basketball team just prior to the start of the 2009 fall semester, the Scarlet Knights had an immediate need for guard depth. To help fill the hole, Fred Hill and his staff acted quickly and
(Star-Ledger) for the 2009-2010 season.
* Sitting out 2008-2009 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Will have two years of eligibility left beginning with the 2009-2010 season.
While it seemed as if they just recently closed out their 2009 recruiting class by adding James Beatty at the end of June, Rutgers was forced to act quickly in the light of Corey Chandler being dismissed from the program in late August. Chandler ultimately wound up at Binghampton and to add depth to a thin backcourt, fred Hill reached overseas with the addition of Muhamed Hasani.
Hasani is definitely a roll of the dice not unlike betting you will land the card needed on the flop while you play Texas Hold'em, but with just 10 players on scholarship, it was a bet the Scarlet Knights felt they needed to make with another long year expected in the Big East. Coach Hill had only been able to view a few game tapes and a highlight video of Hasani, who is expected to arrive on campus tomorrow and is fully eligible to play in 2009-2010.
According to the NJ Star-Ledger, Hasani, who played for the National Team of Kosovo, comes highly recommended from Boban Savovic, the former standout guard at Ohio State who played at East Side High School in Newark prior to heading to the Buckeyes back in 1998.
So while 2009 recruiting has continued throughout the summer, and being in the midst of 2010 recruiting during the open evaluation period of July, somehow, Rutgers found the time to secure a commitment from the class of 2011 when Andrew Nicholas verbally pledged to the Scarlet Knights this week.
Nicholas, nicknamed 'Red', is a 6-foot-6 lefty with an accurate three-point shot that attends Eastern York (PA) High School and runs with the Jersey Shore Warriors on the AAU circuit. According to Keith Sargeant's article at mycentraljersey.com on his commitment, Nicholas averaged 21.2 points per game as a sophomore this past winter to earn Pennsylvania Associated Press Third-team Class AAA All-State honors.
Virginia Tech, St. Joseph's, Florida State, Notre Dame and others were involved early on with Nicholas on the recruiting trail.
Its been a trying several months for the Rutgers men's basketball program. A season that was met with excitement and raised expectations with the additions of Mike Rosario and Greg Echenique to a team that had several veterans who have paid their dues in the Big East. However, the opening round of the Big East Tournament closed the chapter on a disappointing season, one where the Scarlet Knights finished 2-16 in the Big East and 11-21 overall, with a 61-50 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the 2009 Big East Tournament.
After a lengthy search this past winter and spring, Fred Hill Jr. and his staff finally landed a point guard when James Beatty signed on with the Scarlet Knights in early July after committing at the end of June. Beatty joins an incoming class that will also include Dane Miller, Austin Johnson and 6'11 center Brian Okam.
"James is a very good player and does a great job of running a team," Beatty's coach at Miami Dade, Matt Eisele, told NBE back on June 30th. "He can really shoot the ball as well."
Rutgers has been on a mission this spring, looking high and low, to add a point guard. They recently went to Europe for several games last month and used a walk-on and (rising) junior swingman Corey Chandler predominately in the point guard position. Another junior, Mike Coburn, also will see time as a lead guard, but none of the candidates would be classified as true point guards, like Beatty.
"He does so many little things to help a team win," said Eisele.
Beatty, a native of Wilmington (NC), set a Miami-Dade school record with 16 assists in a game and finished the 2008-2009 season averaging 13.4 Points, 7.9 Assists, and 2.7 Steals per game. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound point guard also shot 39% from three-point range.
Beatty is the second spring addition for the Scarlet Knights, joining 6'11 center Brian Okam, who verbally committed in March and signed in April.
"He made his decision over the weekend and let Coach Hill know Monday afternoon," Lake Highland Prep coach Jeff Turner informed the NBE Basketball Report of Okam's verbal commitment last March. "It was a difficult decision but ultimately, I think he just felt in his heart that Rutgers was the right place for him. He felt a connection to the players and coaching staff."
The name Jeff Turner is certainly a familiar one to many basketball fans. The Lake Highland (FL) coach was a former all-SEC player at Vanderbilt University and a member of the 1984 gold medal winning USA Basketball team. Coach Turner was 1st round pick of the New Jersey Nets and spent 10 of his 12 professional seasons in the NBA, seven with the Orlando Magic, where he also served as nine years as the team's radio analyst following his playing days before joining the Lake Highland Prep Basketball Program in 2005.
Coach Turner did not have Okam available in games this season as Florida High School Athletic Association rules deemed the big man ineligible because he had exhausted his four-year window of eligibility once completing the 8th grade. Still, coach Turner has played a big role in his development and has seen excellent growth in Okam while attending the central Florida prep school.
"We have spent a lot of time working with Brian on his skills around the basket," says coach Turner. "He is a true post player. He has unbelievable athleticism, so we have concentrated on working with him on his balance and footwork in the post and developing a go to move and then a counter to that move. One of my assistance is former NBA [and]Cal-Berkeley center, Michael Stewart. Michael has spent a lot of time working one-on-one with Brian."
Previously, the Nigerian-born big man had attended Montrose Christian in Rockville (MD) and played on the AAU circuit with the DC Blue Devils, with other African imports headed to the Big East in the 2009 class including Mouphtau Yarou (Villanova) and Talib Zanna (Pitt), on a program that has sent many to the Big East and other top programs, including Jerome Dyson (UConn), Dante Cunningham (Villanova), Billy Edelin (Syracuse), Jonathan Flowers (WVU), Roy Hibert (Georgetown), Kene Obi (DePaul), Ricky Shields (Rutgers), Michael Sweetney (Georgetown) as well as Kevin Durant and Stevie Francis, among others.
When NBE saw Okam last spring at the King James Shooting Stars Tournament, Brian was making the most impact on the defensive end as he was still raw offensively, but his athleticism was very evident, and that adds to his upside potential that his future coaches and current coach both believe very much in.
"His size and physical strength are a big plus," says coach Turner when asked about the impact Okam will have in the Big East in the future. "I think he could add another 20 pounds to his frame! As I said before, he is a true center which, from watching the Big East this season, seems like a must to be competitive. He needs to play to improve which is something he has not had the opportunity to do, unfortunately, but I believe he will improve quickly when he gets that chance. It’s up to him!"
Okam was also recruited very heavily by Georgia Tech and in the end, it was between Rutgers and the Yellow Jackets. Coach Turner talked more about the person, not just the player, that the Scarlet Knights are getting for their program.
With just one senior on the 2009-2010 roster and the transfers of guards Earl Pettis earlier this spring and Corey Chandler in August, Rutgers looks to have three spots open for the class of 2010 on the recruiting trail. At the recent Rumble in the Bronx, several area players in the classes of 2010 and 2011 mentioned interest in Fred Hill's program.
Doron Lamb would tell NBE that Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, St. John's, Connecticut, Louisville, Arizona, UCLA and Rutgers were schools in the mix. He has visited Louisville and plans to see Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma in the relatively near future.
Kadeem Jack told NBE that his top three schools are Seton Hall, Pittsburgh and St. John's. Rutgers, Miami, Arkansas, George Mason, Albany, Siena and others are also involved.
Pe'shon Howard, who plays for Oak Hill during the school season, listed Stanford, Arkansas, Harvard, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Virginia, Rutgers, South Carolina, Arizona and Xavier as colleges of interest.
One of the hottest prospects of the spring, J.J. Moore, will have plenty of Big East coaches checking him out this summer. His list already sounds like that of an elite prospect with Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Marquette, St. John's, Rutgers, Oklahoma and Florida recruiting him. Moore mentioned favorites as Louisville, Pitt, UConn, Syracuse and Marquette. He plans to visit UL, UConn, Marquette and Providence.
Another player in the class of 2010 that RU has been tracking considerably lately is Eli Carter, a guard with St. Athony's. Carter also performer well at the Rumble in the Bronx playing with the Sports University AAU program.
Also at the Primetime Shootout, Branden Frazier of Bishop Loughlin (NYC) and Shane Southwell of Rice (NYC) were a couple 2010 targets that mentioned their interest in the Scarlet Knights. Fred Hill and staff have also worked hard in developing a relationship with forward Tobias Harris long being one of the favorites in recruitment of the Long Island high school star.
In addition to Nicholas, other prospects in the class of 2011 have recently told NBE Rutgers is on their list of options. Jerrelle Reischel, 6-5 forward out of Pt. Pleasant Beach (N.J.) gave NBE a school list that included Penn State, Maryland, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Providence and West Virginia at the Reebok All-American Camp. Others listing RU in Philly included Derrick Wilson, 6-1 point guard out of The Hotchkiss School (Conn.), who rattled off a list of Ohio State, Stanford, Georgia Tech (offer), UNC, Washington, Syracuse (offer) and Rutgers (offer) as schools on his list. Tyrone Johnson of Plainfield told NBE that he has visited Georgetown, Villanova and Rutgers, his top three, and also has UNLV, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Kentucky, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Florida in the mix.
Seton Hall Prep point guard Sterling Gibbs is also on the Scarlet Knights' radar. The younger brother of Pitt's Ashton Gibbs played in front of the watchful eye of Fred Hill Jr. and other staff at the Reebok Summer Classic East earlier this month.
At the Rumble in the Bronx, Myles Davis, the hot shooting guard from St. Peter's Prep told NBE he likes Virginia, Marist, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Louisville, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Arizona. Trevor Cooney, a 2011 prospect out of Delaware playing for Team Final gave his current schools of interest as Boston U, Delaware, Syracuse, Villanova, Ohio State, Rutgers, Texas and Maryland. Shaq Thomas will most likely decide on a college this August. However, he is planning to re-classify into the class of 2011 when he picks his new school for 2009-2010 as he is not returning to Mountain State Academy. The colleges on his list are Syracuse, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Florida, Providence, Seton Hall and Rutgers.
Elite 2012 prospect DeJuan Coleman, who was a high school teammate of Brandon Triche at Jamesville-DeWitt HS near Syracuse (NY) this past year, lists Syracuse, Ohio State, Georgetown, Rutgers, Kansas, Kentucky and LSU, according to Jeff Borzello.
Another player in the class of 2012 that is getting some strong college interest already is Alex Murphy. The younger brother of Florida-bound Erik Murphy and son of former Big East player Jay Murphy of Boston College, young Alex told NBE he already hears from Florida, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Rutgers, Boston College, Providence, Arizona and Connecticut.
After gaining some positive momentum with some recruiting success with the class of 2008 and 2009, it remains to be seen how the results of the 2008-2009 season will impact the recruiting efforts of the Scarlet Knights. Fred Hill came to Rutgers with a big recruiting reputation, and he has fared well in that area, but results on the court need to be seen quickly, or that recruiting momentum will likely disappear quickly.
Check back for more updates as the AAU summer circuit gets underway and the RU staff will be working hard to give the Knights the opportunity to improve in the Big East as soon as next season.
