by Alex Schwartz

On Monday I caught up with a trio of talented prospects from three different states. The headliner of the group was Jordin Mayes '10 of Westchester (CA), the #69 ranked player in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125. Eli Carter '10 from St. Anthony's (NJ) was a player who I considered a bit near the end of the rankings and is a top 175 player nationally. Ryan Canty '11 was an under-the-radar 2010 big man, but he is no longer.

Although Mayes is undersized for a shooting guard at 6'1, he is a big-time talent and is drawing a lot of college interest. Cal, Boston College, Utah, Washington State, San Diego State, San Francisco, Boise State, St. Mary's, Fresno State, San Diego, and Colorado are the 11 schools on Mayes' list, and they have all offered. Asked if there are any programs that have yet to offer that are recruiting him that he is considering, Jordin remarked, "I'm only considering the ones that offered right now. [It is] too much hassle and stress trying to work about ones that haven't offered or [are] not going to offer."

Right now, there are three programs that stand out to Mayes. "I'm leaning towards Cal, Boston College, and Utah," stated the Golden State guard. In fact, Mayes informed me that is actually the order of his top three, so right now the Golden Bears are the ream to beat, though he did state that it is "all subject to change though," so Mike Montgomery and Co. have not locked him up just yet. As fas as visits go, Mayes was at "Boston College this past weekend" on a official. Cal, Colorado, and San Diego are the only other schools he has seen so far. Are any other visits planned? "Cal this weekend. Utah next weekend."

Jordin is unsure of when he will be making his commitment. "I don't know when I'm going to commit. It's all about my feelings." Asked which coach(es) he has the strongest bond with, Mayes commented, "They [are] all cool." The scoring guard will be a main key to Westchester's success again this season, and he feels the team can accomplish a lot. "Repeat on what we did last year and try [to] go undefeated."

When you talk about a player of late who has benefited from playing under Bob Hurley at St. Anthony's, Eli Carter is one of the first ballers that comes to mind. Entering the Jersey City school for his junior year as a solid player, but nothing overly special, Carter will be going into his senior year as one of the elite players in the Garden State, a top 175 player in the nation in my opinion, a high A-10 player, and a Top 20 All-Star at The Hoop Group Elite Camp. The 6'1 point guard had told me in mid-July that Richmond was his leader, but that is no longer the case, not even close. "No, they are off the list," stated Carter, adding, "I don't know his name, but a guard committed there, that's why they're off my list." That player is 6'1 combo guard Cedrick Lindsay '10 of Gonzaga (DC), who was ranked #122 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125. Asked what his reaction was to hearing of Lindsay's commitment to the Spiders, Eli said, "It was a little disappointing because it was one of the many schools I was considering."

So what schools are on Carter's list? "In no order, St. Bonaventure, La Salle, Boston University, Manhattan, Robert Morris, [and] Rider have offered. Notre Dame, Providence, and Rutgers are showing interest." As of now, Carter does not have any favorites. "No, I'm wide open." Regarding visits, Carter is still in the early stages. "I've visited Virginia and Richmond unofficially, but neither are on my list, and I'm taking an official visit to St. Bonaventure on Thursday. . . . I don't have any other visits set up as of today" When I inquired why UVA is not under consideration, Carter commented, "They just stopped recruiting me, so I took them off [my list]."

"I honestly don't know, but if I'm comfortable with a school I will commit right then and there," stated Eli, when asked when he plans to make his pledge. What are the odds he goes to school with Derrick Williams '10, his high school and AAU teammate? "I don't know, but we have talked about going to school together, so you never know." Carter is not as optimistic about the chances he will head to school with his half brother Khalil Murphy '10, who is doing a PG year at Fishburne Military Academy (VA). "[We have] not really talked about it because we have different schools recruiting us, so we never talked about that." Carter thinks that he can be a part of something big this year at St. Anthony's before heading off to college, as he listed some big things when asked what the Friars can accomplish in 2009-10. "State champs and national champs, if we keep working hard and play as a team."

Ryan Canty was a solid big man who was not that well-known at St. John's (DC) last year, and entering his senior year, Canty decided to switch some things up. The Mass Rivals AAU player told me that he has transferred to Tilton School (NH) and is now in the class of 2011. "I just felt it was a much better ball program than St. John's and a huge opportunity to get better," said Canty on why he chose to make the move.

New Hampshire (offer), Holy Cross, The Citadel (offer), Fairfield, Colgate, UC-Riverside (offer), and UMass are the schools recruiting the post player. Asked if he has any favorites, Canty stated, "Not at the time." Thus far he has tripped to just a pair of schools. "I [have] visited UMass and UNH." Although there have been no other visits set, there may be one in the works. "My [high school] teammate Georges Niang, [a 2012 big man], told me today that Holy Cross wants us both to visit." As he is repeating his junior year, Canty has a lot more time to make his college choice, and he plans to use it. "I'm probably going to wait [until my] senior year so I can consider all my options."

Mayes and Carter are two of the upper-echelon guards remaining in the class of 2010, and I will keep you posted on their recruitment. As for Canty, expect his interest to increase now that he is in the class of 2011.

Note- photo of Mayes is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/ and photo of Carter is from http://www.15andunderbasketball.com/