Green ready to be Orange
The writing was on the wall. Donte Green attends Towson Catholic in Baltimore, Md. He plays for an AAU squad called Team Melo. So it only makes sense that Green is headed to the same school where Carmelo Anthony, a former TC star, played his college ball. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound junior is going to Syracuse.
Green, the No. 35 ranked player in the class of 2007, said he often confided in the former Baltimore prep star about the recruiting process. Green said Anthony helped him realize what he wanted in a school.
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"He and I talk often and he understood the position I was in so he told me to just take my time and make the right decision that fit me," Green said.
And right fit was Syracuse, Green said when made his decision public on Tuesday afternoon. The power forward said Syracuse was the right place for him.
"When I went up there, I was already real cool with (Syracuse assistant Rob) Murphy and he's a real cool guy but when I met coach (Jim) Boeheim, he was himself and let me know that's how it was going to be if I went there," Green said. "I'm comfortable with them and that's why I'm going there."
Green recently told Rivals.com's Rob Matera that he was holding offers from Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Georgetown, North Carolina, Connecticut, NC State, Miami, Texas, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Virginia.
Green joins an already impressive 2007 group that includes four star guards Johnny Flynn and Scoop Jardine as well as 6-foot-8 Philly forward Richard Jackson.
Syracuse has been one of the hottest teams on the recruiting trail in the last month. They landed 2006 four-star prospect Mike Jones out of South Carolina on the same day Jardine pledged to the Big East school. Then a week later Jackson followed his high school teammate and now Green.
"I'm looking forward to getting there and working extremely hard so I can be the go-to guy that takes the big shots," Green said. "I know I'm ready to do what I need to do in order to be successful."
Green's AAU coach Carlton Carrington with Team Melo/Mt. Royal believes Green is ready to be that successful player at the next level, especially with the talented players that will be around him.
"With the class they are bringing in 2006 with Paul Harris and Mike Jones and then the group they have a great group coming in 2007, Donte has a chance to make a big impact just like Carmelo did," Carrington said. "Donte can go inside and out like Melo did and be a big match-up problem. I can see him being a Rudy Gay, Charlie Villanueva kind of player. The kind of guy that can do a lot of things."
Carrington said Syracuse is getting a kid that is ready for the challenges that college has.
"He's a well-versed kid," Carrington said. "He was born in Germany, lived in Japan and around the United States. He's been around the world and seen a lot. He's really a happy, go lucky kid. Donte is a good kid that is sound academically and has it all.
"A lot of kids get out for the first time and go crazy once they get that first taste of freedom. They get their first place of their own and go nuts but he's used to that kind of stuff. For him, going to college is business as usual. Being a freshman is just another day at the park."