The Big East writers have spoken and their preseason conference poll results are here. 16 writers, each from a different part of Big East country, cast their votes on how the teams will finish this year, as well as selecting the conference’s top players and newcomers.
CLICK “MORE…” TO VIEW THE RESULTS!
On Tuesday, Detroit product Jodan Price became the second member of the DePaul Blue Demons’ 2012 recruiting class. Price, a 6’6″ wing from Detroit Country Day, chose DePaul over Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Hofstra, Lamar, Saint Joseph’s and Western Michigan. He was also recruited and offered by Minnesota and Northwestern, but both cooled after receiving other commitments.
Price is ranked as the #133 overall prospect by Rivals and the 26th small forward in the class. His recruitment to DePaul was led by head coach Oliver Purnell, who also locked up a commitment from power forward DeJuan Marrero (Gary, IN) last month. Price committed just days after making an official visit to DePaul’s Chicago campus. His host on that visit was Donnovan Kirk, a Detroit Country Day alum currently on the Blue Demon roster.
Every Friday we will release a list of small recruiting news “nuggets” or “tidbits” they deserve mention on this site but do not necessarily require full articles. Here is this Friday’s edition of Recruiting Tidbits:
* DePaul has added a late member to its 2011 recruiting class in JUCO point guard Worrell Clahar. The 6-foot junior comes to Chicago from Lawson State CC (Alabama) and will have 2 years of eligibility with the Blue Demons. The commitment actually happened over Labor Day weekend, but got lost in the shuffle by yours truly. Apologies on that one!
* Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy was the place to be for college coaches on Wednesday night as all eyes were on 2013 star Jabari Parker. In the house to see Parker were head coaches and/or assistants from over 20 D1 schools, headlined by Mike Krzyzewski (plus 2 Duke assistants), Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Thad Matta (plus assistant), Bill Self (plus assistant), Bruce Weber (plus assistant), Oliver Purnell and Larry Krystkowiak (Utah). Several other local schools were represented, including Chicago State, UIC, Valpo, Illinois State and Northern Illinois. The workout also featured Marquette commit and Steve Taylor (2012) and Texas A&M verbal Kendrick Nunn (2013).
* Indiana commitment Peter Jurkin (2012) has been out of basketball for most of the last year with a stress fracture in his leg. Inside The Hall is reporting that Jurkin is now back at full strength after missing most of his junior season and the entire AAU evaluation period.
DeJuan Marrero became the first member of head coach Oliver Purnell’s 2012 recruiting class earlier today after giving his pledge to DePaul University. The newest Blue Demon is a 6-5 SF from Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary, Indiana.
The short distance from Gary to Chicago was a major factor in DeJuan’s decision, as he wanted to play somewhere close to his mother.
Marrero was also considering Illinois, a program which was thought by some to be the leader in his recruitment, but stated that they had recently backed off a bit. In the end, it was a mix of academics, promixity to home, a chance to play in the Big East and a long-standing relationship with DePaul assistant Billy Garrett that sealed the deal for the Blue Demons. Garrett was on the staff prior to Oliver Purnell taking over and it appears keeping him on staff paid big dividends in this recruitment. (more…)