ruffin commits to coppin state

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Lemar Ruffin Commits
To Coppin State--(Nov. 6 1999)

Lemar Ruffin (6'-7" Sr. SF/PF) from Murietta Valley has committed to Coppin State College in Maryland. We learned of the commitment from two sources: A telephone call from Lonnie Carlyle, one of his IEBP coaches (who is also the father of Jacqay Carlyle, who is prepping this year at Holdernes Academy on the East Coast), and from a very nice letter from Lemar's father, Ulysses Ruffin. We won't print the entire e-mail, but portions of it are worh sharing:

Lemar visited Coppin State College in Maryland last weekend, and was impressed with head coach Fang Mitchell's program. Lemar verbally committed last Sunday. Coppin State is a D-I university that plays high D-I competition during the preseason. This year they play St. Johns and Syracuse in New York, and then travel to Auburn, Marquette, Iona, and Purdue. Coppin State has been to the NCAA Tournament three times and the NIT twice in the last seven years. They have dominated the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) in recent years. Fang Mitchell has developed a strong reputation on the East Coast as a premier head coach known for getting the best out of his players. Academically they are a small school with a student to teacher ratio of 25 to 30 students per teacher. This creates a greater opportunity to interact with teachers and be involved in a family type atmosphere.

During the campus visit, Lemar was really impressed with the facilities. The players were friendly and the coaching staff really went out of their way to make him feel very special. My wife and I found coach Mitchell and coach Dubose to be honest people that care for the kids in their program. They were very sincere and straightforward on every issue, and we appreciated that.

Coppin State provides Lemar with the opportunity to play against the top schools in the country, a chance to play in the NCAA and the NIT as well as get a quality education. As parents we feel this is a great situation for our son.

I want to thank SoCal Hoops, because your coverage of Southern California basketball introduces kids like Lamar to East Coast coaches and helps make cross-country recruiting of these kids possible. I also want to thank coach Lonnie Carlyle of IEBP for working individually with Lemar this summer. Under Lonnie's tutelage, Lemar became a better rebounder and learned to take better shots. He may have scored fewer points, but he became a better player. Thanks Lonnie.

We saw the Coppin State coaches at the Double Pump Fall Premier, and talked with them briefly, and while we didn't know exactly who in particular they were out looking at, it's nice to know that another young man from SoCal will get the chance to play college ball and get a college education. Congratulations to Lemar and his family, and to Coppin State on picking up a great player.