Walter Clayton - 6'3" PG out of Bartow High School in Florida. Rated a 3★ recruit by Rivals. Averaged 15.4 points, 4.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in leading his team to Class 6A Florida basketball state championship. As a sophomore, he played for Lake Wales High School, was a first-team, all-county selection in basketball averaging 17.5 points per game.
Offers: Tulsa, Florida A&M, ELON, UNC_Wilmington, South Florida, Stetson, FGCU, Jacksonville, East Carolina and ETSU
Interest: from Louisville and Virginia Tech.
Walter is also a very good football player (3★ Rivals) as he has offers from ND, Georgia, Tennessee, Old Miss, Nebraska, Cincinnati, Florida and Florida State. Was considering not playing football last season but was talking into playing. He claims his passion is for hoops and that is what he wants to play in college. Was a quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive back.
***** This is an upadate on this player since our entire staff is having a video call with him today. He was previously offered by Coach Cluess and that was Shane's first Div 1 offer... updates in red.*****
Shane Dezonie - 6'5" CG out of Bethlehem, PA and played for Huntington Prep (WV) and has transferred to Brewster Academy for his senior season. Rated a 4★ recruit and Top 100 player by Rivals and ESPN.
Offers: Cincinnati, Kansas State, Saint Louis, Wake Forest, La Salle, Rutgers, Temple, Missouri, Mississippi, Tulane, Hartford.
Interest: Yale, Arkansas, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa State, NC State, West Virginia Clemson, Auburn, Louisville, Villanova, Seton Hall and Georgia,
A Hoop Group scouting report from last November: "Scouting Report: One of the top players in the class of 2021, Shane is a dominant player at his level and has the potential to become one of the top high school players in the nation. Shane possesses the ability to get by defenders in the half court and in transition and can finish with authority around the rim. His physical stature and competitive nature make him a matchup nightmare for any opposing coach."
A report from The Basketball Spotlight Clash For The Cup from last February: "Dezonie is a big combo guard standing at about 6’4 with a solid frame that allows him to absorb contact when he is finishing at the basket. Right now he is at his best finishing in transition with either hand. Shane has a nice stroke for the free throw line and he can knock down the occasional three ball. He makes good decisions and takes what the defense gives him. Defensively he has the ability to guard one through four at this level. He tallied a game high 17 points in their championship win."
A report from the Super Skillcase Profile last November: "One of the main reasons I like Dezonie is because no matter the accolades he receives including high ranking he still leaves everything on the floor. He got it done as usual on both ends of the floor but also put in the dirty including hitting the glass against bigger forwards. He also took it upon himself to guard some of the biggest opponents in the gym. This kid played like a warrior at this event."
A Quote from Coach PSA Cardinals Munch Williams -Oct 3, 2019: PSA Cardinals Munch Williams -Oct 3, 2019: “Shane is one of the most complete guards in the 2021 class, He competes on both ends of the court every second of the game. He will be a big-time national recruit because he can play either guard position equally. The PSA Cardinals are blessed to have him as part of our program and look forward to the leadership he will bring to us this spring/summer.”
A Report from Hoop Group Insider - HG Showcase Awards: All-Underclassmen Team for the 18-19 season- After graduating a big senior class last year, Hudson Catholic needed some of its underclassmen to step up and sophomore wing Shane Dezonie definitely answered the call. Dezonie is very dynamic off the bounce as he can either take it to the basket or knock down a pull up jump shot with consistency. The class of 2021 prospect definitely raised his stock at the New Jersey Tip-Off Showcase.
Joshua Duach - 6'6" CG- Not a great deal of info on him. He has played Australia’s junior national teams for the past three years. Reclassified from 2022 to 2021. Was planning on playing at a US high school or prep but Coach Pitino swayed him into coming to New Rochelle directly. IMHO, if he had done a year of prep in the US, his offer list would be filled with HM offers. As smooth as he appears on the offensive side of the ball, he is a junkyard dog-type of a defender. He is very athletic, sees the court very well, and has a quick first step. While it is tough to gauge the level of competition in these videos, he has unbelievable potential for the staff to develop.
Mohamed Sylla 6-11 Florida Southwestern College center Mohamed Sylla
"He is really a hard-working player,” Murphy said. “He just brings it every single day. He plays hard and is a good offensive rebounder who runs the floor extremely well. Since he came here two years ago, his touch has gotten a lot better. He came back to campus in phenomenal shape because he was working out in quarantine the whole time. The more he plays basketball, the better he’s going to be. I noticed that his ball skills are getting better, and his instincts around the rim are getting better too.
"You could ask him to get in the gym at any time and if I don’t (ask him) he will be asking me."
Sylla arrived in the U.S. from the Ivory Coast in the 10th grade and attended Putnam science prep school in Connecticut before coming to Florida Southwestern College located in Fort Myers. Since his basketball skills were still raw at the end of his prep career, he took the junior college route. As a freshman, he averaged 11.5 minutes, 3.9 points, and 3.8 points a game for the Bucs. He posted a field goal percentage of 64.4 and collected 24 blocks in 26 games.
Sylla is still learning the game but with a very high upside. Athletic kid. Recently offered by Arizona State. Interesting Iona is showing interest since already 1 over the limit and have 6 kids returning for '21 over 6'9". Sylla would make 7.
Taihland Owens - 6'4" SG out of Cherokee High in Canton, Georgia, and plays AAU for the Atlanta Celtics. Rated a 3★ recruit by Rivals and 247. was a HoopSeen 2nd Team All-State selection last season. He claims the schools he's built the best relationship with are Iona, Georgia Tech, and VCU. We offered him at least a month ago.
Interest: Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Penn State, Marquette, Virginia Tech, and UAB.
Scouting Report: A player that Phenom Hoops hasn’t seen enough of but learned a lot about his game, 2021 6’5 Taihland Owens really impressed us with his blend of size and skillset on the court at the #PhenomStayPositive. The appeal with a 6-foot-5 wing prospect with IQ, skill, and athleticism should be somewhat self-explanatory, yet here we are. Owens showed the ability to operate within various roles on offense while consistently defending multiple positions on the other end. He plays hard and utilizes his blend of size, strength, and athleticism to regularly overwhelm his assignment. Owens is excellent in the open floor, both as a scorer and passer, but can also dictate the action within the half-court.” Jeff Bendel - PhenomHoopsreport.
Today is signing day! Expect 3 of our 4 2021 commits to sign today; the other is expected to sign Friday.
Verbal Commits has us with six (Class of '21) recruits. I know that one of the Virginia kids (Richardson) decommited, bringing us down to five. Did his teammate decommit, also?
Today is signing day! Expect 3 of our 4 2021 commits to sign today; the other is expected to sign Friday.
Did they? Only saw an announcement on Wildy...
Nothing reported by the kids themselves. Iona won't announce until all 4 have signed their letters. Believe Trey James is signing today and you'll see that on Twitter.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.