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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Europe-Bound Tyler Pulls out of Louisville Commitment

April 29, 2009

by Zach Smart


So, another promising young talent sidesteps the NCAA experience to weigh his professional stock and pursue an over-the-waters career.

Only, this 6-foot-11 muscle-bound high school student is not taking the Brandon Jennings route.

Jennings, an NBA prospect who made the leap from high school to the European professional ranks, at least returned for his senior year of high school.

Jeremy Tyler, who originally committed to Rick Pitino and Louisville, has shocked the sports world with his recent, unexpected announcement.

Tyler became the first United States-born player to leave high school early to pursue a professional career.

The junior is widely regarded as the most polished, dominant American center since Greg Oden.

Oden, as we recall, was hyped up to heaven-sent during his high school days in Indiana. His games were aired on ESPN2 before he decided on a date to his junior prom.

Tyler is currently unsigned to any professional team and has not signed with an agent.

The five-star recruit, who originally chose Louisville over USC and UCLA, has been heavily courted by Spain. Teams throughout Europe, however, area pursuing the fundamentally sound big fella.

Read Rest of Zach's Article HERE!!

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Saturday, April 25, 2009

BIG EAST ROSTER UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

April 25, 2009


INCOMING TRANSFER ALERT: Chris Smith, 6'3 SG from Manhattan College


Projected 2009-2010 Roster


Seniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Reginald Delk (G)
Juniors: Preston Knowles (G), Chris Smith * (G)
Sophomores: Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Jared Swopshire (SF), George Goode (F)
Freshmen: Mike Marra (G), Rakeem Buckles (F), Peyton Siva (PG), Stephan Van Treese (PF)
2010 Commitments: Josh Langford (SF), Justin Martin (F)
2011 Commitments: Ryan Taylor (F), Michael Chandler (C)


* -Smith will sit out the 2009-2010 season as a transfer and have two years of eligibility remaining

Louisville has a spring roster addition as Manhattan College Guard is Coming to U of L (Louisville Courier-Journal) with the news that Chris Smith will transfer in.

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After averaging 13.4 points and a team-best 5.7 rebounds a game for Barry Rohrrsen's 16-14 Manhattan Jaspers, Chris Smith decided he wanted to move on. The 6-foot-3, 200-lb guard, who is the younger brother of NBA player J.R. Smith, has chosen Louisville to be his new college home.

Smith is a product of St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey and was once committed to Seton Hall. However, after an academic issue prevented him from enrolling, Smith and the Pirates parted ways and Smith joined the program at Manhattan.

Smith is not afraid to get down and play defense and he should also fit in well in the Cards' style of play once he is eligible to compete after sitting out the 2009-2010 season.

If Smith is to receive an athletic scholarship, he would push the Cards one over the limit with four signed freshmen for the 2009-2010 season.

As for the class of 2009, 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 Kentucky and suit 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.


Rick Pitino continues to stay well ahead of the game on the recruiting trail as the Louisville coach has now added two top 2011 recruits to go along with a trio of 2010 commitments from Justin Martin, Jeremy Tyler and Josh Langford to the four players already signed for the class of 2009. After this weekend's highly anticipated showdown with rival Kentucky, Lawrence North High School sophomores Michael Chandler and Ryan Taylor informed the UL staff moments after the thrilling win that they wanted to be part of the Cardinal future.

Ryan Taylor is a 6-foot-6 forward that currently plays as an undersized post. He has the toughness of a post player but the athleticism that could allow him to transition away from the basket in the future.

Michael Chandler is a 6-foot-11 sophomore that is just beginning to come into his own. While he has yet to get a lot of playing time at the high school level, coaches universally agree that his has loads of potential and also had Ohio State, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky and others very interested in his services.

Chandler and Taylor join teammate Justin Martin as verbal commitments to UL. Martin is a highly regarded 6-foot-7 forward out of the class of 2010. Martin, Chandler and Taylor are teammates of UL 2009 signee Stephan Van Treese at Lawrence North. Martin made the early commitment, picking the Cards over Xavier. Martin had yet to play a varsity basketball game, playing on the JV last season, at the time of his commitment. Martin is very long and athletic and uses that to score inside and out.

Jeremy Tyler, a highly touted 6-foot-9 manchild surprisingly ended his commitment early this Fall and verbally committed to the Cards over UCLA, Memphis, Arizona and others. Surprises out of Tyler seem to be the norm as earlier this week he decided he would bypass his senior season and turn professional. That is, his senior season of HIGH SCHOOL. Tyler is off to the professional leagues of Europe, opening a scholarship in the class of 2010 back up for UL. Tyler was expected to slide nicely into the spot occupied by Samardo Samuels if he decided to leave for the NBA after his sophomore season. Instead, it is Tyler moving on to pay for play first.

Josh Langford of J.O. Johnson High School of Huntsville (AL) was the first to make the pledge to the Cardinals for the class of 2010. 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 Netted Langford his Dream Offer from the Cards.

With Tyler out of the picture, Pitino wasted little time feeling sorry for himself and was on the recruiting trail checking out 7-foot Brazilian big man Fabricio de Melo of the 2010 recruiting class. Weston (FL) Sagemont Upper School is the current home of de Melo, who also visited UL during the season when they hosted Marquette.

Another Indianapolis Lawrence North junior, Dominique Ferguson. is also on the Card's radar for 2010 and with the Tyler news, the former Kentucky commit might be seeing more attention from coach Pitino. Findlay prep point guard Cory Joseph is also a player the Cards have been pursuing on the recruiting trail in 2010.

Also visiting for the UK/Louisville game of 1/4/2009 at Freedom Hall was Indianapolis Pike sophomore Marques Teague. The 6-foot-1 guard is considered an elite prospect in the class of 2011 and Louisville is a favorite to land Teague, who could be deciding early this summer. Teague's high school teammate, Jordan Manuel, also lists the Cards. Manuel is an athletic 6'8 small forward in the class of 2010.


We will continue to monitor the UL recruiting developments as they happen as Rick Pitino continues to position the Cards among the elite to keep an eye on for March Madness betting pools each and every year.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

W WILD WEEK AROUND LOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

April 24, 2009


The program in the news most often in the last week has been Louisville with three stories that made major headlines and has college basketball fans stepping back and saying...'whoa.'

The first item with the Cards was a change in their coaching staff as Richard Pitino left his father's staff to fill an opening on Billy Donovan's staff at the University of Florida. The move on its own was very curious as Richard was on the UL staff for just two seasons after working as an assistant on Ron Everhart's staffs at Northeastern and Duquesne and a year as an administrative assistant on Tom Herrion's staff at the College of Charleston. The Gators Finalized the Pitino Hire (Gainesville Sun) before things took a very serious turn for coach Rick Pitino, and the move started to make more sense.

Coach Pitino went public late last weekend that he was victim of an extortion attempt of the estranged wife of a Louisville team equipment manager, a woman with whom it appears Pitino had an affair with. Apparently the woman, Karen Sypher, has made "false, defamatory and outrageous allegations in an attempt to pressure" Pitino to "cave in to this scheme" and pay her millions of dollars.

With those allegations not public knowledge, the rumor mill has been buzzing strong for several days and Regardless of Outcome, Nobody Will Win in Pitino Mess (CBS Sports) as, in the very least, reputations will be sullied as Sypher and her Mother Vow Not to Back Down (ESPN.com) as they claim to be the victims, not coach Pitino who has the FBI investigating an extortion claim against Sypher.

Then, to top off the week, Louisville 2010 verbal commitment Jeremy Tyler has decided to forego his senior season, of high school, to turn professional. The 6-foot-11 Prospect Will Leave High School to Play in Europe (NY Times). Tyler will no doubt earn a lucrative contract overseas and pick up endorsement money (Under Armour) as he will get his schooling against professional men and come back for the NBA draft in two years. Will he be a trailblazer? Or will the European trail to the NBA go down in flames with Brandon Jennings and now Tyler? We should know soon enough how successful the path is...

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Friday, April 17, 2009

PITINO STAYS WELL AHEAD IN RECRUITIN GAME

April 17, 2009


Louisville seems to be well ahead of the curve when it comes to recruiting, having already three commits in the class of 2010 with Jeremy Tyler, Josh Langford and Justin Martin. In Jody Demlings U of L Recruiting Update on his Recruiting Blog at the Louisville Courier-Journal, Demling speculates that the biggest current target for coach Rick Pitino and his staff is Findlay Prep point guard Cory Joseph, a Canadian native. The Cards are also likley to make a large push for yet another Indianapolis Lawrence North player in Dominique Ferguson, who recently re-opened his recruitment after being committed to Kentucky.

While the Cards' recruitment for the Class of 2010 is already at a narrow focus, the 2011 recruiting is well on it's way as well as Louisville already has commitments from Ryan Taylor and Michael Chandler, who like Justin Martin in the class of 2010 and 2009 signee Stephan Van Treese attends Lawrence North. The biggest target in that class is Indianapolis Pike HS point guard Marquis Teague, who could make a college decision prior to July.

With Pitino on the recruiting trail, the college basketball odds of the Cards remaining near the top of college basketball's elite teams is very high.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Q&A WITH LOUISVILLE RECRUIT MIKE MARRA

By Pat Stevens

Pat Stevens (PS) -What’s the Mike Marra story…

Mike Marra (MM) -Freshman year in Rhode Island I was a JV player. That summer I ended up working hard and made varsity and then junior year is when I started excelling and knew I had to make the move. I ended up repeating junior year at NMH which was the best decision I made and had a breakout type season, that’s when I got my offers. This year was a little tougher with teams keying on me but both years at Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) went really well.

PS -What was the summer workout like between your freshman and sophomore year…

MM -That summer I went to a six week training camp in Providence. I was shooting on the gun and running sprints 5 days a week for 4 hours. I was getting up 1,000 shots a day and working on ball-handling and it was really beneficial.

PS -Best game this past year…

MM -Against South Kent in our last game of the year was my best of the game the year. I had 33 points and seven three-pointers.

PS -Playing back home in Rhode Island at the big tournaments…

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MM -At the tournament at URI, that was just an off weekend for me. Couple guys got things going our way for us so I wasn’t really disappointed. But it was tough to come home and play. But earlier in the year in November at Bryant College, I came out and had 25 points and six or seven rebounds in one game so that went well.

PS -Memorable game from earlier in school…

MM -Last year against St. Thomas More with Devin Ebanks, we went back and forth a few times and I was like 10-11 from 3 and ended up with 38 points and he had 34.

PS -Memorable game from circuit…

MM -Two summers ago in New Jersey it was my breakout game, I hit 11 threes against the New York Panthers. Richard (Pitino) was in the stands and Ohio State and Michigan happened to be there. I was just lucky that they were there.

PS -Top Shooters that you like…

MM -JJ Reddick, I used to watch all the time. Recently, I’m a big Celtics fan, I’ve been watching Eddie House and he’s great coming off screens. And of course Ray Allen is always money. Everyone loves his shot.

PS -Playing uptempo at NMH…

MM -I think it helps out a lot. We get up and down and get up a lot of shots. I look forward to getting up just as many at Louisville and hopefully I can just be on the court.

PS -Thoughts on classmates…

MM -I roomed with Peyton (Siva) this weekend and Rakeem (Buckles) was there on my visit. I love the way they play. Peyton really has a desire for the game and he just loves to play and Rakeem works just as hard.

PS -Arrival to campus…

MM -I get there June 2nd and I’m hoping to gain some weight and get in there and shoot.

PS -Major…

MM -I’m not sure but I think I’m going to start with Business but I’m pretty open.

PS -Anything unique in recruiting process…

MM -Talking to Rick, he seemed the most genuine. I really believed everything they said and they just really stood out to me.

PS -Feeling when offered…

MM -It was kind of unexpected. Richard offered me in person. He was there just to watch one of our open gyms. It was a little unreal, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t see it coming.

PS -Feeling when committed…

MM -I told him I want to be a Cardinal. He was really excited and said he had a bottle of Cristal he was going to pop open that Billy Donovan gave him.

PS -If not Louisville, then where…

MM -I really considered Providence but the coaching staff was just too uncertain at the time. PC, Wake Forest and Miami were the schools I liked but Louisville set themselves apart. I did visit UMass, URI, and Syracuse for the elite camp.

PS -What’s it take to get a Louisville caliber offer…

MM -It takes a lot of hard work, no matter how tired you are. I used to play both 16s and 17s at the same time in AAU, playing six games in a day. You have to play your hardest whenever you’re on the court.

PS -Big East memories…

MM -When I was younger I really didn’t watch a lot of college basketball. But of course this year was crazy with Louisville winning the Big East outright in the regular season and conference tournament.

PS -On prep players headed Big East…

MM -Omari Lawrence - A beast. That’s all I can say about him. He finishes everything around the rim.

Jamaal Coombs and Alex Oriakhi – They’re good kids. They’re going to do really well there. We’ve had some battles the past few years. I like the way they play.

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