Explorer recruiting history 1995-1999

Part II of a multi-part series focusing on the recruiting history of La Salle University basketball looks at the recruiting classes 1995-1999 under former Explorer coach Speedy Morris. Included are two, 2,000- point scorers and 11 recruits who never made it through their eligibility at La Salle.

Part II of the recruiting history of La Salle University looks at an era that brought La Salle fans Donnie Carr and current NBA player Rasual Butler but also recruits such as Jermaine Peebles and Victor Carter who never made it to La Salle or left the university before completing their four years. This era was probably the most tumultuous and responsible for the fall of the basketball program. 20 recruited players and only 9 of those players completed their eligibility at La Salle. Hit with academic casualties and transfers in a very strong A-10 conference at that time it would take several years for La Salle to recover from this period. Feast or famine is the best way to describe the recruiting success of this era.

1999 Class: Recruited by Speedy Morris
Victor Carter 6”8 F – Harlingen Marine Military Academy, Harlingen, TX
Dwayne Jones 6”4 G – Westwood School, Mississauga, Ont.
Aleksandar Pavlovic 6”7 F – Archbishop Spaulding HS

Class Notes:
Carter never made it into La Salle. He would later end up at North Carolina A&T and made little impact. Interesting tidbit here was that Speedy actually could have had Joe Williams, who ended up at Austin Peay, instead of Carter. Williams had a pretty good career at APU. Jones played four years at La Salle in a reserve role. Pavlovic ended up transferring to Shippensburg.

1998 Class: Recruited by Speedy Morris
John Ashmore 6”5 F – West Catholic HS
Julian Blanks 6”2 G – Erie Cathedral Prep
Rasual Butler 6”7 F – Roman Catholic HS
Bobby Collins 6”10 C – Monroe Junior College
Deon Jones 5”7 F – Christopher Robin HS. NYC
Rashime Middleton 6”2 G – St. John Neumann HS
Jermaine Peebles 6”8 F – Dudley HS, Dudley, NC

Class Notes:
1998 class was a huge one with seven recruits as Speedy scrambled to get commitments from Blanks, Jones, and Peebles once he found out Ashmore and Middleton would not qualify. This class was filled with academic casualties as Ashmore and Middleton would never make it into La Salle and Collins, Jones, and Peebles would all leave the school with academic issues at mid-semester. The last two recruits, Blanks and Butler would make their mark on the La Salle history books. Blanks would finish his career second behind Doug Overton in assists in La Salle history. Butler would leave as the 4th leading scorer in school history with 2,125 points.

1997 Class: Recruited by Speedy Morris
Garrett Bragg 6”11 C – Spanish River HS, Boca Raton, FL
Sid Catlet 6”2 G – Fork Union Military Academy
James Jordan 6”9 F – Redemption Christian Academy, Troy, NY
Victor Thomas 6”7 F – St. John Neumann HS
K’Zell Wesson 6”7 F – Eastern Utah Junior College
Anwar Wilson 6”7 F – John F. Kennedy HS, NYC

Class Notes:
This class was one of the more successful in this era. Thomas and Wesson were both solid A-10 players with Thomas scoring over 1,000 points in his career. Bragg, Jordan and Wilson played reserve roles for the program even if under-performing for various reasons. Sid Catlett left the program shortly after arriving on campus..

1996 Class: Recruited by Speedy Morris
Ronnie Braxton 6”2 G – Huntsville HS, Huntsville, AL
Donnie Carr 6”3 G – Roman Catholic HS
Travar Johnson 6”8 F – Transfer from Marshall
Hobert Robinson 6”6 F – McCallum HS, Austin, TX

Class Notes:
Billed in the summer as a possible La Salle “Fab 5”recruiting class. It was speculated to include Kobe Bryant(Father Joe was an assistant), Richard Hamilton, Donnie Carr, and LaRon Cephas. As everyone knows, it never materialized. Only Carr would end up at La Salle. He would have a fine career scoring over 2,000 point while garnering La Salle’s first ever A-10 Rookie of the year award. Braxton and Johnson would both leave La Salle early while Robinson never made it on to campus.

1995 Class: Recruited by Speedy Morris
No recruits signed.
Class Notes:
This class included the Lari Ketner fiasco. Ketner, a 6”10 center from Roman Catholic HS, was recruited hard by Morris. He verbally committed to La Salle in the spring but took his recruiting trips to UMass and Maryland in addition to La Salle. While on his trip to UMass he signed a LOI with the Minutemen but did not tell La Salle or Maryland while visiting their respective campuses. Only at the Atlantic 10 AD meetings did Morris find out that Ketner signed his LOI with UMass. This saga would be a hot topic for several years before eventually burning out. La Salle did try late to recruit 6"7 Leo Murray in this class after originally telling him they were only going to sign Ketner. Once Ketner chose UMass they turned to Murray who would finally sign with Xavier.

Our next edition we will focus on the recruiting history from 1990-1994. An era that saw La Salle go from the MAAC to the MCC.