Lamar Pittman

[Dane Pound]

According to insider $iena has offered Pittman a scholarship and they list Albany as interested. Pittman is a 6'8 225lb PF from Poughkeepsie HS.

[scottotile]

I would love to steal a recruit from the Aints, smack the high and mighties down a bit. My two favorite teams, UA and whoever is playing $iena.

[Dane Pound]

I really don't know how seriously to take the recruiting services but we'd have quite a huge lineup with Dyson, Z, Wilson and Pittman in 05-06.

I'm sure were he to sign with UA the $iena fans would tell us he's a "project" or a "stiff" anyway.

[Patch]

With guards stock piled I think the Danes will seek a couple of big bodies - Power Forwards/Centers.

 

If we signed someone like Pittnam the $aint faithful would say they backed off him because Lanier thought he could get better. If Lanier and the $aints sign him he'll be the next great MAAC Big Man.

 

We could never out recruit $iena they are the premier program of the MAAC and have the best of everything.

Edited May 30, 2004 by Patch

[Dane Pound]

With all that's happened I've lost track but we do have two scholarships for next year right?

With Wyatt and Q graduating I'd love to see a couple of big guys brought in.

[DaneFan2k3]

TheInsiders.com have four players from 2005 who list Albany NY as schools with interest.

 

Among them are Pittman, as well as two players from Jamar's old high school, Benoit Bekono (6-6, 190, was he at that AAU tournament at Siena?) and James Tchana (6-7, 260, appears to have missed season with an injury), and finally the fourth being Joseph Vines (6-5 1/2, 240, Rice HS in NYC).

[Patch]

Benoit Bekono (6-6, 190, was he at that AAU tournament at Siena?) and James Tchana (6-7, 260) -DF2k3

 

Both are from Jamar's school but don't expect them to come to Albany, they will both get recruited much higher. Hopefully we can stay involved with kids like this and some day one or two will fall into our hands.

 

For those who are interested read on.........

 

NY Elite Forward Worth Watching

By Brian Towey  Senior Reporter

Date: May 26, 2004

 

A big summer for a small forward from the New York Elite AAU program could land him some division one offers 

 

Benoit Bekono, an athletic 6-foot-6 190 pound combo forward from Our Savior New American in Centereach, New York, is a player out of the class of 2005 whose development bears watching.

Bekono is a live-bodied athlete who attacks the rim. He can put it on the floor a little bit, and has quick feet. Shooting-wise, he needs to be more consistent. But the native of Cameroon's physical tools are intriguing.

 

Bekono has received interest from Albany, Rider, Arizona State, Rhode Island, and Florida International. Howevever, he is still flying under the radar a little bit.

 

Bekono scored 17 points for the SRAP/NY Elite team against BABC in the finals of the the Five-Star Springfield Event last weekend.

 

He will travel with the same team this spring and summer, coached by Dave Paulus, Chris Phillips, and Eric Jaklitsch. Next up for the SRAP is the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in North Carolina, and in June they will compete at the Rumble in The Bronx.

 

There is a chance that Benoit will attend either the Adidas camp or Reebok ABCD camp, but that has not been determined yet.

 

 

Has Long List Of High Majors

by Mike Sullivan of NewYorkInsider.com, May 24, 2004 at 11:49am ET

 

James Tchana Profile

 

One forward to take a good look at this summer is Our Savior New American's James Tchana, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound power forward. Tchana, who has recovered nicely from last January's tragic van accident, appears to have shed some baby fat, is more muscle-toned, and has added some agility to his physical skills.

It's likely that with the exposure of playing with the New York Elite this summer at the major tournaments if Tchana performs at a high level he will land some major offers. "San Diego and Albany have already offered," Tchana said. "But I have a lot of schools I am interested in right now that I have heard from."

 

The list is long: Ohio State, Seton Hall, Long Beach State, Villanova, Florida, Florida State, St. John's, Penn State, Marquette, Utah, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech. "I don't have a leader," Tchana told us this past weekend from the Basketball City tournament. "I am still open." - Insiders.com

[reeder]

He will travel with the same team this spring and summer, coached by Dave Paulus, Chris Phillips, and Eric Jaklitsch. Next up for the SRAP is the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in North Carolina, and in June they will compete at the Rumble in The Bronx.

 

Isn't Eric Jaklitsch a manager for UA? Not that it would make a difference, but who knows.

[Dane96]

I was sitting back last night and finally realized...BROWN NEED TO SCORE A BIG BODY.

 

After this upcoming year we will have at guard Jordan and Perry for one more year. We will have IATI, Wilson, Johnson for two years. We will have Bauman and Lillis (who will see time at the three as well) for three.

 

At Center we will have Zoellner for 1 and Dyson for 3 years.

 

At Forward we will have Wilson for three years. We will have Knotts, Levine, for one.

 

After that...we have squat. We are going to need at least two big man recruits with the next three schollies (the Martin scholly, Hillaire (EOP) and Wyatt scholly).

 

If Wyatt has the same year as last...we will miss him. Did the dirty grunt work. We are losing a ton of size in two years in the Post (Knotts, Levine, Martin, Hillaire, Wyatt) whether they were good or not for us. The Pivot should be fine with DYSON.

[Patch]

Dane96

 

I think we will have 2 sholarships for next season. I may be wrong but I think the signing of Perry was due to Martin transferring.

 

I believe Brown's first priority was getting us headed in the right direction and with next year's team being his first full roster I think he has us headed in the right direction.

 

I would expect Brown to use the scholarships available for Big men (PF/C) if he can get that done we'll be fine.

 

The following recruiting cycle we should have 5 scholarships (Levi, Knotts, Jordan, Zoellner and Perry) available and then he can shop for whatever he likes.

 

It's funny how last year's tragedy (losing Jamar) actually is good now that we have Jamar and Iati for 3 years together.