Saturday, December 17, 2005
Hoyas emerge as front-runners in Jefferson sweepstakes
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Georgetown's monster recruiting class for 2006 could get a little scarier.
Correction -- a lot scarier.
The Hoyas have emerged as a leading candidate for Davon Jefferson, one of the top 10 recruits in the country and one of the only prep players eligible to enter the 2006 NBA Draft.
Jefferson, a 6-foot-8 wing at the Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C., is eligible for the draft -- despite the NBA's new restrictions -- because he meets both of the league's criteria for prep school players: He's 19, and the 2006 draft would be one year removed from his original high school graduation date. Jefferson signed with UNLV last year but didn't qualify academically.
Jefferson's club coach told CBS SportsLine.com on Wednesday that Jefferson is serious about spending at least one year in college. And that the Jefferson sweepstakes isn't the two-school affair -- between Kansas and Oklahoma State -- being speculated in recruiting circles.
"Put two-and-two together," H-Squad coach Rick Isaacs said. "You know what kind of mentor (Georgetown coach) John Thompson would be. They'd be fantastic."
Isaacs said Kansas and Oklahoma State were still involved, and that Southern California might be a factor.
Georgetown's late addition to the Jefferson competition is especially intriguing, considering the Hoyas already have locked up two of the best players from the Class of 2006 -- likely McDonald's All-Americans Vernon Macklin and DaJuan Summers. The Hoyas' recruiting class also includes the sons of two NBA legends, high school senior Jeremiah Rivers (Doc's son) and Indiana transfer Patrick Ewing Jr. If sophomore Jeff Green joins seniors Brandon Bowman and Darrel Owens in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Hoyas would need all the forwards they could get.
Georgetown's shot at Jefferson will rise as his NBA stock falls -- and it has been plummeting of late. One NBA scout told CBS SportsLine.com that Jefferson hasn't been consistent at Patterson, showing the athletic ability of Gerald Green but nowhere near the jump shot. Another scout said Jefferson hurt himself by not making Patterson's recent trip to the New Jersey area, where almost a dozen scouts were waiting to watch him play.
Contrary to rumors, Isaacs said, Jefferson has not left Patterson.
"He missed that trip for academic reasons. He's here in California now, and I've got a plane ticket for him to go back on Jan. 2," Isaacs said. "Davon stepped off the plane last night, and the first person he wanted to talk to was John Thompson. What does that tell you?"
It tells you Georgetown could lose Bowman, Owens and Green to the 2006 NBA Draft ... and still be an NCAA Tournament team in 2007.
