Monmouth transfer Travis Taylor has taken two visits so far.
He saw Seton Hall last Saturday and Boston College last Sunday and Monday. The 6-foot-7 Taylor is scheduled to visit Temple on Sunday and Monday.
“Right now that’s all the visits the Taylors have set up,” said Bill Diamond, Taylor’s mentor.
“I will sit down with Travis and his parents next week after the Temple visit and get a feel if they would like to utilize the remaining three visits (Seton Hall was an unofficial). Tennesse, Clemson and Fordham have expressed an interest to me and are under consideration. We wanted to wait until the Temple visit before we sat down and met again, so we can compare the three visits he’s taken. This is an extremely important decision for Travis and he and his parents want to explore all of their options and do their homework and research before making a well thought out and informed decision.”
Monmouth has given Taylor a conditional release, limiting him to the teams not on Monmouth’s schedule for next season.
**In other Monmouth news, the school’s Board of Trustees will meet at 1:30 Thursday and could discuss the struggling basketball program, the Asbury Park Press reported.
“It’s got to come up,” Board member H. William Mullaney told the paper. “It’s a topic of conversation.”
After Taylor announced his transfer, former Rutgers guard Justin Sofman said he was leaving the team and would transfer to Division 3 Ramapo College.
“I expect when the athletic director [Marilyn McNeil] makes her report that [subject of men’s basketball] will be raised at that time,” Mullaney told the paper . “Obviously what’s going on is unacceptable.”
The newspaper reports that Monmouth has gone 39-84 since 2006-7 and 10 players have left the program for various reasons.
FDU LANDS DUO
Fairleigh Dickinson landed a pair of verbal commitments Thursday from A.J. Matthews and Ryan Davis of Broward (Fla.) Community College.
Matthews is a 6-11, 206-pound center and Davis is a 5-10, 170-pound point guard.
Both will spend one more year at Broward before joining FDU in 2011, when they will have two years of eligibility remaining.
“I like the school,” said Matthews, a Brooklyn native. “It’s a good environment. The coach [Greg Vetrone] was really good.”
Matthews said he also had interest from Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Fordham, Iona and St. John’s. Broward coach Bob Starkman said Kansas, Cincinnati and Washington State “are calling me already on him” even though Matthews hasn’t stepped foot yet on campus.
“A 7-footer that can really play is unheard of these days,” Starkman said.
“He runs the floor, he’s 6-11, he’s athletic, he’s got Big East potential,” added one Big East assistant coach said of Matthews. “In the NEC, if his head’s on straight, he’s the best player in the league. Not many 6-11 guys can run and jump and catch and have skills.”
Davis, a Queens native, sat out this past season to improve his grades but played the 2008-9 and was named second-team all-conference.
“He’s really quick and he’s a good 3-point shooter,” Starkman said.
Davis said he wants to help FDU make the Big Dance.
“Definitely win the NEC and hopefully take the team to the tournament,” he said of his goals.
RUTGERS TO HIRE MURDOCK
New Jersey native and former NBA player Eric Murdock will be named Director of Player Development at Rutgers next week, sources said.
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philly803 / June 17, 2010
Adam-
I don’t know what kind of information Billy “Diamond” has given you, but he is in no way, shape, or form an assistant at Union High School. The guy has hung around the program for years and has even been banned from the gym at times for trying to recruit kids to his “agency.” Take a hike Billy, you are no good for the Union program.
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TTFan / June 17, 2010
Sadly, the Taylor’s are being so used by this guy, they don’t even realize it. Just because he’s been a “pseudo-agent” to a couple of ex-NBA players doesn’t in any way qualify him to tell someone how best to get someone to the NBA. Especially when you ignore NBA scouts in the process. I agree with Philly803, stay the hell away from this kid Billy. He’s got too much talent for you to f** it up….
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rurahrah / June 19, 2010
Mentors are bad news for student-athletes, and college sports, generally. The media should expose these guys for what they are and cease to use them as sources in news accounts.
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rurahrah / June 19, 2010
Further, the NCAA should treat them and all parties that use them the same as gamblers.
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Dr. NJ Hoops / March 19, 2011
Dear Idiots,
I played for Coach Diamond at UHS in the 1997 when we won the State Championship; He was Ted Zawacki’s asst from 1991-1998; He’s mentored almost every uhs basketball player since he graduated in the 1980’s; he helps them apply to college, file financial aid apps; and secure them scholarships. He was Coach DiGiovani’s volunteer asst Travis Taylor’s senior; Tony D. got very jealous that the Taylors wanted Coach Diamond to run Travis’s recruiting so he stopped talking to him and same thing Aishon White. COACH DIAMOND IS “MR. UNION BASKETBALL” and you just don’t know how lucky we are to have someone like him to help us out. God Bless You Coach Diamond!
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