By ALEX KLINE
As the clock struck midnight on Wednesday, June 15th, college coaches could begin calling rising high school juniors. The class of 2013 is packed full of talent and would be sure to draw in a large amount of calls. Throughout the first 48 hours, there were a few big winners who scored some calls from big name schools and coaches.
The biggest winner by far was Brannen Greene, a 6-foot-7 2013 forward out of Mary Parsons High in Georgia (pictured on right). Home state school and new head coach Brian Gregory of Georgia Tech was the first to call Greene at 12:01 a.m. Wake Forest, Alabama, Xavier, Florida, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Stanford, Tennessee and Memphis ended up contacting the star forward before the night was over. Greene’s phone, Facebook, email and Twitter were all fully active as the young man took it in with pride. Before he went to sleep, Greene was excited to say, “[Ohio State] coach Thad Matta will be talking to me at 8 a.m.” The next day Duke, Harvard, N.C. State, Seton Hall, Mississippi, Kansas, Indiana, Georgia, Oklahoma State, DePaul, South Carolina, Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati called. If that wasn’t intense enough, the rising junior spoke with notable head coaches John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski, Thad Matta, Billy Donovan, Tom Crean and Bill Self. It was certainly a life-changing experience for Greene.
Another huge winner was Chris Walker, a 2013 athletic forward out of Holmes County High in Florida. Walker was very confident and excited about who would give him a call, but due to how late it was, he actually fell asleep at midnight and woke up an hour later with a number of missed calls. Despite this, his mother was able to answer most of his phone calls. Baylor head coach Scott Drew was first to call. Incoming Bears freshman Quincy Miller has a similar game to Walker and the two have become close friends over the past year. That night, he also received calls from Kentucky, Syracuse, Memphis, Kansas, Florida and Tennessee. Walker ended up going to sleep at around 2:30 a.m. in order to wake up at 4 in the morning. A flight to NBAPA Camp was early in the morning and while he missed his flight, Walker got to camp on time and balanced it out with some contact with college coaches. He heard from Alabama, Georgia, N.C. State, Texas, Florida State, Oklahoma State, South Florida and Texas Tech. The big offer came from the Wolfpack and new head coach Mark Gottfried, who made Walker his top prospect for 2013. Walker also received a call from the new Texas Tech associate head coach. His name? Chris Walker, a former Villanova assistant.
Out on the west coast, Stephen Domingo came out on top after his impressive performance at the Pangos All American Camp. A 2013 forward out of St. Ignatius in California, Domingo picked up six total offers in three days. The night before college coaches could contact players, the talented West Coast product was informed by his coaches that Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats offered. Once the calling period began, he added scholarships from Georgetown, Memphis, Santa Clara, USC and UNLV. He also spoke with California, Indiana, Penn, Harvard, Virginia Tech, Washington, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Texas, Boston College, San Francisco and Stanford.
For years, Gary Harris and Zak Irvin have shared the spotlight at Hamilton Southeastern High in Indiana, with Harris being the older of the two. Irvin had a huge day, though, as he picked up new offers and interest. Irvin’s day started off slowly as he only received six emails in the morning; those coming from DePaul, Butler, Tennessee, Xavier, Michigan and Miami (FL). Following that, Butler, the runner-up in college basketball the past two years, offered the 2013 talent. Michigan would be next to offer, as both squads joined the list of Baylor, Miami (FL), Purdue, Indiana, Illinois and Xavier. Following the two offers, Indiana head coach Tom Crean spoke with Irvin, along with the likes of Florida, Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue, Georgetown, Marquette and Louisville. Irvin and Harris, despite their age difference, are being recruited by similar schools and could always go as a package deal.
From high school teammates to AAU teammates, Rodney Purvis and Greg McClinton have a similar relationship to Harris and Irvin. A 2013 forward out of Winston Salem Prep in North Carolina, McClinton’s phone blew up in the span of 24 hours. After visiting Missouri on Monday with Purvis and friends, he received his first phone call from Miami (FL). His next call came from Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, followed by Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Louisville and NC State.
One package deal may be brewing in the class of 2013 between a pair of Team Final teammates, and New Jersey natives. Davon Reed of Princeton Day School and Austin Colbert of St. Patrick are both receiving plenty of interest and offers, and notably, a fair amount of similar teams have contacted them. While a number of offers will come during the summer, potential destinations for the guard/forward duo could include Baylor, Harvard, Seton Hall, Rutgers, West Virginia, Xavier, Florida, Pittsburgh and Ohio State. Colbert spoke with head coaches Chris Mack, Tommy Amaker, Kevin Willard and Scott Drew, while Reed spoke to Amaker and Willard. On top of that; Virginia Tech, Marquette, VCU, Florida State, Cincinnati, DePaul, Iowa, Temple and La Salle spoke with the underrated combo guard, Reed. Whether they stick together in college, the duo has improved a lot playing in the Nike EYBL League on the U17 level as only 16-year olds.
RECRUITING ROUNDUP
Tanveer Bhullar, a 7-2 center from Canada, chose to make the move to a third school in three years as he will attend Huntington Prep in West Virginia next year. After parting ways with Kiski Prep in Pittsburgh and Montverde Academy in Florida, Bhullar felt it would be best for him to develop his game at Huntington Prep. He will re-join his older brother, Sim, a 7-4 Xavier commit for 2012. George Washington and VCU called Tanveer, Miami (FL) emailed him and both Rice and New Mexico State offered the big man. His AAU teammate, Nick Madray, received the same offers.
Oregon offered Akoy Agau of Nebraska. Texas, Clemson, Xavier and Tennessee all called the under-the-radar forward.
The Ducks staff also offered Jabari Bird, a high-flying forward from California. Washington State, Memphis, Arizona, Stanford and Florida State spoke to him, as well.
Arizona and Memphis offered Brian Bridgewater, a forward out of Louisiana.
Miami (FL), Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech all offered Will Ferguson, a point guard out of Virginia. He received calls from Penn, Pittsburgh and Xavier. Ferguson will attend Syracuse, UConn and Virginia elite camp this summer.
RJ Curington, a shooting guard from Indiana, is scheduled to visit North Carolina and Virginia unofficially this weekend. The Tar Heels, Cavaliers, Indiana, Wake Forest, Stanford, Purdue, Clemson, DePaul and Northwestern all spoke with Curington.
Reggie Cameron, a forward from Hudson Catholic (N.J.), spoke with Xavier, Seton Hall, Notre Dame and Cincinnati.
Kansas State, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Penn State reached out to Geno Thorpe, a guard from Pennsylvania, who is transferring to Blair in New Jersey this fall.
DePaul, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Florida, Duke, Northwestern and Alabama all spoke with Troy Williams, a forward out of Virginia.
Kuran Iverson, a forward from Connecticut, who has had a shaky spring due to having fluid in his leg, has received a fair amount of interest. Syracuse, Iowa State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, UMass, Arizona, Rutgers and West Virginia all called. To the surprise of some, neither Georgetown nor UConn ended up calling.
Iowa State and Cincinnati offered New York guard Terrence Samuel, while Rutgers and Villanova called.
Florida, Santa Clara, Seton Hall, Louisville, Boston College, Rice, Iowa State, New Mexico State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Providence and Kansas all spoke with Canadian point guard Tyler Ennis of St. Benedict’s Prep. Iowa State offered him.
Syracuse offered Goodluck Okonoboh, a power forward from New Hampshire. Okonoboh heard from Harvard, Louisville, Penn State, Penn, Florida, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, DePaul, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Providence, Texas and Temple.
Washington, Washington State, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon State, Oregon, Harvard, Georgia Tech, Columbia, UNLV & Oklahoma called Nigel Williams-Goss, a former UNLV commit.
UConn, Rutgers, Boston College, DePaul, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, Villanova, Temple, Florida State, Rhode Island, Wake Forest, Miami (FL), Georgia Tech, Texas, Alabama, UMass & Washington spoke to Jarred Terrell, a forward from Massachusetts.
