BIG EAST RECRUITING REPORT: DEPAUL

July 2006


Projected 2007-2008 Roster:

Seniors: Draelon Burns (SG), Cliff Clinkscales (PG), Karron Clarke (WF), Wes Green (C)
Juniors: Jabarie Currie (SG), Wilson Chandler (PF)
Sophomores: Will Walker (PG), Thijin Moses (F)
Freshmen: No commits as of yet.


Jerry Wainwright and his staff, led by Gary DeCesare, have been very busy on the recruiting trail this spring and summer and have the Blue Demons involved with many players that should be quality players in the Big East. With five scholarships open and a senior class in 2007-2008 of four players, the 2007 and 2008 classes are shaping up to be the most important for DePaul in a long time as they might dictate their future in the Big East as they try to move into the upper-echelon of the conference.


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Target numero-uno for Jerry Wainwright and staff is Boys to Men Academy's Nyal 'Mac' Koshwal, a 6'8, 235 lb power forward. Although Koshwal seems to keep his options close to the vest, it is widely perceived that DePaul leads for the interior horse with Marquette, Wisconsin, Miami and Georgetown still in hot pursuit as well. With only the inconsistent Wesley Green on the projected roster as an interior offensive threat, Wainwright has made Koshwal priority #1 from the start of the 2007 recruiting and the playing time is definitely available to him from the beginning.

The Blue Demons could definitely use additional size along with Koshwal and they have been recruiting players like Gary McGhee (6'9, 230 lb BF/C from IN), Brandon McGee (6'8, 215 lb BF from Chicago), Jerai Grant (6'8, 215 lb BF from MD), Idris Hilliard (6'7, 215 lb F from NJ), Jon Leuer (6'10, 200 lb F from MN) and Croatian Juco Matija Poscic (6'9 and 220 lbs). Assuming they land Koshwal, any one of these targets would be an excellent addition to add immediate depth and the potential to be excellent players in the conference. In the event of losing Koshwal, landing two players from this group is essential, although none would give the immediate lift that Koshwal would be expected to provide.


With the late addition of the long and lean Thijin Moses to the 2006 class, there does not seem to be a big push to add a wing. They were very aggressive in trying to get a wing in the 2006 class and with the decommitment of Manual Cass (more of a combo forward, anyway) and the transfer of Rashad Woods, I would have thought they would continue to explore additional wing options, but at this time, nothing seems on the immediate radar. A top early target was Evan Turner who blew up early this spring and committed to Ohio State a few weeks ago.

It looks as if the Blue Demons are also aggressively pursuing guards. At the absolute top of their list is top 5 player Derrick Rose out of Chicago and top 20 Chris Wright out of DC. Although DePaul could be considered on each of their short lists, it would be a longshot that DePaul lands either. Rose could be one of the first to push the envelopre in challenging the new restrictions against high school players going straight to the professional ranks (with Illinois and Memphis supposedly leading as college choices) and Wright seems to be leaning towards Georgetown with a late push from Pitt. DePaul has been spotted trailing Justin Bocot, an aggressive and athletic lead guard out of Illinois as well as NJ guard Rashon Dwight and Mustapha Farrakhan out of Chicago. The Blue Demons were disappointed when Demetri McCamey, a HS and AAU teammate of Evan Turner, parlayed their early spring AAU success into an offer, which he accepted, from Illinois. He would have been a perfect fit at DePaul, and the Big East, with his strong style of play with Will Waker in the Blue Demon future backcourt.

With a tremendous amount of local talent in the immediate area and the high profile environment of th eBig East to offer recruits, it should be an exciting time to follow DePaul recruiting. With up to five scholarships to offer this year and at least another four in the 2008 class, we should have a lot to report on out of Chicago. A great resource to also check out on Chicago and the rest of the state of Illinois high school basketball and recruiting is Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye. They do an excellent job, for free, on keeping their readers up to date on players from Illinois and the surrounding area and their recrutiting situations. We check them out often to get the scoop on who DePaul, Marquette and Notre Dame, for the most part, are checking out from the area.