Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
Lead Story: Georgetown Reels In Top-50 Junior Wing
Domingo Is A Great Pick-up For Head Coach John Thompson III And Georgetown.
Domingo A Big Pick-up For the Hoyas. Georgetown has been working hard on local guys in the Class of 2013 such as point guard Rysheed Jordan, shooting guard Davon Reed and center BeeJay Anya, but the Hoyas went to the opposite end of the country to pick up their first commitment in the junior class as small forward Stephen Domingo, a California native, made a verbal to head coach John Thompson III. Domingo is actually the second California wing to commit to Georgetown as Hollis Thompson a Los Angeles native. Domingo also has ties to the nation’s capital since his grandparents are D.C. residents and his mom is a District native. Domingo is a great pick-up for the Hoyas since he is a great shooter with terrific range and a smooth stroke. He can knock it down off the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations and has great height and length. Georgetown is also chasing after point guard Tyler Ennis, small forward Nick King and power forward Jermaine Lawrence in the Class of 2013 although they may be out of the race for top-100 small forward Josh Hart now.
What They’re Saying
Junior Juwan Parker on where each school stands in his recruitment: “I’m considering three schools right now: Memphis, Georgia and Stanford. I would rank them in that order.”
Memphis Leads For Junior Standout Juwan Parker. (Daryl Paunil/National Recruiting Spotlight)
Junior Stanford Robinson on why he committed to the Hoosiers: “[Indiana head] coach [Tom] Crean, we connected very, very quickly. We shared a lot of laughs, he presented his plan of where he sees me fitting in and how I could play a part in it.
Junior Stephen Domingo on choosing Georgetown: “It was really the relationship I developed with coach [John Thompson III] and the way they promote the versatility of their wings. They rely on their wings a lot and they use their wings in a way I can be productive offensively and defensively.”
Junior Josh Hart on his list and how Stephen Domingo‘s commitment to Georgetown impacts him: “My list is San Diego State, Villanova, North Carolina State, Marquette and Georgetown. I just like the coaching staffs, community and the players on and off the court at those schools. I’m not sure about Georgetown because they just picked up a player at my position. I’m not positive yet where they stand.”
Junior Tyrone Outlaw, who’s stock has soared as of late, on who’s standing out to him: “Yale and Harvard because I’m big on Ivy League schools because of the academics. Them two, Duke and places like that.”
Sophomore star Tyus Jones on potentially teaming up with other sophomore studs: “I’ve definitely talked to [class of 2014 center] Jahlil [Okafor] quite a few times about the possibility of going to the same college and that’s definitely a possibility. We just look at the schools who have shown a lot of interest in us which as of now would be the University of Minnesota, Michigan State, Arizona, Ohio State and Duke, those are the main ones who have shown interest in us.”
What You Missed
Standout Senior Montrezl Harrell Trims His List. Class of 2012 power forward Montrezl Harrell is one of the few top senior still uncommitted after Virginia Tech finally released him from his letter of intent following the Seth Greenberg firing. But he seems to be navigating through the recruiting process the second time around fairly quickly and has a top four as well as visits already set up. Harrell’s top four consists of Alabama, Cincinnati, Florida and Louisville and has a trip planned to Louisville May 31-June 2. Some more good fans for Cardinal fans out there is that Louisville assistant Kevin Keatts used to the be the Hargrave Military Academy coach, where Harrell just graduated from. It also remains to be seen when Harrell will visit any other schools since his family is hoping to make a decision soon and he has the USA U18 National Team training camp June 5-12. However, at that training camp, he will be coached by Florida head coach Billy Donovan so the Gators could have an inside track on him as well.
Montrezl Harrell Already Has A Louisville Visit Set Up With Others In the Making
Junior Stan Robinson Commits To Indiana. Class of 2012 shooting guard Stan Robinson committed to the Hoosiers last Thursday over Alabama-Birmingham, Texas, Maryland, Rutgers and Villanova and Wake Forest, joining small forwards Devin Davis and Luke Fischer as well as power forward Collin Hartman in Tom Crean‘s junior recruiting class. You may be wondering why UAB is included in that list that also includes the likes of Texas and Villanova but Robinson was very close with head coach Rob Ehsan, a former Maryland and Virginia Tech assistant. Robinson is also close with Indiana assistant Kenneth Johnson, who used to coach at Paul VI High School (MD) and for Team Takeover (DC), both squads Robinson currently plays on. The Hoosiers are hoping to use that Team Takeover connection to lure another Maryland native, Class of 2013 star center BeeJay Anya. Anya is the highest priority for the Indiana coaching staff right now in the junior class and has another connection to Indiana since he is very close with current Hoosier Victor Oladipo, who went to DeMatha Catholic High School (MD) where Anya currently goes. The Team Takeover big man told RTC that Oladipo is like his “big brother” and it’s definitely safe to say that Indiana is among the schools Anya likes the most.
What We Learned
Troy Williams Expands His List But Carolina And Kentucky Still Lead. Class of 2013 standout small forward Troy Williams was set to commit a couple of weeks ago with his final two consisting of Kentucky and North Carolina. However, after backing out of that decision date, Williams decided to expand his list to Louisville, Florida, South Carolina and Georgetown. Williams told RTC, though, at the Southern Jam Fest last Saturday that he still likes the Tar Heels and Wildcats twice as much as the four new schools on his list. It seems like Williams just wanted to open up his options and that he won’t make a decision until after the AAU season. For now, he’s focusing on the summer circuit but it will be interesting to see if any new leaders emerge for the 6’7″ Virginia native as the new couple of months progress. Before that decision date, I would have thought Williams would pick North Carolina but now I have no idea where he will end up. Rumors are flying about Kentucky and Carolina backing off of Williams some but it seems like Williams isn’t that interested in any programs outside of those two schools. Williams also entered the headlines yesterday when he decided to transfer from Phoebus High School (VA) to Oak Hill Academy (VA), something we go into a little further below.
Troy Williams Added Four Schools To His List. (Daryl Paunil/National Recruiting Spotlight)
Elite Juniors On the Move. A lot of big-time juniors have announced their transfers recently from Anton Gill (Louisville) going to Hargrave Military Academy (VA), Troy Williams to Oak Hill (VA), Allerik Freeman to Findlay Prep (NV) and Sindarius Thornwell to Oak Hill (VA). You may be wondering why it’s worth mentioning all of these transfers, but consider this, do you think Class of 2012 star power forward Anthony Bennett would have ended up at UNLV if he didn’t attend the nearby Findlay Prep? Three of those four top-50 recruits mentioned above remain uncommitted and it doesn’t look like anyone in that trio will commit within the near future. These transfers will also give you the opportunity to see these future stars on television a year early and not to mention will make them better players, in addition to better people. It will be interesting to see who else is on the move for their senior season and how it impacts their recruitment but with all of this movement just in the past week or so, it looks like things could get exciting in the near future.
Video of the Week
Small forward Jabari Parker was the Class of 2013 star that graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, but Class of 2013 power forward Julius Randle is star in his own right. Kentucky coaches John Calipari and Orlando Antigua even make cameos in his highlight tape.