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Providence College became the first school to offer a scholarship to Windsor (Conn.) Class of 2015 hoops standout Jared Wilson-Frame last night. The offer comes following his strong play on consecutive weekends at the Nike EYBL circuit in Los Angeles, Calif., and Hampton, Va.

Wilson-Frame, who visited Providence unofficially earlier this month, was ecstatic about receiving his first offer.

“It’s really exciting to know that a school wants to give you a chance where you can get a free education and play basketball at a high level,” Wilson-Frame said.

He has been well-known on New England’s high school basketball scene as one of the region’s best players, especially after leading Windsor to a 49-6 record over the past two seasons. This season, the small forward was named to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-State Team.

In an attempt to become a better-known prospect on a national scale, he accepted the invitation to play with Expressions Elite this summer.

“That’s one thing I always said to myself. I always go on ESPN or on Twitter and I’ll see kids getting offers who I have played against--kids who I honestly feel like I have played at their level or better," he said. "That really motivated me to want to play at a higher level."

Wilson-Frame is considering the prep school route next school year, but says for now he is focused on finishing this year strong academically and continuing to build his name on the AAU circuit. Expressions Elite has made quite a splash at Nike EYBL, sitting at 9-0 after the first two weekends of play.

“They’re good guys off the court," he said. "Our whole team was hand-elected, so we hadn’t played together before. But now we’re always on each other [off the court], joking and laughing…it really is a family environment."

Holy Name Class of 2014 forward/center Brianna Frias has verbally committed to Providence College for the 2014-15 season, per her coach with the New England Crusaders AAU club, Maureen Laroche.

Frias averaged nearly six blocks for game this past winter for the Naps, who went 20-0 in the regular season and captured the No. 1 overall seed in Division 1 Central before falling in the district final to rival Wachusett.

The 6-foot Frias was also considering offers locally from Boston College, Holy Cross and Bryant.

Former Central Catholic standout and Wake Forest center Carson Desrosiers will be transferring to Providence College.

Citing a source, ESPN's Adam Finkelstein initially reported the news on his Twitter account.

Desrosiers has confirmed the news on his own Twitter account -- "Excited to be a new member of Friartown! Go Friars," he wrote in a tweet.

The 6-foot-11 Windham, N.H. resident led Central Catholic to MIAA Division 1 state championships in 2008 and 2010, before moving on to Wake Forest. In two seasons in Winston-Salem, he averaged 4.4 points and 3.7 rebounds, with 38 starts, and totaled 112 blocks. His 52 blocks in 2010-11 were the most by a Wake freshman since Tim Duncan.

Desrosiers declared his intent to transfer late last March, and was released from his scholarship.

Per transfer rules, Desrosiers must sit out the 2012-13 season. He will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in the fall of 2013.

Desrosiers is the latest high-profile local to sign on with Friars head coach Ed Cooley. Providence also has commitments from South Kent swingman and Providence native Ricardo Ledo, the nation's No. 21 overall senior; and point guard Kris Dunn, a McDonald's All-American this past season out of New London (Conn.) High.

ESPN's Adam Finkelstein weighs in today on his recruiting blog on the commitments of three local high-major recruits, Brewster Academy (N.H.)'s Deonte Burton (Marquette), Notre Dame Prep's Ricardo Ledo (Providence), and King Philip's Jake Layman (Maryland).

The full article can be found here, and is excerpted below:

SF DEONTE BURTON TO MARQUETTE

Short term: Any time you can lock up a Super 60 prospect before his junior year has started you don't hesitate, especially if he's a local product. So while the commitment was significant for Marquette, it was equally special for Burton who will return home in the fall of 2013 after spending three seasons attending prep school in New Hampshire.

Long term: Burton and Buzz Williams are the perfect pair. Burton is a highly-talented 6-foot-5 forward with power and athleticism, but he isn't without his faults. He was essentially a player without a true position a year ago and while he's really expanded his skill set in the last year his critics will say he still doesn't defend or compete as consistently as he needs to in order to maximize his potential. Enter Williams, one of the top young coaches and motivators in the game today, whose teams are known for their intensity. If he can get that out of Burton on a consistent basis, this could be an even bigger commitment than we realize.

SF RICARDO LEDO TO PROVIDENCE

Short term: Providence coach Ed Cooley has made a huge splash by landing Ledo and Kris Dunn in less than a month. Together they could form the top backcourt duo in the Class of 2012. The commitments also gives the new Providence staff some major credibility on the recruiting trail, especially in local New England circles where it has all of a sudden become fashionable to consider the Friars.

Long term: The naysayers have been coming out of the woodwork since Ledo's commitment, questioning his attitude, effort, and ability to win games. I for one think the criticisms have become a little overblown. There's no denying that Ledo has quite a bit of maturing to do, but there's also no denying that he is one of the most talented players in the country. And here's another factor that most have missed. Ledo has shown himself to be much more comfortable in a supporting role. For example, while his teams may have gone 1-10 this summer, Notre Dame Prep went to the finals of the National Prep Championship when he was in a complementary role to Todd Mayo. At Providence, Ledo will return to the complementary role. The much more prudent questions include his ability to qualify and if he does, how long will he stay at Providence before exploring the NBA Draft.

SF JAKE LAYMAN TO MARYLAND

Short term: Another definite recruiting victory for a suddenly very hot Mark Turgeon. Layman is the No. 53-ranked player in the ESPNU 100 and his commitment boosts Maryland's class into the top 10 in the country. Here's the thing with Layman though, Terps fans are going to need to be patient. While incredibly talented, he's still fairly raw and not used to high-level competition outside of the AAU circuit. Consequently, his learning curve may be a little longer than most would expect from a borderline top 50 prospect.

Long term: Layman may take some time to adjust to the college level, that's the downside. The upside is that his long-term potential is through the roof, and he's really only starting to tap into his tools. He's built like a prototypical NBA 3-man with good size, at 6-8, high-level athleticism and soft shooting touch out to 22 feet. There may not be another member of Maryland's incoming 2012 class who benefits more from being part of a college strength program next year, nor someone likely to benefit more from one-on-ones with the coaching staff. He'll be ready for primetime by his sophomore year I suspect and potentially a big-time prospect as an upperclassman.

For more recruiting updates on New England's top high school basketball talent, be sure to check out Finkelstein's ESPN blog as well as his New England Recruiting Report.

Notre Dame Prep shooting guard Ricardo Ledo has ended his recruitment for a second time, giving Providence a verbal commitment today.

Ledo had previously pledged to the Friars and coach Keno Davis last Christmas Eve, but opted to open things up again just a month later.

The 6-foot-6 Providence native chose the Friars over UConn, Kentucky, Syracuse and West Virginia. He gives new head coach Ed Cooley two commits ranked in the top 30 of ESPNU's Class of 2012, joining New London (Conn.) point guard Kris Dunn.

In an article just posted on ESPN.com, senior writer Andy Katz says there's a possibility that Ledo could enroll this coming January. After guiding Bishop Hendricken to RIIL state championships as a freshman and sophomore, Ledo transferred to NEPSAC Class AA power St. Andrew's in Barrington, R.I. and re-classified to the Class of 2012. He has since transferred to South Kent (Conn.) before landing at Notre Dame Prep midway through last season.

Katz writes:

But there is a chance Ledo may beat Dunn to campus. Ledo said he and his family are investigating all options at this juncture, even possibly getting to Providence by January.

Ledo said he still needs to take the SAT and he needs at least one more core course. He may choose the option of finishing up his work instead of going to Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) for a post-graduate year.

Ledo has been in high school for eight semesters at three different high schools, a red flag usually for the NCAA Eligibility Center to work on clearing a player.

The more likely scenario for Ledo is to join Dunn at the beginning of next season.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet (this year) but we'll talk to my family and see what we can do," Ledo said.

Scouts Inc.'s latest evaluation characterized Ledo as follows:

Strengths:
Ledo is a pure scorer who is capable of getting buckets from any spots on the floor. He has great size for his position with a long build, explosive athleticism, and the full range of offensive skills. He is quick off the bounce with a tight handle and corresponding range to the arc off the rhythm dribble. He has great body control in the lane where he can finish either above his man or around multiple defenders he is very creative with his finishes. Watch him attack and beat the first defender then beat the help as his instincts to score are special.

Weaknesses:
Ledo's talent is virtually limitless and so he needs to become more consistent and efficient. He appears to pre-determine his moves at times and settles for shots with high degrees of difficulty when his versatile talents should make the game easy for him when reading the defense. He needs to show a more of a sense of urgency, especially defensively, where he tends to over-gamble.

Bottom Line:
Ledo is as talented of a shooting guard prospect as there is in the class of 2012. He is a scoring threat from anywhere on the floor and can put up huge numbers when he gets into a groove. As he learns to be more consistent and efficient, he will only continue to improve while being the guy who can take over a game.

ESPN senior basketball recruiting analyst Dave Telep is reporting that New London (Conn.) guard Kris Dunn, considered by many the nation's top uncommitted point guard, has verbally committed to Providence College for the 2012-13 season.

The 6-foot-3 Dunn visited the Providence campus today, and gave a verbal commitment to head coach Ed Cooley earlier today. Yesterday, Dunn told Telep he would be deciding between the Friars and in-state UConn by the end of this week.

"Providence is a special place for me," Dunn said. "I have a great connection with the coaches but most importantly with [coach Ed Cooley]. He made my family and I feel at home and like we were wanted."

In the eyes of many, this is a home run for the Friars. Dunn is the No. 30 overall player in the Class of 2012, and at least one national analyst -- Telep -- calls it the biggest addition for Providence since Pete Gillen landed former Washington Wizard and Manhattan high school legend God Shammgod back in 1995.

You can read the rest of Telep's article here.

Our friends over at ESPN's basketball recruiting section have lots of news on the Kris Dunn front this afternoon.

The New London, Conn. native, currently ranked the nation's No. 2 point guard in the Class of 2012, told senior analyst Dave Telep earlier today that he will decide between Providence and UConn by the end of the week. Dunn also told Telep that that after deciding on transferring to Wilbraham & Monson Academy earlier this summer, he will finish out his career at New London High after all.

"My dad and my family sat back a little and thought about it and they want me to go back to New London and finish what I've started," Dunn told Telep.

Whichever Big East school ends up landing him, Telep thinks it's a slam dunk:

Not only is Dunn the No. 2-ranked point guard in the class, he's really only one of a handful of impact point guards in the entire class. You can count on him to get in the lane and create on offense but also put his size and length to use on the other side of the ball. Athletically, there isn't another point guard close to him on the board. With James Robinson (Hyattsville, Md./Dematha) headed to Pittsburgh, Dunn's stock went up again; not like he needed an artificial boost since he was outstanding in July.

Meanwhile ESPN's Adam Finkelstein, founder of the New England Recruiting Report and arguably the New England region's foremost authority on basketball recruiting, believes the Friars will win the sweepstakes, noting several factors:

Dunn teamed with Andre Drummond (Middletown, Conn./Wilbraham & Monson) on the Connecticut Basketball Club and, as I noted in an earlier blog Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was hardly a fixture at every one of CBC's games this summer.

In fact, after the first week of the live period, he wouldn't watch Drummond and Dunn play live again until AAU nationals began in Orlando on July 27.

Conversely, Providence coach Ed Cooley was front and center almost every time Dunn took the court in July and when he wasn't, associate coach Andre Lafleur (who was previously a long time assistant at Connecticut) was in his spot.

If you were keeping tabs of which schools, and specifically head coaches, were following CBC the most this summer you would have to list Louisville, Georgetown and Pittsburgh just as much, if not more, than Connecticut.

However, Dunn is a Connecticut native who grew up, like most local kids, dreaming of playing for the Huskies.

But there is also the question of available scholarships. Connecticut projects to have 12 available for the 2012-2013 season and with no graduating seniors among this year's 10 scholarship players and SG Omar Calhoun (Brooklyn/Christ The King) having already verbally committed for 2012, they would appear to have only one scholarship to work with.

Of course there is the possibility of someone like Jeremy Lamb leaving early for the NBA Draft, but taking a commitment from another guard right now, especially one who plays the same position as incoming freshman point guard Ryan Boatright, would leave the Huskies seemingly unable to pursue another 2012 commitment. And it appears the Huskies are in hot pursuit of a big man, judging from their roster and current recruiting activity.

When you put together all of the information, the third sentence in Telep's blog might have tells the story, "I'd hedge my bets on Providence in this one."

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- For nearly an hour Thursday, the pace was frenetic. Weaving through a maze of cones and crossovers, 17 basketball players sprint back and forth from all corners of the Frisoli Youth Center. Their only break from the tireless shooting and dribbling drills is the occasional one-minute breather -- and the far more frequent set of push-ups.

“Stop! Stop!” a voice shouts, freezing everyone on the court. “Push-ups! I’ll tell you why afterward.”

Dwight Brewington walks around his players as most struggle to finish the set. He then grabs a ball and instead of telling his players the reason for the punishment, he shows them. His slick, 6-foot-5 frame glides quickly through the cones at a gear coaches love to call “game-speed,” and Brewington would too if he called himself a coach.

“You gotta push it!” he tells them.

“You’re supposed to be doing this at home, aren’t you?” he asks.

“Do NOT cheat yourself!” he says.

That encouragement is something Brewington said was rarely passed to him during his formative years.

Born profoundly deaf, he knows he wouldn’t have been able to hear it. But he’s making sure others do now.

“Believe me, I’m going to have kids that make it to the NBA,” Brewington says, with both defiance and a smile. “I’m going to have kids in the NBA -- with my help.”

A NEW DREAM

Once driven by a dream to be the first deaf player in the NBA, Brewington says he’s finding true happiness in his second basketball career.

Since May, the 27-year-old Lynn native -- who starred at two colleges before playing in the NBDL and overseas -- has run the Active Skills Basketball Training Program in conjunction with his AAU team, the Active Skills All-Stars.

Together, they draw athletes from Lynn, Cambridge, Boston, Winthrop and beyond. On Thursday, they included kids prepping for middle school tryouts to teenagers preparing for the next step, such as former Newton North star Tevin Falzon, who’s set to begin a post-grad year at Winchendon; his brother, Aaron Falzon, who plans to enroll at St. Mark’s; and Macam Bak Macam, a deaf Sudan native whom Brewington is trying to help land at a prep school.

Brewington runs training sessions where he can find court time, most recently for two days a week at the Frisoli Youth Center in Cambridge and every Sunday at Winthrop High School. Soon, he’ll return every Monday and Wednesday to Breed Middle School in Lynn for a six-day-a-week schedule he’s more than happy to offer.

The goal, Brewington said, is to give athletes the help he never had. He’s a trainer, he says, not a coach because his focus in on improving the individual as opposed to a team. His sessions feature seemingly non-stop movement, and when a player blows a lay-up or junks a drill, he has push-ups waiting for him.

How many is hard to tell. On Thursday, some did 10, some did eight, others did five. After what mounts to countless sets, they seemed almost eager to get back to running.

“I can feel it when I go to sleep,” said Deondre Starling, the former Cambridge star who’s training with Brewington before heading to play at Dean College in Franklin. “And I can feel it when I wake up.”

Perhaps most importantly, the players display the same passion for playing Brewington does for training them.

“He’s found himself,” said Mauricio “Mo” Vasquez, Brewington’s mentor and former AAU coach with Metro Boston. “It’s something where he kind of controls his destiny. It’s not up to someone else. And he enjoys seeing guys develop.”

'THE KID IS UNIQUE'

There are obstacles, of course. In an area filled with established AAU programs -- Metro Boston, Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC) and the Bay State and Middlesex Magic are just a few -- Brewington will have to find his niche.

Born without 60 percent of his hearing in both ears, Brewington still wears hearing aids, and as he did Thursday, he will demonstrate almost as often as he instructs, in case his players don’t understand him.

As a child, his disability made him introverted and anti-social, he said. For a long time, it hindered him in school before he utilized professional note-takers. He admits he "didn’t want to trust people" when he is was younger, and his guarded nature often went misunderstood. In college, he often butted heads with the coaching staff at Providence College before transferring to Liberty University in Virginia, and he admits he didn’t take orders well.

“For some reason, people don’t look at me as Dwight Brewington,” he said. “They look at me as Dwight Brewington, that deaf guy. People never gave me the chance to get to know me. If you don’t give me the chance to get to know me, I’m not going to get to know you.”

Even during Brewington’s recruitment, Vasquez told coaches that “this kid is unique” and cautioned them of the extra steps needed to make him feel comfortable. For instance, as smart as Brewington is, Vasquez said, he never could grasp sarcasm, most times taking everything anybody said literally.

“You don’t understand it because you don’t hear it,” Vasquez would tell him. “And I used to tell him, ‘You think too much.’ He’s always trying to please everyone. But when he took something in the wrong manner, he already built a wall.”

This was the same kid that questioned Vasquez’s ability to help him when he first came to him in the eighth grade. The then-6-foot-2 teenager would look down on the 5-foot-6 coach and quip, “For a little guy, you bark a lot.”

“Mind you, I’m a short guy,” Vasquez said, laughing at the memory of how Brewington would sometimes shut his hearing aids off in a huddle. “The first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Are you sure your guys get better?’”

But Brewington remained as loyal as they come. He stayed with Vasquez through all four years of high school, even as he jumped from Wakefield High to Lynn English to Worcester Academy, emerging as a star wherever he went.

LONG ROAD

When he ascended to the collegiate level, he struggled to adjust in many phases -- except for basketball. As a sophomore, he averaged 13.3 points and 4.3 rebounds a game, giving the Friars a second weapon past star Ryan Gomes.

Being deaf never hindered him on the floor, where his athleticism was almost equaled by what Vasquez called a “sixth sense” for feeling the game. As long as Brewington kept eye contact with the coach, the point guard and others around him, he didn’t need to hear a play call to make a play.

The problem was, Providence coach Tim Welsh and him “weren’t seeing eye to eye,” Brewington said. Welsh publicly supported the guard when he decided to transfer, but it wasn’t a secret that Brewington was uncomfortable there.

He sat out the fall semester of his junior year, weighing where to go. Arizona and Ohio State courted him, he and Vasquez says, as did Gonzaga. Then, literally days before he was set to leave Providence, Brewington was struck by tragedy. Four of his closest friends were gunned down in a basement recording studio, a brutal killing that shook the Dorchester neighborhood where it occurred.

Edwin Duncan, 21, was shot three times; Jason Bachiller, 20, seven times; Christopher Vieira, 19, four times; and Jihad Chankhour, 22, was shot as he ran for the door, according to news reports. It leveled Brewington, who says there are very few people in the world he can point to and say, “That’s my boy.”

“There are only like five of them like that,” he said. “Four of them are dead.”

Feeling lost, he turned to Liberty, a private university steeped in Christian values.

“Even though I knew there was the chance it would hurt me with the NBA and my resume, I needed God,” Brewington said of going to the mid-major school. “Liberty was the first school who wanted me. They knew about my four people getting killed. I said, ‘I needed God.’”

But despite averaging more than 14.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game there and declaring early for the NBA draft, Brewington said he sensed he wasn’t close to realizing his dream. He wasn’t selected and later was taken in the NBDL draft. Never called up to an NBA team during his time there, he then played in Israel, the American-based Premier Basketball League and finally Slovakia.

He returned last December after injuring his left Achilles, again feeling lost and disappointed. He was happy to be back in the U.S. with his wife, Gabrielle, and two children, 7-year-old Dantia and 4-year-old Malakai, but he said he stayed in the house “24/7, trying to figure out what the hell went wrong with my life.”

“It made me decide I’m done [playing] ball,“ Brewington said. “Being far away from home, being far away from your family and knowing that I have two kids and a wife, I’m overseas and [thinking], ‘Why am I here? I should be in the NBA.’ That was my dream. It was always the NBA. I could never see myself waking up in the morning and going to work.”

So he made his own work. In less than five months after starting his program, he’s drawing close to 20 kids a night for training, whom he then funnels into his AAU team. This fall, he’s planning to coach players at both the junior high and high school levels, and on Sept. 17, he is hosting the Love of the Game Mass. Basketball Tournament Classic at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, which figures to draw some of the top AAU talent in the region.

It’s helped Brewington come to terms with never reaching the NBA.

“Because I’m doing this, it makes me look back and say, ‘I’m OK with it,’” he said.

PROVIDING THE PUSH

The night is winding down at the Frisoli Youth Center, and in a circle surrounding their trainer, 17 kids are doing push-ups.

They’re sore, they’re tired. But you never hear one groan about Brewington’s regiment. In fact, most manage a smile while they rest between sets.

“I’ve never had somebody who sticks on me like he does,” said Dan Trentsch, a rising junior at Swampscott High School who’s trained with Brewington for the last five months.

In the beginning, Trentsch says, he couldn’t get through half of one of Brewington’s practices. Push-ups were a foreign concept.

Today, he does more than 300 a day, is taking 500 shots a day under Brewington’s watch and can dunk.

“On a good day,” Trentsch said with a smile. “He loves to push me, and that’s what I love about it.”

That’s why they’re all here. It’s why Brewington is too.

“Me being deaf, there were a lot of things I had to deal with it that made me look back and say, ‘I want to be in kids’ lives,’” he said. “I want to be that guy who can help kids get to where they can be at. They just need someone to push them.”

ESPN's Paul Biancardi tweeted this morning that New Hampton (N.H.) forward Zach Auguste has cut his list of schools down to eight: Florida, Marquette, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Providence, and Auburn.

Yesterday, the Marlborough native told ESPN's Adam Finkelstein he is "hoping to pick a top five or seven by the end of the month."

"I'm looking for somewhere that I can have an impact as a freshman," he told Finkelstein, "have a good relationship with the coaches, and play for a good program that can win."

Citing multiple sources, ESPNU is reporting that Cincinnati native and Brewster Academy (N.H.) incoming post-graduate Semaj Christon will stay home to play his college basketball for the Xavier Musketeers.

Christon chose Xavier over Cincinnati, Georgetown, Illinois and Providence.

ESPN Recruiting Coordinator Reggie Rankin describes Christon as "an immediate impact guard that has size, skill and athletic ability.

"What makes him special is he's a high level playmaker not only for himself but teammates. He has the talent to challenge for a starting position right away.

"A huge commit for Chris Mack not only because of his talent but Christon is a local kid," Rankin added. "He should provide the Xavier fans with a high octane fast break while making plays off ball screens and end of clock situations."

Christon is the fifth commitment for head coach Chris Mack in 2012, joining center Sim Bhullar, power forward James Farr and Notre Dame Prep shooting guard Myles Davis. Power forward Jalen Reynolds originally signed with Xavier's 2011, class but did not qualify academically. He will also spend a post-grad year at Brewster along side Christon before enrolling in 2012.

On his recruiting blog today, ESPN's Adam Finkelstein has updates on the recruitment of some of the northeast's top prospects, including several New Englanders:

Ethan O'Day, PF (Mansfield, Conn./Northfield Mount Hermon)
He has had to battle a sprained ankle but still holds offers from St. Joseph's, Vermont, Boston University, Holy Cross, Hofstra, American and Lafayette according to NMH coach John Carroll. Davidson is expected to follow him early in the second half of the month as well.

Jake Layman, SF (Wrentham, Mass./King Phillip)
He has been somewhat of a hidden gem but that's not going to hold true for much longer. Layman now claims offers from Maryland, Notre Dame and Providence with a variety of other schools apparently ready to follow suit.

Jaylen Brantley, PG (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson)
Layman's BABC teammate is one of the Northeast's hardest players to evaluate. In one sense, his lack of size is bound to catch up with him before too long, but you simply can't ignore his production against the highest levels of competition. Brantley has reportedly heard from Boston College, Virginia, Louisville, Florida, DePaul and Northeastern.

Jarred Reuter, PF (Rochester, Mass./St. Mark's)
The 2014 big man has been a poor man's Tyler Hansbrough for the New England Playaz this summer. He claimed his first high-major offer from Indiana at the Hoosiers Elite Camp in June and has added invitations from St. John's and Rutgers so far this month.

For more recruiting updates on New England's top high school basketball talent, be sure to check out Finkelstein's ESPN blog as well as his New England Recruiting Report.

ESPN RISE lacrosse editor Mike Loveday is reporting that Hingham incoming senior attack Kevin Blair verbally committed to Providence College for the fall of 2012 yesterday.

Blair, who plays in the Laxachusetts club team, is a two-year captain for Hingham and was a All-American as a junior in 2011. He was also named to the Second Team of ESPNBoston's inaugural MIAA All-State Team.

Notre Dame Prep head coach Ryan Hurd told ESPN.com today that power forward and former UNLV signee Grandy Glaze has committed to Saint Louis for next season.

Glaze, a Brampton, Ontario native, was granted a release from his letter of intent to the Rebels when head coach Lon Kruger left to take over the Oklahoma program. South Florida, Iowa State, St. Joseph's and Providence were also after the 6-foot-6 Canadian.

New Hampton (N.H.) power forward Zach Auguste told ESPN's Paul Biancardi this afternoon that he was offered a scholarship from new Providence head coach Ed Cooley.

Auguste, a 6-foot-9 Marlborough native, visited the Friars unofficially for the second time earlier this week and sat down with Cooley and his staff.

"Coach Cooley is a very real person," Auguste said. "He's personable and real and I felt very comfortable with him and his whole staff. They see me as a guy who can help the program immediately. Plus, basketball is like church there (at PC), everybody goes."

Auguste also mentioned that he speaks three languages fluently (Greek, French Creole and English) and hopes to major in business, possibly internationally, a major which Providence offers.

Auguste also holds offers from Notre Dame, Boston College, UMass, Wake Forest, Virginia, DePaul, Oregon State and Penn State. He is also garnering attention from West Virginia, Syracuse, Kansas, Georgia Tech and Alabama.

ESPN's Adam Finkelstein checks in today with the recruiting radar for Providence under new head coach Ed Cooley, and it's no surprise that the former Fairfield head man is making local talent a priority with the Class of 2012.

The Friars recently hosted New London (Conn.)'s Kris Dunn on an unofficial visit last month, before he blew up the AAU scene this spring. This past weekend, they hosted New Hampton power forward and Marlborough native Zach Auguste on an unofficial, and the 6-foot-9 big man was pleased.

Finkelstein writes:

"It was nice," Auguste said. "The facility got redone and is real nice and Coach Cooley is a cool dude. He keeps it real."

Auguste holds offers from Penn State, Oregon State, DePaul, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Boston College and Virginia but said Providence has been making a strong push recently.

"They've been recruiting me a lot harder in the last couple of weeks," he said. "They just said they're trying to rebuild the program."

Auguste also said Providence was the only unofficial visit he plans to take this spring.

"I haven't gone on any other visits yet but I'm going to plan some soon," he said. "I think I'm going to wait until after the summer to go though so that I can get more of a feel for the campus when everyone is there."

For more recruiting updates on New England's top high school basketball talent, be sure to check out Finkelstein's recruiting blog as well as his New England Recruiting Report.