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News & Notes

Lexington, Ky- In this edition of News & Notes we get back up to speed with recent commitments and recap the adidas May Classic.

…..7-footer Beas Hamga will play his college ball at UNLV.  Hamga chose the Running Rebels over the University of Kentucky.  The athletic big man is one of the nation’s top shot blockers and has an improving offensive game…..

…..Ohio State coach Thad Matta is the premiere coach in the country at recruiting underclassmen, and he has picked up a big-time commitment in the class of 2010 with 6’7 Jared Sullinger of Columbus Northland.  Sullinger (currently 14th nationally) will move into the top-10 in our class of 2010 player rankings when we update and expand them later this week…..

…..6’8 Michael Sanchez is staying in-state and will play his college ball at Arkansas.  He chose the Razorbacks over the University of Kentucky who was making a late push for the big man…..

…..6’7 forward Olu Ashaolu looked good while leading his Grassroots Canada squad to a win over Delvon Roe and OBC at the adidas May Classic.  Ashaolu, a top-100 prospect in the class of 2008, is being recruited by Georgetown, Georgia, Louisiana Tech, Rutgers, Duquesne, LSU, UConn, Washington, Florida and Tennessee…..

…..Former Utah Coach Rick Majerus has picked up a commitment from the class of 2008 as new head coach at St. Louis, when  6’11 Brett Thompson of Vienna, Il committed to the Billikens over Alabama, Indiana, and Iowa State earlier this week…..

…..6’9 Denzel Bowles is following Coach Mark Turgeon to Texas A&M.  Bowles originally signed with Turgeon at Wichita State, but reconsidered his commitment after Coach Turgeon was hired as Billy Gillispie’s replacement at A&M…..

…..We have received numerous e-mails from readers letting us know about players that we may have overlooked when we published our Sophomore Seventy-Five rankings last week.  We are committed to following-up and researching information about every name passed along to us.  One player that we have heard a lot about lately is 6’3 combo guard Chase Tapley from Sacramento High School.  Tapley had noteworthy performances at the adidas Phenom 150 Camp and the Full Court Press All-Soph Camp in addition to other events.  Tapley has already been offered by Baylor and has been contacted by Arizona State, Cal, and UCLA.  He is just one more player to keep an eye on in the loaded sophomore class in California….

…..Host program Indiana Elite’s teams completely dominated the adidas May Classic last weekend.  The championship game of the 17u division was an all-Indiana Elite affair as Indiana Elite-Team Indiana knocked off Indiana Elite Orange to win the tournament.  6’10 Tyler Zeller and 6’6 Arizona-commit Emmanu Negedu combined for 32 points to lead the winners.  The Indiana Elite teams had to get past Mean Streets, Grassroots Canada, So. Cal All-Stars, and Ohio Basketball Club on their way to the finals.  6’9 sophomore Stephan Van Treese led Indiana Elite One to the championship of the 16u division.  6’7 freshman phenom DeShaun Thomas led the Indiana Elite Fort Worth Flames to the title in the 15u division…..

…..In February we told you about Catalin Baciu, a 7-footer from Romania that was making a name for himself among ACC coaching circles, and today he committed to Clemson after considering offers from North Carolina State and Virginia among others…..

…..We recently received an e-mail from Coach Whitfield of Progressive Christian Academy about his star big man Gus Gilchrist:

“Due to the tragic and historic events of April 16, 2007, at Virginia Tech University, Progressive Christian Academy senior forward Augustus Gilchrist will respectfully request to be released from his National Letter of Intent.

In this time of mourning and recovery, Augustus and his family share their heartfelt condolences for the families and innocent victims of April 16. Augustus is currently focusing on completing his course work and graduating.

He and his family wish the Hokies, Coach Seth Greenberg and the V-Tech and Blacksburg communities strength, courage and resolve as they move beyond the events of April 16.”…..

…..St. John’s recently added DJ Kennedy and Sean Evans to their 2007 recruiting class.  Kennedy, a 6’5 wing that averaged 17 points a game for 29-3 Schenley (PA) as a senior, picked the Red Storm over Georgia.  Evans is a 6’7 combo forward that averaged 22 points a game last season for Philadelphia Northeast.  Evans and Kennedy are the 6th and 7th recruits in St. John‘s 2007 recruiting class that is one of the deepest and strongest incoming classes in the nation.  The Johnnies have also signed 6’8 power forward Justin Burrell (Bridgton Academy, ME), 5’8 point guard Malik Boothe (Christ The King, NY), 6’10 center Ayodele Coker (South Kent Prep, CT), 6‘3 shooting guard Paris Horne (Bridgton Academy, ME), and 6‘4 shooting guard Mike Cavataio (St. Francis Prep, NY).  St. John’s is also aggressively recruiting 6‘5 Canadian wing prospect Javari Williams, who burst onto the scene during the King James Shooting Stars Classic in Akron last month…..

-Nathan McCauley, nathan@hoopsreport.com