By Alex Kline

The Xavier Musketeers and head coach Chris Mack may have just landed the biggest steal of the year.

Sim Bhullar, the world renowned 7-foot-4 center out of Huntington Prep in West Virginia, committed to Xavier on Thursday night. “Xavier is the place for me,” he said by text. ”After this long recruitment process, I decided to commit and join the Musketeer family!”

His AAU coach from CIA Bounce Canada, Tony McIntyre, confirmed the news, as well. “Coach Mike George and I are happy for Sim,” said McIntyre, a co-founder of the Nike sponsored organization. “It’s a good fit and he will fit in well.”

Bhullar was excited about his decision. Asked what stood out about Atlantic-10 school, he replied, “Everything. I just thought they were the best fit for me.” The talented big man visited the Ohio campus multiple times during the winter with his good friend and teammate, Stefan Jankovic, who is also being recruited by the staff. The two are best friends and could team up together in college.

The Canadian with Indian heritage is not done growing yet and could get even bigger. While some talk has emerged of him reclassifying up a grade into 2011, there seems to be no truth to that. “I will be a Musketeer in 2012,” he stated.

(Photo courtesy of Scout.com)

By Alex Kline

Casey Carroll, a 6-foot-8 forward out of Kiski Prep in Pennsylvania, has made the call.

The talented senior is heading to Drexel where he will play for Bruiser Flint’s Dragons. “I just got off the phone with the coach and it’s official,” he stated by text on Saturday afternoon. Carroll knew the night before that he would make his big decision. After thinking it over Carroll came to his conclusion.

“I felt comfortable there,” he said. “I really liked the school and the kids on the team. The coaching staff made it feel like a family when I visited and I fit in.” Carroll took an official visit to Drexel two weekends ago, followed by an official to Northeastern last weekend. “It’s a really solid team with me being the last piece of the puzzle in the 2011 class. We should have a solid team throughout my four years there.”

He joins a talented 2011 recruiting class which already features Kazemebe Abif, Tavon Allen, Damion Lee and Aquil Younger. Next year, the Dragons look to come out of the CAA victorious as they return four of their top five scorers including Chris Fouch, Frantz Massenat, Dartaye Ruffin and Samme Givens.

Carroll, who began to see a much bigger role once Stefan Jankovic and Sim Bhullar left Kiski for Huntington Prep, saw his stock rise as his senior season went on. He ended up choosing Drexel over Northeastern.

(Photo courtesy of Casey)

By Alex Kline

Eli Carter has lived in New Jersey for all his life until this year. When Carter, a former point guard at St. Anthony in Jersey City, decided it was best to do a postgrad year, he chose Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.

Originally a St. Bonaventure commit, the 6-foot-2 guard was extremely under the radar. After a phenomenal summer with Team Izod, in which he was a scoring machine going for over thirty points on a daily basis, Carter’s stock began to rise. Now, he has hit his climax as the guard has made his college decision.

“I committed to Rutgers University,” he stated. As Carter was bombarded by messages of congratulations from his friends, his coaches talked about him.

“Eli chose Rutgers because he chance to play in front of his family, especially his little brother, and play significant minutes as a freshman,” said his AAU coach Eric Harrield of Team Izod. “There is nothing better than having a St. Anthony’s backcourt at the state university.”

“Eli was our best perimeter defender this year at Brewster,” said his high school coach Jason Smith. ”He’s tough and is very coachable. He’s able to play both guard spots. He will contribute as a freshman at Rutgers and help them achieve their goal of a NCAA Tournament bid.”

Carter will team up with an elite 2011 class for the Scarlet Knights, which features Malick Kone, Myles Mack, Jerome Seagears, Greg Lewis and Derrick Randall. Along with that, Kadeem Jack, who decided to come to Rutgers a year early and redshirt, along with Mike Taylor, who will take a year of prep, are also slated to play for Mike Rice and company at the RAC.

The talented guard chose Rutgers over Iowa, Oregon State, TCU, Virginia Tech, Providence and others. He visited the Rutgers campus for an official visit last weekend and made a great impression on Carter.

(Photo courtesy of Hawkeyebeat.com)

By Alex Kline

Not many have made the jump that Georges Niang has recently taken.

As a virtually unknown 6-foot-7 small forward out of Tilton School in New Hampshire, Niang is starting to turn some heads in the northeast. The junior is an inside/out type of player who is versatile. He can play the two, three and four on the court. Niang shoots the three ball very well, and is able to post up bigger, stronger players on both offense and defense. ”I started off my career by posting up on others but have expanded my game since then,” said the forward. If he has aspirations of playing of playing multiple positions in college, Niang will need to work on his handle as a two or three and becoming stronger when he plays the four. The strides he has taken as a ball player, however, are amazing.

“Georges Niang of Tilton School (NH) is a BIG-TIME player! He should be getting a lot more interest from HIGH-MAJORS!,” tweeted Jason Smith, the head coach of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. Smith knows a thing or two about talented, high-major players as he has coached the likes of Memphis’ Will Barton, Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim, Syracuse’s CJ Fair and many others.

He hasn’t always been a star on the court, however, as the ice used to be his true home. “I used to play ice hockey for two years,” he laughed. “I was the biggest one on the ice but I enjoyed it.” While he is no longer the biggest on the ice, his name will certainly not sink. Georges Niang has seen his recruitment expand over the last few months.

Despite being underrated, he takes a solid approach to it and puts a positive spin on the situation. “I try not to pay any attention to that,” he stated. “I let other people worry how underrated I am. I just want to win really bad when it comes to anything I do and when me and my teammates are on the court, I’m gonna go after you and try to win.”

Georges currently claims offers from “Iowa, Iowa State, Siena, George Mason, Rhode Island, UMass, Northeastern, Delaware, Hofstra, Drexel, New Hampshire and Florida Atlantic.” Along with that, he is drawing interest from “UNLV, Michigan, Texas A&M, Alabama and Stanford.”

Niang’s first two high major offers came a few weeks back from the Hawkeye state. Iowa and Iowa State came calling as they offered. The offers attracted him to take unofficial visits to both schools last week. “I  like all of the schools but I had a lot of fun on my visit to Iowa and Iowa State,” he stated. “Head coaches Fred Hoiberg and Fran McCaffery are really good dudes.”

As for when a decision will be made, it will most likely come at the end of his AAU career with BABC. “I will make a decision probably by the end of the summer, but definitely before my senior season and I will be signing in the fall signing period.” As his stock continues to rise, look for Big East and ACC schools to become involved with this multi-dimensional player.

(Photo courtesy of Google)