by Alex Schwartz

David Laury '10 has been quiet of late, with not much news coming out about the status of his commitment to Iona since Kevin Willard left the Gaels for Seton Hall. When I reached the 6'7 small forward from Ocean Academy (NJ) yesterday, he cleared the air on where he stands and also gave me some news on his new college choice.

"[There is] no way I'm going there. The coaches are now at Seton Hall, so I'm not going to Iona," said Laury, who signed with Western Kentucky last year, but left the school soon after arriving.

While the new SHU staff did talk to Laury about coming to the Big East program, it was not something he was interested in. "They were kind of [recruiting me]. I got a call from Sha [Assistant Coach Shaheen Holloway] saying they want me at Seton Hall, but I have to be a good kid, which I am, but I'm not going to Seton [Hall] even if he was seriously recruiting me. I guess it was like they were, but weren't. They offered me the once, but that's only if I clear."

On why he was not keen on attending SHU, Laury commented, "It's extremely close to home, a seven-minute walk. [I am] up there [regularly] working out and I'm from, it's a lot of distractions."

The Pirates' interest became a moot point this weekend when Laury took his name off the board. "Well, I've made my decision. I'm going to UMass, but Minnesota and Ole Miss were recruiting me. They started when we went to the IMG tourney in Florida," said Laury.

"Yeah, I told them I'm coming and that's where I wanna be. I just left from my official visit today [Saturday]," said Laury, who committed to the Minutemen on Friday.

Asked how it feels to have the decision behind him, Laury replied, "It feels great. Now I can just focus on my body."

Before ending the conversation with Laury, he wanted to add something. "I think the coaches are great guys and I'm embracing the opportunity to be a [part of the] Minutemen and work hard. There is little room for error for me and I've basically been given up on by a lot of schools and I'm thankful for the chance to play on a level that I think I'm more than capable, especially with the coaching of guys like [Head Coach] Derek Kellogg and Adam Ginsburg and the rest of the staff. Also, it's a great school with excellent prestige in my eyes. I'm just excited."

Once again, in news that was broken by Northstar Basketball via our Twitter account, class of 2010 forward David Laury of Ocean Academy has committed to UMass.

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/