Sacred Heart Lands Fourth Local Commitment

NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com | Saturday, October 27th, 2007

First came 6’1” point guard Steve Zazuri, then 6’5” forward Stanford Dulaire, next was 6’8” center Nick Greenbacker, and on Thursday 6’2” shooting guard Shane Gibson became the final local product to join Sacred Heart’s recruiting class. 

To the best of our knowledge, no other division I program has ever handed out four scholarships, in the same year, to players from Connecticut.  Not only that, but these players are all home grown talents who attend local high schools within the CIAC, not players who come to Connecticut to attend a powerful prep school. 

After advancing to the NEC finals last season with a roster full of local players including Chauncey Hardy, Ryan Litke, Luke Granato, and Eugene Pettway, Sacred Heart has clearly made it a priority to target the state’s best players and keep them close to home.  Their most recent addition puts an exclamation point on the class, as Gibson is a potent offensive player who should be able to put points on the board immediately upon arriving in Fairfield. 

Primarily known as a spot up shooter throughout most of his career at Killingly High School, the talented guard showed a more diversified offensive attack during this summer’s AAU and camp circuit.  He impressed coaches from a variety of schools with his new found ability to attack off the bounce, pull-up in the mid-range area, or continue all the way to the rim.  His offensive skill set makes him an ideal fit at Sacred Heart, who led the NEC in points scored last year and appears poised to do so again. 

The big question for Sacred Heart is can a team comprised primarily of Connecticut talent advance to the NCAA Tournament.  Clearly the Pioneers coaching staff thinks so…and the New England Recruiting Report agrees with them.

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