When the clocks rolled over to midnight on Wednesday June 15, 2011, the NCAA officially lifted its restrictions and allowed Division 1 basketball coaches to begin contacting recruits from the 2013 class. Some coaches, ever anxious to show their love early and often, began dialing at the stroke of midnight, of course, but calls continued throughout the day and night.
Coaches are still restricted to one phone call per month, though, as with any NCAA rule, there are loopholes and exceptions — but a single school bombarding a kid's phone with calls all day would likely never be sanctioned. So calls have to be made strategically.
Some coaches extend offers to the rising juniors on the first day of phone contact, but others will wait until the July live period begins. As far as we can tell, Villanova did not offer any rising Juniors yesterday, but the staff was certainly busy working the phones to reach out.
We have confirmed four players who were contacted by Jay Wright or his assistants yesterday, and will update the list if we hear of more. Those players are:
- Davon Reed, Guard/Wing (Princeton Day School / Team Final)
- Isaiah Lewis, Guard (Christ the King / Albany City Rocks)
- Terrence Samuel, Guard (South Shore / New Heights)
- Sindarius Thornwell, Guard (Lancaster, SC / Team United)
Reed is a teammate of two other Villanova targets in the 2013 class, Rondae Jefferson (who prefers UNC, Kentucky and Temple) and Austin Colbert. He plays on the wing for Team Final, but can also handle the rock and play point if needed. Recruited heavily by most of the Big 5 schools as well as other high major programs in the northeast, Reed currently lists his dream schools as, "Florida, Syracuse, Ohio State, and VCU."
Isaiah Lewis, who is also being recruited by the Wildcats of Kentucky and Arizona, is a New York guard who has been keenly able to score buckets at the high school level. He is still developing his passing skills and may eventually be able to play point guard at a high level. He is the 17th-ranked shooting guard in his class according to ESPN, though Rivals.com lists him as a point guard.
Terrence Samuel is a combo guard from Brooklyn, whose stock has been rising lately. He has good handle and court vision, which could allow him to settle in permanently as a point guard at the high-major level, but has not yet developed into a pure point. He is quick and capable with the ball in his hands and has no problem getting to the rack against high school opponents, but will need to develop a more consistent jumper to keep Big East defenders honest.
Sindarius Thornwell is an interesting prospect from outside Villanova's usual sphere of influence. The top rising junior out of South Carolina, currently plays both the 2 and 3, but at 6'4", he is likely to be an off-guard in the college ranks. As with many of Villanova's targets lately, his weakness is his jumper which may require a change in mechanics to fix. Besides that, however, Thornwell is a dangerous athlete who is plays well off the dribble, is a talented finisher around the rim and can facilitate as well as score.