Stars Come Out for St. Mark’s

New England Recruiting Report | Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

St. Mark’s open gyms have become almost an annual event in New England.  With past stars including Erik Murphy and Nate Lubick, the workouts (typically limited to one or two per year) have attracted some of the top college coaches in the entire country. 

But the collection of coaches that traveled to Southborough, Massachusetts on Sunday for the second, and final, workout of this year set a new precedent not just in New England but far beyond. 
 
“In the decade that I have covered college basketball and recruiting I have never seen a more impressive collection of high major head coaches for an open gym workout anywhere in the country,” said Fox Sports’ senior college basketball writer Jeff Goodman.  “The amazing thing is that it happened in New England, which is something that no one could have predicted.” 

The head coaches in attendance combined for 11 national championships including the last seven as Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010), North Carolina’s Roy Williams (2005 & 2009), Kansas’ Bill Self (2008), Florida’s Billy Donovan (2006 & 2007), and Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun (1999 & 2004) were all in attendance. 

That was only the beginning of the coaches section as West Virginia’s Bob Huggins, Villanova’s Jay Wright, North Carolina State’s Sidney Lowe, Boston College’s Steve Donahue, Michigan’s John Beilein, and Stanford’s Johnny Dawkins were also on hand. 

While St. Mark’s features another deep and talented roster this year, the two primary targets are of course Alex Murphy and Kaleb Tarczewski, both of whom are ranked within the top 25 juniors in the country. 
 
“It was a very humbling thing,” Murphy said, “to have those type of coaches come to see us and to have the opportunity to play in front of all of them.” 

“It was pretty crazy,” Tarczewski said.  “The people that were there was just ridiculous.  People you just see on T.V. and don’t see in real life.  Knowing they’re interested in me is pretty cool.” 

While neither player has released a complete list yet, Tarczewski said he is hoping to cut his list of potential schools soon while Murphy says his list could potentially include schools like Arizona, Boston College, Butler, Duke, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, Syracuse, Texas, Villanova, and West Virginia (given in alphabetical order).

“Up to this point there is no timetable,” Murphy said.  “In my opinion I think it’s one of those things where you will know when a certain spot is the place for you.  With the way I feel right now it could happen next week or it could happen next year.”  
 
“I don’t really have too much of a list right now,” Tarczewski said.  “I’m going to start narrowing the list down soon, but right now I’m pretty much still open.” 

With St. Mark’s two fall workouts now a thing of the past, college coaches will not be able to see either Murphy or Tarczewski play until St. Mark’s season begins at the National Prep Showcase on November 20th.