MarkMiller

Saint Louis got a good one today in Kwamain. He absolutely gives 100 percent each and every time he hits the floor, practice or games. Under-rated nationally, IMO. Great kid as well.

Story now up on www.wishoops.net. Here it is since most of you are probably not subscribers to our site ... Headline: Dominican's Mitchell gives verbal commitment to attend Saint Louis Story ... By Mark Miller Wishoops.net Editor The chance to play for Rick Majerus and join what is shaping up as a banner recruiting class at Saint Louis University was simply too much to pass up for Whitefish Bay Dominican senior Kwamain Mitchell. Mitchell called Majerus Wednesday afternoon and gave a verbal commitment to play for the upstart Billikens. The 6-foot-0 Mitchell, currently ranked No. 2 in the state’s class of 2008 by Wishoops.net, joins 6-11 Brett Thompson of Vienna, Ill., and 6-11 Willie Reed of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, in the first recruiting class for Majerus at Saint Louis, a member of the Atlantic Ten Conference. “It basically came down to a couple of things,†Mitchell said. “No. 1 was the chance to play for coach Majerus. When I visited Saint Louis, he was a very nice guy who communicated very well. I want to be a part of what he is building at Saint Louis. “No. 2 was the strong academics at the school. Saint Louis University is known for outstanding academics and that was important to me.†A 3.0 student who earned first-team all-Midwest Classic Conference honors last season, Mitchell is an extremely quick lead guard who selected Saint Louis over scholarship offers from Loyola of Chicago, Miamia (Fla.), Northern Iowa, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee, along with recent interest from Marquette, Minnesota and Utah. “The fact Saint Louis will have a new facility to play in was important,†Mitchell said. “It’s nice to be finished with the recruiting.†Mitchell is the latest in a long line of outstanding players to play for Coach Paul Wollersheim at Dominican. Other NCAA Division I players who played for Wollersheim at Dominican include Andy Kowske (Wisconsin), Ray Nixon (Wisconsin), J.R. Blount (Loyola), Thomas Hill (Maine) and Derrick Wimmer (Chicago State and UW-Milwaukee). “Kwamain is as athletic and as quick as any kid I’ve coached,†Wollersheim said. “He has a very good basketball I.Q. He’s very instinctive about the game.†Wollersheim watched Mitchell pour in 33 points against three-time defending WIAA state champion Racine St. Catherine’s in a summer league game Tuesday evening and came away just shaking his head in disbelief at the improvement of Mitchell, even since the end of the 2006-07 season last March. “Kwamain was just unbelievable yesterday,†Wollersheim said. “He just made big shot after big shot. He wanted the ball and finished things off for us. He wasn’t going to let us lose that game. “Coach Majerus was very excited when I spoke with him today. Majerus’ words were he would hand over the keys of the car to Kwamain for the next four years.†Mitchell enjoyed a very strong spring showing on the national AAU scene while competing for the Wisconsin Playground Warriors 17U squad coached by Larry Balestreri. In several head-to-head matchups against point guards headed to high-major NCAA Division I schools, Mitchell more than held his own and was, in fact, quicker than the vast majority of his opponents. "I thought Kwamain consistently outplayed his competition at the point-guard position, both offensively and defensively. The fact we won a lot of those games with less talent is a tribute to Kwamain and the way he ran our team. "This is a great opportunity for Kwamain. Coach Majerus said from the start that Kwamain was his guy. He said Kwamain would get a lot of playing time, even as a freshman. He gets to play for one of the best coaches in college basketball." Mitchell, senior J.D. Wise and junior Jerrel Harris form a solid returning nucleus for Dominican, which figures to again rank among the premier Division 3 schools in Wisconsin in 2007-08.

Kwamain enjoyed his visit and has Saint Louis as his top school ... for now. The Saint Louis coaches pressed a bit for a commitment, but Kwamain plans to wait. Others, including hometown Marquette, are getting involved. Just a hunch, but if Marquette were to offer, I think he'd pick the Golden Eagles and the Big East.

Kwamain Mitchell, a 6-0 PG from the class of 2008 who attends Whitefish Bay Dominican in the Milwaukee area, plans to take an unofficial visit to Saint Louis University on Thursday. Rick Majerus offered Mitchell a scholarship about two weeks ago.

Rick and Porter have good connections in Wisconsin, but truth be told, it will be difficult for Saint Louis to get a player out of the state that is also wanted by Marquette and/or Wisconsin. In Kwamain's case, UW took Taylor and in Marquette's case, they are looking for a guard with a bit more size (Iman Shumpert, for example).

I am. I forgot it was a premium article. Here it is ... By Mark Miller Wishoops.net Editor The recruitment of Whitefish Bay Dominican junior Kwamain Mitchell continues to gain momentum after he turned in a very strong performance last weekend at the Howard Pulley Tournament in Bloomington, Minnesota. The 6-foot-0 Mitchell, currently ranked No. 2 among state prospects in the class of 2008 by Wishoops.net, played exceptionally well in leading the Wisconsin Playground Warriors 17U team to a spot in the semifinals of the Pulley Tournament. In a head-to-head matchup against University of Wisconsin recruit Jordan Taylor, a 6-1 point guard from Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School in St. Louis Park, Minn., Mitchell finished with 24 points and eight assists. However, Taylor’s Howard Pulley team managed a 60-57 victory and then went on to capture the tournament championship. “Kwamain was very impressive throughout the entire tournament, but especially against Taylor and Howard Pulley,†said Ryan James, a writer for Gopher Illustrated who watched Mitchell several times last weekend. “He did an excellent job of playing defense on Taylor, and he got by him repeatedly with his quickness. I was very impressed with Mitchell. He seems to have another gear in terms of getting past people.†Mitchell received a scholarship offer late last week from new Saint Louis University coach Rick Majerus, and he may opt to visit the Atlantic Ten Conference school as early as this weekend. Loyola of Chicago and the University of Northern Iowa also remain in the thick of the recruiting race for Mitchell.

Photo and story on Saint Louis prospect Kwamain Mitchell up on www.wishoops.net