Recruiting News

Below, some news from the world of Ivy League recruiting...

Another near miss on the transfer recruiting front for Cornell. And this could have been a big one for the Big Red. Morgan Grim, a 6'9" forward from the University of Utah has decided to transfer to Utah State University. Grim, an outstanding student in the classroom, received recruitment attention from Cornell and Pacific University, but ultimately decided to stay in state where he was Mr. Basketball two years ago during the 2006-2007 season. He maintains two years of eligibility at USU. His mother reported the commitment to Scout.com.

New England Recruiting Report (NERR) notes that Josh Bartlestein, the former teammate of Cornell's Chris Wroblewski at Highland Park High School in Illinois, just returned from a visit at the University of San Diego. He is considering their scholarship offer. Bartlestein has interest from several Ivies including Penn.

NERR is also reporting that John Daniels, a 6'7" forward from New Hampton Prep School is visiting Columbia this weekend after visiting Colgate last weekend.

Scout.com is reporting that Geron Johnson, a 6'3" combo guard from Dayton, Ohio's Dunbar High School has interest from Cornell, Wright State, Cleveland State, Kentucky, Miami(OH), Duquesne, Penn State, Dayton, Minnesota, Auburn and Sinclair Community College. Of those, scholarships have alredy been offered by Wright State, Cleveland State, Sinclair, and Duquesne. Johnson scored 18.1 points a game and earned the Dayton City League Player of the Year award as well as 1st team All-Conference last season. He was also 1st team Division II Southwest Ohio All-District, 1st team Division II All-Dayton (per Dayton Daily News), and honorable mention All-State.

A former Cornell recruiting prospect has enrolled in JuCo national power, Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. The following is from the Wichita Eagle (Kansas.com) about Dylan Frantz of Phillpsburg, Kansas:

Heard the Binghamton rumors. Heard the Cornell rumors. Now Phillipsburg’s Dylan Frantz is headed to Hutchinson Community College — which makes me think he’s got his sights set on becoming a mid-major Division I player, or higher. Either way, if Steve Eck thinks he can play for him … that’s a pretty nice endorsement right there. And a pretty good chance he’ll get him ready for the next level.

It’s Eck’s first signing at HCC — and a nice fit for the 6-foot-2 guard, who was a Class 3A honorable mention all-state pick after averaging 17.8 ppg this season. I’m thinking there’s more signings on the way for Eck and the Blue Dragons so stay tuned.

Here’s the release from HCC:

ECK ANNOUNCES FIRST IN-STATE SIGNING AS BLUE DRAGON COACH

HCC Sports Information

Thursday, April 16, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball coach Steve Eck announced on Thursday that Phillipsburg High School product Dylan Frantz has become his first signee for the Blue Dragons’ 2009-10 team.

Frantz is a 6-foot-1 combo-guard who led Phillipsburg to a 15-6 record and a berth in the Class 3A substate semifinals.

During his senior season, Frantz average 17.8 points per game and shot 48.3 percent from the field. He was a 33.3-percent 3-point shooter and was 78 percent from the free-throw line. Frantz also averaged 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists. 3.0 steals and 0.9 blocked shots per game.

Frantz was a third-team Class 3A all-state player in the Topeka Capital-Journal and was 3A honorable mention in the Wichita Eagle and in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll.