By Bruin Basketball Report
Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.
Recruits
Elvert “Kool-Aid” Perry, the AAU coach of No. 11-rated player Michael Snaer, tells Rivals.com Snaer will take the next week to think about his five finalists — KU, Marquette, Missouri, UCLA and Florida State. If he can’t decide after a week or so, he still may visit Cal, Stanford and/or Memphis unofficially. Snaer is looking for significant playing time as a freshman. Lawrence Journal World 10/21
Lincoln High School hoops star Lance Stephenson is facing sexual assault charges after a 17-year-old classmate claimed he groped her inside the Brooklyn school earlier this month. Stephenson, a two-time NYC player of the year and three-time city champion, is currently ranked the No. 7 high school player in the country by ESPN and is the subject of his own online reality documentary site called BornReady.TV. Examiner 10/21
Harrison Barnes, a 6-foot-6 junior small forward from Ames (Iowa) Senior High who attended Late Night on an unofficial recruiting visit, travels to Duke this weekend, Rivals.com reports. Barnes has already unofficially visited Iowa, Iowa State, Florida, Southern Cal and KU. He’s the No. 4-rated player in the Class of 2010 who has scholarship offers from KU, Iowa, Iowa State, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, Maryland, Illinois, Louisville, Minnesota, Indiana, USC, UCLA, Duke, TCU and DePaul. Lawrence Journal World 10/21
Xavier Henry, Rivals.com’s No. 3-rated high school basketball player nationally, was injured in a car accident Wednesday in the Oklahoma City area. Xavier’s dad, Carl Henry, told CBSsportline.com that his son suffered a fractured cheekbone that will keep him sidelined at least two weeks. CBSsportsline.com reported that Xavier will have surgery on his face when swelling subsides and will wear a protective mask during games this season.
Carl Henry said Xavier, a 6-foot-6 guard out of Putnam City High, “was feeling OK” while resting in the hospital. KU Sports 10/22
Michael Snaer's strengths are that he is capable of being a nasty competitor, can really shoot coming off screens, rebounds his position and is a multi-position defender. The weakness that I've noticed is at times he can disappear and not assert himself for whatever reason. Rivals 10/23
With the departure of Olson before the November national letter of intent signing period, Abdul Gaddy now has the opportunity to weigh his collegiate options once again. Prior to verbally committing to Arizona over the summer, Gaddy had also been considering UCLA, Memphis, and Washington. UCLA already has a star-studded 2009 class of forwards Reeves Nelson, Brendan Lane, Tyler Honeycutt, and center Anthony Stover, and the addition of the five-star Gaddy would help complete the class. The Bruins are still pursuing guard Michael Snaer, however, his recruitment has taken some time, and perhaps Gaddy, a player who can play both the point and shooting guard positions may be a better fit for the Bruins in their future plans. Bruin Basketball Report 10/23
Phoenix North High junior basketball player Daniel Bejarano told Texas coach Rick Barnes on Thursday that he will play for the Longhorns after he graduates in 2010. Bejarano, a 6-foot-5 1/2, 205-pound wing, who averaged 22 points and 9.8 rebounds as a sophomore, is ranked as the 16th overall prospect in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.com, and 12th overall by Scout.com. Arizona Stars coach and North assistant Ray Arvizu Jr., said Bejarano enjoyed his unofficial visit to Texas last weekend and was taken by the relationship between coaches and players. "The facilities are second to none," Arvizu said. Arvizu said Texas and Arizona State recruited Bejarano the hardest. He said Bejarano also received scholarship offers from UCLA, West Virginia, Southern California, Washington, Indiana, Kansas, Oregon and Memphis. AZ Central 10/23
The effects of Lute Olson's sudden retirement have been felt again and now the UA basketball team is left with no incoming players for the 2009 season. The recruiting website rivals.com reports that Abdul Gaddy, the highly-touted point guard out of Tacoma, Washington has decommitted to the Wildcats for a second time because of the instability of the coaching situation. Gaddy joins forwards Mike Moser and Solomon Hill who also pulled out on the verbal commitment to the UA after OLson's announcement. The report also indicates, the players were upset that assistant Reggie Geary's future with the program was up in the air. KVOA Arizona 10/26
(photo credit: LA Times)
Labels: Prep News Roundup
Alfred Aboya sprained his right ankle and will miss practice today and Saturday. He is listed as probable for the exhibition game against Cal Baptist on Monday. The senior is expected to be the Bruins' starting center this season.
