Seven Sweet Scoops is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you seven notes from the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul, dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. 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.

Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.

The National Prep Showcase held each year at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven is the signature event to kick off the high school season. With a variety of prep schools competing against each other a variety of college coaches were seen in the stands from low major schools from the east coast to high major programs from the west coast. A lot happened during and after the three day tournament, so let’s catch up with the seven sweet scoops of the week.

1. Kobie Eubanks Excels And then De-commits

In the spring of 2014, four-star shooting guard Kobie Eubanks chose Baylor over schools such as Pittsburgh, Florida State, and Minnesota, but failed to qualify academically. He subsequently ended up at Elev-8 Prep School in Delray Beach and after two standout performances last weekend he decided to re-open his commitment. What does this mean? With only four of the top 35 shooting guards still available in the class of 2015, Eubanks just became a hot commodity. Numerous schools reached out to Eubanks expressing interest including Louisville, Virginia, Maryland, Iowa State, Michigan, Providence, UConn, and more. The 6’5” strongly built guard scored 37 points in a Saturday performance which included high arcing shots from the perimeter and strong drives to the basket. Baylor’s loss will soon be another team’s blessing.

2. Anyone Interested In A 6’7” Scorer?

Throughout the National Prep Showcase, observers were impressed with Jeremy Harris and the consensus was that Coastal Carolina got themselves a steal.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. I am willing to bet most of the country doesn’t read The Hour, a century-old newspaper based in Norwalk, Connecticut. But the fortunate folks who do regularly read the paper were treated to a neat story from columnist John Nash about Los Angeles natives Kevin Ollie and forward DeAndre Daniels.  The sophomore forward was highly touted as a freshman but struggled to adjust to life on the opposite coast and thus struggled on the court. But Ollie, who went through exactly what Daniels was going through when he arrived in Storrs, helped the freshman through the season, and now the duo need each other as both are out to prove themselves. If the Huskies are going to win games this season, they will need Daniels to make serious strides on both ends of the floor which, at least for now, seems to be in progress.
2. File this under problems most coaches would kill to have but apparently Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon isn’t done talking (read: bragging) about tinkering with his starting lineup. Pittsburgh brought in an excellent recruiting class led by New Zealand big man Steven Adams and got clearance to play for accomplished transfer Trey Ziegler, so Dixon’s inability to decide on a starting lineup shouldn’t elicit much sympathy from anyone. What the topic does illustrate well is that Pittsburgh is poised to rebound very quickly from last season’s losing debacle. While successful programs like St. John’s and Villanova remain mired in mediocrity, Dixon has his Panthers again ready to challenge for the Big East crown if everything falls into place.
3. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was able to convince another long, athletic, big man to play basketball for him, although it may be a little while before we see this one in actino. Bronx native — by way of the Salisbury School and Brewster Academy — Chris McCullough is a five-star talent in the class of 2014 who committed to Syracuse yesterday (hat tip on the reporting to our very own Dan Lyons). This is a big get for the Orange who still have a number of very high profile targets left on the board in that class and McCullough himself is no slouch. I watched the highlight videos from the link from beginning to end, which I rarely do, and what I saw was an athletic big man with exceptional range, touch, and footwork. McCullough will fit nicely in the back of that zone defense where his length and inherent defensive talents will not be kind to opposing shooters. Don’t look now, but 2014 is shaping up to be a monster recruiting year for the Orange.
4. The Villanova Wildcats have not looked good in the preseason and are staring down another rebuilding season as they try to rebuild the depth and talent that made them a perennial contender for the second half of the last decade. One way the rebuilding project can be expedited is if redshirt sophomore forward JayVaughn Pinkston fulfills some of the potential he showed in spurts last season and becomes a go-to scorer for a team who desperately needs a playmaker who can create his own shot. The good news is that Pinkston, who always seemed too short to play power forward and too heavy to run with small forwards, has lost 25 pounds and apparently has put his past transgressions behind him. He was a breakout star for the Wildcats during parts of conference play last year and he will need to become an offensive leader for this young and inexperienced team. Jay Wright seems to have righted the ship and the Wildcats should be better than last season, but how much better may depend on whether Pinkston really has put some of those troubles and conditioning issues behind him.
5. I admit, this story is old, but I would be remiss if I didn’t occasionally throw some love towards the oft-forgotten members of the conference, so Rutgers and its head coach Mike Rice deserve our attention. The article itself is pretty straightforward. The Scarlet Knights have one new scholarship player this season and he is junior college transfer Vince Garrett. He is raw, but very, very athletic, and he will be counted on to add a scoring punch on the wing. He is struggling with the nuances of the D-I game right now, but Rice is confident he will pick it up and eventually become a key contributor. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Rice is building himself some excellent depth in the backcourt for this season.