For two years, Providence followed Donovan Mitchell around like a lovesick school boy. The school frequently attended his basketball games, texted and called him and made him feel loved. Coach Ed Cooley’s Friars program was supposed to be the favorite, even as Mitchell’s stock skyrocketed during the spring and summer live recruiting periods.
Then the popular guy — Louisville — walked into the room, and all was forgotten. The relationship built over the years and months didn’t seem to matter as much anymore.
Thursday night, roughly a month after Louisville offered the dynamic 6-foot-3 shooting guard a scholarship, Mitchell picked Rick Pitino’s program during a visit. Before he even took an official visit to The Dunk, the dynamic shooting guard chose the Cardinals over Providence, Boston College, Florida State and Villanova — a reminder of how cold-hearted this recruiting business can be. Providence assistant coach Brian Blaney was at every one of Mitchell’s games in
July during the live recruiting period, and Cooley was a fixture at most of them.
“It’s a bad business,” one veteran college coach said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “That happens all the time — the haves and the have-nots. Recruiting is hard, people don’t realize. At the end of the day, you’re dealing with a 17- or 18-year-old kid making a decision.”
This is in no way a criticism of Mitchell, a well-mannered and respectful kid who will go from Elmsford, N.Y., to the hoops haven of Louisville, Ky. He’s loyal, by all accounts, sticking with The City AAU program, an unheralded group he helped turn into a local power, rather than jumping to other premier teams, like so many others his age.
“He has a ton of character,” said Arjay Perovic, The City’s director and Mitchell’s coach. “He wants to do what’s right. Donovan was the heart of our program. I know a lot of people were after him. Not only is Donovan a great basketball player, but he’s a better kid. He’s a leader.”
Mitchell’s mother, Nicole, described Blaney and Cooley as “very respectable men,” but she also said, “it’s not first-come, first-serve.
“It’s what’s going to work for the person,” she said. “It has to be a good match. … When you have that opportunity you may not get again, you jump on it.”
There is, of course, no loyalty when it comes to recruiting. Players aren’t getting paid, scholarships can get pulled, coaches leave. Mitchell saw a better opportunity at Louisville, an possible path to the NBA, a better opportunity for March glory, and took it.
“Louisville won a national championship [in 2013],” Perovic said. “That’s what Donovan’s about. I love Providence, I love Ed Cooley and I love their coaching staff, but Donovan is trying to play at the highest level.”
That doesn’t speak complimentary of the new Big East.
Providence certainly has benefited from this too, when programs smaller in stature than the Friars have led for a prospect. Still, questions remain.
Will Louisville be patient if Mitchell struggles? Will the Cardinals recruit over him? The Cardinals will give him a scholarship, but are they as invested as Providence would have been? The Cardinals are in play for elite prospects every year.
“That’s a factor,” the college coach said, “he should have considered, definitely.”
Bronx forward Luis Santos verbally committed to South Florida on Wednesday. The 6-foot-8 Santos, who attended St. Raymond High — the alma mater of news Bulls head coach Orlando Antigua and assistant Oliver Antigua, his brother — after emigrating from the Dominican Republic to the U.S., will finish his high school career at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kan.
Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard Isaiah Briscoe announced a final five of Villanova, Arizona, St. John’s, Rutgers and Seton Hall and has decided to delay his decision until the spring. … Arizona, it should be noted, recently picked up its second guard, Alonzo Trier, in the Class of 2015.
St. John’s target Cheick Diallo, a consensus top-five prospect in the class of 2015, will take an official visit to Kansas on Sept. 19-21.
Shooting guard Trey Lowe of Ewing (N.J.) High, picked Temple on Thursday, choosing the Owls over SMU, VCU and St. Joseph’s.
Top 100 guard Malik Beasley of Alpharetta, Ga., will take an unofficial visit to St. John’s this weekend while he’s in town for the Big Strick Classic, a showcase that will be played Saturday night at Gauchos Gym in The Bronx.
He announced his top eight schools on Friday night, and St. John’s is one of them.
Bronx forward Jonathan Nwankwo cut his list to six: Fordham, Minnesota, Seton Hall, Temple, Rice and Tennessee. He took an unofficial visit to Fordham on Monday and will take official visits to Minnesota on Sept. 4 and Tennessee on Oct. 11.
Wagner landed rising senior wing Devin Liggeons of Imhotep Institute Charter in Philadelphia on Thursday. He also had offers from Niagara, Sacred Heart and St. Francis (Pa.).