BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: DEPAUL
August 29, 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), Matija Poscic (F)
Sophomores: Will Walker (PG), Thijin Moses (F)
Freshmen: No commits as of yet.
Depaul picked up their first commitment for the 2007-2008 season as Majita Poscic, a JUCO forward, officially committed to DePaul. Highlands Poscic Commits to DePaul (Journal-Standard) after also getting some interest from Wisconsin, but he seemed content on DePaul for some time now.
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 four more scholarships to give in the class of 2007 after Poscic's commitment, they still have a lot of work to do on the recruiting trail this fall.
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Poscic is a versatile 6'9 forward and native of Croatia who averaged 10 PPG and 8 rebounds last season for Highlands CC. Poscic, like many Croatian big men, shows a nice tough from beyond tha arc as well, shooting 40.2% (33-82) last season. He also has the strength and athletic ability to get it done near the hoop as well. Highlands is also where St. John's senior Aaron Spears made a pit-stop before coming to the Big East after starting out at Illinois. Poscic will help ease some of the recruiting burden of interior players, but he also could be insurance in case Wilson Chandler opts for the NBA draft after his sophomore season.
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 Louisville, Illinois, LSU, USC and Tennessee. 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) and Jon Leuer (6'10, 200 lb F from MN) as well as Poscic (6'9 and 220 lbs). McGhee has narrowed his choices to Pitt and Wisconsin and McGee has since committed to Indiana. Leuer seems to have left DePaul off his list of finalists. They remain involved with Grant and Hilliard, but Koshwal is the centerpiece of their 2007 recruiting class. Poscic is a nice compliment that should help balance some of the classes and provide a nice lift with his experience at the JUCO level.
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 envelope in challenging the new restrictions against high school players going straight to the professional ranks (with Kansas and Memphis supposedly leading as college choices) and Wright seems to be leaning towards Georgetown with a late push from Pitt and Wake Forest. However, their pursuit of highly rated guards do not end their as they are also a finalist for Darquavis Tucker from Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, MI. Again, the competition is stiff with Indiana and Louisville, but for the Blue Demons to be on the short lists of such impressive players as Rose, Tucker and Wright does show things are happening at DePaul. Landing one of these players would be a true coup. If they can hold onto Koshwal as well...WOW!
DePaul was also 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 the Big East to offer recruits, it should be an exciting time to follow DePaul recruiting. With up to four more 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.
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posted by NBE Blogger @ 11:49 AM
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