As a high school player in the 1980s, I will never forget watching Big John Thompson and the great G'town teams with Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, Gene Smith, Fred Brown, Patrick Ewing, Ralph Dalton, Bill Martin, David Wingate, Michael Jackson and Reggie Williams. I loved their fullcourt man-to-man pressure. Opposing guards would have more turnovers than a bakery trying to advance the ball, and when they finally crossed halfcourt, Pat Ewing was waiting at the rim ready to spike layups out of bounds.
This season "The Big Fella", 7-2 center Roy Hibbert, guard Jonathan Wallace and a outstanding freshman class (Chris Wright and Austin Freeman) have the Hoyas the preseason favorite in the Big East. Now that JT III is in the head chair, the recruiting has returned to selecting the best players in the country tbecause the Hoyas are a household name again. Case in point: getting a commitment from Greg Monroe of Gretna, La., a 6-10 forward who is the No. 7 ranked recruit in the ESPN 150. The Hoyas beat UConn, Duke, Texas and broke the heart of hometown LSU.
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Reggie Rankin
College Basketball RecruitingReggie Rankin has coached in the SEC, Big 12, MAC, and others over 14 seasons. He has been a scout and analyst for RecruitingNation since 2007.
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Fran Fraschilla is an analyst for ESPN and was previously the head coach at New Mexico, St. John's and Manhattan.
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