Today's verbal commitment by 6'9 DeJuan Coleman from Dewitt (Jamesville-Dewitt) NY clearly is one of the biggest shoes to drop thus far this fall on the recruiting trail. We're talking about a 6'9, 280-pound, physical specimen with excellent skills and a knack for overpowering you and finding ways to score around the basket. Currently we have Coleman ranked #8 nationally in the senior class, but he has all of the tools necessary to be the best big man in the Class of 2012. All he lacks is the consistency and the mentality, whereby, you bring it every night. Coleman picked the Orangemen over Kentucky and Ohio State, but he consistently denies any relationship to former Syracuse All-American Derrick Coleman, even though they both have the same last name and they do bare some resemblance to one another. Coleman averaged 24.5 ppg and 14.0 rpg a year ago and a year from now he is expected to walk-in and immediately anchor what already is a very talented front line. If you will recall, 7'0 Soph Fab Melo started 24 games and 6'10 Soph Baye Moussa Keita started 10 games during the rookie seasons a year ago, 6'9 Frosh Rakeem Christmas has the size, skills, talent, and athleticism to be as good as he want to be, and 6'8 Jr James Southerland and 6'8 Soph C.J. Fair were both great role players a year ago and are capable of playing both inside and outside. Coleman joins 6'7 Jerami Grant from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD in a recruiting class that is now tied at #15, along with N.C. State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2012.
And a bit more on Grant following his commitment:
Grant picked the Orangemen over Rutgers and Notre Dame and is ranked #23 nationally in the senior class by the
And a bit more on Grant following his commitment:
Grant picked the Orangemen over Rutgers and Notre Dame and is ranked #23 nationally in the senior class by the
HOOP SCOOP
. However, what really makes this a great catch is the fact that Grant is a phenomenal athlete with a tremendous upside and an unbelievable bloodline (his father and uncle both played in the NBA, his three older brothers all played college basketball, and his younger brother is one of the top rising freshmen in the nation and has the potential to be the best player in the family).