Bertancourt Gives Verbal Commitment To University of Akron

Class of 2011 PG, Carmelo Betancourt decided to verbally commit to the University of Akron last night. Betancourt will spend a year at prep school and enroll at Akron in 2012. Betancourt will follow former BMA/CJEOTO point guard, Alex Abreu who started at PG for Akron as a Freshman.

Betancourt spent his senior year at powerhouse Montrose Christian in Rockville, Maryland. The 5'11 guard is widely considered to be one of the top 5 players in the Puerto Rico in the Class of 2011. Betancourt had been getting interest from several high majors including Georgetown, UCLA, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

"I went on a visit to Akron and I really liked it. Everything out there was like brand new. The school is great, the facilities are awesome and Coach Dambrot and his staff recruited me really hard. My teammates were really cool and we got a lot of talent on that team too. They only have one PG on the team and Alex (Abreu) is going to be like my big brother. At first, I didn't think going out there made sense because Alex was out there and I didn't want to compete with another player from home but it is not like that. We are going to push each other and he will be a Junior when I am a Freshman. Coach Dambrot made it clear that he would put the ball in my hands and give me a chance as a Freshman to get a lot time on the floor," said Betancourt.

Betancourt's decision to attend a mid major is similar to what JJ Barea did several years ago by attending Northeastern. Betancourt's size and game are very similar to JJ and clearly JJ's success this year motivated Carmelo to follow the same path and attend a mid major.

"There is no question that I could have chosen to go to a bigger school in one of the top conferences. That is something every player wants to do at the same time Akron plays in a great conference with really good teams. We made it to the tournament this year too," said Betancourt.

The decision to go to a mid major versus a high major is a tough decision for a lot of players. Many times players get caught up in the hype and trying to impress their friends and family by selecting the most well known school versus the school that best fits their skill level and style of play. Betancourt's performance coach, Todd Washington thinks Betancout made the right decision by selecting Akron.

"Melo has high major talent. There were several high major programs interested in him as a back up PG. And, with the additional year of Prep School he would have gotten several high major offers. The JJ Barea model makes a lot of sense. Go to a smaller school, kill the league and make a name for yourself. This is exactly what Alex Abreu did. Alex had both Utah and Nebraska ready to offer but was smart enough to recognize that Akron is a program on the rise which he could help take to the level. This extra year of prep school will prepare Melo to come and and make a serious contribution. Akron is getting a fantastic player and even better person. He and "Double A" (Alex Abreu) are going to push each other both on and off the floor. Alex had an incredible season and he is probably as excited as anyone that Melo is going to come up there. Aron is a program on the rise and we want to develop a pipeline from Puerto Rico to Akron. Coach D and his staff did a great job with Alex this year and we are all confident that Melo will have the same level of success. " said Washington.

Francisco Lopez Confirms Visit to CSI

Francisco Lopez will take an official visit The College of Southern Idaho this week. Lopez recently graduated from LaSalle High School in Miami and is a qualfier but has not gotten the level of offers a player of his calibur should have received.

"Fransisco is a legit D1 prospect. He is a natural leader, has range out to 22 feet on his jump shot and can get where he wants on the court. Coach Gosar and CSI will get one heck of a player if both sides decide that this is the right situation for him, said Todd Washington, Founder of PR Playmakers.

College of Southern Idaho is the defending NJCAA Division 1 Champion. Considered the "Duke of JUCO", every Division 1 program in the country recruits players from CSI.

JJ Barea Super 60

It's official, JJ Barea announced the camp yesterday and posted a short video confirming his intent to get 60 of the best rising 8th-12th graders together for a three day academy, July 7-10, 2011 at the Olympic Training Facility in Salinas, Puerto Rico. The event is presented by T-MOBILE and will be covered exclusively by www.fivestarbasketball.com.


Below is the link announcing the event including a video of JJ Barea.


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199953436718165

JJ Barea Super 60 Update

IPRB learned earlier today that JJ Barea and his father Jaime Barea are planning to announce the 1st Annual JJ Barea Super 60 which will be held at Albergue Olimpico July 7th-10th and will showcase the Top 60 rising 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders from across island. This event will be by invitation only. The event which will be presented by T-Mobile and co-branded and covered digitally on www.fivestarbasketball.com. Many of the top club and high school coaches will be present working the camp. Sources close to the event told IPRB that the official announcement could come as soon as Monday.

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.