Projo College Hoops

By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE - Ryan Hurd, the coach at New England prep school power Notre Dame of Fitchburg, Mass., has a message for Providence College basketball fans.

``There is reason to celebrate in Providence tonight,'' Hurd said. ``They just got a great player in Johnnie Lacy.''

Lacy, a 5-10, 160-pound whippet point guard, surprised many recruiting observers yesterday by sneaking in under the deadline and signing a letter-of-intent with Providence on the final day of the fall signing period. His signature is the fifth for new Friars coach Keno Davis and his staff.

``I'm excited about getting Johnnie. We had our fingers crossed,'' said Davis. ``I couldn't ask for a better kid or a better player. You won't find a quicker point guard.''

Davis said that as he scoured the country for recruits over the summer, Lacy stood out. ``I told our staff that if we didn't get Johnnie Lacy, we want someone like him,'' he said.

Lacy averaged 13 points a game as a sophomore at Bay View High in Milwaukee and was rated a top 20 prospect nationally by one scouting service entering last season. He averaged 21 points a game with 60 threes as a junior and earned honorable mention All-State honors. Over the summer, Lacy played very well for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors AAU team and was hearing from the likes of Tennessee, Marquette, Minnesota, Purdue and Cincinnati.

The consensus top three prospects in the Milwaukee area were Jamil Wilson, who is rated one of the top 50 recruits nationally; forward Jeronne Maymon, who has signed with Marquette; and Lacy. Lacy left Milwaukee and transferred to Notre Dame in order to firm up his academic credentials and when Marquette chose to sign Canadian point guard Junior Cadougan, the path was cleared for the Friars to make their run. Hurd said that PC assistant coach Rodell Davis had known Lacy from his time at Drake and he and Pat Skerry, another Friar assistant, did a fine job recruiting Lacy.

Lacy is rated the 12th best point guard prospect in the nation according to Scout.com. Lacy is the 18th rated point man by Rivals.com, another top service.

While Lacy signed with PC, the Friars did miss out on another guard prospect yesterday when Chicago's Chris Colvin signed with Iowa State. The two decisions ended what was an important early signing period for the Friars. PC also received letters-of-intent from guards Duke Mondy and Kyle Wright as well as forwards James Still and Kadeem Batts.

The most immediate contributor of the group may be Wright, a junior college player. A 6-5, 215-pounder from Hartford, Wright is already off to a fast start with Monroe College in the Bronx where he is averaging 15 points a game and has canned 13 threes to lead the team to a 5-0 start.

``He's a big guard who can extend the defense with the way he shoots the ball,'' said Monroe coach Jeff Brustad. ``We have a good team and Kyle is going to put up some big numbers for us.''

The Friars also have a verbal commitment from Antoine Allen, another guard who teams with Lacy in the backcourt at Notre Dame Prep. Allen did not sign a letter but should do so in the spring period. Notre Dame is off to a 7-1 record to start the season and will play at the National Prep Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Bryant University.

 Tags  Johnnie Lacy PC Basketball

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