Six BCS Programs Get a Halloween Treat; One Gets a Trick
by Alex Schwartz
For a half dozen high-major programs, Halloween brought a nice treat. For another BCS school, October 31st was not as kind.
Monday was a busy day in the hoops recruiting world, as four players ranked in the top 80 of the Northstar Basketball Post-July 2012 Top 150 made their commitments. A member of the Northstar Basketball Post-July 2013 Top 80 came off the board too, as did another talented junior. In addition, one 2012 prospect reopened his recruitment.
The best player to make his decision on Halloween was Kaleb Tarczewski, a 7'0 center out of St. Mark's (MA). Adam Finkelstein
of the New England Recruiting Report broke the news that the #14 ranked player in the senior class had pledged to Arizona.
Tarczewski (pictured on left), the third best center in the 2012 class, selected the Wildcats over Kansas. He had also previously considered North Carolina, but it ended up coming down to the Arizona and Kansas and it was the Pac-12 program that won out.
Prior to adding Tarczewski, Sean Miller already had the top ranked 2012 recruiting class headed to Tuscon. That stranglehold on the #1 spot only gets stronger now, as Arizona now has four top 40 commits, including two in the top 15.
The headliner of the group is Brandon Ashley, a 6'7 power forward out of Findlay Prep (NV) who checks in at #7 in the 2012 Top 150. After Tarczewski at #14 comes 6'8 power forward Grant Jerrett of La Verne Lutheran (CA), who is ranked #29. The final member of the Arizona class is #40 ranked 6'2 shooting guard Gabe York of Orange Lutheran (CA). Tarczewski is the only member of the class not from the state of California.
Another group of Wildcats landed a talented center on Monday, as Kentucky picked up a pledge from 6'11 Willie Cauley of Olathe Northwest (KS), per Rivals' Eric Bossi. UK edged out Kansas State for the #31 ranked player in the class of 2012. Cauley (pictured on right) also considered Alabama and Florida.
Kentucky already had the top recruiting class in the SEC, despite the fact that the haul only consisted of one member prior to Monday. That is because the first member of the class John Calipari will welcome to Lexington is 6'5 shooting guard Archie Goodwin. The Sylvan Hills (AR) star is ranked #9 in the 2012 Top 150.
The two man class of Goodwin and Cauley probably has Kentucky in the number two spot of the recruiting rankings. While UK is certainly within striking distance of Arizona and involved with many top prospects, the Pac-12 Wildcats do have a sizable advantage for the top spot.
Johnny Dawkins added another piece to his best recruiting class thus far at Stanford. According to Scout's Evan Daniels, the Cardinal picked up a pledge from the
senior class' #74 ranked player, 6'8 small forward Rosco Allen of Bishop Gorman (NV).
Allen (pictured on left) selected Stanford over schools such as North Carolina and UNLV. He is the third ranked player to commit to Stanford in the class of 2012, joining Christian Sanders and Grant Verhoeven. Sanders, a 6'3 shooting guard out of Saint Thomas (TX) is ranked #110. Verhoeven is a 6'8 power forward out of Central Valley Christian (CA) who checks in at #112 in the 2012 class.
Oregon kicked off its 2012 recruiting class in a big way on Monday, as ESPN's Reggie Rankin reported that the Ducks landed 6'0 point guard Dominic Artis of Findlay Prep (NV). A native of California who recently decommitted from UCLA, Artis is ranked #79 in the 2012 Top 150 and was the second best available point guard in the class.
Source Hoops was the first to report that Miami picked up a pledge from Tonye Jekiri of Champagnat Catholic (FL). Northstar Basketball also had the news that the 6'11 center had pledged to the Hurricanes. He is the second 2012 commitment for Miami, joining 6'3 shooting guard Melvin Johnson of St. Bendedict's (NJ).
Jekiri, who is originally from Africa, was ranked #56 in the 2013 Top 80, but he decided to reclassify to 2012 and head to college a year earlier than expected. He will likely end up in the top 100 for the 2012 class now that he has made that move.
The final high-major pledge of the day came in the 2013 class, as Stephen Vasturia of St. Joseph's Prep (PA) popped to Notre Dame. A 6'3 shooting guard who can also play the point, Vasturia is the second commit for the Fighting Irish in 2013, joining 6'6 small forward VJ Beachem of New Haven (IN), who is ranked #74 in the 2013 Top 80. The news of Vasturia's commitment was broken by Adam Finkelstein.
The final major news to come down on Monday was that 6'8 center Aaron Scales had decommitted from Missouri. A class of 2012 prospect out of the American Basketball Institute (NC), Scales had been part of an eight man recruiting class for the Tigers that is now down to seven. The news of his decommitment was first reported by Steve Walentik of the Columbia Daily Tribune.
It is interesting to note that Scales is the second member of the CP3 All-Stars AAU program to decommit from Missouri recently. The other one is 6'8 center Tyrek Coger, a class of 2013 prospect out of Upper Room Christian Academy (NC). The Tigers had been in the running for Rodney Purvis of URCA, a 6'4 shooting guard ranked #6 in the 2012 Top 150 who played AAU ball for CP3. Purvis, a one-time Louisville commit, recently made a pledge to the hometown North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Note- photo of Kaleb Tarczewski is from http://ny2lasports.com/default.aspx; photos of Willie Cauley and Rosco Allen are from http://www.scout.com/
For a half dozen high-major programs, Halloween brought a nice treat. For another BCS school, October 31st was not as kind.
Monday was a busy day in the hoops recruiting world, as four players ranked in the top 80 of the Northstar Basketball Post-July 2012 Top 150 made their commitments. A member of the Northstar Basketball Post-July 2013 Top 80 came off the board too, as did another talented junior. In addition, one 2012 prospect reopened his recruitment.
The best player to make his decision on Halloween was Kaleb Tarczewski, a 7'0 center out of St. Mark's (MA). Adam Finkelstein
of the New England Recruiting Report broke the news that the #14 ranked player in the senior class had pledged to Arizona.Tarczewski (pictured on left), the third best center in the 2012 class, selected the Wildcats over Kansas. He had also previously considered North Carolina, but it ended up coming down to the Arizona and Kansas and it was the Pac-12 program that won out.
Prior to adding Tarczewski, Sean Miller already had the top ranked 2012 recruiting class headed to Tuscon. That stranglehold on the #1 spot only gets stronger now, as Arizona now has four top 40 commits, including two in the top 15.
The headliner of the group is Brandon Ashley, a 6'7 power forward out of Findlay Prep (NV) who checks in at #7 in the 2012 Top 150. After Tarczewski at #14 comes 6'8 power forward Grant Jerrett of La Verne Lutheran (CA), who is ranked #29. The final member of the Arizona class is #40 ranked 6'2 shooting guard Gabe York of Orange Lutheran (CA). Tarczewski is the only member of the class not from the state of California.
Another group of Wildcats landed a talented center on Monday, as Kentucky picked up a pledge from 6'11 Willie Cauley of Olathe Northwest (KS), per Rivals' Eric Bossi. UK edged out Kansas State for the #31 ranked player in the class of 2012. Cauley (pictured on right) also considered Alabama and Florida.Kentucky already had the top recruiting class in the SEC, despite the fact that the haul only consisted of one member prior to Monday. That is because the first member of the class John Calipari will welcome to Lexington is 6'5 shooting guard Archie Goodwin. The Sylvan Hills (AR) star is ranked #9 in the 2012 Top 150.
The two man class of Goodwin and Cauley probably has Kentucky in the number two spot of the recruiting rankings. While UK is certainly within striking distance of Arizona and involved with many top prospects, the Pac-12 Wildcats do have a sizable advantage for the top spot.
Johnny Dawkins added another piece to his best recruiting class thus far at Stanford. According to Scout's Evan Daniels, the Cardinal picked up a pledge from the
senior class' #74 ranked player, 6'8 small forward Rosco Allen of Bishop Gorman (NV).Allen (pictured on left) selected Stanford over schools such as North Carolina and UNLV. He is the third ranked player to commit to Stanford in the class of 2012, joining Christian Sanders and Grant Verhoeven. Sanders, a 6'3 shooting guard out of Saint Thomas (TX) is ranked #110. Verhoeven is a 6'8 power forward out of Central Valley Christian (CA) who checks in at #112 in the 2012 class.
Oregon kicked off its 2012 recruiting class in a big way on Monday, as ESPN's Reggie Rankin reported that the Ducks landed 6'0 point guard Dominic Artis of Findlay Prep (NV). A native of California who recently decommitted from UCLA, Artis is ranked #79 in the 2012 Top 150 and was the second best available point guard in the class.
Source Hoops was the first to report that Miami picked up a pledge from Tonye Jekiri of Champagnat Catholic (FL). Northstar Basketball also had the news that the 6'11 center had pledged to the Hurricanes. He is the second 2012 commitment for Miami, joining 6'3 shooting guard Melvin Johnson of St. Bendedict's (NJ).
Jekiri, who is originally from Africa, was ranked #56 in the 2013 Top 80, but he decided to reclassify to 2012 and head to college a year earlier than expected. He will likely end up in the top 100 for the 2012 class now that he has made that move.
The final high-major pledge of the day came in the 2013 class, as Stephen Vasturia of St. Joseph's Prep (PA) popped to Notre Dame. A 6'3 shooting guard who can also play the point, Vasturia is the second commit for the Fighting Irish in 2013, joining 6'6 small forward VJ Beachem of New Haven (IN), who is ranked #74 in the 2013 Top 80. The news of Vasturia's commitment was broken by Adam Finkelstein.
The final major news to come down on Monday was that 6'8 center Aaron Scales had decommitted from Missouri. A class of 2012 prospect out of the American Basketball Institute (NC), Scales had been part of an eight man recruiting class for the Tigers that is now down to seven. The news of his decommitment was first reported by Steve Walentik of the Columbia Daily Tribune.
It is interesting to note that Scales is the second member of the CP3 All-Stars AAU program to decommit from Missouri recently. The other one is 6'8 center Tyrek Coger, a class of 2013 prospect out of Upper Room Christian Academy (NC). The Tigers had been in the running for Rodney Purvis of URCA, a 6'4 shooting guard ranked #6 in the 2012 Top 150 who played AAU ball for CP3. Purvis, a one-time Louisville commit, recently made a pledge to the hometown North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Note- photo of Kaleb Tarczewski is from http://ny2lasports.com/default.aspx; photos of Willie Cauley and Rosco Allen are from http://www.scout.com/
Posted by northstarbball at 11/1/2011 2:58 AM 
Categories: Links, Class of 2012, Class of 2013
Tags: Kaleb Tarczewski Brandon Ashley Gabe York Grant Jerrett Sean Miller Pac12 Kansas North Carolina Adam Finkelstein New England Recruiting Report California basketball Willie Cauley Kentucky Kansas State Alabama Florida John Calipari SEC Archie Goodwin Rivals Eric Bossi Johnny Dawkins Evan Daniels Scout Rosco Allen Grant Verhoeven UNLV Christian Sanders Reggie Rankin ESPN Dominic Artis Oregon UCLA Findlay Prep Source Hoops Melvin Johnson Tonye Jekiri Miami Stephen Vasturia VJ Beachem Notre Dame Aaron Scales Missouri Columbia Daily Tribune Steve Walentik Tyrek Coger Rodney Purvis North Carolina State Louisville CP3 AllStars Upper Room Christian Academy
Categories: Links, Class of 2012, Class of 2013
Tags: Kaleb Tarczewski Brandon Ashley Gabe York Grant Jerrett Sean Miller Pac12 Kansas North Carolina Adam Finkelstein New England Recruiting Report California basketball Willie Cauley Kentucky Kansas State Alabama Florida John Calipari SEC Archie Goodwin Rivals Eric Bossi Johnny Dawkins Evan Daniels Scout Rosco Allen Grant Verhoeven UNLV Christian Sanders Reggie Rankin ESPN Dominic Artis Oregon UCLA Findlay Prep Source Hoops Melvin Johnson Tonye Jekiri Miami Stephen Vasturia VJ Beachem Notre Dame Aaron Scales Missouri Columbia Daily Tribune Steve Walentik Tyrek Coger Rodney Purvis North Carolina State Louisville CP3 AllStars Upper Room Christian Academy
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