Rutgers Offers 2003 Target

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT -- St. Raymond's head coach Gary DeCesare has a simple philosophy regarding the recruiting process. "If a coach offers one of my players a scholarship, I know they are seriously interested," DeCesare told us at the Wayne Simone tournament. "If they don't offer them a scholarship, then don't waste my time."

DeCesare has produced some of the best talent over the past decade while coaching St. Raymond's. DeCesare also is also well-respected by his players. He pulls no punches with them. You do it his way or don't bother playing for him.

One of the players who has done it his way is a Louie McCroskey, a 6-4, 180-pound swingman from St. Raymond's High School in the Bronx, New York. Louie is terrific off the dribble, possessing the body control and elusiveness to convert in traffic. He's got a quick first step as well. McCroskey has demonstrated that he can knock down the mid and long range jumper with consistency when we've seen him, which adds to his offensive repertoire. McCroskey did all of these things this past weekend at the Wayne Simone AAU tournament.

McCroskey has fielded interest early on from St. Joseph's, UConn, and Notre Dame. Rutgers has offered. "Rutgers is serious with Louie," DeCesare said.

Louie averaged 15 points and six rebounds for the Ravens this past season. He will be playing with the New York Ravens AAU program this summer. In addition, McCroskey will be at the Vegas Big Time Tournament, and there is a possibility he could attend the ABCD camp.

McCroskey told us that he just bumped his scholastic average up to a B, and will take the SAT for the first time on May 4th. He has been taking an SAT course in anticipation of the test.