The AP All-State meeting was held today at the Home News Tribune, and though I’m not at liberty to divulge the teams because it will be officially released in a newspaper near you Tuesday, I think it’s safe to say at least a couple of St. Anthony kids made the list.
In talking to St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley going into the meeting, here are some interesting comments from him on the future of his team, namely Ashton Pankey and Dominic Cheek. The 6-8 Pankey is a sophomore big man who is in the process of enrolling at the Jersey City school after he withdrew from Archbishop Molloy following a situation where he was found with a stolen SideKick on school Grounds.
“The last marking period at St. Anthony begins April 7, so if he (Pankey) was coming into school, that would be the first day he would be in school, starting the last marking period for St. Anthony,” Hurley said.
“I met the mom and said hello to them, but I really don’t know anything about him at all. I’ve been told he’s a pretty good player.”
I hope to have an interview with Pankey from the Spring Fling this weekend at Seton Hall sponsored by the Playaz Basketball Club.
As for the 6-5 Cheek and his recruiting status, Hurley said:
“I would say UConn, Texas, Florida, Villanova, Wake Forest are all schools that have been in. They’re the ones that we’ve seen the most. Certainly Seton Hall has been there.”
Hurley said the other day that Rutgers may have helped itself with Cheek by getting commitments from Greg Echenique and Austin Johnson, but he seemed to indicate it was more a case of Mike Rosario exerting pressure on Cheek to seriously consider Rutgers.
“We’re still on the rubber chicken circuit, so we have a couple things to do next week,” Hurley added. “Then we’ll probably sit down and maybe make a list.”
And what were coach’s thoughts on Rosario’s 18-point performance in Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American Game?
“If he hit that 3 from the left corner late in the game, he may have been the MVP,” Hurley said. “We’re excited for him because he managed to get in there. He wasn’t in the McDonald’s consideration when the season started. Because of our success and his success, he kind of worked his way in there and he looked very comfortable.
“Just like Travon (Woodall) went out and won the MVP (in the Team USA vs. Florida Senior Showcase). They’re all good. When they get out there individually and they join teams, I think people realize what good all-around players they are.”
