Redding, Rivera schedule press conferences
Top Philadelphia area junior prospects are making their college decisions early this year. The "big three" of Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson and Brian Zoubek got the ball rolling, and now 6-foot-4 G/F Reggie Redding from St. Joseph's Prep and 6-foot-2 Derrick Rivera from Neumann-Gorretti have scheduled press conferences to announce their collegiate destinations.
Redding told Rivals.com Friday evening at the Philly USA All-City Classic that he has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning at St. Joseph's Prep in the library.
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The finalists are Villanova, NC State, Pittsburgh, Boston College, West Virginia, and St. Josephs. Redding says that he is still mulling the final decision, however, a final campus visit to Jay Wright's Villanova Wildcats last week may have tipped his hand a bit.
Numerous sources around the gym on Friday evening indicated that Villanova would be the choice.
Redding averaged 20.7 points per game last season while leading St. Joseph's Prep to a 26-5 record. A dangerous inside/outside threat with excellent passing skills and a good fundamental understanding of the game, Redding is sometimes unselfish to a fault.
He's also a solid student with a 3.3 GPA and over 1000 on the SAT.
Derrick Rivera has also scheduled a press conference for next week. On Wednesday he will announce his decision at Neumann-Gorretti, and close sources have indicated that he is likely to pick Phil Martelli's St. Joseph's Hawks over interest from LaSalle, Penn State, Miami, Rhode Island, and Temple.
Rivera would be St. Joseph's second commitment in the last two weeks. He'd join superb Chester HS PG Darren Govins, who gave St. Joseph's the nod last week, to form yet another outstanding Hawks backcourt duo.
Rivera is a terrific athlete with a hard-nosed defensive mentality that never quits during the game. His ball handling and perimeter shooting have improved over the last year, and he'll need to continue to improve those skills moving to the next level.
He averaged 16.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals last season for Neumann-Gorretti.