Rasham Suarez Signs With Georgia Southern

IPRB learned that Class of 2011 PG Rasham Suarez signed with Georgia Southern University. Suarez had offers from larger schools but decided on Georgia Southern given his ability to come in and potentially run the show as a Freshman.

West Virginia Interested In Gary Browne

College basketball recruiting is an interesting thing. When you're hot, you're hot and when you're not, you can't get a coach to return a call or respond to an email. Gary Browne is on fire right now! Browne, a 6'1 Class of 2011 PG at Arlington Country Day School "ACDS" has only played two games at his new school and is creating a buzz that could land him at WVU or some other top 20 program. IPRB confirmed that Associate Head Coach Larry Harrison is very interested in Gary and WVU could be first school of many Big East Schools to offer.

IPRB spoke to a recruiting insider who confirmed early today that Browne has several Big East and PAC-10 schools interested in him." Two weeks ago if you were to ask me this question, I would have told you that he is a nice mid major SG with upside. The funny thing about evaluating kids from Puerto Rico is that many of them are playing out of position. The system forces that given the lack of size and depth on many of top local teams. So a player like Gary has never played with or against the level of talent he is seeing at ACDS. I saw him play last weekend in Charlotte and he is clearly a high major PG. He is not a freak athlete but way above average. He's strong and loves contact. Most importantly, he is a guy who embraces challenges and loves to lead by example. He is a very good shooter with range and his assist to turnover ratio should exceed 3:1. If I'm a high major/top 20 program, I offer now before everyone across the country starts finding out how good he is."

IPRB spoke to Senior Advisor to the President of the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation, Todd Washington, who confirmed that several Big East and PAC-10 programs have contacted him since Gary's performance last weekend."Gary is in a great situation with Rex and the ACDS coaching staff. We worked all summer/fall on developing his "skill package" and transitioning him from SG to PG. A lot of coaches had written him off as a high major player given his performance last summer. What I saw was a player who has a couple of bad games and instead of sulking or questioning his ability, Gary used it as motivation. He worked so hard to get in better shape and work on his mental preparation. Gary is the steal of the 2011 class and those coaches that saw him last weekend against #7 ranked Norcross saw a big time player. He's has everything you want as a coach and then some."

Washington did confirm that WVU is interested but said it is to early in the process to determine what level of interest they have. " I spoke to Larry and WVU could be a real nice fit. Their system compliments Gary's game and they do a great job with their players."

Gary Browne Scores 15 Points and 8 Assists Against #7 Ranked Norcross

IPRB is a big fan of Gary Browne Ramirez! When he failed to play well last summer and a lot of people felt he was overrated we took the opposite position. We saw the potential and recognized that Gary has big time D1 written all over him. So naturally, we feel like gloating now that over 15 coaches saw him play twice in the last 48 hours and a Big East school coming to see him play next week.


Gary and his Arlington Country Day School team beat #7 ranked Norcross High School(GA) 70-54. Browne showed why several big time schools are interested in him with a 15 point, 8 assist game against one of the top schools in the country.
What is even more impressive is that Browne went 3 for 3 from behind the arc, grabbed 5 rebounds and had only one turnover.


An talent evaluator who saw Browne play at the FIBA 18U Tournament in San Antonio and at the World Basketball Festival last summer said, " Everyone was talking about Gary Browne from Puerto Rico but he really didn't play well last summer. He's played well internationally in the past but that doesn't necessarily translate into being successful playing elite prep school or college ball. Our guys saw him last night and were very impressed with what they saw. He is clearly a big time D1 prospect and interestingly enough he seems to be very comfortable playing the point guard position. He's been a shooting guard since he was a kid but clearly the point guard position is where he will be most effective at the level.

Arlington Country Day should crack the Top 25 National Boys Basketball Rankings next week and by then Gary Browne will be a name a lot of D1 coaches will be asking about.

42 Puerto Rican Players Currently On Division 1 Teams

Shoutouts to the people at http://www.basketboricua.com/ who have a detailed list of Boricuas playing D1 ball. Although Kemba Walker stole the show last night with UCONN beating Kentucky, Shabazz Napier showed he is better than expected and clearly a player that needs to be invited to try out for the National Team. I would love to see he and Jio Fontan who starts his season in a couple of weeks at USC go at it!

Check out http://www.basketboricua.com/ for more information on Boricuas playing D1!

Browne To Debut at PG This Weekend

Gary Browne caught a flight yesterday morning to Orlando, got picked up by an assistant coach from Arlington Country Day School, "ACDS" and then drove two hours to Jacksonville, Florida. When he arrived to the school the team was practicing. Gary wasted no time showing his new coaches and teammates that he was ready to "run the show" and transition into his new role as a leader and point guard. He stretched out, "laced them up" and then went to work. Gary had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

IPRB spoke to Gary last night and while he was tired and drained from a long day of travel and practice he was excited about his decision to leave and his new situation." I feel really good, the coaches are really cool, my teammates are great and we have tons of talent on this team. The coaches gave me some plays which have me coming off of high screens which is great for me. I feel real comfortable with the ball in my hands and have no pressure on me at all. I'm just going to go out and have fun and work hard.


IPRB confirmed that Gary impressed everyone including ACDS Head Coach, Rex Morgan. Said a person who was at practice yesterday,"Gary came right in and showed that he belonged. He communicated and showed he was a leader, made great decisions with the ball and really gained the respect of his teammates. The coach who picked him up at the airport handed him a playbook when he picked him up and by the time Gary got on the floor he had a pretty good grasp of most of the plays. He has a high basketball IQ and that coupled with his natural ability should allow him to thrive in Coach Morgans' system."


ACDS travels to Charlotte, NC tomorrow to play in the Iverify Invitational Tournament and will play both Friday and Saturday. Saturday's match up is against Norcross High School which is ranked in the top 10 Nationally. It will be the first of many tests for Gary this year.

Gary Browne Transfers to Arlington Country Day

Gary Browne Ramirez, a 6'1 PG/SG from St Francis School in PR has decided to transfer to Arlington Country Day School "ACDS", in Jacksonville, Florida. ACDS Head Coach, Rex Morgan is familiar with Puerto Rican players having coached several including PR National Team SG, Danny Huertas. Danny's younger brother is a freshman at ACDS and his mother works at the school. ACDS lost its PG who was from Turkey and decided to accept a contract overseas to play professionally. ACDS has a roster full of big time D1 players and Browne will have a chance to play PG and show people that he can run a team. Browne has played the SG position both in high school and for the national team but clearly his position at the next level is going to be PG.

Todd Washington, Senior Advisor to the President of the PR Basketball Federation told IPRB, "Gary has all the skills necessary to transition into being a PG. I think it is his natural position and will allow him to utilize his dribble-drive ability coupled with his long range shooting. ACDS has so much talent on the wing and in the post that opponents will have to double team those players leaving Gary open. This is the perfect situation for him and I am so excited that he is getting a chance to play at this level. Gary and I have been working all fall and I can tell you he will excel in this environment. He is a great kid and really deserves this!"


Arlington Country Day is coach by former Boston Celtic, Rex Morgan. They play a nationally ranked schedule this year including Montrose Christian and St Benedicts both of whom have players from PR on their rosters. ACDS front line has two 7 footers and wings who have been offered by SEC, ACC and Big 12 schools.

University of Central Florida Recruiting Betancourt

IPRB confirmed from Carmelo Betancourt that UCF reached out and expressed interest in recruiting him. The connection was made by one of Carmelo's good friends, Carlos Morales Jr. Betancourt has garnered tremendous interest this fall by both high and mid-major programs. He is going to have to show coaches that his size will not interfere with his ability to play at the highest level. IPRB is a big Betancourt supporter and has seen him play against bigger athletic players and dominate.

UCF could be a nice fit for Carmelo and is a program on the rise. UCF also has recruited Puerto Rican players in the past including sharp shooter Isaac Sosa who is a Junior at UCF.

Raymond Cintron Visits Middle Tennessee State University

IPRB confirmed this evening that Raymond Cintron visted MTSU over the weekend. Cintron who is in his second year at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has had UNLV, Oklahoma and UTEP come see him practice this fall and have been actively recruiting him. UNLV offered him this summer but Cintron decided to wait to sign a Letter of Intent.

Sources close to Cintron tell IPRB that he had a great trip last weekend and may actually sign with MTSU during the NCAA early signing period. MTSU supposedly told Cintron that he will come in and start next year and that he is the type of player who could be an All Conference selection, next year. MTSU plays in the Sun Belt Conference and is always at the top of the conference and a regular in the NCAA tournament. This year they play 3 SEC schools in Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Auburn.

PR Playmakers Founder, Todd Washington said, "MTSU is a great fit for Raymond. Raymonds' Junior College coach and I spoke at length tonight and he has known them for a long time. They want to hand the ball to Raymond next year and let him run the show. It's a place where he will be a big fish in a nice size pond. It's great to see Raymond mature and really understand that it is not only about basketball but the collegiate experience. He told us that MTSU felt like home and that he really liked the school, his future teammates and the coaching staff. A lot of people doubted that he would be happy and succeed going to school in Mississippi. Raymond is as happy as he has ever been and more importantly he has opened the door for other players from PR to follow in his footsteps in further their education."

Former Carmen Del Sol forward, Angel Matias is also attending Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He is a redshirt Freshman.