Three Notable Halloween Recruiting Announcements

Happy Halloween, first of all. I am here in my LeRoy Jenkins costume, dressed up as my hero. Wanted to throw out that their were three pretty solid signings today, all of whom are currently ranked in the NBADraft.net Top 50 HS Seniors.

Willie Cauley, a PF/C from Kansas, announced he will be the second signee for University of Kentucky’s 2012 recruiting class. He is currently rated as the #5 Center by ESPN.com and #10 Center by Scout.com. He definitely will need to add some bulk in college, but their is a lot of upside. He was measured as being 7’1.25 in shoes this summer at the Amare Stoudemire Camp. He joins Archie Goodwin as the current base of what is looking like another strong Kentucky recruiting class. I know it is early, but I personally believe that Anthony Bennett and Shabazz Muhammad might round out the class. Seeing that Ryan Harrow will be eligible next season, I think the Wildcats likely hold off on a PG until 2013. With Bennett and Muhammad, they would definitely have another #1 recruiting class. They are not at all locks, but I certainly see it being a strong possibility.

Willie Cauley Highlights (First one basketball, second one combo with football, which he is apparently dominating this year):

The next big signing was for Stanford hoops, who landed prized combo forward Rosco Allen. Allen plays at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, a school headlined by Shabazz Muhammad (along with Ben Carter, Rashad Muhammad, Stephen Zimmerman, Noah Robotham and Demetris Morant being likely D1 high major prospects, if not beyond). He is ranked as the #12 SF by ESPN and the #17 PF by Scout.com, and was considering North Carolina, UNLV and Oregon. Stanford definitely seems to be getting their program back to becoming elite in the Pac-12, and Allen is a definite start to them doing so, combined with their very nice recruiting haul from 2010.

Rosco Allen Highlights:

Last, but certainly not least, we have the first 2012 signing of the UNIVERSITY OF OREGON! The Ducks land Dominic Artis, a smooth PG from the Bay Area who will be running the Findlay Prep team this year. Artis originally committed to UCLA, but de-committed after the signing of Kyle Anderson, who will likely be running the point for the Bruins from Day 1. Artis will likely join another Bay Area product, Jabari Brown, to give the Ducks an incredibly promising backcourt. Ranked #10 by ESPN and #9 by Scout, Artis is an explosive and creative PG who is coming off of a huge summer.

Dominic Artis’ Summer Mixtape (Which is one of my favorites and I feel has been completely slept on when I have posted it before):

Also, as a bonus, highlights of Jabari Brown working out with former UCLA and soon to be Memphis Grizzlies guard Malcolm Lee. They are using the new training facility at Matthew Knight Arena. Dominic Artis also makes a brief appearance in this video, as he was on his official visit for "Matt Knight Madness", which is featured in the second part of the video. Have to say, really looking forward to seeing how Jabari Brown does this year. Biggest recruiting grab in a LONG time for the Ducks.