Two Hoosiers commit to Cards

From Jody Demling:

Not only did Pitino watch his Cardinals beat rival Kentucky 74-71 at the buzzer, but he landed commitments from two top national prospects in the Class of 2011.

Indianapolis Lawrence North sophomores Ryan Taylor and Michael Chandler gave Pitino the good news after the win over UK.

"We told (assistant coach Richard Pitino), and he said there couldn't be a better day than this," Taylor said. "And then when we told Coach Pitino; he told us he didn't like champagne but that he was going to get a bottle tonight."

Taylor, a 6-foot-6 forward, picked the Cards over Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana and Kentucky. The 6-11 Chandler was being courted by Ohio State, Kentucky, Indiana and Florida.

Most scouting services only rank the top 10 sophomores, but Taylor and Chandler have shined on AAU stages. Taylor starts for Lawrence North and is one of its top rebounders.

"These are two very good gets early on," Scout.com national analyst Evan Daniels said. " … Ryan Taylor right now is an undersized post, but he's really athletic and tough.

"Chandler is a guy who is 6-11 and doesn't get a lot of playing time (in high school), but from what I have seen in the AAU circuit the kid has loads of potential."

10 months ago Mike Rutherford 2 comments 0 recs |