Commitment Catch-Up

New England Recruiting Report | Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

The last couple of weeks have brought another round of division III commitments, or at least brought some previous commitments to light. Here's a look at a few recent pledges who all have a chance to be impact players.

• ​Greenwich senior guard Conor Harkins made a verbal commitment to Swarthmore back in September. At the time it flew under our radar, but since then Harkins has done anything but. He's opened his senior season with a number of loud performances, including a game winning buzzer beater over Darien and strong showings against state powerhouses Notre Dame West Haven and East Hartford. A product of High Rise Elite on the grassroots circuit, Harkins is highly skilled with a equally high basketball I.Q. He's a high level shot-maker from behind the three-point line, capable of playing both on and off the ball and an undeniable steal at the division III level.
• Austin Lavitt, a post-graduate from the Kent School, has made a commitment to continue his basketball career at Case Western University. A 6-foot-3 swingman who graduated from Blind Brook High School in New York, where he was an all-league performer, Lavitt has been an important performer off the bench for Kent. "Austin has worked very hard these past eight months to prepare for competing at this level," Kent head coach Jason Coulombe said. "He's really transformed his athleticism and skill set, and he's become a much more confident ball-player as a result. He's willing to do whatever we need to be successful. Coach McGuinness at Case Western is getting a great player, and more importantly, a great person."
• Last week, when we profiled the top prospects in the NHIAA, we mentioned that K.J. Matte had committed to Bowdoin after his ED1 application had been accepted. Matte, who is one of the top players in New Hampshire's state association, isn't the only local product in the Polar Bears' recruiting class as he'll be joined by Taft's Zavier Rucker. Matte is a playmaking guard with a definite flair to his game while Rucker, who serves as Taft's captain, is a gritty and hard-working player capable of playing multiple positions. That duo is joined by a pair of prospects from outside New England's borders as well. Any Ward, a 6-foot-11 center from Pope John XXIII High School in New Jersey, is on his way to New England after generating wide-ranging recruitment from scholarship levels in recent years as too is Sam Grad, a 6-foot-7 forward from Boulder, Colorado.

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