Duke, Villanova, the ‘big boys,’ recruiting Joseph Girard III

With 16 Division One basketball scholarship offers already in hand, the ante is being upped for Glens Falls High School basketball phenom Joseph Girard III.

“More of the big boys are getting involved now,” his father, Joe Jr., told The Chronicle.

“Duke assistant coach Jon Scheyer was texting Joseph as we drove home Saturday after making an unofficial recruiting visit to Syracuse to watch the SU-Notre Dame game. Villanova is still involved. We’ve heard from USC, Stanford, Butler assistant coach Jeff Meyer just called, Ohio State, UConn, Louisville. For basketball, coaches can contact him directly.”

“It’s kind of surreal to hear from Duke,” Joseph said. “To know that Duke knows who you are is pretty amazing.”

At the Syracuse game, Girard said former SU great Gerry McNamara, now an assistant to Coach Jim Boeheim, “talked to us for about 15 minutes before the game, and after we went into the locker room and then talked to Coach Boeheim.

Joseph Girard III

“Coach Boeheim said he knows I could play there and be like G-Mac and get the Dome going again,” said Joseph.

His father said Syracuse, and many top Division I programs, “are trying to figure out who they have coming back and sorting out roster spots for 2019 now.”

Through nine games for Glens Falls, Girard was averaging 48.3 points a game and stood ninth all-time in New York State with a career 2,592 points. He’s on pace to shatter Lance Stephenson’s state record of 2,946 points later this season.

“The season Joseph is having in basketball is intensifying the interest in him,” says his dad, who is overseeing the recruiting process. Joseph is only a junior.

Schools that have already offered him full basketball scholarships are: High Point, UAlbany, George Washington, Siena, Penn State, Tulane, Vermont, BYU, UMass, St. John’s, Marist, Washington, St. Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Middle Tennessee State and Boston College.

Other schools in contact are Michigan, Davidson, Miami (Fla.), Colgate, Princeton, Penn, Fordham, Notre Dame, Fairfield, Colorado, Elon, Holy Cross, Rice, Northwestern, Dayton, Marquette, Harvard, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Xavier, Joe Girard Jr. said. — Gordon Woodworth

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