Center Ben-Eze eliminates USF, down to two

Frank Ben-Eze is off the board.

The big center from Arlington, Va., has narrowed his choices to Davidson and Georgia Tech, according to Joe Wootten, his coach at Bishop O'Connell. Ben-Eze notified USF, Indiana and UCLA last week that they were no longer schools he was considering.

It's not good news, but remember that Ben-Eze was a Harvard commitment, and looking at his final two schools, it's clear this is a more academic-based decision than most basketball recruits. That's a refreshing thing. USF tried to jump in when Ben-Eze surprisingly came available this spring, but faced long odds from the start.

So we'll have more on the center options later, but the list still starts with IMG's Teeng Akol, with junior college center Alex Rivas-Sanchez next, best I can tell. We'll have more tonight on Frank Barnes, a 6-foot-9, 275-pound recruit from Fort Lauderdale, but those are the two names I'd start with right now. Talked Monday with an assistant coach of Chicago's Steve Goins, but he said he wasn't aware of USF talking to Goins in about two weeks; Maryland was in to see Goins today, but his top options are smaller programs such as Toledo, Detroit and Texas-Corpus Christi. More to come ...

Comments

[The Champ]

Well that explains the sudden heavy interest in Alex Rivas-Sanchez.

No panic move needed which is what Alex Rivas-Sanchez would be.

Hold out for Akol and and maybe a transfer and shut it down.

Most of next season's scoring will come from the guards anyway, so just play a wide open style and a lot of matchup zone defense.

USF is rarely ever going to be able to play High Major Teams straight up.Open up the running game which is proven to work against most Big East schools and lets go play some ball.

That wouldn't work in the Pac-10 or the SEC which is much more of an athletic league.

[Mr. Ari Hinkelberger]

Academics???

Doesn't he realize that USF is a tier 3??

Come on buddy. We are talking the Harvard of Hillsborough here.

You don't think you can get a first rate education at USF??

Look at me, I graduate from USF and can't write three sentences with out misspelling "our" with "are."

Come to USF my friend. The University of Sun and Fun. U-Stay-Forever.

Guy doesn't know what he is missing. I bet they don't have chicks at Ga Tech like they do infront of Cooper. Nobody ever remembers the class they took sophmore year, but they remember that 110lb blonde they did the roll around with after that drunken stupor for a night in Channelside.

Guy is making a big mistake.

[Ken]

We all knew that a guy with the smarts to go to Harvard wasn't going to be playing basketball at USF. Davidson was probably pretty lucky this year in BB, but they are absolutely first-rate in academics every year.

[The Champ]

I don't know, GT isn't to far from the ATL.Let me say that if you like women that place is like heaven.

I'll be there for a weekend in July and I can't wait.

BTW Memphis is a great 2nd choice as well.I will tell you that John Calipari brings that up to prospects he recruits.Some BAD women in the King's hometown.

[AGW]

I agree with Champ on this one. Wait on Akol and hope for a transfer and shut it down. Focus on transfers like Eric Wallace and Patrick Beverley (both a slim chances). Recruit a JUCO guard like Bobby Maze who is back on the board. Take a chance on players like Bud Mackey and Jon Kreft or overweight James Tyler because they have talent. We will not be able to compete on the recruiting front unless we take some chances on a guy or two like this.

[jarred]

Alright Auman, we heard about ecks everyday for like a month, not that that wasnt a great story and it did deserve all the attention it got, but then we dont hear a word about third baseman Brandon Smith, who had a blood clot in his chest, had surgery last week, and is now out for the season. I know most of your readers dont care about bulls baseball, but some of us do (prolly more than care about women's soccer anyway) so how about an update on how he's doing.

[Dave W]

Ari, don't disrespect your alma mater. I'm coming out of here looking at some good law schools, and plenty of my friends are making it big in the world.

Admissions standards in increasing exponentially here. Soon, we'll be at the level UF was at 8 years ago, while UF becomes the most selective state-school in the country.

I do get defensive about USF's academic reputation, but that is mainly because I do feel that it has negatively impacted me in one situation (Teach for America).

Anyways, I never expected to get Ben-Eze, not when there is a superstar like Rivas-Sanchez in available (sarcasm).

And I do agree with Jarred: we need an update on Smith. And Jarred, Ecks played softball, not soccer. And you should care about his condition because he is a member of the USF community, not because you like baseball. I'm not a big softball fan, but I cared about Ecks' status because she is a part of my community, even though I don't know her. That's the same reason I want an update on Smith. I'm not accusing you of being insensitive, but I'm just pointing out that you could have worded that a little better.

[jarred]

You're right Dave W. I definitely could have worded that better but you get my point. When there is an athlete in serious health risk within the USF sports community, it should be mentioned in a sports blog. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the second baseball player we have lost to a blood clot without being mentioned?