Bruce Guy Jr. always felt he was ready to play D1 basketball
Before the early signing period, 2019 forward Bruce Guy Jr. had verbally committed to Iona, but its head coach, Tom Cluess, wanted Guy Jr. to go to prep school for one year to improve his game on both ends of…
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Continue ReadingBefore the early signing period, 2019 forward Bruce Guy Jr. had verbally committed to Iona, but its head coach, Tom Cluess, wanted Guy Jr. to go to prep school for one year to improve his game on both ends of the court.
But Guy Jr. felt he was ready to play Division 1 basketball.
From the early signing period until the end of Guy Jr.’s high school basketball career at Cordova High School, he was unsure on what he was going to do. He received tons of advice, but in the end, he had to make the decision for himself.
He stayed on board with the Gaels until May 22 as a text message came across my IPhone 8 that read “I have just de-committed from Iona.” Before the text, Guy Jr. was back and forth on his pledge to Iona, causing some people to question and scratch their heads about what was going on with his recruitment.
I asked him was he going to reclassify. He said “No, I will be staying in 2019.” That text message made it clear that prep school was no longer an option.
“It really just summed it up back to what my parents had said. They felt that it was my decision to make the decision to stay in the class of 2019 and de-commit from the program of Iona,” Guy Jr. said. “It was a good decision.”
On the following day, Guy Jr. verbally committed to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, officially putting an end to his recruitment.
The 6-foot-4 guard/forward took an official visit to the school on Wednesday to get acclimated with the coaching staff and to make sure it will be a great fit for him for the next four years.
Guy Jr. will be a new face, just like his head coach Jason Crafton, who was announced as the head coach of the Hawks on April 24, 2019.
Guy Jr.’s relationship with coach Crafton has been strong so far, with both having similar paths in basketball.
“With the coach just getting the job and with everybody basically being new, it was just something different, like you have to build the program from the jump all over again,” Guy Jr. said. “I’m a person that had to deal with that during my years on the AAU circuit as a child, having to build up a program.”
From 2012 to 2018, Crafton was the head coach at his alma mater, Nyack College. He took over a program that produced a 1-26 record the year prior to his arrival. By the 2015-16 season, the Warriors’ 11-15 record marked the program’s best since 2009. Nyack College also achieved 22 conference wins between 2013-2016, its best three-year span in several years.
Cooper plans unofficial visit to MTSU
Joe Cooper will take an unofficial visit to Middle Tennessee State on June 7th, an announcement he made clear to Prep Hoops on Tuesday.
The 2020 point guard is excited about his visit to Murfreesboro, Tennessee as Cooper’s recruitment has started to pick up during the AAU season. Schools such as Buffalo, Tulane and Minnesota have been in contact with the 6-0 point guard.
He recently picked up an offer from Stephen F. Austin.
“I’m feeling good, because assistant coach Andre Morgan has been really trying to get me down there for a while now, and he’s really excited,” Cooper said to me via Twitter. “I’m hoping to build a relationship and see if it’s a good fit for me and my family.”