Justin Crosgile- Soon to be St. Joe's Hawk?

Justin Crosgile, a 6'0 junior guard for DePaul (NJ), burst onto the scene earlier this school year with a fantastic showing at the Eddie Griffin Challenge. Justin, a member of Team New Jersey ABC for the AAU circuit, is now getting looks from some of America's top programs. Yesterday, I spoke with Justin about his recruitment and his game. As of now, Crosgile says he has offers from three Big East schools: St. John's, Rutgers, and Seton Hall. In addition, he has offers from Houston and St. Joseph's, two of the top mid-major teams in the nation. Other schools that have shown Justin interest--in varying degrees--are Miami (FL), Davidson, Lehigh, Penn St., Michigan, Ohio St., Stanford, UCLA, Penn St., Notre Dame, Xavier, and Michigan St. As well, Tom Crean, the new head coach at Indiana, sent Crosgile a letter while he was still at Marquette. Justin said that of all the schools yet to offer him, Miami is showing him the most interest. Who is Crosgile's number one school? That would be the St. Joseph's Hawks. "I met with all the staff, I like the staff. . . . I like the school [because it's] not too big, not too small. . . . I think it would be a good fit for me, I like it a lot," said Justin. The Hawks were, in fact, the first school to offer him a scholarship, while Notre Dame was the first to show interest. "As a child I always liked NC St. for some reason," Justin told me. Although he grew up rooting for the North Carolina St. Wolfpack, the school has yet to get involved in Justin's recruitment. What if the school did eventually give Crosgile an offer? "I would consider it, . . . [but] I wouldn't just jump into it," said Crosgile. As of now, his top five schools are as follows: 1) St. Joseph's, 2) Miami, 3) Ohio St., 4) Notre Dame, 5) Michigan. The three at the top are right now the prime candidates to land Justin, though he told me that he isn't 100% positive that his final choice will come out of that trio. DePaul's soon-to-be standout senior said that "right now," he plans to officially visit "Miami, Ohio St., and probably Michigan St." He is not planning on taking an official visit to St. Joe's because he has already unofficially visited the school. The Eddie Griffin Challenge certainly helped Crosgile, as "most of [the schools] started to get involved after the game [because] . . . it . . . boosted [his] stock a bit." Justin did mention that he was getting interest prior to his game at the EGC. "My biggest strength [is that] . . . I'm good off the dribble. . . . When I drive I get a shot for myself . . . or I dish it off to one of my teammates," said Justin. Here is what he said about his biggest weaknesses: "Sometimes I stand around too much and watch. . . . [Also,] for a guard, I like to go in and rebound [a lot], . . . so big guards, they leak out," adding, "I like to crash [the boards] a lot, . . . [but] everybody [is telling] me [that] when I go to college, I can't really do that because there [are] seven-footers." Regardless of whether or not Crosgile will crash the glass in the NCAA, you've got to love that a 6'0 guard loves get around the hoop and rebound. As of now it seems that Justin Crosgile is favoring the St. Joseph's Hawks, and should he end up there, I'm sure Phil Martelli will be ecstatic to have him.

Note- photo is from http://metrohoops.com/