Before the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Villanova coach Jay Wright has already penned his first two recruits for the 2017-18 season.
On Wednesday, Jermaine Samuels and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree both signed their national letters of intent to play with the Wildcats next year .
Samuels is a 6-6 small forward from Rivers School in Weston, Mass. He is ranked a Top 50 recruit by ESPN.com, Scout.com and Rivals.com. Samuels announced his verbal commitment to Villanova in August. Other schools recruiting him included Duke, Georgetown, Kansas and Indiana.
He played for the AAU team Expression Elite this summer, when he averaged 13.4 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game and 1.8 assists per game.
“Jermaine is an explosive athlete who can play multiple positions and is a gritty competitor for his coaches, Keith Zalaski of the Rivers School and Todd Quarles with Expression Elite,” Wright said in a statement.
Cosby-Roundtree plays his high school hoops in Philly. He helped lead Neumann-Goretti High School to a PIAA Class AAA state championship last year. He’s ranked a four-star recruit by ESPN.com and Scout.com and is ranked the No. 85 recruit in the Class of 2017 by Rivals.com.
He verbally committed to Villanova in April, choosing the Wildcats over schools like Temple, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Providence.
“Dhamir is a winner who has been a part of numerous city and state championship teams playing for Carl Arrigale at Neumann Goretti High School,” Wright said. “We have also seen him excel for Team Final and Coach Rob Brown on the EYBL circuit. This is a talented young man on the court and in the classroom who will be a major contributor to our program.”
Temple names three captains
Temple head coach Fran Dunphy named redshirt senior guard/forward Daniel Dingle, senior guard Josh Brown and senior forward Mark Williams as the Owls' captains for the 2016-17 season on Tuesday.
Brown’s status to start the season is uncertain after he injured his Achilles tendon in May. He was the team’s starting point guard last season and ranked in the top 10 of Division I with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Dingle has played in 69 games over the past two seasons. He averaged 4.4 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game last year. He scored 14 points in Temple’s win over then-unbeaten Southern Methodist last season.
Williams has averaged 3.8 points per game in 92 career games.
"These young men have been with the program their entire careers and each provides a different leadership style that will bode well for our success," Dunphy said in a statement. "They are all quality individuals who lead by example, on and off the court."