Jamal Murray stars at Hoopfest, may reclassify to 2015 — Cuse Clicks

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One of the nation’s top high school events, the Marshall County Hoopfest, delivered the goods with a grueling Saturday schedule that stretched into early Sunday morning. With one big-timer taking the floor after another, junior guard Jamal Murray dug in and delivered with a huge performance as his Orangeville Prep squad survived a 42-point outburst by the top shooting guard in the senior class, Malik Newman of Jackson (Miss.) Callaway. On the recruiting front, Murray said that his father has been handling most of his recruitment for now, but he did mention Michigan State, Louisville, Michigan and Illinois as some of the teams with interest. Murray also addressed talk about a possible move to the class of 2015 by indicating that he is in a position to do so academically, but that any decision to reclassify will be made much further down the road.

» Jamal Murray among stars at Hoopfest

Rated the No. 1 running back in the country by multiple recruiting services, Kareem Walker is one of the more touted prospects for the class of 2016 However, the 5-11, 210-pounder has put recruiting on the backburner for the last few months and for good reason. “I’ve just been focusing on my season,” Walker said. “I was trying to win state with my teammates and now that we did it, I’m ready to get back to recruitment.” Walker and his DePaul teammates captured the Non-Public Group 2 championship with a convincing 42-0 victory over Holy Spirit on Saturday night.

» Rutgers coach Kyle Flood watches DePaul running back Kareem Walker dazzle in championship win

In recent years, Twitter has become the go-to platform for top high school prospects to share information about their recruitment. It’s not where you’ll find news from Huntington (W.Va.) Prep’s Thomas Bryant — the only major UK recruiting target without a Twitter account. “It’s just too much sometimes,” Bryant said. “It was just a decision on my part. I didn’t want any distractions.”

» Next-Cats notes: Twiterless Thomas Bryant

On a day filled with talented high school teams, St. Benedict’s might bring more to the table than anybody else. The Grey Bees are loaded yet again with future Division I basketball players, including one of the best sophomores in the country in 6-3 point guard Trevon Duval. The athletic, muscular guard has a game years beyond his age, with a scorer’s touch from all three levels as well as the ability to create for his teammates. Another talented sophomore, Nathaniel Pierre-Louis, also has numerous high-major offers and combined with Duval gives head coach Mark Taylor the best young backcourt in the country.

» 8:30 PM – Capital Christian (Md.) vs. St. Benedict’s (N.J.)

Big time college basketball made an appearance in the Upstate on Thursday as two of the nation’s top recruits faced off with a handful of NCAA Division I scouts in attendance. The main draws were 22ft Academy of Shannon Forest Christian School junior Sedee Keita and Sound Doctrine Christian Academy (Ga.) senior Shawntrez Davis. While Davis, who ranked No. 93 in the class of 2015 by ESPN, got the best on the scoresheet, Keita and 22ft Academy came out on top where is counts, rallying from 10 point down in the fourth quarter to take a 62-59 double-overtime victory.

» NCAA scouts see 22ft Academy win in double OT

Millersville (Pa.) Penn Manor long snapper Matt Keller has committed to Syracuse. Keller was one of 14 prospects on campus during a big official weekend for the Orange, and pulled the trigger before heading home, he told CuseNation.com. “The coaching staff is a real honest staff,” Keller said. “Everyone there has been tremendous to me but I really like the feel of the campus. It’s not too different than where I’m from. It’s not really in the city and it’s a little suburban.

»  Long snapper Matt Keller commits to Syracuse

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.