September 24 HS News & Notes

SG Hollins to Minnesota and Stacey Poole’s decision looms today.

by Antonio Curro – SLAM Midwest “PUNKS” Editor

The 2009 NY2LA Sports Breakfast of Champions League (“BOC”) tipped off last weekend with a ridiculous amount of talent from the state of Wisconsin taking the court inside the M.S.O.E. Kern Center.  The premiere fall league in the Badger state saw many of the top 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 in the state put down solid efforts this past weekend (Click here to view the recaps of who played well this past weekend  PART 1 and PART 2).  Nevertheless, as quality as the first week was, this Saturday it promises to go to an even higher level as it promises to be a close to full strength with the return of players who were out last week to illness, visits, or prior engagements.  The action kicks off this Saturday at 8:45 a.m. upstairs in the M.S.O.E. Kern Center with skills sessions before games tip off at 11:00 a.m.

The story of the day should be the commitment of 6-5 2010 G/F Stacey Poole of the Providence School in Florida.  The explosive swingman took an official visit to Kentucky last week and the strong rumors nationally are that the decision will be either South Carolina or the Wildcats.  Poole is set to make a decision today and whoever lands the explosive Florida talent stands to score big on the trail as Poole can flat out score the basketball and is one of the most exciting yet underrated talents nationally in the 2010 class.

6-4 PG Josh Gasser of Port Washington continues to be one of the top stories in the 2010 class for the state of Wisconsin.  After taking an unofficial visit to Wisconsin last week, rumors have surfaced that Gasser has narrowed his list down to three, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Northern Iowa thereby eliminating Creighton from the mix.  If true this isn’t too surprising as we’ve believed all along these three were the frontrunners since Wisconsin jumped on board weeks ago.  All 3 are heavily in there and while Northwestern and Wisconsin are Big Ten schools, don’t forget that Gasser’s best friend and grassroots travel teammate 6-6 F Chip Rank of Cedarburg committed to Northern Iowa last month.  All 3 are heavily in there with Northwestern having already hosted the lead guard for an official visit already this fall.

Minnesota struck on the trail again today as 6-4 SG Austin Hollins of Germantown High School in Tennessee verbally committed to the Gophers.  Hollins is a slashing wing talent who can stroke the jumper, attacks the rim, and finishes well in transition.  A slender wiry talent, Hollins can fill it up and has a versatile scoring package that should pay big dividends in the Big Ten.  This is a great catch for Head Coach Tubby Smith as Hollins is a versatile perimeter talent who should have an excellent career in Minnesota.  Hollins competed with the Nashville Celtics Grassroots travel program based out of Tennessee this past spring/summer.

One of the biggest 2010 prospects on the table dropped yesterday as 6-11 C Carson Desrosiers of Central Catholic High School in Massachusetts verbally committed to Wake Forest.  This is a major score for the Demon Deacons as Desrosiers was one of the top bigs left on the board in a depleted interior 2010 class nationally.  Desrosiers has excellent size, good instincts, can finish, grabs rebounds, and can step away from the basket and hit the mid range shot.  With bigs always having their best years in front of them, this is a major score for Wake Forest as Desrosiers could blossom into an excellent talent at the next level.  The big fella is currently regarded as the #128 prospect in the 2010 class according to the NY2LASports.com Class of 2010 National Player Rankings released this past June.  Desrosiers played with the Mass Rivals Grassroots travel program this past spring/summer.

The Desrosiers verbal didn’t come as too much of a surprise when you consider the fact that Arizona State landed 7-2 Canadian talent Jordan Bachynski of Centennial High School in Canada on Tuesday.  The long interior talent with solid agility and a decent stroke away from the basket dropped his verbal to the Sun Devils and created a domino effect as Desrosiers followed the next day with a commitment to Wake Forest on Wednesday.

Antonio Curro is the National Recruting Editor for NY2LASports.com, PhenomNationHoops.com, and 414Hoops.com.   He is also the Midwest “PUNKS” Editor and National Consultant for SLAM Magazine as well as the Midwest Editor and National Consultant for the HoopScoop.