Posted: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 5:10 PM | 7 comments |
 

Villanova looking to snap up top area prospects
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The upcoming Villanova recruiting class has one question yet to be answered. Is Friends’ Central’s Amile Jefferson bound to be a Wildcat? If the answer is yes, Nova will have one of the top classes in the nation as they scoop up the top four-premier prospects from the Philadelphia area.

The six-foot-seven forward is ranked 26th in the class of 2012 by ESPN and would join the already committed Savon Goodman of Academy of the New Church, Ryan Arcidiacono of Neshaminy and Daniel Ochefu of Westtown.

All four played at last month’s NBA Top 100 camp at the University of Virginia, where Jefferson finished as the camp’s top scorer with a 20.8 per game average. Arcidacono said the other three were working their best throughout the camp to persuade him to commit to Nova.

“Me, Savon, Ochefu and hopefully Amile, I’m trying to push that,” said Arcidacono. “It’s just been great. I got to room with them at the NBA Camp and got to develop a better relationship with them. Just been talking to them about how sweet it’s going to be and how fun it’s going to be to play together.”

Arcidiacono was the first of the three to commit to Nova, as he made his verbal last October. The point guard averaged 20 points per game at Neshaminy last season and was named one of the top three scorers at the Deron Williams Skills Academy last month in Chicago.

Goodman, ranked 55 by ESPN, averaged nearly 15 points per game for ANC as a junior. The 6’6 guard committed to Villanova in November after garnering interest from Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA.

At 6’9, Ochefu would help form a near imposable front court if Jefferson lands on the Main Line. The center averaged over 15 points and 10 rebounds last season at Westtown and committed to Nova in March.

“It would be a very good class, but the rankings don’t really mean anything,” said Arcidacono. “We have to go out there and prove it so it would be good, but we have to come out and show everyone why we were ranked that high.”

Besides Villanova, Jefferson is also reportedly being targeted by Georgetown, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Temple. He took an unofficial visit to North Broad Street in late March.
Posted by Matt Breen @ 5:10 PM  Permalink | 7 comments
Mentioned: Friends Central Upper School | Academy of New Church | Neshaminy | Westtown
7
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:57 AM, 07/13/2011
    Go 'Cats !
    — Joe R.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:29 AM, 07/13/2011
    RE; Amile. He's razor thin but very quick. He can make his own shot down low very well. His long arms make him pretty effective defensively. Right now I would project him as a 3. if he puts on 20 lbs. and stays quick he would be unstoppable as a 3. He could also play PF with the added wieght. His upside is very high. Also, judging by his demenour at Conshy over the last 2 years, he seems like a really nice young man. Good luck to him, but I hope its at Nova.
    — GA in Blue Bell
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:51 PM, 07/13/2011
    When has Nova ever developed a big man? Never! He should head up to North Broad where Fran Dunphy know what it takes to develop big men!
    — JBinPA
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:26 AM, 07/14/2011
    Nova does not get many big guys that come in to be more than a role player. But I thought Dante Cunningham really developed and improved over his 4 years...same with Maleek Allen. How many big guys does Dunphy have in the NBA?
    — Big5fan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:50 PM, 07/17/2011
    A: Temple is not listed amoung his schools
    B: He's more of a three, possibly a four. Not really a four or five which is what I would call a "big" man.
    C: See post regarding Dante and Malik
    Aside from that, yea, Temple makes sense.
    I think it will be Nova or Georgetown, just a hunch.
    — GA in Blue Bell
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:58 PM, 07/18/2011
    Amile has listed 8 schools and took an unofficial visit to Temple back in March. Temple is also loaded and expected to be Top 25 this year. No doubt they are on the upswing with brand new b-ball practice facilities opening next year. Temple should be a regular in the Top 25. Nova can't seem to win games come tournament time. Their last BigEast championship was 1995. Gtown and UConn both have 7 championships...
    — Byron
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:12 PM, 07/18/2011
    They have a Final four appearance in the last three years. That's tourney wins. This year if the MAKE the tournament they should consdier it a success. I mean the BE toruney, NCAA is out this year. They will regroup and rebound. On a slight down run presently, but will be back. W/O Amile the class is very strong. With him its a top ten level class.
    — GA in Blue Bell


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