by Alex Schwartz

With the late signing period ending on Wednesday, the class of 2010 recruiting board continues to get slimmer and slimmer. Over the past few days, both 6'8 forward Cleveland Melvin of Notre Dame Prep (MA) and 6'4 point guard Josh Elbaum of Northfield Mt. Hermon (MA) have both made their choices in the past few days.

Cleveland Melvin had originally committed to UConn, but reportedly decomitted from the Huskies because he wanted to play the 3 at the next level, and Jim Calhoun and Co. wanted him as a 4. While Melvin will still be in the Big East next year, it will not be in Storrs. The gifted athlete out of Baltimore who is spending a PG year at Notre Dame Prep, committed to DePaul.

"I had sat down and cousin and we had to think and decide what three colleges that I was considering were the best fit for me and my family, and which one had the best academics that can provide me [with the ability] to succeed on and off the court and . . . coming in as a freshman and playing a lot of minutes," said Melvin of how he picked DePaul.

Marshall and Rutgers were the other two schools that Melvin said he considered, but it was the new DePaul head coach that made the Blue Demons stand out, amongst other things.

"Oliver Purnell and the rest of the coaching staff, they are all great guys and we have a great relationship with each other and I can just look up at Purnell as a father to me," Melvin explained. "The city of Chicago, it's just a great atmosphere out there. I love it out there and it felt a lot different from back home. It was the best opportunity and situation for me."

Melvin, who said "it will be great!" to face UConn every year, talked about how he feels he can help build DePaul back up. "My style of play fits right in with DePaul's style of play, like my ability to run the floor in transition and score, my freakiest athleticism, the ability to step out on the perimeter and knockdown the midrange constantly, and also get to the rack any time I want," Melvin said. "Those are [the things that] I can do to help rebuild DePaul back up."

Asked if he has any goals for the college level, Melvin responded via text message, "Just being a student-athlete on and off the court, having a lot of much better, winning seasons my years at DePaul, to get Big East Freshman of the Year, to win the Big East Conference Tournament and make it to the NCAA Tournament!! I have a lot of goals in my college career."

Melvin is the fourth member of DePaul's class of 2010 haul, joining Brandon Young, Moses Morgan, and Walter Pritchford. The other three signed with previous head coach Jerry Wainwright.

While Josh Elbaum's commitment to Vermont might not have made the same headlines as Melvin's pledge to DePaul did, he is a great late pickup for the Catamounts. Elbaum graduated from St. John the Baptist (NY) and then took a PG year at Northfield Mt. Hermon, which made it to the Prep National Chammpionships title game.

"I took a visit and played with the tram Friday. I fell in love with the place. [There is a] great coaching staff, I know some of the kids on the team already, and thought it had a great mix between basketball and academics. The city of Burlington [where the school is located] is really behind the team and its shown by the incredible fan support there," Elbaum said of how he picked the America East school.

What was Elbaum's other finalist? "Hofstra, but it was a tad too close to home and I wanted to go away from home to get the college experience and still allow my parents to get the chance to see me play throughout the year," he said.

Asked if living in New England for school the past year made him more comfortable with Vermont, Elbaum responded, "Yeah, definitely, [but that] doesn't mean I'm not gonna bring some Strong Island to Burlington, but the transition shouldn't be a problem, regarding weather, etc."

"I would call myself a true point! I look to pass first and be a coach on the floor," wrote Elbaum via text on how he would describe his game. "I like to use my length and deceptive quickness to get in the paint and be a playmaker. I love to get steals and push the ball on the break as well."

Elabum, who said he is "really excited", had some major accomplishments while in high school at St. John the Baptist. "We won our league senior year [and I was] named league MVP. I scored over 1,000 points and was named All-Long Island by Newsday."

Elbaum is part of a solid four-man recruiting class for Vermont, joining high school teammates Brian Voelkel and Sandro Carrisimo of Iona Prep (NY) as well as Ryan McKeaney of Cherokee (NJ).

Note- photo on the left is of Cleveland Melvin and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/; photo on the right is of Josh Elbaum and is from http://www.ballislife.com/