Morning Cup O' Mud: Basketball Recruiting Is Very Good These Days

For a program that has fell short of expectations ever since the 2009 Final Four run, recruiting sure as hell seems to be just cruising along these days. While the incoming freshman aren't consensus must-have prospects, I think they're going to show some people that they were underrated coming out of high school. And we all know about how Villanova's 2012 basketball recruiting is heading these days.

Well, things appear to be just as good for 'Nova's 2013 basketball recruiting class. Jay Wright and staff are being consistently mentioned with a host of elite players, and one of those prospects, Allerik Freeman, is now talking about getting an unofficial visit on the books to Villanova in the fall.

Allerik Freeman Plans Villanova & Georgetown Visits | NBE Basketball Report
Allerik Freeman has taken visits to Virginia Tech, Baylor and South Carolina already and is planning trips to North Carolina State, Florida, Georgetown and Villanova.

He's talking about an October visit - to me that hopefully means the staff will get him on campus for Hoops Mania. This guy is an incredible scorer, something we missed last season in the wake of Scottie Reynolds' graduation and something that the program could use going forward.

But that's not all! The much hyped Harrison twins (pretty much consensus Top-10 prospects across all recruiting services) have Villanova in their current Top-5. Remember, these are Texas kids, so it's going to have to be the recruiting job of the century to get them to the Main Line, but if you get one, you get both.

Top-10 Harrison twins plan to attend same college | CBSSports.com
2013 uber-prospects Andrew and Aaron Harrison are planning to attend the same college. Both named a top-5 of Villanova, Baylor, Kentucky, Maryland and Texas.

I watched these guys last night on ESPNU. Holy crap are they good.

More news from around the conference after The Jump.

Big East Undrafted NFL Free Agent Signings - Up to the Minute Listing | Big East Coast Bias
The NFL owners and NFLPA agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement and created the closest thing to a National Signing Day the NFL has ever seen. That being the case, here's your list of undrafted Big East players and where they've signed for camps so far.

Nick Dawson will announce college choice at All-American game | Card Chronicle
Four-star linebacker Nick Dawson has told Rivals.com that he will announce his college decision at the U.S. Army All-American game. That game will be played on Jan. 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. NBC will have the coverage.

Who the Heck is Pitt Playing: Iowa Edition | Cardiac Hill
Pitt vs. Iowa Preview. How will the 2011 Hawkeyes look when Pitt rolls into town?

Syracuse vs. Wake Forest: Way-Too-Early Q&A With Blogger So Dear | Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
Riley over at Wake Forest blog Blogger So Dear was kind enough to answer some questions for us. Let's learn a little bit about these Deacs now so we can properly learn to despise them come September 1st...

When it comes to removing Jeff Hathaway, 'why' isn't important | The UConn Blog
UConn's athletic director deserves to lose his job, Jim Calhoun or not.

USF Football Finalizes 2012 Non-Conference Schedule With Chattanooga - Voodoo Five
USF announced the completion of their 2012 non-conference schedule yesterday, with the Chattanooga Mocs coming to Tampa on September 1, 2012. Greg Auman first reported the story and added that the Bulls will pay Chattanooga $435,000 to serve as USF's annual FCS opponent.