Whoo man. I'm falling way behind on my work, lol.
On top of the huge news of the day on the football side (Tom Savage, Eric Shrive, Mohamed Sanu, etc.), there are now a couple of updates on the basketball side, as well.
I'll start with the Devin Ebanks. Some people in the know claim that Rutgers is now the odds-on favorite to win the sweepstakes for Devin's services. He is still taking official visits (Texas on 4/26, Rutgers 5/2, and Memphis 5/10 will be his final 3), but Miami is now considered to be out of the running. Rumor has it that West Virginia is next on the chopping block. His interest in Memphis has been wavering, but it is reportedly not due to Rose's departure.
I have also heard grumblings that Ebanks may not be the 1-and-done player most assume him to be. He would likely not stay for all 4 years regardless, but some feel that he would be a 2 or 3 year player, at the very least. Obviously, that could change with a big season for him, but at this point, it looks like whomever it is that gets him will get him for a while.
Now on to Greg Echenique. It appears that Echenique is not too excited about playing a year of prep ball, and would like to be at Rutgers next year. He may or may not redshirt, but it now appears "highly likely" that he will enroll at Rutgers ASAP.
This does not affect Devin Ebanks' status at all, as Justin Sofman has made it official that he intends to leave Rutgers. His scholarship comes off the books when the spring semester ends in a couple of weeks, which would leave 2 open scholarships for RU, with possibly a third on the way, if Courtney Nelson cannot get eligible during the summer.
Even if he enrolls, there is a very good chance that Echenique wouldn't see the floor for Rutgers until 2009. He appears to want to redshirt, which is okay by me if that's what makes him more comfortable. That tells me that he's not worried about the NBA and wants to be at Rutgers for the long hall. We could be looking at a 4 year stud.
That third scholarship I mentioned would likely go to one of the following players:
-Johnathan Mitchell, a 6'7" Power Forward transfer from the University of Florida (former 4-star prospect in 2006), who has already left the team, and has Rutgers high on his wish list, or
-Ricardo Ratliffe, a 6'8" PF high schooler from Hampton, Virginia, who is a 2-star prospect, and has drawn a ton of interest from Virginia Tech over the last 2 weeks or so.
As always, I'll keep you guys posted.
If you're interested, here's an article explaining the Echenique situation.
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/SPORTS0201/804150314/
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