rivals and is being talked about already as a lottery pick in the NBA Draft. High praise for a kid that is just a sophomore.

ZagsBlog has an update on Gilchrist where his mother releases his current Top 5, and Villanova made the cut along with Memphis, Rutgers, UConn and Virginia. Keep in mind this is an early list, and it could change, but it appears as if Villanova is in a strong position early for the St. Patrick’s (NJ) standout. But don’t expect a quick decision from Gilchrist, as he’s not 100% focused on recruiting right now according to his mother.

“It’s not a big deal for him right now. All of his friends are going on these unofficial visits, that’s stressful for him.”

…Well, we’ve had some good success at St. Pat’s in recent years and we’re already on 2010 guard Kyrie Irving, so it’s no surprise to me that Gilchrist likes ‘Nova early on…however he’s been pegged as somewhat of a “lock” for Memphis early on, so I’m not getting my hopes up…

…I really envision this kid as a Donte Green type…comes in and makes an immediate impact and then bolts for the money…nothing wrong with that at all…but this could be a huge coup for Jay Wright…