| Wake Forest makes most of early visits
The long basketball travel team circuit, which stretches from April to July, is over, and now the official visitation season begins in the basketball recruiting world. 2007 prospects from across the country will spend weekends on college campuses, taking in football games, checking out campus life and considering the makeup of basketball programs.
With many schools scurrying to get top prospects on their campus as early as possible in the fall (In fact, Wake Forest had four prospects in the Rivals150 on campus over the weekend, nabbing a commitment from four-star prospect James Johnson of Wyoming), there is one Big Ten school that will have the luxury of focusing less on recruiting this fall and more on preparing for the season.
Despite struggling through some recent dismal seasons, Purdue, under the fresh leadership of head coach Matt Painter, has already secured commitments from four Rivals.com four-star prospects in the class of 2007.
Combo-guard E'twaun Moore is the highest ranked prospect in the recruiting class as the No. 37 ranked prospect in the Rivals150. Moore ran the show for the successful SYF Players travel team and is one of those rare players with no glaring weakness.
Next highest ranked is power forward JaJuan Johnson, who is one of those unique prospects who might not be ready to make an impact his freshman year but then might be a first round draft pick after his senior season in a similar fashion to former Connecticut Husky and first round draft pick Hilton Armstrong.
Then at the combo-forward slot, Purdue will utilize Robbie Hummel as a point forward type who can both initiate the offense with his ball handling and passing while also snagging athletic rebounds in traffic. Hummel is also a versatile inside/outside defender.
Also a combo-forward, Scott Martin is a finisher who can score tough shots inside the arc as well as stroke three-pointers. He is also a tough rebounder and capable defender.
Significant for the Boilermakers is that all four of these recruits are from northern region of Indiana and turned down the Hoosiers to play for Painter.
When analyzing the No. 1 prospects in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 classes, there are some common denominators that standout. Michael Beasley (2007), Greg Monroe (2008) and DeMarcus Cousins (2009) are all skilled power forwards. All three can score around the basket and from the perimeter. An offense can run through them in the high post. And on the other side of the ball, they are quick enough to defend on the perimeter and strong and long enough to defend around the basket.
This type of defensive versatility is essential to maximizing options in guarding the prevalent high ball screen. And their offensive versatility is capable of creating a number of mismatch situations.
As far as their recruitment goes, Beasley is already spoken for with Kansas State and newly hired head coach Bob Huggins.
Don't be surprised to see Monroe's recruitment to come down to LSU and Duke. LSU has a habit of keeping instate players instate (Monroe is from Helen Cox, La.), and Duke has Monroe at the top of their wish list.
DeMarcus Cousins, who is from Birmingham, Ala., will be difficult to extract from the nearby teeth of the University of Alabama. However, Birmingham's most recent five-star prospect Stanley Robinson did opt to attend Connecticut instead of staying in state.
The rich do get richer. At least that is the case with the reigning national champion Florida Gators. After securing early commitments from four-star prospect Adam Allen and five-star prospect Nick Calathes, Florida played hard to get with four-star prospects Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons.
Tyus didn't receive an offer until he proved himself worthy to the Gators coaching staff at the Reebok ABCD Camp in early July. Immediately after receiving the offer, Tyus, who is a long and bouncy power forward, committed.
Winter Park, Fla., product and high school and travel team teammate of Calathes, Parsons had to play his way into a top 30 ranking and Gators offer. Immediately after sitting down with the Gators coaching staff and hearing how he would fit into the puzzle, Parsons committed to his state school.
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