Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (9/29)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

UCLA, last year's winner in the team rankings, debuts at No. 13 thanks to the commitment of Tyler Honeycutt. The top-30 prospect from Sylmar (Calif.) High School gives the Bruins a long presence on the wing. He made the biggest debut of any player in the Rivals150 after a very impressive summer showing. The four-star prospect joins Reeves Nelson and Brendan Lane, both Rivals150 prospects, in the recruiting haul for the Bruins. Rivals 9/25

Reeves Nelson's role for the Modesto Christian High football team is to go out and play, as he did in Friday's 46-12 victory at Orestimba.
Mike Parsons' role is to sweat the details. As the Crusaders' head coach, Parsons is the one ultimately responsible for delivering Nelson through the season unscathed, at least as much as someone on the sideline can control the physical remnants of such a violent sport. But at the same time, Parsons knows if he tries to baby Nelson or treat this elite basketball player in a way inconsistent with the way he treats the other Crusaders, he risks losing the team. "I have to watch him physically," Parsons said. "If he has anything questionable going on physically, I have to consider that because there is so much at stake with him. Modesto Bee 9/26

Perhaps it took a few games to get used to the bulky uniform, but Modesto Christian's 6-foot-8 Reeves Nelson, one of the nation's top basketball forwards who has verbally committed to UCLA, appeared right at home Friday. Though MC fell 46-41 to potent Chowchilla, Nelson had two long TDs -- a 76-yard catch and a 73-yard interception return. The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter, and MC had an opportunity to score last before fumbling the ball away in the final minutes. Nelson was also in on several tackles, and showed folks that friendly personality that makes him a favorite of fans and foes alike on the court. He inadvertently grabbed the quarterback's face mask to erase what would have been a six-yard loss. Nelson smiled a guilty smile, then helped up Rob Diepersloot and gave him a pat on the butt. Modesto Bee 9/28

Recruits

Anthony Stover the 6-foot-9 basketball star from the Los Angeles area lists Arizona as his top choice, but he won't make up his mind until after an Oct. 3-4 visit to UCLA, said his father Craig Stover. California, under first-year coach Mike Montgomery, has an in-home visit with the Stovers this week. Creighton also is interested in the center. Craig Stover said he and his son, who would be part of the 2009 recruiting class, had a good time during Anthony's recruiting trip to UA this past weekend. "Lute Olson is just a living legend; UA has a great legacy," Craig Stover said. "It was my first time in Tucson and UA, and it rivals any program that I've ever seen.'' Craig Stover praised Olson and his new coaching staff for their recruiting efforts, speaking highly of former UA player-turned-assistant Reggie Geary. "I think (Geary) is going to be a great upcoming coach," the father said. "I can't say enough about him."
He called UA his son's "No. 1 school," but the family wants to finish the recruiting process before making a decision. Tucson Citizen 9/22

Noel Johnson, a 6-foot-7 guard from Fayetteville, Ga., will commit to USC, according to his father, former NBA player Cheese Johnson. Noel, who is expected to make a formal announcement on Tuesday, was ranked among the top 40 prospects in the nation by Rivals.com. He had visited campus with his family and godfather, Xavier McDaniel, an NBA veteran. "We looked at the student part first -- we were really impressed," Cheese said. "And that arena too. [Athletic Director] Mike Garrett did a good job." LA Times 9/22

South Atlanta’s Derrick Favors, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 basketball prospect by Scout, has listed Georgia Tech and Georgia among his finalists....The other finalists for Favors are Kentucky, Memphis, Connecticut and Florida State. Tech has a lot of appeal to Favors, according to his coach. Atlanta Journal Constitution 9/22

Elijah Johnson, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Cheyenne High in Las Vegas, will attend Kansas University’s Late Night in the Phog on an official recruiting visit, Johnson told Rivals.com KU coach Bill Self had an in-home recruiting visit with Johnson on Tuesday night. He’s also considering Oklahoma, Texas, UCLA and others. KU Sports 9/24

St. John's holds its version of "Midnight Madness" this evening, and Lance Stephenson, the 6-5 phenom from Brooklyn's Lincoln High, is planning to attend the season tip-off at Carnesecca Arena. Stephenson, among the top five seniors in the class of 2009, reportedly is considering USC, Memphis, North Carolina and Indiana, but St. John's is making a serious push. Newsday 9/25

Three-star prospect Bawa Muniru gave a verbal commitment to Tom Crean and the IU men’s basketball program, Scout.com confirmed late Thursday. The commitment of the 6-foot-11 Muniru means Crean has signed his maximum allowed allotment of six players for his first full recruiting class. Indiana Daily Student 9/26

Durand Scott, a 6-5 senior guard from Rice High in New York, arrived late Friday afternoon for his official visit to UConn. Scott's host is his former high school teammate, UConn freshman point guard Kemba Walker. Scott visited Pittsburgh last weekend and will likely make two more visits (Tennessee and Miami are among the schools he is interested in) before making a college choice. Hartford Courant 9/26

Arizona recruiting target Anthony Stover, a Top 150 forward in the class of 2009, is taking his final official visit to UCLA this weekend. Stover's father, Craig, said the family moved up the visit so that Anthony could reach a decision sooner and get on with his upcoming season at Renaissance Academy in La Canada, Calif. "Now, we're going to compile all the different things, the pros and cons, and have a sit down with the grandparents and everyone," Craig Stover said. "Then he's going to make the decision where he's going to play." Stover's finalists are Arizona, ASU, Creighton and UCLA, though the Wildcats may have helped themselves during Stover's visit to the UA last weekend. Craig Stover said he was particularly impressed with lead recruiter Reggie Geary, associate AD Gayle Hopkins and academic counselor Lisa Napoleon. "It was excellent," Craig Stover said. "Coach Olson is a living legend. He has a great staff and a great support staff … (Anthony) loves Arizona." Arizona Daily Star 9/27

Michael Snaer was in the gym early and spent his time working on his catch-and-shoot and free-throw shooting. I'm not breaking any ground in saying this, but Snaer sppears to be every bit the deadeye perimeter shooter he's been billed as being. He possesses picture-perfect form, has nice lift and a feathery follow-through and touch. The new three-point line didn't pose any problems to Snaer as he warmed up, and when he was through with that I watched him drain about 10 straight free throws without touching the rim once. It was a stroke that was, dare I say, reminiscent of Steve Novak's from a few years back. To say Marquette University could use Snaer's talents next season would obviously be a huge understatement. Physically, Snaer was a few inches taller than McNeal, which would put him around 6-foot-4 or so. He has a slender but solid build, and looks to be a top-notch athlete. Very often in these open-gym situations, high-schoolers are a bit tentative and willing to defer to the veterans but from the outset Snaer was aggressive even with McNeal in his mug and cutting the newcomer no slack. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 9/27

Michael Snaer, one of the nation's most highly sought-after recruits, wrapped up his official visit to MU and headed back home to Moreno Valley, Calif. on Sunday...."Next weekend I'm going to UCLA, and I'm not sure when I'm going to Kansas." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 9/28

(photo credit: Modesto Bee)