Echefu has five out in front

As one of the few remaining Rivals.com Top 100 seniors who is both still available and likely to show up on a college campus next fall, Uche Echefu from Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Md. is drawing some major recruiting attention. Rivals.com spoke with legendary coach Stu Vetter for an update on Echefu, as well as a few other Montrose Christian players.

Coach Vetter told us that Echefu has a core of five schools that have been recruiting him the longest. The "core five" is composed of Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Florida State. He also mentioned that Maryland and Texas are heavily involved, and that it was possible that a few other schools may get added to the list as the season progresses.

Echefu is averaging around 19 points and 10 rebounds per game for Montrose this season, and has led them through a brutal stretch of their schedule to their current 12-4 mark. Montrose, currently #11 in the Washington Post poll will take on #2 ranked Friendly HS Thursday night in what looks like another very tough game.

However, Echefu won't have to carry the load all by himself, as several newcomers have also made big contributions for Montrose this season.

Perhaps the biggest addition has been 6-foot-5 175 pound combo-guard Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, is a major scoring threat and has become the team's crunch-time ball handler.

Vetter told us, "He can create, has a great feel for the game, and is a very good shooter. I think he'll be a major, major college point guard. He reminds me a lot of Randolph Childress. He just has that type of competitiveness."

Vetter also thinks highly of 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Adrian Bowie, a transfer from Bishop McNamara HS in Forestville, MD.

"Adrian has started every game for us. He's going to be outstanding. Another major college player."

Adding those players, along with 6-foot-6 junior forward Jourdan Morris to an already strong core of Echefu and Japanese native guard prospects 6-foot-2 senior K.J. Matsui and 5-foot11 junior Taishi Ito has been challenging, but it's par for the course says Vetter.

"It's part of high school basketball to add new players to the mix every year. More so for me, but those challenges, whether it's losing kids to graduation or bringing in new guys, are always going to be there," Vetter stated. "We've been fortunate to have had Taishi and K.J. since they were in 8th grade, and Uche's been with us for a few years."