by Alex Schwartz

At Summer in the City at St. John's on Friday, I had the opportunity to catch up with a number of players to see how their recruiting was going. Since I talked to 35+ players, I'll be breaking the lists down into a few articles. This is number one.

Jayvaughn Pinkston ’10, Bishop Loughlin (NY), NewH eights: Miami, St. John’s, Tennessee, Arizona, Rutgers, Villanova, and Marquette (that is basically his top seven)
                                                 Offers: All
                                                 Favorites: None
                                                 Note- When asked if location would be a factor, Pinkston replied, “No, not really.”

Cameron Ayers ’10, Germantown Academy (PA), Playaz:Clemson, Michigan, Georgetown, Davidson, Drexel, and La Salle
                                       Offers: Unknown
                                       Favorites: “No, not right now. I think I’m going to visit Clemson in the fall. They want me [to come down] there for a football game. I’m also going to try to visit Michigan and Georgetown in late August.”

Devon Collier ’10, St. Anthony’s (NJ), New Heights:Rutgers, St. John’s, UConn, Villanova, Seton Hall, Virginia, West Virginia,Memphis, Marquette, Arizona, Xavier, and Miami
                                    Offers: Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall,Virginia, and Xavier
                                    Favorites: “They are all the same. I don’t have any favorites.”
                                    Notes- Collier informed me that there aresome other schools on his list that he could not remember. Asked if he and AAU teammates Ashton Pankey and Jayvaughn Pinkston have discussed going to school together, as they list many of the same schools, Devon remarked, “No, we haven’t discussed it, but it’s possible. It’s [about] what fits us. If it’s a school that fits all three of us, you never know, but we haven’t discussed it.” How was Collier’s first year at St. Anthony’s under Bob Hurley? “It was a good experience under Coach Hurley. He made me a better player [and] . . . I had a good year and I know what to expect next year.”

Isiah Stokley ’10, undecided, Rise Panthers: Seton Hall, Siena, Norfolk State, and Binghamton
                               Offers:None
                               Favorite: Seton Hall; “That’s Big East big-time basketball. That’s most likely where I want to go next year.”
                               Notes- Stokley,whose dream school in Seton Hall, graduated from Thomas Edison (NY), but is headed to prep school next year. “I [had] been looking at Patterson [School in NC], but it closed down, so I’m looking at Notre Dame Prep [in MA].” Isiah wants to play in the Big East, but also wants to leave the Empire State. “I just want to get out of New York [to] . . . anywhere I can come in and play.”

Ashton Pankey ’10, St. Anthony’s (NJ), New Heights:Rice, Western Kentucky, Houston, Pitt, Maryland, Siena, Manhattan, St. John’s,UConn, Virginia, Miami, and Providence
                                   Offers: Rice, Western Kentucky, Houston, Pitt, Maryland, Siena,Manhattan, St. John’s, Virginia, Miami, and Providence
                                   Favorites: “No, not right now. I’m still pretty much wide open, [but] .. . hopefully I’ll cut it down by the end of summer.”
                                    Note-Although there are some other schools showing some interest, Pankey stated, “That’s pretty much the list [of schools that] I’ve been getting heavy recruitment from.”

Anali Okoloji ’10, Ocean Academy (NJ), Team Lucky NYC: St. John’s, TCU,Southern Mississippi, Memphis, North Carolina State, DePaul, St. Bonaventure,and Iona
                                   Offers: TCU, DePaul, St. Bonaventure, andIona
                                   Favorites: “No, no favorites. I’m just trying to focus on getting qualified.”
                                   Note- Okolji, who “wants to sign in early,in November,” is attending the new NJ prep school upon graduating from Benjamin Banneker (NY), as he just missed qualifying, stating, “A lot of people thought I did a fifth year, but I didn’t. I fell just short of qualifying.”

Kadeem Jack ’10, Rice (NY), NY Gauchos: Seton Hall,Pitt, George Mason, Siena, Villanova, Arkansas, Miami, St. John’s, DePaul, and Drexel
                                                      Offers: Seton Hall, George Mason, Siena,and St. John’s
                                                      Favorites: “My favorites are probably Seton Hall, Villanova, St. John’s, Pitt, and Miami.”
                                                      Notes- Jack is just 16 years old despite the fact that he is about to be a senior, and thus is considering doing a post-grad year after he graduates, and is already considering St. Thomas More(CT), South Kent (CT), Notre Dame Prep (MD), and Solebury School (PA). It is not definite though, as the big man, who wants to go high-major, stated, “It depends on how I do this year, because I think if I go to prep school I’ll . .. get more familiar with my game. . . . This will [only] be my third year[playing basketball].” The New York star does think it is likely he will end up taking a PG year. “I’ll think most likely I’ll go prep because I don’t thinkt hree years [of experience] is enough to go high-major and contribute how I wantto.”

Kazembe Abif ’10, University (NJ), Team NJABC:Providence, St. Joseph’s, Michigan, Marist, NJIT, Fordham, Niagara, Ston yBrook, Boston University, Lafayette, Army, and St. Francis (PA)
                                  Offers:NJIT, Lafayette, Army, and St. Francis (PA)
                                 Favorites: “No, I’m wide open.”
                                  Notes- Abif is also being recruited for football by Maryland, UConn, Syracuse,Michigan State, UCLA, James Madison (offer), Columbia (offer), and Boston College, and as of now is not sure which sport he will play in college. Kazembe, who is just 16, will be doing a post-grad year after graduation so he will end up in the class of 2011, and is thinking about Hun School (NJ), Blair Academy (NJ), and South Kent (CT).

Note- photos are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/