Betancourt Would Be Interested In Texas A&M

Carmelo Betancourt graduates from Montrose Christian this week and has yet to decide where he will go to school in the fall. The 5'11 PG, who many think is the next JJ Barea, has several high major schools wanting to offer him for 2012 and more than a dozen mid major schools offering this year. Betancourt has never been in a rush to make decisions and is taking his time before making such an important decision.

Several schools including Georgetown, UCLA, Villanova, Miami and Akron are on Betancourt's list but he has yet to indicate what he plans to do in the fall. Some of those schools do not have any scholarships left so Betancourt was considering attending Prep School for a year. Betancourt has recently qualified with the NCAA Clearinghouse which will allow him to sign and not have to attend Junior College. Defending Junior College National Champion, College of Southern Idaho had offered Betancourt.

Former Memphis Assistant Coach, Glynn Cyprien, accepted a job as an Assistant Coach at Texas A&M yesterday. His first order of business will be to find a PG given the need to bring in a player who can run new Head Coach, Bill Kennedy's system. Cyprien and PR Playmakers Founder, Todd Washington are close friends. Washington reached out to Cyprien suggesting that Cyprien take a close look at Betancourt.

IPRB contacted Washington late this evening.
"I'm happy for Glynn and his family. When I called to congratulate him on the announcement I mentioned to him that I've got a fantastic PG named Carmelo Betancourt who has yet to sign. Cyp had seen incoming West Virginia commit, Gary Browne at Arlington Country Day School who is Carmelo's teammate on the PR National Team. I reminded Coach Cyp that Gary never started at the PG position on the National Team because Carmelo has been holding it down since they were 14. Carmelo is a special kind of player and people have over looked him because he is undersized. With the success VCU's PG, Joey Rodriguez and Dallas Mavericks' PG, JJ Barea, coaches recognizes that being undersized can have its advantages. If Coach Cyp and A&M can get him to commit that would be a major coup. They just don't make them like Carmelo, he's special", said Washington via text this evening.

When contacted by IPRB, Betancourt confirmed his interest in A&M."I don't a lot about Texas A&M except that it is a great school. Coach Cyp put together a great group of players at Memphis and they had success over there. If they are looking for a PG and need someone to come in a run the team, I'm def that guy."

UCF Interested In Carmelo Betancourt

IPRB learned earlier today that University of Central Florida may make an offer to Carmelo Betancourt. Betancourt played this year at powerhouse program Montrose Christian. He recently got an offer from Akron and College of Southern Idaho. Questions remain about Betancourts size and speed but many feel he is a steal for a high major program including Montrose Christian's Head Coach, Stu Vetter.

Vetter told IPRB that Betacourt reminded him a lot of Cameron Dollar, who also played for Coach Vetter in the mid 90s and went on the win a National Championship at UCLA. Vetter commented, "Carmelo is everything you want in a point guard and leader. He could come in as a back up and give your starter a rest much like Cameron Dollar had planned to do at UCLA. Remember Tyus Edney from UCLA got hurt and Cameron came and led the team to a National Championship. Carmelo has those same skills and they are almost identical in terms of size."

Betancourt knows he has the talent and skill level to play at the next level and is just waiting for the right situation. UCF may be the perfect fit for Betancourt.

St Johns Preparatory School (Washington, DC) Offers Scholarship To Abdiel Badillo

Fresh off a solid performance at the 2011 Jordan Brand Classic, Class of 2012 SF, Abdiel Badillo has been getting a lot of interest from some of the top Prep Schools on the mainland. It looked like Badillo was in route to Montverde Prep in Orlando when Head Coach, Kevin Sutton resigned. Then there was talk that he would be looking at Oak Hill or Montrose Christian. IPRB learned tonight that St Johns Preparatory School, an elite school in the WMAC League was offering Badillo an opportunity to attend school there in the fall.

St Johns has produced hundreds of D1 players and plays in one of the top leagues in the country along with powerhouse programs, Dematha, Gonzaga, Bishop O'Connell and Archbishop Carroll. Abdiel's performance Coach and Founder of PR Playmakers Todd Washington confirmed St Johns interest by saying," St Johns is an elite academic and athletic institution. The coaching staff led Coach D does a great job turning boys into men. On top of that Abdiel will get a chance to play in one of the top high school basketball conferences in the country. We are excited about placing another player in an elite DC private school."


Badillo would follow Class of 2011 PG, Carmelo Betancourt who spent this year running the point at powerhouse Montrose Christian. Badillo is a 4.0 student which makes it an easy sell to schools even though he is going to be a senior.