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SCOOP OF THE DAY
FOR THE MONTH OF JULY 2001
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Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - We are all still waiting for 6'3 Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX to make it official for Indiana and we still think in the end that the Hoosiers will be tough to beat for 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (H.S.) IN. However, we also know that IU head coach Mike Davis is getting a head start on the future. As a matter of fact, our Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson tells us that Davis was in Jackson, MS today for a shootout at Lanier High School and the player he was watching was 6'9 Jr Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS. This is especially important, because Davis, who already is one of the best recruiters in the Deep South, obviously is continuing to build on his already strong recruiting base. As for May, we talked to his AAU coach Bob Pryor yesterday at the 2001 AAU Junior Boys' Basketball National Championship in Orlando, FL yesterday and he told us that Louisville, Ohio S tate, Indiana, Notre Dame, and North Carolina are all still on his list. Speaking of North Carolina, the Tar Heels want to bring in two big men from among a group that includes May, 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, 6'10 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, and 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY. Another big man we talked with yesterday was 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Oklahoma City (Northeast) OK, who is one of the most improved players in the nation since we first saw him a year ago. Lamptey's list includes Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Michigan, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oregon, Georgetown, and Florida. Connecticut is making a strong push for 6'4 Rashad Anderson from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, but N.C. State, Florida State, St. John's, Texas, and Miami-FL are also still in the hunt. Arizona, Connecticut, Virginia, Miami-FL, and UCLA are among those showing the most interest in 6'7 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, who is the obvious candidate for Sleeper-of-the-Summer. However, we have one source who is telling us that his may be over sooner than later for Texas A&M. We also hear that 6'0 Todd Galloway from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA might be closer than a lot of people think to announcing for Wake Forest. But what happens if 6'1 Justin Gray from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA picks the Deamon Deacans first? Another possibility for Galloway appears to be Xavier, but 6'0 Dedrick Finn from Newburgh (Castle) IN is also high on the Musketeers list. We also believe that Xavier is the leader for 6'2 Robert Hite from Cincinnati (Winton Woods) OH, but Cincinnati, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Tennessee, Louisville, and numerous others are showing interest, especially after the way he played yesterday at the 2001 AAU Junior Boys' Basketball National Championship. Also impressing us yesterday from the Queen City Team, which almost pulled off the upset against B.A.B.C. yesterday was 6'6 Brandon Williams from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH. Williams is an excellent athlete and good rebounder for his size, but he needs to improve his outside shooting and perimeter skills in order to get recruited at the big time level. As a result, schools like Eastern Kentucky, East Carolina, and Eastern Michigan are hoping to steal him. The early list for 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Vocational Tech) CA includes Duke, California, Louisville, and North Carolina. Louisiana-Lafayette has added one of the last pieces to their puzzle by landing 6'11 Chris Cameron from Australia, who will be eligible to play this fall. St. John's is the leader, according to 6'1 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, but he also says he's still considering Georgia Tech, Connecticut, and Boston College. It appears that Virginia Commonwealth recently got a verbal commitment from 6'8 Jai Lewis from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME and Oklahoma State has landed 6'1 Nate Johnson from Penn Valley (JC) MO. However, the Johnson commitment may not be as firm as it looks.
Monday, July 30, 2001 - There were 63 players named to the all-tournament team last night at the adidas Big Time Tournament (our guess is that anybody who got a vote made the team), but 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC was not one of them. And he didn't deserve to be based on his performance in the tournament. However, that doesn't mean Randolph is not still one of the better players in the class. Remember, he's been playing hurt all summer and, as a result, we will hedge our bets and still include him among our the top 20 players in the class when we come out with our new national rankings in August. In sharp contrast to Randolph, who currently lacks both mental and physical toughness, is 6'7 Mario Boggan from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who was a big reason why the Tim Thomas Playaz advanced all the way into the championship game last night against the Long Island Panthers. Here is a guy who played in two games on Saturday, three games on Sunday, including the championship game where he was the best player for his team, and then got a flight to Orlando, FL (he was on our flight) late last night to play in a 10:00 AM game today in the 2001 AAU 17-Under Boys Basketball National Championship. And he did pretty well, as he finished with 11 points, a number of rebounds, and several assists. In other words, Boggan has something a lot of the soft spoiled pampered players in the day and age don't have - the heart and desire necessary to become a great player. Also interesting is that fact that the Long Island Panthers lost several games in pool play at the adidas Big Time Tournament, which meant they were the lower seeded team when they faced the Michigan Hurricane in the round of 32. Not only did the Panthers win that game by two points in the final seconds, but that was the point in the tournament when they elevated their game to another level. Not only did 6'9 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY become a lot more focused, but 6'9 Jr Charlie Villaneuva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ also finally became a factor. Speaking of Villaneuva, he should win the Kwame Brown award as the top stock market player. Yes, he is that up and down. However, when he's on like he was in the championship game (he was the leading scorer in the game), he's one of the best juniors in America. As for the Panthers, head coach Gary Charles told us earlier in the month that one of the things motivating his team this summer was the letter published by the HOOP SCOOP in June by the guy connected with Riverside Church. Apparently it worked, because the Long Island Panthers, which finished second at the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC during Memorial Day Weekend, won the Three Stripes Classic two-and-a-half weeks ago in Hempstead, NY, and won the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV last night, almost have to be the HOOP SCOOP's Team-of-the-Summer. Yes, with their victory in in the championship game the Long Island Panthers have edged out Team Texas, which won the NIKE Peach Jam a week-and-a-half ago in Augusta, GA and the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, FL two days ago, as Team-of-the-Summer. However, we still want to find a way to give the Team Texas program the recognition that they deserve and we can do that by naming Team Texas the Program-of-the-Summer. Did you know that that 6'1 Soph Lendy Holmes from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX hit his third straight game winning shot, this time against Minnesota Magic Gold, in the championship game of the 15-Under BCI National Championship yesterday in Colorado Springs, CO? And did you know that Team Texas has done equally extremely well in a number of other age groups as well?. Their 16-under team won the 16-Under BCI National Championship two weeks ago and advanced to the round of 32 in the adidas Big Time Tournament, where they lost to the Michigan Mustangs, 65-62. Their 14-Under team finished third in the BCI Nationals and their 13-Under Team finished third in the 13-Under National AAU Tournament and fourth in the BCI Nationals. Getting back to the adidas Big Time Tournament, going 63 players deep on the all-tournament was a little ridiculous, but, if you do go that deep, a number of other players should have been strongly considered for the all-tournament team, like 6'10 Matt Haryasz from Page (H.S.) AZ, 6'6 Kelanna Azubuike from Tulsa (Victory Christian) OK, 6'7 Soph Omari Israel from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, 5'11 Soph Eric Price from Parkdale (Riverdale Baptist) MD, 6'4 Tauren Minor from Houston (Washington) TX, 6'2 Jr Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, 6'5 Soph Dwayne Day from Vidalia (H.S.) GA, 6'9 Jr Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'7 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'11 Jr David Padgett from Reno (H.S.) NV, 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, 6'9 Jr Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, and 6'8 Soph Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'9 Jr Ekena Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Mike Cuffe from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'5 David Teague from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'9 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, and 6'2 Jamar Nutter from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ. We also really liked 6'8 Dante Milligan and 6'7 Marcel Momphaisir, both of whom played for the Student Athletes Broncos, but who weren't listed on the roster. So we don't have any information about their class and school. We didn't see many games outside the Open Division, but we were really impressed by team 7Up, which featured 6'9 Jr Ivan Harris from Springfield (South) OH, 6'6 Doug Scott from Reynoldsburg (H.S.) OH, 6'1 Jr Nick Dials from Williard (H.S.) OH, 6'9 Jr Mike Newman from Westerville (North) OH, and 6'11 Jr Mike Lefeld from Coldwater (H.S.) OH. This team finished in the final four of the "A" Division this year and that could be a prelude of things to come next year, because most of these guys are just juniors. Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also believes that an early commitment by Harris to Ohio State could be forthcoming very soon. So could an early commitment by Lefeld, if the Buckeyes decide to offer. Also impressing us in this division were 6'6 Josh Rhodes from Santa Cruz (H.S.) CA, who has already verbally committed to Iowa, 6'0 Soph Rajon Rondo from Louisville (Eastern) KY, and 6'2 Jonathan McClellan from Dalton (N.W. Whitfield) GA.
Sunday, July 29, 2001 - For the second time in three years the Tim Thomas Playaz have lost in the championship game at the adidas Big Time Tournament. This time it was to the Long Island Panthers and the final score was 84-73. Actually the game was never in doubt as the Panthers jumped out to 17-7 lead early and answered every time the Playaz got within striking distance. The tournament MVP was 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, but the best player in the championship game was 6'3 Taquan Dean from Neptune (H.S.) NJ, who finished with 18 points and made the big shot to break his opponents back on a number of occasions. The leading scorer for the Long Island Panthers was 6'9 Jr Charlie Villaneuva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ with 20 points. Named to the all-tournament team were Darius Washington, Joshua Smith, and Sani Ibrahim from the Atlanta Celtics; Carmelo Anthony, Gary Neal, Kenny Minor, and Todd Galloway from Baltimore Select; Raymond Felton from Beach Ball Select; Trevor Ariza from Belmont Shore; Sean Mallon from Brewster Heights Packing; Antonio Lawrence and Richard Midgley from EBO/EO Sports; Deron Williams from the Fort Worth Lions; Dan Grunfeld from Friends of Hoop Black; Dan Oppland from Gateway Bball Club 14; Marcus Williams from H Squad; David Bell, Mike Cook, and Mustafa Shakar from Hunting Park Warriors; Sean Dockery from Illinois Fire; Delco Rowley from Indy Warriors; Antoine Wright and Lawrence Carrier from Inland I; Chris Rodgers and Curtis Lincoln from Inner City Players; Sebastian Telfair from Juice All-Stars; Daryl Pegram and Donald Wilson from L.A. Rockfish; Curtis Sumpter, Darryl Hill, Jason Fraser, and Taquan Dean from the Long Island Panthers; Anthony Roberson and Olumuyiwa Famutimi from the Michigan Hurriance; Drew Nietzel, Kevin Nelson, and Paul Davis from the Michigan Mustangs; LaBron James from NE Ohio Shooting Stars; Wes Wilkinson from Nebraska Bison-Runsa Red; Curtis Withers from New Orleans Jazz; Allan Ray, Daon Merritt, and Francisco Garcia from the New York Ravens; Leon Powe and Marquis Katley from Oakland Slam N Jam; Maurice Wade from Playground Running Rebels; Lenny Cook from Prep Stars International; Brad Buckman and C.J. Watson from Pump N Run; Matt Walsh and Michael Thompson from Raleigh; Lodrick Stewart and Rodrick Stewart from Seattle Friends of Hoop; Travis Smith from Southern California All-Stars; Devon Smith from Stormin's Classic; Sheldon Franklin from Student Athlete Broncos; Dez Willingham from Team Texas 16's; Daniel Horton from Texas Blue Chip; Elijah Ingram, John Winchester, and Mario Boggan from Tim Thomas Playaz; Sean Phaler from Villa Park Spartans; and Brandon Roy from Yes Red. We'll have more tomorrow when we get to Orlando, FL, but right now we have to catch a plane.
Saturday, July 28, 2001 - We're down to 18 teams in the open Division of the adidas Big Time Tournament and we have seen nothing to change our mind about our comments this morning regarding the Atlanta Celtics. However, the Celtics will have a tough challenge by the Inland Warriors, which features 6'7 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence) MA and 6'8 Jr Lawrence Carrier from Salisbury (School) CT at 7:40 PM PST tonight at Green Valley High School. And most of the games in the other seven pools promises to be just as interesting. In Pool #1 it will be the Long Island Panthers with 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S) NY, 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, and 6'9 Jr Charlie Villaneuva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ versus the Los Angeles Rockfish with 6'3 Tim Drisdom from Lynnwood (Calvary Christian) CA at 5:00 PM PST at Green Valley High School. In Pool #2 it will be the New Ravens with 6'2 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY and 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT versus Donyell Marshall I at 5:00 PM at Durango High School. In Pool #3 it will be the Raleigh Heat with 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC versus the Michigan Mustangs with 6'10 Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI in the battle of the two top rated white big men in the Class of 2002 at 6:20 PM at Green Valley High School. In Pool #4 it will be the Indy Warriors with 6'8 Delco Rowley from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN versus Baltimore Select with 6'7 Carmelo Anthony from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA at 6:20 PM at Durango High School. In Pool #6 it will be the Tim Thomas Playaz with 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ and 6'11 Jr Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ versus Oakland Slam N Jam with 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Vocational Tech) CA and 6'5 Soph Tim Pierce from Oakland (Fremont) CA at 7:40 PM at Durango High School. In Pool #7 it will be the Hunting Park Warriors with 6'7 David Bell from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC versus the winner of H Squad I and the Southern California All-Stars, which is currently in progess, at 9:00 PM at Green Valley High School. In Pool #8 it will be the Nebraska Bison-Runza Red with 6'9 Wes Wilkinson from Grand Island (H.S.) NE and 6'9 Roy Enright from Omaha (Burke) NE versus the winner of the New Orleans Jazz and Illinois Fire, which currently is progress, at 9:00 PM at Durango High School. We also have received word that Team Texas has beaten B.A.B.C. for the second time in a week to win the championship of the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, FL. The final score was 75-65.
Friday, July 27, 2001 - It comes as no surprise that 6'8 Mario Boggan from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA has finally made it official for the University of Florida. If you will recall, Bogan verbally committed to the Gators coaching staff several months ago, but, then people close to him encouraged him to hold off for a while. However, we had no reason to think this one wasn't done all along. As a result, Florida's recruiting class, which also includes 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, and 6'4 Rashid Al-Kaleem from Charlestown (H.S) MA, should be right up there with Duke in the battle for the top recruiting class. And the icing the cake will be if Billy Donovan and his staff get 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, or 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA. Right now the smart money appears to be on Bosh, but we hear that Michigan and Georgia Tech are also very high on his list. We have gotten an updated list of schools from Bosh's Team Texas teammate - 6'9 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, as well as 6'8 Brad Buckman from Austin (Westlake) TX and 6'7 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI. Diogu likes Arizona State, Seton Hall, Louisville, Georgetown, Illinois, Arkansas, Texas Tech, and Miami-FL. We still think Buckman is a near lock for Texas, but he also mentions Missouri, North Carolina, Illinois, and Louisville. Trannon's list includes Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, Iowa State, and Missouri. We also find it ironic that when Rick Pitino arrived in Louisville this spring, he was quoted as saying that he didn't plan to recruit players from New York City and New England. Instead, he thought his recruiting base would be in the South and the Midwest. However, the Cardinals already have two players from the New York City area in the fold in 6'3 Taquan Dean from Neptune (H.S.) NJ and 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT and it appears the Cardinals will have a great shot at getting 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is ranked as the #1 sophomore in the nation and was absolutely sensational at the adidasd ABCD Camp earlier this month - in two years. Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tell us that 6'5 Kenell Sanchez from Pennsauken (Bishop Eustace) NJ has made a verbal commitment to Drexel and a reliable source here at the adidas Big Time Tournanent tells us that 6'4 Gary Neal from Towson (Calvert Hall) MI has picked La Salle. It also appears that 6'3 Nathan Funk from Sioux City (Heelan) IA has picked Creighton, but our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that this one happened about a week ago. However, as of yet none of the national media has picked up on it.
Thursday, July 26, 2001 - Well, it looks like 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL and 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA have already caught the disease (planning on going straight from high school into the NBA Draft), as both have elected to stay home and not play this week in either the adidas Big Time Tournament or the AAU Super Showcase. Apparently they don't want to hurt the value of their stock. If you will recall Stoudemire was the consensus #1-ranked player at the NIKE All-American Camp. Collins was ranked #8 at the adidas ABCD Camp by the HOOP SCOOP. Unfortunately they don't release that showing up and meeting all the challenges night in and night out is something we look at very seriously and, because they are missing in action, we plan to drop both players in our rankings. At least Stoudemire has a realistic shot at getting drafted high in the NBA Draft. However, for Collins to think about putting his name into the NBA Draft next spring is about as ridiculous as when 6'9 Tony Key from Compton (Centennial) CA actually did it last spring. Another similarity is that Collins might have just as much off the court baggage as Key does. And Collins isn't the only one who is talking about making the biggest mistake of his life. Apparently the father of 6'6 Kelenna Azubuike from Tulsa (Victory Christian) OK thinks his son is ready for the NBA. But I'm not sure Azubuike will ready for the NBA even after four years of college. Azubuike is a great athlete, excellent defender, and terrific slasher, but doesn't he have the outside shooting and ball handling skills necessary to play at the highest level? Nor is he that good a player right now!! As a matter of fact, he's not any better than the fourth best player in his state behind 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, 6'8 Kevin Bookout from Stroud (H.S.) OK, and 6'5 DeAngelo Alexander from Midwest City (H.S.) OK and 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Oklahoma City (Northeast) OK has a lot more long range potential. Remember, only one player smaller than 6'8 was drafted among the top 20 picks in the NBA Draft last spring. Getting back to Stoudemire, he's not as raw as a lot of people have been led to believe. Stoudemire has incredible moves and quickness around the basket and he can shoot over you from 15-feet. Plus, he appears to have the work ethic, heart, and desire necessary to continue to improve his outside shot and post moves. However, there is another player in the senior class nationally who already is a lot closer to being a finished product than Stoudemire is and he's a lot more versatile. We're talking about 6'7 Carmelo Anthony from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who went for 33 points when we watched him lead Baltimore Select past the Southeast Raptors earlier today at the adidas Big Time Tournament. Not only is Anthony one of the most improved players in the Class of 2002 during the last six months, but he also still has a lot of upside and he's a world-class athlete who reminds us of Tracy McGrady in a lot of ways. However, he's even more multi-dimensional than McGrady was at the same stage, because he can shoot the lights out from 3-point range and he's better inside. Also it appears that Anthony hasn't been corrupted by the process yet, which once again brings us back to Stoudemire and the recent public relations nightmare for NIKE. Unfortunately most of the mainstream media still doesn't get it. As Dick "Hoops" Weiss pointed out earlier today when I was talking to him at the adidas Big Time Tournament, the problem is not with shoe company war between NIKE and adidas. Instead, it's all the street agents and shaddy people who are trying to influence these guys to do something that is not in their best interest and get a piece of the pie for themselves. And if something isn't done to stop this trend, it is going to ruin the game at every level.
Wednesday, July 25, 2001 - We heard it was going to happen a week ago, but now our New York Editor Ron Naclerio is now confirming that 6'6 Tim Doyle from Oyster Bay (St. Dominic) NY has verbally committed to St. John's. Doyle, who was ranked #231 nationally in the Class of 2002 prior to the start of the summer by the HOOP SCOOP, is best described as a point/forward, because he has excellent ball handling and passing skills. However, he lacks speed and quickness and he doesn't shot it very well. So he promises to be a good role player for the Red Storm, but he isn't a guy who will make or break their recruiting class. However, 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, who is ranked #20 nationally in the rising senior class, would be a player who would help make this a great recruiting class, especially St. John's can also land 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'5 Rashad Anderson from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, and/or 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ. Ingram, who might be a lot closer to making a verbal commitment to St. John's than a lot of people realize, also would give head coach Mike Jarvis the point guard he needs to replace Omar Cook, who declared for the NBA Draft last spring. Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also has a pair of commitments to pass along, as 6'8 Nicholas Kern from St. Louis (Vashon) MO, who is ranked #92 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made it official for Saint Louis and 6'1 Mike Lesma from Burlington (Life Center) MA, who is ranked #80 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has decided to attend the University of Massachuesetts. We think Kern is a perfect fit for the Billikins. Not only does he have a great upside due to his athleticism, ability to rebound and block shots, and toughness inside, but he also has the ability to step out and hit the open three. However, he likely would have gotten recruited over if he signed with somebody like Missouri or Illinois. We're not sold on the fact that Lesma can play point guard at the big time college level, but it may not matter, because he's one of the most explosive athletes, as well exciting players, in the class. We also believe that Wake Forest may be close to getting a verbal commitment from 6'1 Justin Gray from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who shot the lights out earlier today when we saw him in the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, FL and Clemson may be on the verge of getting 6'3 Logan White from Cleveland (University) OH, who impressed us with athleticism and outside shooting, as he finished ranked as the #5 2-guard at the NIKE All-American Camp earlier this month. It also appears to be a done deal for 6'3 Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, who is expected to pick Indiana University as soon as Hoosiers head coach Mike Davis is able to meet face-to-face with his mother (this will probably happen next week). However, Anderson, who finished ranked #2 at the NIKE All-American Camp, would be a pretty good consolation prize for the Longhorns. It also looks like Texas is in the lead, along with Missouri, for 6'8 Brad Buckman from Austin (Westlake) TX, who was both Most Valuable Player in the camp playoffs and the Most Outstanding Player for the Week at Five-Star's loaded Pitt III session last week, and we know that the Longhorns have always been the favorite school of 6'1 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who, along with Wright, was the best player we saw the first day at the AAU Super Showcase. But Hopkins says he's still open, as Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Okahoma State, Maryland, and Cincinnati are all still on his list. Speaking of Cincinnati, Bearcats head coach Bobby Huggins was seen watching Hopkins both times he played today in the AAU Super Showcase and, if he can get Hopkins to commit first, he would probably have to pass on 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, who recently has emerged as Cincinnati's #1 target at point guard. And if that happens, don't be surprised if Ole Miss emerges as the new leader for Moore. We also understand that Indiana is still involved with 6'1 Johnny Gilchrist from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, but the smart money is on Maryland, St. John's, and Georgetown.
Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - Upon arriving in Orlando, FL this morning we found out that people running the 2001 AAU Super Showcase think the first day of their tournament is a registration and check-in day. In other words, it was a non-playing day and, as a result, we will only get one day (tomorrow) to cover this tournament. So we plan to get there at 8:00 PM to see New York Riverside Church versus the C.I. Gibson High School -Rattles and Coast to Coast versus the St. Louis Eagles. Then, at 10:00 AM we will plan to focus on the Kentucky Hoop Stars versus Team Jax, but also will have plenty of other options, as it will be Charlotte Aces versus North Carolina Gaters, the DC Blue Devils versus World Wide Renegades, Alabama Select versus Martin Brothers Iowa Select, All-Ohio versus Tamarac Tarheels, and Baltimore Blue verus the Orlando Force. Next, at 11:30 AM it will be the Tallahassee Wildcats versus YOMCA, the Challenge versus the Gulf Coast Stars II, Tennessee Travelers versus NIKE Team Florida, Colorado X-Press versus the New Jersey Celtics, Illinois Warriors versus Ohio Valley AAU, and the Spiece Pistols versus the Durham Disciples and at 1:00 PM it will be Athletes First versus the New York Jaguars, Arkansas Rockets versus Georgia Jazz, Howard Pulley Panthers versus Team Baltimore, Bloomington Red versus Gulf Coast Stars I, Team Texas versus Georgia Stars, and Team Memphis versus Central Florida PAL. That will be followed at 2:30 PM by Hampton Roads versus the Georgia Hawks, Albany City Rocks versus Grass Roots Canada, Arkansas Wings versus Magnolia Stars, The Family versus New Jersey Rap, B.A.B.C, versus Shreveport Bossier Select, and Bray Center versus G-Rebs. The final set of opening round game in pool play will feature the Houston Hoops versus the New Jersey Demons and Georgia Elite versus the SYF Players at 4:00 PM. Also at 4:00 PM the teams in Pool M (Riverside Church, Coast to Coast, St. Louis Eagles, and C.I. Gibson High School - Rattles) and Pool J (Kentucky Hoop Stars, Charlotte Aces, North Carolina Gaters, and Team Jax) will play their second games of the day. That will be followed at 5:30 PM by the teams in Pool I (DC Blue Devils, Alabama Select, Martin Brothers Iowa Select, and World Wide Renegades), Pool L (Illinois Warriors, Spiece Pistols, Durham Disciples, and Ohio Valley AAU), and Pool G (Tallahassee Wildcats, Challenge, Gulf Coast Stars II, and YOMCA). Then, at 7:00 PM it will be the teams in Pool F (All Ohio, Baltimore Blue, Orlando Force, and Tamarac Tarheels), Pool H (Team Texas, Team Memphis, Central Florida PAL, and Georgia Stars), and Pool K (Tennessee Travelers, Colorado X-Press, New Jersey Celtics, and NIKE Team Florida) in their second games of the day. We also plan to see some of the 8:30 PM games with teams in Pool E (Howard Pulley Panthers, Bloomington Red, Gulf Coast Stars I, and Team Baltimore), Pool A (Athletes First, Arkansas Rockets, Georgia Jazz, and New York City Jaguars), and Pool C (The Family, Arkansas Wings, Magnolia Stars, New Jersey City Rap). However, we won't get to see any of the 10:00 PM games with teams in Pool B (Hampton Roads, Albany City Rocks, Grass Roots Canada, and the Georgia Hawks) and Pool D (B.A.B.C., Bray Center, G-Rebs, and Shreveport Bossier Select), because we'll already be at the airport getting ready to catch a flight to Las Vegas, NV, where we'll spend the next four days covering the adidas Big Time Tournament. And after that's over, it will be back to Orlando, FL for the last four days of the 2001 AAU 17-Under Boys Basketball National Championship. Nobody can provide you with the in-sight we can, but the AAU people will keep you on top of how both 2001 AAU Super Showcase and 2001 AAU 17-Under Boys Basketball National Championship are unfolding, if you click on http://www.aausports.org.
Monday, July 23, 2001 - We are finally finished with our write-up in of the NIKE All-American Camp and, despite the fact the camp was down when compared to previous years, we found a number of positive things to write about the camp, like the effort given by a number of the top ranked players in camp, the number of excellent sophomores in camp, and the depth at both forward spots. When we take an even closer look and compare the top players from the NIKE All-American Camp with the top 50 players from the adidas ABCD Camp, we that it's not as lopsided, at least near the top, as we originally expected. It comes as no surprise that 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL edges out 6'6 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH as the best player in either both camp. If you will recall, Stoudemire was a dominant force all week at NIKE, while James was unable to get into the flow of things at adidas until they switched him to point guard mid-way through the week. However, it may come as a surprise that we gave three other players - 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, 5'11 Dee Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, and 6'10 Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL - who rank among the top 10 from the NIKE-American Camp the edge over the player ranked in the same position at the adidas ABCD Camp. Francis gets the nod over 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappin (H.S.) NJ due to consistency during the week. Remember, Cooke's game fell way off after his match-up against James on the third day at the adidas Camp. Brown gets the nod over 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, because he did more to get his teammates involved during the camp. In other words, if you're as selfish as Roberson was at adidas, you aren't going to get any breaks in our rankings. Thompson, who made a verbal commit to Duke last winter, edges out Dockery, because he really elevated his game the last two days, which is when Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski was in attendance. NIKE also wins four of the next five spots, as 6'3 Jarrett Jack from Worcester (Academy) MA edges out 6'7 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'8 Jr Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX beats out 6'9 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, 6'4 Rashad McCants from Worcester (Academy) MA was better than 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT, and 6'2 Marsahll Strickland from Sykes (South Carroll) MD was clearly better than 6'4 Maurice Ager from Detroit (Crockett) MI. However, it's all up hill after that, as NIKE wins only 12 of the next 35 spots. And three of those 12 spots are at #48 with 6'4 DeAngelo Alexander from Midwest City (H.S.) OK over 6'10 Jr Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, #49 with 6'2 Soph JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC over 6'6 Jr Marcus Sikes from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, and #50 with 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC over 5'11 Soph Eric Price from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD. And our guess is that it would be even more lopsided in favor of adidas if we went any deeper than #50.
HOOP SCOOP'S EXCLUSIVE NIKE & adidas Camp Comparison
Rank Top 50 Players from the adidas ABCD Camp Winner Top 50 Players from the NIKE All-American Camp
1. LeBron James- Jr NIKE Amare Stoudemire 2. Sebastian Telfair-Soph adidas Rashad Anderson 3. Raymond Felton adidas Sheldon Williams 4. Leon Powe-Jr adidas Chris Rogers 5. Kendrick Perkins-Jr adidas Greg Brunner 6. Leonard Cooke NIKE Torin Francis 7. Chris Bosh adidas J.J. Redick 8. DeAngelo Collins adidas Kennedy Winston 9. Anthony Roberson NIKE Dee Brown 10. Sean Dockery NIKE Michael Thompson 11. Matt Trannon NIKE Jarrett Jack 12. Ike Diogu NIKE Ndudi Ebi-Jr 13. Elijah Ingram adidas Jimmy McKinney 14. Francisco Garcia NIKE Rashad McCants 15. Maurice Ager NIKE Marshall Strickland 16. Mike Williams-Soph adidas Alou Kane 17. Gerry McNamara adidas Kris Humphries-Jr 18. Antonie Wright adidas Dion Harris-Jr 19. Allan Ray adidas Brian Randle-Jr 20. Charlie Villanueva-Jr NIKE Evan Burns 21. Antonio Lawrence adidas Yusef Baker 22. Travis Outlaw-Jr adidas Logan White 23. Chadd Moore NIKE Ousmane Konate-Jr 24. Daniel Horton adidas Marques Hayden 25. Travis Garrison NIKE Michael Bush-Jr
26. Charles Davis adidas Hassan Adams 27. Derrick Byars NIKE Mario Moore 28. Darius Washington-Soph NIKE Matt Walsh 29. Jason Fraser adidas J.R. Morris 30. Adam Haluska adidas Luol Deng-Jr 31. Olu Famutini-Jr NIKE Julius Lamptey 32. Trevor Ariza-Jr adidas Jeff Horner 33. Chris Taft-Jr adidas Wes Wilkinson 34. Deron Williams adidas Shannon Brown-Jr 35. Marquis Webb-Jr NIKE Rashaun Freeman 36. Paul Davis adidas Brian Johnson-Jr 37. Maurice Petty adidas Devon Evertsen-Jr 38. Jai Miller-Jr adidas Jeremey Ingram-Jr 39. Omar Wilkes-Jr adidas Denham Brown 40. Curtis Withers adidas Kenneth Harris-Jr 41. Jason Horton-Soph adidas Almany Thiero 42. Joshua Smith-Soph NIKE Corey Gibbs-Jr 43. Darryl Watkins-Jr adidas J.R. Reynolds 44. John Winchester NIKE Kelenna Azubuike 45. Warren Scott-Jr adidas Chris Ellis 46. Joey Cameron-Frosh adidas Chris McCray 47. Brandon Stockton adidas Roy Enright 48. Major Wingate-Jr NIKE DeAngelo Alexander 49. Marcus Sikes-Jr NIKE JamesOn Curry-Soph 50 Eric Price-Soph NIKE Shavlik Randolph
Sunday, July 22, 2001 - After a last ditch effort failed to lure 6'4 Ricardo Billings from Detroit (Rogers) MI away from Ohio State a week ago, it looks like Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has landed two players that were leaning towards other schools right up until the 11th hour. If you will recall, early in week 6'7 Delco Rowley from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN picked the Spartans over Ohio State and Iowa. Then, two days ago 6'4 Maurice Ager from Detroit (Crockett) MI followed suit. Ager is an especially important commitment for Michigan State, because his commitment helps stop the flow of Michigan talent to the University of Missouri. Remember, two years ago the Tigers stole 6'9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI and 6'4 Rickey Paulding from Detroit (Renaissance) MI. Then, a year ago Missouri also landed 6'9 Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI and 6'9 Jeff Ferguson from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI. Speaking of Whaley, who has had more than his share of off the court problems in the last year, he now appears to be heading to West Virginia. Two other late additions from the Class of 2002 that our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has made us aware of are 6'2 Marcus Bennett from Detroit (Renaissance) MI to the University of Michigan and 6'9 Thomas Soltau from Denmark to Northwestern. Bennett promises to be a role player, but Johnson likes Soltau's potential. "He's the perfect fit for the Northwestern system," says Johnson, who saw Soltau last July at Five-Star. "He's a 6'9 power forward who can step out and stroke the three." Johnson also tells us that Penn State has added another commitment from 6'10 Robert Summers from Gahanna (Lincoln) OH and it will be especially interesting to see will be right on this one. Bob Gibbons of All-Stars Sports has gone on record saying that Summers has Terrence Morris-like skills. However, Johnson thinks Summers is more of project, who is at least two or three years away from contributing at the Big-10 level. And apparently a lot of big time schools agree with Johnson, as Robert Morris and Hampton were the only other schools to offers Summers to-date. Penn State also recently landed 6'1 Brandon Cameron from Gary (West Side) IN about a week ago and, as a result, are believed to be one of the favorites for 6'10 Chris Hunter from Gary (West Side) IN. We also have confirmed that Marquette has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'9 Steve Novak from Brown Deer (H.S.) WI, who is one of the best 3-point shooters nationally in class and, as a result, a top 100 senior nationally after his performance at the adidas ABCD Camp, and 6'2 Travis Smith from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA has picked the University of San Diego. We're also still waiting on 6'3 Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX to make it official for Indiana University.
Saturday, July 21, 2001 - 6'7 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH and 6'10 Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL both failed to show up at Five Star Pitt III this week, but thanks to a lot of hard work put in by Stu Lash, who is the marketing and recruiting director for the Five-Star Basketball Camp, during the last year, this session turned out to be the most talented Pittsburgh-session since the mid-90's. The two biggest names in camp were 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC and 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, but both were slowed by injuries in the Orange-White All-Star Game last night. Instead, 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Brad Buckman from Austin (Westlake) TX, and 6'9 Jr Nick Stafford from Worcester (Academy) MA were last night's heroes. Sumpter, who has played extremely well since the adidas ABCD Camp, where was played so poorly that he wasn't named to play in the Senior All-Star Game, was named the MVP in the Orange-White Classic last night. However, he was not the leading scorer or the best player in the game for our money. Instead, Stafford was the high scorer with 20 points and Buckman was the best player. However, Buckman, who brought the house down with earthshattering dunk after earthshattering dunk, played on the losing team. Buckman didn't play well earlier in the summer at the adidas ABCD Camp, but he convinced us last night that he's a legitimate top 100 senior nationally. He also reminds our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson of Troy Murphy, although Buckman doesn't have the outside shooting touch that Murphy possesses. Fraser didn't do much earlier in the week or in the first half of the game last night, but after he got dunked on by Buckman a number times, he apparently woke up and scored all but four of his 17 points in the second half. Fraser also had nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Speaking of rebounding, the leading rebounder in the game was 6'5 Alex Carmona from Troy (H.S.) OH. However, Carmona, who is best described as a great athlete and relentless warrior, grabbed most of his 11 boards and scored most of his 11 points early in game. The biggest sleeper in game was 6'5 Andre Vanterpool from Manhasset (H.S.) NY, who prior to coming to camp had only on serious scholarship offer from St. Francis-NY. Vanterpool is an incredible athlete, tenacious defender, and terrific slasher. This was especially evident in the all-star when he executed a dazzling 360-degree dunk in the all-star, which brought the house down. Vanterpool also is an incredible shot blocker for his size and is extremely active inside. However, his lack of size, strength, and outside shooting are question marks. Also showing improvement during the week were 6'7 Jr Omari Israel from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD and 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH. The impressive thing about Lavender, besides being an excellent ball handler, was that all week his team increased its lead whenever he entered the game and decreased it when he was on the bench. Israel, who had 14 points and nine rebounds in the Orange-White All-Star Game, finally is starting to become more aggressive and comfortable playing inside. The biggest disappointment in the All-Star Game was 6'3 Jarrett Jack from Worcester (Academy) MA, who had 11 points, four assists, and nine turnovers. Enough said!
Wednesday, July 18, 2001, Thursday, July 19, 2001, and Friday, July 20, 2001 -I was just about finished with our write-up on the NIKE All-American Camp on Wednesday afternoon and looking forward to making my appearance at Eastern Invitational at the College of New Jersey. I was right down to the last line of the last paragraph when my computer screen went blank. The same thing had happened two days earlier, but it appeared to be only a temporary problem after taking it to Best Buy on Monday evening. However, this time the computer technican informed me that my computer was dead. Fortunately the computer still had 11 months remaining on a three-year warranty, but unfortunately to fix it they would have to send it back to the company that made the computer. In other words, they were going to hold my computer hostage for three weeks while it was being repaired. Obviously this was totally unacceptable. It also was becoming obviously that it was time to buy a new computer. And since nothing I have ever done in terms of setting up computers has been easy, I purchased the new labtop in New Jersey on Thursday morning and, then, made an 11-hour drive home. The plan was to give the new labtop to Dennis Branson, who is the person who had set up everything on my last computer and, as a result, speed up the process. By noon today we were up, operational, and heading to Five-Star's loaded Pitt III session. All this important to tell you, because we now have a 3-1/2 year history of providing updating our web site on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, this is only the third time we've experience computer problems that have caused us to be down for more than a day. And hopefully the potential for this happening in the future will be reduced even further once we get my old labtop, which will serve as a very reliable back-up, back in early August. Obviously we won't count the three days we've been down towards the time on your subscription. We also will have to wait until August to get basic things like email operational. Speaking of email, I am not the greatest at looking at email. Eventually I see most of it, but if you need to get ahold of me and it is important, don't send me an email. Instead, call me at 1-502-493-0043. My calls are usually always forwarded when I'm on the road to my digit phone, so I'm usually never out of the loop, unless I'm totally occupied with a computer disaster, like the one we experienced the last three days. Thanks for you patience and understanding with regards to this matter. Normal operations will begin again tomorrow, which is when we provide you with highlights from the Five-Star Basketball Camp, as well as catch-up on any signings and commitments that have occured within the last several days. We also will have the highlights from Eastern Invitational, which is being covered by our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, and re-write our NIKE All-American Camp Report this weekend. So stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 17, 2001 - Our Texas Editor Wes Grandstaff wanted to make sure I knew that Team Texas had won the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA and right now he looks like a genius, because he's the guy who told us last winter how strong the Dallas, TX area was in the Class of 2002. If you will recall, the Texas Blue Chip All-Stars also finished second over the weekend in the Three Stripes Classic at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. In other words, two teams for Dallas, TX were playing for the champion in two of the premier tournaments of the summer over the weekend. And two other Dallas-area teams - the Ft. Worth Lions and the Team Texas Select - were also in the final four of the Great American Shootout. Getting back to the NIKE Peach Jam, apparently 6'3 Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX was as good in Augusta, GA as he was bad a week earlier at the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, IN. Not only did Wright take home tournament honors, but he scored 17 points in the championship game, as Team Texas knocked off B.A.B.C.(Boston Amateur Basketball Club) in the championship game. Ironically these two teams featured two players who likely will be teammates next year at Indiana University. If you will recall, 6'2 Marshall Strickland from Sykes (South Carroll) MD, who was ranked #15 by the HOOP SCOOP at the NIKE All-American Camp, committed to Indiana on the final day of camp last week. And Wright is expected to make it official for the Hoosiers any day now. Getting back to Team Texas' impressive 57-55 victory in the championship at the NIKE Peach Jam, the other big hero was 5'11 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who played great defense, run the show and dished the ball, and shot the heck out of it. As a matter of fact, he hit six 3-pointers in one game. As a result, his list, which currently has Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Texas being mentioned as the leader, promises to get longer before it gets shorter. Also playing extremely well for Team Texas were 6'10 Alou Kane from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) TX, 6'5 Shelton Johnson from Arlington (Oak Ridge) TX, and 6'4 Josh Washington from Lubbuck (Monterey) TX. Right now Texas Tech appears to be the leader for Washington, but this athletic wing forward still appears to be wide open, as a lot of other schools making a strong push. Johnson, who does all the dirty work inside, but down the road should be able to develop into a wing forward, has Tulsa, SMU, New Mexico, Boston College, and Colorado all high on his list. Kane, who finished ranked #4 among centers at the NIKE All-American Camp, is getting the most interest from schools like Clemson, Boston College, and SMU.
Monday, July 16, 2001 - Throughout the week during the adidas ABCD Camp we provided you with our updated player rankings on a daily basis, but only in the last day have been able to find the time to add the box scores from both the Senior and Underclassmen All-Star Games, the top 10 statistical leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocks, field goal percentage, 3-point field percentage, and free throw percentage, and some of thoughts and comments about the camp, including insight into why particular players were ranked a certain way. All this is available exclusively in the Members Section. However, we do want to provide you with a list of the top 20 players in camp, which includes ranked in order 6'6 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Vocational Tech) CA, 6'10 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beamount (Ozen) TX, 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'7 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'9 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT, 6'4 Maurice Ager from Detroit (Crockett) MI, 6'8 Soph Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'2 Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop McNamara) PA, 6'8 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, 6'2 Allen Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ. Also noteworthy is the fact that our rankings are based primarily on camp performance and not college and/or pro potential. As a matter of fact, in most cases we don't need to attend the camp to know where the top players should be rated and/or what their potential is down the road. In other words, what you do in camp is important. However, this is not the case with many of the rankings provided by our competitors. The best example is by Frank Burlison of www.foxsports.com, who ranked 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC as the #2 player in camp. Burlison, who is regarded as one of the top people in the field, could have done that before the camp ever started or if Randolph had never played a minute all week. But there is no way Burlison's ranking is based on what Randolph did at the NIKE All-American Camp. First of all, Randolph was slowed by a nagging injury and, as a result, had no shot at being one of the best players in camp no matter how hard he tried. Second, Randolph wanted no part of 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL in their head-to-head match-up. Therefore, it is obvious that Burlison's rankings are not reflective of what happened at camp. However, most people don't understand this, which must be why there has been so much confusion regarding how players like Randolph, 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, and 6'3 Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX all played last week at NIKE. The party line is that they all played well, but May got worse as the week wore on and Wright had several games where he hardly even scored. Certainly Randolph, May, and Wright all should be ranked among the top players in their class nationally. But to rank them among the top players at the NIKE All-Amercian Camp not only is very inaccurate, but it also sends a terrible message to these kids. It also was a big part of the problem a year ago with 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, and 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL. The message being no matter how bad you play, it's alright, because you're one of the very elite players nationally and, as a result, likely to go high in the NBA Draft sometime in the not too distant future. Obviously that's not the case with us, as we rank the players the old-fashioned way. We make them earn it!
Sunday, July 15, 2001 - Both our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson and Michigan Editor Steve Bell have informed me that 6'4 Ricardo Billings from Detroit (Rogers) MI, who was ranked #57 nationally in the rsing senior class prior to the start of the summer camp season, has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow and is expected to pick either Ohio State of Michigan State. Neither seems to know for sure which school will win out, but Bell thinks the odds are in favor of the Buckeyes, because they've been there the longest and the strongest. However, the fact that Billings and 6'4 Maurice Ager from Detroit (Crockett) MI are close friends and, as a result, have expressed a desire to attend the same school, seems to favor the Spartans. If you will recall, Michigan State is the only school that appears to have a realistic chance at getting both players. Reggie Tisdale, the editor and publisher of Indiana Basketball News, as well as a former legendary AAU coach in the state of Indiana, called to make us aware of the fact that 6'0 Brandon Cameron from Gary (West Side) IN has made a verbal commitment to Penn State. This is an interesting commitment, because Cameron could be the carot that helps get his teammate - 6'9 Chris Hunter from Gary (West Side) IN - to also pick the Nittany Lions. However, we're not sure Cameron is good enough to tie up a scholarship in order to help land Hunter. And after the disappointing spring and summer Hunter has had to-date, we also have to question whether Hunter is ready to make an immediate impact in the Big-10. Several other verbal commitments may be forthcoming in the not too distant future. We're talking about 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY and 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, both of whom may be a lot closer to picking the University of North Carolina than a lot of people realize. And if this does indeed happen, the Tar Heels would be right up there along with Duke and Florida with four players already in the fold. If you will recall, Duke already has commitments from 6'4 J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, 6'10 Michael Thompson from Providence (New Lenox) IL, 6'7 Lee Melchionni from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, and 6'1 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL and Florida has landed 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'4 Rashid Al-Kaleem from Charlestown (H.S.) MA, 6'5 Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, and 6'8 Mario Boggan from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA. Yes, we are counting Boggan, because he's told the Florida coaching staff that he plans to become a Gator. However, there is still some confusion whether this commitment is official, as some of the people around Boggan want him to go through the recruiting process. North Carolina also has two other players already in the fold in 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC and 6'4 Rashad McCants from New Hampton (Prep) NH. According to Gary Charles, who is the head coach of the Long Island Panthers, North Carolina is the favorite, Villanova is second, and Connecticut, St. John's, and Virginia are also still in the hunt for Sumpter. Charles also tells us that North Carolina and St. John's are the co-favorites for Fraser, but he also mentions Connecticut, Villanova, and Syracuse. Charles also says North Carolina and St. John's as the leaders for 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ. But he also doesn't rule out the possibility that Cooke will go straight to the NBA out of high school next year. The leader for 6'4 Tim Doyle from Oyster Bay (St. Dominic) NY is Northwestern, but Auburn, Drexel, Northeastern, Hartford, and Princeton are also showing interest. Central Connecticut State, Hartford, Niagara, and Coppin State are involved with 6'3 Aubin Scott from Hempstead (H.S.) NY. La Salle appears to be the leader over Iona, Siena, and Coppin State for 5'9 Marvin McCullough from Bronx (All Hallows) NY. The early list for 6'9 Jr Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ includes St. John's, North Carolina, Seton Hall, Syracuse, UCLA, Georgetown, and Illinois. Michigan, Miami-FL, and Georgia Tech are all in the hunt for 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, whose value went through the roof at the adidas ABCD Camp earlier this week. But the smart money appears to be on Florida. Arizona State is still way out in front for 6'9 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, but Mitch Malone, the director of the Texas Bluechip All-Stars, tells us that Seton Hall, Miami-FL, and Baylor are also still in the hunt. Arizona State, New Mexico State, Houston, Miami-FL, Baylor, Seton Hall are involved with 6'7 Allen Morill from Arlington (Sam Houston) TX. Our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis tells us that Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker and assistant coach Charles Ramsay were at the Team Georgia practice this afternoon to see 6'8 Almany Thiero from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who finished ranked #41 overall and #8 at the power forward position at the NIKE All-American Camp earlier this week. So was the entire Memphis coaching staff and, as a result, it appears safe to say Michigan and Memphis are the leaders for this athletic power forward who is quickly become a high major recruiting priority.
Saturday, July 14, 2001 - The Texas Blue Chip All-Stars jumped out to a 13-0 lead against the Long Island Panthers earlier today in the championship at the Three Stripes Classic at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. But thanks to the efforts of 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who had 18 points and nine points, 6'9 Jr Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, who had 18 points and 10 points, and 6'3 Taquan Dean from Neptune (H.S.) NJ, who chipped in with 15 points, the Panthers came back and to emerge with a 68-63 victory in the championship game. For their efforts Sumpter, Fraser, and Villanueva were named tri-MVP of the tournament. Also named to the all-tournament team were 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'9 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Allen Morill from Arlington (Sam Houston) TX, 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'10 Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'1 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT, 6'9 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI, 6'8 Antione Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, 6'8 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'8 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'0 Tre Kelly from Washington (Dunbar) DC, 6'3 Donald Wilson from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 6'6 Spencer Ford from Scotlandville (H.S.) LA, 6'1 Dan Oglesby from Hamden (Hall) CT, 6'2 Eric Wilkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA. Especially noteworthy is the fact that Sumpter and Wingate, both of whom didn't play well enough to make the all-star game at the adidas ABCD Camp earlier this week, more than redeemed themselves in this tournament. So did Butler, who edged out 6'8 Soph Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL as the selection from the Southeast Raptors on the all-tournament team, and 6'9 James Augustine from New Lenox (Lincoln Way) IL. Unfortunately the same thing can't be said about 6'11 Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, and 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, all of whom have not lived up to their press clippings so far this summer. As a matter of fact, Cooke, who missed both the first and last day of the tournament, hasn't been the same since he got out played by 6'6 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary's) OH on Tuesday at the adidas ABCD Camp. One of the best 3-point shooters in the tournament was 6'4 Britton Thomas from Gastonia (Ashbrook) NC, who is currently ranked #169 overall and #32 at the 2-guard spot nationally by the HOOP SCOOP. But he might be better than that, especially if he gets bigger and stronger and continues to gain confidence while playing against the top high school players in the nation this summer. Right now Furman, East Carolina, and Virginia Tech are the only ones showing a lot of interest in Thomas. Looking back on it, we probably should have had 6'5 Shawn Harris from Fork Union (Military) VA a little higher on our list from the adidas ABCD Camp. Not only is an excellent athlete and defender who is like a jack-of-all-trades, but he also impressed us with his outside shooting. As a result, we think he will have a big year in prep school next season. We also really liked 6'3 Jason Olive from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY. Not only is Olive a big time athlete, but he's a pretty good outside shooter and very active in the open court. He also is an excellent rebounder for his size. Unfortunately academics may be a question and, as a result, junior college and/or prep school may be in his future. And what about 6'0 Jamo Belfor from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, who stepped in at point guard to replace 6'1 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, who was a no-show for the Illinois Fire? He should be a steal for Hofstra, Iona, or Dayton, all of whom are showing a lot of interest. Our favorite player from a well-balanced Baltimore Select Team was 6'4 Gary Neal from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD. He too is a big time athlete and an excellent 3-point shooter. Speaking of well-balanced teams without a great player, the Illinois Fire advanced all the way to the championship game in the American Tournament, which featured all the teams that finished in the middle of the tournament. Also falling into this category were the Los Angeles Rockfish and DC Assault, both of whom advanced all the way into the semi-finals before losing to the Long Island Panthers and Texas Blue Chip, respectively, in the winner's bracket. A special thanks to Three Stripes Classic Tournament director Gary DeCesare, who in his first attempt has made this one of the premier events of the entire summer, as well as the #1 place to be right after the adidas ABCD and NIKE All-American Camps.
Friday, July 13, 2001 - Auburn has been the heavy favorite for 6'1 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL for almost a year now, but it looks like the Tigers are suddenly out of the picture and, as a result, Georgia, Cincinnati, and Georgetown are all making a strong push. The smart money might be on Cincinnati. Remember, when Bearcats head coach Bobby Huggins, who made sure he watched all of Moore's games when he was at both the adidas ABDC Camp and the Three Stripes Classic at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, focuses on a particular player, he has a history of getting his man. Huggins also may be on the verge of getting the assistant coach he really wants, despite the fact that Auburn assistant Mike Wilson has already turned down the job twice. As a matter of fact, Huggins and Wilson were seen sitting by themselves last night watching the 8:00 PM game on Court #1 between the Southeast Raptors and the Juice All-Stars. They also appeared to be having a serious conversation last night after the evening session was over in the bar at the Marriott. Although we can only speculate on what might have been said, we're guessing that this time Huggins has made Wilson an offer that he can't refuse. Remember, Huggins has not hired an assistant coach since Mick Cronin left to become the associate head coach at Louisville in April and, as a result, the speculation regarding who Huggins might hire has been a hot topic of conversation this spring. Also don't forget that Wilson is one of the best recruiters in the business and he had done most of the work on Moore during the last year. Another interesting twist to the story involves Wilson's relationship with Cronin. They've been best friends for years, which is especially interesting after Cronin's surprising exit from Cincinnati. If you will recall, Huggins was less than thrilled when Cronin left. We also have confirmed that UNC-Charlotte has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'6 Vincent Grier, who will be a 5th year player at Raleigh (Bonner) NC and 6'9 Eric Williams from Wake Forest (Rolesville) NC has made it official for Wake Forest. It also looks like there are also several bogus verbal commitments that have been reported on the internet, like 6'1 Michael Ford from Macon (Northeast) GA picking Connecticut and 6'9 Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA going to Memphis. Atlanta Celtics head coach Wallace Prather was especially surprised when we asked him about Ibrahim, but he seemed to like the thought of Ibrahim and Stoudemire, who committed to Memphis five months ago, playing together down the road. But he thought it would more likely happen again someday in the NBA. If you will recall, Stoudemire played for the Celtics in a tournament in June in Atlanta. Speakingof Stoudemire, we also have heard that his commitment to Memphis may not be as solid as everybody thinks. However, even if that is true, it may not matter, as Stoudemire is expected to go straight from high school into the NBA Draft next spring. And he may have to, especially if the rumors are true about the nature of show that HBO is supposed to air on Monday, July 16th, featuring Stoudemire.
Thursday, July 12, 2001 - What 5'11 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY did last night in the Underclassmen All-Star Game at the adidas ABCD Camp was the nothing short of spectacular. Telfair was ranked #5 overall in camp going into the final day and he had already either outplayed or more than held his own against all the top guards in camp, including 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'3 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, and 6'2 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY. As a matter of fact, the only player in camp who got the better of him was 6'6 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, who finished ranked as the consensus #1 player in camp. However, Telfair even stole the show from James in the all-star game. And after facing the best collection of players at one position that we've seen in any superstar oriented camp during the 18 years we've been in the business, it is easy to see why playing in the Underclassmen All-Star Game was like a stroll in the park for Telfair. He didn't get into the game until two-thirds way through the first half, but by intermission Telfair had 20 points. Not only was he using his incredible crossover dribble, tremendous speed and quickness, and explosive moves to shake his man and bury four out of five 3-pointers, but he also made more than his share of incredible moves to the basket and had several amazing passes that went for assists. Further evidence of how well Telfair was playing comes from the fact that he kept getting the ball back after he'd bring the ball up the court and start the offense. In other words, the college coaches, scouts, and fans in attendence weren't the only people who knew they were watching something great happen right before their eyes. Yes, Telfair's own teammates were more than willing to take a backseat and let him be the star, which is rare in an all-star game. Telfair cooled off in the second half, but he still finished with 29 points, seven assists, and 12-15 field goals. He also played his way into the #2 spot in our rankings behind James, who took home MVP honors for his team. James also had seven assists, as he showed why he is the best high school player in the nation regardless of class. The third best player in the Underclassmen All-Star Game was either 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Vocational Tech) CA or 6'9 Jr Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ. Powe, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, also was the leading scorer (21.3 ppg) and leading rebounder (9.9 rpg) in camp, and, as a result, moves into our top five in camp in our final rankings from the adidas ABCD Camp. Villanueva didn't play well when we saw him on the first day of camp. As a matter, he didn't even make our list of the top players at his position. However, Villanueva, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Underclassmen All-Star Game, just got better and better as the week went on and, as a result, finished ranked #20 in camp, as well as #3 at the power forward position. In contrast, the Senior All-Star Game was anti-climatic, but we still have to mention how well 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL, 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT and 6'8 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA all played. Collins, who was named MVP for the winning Red Squad, finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He also is ranked #8 overall in camp. Lawrence, who was named MVP for the losing White Team, finished with 24 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Speaking of Lawrence, we've confirmed that he will be transferring this fall to a small private school in the Fresno, CA area this fall, but nobody seems to be able to provide us with the name of the school, including his AAU coach Darren Matsubara. Garcia, who verbally committed to Louisville several days ago, is another guy who just got better as he continued to gain confidence and the week wore on. As a result, Garcia, who had 12 points and five rebounds in the Senior All-Star Game, finished ranked #14 in camp. Wright scored 16 points in the Senior All-Star Game and finished ranked #18 in camp. However, he wasn't ranked by the HOOP SCOOP prior to the summer, because he simply got lost in the shuffle due to the fact that he is a California kid at a prep school in the East. However, he reinforced what we already thought when we saw Wright play last fall. We're talking about a multi-dimensional athlete who will likely make money playing the game someday. We also have published our final ranking of the top players from both the NIKE All-American Camp and the adidas ABCD Camp in the Members Section, but are out of time, because we have to go to the gym for the start of the Three Striples Classic at Hoftstra University in Hempstead, NY. So we will write more about both the NIKE and adidas Camps as time permits this weekend.
Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - Tip-off time for the Underclassmen All-Star Game is less than an hour away at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck and this game promises to be just as good as the Senior All-Star Game, which will immediately follow. The White Squad includes 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'8 Soph Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'9 Jr Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'9 Jr Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'3 Jr Omar Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'0 Soph Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'11 Jr Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'2 Soph Earl Rigsby from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'7 Soph Joshua Smith from Smyrna (Whitfield) GA, 6'3 Jr John Winston from Richmond (Salesian) CA, 6'0 Jr Vernon Hamilton from Chester (Thomas Dale) VA, and 6'3 Jr Arthur Bowers from Newark (Hodgson Vocational Tech) DE. The Red Squad has 6'7 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Vocational Tech) CA, 6'9 Jr Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'7 Jr Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'7 Jr Marcus Sikes from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, 6'4 Jr Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'0 Soph Eric Price from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'8 Soph Joey Cameron from Portland (Deering) ME, 6'0 Jr Dwayne Green from Creedmore (Faith Christian) NC, 6'3 Jr Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'2 Soph Jay Thomas from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'6 Jr Richard Cobbs from Merino Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, and 6'8 Jr Will Sheridan from Hockessin Sanford) DE. In the senior game the White Squad includes 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, 6'10 Chris Bosh from Lancaster (H.S.) TX, 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL, 6'11 Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'7 Derek Burditt from Marrero (John Ehret) LA, 6'3 TaQuan Dean from Neptune (H.S.) NJ, 6'9 Steve Novak from Brown Deer (H.S.) WI, and 6'7 Nik Caner-Medley from Portland (Deering) ME. The Red Squad has 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Ike Diogu from Garland (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Cheshire (Academy) CT, 6'8 Antonie Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, 6'8 Charles Davis from Selma (Southside) AL, 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'2 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'2 Donnie McGrath from Somers (John F. Kennedy) NY, 6'5 Adam Haluska from Carroll (Community) IA, and 6'4 Shawn Harris from Fork Union (Military) VA.
Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - We are finished with our ranking of the top players after Day II from both the adidas ABCD Camp and the NIKE All-American Camp and it appears that the cream is rising to the top in both camps, as our #1-ranked player at the adidas Camp is 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, who is the #1-ranked player in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and our #1-ranked player at the NIKE Camp is 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL, who is ranked a close second on our national list of the top players in the Class of 2002 right behind Cook. However, both will have serious challenges this afternoon. That's right! Cook will go head-to-head against 6'6 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, who is ranked as the #1 rising junior nationally, as well as the consensus #1-ranked high school player in the nation regardless of class, and Stoudemire will face 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, who is the #1-ranked senior All-Star Sports and Dave Telep, formerly of Rivals.com and now with Blue Chip Hoops. And both James and Randolph have a lot to prove, because James has been up and down at adidas and Randolph still appears to be slowed down by his injuries. Therefore, expect both James and Randolph to raise their level of intensity this afternoon or take a serious take a serious drop in our camp rankings. The biggest story yesterday at the adidas ABCD Camp was the sensational effort turned in by 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who outplayed both 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI and 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ yesterday and played 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC to a near draw the night before. By far and away the deepest position at the NIKE Camp is was the overwhelming number of outstanding power forwards who are present in camp. No, the power forward spot at NIKE isn't as strong the point guard position at adidas, but 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, 6'7 Greg Brunner from Charles City (H.S.) IA, 6'8 Jr Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'8 Yusef Baker from Orlando (Evans) FL, 6'9 Jr Ousmane Konate from Senegal, 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'7 Delco Rowley from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, 6'6 Elliott Poole from Chicago (Farragut) IL, and 6'8 Nicholas Kern from St. Louis (Vashon) MO all are ranked among our top 35 in camp.
Monday, July 9, 2001 - At the conclusion of the first day at the adidas ABCD Camp there were two major stories. The point guard play was even better than expected and the sophomore class appears to be far superior to the junior class. Let's look first at the point guards. 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY was sensational last night in his head-to-head match-up against 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, but he still can't get rated any higher than #7 at his position. However, he does check in at #11 overall camp. And that really tells the tale, as this appears to be the deepest we can ever in our 18-years of covering the NIKE and adidas superstar oriented camps. Felton is the #1 player in camp based on performance, but 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI was the scorer after the first day with 21.5 ppg. He also was unstoppable against 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ in the evening session, although Ingram also got 20 points of his own. We also thought 6'1 Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA was tremendous when we saw him in afternoon session, but he got edged out in his head-to-head encounter in the evening against 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, who is the third leading scorer in camp with 20.0 ppg. 6'1 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL showed why he is the perfect fit for Duke, as he made his teammates better and was the best passer camp. 6'0 Soph Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL was also sensational in the evening session, as he hit just about everything in sight and 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX did a great job of both passing and scoring. As for the top sophomores in camp, can you believe that Telfair, Washington, and 6'8 Soph Mike Williams all are ranked among the top 20 players after the day? Williams also checks tied as the #2 scorer in camp, as well as the #4-ranked rebounder with 9.0 rpg. Also dominating the camp statistically after the first day was 6'10 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, who was tied for second in scoring with Williams and Moore with 20.0 ppg and the leading rebounder in camp with 12.5 rpg. However, Perkins was the only top ranked junior who wasn't a major disappointment on the first day. Where were the Stewart twins? Neither 6'4 Jr Rodrick and 6'4 Lodrick Stewart, both from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, did anything to distinguish themselves and 6'6 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, who did play well in the afternoon, put it on cruise control in the evening session. Maybe they've been reading their press clippings just like all the soft spoiled pampered big guys who went straight out of high school into the lottery of the NBA Draft this spring. However, this doesn't seem to be the case for the rising senior class, as most of these guys still play hard and enjoy the competition. The best example came after 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ totally abused 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY in the evening session, but wouldn't go home. Instead, he went to court #1, which wasn't being used, and schoolled Duke's Chris Duhon and Dahntey Jones in separate one-on-one battles.
Sunday, July 8, 2001 - We won't get an official roster for the adidas ABCD Camp until right before the start of games at 2:00 PM today, but after watching the practices last night, it is easy to see that this camp is absolutely loaded at the top. In attendance are 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'3 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'10 Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'7 Carmelo Anthony from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL. In other words, six of our top nine rising seniors are here. Also present are all five of our top five rising juniors - 6'6 LaBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 6'11 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'4 Jr Lodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'4 Jr Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, and 6'10 Jr Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS - and our top three rising sophomores - 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'8 Soph Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, and 6'0 Soph Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL. The adidas ABCD Camp is especially loaded at the point guard position. As a matter of fact, the six teams in one of the pools features Felton, Roberson, Dockery, 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'2 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 5'11 Soph Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY as their point guards. So they will all get a chance to go head-to-head throughout the week. And that doesn't even include 6'2 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, and 6'3 Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, all of whom are ranked among our top 20 rising seniors nationally and also are in the camp. Especially noteworthy will be the Felton versus Roberson match-up on Tuesday afternoon. Also Tuesday afternoon Cook and James will go head-to-head in a battle that might just determine who is the #1 player camp, as well as who will be the #1 player in the nation regardless of class.
Saturday, July 7, 2001 - Today is the check-in and practice day at the adidas ABCD Camp, so our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has been doing what he always does on this day - talk to the players and find out whatever he can about their recruiting. The for 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (Anthony) NJ includes St. John's, Georgia Tech, Villanova, Connecticut, Boston College, Florida State, Seton Hall, Rutgers, and Mississippi State. Louisville Auburn, Connecticut, UCLA, Miami-Fl, Michigan State, and St. John's are all high on the list of 6'6 Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL. UCLA, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, and the NBA were mentioned by 6'11 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA. The favorites for 6'8 Jr Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS include Mississippi State, LSU, Iowa State, and Memphis. Among those showing the most interest in 6'6 Derrick Byars from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN are Purdue, Miami-Fl, Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Kansas. Florida State, Providence, Temple, St. Joseph, La Salle, Drexel, Villanova, Siena, and Western Kentucky are all in the hunt for 6'3 Jr Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA. However, they all will have to wait an extra year, because he has been reclassified as a junior and, as a result, will be ranked on our 5th Year list a year from now. Hawaii, North Carolina, UCLA, Miami-FL, and Connecticut are the early favorites for 6'6 Jr Bobby Nash from Honolulu (Iolani) HI. Arizona State is the leader over Seton Hall, Baylor, Miami-FL, Texas Tech, and St. Louis for 6'9 Ike Diodu from Garland (H.S.) TX. The schools mentioned by 6'7 Allen Morrill from Dallas (Sam Houston) TX are Seton Hall, Miami-FL, Arizona State, New Mexico State, Michigan, Texas, Texas Tech, and Connecticut. 6'9 John Ofoegby from San Antonio (Taft) TX has a wide variety of schools on his list., which includes UNC-Wilmington, Arkansas-Little Rock, Tulane, Southwest Texas State, Colorado, and Baylor. Dayton, Boston College, Maryland, St. John's, Seton Hall, Stanford, and Texas are all in the hunt for 6'0 Mikail Malik from Washington (Spingarn) DC. Southern Cal, Utah, Georgia Tech, Marquette, and a number of Ivy League schools are showing the most interest in 6'3 Tim Drisdom from Downey (Calvery Chapel) CA. Among the schools that 6'10 James Lang from Mobile (South) AL likes are Alabama, Mississippi, Stanford, Duke, Cincinnati, but he says he's still open. Seton Hall, Tulsa, St. John's, Southern Cal, UCLA, New Mexico, Oregon, and Boston College all appear to be interesting in 6'3 Ashanti Cook from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA. Florida, Seton Hall, Syracuse, and North Carolina are already in the hunt for 6'7 Jr Demetrius Nichols from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI. An extremely early list for 6'0 Soph Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX includes Texas, Kansas, Michigan, North Caroina, and Seton Hall. The schools mentioned by 6'5 Maurice Petty from Shelby (Crest) NC, who is an excellent student, as is evident by his 3.5 gpa, include Clemson, UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, and Yale. Stanford, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Providence, Indiana, Ohio State, and Pennsylvania are recruiting 6'5' Dan Grunfeld from Glendale (Nicolet) WI. The schools showing the most interest in 6'7 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA are Connecticut, Tennessee, Virginia, Miami-FL, Texas A&M, Arizona State, and Missouri. 6'7 Melvin Buckley from South Holland (Thornwood) IL likes Michigan State, Arizona, Stanford, Marquette, and Purdue. Arkansas, Cincinnati, Tennessee, LSU, Tulane, Louisiana Tech, Georgia State, and Northwestern make up a very interesting list for 5'11 Darrel Mitchell from St. Martinville (H.S.) LA. Florida, Southern Cal, UCLA, Syracuse, Oregon, Seton Hall, and North Carolina are already involved with 6'7 Soph Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA. Seton Hall, St. John's, Virginia Tech, Drexel, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, La Salle, Villanova, and Penn State were all mentioned by 6'3 Dominic Mejia from Voorhees (Eastern) NJ. Providence, Temple, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Southern Cal, and Minnesota have all showed interest in 6'4 Keon Kindred from Compton (Dominguez) CA. Notre Dame and Connecticut are the two early favorites for 6'9 Soph Hassan Fofana, who has transferred from Ayer (H.S.) MA to Wooster (Holy Name) MA. Rice, LSU, and Tennessee are recruiting 6'4 Marcus Watkins from College Station (A&M Consolidated) TX, but we think he's a near lock for Texas Tech. Remember, Watkins' father is the head coach of the Aggies. Detroit, Kent State, and Central Florida appear to be the leaders for 6'2 Jonathan Kelly from Detroit (Finney) MI. The early list for 6'9 Jr Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA includes USC, UCLA, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Stanford. 6'6 Richard Law from Houston (Clear Lake) TX likes New Mexico, Colorado State, Houston, Tulsa, New Mexico State, and Marquette. Houston, Texas A&M, Baylor, and SMU were all mentioned by 6'2 Dwight Jones from Houston (Klein) TX. Maryland, Duke, Villanova, and Seton Hall are the early favorites for 6'1 Jr Mike Nardi from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ. Right at the top of the list for 6'4 Donald Wilson from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA are Pepperdine, UTEP, and Southern California. George Washington, Penn State, Vanderbilt, South Florida, and St. Louis are among the schools showing the most interest in 6'10 Jon Clark from Toronto (St. Michael's) ON. Oregon, Massachusetts, UTEP, Loyola-Marymount, Wyoming, and Pepperdine were mentioned by 6'6 John Haywood from LaPuente (Bishop Amat) CA. 5'8 Charles Small from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI has a 3.7 gpa, so Ivy League schools, like Cornell, Princeton, and Dartmouth, are showing interest. So are Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Buffalo, Bowling Green, Oakland, and Akron are all interested in 6'0 John Floyd from Toledo (St. John's) OH. Iowa State, Akron, Bradley, Dayton, Liberty, and Brown were all mentioned by 6'1 Chris Stevens from Akron (Central-Hower) OH. 6'4 Marcelus Kemp from Seattle (Garfield) WA likes UNLV, Oregon, Gonzaga, and Oregon State.
Friday, July 6, 2001 - During the last 48 hours we've been doing our best to ignore everything else and finish our national player rankings for the Classes of 2003 and 2004, but we do have three verbal commitments to pass along. The first occured on Wednesday when the University of Michigan landed 6'8 Graham Brown from Mio (Mio-Ausable) MI, who is ranked #189 nationally and #43 at the power forward position by the HOOP SCOOP. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Brown was one of the last players added to our list, as our Michigan Editor Steve Bell told us on Monday that Brown was the only player we might not know about who had made a major jump in this spring. Apparently Brown made his national debut at the Boo Williams Invitational Tournament in Hampton, VA in early April, but he hasn't been seen many places since. As a result, Bell has never seen Brown play, but he has talked to some of his teammates who say he has a good post-up game and likes to bang inside. Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, who has seen Brown play, echoes those thoughts and adds that Brown is a lefty, as well as an excellent football player. Johnson also thinks we've got Brown ranked about right, but he could move up, if he proves himself night-in and night-out this summer on the camp trail. Brown also was getting interest from Villanova, Notre Dame, Boston College, Northwestern, Michigan State, and Marquette. Yesterday 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL didn't surprise anybody when he made it official for Duke at his evening press conference. However, a lot of Duke fans must be surprised by the fact that Dockery's academic situation is still very much in doubt, as his lastest SAT score was a 15 and his current grade point average in core classes is only a 2.3 (he needs a 17 on the ACT and a 2.5 gpa to be eligible). Apparently a lot of Duke fans have been giving Roy and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Prep Bulls-eye Report a hard time, because they didn't tell 'em what they wanted to hear. Well, it looks like the Schmidt's are right on the money with this one. Sure, Dockery has a chance to make it, but it may take a while (like maybe next spring). So I encourage the Duke fans to get off the Schmidt's case and, instead, if they want to pick on somebody, try me. I've said about the same thing, but unlike the Schimdt's, I like the controversy. The Dockery commitment is also important, because he becomes the 34th rising senior ranked among our top 100 nationally to have committed prior to the start of the summer camp season, which tip-off this weekend. He also makes it six-for-six in terms of the top point guards already being committed. Remember, 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI picked Florida earlier this week and 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC committed to North Carolina in March, 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX picked Michigan two weeks ago, 5'11 Dee Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL is already gone to Illinois, and 6'2 Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA made it official for Syracuse in the early spring. So the top ranked point guard still available is 6'2 Marshall Strickland from Sykesville (South Carroll) MD. Speaking of Strickland, he was at Indiana University on an unofficial visit yesterday en route to the NIKE All-American Camp. The third commitment was reported today by the Memphis Commercial-Appeal and was relayed to us by our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman. We're talking about 6'3 Jeremy Hunt from Memphis (Craigmont) TN, who has verbally committed to the University of Memphis. Hunt is ranked #171 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, as well as #2 in the Mid-South by Rothman. "He's a big-time athlete with long arms and excellent 3-point shooting skills," says Rothman. "But still, he needs to get bigger and stronger and prove himself against top level competition." However, time is on Hunt's side, because Memphis is already loaded at both guard spots in the foreseeable future. We also are looking for N.C.State to possibly get a verbal commitment from 6'9 Eric Williams from Wake Forest (Roseville) NC. But we're not as excited about Williams, who currently is ranked #132 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP in the Class of 2002, as are most people. He is a space-eater, but he didn't accomplish much when we saw him at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions a month ago. But maybe that will change this summer, so stay tuned!
Thursday, July 5, 2001 - We continue to fight the clock in attempt to get our pre-summer rankings done, as the two most important events of the entire year - the adidas ABCD Camp and the NIKE All-American Camp - are only a couple of days away. We wrapped up the Class of 2001 last week and the Class of 2002 several days ago. And now we're completely finished with our ranking of the top 150 players in order in the Class of 2003. We did provide you with our ranking of the top 50 players in the Class of 2002, but the rest of all this is available exclusively in the Members Section. One of the most interesting things about the Class of 2003 is how deep it is at the center position, as a dozen players - 6'11 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'10 Jr Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'11 Jr David Padget from Reno (H.S.) NV, 6'7 Jr Jarelle Scott from New Orleans (Abramson) LA, 6'9 Jr Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'10 Jr Stefan Zimmerman from Orem (Mountain View) UT, 6'9 Jr Kenneth Harris from Hammond (Bishop Noll) IN, 6'9 Jr Walter Waters from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'11 Jr Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, 7'2 Jr Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, 6'11 Jr Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, and 6'10 Jr Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC - rrank among the top 50 players in the clsss. And that doesn't even include the next in a line of great players at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA via the Senegal. We're talking about 6'11 Jr Maliak Badiame and, if we did include him in our pre-summer rankings, he'd probably be right up at the top of the list, along with Perkins and Butler. We haven't seen him yet, but Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith recently told us that he's been told Badiame is better than any of the previous three players - Kentucky's Jules Camara, Auburn's Abdou Diame, and 7'0 DeSagana Diop, who was a lottery pick in the NBA draft last week - that he's gotten from his Senegal-connection. However, just like Smith, we haven't seen him play yet, so we're a little hesitant to rank him until he gets his feet wet this summer against American competition. And that should happen early next week at the NIKE American Camp. Speaking of who will be at both the NIKE-American Camp and the adidas ABCD Camp, we may be able to provide you with a sneak preview of who is officially at both camps on Saturday However, we already know of one major trade. Yes, we have confirmed that 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL is a NIKE and 6'11 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX is not at NIKE. So we suspect that Perkins, along with a player-to-be-named-later, will be at the adidas camp. Obviously we're just kidding about the trade and player-to-be-named-later, but in both cases this is huge, because Stoudemire is ranked as the #2 rising senior nationally and Perkins is ranked as the #2 rising junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.
Wednesday, July 4, 2001 - Rob Matera of All-Star Sports is now confirming what a lot of people, including us, have thought for some time. We're talking about the scheduled press conference at 6:00 PM tomorrow when 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, who is ranked #9 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, will make it official for Duke. This is huge, because Dockery will become the 34th player who is ranked among our top 100 nationally to have made an early commitment. And even more important, Dockery will become the fourth player in the Class of 2002 to make an early commitment to the Blue Devils. If you will recall, 6'4 J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Springs) VA, who is ranked #10 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, picked Duke over Virginia last fall. During the winter they also got 6'10 Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL, who is ranked #39 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and this spring 6'7 Lee Melchionni from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, who is ranked #82 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, also picked the Blue Devils. That alone would be enough to give Duke the 6th ranked recruiting class this past spring. However, they also are still the heavy favorite for 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC and the leader 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK. Stranger things have happened, like when Chris Duhon, who was the #1 point guard in the high school ranks, picked Duke, despite the fact Jason Williams, who also was the #1-ranked point guard in high school the previous year, was a year ahead of him already in the program. So let's assume that it will happen. We'd be talking about one of the top two or three recruiting classes in the 18 years we've been ranking recruiting classes. Normally that could be a problem in this day and age, due to the five-and-three rule. Remember, you can only sign five players one year and only three the next. However, that's not a problem, because Melchionni has already agreed to pay his own way as a walk-on next year, if Duke needs the scholarship. As for Dockery, we're also getting reports that he has gotten the necessary score in the ACT. This is especially important, because Dockery told one of our competitors what the score was when he took the SAT a year ago and it wasn't even close to what he would need to be eligible to play as a freshman under NCAA guidelines. Thus, explains why so many people have thought all along that it would be next to impossible for Dockery to go to Duke, much less be eligible to play as a freshman at any Division I school. However, Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report isn't convinced that the final chapter to this story have been written yet. As a matter of fact, we talked to Schmidt about this earlier today and, although he isn't saying that it won't eventually happen (anything is possible when you're dealing with the Chicago Public School System), he's still not convinced that Dockery will be able to get the necessary number of core classes necessary to obtain freshmen eligibility next year. And, if he does, it probably won't happen until next spring. So stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 3, 2001 - Our Michigan Editor Steve Bell was at the 16-Under National AAU Tournament in Detroit, MI over the weekend and he tells us the best player in the tournament was clearly 6'10 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX. Perkins, who will be ranked as the #2 rising junior by the HOOP SCOOP when we publish our rankings of the top juniors later this week, has both the physical presence and the offensive skills to score whenever he wants to inside. Perkins also has the perfect complement in 6'9 Jr Ndubi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX. Bell thinks Ebi could eventually become a wing forward or even a two guard, as he already shows signs of being able to play out on the perimeter. However, right now Ebi is the ultimate power forward. Sure he's needs to get bigger and stronger, but this lean and mean athlete doesn't take any prisoners inside. Also he plays extremely hard, plus he's one of the best rebounders in his class nationally. Also impressing Bell for the Houston Hoops were their two guards - 5'11 Jr D'Kyran Nix from Bryan (H.S.) TX and 6'2 Jr Michael Rose from Houston (Spring Woods) TX, both of whom created all kinds of havoc with their speed and quickness. The other team that was head-and-shoulders above everybody else in the tournament was the Arkansas Hawks, which featured 6'4 Jr Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR. Yes, this is the son of former Arkanas All-American Ron Brewer and he might turn out to be just as good. We're talking about the next great player from the state Arkansas who at 6'4 runs the point, defends, and scores seemingly at will. And Brewer has a good supporting cast, which includes 6'2 Jr Sam Gammel from Dermott (H.S.) AR and 6'5 Jr Anthony Gray from Dumas (H.S.) AR. Also impressing Bell were 6'3 Jr Jeremy Ingram from Kinston (H.S.) NC, 6'10 Jr Jermaine Bell from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'8 Jr Brenton Petway from Eagles Landing (McDonough) GA, t6'1 Jr Michael Nardi from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'0 Jr Brandon Colton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'6 Ija Nwankwo from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, and 6'11 Jr James Davis from Minneapolis, MN. Ingram was one of the best athletes in the entire tournament. Bell shots the jumper extremely well for somebody 6'10, but he needs still needs to get bigger and stronger. Petway, who has grown three inches in the last year-and-a-half, is a lefty who is extremely tough on the boards. Nardi has been drawing Bobby Hurley comparisons since he was in 8th grade, but he's a better outside shooter than Hurley at the same stage. Colton never seems to have any problem getting his shot and, as a result, was the best purer scorer in the tournament. Nwankwo has excellent foot work and outstanding post moves, which is why he was the best post scorer, along with Perkins, in the tournament. Davis is a strong athletic shot blocker who reminds you of Missouri's Arthur Johnson. Also playing well enough for Bell to mention were 6'3 Jr Jeremy Nicholson from Ash Grove, MO, 6'8 Jr Anthony King from Durham (Southern) NC, 6'0 Jr Corey Johnson from Anderson, IN, 6'7 Jr Sam Pharr from Rockville (H.S.) IN, and 6'6 Jr DeAndre Payton from Indianapolis, IN.
Monday, July 2, 2001 - We told you week ago that a verbal commitment by 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, who is ranked as the #4 rising senior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, to the University of Florida was imminent. However, we thought it would happen sooner than last night. Apparently the hold-up was that he was at Michigan State's team camp last Wednesday and Thursday. So obviously he had to play at little politics and make it sound like the Spartans were still involved - at least while he was in East Lansing, MI. This is absolutely huge for Gators head coach Billy Donovan, not just because Roberson is the best player Donovan has landed to-date at the University of Florida, but also because it shows that Donovan can go just about anywhere and get one of the very elite players in the nation. And that's saying a lot, because Donnell Harvey, Brett Nelson, Mike Miller, David Lee, James White, and Kwame Brown are all outstanding players. And don't rule out the possibility of Donovan also stealing 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, who is ranked as the #5 rising senior by the HOOP SCOOP. Sure, just like everybody else, we expect Randolph to go to Duke or possibly North Carolina, but the Gators could be the perfect compromise choice, if Randolph finds that it's impossible to pick one local school over the other. Our Michigan Editor Steve Bell also tells us that all is not lost for Michigan State, because two of the other top players in the state - 6'4 Ricardo Billings from Detroit (Rogers) MI and 6'4 Maurice Ager from Detroit (Crockett) MI - both are expected to pick the Spartans. Ohio State and Michigan State are the leaders for Billings, while Michigan State, Michigan, Missouri, and Marquette are the primary schools in the hunt for Ager. The key appears to be Billings and Ager are close friends and they want to go to the same school. Bell also thinks the University of Michigan could also get one of the top power forward prospects in the nation and they may not even have to tie up a scholarship to do it. He's talking about 6'7 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, who is ranked as the #5 power forward prospect nationally in our Pre-Summer Ranking of the Class of 2002 by Position. The catch is that Trannon will sign to play football, but, like so many of the great athletes in this day and age, he also wants to play basketball. And this might work well, especially during his freshman year, because he'll likely sit out as a redshirt in football. Also the basketball program needs immediate help inside, but down the road will probably be able to recruit somebody just as good and perhaps an inch or two bigger than Trannon. If does Trannon pick the Wolverines, he'd join 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX and 6'6 Lester Abram from Pontiac (Northern) MI, both of whom are already verbally committed to the Wolverines, to form the nucleus of the same type of recruiting class that new Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker brought in a year ago at Seton Hall when he landed Eddie Griffin, Andre Barrrett, and Marcus Toney-El.
Sunday, July 1, 2001 - It is the editor policy of the HOOP SCOOP to move every player up in class a year on July 1st. That's today! So from here on out everybody in the Class of 2002 will be listed as a senior, except 5th year players who will be listed separately after we finish our pre-summer rankings. Actually we are done with our rankings of the top players in the class by both position and you can get this list by clicking on Pre-Summer Ranking of the Class of 2002 by Position. Please note that we have listed the school where each player has graduated from this spring or summer. We will also do so on our Pre-Summer Ranking of the Top 300 Players in the Class, which will be completed either tomorrow or Tuesday and published exclusively in the Members Section. However, once these lists are complete, we will list each player at the school we expect him to be at next year in all future evaluations and rankings. Especially noteworthy is the fact that the center position in the Class of 2002 is extremely weak. Sure, 6'9 Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL and 6'10 Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA are just as good as the three big men from the graduating senior class (Class of 2001) - 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, and 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA - all of whom were all drafted among the top four in the NBA draft last week - and 6'8 Kevin Bookout from Stroud (H.S.) OK, 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Alexander Johnson from Albany (Dougherty) GA, 6'10 Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL, and 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA are all good enough to make an immediate at the high major level. But after that there is a big dropoff, as there isn't much depth at this position. The power forward spot with 6'9 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC and 6'9 Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, wing forward spot with 6'7 Carmelo Anthony from Towson (Catholic) MD and 6'7 Evan Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, and the second guard spot with 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ and 6'4 J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA leading the way are all pretty good. However, the real strength of the class is at the point guard spot. As a matter of fact, 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'2 Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 5'11 Dee Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'3 Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, 6'3 Marshall Strickland from Sykesville (South Carroll) MD, 6'2 Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, and 6'0 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ are all good enough to be ranked among our top 20 nationally.
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