Roland Brown (Hofstra)
May 9, 2010 23:33:52 GMT -5
Post by Admin on May 9, 2010 23:33:52 GMT -5
www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_school/basketball/christ_the_king_brown_verbally_commits_pV6fKYmDC0GNXo3UpDMDbJ
Christ the King's Brown verbally commits to Hofstra
Senior forward becomes first Mo Cassara recruit, though coveted by three Pride coaches
By DYLAN BUTLER
Last Updated: 9:07 PM, May 8, 2010
Saying he feels the “weight of the world off his shoulders,” Christ the King forward Roland Brown has verbally committed to play basketball at Hofstra University next year.
But who exactly recruited the 6-foot-8, 240-pound senior? Was it A) Tom Pecora, who bolted for Fordham University, B) Tim Welsh, who resigned a month after being hired following a DWI arrest or C) Mo Cassara, the former Boston College assistant who took over as head coach last week?
The answer is D) All of the above.
“Hopefully that’s a good thing,” Brown said about being a reoccurring recruiting target at Hofstra.
Brown, who helped lead Christ the King, No. 1 in The Post’s final NYC rankings, to the CHSAA Class AA intersectional title and the New York State Federation crown, said he chose the Pride over Manhattan and Stony Brook. Wright State made his final four, but Brown said he didn’t want to be too far from home.
Brown, a third-team All-Queens selection by The Post, said he originally drew interest from Pecora late in the regular season and Welsh, primarily through assistant Steve DeMeo, kept the lines of communication with Brown open once he was hired in March.
A day before Brown went on his official visit, Welsh made headlines after he passed out at the wheel of his Lexus at a steady green light. The former Iona and Providence coach had a blood-alcohol reading of more than 0.18, double the legal limit.
Despite Welsh’s then-murky future with Hofstra at the time, Brown decided to go ahead with his visit.
“I didn’t want to reschedule it, I didn’t want to wait any longer,” Brown said. “I wanted to make my decision this weekend. I was supposed to take my visit to Stony Brook, but they already got a commitment from someone else.”
Brown said he felt comfortable at Hofstra, both with players like Paul Bilbo, Chaz Williams and Jael Pena and the assistant coaches, especially Queens native Steve DeMeo, who was Welsh’s top assistant at Providence.
“I went there and played with them a bit and I liked the way they played, an inside-out type of team,” Brown said. “When I took the official [visit] I liked the atmosphere and there were a few people I knew who were already on the team.”
Brown said the decision by 6-foot-8 freshman Halil Kanacevic to transfer to St. Joseph College might mean more playing time, but it had no impact on him choosing Hofstra.
Brown said he called DeMeo Thursday to let him know his decision to verbally commit and he expects to sign his letter of intent sometime this week.
He is the fourth Christ the King senior to make a college choice, joining Maurice Barrow (Fairfield), Dominykas Milka (College of St. Rose) and Kareem Thomas (College of St. Rose).
“I feel relieved because there was a lot of pressure from everyone asking me where I was going to go,” Brown said. “Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I feel like I have the weight of the world off my shoulders. I’m just ready for the next step.”
That next step includes two annual clashes with George Mason and former Christ the King teammate Ryan Pearson.
“That’s probably going to be the biggest game I’m going to be a part of,” Brown said. “Playing against Ryan is going to be fun.”
dbutler@nypost.com
Christ the King's Brown verbally commits to Hofstra
Senior forward becomes first Mo Cassara recruit, though coveted by three Pride coaches
By DYLAN BUTLER
Last Updated: 9:07 PM, May 8, 2010
Saying he feels the “weight of the world off his shoulders,” Christ the King forward Roland Brown has verbally committed to play basketball at Hofstra University next year.
But who exactly recruited the 6-foot-8, 240-pound senior? Was it A) Tom Pecora, who bolted for Fordham University, B) Tim Welsh, who resigned a month after being hired following a DWI arrest or C) Mo Cassara, the former Boston College assistant who took over as head coach last week?
The answer is D) All of the above.
“Hopefully that’s a good thing,” Brown said about being a reoccurring recruiting target at Hofstra.
Brown, who helped lead Christ the King, No. 1 in The Post’s final NYC rankings, to the CHSAA Class AA intersectional title and the New York State Federation crown, said he chose the Pride over Manhattan and Stony Brook. Wright State made his final four, but Brown said he didn’t want to be too far from home.
Brown, a third-team All-Queens selection by The Post, said he originally drew interest from Pecora late in the regular season and Welsh, primarily through assistant Steve DeMeo, kept the lines of communication with Brown open once he was hired in March.
A day before Brown went on his official visit, Welsh made headlines after he passed out at the wheel of his Lexus at a steady green light. The former Iona and Providence coach had a blood-alcohol reading of more than 0.18, double the legal limit.
Despite Welsh’s then-murky future with Hofstra at the time, Brown decided to go ahead with his visit.
“I didn’t want to reschedule it, I didn’t want to wait any longer,” Brown said. “I wanted to make my decision this weekend. I was supposed to take my visit to Stony Brook, but they already got a commitment from someone else.”
Brown said he felt comfortable at Hofstra, both with players like Paul Bilbo, Chaz Williams and Jael Pena and the assistant coaches, especially Queens native Steve DeMeo, who was Welsh’s top assistant at Providence.
“I went there and played with them a bit and I liked the way they played, an inside-out type of team,” Brown said. “When I took the official [visit] I liked the atmosphere and there were a few people I knew who were already on the team.”
Brown said the decision by 6-foot-8 freshman Halil Kanacevic to transfer to St. Joseph College might mean more playing time, but it had no impact on him choosing Hofstra.
Brown said he called DeMeo Thursday to let him know his decision to verbally commit and he expects to sign his letter of intent sometime this week.
He is the fourth Christ the King senior to make a college choice, joining Maurice Barrow (Fairfield), Dominykas Milka (College of St. Rose) and Kareem Thomas (College of St. Rose).
“I feel relieved because there was a lot of pressure from everyone asking me where I was going to go,” Brown said. “Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I feel like I have the weight of the world off my shoulders. I’m just ready for the next step.”
That next step includes two annual clashes with George Mason and former Christ the King teammate Ryan Pearson.
“That’s probably going to be the biggest game I’m going to be a part of,” Brown said. “Playing against Ryan is going to be fun.”
dbutler@nypost.com