SCOOP OF THE DAY

FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2001

Previous SCOOP'S OF THE DAY available by month - October 1997 November 1997 December 1997 January 1998 February 1998 March 1998 April 1998 May 1998 June 1998 July 1998 August 1998 September 1998 October 1998 November 1998 December 1998 January 1999 February 1999 March 1999 April 1999 May 1999 June 1999 July 1999 August 1999 September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000 February 2000 March 2000 April 2000 May 2000 June 2000 July 2000 August 2000 September 2000 October 2000 November 2000 December 2000 January 2001 February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The Scoop of the Day provides you with only part of the recruiting information that we have obtained on a daily basis. Everything else can be found in the Members Section of HOOP SCOOP Online, but it is available only via subscription.   So get your Visa or MasterCard ready and click on Subscribe. 

Saturday, September 29, 2001 and Sunday, September 30, 2001 - For a number of years Slam Dunk to the Beach in Lewes, DE and the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, SC have been the places to be right after Christmas, if you want to see the best high school basketball in the nation.  And they still are!  However, it looks like Hal Pastner of Vision Sports will also join that elite group with the inaugural Academy Sports Holiday National Championship, which will be Houston, TX, December 26th-29th, and is being presented by NIKE.  As a matter of fact, Pastner's event, which will feature an elite field of eight teams comprising a National Division and a field of eight Texas teams playing simultaneously in an 8-team Texas Division, promises to be the premier event in the nation this winter.  We are talking about seeing the nation's top two teams in Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, as well as New York (Rice) NY, Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, Louisville (Male) KY, Midwest City (H.S.) OK, Concord (DeLaSalle) CA, and Beaumont (Ozen) TX in the National Division and Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, Texas City (H.S.) TX, Sugar Land (Clements) TX, Houston (Aldine Nimitz) TX, Houston (Westfield) TX, Houston (Cy Springs) TX, and Houston (Eisenhower) TX in the Texas Division.  We also will see two of the top five seniors in the nation in 6'7 Carmelo Anthony from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked as the #1 senior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, as well as 6'11 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, who is the #2 junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.  The tournament also will feature a number of other players who are ranked among the top 100 nationally in their class, including 6'10 Sani Ibrahim from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'1 Chadd Moore from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'1 Justin Gray from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'4 Hassan Adams from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'7 Jr Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'3 Brandon Heath from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'4 DeAngelo Alexander from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, 6'3 Jr Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 7'3 Jr Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Soph Arturo Dubois from New York (Rice) NY, 6'3 Soph Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, 6'11 Jr Grant Billmeier from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'1 Jr Michael Nardi from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'10 Jr Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'4 Cedrick Hensley from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'6 Soph Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, and 5'11 Frosh David Devezin from Sugar Land (Clements) TX.  Others to watch include 6'8 Antywane Robinson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'2 Eric Watkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'5 Richard Joyce from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Jr Keena Young from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'7 LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'0 Jason Wingate from New York (Rice) NY, 5'9 Keydren Clark from New York (Rice) NY, 6'4 Lamar Hurd from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'6 Tim Mayes from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'7 Marlon Pompey from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'10 Jr Elijah Miller from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'7 Jr Cartier Martin from Houston (Aldine Nimitz) TX, 6'6 Kenneth Henderson from Houston (Westfield) TX, and 6'6 Zach Parker from Houston (Eisenhower) TX.  The tournament will be held at the Campbell Center, which a state-of-the-art facility with 4,900 seats located near Houston's Intercontinental Airport.  A first round game will be played on Wednesday evening, December 26th, followed by seven more first round games on December 27th, eight games on December 28th, and 1st through 8th place games for both divisions taking place on December 29th.    And I plan on being there on the final day!  For more information, contact Hal Pastner at 1-866-866-6400. 

Friday, September 28, 2001 - The job that Larry Eustachy has done at Iowa State the last two years has been absolutely amazing, but the best appears to be yet to come, as the Cyclones are currently in the process of reloading.  If you will recall, the Iowa State got an early commitment several years ago form 6'4 Adam Haluska from Carroll (Community) IA and earlier this fall they landed 6'10 Jackson Vroman from Snow (JC) UT and 7'1 Chris Alexander from Indian Hills (JC) IA.  The commitment by Alexander is especially interesting, because it comes on the heels of Eustachy hiring former DePaul and Loyola-Chicago assistant coach Lance Irvin.     Remember, Alexander played on the Illinois Fire AAU team for Irvin's father Mac Irvin.  And now it looks like Irvin has used his strong Illinois-based ties once again to help the Cyclones get another player from the Land of Lincoln.   However, that isn't the case according to Todd Franklin, who is the head coach at Southeastern (JC) IL.  "Really it was a team effort," says Franklin.   "Bob Sundvold and Randy Brown did a great job of laying the groundwork early and Eustachy did most of the work in the end." The player we're talking about is 6'0 Tim Barnes from Southeastern (JC) IL and he is ranked as the #1 point guard in the junior college ranks by Rick Ball.  In addition to having landed two excellent inside players (Alexander an Vroman), a terrific wing player (Haluska), and an outstanding point guard (Barnes), we also suddenly find Iowa State's recruiting class ranked among our top five on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Actually it is tied at #4 with Memphis behind Duke, Florida, and Illinois and ahead of Purdue, Louisville, Syracuse, Xavier, Iowa, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Villanova, Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska, UNC-Charlotte, Oklahoma, and Marquette.  And that's the order, but obviously it will continue to change daily as commitments come in between now and the beginning of the fall signing period, which traditionally begins on the second Wednesday in November (this year that date is November 14th).

Thursday, September 27, 2001 - I am really not too excited about all the hoopla regarding whether Michael Jordan comes out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards this season.  However, I do like the fact that Jordan plans to donate his entire first year salary to the charities that are helping the victims and their families in the World Trade Center disaster.  This is just one more great example of why Jordan is one of the most popular sports figures all of time, as well as one of the best role models our nation has today.  And hopefully other big name athletes will follow Jordan's example.  In addition to giving to charities, it also might be a good idea for some of these multi-millionaires to start thinking about giving back to the grassroots, which in many cases helped get them where they are today.  But it may be too late to help the Glaxo-Welcome Holiday Tournament in Raleigh, NC, which appears to be losing one of its primary sponsors (Midway Airlines).  As a result, schools Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, and Marion (Tabor Academy) MA may have no tournament to play in the week after Christmas.  Bobby Jacobs, the executive director of Slam Dunk to the Beach, tells us that his phone has been ringing off the hook today, but his tournament is full, unless Marrero (John Ehret) LA, which recently lost a number of its players, including 6'6 Derek Burditt, drops out of the field.   Jacobs would like to take Tabor Academy and put them in the Slam Dunk to the Beach bracket, along with Bronx (All Hallows) NY, Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, Memphis (East) TN, Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, Inglewood (H.S.) CA, and Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA.  Jacobs also has Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, which features 6'6 Jr LaBron James and will be one of the top two or three high school teams in the nation, in his tournament, but they can't play in the big bracket due to restrictions by their state association on the number of games they can play during the season.  In other words, St. Vincent-St. Mary can only play in two games in Delaware.  The rest of the tournament is also loaded with incredible talent, despite the fact, that the NIKE Sponsored Tournament in Beaumont, TX has four teams - Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, New York (Rice) NY, Midwest City (H.S.) OK, and Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ - that were originally committed to play at Slam Dunk to the Beach.  The rest of the Slam Dunk to the Beach field includes Amityville (H.S.) NY, Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, Radnor (Archbishop Carroll) PA, Severn (Archbishop Spaulding) MD, Atlantic City (H.S.) NJ, Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, Wilmington (Bradywine) DC, Potomac (Bullis) MD, Lewes (Cape Henelopen) DE, Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, Charlestown (H.S.) MA, Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, Dublin (Coffman) OH, Newtown (Council Rock) PA, Horsham (Hatboro-Horsham) PA, Newark (Vocational Tech) DE, Absecon (Holy Spirit) NJ, Cape May Court House (Middle Township) NJ, Milford (H.S.) DE, Oxon Hill (H.S.) MD, Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA, Cincinnati (Roger Bacon) OH, Richland (St. Augustine) NJ, Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, Wilmington (St. Elizabeth) DE, Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, Hockessin (Sanford) DE, Washington (Spingarn) DC, Stroud (H.S.) OK, Towson (Catholic) MD, Camp Hill (Trinity) PA, Troy (H.S.) OH, and Cincinnati (Winton Woods) OH.

Wednesday, September 26, 2001 - Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'5 DeForrest Riley from Cincinnati (Winton Woods) OH has made a verbal commitment to Penn State.  Johnson also tells us that Riley will be the #2-ranked player in the state when he updates his Ohio rankings, which is expected to happen within the next 10 days.     However, we have a hard time believing Riley would be ranked ahead of 6'1 Chris Quinn from Dublin (Coffman) OH, 6'2 Robert Hite from Cincinnati (Winton Woods) OH, and 6'5 Alex Carmona from Troy (H.S.) OH, all of whom are ranked in the 70-80 range in the senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.     But that doesn't mean that Riley, who combines athleticism and skills, isn't the jewel of Penn State's recruiting class.  If you will recall, the Nittany Lions also have received verbal commitments from 6'10 Robert Summers from Gahanna (Lincoln) OH and 6'0 Brandon Cameron from Gary (Westside) IN.    This is especially surprising, because in recent years the Penn State coaching staff has developed a reputation for taking players who were getting underrecruited and maximizing their talent and potential.  However, in this case, we're not sure if either player is good enough to play in the Mid-American Conference.   In other words, it might take a major miracle for the Nittany Lions to get back to the NCAA Sweet 16 if players like Summer and Cameron are getting quality minutes.   Johnson also is reporting that 6'4 Ron Lewis from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who is an absolute steal for Bowling Green, led All-Ohio Red to a 63-52 victory over the Grand Rapids Storm in the championship of the Ohio-Michigan Prep Spotlight Challenge in Toledo, OH over the weekend.  Lewis also was named the tournament MVP, but the big surprise of the tournament was 6'10 Jr Drew Neymick from Muskegon (North Muskegon) MI.  "Neymick reminds me of former USC center Brian Scalabrine," says Johnson.   "Neywick is a better athlete than Scalabrine, but he's not as strong.  At least not yet.  Neymick can step out and shoot the three, plus he's strong inside, as he uses his power game to beat you on the boards and score around the basket."

Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - Our Washington, DC Area Editor Steve Turner is confirming that 6'2 Johnny Gilchrist from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, who is ranked #57 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to the University of Maryland.  This comes as a major surprise to us, because Gilchrist failed to show on the Boo Williams team over the weekend at the Charlie Weber Invitational Tournament in College Park, MD.   Several people have raised the possibility that instead of playing in the tournament Gilchrist might have been making a visit to Maryland.  But if he did, his AAU coach Boo Williams didn't know about it.  As a matter of fact, I talked to Williams about this very matter and he didn't seem to be real pleased that Gilchrist hadn't made the trip.  Sure, Williams had 6'2 Jarrett Jack from Worcester (Academy) MA, but one another experienced guard in the backcourt to go along with 6'3 Soph Marquis Cooke from Suffolk (Nansemond River) VA and 6'2 Jr Robert McKiver from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC would have helped him go a long further in the tournament.  This moves Maryland's recruiting class into a tie at #13, along with Michigan State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date and we expect the Terrapins to move into the top five when they get 6'9 Travis Garrison from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD.   If you will recall, Maryland already has verbal commitments from 6'4 Chris McCray from Capital Heights (Fairmont Heights) MD and 6'7 Nik Caner-Medley from Portland (Deering) ME.  However, the commitment from 6'6 Cortez Davis, which they received last spring, didn't hold up.  Speaking of Davis, did you know that he has surfaced at the basketball factory that new head coach Chris Chaney is building at Laurinburg (Institute) NC?  Turner also tells us that Tim McKenna has gotten the head coach job at Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD.  Apparently it was a two-horse race between McKenna, who currently is the girls' coach at Good Counsel, and Steve Howes, who is still a teacher a Good Counsel.  Interestingly, both McKenna and Howes had a lot to do with the success of the program several years ago when they had Virginia's Roger Mason and George Washington's Chris Monroe.  Speaking of George Washington, Turner tells us that Colonials are pushing hard for 6'7 Ryan Lambert from Gaithersburg (Northwest) MD.  If you will recall, Lambert played extremely well over the weekend and, as a result, now deserves top 200 consideration in the senior class nationally.  Turner also tells us that the Gonzaga DC Classic at Gonzaga High School in Washington, DC, December 13th-15th, will be loaded.  The field includes Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, Washington (Gonzaga) DC, Alexandria (T.C. Williams) VA, Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, Miami (North Miami) FL, Briarwood (Archbishop Malloy) NY, and Roanoke (Catholic) VA.   

Monday, September 24, 2001 - Well, it looks like we knew what we were talking about several days ago when we told you that 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, was on the verge of making a verbal commitment to Georgia Tech.   Bosh is a shot blocking athlete with good offensive skills, incredible natural talent, and vast potential, but what makes this so huge is the fact that Bosh is the highest ranked senier in the nation who was still available.  He joins 6'2 Jarrett Jack from Worcester (Academy) MA, who committed to the Yellow Jackets last week, in a recruiting class that is now tied ranked #9 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'2 Jermaine Thomas from Frederick (Governor Thomas Johnson) MD has verbally committed to La Salle.  Thomas is best described as a combo guard, because what he does best is shoot the basketball.  However, he didn't grow enough nor did he develop the point guard skills necessary to get heavily recruited by schools in the ACC and Big East.  So first year Explorers head coach Billy Hahn was able to go back to his old stamping grounds (he was a long time assistant coach at Maryland) and get one of the top players in the area.  Rubin also tells us that 6'1 Will Holloman from Jacksonville (Wolfson) FL has verbally committed to the University of Richmond and our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson is reporting that William & Mary has a verbal commitment from 6'7 Jack Jenkins from Andover (Proctor Academy) NH.  Not only is this a steal for the Tribe (Jenkins is a legitimate top 200 senior nationally), but it gives head coach Rick Boyages and his staff the luxury of focusing exclusively on juniors and sophomores this winter.   If you will recall, William & Mary had an excellent recruiting class a year ago when they signed 6'0 Nick D'Antoni from Myrtle Beach (Socastee) SC, 6'10 Nathan Loehrke, from Mattawan (H.S.) MI, 6'9 Tom Viglianco from Huntsville (Jones) AL, and 6'8 Steve Sorenson from Hudson (Western Reserve) OH.  William & Mary also got an early commitment a year ago from Taylor Mokris from Charlotte (Providence Day) NC, plus they got 6'7 Adam Hess, who transferred last fall from Eastern Michigan, and 6'2 Brent Howell from Auburn (H.S.) AL, who signed with Eastern Kentucky a year ago, but recently decided to enroll at William & Mary, where he will be eligible beginning second semester this winter.  Johnson tells us that Boyages, who previously was the associate head coach at Ohio State, is now in the perfect position advantage of some of his old contacts, as 6'11 Jr Matt Lefeld from Coldwater (H.S.) OH, 6'11 Jr Josh Higgins from Vandalia (H.S.) OH, 6'9 Jr Mike Newman from Westerville (North) OH, and 6'2 Jr Kevin Anderson from Worthington (Thomas Worthington) OH are all prime early targets for the Tribe in next year's recruiting class. 

Sunday, September 23, 2001 - In addition to watching games non-stop Friday night and all day yesterday and today, we've also gotten recruiting information from some of the players in the tournament.  St. John's, Villanova, North Carolina, and Louisville are the final four for 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY,  Yes, Fraser confirms that Connecticut is out and Louisville is in.   However, the Huskies are the strong leader over Tennessee and Florida State for the services of 6'5 Rashad Anderson from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL.  Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, and LSU appear to be the early favorites for 6'10 Jr Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL.  Missouri, Kentucky, and Miami-FL are the final three for 6'10 Kevin Young from Homestead (Berkshire) FL.  St. Joseph's is a heavy favorite for 6'0 Dwayne Lee from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, but he also mentions Fairfield, Rhode Island, and Manhattan.  Tennessee appears to be way out in front for 6'4 John Winchester from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC.    As a matter of fact, Winchester is scheduled to make an official visit to Knoxville, TN next weekend.  Winchester also has already set up a visit to Miami-FL for the following weekend, plus he's also still considering West Virginia, Boston College, St. Joseph's, Texas, and Massachusetts.  Boston College, George Washington, Cleveland State, Richmond, and Massachusetts are among those showing the most interest in 6'8 Nana Menshah-Bensu from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ and 6'6 Michael Blackshear from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA appears to have it narrowed to Temple, UNC-Greensboro, and Towson.  La Salle, St. Joseph's, Richmond, and Temple are the early leaders for 6'11 Jr Aaron Gray from Emmaus (H.S.) PA. 

Saturday, September 22, 2001 - It comes as no surprise that some of the players we were hoping to see at the Charlie Weber Invitational Tournament this weekend in College Park, MD have failed to show.  But one player we thought sure we'd see was 6'2 Johnny Gilchrist from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, whose final three schools are Maryland, Georgetown, and N.C. State.  Gilchrist's absence is especially not a good sign for the University of Maryland, but it also probably doesn't bold well for Georgetown.   As a matter of fact, another player we wanted to see - 5'11 Jr Ben Luber from Newtown (Council Rock) PA - missed his game this morning to go across town to make an unofficial visit to Georgetown.  Also missing in action this weekend was 6'0 Jr Maureece Rice from Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion) PA.  So we didn't get to make our much anticipated comparison among 6'3 Jr Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, Rice , and Luber.  Instead, well just have to take Allen Rubin's word for it that this is the order of the top three juniors in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Area this year.  It also looks like there has been a domino effect, as all three of Georgia Tech's prime point guard targets have verbally committed within the last 72 hours.  The first to go was 6'1 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, who finally made it official for St. John's on Wednesday.  Then 6'2 Jarrett Jack from Worcester (Academy) MA made it official for Georgia Tech on Thursday and 6'2 Deron Williams from The Colony (H.S.) TX made it official for Illinois yesterday.  Our Texas Editor Wes Grandstaff also is looking for 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX to make it official for Georgia Tech in the near future.  Bosh is making an official visit to Georgia Tech this weekend, but the ground workout for this was laid a long time ago.  Remember, Bosh was one of the prime recruiting targets for Yellow Jackets head  Paul Hewitt last summer (we saw Bosh play a lot and nearly every time Hewitt was there as well).  If this happens, it would move Georgia Tech's recruiting class into a tie at #9, along with North Carolina, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  It also would keep Georgia Tech right on schedule in terms of moving into a position to challenge the upper echelon teams, like Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia, in the always tough Atlantic Coast Conference.   Remember, Jack is a 5th year player, but, if he counted among seniors, he'd be ranked among our top 30 nationally.  Bosh was ranked #32 nationally prior to the summer, but he was sensational at the adidas ABCD Camp, where he finished ranked #7 in camp by the HOOP SCOOP, and, as a result, skyrocketed into our top five nationally in our post-summer senior rankings.

Friday, September 21, 2001 - It looks like you can write it down again, as 6'1 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) NY, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has reaffirmed his commitment to SMU.   Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has the scoop on 6'9 Eric Davis from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC.   Davis has decided to return the Northeast to play at Seton Hall.  If you recall, Davis, who is now in his 5th year of high school, was a sophomore at Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, a junior at Rydal (Abington Friends) PA, and a senior at Camden (H.S.) NJ.  Davis needs to become more consistent, improve his efficiency, and continue to develop his skills, but he does have a lot of potential.  Dave Telep of BlueChipHoops.com tells us that 6'4 Jarrett Jack from Worcester (Academy) MA has made it official for Georgia Tech.  Not only is that a perfect fit, but it also means the Yellow Jackets are no longer looking for a point guard.  So our guess is that 6'1 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ is even more of a lock for St. John's.  If you will recall, we thought Georgia Tech was a lot stronger for Ingram than most people realized.  We also have confirmed via his mother that 6'3 Markus Sailes from Richmond (Varina) VA has decided to attend Virginia Tech.  Apparently this one happened about a week ago, but our Virginia Editor Tony Squire was asleep at the switch.  Speaking of Sailes, he was one of the players who helped himself the most earlier tonight at the Charlie Weber Invitational Tournament in College Park, MD.  He's a good ball handler and passer, is excellent in transition, and capable of being a point guard at the Big East level, if he gets bigger and stronger physically.  Also really impressing us earlier tonight were 6'4 Chris McCray from Seat Pleasant (Fairmont Heights) MD,    6'11 Dakin Braddick from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'3 Jr Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'9 Thiero Almamy from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'1 Troy Hailey from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, and 6'7 Jr Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD.  McCray not only is an excellent outside shooter and a big time athlete, but he also has an outstanding feel for the game.  In other words, he should be the perfect replacement for Juan Dixon at the University of Maryland, which is where he committed last spring.  And just like Dixon, who was ranked among our top 90 nationally as a high school senior in 1998, McCray is very underrated nationally.  Currently we have McCray #67, but next time we update our nationally rankings, we'll cut that in half.  As a matter of fact, McCray might be good enough to get McDonald's All-American consideration.  Braddick is a 5th year player, but this long armed shot blocking skinny athlete does a lot more than just pass the look test, as he demonstrated excellent rebounding, passing, and handling skills for somebody his size.  Braddick is being recruited by Tennessee, Georgetown, South Carolina, Saint Louis, and South Carolina State.  As a matter of fact, we liked Braddick a lot better than 6'11 Jabbar Young from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, who is getting recruited by a lot of big time schools, like Wake Forest, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Tulane, Kentucky.  Shakur also will be 5th year player a year from now (he's currently a repeat junior), but his age, athleticism and ability to play the point guard spot have elevated him into the #1 spot in the junior class in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Area.  Almamy was like a highlight film earlier night as he dunked over people and beat everybody on the boards with his aggressiveness and athleticism.  Almamy isn't very skilled, but Memphis head coach John Calipari will teach him the rest.  If you will recall, Almamy, who is yet another 5th year player, verbally committed to the Tigers in August.    Hailey was one of the best 3-pointer shooters we saw earlier tonight.   He also plays hard, makes things happen, and provides senior leadership, as he's only one of two seniors on the Montrose Christian team.  Kleiza is getting his first taste of big time competition, but he's very aggressived, surprisingly mobile, and tough on the boards.   Plus, he'll have two years to refine his game under the legendary Stu Vetter.  Speaking of Vetter, he tells us that his current freshmen class, which includes 6'0 Frosh Eric Price, 6'7 Frosh Mike Freeman, 6'3 Ryan Scott, 6'2 K.J. Matzui, and 6'5 Travis Ivey, is the best group he's ever had.  That's a heck of a statement when one rememebers that Vetter already has won high school national championships at two other schools.

Thursday, September 20, 2001 - It comes as no surprise that 6'4 Josh Washington from Lubbock (Monterey) TX has elected to stay home and attend Texas Tech.  Washington will provide with Red Raiders with athleticism and outside shooting.  It does come as somewhat of a surprise that 6'1 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX appears to be on the verge of verbally committing to SMU again.   If you will recall, Hopkins verbally committed to SMU on Wednesday, September 5th, but reneged five days later.  Apparently the University of Texas really turned up the heat and they came a lot closer to getting this one done than a lot of people realize.    However, now it appears to be tipping back the other way.  We also believe that 6'4 Wayne Arnold from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA is on the verge of making a verbal commitment.  As a matter of fact, Arnold is making his official visit to the University of Georgia today and, if all goes well, he probably will pick the Bulldogs.   However, if everything does not go right on the visit, then Southern Mississippi might be the team to beat.  Clemson and Alabama are also still on Arnold's list, but they appear to be long shots.  We also have confirmed that Xavier has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'9 Anthony Myles from Olney (JC) IL.   This is important, because it moves the Musketeers recruiting class into the #6 spot nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date behind Duke, Florida, Memphis, Louisville, and Syracuse. Greg Swaim of GregSwaim.com doesn't believe that 6'8 Kevin Bookout from Stroud (H.S.) OK is the lock everybody thnks he is for the University of Oklahoma.    "The Sooners are still one of the favorites, but Oklahoma State has made a strong push lately," says Swaim.  "And Arkansas is also right there, along with Illinois and Tennessee." UCLA also is still being mentioned, but Swaim tells us that if Bookout picks UCLA, he won't play basketball.  "He will only compete in track."  We find this especially interesting, because UCLA head coach Steve Lavin needs all the help he can get inside and Bookout would be exactly what the docter ordered.  We also hear that UCLA is in the hunt for 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Oklahoma City (Northeast) OK, but Swaim doesn't think the Bruins will be able to take Lamptey.  Remember, UCLA recently got a verbal commitment from 6'7 Evan Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, who is an academic question mark.  So is Lamptey and the feeling is that UCLA won't be able to bring in two players in the same class who fall into the academic risk category.  Instead, we think Lamptey is a near lock for Oklahoma State, although Illinois and Oklahoma both still a have shot a sneaking in the back door. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2001 - Can you believe that the first of the pre-season college basketball magazines has already hit the newstand?  That's right!  I have a copy in hand of the Athlon Sports 2001-02 Preview and I was especially interested their NCAA Tournament predictions and All-American Teams, list of head-coaches-in-waiting (Athlon's next 10 geniuses of college basketball), and prep player rankings.   They have Kentucky beating Illinois in the NCAA Championship game, with Duke and Florida rounding out the rest of the NCAA Final Four.  Now I like to go out on a limb as much as the next guy, but I also like to be right and not picking Duke as the pre-season favorite is a little ridiculous.  I also am amazed at how poor the talent level is in college basketball and, if you don't believe it, just look who is on Athlon's first, second, and third team All-American Teams.  The first team consists of Duke's Jason Williams, Illinois' Frank Williams, Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince, Florida's Brett Nelson, and Stanford Casey Jacobsen, the second team consists of Boston College's Troy Bell, Maryland's Juan Dixon, Florida's Udonis Haslem, Indiana's Jared Jeffries, and Missouri's Kareem Rush, and the third team consists of Duke's Carlos Boozer, Western Kentucky's Chris Marcus, St. Joseph's Marvin O'Connor,  Iowa's Luke Recker, and Tito Maddox, who was supposed be at Fresno State, but, due to questions regarding his amateur status, is currently missing in action.     The list of the 10 geniuses of college basketball includes Connecticut's Dave Leitao, Duke's Johnny Dawkins, Florida's John Pelphrey, Alabama's Orlando Early, North Carolina's Doug Wojcik, Ohio State's Paul Biancardi, Gonzaga's Bill Grier, Saint Louis' Brad Soderberg, Arizona's Josh Pastner, and DePaul's Rashon Burno.   The last two are especially interesting, because Pastner is a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona and Burno is still a senior point guard at DePaul.  All these are good names, but missing from the list are many of the other sharp assistant coaches in the game today, including Arizona's Jay John, Kansas' Neil Dougherty, Louisville's Mick Cronin, Auburn's Mike Wilson, New Mexico's Joe Dooley, Memphis' Steve Roccaforte, Arizona State's Tony Benford, Michigan State's Brian Gregory, Duke's Steve Wojciechowski, Michigan's Charles Ramsey, Texas' Brian Cousins, Colorado's Larry Gay, LSU's Butch Pierre, Oregon's Scott Duncan, South Florida's David Zimroth, North Carolina's Fred Quarterbaum, and Syracuse's Mike Hopkins and Troy Weaver, just to name a few.  I also liked the high school rankings, which were provided by Dave Benezra and Mark Mayemura of RecruitingUSA.com. They have 6'3 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ listed as the #1 college freshman, 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL, 6'10 Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI, 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (North Valley Regional) NJ, 6'7 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, and 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC listed as the best player at their respective positions in the senior class,  6'7 Jr LaBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH as the #1 player in the junior class, and 5'10 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY as the #1 player in the sophomore class.   We also found it interesting to see where all the Rockfish guys (Benezra and Mayemura also run the L.A. Rockfish club team program) are ranked, including USC-bound 6'11 Rory O'Neill from Ridgecrest (Burroughs) CA, who is listed #27 among incoming college freshmen; Gonzaga-bound 6'9 Dustin Villepigue from Simi Valley (H.S.) CA, who is listed #100 among incoming college freshmen; 6'7 Bryant Markson from Monrovia (H.S.) CA, who is ranked #5 among senior small forwards; 6'3 Tim Drisdom from Calvery Chapel (Downey) CA, who is ranked #14 among senior point guards; 6'3 Wes Wardrop from Worcester (Academy) MA, who listed among the top 200 seniors in the nation; 6'0 Jr Khalif Ford from Diamond Bar (H.S.) CA, who is ranked #9 nationally in the junior class; and 6'11 Soph Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Garces) CA, who is ranked #3 nationally in the sophomore class.  Swift does not exclusively play for the Rockfish, but the word on the street is that may change next summer. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2001 - There is no question that Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford is second to none in terms of individual instruction and getting the most out of his talent.  Obviously a lot of this dates back to when he was a player at the University of Kentucky during the Rick Pitino era.  But his father, Eddie Ford, who is widely regarded as the leading force behind grassroots basketball in the state of Kentucky today, was also just instrumental in his developement as both a player and a coach.  In other words, working on drills and individual instruction and being a student of the game has been something that the younger Ford has been doing his entire life.  It also is something he has been able to capitalize on in terms of recruiting and the latest is example is 6'9 Tyler Best from Frankfort (Central Catholic) IN, who has verbally committed to Eastern Kentucky.   Just like Ford, Best comes from a great basketball family (his brother, Travis Best, played at Louisville and Purdue), but he wasn't blessed with great speed, quickness, and athleticism.  Instead, Best has developed into one of the top seniors in the state of Indiana via hard work and developing excellent skills.  Right now his game is more inside, but he is expected to play more on the perimeter for the Colonels, because he also is a good 3-point shooter and has ability to handle the ball out of the perimeter.   Best, who also has that great work ethic and burning desire necessary to become a great player, should be the perfect complement to the three excellent inside players - 6'8 Richard Sadler from Mt. Airy (Habersham Central) GA, 6'6 Michael Haney from Madisonville (North Hopkins) KY, and 6'10 Johnny Hardwick from Compton (JC) CA - and the good point guard - 6'1 Kenyatta Dix from Frank Phillips (JC) TX - that Eastern Kentucky landed in last year's recruiting class.  Plus, Eastern Kentucky also has 6'5 Shawn Fields, who sat out last year after transferring from the University of Georgia, waiting in the wings.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also tells us that Miami-OH appears to have stolen one in 6'3 Josh Hausfeld from Cincinnati (Roger Bacon) OH, who also one of the top football players in the state, as well as a borderline top 10 basketball player, and Arkansas has gotten a pair of commitments from 6'8 Rashard Sullivan from Miami (Norland Senior) FL and 6'7 Brandon Tobias from Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL, both of whom are teammates on the Coast to Coast AAU team, but neither of whom is good enough to help the Razorbacks remain in the upper half of the rugged SEC.  Greg Swaim of GregSwaim.com informs us that last night on his radio show 6'1 Nate Johnson from Penn Valley (JC) MO reaffirmed his commitment to Oklahoma State.  Johnson also said that he doesn't plan on taking any more official visits and this is important, because Mike Sullivan of RivalsHoops.com recently went on record saying that Johnson was still open and making official visits.

Saturday, September 15, 2001, Sunday, September 16, 2001, and Monday, September 17, 2001 - Late last week Rusty Hampton, the beat writer who covers the University of Kentucky for the Louisville Courier-Journal, called to get our insight about 6'9 Bernard Cote from Montreal (Chaplain-St. Lambert) QU.  So it comes as no surprise that Cote has made a verbal commitment to the Wildcats.  And we'll tell you the same thing we told Hampton.  When we first Cote at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on Memorial Day Weekend, we thought he was awful.  He also wasn't ranked among our top 50 players last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp, but we did have him listed among the top 15 power forwards in camp.  But after that he apparently exploded at Eddie Ford's tournament in Louisville, KY.  However, we still aren't sure the Wildcats won't recruit over Cote down the road.  In other words, he promises to be a great blue collar banger inside and this important in a day and age when there is a premium on keeping most of your players together for three or four years.  Cote also helps provide the Wildcats with exactly what they need in this recruiting class - another body inside, a point guard, and the best available player.   If you will recall, Kentucky already has the point guard in 5'9 Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY, who committed to the Wildcats last spring, and likely will also get the great player in 6'5 Antwain Barbour from Wabash Valley (JC) IL, who is widely regarded as one of the top two or three players in the junior college ranks.  We also are getting reports about the possibility of 6'10 Jr Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC making a verbal commitment to the University of South Carolina in the immediate future.  And, if this happens, some people think the Gamecocks will be able to turn the heat up on 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, who verbally committed to North Carolina last March, and make him reconsider his earlier decision.  But we'd be very surprised if this happens, because we believe that all the parties involved are far too legitimate and ethical.   Remember, Felton is a first class kid in every way and there are very few people in all of basketball who we have more respect for than South Carolina head coach Dave Odom. 

Friday, September 14, 2001 - Yesterday I got ahold of a memorandum dated September 11, 2001 to Division I head coaches from Jim Haney, the Executive Director of the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches).   Especially interesting were the results of a recent survey that were included with that memorandum.  The first question asks do you support rescinding the present 8/5 Scholarship rule?    Overall, 459 (86%) said yes, while 74 (14%) said no.   Breaking it down even further 206 (91%) college coaches voted yes, while 20 (9%) said no; 149 (85%) athletic directors said yes, while 26 (15%) said no; and 105 (80%) presidents said yes, while 27 (20%) said no.  Obviously, any way you slice it, that's an overwhelming number who are against the rule, which limits colleges from signing no more than eight players over a two-year period and having no more than a total of 13 players on scholarship at any one time.  The second question asks would you be interested in seeing a modification to the 8/5 Scholarship (only if it can not be rescinded)?  And the result were almost the same, as overall 446 (84%) said yes, while only 87 (16%) said no.  Again, breaking it down even further, 195 (86%) college coaches voted yes, while 31 (14%) said no; 149 (85%) athletic directors said yes, while 26 (15%) said no; and 103 (78%) presidents said yes, while 29 (22%) said no.  However, the consenus is not so overwhelming when the survey asks would you favor having a limit of 14 scholarships for men's basketball?  This is one additional scholarship.   Overall 247 (46%) said yes, while 286 (54%) said no.  However, 138 (61%) of college coaches said yes, while 88 (39%) said no.  In contrast, 64 (37%) athletic directors said yes, while 111 (63%) said no, and 46 (35%) presidents said yes, while 86 (65%) said no.  Obviously there is a major division between college coaches and athletic directors and presidents.   And this is indicative of most of the problems related to college athletics - there is a lack of communication, as the people at the top don't understand the problems and needs of the people in the field.  The final question is a little more complicated.   "The Collegiate Commissioners Association is proposing a change to the present 8/5 scholarship limitation.  The commissioners are proposing that the first two years of a new initial scholarship rule you would have nine scholarships over a two-year period with no more than five scholarships in any one year.  After the first two years, there would be a limit of four per year with a maximum number of 14 scholarships.   Provided the 8/5 rule is not rescinded, would you support this proposal?"   Overall 236 (44%) said yes, while 297 (56%) said no.  However, this time all three groups are more in agreement, as 111 (49%) college coaches said yes, while 115 (51%) said no; 75 (43%) athletic directors said yes, while (57%) said no; and 51(39%) presidents said yes, while 81 (61%) said no.  Two things suddenly become obvious after looking at these last two questions.  First, college coaches don't want any restrictions on the scholarships they can offer during any one or two year period.  Second, the athletic directors and presidents are less in tune with the fact that in most cases they won't need 14 scholarships if they only allow a maximum of scholarships to be offered in any given year.  It has always been the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP that any rule that places scholarship limits on players is bad for the game.  Another problem that the NCAA seems to have no clue what a devastating effect in promises to have on the game is the new NBA's Developmental League.  Everybody knows that the number of high school and college players declaring for the NBA Draft prematurely is totally out of control.  But you haven't seen anything yet.  Just imagine what the mass exodus is going to be like from the college ranks into the Developmental League when players reach their 20th birthday.  In other words, it could decimate the level of talent in the game today.  Sure, the people who want college basketball to be more like the Ivy League would get their wish, but the sport would also take a major financial hit in terms of ticket sales and television rating.   This would be too bad for minor sports, as most them would simply cease to exist, because their would be no money to pay for them.  Up until now, our society as a whole hasn't seemed to care whether some poor inner city white or black kid (this is a social-economic problem, not a racial one) gets screwed out of a scholarship and labelled a dummy, because they weren't properly prepared to pass a standardized test.   However, when some politician's son loses his soccer scholarship or a civic leader's daughter loses her volley ball scholarship, you can bet that all shit will start to hit the fan.  All this brings us to something I feel very strongly about, but, which is very much open to debate - an athlete is better off in college than in some minor league setting.  Of course it's not the NBA's responsibility to provide educational opportunities and, as a result, help improve a person's lot in life.  But it is the responsibility of institutions of higher learning, as well as society as whole via the actions of the government at the local, state, and federal levels.  In other words, the many of the problems that are being addressed right now in college basketball have the potential for far greater reaching implications than most people can begin to imagine.  Getting back to the survey, the next question gets right to the heart of the matter, as it asks do you support returning to the previous scholarship limit of 13 scholarships with no limitations on initial scholarships? Overall 457 (86%) said yes, while only 76 (14%) said no. The breakdown was 199 (88%) coach college votes yes, while 27 (12%) voted no; 152 (87%) athletic directors voted yes, while 23 (13%) voted no; and 107 (81%) presidents voted yes, while 25 (19%) voted no. They also asked coaches college only whether they would support breaking the live evaluation period during the month of July into two separate 10-day periods separated by a dead period? It comes as no surprise to us that 195 (86%) coaches voted yes, while 31 (14%) voted no.

Thursday, September 13, 2001 - Charlie Weber called this morning to tell me that he has no intention of cancelling his tournament next weekend (September 21st-23rd) in College Park, MD.  "I'm not going to let those bastards disrupt our way of life," says Weber.  "I don't care how many teams cancel.   I'm going on with the tournament.  It's going to be business as usual."  Not only does he sound more than just a little pissed off, but obviously he is starting to get over the incredible shock of the tragic events that occurred earlier this week in our country.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis also called yesterday and he too was pissed off at me for lumping him into the same category as our New York Editor Ron Naclerio.  If you will recall, two days ago he was the one who provided the initial report that turned out to be totally false about Boston College head coach Al Skinner and on of his assistants originally being booked on one of the two flights that crashed into the World Trade Center.  Trigonis points out that it was only his job to confirm whether Boston College had cancelled their visit with 6'7 Bobby Jones from Long Beach (Poly) CA.  "The kid isn't going to know details, like where the coach is coming from or what flight they're taking," says Trigonis.  We also talked briefly with Naclerio yesterday and he said  "if that's the biggest problem I have in his life, I'm doing pretty well."  When you stop and consider all that this country has been through this week, he is right.  However, that unfortunately seems to be his normal attitude anymore.  Sure, just like anybody else, I would love to see Naclerio get a college coaching job, but, at the same time, he needs to understand the importance of accuracy, credibility, and journalistic integrity.  Fortunately Trigonis is much easier to deal with and already he has the scoop on an important verbal commitment that occurred on the West Coast late last night.  We're talking about 6'7 Evan Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, who is ranked #11 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, making a verbal commitment to UCLA.  There are still questions about Burns' academic situation and whether he will be able to get into UCLA, but this is still a huge commitment, as it shows that UCLA is a strong as ever in their own backyard.   Burns is an incredible athlete who is best in a wide open uptempo setting and, as a result, should fit right in with the stockpile of outstanding perimeter players - Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, and Andre Patterson - the Bruins landed last fall.  Trigonis also tells us that 6'4 Hassan Adams from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA will visit UCLA in early September, but really what UCLA needs to do is sign several quality inside players.  At the top of their list is 6'11 Erazem Lorbeck from Slovenia, but after that, it's anybody's guess what the Bruins will do with their remaining scholarships.  Sure, the Bruins are still mentioned with players, like 6'8 Brad Buckman from Austin (Westlake) TX, 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Oklahoma City (Northeast) OK, and 6'10 Matt Haryasz from Page (H.S.) AZ, but Buckman is believed to be a near lock for Buckman, Lamptey will likely pick either Oklahoma State or Illinois, and Stanford is going to be tough to beat for Haryasz. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - Like so many other events that are scheduled to be held in the immediate future, both the Five-Star Hoops Classic at the College of Staten Island in Staten Island, NY and the Fullcourt Press Falls Hoops Classic in Lynwood, CA have been cancelled due to the terrorist attacks that occurred yesterday on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon and the current crisis and time of mourning that currently exists in this country.  Five-Star's Leigh Klein tells us that the plan is to reschedule the  Five-Star Hoops Classic in the spring.  Dinos Trigonis, who is the director of the Fullcourt Press Falls Hoops Classic, is looking into rescheduling his event for next weekend.  This is unfortunate for us, because I am already in Southern California and had planned to attend his tournament.   However, assuming things return back to normal, by next weekend I will have returned home and left again for the College Park, MD to attend the Charlie Weber Invitational Tournament, which will be held September 21st-23rd.  One event that is still on for this weekend is Greg Swaim's Big Time Shootout in Oklahoma City, OK, September 15th.  Speaking of Swaim, he also tells us that 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK verbally committed to Duke University Monday night on his radio show which is archived on his web site at Greg Swaim.com.  But no press conference was held yesterday due to the tragic events that took place in our country.   Instead, an official announcement is expected later in the week.  However, for our purposes we will count Williams as officially committed to the Blue Devils.  This is of major importance, because it moves the Blue Devils recruiting class into the #1 spot on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date. It also is significant, because only three players - 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, and 6'1 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX - are still on the board.  And it would have been only two, except Hopkins reneged on SMU on Monday.  If you will recall, he verbally committed to SMU last week, but now it appears he is having second thoughts.   Originally we thought Hopkins was going to immediately commit to Texas, but now it looks like he's having a very difficult making a decision. Such a difficult time that our Texas Editor Wes Grandstaff thinks Hopkins might put off making a decision until spring.   Moral to the story, if you know where you want to go, don't beat around the bush.   Go ahead and get it over with, because you never know whether that scholarship offer will still be on the table when you finally decide to grab it.  But, as in the case of Hopkins, if you aren't sure or somebody else is pushing you in a certain direction, take your time and get it right.  After all, your college choice is usually one of the most important decisions of your life.  It also usually effects what direction you head in the rest of your life.  Another player from the Team Texas club team program that we are watching carefully is 6'10 Alou Kane from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) VA.  Minnesota, UNC-Charlotte, SMU, and Maryland are all in serious contention, but North Carolina is also making a serious push for this raw athletic big man who currently is ranked #52 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Kane would be a terrific consolation prize, if the Tar Heels don't get one or two of the coveted big men they were targeting during the summer.   We're talking about 6'10 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, who believed to be a total lock for Duke, 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, who recently picked Notre Dame, 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is currently has St. John's and Villanova at the top of his list, and 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, who is expected to pick either Indiana or Louisville.  

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - It comes as no surprise that college coaches, who are busy making in-home visits and watching players work in their high school and junior college settings, are stranded all over the nation tonight.  But two coaches are safe and sound at home in Boston, MA.  We're talking about Boston College head coach Al Skinner and one of his assistants, both of who were planning to fly across the country this morning to make an in-home visit with 6'7 Bobby Jones from Long Beach (Poly) CA.  Fortunately Jones called Skinner late last night to reschedule the visit.   And, as it turned out, that phone call saved their lives.  Yes, at this time last night both coaches had confirmed reservations on one of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center this morning.  So after a catastrophic day of devastating proportion, hopefully this news will serve as some small consolation.  In other words, it appears that Skinner, who is one of the good guys in the business, will get to continue coaching college basketball and influencing young men in a positive way for many more years to come.  Not only has Skinner, first at Rhode Island and now at Boston College, established himself as one of the best up-and-coming head coaches in the game, but he also is a first class act.  So is his staff, which usually outworks their competition and does a great job of finding the sleeper that who is getting underrecruited.  The best example of this is 6'1 Troy Bell, who was the Rookie-of-the-Year in the league two years and the catalyst of the team last winter, as the Eagles were one of the surprise teams in college basketball last season. Our Philadelphia Editor Allen Rubin is now telling us that this story is not true, despite the fact that our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio confirmed it for a second time with his original source late yesterday afternoon and our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis confirmed from his end that the player in question last night was Jones.  Instead, the player that Boston College had an in-home visit scheduled with on Monday was 6'7 Brandon Bowman from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA.  However, he recently verbally committed to Georgetown, so he cancelled the scheduled in-home visit with Boston College last week.   Before that happened Ed Cooley, who was the unnamed Boston College assistant, was supposed to meet Skinner in Los Angeles, CA on Monday, September 10th and Cooley may have been scheduled on Flight 11 on Monday.  But according to Rubin, who talked with Boston College assistant coach Bill Coen this morning, neither Cooley nor Skinner were ever booked on one of the two flights that crashed into the World Trade Center yesterday.  Instead, Skinner and Coen, who were in Seattle,WA on Sunday to make an in-home visit with 6'6 Brandon Roy from Seattle (Garfield) WA, flew from Seattle to Houston on Monday to make an in-home visit with Dwight Jones.  Obviously this is a classic example of poor journalism on Naclerio's part and not asking enough questions to make sure all the facts are correct on Trigonis' part.  As a matter of fact, I originally had written the part about Jones differently, but, then, Trigonis called me and confirmed Jones was the player in question.  Obviously this is worst piece of reporting we've done in our 18 years in the business.  It also is a classic example of somebody assumimg something and not checking the facts.  Sure, some of the minor details appear to be correct, but the essential part of the story was not and, as a result, Naclerio and Trigonis both have serious credibility problems, as well as questions they will have to answer, if they want to keep writing for this publication.  As for Bobby Jones, Rubin tells us that Boston College now has an in-home visit scheduled with him on Friday, September 14th. 

Monday, September 10, 2001 - The press conferences won't be held until tomorrow and Tuesday, but the cat is already out of the bag, because Greg Swaim of Greg Swaim.com is reporting that 6'10 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK and 6'6 Kelenna Azubuike from Tulsa (Victory Christian) OK will make verbal commitments to Duke and Oklahoma, respectively.  And if that weren't enough Swaim also is reporting that 6'10 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC has also already informed the Duke coaching staff that he plans to become a Blue Devil.  Obviously this reaffirms what we've told you on December 29, 2001 in our Hot Recruiting Information Section.  If you will recall, we predicted the Blue Devils would get Williams, Randolph, 6'10 Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL, and 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL to go along with 6'4 J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, who at the time was the only player already verbally committed to the Blue Devils.   Getting both Williams and Randolph would clearly give Duke the #1 ranked recruiting class.   It also would provide an interesting scenario, whereby, history repeats itself.  We're talking about several years ago when Duke landed Chris Burgess, who had the bigger reputation, and Elton Brand, who turned out to be the better player.  Remember, Randolph, who now is ranked #20 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, had a terrible summer and, as a result, the value of his stock dropped dramatically.  In contrast, Williams, who now is ranked #4 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, had an outstanding summer.  So his value continues to increase.  Getting back to Azubuike, Swaim deserves a lot of credit, because Azubuike's family wanted to keep the entire thing under wraps until the press conference on Thursday.  But being the good journalist Swaim is, he did his homework and beat everybody on this one.  He also apparently has pissed off Azubuike's parents, but sometimes that just goes with the territory.  Swaim also tells us that Oklahoma State did get an expected verbal commitment over the weekend from 6'0 Julian Richardson from Miami (Pace) FL and that Cowboys head coach Eddie Sutton is doing an in-home visit with 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Oklahoma City (Northeast) OK tonight.  Our guess is that Oklahoma State will get Lamptey, but we aren't willing to count out Illinois just yet.  Remember, Fighting Illini head coach Bill Self, who previously was the head coach at Tulsa and Oral Roberts and an assistant at Oklahoma State, has all the right connections to get this one done.   Lamptey is still considering Oklahoma, Georgia, and UCLA, but it would be a major upset if he picked one of these schools.

Saturday, September, 8, 2001, and Sunday, September 9, 2001- Last spring UNC-Charlotte lost 6'9 Rodney White, who entered his name into the NBA Draft after his freshman season, but now it looks like they have landed the perfect replacement in 6'7 Curtis Withers from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC, who is ranked #30 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.    Yes, you can write it down for the 49ers, as Withers has elected to stay home and help continue to build Charlotte into a national power.  Withers can't step out on the perimeter and shoot the 3-pointer the way White can and he's a couple of inches smaller, but he's just as mean and tough inside.  He's also a lot more athletic.    In other words, he doesn't take any prisoners and is a monster on the boards.    We've always liked Withers' game, but he was absolutely sensational when we saw him late in the summer at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.     So obviously in a day and age when good inside guys are hard to find, getting Withers is a huge feather in the cap of Bobby Lutz, who is one of the most underrated head coaches in America.  Lutz is also one of the hardest working head coaches and that hard work obviously is paying off, because the 49ers also got a verbal commitment during the month of July from 6'6 Vincent Grier from Raleigh (Bonner) NC.  So with two excellent players now in the fold, Charlotte's recruiting class moves into the top 20 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.

Friday, September, 7, 2001 - Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that Georgetown has beaten schools like Maryland, Tenneseee, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia, and USC for 6'7 Brandon Bowman from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA.   Like so many other players who have verbally committed recently, we don't have Bowman ranked among our top 100 nationally, but we real like his upside, athleticism, and versatility.  Bowman is far from being a finished product, but he has good handling and passing skills for somebody his size and he's capable of developing into an excellent outside shooter, although right now he lacks consistency.  Bowman becomes the first player in this recruiting class to commit to the Hoyas, but 6'2 Jr Robert McIver from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA and 6'8 Jr Darian Townes from Alexandria (T.C. Williams) VA, both of whom committed to Georgetown last spring, already count with the Class of 2003.   We also have confirmed that UNLV has gotten a commitment from 6'8 James Peters from Butler County (JC) KS.   You remember him!  He impressed us when he was a sophomore and 6'2 Sean Dockery was a freshman at Chicago (Julian) IL in the Hoops to the Loops Tournament in Chicago, IL in December of 1998.  However, Peters later got lost in the shuffle, because it turned out he was a year older than his class and, as a result, he went the junior college route.    Peters combines athleticism with a physical presence, which allows him take care of business inside.  He's a good rebounder and he can score around the basket, but he didn't get the notoriety he deserved during the summer, because he didn't attend any of the top junior college camps.  So that left the door open for UNLV assistant coach Derek Thomas, who previously was a college assistant at St. Louis, Minnesota, and Illinois, as well as scout for the Atlanta Hawks last season, to take advantage of all his Midwest contacts and get this one done quickly.  Speaking of UNLV, 6'5 Antwain Barbour from Wabash Valley (JC) IL will be on campus for an official visit this weekend.  

Thursday, September 6, 2001 - We told you that Southern Methodist had a real shot at getting 6'1 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX.  Remember, he has said all along that he wanted to stay close to home.  But I'm sure that a lot of people still wrote the Mustangs off completely, as the popular consensus was there is just no way a team from the Western Athletic Conference can beat high profile programs, like Texas, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, and Illinois for a player who is ranked among our top 10 in senior class nationally and was just named the HOOP SCOOP's Player of the Summer.     However, that's not what happened.  Instead, chalk one up for the good-guys, because Hopkins verbally committed to SMU yesterday.  Sure, 6'6 Jeryl Sasser and 6'6 Willie Davis, who were the heart and sole of the team the last several seasons, have graduated, but Hopkins is potentially a lot better.    He's also capable of dominating a game from the point guard spot, because he's an incredible athlete who can explode over you going to the hole or pull up and keep you honest from beyond the arc with his outside shooting.  In other words, Mustangs head coach Mike Dement, who has compiled a 96-77 record during the last six years, including a 21-9 record two years ago and an 18-12 record last winter, is about to take this program to another level.   If you will recall, last spring he landed a good class that included 6'9 Eric Castro from Oklahoma City (Mt. St. Mary's) OK, 6'8 Patrick Simpson from Denver (George Washington) CO, 6'6 Bill Pharis from Westark (JC) AR, 6'5 Justin Isham from Lancaster (H.S.) TX, and 6'5 Brian Miller from Lewisville (H.S.) TX.    And now he has the go-to guy that he needs to replace Sasser, as well as run the show and make everybody else around him that much better.   Dement also will have Hopkins' twin brother - 6'1 Ryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX - and we think the scholarship Ryan will receive was a small price to pay to ensure that the Mustangs don't get beat on a top 10 player in their backyard.

Wednesday, September 5, 2001 - After getting a pair of transfers last spring in 6'10 Nick Vander Laan (from California) and 6'1 Todd Billet (from Rutgers), the University of Virginia only had one scholarship available for this recruiting class.  They either wanted to sign the best available player or an athletic wing player, like 6'7 Antoine Wright from Lawrence (Groton) MA, 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'6 Denham Brown from Toronto (Westhill) ON, or 6'7 Derrick Byars from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN.  Well, Wright has already committed to Texas A&M, Sumpter has already committed to Villanova, and Brown appears to be leaning in another direction.     However, it appears that Cavaliers have gotten their man, because the HOOP SCOOP has learned that Byars verbally committed to Virginia last night.    On the court Byars is best described as a silky smooth athlete with an excellent 3-point shot and a great feel for the game.  He not only had an excellent summer, but he showed us he's a winner, as he led his team to the final four of the National AAU Tournament in Orlando, FL in early August.  Off the court Byars is a great kid and an outstanding student, as is evident by the fact that he has a 21 ACT and a 3.8 gpa.   But what we like the most about Byars, who currently is ranked #51 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is his upside.  Once he gets bigger and stronger physically, he could be a pro.  Obviously Byars will be heir apparent to Adam Hall and Chris Williams, both of whom will graduate after next season.  Also very important is the fact that Byars' commitment will free Virginia head coach Pete Gillen and his staff to start working exclusively on juniors and sophomores.  And this is more important now than ever before, as the NCAA has made it more difficult than ever for schools that have to scramble around late to fill their needs. 

Tuesday, September 4, 2001 - Upon further investigation it appears that the two players - 7'0 Jonathan Oliver and 6'10 Jack Wolfinger - who verbally committed to Southern Cal over the weekend are both pretty good.  As a matter of fact, they are the two best players on a Ventura (JC) CA team that will be ranked #4 nationally among junior colleges this fall by the Street & Smith Pre-Season Yearbook, as well as the consensus pre-season #1-ranked junior college team in California.  Oliver is described as "a very skilled 7'0 lefty power forward/center" by his junior college coach, Greg Winslow.  Winslow also tells us that Oliver played one year at Indian Hills (JC) IA and red-shirted last year at Ventura.  He also says three or four NBA teams already have called to inquire about Oliver.  But our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio thinks that is a little ridiculous.   Naclerio, who saw Oliver in the Rucker League this summer, calls him a long lanky shot blocking athlete, but adds that he has a lot of work to do.   "Down the road, he may be able to make money playing the game, but right now he wouldn't even be one of the better centers in the Pac-10," says Naclerio.   "A lot will depend upon how Oliver develops physically and how hard he works."  Wolfinger, who originally is from Oregon, surfaced three years ago at a prep school in New England and, then, signed with St. John's.   At the time we thought he was a legitimate top 200 player nationally, but we questioned his toughness, size, and foot speed.  However, it appears that he's gotten a lot better with several years to work on his game and mature.   Winslow calls Wolfinger "extremely skilled out on the perimeter" and already has him penciled in at the wing forward spot.  As for the other Jonathan Oliver, the one we remembered from his prep school days at Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, it appears that he is still at West Virginia, where he has had a successful career as a role player.  I'm sure somebody will get on our case about this mistake in identity, but it won't be the first or the last time somebody has gotten a player confused.  My favorite example occurred in the late 80's when Parade Magazine listed Lee Mayberry as a repeat player on their All-American Team.  Actually that wasn't the case at all, because the Lee Mayberry who made the team in 1988 was the 6'2 point guard who had a great career at the University of Arkansas and the Lee Mayberry who made the team in 1989 was the 6'9 inside player who signed with Wyoming and never was heard from again.  And as long as we're talking about skinny shot blocking athletes with a lot of potential, it also appears that the University of Houston has landed one.   We're talking about 7'0 Anwar Freeman from Lee (JC) TX.   Freeman is still very raw offensively, but he is a stopper at the other end, as he has an incredible wing span, which allows him to alter shots and change the game.  He also runs the floor and has excellent mobility and good athleticism, but also  just like the Oliver who went to USC, Freeman is extremely skinny (only 205 lbs.).   Freeman joins 6'4 Cedrick Hensley from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, who verbally committed to the Cougars last month.   Right now Hensley is probably the better of the two players, because he's a big-time athlete and a prolific scorer and 3-point shooter, but Freeman may have more long term potential.  Remember, you can't teach somebody to be 7-feet, plus big men take longer to develop.  In other words, we're talking about two players who would rank among our 75-125 nationally, but, with good coaching and time to develop, could eventually be a lot higher. 

Monday, September 3, 2001 - UCLA needs to sign several big guys in this recruiting class, but it looks like USC has beaten them to punch by getting verbal commitments from a pair of junior college players this weekend.  Yes, Dinos Trigonis, who is the West Coast Editor for the HOOP SCOOP, as well as the editor of the Full Court Press web site and the head coach of the Belmont Shore Club team, tells us that the Trojans have gotten 6'11 Jonathan Oliver and 6'11 Jack Wolfinger, both from Ventura (JC) CA.    And they should provide the perfect complement to one another in the future in USC, as Oliver's game is inside and Wolfinger likes to drift out on the perimeter where he can beat you with his 3-point shooting.   Neither player was ranked that high coming out of high school, but Oliver showed a lot of promise during the 1997-98 season while playing for Max Good at Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME.   As a result, Oliver signed with West Virginia, but only averaged 1.7 ppg and 1.1 rpg as a freshman and 1.0 ppg and 1.3 rpg as sophomore for the Mountaineers during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.  We don't know where Oliver was a last season, but it really doesn't matter, because the clock is already running.  Remember, when you sign with a four-year school, you have five years to play four.  And this will be his fourth year, which means he will only be able to play one season at USC.  Wolfinger came out a year later when he signed at St. John's.  So this will his third year of college and, as a result, he should be able to play two years for the Trojans.  How good Oliver and Wolfinger right now is anybody's guess?  But both have Big East experience and quality big men in this class are few and far between.  Plus, USC head coach Henry Bibby has already proven that he's one of the best in the business when it comes to developing and getting the most out of his talent (i.e. USC's shocking upset against Kentucky in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last March).   Trigonis also tells us that 6'5 John Haywood from La Puente (Bishop Amat) CA has picked Loyola-Marymount over UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Irvine, St. Mary's, Portland, Pacific, and San Francisco and Tulane, Utah, Colorado, St. Mary's, Pepperdine, San Francisco, and UC-Santa Barbara are all in the hunt for 6'10 David Patten from Placentia (El Dorado) CA.  It also appears to be a three horse race among Sacramento State, Montana, UC-Riverside for 5'10 Carlos Rivers from Long Beach (Poly) CA and the three in-home visits that 6'7 Adam Zahn from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA already has lined up are with Pepperdine, San Diego State, and St. Mary's.  Trigonis also reports that 6'7 Jamaal Walls from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA won't be a repeat junior at prep school someplace in the East after all.  Instead, Walls plans to attend Inglewood (H.S.) CA, where he will team up with 6'9 DeAngelo Collins to form what promises to be one of the best one-two post combinations in high school basketball nationally this season.   Inglewood also has a lot of firepower in the backcourt with 6'1 Jr Rayshawn Reed and 5'11 Jason McKinney, so it will be interesting to see how head coach Pat Roy deals with all the egos and attitudes and whether he successfully finds the right chemisty.   Apparently we have a case of mistaken identity, as the Jonathan Oliver who has committed to Southern California is a different person than the Jonathan Oliver at West Virginia.  We'll have more details as they become available. 

Saturday, September 1, 2001, and Sunday, September 2, 2001 - Already over half of the top 100 seniors nationally are verbally committed, but, at the pace the top sophomores are verbally committing in the state of Indiana, there may not be anybody left by this time two years from now.  If you will recall, 6'4 Soph Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN and 5'10 Soph Desmond Gadis from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN both verbally committed to Purdue last fall before they ever played a high school game and now Reggie Tisdale, the Editor & Publisher of Indiana Basketball News, has the scoop on 6'5 Soph J.R. Angle from Trafalgar (Indian Creek) IN, who has made an early verbal commitment to the University of Iowa.  Actually this comes as no surprise, becausee Iowa head coach Steve Alford has strong Indiana contacts.  And so does Angle's father, Larry Angle, who has been a high school coach in the state for 30 years.  Angle's father also has been a long time friend of Alford's father, Sam Alford, who as an assistant coach at Iowa has done a terrific job of helping his son quickly build the Hawkeyes into a national powerhouse.  Tisdale ranks Angle #5 in the sophomore class in Indiana, but he also calls him a "Poor Man's Larry Bird."    Angle is not overly quick, but he is a terrific outside shooter with great court vision and huge hands.  Tisdale also points out that Angle has a great feel for game and he likely will grow to 6'7 or 6'8.  Angle also averaged 24 ppg as a freshman while playing at a Class AA school last season.  In other words, the sky may be the limit.  Tisdale also makes us aware of one that slipped right past us several weeks ago when Eastern Illinois got a commitment from 6'2 Josh Gomes from Frankfort (Christian) IN.  "Gomes is the best 2-guard prospect in the state of Indiana," says Tisdale.  "He's just like Kyle Hill, who graduated from Eastern Illinois and got drafted by the Dallas Mavericks #44 in the NBA Draft last spring." 

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