Time again for another recruiting report. I will keep this a weekly thing. There were two big commits this week. All these players I am updating on are the class of 2012 meaning they will be playing in college during the 2012-13 season.
A lot of the top players in the class of 2012 have not committed to a school yet. In fact, of the Scout.com top 25; only 5 have committed to a school. The AAU tournaments have ended so prospects have time to make their college choices now.
Andre Drummond (Class of 2011) (Connecticut)– Drummond was a 2012 recruit, but as he announced for Uconn: he also announced that he would be enrolling at Uconn this fall. With Drummond now playing this fall; Uconn is the third best team in the country behind NorthCarolina and Kentucky. That’s what kind of player he his. He is a top three recruit in the country-playing center. He played his high school basketball in the state of Connecticut at St. Thomas More. Drummond already has size of a NBA center. He is a really good athlete with very good explosiveness. He is very tough around the basketball with his touch, and he is a dominant rebounder. He needs to works on his mid range game, and show a little more fire. Head coach Jim Calhoun is an excellent recruiter, as he will be in hunt for another national championship after winning it last year.
Kris Dunn (Providence) - Wow, this is a huge recruit for Providence. When was the last time a top recruit went to Providence? Dunn is ranked the #1 point guard by Scout.com. New London high school in Connecticut is where he plays his high school ball. Dunn has great size for a point guard, and he is also a great athlete. Dunn knows how to break down defenders, and he can either take it the whole way to rim or pass the ball with his great vision. The only part of his game he needs to work on is his shooting. This is a huge get for head coach Ed Cooley, because he beat out other Big East schools to get Dunn, who is right in the middle of Big East country. Cooley needs a couple other top recruits to have a chance to compete in the Big East.
Shaquille Cleare (Maryland) – Cleare is a big center that plays at The Village School in Houston, Texas. Scout.com ranks him as the 11 best center in the country. Cleare has really soft hands, and is a good finisher around the basket. He also has pretty good post moves; he even has a jump hook. Rebounding is also strength of Cleare’s. Cleare must work on his conditioning. He also needs to work on a mid range game. Maryland made a great hire with Mark Turgeon. In fact he recruited Cleare when he was at Texas A&M, so the relationship was already there. In will take a couple of years for Turgeon to get his players in the program, then he should have Maryland back a top the ACC with Duke and North Carolina.
Carlos Morris (South Carolina)– Scout.com ranks Morris as the 18th best shooting guard in the nation. Morris plays his high school basketball at Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Florida. He is a big athletic guard that can also shoot threes. He also looks to attack the rim and finish with his athletic ability. Morris needs to get stronger, and have better shot selection. This is a good get for head coach Darrin Horn, who is trying to build the Gamecocks into a consistent contender in the SEC. On the same day Morris committed they also got a commit from point guard Ian Baker. So they got a backcourt of the future.
Other Commits this week
SF Austin Arians- Wisconsin
PG Ian Baker – South Carolina
PF Jordan Love – Utah
SF Kethan Savage – George Washington
PG Shawn Smith - Missouri
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Tags: Andre Drummond, Connecticut, Maryland, Providence, South Carolina
