BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: RUTGERS

August 29, 2006


VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Earl Pettis, (G) Patterson School in NC.



Projected 2007-2008 Roster:


SENIORS: Ollie Bailey (PF)
JUNIORS: Anthony Farmer (PG), Jaron Griffin (G/F), JR Inman (F), Courtney Nelson (PG)
SOPHOMRES: Hamady N'Diaye (C)
FRESHMEN: Corey Chandler (G), Justin Sofman (G), Earl Pettis (G)


Affectionately known as 'Mr. New Jersey' for his recruiting prowess in the Garden State, Fred Hill reached over state lines as Philly Guard Pettis Commits to Rutgers (Newark Star-Ledger).

The versatile Pettis played for powerful Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia along with Syracuse commits Rick Jackson and Antonio Jardine and 2006 St. Joseph's (PA) commit Derrick Rivera.

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Pettis is the thirs perimeter recruit in the class of 2007 for the Scarlet Knights, joining Corey Chandler of East Side HS in Newark, NJ and Justin Sofman of West Milford HS, who will be prepping at St. Thomas More this coming year. Pettis, who was also recruited by Pittsburgh, Temple, George Washington, Indiana and Delaware will be working to shore up his academics this year by attending the Patterson School in North Carolina.

Pettis is a very versatile perimeter player that can handle, pass and score. He brings good size at over 6'4 to the backcourt and comes from an excellent high school program. He does need to work on his consistency, but being challenged night in and night out in the Big East environment should bring out the best in this player. If he improves his range out to the 3-pt range, he would be a very valuable offensive player. As it stands now, he is a jack-of-all trades that will be a solid contributor, at least, for Rutgers in the Big East.

With the commitment of Pettis, Rutgers still has 4 scholarships left for the class of 2007 and the frontcourt is the immediate need for coach Fred Hill. Of the 9 players committed for scholarships beginning in 2007, six of them are perimeter players. Only Hamady N'Diaye, Ollie Bailey (who will be a senior) and JR Inman (who could also be a SF in the future) are on the roster for the frontcourt.

Some names they could be in the mix for at the frontcourt positions includes Anthony McClain, Brandon Walters, Hamidu Rahman, Mamadou Diarra, Ibraham Thomas, Lavoy Allen, Michael Eric, DeJuan Blair, Austin Johnson and Idris Hilliard. All of these players, to me, would be solid pick-ups for the Big East. McClain is a highly rated true C prospect that is a New Jersey native that has been attending school at National Christian Academy since leaving Jersey. He is a long and lean defensive presence with an evolving offensive game. Diarra and Thomas, at last check, both attend Stoneridge Prep in California, giving them an in with Rutgers, as they were teammates of Hamady N'Diaye last year. Allen, a personal favorite of mine, seems to be a player that just does not get the attention he deserves, but Rutgers has been showing him attention and that could definitely pay off for the Scarlet Knights. Rahman is a big-bodied space-eater that could develop into a serviceable Big East center if his offensive game and conditioning continues to come around. Rutgers is among senveral Big East teams evaluating him. Michael Eric is a long-term prospect that has size (6'10) and is athletic, but he is slender and raw. Teamming him with one of the more finished products would be a nice class of 2 in the frontcourt. Blair got a lot of attention from the Rutgers staff this summer and the bruising forward seems made for the Big East and Rutgers could offer the immediate playing time he is looking for. Walters is a prospect with all the tools, just needs to put them all together on a more consistent basis. Again, he is a very intriguing long-term prospect with excellent potential. Hilliard is more of a combo-forward, but has some solid Big East interest from a few schools.

Any combination of two players from that list of frontcourt prospects would be a good job, three would be ideal and, in reality, a must for Rutgers to shore up their future.

Rutgers also continues to be involved with wing players such as Alvin Mitchell of Florida and Rashad Bishop and Jamine Peterson of NYC/NJ. However, the commitment from Pettis could definitely slow down the recruitment of any additional perimeter players, at least until the fromtcourt needs begin to be met. I wouldn't rule out the JUCO route for another big-body to play immediately, but for now, there are plenty of irons in the fire for the Scarlet Knights with some solid big men prospects. The lack of big man talent was one of the frustrating aspects of Gary Waters' tenure at RU.

With football season beginning and a lot of local talent certainly to be making a few trips to the RU campus, we will watch their search for big bodies very closely.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING REPORT: RUTGERS

August 18, 2006


Projected 2007-2008 Roster:


SENIORS: Ollie Bailey (PF)
JUNIORS: Anthony Farmer (PG), Jaron Griffin (G/F), JR Inman (F), Courtney Nelson (PG)
SOPHOMRES: Hamady N'Diaye (C)
FRESHMEN: Corey Chandler (G)


Affectionately known as 'Mr. New Jersey' for his recruiting prowess in the Garden State, Fred Hill gets the chance to recruit for himself as a head coach in his dream job: Head Basketball Coach of Rutgers University.

Hill's recruiting talents will be put to the test very early as he has quite a job ahead of him in filling out a Rutgers roster that is looking pretty bare heading into the 2007 early signing period as we wrapped up the July evaluation period.

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Although Corey Chandler committed while Gary Waters was the head coach, his attraction to the Scarlet Knights program was mostly due to the work put in by Fred Hill on the recruiting trail. Once Hill was named the replacement for Waters, Chandler never thought twice about looking at other schools. Although he has not had the 'pied piper' impact he expected to have in urging other top talent in the state to follow him to Rutgers, he is still a key recruit to the future of the Scarlet Knights. Since his early commitment, Chandler has fallen back under the radar a bit among some of the national recruiting services since they have not been having to follow his recruitment. However, those across the NYC/NJ region know very well that Rutgers got themselves a terrefic college basketball guard. He should be making an impact early and often for RU and very well could be a freshmen starter in the backcourt.


With the Chandler commitment that still leaves Rutgers with six open scholarships to work with. The most glaring needs, as usual with RU, is in the frontcourt as Hamady N'Diaye, Ollie Bailey (PF) and JR Inman (F) are the only frontcourt players on the roster. Coach Hill needs to find an infusion of capable players in the frontcourt that can play immediately and at the highest level, a task easier said than done. The biggest hope for a big man recruit is N'Diaye's former teammate at Stoneridge Prep in California, Mamadou Diarra. The 6'10, 235 lb PF/C is a player that is tough to find a lot of information on, but with N'Diaye on the roster, that has to help with Diarra.

Other than that, there is not a lot of elite talent on the RU radar. One player they have definitely been trying to make a priority, and selling immediate playing time could be a big help, is Pittsburgh's DaJuan Blair. Blair is definitely a Big East bodied forward that can bang in this conference. Early playing time is important to him, although, schools like Pittsburgh, Florida, Indiana, Kansas St and others are all over him. Rutgers had a nice in with Chandler Parsons, whose grandfather was a 1000-pt scorer at Rutgers, but then the 6'7 forward blew up this past summer and now has Florida and LSU, among others fighting for a commitment and no longer seems to have Rutgers at the top. Some other local players that can play in the Big East on the frontcourt include Idris Hilliard, Lavoy Allen, Hamidu Rahman, Michael Eric and Brandon Walters all have Rutgers on their short list and the Scarlet Knights have a realistic chance with any of them. Walters and Eric probably show some nice upside to potentially be impact players, but need quite a bit of work. Allen has really raised his stock this summer and would be a solid Big East performer. Rahman has great size and could be a serviceable frontcourt player in this league. Hilliard is a hard-working combo forward that, again, could be solid. Another big man that RU will hope to be able to sell some early playing time to is former NJ-native Anthony McClain who now plays at National Christian Academy in the DC-area. McClain is one of the more sought after big men due to his potential and upside. His defense is far ahead of his offense, but at 7'0 and the ability to move, he has a bright future ahead of him.

On the wing the Scarlet Knights are after a couple local products in Jamine Peterson and Rashad Bishop and have also gotten in pretty good with Florida's Alvin Mitchell, who had a breakout summer evaluation period. Peterson might have some academic hurdles to clear up and Bishop took a post-grad season in order to raise his profile and shore up his academic record. Playing at powerful St. Benedict's in New Jersey should help him on both accounts as he has become a prime target for both Seton Hall and RU. This underrated player could be a steal for either program. Peterson, Mitchell and Bishop would all be talented additions because of their strength and athletic abilities. Each could use some work on their perimeter shooting. If they developed a consistent threat from the outside, sky is the limit for each of them, even at the Big East level.

Even with the commitment of Chandler, the Scarlet Knights are still working backcourt players hard, too. With six scholarships available, talent at every position can be added. Some of th ebetter shooting prospects they have found themselv involved with include Blake Hoffarber (who might be the class of 2007's best high-major shooting prospect) from Minnesota and St. Anthony's Miles Beatty, who can also play PG. Mike Cobourn of Mount Vernon, NY was once considered an elite prospect in 2007, but questions on if he is a PG or a shooting guard has dragged down his stock, but Big East teams like SHU and RU would still love to add him to their recruiting class. Earl Pettis of Philadelphia is capable of playing any guard position and has long been someone Fred Hill has kept an eye on during evaluation periods. This 5th-yr prep could become another viable option for the Scarlet Knights.


As I mentioned, Rutgers staff and Fred Hill will certainly be bisy this fall trying to add talent to a roster that is very thin right now when looking ahead to 2007-2008. With more and more players committing early, they are definitely behinf the 8-ball trying to add talent to get them to move up in the conference standings onan annual basis. Fred Hill definitely has the recruiting connections to excel, but Rutgers still needs to win on the court to have something more to offer other than an immediate chance to play at the Big East level. They are involved with some capable recruits that I think will be good in the Big East, but very few are the type that will be able and make a difference right away, which is something they do need. Corey Chandler was a great start, now they need to get moving and add to him!

It should be a bisy time and we will be following Fred Hill and the RU recruiting stories very closely. With the amount of talent within driving distance to the RU campus, there should be plenty of visitors often this Fall.

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