Saturday, April 28, 2001, Sunday, April 29, 2001, and Monday April 30, 2001

By the time we had heard late Friday afternoon that three more of our top 100 juniors - 6'4 Jr Rashaad McCants from New Hampton (Prep) NH to North Carolina, 6'7 Jr Lee Melchionni from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA to Duke, and 5'9 Jr Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY to Kentucky - had made it official for Division I schools, we were already on the way to the gym to cover the Houston Kingwood Classic.  And with four sets of games on Friday night, 11 sets of games beginning at 8:00 AM all day Saturday, and eight sets of games beginning at 8:00 AM Sunday, plus flying home on Sunday night, there has been little time for anything else, except to eat and sleep, until today.   So I have combined the last three days and only now am I getting to these three significant verbal commitments.  Stockton and Melchionni were expected (we actually had predicted both earlier in last week), but McCants took us by surprise.  So let's start there!  First of all, we aren't buying into the hype about McCants being a top 10 junior nationally.  We think he's more like top 25 junior, because he will have a position question at the level, unless he improves his ball handling and outside shooting.   In other words, right now he's somewhat of tweener,as the closer to the basket he gets, the more effective he becomes.  McCants is a tremendous physical specimen, great athlete, and unstoppable force when he decides to go to the basket.  So maybe some of the Jerry Stackhouse comparisons are in order.  However, this might be good news for the Tar Heels, because it mean he'll stay in college all four years, as he continues to improve his perimeter skills.  Actually we don't think he could have made a better decision, because Tar Heels head coach Matt Doherty and his staff are among the best at developing talent.  Melchionni, who is a legitimate top 75 junior nationally, is one of those guys who you have to continue to watch to appreciate.  He's not a great athlete, but he is extremely skilled and incredibly consistent.  While his high school teammate - 6'6 Jr Matt Walsh from Ft. Washingotn (Germantown Academy) TN, who reminds us former Kentucky All-American Rex Chapman, is up and down like the stock market, Melchionni never has a bad game.   He also shoots extremely well and rarely tries to do something he can't do.   He's also a coach's dream, because he appears to be willing to walk-on and pay his own way next year, if Duke needs his scholarship.  Already the Blue Devils have commitments from 6'4 Jr. J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA and 6'10 Jr Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL and they are the heavy favorite for 6'1 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL and 6'9 Jr Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC.  They also are in the mix, along with schools like North Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, for 6'10 Jr Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK.    Let's say the Blue Devils strike gold and get Randolph, Dockery, and Williams to go along with Redick, Thompson, and Melchionni.  Then, Melchionni will pay his own way for a year while he red-shirts and then will get a scholarship the next year.   Stockton, who ranks among our top 100 nationally, is small, but he's got jet-like speed and quickness, is a prolific scorer, and his a good enough ball handler and passer to provide head coach Tubby Smith with the one thing he doesn't already have in his program - a pure point guard.  As a result, we think this a great catch for the Wildcats, although he does probably eliminate them from being a serious contender for a great point guard, like 6'2 Jr Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, who is ranked #4 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.   However, like they say, one in the hand is worth two in the bush.

This comes as no suprise, but 6'1 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY, who is ranked among the top 10 seniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has passed the ACT and, as a result, will be eligible as a freshman next season at the University of Louisville.  Previously we'd reported that this would likely happen because Hurt was less than a point away from making it on his last attempt.   We also have confirmed that Hurt's AAU teammate from last summer with the Houston Hoops - 6'7 Chris Rhodes from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX - has made it official for the University of Mississippi and 6'6 Berry Jordan from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL has picked Arkansas.  Both players fall into the tweener size and, as a result, rank in the 100-300 range nationally.  Another one of the better players still available - 6'2 Kahleaf Watson from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) VA - appears to be close to making a decision.  Last weekend he was at Rutgers and this weekend he will be at Miami-FL and we think it will be one of those two, despite the fact that Florida State, Virginia, and Clemson have been recruiting him for football.  The deciding factor appears to be that Watson, who is a terrific wide receiver, wants to play both sports.  We also have confirmed that 6'3 Jr Chris Rodgers from Portland (Wilson) OR, who is ranked #60 in the junior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has given Arizona an early verbal commitment.   This is interesting, because Rodgers, who is an excellent combo guard, as well as a very good outside shooter, becomes the 16th player who is ranked among our top 100 juniors nationally to have made an early verbal commitment.  If you will recall, a year ago over 20 juniors committed before the beginning of the summer evaluation period and, if the trend continues, that number will be even higher this year.  It also is significant, because a lot of people think Arizona head coach Lute Olson will retire soon.  However, people we've talked with close to the program tell us nothing could be further from the truth.  As a matter of fact, Olson has done a great job getting out this spring and following the underclassmen the Wildcats are interested in for the future.  Further evidence is provided when one finds out Olson doesn't have any real hobbies besides basketball, he only plays golf when he has to, and, with death of his wife at the beginning of the year and the fact that his children are all adults, there is nobody at home anymore.  Olson also is in great health and he makes a lot of money coaching.  So the smart money says he will coach at least another five years. 

It looked like Belmont Shore, which was the #3 seeded team in the playoffs from their pool, was on the verge of winning the championship at the Houston Kingwood Classic late yesterday afternoon in Houston, TX.  Belmont Shore was up three and they had the ball with only 20 seconds remaining in the game.  However, this was the same team that blew a 29-13 lead against the Houston Hoops on Friday night and once again their youth and lack of toughness became very apparent.  Instead, of getting the shot they needed to ice the game, they turned the ball over.  Then, 6'2 Jr Maurice Hampton from Russellville (H.S.) KY hit a 3-pointer for the Kentucky Stars to tie the game.  Belmont Shore failed to convert again and 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY missed a long three that would have won the game in regulation, if it had gone.  At that point it was 5:55 PM, the game was going into overtime, and the Kentucky Stars had a 6:40 PM flight to catch back to Louisville, KY.  So Bush took over the game.  Bush scored the first basket in overtime on a breakaway lay-up.  Next, he went in for an earth-shattering slam dunk that brought the house, as well as a time-out by Belmont Shore head coach Dinos Trigonis.  By the time they were finished the Kentucky Stars had gone on a 12-0 run en route to a 78-69 victory.  It doesn't get much more exciting than this and, yes, they did make their flight and, yes, this is the second consecutive championship the Kentucky Stars have won in eight days.  If you will recall, they also won the Kentucky Hoopstars Classic a week ago at Male High School in Louisville, KY.  Bush was the MVP of the tournament, but the leading scorer in the championship game was 6'4 Jr Kevin Reinhardt from Alexandria (Campbell County) KY with 15 points.  Also playing well was 6'0 Jr Chris Gaither from Leitchfield (Grayson County) KY, who hit four 3-pointers in a 12-point effort.  And playing well throughout the tournament for the Kentucky Stars were 6'6 Jr Donte Smith from Buckner (Oldham County) KY, 6'2 Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY, and 6'8 Soph Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY.   But really once again the key to the Kentucky Stars was good chemistry, excellent coaching, and lots of depth (they go 11 deep).  The leading scorer for Belmont Shore was 6'4 Jr Hassan Adams from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who 23 points in the championship game.  However, the key to the team was 6'7 Jr Marcedes Lewis from Long Beach (Poly) CA, who is a better football player than he is a basketball player, but gave Belmont Shore the inside presence it needed to knock off the Southern California All-Stars and Team Texas in route to the championship game.   Speaking of Team Texas, one of the best performances we saw all weekend in the 17-Under Division was turned by 5'11 Jr Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who was unstoppable going to the hole, very unselfish, and good defensively.   But that still didn't make up for the disappointing performance turned in 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #15 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also were somewhat disappointed in the Houston Hoops' 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, who is the #2 ranked in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Sure, Perkins had prolific numbers all weekend, including 27 points versus Belmont Shore on Friday night.  But, while he's gotten bigger and stronger since we saw him at this time a year ago, he has lost some of his speed, quickness, and athleticism.  So a Marvin Stone comparison might be in order right now.  However, Perkins' high school coach Andre Boutte, who is widely regarded as one of the top high school coaches in Texas, does a great job  developing and pushing his players and, as a result, we suspect Perkins will lighter on his feet when we see him this summer.  In other words, we still think the sky is the limit.  Unfortunately Perkins and 6'8 Soph Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who is another one of the top sophomores in the nation, weren't matched up against one another in the Houston Hoops-Belmont Shore game on Friday night.  But it was probably better for Schaen, because he lacks the strength and toughness to get it done somebody inside against somebody as physically big as Perkins.   Schaen only scored six points and was in foul trouble part of the game, but he still does a lot of little things that don't show up in the box score   Others in the 17-Under Division who really impressed us were 6'9 Soph Nick Stigger from Memphis (Hillcrest) TN, 6'0 Soph Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Soph Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'3 Jr Dwight Jones from Houston (Klein) TX, 6'7 Soph Cartier Martin from Houston (Nimitz) TX, 5'10 Jr Frank Utley from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'6 Jr Tim Mayes from Houston (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'2 Jr Carl Hood from Houston (Madison) TX, 6'4 Jr Cedrick Hensley from Houston (Heritage Christian) TX, and 6'6 Jr Kersh Milson from Houston (Northshore) TX.  However, what really made this a great tournament were the all the outstanding players in the younger Divisions.  Let's start with the 14-Under, where the Dallas Mustangs manhandled most of the competition.  Remember the names - 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Pearl Anderson) TX and 6'0 Aaron Jackson from Dallas (Apollo) TX.   Eaton, who has to rank among the top five 8th graders in the nation, reminds us former UCLA All-American Baron Davis.  Eaton already has a great upper body, incredible quickness, excellent handling and passing skills, and is almost unstoppable when he goes the to basket.  Jackson, who is a legitimate top 20 8th grader nationally, is a lefty with long arms, great passing skills, and excellent 3-point shooting range.  They are complemented by 6'1 Austin Jackson from Dallas (McMad) TX, who is another outstanding athlete who makes a living off defense, transition and shooting the three, and 6'5 Ryan Boyd from Dallas (Hood) TX and 6'3 Arthur Webster from DeSoto (East) TX, both of whom are extremely active both in the open court and on the boards.  We saw the Dallas Mustangs play two games and they called off the dogs they were up 30-6 against H-town Hangtime and in pool play and 33-7 against the Kansas City Jr. Knights in the semi-finals.   However the second unit, which included 6'0 Omar Hassan from Dallas (Lake Travis) TX, 6'0 Booker Woodfox frm Lewisville, TX, 6'3 Demarcus Bass from Dallas (Young) TX, 5'9 Anthony Thomas from Arlington, TX, 6'3 Tim Jackson from Everman, TX, 6'2 Antwoine Hight from Dallas, TX, 6'0 Corey Hall from DeSota (East) TX, 6'1 Jacoby Tremble from DeSota (East) TX, 5'8 Steffon Wiley from Dallas (Atwell) TX, never let up and the Mustangs scored won by 40-plus points in both games.   Especially noteworthy are Hassan, Woodfox, and Bass.  Hassan is a prolific scorer, which was especially evident when he came off the bench to score 23 points versus H-town Hangtime.  Woodfox is a great passer, excellent defender, and terrific in transition.  Bass has long arms and excellent quickness, which makes him especially effective inside.  Apparently this team dominated at the national level in their age group a year ago and we'd be surprised if this trend doesn't continue.  This is a great team!  However, the best player in the 14-Under Division is 6'8 Kendrick Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX, who lived up to his #1 billing in the 8th grade class and is comparable to 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozne) TX in many ways.  Johnson already is an incredible physical specimen with great hands, good shot blocking ability, and  the ability to score inside.  Ironically, Morton, TX is near Lubbock, TX, which recently hired former Indiana University head coach Bob Knight, and he might be good enough to step in and start for the Red Raiders right now.  However, it appears the new regime will still have to beat out Duke and North Carolina for Johnson, because those are the two schools he mentioned when we asked him about his favorite schools.  Team Texas also featured two other talented athletic big guys in 6'4 Vincent Williams from Dallas (D.H. Hanley) TX and 6'4 Chris Evans from Dallas (Young) TX, a sharpshooting wing guard in 5'10 Tyron Nedd from Conroe (Oak Ridge) TX, and 5'10 Antoni Hanson from Dallas (Dunbar) TX and 5'7 Justin Charlton from Barnett, TX, who shared the point guard duties.  Team Texas lost to the Dallas Mustangs in the championship game, but beat an excellent Houston Hoops team in the semi-finals.  And the big difference in the game was the inability of 6'6 Fendi Onobun from Houston (O'Donnell) TX, who also has to rank among the top 10 8th graders nationally, to score inside on Johnson.  However, once Onobun develops a mid-range jumper and better post moves, the sky is the limit!  He's so quick, explosive, athletic, and naturally talented, plus he plays hard is an excellent rebounder, and is a great kid.  Another one of the elite 8th graders in the nation has to be 5'10 David Devezin from Houston (First Colony) TX.  At first Devezin reminded us of 5'10 Terrance Ford, but the more we watched him, the more we realized he is like Allen Iverson.  This incredible quick point guard, who can either beat you going to the basket or with his outside shot, is usually out of control and he doesn't play much defense.  In other words, he's capable of winning the game for either team.  The Houston Hoops 14-Under Team also featured 6'4 Carter Tynes from Houston (Beck) TX, 6'0 Aldic Reynolds from Houston (Teague) TX, 6'4 Lawrence Jones from Houston (Arnold) TX, and 6'6 Wes Christensen from Houston (Creekwood) TX.  Tynes is a skilled white kid with excellent mobility and athleticism who can play inside or outside.  However, he'll need to get stronger down the road.  Reynolds makes his living complementing Denezin at the 2-spot in transition.  Jones is an athletic power forward who is scores around the basket and is good on the boards.  Christensen is extremely slow, but he does have surprising mobility for somebody so big and so young.  We're talking about a physical specimen who will likely grow to 7'2 or 7'3.  The Kansas City Jr. Knights were somewhat disappointing and one of the reasons was their star player - 6'3 Xavier Breakfield from Independence, KS - lacks the killer instinct.  Sure, he has talent and athleticism, but he appeared to be content to let 6'1 D.J. Hord from Raytown, MO, who is an aggressive athlete and warrior on the boards, do all the dirty work inside.  Breakfield is multi-dimensional enough to play outside, but he didn't do much on the perimeter either.  Instead, we liked 6'2 Marcus Frye from Kansas City (Pembroke) MO, because he does a little bit of everything, including handle the ball, play defense, and rebound, except shoot the outside shot.  Right now Frye is probably a legitimate top 50 8th grader, but if and when he develops a shooters mentality, the sky's the limit.  We also have to mention 5'4 Charles Bush from the H-town Hangtime Team, because shot the lights out against the Kansas City Jr. Knights, and the Chatman twins - 6'0 Desmon and 6'0 Dasmon from Conroe (Lynn Lucas) TX - from the Pressure Team.  Dasmon is the better of the two, but they both are extremely athletic and very versatile.  And of course there was the TUAC team, which featured 6'0 Nick Smith from Houston (Campbell) TX and 6'0 Nick Chestnut from Houston (Campbell) TX.  Smith is the better of the two, because he is a better ball handler and passer, but both are lethal outside shooters and excellent in transition.  Now let's move to the 10-Under Division, where we made it a point to watch the Inland Stars.  The last time the Inland Stars were this good at so young an age, they had 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'5 Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'11 Jamal Sampson from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  But this team promises o be better.   As a matter of fact, Joe Keller has come out of retirement to coach this group.  Their best player is 5'8 Demetrius Walker from Live Oak, CA.  Sure some Tyson Chandler-comparisons are in order, but just like we told our buddy Pat Barrett, who is Chandler's mentor and club team coach, Walker plays a lot harder.  Also, Walker's father is 6'8 and his mother is 6'1.   So his potential for growth is scary.  But right now we're talking about an outstanding athlete who is very fluid and almost impossible to stop inside at this level.   He's complemented up front by 5'8 Joseph Burton from Monte Vista, CA and 5'10 Chris McFalls from Rancho Hills, CA and in the backcourt by 5'2 Dejuan Copeland from San Diego, CA, 5'2 Pe'Shon Howard from Mayfield, CA, and 6'2 Andrew Bock from Fitzgerald, TX.   Unfortunately we only got to see this team for about a quarter, because we had to go the 15-Under Championship game where the Westside All-Stars beat Team Texas, 90-82.   Both teams rank among the very elite nationally in their age group, but when the Westside All-Stars started to pull away, it was all over, as they have more depth and better guards.  The guards include 6'2 Frosh Rodney Foster from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX, 5'11 Frosh Charlie Jones from Houston (Cinco Ranch) TX, 5'10 Frosh Sean Morris from Houston (Cinco Ranch) TX.   Foster is the best of the three, because he can shoot, run the team, and makes big plays at crunch time.  Jones is a great passer and he does a lot the little things that go unnoticed in the box  score.  Morris, who is the son of former NBA star Chris Morris, is really more of a 2-guard, because he's an excellent 3-point shooter.   However, he's limited somewhat by his lack of size.  But the star on this team is 6'5 Frosh Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, who is a legitimate top 10 freshman nationally.  Dowell is a great rebounder inside, but he also can shoot the three, pass, and handle like a perimeter player.  But it's his explosive moves to the basket and incredible dunking ability that gets your attention real fast.   He's complemented by inside by 6'2 Frosh Myles Guidry from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX and 6'5 Frosh Matthew Wheaton from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX.  Wheaton physically and athletically reminds you Dowell, but he doesn't play as hard and he doesn't have any perimeter skills.  However, the best athlete of the bunch is Guidry, who combines an aggressive work ethic, great nose for the ball, and world-class leaping ability.  Team Texas also goes to war with three incredible athletes up front in 6'6 Frosh Rell Porter from Pittsburgh (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Frosh Kevin Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, and 6'6 Frosh Ryan Johnson from Dallas (Carter) TX.  Johnson, who had 17 points in the championship game, is physically bigger and stronger than Porter and Langford.  So he is the one who does the dirty work inside.  Porter is a great talent, but he needs to develop physically or improve his perimeter skills.  Langford, who has a tremendous wing span and is very active around the basket, is more multi-dimensional, which leads us to believe he has even more potential than his older brother, 6'4 Frosh Keith Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, who signed with Kansas last fall.   We also liked 6'2 Frosh George Youngblood from Dallas (Highland Park) TX, who is a skilled white kid, and 6'3 Frosh Lindy Holmes from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, who is a slasher/athlete.  However, 5'10 Frosh Evan Risher from Crowley (North Crowley) TX and 5'8 Frosh Ed Robinson from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX weren't big enough or talented enough to match-up against the talented guard trio for the Westside All-Stars.  Also impressing us in the 15-Under Division on the Shreveport/Bossier Select team was 6'0 Frosh Michael Lewis from Pineview (H.S.) LA.  Not only does this point guard with long arms and a good first step have good ball handling and passing skills, but he is an excellent athlete and a good rebounder for his size.  We didn't see much of the 16-Under Division, but we did like several players from the Shreveport/Bossier Select team, including 6'0 Soph Jay Jackson from Monroe (Ouachita) LA and 6'7 Soph Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S) LA and three players - 6'6 Soph Ryan Griffin from San Antonio (Reagan) TX, 6'6 Soph Brian Robinson from San Antonio (Holmes) TX, and 6'2 Soph Brandon York from San Antonio (Reagan) TX - from the San Antonio GATA team.  In the game we saw Jackson had 23 points, but we were even more impressed with his defense, passing, and ability to make things happen in transition.   In other words, we're talking about a major sleeper to watch for this summer.   Millsap needs strength, but we like his ability to go to the basket and shot blocking ability.  Griffin is a blue collar warrior with long arms and the ability to play either inside or outside.  York is an athletic white kid with great passing skills, but  we'd like him better if he'd shown a shooter's mentality.  Robinson is active and athletic inside, but he needs to get bigger and stronger.  We also had planned on seeing John Eurey's loaded Houston Superstar's team in the 16-Under age bracket, but they lost before we got a chance.  We also heard that 6'8 Soph Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA was sensational in the 16-Under Division, but, unfornuately, we couldn't be everywhere at once.  We did briefly get to see 5'9 Nick Wise from Houston (Beck) TX in the 13-Under Division and in one possession he missed a 3-point shot, stole the ball, and hit a teammates with a behind the back pass.  Needless to say we weren't disappointed, as this guy can  already really play!  A special thanks to tournament director Hal Pastner for his hospitality and Brandon, who drove me from gym to gym, for making this an easy event to cover. 

Friday, April 27, 2001

We told you a week ago that the Houston Kingwood Classic this weekend in Houston, TX promises to be the one of the best events of the entire spring.   However, we didn't get a chance to more than scratch the surface when talking about all the outstanding talent that will be in attendence at this event, which tips off tonight at 6:30 PM.  Having already arrived and, thanks to the organization of tournament Hal Pastner, with a program in hand we already have a pretty good idea who to watch.  The Host Houston Hoops will showcase 6'4 Jr Cedrick Hensley from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX.  If you will recall, he's the player who scored 100 points in a game earlier this year.  While Hensley provides the outside fire power, 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozne) TX, who is ranked as the #2 sophomore in America by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Soph Ndubi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX make it tough to come inside on the hoops.  The Houston Junior Hardballers will feature 6'10 Jr Elijah Miller from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'6 Jr Tim Mayes from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, and 6'9 Soph Nick Stiggers from Memphis (Hillcrest) TN, who is the #2 ranked sophomore in Tennessee according to our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman.  The Georgia Stars arrive with 6'4 Jr Derrick Broony from Woodland (H.S.) GA, 6'5 Jr Quentin Moses form Athens (Cedar Shoals) GA, 6'8 Jr Chris Ellis from Marietta (HS.) GA, and 6'4 Jr Wayne Arnold from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA.   The Houston  Lynx will feature 6'2 Jr Kevin Smith from Humble (H.S.) TX and the Southern California All-Stars have 6'7 Jr Bobby Jones from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Jr Darius Sanders from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Jr Nate Carter from San Diego (Horizon) CA, and 6'0 Soph Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA.  Belmont Shore features 6'8 Soph Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Soph Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'7 Jr Jamaal Walls from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA  6'8 Soph Trevor Ariza Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, and 6'1 Jr Patrick Hadden from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA.   The Kentucky Stars are a well rounded team, but 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'7 Jr LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, and 6'5 Jr Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY have to mentioned.   Team Texas has 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX and 5'11 Jr Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX.  However, those are just the players we know about.  I'm sure we're add a number of new names to this list as the weekend progresses.  We also have to mentioned the 14-Under Division once again, because it looks like a national championship could be on the linem because the The Houston Hoops, Team Texas, and the Kansas City Junior Knights all appear to have a shot at upsetting the powerful Dallas Mustangs, which are the #1 seed.  The Dallas Mustangs are led by two of the premier 8th graders in the nation in 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Pearl Anderson) TX and 6'1 Austin Jackson, who together put on a ferocious full-court press backed by 6'5 Ryan Boyd from Dallas (McMad) TX.  We already told you about Team Texas' 6'8 Kendrick Morton from Lubbock (Morton) TX, who we've been touting as the #1 8th grader in the nation, but the Houston Hoops have 6'6 Fendi Onobun from Houston (O'Donnell Middle School) TX, who promises to be the next great one out of Houston and also is being mentioned as one of the leading candidates as the #1 8th grader in America.  The Houston Hoops 14-Under Team also is led by 5'10 David Devezin from Houston (The First Colony Middle School) TX.  The sleeper in the 14's is the Kansas City Junior Knights, but 6'3 Xavier Breakfield from Independence (H.S.) KS, who has been ranked among the top 10 8th graders in the nation by several scouting services, and 6'1 D.J. Hord from Raytown (H.S.) MO, who also has big time talent and potential, makes them worth mentioning as well.  We also plan to check out 5'9 Nick Wise from Houston (Beck) TX in the 13-Under Division and the Inland Stars in the 10-Under Division might be worth a look as well, because this top rated team includes tremendous size with 5'10 Chris McFalls from Rancho Hills, CA, 5'8 Joseph Burton from Monte Vista, CA, 5'8 Demetrius Walker from Live Oak, CA, and 5'5 Rome Draper from East Heritage, CA.  Burton and Walker all both in the 5th grade, but McFalls and Draper all only 4th graders.  Check out all the brackets at http://www.cbball.com and click on the Houston Kingwood Classic. 

Well, it looks like we've got a shot at going five-for-five in terms of all the overhyped soft pampered spoiled big men in the senior class nationally by-passing college and going straight to the NBA.  If you recall, 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA was the first to make it official in early March.  More recently 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL and 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL announced they were entering their names into the draft and now 7'0 DeSagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has followed in their footsteps.  Now all we're waiting on is 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA.  Sure, all, except Cisse have a shot at being picked among the top 10 players drafted, but what will be interesting is to see if any of these guys get any playing time next year.  Forget about being as good as Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant at the same stage.   These guys aren't even as good as Darius Miles was a year ago.   We also have confirmed that Alabama's Gerald Wallace and Arkansas' Joe Johnson are the latest college players to test the draft waters.   However, neither appears to have signed with an agent.  So the both could return to college for another year, if they don't like what they hear. 

Earlier this week 6'3 Jerome Gumbs from Glasgow (Barren County) KY, who came out of nowhere at the tryouts for the Kentucky All-Star Team to make the team, visited the University of Cincinnati, but it appears the Bearcats weren't ready to offer him a scholarship.  So, instead, he has signed with the University of San Francisco.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'7 Clark Williams from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA has made it official for Ohio State and our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio has confirmed that 6'0 Eric Ferguson from Milford (Academy) CT has signed with Villanova.  Naclerio also tells us that 6'2 Cheyne Gadson from Westchester (JC) NY has signed with Oklahoma State and tells us that 6'7 Kenny Adeleke from Brooklyn (Paul Roberson) NY, who signed with the Blue Demons last fall, will get his release.  And, when that happens, Adeleke would be free to transfer to Hofstra and sit out a year or go the prep school route.  Remember, he still hasn't made it academically, so it really doesn't matter if he has to sit out next year.  Our New England Editor Wayne Simone has confirmed that 6'8 Ryan Gomes from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA has signed with Providence and predicts that Gomes will make the same type of impact on the Providence program that Will Solomon made at Clemson, despite the fact they play different positions.  If you will recall, Solomon was one of the biggest surprises in the ACC in recent years, but now he has joined the overwhelming number of players who have already decided to declare hardship for the NBA draft.  Simone also notes that Gomes has grown to 6'8, 250 lbs and is continuing to improve his perimeter skills.  As a result, Simone predicts Gomes will be the perfect combo forward in the Big East, as well as a wing forward in the NBA someday.  Simone also notes that the only two players who are still available in Connecticut are 6'6 Jon Zito from Windsor (H.S.) CT and 6'8 Ferdinand Cain from West Hartford (Northwest Catholic) CT.  Right now Northeastern, Long Island University, Stony Brook, and Wagner are the leaders for Zito and Stony Brook, St. Bonaventure, and Creighton are fighting it out for Cain.   Simone also gives us a list for 6'8 Mike Hayes from Cowley County (JC) KS, who had signed earlier to Xavier, but never returned the National Letter-of-Intent.  So now that former Musketeers head coach Skip Prosser is heading to Wake Forest, Hayes has opened things back up and his new list includes UNLV, Cincinnati, and Colorado.

The number of Division I head coaching  job openings this year now stands at 45, but only six of those job are still yet to be filled.  We're talking about Xavier, Towson, Robert Morris, Morgan State, George Washington, and Florida A&M.  Our guess is that UNC-Greensboro head coach Fran McCaffery or Butler head coach Thad Matta will get Xavier.  We thought University of Georgia assistant coach Michael Hunt would get Towson several days ago, so now we're wondering why the delay.  We also though N.C. State assistant coach Sean Miller as in line for the Robert Morris job, but   now it looks like they have moved in a different direction, as the final two now appear to be Creighton assistant coach Greg Grensing and Xavier assistant coach Mark Schmidt.  We're also hearing McCaffery's name being mentioned for George Washington, but the perfect candidate might be Penn State's Jerry Dunn, who guided the Nittany Lions to the final 16 of the NCAA, but has yet to get a new contract.  Speaking of contract extensions, Rusty Hampton in the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith's contract extension is done.  All that is left now is for him to sign it.  "The new deal will extend Smith's contract to six years, through the 2006-07 season, and could make him the highest-paid coach in the country," says Hampton.  "He already is one of the highest-paid, making slightly more than $1.2 million annually.  Counting other income, including speaking engagements, summer camps and coaching clinics, he's set to take in a little more than $1.4 million in fiscal year 2001."  However, it appears that athletic director Larry Ivy has not provided any new details about the contract.  Especially interesting will be the cost of the buy-out in his contract.   If you will recall, Smith has been rumored to be going to the Philadelphia 76ers for months.  However, for that to happen we believe that current 76ers head coach Larry Brown would have to retire or move into a front office position (i.e. general manager).  Also, Smith was rumored for several NBA jobs a year ago, including the Atlanta Hawks, but it never materialized.  Assuming that Smith remains at the University of Kentucky, we assume the Wildcats will be one of the teams to beat in college basketball for a long time.   Not only is the cupboard absolutely full for next year, unless Keith Bogans or Tayshaun Prince both go hardship this spring, but 5'9 Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY is supposed to make an early commitment to the Wildcats today.  And that would be one of the final pieces to the puzzle.   Remember, ever since Wayne Turner graduated, we have questioned whether Smith had a true point guard in the program.  However, we think Stockton will fill that void a year from now and next year it may not matter, because they will have so many other weapons.  

Thursday, April 26, 2001

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has the scoop on the four players - 5'11 Michael Cleaves from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'7 Steve Smith from Philadelphia (Northeast) PA, 6'6 Jeff Farmer from Clinton (The Morgan School) CT, and 6'8 Dzflo Larkai from Washington Depot (Gunnery) CT - that have signed with La Salle this spring.  The best of the group appears to be Smith, who established himself as the biggest sleeper at the area with his play this spring in the Albert C. Donofrio Basketball Classic in Conshohocken, PA.   But Smith is not expected to make it academically and, as a result, the Explorers may have another scholarship to offer this spring.  However, they may get Smith back a year from now, if they stash him in the right prep school.  When you add 6'10 Marcus Gantt from Camden Woodrow Wilson) NJ, who signed with La Salle last fall, to this group, this has to be considered a very successful recruiting class.   Remember, new La Salle head coach Billy Hahn has only had the job two weeks.  However, much of the credit has to go to his assistant coaches - John Gallagher and Rowland Houston, both of whom were retained from the previous regime and have had the time and opportunity to lay the foundation for this class all winter.  Rubin also tells us that 6'6 Jr Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, who is ranked #35 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, will make an early verbal commitment next week and the smart money is on the University of Florida.  But really this comes as no surprise.  As a matter of fact, we mentioned that Florida was the heavy favorite over Maryland and Arizona for Walsh several weeks ago.  Rubin has believes that 6'10 Braheem Howard from Wyncote (Cheltenham) PA, who signed with Drexel last fall, won't make it academically.  So the prep school route also is likely in his future. 

Our New York Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that St. John's has scored big by beating DePaul and Iowa State for 6'2 Marcus Hatten from Tallahassee (JC) FL, who is regarded by many as the best 2-guard in the junior college ranks.  Hopefully this will be enough to get Red Storm point guard Omar Cook to change his mind and not enter his name into the NBA draft in June.  If that should happen, head coach Mike Jarvis would have one of the premier guard tandems in college basketball next season.  Naclerio also tells us that Connecticut 2-guard Marcus Cox is transferring to Massachusetts and 6'8 Chris Sandy from Westark (JC) AR has signed with Fresno State.   Speaking of Fresno State, don't be surprised if 6'1 Adrian Walton from Bronx (Regional) NY doesn't end up playing for the Jerry Tarkanian.   Actually it would be a perfect it, because Walton is terrific in an uptempo setting and he needs a coach who can steer him in the right direction.  Greg Swaim of GregSwaim.com is reporting that Oklahoma has signed 6'5 Ebe Ere from Barton County (JC) OK and our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Tulane has finally locked up 6'4 Ben Bowling from Hazard (Perry County Central) KY.  The Green Wave will also have 6'5 Jr Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, who is ranked as the #2 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, on campus this weekend for an unofficial visit.  Sure, we still believe St. John's is the school you have to beat for Cooke, if he doesn't by-pass college and go straight to the NBA, but this will mark the third time Cooke has been in New Orleans making an unofficial visit to Tulane.  Johnson also has stumbled upon two commitments that Arizona State got over a week ago.  We're talking about 6'8 Chris Osborne from Compon (JC) CA and 6'2 Curtis Millage from Southwest (JC) CA, but apparently all of our West Coast people were asleep at the switch on this one.   William & Mary has gotten an early commitment from 6'5 Jr Taylor Mokris from Charlotte (Providence Day) NC and Murray State has signed 6'8 James Singleton from Pearl River (JC) MS. 

Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman tells us that the University of Memphis has gotten another big early commitment from 6'8 Qyntel Woods from Moberly (JC) MO.  If you will recall, the Tigers got a verbal commitment from 6'9 Jr Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL, who is ranked as the #1 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, in January.   Woods was one of seven freshmen named to the first, second, third, and honorable mention Junior College All-American Team several weeks ago, but Rothman tells us Woods might be better than that.  As a matter of fact, Rothman has several sources that tell him Woods, who averaged 22 ppg and 8 rpg last season, was the best junior college player they saw all last season regardless of class.  So it looks like this is the fourth superstar that John Calipari and his staff have landed since taking the job a little over a year ago.  Remember, last spring they got a commitment from 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is the consensus #1 high school senior in the nation, and last fall they signed 6'8 Chris Massey from Oxnard (JC) CA, who is regarded by many as the #1 junior college player in the nation.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin is reporting that Rhode Isalnd has gotten a pair of commitments from 6'4 Dustin Hellenga from Winchendon (School) MA and 6'8 Troy Wiley from Paris (JC) TX.  Rubin also believes that La Salle is on the verge of getting a commitment from 5'11 Mike Cleaves from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA and Rider has signed 6'0 Jerry Johnson from Lancaster (McCaskey) PA.   However, Rubin has saved the most significant thing for last, because 6'8 Jr Lee Melchionni from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA is expected to make an early commitment to Duke tomorrow.  This is especially interesting, because the Blue Devils already have early commitments from 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA and 6'10 Jr Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL and they are the heavy favorite for 6'1 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL and 6'9 Jr Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC.  They also are in the mix, along with North Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State for 6'10 Jr Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, but they may not have a scholarship available for him, unless Melchionni agrees to pay his own way the first year and then receive a scholarship his second year.  And Melchionni might not be the only player to do this.  Remember, one of his best friends is 6'11 Jr Ted Skuchas from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA and just like Melchionni, Schuchas' father went to Duke and, as a result, has very strong ties to the school. 

It appears that the magic of Rick Pitino is already working, because the University of Louisville received a verbal commitment yesterday from 6'5 Coric Riggs from Fairdale (H.S.) KY and the great part about it is that he will be a free player.  In other words,  Riggs will be a walk-on and, as a result, won't effect Louisville's scholarship situation.   If you will recall, Louisville already has the maximum number of scholarships committed to 6'2 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY, 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'5 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 Leroy Davis from Southern Union (JC) AL, but most people seem to think that Coutee and Davis won't make it academically.  However, until we hear otherwise officially, they do count.  So does 6'5 Greg Tinch from Albany (Westover) GA, who is the ranked #77 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but who signed a National Letter-of-Intent to play football at Louisville during the winter.   Making the Tinch story even more interesting is the fact that basketball is his first love, as was evident by the fact Tinch didn't play football his senior year in high school.  However, Tinch has a very slim shot at making money playing basketball, because he can't shoot.  But he will likely play professional football due to his incredible athleticism and explosive speed and quickness.  So we think Tinch would be best advised to red-shirt in football his first year at Louisville and concentrate exclusively on basketball after October 15th.  Then, he could gradually phase out basketball and concentrate more on football as his college career progress.   Remember, next year is when Pitino will need Tinch, who is the best defensive player in the senior class nationally, the most.  This also would help the Cardinals sell 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, who plans on playing both football and basketball in college.  As a matter of fact, we think Bush is good enough for Pitino to offer a basketball scholarship right now.  That way the football coaches would be doing the worrying about what sport he concentrates on in November and December.  Getting back to Louisville's recruiting class, with seven players currently counting in the class, they jump into the #3 position nationally behind Memphis and LSU and ahead of UCLA and Florida.  However, all that is subject to change when we finalize our rankings of the top recruiting classes in early June.  By that time we may know that Coutee and Davis aren't going to make it academically and if 6'9 Terry Licorish from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC is going to make it.  Licorish hasn't officially committed to Louisville, but he may, if he gets the necessary score on the ACT and a scholarship becomes available.  It also looks like Louisville is making a strong push on some players in the next recruiting class, like 6'9 Bernard Cot'e from Montreal, QU, 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Jr Markus White from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'8 Jr Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, and 6'5 Jr Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL.  As a matter of fact, Lawrence reportedly now has the Cardinals right at the top of his list.

The University of Nebraska has gotten it's third early verbal commitment from 6'9 Jr Wes Wilkinson from Grand Island (H.S.) NE and this is very important, because it allows Barry Collier and his coaching staff to start concentrating on recruiting players exclusively in the sophomore class.  Not only does this give them a huge advantage as they continue to build the Cornhuskers program, but it enables them to get a major head start on the future (remember how much the recruiting process has been speeded it in recent years).  It also is important, because they are doing with players from right in their own backyard.   If you will recall, the Cornhuskers already have early verbal commitments from 6'9 Jr Roy Enright from Omaha (Burke) NE and 6'5 Jr Jason Dourisseau from Omaha (Burke) NE.  This comes on the heels of the class, which includes 6'2 Brennon Clemmons from Olney (JC) IL, 6'11 Dan Heimos from Waterloo (Gibault) IL, 6'3 Jake Muhlheison from Lincoln (Southeast) NE, and 6'5 Corey Sims from St. Louis (Normandy) MO, that Nebraska brought in last fall.  In other words, Collier is building it the same way he did at Butler.  However, in his next recruiting class (the Class of 2003), he will need to find several more players like Enright and Wilkinson, who can take the program to another level, which is no easy task when you consider that teams like Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are all in their conference.  Currently we know they are already targeting 5'11 Soph Evvon Turner from Omaha (Millard South) NE and 5'11 Soph Tyron Canby from Lincoln (H.S.) NE, but you can bet that list will get longer before it gets shorter.  Speaking of early verbal commitments, we also are waiting to see what happens with 5'9 Jr Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY, who is ranked #92 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Stockton's final three schools are Kentucky, Auburn, and Butler, all which he has already visited unofficially.  Our guess is that Auburn will get 6'1 Jr Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, who ranks among the top 10 juniors nationally.  So we'd be surprised if Stockton picked the Tigers and we just don't see Butler beating the University of Kentucky for a kid in their backyard, especially this early.  So write it down!  Stockton, who average 29.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.0 apg, 3.3 spg, and hit 100-263 from beyond the arc last season, is going to pick Kentucky. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Team Ohio has returned victorious after beating Varese, 96-62, in the championship game of the Reita International Tournament in Rizzi, Italy.   The MVP was 6'1 Jr Chris Quinn from Dublin (Coffman) OH, who scored 13 points and had 12 assists in the championship game.  Quinn also has established himself as the #1 junior in the state of Ohio, according to Johnson, who is expected to revise his rankings with the next month.  Johnson also tells us that Quinn is extremely far long in the recruiting process, as it appears that Notre Dame is the strong leader over Ohio State and Dayton.  In addition to the Quinn, 6'8 Soph Ivan Harris from Springfield (North) OH, 6'10 Jr Allen Pinson from Hebron (Lakewood) OH, 6'10 Soph Matt Lefeld from Coldwater (H.S.) OH, 6'0 Soph Kyle Greathouse from Lancaster (H.S.) OH, 6'10 Ivan Todorovic from Yugoslavia, 6'10 Nicola Bulajic from Yugoslavia, 6'10 Luka Siekloca from Yugoslavia, and 6'8 Vincent Polakovic from Germany were all named to the unofficial all-tournament team, which was provided to Johnson by Bobby Kortsen, who runs the Columbus Basketball Club and takes teams to Europe.  However, before college recruiters get too excited about the three 6'10 guys from Yugoslavia, Johnson warns us that they play for the same professional team as former Ohio State-signee 7'3 Aleksandar Radojevic, 7'3, C, Barton County (JC) KS and, as a result, all three are likely pros.  Johnson also tells us that the University of Hawaii, which already a major international influence on its roster has landed 6'9 Luc-Arthur Vebobe from Foothill (JC) CA and 6'8 Tony Apkan from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL.  Hawaii also appears to be one of the final two for 6'6 Lucky Williams from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL.  If you will recall, Apkan and Williams are both originally from Nigeria, but recently were at Newark (East Side) NJ when that situation exploded a year and a half ago. 

Take about the perfect fit!  There is no question in our mind that Xavier head coach Skip Prosser will get it done big at Wake Forest, because he walking into a very similar situation.  Both are private schools, but they're both tough places to win, unless you have the right coach who goes after the right players.  And that's exactly why Prosser, who was 148-65 in seven years at Xavier, has been so successful.  So obviously the next question is who gets Xavier?  You can bet that new Seton Hall head coach Louie Orr is kicking himself right now.  Orr is originally from Cincinnati, he was an assistant at Xavier during the Pete Gillen era, and he has always thought of Xavier as his dream job.  The cupboard is also full at Xavier.  In other words, you walk into Xavier and win big the next several years and move onto a top level job.   Instead, Orr, who brought his entire staff with him from Siena, has a major rebuilding task ahead of him at Seton Hall and, as a result, needs to be careful or he could be looking for a job in a couple of years.  Instead, the guy who appears to be perfectly positioned to make the move to Xavier is Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who was at Xavier for a year with Gillen and Orr.  Manhattan was 14-15 last season, but all the key players from a year ago will be back next year, plus Gonzalez continues to recruit like crazy.  So winning 20-25 games and pulling off an upset or two in the NCAA Tournament next March isn't out of the question. And Gonzalez can get some heavy hitters to call for him, like Gillen and new University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino.  Another coach who has the right contacts to get the job is UNC-Greensboro head coach Fran McCaffery.  Remember, McCaffery was an assistant coach at Notre Dame for many years and, ironically, the athletic director at Xavier is close with McCaffery dating back to their days together at Notre Dame.  Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey also is expected to go to bat for McCaffery and help get him the job.  Others already being mentioned for Xavier are Toledo head coach Stan Joplin, Butler head coach Thad Matta, Florida assistant coach John Pelphrey, and Creighton head coach Dana Altman.  The word out of DC is that George Washington wants to hire somebody with head coaching experience, but they don't want to pay the necessary salary to get a big name head coach.  Obviously American University head coach Jeff Jones fits that description perfectly, but the name we're hearing now is Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff.   But let's say that Jones does move down the street to George Washington.  Then, Catholic University Mike Lonergan, who won the Division III National Championship this past season, would probably be the leading candidate for the American University job.   We also hearing that University of Georgia assistant coach Michael Hunt, who is regarded by the HOOP SCOOP as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation, is now the leading candidate for Towson State. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2001

The HOOP SCOOP has confirmed that North Carolina's Joe Forte has decided to enter his name into the NBA draft this spring and it could happen as soon as today.  We also have confirmed that St. John's point guard Omar Cook is planning on putting his name into the draft sometime in the near future and our guess is that he will follow in the footsteps of another former Erick Barkley, who can out early a year ago.  We also expect 7'0 DeSagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) VA to join 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, and 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, who already have announced they are going to by-pass college and go straight to the league next year.   However, none of the players mentioned above are ready to take that big step to the highest level.  But that doesn't mean everybody isn't ready.  If 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ surprises us and comes out, we'd have to think long and hard about whether to take him #1 in the draft.  Physically he's so much stronger than most of the rest of the players his age.  He also has tremendous speed, quickness, athleticism, and savvy and that puts him in a class with Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, who went straight out of high school to the NBA in 1995 and 1996.  However, like everybody else, Wagner still would be best advised to go to college for a year or two, because those years will be pivotal for his continued development and long term money making potential.  In this case, we're talking about somebody with good coaching, which he will get next year from John Calapari at Memphis, and normal development eventually becoming on the best players in the game.  But he could mess it up, if any of the street agents and flesh peddlers that are now synonymous with the NBA draft get their hooks into him.  We've heard rumors that he might still go, but our guess is that he will enroll at Memphis.   Remember, his father, Milt Wagner, is there on the staff, his best friend (Arthur Barclay) goes to school there and will be on the team next year, and he's had people steering him in the right direction throughout his career.   Stay tuned! 

We recently talked about how the recruiting process has been speeded up dramatically in recent years and provided evidence when we told you that 10 of the HOOP SCOOP's top 50 juniors have already made early verbal commitments.   Even further evidence is provided when you take a quick look at our revised list of the top 15 juniors nationally, which includes in order 6'9 Jr Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL, 6'6 Jr Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, 6'9 Jr Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, 6'2 Jr Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'9 Jr Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'1 Jr Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'5 Jr Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL, 6'2 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'7 Jr Evan Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'1 Jr Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, 6'9 Jr Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, 6'8 Jr Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, and 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX.   Stoudemire is already verbally committed to Memphis.  Cook appears to be near lock for St. John's.  Duke is believed to be the leader for Randolph, but North Carolina and N.C. State are going to make it a war.  So Florida or Stanford could sneak in the back door as the compromise choice.  The Blue Devils are also right there with Roberson, but our guess is that he will stay home.  Remember, new Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker is a tremendous recruiter and so is Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo.  But the icing on the cake should be that Roberson’s best friend is 6’4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, who signed with the Spartans last fall.  Ibrahim appears to be wide open, but he also may have trouble getting eligible academically in college, plus players from the Atlanta Celtics AAU program (i.e. Dion Glover, Jumaine Jones, and Donnell Harvey) have history of going into the NBA draft prematurely.  So he may not have much choice other than to declare for the NBA draft a year from now.  Felton verbally committed to North Carolina in late March.  The last list we had on Lawrence was in December, but at the time he mentioned Florida, Miami-FL, Kentucky, Cincinnati, St. John's, Texas Christian, and South Florida.  Duke is the heavy favorite for Dockery, but Cincinnati and Illinois are still in the hunt. Burns likes UCLA, Arizona, and Duke.   Moore is believed to be a near lock for Auburn.  Redick is already done for Duke.  Duke, North Carolina, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are the favorites for Williams.  May's list includes Ohio State, Michigan State, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Indiana, but Texas Tech may also make a late push.   McNamara committed to Syracuse several weeks ago.  Texas is the heavy favorite for Wright, but Louisville, UCLA, Tennessee, Maryland, and Notre Dame.

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that former Towson State assistant coach Julius Allen has been hired into a similar position at Northeastern.  The connection is that Allen previously was an assistant coach at McNeese State with new Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart.  Naclerio also tells us that Adelphi head coach Jim Ferry, who guided his team to an undefeated regular season and a final eight finish in the Division II ranks this past season, is debating whether to move to Siena as an assistant coach.  And one of Ferry's assistant coaches, Van Macon, appears to be in line for a job at Hofstra, along with Niagara assistant coach Tom Parrotta.   As a result, it appears that a lot of the high school coaches in New York City are less than pleased with this news, because new Hofstra head coach Tom Perora by-passed a number of extremely qualified and very eager guys who would have brought more experience and all the local connections necessary to maintain the program at a top level.   Naclerio also tells us that the New York Daily News is reporting that Kevin Clark and American University head coach Jeff Jones are among the candidates for the George Washington job.  Maryland, Hoftstra, St. John's, and Memphis are reported to be the leaders for 6'4 Ryan Williams from Troy (Redemption) NY, but this one appears to be far from done, as Williams is expected to return to prep school for another year.

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Sam Smith is transferring from Dayton.  He could end up at Ohio State as a walk-on, but our guess is that he will probably pick a school in the Mid-American Conference.  Dayton also has signed 6'3 Shawn Wiggins from Washington (Spingarn) DC, who is espected to be ranked #14 in the senior class in the Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia area when we publish our latest area report later this week or earlier next week.  Johnson also tells us that Notre Dame's Ivan Kartelo is transferring to Purdue, Tennessee has gotten a commitment from 5'11 Thadyeus Holden from Seward County (JC) TN, UAB signed 6'8 Cedric Davis from Sinclair (JC) OH, and Alabama landed 6'9 Rodney Bias from Shelton State (JC) AL.  The Bias commitment is especially noteworthy, because he was ranked on the Junior College All-American Third Team that came out recently.  However, the big recruiting story in the SEC belongs to LSU, which signed 6'4 Antonio Hudson from Grambling (Lab) LA and 6'2 Xavier Whipple from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA both last week.  Add that to the three players LSU signed last fall - 6'7 Kendrick Brown from Okaloosa-Walton (JC) FL, 6'9 Shawnson Johnson from Lee (JC) TX, and 6'8 Thomas Davis from Kilgore (JC) TX - and the two football players - 6'4 Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA and 6'4 Michael Clayton from Baton Rouge (Christian Life) LA - the Tigers landed during the winter and we're talking about a recruiting class that is ranked #2 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  Don't believe it?   Well, Brown was a legitimate top five junior college players, Spears is ranked #59 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and Johnson and Davis would be in the same 50-70 range if they were being ranked as a high school players.  Hudson is a top 100 senior, Clayton isn't far off, and Whipple is in the top 250 range.  And even if you don't include the two football players (Spears and Clayton), LSU's class still would be ranked among our top five nationally behind Memphis, UCLA, and Florida and ahead of schools like Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Arizona, and DePaul. 

Monday, April 23, 2001

Who do you think is the most likely to go pro from the University of Kentucky - Tayshaun Prince, Keith Bogans, or Tubby Smith?  We think it would be a mistake for any one of the three to leave, but in our mind the head coach of the Wildcats is the most ready.   Remember, Smith is regarded as one of the top five head coaches in college basketball by several polls we've taken in recent years and he has his team in a strong position to make a run at another NCAA Championship next season, especially if Prince and Bogans both stay put.  However, we've been hearing the rumor for months that he is #1 on the list for the head coaching job of the Philadelphia 76ers, if Larry Brown retires and/or moves into the front office this spring.  If you will recall, Smith was one of Brown's assistant coaches for the U.S. Olympic Team last summer.  Smith also was in Miami, FL recently to see the Philadelphia 76ers player the Miami Heat.   It could be a total coincidence, but we also have heard rumors about Smith not finalizing his new multi-million dollar contract with the University of Kentucky, because he's not happy with the buy-out clause in the contract.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that the Wake Forest job has not been offered  to Richmond head coach John Beilein, which is something that had been reported last week.  However, he does have a source who tells him the job has been offered to Xavier head coach Skip Prosser.   And we think that would be a perfect fit, because nobody at his level has done a better job of battling the elite school in the nation on the recruiting trail in recent years.  And that's exactly what any coach who wants to be successful at Wake Forest will have to do.  Remember, Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, and UNC-Charlotte are all just down the road.  We also have confirmed that Holy Cross assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry has replaced Orlando Early, who left last week for Alabama, at UNC-Charlotte.  Early will be a tough act to follow, but, if anybody can do it, Nickelberry can.  Not only is Nickelberry widely regarded as one of the best assistant coaches in the business, as is evident by the fact that was on Rick Pitino's short list of candidates to hire at Louisville, but he also is extremely well connected in the Washington, DC area.  This will be especially valuable down the road, because the sophomore, freshmen, and 8th grade classes in the the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area are tremendous.  Speaking of that area, putting together a report from the area is a very long and tedious task, but we're hoping to finalize what promises to be most comprenhensive report ever compiled on the area by the end of this week or early next week.  And that's not all, as we're also working on Larry Kihnley's updated Kentucky Report, which also should be finalized within another day or two.

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/ South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'6 Brennan Martin from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Villanova last fall, appears to be reneging on the Wildcats.  Instead, he intends to follow Steve Lappas to Massachusetts.  NCAA rules normally prohibit a player from getting out of his letter-of-intent, but in this case it appears that Martin has not been accepted academically at Villanova, which apparently has tougher admission standards than Massachusetts.  Also reneging on Villanova and following Lappas to Masschusetts is 6'1 Kyle Wilson from Rock White (Christian) ON.  If you will recall, Wilson committed to Villanova last December, but that was after the fall signing period.  So he is also not locked into a binding National Letter-of-Intent.  As a result, only one player - 6'9 Marcus Austin from Elizabeth (St. Patrick's) NJ - remains in Villanova's three-man recruiting class.  However, Austin is the most important player in the class, because he is a legitimate 50-100 range player nationally and has a huge upside.  Speaking of Villanova, Rubin also believes that 7'0 Chris Charles from Milford (Academy) MA is close to signing with the Wildcats.  Rubin also tells us that 6'2 Robert Taylor from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA has signed with Rider and 6'8 Marcus Rosser from Kansas City (JC) MO has with Montana.  As predicted last week, 6'0 Charles Ford from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA has signed with Hartford and the University of Connecticut has beaten Vanderbilt and Arkansas for 6'9 Emeka Okafor from Houston (Bellaire) TX, who was one of the top big men in the senior class nationally still available.  We also understand that Iowa has gotten an early verbal commitment from 6'7 Jr Greg Brunner from Charles City (JC) IA.  Brunner doesn't rank among our top 100 nationally in the junior class, but he probably should, because he's a stronger version of Jess Settles.  At 6'7, 245 lbs., Settles is a physical specimen with excellent hops and 3-point shooting range. 

We found an article by Jerry Tipton in yesterday's Lexington Herald-Leader about Mike Bradley especially interesting.  Did you know that Bradley has had three different coaches leave on him?   The first was Jim O'Brien at Boston College.  Remember, Bradley made an early verbal commitment to the Eagles, but, before he ever got a chance to sign with Boston College in the fall before his senior year, O'Brien had had a falling out with the administration and ended up taking the Ohio State job the next spring.  So Bradley signed with Kentucky, because he wanted to play for Rick Pitino.   However, Pitino left for the Boston Celtics less than a month after he signed.  Bradley stuck it out at Kentucky for two years, but then transferred to Villanova.   He then had to sit out a year, but this past season Bradley was one of the best players in the Big East Conference.  He averaged 20.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and led the nation in field goal percentage with 69.2%.  So now Bradley has declared hardship for the NBA draft, but, if he doesn't sign with an agent, could still return to play for another new head coach, Jay Wright, who recently replaced Lappas at Villanova.  All this important, because the single biggest reason why most recruits pick a school is the head coach.  However, with a turnover rate of over 40 Division I head coaching jobs a year, statistically the chances of the head coach being at a school four-and-a-half years and, often five-and-a-half years, if the player takes a red-shirt year, doesn't make it academically, or transfers, from the time most players sign in the fall, is in the 70% range.  I'm not naive enough to think the NCAA will change the rule that prevents players from transferring and being eligible to play at another school, but I do think they should consider allowing the player to follow the head coach, if he leaves to go to another school, without any sort of penalty.  What's fair for the coach should also be fair for the player.  In other words, this is a perfect illustration of why we think NCAA rules are so hypocritical.

Better late than never, as our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin provides us with a wrap-up from the 41st Annual Albert C. Donofrio Basketball Classic at the Fellowship House in Conshohocken, PA.  The championship game, which was played last Tuesday, April 17th, between the New Jersey Roadrunners and the HBAWaterview (PA) was a  thriller, as the Roadrunners pulled away in the second half en route to 63-58 victory.  Leading the way for the Roadrunners was tournament MVP 6'4 Jr Randy Foye from Newark (East Side) NJ with 14 points and four assists.  He was complemented by 6'5 Jr Jeff Varen from Buffalo (Traditional) NY with 12 points and 12 rebounds.  However, the main topic of conversation at the tournament was 6'7 Steve Smith from Philadelphia (Northeast) PA, who led HBAWaterview with 21 points and 14 rebounds.  But even more important, Smith now appears to be the biggest sleeper in the Philadelphia Area and he's still available.   That's the good news.  The bad news is that he probably will be a non-qualifier.  Smith outplayed the two big kids - 6'9 Jr Eric Davis from Camden (H.S.) NJ and 6'10 Soph Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, both of whom will be recruited at the big-time level down the road - on the Tim Thomas Playaz in the quarterfinals.  Smith also outplayed Clemson-signee 6'7 Olu Babalola from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ in the semi-finals and Villanova-recruit 6'9 Marcus Austin from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ in the championship game.  La Salle University is the favorite, because assistant coach Roland Houston has by-far-and-away spent the most time recruiting him since mid-season and new head coach Billy Hahn has put his stamp of approval on taking Smith even if he doesn't make it academically.  Other awards went to 6'0 Jr Sharief Bray from Philadelphia (Central) PA, who won the Little-Big Man Award, and 6'2 Soph Max Schaffer from Wayne (DePaul) NJ, who won the Sportsmanship Award.  Also of note were the top two players in the tournament - 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ and 6'5 John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA.  But, unfortunately both only played in one game due to other commitments.  

Saturday, April 21, 2001, and Sunday, April 22, 2001

It was 45-all with 12:50 remaining the championship game, but then the Kentucky All-Stars outscored the Illlinois Gold 39-20 en route to an 84-65 victory in the 2001 Kentucky Hoopstars Classic at Male High School in Louisville, KY early today.  Clearly the best player for the Kentucky Hoopstars was 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, but this is a team that goes 10 deep and has excellent chemistry, as 6'7 Jr LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY and 6'8 Soph Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY take care of business inside, 6'2 Jr Preston LeMaster from Paris (Bourbon County) KY runs the show, and 6'6 Jr Donte Smith from Buckner (Oldham County) KY and 6'5 Jr Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY provide athleticism both on the perimeter and around the basket.  We also liked the versatility of 6'4 Jr Kevin Reinhardt from Alexandria (Campbell County) KY and 6'4 Jr Brian Silverhorn from Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, both of whom are excellent role players on this team, plus 6'0 Jr Kevin Gordon from Frankfort (H.S.) KY and 6'0 Jr Chris Gaither from Leitchfield (Grayson County) KY give them plenty of depth at point guard.  However, the best player in the entire tournament might have been 6'0 Jr Dee Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Not only did Brown impressive everybody with his speed and quickness, ball handling and passing skills, and ability to shoot the three, but he also has the savvy and natural talent to push 6'2 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL as the #1 player in the Windy City next year.  He also seemed like a great kid when we got a list of schools from him, which included Illinois, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Iowa State, Iowa, and Seton Hall.  Complementing Brown inside for the Illinois Gold were 6'8 Jr Markus White from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL and 6'6 Jr Elliott Poole from Chicago (Farragut) IL. White is more naturally talented, a little bigger, and more athletic.  But Poole might actually be better at this stage, because he plays harder and does more of the dirty work inside.  However, giving Brown a strong run for his money as the top player in the tournament was 6'3 Jr Jimmy McKinney from St. Louis (Vashon) MO, who was ranked #64 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but who has McDonald's All-American potential, as well as the athleticism, skills, and ability to score necessary to be ranked among the very elite players in the nation.  We didn't talk with McKinney, but the word on the street is that he's already a lock for Missouri.   As a matter of fact, Tigers assistant coach Lane Odom was seen standing behind the basket at his game on Friday night watching his every move.  We also really liked McKinney's teammate - 6'8 Jr Nicholas Kern from St. Louis (Vashon) MO - on the St. Louis Gameface 17-Under team.  He too may be a top 100 junior nationally.  Not only does he have good hands, lots athleticism, and an aggressive nature around the basket, but he also has the ability to beat you outside with his jumper.  However, he's a four who can step out (his perimeter skills need work and he's so quick and athletic around the basket) and trying to play him at the 3-spot would be almost as ridiculous as making 6'8 David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) MO into a wing forward next year at the University of Florida.  We also have to mention 6'6 Soph Kewain Gant from Charleston (H.S.) MO, 6'4 Jr Lorenzo Dean from Charleston (H.S.) MO, and Frosh Dwayne Polk from St. Louis (Vashon) MO.  Gant has the most potential, but right now he's like a deer learning to run.   Dean is a terrific 3-point shooter. Polk is young, but he's flat out quick and excellent with the ball.  The most prolific scorer in the tournanent was 5'10 Frosh Toney Douglas from Jonesboro (H.S.) GA, who had several games in the high 30's.  Douglas has a shooter's mentality just like 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA did at a young age.  However, Douglas 's a lot smaller and quicker than Carruth was at the same stage.  Remember, we saw Carruth hit seven straight 3-pointers in the first half at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas when he was in 8th grade.  The biggest disappointment in the tournament was Bloomington Red, which lost the first night to Illinois Gold.  Also, 6'8 Jr Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, who is widely regarded as one of the top 10 juniors nationally, was not in top playing shape nor did he seem to possess that buring desire that he had last summer.  However, that didn't stop us from talking with him and getting an updated list of schools, which includes Indiana, Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Louisville, and Michigan State.  He also said that he's not sure if he wants to go to school that far away from home, but he would be receptive to Texas Tech.  If you will recall, new Red Raiders head coach Bob Knight coached May's father, Scott May, when he was an All-American at Indiana University in 1975 and 1976.  However, as of yet Texas Tech has not shown any interest.  May also seemed to like the idea of Texas Tech taking his older brother, Scott May, Jr.  And if that happened, it wouldn't be the first time that Knight has taken a player  in an attempt to get a better player down the road.   Remember, Indiana signed Todd Leary, who at the time was the best friend of Eric Montross.  However, it didn't work out they way they had hoped, because Montross signed with North Carolina a year later.  But maybe this time Knight could seal the deal by hiring May's father into an administrative position.   The Bloomington Red Team also featured 6'8 Jr Justin Johnson from Merrillville (H.S.) IN and 6'11 Jr Chris Hunter from Gary (West Side) IN, but really we were more impressed with the play of their guards 6'0 Jr Ryan Baumgartner from Munice (South) IN and 6'4 Jr Anthony Winchester from Austin (H.S.) IN.  Winchester, who is being recruited by Purdue, Iowa, Indiana State, Butler, and Xavier, isn't a great athlete, but he does have great skills and in many ways he reminds us former IU star Randy Wittman  As a matter of fact, Purdue assistant coach Jay Price made it a point to watch his every move on Friday night.  Price also made sure he watched 6'9 Jr Matt Keifer from Evansville (Bosse) IN, who played for the Warrick County Wildcats and is a top recruiting priority for the Boilermakers.  We think Purdue is a near lock for Keifer, but Notre Dame, Evansville, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, and Kentucky are still showing interest.  We didn't watch much in the 16-Under Division, but one player who we have to mention is 6'6 Frosh Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN.  If you will recall, this is the guy who verbally committed to Purdue last November before he ever played a high school game.  He's also the player that our Indiana Editor Jim Kasberg said was the best 8th grader he's ever since.  Well, now we know why!  We're talking about somebody who is already physically mature beyond his years.  Not only does he have an incredible upper body and is a physical specimen, but he's also extremely mobile, athletic, and agile for his size.  In other words, he can put the ball on the floor, shoot the three, and dominate inside.  So the only real question now is how much will he grow?  Also falling into the tweener category, but with a great upside, if they grow are two of Vaden's teammates on the Spiece Top Prospects Team.  We're talking about 6'6 Frosh Mike McCoy from Indianapolis (Pike) IN.  We also have to mention 5'9 Sabastian Moore from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, who is a jet quick 8th grader with range, quickness, and handling ability, and 6'0 Frosh Desmond Gadis from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN.  Also playing extremely well in the junior Division was 5'11 Soph Brandon Englemon from Covington (Holmes) KY, who shot the lights out when we saw him play.

While I was covering the 2001 Kentucky Hoopstars Classic at Male High School in Louisville, KY this weekend, our Kentucky Editor Larry Kihnley was at Lexington Catholic High School watching the tryouts for the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Game, which will be held June 16 in Owensboro, KY and June 23rd in Indianapolis, IN.  Unfortunately the most talented player in the state - 6'2 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY - did not attend.  He said he was studying to get the score he needs to pass the SAT and be eligible as a college freshmen, but we've heard otherwise.  Also getting hurt early yesterday was 6'5 Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY.   However, Carrier is assured a spot on the team, because he finished first in the voting for Mr. Basketball.  Also named to the team were 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'1 Adam Chiles from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'1 Rony Dawn from Newport (Central Catholic) KY, 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'4 Coric Riggs from Fairdale (H.S.) KY, 6'4 Jerome Kelly from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, 6'6 Michael Haney from Madisonville (North Hopkins) KY, 6'5 Tarran Harbut from Lexington (Bryan Station) KY, 6'8 Brian Thornton from Louisville (Manual) KY, and 6'2 Patrick Sparks from Greenville (Muhlenberg North) KY.  Kihnley says it was the deepest tryout he can ever remember and Hurt, 6'10 Tony Key, and 6'3 Ben Bowling from Hazard (Perry County Central) KY weren't even there.  The best player was Sparks, because he's quick and can dribble, pass, and shoot, plus he plays ever possesion like it's his last.  Also ranking among Kihnley's top five at the tryout based on performance were Haney, Kelly, Harbut, and O'Bannon. The surprise of the team was probably 6'4 Jerome Gumbs from Glasgow (Barren County) KY.  Evansville has offered and Cincinnati is looking, but he'd perfect for the right mid-major looking for an athletic scoring 2-guard.  The biggest disappointment was Bender.  However, this comes as no surprise, because he has a history of not being a good practice player, but stepping it up in big games.  As a result, we will be very interested to see how Bender plays in the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Series.

The HOOP SCOOP has confirmed that 6'9 Darnell Tyler from Tallahassee (JC) FL has signed with Manhattan.  This is important, because Tyler is the first legitimate big man that head coach Bobby Gonzalez has been able during his two years with the Jaspers.  As a result, Tyler is expected to step in and start immediately next year at center, along with David Holmes at the power forward, Justin Jackette at the wing forward, Luis Flores at two-guard spot, and Von Damien Green at point guard.  So Manhattan, which was 14-15 last season, should be one of the most improved teams in college basketball next year.  They also should dominate the Metro Atlantic Conference and could be one of the surprise team's next March in the NCAA Tournament.  Tyler, who originally had committed to Rhode Island last fall before the previous regime was forced out, picked Manhattan over Seton Hall and Texas A&M.  He joins a recruiting class that also includes 6'0 Justin Gatling from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, who signed with the Jaspers last fall, and 6'6 Kareem Grant from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who gave the Jaspers a verbal commitment in March.  Gonzalez also has 6'6 Jason Benton, who was a Prop 48 casualty, sitting out.  So that means he will have four talented new players to add into the mix next year.  And Gonzalez may not be done yet, because Manhattan is also battling UNC-Charlotte, West Virginia, Ohio State, Connecticut, Saint Louis, East Carolina, and New Orleans for 6'6 Hector Romero from Independence (JC) KS and, in the end, Gonzalez may steal 6'0 Darryl Hill from Bayside (Cardozo) NY.  Remember, Hill exploded onto the scene last winter, but is still a major academic question mark. Hill's  high school coach Ron Naclerio would probably have steered him toward the prep school route a year or two ago, but several of his former players have struggled lately in prep schools.   Instead, it appears Naclerio would prefer that Hill go to a four-year school and sit out next season.  And that's exactly what Gonzalez would like to do, because a year from now, Hill would be the heir apparent to Green at the point guard spot.

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has already reported that 6'5 John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA, who is ranked #10 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, will not try and get out of his National Letter-of-Intent, which he signed last fall with Seton Hall.  However, this is not the case for 7'0 Chris Charles from Milford (Academy) CT, who committed to the Pirates after the conclusion of the fall signing period and, as a result, never signed a National Letter-of-Intent.  As a result, Charles is free to go to any school of his choosing.   Sure, Seton Hall is still on the list, but so are Michigan, Villanova, and Massachusetts. So obviously the new regime was hedging their bets when they took 7'0 Alex Gambino from Brookville (Long Island Lutheran) NY earlier this week.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo appears to be in great on 6'5 Cory Starks from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) CA and 6'4 Cody Pearson from Sherman Oaks (Notre Dame) CA.  Actually Starks appears to be a near lock for the Mustangs, while Pearson's final three are Pepperdine, Long Beach State, and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.   It also looks like new Portland head coach Michael Holton is on the verge of landing his first recruit - 6'2 Ryan Reyes from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.

One of the premier events of the entire spring promises to be the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX, which will tip-off beginning at 6:30 PM on Friday, April 27th at 11 different facilities in the Kingwood/Humble area.  There are 120 boys teams entered and the 17-Under Division is absolutely loaded, as is evident by the list of teams, which includes the Southern California All-Stars, Houston Hoops, Team Texas, Georgia Stars, Belmont Shore, Shreveport/Bosier Select, Kentucky All-Stars, Houston Select, Junior Hardballers, Northwest Houston Raptors, San Antonio Tornados, Texas Tornados, Southwest Arkansas Hornets, KYBA Select, Galveston Hornets, Dallas Dirty Dozen, Houston Jaguars, Cy Creek Cougars, Houston Lynx, Southeast Texas All-Stars, Texas Warriors, Houston Gold, Midland Hawkeyes, and San Antonio Platimum.  The Southern California All-Stars are the top-seeded team, but they may have a tough time even winning their pool, as they will have to first get past Team Texas and the Kentucky All-Stars, which also are two of the top teams in the tournament.  Team Texas features a tremendous guard duo in 6'2 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, 5'11 Jr Byron Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, plus 6'3 Jr Josh Washington from Lubbock (Monterey) TX promises to be one of the top sleepers in the tournament.  Kentucky features a balanced attack that includes 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'7 Jr LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'8 Soph Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highland) KY, 6'5 Jr Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY, 6'6 Jr Donte Smith from Buckner (Oldham County) KY, and 6'2 Jr Preston LeMaster from Paris (Bourban County) KY.  There should be a number of excellent match-ups, but the one we're really looking forward to will be when the Houston Hoops and Belmont Shore square off at 9:15 PM on Friday night in Gym #2 at Kingwood's 9th Grade campus. This battle between 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX and 6'8 Soph Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, both of whom rank among our top five sophomores nationally, will be for bragging rights, as well as an advantage in the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM on Saturday evening.  However, the younger Divisions, especially the 14-Under Division, which includes four national powerhouse teams - the Dallas Mustangs, Team Texas, Houston Hoops, and the Kansas City Junior Knights - will also be worth some of our time.  As a matter of fact, this will be our first opportunity to see 6'8 Kendrick Johnson from Lubbuck, TX, who not only reminds those who have already seen him of a younger version of Kendrick Perkins, but might just be the best 8th grader in the nation.  The championship game for the 17-Under Division is scheduled for 5: 15 PM on Sunday afternoon at Kingwood High School's 9th Grader Campus.  The championship game for the 16-Under Division will tip-off at 3:45 PM on Sunday at Humble High School at 3:45 PM.  Also, at 3:45 PM on Sunday will be the championships for the 15-Under Division at Creekwood Middle School, the 14-Under Divison at Kingwood College, the 13-Under Division at Riverwood Middle School, the 12-Under Division at Humble 9th Grade, 11-Under Division at Timberwood High School, and the 10-Under Division at Humble Middle School.  For more information on the tournament call 1-800-499-6692 or look on the internet at http://www.cbball.com.

Friday, April 20, 2001

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that rumors about 6'5 John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA not wanting to honor his commitment to Seton Hall are totally inaccurate.  As a matter of fact, new Pirates head coach Louie Orr met with the Allen family last night and all the parties appear to be very confortable with the decision.  This is huge for Orr, because Allen, who now is ranked #10 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, is one of the fastest rising players in the senior class.  He also was the MVP for his team in the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic in Evanston, IL a week and a half ago.  However, the biggest news of the day involves 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, who made it official for the University of Louisville at 1:00 PM this afternoon.  If you will recall, 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY committed to the Cardinals two days ago and, as a result, that made Bender's fate pretty much a foregone conclusion.  O'Bannon and Bender have been close friends for years and there was a lot of talk last summer about Bender and O'Bannon going to the same school as a package.  This is especially important for head coach Rick Pitino, because Bender provides the inside presence that had alluded the previous regime in recent years.  Currently Bender is ranked #22 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but he may be in the for the shock of his life.  Remember, Bender has a history of being lazy and Pitino has a history of getting his players to overachieve whether they like it or not.  Bender and O'Bannon will join 6'2 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY, 6'5 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 LeRoy Davis from Southern Union (JC) AL, all of whom signed with the Cardinals last fall.  However, as it stands now, none of them are guaranteed of making academically.  Hurt, who is ranked as one of the top dozen seniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, is the closest, as he needs only a point more on the ACT to become academically qualified. 

We still think it is Richmond head coach John Beilein's job to turn down, but yesterday the hot name for the Wake Forest job was former Washington Wizard head coach Leonard Hamilton.  And today the list was getting longer, as Seton Hall head coach P.J. Carlesimo, Missouri head coach Quin Snyder, and Phoenix Suns assistant coach Frank Johnson, who played at Wake Forest, all are now being mentioned as possibilities for the Demon Deacons.   We also believe that N.C. State assistant coach Sean Miller is a near lock for the Robert Morris job.  A month ago we reported a rumor about George Washington head coach Tom Penders possibly being in trouble at George Washington.  But then we retracted it, because we thought our source was wrong.   However, now it unfortunately looks like we might have been a lot closer to being accurate than we originally thought.  Sam Albano of Redmen.com thinks Penders is out.  "Penders' isn't going to get fired for a 14-18 season," says Albano.  "He's also not going to get the ax, because some players ran up a $1400 telephone bill on an assistant coach's phone card.  But he may get fired over the Attila Cosby deal.  And it may happen as soon as today."  And if that happens, St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clark, former Washington Wizards head coach Leonard Hamilton, and Duke assistant coach Johnny Dawkins are among the names we're hearing as possible candidates for the job.  Also being reported by the Washington Post today is the fact that 6'8 Danny Miller is transferring from the University of Maryland to Notre Dame.  Apparently Miller is unhappy with the amount of playing time he received last season after getting beat out by Byron Mouton at the wing forward spot.  One of the primary reasons why Miller picked Notre Dame is the previous association his family has had with Irish head coach Mike Brey, who coached Miller's older brother (Greg Miller) at Delaware. 

Eddie Ford, who is one of the best event organizers and promoters in the country, was planning on having a nice little event this weekend at Male High School in Louisville, KY.  However, the Hoopstars Classic, which will tip-off at 5:30 PM this afternoon, has already gown into something much bigger than Ford originally anticipated.  As a matter of fact, Ford tells us that he had to turn away over 20 teams, all which were pretty good.  There will be 12 teams in the Senior-to-be Division, including the Bob Pryor's Bloomington Red team, which features three of the top juniors in the state of Indiana in 6'8 Jr Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'9 Jr Chris Hunter from Gary (West Side) IN, and 6'7 Jr Justin Johnson from Merrillville (H.S.) IN, and the Kentucky Elite, which features a number of the top underclassmen in Kentucky, including 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'7 Jr LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'5 Jr Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY, 6'7 Soph Ross Nelter from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY, and 6'2 Jr Preston LeMaster from Paris (Bourbon County) KY.  The senior division also will feature 62 Jr Jimmy McKinney from St. Louis (Vashon ) MO, who promises to be the best player in the Missouri next year, and 6'6 Jr Elliott Poole form Chicago (Farragut) IL, 6'8 Jr Markus White from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, and 6'0 Jr Dee Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, who are two of the best juniors in Chicago, IL.  There also will be 16 teams in the Junior-to-be Division.  Tonight's schedule in the large gym has Kentucky Elite versus Warrick County at 5:30 PM, Bloomington Red versus Illinois Wildcats at 6:40 PM, Spiece Pistols versus Atlanta Prep Stars at 7:50 PM, Kentucky Elite versus Illinois Explorers at 9:00 PM, Bloomington Red versus Ohio Valley at 10:10 PM, and Spiece Pistols versus Kentucky Gold at 11:20 PM.  In the Small Gym it will be Illinois Explorers versus New Haven at 5:30 PM, Ohio Valley versus Spiece North Gym Rats at 6:40 PM, Kentucky Gold vernsu St. Louis Gameface at 7:50 PM, Warrick County versus New Haven at 9:00 PM, Illinois Wildcats versus Spiece North Stars at 10:10 PM, Atlanta Prep Stars versus St. Louis Gameface at 11:20 PM.  The tournament will run all day tomorrow and Sunday, but tonight is the time when Division I college coaches can be attendance, because this is the last day of the spring recruiting period.   The championship game in the Senior-to-be Division will be played at 2:15 PM afternoon on Sunday and the championship game in the Junior-to-be-Division is scheduled 8:30 PM on Sunday night.

Thursday, April 19, 2001

For the second straight day I have been surprised by developments that have occurred right in my own backyard.  Yesterday I was actually shocked when I read in the Louisville Courier-Journal that Mick Cronin was the guy new University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was going to hire as his right hand man.  Sure, Cronin is regarded as one of the bright young guys in the business and I have known him well since his days as an assistant coach at Cincinnati (Woodward) OH.  But I thought Pitino was going hire someone with whom he had a strong preexisting relationship.  And today I was equally surprised when I found out that Pitino had offered a scholarship to 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY.  O'Bannon is a local kid with excellent grades and he has a toughness and competitiveness that currently is lacking in the program.  He also promises to be the best athlete in the program and appears to be the entree' that will help the Cardinals seal the deal with 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, who is expected to sign with the Cardinals tomorrow, and get 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, who promises to be both the next great football player and basketball player in the state of Kentucky.  However, Bush doesn't shoot the ball well enough off the dribble nor does he have the perimeter skills necessary to be ranked higher than in the 75-125 range nationally.  If O'Bannon was willing to walk-on or take an academic scholarship, he would have been a great recruit.  But with the year-old  five-and-three rule, whereby, a school can only sign eight players (five players one year and only three the next) over a two-year period, Pitino needs to be very careful in terms of how many players he takes in this recruiting class.  The problem is that last fall Louisville signed three players - 6'2 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY, 6'5 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 LeRoy Davis from Southern Union (JC) AL.  Sure, there is speculation that Coutee and Davis won't make it academically, but, if they do make it, Louisville doesn't have any more scholarships to offer this year and only three next year.   And that includes any transfers they might stubble upon this spring (transfers count the year after they enroll against the total of eight players over two years).   So, unless Coutee and Davis both don't make it academically, it is our editorial position that taking O'Bannon right now was a premature decision.  However, this won't be the first time we've disagreed with a recruiting decision that Pitino has made (i.e. Carlos Toomer and Aminu Timberlake when Pitino was at Kentucky).  Only time will tell whether we're right, but the key is the five-and-three rule, not the number of players you can have on scholarship in the program.   As a matter of fact, our guess is that Pitino will run off several players and, as a result, the 13-player scholarship limit will not be a factor in the foreseeable future.   However, the five-and-three rule could be a major problem, because it does not allow Louisville much margin for error.

Last week we told you that San Jose State was on the verge of landing one of the top junior college players in the nation, but we didn't tell you who it was, because we were sworn to secrecy.  The player we were talking about was 6'7 Carlton Baker from Barton County (JC) KS.  Prior to the season Baker was ranked as the #4 wing forward in the the junior college ranks by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, but he was not mentioned on any of the post-season Junior College All-American Teams, because he served the longest suspension in junior college history after taking a swing at an opposing player.  Fortunately he missed the player, but unfortunately he hit the ref.  Up until that point Baker had been averaging 22 ppg and 9 rpg.  He also was drawing comparisons to former St. John's All-American Walter Berry, because he had combined his powerful inside game, which had severed him well in high school, with refined perimeter skills.  Baker replaces 6'5 Lamar Bigby from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, who signed with San Jose State last fall, but who has since been released from his letter-of-intent and, as a result, is currently available.  If you will recall, San Jose State class, which also included 6'3 Gary Black from Indian Hills (JC) IA, 6'11 Garvin Davis from Georgia Perimeter (JC) GA, 6'2 Moises Alvarez from Mt. San Jacinto (JC) CA, 6'5 Lamar Bigby from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, and 6'2 Phil Calvert from Cloud County (JC) KS, was ranked #50 last fall.  However, with the addition of Baker, who is widely regarded as one of the top 10 junior college players in the nation, San Jose State's recruiting class will move into the top 30 range nationally.  This class should also move San Jose State, which was 9-14 this past season, into the upper echelon of the Western Athletic Conference right away.  Baker and Black figure to be two of the better players in the league from day one, Davis has a tremendous upside due to his athleticism and size, and Calvert, who was named to Second Team All-Conference in the tough Jayhawk League on a team that only won nine or 10 games, is a major sleeper.  And the guy who deserves a lot of the credit for getting all this done is Patrick Springer, who previously was the head coach at the College of the Desert (JC) CA.  And apparently Springer's boss, San Jose State head coach Steve Barnes agrees, because he recently named Springer the associate head coach. 

One of the most improved programs in college basketball next year promises to be the University of Hartford, which was only 4-24 last year under first-year head coach Larry Harrison.  However, Harrison and his staff have already done a great job of increasing the talent level in the program.  If you will recall, last fall signed Hartford signed 6'1 Sean Swan, who put up prolific numbers this past season at Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA, and 6'9 Trevor Goode from Virginia Beach (Cape Henry) VA, who is a project right now, but has the potential to develop into a good player down the road due to his size.  Hartford also has 6'7 Deon Saunders, who transferred from American University, sitting out and now it appears the Hawks are on the verge of landing 6'1 Charles Ford from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA.  Especially interesting is the fact that all four of these guys are originally from the Washington, DC area and  Swan, Saunders, and Ford are amazing athletes.  Nearly everybody will back for San Diego State next year, but on the first day of the spring signing period the Aztecs got a steal in 6'8 Tremaine Davis from Pittsburg (H.S.) CA.   Davis recently took home Bay Area Player-of-the-Year honors, but most schools backed off him, because they didn't think he was going to make it academically.   Well, he did make it academically and Brian Dutcher, who is one of the best recruiters in the business, was perfectly positioned to take advantage of the opportunity.  Then, San Diego State signed 6'4 Tommy Johnson from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA on Monday or Tuesday.  Johnson originally signed with Washington State a year ago, but he didn't make it academically.  So he's been going to night school at Crenshaw and, as a result, it appears he will eligible at San Diego State next fall.  But the big one didn't materialize until yesterday when Steve Fisher and his staff landed 6'9 Michael Mackell from Porterville (JC) CA, who was the California Junior College Player-of-the-Year.  Also of major significance was the commitment by 6'7 Jr Sean Mallon from Spokane (Farris) WA, who is ranked #72 nationally among juniors by the HOOP SCOOP.   Mallon has elected to stay home attend Gonzaga!  In other words, Gonzaga finally appears to be taking advantage of their name recognition and success in the NCAA Tournament during the last three years.  However, Mallon isn' t the first top 100 player that head coach Mark Few has had in his program.  Remember, Dan Dickau, who transferred from the University of Washington to Gonzaga two years ago, was also ranked among our top 100 nationally.   We also have confirmed that Toledo has gotten a commitment from 6'7 Kareem Milson from Youngstown (Rayen) OH.   Milson was ranked #18 in Ohio on Chris Johnson's last report, but this is another guy who was underrecruited due to the fact that most people thought he wouldn't make it academically and, as a result, would likely have to go the prep school route.

How quickly things can change in this business.  Yesterday it appeared that University of Charleston head coach Jayson Gee would get the Kent State job and Richmond head coach John Beilein appeared to be a near lock for Wake Forest.  However, today at 2:00 PM press conference Michigan State assistant coach Stan Heath was named the new head coach at Kent State.  Also this afternoon Washington Wizards head coach Leonard Hamilton resigned effective immediately and already we're hearing Hamilton's name being mentioned in connection with the Wake Forest job.  Talk about a perfect fit!   If Wake Forest hired Hamilton, the competition for supremacy in the ACC would be that much tougher among Duke, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, et al.  But let's say that Beilein does become the next head coach of the Demon Deacons.  Wouldn't Duke assistant coach Johnny Dawkins be perfect at Richmond?  Dawkins, who is originially from Washington, DC, would also be perfect at George Washington and that's not as farfetched as you might think after the phone card scandal that broke yesterday at GW.  Either way, Duke would have an opening and would it be something if Louisville assistant coach Vince Taylor left Rick Pitino to go work for Mike Krzyzewski.  We also are hearing Towson will likely hire either Catholic University head coach Mike Lonegran, who recently won the Division III National Championship or The Citadel head coach Pat Dennis.   Our guess is that it will be Lonegran.  As a matter of fact, we hear that Dennis may drop out of the running.  Also, it looks like Tamir Goodman, who originally recruited to Maryland by new La Salle head coach Billy Hahn, may transfer from Towson to La Salle.  And how about UNC-Charlotte assistant coach Orlando Early replacing Johnny Jones, who recently got the head coaching job at North Texas to Alabama?  And that's not the only great hire that Crimson Tide head coach Mark Gottfried is making.  The word is that next Monday, former Alabama All-American T.R. Dunn, who currently is dealing with the women's draft for the Charlotte Sting, will also join Gottfried's staff.  As a result, it looks like an all-out war for players in that part of the country, because Auburn assistant Mike Wilson and UAB's Andy Kennedy are two of the top recruiters in the nation. 

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

Last week it appeared to be a done deal, but then Ralph Willard decided to remain at Holy Cross.  So new University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino went back to the drawing board and, as a result, may have struck gold.  No, he didn't convince one of his guys, like Willard, N.C. State head coach Herb Sendek, Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, or Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, to make what would have been perceived to be a step down and become the #1 assistant at Louisville.  Instead, the HOOP SCOOP has learned that Pitino will hire Cincinnati assistant coach Mick Cronin as the associate head coach tomorrow at 10:00 AM.  This is huge, because Cronin, who at age 29, is widely regarded as the top up-and-coming young coach in the business.  As a matter of fact, Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins has told us many times that Cronin is by far and away the best assistant coach he's ever had.  And making the story even more intriguing is the fact that Cronin is not one of Pitino's guys, which means he must have done a great  job recruiting Pitino during the five or six days since Willard turned the job down.  Pitino also is expected to officially name the rest of his staff tomorrow.  However, we reported three weeks ago that Pitino would retain Vince Taylor in the other on-the-road recruiting position, move Scott Davenport, who was the assistant coach in a non-recruiting position, into the administrative spot, and hire Kevin Willard into the #3 spot on the staff, which was Davenport's old spot.  While this is huge for Louisville, it does put Huggins in a tough spot, because the Bearcats are one player away from making another run at the NCAA Final Four next year.  We're talking about 7'0 Moustapha Diange from Trinity Valley (JC) TX, who is widely regarded as the best junior college big man in the nation.  Diange, whose top four schools are Cincinnati, Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Texas Christian, already is pretty far along in the recruiting process, but you can bet the Cronin will get Louisville added to the list.  Remember, Louisville needs all the help inside they can get, especially if 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY doesn't pick the Cardinals at his scheduled press conference on Friday, April 20th.  As for Cincinnati, don't be surprised if Huggins hires another one of the top assistant coaches in the game, like Auburn assistant coach Mike Wilson, or another one of the bright young go-getters in the game, like Arizona graduate assistant coach Josh Pastner.  Remember, Pastner, who was the head coach of the Houston Hoops AAU team the last five years, has the connections necessary to be involved with most of the top young players in Houston, including 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozone Park) TX, who is ranked by the HOOP SCOOP as the #2 sophomore in the nation and plays for Pastner's father's AAU program.  However, our guess is Delaware assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer has the inside track.  Not only is he one of the bright young assistants in the business, but he also has had head coaching experience with the Los Angeles Rockfish.  Plus, he's got a great relationship with J.O. Stright, who is the general manager of the Pittsburgh Jots.  And that could prove to be pivotal when Huggins makes the call, because Huggins and Stright formed a close relationship when they went to school together at West Virginia.  And this wouldn't be the first time that this connection has been important.  If you will recall, Danny Fortsen, who is like a son to Stright (Fortsen lived with Stright during his last two years of high school), picked the Bearcats over Massachusetts and Pittsburgh as a high school senior at Pittsburgh (Shaler) PA in 1994.  However, Huggins had better move fast, because we also are getting reports about new St. Bonaventure head coach Jan van Breda Kolff  making a move to hire Oppenheimer.  Speaking of St. Bonaventure, Darryl Sharp's name is also being mentioned as a possibility for  van Breda Kolff's staff.   If you recall, Sharp, who was the director of basketball operations at the University of Louisville, is one of the primary reasons why Louisville had done a much better job of laying the foundation early with players the last two years.  Sharp also was the main reason why Reece Gaines signed with Cardinals. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson told us yesterday that either University of Charleston head coach Jayson Gee or Michigan State assistant coach Stan Heath would be getting the Kent State job.   Well, it looks like you can write it down for Gee, who previously was the top assistant coach at Ohio University.  As for Heath, if all the rumors are true about Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo going to the Detroit Pistons, then he might be in line for the Michigan State job.  However, if Izzo does take the Pistons offer, which is reported to be a five-year $20 million deal, our guess is that Marquette head coach Tom Crean would be first in line to take over the Spartans.   If you will recall, Crean, who is one of the hot young head coaches in the game, was previously an assistant coach at Michigan State under Izzo.  However, our guess is that Izzo will stay put and continue to build the next dynasty in college basketball at Michigan State.  Remember, Izzo has been to the NCAA Final Four three straight years and more help is on the way in a recruiting class that includes 6'4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northeastern) MI and 6'6 Alan Anderson from Minneapolis (DeLaSalle) MN, both of whom signed last fall and are expected to start next year as freshman, and 6'10 Soph Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI, who committed to the Spartans when he was a sophomore a year ago.  We're also hearing that Michigan State is making a late push for 6'5 Ebi Ere from Barton County (JC) KS and we also expect the Spartans to get 6'2 Jr Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI.  Remember, he is Torbert's best friend!  However, the new coaching staff at Michigan will make it interesting.  It also looks like Richmond head coach John Beilein is the leading candidate for the Wake Forest job and Toledo assistant coach Tony Jones is moving to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he will become the #1 assistant coach for new head coach Bruce Pearl.  Also leaving Toledo is 6'8 Albert Wilson, who is expected to transfer to the lower Division I or Division II ranks, and transferring from Ohio State is 6'8 Slobodan Ocokolijc.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson doesn't know where Ocokolijc is going, but he does know who the likely replacement will be.  We're talking about 6'6 Clark Williams from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, who had a lousy summer nine months ago.  However, Williams was the main reason why Berkmar was nationally ranked and won their classification in Georgia's state tournament last month.  As a result, Williams, who also has Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Providence, St. Bonaventure, and Wisconsin on his list, will move back into our top 50 nationally.  And if he picks the Buckeyes, which is something we're anticipating after his excellent visit to Columbus, OH last weekend, Ohio State's recruiting class, which also includes 6'1 Brandon Fuss-Cheatham from Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) OH, 6'7 Matt Sylvester from Cincinnati (Moeller) OH, and 6'9 Terence Dials from Youngstown (Boardman) OH, will move into the top 10 nationally. 

Yesterday we reported that 6'6 Ali Bierdiel from Gary (Andrean) IN had signed with Valparaiso.  Well, according to Reggie Tisdale, who is the Editor and Publisher of Indiana Basketball News, we've jumped the gun.  "It probably will happen," says Tisdale,   "But it hasn't happened yet.  He hasn't signed anything nor has he verbally committed."  We also need to retract at least part of our statement about Marcus Barnes transferring from Miami-FL to Northeastern.  We have heard that Barnes is thinking about leaving Miami-FL and this was confirmed once again by our New York City editor Ron Naclerio, who has been in been in the Ft. Lauderdale area the last two weeks.   It also is a fact that Barnes played for former Miami (Senior) FL head coach Frank Martin, who is now an assistant coach at Northeastern, but when we put two and two together, it apparently didn't equal four.  In other words, we have no knowledge beyond our own speculation that Barnes will end up at Northeastern.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that the new head coach at Northeastern Ronnie Everhart was an assistant to Miami-FL Perry Clark when he was at Tulane.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'6 Danny Hinds from Allentown (Central Catholic) PA, who is ranked #17 by Rubin in the area, is on the verge of making it official for Drexel.   We also have confirmed that 7'0 Alex Gambino from Brookville (Long Island Lutheran) NY has signed with Seton Hall.  Sure, Gambino is a project, but the Pirates have several scholarships available and, like they say, you can't teach 7-feet.  Mississippi has gotten a steal in 6'3 Mario Jointer from Jackson (Jim Hill) MS, Delaware has signed 6'5 Vohn Hunter from Champlain (JC) VT, who was the leading scorer in the junior college ranks this past season, and UT-Martin has landed 6'4 Jeremy Kelly from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY.   Our Kentucky editor Larry Kihnley also tells us that 6'9 Jr Tasmir Ba from Louisville (Moore) KY will be making a visit to the University of Colorado this weekend, 6'8 Nate Austin from Georgetown (Scott County) KY plans to enroll next year at St. Catharine (JC) KY, and 7'0 Tim Summa from Salyersville (Magoffin County) KY, who is ranked #37 in the state on Kihnley's latest list, which we expect to publish by the weekend, is getting looks from Morehead State and Troy State.

Among the players that new Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was watching yesterday in an open gym at Male High School were 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'4 Coric Riggs from Fairdale (H.S.) KY, 6'0 David Bryant from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'1 Josh Thieneman from Louisville (St. Xavier) KY, and 6'3 Justin Burger from Louisville (St. Xavier) KY.   Bender is expected to decide among Louisville, Alabama, West Virginia, and UNC-Charlotte on Friday.  Our guess is that it will be Louisville, but with this guy anything is possible.  We're also guessing that Bush will opt for Louisville, but the Cardinals may have to wait a while, because he's only a sophomore in high school.   However, we likely be the best player in the state in both football and basketball the next two years.  As for the rest of the players mentioned above, Pitino would love to have several of them walk-on.  And that may be the perfect situation for Thieneman and Burger, both of whom can shoot the lights out, and Bryant, who was an excellent role player on a team that was ranked among the top five nationally most of this past season.  But we'd be very surprised if Riggs or O'Bannon walk-on at Louisville.  Riggs, who is a world-class athlete, would be a steal for Eastern Kentucky or Murray State, both of whom have scholarship offers on the table.  So would O'Bannon for Dayton, UAB, or Alabama, which is making a late push and obviously trying to package Bender and O'Bannon. 

Our guess is 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, who visited UAB last weekend, will opt for the Blazers.  And if he does, that would give head coach Murry Bartow the recruiting class that he needs to move into the upper echelon of the league.  If you will recall, UAB just missed out on getting 6'9 Duane Erwin from Huntsville (Lee) AL, who, instead, picked their arch rival Memphis, last fall.  But today we have confirmed that the Blazers have landed 5'10 Eric Bush from Barton County (JC) KS and 6'5 Antonae Roberson from San Jose City (JC) CA.  Bush was ranked as the #1 point guard in the junior college ranks by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook and ended up being one of the consensus top two junior college point guards, along with 6'1 Marcus Banks from Dixie (JC) UT.   Roberson, who is cross between Charles Barkley with his incredible body and athleticism and Omar Sneed with his excellent post moves and ability to score inside, was one of the top five junior college players in California this year.  Bush picked UAB over Miami-FL, Mississippi State, Fresno State, and Connecticut.  The other finalists for Roberson were Texas Tech, San Jose State, and Saint Louis.  UAB also has shown interest in 6'4 Ben Bowling, who is back at Hazard (Perry County Central) KY, after transferring to Mouth of Wilson and then Ft. Lauderdale (Westminster) FL last fall.  But the smart money now is on Tulane, because Green Wave head coach Shawn Finney has recruited him dating back to when Bowling was a junior in high school.  As a matter of fact, Bowling will visit Tulane this weekend and our guess is that he will commit on the visit.   We also are still waiting to see what happens with 6'2 Patrick Sparks from Greenville (Muhlenberg North) KY, who is ranked #3 in the state by our Kentucky editor Larry Kihnley.  Tulane also is in the hunt for Sparks, but Western Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, and Marshall could prove to be tough to beat. 

For close to 30 years the legendary Pete Carril dominated the Ivy League at Princeton.  Then, Bill Carmody picked up where Carril left off, as he accumulated an impressive 92-25 four-year record before leaving a year ago for Northwestern.  And now it appears that John Thompson, III, who guided the Tigers to a 15-10 record in his first season, is on the verge of establishing himself as one of the top young head coaches at the lower Division I level at his alma mater.  If you will recall, last fall Princeton landed 6'5 Tom McLaughlin from Andover (H.S.) MA and 6'8 Judson Wallace from Atlanta (Westminister) GA.  That alone was pretty impressive, because McLaughlin is ranked among the consensus top 200 nationally and Wallace has that size that is always coveted at this level.  So, if you add 6'10 Mike Stephens from Napa (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Dominic Martin from Asheville (A.C. Reynolds) NC, and 6'3 Will Venable from San Rafael (H.S.) CA, all of whom are ranked among the 100-300 nationally and committed to Princeton this spring, then Princeton's recruiting class is extremely impressive.  Not only are we talking about by-far-and-away the best recruiting class in the league, but also a recruiting class that will be ranked in the 40-50 rank nationally. 

Another guy who is getting it done in impressive way is Mike Deane at Lamar.  If you will recall, Deane guided the Cardinals to a surprising NCAA appearance in his first season, but, even more important, he's laid a strong foundation to build the program.  A year ago at this time Lamar landed a recruiting class that included 6'11 Brain Rowan from St. Paul (St. Thomas Academy) MN, 6'6 Ben Jacobsen from Omaha (Central) NE, 6'9 Jo Adande from Cisco (JC) TX, 6'7 Mike Ridgeway from Houston (Stratford) TX, 6'2 Tyler Hackstadt from Okawville (H.S.) IL, and 6'4 Jared Lane from South Iron (H.S.) MO.  Well, Jacobsen redshirted and it took some time for all the young players in the gain experience, as Lamar suffered through a 9-18 season.  However, all of those freshmen will become sophomores next year and even more help is on the way.  We're talking about 6'6 Krunti Hester, a talented transfer from Marquette who sat out last season, and three excellent recruits in 6'2 Hayes Groomes from Detroit (Brother Rice) MI, and 6'0 Issac Hines from Dallas (Moline) TX, and Damany Hendricks from Santa Rosa (JC) CA.  Groomes was ranked #54 in the state of Michigan last fall, but the word is that he had a good senior season and, as a result, has been ranked as high as #13 in the state recently by one publication.  Hines averaged 23.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.3 spg, and 4.4 apg, but those who have seen him play tell us nobody steals the ball as well as Hines, except Jason Kidd.  But Hendricks, who was the player-of-the-year in his conference, as well as one of the top junior college players in California this year, is their best recruit.  So Lamar should step up and challenge Louisiana-Monroe and UT-San Antonio for the Southland Conference Championship next year.  However, the year after next Louisiana-Monroe's and UT-San Antonio's will have lost most of their top players.  But almost everybody will be back for Lamar.   In other words, the Cardinals should be benefit greatly from having been together for several years and Deane's excellent coaching.  As a result, they should be the heavy favorite to win the league, as well as be a potential Cinderalla team in the NCAA Tournament. 

Last week the National Junior College All-American Teams were announced and it comes as no surprise that the thing college recruiters need the most (size and quality point guards) are the things that are in the least abundant.  As a matter of fact, the only player on the first team that is over 6'7 is 6'8 Frosh Juan Edwards from Indian Hills (JC) IA.  And as luck would have it, he's also the only freshman on the team.  The only pure point guard on the first team is UNLV-bound 6'1 Marcus Banks from Dixie (JC) UT.  Instead, the first team is loaded with wing players, like 6'2 Marcus Hatten from Tallahassee (JC) FL, LSU-bound 6'7 Kedrick Brown from Okaloosa-Walton (JC) FL, George Mason-bound 6'2 Darren Tarver from Wabash Valley (JC) IL, Valparaiso-bound 6'5 Antonio Falu from San Jacinto (JC) TX, 6'4 Terrell Ross from Allegany (JC) MD, Wyoming-bound 6'2 Donta Richardson from Sheridan (JC) WY, Okahoma-bound 6'5 Jason Detrick from SMS/West Plains (JC) MO.  So that leaves Texas Christian-bound 6'7 Jamal Brown from Seward County (JC) KS as the only inside player  in the sophomore class on the entire first team.  And it's no different on the second team, as the only player over 6'5 is 6'7 Casey Reid from Scottsdale (JC) AZ and the only two point guards are 6'1 Chris Sandy from Westark (JC) AR and 5'10 Frosh Antonio Rambo from SW Illinois.  Rambo was also one of the two freshmen named to the second team.  The other was 6'4 Frosh Derrick Tarver from Howard (JC) TX, whose twin brother was mentioned above.  Also named to the second team were Valparaiso-bound 6'3 Stalin Ortiz from Three Rivers (JC) MO, Delaware-bound 6'5 Vohn Hunter from Champlain (JC) VT, 6'5 Ebi Ere from Barton County (JC) KS, Purdue-bound 6'5 Darmetreis Kilgore from Tyler (JC) TX, Kansas State-bound Gilson DeJesus from Trinidad (JC) CO, and 6'4 Robert Lolar from Highland (JC) IL.  It gets a little better in terms of size on the third team, because St. Louis-bound 6'10 Kenny Brown from Iowa Western (JC) IA, 6'10 Michal Ignerski from Eastern Oklahoma (JC) OK, and 6'9 Rodney Bias from Shelton State (JC) AL all are 6'9 or bigger.  The rest of the team includes 5'10 Barry Whitley from Copiah-Lincoln (JC) MS, Middle Tennessee State-bound 6'2 John Humphrey from Louisburg (JC) NC,  6'4 Marc Lewis from North Dakota College of Science (JC) ND, 6'4 Jason Campbell from Coastal Georgia (JC) GA, 6'4 Blandon Ferguson from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, 6'6 Steven Bonner from North Idaho (JC) ID, and 6'3 Frosh Jason Rogan from Northwest Mississippi (JC) MS.  Rogan was the only freshman named to the third team.  Four freshmen - 5'10 Frosh Ben Fordham from Gogebic (JC) MI, 6'7 Frosh Terrence Thomas from Lon Morris (JC) TX, 6'8 Frosh Qyntel Woods from Moberly (JC) MO, and 6'9 Frosh Gabe Kennedy from Bevill State (JC) AL - also were named to the Honorable Mention Junior College All-American Team.  Also receiving Honorable Mention honors were Murray State-bound 6'1 Rashard Harris from Atlanta Metro (JC) GA, Nebraska-bound Brennon Clemmons from Olney Central (JC) IL, Oklahoma State-bound 6'3 Cheyne Gibson from Westchester (JC) NY, South Florida-bound 6'5 Greg Brittian from Central Florida (JC) FL, Chattanooga-bound 6'6 Tim Harris from Vincennes (JC) IN, Texas Tech-bound 6'7 Kasib Powell from Butler County (JC) TX, Southern Utah-bound 6'3 Jay Collins from Cochise (JC) AZ, DePaul-bound 6'8 Sam Hoskin from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, 5'10 Alan Blount from Connors State (JC) OK, 5'10 Marlon Walls from SW Tennessee (JC) TN, 5'11 Rob Hall from Garrett (JC) MD, 6'3 Terry Conerway from Hill (JC) TX, 6'5 Damon Bailey from Temple (JC) TX, 6'7 Prentiss Gates from Chattanooga State (JC) TN, and 6'9 Bakary Konate from Cincinnati State (JC) OH.

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

We told you almost a year ago that Valparaiso had stashed 6'5 Ali Berdiel at Gary (Andrean) IN, who was ranked among the top three players in the state of Indiana by the HOOP SCOOP prior the 2000-01 season.  So it comes as no surprise that this athletic wing player from Puerto Rico has signed with the Crusaders.  Berdiel played briefly at Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD early in the 1999-2000 season, but was sidelined most of the season due to injuries.  He then transferred to Gary (Andrean) IN, but did not play this last season, because the Indiana High School Athletic Association had ruled him ineligible.   However, Berdiel, who picked Valparaiso over Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Illinois, did get to play last summer for Puerto Rico's 21-Under National Team last July and he was their best player.  "He's like a poor man's Pepe Sanchez," says our International Editor Chris Johnson.  "He's a not a great athlete, but he has a great feel for the game, excellent ball handling and passing skills for somebody his size, and a good rotation on his 3-point shot." Valparaiso's recruiting class, which featured 6'4 Antonio Falu from San Jacinto (JC) TX and 6'3 Stalin Ortiz from Twin Rivers (JC) IA, last fall was ranked #44 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP. But with the addition of Berdiel, their class will move into the top 30, which is extremely impressive when you're talking about a school at the mid-major level with only three players in their recruiting class.  Obviously a big key to Valparaiso's success in recent years has been their ability to take advantage of their international contacts.   If you will recall, Bryce Drew was the go-to-guy on that team that pulled off several shocking upsets in the NCAA Tournament in 1998.  However, just as important were the two book ends inside in 7'0 Antanas Vilcinskas from Lithuania and 6'11 Zoran Viskovic from Croatia.  And next year Valparaiso's team promises to be the ultimate melting pot.  Among those returning are Lubos Barton from Czech Republic, Raitis Grafs from Latvia , Antti Nikkila from Finland, Joaquim Gomes from Angola, and Marko Punda from Croatia.  Plus, Berdiel and Falu are both originally from Puerto Rico and Ortiz is from Columbia.  That's eight players from seven different foreign countries!  However, the key to the future for Valparaiso is a home-grown player who is still several years away from signing a National Letter-of-Intent.  We're talking about 6'9 Soph Kenneth Harris from Hammond (Bishop Noll) IN, who committed to the Crusaders during his freshman year of high school over a year ago.  Sure, Harris is a legitimate top 30 sophomore nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but those in the know seem to think he'll honor his commitment.   Apparently he's not the type of kid who will get caught up in all the notoriety and hype, plus he wants his family to be able to see him play.

We reported over the weekend that the two finalists for the Siena job were New York Knicks assistant coach Steve Clifford and St. Joseph's assistant coach Matt Brady.  Well, apparently our source didn't know what he was talking about, because it looks like University of Texas assistant coach Rob Lanier will be announced as the new head coach at Siena tomorrow.  Lanier doesn't have any ties to Siena, but one of the three people involved with making hire is an old friend of Lanier's dating back to his days at St. Bonaventure.  And our guess is that Lanier, who is second to none at identifying his man and then landing his man, will recruit like crazy at Siena.  Remember, this is the guy who got James Thomas to say no to all the schools in the Big East and leave up-state New York to go to Texas.  Then, he turned his focus on 5'10 Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, who signed with the Longhorns last fall, and it was really never more than a one-horse race.  However, it probably is too late for Lanier to make a strong push for 6'10 Jr Matt Gorman from Watertown (H.S.) NY, who already appears to be a near lock for Syracuse.  And what a steal that would be!  "Gorman reminds you a lot of Tim Duncan," says Jim Hart, who is the director of the Alany City Rocks Club team program.  "He's not as athletic as Duncan, but he's got the long arms, a nice touch, and lots of post moves."  Unfortunately, Gorman lives about a 100 miles from anywhere in far upstate New York.  So, despite the fact he attened the adidas ABCD Camp last summer, most  people don't know how good he is yet.  But Hart assures us, they will!  Speaking of Hart, he was telling me today about his tournament, the Rumble in the Bronx, which is scheduled for June 15th-17th at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY.  It will be absolutely loaded this year and, as a result, we're already making plans to attend.

Monday, April 16, 2001

Adam Gorney, a journalism student at Penn State and a contributor to the HOOP SCOOP, has the latest scoop on Jon Crispin,  who announced today that he is transferring from Penn State.  There is no word yet on where he's going, but this is devastating news for the Nittany Lions, because Crispin's older brother - Joe Crispin has graduated, along with two other starters from this season's NCAA Sweet 16 team.  We also have confirmed that Alabama assistant coach Johnny Jones has been named the new head coach at North Texas and former NBA star and coach Paul Westphal will be named the head coach at Pepperdine tomorrow.  It also appears that 6'5 Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater) CA has passed the SAT on his most recent attempt and, as a result, will be eligible to play as a freshman next year at UCLA.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that UNC-Greensboro has signed 6'5 Josh Gross from Columbia (Long Reach) MD and William & Mary has landed 6'10 Nate Loehrke from Mattawan (H.S.) MI.  Rubin also has an early list for both 6'4 Jr Rashid Al-Kaleem from Charlestown (H.S.) MA and 6'0 Antonio Chatman from Charlestown (H.S.) MA.  Al-Kaleem, who is expected to explode onto the national scene this summer when everybody sees him at the summer camps, is already attracting serious interest from Boston College, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio State, Richmond, St. Joseph's, and Temple.  Chatman is getting attention from St. Joseph's, Massachusetts, Northeastern, Boston University, Providence, and Boston College.  

One of the things that has too stop or it is going to totally destroy the game at every level is the mass exodus of college and high school players going prematurely every year to the NBA.  Michigan State has already lost its two best players - Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph - and Arizona stands to lose its entire starting line-up, if Michael Wright, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas, and Jason Gardner keep their names in the draft.  Fortunately Duke's Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer both plan to return next year and, as a result, the Blue Devils will have a chance to not only become the first team to repeat since 1991 and 1992, which when Mike Krzyzewski won his two NCAA Championships, but also achieve greatness.  Speaking of the top teams in college basketball next year, can you believe that a number of people have already come out with their ranking the top teams?  I usually like to wait and see who is going and who is staying in terms of the NBA draft, plus I like to see if there are any last minutes recruiting surprises.  However, if Stanford's Casey Jacobsen doesn't go hardship, The Cardinal should be a lock as our #2-ranked team behind Duke.  And we also like Kentucky, if Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans both return, and Florida, if Gators head coach Billy Donovan plays 6'8 David Lee St. Louis (Chaminade) MO at power forward.  Remember, last week we had quotes about 6'7 James White from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA possibily transferring before he ever arrives, because Lee has been promised that he'll get to play wing forward in Donovan's system.  However, in our opinion that's totally ridiculous!  Lee is the quintessential power forward in college basketball and he doesn't have the perimeter skills and outside shooting range to play that far away from the basket.  However, this is not the point we want to make.  Instead, we want to deal with the trickle down effect that players going early into the NBA is having on the recruiting process.  Everything has been speeded up in recent years, as the name of the game now appears to be recruit over your best players before they ever leave.   Duke appears to be the best at this, as is evident by the fact they may be on the verge of landing the best point guard in the senior class nationally three out of four years.  If you will recall, Jason Williams was the best point guard in the nation two years ago, 6'1 Chris Duhon was the #1 ranked point guard at year ago, and currently they are the heavy favorite for 6'1 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, who was rumored to have committed to the Blue Devils last week, although it didn't happen (at least not yet).  They key is to get potential recruits on campus early when they are sophomores and juniors and then get them commitment prior to when recruiting really gets intense during summer camp time and the fall recruiting season.  This was especially evident a year ago when 25% of the players who were ranked among our top 100 nationally had already verbally committed before the beginning of the summer evaluation period, which begins on July 8th.  It also is evident right now, because 10 players - 6'9 Jr Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL to Memphis, 6'1 Jr Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC to North Carolina, 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA to Duke, 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA to Syracuse, 6'6 Jr Lester Abram from Pontiac (Northern) MI to Michigan, 6'3 Jr Jeff Horner from Mason City (H.S.) IA to Iowa,   6'10 Jr Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) M to Michigan State, 6'9 Jr Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL to Duke, 6'2 Jr Mario Moore from Nashville (Antioch) TN to Vanderbilt, and 6'9 Jr Roy Enright from Omaha (Burke) NE to Nebraska - are already off the board.  Especially interesting is the fact that eight of the 10 players mentioned above have picked a school either in their back yard or within a neighboring state.  Also going to play for big name coaches and/or high profile programs appears to be a prerequisite for anybody committing this early. 

Saturday, April 14, 2001, and Sunday, April 15, 2001

Well, it looks like University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino is back to square one on hiring his other full-time assistant coach at the University of Louisville.  That's right!  Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard has turned down the job.  Willard said as much when he was quoted in an article in yesterday's Louisville-Courier-Journal by Eric Crawford:  "'We were very serious about it when we talked, very serious,' he said.  'I worked with Rick for the Knicks and also at Kentucky, and I spent four good years at Western Kentucky.  We've been best friends for the longest of times and always had a great time together.  It was something I really considered very seriously.  When your best friend asks to help do something special like he's going to do at Louisville, you listen.'  But in the end Willard said he didn't want to leave his team or assistants at Holy Cross, his alma mater."   This is not the first time Willard has said no to Pitino.  If you will recall, Willard was offered a job, including General Manager, several times when Pitino was running things for Boston Celtics.  The article also mentions that Willard's son, Kevin Willard, may be name soon as the third assistant at Louisville.  Currently, Kevin is the film coordinator for the Boston Celtics and, as a result, he won't move into his new position until after the Celtics season is about a week from now.  Actually, this has been done for a long time, as is evident by the fact that we first reported this three weeks ago.  Also at that time we reported that Pitino was retaining Vince Taylor and Scott Davenport.  Speaking of Davenport, we also hear that he may be in line for the head coaching job at Bellarmine College, which is expected to open a year from now.  And when that happens, look for Tulane's Steve Masiello to move into the administrative assistant position at the University of Louisville.  Remember, Masiello, who was a ball boy for the New York Knicks when Pitino was their head coach in the late 80's and a walk-on player for the Pitino and Tubby Smith at Kentucky.  We also hear that another current Tulane assistant coach - Alvin Williams - may be returning to Tulsa to join the coaching staff being formed by new Golden Hurricane head coach John Phillips. 

The two finalists for the Siena job are New York Knicks assistant coach Steve Clifford and St. Joseph's assistant coach Matt Brady and the three finaliss for Wake Forest appear to be be UNC-Wilmington head coach Jerry Wainwright, Richmond head coach John Beilein, and UNC-Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz.  Wainright may have the inside track, because he previously was at Wake Forest as an assistant coach.   However, our choice would be Lutz, because we think whoever gets the Wake Forest job will have to be able to recruit like crazy and Lutz recruits harder and better than most assistants.  And if Lutz, who also is an excellent bench coach, does get the Wake Forest job, we hear that the leading candidate to take over at Charlotte is Missouri assistant coach Lane Odom.  Apparently the athletic director at Charlotte and Odom are extremely close dating back to when Odom was previously on the coaching staff of the 49ers.  Also, ironically, Odom is the son of former Demon Deacons head coach Dave Odom, who would be the guy that Lutz would be replacing, if he gets the job at Wake Forest.  Also strongly in the hunt for Wake Forest was  head coach Bob Bender, but he dropped out when his Huskies athletic director Barbara Hedges threatened to withdraw her support.  If you will recall, she has taken a lot of heat for not getting rid of Bender after two consecutive 10-wins seasons.  But the cupboard isn't exactly empty now Washington.  Remember, the Huskies are the verge of landing one of the top recruiting classes in the nation this spring.  If you will recall, Washington's recruiting class, which included 6'8 Mike Jensen from Kent (Kentwood) WA, 6'5 Erroll Knight from Seattle (Chief Sealth) WA, 6'10 Jeffrey Day from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'6 Josh Parnard from Tacoma (JC) WA, 6'7Josh Williams from Yakima (H.S.) WA, and 6'8 Anthony Washington from Seattle (Garfield) WA, was ranked #22 last fall and since the conclusion of the fall signing period, they also have added 6'0 Charles Frederick from Boca Raton (Pope John Paul II) FL.  Frederick is ranked #26 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he's an even better football player.  So the National Letter-of-Intent he signed was for football. However, Bender does have to show major improvement next season and, if he doesn't Saint Louis head coach Lorenzo Romar astill ppears to be the heavy favorite for the Washington job.   And if Romar gets the Washington job, Missouri assistant coach  Tony Harvey, who is widely regarded as the one of the best recruiters in the nation - thanks primarily to his strong connections into the state of Michigan, obviously will be one of the first guys mentioned to take over at Saint Louis. 

Friday, April 13, 2001

Several days ago we mentioned that we thought Stanford assistant coach Blaine Taylor was the leading candidate to get Old Dominion and former University of Memphis head coach Tic Price was first in line to get McNeese State.  Well, both were hired yesterday, which means that out of the 43 Division I jobs that have been open so far this year Florida A&M, Kent State, Morgan State, North Texas, Pepperdine, Robert Morris, St. Mary's, Siena, Towson, and Wake Forest are the only jobs still unfilled.  However, North Texas almost got filled yesterday by Alabama assistant coach Johnny Jones.  But it didn't happen.  Instead, the press conference to announce Jones as the new coach was cancelled and, as a result, it looks like the other two finalists - Oklahoma assistant coach Ray Lopes and and Arizona assistant coach Jay John - are both still in the hunt.  Also filled yesterday was the Texas Southern job.  Can you believe they hired Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX head coach Ronnie Courtney?  In our mind, the guy who finished second - Arizona graduate assistant coach Josh Pastner - was a no-brainer.  Not only is Pastner widely regarded as one of the bright young coaches in the business, but his father's AAU program (the Houston Hoops) is absolutely loaded with great young talent.  We also were glad to see Wayne McLain, who is the legendary high school coach at Peoria (Manual) IL, as well as the father of Illinois' Sergio McLain, get hired as the #3 assistant coach for the Fighting Illini.  Several days ago we told you that Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard was in line to become Rick Pitino's right hand man at Louisville.  At the time we thought the chances of it happening were about 75%.  Well, now it looks like it's almost 100%. Write it down, Ralph Willard, who is one of the best coaches in the game, to the University of Louisville as the #1 assistant.  It also comes as no surprise that Akron assistant coach Pat Knight will be rejoining his father, Bob Knight, at Texas Tech.  Also named to the staff of the Red Raiders several days ago were former Siena head coach and Northwestern assistant coach Bob Beyer and Les Fertig.  Speaking of Texas Tech, it appears they have added a fourth commitment this spring in 6'7 Kasib Powell from Butler County (JC) KS and they may sign a fifth player, because it appears the two players - 6'9 Jamal Holden from Westark (JC) AR and 66' Bill Pharis from Westark (JC) AR - who were signed by the previous regime last fall will be going elsswhere.

The rumor about 6'1 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL making a verbal commitment to Duke appears to be premature.   However, we do believe the Blue Devils are the heavy favorite and in the end will be very tough to beat for his incredible point guard who will likely be the #1 point guard in the Class of 2002.  Cincinnati and Illinois are both also very much in the hunt, but, if Dockery does eventually pick the defending NCAA Champions, it would mean the Blue Devils will have signed the #1 ranked point guard three out of the last four years.   Remember, Jason Williams was the #1 ranked senior two years ago and Chris Duhon was the #1 ranked point guard last year.  We have confirmed that 6'1 Todd Billet has decided to transfer from Rutgers to Virginia, although it hasn't been officially announced yet, and 6'7 Andre Patterson from Los Angeles (Washington) CA has made it official for UCLA by signing the National Letter-of-Intent with the Bruins earlier this week.  Speaking of UCLA's recruiting class, unless something unforeseen happens, their recruiting class will move up from #4 to #2, because two of the schools ranked ahead of UCLA last fall had a player who no longer counts toward their recruiting class.  If you will recall, 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL committed to DePaul last fall, but announced last weekend that he will enter his name into the NBA draft.  Also, 6'8 Travon Bryant from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME signed with Missouri last fall, but, then, got the necessary score on the SAT and, as a result, played for the Tigers this past season.   We also understand that 6'7 Tyrus Boswell is transferring from Mississippi State to Kentucky Wesleyan, which recently won the Division II National Championship again.  If Boswell had transferred to another Division I school, he would have had to sit out a year, but by going the Division I! route, he will be eligible immediately next year. 

It comes as no surprise that 6'7 Vytas Danelius from Indianapolis (Park Tudor) IN, who is ranked #72 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, is re-thinking the verbal commitment he made during the winter to Wake Forest.   Sure, he may still sign with the Demon Deacans, but a lot may depend upon who is named to replace Dave Odom as the head coach.  We also have confirmed that UAB has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'8 Cedric Davis from Sinclair (JC) OH, 6'0 Devin Montgomery from Moore Park (JC) CA is going to Pepperdine, and Murray State has landed 6'1 Rashard Harris from Atlanta Metro (JC) GA.  Harris averaged 19.6 ppg, 4.3 apg, and 3.7 rpg, but even more important, he is expected to provide the experience that the Racers need in the backcourt.  Liberty has landed 6'6 Torin Beeler from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA and 6'10 Jason Sarchet from Indian Hills (JC) IA.  The signing of Beeler is especially significant, because he is ranked #38 in California's loaded senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also understand Beeler was ranked as one of the top 20 players last summer at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ by the HOOP SCOOP.  In other words, Beeler is an absolute steal for a school at this level.  We've also confirmed that 6'3 Brandon Hawkins is transferring from Iowa State to San Jose State, but he won't count with their recruiting class.  However, we still look for San Jose State's recruiting class to make a major jump in our rankings this spring, because the word on the street is they are on the verge of getting one of the top junior college players in the nation.   We also have confirmed that 6'10 Brian Helquist from Florida (JC) FL and 6'8 Robert Johnson from Santa Rosa (JC) CA both have signed the University of Oregon and that 7'0 Moustapha Diagne from Trinity Valley (JC) TX, who is a prime target for the Bearcats, is visiting Cincinnati this weekend.  

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has been searching for commitments and he's found some that haven't been widely reported yet,   like, 6'4 Damien Stelly from Northeastern (JC) CO, who picked Dayton over Creighton, and 6'3 Cheyne Gadson from Westchester (JC) NY, who has signed with Oklahoma State.  Also Bowling Green has landed 6'3 Eric Crawford from Minneapolis (Tartan) MN and 5'10 Kris Wilson from Huntington (Spring Valley) WV.  If you will recall, Wilson made an early commitment to Marshall a year ago, but has since reneged.  So obviously it will be interesting to see what type of reception he gets from the crowd next season when Bowling Green plays at Marshall  Remember, both teams play in the Mid-American Conference.  Johnson also tells us that UTEP has signed 6'8 Justin Victoriano from Western Nebraska (JC) NE, who came to the United States two years ago from Angola, along with Valparaiso's Joaqum Gomes.  This is important, because Gomes and Victoriano were the two stars of the Angolan Junior National Team.  In other words, Victoriano is a major catch for the Miners.  We also have confirmed that 7'1 Alex Graham from Redlands (H.S.) CA, who is ranked #47 in the senior class in California by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed with Long Beach State.  We've always regarded Graham as a project, but, like they say, you can't teach size and this guy is the tallest player ever signed by the 49ers. 

Georgia Tech has reneged on 6'10 Mike Southall from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who signed with the Yellow Jackets last fall, but got arrested again last week in Wisconsin.  So it comes as no surprise that Georgia Tech is making a push with 6'9 Emeka Okafor from Houston (Bellaire) TX, whose top two schools are Arkansas and Connecticut, and 7'0 DeSagana Diop from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who is expected to be in Atlanta, GA on an official visit this weekend.  However, we believe Diop will follow in the footsteps of 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA and 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, who already announced that they will by-pass college and enter their names into the NBA draft.  Speaking of making the jump to the NBA, we are also getting reports that 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL is on the verge of  making that announcement and it may happen almost immediately.  We also are waiting to see what happens with 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA and 6'7 James White from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, both of whom signed with the Univerisity of Florida last fall. "Florida recruit Kwame Brown appears to be leaning toward entering the NBA draft and said Wednesday that he believes fellow McDonald's All-American James White will not attend the University of Florida if he doesn't," said Joe Schad in article yesterday in the Orlando Sentinel. "Brown said White 'might be having second opinions' because of talk that the 6'7 swing forward might be moved to the power forward slot for the Gators so fellow recruit David Lee could play small forward.  'It didn't go over too well,' said Brown.  'I'm not saying he'd go pro, I just don't think he'd to the University of Florida.'"  I don't know what's more ridiculous - White not going to Florida, because he's worried about whether he's going to have to compete with Lee for playing time or Lee playing primarily the 3-spot in college.  What makes Lee a top 10 high school senior are his killer instinct inside, quickness around the basket, and ability to score from 12-feet and in.   Sure, he will need to get bigger and stronger to do the same thing in the NBA, but right now he's the quintessential college basketball power forward and the big reason why we think Florida head coach Billy Donovan will make another serious run at the NCAA Final Four next March.  But we'll change our mind in a great big hurry about Florida's NCAA Final Four chances next year, if you convince us that Lee's primary position will be wing forward.  We do think Lee has the potential over time to develop into a good 3-pointer shooter and better perimeter player, but not right now.   In other words, Lee ought to be the one thinking about transferring, if he thinks he going to play the 3-spot at Florida next year.  Not only is he not good enough to beat out White at this position, but it would this be a serious setback in terms of Lee's immediate impact in college, as well as diminish the Gators chances of going deep in the NCAA Tournament next year. 

Thursday, April 12, 2001

There are a lot of reasons why the majority of players who declare hardship early for the NBA draft in college or decide to by-pass college altogether and go directly into the NBA right out of high school are making a major mistake.  Sure, the incredible amount of money that is available to the top players and the professional agents and the sleezy hangers-on, who are successfully getting their hooks into kids at an early age, is a huge part of the problem.   However, there is plenty of blame to go around.  There is the NCAA, which appears to be more concerned about perpetuating their own power and maintaining their own image than actually solving the tough problems that plaque college athletics today.   And, of course, there are the shoe companies, AAU coaches, and the media.   Obviously NIKE and adidas are in competition to find the next Michael Jordan.  I have a lot of respect for most AAU coaches, because they're involved with the game for the right reasons.  However, when they have a great player who has a chance to go straight to the league and make a lot of money, it is often hard to offer good advice, especially when they are about to get a piece of the pie.  We too are part of the problem, because we identify players way too early and often rank them based too much on size, athleticism, and potential, instead of letting them first earn it.   However, the biggest part of the problem is that a majority of the players don't have a clue what to do with the incredible amount of money, notoriety, and instantaneous success that comes with playing at the highest level.  On the court, all too often, they don't have that burning desire necessary to achieve greatness.  Instead, they got onto the fast track at an early age, because they were the biggest, strongest, and/or the most athletic.  And as a result, they have had everything handed to them every step of the way.  So they have no idea how to deal with the adversity and/or the disappointment that comes when the going gets really tough.  Unforunately they were reading their press clippings and counting their money when most of the rest of us were getting the basic foundation in college that we needed to be successful in life.   That was the first time we were really out on our own.  Sure, we furthered our education.  But just as important, we developed the discipline and skills, made some mistakes, and grew into the people we are today.  Unfortunately many of the players in the NBA today missed these important formative years and, as a result, will suffer the consequences the rest of their lives.  Sure, they got the big contract and lived the good life for a while, but more often than not, they will be broke when their professional career is over.  It all goes back to the basic foundation that someplace along the way many professional athletes have missed.  Not only is this a sad commentary on the game, but it's too bad for our society, because, whether we like it or not, these guys are role models.  All this is especially important, because a lot of the players who have already put their name into the NBA draft should think long and hard about whether they are making the right decision.  Earlier today we talked with Chris Monter, the Editor and Publisher of MonterDraftNews.com, who in our mind is the foremost expert on the NBA draft, and he's given us his thoughts on where each of the college underclassmen and high school players who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft will actually get picked in the draft on June 27th.   Let's start with the guys who we expect to get taken in the lottery.  The two high school players - 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA and 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL - are both believed to be locks for the top 10, based more on their size, athleticism, and potential than their dominance at the high school level.  Monter likes Seton Hall's Eddie Griffin in the top five and thinks Michigan State's Jason Richardson and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy could also be among the top 10.  However, he thinks Richardson should go back another year and work on his outside shooting and Murphy should return so he can re-write all the Notre Dame scoring records and make a strong run at National College Player-of-the-Year honors.  Michigan State's Zach Randolph also probably falls into this category, because he too could make a strong run at National College Player-of-the-Year with another year under his belt.   In the mid-first round range are Villanova's Mike Bradley and UNC-Charlotte's Rodney White.  DePaul's Steve Hunter will likely go in the late first round, mainly because he's very athletic for a 7-footer. This also is the right range for Arizona's Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright.  N.C. State's Damien Wilkins will also probably get drafted in the late first round based on his name.  However, that's too high in our opinion.  Temple's Kevin Lyde and Arizona's Jason Gardner will both go in the second round.  Pepperdine's Brandon Armstrong might also have a shot at the bottom of the second round and DePaul's Bobby Simmons, who is expect to announce today that he plans to enter the draft, probably won't get drafted.  Neither will 6'10 Tony Key from Compton (Centennial) CA.

Ro Russell, who is one of the foremost authorities on high school basketball in Canada, tells us that 6'1 Kyle Wilson from White Rock (Christian) BC is reneging on the verbal commitment he made several months ago to Villanova.  Instead, Wilson will follow fomer Villanova head coach Steve Lappas to Massachusetts.  Despite recent reports to the contrary by the Louisville-Courier-Journal, Russell also tells us that 6'9 Terry Licorish from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC did not make a verbal commitment to the University of Louisville last fall.  However, the Cardinals are among his final four, along with Cincinnati, Connecticut, and Miami-FL.  Right now everybody is waiting to see if Licorish qualifies academically (currently he has a 2.4 gpa and 720 on the SAT).  But if he doesn't make it, Licorish still may sign this spring and then go the junior college route.  Under that scenario Licorish would likely attend Vincennes (JC) IN, Daytona Beach (JC) FL, or State Fair (JC) MO and, then, sign again with the school he picks this spring two years from now.  Russell was one of the many knowledgeable people who was associated with Rivals.com, which went out of business earlier this week, and, as a result, is looking for new forum to provide you with information and rankings on the top Canadian players.  I am pleased to announce that will be right here.  And one of the first things he plans to cover is his North Exposure Camp in Toronto, ON at St. Mike's College on April 20th.  The camp starts at 4:00 PM and Russell tells us that all the top players from Canada are expected to be in attendence. 

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

Today is the first day that high school seniors can sign a National Letter-of-Intent during the spring signing period, but the big news of the day is that Rivals.com went out of business yesterday.  While this is good news for paid web sites, such as our own, it is not good news for you, because competition in a free market place makes everybody do their job that much better.   It also ensures that you will have a variety of ways to look at things, which is essential for you to sort out various facts and ideas and come to your own conclusions.   The demise of Rivals is also too bad, because we think they have made tremendous strides during the last year under the direction of Dave Telep, who is widely regarded as one of the bright young stars in the business.  However, at some point you have to become fiscally accountable and, while Rivals was taking over most of the recruiting web sites on the internet during the last several years, people like us had to dig in and make sure we survived.  As a result, we raised our prices dramatically several times and changed the target of our audience from fans to college coaches.  In other words, the dramatic downturn in the dot.com market hasn't had that much of an effect on us.  Actually it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, because, after 18 years of consistently struggling to balance the budget, we might now make some money in the business.  And if that happens, instead of downsizing, we should be in a position to expand.  Sure, more people are going to have to start paying for information, but it really wasn't free in the first place.  Remember, advertisers, who were hoping people would buy their products, were indirectly paying for all these web sites.  While that was the trend for a while, the pendulum has swung back the other way and now a lot people are going to have to make a choice.  They can either do without much of the information that they've become accustomed to getting for free or they're going to have to start paying some of the freight and, as a result, they will find out just how much they've been missing by not previously subscribing to paid sections, like the Members Section of the HOOP SCOOP Online.  Moral to the story, this is a very important time for us.  We have a chance to increase our market share dramatically!  And we need your help.  Word of mouth is a great vehicle for advertising.  So make it a point to tell your friends what you think of our web site and encourage them to subscribe.  Also, don't hesitate to encourage other web sites that you frequent to establish links to the HOOP SCOOP Online.  Your continued support is appreciated!

The only major commitment of the day was 6'11 David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN to Colorado.  Harrison, who is ranked #19 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, picked the Buffaloes over North Carolina and Vanderbilt.  This comes as no surprise, because Harrison has expressed a strong desire to play one year with his brother - 6'7 Jr D.J. Harrison.   Also, it looks like Colorado assistant coach Larry Gay hasn't lost his touch when it comes to identifying somebody he has a good chance to get and then getting it done.  We also are looking for 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY to sign with Louisville on Friday, April 20th, but he'd better be ready to develop an intensity and work ethic that he never knew existed, if he wants to survive playing for Rick Pitino.  If he does, Bender will likely live up to all the incredible hype and expectations.  However, if he doesn't, Pitino may run him off quicker than you can say Rodrick Rhodes.  If you will recall, Rhodes played three years for Pitino at Kentucky, but transferred before his senior season to Southern California.  Bender also still has West Virginia, UNC-Charlotte, Alabama, and Seton Hall on his list, but it would be a major surprise if he picked one of those schools.  We also are looking for 6'6 Kasib Powell from Barton County (JC) KS to commit to Texas Tech.  That would give new head coach Bob Knight five junior college players upon which to build his program around.   If you will recall, the previous regime signed 6'9 Jamal Holden from Westark (JC) AR and 6'6 Bill Pharis from Westark (JC) AR last fall and just recently landed 6'10 Ermal Kugo from Seminole (JC) OK and 6'8 Pawel Storozynski from Dodge City (JC) KS.  The only other commitment we've run across today is 6'0 Jr Dontae Patterson from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who is the first junior in Ohio to make an early commitment.  Patterson, who is an excellent 3-point shooter, picked Wright State.  We also hear that 6'8 Delron Johnson is thinking about transferring from UNLV to UCLA. 

The top four candidates for the Pepperdine job appear to be Cal State-Northridge head coach Bobby Braswell, former Kansas State and Pepperdine head coach Tom Asbury, former Seattle Supersonics and Phoenix Suns head coach Paul Westphal, and Metro State, which is a Division II school in Denver, head coach Mike Dunlap.   However, we like the list of assistants, which includes Arizona's Jay John, UCLA's Jim Saia, and Pepperdine's Gib Arnold a lot better.  But sources close to the program tell us they probably aren't going to take our advice.  Instead, it appears Waves athletic director John Watson wants somebody with head coaching experience and who won't use the job as a stepping stone to a bigger and better job.  We always thought Hampton head coach Steve Merfeld was a natural for Old Dominon, but our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin is hearing that Stanford assistant coach Blaine Taylor will get the job.  Rubin also tells us that the leading candidates for Towson are Georgia assistant coach Michael Hunt, Ohio State assistant coach Dave Spiller, Catholic University head coach Mike Lonergan, and N.C. State assistant coach Sean Miller.  Miller also appears to be one of the leading candidates for the Robert Morris job.  Former Iowa assistant coach Bruce Pearl, who has made a name for himself in recent years by turning Southern Indiana into a Division II powerhouse, has returned to the Division I ranks.  Pearl is the new head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.   Moving in the other direction, former UNLV head coach Max Good has gotten his wish and returned to New England.  Last week he was hired as the head coach at Bryant College, which is a Division II school in Rhode Island. 

This morning we talked with Brick Oettinger of PrepStars.com, The Recruiter's Handbook, and CNN/SI and he told us how impressive 6'3 Chey Christie from Bilioxi (H.S.) MS was when he saw him take home MVP honors in the Capital Classic in Washington, DC on Saturday night.  Christie had 20 points and hit 8-11 field goals, as the United States All-Stars coasted easily to a 96-76 victory over the Capital All-Stars.  Also playing well for the U.S. Team were 6'3 Jermaine Watson from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA with 19 points and four assists, 6'1 Brandon Fuss-Cheatham from Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA with 10 points and six assists, 6'9 Jamal Levy from Homestead (Berkshire) FL with eight points, five rebounds, three steals, three blocks, and two assists, and 6'9 Adam Waleskowski from Kettering (Alter) OH, who scored only seven points, but had 10 rebounds, five blocks, and four steals.   Oettinger was also surprised that Waleskowski was so active and impressed by the number of different ways he effected the game.  "I had no idea he was this good," says Oettinger.  "He's a steal for Florida State."  The MVP for the Capital All-Stars was North Carolina-bound 6'2 Melvin Scott from Baltimore (Southern) MD, who hit 3-4 3-pointers and had 12 points, two steals, and two assists.  Also worth mentioning for the Capital All-Stars was 6'8 Levi Watkins from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who had 12 points and four rebounds, 6'4 Delonte West from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, who had 10 points, four assists, and two steals, and 6'3 Shawn Wiggins from Washington (Spingarn) DC, who has nine points.  We also have to mention 6'1 Ben Gordon from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, because he was supposed to play in the game, but didn't bother to tell anybody that he wasn't going to show up.  However, they were able to find a last minute replacement in 6'7 Darren Tielsch from McKees Rocks (Montour) PA, who had a solid five-point performance. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Well, it looks like South Carolina athletic director Mike McGee did find a way to snub former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins and at the same time hire a big name head coach with a great resume' from the Atlantic Coast Conference.  We're talking about today's hiring of Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom, who not only has a 240-132 record with the Demon Deacons during the last 12 years, but also has established himself as one of the best recruiters of international players in college basketball.  If you will recall, Odom is guy who signed Tim Duncan and developed him into the national college player-of-the-year and a superstar in the NBA. Wake Forest graduates Robert O'Kelley, Rafael Vidaurreta, and Josh Shoemaker, but everybody else will be back next year, plus Odom signed another major sleeper last fall in 6'9 Jamal Levy from Homestead (Berkshire) FL, who is currently ranked #29 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but has the potential and athleticism to move much higher as he continues to learn the American game and get bigger and stronger.  So whoever replaces Odom will inherit a solid  middle of the road team in the nation's toughest conference and right at the top of the list is Xavier head coach Skip Prosser.  However, our guess is that he will turn it down. Also high on their list will be College of Charleston head coach John Kresse and Richmond head coach John Beilein, but we suspect they'll both turn it down as well.  Remember, they both recently signed long term contracts with their current schools.  However, George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, UNC-Wilmington head coach Jerry Wainwright, UNC-Greensboro head coach Fran McCaffery, and Washington head coach Bob Bender also are expected to be serious candidates and, our guess is that if offered, any one of them will take the job.   Bender might be somewhat of a surprise until you find out the athletic director at Wake Forest gave Bender his first head coaching job at Illinois State 11 years ago.  And Bender would like nothing more than to beat the posse' out of Washington for a job in the ACC.  Other possible candidates include Cremins, Withrop head coach Gregg Marshall, Dayton head coach Oliver Purnell, Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy, and UNC-Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz.  

We also are anxiously waiting to see who new head coch Rick Pitino will hire into the two open coaching positions at the University of Louisville and the smart money appears to be on Willard.  Yes, we're talking about both of them.  Kevin Willard, who currently is the film guy for the Boston Celtics, will move into the third assistant coaching position, and Ralph Willard, who currently is the head coach at Holy Cross, is expected to move into the top spot.  Actually, Kevin Willard has been done for weeks, but he won't officially move into the position until after the Boston Celtics season is over.   However, the scenario involving Ralph Willard isn't a done deal just yet.  We all know that Pitino has a tendancy to change mind at the last minute, plus there is always the possibility that Willard may turn it down.  But it does make sense, because the athletic director at Holy Cross won't let Willard interview for other head coaching jobs.  So taking an assistant coaching job at Louisville, which would probably pay him more than he's currently making with the Crusaders, would help solve that problem.  If you will recall, Willard, who is one of Pitino's best friends, helped Pitino lay the foundation at Kentucky for one year as an assistant coach before moving onto become the head coach at Western Kentucky.  We also continue to hear the rumor about 6'10 Marvin Stone transferring from the University of Kentucky to the University of Louisville, but we don't believe it.  First, we're not even sure that Stone wants out at Kentucky.  And if he does, Indiana would make a lot more sense.  If you will recall, IU head coach Mike Davis is originally from Alabama and, as a result, had the Hoosiers on Stone's list when he was originally being recruited in high school.  Speaking of transfers, it looks like 6'1 Todd Billet is transferring from Rutgers and we expect him to pick Virginia by tomorrow.  This will give the Cavaliers not one, but two outstanding point guards to go to war with in the ACC.  Remember, Majestic Mapp was a redshirt this past season.  So Mapp will have three years of eligibility remaining.  Billet will have to sit out next year, but then he will have two years to play.  Not only do we think they complement one another extremely well (Billet shoots it well enough to play a lot at the 2-spot), but experienced guard play like this can take you a long way in NCAA Tournament in March. 

We had originally planned to attend the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL yesterday, but we had to return home from Chicago, IL on Saturday night due to unexpected technical problems connected with the HOOP SCOOP.  However, Roy and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report and All-Star Sports tell us that East Squad emerged with a 151-148 victory over the West Squad.  And for the second consecutive year a player we thought was snubbed in the McDonald's All American selection process stole the show.  If you will recall, a year ago North Carolina's 6'2 Brian Morrison had 19 points, three assists, and four steals en route to game MVP honors.  This year the big hero, as well as MVP for the East, was Seton Hall-bound 6'5 John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA.   "Allen wasn't flashy in comparison with many of the other top players, but quietly went about his business en route to 29 points on 12-17 shooting," says Roy Schmidt.  Allen was complemented by 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, who finished with 26 points, including 12-14 field goals and made a strong case that he might really be ready for the NBA draft.  And he had better be, because he announced that he would bypass college and enter his name into the NBA draft immediately following the game.  Physically there never has been any question that he's ready, but more often than not when we've seen him in the past he hasn't played hard and, as a result, we questioned his heart and motivation.  Also playing well for the East were 6'7 James White from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA with 22 points, 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and 5'10 Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX with 14 points, eight rebounds, 14 assists.  Also for the East 6'6 Julius Hodge from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY had 16 points, 6'5 Greg Tinch from Albany (Westover) GA had 10 points, 6'9 Dennis Latimore from Halstead (H.S.) KS had eight points, 6'3 Billy Edelin from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA had six points, and 6'7 Najeeb Echols from Chicago (Morgan Park) IL had two points.  The MVP for the West was 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA with 19 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks, and five steals.  He was complemented by 6'4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI with 22 points, 6'1 Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS with 21 points, and 6'1 Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN with 19 points.  Also for the West 6'6 Quemont Greer from Homestead (Berkshire) FL had 15 points, 6'3 Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX with 15 points, 6'9 Julian Sensley from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT with 13 points, 6'0 Jonathan Hargett from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD with 13 points, and 6'6 Jackie Manuel from West Palm Beach (Cardinal Neumann) FL with 11 points.

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that the list for the Kent State job just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  The list now includes former Wisconsin assistant coach Shawn Hood, Michigan State assistant coach Stan Heath, Detroit assistant coach David Greer, Iowa assistant coach Rich Walker, Ohio State Dave Spiller, Hampton head coach Steve Merfeld, and Penn State assistant coach Mike Boyd.  In an interesting side note, Boyd was the interim head coach at Kent State for half the season in 1978 after Rex Hughes got fired.   Johnson also thinks Merfeld has a better chance at the Wisconsin-Milwaukee job, although after his team's shocking first round NCAA Tournament upset against Iowa State, we think Merfeld should go higher.  Johnson also tells us that William & Mary has gotten a commitment from 6'8 Tom Viglianco from Huntsville (Jones) AL.   Actually, this is a major steal, because Biglianco, who was at the adidas ABCD Camp last summer, had an excellent senior year and, as a result, schools like Northwestern, Arkansas, Auburn, and Samford have been showing a lot of interest.   This comes on the heels of getting 6'0 Nick D'Antoni from Myrtle Beach (Socastee) SC and 6'8 Steve Sorenson from Hudson (Western Reserve) OH, both of whom signed with the Tribe last fall, and 6'7 Adam Hess, who is transferring to William & Mary from Eastern Michigan.  And they don't appear to be done yet.  That's right!  Head coach Rick Boyages and his hard working staff also have a good shot at landing that coveted big man that everybody is looking for at the mid-major level.  We're talking about 6'10 Nathan Loehrke from Mattawan (H.S.) MI, who is ranked as the #10 senior in the state by the Steve Bell of the HOOP SCOOP.   However, they still have to worry about Western Michigan and Yale. 

Monday, April 9, 2001

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin and our Northeast Editor Dave Schultz were both at the Charlie Weber Invitational at Villanova University in Philadelphia, PA over the weekend and Raleigh's Finest beat Cecil Kirk-Baltimore, 56-52, to win the championship in the National League Open Division and the Sonny Hill Seniors beat the Fast Break USA (FL), 58-49, to win the championship in American League Open Division.  However, the big story was the abundance of outstanding inside players at the power forward or center positions.   The top 15 seniors and/or 5th year players ranked in order are 6'10 Deng Gai from Milford (Academy) CT, 6'8 Jamal Nichols from Philadelphia (Ben Franklin) PA, 6'7 Nicholas King from Philadelphia (Frankford) PA, 6'9 Calvin Brown from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 6'5 Michael Cuffee from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 6'2 Michael Land from Raleigh (Leesville Road) NC, 6'8 Glen Elliott from Jacksonville (Bolles) FL, 6'3 Aaron Davis from East Orange (Essex Catholic) NJ, 6'5 Brent Weldon from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6'11 Nate Doornekamp from Ernestown (H.S.) ON, 6'7 David Bell from Philadelphia (Olney) PA, 6'4 Kwana Chase from Greenville (A.I. Dupont) DE, 6'3 Matthew Williams from Raleigh (Northern Vance) NC, 6'4 Daryl Jones from Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion) PA, and 6'5 Jeff Vareem from Buffalo (Traditional) NY.  Other seniors and/or 5th year who caught the eye of Rubin and/or Schultz in no particular order were 6'2 Michael Johnson from Burlington (Life Center) NJ, 6'3 Dustin Hallenga from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'2 Dwand Robinson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'6 Dave Glaser from Malvern (Prep) PA, 6'4 Ron Reinhardt from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 6'3 Steve Miller from Baltimore (Dunbar) MD, 6'2 Princeton Terry from Raleigh (Millbrook) NC, and 6'6 Jerry Jackson from Memphis (Kingsbury) TN.  The top 25 juniors ranked in order are 6'10 Jr Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL, 6'11 Jr Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'10 Jr Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI, 6'0 Jr Alan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'8 Jr Manual Guzman from Hialeah (Champagnat) FL, 6'8 Jr Curtis Withers from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC, 6'8 Jr Joe Holmes from Charlotte (Garinger) NC, 6'3 Jr Mustafa Shaker from Philadelphia (William Penn) PA, 6'7 Jr Travis Parker from Greenville (North Pitt) NC, 6'5 Jr Mawel Soles from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'7 Jr Derrick Byars from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 6'6 Jr Denham Brown from North York (Bathhurst) ON, 6'10 Jr Jon Clark from Toronto (St. Michaels) ON, 6'10 Jr Kevin Young from Homestead (Berkshire) FL, 6'3 Jr Cedric Mitchell from Memphis (Whitehaven) TN, 6'9 Jr Moulaya Niang from El Cajon (Christian) CA, 6'4 Jr Virich Kossekpa from Kensington (Newport School) MD, 6'3 Jr Chad Timberlake from Brooklyn (New Utrecht) NY, 6'10 Jr Chris Grimm from Brighton (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Jr Zach Martin from Medford (Shawnee) NJ, 6'8 Jr Billy Huston from Fayetteville, NC, 6'4 Jr Perry Patterson from Lancaster (McCaskey) PA, 6'11 Jr Ted Skuchas from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, 6'9 Jr Mark Patton from Ona (Cabell Midland) WV, and 6'2 Jr Raheem Scott from Philadelphia (Martin Luther King) PA.  Other juniors who caught the eye of Rubin and/or Schultz in no particular order were 6'0 Jr Kerry Eusey from New York (Rice) NY, 6'0 Jr Darrell Jenkins from Orange (Lutheran) CA, 6'8 Jr Evan Brock from Marrietta (Lassiter) GA, 6'2 Jr Mike Spadafora from Warminster (Archbishop Wood) PA, 6'6 Jr Denham Brown from North York (Bathhurst) ON, 6'1 Jr Anthony Drejaj from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'1 Jr Donte Gernie from Tallahassee (Godby) FL, 6'8 Jr Cortez Davis from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'6 Jr Mekele Cooper from Saginaw (Buena Vista) MI, 6'9 Jr Shawn Creshaw from Powhatan (Blessed Sacrament) VA, 6'1 Jr Patick Gill from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, 6'8 Jr Jermaine Miller from New York (Storm King) NY, 6'5 Jr Kenell Sanchez from Pennsauken (Bishop Eustace) NJ, 6'0 Jr Don McGrath from Somers (John F. Kennedy) NY, 5'10 Jr Earl Miller from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, 6'10 Jr Kevin Pittsnogle from Martinsburg (H.S.) VA, 6'6 Jr Julius Keeler from Escondido (San Pasqual) CA, 6'7 Jr Travia Niesen from Mission Viejo (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Jr Patrick Beilein from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, and 6'1 Jr Troy Mathis from Kensington (Newport School) MD.  The top 15 sophomores ranked in order are 7'2 Soph Shagari Allegne from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Soph Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Soph Konimba Diarra from Centereach (Our Savior New America) NY, 6'7 Soph Travis Powell from Cuthbert (Randolph Clay) GA, 5'11 Soph Ben Luber from Newtown (Council Rock) PA, 6'7 Soph Warren Scott from New Orleans (Abramson) LA, 6'8 Soph Omari Israel from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, 6'7 Soph Regis Kounova from Dayton (Christian) OH, 6'9 Soph Chris Copeland from Richmond (Monacan Blue Ridge) VA, 6'0 Soph K.J. Garland from Greensboro (Day) NC, 5'10 Soph Andre Lawrie from Oyster Bayt (St. Dominic) NY, 5'8 Soph Kashif Payne from Radnor (Archbishop Carroll) PA, 7'0 Soph Fernando Banfan from Bridgeport (Kolbe) CT, 6'2 Soph Earl Rigsby from Washington (Dunbar) DC, and 6'5 Soph Dustin Salisberry from Lancaster (J.P. McCaskey) PA.  Other sophomores who caught the eye of Rubin and/or Schultz in no particular order were 6'0 Soph Marlon Smith from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, 6'5 Soph Alex Bucbee from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'2 Soph Tyler Smith from Baltimore (Douglas) MD, 5'10 Soph Maurice Barksdale from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, 5'11 Soph Harry Douglas from Jonesboro (H.S.) GA, 6'2 Soph Louie McCrosley from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'2 Soph John Thompson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 6'2 Soph Tasheed Carr from Philadelphia (University City) PA, 6'6 Soph Oumar Sylla from Centereach (Our Savior New America) NY, 6'9 Soph Todd Hendley from Sanford (Lee County) NC, and 6'2 Soph Mike Boehret from Collegeville (Perkiomen Valley) PA.  Five outstanding freshmen who impressed Rubin and/or Schultz, but ranked in no particular order are 6'4 Frosh Cornelius Ingram from Hawthorne (H.S.) FL, 5'9 Frosh Drew Neitzel from Wyoming Park (H.S.) MI, 6'0 Frosh Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'5 Frosh Barry Jenifer from Towson (Calvert Hall) MD, and 6'4 Frosh Brandon Emerson from Forest Park (H.S.) GA.  Also of interest are several commitments that Schultz and Rubin picked up over the weekend.  Did you know that St. John's got a commitment from 6'1 Tristan Smith from Amityville (H.S.) NY?  Sure, the Red Storm is looking for a point guard in case Omar Cook makes a major mistake and declare hardship for the NBA draft this spring.  But our guess is that taking Smith may also help St. John's get back into the driver's seat with 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #19 nationally among juniors by the HOOP SCOOP and who is believed to be a near lock for North Carolina, along with 6'6 Jr Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY.  Pennsylvania has gotten a commitment from 6'2 Mike Barker from Philadelphia (St. Joseph) PA.   Rider appears to be on the verge of getting a commitment from 6'2 Robert Taylor from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA.  Florida appears to be the heavy favorite over Arizona and Maryland for 6'6 Jr Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA

Can you believe that 6'10 Tony Key, who has attended high school at Russellville (H.S.) KY, Durham (Emmanuel Christian) NC, and Compton (Centennial) CA in the last year-and-a-half, is planning on entering his name into the NBA draft this spring?  Forget about being drafted in the first or second round of the draft, this guy isn't even ready to be a good college player at a high major program.  I'm sure that a lot of people are also surprised  that Tulsa assistant coach John Phillips has gotten the head coaching job with the Golden Hurricane.  Apparently Tulsa wanted somebody who would likely remain in place for awhile and not use the job as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, like Nolan Richardson, who went from Tulsa to Arkansas 16 year ago, Tubby Smith, who went from Tulsa to Georgia in the spring of 1995 and two years later to Kentucky when he replaced Rick Pitino, Steve Robinson, who went from Tulsa to Florida State in 1997, Bill Self, who went to Tulsa to Illinois last spring, and Buzz Peterson, who in only one year took Tulsa to the NIT Championship, but now is gone to Tennessee.  We originally knew Phillips as Kevin Pritchard's high school coach, but more recently he was the only holdover from the Self's days at Tulsa.  So obviously loyalty is important.  Pritchard is also a pretty good coach, as was evident by the fact that we thought he should have been considered strongly for the head coaching job a year ago when Self left.  It comes as no surprise that Pepperdine head coach Jan van Breda Kolff  has gotten the St. Bonaventure job and that McNeese State head coach Ron Everhart has gotten the Northeastern job.  We haven't heard anything about who will replace van Breda Kolff at Pepperdine, but how about UCLA assistant coach Jim Saia?   Remember, Pepperdine has a history of hiring UCLA assistants, like Tony Fuller, who is now an assistant at Stanford, and Lorenzo Romar, who is now the head coach at St. Louis.  And don't be surprised if Everhart retains assistant coach Frank Martin, whose recruiting ties to Miami, FL will likely be pivotal in building the Huskies program into a powerhouse in the America East.   If you will recall, Martin landed two of his former players - 6'9 Sylbrin Robinson from Odessa (JC) TX and 6'6 Cornelius Wright from Odessa (JC) TX - from Miami (Senior) FL last fall and the word on the street is that Marcus Barnes, who also played for Martin at Miami (Senior) FL, is going to transfer from Miami-FL to Northeastern this spring.  It also looks like McNeese State knows who it's going after to replace Everhart.  The first choice is former University of Memphis head coach Tic Price, but if he turns it down, you can bet that Auburn assistant coach Mike Wilson will take the job.  If you will recall, Wilson an assistant coach at McNeese State in 1995 and he is widely regarded as one of the best in the country.  

Saturday, April 7, 2001

If 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, 7'0 DeSagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL don't all by-pass college and go directly into the NBA draft this spring, I will be really surprised.  As a result, the casual observer will obviously conclude that this is the "year of the big man."  However, what has made this the best class since the great Class of  '95, which featured Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Ron Mercer, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Vince Carter, et al., is the incredible talent at the two guard spot with guys, like 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, and 6'6 Julius Hodge from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and the unselfishness of the point guards, like 5'10 Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'1 Aaron Miles from Portland (Jefferson) OR, and 6'1 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY.  This was very evident in both the McDonald's All-American Game 10 days ago and the Kentucky Derby Classic All-Star Game at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY last night.  Sure, there wasn't much defense played and, as a result, both teams had a field day scoring mostly off layups and wide open 3-pointers.  The halftime score was 94-90, but both teams only scored 79 points apiece in the second half, as the Purple Team beat the White Team, 173-169.  However, the real story of the game was the 64 assists.  In an all-star game that's amazing.  And leading the way was Hurt, who scored 20 points and dished out 14 assists en route to MVP honors for the losing White Team.  In other words, Hurt, who had a terrible winter, because he tried to do too much for his high school team, was willing to step back and make his teammates better, while at the same time keeping the defense honest and using his athleticism and quickness to get to the hole.  Also, impressing us with their unselfishness and passing ability were 6'1 Aaron Miles from Portland (Jefferson) OR with nine assists, 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ with eight assists, 6'4 Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA with five assists, and 6'4 Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL with five assists.  Wagner also had 25 points en route to MVP honors for the winning White Team.  However, it was a quiet 25 and eight for Wagner, who, like Hurt, once and for all has eliminated any doubt about his great passing ability and willingness to sacrifice for the good of his team when he's got great players around him.  Also playing extremely well were the two players from California - 6'6 Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA and 6'5 Cedric Bozeman from Santa (Ana Mater) CA - who combined to hit 23-27 field goals.  Childress, who finished with 26 point, also had 10 rebounds and was red hot in the finals of the 3-point shooting contest, as he hit 18 3-pointers to win the championship.  Bozeman, who tied Childress for high game scoring honors with 26 points, also had six steals, five rebounds, and two assists.  Also ranked among our top five players based on performance in the game, along with Wagner, Hurt, Childress, and Bozeman, was 6'8 David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) MO.  Lee had 21 points, nine rebounds, and showed a toughness that is lacking from many of the so-called "great big men" in the senior class.  Lee also won the dunking contest and impressed everybody with his surprising quickness and great moves around the basket.  Also putting up excellent numbers were 6'6 Chuck Hayes from Modesto (Christian) CA with 23 points, 6'11 David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN with 21 points and 10 rebounds, 6'9 Jawad Williams from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH with 20 points and six rebounds, and 6'5 Karl Hollingsworth from Jonesboro (Mt. Zion) GA with 23 points and seven rebounds.  We also were impressed by Hollingsworth's versatility and ability to draw fouls, but were disappointed in his unwillingness to pass the basketball.  However, maybe he felt like he had something to prove (currently he doesn't rank among our top 100 nationally, but probably should).  The best player in the first half was 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who scored 19 points before the intermission.  However, Carruth never seemed to get into the flow in the second half and, as a result, didn't score a point in the final 24 minutes.  Also showing they can at least keep you honest from beyond the arc were two of the local favorites - 6'1 Adam Chiles from Louisville (Ballard) KY with 15 points, including 3-4 3-pointers, and 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY with 10 points, including 2-4 3-pointers.  If you will recall, Chiles recently committed to Kentucky, but O'Bannon is one of the few quality players in the senior class who is still available.  6'8 Hakim Warrick from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, was one of the best rebounders in the game and 6'5 Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY did what he does best as he knocked down 3-4 3-pointers en route to nine points.  Perhaps the biggest surprise in the game was 7'1 Craig Forth from East Greenbush (Columbia) NY.  He's not very athletic and still needs to get bigger and stronger, but Forth was very fluid when he got the ball inside, as he hit 6-7 field goals and had 12 points, seven rebounds, and five blocked shots.  Also showing flashes were 6'9 Terry Licorish from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC with 10 points and five rebounds and the alternate, 6'1 Will Bynum from Chicago (Crane) IL, who scored seven points in only 11 minutes.  That leaves 6'5 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, who had seven points and six rebounds.  

Friday, April 6, 2001

Thursday, April 5, 2001

Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Well, it looks like the rumor about Maryland head coach Gary Williams possibly going to Rutgers was exactly that - a good rumor.  We also hear that Richmond head coach John Beilein and Florida assistant coach John Pelphrey have both taken their names out of the running to become the next head coach of the Scarlet Knight.  So now it looks like Kent State's Gary Waters, who is one of the hottest head coaches in the game after his team upset Indiana in the first round the NCAA Tournament a month ago, is now the leading candidate.  We also are hearing Seton Hall assistant coach Fred Hill, New Jersey Nets assistant coach Ed Jenkins, George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, and Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez being mentioned for the Rutgers job, but right now they all look like long shots.  We also have confirmed that Siena head coach Louis Orr has gotten the Seton Hall job, which suddenly makes it very interesting for the consecutive year to see who takes over at Siena.  The early list includes Virginia assistant coach Tommy Herrion, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, St. Joseph's assistant coach Matt Brady, St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clarke, and Villanova assistant coach Joe Jones.  We also have confirmed that former University of Massachusetts head coach James "Bruiser" Flint has gotten the Drexel job, which means that Robert Morris head coach Danny Nee gets Duquesne.  This is especially interesting, because Flint was also one of the leading candidates for Duquesne. which means he took a lower level job.  However, the well isn't exactly dry at Drexel, plus Flint is a Philly guy, which is very important in terms of recruiting.  While two of the Philadelphia schools (Villanova getting Jay Wright and Drexel getting Flint) have made great hires, those making the hire at La Salle appear to be clueless.   As a matter of fact, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us they're back to the drawing board now that Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy turned them down.  Maybe they will turn their attention to Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon, who has done an outstanding job in recent years in Patriot League, or John Giannini, who impressed us as one of the bright young head coaches in the game when we met him at the NCAA Final Four over the weekend.  We also continue to hear St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clarke being mentioned, but a  source close to Clarke don't think he's interested.  Another possibility for La Salle may be former Old Dominion head coach Jeff Capel.  

It came as no surprise yesterday when Tulsa head coach Buzz Peterson got the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee, especially after his impressive NIT Championship a week ago.  As a result, it looks like Tulsa is at again as well.  Remember, the Golden Hurricane lost Bill Self a year ago when he left to take the head coaching job at Illinois.  This time they appear to be going after somebody who is interested in making this his last job and the name we keep hearing is UNC-Wilmington head coach Jerry Wainwright.  We also expect Tubby Smith to sign a contract extension with the University of Kentucky today.  Sources tell us that it's already a done deal.  All that needs to be done now are cross the I's and dot the T's in the meeting that is taking place this afternoon.  As a result, we think South Carolina is out of the running for Smith.  The Gamecocks also appear to be out of the running for Mark Gottfried, who also has gotten a contract extension at Alabama, and John Calipari, who appears to have gotten what he wanted to stay at the University of Memphis.  We haven't heard anything yet about Portland Trailblazers head coach Michael Dunleavy, who was rumored for the South Carolina job late last week, but we doubt that's going to happen.  Instead, our guess is that South Carolina will end up with somebody with head coaching experience at the mid-major level.  Originally we'd heard that Tommy Amaker was going to bring most of his staff with him from Seton Hall.  But now it looks like the only one he's going to hire at Michigan is Billy Schmidt, who was his #3 assistant at Seton Hall.  Apparently Schmidt is attractive, because knows the league from when he previously was at Northwestern.  We also hear that Amaker is going to hire former Duke point guard Jeff Capel.   However, Fred Hill and Rob Jackson are both out and we believe this is very unfortunate, because they both did a great job recruiting for the Pirates.  But maybe new Seton Hall head coach Louie Orr will retain one or both.  At least he should, because that might be enough to stop the expected mass exodus.  Already Eddie Griffin has announced that he plans to enter his name into the NBA draft, star point guard Andre Barrett is already talking about transferring, and Samuel Dalembert and Marcus Toney-El aren't expected to be too far behind.   

Brick Oettinger of the Recruiter's Handbook, PrepStars.com, and CNN/SI tells us that the University of Florida may be on the verge of getting an early commitment from 6'5 Jr Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, who is ranked #35 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  This would be especially huge for the Gators, because Walsh is an athletic white kid who can shoot the lights out and he's got a tremendous upside, similar to former University of Florida star Mike Miller, who currently is one of the leading candidates to be Rookie-of-the-Year in the NBA this year, at the same stage.   All Walsh needs to do is to become a little more consistent and get a little stronger.  This comes as somewhat of a surprise, because our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey editor Allen Rubin has told us all along that the University of Maryland was the leader for Walsh.  However, the Terrapins are still on Walsh's list, as are Syracuse, Virginia, and Stanford.  Speaking of Rubin, he tells us that 6'6 Friedrich Ebede from Wilmington (Friends) DE has made a verbal commitment to Pennsylvania.  This commitment comes on the heels of another verbal commitment the Quakers got last week from 6'6 Tim Begley from Lincroft (Christian Brothers) NJ.  We also have confirmed that UNC-Charlotte has beaten Auburn, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma for 6'5 Curtis Nash from Hill (JC) TX.  It now looks like a two-hore race for 6'9 Emeka Okafor from Houston (Bellaire) TX, who is expected to pick either Arkansas or Connecticut.

It seems like new Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight just can't stay out of the news.  First, he makes headlines by making a comment at a speaking engagement about 6'9 Jr Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, who is ranked as the #6 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  "Anybody that coaches ought to recruit Sean May," said Knight. "Look at what I did with his dad, who couldn't jump a lick.  Think of what I could do with his son, who can."  The only way this might become an issue is if May signed with Texas Tech next fall.  However, the chances of that happening are slim and none.  So no harm, no foul!  Knight also has mysteriously kicked three players (Jamal Brown, Brannon Hayes, and Rodney Bass) off the team and a fourth one (Ronald Hobbs) has asked for his release in order to transfer.  It also comes as no surprise that Knight would be complaining about the rule that limits Division I schools to recruiting eight scholarship players during a two-year period (five one-year and only three the next).  Remember, the rule was intended to prevent the very thing that Knight has done.  Instead losing players, the NCAA is trying to promote "better recruiting decisions, reduce attrition and transfer rates, and maintain consistency within Division I programs."  All this becomes important, because after the dismissals and transfer, Knight is now down to only four scholarship players.  However, it's not all bad news for Knight, who apparently has two big time commitments for junior college players.  That's right!  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Russ Blake is reporting that Texas Tech has landed 6'10 Ermal Kugo from Seminole (JC) OK and 6'8 Chris Storozynski from Dodge City (JC) TX.  Obviously both are foreign players, but this is good because players from abroad usually work harder, are better students, and much nicer kids than the stereotypical junior college player.  In other words, Knight appears to be going after the same type of junior college transfers that he got at Indiana.  It also is important, because Kugo was ranked as the #1-ranked center and Storozynski was the #3-ranked power forward in the junior college ranks by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook.  We're still not sure if this will be enough for Texas Tech to finish ahead of Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Baylor, and Nebraska in the extremely tough Big-12 Conference, but at least it's a start. 

DePaul head coach Pat Kennedy took it on the chin this season when the Blue Demons finished 10-18 overall and were ranked no higher than #11 in Conference USA.  But he could have one of the most improved teams in college basketball next season.  They key will be whether he can find the right perimeter player to help solve his chemistry problems (last year DePaul was loaded with big men and point guards, but was void of wing players).  At the top of his list is 6'2 Marcus Hatten from Tallahassee (JC) FL, who was ranked as the #1 shooting guard by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearboork.  Also on Hatten's list are St. John's, Indiana, Iowa State, and South Florida, but if he picks DePaul, it wouldn't be much of a surprise.  Remember, Kennedy has always been able to recruit from his backyard and previously was the head coach at Florida State for 11 years.  We have confirmed that 6'9 Robert Jackson is transferring from Mississippi State to Marquette.  Also expected to transfer from Hialeah (Champagnat) FL to Homestead (Berkshire) FL is 6'9 Jr Manuel Guzaman.  6'4 Javier Palacios from Homestead (Berkshire) FL has signed with East Oklahoma State (JC) OK, 6'2 Edwin Vasquez from Homestead (Berkshire) FL has picked Polk (JC) FL, 6'5 Joshua Chambers from Homestead (Berkshire) FL is expected to sign with either Dixie (JC) UT or Tallahassee (JC) FL, and 6'7 Patrick Okpwae from Homestead (Berkshire) FL has verbally committed to David Lipscomb.  However, the player to really watch from Homestead (Berkshire) FL is 6'10 Jr Kevin Young.   We haven't seen him yet, but the word is that he's legitimately one of the top big nationally in the junior class.  Apparently he's got a monster build like 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, but he plays more like former Cincinnati All-American Danny Fortsen.  Wake Forest, Auburn, Miami-FL, and LSU are already in the hunt, but you can bet this list will get longer before it gets shorter.    

Tuesday, April 3, 2001

With Duke's impressive win against Arizona in the NCAA Championship game last night in Minneapolis, MN, Mike Krzyzewski clearly establishes himself as one of the top two coaches in the history of the game.  Sure, Adolph Rupp won four NCAA Championships at Kentucky and Bobby Knight won three NCAA Championships at Indiana, but Krzyzewski has been to the NCAA Final Four a total of nine times over the last 16 years and there appears to be no end in sight, especially if Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer both decide to return for another season.  Speaking of Williams declaring hardship for the NBA draft, Williams has made it clear that he plans to be back next year.  However, a lot of people, including our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, don't think you can say no to the NBA, especially if you are going to be one of the top two or three players taken in the draft.   Unfortunately that's a big part of the problem.  If Williams goes onto the NBA, he can set himself up financially for life.  But if he stays at Duke, Williams also will probably be set financially for life.  Remember, a Duke education is worth a lot.  Not only will he be that much closer to getting a degree from one of the top schools in the nation, but he'll be an even better basketball player with another year of Krzyzewski's tutorage under his belt.  And we haven't even talked the fact that Williams might like college life, that he may want to win another NCAA Championship, or that he'd like to be the heavy favorite to take home National College-Player-of-the-Year honors next year.  So let's assume that Williams and Boozer both do return.   That would make the Blue Devils the heavy favorite to repeat again next year, because Michael Dunleavy, Chris Duhon, and Casey Sanders also return, plus they have Dahntay Jones, who transferred to Duke a year ago, waiting the in wings and 6'3 Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, who signed with the Blue Devils last fall, already signed, sealed, and delivered for next year.  Also, the Blue Devils appear to be back in the lead for 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL.  Apparently new Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and Cisse's legal guardian Don Jackson have had a falling out.  So Louisville, which was the favorite is no longer involved with Cisse.  However, we don't think will get him either, because we believe that Cisse will ultimately put his name into the NBA draft this spring.   Looking further down the road, Duke already has verbal commitments for next year from 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, who is ranked #10 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'10 Jr Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL and they've among the favorites for 6'2 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'9 Jr Sheldon Williams from Oklahoma City (Midwest City) OK, 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, 6'2 Jr Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, and 6'10 Jr Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, all of whom are ranked among the top 15 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  In other words, Thompson, who is ranked #31 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, could turn out to be the lowest ranked player in what is potentially one of the best five man recruiting classes of all time. 

Monday, April 2, 2001

Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy still looks really bad after he let Hofstra head coach Jay Wright get away two weeks ago.  If you will recall, we reported that Wright was a near lock for the Rutgers job two weeks ago today, but, then, Mulcahy wasn't able to finalize the buyout on the contract of former Rutgers head coach Kevin Bannon as quickly as expected and, as result, the Scarlet Knights ended up losing Wright to Villanova.   However, if the rumor we heard last night is true, Mulcahy would more than redeem himself.  That's right!  Somebody in the know told us that University of Maryland head coach Gary Williams may be in line for the Rutgers job.   At first I didn't believe it either!  But several things make us think this might have some validity.  First, Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow and Williams do not get along at all.  As a matter of fact, we heard talk several weeks ago that, if Maryland hadn't beaten Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament several weeks ago, Williams job might have been on the line.  Second, Williams is an alumnus of the University of Maryland, but he's orginially from the state of New Jersey.  Third, the way Maryland got beat by Duke (we talking about the 33-point swing in that game) almost negates the Terrapins advancement to their first ever NCAA Final Four.  Fourth, Rutgers is a sleeping giant, because they have excellent facilities, good fan support, it's the state school, and there are several very fertile recruiting grounds (New York City and North Jeresy) right in their backyard.  However, this not only is unconfirmed, but I can't find anybody who has even heard the rumor.  So take this as it was intended - interesting food for thought and something maybe to watch further as things develop.  We're also hearing that University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith has been offered a huge contract by the University of South Carolina.   This also makes some sense when you remember that Smith is originally from the state of North Carolina and he was an assistant coach for the Gamecocks during the George Felton era.  However, we'd be really surprised if Smith leaves Kentucky, unless it's for a good job in the NBA, like the Philadelphia 76ers.  Not only is the heat off about starting his son at point guard (Saul was the only senior on the team this year), but, unless somebody transfers or goes hardship to the NBA, everybody will back next year.  Also, add some more outside shooting with the additions of 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'5 Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY, both of whom signed with Kentucky last fall, and it would be hard to imagine the Wildcats not being on the team's to beat in college basketball next year.   Instead, we're hearing that Memphis head coach John Calipari is right at the top of the list for the South Carolina job.  Apparently South Carolina has offered Calipari a contract that is worth $1.3 million per year and, as a result, Calipari has told the Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson that he wants Rick Pitino-like money.  And if he doesn't get it, he's going to South Carolina. 

A week ago University of Cincinnati got a verbal commitment from 6'9 Derek Hollman from Panola (JC) TX, which means the Bearcats are adding not one, but two, tough power forwards to a team that will return everybody next season.  Actually this puts the Bearcats one over on scholarships.  In case you didn't know, this past season Cincinnati didn't have a senior among the 11 players on their roster.  They also landed 6'7 Jason Maxiell from Carrollton (Newman Smith) TX last fall and they got a verbal commitment from 6'6 Jimmy Hubbard from Johnson County (JC) KS two months ago.  We still like the Donnell Harvey-Ousmane Cisse comparisions for Maxiell, but Hollman is more like former Cincinnati All-American Danny Fortsen, except he's not a polished offensively.  In other words, at 6'9, 260 lbs., Hollman is a force at the defensive end.  Hubbard, who led his junior college team in scoring, assists, and rebounding, reminds those who have seen him of another former Cincinnati player - Keith Gregor, because he's a pretty good athlete and he's mental tough.  However, Hubbard is a better outside shooter, which helps solve another need for the Bearcats.  Cincinnati is also still in the hunt, along with Pittsburgh, Missouri, and Texas Christian, for 7'0 Moustapha Diagne from Trinity Valley (JC) TX.  But for this to happen, the Bearcats would have to find two scholarships, instead of just one. 

It comes as no surprise that new UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour has hired Derek Thomas, Jay Spoonhour, and Bob Sundvold.  If you will recall, Thomas, who is one of the best recruiters in the business, was an assistant coach with Spoonhour at St. Louis, before brief stops at Minnesota, Illinois, and the Atlanta Hawks.  Spoonhour was also at St. Louis with his father, but more recently proved to be a chip off the old block as a coach.  If you will recall, less than two weeks ago he led Wabash Valley (JC) IL to the National Junior College Tournament Championship in Hutchinson, KS.  Sundvold also is a good hire, because he was a head coach in recent years at Missouri-Kansas City and previously he was a long time assistant coach the University of Missouri.  We also expect McNeese State head coach Ron Everhart to get the head coaching job at Northeastern today and it looks like former University of Wisconsin interim head coach Brad Soderberg is on the verge of getting the Drexel job.  While Soderberg is an excellent coach and we think he should be strongly considered for a number of jobs at this level, we're not sure Drexel is a very good fit, because he's not from the Philadelphia area.  Instead, we think St. Joseph's assistant coach Matt Brady or Missouri-Kansas City Dean Demopoulos would be perfect for the Exploreres.   And how about St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clarke to La Salle?   Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that Clarke has been offered the job, but for the last several months Naclerio has been pushing both Clarke and Mike Jarvis, Jr for any job that he thinks they might have a shot at that's open.  Remember, Naclerio, who knows more about New York City basketball than anybody alive, except for maybe Tom Konchalski of the H.S.B.I. Report, would love to get an assistant coaching job at St. John's.  And if Clarke or Jarvis, Jr move, he might have a shot.  As a matter of fact, Naclerio and St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis, Sr were seen together in the lobby of the Minneapolis Hilton Saturday night and the Runyon's New York party last night.

Sunday, April 1, 2001

I was amazed at the number of big time college coaches who were complaining last night about how one-sided the officiating was in the second NCAA Semi-Final game between Duke and Maryland.  "It was the biggest homer job since Duke beat UNLV in the semi-finals in 1991," said one head college coach with Final Four coaching experience.  No, we're not taking anything away from Duke, which was down by as many as 22 points in the first half, but made the biggest turnaround in NCAA Final Four history to win by a comfortable 11-point margin.  But it does bother us when one team gets an unfair advantage over the other and this can be particularly important in a close game, like the one we are expecting in the NCAA Championship game between Duke and Arizona tomorrow night.  We're talking about the two active head coaches with the most NCAA Final experience going head-to-head.  Remember, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been to the NCAA Final Four nine times in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, and 2001 and Arizona head coach Lute Olson has been here five times in 1980 at Iowa and in 1988, 1994, 1997, and 2001 with the Wildcats.   We're also talking about tremendous battles between Jason Williams and Jason Gardner at point guard and Michael Dunleavy and Shane Battier and Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson out on the perimeter.  However, we think the key to the game will be Carlos Boozer's physical presence inside and whether Arizona can utilitize Loren Woods offensively around the basket.  Like most everybody else, we would like to see Arizona win this one for Bobbi Olson.   Remember, she died of cancer on January 1st of this year.  However, after watching Duke on Saturday, we've come to the conclusion that this is a great basketball team.  So we have to give the edge to the Blue Devils and we'll also be watching Battier very carefully.  Sure, Battier is a great kid, but we never were convinced that he was best player in college basketball, at least not until yesterday.    Not only is he the heart-and-sole of the Duke team, but right now he is the leading candidate to take home Final Four MVP honors.  He also he has something that most NBA general managers should be looking for - four years of college and leadership both on and off the court.  The experience factor is especially important, because the trend now is for players, who stay four years in college and get drafted in the first round, to overachieve in the NBA.  As a result, we predict that Battier will solidify his position as the #1 pick in the NBA draft, if Duke wins and he comes up big and tomorrown night.