Saunders Headlines a Trio of Signing Day Commitments
Damian Saunders commits to Marquette: Damian Saunders was able to dominate through his four years at Crosby High School by his natural physical abilities. At 6’8 he is tremendously athletic, very agile, has good speed, and is a quick leaper. That alone made him virtually unstoppable in the CIAC. Saunders was a dunking and shot-blocking machine through his four years at Crosby helping them to two state finals and one state championship. As successful as he was, many people questioned how his game would translate to the next level. Well since arriving at Notre Dame Prep Saunders has silenced his critics.
In the two shorts months Saunders has been with Head Coach Bill Barton he has added a significant amount of muscle to his frame, improved his perimeter jump shot, and become an absolute terror in transition. The versatile forward is now equally effective grabbing a rebound and leading the break off the dribble or filling a lane and finishing high above the rim. In addition to that he has found his niche in a half court setting as well. Because of his size people often wondered why he didn’t score more with his back to the basket in high school but now it is evident that he is best suited to play facing the basket either as a perimeter four man or a small forward. Defensively, Saunders is still as good a shot blocker as ever, even against much improved competition, but he is also equally valuable playing on top of the Coach Barton’s press because of his length and quickness.
What has this all meant in terms of his recruiting? It means that he went from a player that may have been under-recruited out of high school to one of the top 25 post-graduate players in the country according to scout.com. It also means that he had two Big East programs in Providence and Marquette vying for his services with many more high major programs showing strong interest.
Soon after Saunders visited Marquette ten days ago rumors began to swirl that he had already committed to Coach Crean and his staff. But it was only recently that Saunders made it official. And if he continues to improve over the next six months at Notre Dame like he has during his first two this could be a major addition for the Golden Eagles.
Josh Owens commits to Stanford: After an exhausting month that has been well documented by the national media Josh Owens has finally made his college selection and he will be a Stanford Cardinal. Owens is a very athletic forward from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire who has been intriguing to coaches from high academic schools for quite some time. But it wasn’t until the Kingwood Classic last April when his stock really exploded. Up until that point he had been generating interest from most of the schools in the Ivy League but after that the high-major academic schools began to come out of the woodwork. Before it was all said and done Owens had scholarship offers from the likes of St. John’s, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Boston College, Stanford, and many others. But ultimately his decision came down to joining the Cardinals or playing for the University of Pennsylvania where his friend and former teammate Cameron Lewis currently stars. After receiving word that he had been admitted to the school Owens decided to select Stanford.
John Galvin commits to Farleigh Dickinson: Skilled 6’10 centers don’t come along very often in Connecticut and consequently when a player like John Galvin is playing at a small public high school it is a good bet that most of the local division one programs will keep a close watch. Consequently, John Galvin has been evaluated and recruited by a variety of local schools over the years, but starting next year he will be playing against three of them. Galvin, from Weston High School, committed to Farleigh Dickinson on Wednesday. FDU is a member of the NEC Conference which also includes Connecticut Schools Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, and Central Connecticut State University. After playing with the New York Gauchos over the summer Galvin received interest from programs as high as the Atlantic Ten before ultimately deciding on FDU. Gavin averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds per game last year and will be entering a situation where he should have an immediate opportunity to earn playing time due to the graduation of two seniors in Andre Harris and Jordan Ingram who are both seniors this year.
Josh Owens
Damian Saunders