Tracking the College Basketball Stars of the Future=====

ECU & C-USA Hoops Recruiting Report Saturday, April 19, 2003 By Thad Mumau Special Correspondent

Will Bell toll for ECU?

©2003 Bonesville.net

East Carolina missed out on one point guard target, but hopes to get a visit from another in the near future.

Kevin Bell, a 6-2 sophomore at Monroe College in the Bronx (NY), has said he is planning trips to Greenville as well as West Virginia, Florida A&M and St. Francis of New York.

Listed as a combination guard, Bell averaged 15.9 points, 6.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds this past season. Monroe is Bell’s second junior college as he spent his freshman year at Westark College in Arkansas, averaging 16 points, four assists and five rebounds.

He attended Rice High School in New York City, then graduated from Riverdale Baptist High in Upper Marlboro (MD). He committed to American University, but did not qualify academically, and he reportedly has not yet done so this year.

Zabian Dowdell is signing with Virginia Tech after receiving scholarship offers from East Carolina, South Florida, Jacksonville and Florida Atlanta.

He chose Virginia Tech after the Hokies named Seth Greenberg their new basketball coach in early April.

Dowdell, who is 6-1, broke his ankle in July, but bounced back to average 21 points, eight assists and eight rebounds for Pahokee (FL) High.

Stanford, Connecticut and Miami had shown some interest before the injury.

East Carolina’s junior list includes James Mays, a 6-8, 195-pound power forward/small forward from Garner (NC) High School. He averaged 16.5 points per game this past season.

Known for his ability to run the court, Mays has also attracted interest from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Oklahoma and Xavier, with South Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth already offering.

There are a few new names on the Conference USA books. Perhaps the best know is Femi Ibikunle, who attracted interest from North Carolina for a while.

The 6-9 center from New Hampton (NH) School announced for Texas Christian the day before the beginning of spring signing period (April 16-May 15). His other finalists were Oklahoma State, Marquette, Iowa State and Oklahoma. He visited all five schools. He averaged eight points and almost 10 rebounds this past season.

Charlotte has two spring signees and both are inside players from junior colleges, giving Bobby Lutz an outstanding recruiting class. It also includes fall signees Martin Iti and Marcus Bennett and transfer Brendan Plavich.

Iti is a 6-11, 235-pound center from Durham (NC) Mount Zion. Bennett is a 6-3 wing guard from Schoolcraft Junior College in Livonia (MI). Plavich, a fine three-point shooter, will be a junior after sitting out a year. He transferred from Vanderbilt.

C.J. Pigford, a 6-6, 230-pound power forward, averaged around 11 points per game at Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville (TX). He was at Virginia Tech as a freshman, but left after seeing limited playing time. Originally from North Carolina, he spent a year of prep school at Chatham (VA) Hargrave Military Academy.

Dedric Spooner averaged 11 points, eight rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots at Colby Community College in Kansas. A 6-8, 235-pounder, he attended Maine Central Institute for one year after graduating from high school in Milwaukee (WI).

Tom Frericks, a 6-9,250-pound center from Chipola J.C., picked St. Louis over South Florida, Alabama-Birmingham, Jacksonville, Maine and Valparaiso. He was at UAB as a freshman.

Brannon Hayes chose Southern Mississippi over Missouri, Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech. He spent his freshman year at the latter school. A 6-9, 210-pound power forward, he averaged 15 points and eight rebounds at Baytown (TX) Lee Junior College this past season.

Cincinnati was scheduled to get a visit from Alexander Johnson April 18-20. The 6-9 power forward is a fifth-year senior at North Bridgton (ME) Bridgton Academy.

Johnson has visited Florida State and Indiana and is also interested in Connecticut. He signed with Georgia last year, but did not score high enough on the SAT to earn freshman eligibility. He was leaning toward the Bulldogs again before all of the mess involving Jim Harrick and his son.

There is a possibility some of the investigation regarding Georgia will involve Johnson. Because of that — or possibly because there may be an investigation of Johnson’s latest SAT score (which jumped more than 200 points) — the Southeastern Conference ordered Kentucky not to recruit Johnson.

East Carolina is one of a growing number of schools showing interest in James Mays, a 6-9, 195-pound power forward from Garner (NC) High School. South Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth have offered Mays scholarships, with N.C. State, Oklahoma, Wake Forest and Xavier expressing interest.

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02/23/2007 02:40:05 PM
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