Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 11:20 pm  |  3 responses

Tweet

Weekly Recruiting Update

Sean Miller continues to bring players into Tucson with ease.

by Franklyn Calle

The Arizona Wildcats have had a good month went it comes to recruiting. The program has landed two high profile national ranked players in just the last week. Last Wednesday, New York native Rod Odom gave his commitment to head coach Sean Miller. Odom, a 6-8 forward, has known Miller since his sophomore year when Xavier was recruiting him. Currently in his senior year at Middlesex Prep School in Massachusetts, Odom chose Arizona over Vanderbilt, Boston College, West Virginia and Harvard. The following day, Phoenix’s own Daniel Bejarano announced he would be staying close to home for college. The 6-5 wing de-committed from Texas last month so he could stay close to his family. “I felt that trust,” he told the Arizona Republic. “The coaches are tremendous. They joke and make you feel like you’re one of them. The home visit (last week) by Sean Miller was incredible. The rest of the coaches are great.” Bejerano also feels that his dad, who was shot and killed in the summer in what has been described as a home invasion, would have agreed with his choice. “I feel this is where my dad would want me to be.” Both currently make up the Wildcats’ 2010 recruiting class.

One of Cali’s finest guards, Gary Franklin Jr., gave the California Golden Bears a verbal commitment on Friday. The 6-2 guard was previously committed to Southern California but de-committed in June following Tim Floyd’s resignation and the hiring of Kevin O’Neill. Franklin told the LA Times back then that he didn’t see himself playing in O’Neill’s style of play. He picked Cal over Arizona State. Franklin joins Alex Rossi- a 6-5 shooting guard from New Trier H.S. in Illinois, Allen Crabbi- a 6-6 shooting guard from Price H.S. in California and Richard Solomon- a 6-8 power forward, also from Price, as part of next year’s incoming freshman class.

Also on Friday, NC State received a verbal from highly recruited forward Luke Cothron. The 6-8 big man was also considering Alabama, Connecticut, Florida State, and Tennessee. The Alabama native averaged 27 points, 18 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game last year as a junior for Flora MacDonald Academy in North Carolina. As part of the Wolfpack 2010 recruiting class, Cothron joins Ryan Harrow, a 5-11 point guard from George Walton Comprehensive H. S. in Georgia, and Lorenzo Brown, a 6-4 shooting guard from Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia.

Illinois landed their second recruit in the 2011 recruiting class after St. Ignatius junior Nnanna Egwu gave them his word on Friday. The 6-10 power forward chose the Fighting Illini over Purdue. Egwu, who has only been playing basketball for 3 years, moved with his family from Nigeria when he was five. “I would have loved to play for Purdue, but from an overall standpoint, I thought going to Illinois would make me the best I could be,” Egnu told the Chicago Tribune. “To play for your own state school, there’s nothing better than that — to bring your own state a championship.” He joins junior Tracy Abrams, a 6-1 guard from Mount Carmel H.S. in Illinois.

On Monday, Seton Hall landed one of Philly’s top guards in Jesse Morgan. The 6-5 prospect had visited UConn, Florida, Temple, and LaSalle while also receiving interest from Rutgers, Louisville, Rhode Island and UMass. Last year, Morgan averaged 27 points as a senior at Olney H.S. He is currently doing a prep year at South Kent Prep in Connecticut. Morgan had visited the Pirates’ campus last week and is planning to cancel his scheduled trip to Louisville this weekend. “There was just a good relationship with the players and coaches when I visited,” Morgan told the Star-Ledger. “There’s a good opportunity for me to play quality minutes as a freshman. I liked that. I liked that it’s close to home, too.” He joins Fuquan Edwin, a 6-6 small forward from Paterson Catholic in New Jersey, as part of Seton Hall’s 2010 recruiting class.

Vanderbilt landed nationally ranked center Josh Henderson over the weekend. The 6-11, 225-pound big man chose the Commodores over Davidson while also receiving interest from Cincinnati, Maryland, Penn State, Virginia, Wake Forest and Xavier. Henderson, who called head coach Kevin Stallings to let him know of his decision on Sunday, averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks last year as a junior for Cave Spring, leading them to a state title in Virginia’s Group AA, Division III class. “Vanderbilt is farther away, but I decided I wanted to play in a top conference like the SEC,” Henderson told The Tennessean. “I felt like the competition with Florida, Tennessee, LSU and all those teams would be beneficial to me, and I really liked the guys on the team when I had a chance to play with them. I see them all being great future teammates.” Henderson becomes the Commodores second recruit in the 2010 class after Kyle Fuller, a 6-1 point guard from Rancho Verde H.S. in California, who verbally committed in June.

Other notable commitments:

Steadman Short, 2010, 6-9, PF, Chipola Community College (FL) to Marshall.

Andre Almeida, 2010, 6-10, C, Arizona Western College (AZ) to Nebraska.

James Walker, 2010, 6-2, SG, Los Alamitos H.S. (CA) to Utah State.