Harvard
Mason Forbes, a two-star recruit from Folsom (CA) High School, chose to attend Harvard on Tuesday night, becoming the Crimson’s fourth member for the class of 2018. The 6’8” 195 pound center/power forward averaged 15.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks a game in the 2016-17 season. According to Verbal Commits, he chose Harvard over Mt. St. Mary’s, San Diego State, San Jose State, and Cal Poly.
Forbes comes from a basketball rich family. His grandfather, Sterling Forbes, Sr., played for Pepperdine, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, and joined the Harlem Globetrotters. His father, Sterling “Smooth” Forbes, Jr., played for Southwest Texas State before playing with the Globetrotters. His younger sister, McKenzie Forbes, is a senior at Folsom High School and an ESPN Top 40 prospect who will be attending Cal-Berkeley in the fall of 2018. ‘
In an October 2016 NorCalPreps profile, Forbes stated, “My best skill is my versatility. On offense, I can play inside and outside because I can shoot the three and I can defend against guards and posts.” Here’s Sacramento basketball fixture Don Manning-Fuimaono on Forbes, according to NorCalPreps: “What stands out with Mason is his doing things other players don’t want to do. He boxes out on every possession and crashes the boards, sets fundamentally sound picks and he chases people down for blocked shots. He can dominate without even taking a dribble. It’s not even having a motor with Mason, it’s a willpower. He keeps coming and coming, he doesn’t stop. Plus, he has a very high IQ and, more importantly, he’s a winner.”
Yale
Early this week, Matthue “Matt” Cotton became Yale’s fifth recruit for the fall of 2018. Cotton is listed as a four-star recruit at Verbal Commits, while being noted as a three-star recruit at 247Sports and ESPN. He is a 6’5” shooting guard from New Jersey, who began his career at Eastern Regional High School in Vorhees before moving to St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark. 247Sports lists him as the #9 recruit in NJ, #69 at the SG position and #291 overall.
Cotton chose the Elis over Penn, Brown, Columbia, Miami, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, Rutgers, St. Bonaventure, VCU, Temple, St. Joe’s, La Salle, UMass, Tulane, NJIT, Towson and Hartford.
In a July, 2016, a City of Basketball Love scouting report noted the following about Cotton, “Growing in ability and assertiveness seemingly by the day, Cotton is starting to turn heads with his consistent, high-level play over the last few months. The 6-foot-4 lefty, a 3-point specialist early on in his career, is really starting to develop his off-hand dribbling ability so he can take defenders off the bounce, which in turn makes him a more effective outside shooter with opponents forced to respect his all-around game. While a year ago he looked more like a slightly undersized ‘3’, Cotton now has the look of a true off-guard, especially if he continues to develop in these same areas.”
Penn
Michael Wang has become the first commit for the Penn men’s team for the fall of 2018. Wang is a 6’10” 215-pound power forward from nationally ranked Mater Dei High School in California. Last year, he averaged 9.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. According to 247Sports, Wang is ranked #31 for California, #62 at the power forward position, and #286 nationally. He has chosen the Quakers over Texas A&M, San Jose State, American and Campbell. Wang is a teammate of future Harvard guard Spencer Freedman and top 5 national recruit Bol Bol.
Brown
In mid-September, Traiva Breedlove of Our Lady of Mercy in Rochesterw (NY) committed to play for the Brown women’s team. Breedlove is a 5′ 8″ combo guard who averaged 17.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists last season. According to the Democrat & Chronicle paper, she chose Brown over Fordham, Stony Brook, Delaware, Niagara, Vermont and Central Connecticut.
Dartmouth
Earlier this week, Veronica Kelly, a 6’2” center/forward from Chatham High School in New Jersey, chose to attend Dartmouth in the fall of 2018. Last year, she averaged 14.1 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, while blocking 65 shots. In her first three seasons, she has 884 points, 678 rebounds and 220 blocks. She decided on the Big Green over the University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon. In a February 2017 poll at NJ.com that collected almost 67,000 votes, Kelly was selected the Garden State’s best shot blocker.