Sharks circling on official visits

Few coaches are any busier than Butch Estes right now. The Miami-Dade coach has four players making official visits this weekend and things should be hot and heavy on their recruiting through the signing period which opens on Wednesday.

"I have Stuard Baldonado going to Duquesne, Calvin Henry going to Campbell, Joel Davila going to Savannah State, and one commitment, Gabriel Lazo, going to Berry University," Estes said of the upcoming weekend. "He could have gone to some D1's, but it was just a close to home deal."

Of that group, Baldonado is by far the most heavily recruited. In fact, Estes said he is probably the most heavily recruited player the Sharks have ever had.

"He has been to Hofstra, Oregon State, he's going to Duquesne, he's going to UTEP on the 21st and 22nd and the fifth visit is yet to be decided," Estes said of Baldonado. "There have been several--Minnesota, Marquette, Georgia and Kansas State hovering. Georgia has dropped out, but we're now hovering with those other three."

Estes said Marquette, K-State and Minnesota have all shown interest in bringing Baldonado in for a visit, but none have set one up just yet.

Henry, meanwhile, has three schools on his list: George Washington, Campbell and Mercer. However, he does not necessarily have to go anywhere.

"He came qualified. He went to FAMU originally and redshirted, then he came to us as a freshman and a qualifier," Estes said of the 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing. "We'll see at the end of those three visits if that's the level he wants to play or if he wants to come back for another year."

The most talented player at MDC might actually be in the Class of 2007. 5-foot-11 point guard Freddy Little led the Sharks to a 25-and-7 mark this season.

"He's gonna be recruited by everybody in the world," said the coach. "He might be, at least at this point, the highest recruited player we've had down here including Baldonado. He's starting to get ACC attention. There are no offers yet, they're just hovering and looking."

Doesn't look like things will slow down for Estes anytime soon.