By Brandon Davis

The U of L basketball program announced it’s 2009 recruiting class last week, signing four players- Peyton Siva, Rakeem Buckles, Mike Marra and Steven Van Treese-during the early signing period that started last week.
“All four young men have terrific potential to be outstanding college basketball players and they’re also terrific young men who have a strong desire for an education,” Rick Pitino, U of L head coach, said.
Coaches are not allowed to comment on recruits until they are committed, so last week was Pitino’s first opportunity to talk about the players that will be on campus next year.
Though the four players U of L signed are not ranked in the top 30 by most recruiting analysts, the class is rated as high as No. 10 by Rivals.com collectively. Pitino was quick to sing the praises of this new class. 
“I couldn’t tell you which one will be the best player by the time their senior year comes around,” Pitino said. “It’s an outstanding class. They’re all very well-coached and play on good high school teams, and they’re all championship driven.”
Pitino said Peyton Siva, a point guard out of Seattle Franklin, is the most ready to contribute early.
Siva (6-foot, 180 pounds) is rated among the top 50 in the country according to most analysts and averaged 21.1 points, 6.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game as a junior.
“Peyton is very, very explosive,” Pitino said. “At six-feet, he does things from a jumping stand point that you don’t see many six foot guys do.”
Marra (6-4, 200 pounds) received high praise from Pitino for his tremendous shooting ability.
“Mike is probably the best high school shooter I’ve ever seen in over 30 years of coaching,” Pitino said. “Not only does he have great range, but he get’s it off quickly. He’s a good athlete who will need to work on his defense and ball-handling ability. The NBA three-point line is a very comfortable shot for him.”
Marra is ranked among the top 50 shooting guards in the nation by ESPN.com.
Buckles is considered by many recruiting analysts across the country as a sleeper of the 2009 class. Ranked No. 40 according to Rivals.com, many believe he (6-8, 200 pounds) has the potential to be a tremendous force in college basketball as a power forward.
“He’s very, very quick and athletic,” Pitino said. “He puts the ball on the floor well and creates things; good shot blocker, good rebounder. If he was in New York City he would be blown up all over the country.”
Van Treese, from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, was the latest commitment Pitino received for the 2009 season. Averaging 11.6 points and 9.7 boards a game as a junior for Lawrence North, which is ranked 23rd nationally in the ESPN RISE Fab 50 Boys Basketball rankings,
Van Treese (6-9, 220 pounds) will bring a rough style of play to the Cards front line that will suit the style of play in the Big East.
“(Van Treese) is a young man who I think has great upside,” Pitino said. “He’s strong; he’s tough; he’s a blue collar worker, who brings it every single day. He’s also very passionate about the game.”
“This class falls in line with exactly what we want to build character wise as well as young men that are really passionate about the game of basketball and want to reach their potential, Pitino said. “So we’re very excited. This is three classes in a row that are extremely strong. Obviously we’ve got to keep the ball rolling and we will.”