Hilton Armstrong Set For UCONN

As reported first by the Journal-News, a newspaper in New York, Hilton Armstrong, 6-9 of Peekskill High School in New York, has committed to the Connecticut basketball program. Armstrong was hoping to keep the commitment a secret until he got back in school, according to sources close to Hilton Armstrong.

Armstrong's plan was to hold a press conference and announce his decision. But word had already leaked out after he called the coaches involved in the recruiting process.

Armstrong was quoted in the Journal-News story as saying he was going to Connecticut. And Big East sources confirmed with us this morning that he had made a verbal to the Connecticut staff while the team was traveling on a roadtrip.

Armstrong also seriously considered LaSalle, Illinois, and Boston College. Sources in the Midwest did tell us that Illinois did not make an offer in the recruiting process.

Hilton is a player with nice upside to his game. He runs the floor well and is athletic. He will get a chance to rebound the ball since Denham Brown and Rashad Anderson will be taking plenty of shoots from downtown. Armstrong should prepare himself to retrieve some long rebounds. He can probably make a nice living picking up loose balls and scoring on putbacks.

The outside skills of Brown and Anderson also should up some passing lanes into the low post. So this seems like a big man's dream -- plenty of perimeter offense to open up low post moves.