Talented Prospects List Harvard Among Top Choices

Tommy Amaker has put together a number of strong recruiting classes during his five years as the Harvard men’s basketball coach.

But there’s a chance the members of the future Crimson class of 2017 could put them all to shame.

On Monday, national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels reported that Stephen Domingo—the No. 28-ranked recruit in the class of 2013 by ESPN.com—has narrowed his list of colleges to four: Stanford, Washington, Georgetown, and Harvard.

Domingo, a 6’7” wing with a sweet shooting stroke, was one of eight prospects to visit Cambridge this past fall.

Another four-star prospect from the high school class of 2013 has kept Harvard on his short list as well.

Nigel Williams-Goss, a shooting guard ranked No. 68 in his class by ESPN.com, told National Recruiting Spotlight on Saturday that Washington and Harvard were his two leaders.

If either Domingo or Williams-Goss were to pick the Crimson, he would be the highest rated prospect ever to select Amaker’s Harvard squad.

That honor currently goes to Zena Edosomwan. An athletic power forward ranked in the top 100 by Scout.com, Edosomwan turned down offers from UCLA and USC to pick the Crimson and will arrive in Cambridge in the fall of 2013.

Edosomwan could be joined in the Class of 2017’s frontcourt by 6’8” forward Alex Foster. ESPN.com’s 31st ranked power forward in the high school class of 2013, Foster visited Harvard this past fall along with Domingo and Edosomwan.

During the visit, Foster tweeted, “Looks like I know where I’m going for college.”

And in April, he announced that he will “most likely” commit to the Crimson over Tennessee, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota if he receives the necessary scores on his ACT.

But as Amaker has learned the hard way, that can be a big “if.”

Four-star prospect Pe’Shon Howard, a member of the high school class of 2010, told Sports Illustrated in 2009, “If the admission office clears me, I’m going to Harvard.”

But things didn’t work out for Howard, and the shooting guard ended up at Maryland.

The Crimson has had a number of other close calls as well. Top-100 prospects Rod Odom, Dwight Powell, and Andre Hollins all had the Crimson among their final choices. But the trio ended up going elsewhere, settling on Vanderbilt, Stanford, and Minnesota, respectively.

But if the Crimson can get Domingo, Williams-Goss, and Foster to join Edosomwan in the Class of 2017, it will make those near misses a whole lot easier to forget.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.