Phil Didion / USA TODAY NETWORK Xavier and UConn land commitments, and a few big targets make big decisions and final cuts. UConn lands a 2022 commit at the buzzer, as former Denver commit Yarin Hasson (Israel/Maccabi Rishon LeZion) takes his talents to Storrs, Conn. instead. Xavier also nabbed its second four-star 2023 commit this month, with Reid Ducharme (Boston, Mass./Brewster Academy) opting to join the Musketeers. He joins Trey Green, who committed on Aug. 6. It’s still early, but UConn, Marquette and Xavier are the only Big East schools with multiple 2023 commits so far. Here’s the rest ..read more

Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports Marquette gets its second 2023 commit, headlining a busy week on the recruiting trail. A busy Thursday headlines the latest recruiting update. Four-star 2023 forward Al Amadou (Quakertown, Pa./Springside Chestnut Hill) chose Marquette over a final five list that also included Georgia Tech, St. John’s, San Diego and Miami. Amadou is Smart’s second class of 2023 commit, joining fellow four-star prospect Zaide Lowery (Springfield, Mo./Kickapoo). There were also a couple of key announcements by 2023 players Mouhamed Dioubate (Queens, N.Y./Putnam Science Academy), a fou ..read more

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports A ton of new offers, final decisions and cuts were made. There’s plenty of action to report on through the recruiting trail. Sean Miller gets his first verbal at Xavier, as four-star guard Trey Green (Charlotte, N.C./Link Academy) pledged his commitment to the Musketeers. Green was offered in early June and is Xavier’s first 2023 commit. There were also plenty of non-Big East commitments, final cuts and a ton of new offers to keep an eye on. Here’s the rest of the action from this past week: New commitments: Four-star 2023 guard Trey Green (Charlotte, N.C./Link A ..read more

Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports Get in the zone, Mo-zone! Bryson Mozone Height: 6-6 Former School: South Carolina Upstate New School: Georgetown Years Remaining: One Recruiting Ranking: Unranked 2021-22 Stats: 15.8 ppg/5.7 rpg/1.3 apg/33.2 mpg; 44.6%/38.6%/85.6% Bryson Mozone is one of the more interesting Big East transfers of this cycle. After four years at South Carolina Upstate, Mozone decided to transfer for his last season and ultimately ended up making the jump to Georgetown and the Big East. Only Eral Penn, the LIU-to-DePaul transfer, played in a conference that placed lower than the Big S ..read more

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports The forward so nice they named him twice should be an impact player for Butler Ali Ali Height: 6-8 Former School: Akron New School: Butler Years Remaining: Two Recruiting Ranking: Unranked 2021-22 Stats: 13.9 ppg/2.9 rpg/2.5 apg/34.2 mpg; 46.0%/40.7%/72.2% Ali Ali didn’t get much attention coming out of high school. It was easy not to notice him through two years at Akron, too. As a freshman, Ali made 11 starts but managed just 35 total points. He took a step forward as a sophomore, starting all 23 games, but finished fourth on the Zips in scoring. It wasn’t until hi ..read more

Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Shaheen Holloway brought a 3-point shooter back home Al-Amir Dawes Height: 6-2 Former School: Clemson New School: Seton Hall Years Remaining: Two Recruiting Ranking: 108th 2021-22 Stats: 11.3 ppg/2.8 rpg/2.3 apg/29.7 mpg; 40.5%/39.8%/84.7% Newark, NJ native Al-Amir Dawes took four visits in the fall of 2018. Three of them were to Big East schools - Seton Hall, St. John’s and Providence - but the consensus four-star chose to play in the ACC at Clemson. After three seasons down south, Dawes chose to come back to his hometown Seton Hall Pirates ..read more

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports The latest recruiting updates across the Big East, as we enter the month of August. It was a very busy week on the recruiting trail for the Big East. Creighton got on the board with its first 2023 commit, thanks to Josiah Dotzler (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue West) pledging his commitment to the Bluejays. Dotzler is the No. 1-ranked prospect in his class for the state of Nebraska. The 6-foot-4 guard can be a nice local addition for Creighton. Here’s the rest of the action from this past week, as the calendar turns to August: New commitments: Three-star 2023 guard Josi ..read more

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images Keeping up with the Wildcats by recapping the busiest month in the recruiting season The month of July is widely regarded as the busiest month for college basketball coaches in the off-season in terms of recruiting. In Kyle Neptune’s first summer at the helm, he wasted no time picking out the talent he had an eye for. During Neptune’s first stint with the Wildcats, he was the main recruiter for a majority of players on the roster. After Jay Wright’s departure and Neptune’s arrival, only one player entered the transfer portal (Bryan Antoine, who, arguably ..read more

The Battle to continue through 2024-25, expand to 11 games per year The Big East announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement with the Big 12 to extend The Battle for two more seasons. The conferences are now set to continue their scheduling alliance through the 2024-25 season. The original agreement was for four years and was set to expire after this season. It included ten games to be played between teams from the two conferences each year dating back to 2019-20. The extended agreement includes an expansion of the schedule from ten games to eleven in each of the two additional years ..read more

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images Dan Hurley added the former top-100 recruit to UConn’s backcourt. Hassan Diarra Height: 6-2 Former School: Texas A&M New School: UConn Years Remaining: Three Recruiting Ranking: 82nd 2021-22 Stats: 6.2 ppg/1.8 rpg/1.4 apg/15.4 mpg; 37.1%/32.7%/71.8% Coming out of Putnam High School, Hassan Diarra was a consensus top-100 recruit. The 6-2 guard from Queens had long arms and good instincts as a prospect. Diarra chose Texas A&M and Buzz Williams over schools including Georgia and Indiana, and he started in 6 of his 18 appearances as a freshman. He averaged ..read more