by Alex Schwartz

Two Big East programs picked up commitments in the past few days, one landing a post grad and the other snagging a junior. Waverly Austin '10 of Heat Academy (VA) is the newest member of the South Florida program, while Michael Carter-Williams '11 of St. Andrew's (RI) popped to Syracuse. I had a chance to catch up with both players this evening.

Austin committed to USF soon after his visit to the program. How did he make his choice? "It was just the close relationship with the coach. I like the coaching staff a lot. The team is like a family. I'll be able to play a lot as a freshman. My mom lives in Jacksonville so she will be able to come to all my home games."

Austin, a 6'9 power forward who attended four schools in his four years of high school and is now at his fifth for his PG year, listed South Florida, Seton Hall, Indiana, and UConn as his finalists. He claimed offers from all but the Huskies, stating, "UConn was going to offer after they saw my transcript."

Asked how doing a post grad year has helped his recruitment, Waverly responded, "It helped a lot. I just needed a year to get better and stronger, and most of all to get a better test score. That's why I'm doing a PG year. It helped me get stronger and get ready for college." Austin will be "taking the test in December" and informed me that he is "studying real hard" for it. He has a 2.7 GPA, so it is just his score that he needs to improve.

The big man does not have any relationship with fellow USF-bound Lavonte Dority '10, yet he does know some of the current Bulls, including one in particular. "I [have] never talked to him [Dority], but I know the players on the USF team. Gus Gilchrist, me and him are real cool, so that helped [me in] my decision."

How does Austin describe his game? "I play real hard and I love to run the floor in transition. That's what I do best, [play] up-tempo. I try to model my game after Tim Duncan and Tyson Chandler. You know how Chandler does that pick and roll? I'm good with the pick and roll. Then I can play skill-wise like Duncan, like catch and shoot, and I have a left-handed hook shot. I can also finish above the rim."

St. Andrew's is a traditional prep school powerhouse in New England because of quality players like Michael Carter-Williams, a 6'5 point guard who garnered interest from numerous high-major programs. Williams, one of the top juniors in New England, considered Providence, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Notre Dame, Miami, and Vilanova before selecting Syracuse, which produced maybe the best St. Andrew's basketball alum ever in Demetris Nichols.

Asked how he decided on the Orange, Carter-Williams commented, "I thought about it a lot and I realized that I wasn't going to like a school as much as I like Syracuse. Also, they have a great communications program, which [is what] I want to major in. I love [Assistant] Coach [Mike] Hopkins and [Head] Coach [Jim] Boeheim is one of the best coaches in the world, and the facilities are great."

Why did Michael decide to end the recruiting process at this early stage? "I wanted to get the college process over so I could focus on my high school team and academics and not on what college I want to go to. I really fell in love with Syracuse.

For those who do not know about Carter-Williams, I asked him to talk about his game. "For one thing, I play as hard as possible. I'm very long. I knock down the open shot, take care of the ball, and I see the court very well and [I am] a great teammate." It was this effort that he mentioned that Michael feels contributed to him boosting his stock over the summer. "I mean, I just really went really hard all summer and it worked out for me."

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