URI & Northeastern both land 2 Local Products
John Hegarty a 7’0 post-graduate center from the Winchendon School in Massachusetts has committed to the University of Rhode Island. Hegarty will join 6’0 point guard Marquis Jones from St. Thomas More who committed to the Rams last year but was forced to return to STM for a post-graduate year after not making the grade academically. Hegarty who played with the Rhode Island Hawks this summer has always impressed with his size, hands, and instincts, but after losing 60 pounds he now appears to have the conditioning to be a consistent factor in games. Hegarty was particularly impressive at the New England Elite 75 Showcase where he was informally named the Most Valuable Player by Jeff Goodman of scout.com. And also noteworthy is the fact that Goodman stated in a recent article that Hegarty might be returning to Winchendon next year before eventually joining the Rams in the fall of ’08 which means that Hegarty would have another year to improve his conditioning and develop his low post game with Winchendon Head Coach Mike Byrnes who may be the best in the business at accomplishing those two goals. If that is the case then Rhode Island Head Coach Jim Baron will be getting a steal because Hegarty should be a high-major prospect by that point in time. The same thing can be said of Jones who would have been a solid pick-up for any Atlantic 10 program last year but after having another year to develop his game with STM Head Coach Jere Quinn, Jones could have drawn a significant amount of interest from high-major programs had he not chosen to honor his commitment to URI. So in total Coach Baron and his staff have been able to land two talented players who should be able to step in and make immediate contributions when they arrive on campus.
Northeastern has also added two players to the mix, both of whom will be members of this years recruiting class in 6’3 ½ guard Allan Aragbaye from Worcester Academy and 6’11 center Ben Felix from the Berkshire School. Aragbaye has great size for a guard both in terms of his size and length. He is always in attack mode and is at his best when pulling up in the mid-range although he is also capable of getting all the way to the rim or shooting the three-point shot. The California native should have an opportunity to see immediate minutes at either guard position for Head Coach Bill Coen. Coen and his staff have also landed Ben Felix a 6’11 post player from the Berkshire School in Massachusetts. Felix is a player who many people didn’t know about because he just arrived from Brittish Columbia and Berkshire is a program that is rebuilding after a 3-17 season last year. So you have to give Coach Coen and his staff a lot of credit for digging through the New England region and finding what may end up to be a diamond in the rough.
John Hegarty
Allan Aragbaye
Marquis Jones