2005 Recruiting Check List

With NYC PG Malcolm Grant already on board SHU is down to one available scholarship to give to the class of 2006. Right now we are on the radar with 5 prospects from 5 different states and 5 different types of games including the pictured Adrion graves.

With NYC PG Malcolm Grant already on board SHU is down to one available scholarship to give to the class of 2006. Right now we are on the radar with 5 prospects from 5 different states and 5 different games.

The highest rated player is 6-4 SG Adrion Graves from Hughes Center Hs in Cincinnati Ohio. The four star prospect re-opened his recruitment after giving an early commit to the Cincinnati Bearcats once Coach Huggins was asked to step down. Graves is a nice looking athlete who goes on runs from downtown and is confident. Can get to the rim and finish. Strictly a shooting guard and is an extremely streaky shooter. Graves must work on his ball handling, passing, and mid range game to get to the next level. The good news is that he is from Cincinnati an area in which coach George Jackson has a good amount of connections. The bad news is that Graves is a heavy lean to Xavier. SHU must get him to visit the campus. Word is the staff had an in home visit with him 10-5.

Next on the list is the exciting combo guard, Earl Pettis out of St Neumann HS in Philly. Very solid college basketball prospect. Will take the big shots and can play outside. Jumper needs consistency but he's a threat out there. At 6-5 Pettis offers an intriguing match up because he can be an effective PG and create major mismatches. Every Philly and PA school is after him. I expect him to land in the Big East or A-10 but I don’t know how serious of a player SHU is with him at this point.

A prospect that most SHU fans haven’t seen and probably just heard of is 6-7 215lb wing forward Damien Hollis. This Floridian is flat out versatile. He is a left-handed combo forward who is athletic and can also stroke it from deep. He also has a real nice handle. A true Swingman who even can rebound and block some shoots. Think a poor mans Lamar Odom. Florida Atlantic, WVU, and SHU seem to be his top 3. Need to get him on Campus.

Now for the Local kids. Kimmani Barrett from powerhouse Patterson Catholic in NJ is a player I have seen on numerous occasions. Athletic slasher who gets to the basket but needs to develop all around skills like Hollis. Needs to be more aggressive in the offense as he can seem to be very passive. SHU has seemed to have cooled on him. Might be more of an A-10 caliber basketball player right now who develops into a real good player. Very similar to some of the wings SHU has taken in during the last 3 years. Has some big schools on his list but I don’t know who ARE his serious suitors are at this point.

Last but not least is Brian McKenzie from Xaverian HS in Brooklyn NY another monster Basketball school that has sent many kids to the Div 1 level. McKenzie is a 6-3 lights out sharp shooter who also can play tough defense. A bit of a late bloomer because of a stacked back court last year (Levance Fields and Saiquon Stone). Right now SHU has the lead for his commitment and I would be shocked if we didn’t get it. You can never have enough shooters on your roster. Brian recently visited but did not commit but it could only be a matter of time.