Archie Has Favorite

It remains to be seen whether recent developments will upset the semblance of order that Dominique Archie has arranged as far as his recruitment is concerned. The 6-7,190-pound senior forward from Augusta (GA) Josey has a leader in his small field of three schools, with a late entrant starting to make a little bit of noise.

“South Carolina is my leading school right now, mostly because its close to home,” Archie told TechSideline.com, adding that he slightly favors the Gamecocks over Virginia Tech at this time. ”UConn just came in on me though in August, but right now South Carolina has a narrow lead.”

Archie indicated that he will officially tour the South Carolina campus on September 10th, and TheInsiders.com reported recently that he will visit Virginia Tech the following weekend.

While the Gamecocks have emerged at the head of the pack, Archie indicated that he is keeping an open mind where Virginia Tech is concerned.

“I like Virginia Tech because they are in the ACC and I have always wanted to play in the ACC,” said Archie. ”They also have my major (Civil Engineering) and that is a big strength for any school.”

In fact, academics will play a prominent role when Archie decides to make a final decision, although his time frame for that isn’t as certain.

“The first thing that any school has to have for me is that they gotta have my major, which will be Civil Engineering. Some schools have recruited me that didn’t have my major and I have eliminated them,” Archie said. ”I want to sign in the fall, but I don’t know how all of it (recruiting) is going to go.

“The school that I choose doesn’t have to be real close to home, but I don’t want a place that is too far away.”

Archie indicated that both the Hokies and Gamecocks have extended scholarship offers to him, and while he loves the new attention that he is getting from Connecticut, he also is starting to tire a bit of the entire process.

“I really like that the coaches are calling me, because that means that they like me a lot,” Archie stated. ”But, now I am starting to want to get it all over with and it is starting to aggravate me a little now.”

When Archie does finally cast his ballot, he hopes to be able to concentrate on his senior season at Josey and work on improving his weaknesses and honing his strengths, before his college arrival next fall.

“I need to work on my strength and I know that. Getting stronger will help me in every way and it will help me from getting pushed around,” said Archie. ”I think that I will be a small forward at the next level, so my ability to get to the basket well will help me there and I have really worked on and improved my shooting since last year, especially my game off the dribble.”

After entertaining thoughts of becoming the country’s second tallest baseball player, to Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson, 6-9 Ahmad Nivins dropped baseball as his primary sport and recently started concentrating on basketball.

“I just picked up basketball about a year or so ago at this time and I had been playing baseball all of my life up until that time,” Nivins told TechSideline.com. ”I didn’t feel that my height was a problem because Randy Johnson and Richie Sexton play baseball and they are pretty good. I just started watching NBA games more and just started liking basketball more and I am having more fun with that now.”

The 210-pound senior Center/Forward averaged a modest 6 points and 7 rebounds a game last year coming off the bench for nationally known St. Anthony’s HS in Jersey City (NJ). Nivins expects those figures to improve this year and if the attention that he is garnering on the recruiting trail is an indication, his thoughts are not without foundation.

Nivins has five primary schools that he is looking at, with several others still in the hunt.

“St. Joseph’s, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Rutgers and Rhode Island are pretty much the schools that I have narrowed it to, but those aren’t really my final five,” stated Nivins, in response to which schools he was currently concentrating on the most. “Miami, Ohio State, Baylor and UMass are still not off the radar, and Clemson has offered me and Virginia Tech is showing a lot of interest in me.”

While the Hokies are not currently among the first wave of schools with Nivins, he has not completely shut the door on them.

“They (Virginia Tech) haven’t offered, but they are showing interest,” Nivins said. “I am pretty interested and I haven’t completely eliminated them, but they are on the outside looking in now.”

Nivins indicated that each of the schools among his current top five has offered him, and he is leaning in the direction of signing in the spring, rather than during the opening signing period.

“I just visited Seton Hall last week (unofficially) and I would say that the conference that gets on television the most would be my favorite, because my main goal is to make it to the NBA,” said Nivins. ”I am looking for playing time, to be able to come in and play and to find a college that will teach me on and off the court and help me learn more about the game.

“I want to be seen on television and location will be somewhat of a factor because I am sure that my parents will want to see me play.”

While a relative novice on the basketball court, Nivins still feels that his improvement has placed him in a position where he can make his mark on the floor this season.