Commitment Catch-Up

New England Recruiting Report | Thursday, May 5th, 2016

It has been a busy week for the class of 2016 as names seem to be flying off the best available list with each passing day. Here's a look at some of the other recent commitments in the class that have yet to come across the ticker:

• Alpha Diallo wasn't the only Brewster Academy product to finalize his plans last week. Jake Rudolph and Sam Kiley are also now off the board. Rudolph, a skilled guard who can really shoot the ball from behind the arc, is headed south to Florida Southern College where former Southern Connecticut head coach Mike Donnelly continues to tap into his New England roots to deliver talent. Rudolph joins Tilton guard Brett Hanson in committing to Florida Southern in the 2016 class. Kiley is headed to Bard College next year, a prestigious liberal arts college located Annandale-On-Hudson, New York.
• The MacDuffie School has also announced a pair of commitments with Jaylen Franklin and Jair Johnson both making their decisions. Johnson, who played his grassroots basketball with the New England Playaz, will stay close to his western Massachusetts home and join the UMass program as a preferred walk-on. A hard-nosed and tough point guard who was committed to Navy at one point, Franklin will provide a valuable piece to the Minuteman program. Johnson, who starred with BABC City in AAU play, is headed to Sheridan College in Wyoming where he'll team with another BABC product, Celio Arajuo. Johnson is an extremely athletic southpaw with a high upside and projects as BABC's latest success story via the junior college route.
• One of the most decorated players in the MIAA in recent years, Putnam's Tyonne Malone, is also headed to junior college after his commitment to Indian Hills College earlier this month. Malone's three years at Putnam ended in a state championship, a state final and then a state semi-final. The Mass Rivals product also added multiple division I offers along the way but will first head to a prestigious junior college program in Iowa where his athleticism and slashing ability will be on full display.
• Williston Northampton has also announced a pair of commitments in recent weeks. Jake Ross, who played a pivotal role in the Wildcats' back-to-back NEPSAC Class A championships and had earned full scholarship offers along the way, has opted to stay close to home and continue his career at Springfield College. An absolute steal on the Division III level, Ross should be expected to make an immediate impact and quickly assert himself as one of the program's leaders. Patrick Gallagher, another player who has been a part of two championship teams with the Wildcats, will head to Skidmore College - a highly rated liberal arts school in upstate New York - to continue his career for the next four years.
• Springfield College has also landed a recent commitment from St. Thomas More post-graduate guard Trey Witter. A graduate of Farmington High School and product of the Connecticut Passion AAU program, Witter saw consistent time this year for a Chancellors team that advanced to the finals of both the NEPSAC and National Prep Championship tournaments. He is a fundamentally sound, heady and competitive player who is another nice addition for the Pride program.
• Brandeis has scored a pair of local commitments that should give them one of the best incoming shooting tandems in the UAA in St. Andrew's sniper Eric DAguanno and Putnam Science post-graduate Collin Sawyer. Not only are both players shot-makers, but they also both possess the type of pure release that is incredibly rare. D'Aguanno has good size for the perimeter at 6-foot-4 and a long history of playing against top competition, both with St. Andrew's as well as the New England Playaz. Sawyer is a graduate of New London High School who first made a name for himself last spring with USAD before heading to Putnam. Both saw interest and recruitment from scholarship level programs over the course of their recruitment.
• Another Putnam Science Academy post-graduate, Sean Delaney, is off the board following a recent commitment to New York Institute of Technology. Located in the heart of New York City, on Broadway, NYIT is an NCAA Division II program. Delaney is a heady and versatile lefty who provided valuable depth for PSA this year and has the potential to compete for time at multiple positions at the next level.
• Western New England scored an important pledge from LaSalle Academy's Mike McCourt. A skilled swingman who averaged almost 17 points per game as a senior and scored more than 1,000  for his career, McCourt has also developed a reputation as a big game player. He had 44 points and a triple-double in a double-overtime win over Bishop Hendricken that helped solidify the regular season championship for LaSalle. He's expected to make an immediate contribution for LaSalle.
• Kent School's Kena Gilmour will head to the NESCAC to play his college basketball at Hamilton. A big lefty wing and high level athlete, Gilmour had offers at both the division I and II levels during the course of his career and is a definite steal at the division III level. Gilmour, who ran with Metro Boston during the AAU season, has been named honorable mention All New England in consecutive seasons;
• Avon Old Farms senior guard Packy Witkowski will head to the Coast Guard Academy next year where he'll continue his basketball career. Witkowski scored almost 800 points in his two years with AOF, averaging over 16 points per game and knocking down 130 threes in that time. This year he helped Avon to a Founder's League championship and was named 2nd Team All New England and 2nd Team All Tri-State League in the process.
• Andover High School two-sport star E.J. Perry has committed to Boston College in the class of 2017 to play college football. A quarterback who has also starred on the hardwood as well as with the Mass Rivals AAU program, Perry is a true throwback multi-sport athlete who threw for 34 touchdowns and 2.852 yards this year as a junior.
• Greens Farms Academy forward Dom Christiano announced on Thursday that he would head to Lafayette College to play in the Patriot League. The 6-foot-7 forward who starred for High Rise Elite on the grassroots circuit last year and made great strides during his senior year at GFA. He's a high level athlete with a developing inside-out skill set. He'll joined the Leopards as a preferred walk-on next year but have a chance to earn a scholarship in future years.
• Mt. Ararat star guard and longtime MB Nation product Shyheim Ulrickson will continue his basketball career at Babson College. Ulrickson is a scoring guard who recently completed one of the most decorated high school careers in the state of Maine. An All-State recipient and finalist for Maine's Mr. Basketball award, Ulrickson should be able to make immediate contributions on a Babson team that won the Division III national championship in 2015.