Rutgers Making it Interesting; Recruiting Notes

Here we are in late September and you have to give Rutgers head coach Freddie Hill credit for hanging in there with some players who have the potential to really help the program, including Mookie Jones, Quintrell Thomas, Kevin Jones and Pat Jackson.

As reported here yesterday, the 6-6 Jones, out of Peeksill (N.Y.) High, has Rutgers among his final five and is planning to take an official visit on Oct. 18, when RU plays South Florida in football. Jones is off to Marquette this weekend, followed by DePaul, Syracuse, Rutgers and St. John's.

The 6-8 Thomas, meanwhile, is down to Maryland, Kansas, Rutgers and UNLV, with a trip to Kansas on tap this weekend. Maryland appears to remain the favorite for the services of the St. Patrick power forward, but RU is hanging tough.

"I liked Rutgers a lot more than I thought I would," he said. "I know a lot of people from the team so I feel real comfortable there."

As for the 6-7 Kevin Jones of Mount Vernon, the former teammate of RU frosh Mike Coburn, Hill and assistant Darren Savino have an in-home visit slated for tonight. Kevin and his brother Gerard are coming off a highly successfuly official visit to Ohio State this past weekend and will next visit Indiana Oct. 12. A slew of teams are still in the mix for Kevin, and it's very hard to tell where this will end at this point.

Meantime, Jackson, a 6-6 wing forward Boys & Girls, told Matt Agnoli of Rivals that Rutgers was his favorite school after recently visiting that school for a football game against Navy.

"I met Mike Coburn, Corey Chandler, Hamady [N'Diaye] - they were real happy to have me there and everything," said Jackson. ""Just sitting there with the players at the game, they speak their mind, and speak about the team. There wasn't any sort of wall. They talked openly [with one another].

"Out of all the schools I've visited so far – Seton Hall, Rutgers, St. Johns – I like Rutgers the most."

Rutgers has two commits for the Class of 2008, shooting guard Mike Rosario of St. Anthony and big man Christian Morris of South Kent Prep, leaving the Scarlet Knights with two more. Clearly, RU, projected to finish 15th in the 16-team league this year, is in need of some big fellas to play down low with N'Diaye and Morris, so landing Thomas would be a real boon. If they could land two of these four players, that would be great news on The Banks.

JENNINGS SAGA CONTINUES

The Terrence Jennings saga is getting stranger by the day. After de-committing from Maryland, the 6-10 Jennings, a five-star prospect, now may or may not be transferring to Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep from Mt Zion (N.C.).  Mt. Zion coach Antonio Fozard told Jerry Meyers of Rivals that Jennings had left the school for Notre Dame Prep, but Jennings later denied it.

"I don't understand why he would say this," said Jennings. "I went home to Georgia to be with my father and work on some things. I had permission from the school and had no idea that coaches were coming to watch me today. I was planning on coming back to Mt. Zion tomorrow, but after what Coach Fozard said, I don't know what I'm going to do."

Jennings then added that Maryland was still his top school.

"My number one school is still Maryland," he said. "I'm also considering Kentucky, UConn, Miami and Virginia. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my visits other than my visit to Maryland. I'm still discussing that with my father."

Our man Jody Demling in Louisville believes all of this is good news for the Cardinals, since Derrick Caracter of Scotch Plains went from Notre Dame Prep to Louisville.

DIXON DRAWS INTEREST

Back home in New Jersey, we were very impressed last year by 6-9 Queen of Peace big man Bilal Dixon, a Jersey City native who was in Bob Hurley's program at St. Anthony but later transferred.

According to QP head coach Bill Schoener, Dixon holds an offer from Providence and plans to visit that school for Midnight Madness Oct. 12. Schoener also said UNLV head coach Lon Kruger flew in and visited with Dixon Monday night, but did not offer. He said they would get in touch with Dixon in the future. We also hear that St. John's has some interest, although Schoener said Norm Roberts' staff has not reached out to him directly.

"(Dixon) has improved so much since he got to our school," Schoener said. "He has room to fill out and get bigger. I think he can play in the Big East and I think he can actually be somebody who can get minutes as a freshman.

"He can step out and shoot it. He can cover people in the paint. He can cover people on the perimeter. He has great hands and great feet."

DEVOE JOSEPH UPDATE

Devoe Joseph, a 6-2 shooting guard from Pickering (Ontario) High and the No. 1 player in Canada, holds offers from St. John's, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech, according to Grassroots Canada coach Ro Russell.

David Joseph, Devoe's dad and the Pickering coach, said UConn coaches were coming up on Wednesday and that Virginia Tech, Illinois, Vanderbilt and Minnesota have already visited. New Mexico and Marquette have also called. David added that Devoe was supposed to visit St. John's this past weekend but could not because he was playing in an AAU event in New York that prevented him from going.

David compared his son to Ray Allen and Chauncey BIllups.

"The guy from Michigan told me he's lke Ray Allen shooting-wise," David said. "He's a good long-distance shooter. I guess he could be like Chauncey BIllups when he gets stronger. He can be a point guard like Chauncey."

NEW COACHES ON THE HOTSEAT

My hoopsfuture colleague Eric Bossi has a look at five new coaches who have made an immediate impact in recruiting, including Kerry Rupp at La. Tech, who managed to get Olu Ashaolu to change his mind about Rutgers.

Comments

[rubball2]

Fred Hill is not a good coach. He promised us Lance Thomas, he failed to deliver.

[Ro Hustle]

Is there still no decision from the Clearinghouse on Marvell Waithe? How late can it get?

[BonzotheClown]

This is Gonzo the Clown. Who stole my screen name? Rubball2 is my name damnit!

[Pook]

i'm guilty of it, but these kids really make you question why we care about them at all...they change their minds all the time and it forces the reporter to keep a daily eye on the lastest...news.

[RUoldschool]

Anything new on the Morris twins since their de-commit from Memphis? Have they taken any visits to/from RU? How about SHU?

Thanks.

[RU06]

Hill always makes it interesting - He makes us think we're the bride only to find out were waiting to see who catches the bride's bouquet.

[Adam Z.]

RUoldschool:

I've left several messages for Marcus Morris and their coach at Prep Charter and will post an update soon as I get one. Thanks.