By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

There appears to be some confusion over whether former Woonsocket High hoopster Michael LaPlante has verbally committed to the University of Rhode Island. People within the Woonsocket hoops community seem to think he has. Mike Hart, who coaches the St. Andrew’s School team that LaPlante now plays for, says the recruiting process is not complete. And LaPlante isn’t returning phone calls.
Here’s what Mike Hart said on Tuesday:
“URI still wants to evaluate Michael one more time. A year ago, they offered Michael a scholarship but things have changed a little bit since then. URI is now almost a Top 25 program.”
Until a recruit signs on the dotted line, nothing is firm. Verbal commitments are only a sign of interest by one side or the other. The player who verbally commits can change his mind and so can the school. Both sides go in knowing the parameters.
URI coach Jim Baron first saw LaPlante during his sophomore year at Woonsocket when the Novans battled Bishop Hendricken, which was led by Baron’s younger son, Billy. The Rams have kept tabs on LaPlante for the past two winters at St. Andrew’s.
LaPlante is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard/small forward for St. Andrew’s who averages around 10 points per game.
“Michael is doing okay,” Hart said. “He has a huge course load this semester and it is wearing him down a little bit. He has been playing well. Michael has improved in all areas of his game – handling the ball, shooting and he’s great on defense. He’s a legitimate Division I player.”
Hart says other Division I colleges have shown strong interest in LaPlante. He mentioned Florida Atlantic, Quinnipiac and Central Connecticut State as three schools that are in deep. That’s a big falloff from the University of Rhode Island’s program but it is a full college scholarship.
Recruiting is a high stakes game that breaks a few hearts along the way. URI’s program currently is one step below the elite powers but a breakthrough campaign and a solid showing in the NCAA Tournament can open a lot of eyes.
LaPlante is just a junior, having repeated his sophomore year when he enrolled at St. Andrew’s. The kid is still on the right track, getting the kind of academic foundation that will serve him well in the rest of his life, long after his basketball career is over.
LaPlante’s story is one that all high school players with college potential must consider. The most important thing they can do is establish a firm academic foundation during their high school careers. That’s what Michael LaPlante has done.
What happens next is something LaPlante cannot control. URI holds the leverage and if it chooses an out-of-state player over the in-state product, well, it won’t be the first time. And if LaPlante decides he might be better off somewhere else, that’s his option, too.
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One of the big secrets in Pawtucket high school basketball these days is the emergence of two young point guards who possess what the scouting gurus like to call “high upside.”
Tolman High sophomore Rodney Bustillo and St. Raphael Academy freshman Charles Correa are similar players. Both are around 5-foot-9, give or take an inch. They possess impressive ball-handling skills. Tolman coach Mike Kayata says Bustillo has the best “handle” in Division II.
Correa, who joined the Saints’ varsity midway through the season, might be the better athlete, possessing an uncanny ability to start and stop his dribble. He’s an ankle-breaker for opposing defenders to cover.
SRA freshman coach George Patrick Duffy, who has been around the block a few times, has high praise for Correa. He also offers a cautioning note.
“I’ve been coaching for 70 years,” Duffy, who is 90 years young, said on Tuesday. “Charles is one of the best young players I’ve ever seen. But he needs to bear down on his grades in school.”
Duffy says Correa has excellent penetration skills and an innate ability to hit his teammates with passes at just the right moment. Correa is not the best player on his varsity team at the moment, nor is he among the best point guards in Division I. He is a 14-year-old freshman trying to match up against Division I guards two and three years older than himself. In high school years, that is an eternity.
Bustillo and his Tolman teammates are one of the best secrets in town. It is a shame that their gymnasium is only half-filled for home games because this team deserves more attention. Maybe that’s the fault of this newspaper for not spreading the news about both Tolman and Shea’s varsity teams, which are running neck-and-neck for the Division II-North lead as the regular season heads into its final month.
So here’s some advice for sports fans who enjoy quality high school hoops: take two hours out of your life and go see Tolman and Shea play their home games this month and next month when the playoffs begin. And by all means try to attend the Feb. 12 meeting between the two city schools at Tolman’s gym.
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I’d be remiss for not mentioning that both city teams would be better off playing their home games on bigger floors. We all know how old and small the Tolman and Shea gyms are. The basketball courts are 10 feet shorter and maybe eight feet narrower than regulation floors. And that changes the way the game is played. It’s tough for fast-break teams to step up the pace because the short floor allows defenders to get back faster. The player heading to the basket runs out of room faster and cannot glide to the hoop. If you glide, you end up eating wall at both gyms.
Tolman’s gym can seat 602 people, according to fire zoning limits, and athletic director John Scanlon says “we have never had to turn away people from a game.”
Scanlon does advise fans to “come early” for the Feb. 12 meeting between Shea and Tolman’s boys basketball teams.