With URI battling for a bid in the NCAA Tournament it’s easy to forget about recruiting but here are some news and notes from the last week or so to keep you updated. 

• Kyle Cain’s post-grad season came to an end last week when New Hampton fell to second seeded Winchendon in the quarterfinals of the NEPSAC Class A tournament.  Cain had a strong year for New Hampton, helping them to a 18-12 record despite losing starting point guard Brady Heslip to Boston College at mid-year. 
• Levan Shengelia’s season also ended at Maine Central Institute last week as they lost to Northfield Mount Hermon in the NEPSAC quarters.  Unlike Cain, Shengelia didn’t sign a National Letter of Intent in November but all signs point to him wanting to be at URI next year if Coach Baron and company decide to move forward. 
• URI assistant coach Pat Clarke was at the semi-finals of the National Prep Championship yesterday to see Northfield Mount Hermon upset Hargrave Military Academy and then Brewster Academy knock out St. Thomas More.  NMH’s 6′8″ big man Majok Majok and the STM backcourt of Tre Bowman and Bryon Allen were three of the top unsigned seniors in action. 
• The Rams appear to be one of the top choices for P.J. Lockridge from Heat Academy in Virginia.  Lockridge is a six-foot-five forward with explosive athleticism and a college ready body.  He is also being recruited by South Florida, Baylor, Nebraska, Georgia, and LaSalle. 

Adam Finkelstein
New England Recruiting Report

Adam Finkelstein is a contributor to the Cox Sports’ “Ram Report” blog. For more insight from Adam and others on major college basketball recruiting, visit www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com

As of today, Joe Lunardi from ESPN’s Bracketology has Rhody as one of his last 4 teams OUT of the NCAA Tournament.  The loss at Bonnies hurt greatly this past weekend….but somehow the Rams are still alive.  They have a terrific RPI of 35 and still have enough time to improve the resume.  If the Rams beat Charlotte at home tonight, they will officially be back on the bubble!

Question Rhody fans….

Would you rather of beaten St. Bonaventure and lose tonight……..or lose to Bonnies and beat Charlotte tonight?

- Vin Parise

Vin Parise is the new college basketball analyst for Cox Sports.  This season he hosted a brand new “Tip-Off” show that aired before Providence and URI games on Cox.  The show was geared towards the great diehard basketball fans in the state of Rhode Island.  Parise was a Division 1 College Basketball Coach for 8 years and is also an analyst for MSG Television and WFAN Radio in New York City.

The rumors beginning to circulate the internet are in fact true…Billy Baron is heading to the University of Virginia, not the University of Rhode Island, to play his college basketball. 

I spoke with Billy earlier this afternoon and wrote the story on the New England Recruiting Report. 

While you can read the full story for all of the details I’ll give you the bullet points by saying that this was an opportunity that came up unexpectedly during the course of his post-graduate season at Worcester Academy and something that he has agonized over ever since. 

Ultimately he decided this was too good of an opportunity to pass up and made the decision with his father’s blessing. 

Adam Finkelstein
New England Recruiting Report

Adam Finkelstein is a contributor to the Cox Sports’ “Ram Report” blog. For more insight from Adam and others on major college basketball recruiting, visit www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com

Virtually URI’s entire recruiting class of 2010 will be in action next week as the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) holds their Class A tournament at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. 

The action will get underway this Sunday night in a match-up of the 8 and 9 seeds as well as the 7 and 10 seeds.  Although the final pairings have not yet been announced Billy Baron and his Worcester Academy team are likely to be in action that night.  A possible match-up for Worcester could be against MCI who features big man Levan Shengelia, another potential target for URI next season. 

Sunday’s winners will return to Endicott on Wednesday for the quarterfinals.  The New Hampton School will see their first round game in the quarters and that means that Kyle Cain, URI’s only member of the early signing period, will be in action. 

Having the nation’s top prep school conference right in their back yard is obviously an advantage that Coach Baron and his staff are more than willing to take advantage of.  In addition to this year’s group of recruits consider how many members of the current team were recruited from local prep schools: Keith Cothran, Winchendon; Lamonte Ulmer, Notre Dame; Marquis Jones, St. Thomas More; Orion Outerbridge, New Hampton; Stevie Mejia, Lawrence Academy; Ben Eaves, Worcester Academy (transfer from UConn); Lisandro Ruiz Moreno, South Kent; and Ryan Brooks, South Kent. 

Coach Baron and his staff have obviously done a great job of cultivating relationships in the local prep school community so that they can tap into the annual talent.  What’s equally impressive is the versatility URI has shown in recruiting that conference.  If you study college rosters you’ll notice tendencies of their prep products primarily coming from one or two schools, but not URI as they’ve consistently been able to land players from just about any school in the NEPSAC. 

Adam Finkelstein
New England Recruiting Report

Adam Finkelstein is a contributor to the Cox Sports’ “Ram Report” blog. For more insight from Adam and others on major college basketball recruiting, visit www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com

Nothing against Fordham, but the Rams really need ‘those’ Rams to get to town quick!

URI has been stuck on 19 wins ever since they beat UMass on Feb. 6th – nearly two weeks ago.  The Rams have lost three straight tough, conference games to St. Louis, Temple and Richmond.  But when you’re in need of a win, there’s no better team to play than Fordham this season.  The Rams from New York are 2-22 overall and 0-12 in conference play.

The game is Saturday at 4 pm at The Ryan Center.  I’d be shocked….as would a lot of people….if this wasn’t the game that marks yet another 20 win season for Jim Baron.