Rakeem Christmas Highlight Reel
Last we heard from big man Rakeem Christmas, the top center in the Class of 2011, he had cut his list of prospective schools to five: Georgetown, Florida, Florida International, Oklahoma and Texas. That was back in early December and not much has happened on the recruiting front, until now.
Adam Zagoria and others are reporting that Christmas visited Rutgers yesterday, a school not on his original or trimmed lists. Why in the world would someone visit Rutgers, a program that has not won a NCAA Tournament game since 1983, after already trimming his considerable list of suitors? The answer comes back to our dear old friend, David Cox. Zagoria reports:
Christmas had cut his list to Georgetown, Florida, Florida International, Texas and Oklahoma, but Rutgers is now trying to break into the mix.
Associate head coach David Cox recruited Christmas for two years at Georgetown and has a strong connection with Christmas and his aunt.
Awesome. Where was this recruiting prowess while he was at Georgetown? To be fair, I guess Cox was involved with a number of recruits on the Hilltop but was never able to land them. I should probably wait until he signs recruits at Rutgers before passing judgment, but discretion has never been my strong point.
On the bright side, maybe, various reports have confirmed that Class of 2011 center Chris Coleman has committed to Florida International. It is unlikely that Christmas would commit to a school that has already signed a player at his position in his class. Which means that Christmas' new list could be Georgetown, Florida, Rutgers, Oklahoma and Texas. Not sure if that is any better for Georgetown.
I am anxiously awaiting news of our first signing...