Arsalan Kazemi, a 6-foot-7 combo forward from The Patterson (N.C.) School, took his official visit to Seton Hall this weekend and word is his decision could come soon.
Like within the next 24-48 hours.
Kazemi is slated to visit Rice next weekend and Maryland for a scrimmage against Northwood University Nov. 8, but Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez and his staff would like to have Kazemi commit before taking those trips.
I hope to have an update later today from Anthony Ibrahim, Kazemi’s adviser.
Last week Ibrahim said numerous other schools were also interested in Kazemi, who hopes to become the first Iranian to play American college hoops.
“We’ve had talks with Memphis, Colorado, Cincinnati, Western Kentucky and Virginia Tech,” he said. “They’re really on us now. All these others are fighting for the visits.”
Ibrahim said it was possible Kazemi could take one or two more visits after Maryland and before the end of the early signing period, which runs Nov. 12-19.
Meantime, Ibrahim said Memphis assistant Josh Pastner wants Kazemi to wait until the spring and is pursuing Kazemi hard.
“Josh Pastner called me [recently] and this morning,” Ibrahim said. “He said, ‘Don’t sign early.’ They’re very interested.”
Still, Ibrahim wants Kazemi to be a “program-changer,” not just a “glue guy.”
“We’re trying to get it done by the fall,” Ibrahim said.
PhishingPirate / October 26, 2008
Hey Adam,
I’m sorry im pretty sure you have wrote this plently, but assuming Oliver gets cleared and the transfers stay. How many Scholarships does SHU have for the ’09 recruiting class. I know some of this depends on Garcia, but lets say he leaves. Would that leave us with 2 or 3 scholarships to give out for the ’09 class. Thanks Alot.
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Adam Zagoria / October 26, 2008
“John Garcia’s a senior, but he could be a junior,” Gonzalez said in July. “So we may move him along after next year depending on what’s going on with his knee. If we did that, we would have John’s scholarship and Paul Gause’s scholarship. So that’s two definite seniors. We would get Austin Okosun’s (ship) back. So we know we will have at least three scholarships.”
Gonzo said this to me before Jamel Jackson left, so I believe that would leave them with 4 ships.
There are 11 guys on the current roster, including Oliver, Pope and Lawrence. If they lose Gause and Garcia, that brings them to 9 and you’re allowed 13 ships.
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PhishingPirate / October 26, 2008
Thanks alot. ha we are a complete mess right now arent we? haha if we can get this commit though it would be a nice step on many fronts.
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PhishingPirate / October 26, 2008
Sorry i forgot to add this. The scholarship that was taken away from us has already been served right?
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