TODAY'S HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION

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Wednesday, April 30, 2003

Today is the last day that NCAA Division I coaches can be on the road for the purpose of recruiting until July 8th, but that doesn't mean we're off the road.  As a matter of fact, we will be at the Spiece Run'N Slam All Star Classic in Ft. Wayne, IN this weekend, followed by the IS8 Playoffs in Queens, NY, May 15th-18th; Five-Star Hoop Classic in Boston, MA, May 16th-18th; Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC, May 23rd-25th; NIKE Memorial Day Classic in Bloomington, IN, May 24th-26th; Pangos All-American Camp in Los Angeles, CA, May 30th-June 1st; Five-Star Basketball Camp at Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, VA, June 11th-16th; and the NBA Players Association Camp in Richmond, VA, June 17th-21st; plus we'll provide you with in-depth coverage from all of the major events in July, like the NIKE-American Camp, adidas ABCD Camp, NIKE Peach Jam, adidas Big Time Tournament, and the 17-Under National AAU Tournament.  The Spiece Run'N Slam, which will tip-off at 7:00 PM on Friday night at the Spiece Fieldhouse in Ft.Wayne, IN, will feature 56 teams in the Seniors-To-Be Division, 40 teams in the Juniors-To-Be Division, and 28 teams in the Sophomores-To-Be Division.  And, unlike the 9th Annual Houston Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX, we will get a chance to focus a lot more on players in the 15-under Division.  As a matter of fact, the Spiece Indy Heat team won the 15-Under Division of the Kingwood Classic last weekend and we'll get a chance to see them play several times, because the playoffs in this division will be played primarily at the Spiece Fieldhouse on Saturday evening and on most of the day on Sunday.  In addition to Spiece Indy Heat, the Sophomore-To-Be Division appears to be loaded, as it promises to feature the L.A. Rockfish, Illinois Warriors, Neo Shooting Stars, All Ohio Red, NW Arkansas Raptors, Spiece Indy Heat, The Family, Ft. Wayne Select, Spirit Warriors, Spiece Central Stars, Blessed IJN Maximum, Flint Affiliation, Cincinnati AAU, Spiece Indiana Stars, NW Indiana Alliance, Rise N Shine Harvesters, Grand Rapid Storm, St. Louis Gameface, Kentucky Hoop Stars Blue, Illinois Wildcats, Utah Heat, Ft. Sooy, Gateway Basketball Club, Indy North, Long Island Roadrunners, Evansville Basketball, and Ferrari Basketball.  The Junior-To-Be Division will include the Spiece Blaze, Cincy AAU #1-Salamone, Colorado X-Press, SYF Players, Spiece Select 2005, Belmont Shore, Long Island Roadrunners, Randolph Boys Club, Indy Warriors, Martin Brothers, Cincy AAU #2-Stark, Madison Spartans-Wherry, All Ohio Red, Spiece Rim Rattlers, Fox Valley Skillz, Tiffany's, Spiece Saints, Cincy AAU #3-Hammons, Madison Spartans-Blue, West Michigan Lakers, Spiece Top Dogs, Dayton Metro, Ft. Sooy, Friends of Hoop, Indiana Crusaders, Southpoint Basketball, Cincinnati Royals, Indy Sting, Indiana Heat Red, Northwest Ohio, Stay in the Game, Grand Rapids Storm, Indy Red, MBA Select, St. Louis Gameface, Kentucky Hoops Stars Jr. Elite, Neo Shooting Stars, North Wisconsin Saints, Gateway Basketball Club, and Spirit Warriors.  The The Senior-To-Be Division will include the Spiece Top Prospects, Compton Magic, Team Illinois, The Family, Indiana Red, Martin Brothers, Phila MJC, Wisconsin Force Red, Spiece Old School, Cincinnati Wolfpack, Long Island Roadrunners, Kentucky Hoop Stars #1-Senior Elite, Cincy AAU #1-Black, DTA Team Wisconsin, Spiece Blue Demons, Inner City Players, SYF Players, Shepherd Sports, Dajuan Wagner's Rising Stars, Houston Westside All-Stars, All Ohio Red, Indiana Ice, Ft. Sooy, Florida Hoopsters, Four to One Aces, Colorado Express, Illinois Wolves, Carstar/Hurricanes, Dayton Metro, Salt Lake Metro Gold, Friends of Hoops, Kentucky Hoop Stars #2-Green, Gateway Basketball Club, Cincy AAU #2-Red, Ferrari Basketball, Fox Valley Skillz, Madison Spartans-Kingcade, Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars, St. Louis Blue, Waterloo Wildhawks, First Class, Northwest Ohio, Madison Spartans Trek, St. Louis Gameface, Ohio Pride, Randolph Boys Club, Utah Heat, West Michigan Lakers, Spiece Northwest Stars, Indy Hornets, East Bay Extreme, Full Package Athletics, Playerz GoJo, Hoosier Stars, Stay in the Game, and Grand Rapids Storm.  Obviously the Seniors-To-Be Division will give us a great head start in terms of seeing most of the top juniors in the state of Indiana, but it also will give us another chance to watch a number of the top juniors nationally, like 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'3 Jr Joe Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'9 Jr Alex Thompson from Ames (H.S.) IA, 6'7 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurts) IN, 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI, 6'7 Jr Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 5'11 Jr Dupree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6'7 Jermyl Jackson-Wilson from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6'10 Jr Aaron Agnew from Bellaire (H.S.) OH, 6'2 Jr Jaeh Thomas from Aurora (West Aurora) IL 6'7 Jr Ollie Bailey from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 6'9 Jr Carl Swanigan from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN, 5'10 Jr Alex Gordon from Pensacola (H.S.) FL, and 6'4 Jr Demetrius Green from Lexington (Catholic) KY.  For more information, including directions, a list of the teams in each pool, brackets for the playoffs, and hotel information, click on Spiece Run n' Slam All-Star Classic.

Tuesday, April 29, 2003

We've been telling you for sometime now that 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX was a near lock for the University of Texas and we knew that 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Washington) FL recently had a great visit to the University of Memphis, so neither verbal commitment came as much of a surprise yesterday.  However, that doesn't diminish the significance of either commitment, because we're talking about two of the top three juniors who have made early verbal commitments to-date.  Ironically, until yesterday the highest ranked player to have made an early commitment was 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, so the commitment by Aldridge moves Texas' recruiting class well ahead of Michigan.  And they aren't done yet!  As a matter of fact, last night the Longhorns also received a verbal commitment from 6'10 Jr Connor Atchley from Houston (Clear Lake) TX and they are supposed to have 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL on campus for an official visit this weekend.  Aldridge has long arms, excellent skills, and amazing speed, quickness, and athleticism and, as a result, has an unlimited upside, if he ever learns to play harder.  And our guess is that he will, because he will be joining 6'9 Brad Buckman, who is a tough hardnosed competitor and one of the unsung heroes on this year's NCAA Final Four team.  In other words, Aldridge and Buckman should provide the perfect complement to one another, as Texas head coach Rick Barnes promises to have one of the best one-two inside punches in all of college basketball year after next.  Atchley, who is expected to redshirt his freshman year, is expected to eventually provide even more depth inside, but landing Williams really would be the icing on the cake.  In other words, if Williams verbally commits to the Longhorns, they not only would be tough to beat when it is all said and done in the race for the best recruiting class, but they would have three of the top players in the junior class nationally.  Remember, Gibson is currently ranked #9, Williams is currently ranked #10, and Aldridge is currently ranked #13 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, plus 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX is a legitimate top 40 junior nationally and Atchley promises to be a good role player.  And, even if they don't get Williams, 6'6 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX, who is ranked #44 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, would be a pretty good consolation prize.  Remember, we thought it was only a matter of time before Brown made a verbal commitment to the Longhorns, but, if he waits too long, he may have to walk-on, if he wants to stay home and play for the Longhorns.  In other words, Texas' recruiting right now appears to be nothing short of spectacular.  However, their chances suddenly don't appear to be as good in terms of making a repeat appearance in the NCAA Final Four next season, because the word we're getting is that Terrance Ford, who was the HOOP SCOOP's Pre-Season and Post-Season National Player-of-the-Year in college basketball this past season, is expected to announce on Friday that he is entering his name into the NBA Draft.  Washington not only becomes the first player ranked among our top five juniors nationally to have made an early verbal commitment, but he also could join a list of players that includes Dajuan Wagner, Amare Stoudemire, and Qyntel Woods, who have verbally committed and/or signed with the Tigers, but later prematurely entired their names into the NBA Draft.   Yes, Washington, who is a phenomenal athlete out of the Allen Iverson-Dajuan Wagner mold, is that good!  Another player who is potentially on the same list is 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, who is the top player in the Memphis' current recruiting, which currently is ranked #15 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and also includes 6'7 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, 6'8 Ivan Lopez from Norfolk (Ryan Academy) VA, and 6'7 Keena Young from Beaumont (Ozen) TX.   However, if Perkins doesn't do something stupid, like enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring and Washington doesn't do likewise a year from now, then Memphis head coach John Calipari could be well on his way towards accomplishing his goal of building Memphis into one of the premier teams in college basketball year after next.  Remember, the Tigers are already well stocked with talented young players, including 6'5 Soph Billy Richmond, 6'4 Soph Anthony Rice, 6'9 Soph Duane Erwin, 6'8 Soph Arthur Barclay, 6'3 Frosh Jeremy Hunt, 6'7 Frosh Rodney Carney, 6'9 Frosh Almamy Thiero, and 6'0 Frosh Clyde Wade, so suddenly the Tigers can become very picky in terms of who they take in the Class of 2004.  Our guess is that they will be tough to beat for 6'8 Jr Shawn Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, 6'9 Jr Jerrell Houston from Memphis (East) TN, and 5'10 Jr Andre Allen from Memphis (Booker T. Washington) TN, who are the top three juniors in their backyard, if they have the necessary scholarships available, and they will eventually win the battle for 6'9 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  Remember, Tangara and Thiero are both from the same part of Mali and they were best friends and roomates for two years at Mt. Zion Christian and the closeness they have can't be underestimated. 

Last week we heard that PrepStars.com was reporting that 5'9 Frosh Nic Wise from Katy (Cinco Rancho) TX, who is ranked #5 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP, had narrowed his list to two schools (Texas and Arizona) and that a verbal commitment would be forthcoming by the end of last week.  Well, after doing some checking of our own, it appeared that this was right on the money.  However, when I saw Rob Harrington, who is a Recruiting Analyst for both PrepStars.com and the Recruiters Handbook, at the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX on Friday, I told him that they had jumped the gun, because absolutely nothing was going to happen until early this week.  Obviously I was giving Harrington a hard time, but they do deserve a lot of credit for being on top of this story before it broke.  After all, who would expect a freshman in high school to be making a verbal commitment.  I bring all this up, because last night Wise did indeed make a verbal commitment to the University of Arizona, which is one of the earliest verbal commitments on record.  As a matter of fact, Wise is one of only two current freshmen and sophomores to have already made a verbal commitment this early.  If you will recall, 6'8 Soph Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #37 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP, made a verbal commitment to Texas Tech last fall.  Right now Wise is an undersized point guard, but obviously time is on his side in terms of potential to grow.  However, even if what you see is what you ultimately get, you're talking about a savvy floor general who makes his teammates better and a player who is capable of dominating the game from the point guard spot.  Wise also is an excellent defender, a good athlete, great ball handler and passer, first-class kid, and winner in the true sense of the word, which also helps explain why the Wildcats would be willing to accept a verbal commitment from him this early.  Obviously all this is due to the hard work of Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner, who has worked his way up through the ranks at Arizona, first as a walk-on player, then in an administrative capacity, and now on the road as a full-time assistant coach.  The connection is important, because Pastner not only has strong contacts in the Houston area, but he knows Wise, 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, and 6'6 Jr Jawaan McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, all of whom are already committed to the Wildcats, through his connection to the Houston Hoops AAU program, which is run by his father, Hal Pastner.  And this connection becomes even more important now that Ben Howland is the new head coach at UCLA, as it suddenly appears that the Bruins are going to be able once again to take their pick from among the top players on the West Coast. However, Pastner hasn't won all the recent recruiting battles for the top players in the Houston Hoops AAU program, as is evident by the fact that 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX recently picked the Longhorns over the Wildcats.  Instead, the credit on this one has to go to Texas assistant coach Frank Haith, who, just like Pastner, is quickly establishing himself as one of the top recruiters in the nation.  Haith also has played a major role in securing early verbal commitments from 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'10 Jr Connor Atchley from Houston (Clear Lake) TX, and 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX and, as a result, landing the #1-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  In other words, the first battles have already been fought and won in what promises to be one of the most intense recruiting rivalries in college basketball for years to come.  So stay tuned!

Reggie Tisdale, the Editor and Publisher of Indiana Basketball News, tells us that 6'1 Todd Abernathy from Indianapolis (Heritage Christian) IN, who reneged on Wright State after Ed Schilling got fired earlier this spring, has signed with the University of Mississippi.  We find this extremely interesting, because Abernathy, who picked Ole Miss over Memphis and Butler, is not athletic enough nor is he talented enough to be more than a good role player in the Southeastern Conference.  In other words, if he's willing to accept his role, Abernathy could be an excellent recruit for the Rebels.  Remember, tough hardnosed white kids from Indiana who know how to play are always at a premium.  However, if Abernathy, who is ranked #10 in the state by Tisdale, expects to an impact player for the Rebels, he likely will end up following the footsteps of Jonathan Loe and Trey Pearson, both of whom transferred this spring, or it may only be a matter of time before Rebels head coach Rod Barnes gets fired. But we don't think there is much chance that will happen, despite the fact the Rebels finished with a 14-15 record this past season.  Remember, Barnes has done a marvelous job at Ole Miss while compiling a 100-61 record and a 3-3 NCAA Tournament during the last five years.  It also looks like Barnes has already more than replaced Derrick Allen, David Sanders, and Emmanuel Wade, all three of whom will graduate this spring, and Pearson, who started 24 games as a freshman last year, because Ole Miss' recruiting class, which also includes 6'9 Byron  Burnett from Southern Union (JC) AL, 6'6 Tommie Eddie from Coffeyville (JC) KS, 6'5 Marvin Moore from Southern Union (JC) AL, 6'2 Mario Jointer from Northeast Mississippi (JC) MS, 6'2 Ed Glass from Kaskaskia (JC) IL, and 6'4 Jara Doyne from Little Rock (Mills) AR, moves up to #9 on our list of the Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Jointer will probably have to go back to junior college for another year, due to a rule, whereby, a player has to attend the same junior college for three consecutive semester before he can transfer to a school in the Southeastern Conference.  But he still counts with this year's recruiting class, because it is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to count a player with the school he verbally commits to or sign with, even if we think he will go the junior college or prep school route.  And assuming that we are correct about this and Jointer reaffirms his commitment to the Rebels once again next year, then he will have counted in three different Ole Miss recruiting classes.  If you will recall, Jointer originally signed with Ole Miss two years ago as a high school senior at Jackson (Jim Hill) MS.  This also means that Mississippi won't have any room left for 6'8 Warren Scott from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who was supposed to be a lock for Mississippi, if he makes it academically.  As a matter of fact, Ole Miss currently has seven players in this recruiting class, which means Jointers isn't the only player the Rebels coaching staff will have to finesse next fall when only five players can enroll in school on scholarship.  Instead, our guess is that Scott will sign with Louisiana-Lafayette, which would means that the Ragin' Cajuns recruiting class, which also includes 5'10 Kevin Bell from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'9 Adam James from Lafayette (St. Thomas More) LA, and 6'6 Ross Mouton from Lafayette (St. Thomas More) LA, will move into a tie at #100 on our list of the Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, that doesn't begin to tell the story about how much improved Louisiana-Lafayette could be after going 20-10 each of the last two years.  Did you know that Ragin' Cajuns head coach Jessie Evans, who is second to none as a recruiters has 6'4 Orien Greene, who sat out this season after transferring from Florida; 6'5 Brian Hamilton, who was arguably the best player at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before transferring to Louisiana-Lafayette last fall; and 6'4 Dwayne Mitchell, who transferred from Auburn to Louisiana-Lafayette at the semester break last December, all waiting in the wings.  We also have confirmed that 6'9 Byron Joynes from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has signed with Rutgers, which means the Scarlet Knights were able to quickly find a replacement for 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, who committed to Rutgers last fall, but then reneged this spring and verbally committed to Kentucky last Thursday.  In other words, Rutgers replaced one project with another project and, ironically, we think they may have gotten the better end of the deal.  Remember, we have always had questions about Alleyne's heart and toughness and, as a result, we're not sure how much better he's going to get at the big time college level.  However, Joynes is a physical specimen inside, if he ever gets into top notch shape, he develop into a monster at the college level.  This moves Rutgers' recruiting class into a tie at #43, along with Alabama, on our list of the Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and their recruiting class could move a lot higher, if 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ picks Rutgers this spring.  Currently it appears to be a four-horse race for Watkins among Rutgers, Villanova, North Carolina, and Kentucky.  We also continue to hear that Florida State is the leader for 6'10 Alexander Johnson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, but don't count out Cincinnati and Connecticut just yet.   We also have confirmed that 6'7 Kelvin Brown from Ft. Scott (JC) KS has signed with Murray State.  If you will recall, Brown, who was a top 100 senior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, originally signed with South Florida two years ago as a high school senior at Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL.  However, it appears he's gotten a lot better in junior college, as is evident by the fact that he was a First Team All Region selection and a Player-of-the-Year candidate in the tough Jayhawk Conference.  This moves Murray State's recruiting class, which also includes 6'10 Preston Griffin from Murray State (JC) OK, into a tie #57, along with UAB and UCLA, on our list of the Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, despite the fact that two of the recruits signed by the previous regime - 5'11 Dwayne Foreman from Apopka (H.S.) FL and 6'3 Terrick Willoughby from Biloxi (H.S.) MS - both have been released from their scholarships and, as a result, no longer count with this recruiting class.  And new Murray State head coach Mick Cronin isn't done yet.  As matter of fact, it's our guess that he will also land the other two players that made official visits last weekend to Murray State, along with Brown.  We're talking about 6'1 Adam Chiles from Vincennes (JC) IN and 6'7 Guy Ngnardi from Louisville (Western) KY.  If you recall, Chiles didn't make it a year ago when he was a freshman at Kentucky, but he thrived in junior college this past season, as is evident by the fact that he had 48 points and was largely responsible for the only loss that Southeastern Iowa, which went 22-1 en route to the Junior College National Championship, had all season.  Ngnardi has attracted interest from a number of big time schools, like Louisville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Indiana, but his best days are ahead of him and, as a result, this undersized athletic power forward who has improved dramatically in the last year is ideally suited for this level.   And, if Cronin, pulls this off, his recruiting class would move into a tie with Memphis at #15 on our list of the Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Cronin also is battling Austin Peay for Trey Pearson, who is transferring for Mississippi, but, if he gets him, Pearson won't count with his recruiting class.  Remember, it is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP not to include transfers when ranking recruiting classes.  But, if we did, and Murray State gets Chiles, Ngnardi, and Pearson, their recruiting class would move into a tie at #10, along with Virginia. 

Saturday, April 26, 2003, Sunday, April 27, 2003, & Monday, April 28, 2003

The New York Gauchos, which were led by 6'3 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY with 22 points, won easily against YOMCA Team Memphis in the championship game.  But that was not the big story over the weekend at the 9th Annual Houston Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX.   Neither was the fact that the New York Gauchos won the tournament without the help of 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'3 Jr Trammel Wooten from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA is not nearly as good as advertised, or that the tournament was so loaded that teams like the Houston Hoops and Ft. Sooy-No Limit didn't even win their pool.  Instead, the big story was 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, who simply picked up where he left off last weekend when we saw him the Las Vegas Easter Classic in Las Vegas, NV.  "Wright reminds us of Tracy McGrady and he's got the incredible athleticism and natural talent necessary to someday be almost as good.  Not only is he a great ball handler and passer for his size, but more often than not he brings the ball up the court, starts the offense, and makes something spectacular happen.  He's not a strong as McGrady at the same stage, but he shoots it a lot better.  In other words, Wright is a close second as the biggest sleeper in the nation, although schools like Iowa, USC, Connecticut, Florida, Rhode Island, and Boston College do know about him.  But, just like Mayes, junior college and/or prep school may be in Wright's future, unless he decides to go the baseball route.  Apparently Wright also is a heck of a pitcher and, as a result, may have a big league future."  That's what we wrote a week ago about Wright, but now it appears that Wright is a lot better than we originally thought.  While we don't want to take anything away from 6'1 Sylvester Mayes from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN, who was the other player we mentioned from a week ago, it now appears that Wright the biggest sleeper in the nation.  And he remains so, because, even after seeing him play this weekend at the Kingwood Classic, most of our competitors don't seem to get it!  How good is Wright?   What would you think if we told you that we're going to rank him as the #4 player, behind 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary's) OH, 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL?  And, while most of our competition appears to be out to lunch on this one, the college coaches I've talked with agree with me. "Fourth in the nation might be too low," said one coach when I mentioned where I planned to rank Wright in our final rankings for the Class of 2003.  "He'll never see a day of college basketball," said another college coach.  "Better than Ricky Davis at the same stage," said yet another coach college.  Other coaches even went so far as to say that Wright is "just as good as McGrady was at the same stage" and "he is so good it's a joke."  But even that doesn't tell the entire story.  As a matter of fact, Wright is so naturally gifted that he does things at the spur of the moment better than most players can do after years of practice.  Somebody from Florida, Iowa, USC, Connecticut, and Boston College were seen at all of Wright's games, but the word we get is that DePaul may have the inside track, because Erik Harden, who is Wright's mentor and AAU coach when he plays for the Los Angeles Paladins, not only is close friend of Blue Demons assistant coach Josh Oppeinheimer, but they also coached together when Oppeinheimer was getting his start in coaching with the L.A. Rockfish club team.  And you can bet that Oppenheimer is trying to sell Wright on the fact that if he comes to DePaul, he could follow in the same footsteps of Quentin Richardson, who was named both the Frosh-of-the-Year and the Player-of-the-Year in Conference USA in his first season with the Blue Demons.  But, as things stand now, Wright will need at least one year of prep school, because it appears he's that far behind academically.  And, as a result, most people will reclassify him as a junior.  However, for our purposes, we'll continue to include Wright with the Class of 2003 and then make him our #1-ranked 5th year player next year.  Wright can shoot the lights out from downtown, is explosive to the basket, is a great passer, is a surprisingly good rebounder for his lack of size, and has a flare for the spectacular.  He also has incredible athleticism, always seem to make something positive happen, and has no idea just how good he is.   In other words, we're talking about a nice humble kid who has superstar written all over him, but has not yet been corrupted by too much attention and notoriety.  How refreshing!  This comes in sharp contrast to Telfair, who reportedly didn't show up to play this weekend, because he feels like he doesn't have anything more to prove.  Hopefully for Telfair's sake, he won't fall into the trap, whereby, he thinks he's the next LeBron James.  Sure, Telfair is the #1-ranked junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, but 6-foot point guards in the NBA are a dime dozen and, if you don't believe me, just ask Marcus Taylor and Omar Cook, both of whom made the mistake of putting their names into the NBA Draft before their time had come.  But even without Telfair, the Gauchos had a terrific trio of guards in Robinson, 6'0 Jr Ronald Ramon from Bronx (All Hallows) NY, and 6'3 Jr Sunditta Gaines from Briarwood (Archbishop Malloy) NY and, despite their youth and inexperience inside, more than enough talent with 6'5 James Barnett from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'9 Frosh Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY and 6'8 Soph Mike Davis from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY to win the championship.  We also have to give Gauchos head coach Julius Allen, who formerly was an assistant coach at Long Island University, credit for doing an excellent job coaching, finding the right chemistry, and helping restore the rivalry between the Gauchos and New York Riverside Church, which used to be one of the biggest rivalries at any level in basketball.  Speaking New York Riverside Church, they too were loaded, as their front line included 6'9 Frosh Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Jr Arturo Dubois from New York (Rice) NY, 6'7 Soph Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco) NJ, 6'7 Jr Dexter Gray from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, and 6'6 Frosh Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY and their backcourt featured 6'2 Jr Anthony Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'0 Jr Desean Gist from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 5'9 Jr Herbert Allen from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'3 Jr Shanty Robinson from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, and 6'2 Jr Keith Benjamin from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY.  However, Caracter had a thigh injury and, as a result, didn't play against YOMCA Team Memphis, which not only was good enough to knock off Riverside Church in the second round of the play-offs, but also sent tough DC Blue Devils and California Select teams packing, en route to a runnerup finish in the tournament.  YOMCA Team Memphis was led by 6'8 Jr Shawn Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, 6'9 Jr Jerrell Houston from Memphis (East) TN, 5'10 Jr Andre Allen from Memphis (Booker T. Washington) TN, and 6'9 Jr Frank Holmes from Memphis (Fayette-Ware) TN.  Houston is an incredible athlete with long arms and deadly shooting range and Allen has been hyped as the next great point guard from the Mid-South since his 8th grade days, but Williams is the best player on this team.   Not only is he very skilled and athletic, but he also is versatile enough to play both inside and outside and, as a result, must be ranked among our top 50 juniors nationally.  Holmes is still raw, but's got nice size and athleticism and is active on the boards, which makes him an ideal catch for somebody in the Sun Belt Conference.  The DC Blue Devils, which were our early choice to win the tournament, featured a star-studded roster that included 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'2 Jr Isaiah Swann from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Nottingham) MD, 6'8 Jr James Gist from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, 6'1 Soph Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'10 Jr Peter Prowitt from Dumfries (Potomac) VA, 6'5 Soph Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'9 Jr Davis Nwankwo from Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'2 Soph Justin Castleberry from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, and 6'5 Brad Farrell from Herndon (H.S.) VA.  Johnson and Swann were two of the best players in the tournament and Moore was one of the fastest rising players in the tournament, along with 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, who was the key player for California Team Select, which also included 6'2 Jr Jordan Farmer from Los Angeles (Taft) CA, 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'5 Jr Jonathan Heard from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 6'10 Soph Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, 6'8 Frosh Matthew Shaw from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, and 6'0 Soph Michael Garrity from San Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  As a matter of fact, this was the best we've ever seen Swift play and we also were impressed with the quickness, athleticism, savvy, and handling skills displayed by Farmer, who is quickly becoming one of the top players in the Los Angeles area.  Also advancing into the final four of the tournament, along with the New York Gauchos, YOMCA Team Memphis, and California Team Select, was Team Texas Elite with 6'11 Jr LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Jr Rel Porter from Pittsburg (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Jr Kevin Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, and 6'9 Jr Pavilius Packevicius from Arlington (Oakridge) TX.   If you rank them based only on potential, Aldridge has to be top five in the junior class nationally.  But we rank players the old-fashioned way, whereby, you have to earn it.  In other words, Aldridge is an incredible athlete, but he doesn't play hard and, as a result, is not the dominant force he should be at this level.  However, Horton does, which means he's not only the better player right now, but also one of the top four guards in the junior class nationally, along with Telfair, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, and 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL.  We also were impressed with Porter's long arms, athleticism, rebounding, and ability to score around the basket, but we still think it's too close to call between Porter and 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, who led the Houston Westside All-Stars, which also featured 6'0 Jr Charlie Jones from Katy (Cinco Rancho) TX and 5'10 Jr Sean Morris from Katy (Cinco Rancho) TX, both of whom have already made early verbal commitments to Colorado State.  One of the biggest sleepers to emerge in the tournament was 6'9 Jr Devon Hardin from Newark (Memorial) CA.  UCLA, USC, Arizona, Kansas, LSU, UNLV, Utah, Washington, Oregon State, and Oregon are all in the hunt, but our guess is that the University of California will be tough to beat for this aggressive athlete who is raw offensively, but tough on the boards and at the defensive end.  And, if our guess is right, Golden Bears head coach Ben Braun will have four inside players for years to come who complement one another perfectly.  If you will recall, California landed 6'8 Leon Powe from Oakland (H.S.) CA in this year's recruiting class, plus they already have early verbal commitments from 6'11 Jr Sam Rayburn from Portland (Sunset) OR and 6'10 Jr David Ellis from Sacramento (Capital Christian) CA.  In addition to Hardin, Belmont Shore/H-Squad also featured 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'6 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA, 6'7 Soph Rashad Austin from Claremont (H.S.) CA, and 6'6 Lorenzo Wade from Las Vegas (Cheyenne) NV.  But without a healthy Nelson, who was injured in the first round of the playoffs, Belmont Shore was unable to get past NIKE Team Florida, which included three of the best players in the tournament in 6'9 Soph Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'3 Jr Jason Rich from Orlando (Dr. Phillips) FL, and 6'11 Jr Alexander Kaun from Melbourne (Florida Air Academy) FL.  Brumbaugh is an incredible athlete who is versatile enough to play both inside and outside and talented enough to be ranked among the top 10 sophomores nationally.  However, Brumbaugh does need to get bigger and stronger, plus a haircut would do wonders to help his appearance.  Rich has a great feel for the game, big-time athleticism, and a much improved 3-point shot, which means numerous college coaches were watching his every move and we were trying to figure out whether he should be ranked as high as top 30 in the junior class nationally.  Kaun is a big white foreign kid with surprising mobility, long arms, excellent skills, and enough natural talent too  be ranked among our top 50 juniors nationally.  Getting back to Wade, his list of schools Louisville, Maryland, Oklahoma, California, Tennessee, Utah, and Florida, but this big time athlete with excellent 3-point shooting range and a much tougher court demeanor than when we saw him last summer is expected to go the prep school route - most likely at Laurinburg (Institute) NC or Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  Team Georgia Elite, thanks to the efforts of 6'9 Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Jr Robert Dozier from Lithonia (H.S.) GA, 6'7 Soph Jay Brown from Griffin (H.S.) GA, and 6'3 Jr Archie Miaway from Norcross (H.S.) GA, did manage to get the Round of 16, but the biggest disappointment of the entire tournament was 6'3 Jr Trammel Wooten from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA.  If you will recall, our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis had been touting Wooten as one of the best point guards to ever play in his program, but, instead of being one of the top 30 juniors nationally, he wasn't even one of the top 300 players in the 17-Under Division of the tournament.  In other words, Wooten, who apparently established his reputation while playing against A-level high school and weak AAU competition in Georgia, is like a race-horse that looks great when he drops in for a cheap claim, but can't cut the mustard against good competition.  Instead, Dozier, who has long arms, good hands, and nose for the ball inside, turned out to be the big surprise on this team.  Another player we were disappointed in was 6'9 Jr Ra'Sean Dickey from Bennettsville (Marlboro County) SC and, if 6'2 Jr Zam Frederick from St. Matthews (Calhoun County) SC, who was one of the best 3-point shooters in the tournament, wants to continue to be ranked among the top 50 juniors nationally, he'd better grow or develop better point guards skills.  We also got our first chance to see 6'11 Jr Steven Hill from Branson (H.S.) MO and we liked what we saw.  Sure, Hill needs to get bigger and stronger, but he has the frame to do it, plus he's very fluid, mobile, and skilled for a big white kid his size.  The Albany City Rocks didn't have all that much to go along with 6'3 Soph Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY and 6'7 Jr Dayshawn Wright from Syracuse (Fowler) NY, but they beat the Florida Hoopsters, which featured 6'1 Jr Tauren Green from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, to advance into the final eight of the tournament.  The player with the biggest reputation for DTA Wisconsin is 6'0 Jr Dupree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, but the player who impressed college coaches the most was 6'7 Jermyl Jackson-Wilson from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI.  Wilson is another guy who is a senior in high school, but now is talking about going the prep school route and, as a result, is trying to pass himself off as a junior.  However, now this relentless rebounder/athlete/competitor with grades may not have wait around another year to attend college, because schools a lot bigger than Wisconsin-Green Bay and Evansville, both of which were trying to steal him, are starting to take note.  The Dallas Mustangs featured 5'11 Soph Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, but we already knew about this strong athletic point guard who reminds us Baron Davis.   Instead, the player who had us making a lot of new notes was 6'7 Soph Gary Flowers from Dallas (Roosevelt) TX.  Not only does Flowers have softs hands, a nice touch around the basket, and the ability to run the court, but he's a big time athlete who blocks shots, rebounds well, and gets it done at the defensive end.  We also have to mention the Blessed IJM Maximum team, which featured 6'7 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurst) IN, 6'10 Frosh Ricky Sanchez from Puerto Rico, 6'10 Jr Aaron Agnew from Bellaire (H.S.) OH, 6'7 Jr Rashaun Marshall from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'6 Jr Issac Knight from Detroit (Crockett) MI, and 5'8 Jr Randy Simon from Lansing (Everett) MI.  Hardy not only promises to rival 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN and 6'6 Jr J.R. Angle from Trafalgar (Indian Creek) IN for Mr. Basketball honors in Indiana a year from now, but he also might be a top 30 junior nationally.  In othe words, we're talking about a guy a multi-dimensional athlete who can play both inside and outside, because he can handle, pass, shoot, rebound, and defend both bigger and smaller players.  We didn't think 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (Aurora West) IL even came close to living up to the hype (if you will recall, Roy and Harv Schmidt had been touting Pruitt as the best junior in Illinois) and 6'6 Jr DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL, who is one of the top three juniors in Illinois, was a disappointment, as well, when we saw him on Friday night.  However, Williams did manage to redeem himself on Saturday, as he impressed with his passing skills, athleticism, ability to get to the basket, and ability to take over a game.  We could go on and on, but we're out of time and you already get the idea that this tournament was absolutely loaded.  As a matter of fact, the 17-Under Division was so loaded that we never got a chance to watch any of the 16-Under, 15-Under, and 14-Under Divisions, all of which also were supposed have been nothing short of spectacular.  However, we did get a chance to see DTA Wisconsin and Team Next (New York), which were the two teams that competed for the championship in the 13-Under Division, and 5'6 7th Grader Kory Lucious from Whitefish Bay (Middle School) WI, 5'9 7th Grader Tony Moore from Madison (James C. Wright) WI, 5'11 7th Grader Tajilt Palmer from Glendale (Mapledale) WI, 5'6 7th Grader Coryonne Gaines from Madison (James C. Wright) WI, 5'0 7th Grader Erving Walker from Brooklyn (PS 308) NY, 6'0 6th Grader from Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Institute Collaborative) NY, 5'10 7th Grader Ashton Gibbs from Scotch Plains (Terrill) NJ, and 6'1 7th Grader Leanard McNeil from New York (Crossroads) NY, are all names to remember for the future.  As a matter of fact, Walker and Lucious might be the two best players in the nation in 7th Grade and any way you slice it, Stephenson, has to be one of the top five 6th graders in the land.   Last, but not least, a special thanks to Kingwood Classic Tournament Director Hal Pastner, who not only has developed this into one of the premier events of the entire year, but has no peers in terms of running high school tournaments and AAU-like events. 

Friday, April 25, 2003

NCAA Division I college coaches can't attend the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX until tomorrow morning, but they will be able to purchase a packet at Westfield High School, which is the headquarters for the tournament, from 5:00 PM until Midnight tonight and, as a result, map out of the players and teams they want to see tomorrow and Sunday.  However, we plan to be there by 6:30 PM tonight, because we not only want to get a lay of the land for what promises to be the premier event of the entire spring, but we want to be in Gym #1 at Westfield High School at 7:00 PM when the tournament officially begins, because we want to see if 6'3 Jr Trammel Wooten from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA is as good as advertised.  Remember, our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis, who also is the coach of the Georgia Elite team, has not only touted Wooten as one of the best point guards he's ever had in his program, right up there with William Avery and Vonteego Cummings, but Davis has been touting Wooten as a legitimate top 30 junior nationally.  And, if Wooten lives up to the billing, we could be talking about the biggest sleeper in the nation, because nobody in our business, except for some regional scouts in Georgia, has ever seen him play.  Obviously the college coaches will be focusing on the 17-Under Division, which is expected to include 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Manual) IL, 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'9 Frosh Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'10 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'6 Jr Jawaan McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, 6'0 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, 6'1 Jr Sundiati Gaines from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'4 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'8 Jr Kalen Grimes from Florrisant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 6'11 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, 6'9 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University) LA, 6'2 Jr Isaiah Swann from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Jr Ra'Sean Dickey from Bennettsville (Marlboro County) SC,  6'3 Jr Trammel Wooten from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6'1 Soph Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Jr DayShaun Wright from Syracuse (Fowler) NY, 6'8 Jr Keith Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, 6'6 Soph Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'9 Soph Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, 6'11 Jr David Burgess from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA, 6'2 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'1 Jr Jordan Farmer from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'4 Jr Josh Shipp from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'6 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Jr Carl Swanagan from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN, 6'7 Jr Bil Duany from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'1 Jr Zam Frederick from St. Matthews (Calhoun County) SC, 6'5 Frosh Marques Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 6'8 Jr Robert Dozier from Lithonia (H.S.) GA, 5'10 Andre Allen from Memphis (Booker T. Washington) TN, 6'7 Jr Shawne Williams from Mempis (Hamilton) TN, 6'8 Jr James Gist from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, 611 Sam Rayburn from Portland (Sunset) OR, and 6'8 Jr Joseph Jones form Normangee (H.S.) TX.   However, Tournanent Director Hal Pastner also has 16-Under, 15-Under, 14-Under, 13-Under, 12-Under, 11-Under, 10-Under, and 9-Under Divisions, which means he has over 300 teams that will be participating in over 850 games in 48 hours.  For more information, a list of the teams for each age group, the schedule, and the brackets, click on visionsports.com.  Speaking the participating teams, the list of teams in the 17-Under Division is incredible, as it includes 4D, ABC Hoops, Albany City Rocks, Arizona Cagers, Arizona Stars, Arkansas Angels, Arkansas Wings, Atlanta All Stars, Atlanta Prep Stars, ATX, Austin Dawgs, Beaumont Hoopsters, Belmont Shore, Big Dawgs, Blessed IJN (Maximun), CC Elite, Cedar Hill, Cincinnati Royals, Copper State All Stars, Crossover Meteors, Dallas Dirty Dozen, Dallas Fire, Dallas Hoops Select, Dallas Mustangs, DC Blue Devils, DFW Hoopsters, DTA Wisconsin, E&S Elite, Fast Break USA, First Class, Florida Hoopsters, Florida Prep Stars, Fox Valley Skillz, Ft. Bend Prospects, Ft. Sooy No Limit, Ft. Worth Lions, Galveston Hornets, Gary Cougars, Gateway Basketball Club, Georgia Stars, Georgia Warriors, Hoop Dogs, Houston Bulldogs, Houston Gold, Houston Hoops, Houston Lynx, Houston Raptors Select, Houston Select, Houston Superstars, Houston Westside Allstars, Illnois Warriors, Illinois Wolves, Indiana Red, Indian White, Jersey Cyclones, Jr EBO/EA Sports, Kansas City Keys, Kansas City Premier, Katy Ballers, Katy Tigers, KCHoopScoop.com Orangemen, KC's Mustangs, Kentucky Hoosters, Klein Kats, Long Island Roadrunners, Louisiana Dream Team, Louisiana Panthers, Louisiana Select, Louisiana Stars, Madison Spartans, Mean Streets, Memphis Bulldogs, Mid State Ballerz Elite, Milwaukee Running Rebels, Minnesota Magic, New Jersey All-Stars, New Orleans Rattlers, New York Gauchos, Nex Level, Nike Team Florida, NJ Wildcats Elite, North Texas, North Texas Rice Owls, Old Gold Chicago, Omaha Rebels, One Tough School, Platinum Starzz, Portland Elite Legends, Portland Panthers, RBS AllStars, Remnant, Rise & Shine, Riverside Church, San Antonio Flames, San Antonio Raiders, San Antonio Rohawks, San Antonio Spurs, San Antonio Wildcats, SE Texas Allstars, South Carolina Ravens, South Florida Heat, Southern California All Stars, Southern Nevada AllStars, Southpoint Shooters, Southwest Missouri Storm, Spiece Select, St. Louis Blue, St. Louis Eagles, St. Louis Gators, TA Eagles, Team Charlotte Stars, Team Georgia, Team Illinois, Team NCI Hoopstars, Team Tennessee, Texas Texas, Tennessee Travelers, Texas Ambassadors, Texas Tarheels, Texas Terps, Texas Wolverines, TUAC Warriors, Utah Vipers, Westchester Hawks, Westfield H.S., Worldwide Renegades, and YOMCA Team Memphis. 

Thursday, April 24, 2003

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Allen Rubin tells us that 6'8 Blake Crawford from Overland Park (Blue Valley North) KS, 6'4 Mike English from Kaskaskaia (JC) IL, and 6'1 Brandon Temple from White Plains (JC) MO have all signed with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 6'9 Ardydas Lidzius from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD has made it official for St. Joseph's, and 6'10 Raphael Madera from Avon (Old Avon Farms School) CT has picked Delaware.  Rubin also is predicting that 6'4 Dustin Salisbury from Lancaster (McCaskey) PA will sign with Temple, 6'9 Jason Cain from Philadelphia (John Bartram) PA will sign with Virginia, and that 6'1 Jr Darris Nichols from Radford (H.S.) VA will verbally commit to West Virginia in the near future.  The Mountaineers are expected to beat Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Richmond for Nichols services and, as a result, should get an excellent combo guard.  In other words, he'll challenge for playing time at the 2-guard spot, as well as provide depth for 6'0 Tyler Relph from Rochester (McQuaid Jesuit) NY at the point guard spot.  Assuming that Cain, who is tied a #100 nationally in the senior by the HOOP SCOOP, does pick the Cavaliers, then they will have the two inside players - Cain and 6'8 Donte Minter from Fork Union (Military) VA - they wanted to land in this recruiting class.  And when you also remember they signed 6'5 Gary Forbes from Brooklyn (Banneker) NY and 6'3 J.R. Reynolds from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and they got a verbal commitment from 6'1 T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington County Day) FL during the winter, it is easy to see why their recruiting class is now ranked #10 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Salisbury is ranked #8 in the area by Rubin, but he's talking about moving Salisbury up a couple of spots after his performance recently in the Dapper Dan Roundball in Classic in Pittsburgh, PA, where he scored 27 points, won the slam dunk contest, and took home game MVP honors.  And, if this does happen, it would move Temple's recruiting class, which now is tied at #87, along with Ohio State, includes 6'3 Mario Taybron from Norfolk (Ryan Academy) VA and 6'10 Wayne Marshall from Philadelphia (Martin Luther King) PA, into a tie at #63, along with Georgetown, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  We also have confirmed two more recruits for McNeese State in 6'5 Erkan Oguz from Baltimore (JC) MD and 6'9 Lance Hood from Southeastern Nebraska (JC) NE and, as a result, the Cowboys now have an excellent five-man recruiting class, which suddenly appears to be the best in the league.  If you will recall, we've already reported that 6'10 Darius Manciel from Arkansas-Ft. Smith (JC) AR, 6'8 Andrew Queen from Lee (JC) TX, and 6'5 Ronald Dorsey from Schoolcraft (JC) MI have all signed with McNeese State, which now is tied at #37, along with Texas A&M, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, the big news of the day involves 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, who is ranked #80 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Alleyne told us earlier today when we saw him at the practice for the Derby Classic All-Star Game in Louisville, KY that he has verbally committed to the University of Kentucky and that he will sign a National Letter-of-Intent to play for the Wildccats after he plays in the game on Saturday night and returns home early next week.  Assuming that Alleyne's commitment hold up this time (he originally verbally committed to Rutgers last fall, but recently reneged on the Scarlet Knights), this would move Kentucky's recruiting class, which also includes 6'8 Sheray Thomas from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD and 6'7 Bobby Perry from Durham (Hillside) NC, into a tie at #76, along with Montana, Murray State, Seton Hall, Colorado State, Florida A&M, and Massachusetts, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And the Wildcats don't appear to be done yet.  Not only are they believed to among the leaders for 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA and 6'10 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, but we also have confirmed that 7'0 Darius Silinskis from Lithuania was in Lexington, KY on an official visit 10 days ago and 7'1 Ivan Chiriave from Oakville (St. Thomas Aquinas) ON has Kentucky right at the top of his list, along with schools like Michigan, Auburn, LSU, Florida, Florida State, and Miami-FL.  If two of these three players sign with the Wildcats this spring, then their recruiting class would suddenly jump all the way up to #9 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, plus it would allow the Kentucky coaching staff to be extremely picking about who they take in the future.  Remember, Kentucky also already has an early verbal commitment for next year from 6'4 Jr Adam Williams from St Albans (H.S.) WV and, as a result, they would only have two remaining scholarships available if you go by the current NCAA rule, whereby, you can only sign eight players during an two-year period (five one-year and three the next).  In other words, any thoughts that Patrick Sparks has about transferring from Western Kentucky to Kentucky might be history, unless he wants to walk-on and pay his way for a year.  And Louisville appears to be in a similar boat, because the Cardinals already have three players in the fold in this recruiting class in 6'7 Nate Daniels from Broward County (JC) FL, 6'10 Nauha Diakite from Barton County (JC) KS, and 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, plus they already have one verbal commitment for next year from 6'10 Jr Terrance Farley from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY.   In other words, Louisville has a total of four scholarships left to be used (with a maximum of two this spring) in the next year and it would be a major surprise, if they didn't sign the best point guard, best wing player, and two inside players they can get.   So obviously they aren't going to do anything at the point guard spot until they see what 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is the #1-ranked player in the nation, is going to do.  If you will recall, it previously appeared the Louisville was a near lock for Telfair, but now it looks like a number of other schools, like Duke, UCLA, Arizona, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh are really turning up the heat.  We also have confirmed via Kevin Boyle, who is the head coach at Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ and is one of the coaches in the Derby Classic All-Star Game, that 6'10 Soph Theo Davis from Toronto (West Carr) ON, who is ranked #34 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP, has already transferred and is enrolled in school at St. Patrick.  We also have heard that 6'3 O.J. Mayo, who is widely regarded as the #1 8th grader in the nation, has transferred from Ashland (Rose Hill) KY to Cincinnati (North College Hills) OH.

If Roy Williams had stayed at Kansas, an early verbal commitment from 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, who is ranked #7 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, to the Jayhawks probably would have been forthcoming sooner than later.  And, while we still think both Kansas and North Carolina are high on his list, as well as UCLA, which is expected to make a strong push now that Ben Howland has the job, the smart money is on Arizona and Oregon.  In other words, we like the Ducks' chances as they go head-head with a number of the big name programs in college basketball not just because Oregon is the only school Pacific-10 school in the Northwest that has had a lot of success in recent years, but also due to the fact Williams and 6'1 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA, who signed with Oregon last fall, are best friends.  We also are waiting to see which other high school players join 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH and 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ by putting their names into the NBA Draft.  Rumor has it that 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN has already made the decision to by-pass college and go straight to The League and our guess is that 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Chrisian) AL and 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX will also make the jump, plus it appears that 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS and 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS are contemplating the jump.  That's seven potential high school/5th year players in this year's NBA Draft and the only two we'd draft in the first round are James and Lang.  But even drafting James #1 in the draft is not the total no-brainier that the mainstream media and NBA scouts seem to think it is.  Remember, this is not rocket science or brain surgery, plus our readers are very smart to begin with and, as a result, it comes as no surprise that in response to our "Question of the Day" from Tuesday, April 8th, regarding who should be the #1 pick in this year's NBA Draft, Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony has received 57% of the vote compared to James, who has gotten 38% of the vote, and Darko Milicic, who has gotten 5% of the vote.  As for the seven players mentioned above, which one do you think is the least likely to get drafted?  You can tell us by answering today's "Question of the Day".  We also have checked and confirmed that as long as each of these players don't sign with an agent, they will be eligible to pull their name out of the draft and retain their college eligibility.  Previously this was not the case, until the NCAA changed the rule several years ago.  It also appears that Louisville, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Arkansas are making a strong push for 6'8 Taj Grey from Redlands (JC) OK, who was one of only seven freshmen named to the 2003 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-American Team a month ago. The only freshman named to the First Team was 6'7 Marcellus Sommerville from Southwestern Illinois (JC) IL, Grey was the only freshman named to the Second Team, 6'3 Kevin Essex from Garrett (JC) MD and 6'10 Michael Nascinmento from Arizona Western (JC) AZ were the only freshman named to the Third Team, and 6'8 E.J. Drayton from Colby (JC) KS, 6'7 Jean Felix from Bevill State (JC) AL, and 6'0 Isaac Hines from Collins County (JC) TX were the only freshmen listed as Honorable Mention.  To get the complete 2003 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-American Team, click on Big Apple Sports, which is our best source for junior college information.  As a matter of fact, a quick look at their list of signings provides us with a number of new commitments like, 6'3 Randy Pulley from Barton County (JC) KS to Missouri, 6'5 DeAngelo Newsom from Northwest Wyoming (JC) WY to Southern Utah, 6'7 Ben Jacobsen from Iowa Western (JC) IA to Tennessee Tech, 6'8 Henry Rivers from Southeast Nebraska (JC) NE to Stephen F. Austin, 6'7 Chris Brown from Polk (JC) FL to Tennessee-Chattanooga, 6'0 Dorin Perkins from Southwestern Oregon (JC) OR to Santa Clara, 6'6 Tommie Eddie from Coffeyville (JC) MS to Mississippi, 6'3 JueMichael Young from Chipola (JC) FL to Louisiana Tech, 6'2 Fred Marshall from Coffeyville (JC) KS to Louisiana Tech, 6'9 Patrick Hilliman from Central Florida (JC) FL to Alabama A&M, 5'11 Zach Graber, 5'11, PG, Coffeyville (JC) KS to Arkansas-Little Rock, 6'1 Reggie Wallace from Mt. San Antonio (CA to UT-San Antonio, 6'5 Chad Fleming from Johnson (JC) KS to Georgia Southern, 6'2 Chaun Brooks from Howard (JC) TX to Drake, 6'6 Sredrick Powe from Tallahassee (JC) FL to Birminghan Southern, 6'0 Antonio Williams-Parker from San Francisco (JC) CA to Jackson State, 6'6 Wilder Auguste from Neosho (JC) KS to Sam Houston State, 6'4 Joe Thompson from Lee (JC) TX to Sam Houston State, 6'5 Michael Cuffe from Neosho (JC) KS to Middle Tennessee State, 6'0 Marqus Mitchell from State Fair (JC) MO to North Texas, 6'8 Andrew Queen from Lee (JC) TX to McNeese State, 6'5 Ronald Dorsey from Schoolcraft (JC) MI to McNeese State, 6'4 Dandrick Jones from Trinidad (JC) CO to Idaho, 6'7 Lionel Davis from Chaffey (JC) CA to Idaho, 6'4 Michael McFadden from San Jose (JC) CA to San Jose State, 6'1 Filiberto Rivera from Southeastern Iowa (JC) IA to UTEP, 6'5 Jason Williams from Kilgore (JC) TX to UTEP, 6'8 Brett Murphy from Lon Morris (JC) TX to UTEP, 6'5 Javier Mendiburu from Indiana Hills (JC) IA to Wisconsin-Green Bay, 5'11 Franco Harris from Diablo Valley (JC) CA to Boise State, 6'1 Brett Ost from Yuba (JC) CA to Cal-Riverside, 6'8 David Jobe from Diablo Valley (JC) CA to Cal-Riverside, 6'4 J.J. Montgomery from Angelina (JC) TX to Arkansas State, 6'6 Troy Slaten from Southwestern Illinois (JC) IL to Arkansas State, 6'9 Nate Lofton from Arkansas-Ft. Smith (JC) AR to Southeast Louisiana, 6'8 Schuyler Thomas from Cowley (JC) KS to Oral Roberts, 6'6 Jason Wilkins from Angelina (JC) TX to Nicholls State, 6'6 Nick Hammer from Dixie (JC) UT to Utah State, 6'7 C.J. Pigford from Lon Morris (JC) TX to Charlotte, 6'6 Terren Harbut from Dixie (JC) UT to Ohio University, 6'5 Jermaine Washington from South Plains (JC) TX to Nevada, 6'8 Jamal Hughes from Brown Mackie (JC) KS to Albany, 6'5 Kurtis Rice from McCook (JC) NE to Charleston Southern, 6'6 Ryan Heck from Southwestern Illinois (JC) IL to Troy State, 6'5 Nick Ponder from Redlands (JC) OK to Southwest Texas State, 6'6 John Millsap from Navarro (JC) TX to Southwest Texas, 6'0 Josh Naylor from Northern Oklahoma (JC) OK to Southwest Texas State, 6'3 Mike Hall from Dixie (JC) UT to Brigham Young, 6'4 Anthony Shavies from Chabot (JC) CA to Southwest Missouri State, 5'10 Sergio Sanchez from Temple (JC) TX to UT-Pan American, 6'5 Ray Castillo from Temple (JC) TX to UT-Pan American, 6'6 Torvoris Baker from Schoolcraft (JC) MI to Detroit, 6'5 LaMar Owen from Southeastern Illinois (JC) IL to Southern Illinois, 6'8 Guillaume Yango from Southern Idaho (JC) ID to Pacific, 6'2 Gary Johnson from Schoolcraft (JC) MI to Central Florida, 6'0 Ryan Davis from Southern Idaho (JC) ID to Weber State, 6'0 Christopher Gooden from Eastfield (JC) TX to Robert Morris, 6'4 Ian Morris from Indian River (JC) FL to Auburn, 6'5 Alfred Neale from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (JC) to New Mexico, 6'0 Jeff Gardner from Snow (JC) UT to Idaho State, 6'8 Nate Rede from Monterey (JC) CA to Idaho State, 6'9 Tom Frericks from Chipola (JC) FL to Saint Louis, 6'2 Jeff Martini from Sheridan (JC) WY to Southern Utah, 6'5 DeAngelo Newsom from Northwest Wyoming (JC) WY to Southern Utah, 6'7 Cameron Lollar from Northeast Nebraska (JC) NE to Louisiana-Monroe, 6'7 P.J. Mills from Trinity Valley (JC) TX to Albany, 6'2 Ed Spencer from Butler (JC) KS to UNC-Wilmington,  6'9 Michael Bell from Palm Beach (JC) FL to Florida Atlantic, 6'4 Randy Brooks from Kilgore (JC) TX to Rhode Island, 6'8 Guilherme Teichmann from South Plains (JC) TX to Tulsa, 6'9 Oswaldo Gonzalez from Jacksonville (JC) TX to Tulsa, 6'4 Mark Curry from Globe Tech (JC) NY to St. Peter's, 6'1 Jeff Vaughn from Bevill (JC) AL to South Carolina, and 6'9 Brannon Hayes from Lee (JC) TX to Southern Miss.

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson is my best source for information in the business.  Don't believe it?  Well, just today he's updated me with numerous items that have occurred recently, like 6'11 Darius Manciel from Arkansas-Ft. Smith (JC) AR to McNeese State, 6'9 Harvey Thomas from Northeast Oklahoma (JC) OK to Baylor, 6'2 Jaison Williams from Southern Idaho (JC) ID to Oklahoma, 6'8 Zach Morley from Indian Hills (JC) IA to Wisconsin, 6'9 Dramane Diarra from Cloud (JC) KS to Kansas State, 6'9 Francis Koffi from Cowley County (JC) KS to Fresno State, 6'5 Quinnel Brown from Wabash Valley (JC) IL to Auburn, 6'7 Calvin Walls from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN to Wichita State, 7'0 Byrce Husak from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) IA to Saint Louis, 6'8 Anthony King from Durham (Southern Durham) NC to Miami-FL, 6'3 Detrick Slater from Waynesboro (Wayne County) MS to Mississippi State, and 6'0 Quentin Day from Kansas City (Paseo) MO to Southern Cal.  The commitment by Manciel, who was ranked as the #2 junior college center by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, is huge, because he not only promises to be one of the best players in the Southland Conference next year, but he should be catalyst that Cowboys head coach Tic Price needs to get his team over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament.  Thomas, who played his freshman season year before last at Georgetown, after being ranked #45 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP in the Class of 2001 while at Memphis (Hamilton) TN, is a big time athlete and gifted players.  So he moves Baylor's recruiting class, which also includes 6'9 Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (H.S.) TX, into a tie at #100, along with Notre Dame, South Florida, Long Beach State, Oklahoma State, and UTEP, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Thomas and Nelson also should provide Bears head coach Dave Bliss with plenty of depth next season to go along with 6'8 Soph Lawrence Roberts, 6'10 Jr R.T. Guinn, and 6'7 Jr Terrance Thomas, all three of whom started inside this past season.  Williams, who originally signed with Xavier as a high school senior at Aurora (West Hinckley) CO, gives the Sooners yet another guard as they attempt to replace Hollis Price, Ebi Ere, and Quannas White, who were three of the team's top four scorers this past season, in the backcourt.  If you will recall, the Sooners landed 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who is ranked #12 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'2 Lawrence McKenzie from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN, who is ranked #33 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, last fall, but they were still looking for another combo guard to complement 6'4 DeAngelo Alexander, who will be the best returning guard in the program.  Williams also moves Oklahoma's recruiting class, which also includes 6'10 Longar Longar from Rochester (John Marshall) OK and 6'7 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, into a tie at #2, along with LSU, Maryland, and Miami-FL, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Morley was listed on the Third Team 2003 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-American Team, which means he was picked as one of the top 30 junior college players in the nation and, as a result, he should provide the Badgers with an excellent complement to go along with 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, who is currently ranked as the #3 senior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'2 Kammron Taylor from Minneapolis (South) MN, both of whom signed with the Badgers last fall.  This moves Wisconsin's recruiting class into a tie at #36, along with Florida and Wisconsin, and more help is already on the way, because they also already have early verbal commitments from 6'11 Jr Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI and 6'2 Jr Michael Flowers from Madison (La Follette) WI in the Class of 2004.  Diarra is best described as a blue collar banger, but he appears to be the last piece to the puzzle for Kansas State, as the Wildcats increase their lead with the #1-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  If you will recall, Kansas State has already landed 5'7 Dez Willingham from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Jeremiah Massey from Oxnard (JC) CA, 6'8 Cartier Martin from Aldine (Nimitz) TX, 6'10 Justin Williams from Kankakee (JC) IL, 6'4 Lance Harris from Columbia (Hickman) MO, and 6'10 Tyler Hughes from Olathe (North Olathe) KS.  In case you're wondering how Kansas State can have seven players in this recruiting class, they get an extra scholarship for a high graduation rate in recent years and Williams plans to walk-on and pay his own way next year, as he continues to recover from an injury that has sidelined him for most of the past season.  We're not sure how good Koffi is, because he's not listed on any of the Junior College All-American Teams that we've looked at and we've never seen him play.  But we do know that Koffi's younger brother is one of the top players in France.  We also know that Bulldogs head coach Ray Lopes will have a lot more firepower to go to war with inside next year, because he's also got 6'7 Dreike Boldin from Carl Albert (JC) OK, 7'0 Jack Marlow from Salt Lake City (JC) UT, and 6'10 Rodney Timmerman from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA in a recruiting class that is now tied with Stanford at #58 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  It looks like Auburn assistant coach Tracy Dildy has done it again.  We're talking about Dildy going back home and getting another player from Illinois to sign with the Tigers.  If you will recall, Auburn signed 6'8 Dwayne Curtis from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL and 6'5 Ron Lemelle from Western Oklahoma (JC) OK last fall, during the winter they got a verbal commitment from 6'4 Dwon Youmans from Jacksonville (Arlington County Day) FL, and more recently they added 6'4 Quin Humphrey from Stockbridge (H.S.) GA and, as a result, their recruiting class is now tied, along with Texas Christian and Arizona State, at #27 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Walls becomes the second catch for Shockers in the last week.  If you will recall, 6'8 Kyle Wilson is transferring from Illinois to Wichita State.  Husak verbally committed to Elon College last fall, but don't let that fool you, because we're talking about a 7-footer with surprising mobility, soft hands, and good post moves around the basket.  King needs to get meaner and tougher inside, but he's got a lot of potential and, as a result, moves the Hurricanes' recruiting class up to #2, ahead of LSU, Maryland, and Oklahoma, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  If you will recall, Miami-FL already has 6'9 Lenard Harden form Garden City (JC) KS, 6'6 Eliaah Clark from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'3 Vincent Banks from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'1 Guillermo Diaz from Miami (Christian) FL, and 7'0 Yankuba Camara from Moberly (JC) MO in this recruiting class, plus they have 6'2 Greg Brown from Indian Hills (JC) IA already waiting the wings in the Class of 2004.  Slater, who is ranked as the #5 senior in the state by our Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson, is a great fourth recruit in this recruiting class for Bulldogs head coach Rick Stansbury.  Remember, Mississippi State already has 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, and 5'11 Gary Ervin from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA in the fold and a recruiting class that is now tied at #6 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Day originally verbally committed to Nebraska last fall, but later reneged.  Day also should probably think about reneging on USC, because, even if he was good enough, the Trojans are already well stocked in the backcourt.  Not only are the Cravens twins and Brandon Brooks expected to return for two more years, but 6'4 Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA and 6'4 Lodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, both of whom are also part of this recruiting class, are expected to be around for the next four years.  Johnson also tells us that 6'1 Sharif Chambliss is transferring from Penn State to Wisconsin, which means that the Badgers' recruitng class would move into the top 20 our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, if we counted transfers when ranking recruiting classes, and 6'8 Tyler Best is transferring from Charlotte to Evansville.  Not only is that a great get for Purple Aces head coach Steve Merfeld, but that's where Best should have gone in the first place!

 Ro Russell of Grass Roots Basketball Canada tells us that 6'2 Antwi Atuahene from Toronto (Henry Carr) ON has signed with Rutgers and he thinks this is great fit for the Scarlet Knights, because Atuahene is a strong physical athletic point guard who can get to the hole and make those around him better.  Russell also tells us that Atuahene was the best senior in Canada this year and, as a result, it appears he will be the an excellent complement to 6'3 Quincy Douby from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who, in our opinion, promises to be the best incoming player in the Big East next year.  This moves Rutgers' recruiting class, which currently includes Douby, Atuahene, and 6'5 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, into a tie at #56, along with Oregon on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, if hey also get 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, who verbally committed to Rutgers last fall, but more recently reneged on the Scarlet Knights, then their recruiting class would move into a tie at #34, along with Iowa and UNLV, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And we still think this will probably happen.  As a matter of fact, Alleyne recently told a source close to the HOOP SCOOP that, in the end, he probably will still pick Rutgers over Kentucky, because it's closer to home.  And, if Rutgers really hits the jackpot and gets both Alleyne and 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ to also stay home, then their recruiting class would move up to #13 on our list of Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Obviously that would mean the program is really heading in the right direction, especially in light of the fact that most people still think that Rutgers can't recruit the top players in their own backyard.  However, Douby and Alleyne are both from New York City and Webb and Watkins are both from North Jersey.  We also are waiting to see where Western Kentucky's Patrick Sparks is going to transfer.  Our guess it that it won't be Louisville, Murray State, or Auburn, because the Hilltoppers have already made it clear they won't release him to any school that is on their schedule for the next two years.  Instead, the smart money is Georgia, which means he would be following in the footsteps of  former Western Kentucky head coach Dennis Felton, or the University of Kentucky, which doesn't have a true point guard in the program, but may have one by the time Sparks becomes eligible.  If you will recall, Kentucky is involved with a number of the top juniors in the nation, plus they are believed to be among the leaders for 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL and 6'3 Jr Trammel Wooten from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA.  However, I guarantee that the Wildcats coaching staff won't turn down a quality white player from the state.  Maybe they can even send Josh Carrier, who also has been rumored to be once again considering transferring, to Western Kentucky as the player to be named later for Sparks.  Remember, Carrier, who can shoot the lights out, is originally from Bowling Green, KY and he'd be a dynamite player in the Sun Belt Conference.  We also hear that Murray State is the leader for 6'7 Guy Ngarndi from Louisville (Western) KY, but we suspect that new Racers head coach Mick Cronin is getting a little bit nervous right now.  Did you know that Ngarndi has been telling other players in town that he plans to go Indiana, if they offer and he makes it academically?  And, if that weren't enough for Cronin to attempt to overcome, did you know that Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who is second to none as a recruiter, was in town yesterday to see Ngarndi in a work-out and make an in-home visit?  We also have confirmed that 6'0 Marcus Neal from Polk County (JC) FL, who was named as a 2003 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Honorable Mention All-American last month, has signed with Nebraska.  This moves Nebraska's recruiting class, which also includes 5'10 Charles Richardson from Maywood (Proviso East) IL and 6'5 Gerald Stegall from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, into a tie at #86, along with Loyola-Illinois, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, plus it gives Cornhuskers head coach Barry Collier not one, but two good point guards to go to war with the next two years in the tough Big-12 Conference.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'8 Blagog Janev from Sydney, Australia has made it official for New Hampshire and he expects Pennsylvania to land 6'2 Ibby Jaaber from Heightstown (Peddie) NJ within the next several days.  The signing by Janev is especially significant, because he's good enough to be the equivalent of a player in the 100-300 range nationally and, as a result, New Hampshire's recruiting class moves into a tie at #113, along with Delaware, Maryland-Baltimore County, and Central Michigan, our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003. 

Yesterday at this time we were telling you that we thought Tom Crean would remain at Marquette and last night that speculation was reinforced by the fact that Crean announced that he had signed a new long term contract that is estimated to be worth in the neighborhood of $1.5 million per year.   So now the obvious assumption is that Crean will be a Marquette for a long time and an Associated Press press article that was written last night and updated today even talks about how Crean and his wife, Joani, spent the weekend house hunting in Milwaukee, WI.  "They can move into bigger digs now that Crean has agreed to a new contract to remain coach at Marquette, ending speculation that he was the leading contender for the Illini job."  The article also goes on to quote Marquette athletic director Bill Cords saying that the new "contract contains no escape clauses as had been speculated."  However, we're still not convinced that Crean will be at Marquette next year.  And forget about any previous speculation about University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith taking any one of nine NBA jobs that might open this spring.  Instead, we're talking about the fact that Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo appears to be in line for the Toronto Raptors head coaching job and, if that happens, there is no question our mind that Crean would become the next head coach of the Spartans.  Not only is Michigan State Crean's dream job, but we've heard that he's been lobbying behind the scenes for years to get the job just in case Izzo does ever leave.  The word we get is that Izzo makes $1.4 million per year, but the Raptors would pay him in the neighborhood of $15 to $20 million for five years, which more than double what he's making right now, and that Crean would get a contract worth about $2 million per year at Michigan State.  Is all this already a done deal?  No, because things sometimes have a way of changing before all the dominos can fall.  But right now the chances look pretty good that this is going to happen.  And, if does, just remember where you heard it first!  Also remember where you heard it first about Michigan State being the pre-season #1-ranked team in college basketball next year with or without Izzo as the head coach.  Not only did the Spartans make the NCAA Elite Eight after struggling due to point guard problems most of last season, but they have most of their players back, plus a recruiting class that is ranked #12 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and includes one of the best high school point guards in the nation in 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, one of the top three players in the senior class nationally in 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, and a valuable inside player in 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI.  We also told you yesterday that it looked like only a matter of time before Fordham head coach Bob Hill got bought out of  his contract and that happened late in the day yesterday as well.  In addition to the names we mentioned yesterday, we're also hearing Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, Boston University of Dennis Wolff, former Seton Hall head coach P.J. Carlesimo, and Wagner head coach Derek Whittenburg being mentioned as potential candidates for the Fordham job.  However, we'd be surprised if Gonzalez or Wolff took the job for the simply fact, if they're patient, they both should be able to get something better.  Instead, the ideal candidate to take over at Fordham might just be Richmond head coach Gary DeCesare.  Sure, he's only had one year of college assistant coaching experience, but DeCesare's organizational skills are second to none, as is evident by the fact he's helped run the adidas ABCD Camp for years, plus he's got an incredible amount of contacts in both New York City and around the nation.  So there is no question DeCesare would be able to keep both the top players at home and recruit nationally, but he also is a proven head coach dating back to his long tenure at Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, which he built into on the premier high school programs in the nation during the last decade.  In other words, Decesare is just as qualified as the retired Morgan Wootten, who the University of Maryland missed out on hiring 16 years ago (instead they hired Bob Wade), and Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ head coach Bob Hurley Sr, who is ranked as the best high school coach in the game today by the HOOP SCOOP and in our mind was the most obvious candidate for both Seton Hall and Rutgers when they opened on seemingly numerous occasions in recent years.  DeCesare also is a New York City guy and, as a result, doesn't appear to be interested in using this as just a stepping stone to bigger and better things.  Instead, this would be the break he needs to get where he wants to go in life and he'd probably be willing to do so for less money than most of the rest of the aforementioned candidates.  Remember, Fordham had a very difficult time coming up with the money necessary to buy-out Hill, which means the job will probably only pay in the $125,000-$175,000 per year range.  Getting back to the Illinois job, we're now hearing that Creighton head coach Dana Altman is the leading candidate over Xavier head coach Thad Matta, Southern Illinois head coach Bruce Weber, and Oregon head coach Ernie Kent to to take over as boss of the Fighting Illini.  However, it appears that the folks at Creighton are going to make this one interesting, because the alumni have already raised a lot of money in an attempt to keep Altman at the helm of the Bluejays.  We also continue to hear that Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins is the heavy favorite for the St. Bonaventure job, although the list now also appears to include former Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn, Hartford head coach Larry Harrison, Delaware assistant and former Duke player Kenny Blakeney, Canisius head coach Mike MacDonald, and Montana head coach Pat Kennedy.  

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, who is widely regarded as the #1 basketball writer in America, has told me on more than one occasion that he thinks more people in the business (the people who count) read the HOOP SCOOP on a daily basis than any other publication or web site.  And I'm starting to believe him!  As a matter of fact, it's almost embarrassing just how far ahead of the curve we really are when compared to most of the mainstream media.  It wouldn't be so bad if we had millions of dollars to work with and a staff of hundreds of people, but we're doing it with a budget of less than $100,000 a year and one in-house person (me).  We do have a great network of people contributing information to us on an on-going basis like our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, California Editor Dinos Trigonis, New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, Georgia Editor Linzy Davis, New England Editor Wayne Simone, Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman, Alabama Editor Mark Komara, Washington, DC Editor Steve Turner, Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson, Texas Editor Wes Grandstaff, et al., but to illustrate the point even further, the powers-that-be at places like CBS, ESPN, USA Today, and Fox probably don't even know we're alive, much less how bad we're kicking their ass when it comes to getting the scoop on a regular basis.  Don't believe it?  Well, we were the first to start hinting around about the possibility of former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty getting fired and more recently we actually had the exact date five days before it happened (ESPN's Dick Vitale only had it the day before, but still got credit for breaking Doherty's ouster by the USA Today).  We also have been way out in front as we've been talking about the possibility of Roy Williams going from Kansas to North Carolina, Bill Self going from Illinois to Kansas, and Tom Crean going from Marquette to Illinois for some time now.  And now it appears that the USA Today agrees, as they published a list today that mentions Crean, Xavier head coach Thad Matta, former Chicago Bulls head coach Tim Floyd, and California head coach Ben Braun as the leading candidates for the Illinois job.  However, as things stand now we don't think Crean will take it for two reasons.  First, Bill Self was making $950,000 per year as head coach of the Fighting Illini, but Crean is already making more than that at Marquette (Crean's salary is reported to be $1 million dollars per year).  In other words, for similar money, Crean will likely stay put, but, if the Fighting Illini puts $1.5 million per year for five to seven years on the table, Crean will probably will jump.  Second, Crean is perfectly positioned to just sit back and see what University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith does.   If you will recall, Smith just signed a long term contract that is worth more than $20 million for 8 years and, as a result, most people think Smith will be the coach of the Wildcats for many years to come.  And that may be true, unless one of the nine NBA teams (Charlotte, Toronto, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Denver, Memphis, Houston, and the Los Angeles Clippers) that we suspect will be hiring a new head coach this spring makes Smith,who was the unanimous National College Coach-of-the-Year, an offer he can't refuse (i.e  $5 million per year for four or five years).  Remember, Smith is one of the hottest coaches in the business at any level, plus the fact that he's black and is a players' coach should also work in his favor, especially if a NBA General Manager doesn't want to just recycle the same old NBA guys).  And while Matta, Floyd, and Braun are all excellent coaches, we think the sleeper candidate and maybe even the leader for the Illinois job is Oregon head coach Ernie Kent.  And, if Kent, who originally is from Rockford, IL, does get Illinois, that would open the door for Minnesota head coach Dan Monson to return to the Pacific Northwest.  If you will recall, Monson established himself as one of the hot young head coaches in the college basketball at Gonzaga prior to taking the Minnesota job four years ago.  However, he's not been able to build the Golden Gophers into anything more than a middle of the road program in the Big-10 Conference and it doesn't promise to get any better now that his star player - 6'11 Rick Rickert - plans to enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring.  And providing another ironic twist to the story is the fact that Monson's father, Don Monson, was the head coach at Oregon from 1983 to 1992.  Which means we're suddenly three steps ahead of the game again, as the next question is who will get the Minnesota job, if Kent moves to Illinois and Monson moves to Oregon?  How about Xavier head coach Thad Matta, Milwaukee-Wisconsin head coach Bruce Pearl, or Butler head coach Todd Lickliter, or even Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez?  We also continue to hear that Fordham head coach Bob Hill is close to accepting a buy-out and some of the potential candidates for the job include former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins, former New Mexico head coach Fran Fraschilla, former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty, and Montana head coach Pat Kennedy, but this list reads like a Who's Who of Recycled Head Coaches.  Instead, we think they should hire somebody who would be able to recruit like crazy, like Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, Maryland assistant coach Jimmy Pastos, Kentucky assistant coach Scott Rigot, or Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare.   Remember, Hill is the #1-ranked assistant coach by the HOOP SCOOP now that the two guys ahead of him got head coaching jobs, Pastos is a Northeast Catholic guy who in only two years on the road has played a major role in helping Maryland land two consecutive top six-ranked recruiting classes, Rigot has all kinds of international and junior college contacts dating back to his days as the head coach at Spartanburg Methodist (JC) SC and as an assistant coach at Hawaii, and DeCesare knows everybody in New York City dating back to his days as the head coach at Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY.  It also appears that we were correct about Dr. Tom Davis getting the Drake job and UNLV assistant coach Derek Thomas getting the Western Illinois job.   In other words, once again we were ahead of the competition, because we hinted that this was going to happen with Davis two days ago and with Thomas five days ago.

Monday, April 21, 2003

The Houston Hoops dominated the upper age groups, as they won the 17-Under and the 15-Under Divisions and finished second the 16-Under Division, and teams from Southern California dominated the younger age groups, as the South Coast Stars won the 13-Under Division, the Southern California All-Stars won the 12-Under Division, and the All-American Hoops beat the West Coast All-Stars, both of which are from Southern California, in the 11-Under Division, in what proved to be in an incredible five days of basketball at the Mae Fisher Memorial 23rd Annual Las Vegas Easter Classic this weekend in Las Vegas, NV.  Let's first take a close looker at the 17-Under Division, where, despite the fact 6'3 Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, who is ranked as one of the top 10 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, was injured and unable to play all week, the Houston Hoops managed to survive in the semi-finals against BWBA Orange and coast to a 78-65 victory in the championship game against the Utah Bruins Gold.  Picking up the slack for the injured Gibson was 6'6 Jr Jawaan McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, who scored 20 points and hit four 3-pointers in the championship game en route to tournament MVP honors.  McClellan currently is ranked #62 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but, based on the way he played here, that's at least 40 spots too low.  We're talking about an incredibly gifted multi-dimensional athlete with excellent 3-point shooting range, good ball handling and passing skills, and terrific rebounding skills for his size.   McClellan was complemented out on the perimeter by 6'6 Jr Matt Wheaton from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX, 6'0 Jr Rodney Foster from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX, 6'0 Jr Mario Kersee from Houston (Aldine) TX, and 6'5 Jr Jerrell Franklin from Bay City (H.S.) TX and inside by 6'6 Jr Mike Nichols from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'7 Jr Jermaine Griffin from Houston (Sterling) TX, and 6'7 Jr Kellen Hurd from Wharton (H.S.) TX, all of whom have to be ranked in the 100-500 range nationally.  Foster, who appears to be a prime target for the University of Houston, and Wheaton, who drew a lot of attention from Boston College over the weekend, combined for 30 points and connected on five 3-pointers in the championship game.  However, the big difference in the game was the Utah Bruins Gold inability to get it done inside against the Houston Hoops quickness and athleticism.  The Utah Bruins Gold did get 10 points out of 6'7 Tai Wesley from Provo (H.S.) UT, who impressed us with his strength, toughness, and surprising mobility inside for somebody his size, but nobody else seemed to be able to score from inside the arc, as the Utah Bruins finished with more 3-pointers (11) than they did regular field goals (nine) for the game.  In other words, if the Utah Bruins hadn't shot the ball well from 3-point land, it could have gotten ugly real fast.  Also advancing into the final four of the 17-Under Division were the Arizona Magic and BWBA, despite the fact that 6'8 Jr Charles Rhodes from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who was injured earlier in the week, and, as a result, was unable to play in BWBA's upset in the quarter-finals against Belmont Shore and in the semi-finals against the Utah Bruins Gold.  However, that doesn't mean that Rhodes doesn't rank among the top players in the tournament, along with his teammate - 6'3 Jr Monte Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS and 6'7 Jr Ty Morrison from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, 6'8 Soph Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, and 6'0 Soph Darren Jordan from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, who provided the inside/outside combination that helped the Arizona Magic get to the semi-finals.  Morrison does need to develop more of a shooter's mentality (right now he's more of a slasher/athlete), but when he does take an open shot, he is capable of keeping you honest from out on the perimeter.  Hill needs to get stronger and tougher inside, but he uses his quick hands, great timing, and excellent athleticism to block shots, get more than his share of rebounds, and score around the basket.  Jordan is the small quick point guard who made this team go to the tune of 27 points in the game we watched, plus we're talking about a guy with a 3.8 gpa.  But Jordan is still not as good a student as Hill, who has a 4.2 gpa while taking honors classes.  However, Jordan is a lot better student than Morrison, who still has some work to do in order to qualify academically in order to be eligible as a college freshman.  But that hasn't stopped schools like Oregon, Arizona State, Arizona, Boston College, Louisville, and Kentucky from showing interest in the top junior in the state of Arizona.  We also talked with Ellis and this top five sophomore nationally tells us that his early favorites include Alabama, North Carolina, and Connecticut.  The bigges upset in the 17-Under Division came when the Utah Bruins knocked off the Southern California All-Stars, which featured 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'10 Jr David Burgess from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA, 6'8 Jr Chris Henry from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'2 Jr Vincent Oliver from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'5 Soph Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, but we'll let them off the hook, because Afflalo played, but was slowed by an injury.  Another team with a lot of talent that got knocked off early in the 17-Under Division was Indiana Red, which featured 6'9 Jr Carl Swanagan from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN, 6'7 Jr Bil Duany from Bloomington (North) IN, and 6'5 Frosh Marques Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN.  Not only is Johnson a 6'5 point guard, but he shoots the three, is an excellent ball handler and passer, extremely savvy for his age, and quick enough to beat most defenders off the dribble.  In other words, we're talking about one of the top 10 freshmen in the United States (and I've ready seen all the rest), as well as the best player on the Indiana Red team.  And that's saying a lot, because Swanagan and Duany both have the potential to be top 100 juniors nationally.  Duany is a carbon copy of his two older brothers (Duany and Kueth), because he's a rail thin incredible athlete with 3-point shooting range, good handling and passing skills, and a silky smooth demeanor.  Swanigan reminds us of a smaller version of 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL.  Not only does he have deceptive foot speed and mobility for somebody with his mammoth size, but he's not yet a household name.  As a matter of fact, Swanagan recently moved from Utah to Lafayette, IN.  Swanigan also has soft hands and excellent moves to the basket, which means he could be the perfect complement to 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, who verbally committed to Indiana when he was a freshman in high school two years ago.  And, if this were to happen right now, Swanigan would move Purdue's recruiting class into the #1 spot on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, plus he would probably put to rest any thoughts that Boilermakers head coach Gene Keady has about retiring any time soon.  Remember, Purdue already has a lot of good young players in the program and it's obvious that Purdue assistant coaches Jay Price and Cuonzo Martin are doing a job of ensuring that more help is on the way.  We also have to mention Belmont Shore, which featured 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'4 Jr Matt Thomas from Riverside (King) CA, 6'4 Soph Ed White from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'10 Soph Jordan Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, and 6'6 Soph Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA.   Speaking of Boykin, he told us that he loves Arizona, but also mentioned schools like Duke, UCLA, Louisville and North Carolina.  However, even more important is the fact that he told us that his mom