MIKE MARRA IMPROVING AT NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON

September 20, 2008

Rick Pitino has once again flexed his recruiting muscles with the Louisville 2009 recruiting class featuring four verbal commitments. The class got started when often overlooked Mike Marra made the call and committed to Louisville last season.

Marra has one more season at Northfield Mount Hermon Prep under John Carroll before heading off to Louisville and the battles of the Big East. The Smithfield (RI) native currently stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 205 pounds, according to his coach, as he continues to put in the work to make himself available to contribute immediately upon arriving in Louisville.

"Mike is among the elite three-point shooters in the country at any level," coach Carroll stated. "Last year, he outdueled Devin Ebanks and St. Thomas More."

Coach Carroll was remembered Northfield's 90-81 win. Marra poured in 36 points, but more impressive was his shooting display from beyond the arc where he nailed 10 of 11 three balls, a performance for the ages. In one 1:50 span, Marra hit five consecutive three's to turn a seven-point deficit into an eight point lead in the blink of an eye. Even with his shooting skill likely paving the way for him to a Division 1-A scholarship in the nation's best conference, Marra is working hard at diversifying his game.

"He realizes that he will be a more attractive player for (Rick) Pitino and (compete) for more minutes if he is a multi-positional player and he is working hard to fit the role of scoring guard and small forward," his coach explained.

Even with a solid commitment from Marra, the Louisville staff made sure they came to New England this fall to spend some quality time with a recruit that committed to them last January.

"Rick and Richard (Pitino) were at Mike's house for dinner for a home visit this past Sunday," notes coach Carroll.

In the future, expect to see Mike Marra launching bombs from beyond the arc, restoring a valuable weapon in the Louisville attack.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

September 17, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Stephan Van Treese, 6'9, power Forward from Lawrence North HS (IN)


Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Andre McGee (PG), Terrence Williams (SF)
Juniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Earl Clark (G/F), Reginald Delk (G)
Sophomores: George Goode (F), Preston Knowles (G)
Freshmen: Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Jared Swopshire (SF)
2009 Commitments: Mike Marra (G), Rakeem Buckles (F), Peyton Siva (PG), Stephan Van Treese (PF)
2010 Commitment: Josh Langford (SF)


Rick Pitino made the trip on Tuesday to Indianapolis to meet with Stephan Van Treese to re-iterate the interest the Cardinals had in the 6'9 power forward. The point was made as the Indiana Star Commits to Louisville (Louisville Courier-Journal) and becomes the fourth member of UL's 2009 class.

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For the longest time it was widely considered that Stephan Van Treese would end up as part of Tom Crean's 2009 class at Indiana. However, things never came together and now Van Treese will take his talents across state lines to Kentucku and suite up for Louisville.

Van Treese had been recruited at times by some of the elite schools of college basketball, including the Hoosiers, UCLA, Ohio State, Michigan State, Kansas and Purdue. Van Treese will play tough in the paint and hit the boards. He is a very solid big man that will play his role for coach Pitino at Louisville.

Back in May coach Pitino picked up his third commitment from the class of 2009 when Peyton Siva out of Seattle (WA) made the Cardinals his college choice. Siva has long been considered Louisville's to lose on the recruiting trail after a visit this past season for their game with Georgetown. In the end, Louisville did not lose and scored a very good commitment from their point guard of the future.

Siva is an extremely quick and lightning fast point guard with the ball in his hands. He is also an above-average perimeter shooter who can also explode at the rim with a dunk when the time is right. As he matures, his decision making continues to improve and he always seems to be calm and cool on the floor, a trait that is a must for the most successful point guards in the game.

Siva and Van Treese join previous 2009 commitments Rakeem Buckles and Mike Marra. Buckles is a wiry and raw forward prospect who is just touching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his potential. At 6'8, he has explosive athletic ability that you see in an NBA small forward, however his game is still transitioning from a skinny big man to the wing and is a process that is just beginning. However, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino definitely believes it is a project worth undertaking as he aggressively courted the Miami Pace junior and landed an early verbal commitment from Buckles in February. Local Miami and West Virginia were also closely monitoring his progress, but Louisville easily took the most attention in Buckles.

Mike Marra, a 6'5 native of Smithfield (RI), was the first of Pitino's 2009 commitments. Marra is an athletic shooter for Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon School. According to his coach, John Carroll, Marra averaged nearly 28 points per game and has hit 55% from 3-pt range over an 11 game stretch late last season. Marra was also considering Providence, Massachusetts, Gonzaga, Wake Forest and Michigan, but after coach Rick Pitino came to watch him play last winter, Marra decided to end the process early and commit to the Cards, who had been his leader for some time. Marra visited Louisville and Freedom Hall in December and they have been on his mind ever since.


Also in the class of 2009, Louisville has been making a strong push forward for Rice HS and NY Gaucho do-everything guard Durand Scott and also reportedly offered Aaron Dotson, a shooting guard from Seattle (WA) who attended the same high school as current card Terrence Williams. Another Alabama high school player has picqued U of L's interest as Bawa Muniru, an African import who is a legitimate 7-footer now playing at Charis Prep.

Rick Pitino continues to stay well ahead of the game on the recruiting trail as the Louisville coach ha snow added a 2010 commitment to the three verbals already secured for the class of 2009. Josh Langford of J.O. Johnson High School of Huntsville (AL) is the latest to make the pledge to the Cardinals. Louisville staff members have been very visible at his AAU games this summer during the open evaluation periods for the Alabama Lasers. Recently, i95ballerz.com had a very good story as Hard Work, Skill Building Nettes Langford his Dream Offer from the Cards.

We will continue to monitor the UL recruiting developments as they happen.

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #3 LOUISVILLE

September 16, 2008


It is a Big East buffet this week with all nine teams in action and it starts on Wednesday nigt with the Louisville Cardinals hosting the Wildcats of Kansas State at Papa John Stadium.

This is an important early season for both teams as both are looking to try to get back into the NCAA Bowl Games picture after both missed out on the post-season in 2007.

Kansas State enters into the contest at 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 57-8 in their first two games. Of course, the competition of North Texas (0-3, outscored 142-35) and Montana State (1-2 with a win over Adams St) means they have yet to be tested.

Louisville opened their season with a test...and failed, losing at home to rival Kentucky by the score of 27-2. The Cards bounced back and put a licking on Tennessee Tech 51-10 eleven days ago to even their record at 1-1.

It is hard to put much stock into their numbers from the first two games, but Kansas State QB Josh Freeman has been off the charts, completing 76% of his passes at 11.6 yards an attempt with five TD's (and no picks) in his 45 passing attempts. However, this will be his first test without last year's security blankets in RB James Johnson (1,106 yards in 2007) and WR Jordy Nelson (122 catches and over 1,600 yards in '07).

The Louisville defense has been stellar this season, allowing just 63 yards rushing, 210 overall, in their loss against UK. The numbers were even better in game #2 as they allowed just 33 yards rushing to Tennessee Tech and 176 yards overall.

The College Football Betting odds show Kansas State as a 4-point favorite in their first road game of the season in this match-up. Coming off a 5-7 season, the Wildcats are chomping at the bit to prove they are ready to compete again this season. Winning on the road at Louisville will be a step forward. The difference in the game will be the experience at the quarterback position and look for Freeman to come through in the clutch in a tough win for KSU.

Prediction:

Kansas State 31
Louisville 24

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PITINO SCHEDULED TO VISIT ANDREW FITZGERALD

September 15, 2008



Louisville head coach Rick Pitino will make a trip up to New Hampshire to see more than just the fall foliage today as he will also stop by Brewster Academy to visit with power forward Andrew Fitzgerald.

"Yes, Coach Pitino will be on campus today to meet with Andrew Fitzgerald (today)," Brewster Academy head coach Jason Smith informed the NBE Basketball Report. "Virginia was also in last week to see Andrew. This week, in addition to Louisville, Andrew will visit with Oklahoma today and Boston College Wednesday," says coach Smith.

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RICK PITINO VISITES LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL

September 10, 2008



Louisville head coach Rick Pitino showed how much of a priority 2010 forward prospect Tobias Harris is by making the trip to Long Island earlier today to see him workout.

"Coach Rick Pitino showed that his recruiting efforts were not all talk by visiting Lutheran High School to watch Tobias for a two hour workout after school today," Torrel Harris, Sr. told the NBE Basketball Report.

Tobias recently visited Louisville for their season opening football contest against rival Kentucky and Harris Enjoyed Louisville Visit and subsequently named the Cards as one of his (10) leading choices.

"Tobias told me he was very happy to see coach Pitino's interest in him and felt that it really meant something that he choose to be there rather than sending an assistant coach," Mr. Harris said.

Big East schools such as Syracuse, Rutgers, Marquette, West Virginia and Georgetown joined UL among Harris' list of top 10 schools. In recent days, it looks like Connecticut has made it a top 11 list of schools as they have renewed some of their interest as well.

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INTRODUCING RODERICK ODUM Jr.

Louisville travelling to Middlesex to see 2010 prospect

September 8, 2008


Coming from the rigorous academic setting of the Middlesex (MA) School and the under the radar AAU program of the Expressions Elite, Roderick Odom Jr. is not a name that many fans are aware of from the class of 2010. However, after a stock-boosting summer, the 6-foot-8 guard/forward is a name that college coaches are becoming more and more familiar with, and in turn, basketball fans will be hearing much more of in the near future.

It does not take long to realize that the Middlesex School is not your normal home to high-major basketball talent. With the demanding course work and Saturday class schedule, it can be difficult for a player to find the exposure needed by playing in events in the off-season or to make college trips. However, a very big July on the AAU circuit has college coaches coming to Odum to see more.

"Because of the nature of the prep school he goes to, rigorous academics and Saturday classes, Rod will not take as many visits as he would like," Roderick Odum Sr. told the NBE Basketball Report. "Instead his coach has set up workout dates for coaches to attend."

At this point, it looks like Middlesex head coach Jamie Gallagher has set up four days in September when college coaches are on the road visiting prospects to come by Middlesex.

"So far Louisville, West Virgina, Davidson, Bucknell, Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown, Princeton, Yale, Xavier, GW, Umass, Boston College and Rutgers are just a few of the coaches that have committed to see the workouts this month," Mr Odum said.

At 6-foot-8 with perimter skills, expect it also to be just the beginning of what we hear from Roderick Odum Jr. Remeber the name as a player with that mix of size, potential and acadmic prowess is guaranteed to help any school's NCAA Basketball Odds whether advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament and at the same time strengthening the programs APR.

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #2 LOUISVILLE

September 5, 2008


it was a pitiful, mistake-filled opening weekend effort for the Louisville Cardinals as they lost at home to in-state rival Kentucky.

The Cards turned the ball over five times, with two of the fumbles being returned for touchdowns, in thier 27-2 loss to UK. Quarteback Hunter Cantwell went to the air 43 times, but managed only 152 yards and their rushing offense only 53 more yards on the ground to complete their poor offensive effort.

Defensively the Cards were pretty good, or Kentucky was just as bad offensively. Despite turning the ball over 5 times, UK only managed one offensive touchdown themselves and a meager 210 yards of total offense.

This match-up is not even showing up as listes in the latest Football Lines, but the Cards woudl likely be a heavy favorite over Tennessee Tech, although they are coming off an opening win, 28-12, over Gardner-Webb.

We look for UL to continue to play good defense and find some offense this weekend, but it is still looking like a tough year for their fans.

Prediction:

Louisville 31
Tennessee tech 14

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TOBIAS HARRIS ENJOYS LOUISVILLE VISIT, NAMES FAVORITES

September 3, 2008


Over the weekend, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino hosted an impressive group of basketball recruits as the Cardinal football team opened up their season by hosting in-state rival Kentucky on Monday afternoon. While the football results did not please the Louisville faithful, it sounds as though the basketball visits went over much better.

One of the prospects was actually amking his second trip to Louisville as Long Island native Tobias Harris made the trip to check things out again. We noticed coach Pitino intently watching Harris earlier this summer at the Reebok All-American camp when he was very impressive in a head to head match-up with Renardo Sidney.


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"Tobias had a great visit to Louisville," Tobias' father, Torrel Harris Sr., told the NBE Basketball Report. "The whole visit was nice, Tobias had the chance watch (the) football game against...Kentucky, the fan (support) was unbelievable, especially when the Louisville basketball team was introduced. The whole atmosphere was great," Mr. Harris said.

The Harris' were extemely impressed with the facilities available to the athletes at Louisville, including the stadiums and dorms. The chance to play for a coach like Rick Pitino also is a feather in the Louisville cap as far as they are concerned.

For Louisville, it is the inside-out potential of Tobias that has the staff trying hard to land the 2010 prospect.

"He (coach Pitino) had seen Tobias play doing the July evaluation period at Reebok All American camp and Peach Jam," Torrel said. "He said to Tobias that he really liked the multi-skill level of his game."

According to the Tobias Harris Recruiting Update from the NBE Basketball Report, it looked like the visit to Louisville was successful in getting the Cardinals listed as one of the favorites to land the 6-foot-8 Harris.

“The hectic schedule Tobias has endured over the past three months has allowed him to intimately learn about many schools’ style of play, campus, facilities, academic programs and support, as well as establishing a relationship with the coaching staffs,” Mr. Harris continued.

For now, in no particular order, here are the 10 schools that have made the initial list of the top 10 favorites for Harris:

Louisville, Syracuse, Rutgers, Georgetown, Virginia, Maryland, Marquette, West Virginia, Wake Forest and USC.

Tobias will also start at a new school this year, Long Island Lutheran High School. Harris currently carries an impressive 3.5 GPA average with an eye towards a business major in the future. With a variety of skills on the basketball court, playing for a coach like Rick Pitno could also help his NBA Odds as the well-regarded coach has produced his fair share of NBA players in his excellent career, and his time spent in the league is another added draw to a high school recruit.

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BIG RECRUITING WEEKEND AT LOUISVILLE

September 2, 2008


Louisville football had a bad weekend, losing on their home field to rival Kentucky. Rick Pitino hopes his weekend will be more productive in the near future as U of L Basketball was Courting Prospects (Courier-Journal) by hosting several top recruits for the game.

Sophomore Marquis Teague of Pike High School in Indianapolis was on hand. The 6-foot-1 point guard is the son of Shawn Teague who played for coach Pitino at Boston University back in the day. Justin Martin of Lawrence North, also of Indianapolis, was on hand as well. The 6-foot-6 junior will also visit Xavier this month.

Another Big Guest was San Diego big man Jeremy Tyler, one of the top rated players of the junior class.

Durand Scott (class of 2009) and 2010 prospects Doron Lamb, Josh Selby and Tobias Harris were also expected to be on hand for the football game.

Speaking of Harris, we had a Tobias Harris Recruiting Update last night as Harris has decided on a ‘top 10’ list of colleges he is interested in. The list contains six Big East schools, including Louisville.

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