New Recruit on Radar for '04--Dexter Gray

[RDF]

He's a 6'6 PF/SF from Mt. Vernon, NY and played for the Gauchos AAU team. Has interest in Pitt, SJU, Villanova, and recently the Hoyas, along with George Washington have shown interest and will visit him this upcoming week.

[Deleted]

A good friend of mine attended and now works at the monster Niagara Falls H.S. (for the area, a mega high school that is the old NFHS and LaSalle merged into one) who played Gray's team in the state finals. He was at that game and tells me Gray - despite being on a loaded team - out played everyone at both ends of the court. I wouldn't call my friend a scouting expert, but that's his two cents.

www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/032204/c01w22carp.html

GO HOYAS!!!

[RDF]

BuffaloHoya said:

A good friend of mine attended and now works at the monster Niagara Falls H.S. (for the area, a mega high school that is the old NFHS and LaSalle merged into one) who played Gray's team in the state finals. He was at that game and tells me Gray - despite being on a loaded team - out played everyone at both ends of the court. I wouldn't call my friend a scouting expert, but that's his two cents.

www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/032204/c01w22carp.html

GO HOYAS!!!

Thanks Buffalo! Here's some more info on him--I said he played for the Gauchos AAU team and that is wrong. He played for Riverside Church. He's a teammate of Pitt Signee Keith Benjamin and his HS is the same one that produced Ben Gordon of UConn.
As far as his game is concerned, he sounds like the PERFECT FIT for what GU needs:

1. He is a physical player with a 6'6 220 frame

2. Known to SACRIFICE FOR THE TEAM and DO THE DIRTY WORK!!! (MAN DO WE NEED THIS!)

3. Extremely Hard Worker and one of the best defensive players in State

His HS Coach Bob Cimmino says "Dexter jumps to the moon, has a good jumper from 16 feet in, and is the best rebounder in school history. He also takes charges and does the little things that show up only in Win Column".

JT III is meeting with him and his HS coach this week and boy do I hope we get him! Hoyas need a guy like this so badly it's not even funny. Sounds like the type of kid who's been going to Pitt or UConn lately instead of GU. Nice addition to whomever gets him and we need to see more guys coming to GU that bring a tougness to the team and "Do anything it takes" attitude. Go get him JT III!!!

[Deleted]

Wow...sounds like Gray and Green on a frontline could be impressive given the right coaching, system, etc. At the very least the effort and Touomou-like intensity should be back on the court for the dear old blue and gray. If we can get him and Green qualifies, we should have a really nice young nucleus that if it came together by say the 2006-2007 season could really tear things up...if not sooner.

GO HOYAS!!!

[hoyabinx]

wait, I am a bit confused.

When you say 04 do you mean he would graduate this spring and be with the hoyas in the fall, or next season?

Also could someone explain to me exactly how recruitement works, the dates when a player can sign and active recruitment times (or send me a link to a webpage that can teach me) i am a bit in the dark on this subject.

[SirSaxa]

hoyabinx said:

wait, I am a bit confused.

When you say 04 do you mean he would graduate this spring and be with the hoyas in the fall, or next season?

Also could someone explain to me exactly how recruitement works, the dates when a player can sign and active recruitment times (or send me a link to a webpage that can teach me) i am a bit in the dark on this subject.

'04 means the kids graduates from HS in the spring of '04 -- ie, now. He could be at GU in September '04.

There are not a lot of great choices at this time of year, but Gray sounds like someone who has being flying under the radar due to his lack of height. In our current situation - rebuilding and looking for solid role players, tough guys, team guys, take no prisoners -- he sounds like a IDEAL choice. We need someone with "attitude" and he sounds like he's got it! One friend of mine, an avid HOYA fan who reads (but doesn't post on) the board is constantly saying we need more inner city kids with that tough streak to add a balance to our roster that hasn't always been there. For BE and national competition, we need some grit.

I would GUESS that SJU might be our toughest competition, since they are even more desperate for talent than we and they could get him a lot of PT early too.

[SirSaxa]

hoyabinx said:

wait, I am a bit confused.

could someone explain to me exactly how recruitement works, the dates when a player can sign and active recruitment times

I forgot to answer this point, and I am not an expert. But, there are two official "signing periods" The spring one (something like April 15 - May 15) and a shorter one in the Fall -- in November some time.

HS Seniors are the only ones who can sign an LOI (Letter of Intent) that commits the school and the kid to a scholarship. The only way out of that commitment (besides rare exceptions) is if the kid doesn't qualify -- graduate and have a satisfactory GPA/SAT/ACT combo.

THere are also times when in home visits are allowed and not, etc. but I don't keep up with those dates.

A kid can make a verbal commitment to a school any time he wants. It is non-binding. If a kid commits to a school AFTER the spring signing period, it means there is no signed LOI, just a promise on both parties to enroll/accept the student with a schollie.

Given the intensity of recruiting, it is rare for a top player to be uncommitted after the spring, but it does happen.

One last thing, if a kids signs an LOI and then doesn't qualify for admission, he can go to prep school to be a PG (Post grad) for a year. His recruitment is then open again to anyone who wishes to pursue him. That is what happened with Darian Townes who decided to follow Ronny to ARKANSAS.

I hope that answers some of your questions. THere is probably an NCAA website with lots of rules if you truly wish to pursue it.

[hoyabinx]

no that cleared up a lot of things, thanks a bunch.

[RDF]

hoyabinx said:

wait, I am a bit confused.

When you say 04 do you mean he would graduate this spring and be with the hoyas in the fall, or next season?

Also could someone explain to me exactly how recruitement works, the dates when a player can sign and active recruitment times (or send me a link to a webpage that can teach me) i am a bit in the dark on this subject.

Sorry to confuse you. The Class of '04 is referring to kids graduating this Spring and eligible to play next year for the Hoyas or any other college.

The Signing Period started in April and is good until next Fall when schools begin as long as the players are eligible.

[idhoya]

He sounds like a beast!! He also sounds alot like Sam Young from Friendly. Same size, mentality, range, hops, game. Of course, I'd rather have Young cause he's local.

[reformation]

Couple of thoughts--I have seen him play btw,

1)Good role player from one of the best HS programs in the country, in addition to Ben Gordon they have produced a number of all american's + all pro's including Gus and ray Williams and the McCrae brothers.

2)Would be great to see GU start to recruitin the Metro NY area--kids would definitely be receptive and there is obviosly a lot of talent, its always been a mystery to most observers why GU hasn't recruited from the area's premier HS programs, i.e. Mount Vernon and the NY Catholic HS league.

3)I vaguely remember from reading a local peper that Gray was headed to Iona, not one of the bigger programs. His stock may have risen by outplaying higher rated players from other top HS programs for both the NYS championship and a number of games against the top NYC Catholic league teams.

[nychoya3]

Sam will not be qualified for 2004, apparently. According to what I've read, he will either prep or go JuCo.

[mikecancer77]

Ok sounds like a plan but I have 2 big concerns about this year's recruits.

1) Assuming Jeff Green starts what position is Bowman gonna play?


2) IMHO I feel we lack a true "playmaker" as our floor leader.I hope they sign Chris Howard from Friendly High School.The man averaged damn near a triple-double for the 2-time defending MD STATE 3A CHAMPS!!!!!

[nychoya3]

If we don't sign anyone else, here's what I anticipate as the starting lineup.

1) Causey backed up by Reed and Cook.
2) Cook backed up by Ross and Owens
3) Bowman backed up by Owens
4) Green backed up by Bowman, Sead, AKD, and Guibunda
5) Guibuna, backed up by Hibbert and AKD.

That's my best guess. I think Green is probably more of a PF right now, which is fine if it moves Bowman back to his natural SF position. The alternatives are to go smaller and start Owens at the 3, and push Bowman to the 4, or to start Cook at the point and start Owens at the 2.

I think Green and Guibunda are both far more ready to shoulder some of the load then Hibbert. I'm curious to see what happens with Sead, who, theoretically, could be a good fit in a Princeton sort of offense. We didn't see enough of him this year to really get a read.

[HoyaNJ5]

nychoya3 said:

If we don't sign anyone else, here's what I anticipate as the starting lineup.

1) Causey backed up by Reed and Cook.
2) Cook backed up by Ross and Owens
3) Bowman backed up by Owens
4) Green backed up by Bowman, Sead, AKD, and Guibunda
5) Guibuna, backed up by Hibbert and AKD.

That's my best guess. I think Green is probably more of a PF right now, which is fine if it moves Bowman back to his natural SF position. The alternatives are to go smaller and start Owens at the 3, and push Bowman to the 4, or to start Cook at the point and start Owens at the 2.

I think Green and Guibunda are both far more ready to shoulder some of the load then Hibbert. I'm curious to see what happens with Sead, who, theoretically, could be a good fit in a Princeton sort of offense. We didn't see enough of him this year to really get a read.

NYC-

I agree with your assessment of next year's lineup if Green qualifies. I'm actually very excited to see what we can do next year. Now, if only Green can get does SAT scores...

[jerseyhoya34]

nychoya3 said:

If we don't sign anyone else, here's what I anticipate as the starting lineup.

1) Causey backed up by Reed and Cook.
2) Cook backed up by Ross and Owens
3) Bowman backed up by Owens
4) Green backed up by Bowman, Sead, AKD, and Guibunda
5) Guibuna, backed up by Hibbert and AKD.

That's my best guess. I think Green is probably more of a PF right now, which is fine if it moves Bowman back to his natural SF position. The alternatives are to go smaller and start Owens at the 3, and push Bowman to the 4, or to start Cook at the point and start Owens at the 2.

I think Green and Guibunda are both far more ready to shoulder some of the load then Hibbert. I'm curious to see what happens with Sead, who, theoretically, could be a good fit in a Princeton sort of offense. We didn't see enough of him this year to really get a read.

I think your take is good in the ideal circumstances that Green qualifies. I think JT3 would lean toward starting Green and Guibunda at the 4 and 5 as opposed to Hibbert, who might be considered more of a pre-JT3 GU player.

That said, the only question mark that I might have is with Cook at the two. If Owens finally breaks through and gets a fire under him, maybe he could pose a challenge for that two spot.

If we do sign Galindo, he might be able to step in from day one as our SG, which would be great and would allow us to have quite an experienced bench with Owens and Cook, who might slide back to 1 in these circumstances, although I'd prefer to see Causey start.

On another note, do we know whether JT3 is honoring the commitment that Esherick made to RaMell Ross? I am not sure whether JT3 has even re-evaluated this, and I don't want to speculate further, but this is possibly another source of uncertainty moving forward.

Anyway, the roster isn't set for next year, so it is hard to speculate. With our recruiting, things can change in a heartbeat. Regardless, I think our roster should be much improved as compared to the roster we had this past season.

[deeznuts]

According to Ramell he will be back in school and playing basketball next year.

[jerseyhoya34]

deeznuts said:

According to Ramell he will be back in school and playing basketball next year.

Thanks for the clarification.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Here's to a good year from Ramell. I know he hasn't been able to show much in his 4(?) years here so far, but I for one appreciate his dedication to the team.

Also, I'm definitely hoping that Jeff qualifies, and I'd love to see Galindo step onto the court next year as a Hoya. All around, I'm excited to see how this team develops under a proven head coach, who obviously is coming at this job with some good energy.

[gambo]

Jeff Green can still take the SAT's in June if he needs to. I would hope hisadvisors know that!