Recruits "R" Us

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — Here is the latest on some of the 2012 prospects in the BG Recruiting Funnel:

— On the UD Pride MB, I opined that UD coaches were recently at UD Jesuit HS to see 6’6” Chris Jenkins. More likely, they were there to scope-out his teammate, PG Cam Fowler. UM Hoops has a write up on both from their team camp:

http://www.umhoops.com/2010/06/26/scouting-michigan-team-camp/

— 2012 big man Sean Sheldon from upper Michigan did an unofficial to UD recently, as he mentions in an interview he conducted with UM Hoops:

http://www.umhoops.com/2010/09/25/qa-2012-sean-sheldon/#more-10612

— Fellow 2012 BG target Steve Taylor from Chicago visited Illinois and, as usual, ChicagoHoops has the details:

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/stevetaylorui.html

— Paul Honigford, who took an unofficial visit to UD earlier this year, committed to D-II Ashland of the GLIAC:

http://www.ohiohshoops.com/2010/09/honigford-to-gliac.html

The one comment after the article is kinda harsh, but when you consider that Honigford was at one time a Top 100 recruit and had an offer from MSU, you have to wonder, dontcha?

— Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline with a great piece on recruiting and the need for coaches to recognize when they have a legitimate shot at signing a kid. This is something at which BG excels. The article features the insights of sales consultant John Costigan:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13997096/college-hoops-coaches-learn-when-no-is-a-good-answer

I got to know John when he did a training session at our sales meeting in Las Vegas when I was with The Hotel Networks. Costigan related a great recruiting story about Billy Donovan’s pursuit of PG deluxe Kenny Boynton that was later retold in ESPN’s Rise magazine:

“Donovan rolled up in a tan minivan and carried a brown backpack with a surprise inside that was original enough to win points from a Disney Imagineer. Once in the house, Donovan had the family gather around and placed Boynton in the middle. Then Donovan reached into his backpack, pulled out a Nerf dart gun and placed it on the glass coffee table. Puzzled smirks formed around the room.

“He said ‘As soon as any of you feel like I’m recruiting and not speaking from the heart, I want you to pick up this gun and shoot me,'” Boynton says. “I thought that was cool, and hey, we didn’t have to shoot him … OK, well, almost once.”

That’s when Patricia asked Donovan if her need for special seating would be a problem at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

“He said ‘I will let you sit right beside me at the game,'” Lovett says. “That’s when his assistant [Lanier] said ‘OK, Kenny pick up the gun now.’ We all laughed.”

Billy got the Nerf gun idea from Costigan during a training session John conducts annually with a gathering of coaches that Donovan holds; Kenny Boynton subsequently signed with the Gators.

— Turns out that Clark Francis of The Hoop Scoop is exactly what I thought he was:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1174629/1/index.htm

— Blue Ribbon Basketball came out with their pre-season Top 25:

http://www.collegechalktalk.com/blueribbon/2010-11/blueribbontop25

— Great story on award winning UD lineman Dan Prindle, courtesy of the DDN:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/carroll-grad-ud-lineman-lands-on-national-team-937380.html

— If you are used to reading the magnificent writings of Joe Posnanski here:

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/

Try looking for him here instead:

http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/

Some doofus hacked the former and now he’s posting on the latter.

— If you want to know where I will be on Tuesday October 5th at 8:00PM, click here: