Quick Recruiting Updates

Two weeks until the spring signing period ends (5/20) and neither of the local teams have picked up any recruits in this window. Couple of notes:

XU:

-ALLAN CHANEY will be visiting Xavier later this month according to zagsblog. He visited St. Joe's last week and Temple this week and several Big East suitors. Some like our chances with him and some don't. Will Bino and Mack land their first commit for Xavier?

-AUSTIN ETHERINGTON (2011) has picked up XU's first offer for his class. Currently listed at 6-5 and a shooting guard at Hamilton Heights (IN) HS he may not be done growing. My Naptown buddy says think Gordon Hayward from Butler. Should be noted that Austin's dad played basketball at BU.

-JD WEATHERSPOON (2010) picked up an offer from Thad Matta and the Buckeyes this week. If that would have happened this time last year we would have never got started with him. I take the fact that he didn't commit right away as a positive sign for X.

-CHAD JACKSON (2010) according to Jody Demling from the Louisville Courier Journal; Jackson holds offers from Xavier and West Virginia. The shooting guard from Scott County HS has interest from Butler and hearing from Kansas, Florida, and Indiana recently.

-DONNIE HALE (2010) Hale fell off the radar earlier last season when Latham and Weatherspoon verballed. Now that those commits are no longer there currently the New Albany, IN native is once again receiving attention from the Xavier staff.

UC:

-JOHN RIEK was the big story this week in town on the recruiting front. Mick spent plenty of time with this kid to know what the issues were and in the end ultimately did the right thing for the program. Cronin has not had a good history with foreign big men but you can clearly see why he would be interested in JR. At the Lebron James Camp in 2007 he burst onto the scene and was projecting as a lottery pick. He is academically eligible to play for Mississippi State but there are still questions regarding his amateur status with the NCAA because he filed for the NBA draft last year.

-ERIC BLEDSOE at one time in the not so distant past had serious interest in UC. In the end it came down to the Memphis Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats. He chose to join an outstanding class for John Calipari that is starting to get 'Fab 5' type hype. The options are running thin at point guard (always a premium position) in the spring of 2009. Prominent JUCO targets are starting to fall off the board as well.

-CHANE BENAHAN (2011-verbal commit) has looked impressive in spring AAU tournaments besides a bad back. He is working on his jump shot and remains one of the best in his class. Expanding his perimeter game will be key if he stays in the 6-6, 6-7 range to making him even more impressive as a prospect.

-GRIFFIN MCKENZIE (2010) local prospect from Moeller high school may be one to keep an eye on. He had some injury issues last year but the 6-9 forward should be healthy for the spring AAU circuit.

-SEAN KILPATRICK is assuredly joining the UC squad next fall. After committing to UC last season Sean went on to have an impressive prep school season. His scoring capabilities will be a welcome addition to the team next season.

Finally congratulations to Bill Edwards Jr for announcing for Penn State Nittany Lions this week. The Middletown high school first team all state player joins three others in PSU's '09 class. Rivals.com reports his final choice came down to Penn State and Miami (OH).