Here's a nice piece from CNNSI.com about the pool of talented high school basketball players in the D.C. area. [CLICK HERE]
As should be expected, Alma Mater figures into the discussions about recruiting from this "hot bed" of talent.
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Haven't read the article, but it's always been a mystery to me as to why GU has never been able to capture all local talent the way a St. John's / Seton Hall can typically out-recruit bigger name schools for local talent. The only thing I can come up with is that NYC youth want to stay in the area due to the large market whereas DC area youth just don't feel the same.
In my mind, unless the youngster wants to try a different locale, there should be very few, if any, circumstances in which local talent (& I'm including those residing in all of MD & all of N. Virginia) should be stolen away.
I think historically those kids DID got to GU. The problem was that the wheels came off during the Esherick error. They are now coming to GU again. That said, the talent level in the D.C. area is at a level it has never been before and we are clearly a major beneficiary, but you can see programs like George Mason also benefitting. What is shocking is how poorly Maryland and Sweaty Gary have been recruiting local talent. They've gotten some (e.g., Geivous Vasquez in their incoming class, and Braxton next year, not to mention Baxter and Dixon), but have missed out on the big-time McD's caliber blue chippers. Guys like Durant, Gay and Freeman (probably the top three in recent history) they simply flat out lost to other programs (UConn, Texas, and GU respectively) and ones like Green and Sam Young, Sweaty Gary just passed on.
Just as a PS to this story, Rivals now has Freeman ranked #9 in the country but Wright fell to #67 after getting sick this summer. (Dukie Nolan Smith also took a tumble 30 or so slots due to illness -- a major flaw in the ranking system, IMO.) Supossedly, we lead for Wright and Biggie McLain. We are also in the running for JJ Hickson and Anthony Rudolph. Now, this is all very interesting as we only have ONE graduating senior (Sead). Is JTIII prepared to offer all of these guys scholarships? Evidently, Wright has been offered one formally. It is unclear about the others. How many NBA defections and transfers are we going to see?
As a clarification on Wright, he actually fell from #21 to #67 in Rivals. On Scout he is still #18. Freeman is #14.
In the new Scout rankings Wright fell to #34 and Freeman moved up to #13. Scout Frank Burlison had Freeman in his top 10, saying "His play on the defensive end is what keeps him behind Eric Gordon and James Harden right now. There isn’t a better scorer in high school." A number of scouts have said that if we had Freeman this year we'd be a lock for the Final Four. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that he and Jeff will ever be on the same team.
In the new HoopScoop rankings, Freeman is #13 and Wright is #10. There are very very few analyists who would put Wright ahead of Freeman, but that just goes to show how subjective rankings can be. That said, they do provide a pretty good general sense of how well these guys will perform in their first couple years in college. What gets interesting is subsequent development -- guys like Roy -- and recruits who do not play the AAU circuit and so are never evaluated -- guys like Jeff. A number of cites have confirmed that JTIII has given a formal scholarship offer to Wright so that means he believes either Jeff or Roy, or both, are gone after this year.
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