Update on . . . Harold Spears, Wayne Newsom, and Markus Kennedy

Team New Jersey ABC's U-16 squad has been making some noise on the AAU circuit this year, and even was the subject of the feature article on http://njhoops.rivals.com/ at one point last week. The team reached the Gold bracket quarterfinals at the Pitt Jim Fest, won the Silver bracket at the Providence, and made the Gold bracket semifinals at the Southern Jam Fest. The group has compiled an impressive 14-4 record thus far, and its lengthy list of future DI players is a main reason for the success. Included on that list are 6'4 small forward Harold Spears of Faith Christian Academy (PA), 6'7 power forward Wayne Newsom of Piscataway (NJ), and 6'9 power forward Markus Kennedy of St. Patrick's (NJ), all of whom are sophomores. Spears will be transferring, and will play ball at The Pennington School (NJ) next season. These three players have all been receiving DI interest in varying degrees from different levels of schools. Spears informed me that he is currently drawing interest from Providence, Lafayette, Indiana, Vilanova, St. Joseph's, and Temple. He did mention that he has yet to receive a scholarship offer. The team's head coach, Matt Pauls, informed me that Newsom is being looked at by Rider, Robert Morris, Siena, and Iona. He also told me that Kennedy, who made the 16 & Under All-Tournament team at the Providence and Southern events, is being recruited by programs such as Villanova, Rutgers, Michigan St., Ohio St., and Syracuse. Assuming their NJABC squad continuing to light it up on the grassroots circuit, the number of looks the players are getting will continue to rise, and they will all be getting more and more interest. I will keep you informed on how the recruitment of these three class of 2010 forwards plays out.