John Calipari is still collecting Top-25 recruits like Silly Bandz. Although, he may have paid for Anthony Davis.
Bill Self has continued to sweep up his McDonald’s All-Americans. But, he may be getting a harsh dose of reality with Josh Selby.
Mike Hopkins and Rob Murphy have been cleaning up as well, but with less fanfare and zero speculation about potential violations.
Add Rakeem Christmas to the mix, one of the top centers in the country for the Class of ’11. Christmas announced his decision to play with the Orange today via FoxSports.com.
“Some of the other schools were Georgetown, Texas, Florida International, Oklahoma, Florida and Rutgers”
Rutgers may make sense because its proximity to Christmas’ hometown of Philly. FIU? F*cking Isiah Thomas. You know, that snake oil salesman is going to end up shocking the world and nabbing a Top-10 recruit one of these days. Of course, he’ll still be playing .300 ball in the Big Sun Belt and coaching in front of 217 fans. But he’ll reel one in, watch.
“The thing that really sold me was when Coach Murphy showed us around the school and showed us their style of play. And talking with Coach Boeheim about when I get there and having my friends around.”
Those friends include three previous commits to the Orange: Trevor Cooney, Michael Carter-Williams and Dion Waiters.
It’s been an incredible job by Hop and Murph. Christmas didn’t even visit campus until June and by all reports, SU was a long shot. But each one of their recruits has directly influenced another to take the bait. Without dealing with the smoke that seems to be puffing from programs like Kentucky, Kansas and UConn these days, Syracuse has assembled back-to-back elite classes. Props to The Per’fesser’s T.A.s’ today.
Posted: D.A.
