Rob Jackson, founder and president of the DC Blue Devils was gracious with his time to give us a rundown on some of the recruiting developments with the class of 2009 prospects in his AAU program. The DC Blue Devils have competed in the Boo Williams Invitational, Pittsburgh Jam Fest and the King James Shooting Stars Tournament in recent weeks.

Earlier this spring, the NBE Basketball Report profiled Jackson’s club with a DC Blue Devils Update as the travel season was about to tip-off for the AAU circuit. Now, he shares us the level of recruitment several of his players have been receiving.

Brian Crownover was able to check in on the DC Blue Devils at the Boo Williams Invitational (Part I) and again this past weekend at the King James Shooting Stars Tournament where he got a good look at 2010 guard Markel Starks and 2009 prospects Josten Thomas, Mouphtau Tarou and Briak Okam.

One player that was absent this past weekend in Akron was 6’9 BF/C Talib Zanna, who attends Bishop McNamara High School. Jackson informs the NBE Basketball Report that Zanna’s recruitment is very strong, especially from the ACC and Big East with schools such as “Boston College, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Georgetown (and) Connecticut leading the way.”

Another player that has impressed many onlookers this spring is the 6’10 Mouphtau Tarou who plays prep ball with Massenutten Military Academy. “Tarou‘s recruitment is really picking up as well (with) New Mexico State leading the way, but his list is growing every weekend with Florida, and Virginia jumping on board.,” according to Jackson. Tarou impressed Brian Crownover in Akron last weekend with his ability to draw fouls and make his free throws. Tarou is strong and athletic in the post and puts forth constant effort on the glass.

During the high school season, Progressive Christian Academy is where Joston Thomas calls home. The 6’7, 225 lb forward uses his strength on the boards and around the win to score inside and is not afraid to be a workhorse inside. Colleges have noticed as well with Florida State, Georgetown, West Virginia, Syracuse, and Texas showing interest according to Jackson.

Another big man on the DC Blue Devils U-17 roster is 7-foot Brian Okam, who attends prep school at Montrose Christian Academy. The African import is still raw offensively and made most of his impact on the defensive side of the court and on the boards when Crownover saw him in Akron last weekend. “Okam has been getting mostly mid-major (interest) right now”, according to Jackson. “But several high majors are starting to ask more and more about the 7″0″ footer.”

While Markel Starks, the 6’1, 180 lb star guard from Georgetown Prep, might be the program’s biggest name, college fans will have to wait a little more on this 2010 prospect who has impressed on the AAU circuit as expected. Rob Jackson also mentioned 6’10 big man Waverly Austin and 6’4 guard Given Kalipinde as a couple more DC Blue Devils that are getting varying degrees of interest from college recruiters in the class of 2009.

We will look to check in more with the DC Blue Devils as the summer approaches. For now, we look forward to getting a few more looks at them, including the Hoop Group’s Southern Invitational in May.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Connecticut Recruiting, Georgetown Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting, Syracuse Recruiting, Villanova Recruiting, West Virginia Recruiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.