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Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Hoyas land Vernon "Big Ticket" Macklin

Huge Get!!!! Consensus top 15 recruit and McDonald's AA lock picks Hoyas! Biggest recruit since Ivo? Othella? AP? -- well, certainly the biggest in a LONG time. He picked the Hoyas over UNC and Wake. We're back baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082401900.html
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=91113&ran=85350
http://www.georgetown.rivals.com
http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/
http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=2&c=428651&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fscouthoops.scout.com%2f2%2f428651.html

http://hoyatalk2.proboards48.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1124903477
http://mb26.scout.com/fuconnfrm6.showMessage?topicID=987.topic
http://www.redmen.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=25775

3 comments:

Diamond_Mike said...

Carlos A Doty
HoyaReport.com Publisher

Vernon Macklin aka "The Big Ticket" or also known to his inner circle as simply "Ticket" has decided to verbally commit to play basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas.

HoyaReport.com got a call from Hargrave Military coach Kevin Keatts with the big news this morning.


Rivals.com
"He took an unofficial there and I think he felt comfortable with it since he left the campus. But certainly he wanted to make sure he was making the right decision, and I think over the last couple of days he felt like it was the right decision for him and he decided that this was what he wanted to do," said Keatts.

In internet circles, there had also been some speculation as to whether or not Macklin would be eligible or not to freshmen eligibility per NCAA guidelines and coach Keatts responded by saying "He's on track. Academically he's going to be fine and he's on track and he just has to finish out his senior year."

Hopefully that settles that once and for all.

Coach Keatts also elaborated briefly on some of the plans they have for Macklin as he added, "We just want to expand his game. Right now Vernon has done a great job running and jumping and being an athletic finisher around the basket. Can take guys off the dribble. We just want to increase his game by allowing him to step out and shoot the 15 footer and at times when he feels comfortable maybe even come down and shoot a couple of threes. We just want to get him a little stronger and make him feel a little more comfortable with the ball in his hands."

This is a very big deal for the up and coming Hoya program and they'll add a definite McDonalds All-American candidate and possibly two in 6-foot-9 DaJuan Summers. Not to mention a very promising point guard prospect in 6-foot-4 Jeremiah Rivers and they may not be done yet.

Another Hoya target also happened to take an unofficial with "Ticket". Be sure to stay tuned to the Hoya Premium Court with more details on the other campus visitor, as well as additional information on Vernon Macklin.

Diamond_Mike said...

Jerry Meyer
RivalsHoops.com

The No. 12 ranked player in the Rivals150 Vernon Macklin was one of the nation's top recruits. Just having arrived at Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, the "Big Ticket" has chosen to play in the Big East rather than the ACC.


Rivals.com

Macklin is headed to Georgetown.
"Vernon decided he wants to play at Georgetown," said Hargrave head coach Kevin Keatts. "He is very excited about being a part of the program and playing for that coaching staff. He is a great kid and will adapt well to the system there."

Macklin, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound power forward is not the typical Princeton style player, but his skill level with the ball steadily improved during the summer as he began to make plays out of the high post. Don't be surprised either if Coach Thompson tweaks his offensive system to take advantage of the offensive rebounding talents of Macklin.

Georgetown now has two five-star recruits committed from the 2006 class in Macklin and DaJuan Summers. Athletic guard Jeremiah Rivers rounds out the class at this point.

Macklin chose Georgetown over North Carolina and Wake Forest.

Diamond_Mike said...

From HoopScoop:

Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA head coach Kevin Keats tells us that the "Big Ticket" has made it official for Georgetown. Obviously we're talking about 6'10 Vernon Macklin Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA and the big reason why Macklin picked the Hoyas was the strong relationship that he's established with Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. Not only did Thompson do a great job recruiting Macklin, but Keats reminds us that every time Macklin played this summer Thompson was sitting in the first row. Keats also tells us that Thompson's father, the former legendary head coach at Georgetown never made the call, which is important, because it shows that the son doesn't need the father in order to land one of the top 10 seniors nationally. Whether Macklin, who also is the #2-ranked center in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, will turn out to be as good as Patrick Ewing and/or Alonzo Mourning is a question yet to be answered, but we are talking about a tremendous athlete with an incredible amount of potential and, as a result, he is the ideal guy for Thompson to build the program around. Not only is Macklin an excellent rebounder and terrific shot blocker, but he can run the court like a deer, has a soft touch around the basket, and is potentially as good as anybody in the senior class nationally, if he continues to develop his offensive game. And that's saying a lot when one remembers that the Class of 2006 also features 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'9 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'4 Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, and 6'10 Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN all of whom have superstar at the high level someday already written all over each of them. The addition of Macklin also is big, because the Hoyas' recruiting class, which also includes 6'4 Jeremiah Rivers from Winter Park (H.S.) FL and 6'9 DaJuan Summers from Owings Mills (McDonough School) MD, moves up to #5, behind Ohio State, North Carolina, Duke, and Connecticut and ahead of Villanova, Oklahoma, Arizona, Wake Forest, Stanford, Louisville, Texas, Florida State, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, South Carolina, Michigan, Iowa, and Baylor, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006. And the Hoyas aren't done yet, as we also think Georgetown also might be the team to beat for 6'6 Willard "Duke" Crews from Hampton (Bethel) VA, who is ranked #14 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP. Remember, former Georgetown head coach John Thompson stuck by Allen Iverson during all of his legal problems and it stands to reason that Boo Williams, who also has had both Macklin and Crews on his Summer League Team in recent years, has not forgotten this over the years. The verbal commitment by Macklin to Georgetown also is important, because he becomes the 50th player who is ranked nationally among our top 100 seniors who is currently verbally committed to a four-year school.