ACC Basketball Recruiting: Brandon Ashley

By Alex Kline

Image from ESPN

Brandon Ashley isn’t your typical sophomore in high school. Standing at 6-foot-8, this young, athletic man is developing his game for the next level. At Bishop O’Dowd in California, Ashley is striving at a very young age.

While playing with both Bishop O’Dowd, as well as his AAU team the Oakland Soldiers, Brandon is bound for a big summer. Slam.com ranks him as the seventh best prospect in the class of 2012. This summer he will attend events at the Nike Hoop Jamboree in St. Louis, Peach Jam and Las Vegas. Along with that, Ashley is on the US National team and will attend tryouts very soon.

While his game is still developing, Ashley competes with the ranks of big men in his class like Jamesville-Dewitt’s DaJuan Coleman and Andre Drummond of St. Thomas Moore. While Ashley has not received as much hype as he deserves he will get there soon. His game is progressing along the way. “My game is developing right now,” said the 6’8 Power Forward. “I have a pretty good inside game and am currently working on my outside game. I have a solid jumper and my handle is progressing.” It may be progressing but colleges are already taking note.

That being said, Ashley is drawing plenty of interest from different schools. West Coast schools have primarily noticed his abilities so far. “California, Washington, Arizona, UCLA and Stanford have offered me,” said the California native. “There are no early favorites right now. I am still open to all schools.” Ashley is taking the recruiting process slow and is in no hurry whatsoever. “I haven’t really visited any schools yet. I have been in Stanford and Cal’s gyms but that is about it so far.” Look for more offers to roll in this summer for Brandon.

On a final interesting note, North Carolina recently got in contact with Brandon and expressed some interest in him. “UNC will always be a great school but at the moment they aren’t any higher on my list than any other school,” stated Ashley.

From the looks of it, Brandon will take his recruitment slowly. He has a long way to go in developing his game to the next level but he is bound for greatness sometime soon. Check him out on the west coast sometime and for people on the east coast he will be at the Peach Jam ready to do work!

ACC Recruits in the McDonald’s All American Game 2010

With the release of the 2010 McDonald’s All American rosters come the usual bevy of future ACC players who are honored by this annual showcase game. Here’s a rundown of the four Mickey D’s players who have already committed to the ACC.

North Carolina has three players who will be suiting up, including Reggie Bullock (SG/SF, 6′6″, 2010), Kendall Marshall (PG, 6′4″, 2010) and Harrison Barnes (SF, 6′8″, 2010). Barnes may be the top prize in the 2010 class, and it may be tough to keep him in Chapel Hill longer than one season.

Duke will be represented by Kyrie Irving (PG, 6′3″, 2010), another player who is special enough that the term ‘one and done’ may apply. A fast player who can handle the ball incredibly well on the break, Duke fans are already salivating at the prospect of his running the team.

Of the remaining undecideds, only C.J. Leslie (SF, 6′9″, 2010) is thought to be considering an ACC school, down to either hometown NC State or Kentucky. Brandon Knight (SG, 6′4″, 2010) had been considering his own hometown school of Miami but eliminated them recently.

Although most fans only see the players who make the final roster, there are a lot of players who are nominated but don’t make the final selection. You can view all of the nominated players here.

The game will take place on March 31, 2010 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. ESPN will televise the boys’ game at 8:00 pm EST, with the girls’ game being shown earlier on ESPNU at 5:30 pm EST.

Derrick Favors to visit NC State

Derrick Favors (PF, 6’9″, 2009), many scouts’ top player in the class of 2009, has long included NC State as a possible destination, even including them in his final list. Now Favors will take an official visit to the Wolfpack’s campus.

Despite stating many times that he would wait for his official decision until the spring, Favors is still removing teams from consideration:

The tentative timetable is for Favors to eliminate one school by the end of this week and another by the end of the following week

This still could come down to Georgia versus Georgia Tech in the spring, but the Pack has a good chance to convince Favors to continue to list them.

Ryan Kelly Picks Duke

Duke basketball secured a big prize in the class of 2009 by getting a commitment from Ryan Kelly (PF, 6’10”, 2009).

Kelly made his announcement along with Jordan Hamilton (SF, 6’7″, 2009), who chose Texas, on ESPNU’s Recruiting Insider.

Kelly has a nice game, a great running jumper and a very fluid offensive prowess. He’s worked very hard and moved from a relative unknown into a player who player on the U-17 USA basketball roster over the summer and a highly sought after prospect. A big win for the Blue Devils.

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ACC Basketball Recruiting Roundup

Jamil Wilson (SF/PF, 6’7″, 2009) eliminates the ACC, and according to Scout.com, he’s cut his list to Oregon State, Marquette, Texas and Michigan State. Wilson had at one time listed Duke as a possible destination, but did not receive a reported offer and Duke is no longer an option. Thus, we’re no longer tracking Jamil as an ACC prospect.

Trae Golden

Trae Golden (PG/SG,6’1″,2010) the player who de-committed from Ohio State over the summer, seems to have completely fallen out of touch with the Buckeyes, but has Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest and now Virginia Tech following his recruitment. Kentucky has also been in the mix for Golden. North Carolina and Florida State have also been mentioned as possible options.

Clemson and Georgia Tech have reportedly already offered Golden, as has Kentucky.

Ryan Kelly

Rumors abound that Ryan Kelly (PF, 6’10”, 2009) will make a decision this week.

Elijah Johnson cuts list

Elijah Johnson (PG/SG,6’2″, 2009) is another player cutting his list and had eliminated the ACC some time ago, but we’re making it official as he’s trimming his list to Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.

Derrick Favors, Derrick Favors

Has Derrick cut his list to five. His recent comments to Alex sure seem to indicate it:

Georgia Tech, Georgia, Memphis, North Carolina State, and Florida State

If you didn’t spot the missing school…it’s Kentucky. In fact, Favors tells Alex that reports of him considering Kentucky are inaccurate.

As always, if you’re a college basketball fan who can’t get enough of this stuff, sign up for the email list.

Matt Vogrich commits to Michigan

Yesterday we wrote about the basketball recruiting status of Matt Vogrich (SG, 6’4″, 2009), who at that time was down to no more than three schools he was considering. Today, he’s only considering one as he’s decided to play basketball for Michigan, and it seems the ACC schools that had shown interest were always on the outside looking in:

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound shooting guard chose Michigan over Notre Dame and Stanford. Vogrich’s mother, Mary, said her son had long been interested in attending a Big Ten university because she and his father, Bob, both graduated from Big Ten schools: Mary from Wisconsin and Bob from Illinois.

Matt Vogrich close to committing?

Matt Vogrich (SG,6’3″,2009), who has offers from Wake Forest and Miami, apparently has a short list of Michigan, Notre Dame and Stanford, according to the Illinois Prep Bullseye:

Vogrich, meanwhile, is completing an official visit to Michigan this weekend and will choose soon between them, Notre Dame or Stanford.

Looks like the ACC is on the outside looking in for Vogrich, who admittedly has focused his interest elsewhere.

Harrison Barnes

Harrison Barnes (SF, 6’6″, 2010), who has interest from…well, everybody in the world of basketball recruiting, will be visiting Late Night at Kansas, along with ACC target Dominic Cheek (SG, 6’5″, 2009). Barnes also reportedly has an official visit at Duke lined up.

James Padgett to play basketball at Maryland

Just a few days after Maryland received good news regarding center Steve Goins, they get another win:James Padgett (PF,6’8″,2009) has given a verbal commitment to the Terps:

Padgett, who transferred to Lincoln from Xaverian, said he chose Maryland over the University of Pittsburgh. He said the Panthers were not able to offer him as much playing time because they had just signed two players at his position.

Big time pickup for Gary Williams.

Steve Goins officially joins Maryland basketball

Good news for Terp fans, Steve Goins (C, 6’10”, 2009) has been deemed eligible to play by the NCAA clearing house.

ACC Basketball Targets

Two players we added over the summer as ACC targets and should have mentioned before now: Harrison Barnes (SF, 6’6″, 2010), with an offer from Duke in hand, and DeMatha’s Victor Oladipo (SF), who has an offer from Maryland, Virginia, Clemson and Virginia Tech, among others. No word yet on who might have the inside track.

Matt Vogrich talks basketball recruiting

Matt Vogrich (SG, 6’4″, 2009) talks about where he is with his recruiting, including which teams are recruiting him and so on. This video is from a couple of months ago, but he talks about being a high school basketball player who went from relative obscurity at Lake Forest High School to a big time prospect.