BU recruit-class of 2008- Varez Ward

[Da Coach]

Ward commits to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati just signed a nearly identical guard in Dion Dixon, also a freshman in 2008-09, and they have other good young guards like Deonta Vaughn. But for most kids, it's all about prestige and the school name, and Bradley just can't compete with the Big East. We see it every year that a kid would rather be a deep reserve for a big school like Cincy, than a key player for a school like Bradley.

[Da Coach]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080321/SPT0101/803210418/1064

[BradleyBrave]

Ward commits to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati just signed a nearly identical guard in Dion Dixon, also a freshman in 2008-09, and they have other good young guards like Deonta Vaughn. But for most kids, it's all about prestige and the school name, and Bradley just can't compete with the Big East. We see it every year that a kid would rather be a deep reserve for a big school like Cincy, than a key player for a school like Bradley.

Wow. Looks like Wednesday's win had the opposite effect that we thought it would. Oh well, I think we need a big anyways.

[houstonbrave]

It now seems that Ward did not sign with Cincy and according to a note on Rivals he no longer plans to head there.

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=799362

[Da Coach]

Thanks for finding that. That is unusual.
I know Bradley really liked him for his defensive skills as well as his offensive skills. If we had an extra scholarship, I could see Caoch Les trying to get him to Bradley.

[lake Camelot]

Hope Not

Even if we came up with an extra scholarship, I would hope the person would be at the least 6-4 or 6-5. We can play multiple guards, but it is really hard if they are all between 5'11" and 6'2".

[tornado]

A blogger at the Cincinnati Enquirer came up with this about Varez Ward:

"Varez Ward not going to UC

The rumors about Varez Ward are true. He won??™t be signing with UC. As many
of you probably know, Rivals.com on Sunday quoted Ward??™s coach as saying
that he had not signed with UC and will not be going there. After repeated
calls, I was finally able to confirm that what Rivals reported is true. Now I??™m
trying to find out why. The other two recruits ??“ junior college center Steven
Toyloy and guard Dion Dixon, have signed with UC. Ward was not considered
a Top 150 recruit. When he committed to UC back on March 20, he said he
chose UC over UTEP, but he was highly regarded as a defensive specialist
who could have made a contribution to the Bearcats. No word yet on where
he??™s going."

then a subsequent entry

"Why Ward changed his mind

Chris Chaney, Varez Ward's coach at The Patterson School in Patterson,
N.C., says that both sides agreed attending UC would not be in Ward??™s best interest.

???It was both ways,??? Chaney said. ???He liked it when he went up there for a
visit, but he has circumstances at home and thought it was a little too far
from home. Cincinnati was wondering if he did come, if he would stay.

???He has a lot of respect for Cincinnati. He??™s unhappy that it??™s not working
out. Cincinnati did everything the right way.???

Chaney said he doesn't know where Ward will end up."

[lake Camelot]

New List of schools

Ward has a whole new list of schools and a new article about Texas visit. I know I could mapquest it but Texas does not seem that much closer to Alabama than Cincinnati.

https://secure.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=rivalshoops%2Erivals%2Ecom&sid=&script=content.asp&cid=806715&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=

[Da Coach]

I say this every year about this time... I am surprised more kids don't wait until this late. It seems there is a frenzy for the remaining good recruits, and kids can have their choice among high majors who have extra scholarships available. And there are many schools with scholarships that become available late because of transfers and ineligible recruits and players.
If Ward doesn't mind a lot of bench time, since he is not one of these schools' priority recruits, he'll get better offers now than he did earlier.
We saw the same phenomenon with Verdell Jones. He was a 3-star recruit who suddenly had several Big Ten and other top majors fighting over him..

[Da Coach]

Varez Ward signs with Texas

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=47320

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=813371

[BradleyBrave]

Varez Ward is logging some significant minutes for Texas today. The announcers have said on more than one occasion that Texas coach Rick Barnes has raved about him since Day 1.

[Da Coach]

resurrecting this Varez Ward thread from 1 year ago-

Tonight, Varez Ward, who has played well for Texas, and is seeing a little more playing time this year (23 minutes per game) despite several talented freshmen, injured his right knee in pregame warmups. It reportedly looked bad and he was carried off the court on a stretcher.

[Da Coach]

Tonight, Varez Ward, who has played well for Texas, and is seeing a little more playing time this year (23 minutes per game) despite several talented freshmen, injured his right knee in pregame warmups. It reportedly looked bad and he was carried off the court on a stretcher.

Ward could be out for the season-

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-txward112409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns