Madness Coming Soon To The Hilltop

Among a number of high-profile recruits who will be attending GU's midnight madness on October 12th will be none other than the consensus #1 recruit in the country, Greg Monroe. For a long time now, it has been reported that the Hoyas are a leader, if not in the lead, for Mr. Monroe's services. GU is really a perfect fit for him. He is a Jeff Green-type player, a versatile big man who can do it all, and unselfish to a fault according to some. JTIII can mold him into a top-5 pick, like he did Green. Further, Monroe is an excellent student and has stated that he wants to attend an academically competitive school. The other leaders all along have been Duke and LSU. Duke's profile is similar to GU's, but it doesn't have the Jeff Green model in place. LSU is his hometown school. Monroe has lined up visits for LSU for the weekend of October 5th and GU for midnight madness the following week. He has not scheduled visits with his other three finalists, Duke, UConn, and Texas. I can see the appeal of Duke and Texas, but I was really shocked that UConn made the list. Hopefully, he'll commit after he visits the Hilltop. Here is a local Louisiana newspaper's take:

Greg Monroe, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward from Helen Cox High School of Harvey, trimmed his recruiting list to five schools — LSU, Georgetown, Duke, Texas and Connecticut. Kansas, Baylor and Southern California were eliminated from the final pool of eight Monroe selected earlier this month. The No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2008 by Rivalshoops.com and Scout.com, Monroe will make an official visit to LSU next weekend and follow that with an official trip to Georgetown Oct. 12-14. The other three official visits have not been set up, although Helen Cox coach Tyrone Mouzon said he expects Monroe to fill out his schedule soon. However, Mouzon also said it’s possible that Monroe could end the process if he arrives at a decision before he takes all the visits allotted by NCAA rules. Throughout his high-profile recruitment, Monroe has said he is leaning toward not signing a national letter of intent until the spring signing period. Mouzon said Monroe told him Friday he could sign during the early national signing period (Nov. 14-21).

"It could be early or it could be late," Mouzon said. "Whenever it feels right, Greg will make a decision and he’ll do so because he’s found all the answers he needs and feels comfortable. "Greg is just going through this at his own pace. He realizes what kind of position he’s in, and he knows he holds the cards. He’s not trying to hold anybody hostage; he just wants to think things out as thoroughly as he can." Monroe has been LSU’s top target from the Class of 2008 for more than three years. The 2007 Class 4A Outstanding Player and Mr. Louisiana Basketball, Monroe is considered a future NBA Draft lottery pick and is likely to play one or two years before heading to the pro level. As a junior last season, he averaged 19.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists per game and was voted all-state for a second straight year.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/10108586.html