|
Tracking the College Basketball Stars of the Future
|
ECU &
C-USA Hoops
Recruiting Report
Thursday, October 2, 2003
By Thad Mumau
Special Correspondent |
 |
Ma Jackson sold but son
deliberating
©2003 Bonesville.net
The Cedric
Jackson saga continues.
We, here at
Bonesville.net, reported that the 6-2 1/2 New Jersey point guard had
committed to East Carolina. That was back on Sept. 15. Then, a few days
later, we reported that Jackson had made no official announcement.
Now, despite
reports to the contrary by some very reliable websites, that is still the
case. And, while everything about the ECU basketball program seems to please
the high-scoring backcourt performer and his family, the bottom line is that
he has not committed.
"Not yet,"
said Herman Johnson, Jackson’s coach at Burlington (NJ) North Burlington
High School. "I think everything is going in that direction, but Cedric just
wants to wait a while.
"Last Thursday
(Sept. 25), Coach (Bill) Herrion and his assistant, Coach (Greg) Herenda),
sat down with Cedric, his mom and dad and me, to go over a variety of
topics. We met at a diner and ate together. It was what I would categorize
as a great visit.
"The big thing
was that Cedric’s mom met Coach Herrion. She didn’t get a chance to do that
when the family went with Cedric on his official visit to East Carolina. She
felt real comfortable with Coach Herrion; she really liked him.
"In fact, it
was kind of funny — Cedric did not give a verbal commitment, but if the mom
could have, she would have. When we got back to the car, she asked Cedric
why he didn’t commit.
"He said he
just wanted to get a little farther down the road," Johnson said. "He wants
to be real sure."
Asked if other
schools were in contention, Johnson said, "No, I don’t think so. Hofstra and
Fairleigh Dickinson have offered, but Cedric isn’t interested in either of
those schools.
"Nothing has
really changed, except that his mom is on board. There are no negatives
about East Carolina and its basketball program."
Bombale Osby
is a name that has been tossed about in regard to ECU hoops recruiting, but
you can scratch it off your Pirates’ list.
The 6-8 power
forward from Richmond (VA) Benedictine apparently was never on the East
Carolina coaches’ list.
"East Carolina
has never been recruiting him, to my knowledge," said Benedictine coach
Bruce Croxton. "We haven’t heard from them."
New Mexico is
the leader for Osby, who averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds as a junior.
Virginia Tech, Georgia, College of Charleston, Boston University and Western
Kentucky are also in pursuit.
Jamal Shuler,
who had mentioned ECU as one of the schools he was considering, has
committed to Virginia Commonwealth.
The 6-3
shooting guard averaged 24.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists last
season for Jacksonville (NC) High School.
Virginia Tech,
UNC-Wilmington and Clemson also showed interest.
Memphis has
put together a tremendous class by landing four prospects, three of them in
the top 100 of the latest Prepstars.com rankings and the other in the second
100.
Two of those
players, Darius Washington and Shawne Williams, are ranked in the top 25.
Below is a
list of commitments to Conference-USA schools by members of the class of
2004, with their Prepstars.com ranking in parentheses beside the names:
-
CINCINNATI —
Vincent Banks (110), 6-3 wing guard, Laurinburg (NC) Prep.
-
DePAUL — Aking
Elting, 5-10 point guard, Southern Idaho Junior College; Dorell Wright (19),
6-5 1/2 wing guard, South Kent (CT) High School.
-
LOUISVILLE —
Terrance Farley (162), 6-10 center, Louisville (KY) Pleasure Ridge Park.
-
MARQUETTE —
Ryan Amoroso (172), 6-8 power forward, Burnsville (MN) High School.
-
MEMPHIS —
Kareem Cooper (174), 6-11 center, Laurinburg (NC) Charter; Darius Washington
(17), 5-11 point guard, Orlando (FL) Edgewater; Robert Dozier (87), 6-8
power forward, Lithonia (GA) High School; Shawne Williams (21), 6-8 small
forward, Memphis (TN) Hamilton.
-
ST. LOUIS —
Dwayne Polk (NR), 5-9 point guard, St. Louis (MO) Vashon.
-
TEXAS
CHRISTIAN — Brent Hackett (158), 6-3 wing guard, Fort Worth (TX) Southwest.
-
TULANE — David
Gomez (NR), 6-7 power forward, Baton Rouge (LA) Episcopal.
 Send an e-mail message to
Thad Mumau.
Click here to dig into
Thad Mumau's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 02:40:45 PM |
