Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (11/24)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

Mike Moser from Grant HS in Portland, Oregon, has committed to play at UCLA in 2009. He is ranked in the top 20 among all small forwards and top 100 overall in his recruiting class. The high school senior had committed to Arizona, but decided to re-open his recruitment following head coach Lute Olson's retirement. Moser had also considered USC, Oregon State, Oregon and the Wildcats. Bruin Basketball Report 11/20

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) is the preseason No. 1 team in the nation according to USA Today's Super 25 high school basketball rankings. The Monarchs return four starters from a 35-1 team that won the CIF Division II state title last season. Led by twins David Wear and Travis Wear, both of which committed to North Carolina, the Monarchs will fill their starting lineup with junior transfer Tyler Lamb, who has committed to UCLA. Transworld News 11/21

Recruits

Fairfax senior Renardo Sidney and his family made an unofficial visit to Virginia this past weekend and left impressed by the school's "great campus and academics," the player's father, Renardo Sidney Sr. said in a text message to The Times....Sidney Sr. stopped short of identifying Virginia as the leading candidate to land his son, but did praise how university staff treated the 6-feet-10 standout. "They understand the difference between a Big Mac and a Whopper with cheese," he said in a text message. "Big Macs are good for resumes, Whoppers with cheese bring home gold balls." LA Times 11/18

Xavier Henry, an Oklahoma City shooting guard and ESPN’s No. 1 player in the nation, announced his intentions to attend Memphis next year this morning on ESPN. Henry had narrowed his college choices down to Kansas or Memphis. He said on ESPN he chose Memphis because the chance it provided him to play with his brother, C.J. Henry. Daily Kansan 11/18

Durand Scott, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Rice High in New York, will attend Miami. Scott, at the top of UConn's recruiting wish list for the Class of 2009, had narrowed his choices to Miami, UConn and Pittsburgh. People close to Scott said last week he had ruled out Pitt and was torn between UConn and Miami. Scott apparently expressed a desire to go to school far from home. Hartford Courant 11/20

Renardo Sidney: He took a surprise visit to Virginia, but in a similar vein as Stephenson, the odds are on either Europe or USC if he goes to college. Rivals 11/21

ESPNU's No. 3 center Keith "Tiny" Gallon ended his recruitment on Wednesday when the big man signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma. The 6-foot-9, 300 pounder chose the Sooners over California and Mississippi State. Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith called ESPN.com this morning to confirm that Gallon and his mom had both signed the National Letter of Intent with Oklahoma, and that the papers had been sent to the Sooners basketball office. ESPN 11/23

Dashonte Riley of Country Day (Detroit, Mich.), rated No. 5 among centers and No. 32 overall in Class 2009, has decided to decommit from Georgetown and will re-open his recruitment. The 6-foot-10 prospect was expected to sign with the Hoyas during the early period. He had many offers before chosing Georgetown, including Ohio State, Xavier, Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, Minnesota, UCLA and Southern California. "[Riley] just said after he returned from his official visit that he didn't feel like it was the right fit for him," his coach, Kurt Keener, told the Washington Times. "I know his mother felt that he had committed a little too early in the process. They discussed the situation after he returned from his official visit, and he called the staff at Georgetown recently and informed them he would be reopening his recruitment."My feeling is that it is now doubtful that he will end up at Georgetown." ESPN 11/23

(photo credit: LA Times)