TODAY'S HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION

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Friday, February 28, 2003

We had been hinting for weeks that 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX,  who is ranked #9 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, was close to verbally committing to Texas.  Well, it happened yesterday and, as a result, the Longhorns recruiting class moves up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  If you will recall, Texas already had received an early verbal commitment 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #48 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and, if they also get 6'10 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, who is ranked #13 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and/or 6'6 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX, who is ranked #45 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, then their recruiting class would not only be ranked #1, but any thoughts about the Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes not being able to get the top players in his backyard would be put to rest once and for all.  Remember, a year ago Texas landed 6'9 Brad Buchman from Austin (Westlake) TX, but Buckman's father is one of Barnes' best friends and 6'10 Chris Bosh from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who signed with Georgia Tech, 6'3 Bracey Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, who signed with Indiana, 6'3 Daniel Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, who signed with Michigan, 6'0 Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who signed with SMU, 6'2 Deron Williams from The Colony (H.S.) TX, who signed with Illinois, all got away.  And two years ago the Longhorns landed 5'10 T.J. Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, but 6'3 Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX signed with Duke, 6'8 Jason Maxiell from Carrollton (Newman Smith) TX signed with Cincinnati, 6'4 Keith Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX signed with Kansas, and 6'9 Lawrence Roberts from Houston (Lamar) TX signed with Baylor.  We also reported that last week that 6'10 Jr Jermaine Bell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, who is ranked #68 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, had reaffirmed his commitment to St. John's, but more recently we've gotten word from a number of people, including Matt Ramker, who talked with Bell himself, that this is false.   Apparently the confusion stems from the fact that Bell's street agent in New York City has been telling the St. John's coaching staff that Bell is verbally committed to the Red Storm.  However, Bell not only is telling people that he's wide-open, but provides a list of schools that includes South Florida, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Georgia, and, of course, St. John's.  Ramker also tells us that 6'1 Jr Danny Morrissey from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL plans to visit Indiana this weekend and right now it looks like the Hoosiers are the favorite over Ohio State, which is where Morrissey visited a week ago.  Speaking of Indiana, did you know that 6'9 Daryl Pegram is transferring from Indiana to Loyola-Marymount?  And this would make perfect sense because Pegram is originally from the West Coast.  Also  making perfect sense is the fact that Kansas State is the school we're hearing the most for 6'8 Dennis Latimore, who announced earlier this week that he plans to transfer from Arizona.   Remember, Latimore added high school at Halstead (H.S.) KS.  We're also hear that St. John's and Georgetown are both a lot stronger than most people realize for 6'0 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, who is ranked #130 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.   We also have confirmed that Hartford has landed 6'6 Aaron Watson from Ventura (JC) CA and 6'5 Robert Taylor from Reston (South Lakes) VA and, as a result, their recruiting class moves into a tie, along with Clemson, Gonzaga, Texas, Purdue, Tennessee, Kentucky, New Orleans, George Washington, and Old Dominion, at #113 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Watson is an undersized power forward who dunks everything, as was evident recently when he went head-to-head and outplayed 6'10 Tony Key and 6'8 Julian Sensley from L.A. City (JC) CA.  Taylor was ranked #36 in the Washington, DC area last fall by the HOOP SCOOP, but is one of the biggest sleepers to emerge in the area this winter.  In other words, both commitments are huge for Hawks head coach Larry Harrison, who continues his quest to build Hartford into one of the premier programs in the American East Conference, along with Boston University and Vermont.

Thursday, February 27, 2003

The McDonald's All-American Game this year will be played in the Gund Arena in Cleveland, OH on Wednesday, March 26th at 7:00 PM and the 24 players who will participate in the game was announced earlier tonight on ESPN Sports Center.  The East Squad includes 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capitol) LA, 6'5 Michael Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA, 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, 6'0 Chris Paul from Clemmons (West Forsyth) NC, 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Ivan Harris from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, and 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ.  The West Squad includes 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'11 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'6 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK, 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 5'10 Aaron Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'8 Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA, 6'4 Vakeaton Wafer from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, and 6'10 David Padgett from Reno (H.S.) NV.  The only player who didn't make the team that we voted for on our final ballot, which required us to  pick only the top 20 players, was 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA.  However, this is not a glaring omission, as Ariza is ranked #17 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, #23 nationally by Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports, #29 nationally by Brick Oettinger of the Recruiter's Handbook.  Also noteworthy is the fact that Duke with Deng and Humphries, Arizona with Ebi and Shakur, Kansas with Giddens and Padgett, Michigan State with Brown and Cotton, and Mississippi State with Outlaw and Butler each had two players on the team.   Ironically Duke, Arizona, Kansas, and Michigan State all advanced to the NCAA Final Four either last year or the previous year, which illustrates perfectly that the most successful schools in college basketball have a distinct advantage when recruiting the top players.  In contrast, Mississippi State has not been to the NCAA Final Four since 1996, but Bullsdogs head coach Rick Stansbury is one of the best recruiters in the business and he doesn't lose many in his own backyard (both Butler and Outlaw are in-state players).  Oklahoma with Lavender, Wake Forest with Paul, Maryland with Jones, LSU with Bass, Ohio State with Harris, Illinois with Villanueva, Oregon with Brooks, Arkansas with Famutimi, Florida State with Wafer, California with Powe, Wisconsin with Butch, and Memphis with Perkins each check in with one McDonald's All-American.  Two players (James and Lang) named to the team are still uncommitted, although we suspect James will by-pass college and go straight to the NBA.   The only state with three players on the team is Texas with Ebi, Wafer, and Perkins, but Ohio, which has James and Lavender, also would fall into this category, if you counted Harris, who transferred from Springfield, OH to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA for his senior year of high school, but will return to play college basketball at Ohio State.  New Jersey with Deng and Villanueva, Mississippi with Butler and Outlaw, Michigan with Famutimi and Cotton also have two representatives on the team, while North Carolina with Paul, Pennsylvania with Shakur, Massachusetts with Jones, Louisiana with Bass, Alabama with Lang, Washington with Brooks, Illinois with Brown, Oklahoma with Giddens, California with Powe, Minnesota with Humphries, Wisconsin with Butch, Nevada with Padgett, and Virginia with Harris all had one representative on the team.  We also are intrigued by the strengths and weaknesses of both teams.  When breaking it down by position, the East Team looks much stronger at point gaurd, as Lavender, Paul, Shakur, and James all capable of running the team.  We also look forward to seeing the two undersized point guards (Lavender and Brooks) going head-to-head, plus we think Paul versus Cotton could an interesting match-up.  In contrast, we think the West Squad has a slight advantage at the wing spots, despite the fact that Famutimi is injured and won't play in the game, because Brown, Giddens, and Wafer are all better than anything the East has, except for James, who can play any position, and Shakur.  But that wouldn't be the case, if Deng wasn't also sidelined due to a recent injury.  Inside we also give the edge to the West, despite the fact Padgett also will be sidelined with an injury, because Perkins and Humphries are tougher and more phyiscal and Ebi, Butch, and Humphries are better than anybody the East has inside, except for Lang, who currently is reported to be out of shape, and Bass, who is undersized.  However, this year teams appears to be more evenly balanced and their are no political picks, like their have been in past years.   In other words, we think the end result deserves an "A."  As a matter of fact, the only thing we can even question other than Ariza not being named to the team are some of the positions players are supposed to play.  Brown should be listed as wing guard, not a point guard; Shakur should be listed as a point guard, not a 2-guard; Powe and Bass should be listed as power forwards, not wing forwards; and Outlaw, Harris, and Villanueva all would prefer to play out on the perimeter rather than inside, which is probably what they will have to do in this game.  

Clemson has won three of their last four games and, as a result, it looks like Tigers head coach Larry Shyatt is in good shape not only in terms of keeping his job for another year, but also getting his team a bid to the NIT Tournament.  And with a strong finish against Wake Forest and Georgia Tech on the road, N.C. State at home, and the Atlantic Coast Tournament, an NCAA Tournament bid might even still be within their reach.  Right now Clemson has a 15-9 overall and their 5-8 ACC record ties them for 5th in the league, along with Virginia and Georgia Tech.   However, it doesn't look as good for North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty.  Right now the Tar Heels are 14-13 overall and 4-9 in the league, which ranks them 8th in the Atlantic Coast Conference with games remaining at home against Georgia Tech and Duke, on the road at Wake Forest, and in the ACC Tournament.  But what might be the final nail in Doherty's coffin would be if the rumors are true about the potential mass exodus of players from the Tar Heels program when the season is over.  Everybody knows that Raymond Felton will likely enter his name into the NBA Draft, but did you know that there is also talk about Rashad McCants entering his name into the draft, plus the word on the street is that Jawad Williams may transfer to Ohio State and Sean May may transfer to Texas Tech?   In other words, it now appears that Doherty's future not only hinges upon wins and losses, but also not losing four starters via hardship or transfer.  If Doherty does get bought out of his contract, which right now is one of the hottest rumors going, then that would potentially start all kinds of dominos into motion, if a big name head coach like Larry Brown and Roy Williams took the North Carolina job.  If you will recall, Williams turned down the Tar Heels job prior to when they gave it to Doherty three years ago.  Brown also interviewed for North Carolina job three years ago, but it was only a token interview, because they thought Brown was too old at the time.  However, if they're smart enough to figure out that Brown is the best coach in basketball today at any level and they don't get hung up the age thing again, then Brown taking over at North Carolina would open the door for Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith to take over as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.  Or, if North Carolina is able to convince Williams to return to Chapel Hill, NC, then Illinois head coach Bill Self and Memphis head coach John Calipari would be two of the names right at the top of the list for Kansas.  We also continue hear Calipari's name in connection with the Pittsburgh job, if Panthers head coach Ben Howland moves on to UCLA.  The same is true with regards to another Pittsburgh, PA native - N.C. State head coach Herb Sendek.  And this would make more sense, because adidas' Sonny Vaccaro will have a lot of influence when it comes to who gets the Pittsburgh job and Sendek and Vaccaro are extremely close friends.  We also continue to hear Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who is one of the hottest head coaches in the business now that he's had two consecutive 20-win seasons, mentioned for Pittsburgh, but we're also hearing his name in connection with the Providence job, if Friars head coach Tim Welsh were to move onto Penn State.  Or does Gonzalez wait another year and see what happens right in his own backyard at St. John's?  Sure, Red Storm head coach Mike Jarvis is an excellent bench coach, but next year is make or break time for his regime at St. John's.  But assuming that Gonzalez does move this year, then you'd be talking about one of the ideal coaching jobs in the nation.  Remember, almost everybody will be back next year for the Jaspers and, as a result, guys like Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, George Mason assistant Mike Gillian, Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare, Providence Steve DeMeo, and Illinois assistant coach Norm Roberts would all be obvious candidates for Manhattan.  We've also heard Roberts' name in connection with Southwest Missouri State and it looks like UAB assistant coach Scott Edgar, who previously was the head coach at Murray State and Duquesne, may be in line to get the Tennessee State job.  It appears that Eastern Washington head coach Ray Giacoletti is the heavy favorite for the Illinois State job (Giacoletti previously was an assistant coach at Illinois State)  and Oklahoma assistant coach Jim Shaw is the leading candidate to take over at Washington State.  Apparently Sooners head coach Kelvin Sampson still has a lot of influence in Pullman, WA.  We also continue to hear that Louisville assistant coach Vince Taylor is right at the top of the list for the Cleveland State job and Louisville assistant coach Mick Cronin appears to be in line for Marshall, if he wants it.  Apparently Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has strong ties at Marshall, as is evident by the fact that's where Florida head coach Billy Donovan got his start as a head coach after being an assistant at Kentucky and a player at Providence for Pitino.  We're also understand that former University of Louisville Jerry Eaves, who has been in the NBA in recent years, has a better shot at the Eastern Kentucky job than most people realize. 

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that Hofstra has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'3 Antonie Agudio from Huntington Station (Walt Whitman) NY and he thinks this is a steal for the Flying Dutchmen.  Not only can Agudio shoot the lights out, but he should be the perfect replacement for 6'3 Quincy Douby from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who committed to Hofstra a year ago last fall, but later reneged and went to Rutgers.  Agudio also should provide an excellent complement to the other two guards - 6'2 Carlos Rivera from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME and 6'2 Loren Stokes from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT - that Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora landed last fall.  Agudio hasn't made it yet academically and, if he doesn't qualify, it's our guess that he will go the prep school route.  However, Agudio still counts as part of Hofstra's recruiting class, which already includes Rivera, Stokes, and 6'8 Brian Sisti from Northport (H.S.) NY and is tied at #70, along with West Virginia, Utah State, and Northern Iowa, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  In other words, it appears that Hofstra, which is currently 6-19 on the season, has landed a strong nucleus to complement all the good young players already in the program, like Kenny Adeleke, Wendell Gibson, and Woody Souffrant, and, as a result, the Flying Dutchmen should be one of the most improved team's in college basketball next year.  We also are predicting that 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, who is ranked #9 nationally in the junior class, will pick Texas over Kansas and Oklahoma at his press conference late tomorrow morning.  Gibson, who will be the highest ranked player in the junior class to have already picked a school, will also become the 20th junior ranked among our top 100 nationally to have made an early verbal commitment, which means that 20% of the top 100 juniors are already off the board a full 18 month prior to when they will enroll in school as college freshmen.   If you will recall, other juniors ranked among our top 100 nationally who have already made verbal commitments include 6'2 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA to Duke, 6'2 Jr JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC to North Carolina, 6'11 Jr Steve Hill from Branson (H.S.) MO to Arkansas, 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN to Purdue, 6'9 Jr Cedric Simmons from Shallotte (West Brunswick) NC to N.C. State, 6'3 Jr Jamar Butler from Lima (Shawnee) OH to Cincinnati, 6'6 Jr J.R. Angle from Trafalgar (Indian Creek) IN to Iowa, 6'11 Jr Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI to Wisconsin, 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI to Michigan, 6'3 Jr Joseph Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI to Michigan, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX to Texas, 6'5 Jr Jawann McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX to Arizona, 6'5 Jr David Pendergraft from Brewster (H.S.) WA to Gonzaga, 6'10 Jr Jermaine Bell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL to St. John's, 6'7 Jr Marquis Gray from Flint (Beecher) MI to Michigan State, 7'0 Jr Roy Hibbert from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD to Georgetown, 6'2 Jr Tony Douglas from Jonesboro (H.S.) GA to Auburn, 6'5 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Notthingham) MD to Georgetown, 6'9 Jr Spencer Tollackson from Chaska (H.S.) MN to Minnesota.  

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

The earlier you start ranking players, the harder it is to be accurate for several reasons.  First, we don't have the time to see many players in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and even freshman age groups, unless they are playing up on the varsity level or in the 17-under high school age group in AAU-like competition.  Second, players often times grow and/or take their game to another level almost overnight.  Third, there just enough to effective cover everything that is going on at the high school level, much less dip down and spend a lot of time watching kids in junior high school.  However, after spending six days in Orlando, FL last summer at the 14-Under National AAU Tournament and thanks to our vast network of editors, correspondents, and sources at the grassroots level, which now also includes Patrick Stanwood, who has developed a tremendous network of his own with regards to players in his class, never before have we been in as good a shape in terms of both accuracy and depth on a class this early.  Obviously our timing on this is perfect, because the Class of 2006 has the potential to be every bit as good as the Class of 1995, which included Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Ron Mercer, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, et al., and is arguably the best class in recent years.  The current freshman class, which features 6'9 Frosh Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'9 Frosh Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, 5'8 Frosh Demond Carter from Laplace (Reserve Christian) LA, 6'9 Frosh Durrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 5'9 Frosh Nic Wise from Katy (Cinco Rancho) TX, 6'2 Frosh Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 6'4 Frosh Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Atlanta Southwest Christian) GA, 6'7 Frosh Jon Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'2 Frosh Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, 6'6 Frosh Tracy Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 6'8 Frosh Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'9 Frosh Drew Haymaker form Edmond (H.S.) OK, and 7'1 Frosh Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, also has the size, depth, and quality of talent at the top to be potentially mentioned in the same breath with the great Class of 1979.  If you will recall, the Class of 1979 was the greatest class of all time, as it featured players like 7'3 Ralph Sampson from Harrionsburg (H.S.) VA, 7'1 Sam Bowie from Lebanon (H.S.) PA, 6'11 Melvin Turpin form Lexington (Bryan Station) KY, 6'11 Steve Stipanovich from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'11 Greg Kite from Houston (Madison) TX, 6'9 Sidney Green from Brooklyn (Thomas Jefferson) NY, 6'9 James Worthy from Gastonia (Ashbrook) NC, 6'9 Terry Cummings from Chicago (Carver) IL, 6'8 Clark Kellogg from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, 6'8 Antonie Carr from Wichita Heights (H.S.) KS, 6'7 Rodney McCray from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Derrick Hord from Bristol (Tennessee) TN, 6'7 Dominique Wilkins from Washington (H.S.) NC, 6'7 Darren Day from Granada Hills (Kennedy) CA, 6'7 Dale Ellis from Marietta (H.S.) GA, 6'4 Ricky Ross from Wichita (South) KS, 6'4 Tony Bruin from Astoria (Mater Christi) NY, 6'4 Quintin Dailey from Baltimore (Cardinal Gibbons) MD, 6'3 Dirk Minniefield from Lexingotn (Lafayette) KY, 6'2 Michael Holton from Pasadena (H.S.) CA, 6'2 John Paxson from Kettering (Alter) OH, 6'1 Rod Foster from New Britain (St. Thomas Aquinas) CT, 6'1 Isiah Thomas from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, and 6'1 Raymond McCoy from Chicago Heights (Bloom Township) IL.  In other words, the Class of 2006 appears to be destined for greatness and, as a result, now is the perfect time to start familarizing yourself with the 140 names on our updated list, which was published exclusively in the Members Section earlier today and can be found by clicking on Class of 2006.  This alone is almost worth the price of your subscription.  Not only does this list give you a tremendous head start on the future, but it also blows away everything else that is out there.  Speaking of our competition in terms of ranking of the top players in the Class of 2006, there isn't much else out there and what is out there is very inaccurate.  Moral to the story, once again we're doing a good job of living up to our name as we provide you with the hoop scoop.  

Saturday, February 22, 2003, Sunday, February 23, 2003, & Monday, February 24, 2003

Our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis thinks that 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Atlanta Southwest Christian) GA, who is ranked #11 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, who is ranked #26 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, are both near locks for Georgia Tech due to the strong connections that head coach Paul Hewitt and his staff have to the Atlanta Celtics AAU program.  Not only do two former Atlanta Celtics players (Barry Elder and Isma'il Muhmmad) play for the Yellow Jackets, but Georgia Tech assistant coach Willie Reese used to be a coach in the Atlanta Celtics program, Reese's son is a player in the Atlanta Celtics program, and the Atlanta Celtics Basketball Classic, which is held every June, is played at Georgia Tech.   However, the icing on the cake is the fact that the Southeast Atlanta All-Stars, which is affiliated with the Atlanta Celtics program, played an exhibition game against Georgia Tech last November and it would be a major surprise if they don't get a rematch next November.  The Southeast Atlanta All-Stars also played a number of other college teams prior to the start of the current season, including the University of Georgia, but the fact the Atlantic Celtics played a game in their backyard against Georgia Tech, along with all the other connections mentioned above, makes us think Davis is right on the money.  Davis also thinks Georgia Tech will probably get also 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Powder Springs (MacEachern) GA, who is ranked #5 nationally in the junior class and was the #1-ranked player by the HOOP SCOOP at the adidas ABCD Camp last summer.  But a year of prep school may be in Smith's future first.  Davis also tells us that Arizona now appears to be the leader for 6'10 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who is ranked #21 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and it wouldn't be surpring to us, if the Wildcats get this one done sooner than later.  You know how good Arizona head coach Lute Olson is at sealing the deal, especially when he only has one available scholarship, which just so-happens to be the case right now.  Other recent entries into the Tangara-sweepstakes, which already included North Carolina, Michigan, Memphis, Charlotte, Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, Florida State, and Cincinnati, are Louisville, Kentucky, and Connecticut.  We also have learned that Duke, Ohio State, and Notre Dame are the top three for 6'5 Dave McClure from Stanford (Trinity Catholic) CT, who is ranked #72 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and it appears that Louisville is the an even heavier favorite than we already had been led to believe for 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is the #1-ranked junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  At least that's what Gary Charles, who is the program director for the Long Island Panthers club team program, said on our weekly radio show, which can heard by clicking on HOOP SCOOP On-Radio and then clicking on the archive for last night's show.  However, we're not so sure that Louisville's going to get 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, who is ranked as the #3 5th year player by the HOOP SCOOP.  And part of the reason stems from the fact he told Louisville Courier-Journal Sports Columnist Rick Bozich that it's not his decision.  "'I don't get a say, and neither does James,' said Central Park coach Levan Parker.  'His parents - his mother in particular - will have the major say in the final decision.'"  Bozich also notes in yesterday's newspaper that Lang does not plan to participate in the Derby Classic in Louisville, KY on Saturday, April 26th, which is not a good sign for the Cardinals.   Currently Lang's final four appears to be Louisville, Alabama, UAB, and Kentucky, but, with the mother obviously calling the shots and major academic question marks that will likely prevent him from being eligible as a college freshman, our guess is that, ready or not, Lang will elect to enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring.   Bozich also is reporting that Indiana may be the leader for 6'7 Guy Ngarndi from Louisville (Western) KY, who is ranked #269, but who is one of the few players remaining with any size.  Cincinnati, Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Pepperdine, Appalachian State, and Louisville are among those who have also shown interest in Ngarndi, whose value is greatly enhanced by the fact that he's an outstanding student, a big time athlete, and has a great upside. 

The foremost experts with regards to high school basketball in the state of Illinois are Roy and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report, but that doesn't mean that we agree with everything they write or tell us about the top players from their neck of the woods.  As a matter of fact, we've had some interesting debates recently and, as a result, comparing their rankings against our rankings, which were published earlier today and can be found by clicking on Illinois Report, is fascinating, to say the least.  The best place to start is with the junior class, where 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, who is ranked as high as #1 in the nation by experts such as Tom Konchalski of the H.S.B.I. Report, is ranked #1 in the class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, the Schmidt's have gone way out on a limb by ranking 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL as the best junior in the state.  Although we've quoted the Schmidt's a number of times about ranking Pruitt #1, we're not only skeptical, but we are in total disagreement.  As a matter of fact, we have Pruitt ranked third in the class, behind both Livingston and 6'5 Jr DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (H.S.) IL.  We also are higher than the Schmidt's on 6'4 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, but, then again, we got to see Cerasoli put on that brilliant performance at the KMOX Shootout, while the Schmidt's were both absent from that event for the first time years.  Thus, explains why we have Cerasoli ranked #4 and 6'4 Jr Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL ranked #5 in the junior class in the state compared to the Schmidt's who have it the other way around.  We also don't agree with regards to 6'2 Jr Xavier Price from O'Fallon (H.S.) IL and 6'7 Jr Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL, who are ranked #6 and #7 by the HOOP SCOOP, but #7 and #6 by the most recent Illinois Bulls-eye Report.  In this case it looks like we're giving the nod to athleticism and natural talent, while the Schmidt's are going with skills and 3-point shooting.  We also have 6'5 Jr Tommie Liddell from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, 6'1 Jr Jared Haynes from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, 6'4 Jr Vincent Humphrey from Oak Park (Fenwick) IL, and 6'7 Jr Cyrus Tate from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL ranked higher than the Schmidt's do and 6'2 Jr Jaeh Thomas from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'3 Jr Jeremy Fears from Joliet (Township) IL, and 6'5 Jr Gordon Watt from Evanston (Township) IL lower than they do.  In the senior class we do agree with regards to the top two players - 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL and 6'4 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, but we obviously like 6'5 Nick Brooks from Robinson (H.S.) IL who is ranked #3 in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, a lot better than the Schmidt's do, as is evident by the fact they have Brooks ranked no higher than #9 in the class.  They obviously think Brooks is a tweener, but we have a hard time disregarding the fact that he totally dominates the game and is unstoppable in transition every time we see him, plus he made a tremendous choice when he signed with Butler last fall.  We also disagree with the Schmidt's in terms of who we like better between 6'5 Ben Rand from Rochelle (H.S.) IL and 6'3 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL and we are a lot higher than the Schmidt's are on 6'3 Shelby Jordan from Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) IL, 5'10 Carl Marshall from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'2 Andre Knox from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'4 Nick Hill from Duquoin (H.S.) IL, nad 5'11 Rashay Russell from Chicago (St. Rita) IL and are lower on 6'7 Marcus Heard from Springfield (Southeast) IL, 6'7 Jerrah Young from Chicago (St. Rita) IL, 6'1 Jason Okrzesik from Oak Park (Fenwick) IL, 6'8 Phil French from Crete (Illinois Lutheran) IL, 6'4 Othyus Jeffers from Chicago (Hubbard) IL, and 6'5 Dewitt Scott from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL than they are.  We also go deeper than the Schmidt's thanks to the fact that we had a number of other important sources who provided us with names and information for this report.  In the senior class the Schmidt's list includes 130 seniors versus 150 seniors by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also list 83 juniors, 40 sophomores, and 20 freshmen versus 76 juniors, 35 sophomores, and six freshmen in the latest Illinois Bulls-eye Report.   And you can make even more comparisons by subscribing to the Illinois Bulls-eye Report by calling 1-(630) 910-1829, writing Illinois Prep Bulls-eye Report at P.O. Box 488, Downers Grove, IL   60515, or emailing Roy1Harv@aol.com.

Friday, February 21, 2003

When we got a list of the top 24 players in the senior class nationally from Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports earlier this week, we also asked for and received permission from Gibbons to reprint his rankings of the top 100 players nationally from the Class of 1983.  Obviously this provides the perfect complement to our archives, which include the rankings of the top players from the Class of 1984, Class of 1985, Class of 1986 ,Class of 1987, Class of 1988, Class of 1989, Class of 1990, Class of 1991, Class of 1992, Class of 1993, Class of 1994, Class of 1995, Class of  1996, Class of 1997, Class of 1998, Class of 1999, Class of 2000, Class of 2001, and Class of 2002.  This means that we now have the rankings of the top players from each of the last 20 years available on our web site, plus we have rankings of the top players in this year's class, which include our rankings of the Top 100 5th Year Players, Top 300 Seniors in Order and Top 400 Seniors by Position, Top 300 Juniors, Top 140 Sophomores, Top 150 Freshmen, Top 25 8th Graders, Top 18 7th Graders, and Top six 6th Graders.  And we're currently in the process of revising our list of the freshmen, thanks to the help of Patrick Stanwood, who might just be the foremost authority in the country in terms of contacts and knowledgeable about young players on a national basis.  And for those of you who want to compare our rankings with Gibbons' rankings over the years, we encourage you to write All Star Sports Publications, P.O. Box 955, Lenior, NC, 28645 or go to their web site, by clicking on All Star Sports. We also are still planning on contacting Bill Cronauer of the B/C Scouting Service and asking his permission to reprint his final rankings of the top 100 players from the Class of 1977, Class of 1978, Class of 1979, Class of 1980, Class of 1981, and Class of 1982 in our archives, as well.  Believe it or not, I still have a copy from each of those year's on file and, looking back on it, his ranking are pretty amazing.  His top six players in the Class of 1977 included 6'6 Gene Banks from Philadelphia (West Philadelphia) PA, 6'8 Earvin Johnson from Lansing (Everett) MI, 6'6 Albert King from Brooklyn (Fort Hamilton) NY, 6'9 Ray Tolbert from Anderson (Madison Heights) IN, 6'1 Darnell Valentine from Bridgeport (Harding) CT, and 6'2 Wes Matthews from Bridgeport (Harding) CT.  His top five players in the Class of 1978 were 6'11 Rudy Woods from Bryan (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Scooter McCray from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Cornelius Thompson from Middletown (H.S.) CT, 6'4 Darryl Mitchell from West Palm Beach (North Shore) FL, and 6'3 Dwight Anderson from Dayton (Roth) OH.  His top two players in the great Class of 1979 were 7'3 Ralph Sampson from Harrionsburg (H.S.) VA and 6'8 Clark Kellogg from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, followed by "10 More Super Seniors" listed by height that included 7'1 Sam Bowie from Lebanon, PA, 6'11 Steve Stipanovich from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'9 Sidney Green from Brooklyn (Thomas Jefferson) NY, 6'9 James Worthy from Gastonia (Ashbrook) NC, 6'8 Antonie Carr from Wichita Heights (H.S.) KS, 6'7 Derrick Hord from Bristol (Tennessee) TN, 6'7 Dominique Wilkins from Washington (H.S.) NC, 6'7 Darren Day from Granada Hills (Kennedy) CA, 6'4 Ricky Ross from Wichita (South) KS, and 6'1 Isiah Thomas from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL.  Cronauer's Player-of-the-Year in 1980 was 7'0 Jr Pat Ewing from Cambridge (Rindge & Latin) MA, but his top six seniors, were 6'10 Earl Jones from Washington (Spingarn) DC, 6'10 Russell Cross from Chicago (Manley) IL, 6'9 Sam Perkins from Lathan (Shaker) NY, 6'8 Charles Sitton from McMinnville (H.S.) OR, 6'3 Derek Harper from West Palm Beach (North Shore) FL, and 6'3 Glenn Rivers from Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Ewing again was Cronauer's Player-of-the Year in 1981, but this time he listed by height his next six big men, next six forwards, and next six guards.  The list of wing forwards was especially interesting, because it included 6'10 Michael Payne from Quincy (H.S.) IL, 6'7 Manuel Forrest from Louisville (Moore) KY, 6'7 Jr Billy Thompson from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'6 William Martin from Washington (McKinley Tech) DC, 6'6 Anthony Jones from Washington (Dunbar) DC, and 6'5 Michael Jordan from Wilmington (Laney) NC.  Cronauer's top six in 1982 included 7'0 Benoit Benjamin from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 6'9 Wayman Tisdale from Tulsa (Booker T. Washington) OK, 6'8 Billy Thompson from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Kenny Walker from Roberta (Crawford County) GA, 6'5 Jr Antoine Joubert from Detroit (Southwestern) MI, and 6'2 Jr Dwayne Washington from Brooklyn (Boys & Girls) NY.  We also know that Gibbons goes as far back as 1979, because we have a copy of that report in hand and the top 10 players ranked in order are 7'3 Ralph Sampson from Harrionsburg (H.S.) VA, 6'8 Clark Kellogg from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, 7'1 Sam Bowie from Lebanon, PA, 6'9 James Worthy from Gastonia (Ashbrook) NC, 6'7 Derrick Hord from Bristol (Tennessee) TN, 6'1 Isiah Thomas from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, 6'8 Antonie Carr from Wichita Heights (H.S.) KS, 6'4 Ricky Ross from Wichita (South) KS, 6'7 Darren Day from Granada Hills (Kennedy) CA, 6'11 Steve Stipanovich from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'7 Dominique Wilkins from Washington (H.S.) NC, and 6'8 Teddy Grubbs from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL. 

Thursday, February 20, 2003

We have confirmed that 6'10 Jr Jermaine Bell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, who is ranked #68 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has reaffirmed his verbal commitment to St. John's.  If you will recall, Bell was touted very early as one of the top players in his class nationally when he was a freshman at Rochcester (Franklin) NY, but got lost in the shuffle when he was reclassified as a sophomore and transferred first to Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA and more recently to Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL.  Bell has long arms and lots of natural talent and athleticism, but he lacks intensity, needs to get bigger and stronger, and develop more of a killer mentality and/or better perimeter skills, if he wants to live up to his vast potential.  Getting Bell moves the Red Storm's recruiting class into a tie at #15, along with Texas, USC, and Arizona, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, but it does not solve their need for additional help inside.  Neither will 6'0 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #19 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, nor 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, who is ranked #33 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, both Price and Robinson appear to be a lot closer to making verbal commitments to the Red Storm than most people realize.  And, if this does happen, their recruiting class would not only move up to #1 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, but it also would provide St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis with one of the deepest, as well as one of the best, backcourts in college basketball, despite the fact 6'1 Marcus Hatten graduates after this season, year after next.  Remember, 5'10 Elijah Ingram is just a freshman, plus 6'1 Darryl Hill from Milford (Academy) CT is sitting out this year as a partial qualifier.  Speaking of Hill, the word is that he's one of the most improved players in the nation.  As a matter of fact, our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that Hill is the Red Storm's best player in practice every day.  "And that includes Hatten, who is one of the top players in the Big East," says Naclerio.  In other words, with 6'9 Lamont Hamilton from Milford (Academy) CT and 6'7 Anthony Ighadaro from Moberly (JC) MO, both of whom are good enough to contribute immediately next year, and 6'9 Jonathan Williams from St. Cloud (Apollo) MN, who is ranked #8 in the state by Richard Flaata in Minnesota Roundball Prep Newsletter, but has the potential to develop into a contributor down the road, all in the Red Storm's current recruiting class, it looks like St. John's is very close to turning things around next season.  And the final piece to the puzzle would be somebody like 6'7 Yahkouba Diawara from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, who is a physical specimen inside and an enforcer on the boards.  But beating schools like DePaul and Kentucky for Diawara might be easier said than done.  Speaking of Kentucky, we continue to hear that the Wildcats are back in the hunt, along with schools like Rutgers, Villanova, Seton Hall, and North Carolina, for 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, who not only is ranked #60 in the senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but who is the only big man ranked among our top 100 nationally that is still available.  Kentucky also is being mentioned with 6'9 Pehver Ozer from Turkey and again with 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY.   However, as things stand now, Alleyne has not reneged on Rutgers, which is the school he verbally committed to last fall.  But Alleyne did not sign a binding National Letter-of-Intent with the Scarlet Knight and, as a result, would be free to change his mind and pick another school. 

We also are hearing that the University of Louisville is showing interest in 6'11 James Davis from Minneapolis (North) MN, who is ranked #11 in the state by Minnesota Roundball Prep Newsletter.  Previously the only thing we'd heard about Davis is that he outplayed 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, earlier this season.  However, unless we witness something like that for ourself, we usually take it with a grain-of-salt.  Remember, more often than not, the better player has more to do with it, because he had an off night, than the other player really being that good (i.e. when Dan Dakich outplayed Michael Jordan in Indiana's win over North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament in 1984).   But Future Stars Editor and Publisher Van Coleman told us yesterday that he saw Davis at his camp last summer and he's thinks Davis is one of the best kept secrets in the country.  Apparently very few people have seen Davis, because he was hurt as a junior and didn't play on an AAU team or at any national camps last summer.  However, Coleman tells us that, at 6'11 and 280 lbs., Davis runs the court well, has great hands, active feet, and a nice shooting touch.  "The only thing I question, is how bad does he want it," says Coleman.  "Right now I'd rank him in the top 100-200 range nationally, but if Davis works hard and develops like Nazr Mohammed did when he played for Pitino at Kentucky, there is no question that he could play in the NBA someday.  Iowa, Minnesota, and Purdue are also showing interest, but it appears that Louisville is the leader for several reasons.  First, Davis is the cousin of former Louisville All-American Junior Bridgeman.  Second, Davis probably won't make it academically and, as a result, will be a partial qualifer next year.  This is important, because that would prohibit him from going the Big-10 route, unless he went the junior college route first.  However, Davis not making it academically would be the ideal scenario for Louisville, because he could enroll in school, pay his own way, and sit out next year and, as a result, not tie up a scholarship until the following year.   If you will recall, Louisville has three players - 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 - in the current recruiting class and they may also get 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL in the spring.  Louisville also already has an early verbal commitment from 6'10 Jr Terrance Farley from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, plus they are in great shape on a number of the top juniors nationally, like 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Atlanta Southwest Christian) GA, 6'5 Jr Earl Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'8 Jr Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'8 Taj Ray from Redlands (JC) OK, 6'9 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, 6'2 Jr Rajon Rondo from Louisville (Eastern) KY, 6'3 Jr Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, and 6'2 Jr Chris Lofton from Maysville (Mason County) KY.  In other words, with only three or four scholarships, depending upon whether they get Lang, remaining for next year, the Cardinals coaching staff would love to be able to put off giving Davis a scholarship until 2005 when they should have five more scholarships available. 

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

The McDonald's All-American Team has been finalized, as is evident by the fact that some of the players who have been named to the team are starting to leak out.  However, for our purposes, we won't talk about about who is on or not on the team team, until it is officially announced on Thursday, February 27th, on ESPN SportsCenter. Instead, we'll take a look at the top 24 players as listed by some of the foremost authorities in the field, like Brick Oettinger of the Recruiter's Handbook and PrepStars.com, Bob Gibbons of  All Star Sports, and Clark Francis of the HOOP SCOOP, in their latest national player rankings.  Obviously the reason we elected to go 24 deep is so you can make the comparison yourself with regards to the way the expert rank them versus who actually makes the 24-man McDonald's All-American Team.  However, other things like position and balancing out the teams also went into the selection process and, as a result, the top 24 players on each of these lists does not necessarily reflect who we voted for in early February.  As a matter of fact, it is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to rank 5th year players separately and, as a result, players like 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 5'11 Gary Ervin from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, and 6'3 Quincy Douby from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, all of whom are 5th year players, are not included with our rankings of the top 24 seniors.  This is important, because it is the policy of Sports America, which is in charge of inviting the players for the McDonald's All-American Team, to allow a player to be eligible for the McDonald's All-American Team only once.  In other words, if you repeat your freshman, sophomore, or junior year and, as a result, are a 5th year senior, then would be eligible to make the team.  However, if you were a senior last year and now are a 5th year player, you would not be eligible to make the team.  Which means that some of the players listed above are eligible for the team, while others are not.  With that in mind, let's look first at our senior list, which was published two days ago in the Members Section and can be found by clicking on Class 2003.  This list includes in order 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'0 Chris Paul from Clemmons (West Forsyth) NC, 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'5 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK, 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capitol) LA, 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'10 David Padgett from Reno (H.S.) NV, 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'8 Ivan Harris from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St.Martin DePorres) MI, 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'4 Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 5'10 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA, and 6'4 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR.  However, for comparison sake with the other lists, we'll also include the five 5th year players mentioned above to give you a top 30 in order that includes 1) James, 2) Deng, 3) Butch, 4) Ebi, 5) Shakur, 6) Humphries, 7) Brown, 8) Villanueva, 9) Paul, 10) Famutimi, 11) Wafer, 12) Giddens, 13) Bass, 14) Lavender, 15) Perkins, 16) Padgett, 17) Lang, 18) Outlaw, 19) Powe, 20) Ariza, 21) Harris, 22) Cotton, 23) Ervin, 24) Koundjia, 25) Kleiza, 26) Stewart, 27) Douby, 28) Brooks, 29) Brewer, and 30) 6'5 Mike Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA.  Next, let's look at Gibbons' list of the top 24 seniors, which includes in order 1) James, 2) Deng, 3) Padgett, 4) Ebi, 5) Perkins, 6) Shakur, 7) Brown, 8) Paul, 9) Lang, 10) Powe, 11) Outlaw, 12) Humphries, 13) Kleiza, 14) Bass, 15) Villanueva, 16) Koundjia, 17) 6'1 Ayinde Ubaka from Oakland (H.S.) CA, 18) Butch, 19) Wafer, 20) 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 21) 6'8 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, 22) Giddens, 23) Ariza, and 24) Harris.  Contrast that with Oettinger's list, which includes in order 1) James, 2) Deng, 3) Edi, 4) Perkins, 5) Powe, 6) Wafer, 7) Villanueva, 8) Paul, 9) Shakur, 10) Butch, 11) Famutimi, 12) Padgett, 13) Bass, 14) Brown, 15) Humphries, 16) Lang, 17) Cotton, 18) Banks) 19) Giddens, 20) Harris, 21) Outlaw, 22) Lavender, 23) 6'7 Corey Gibbs from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, 24) and Koundjia, and we find that 20 players were listed among the top 24 by all three of us and that 23 players were listed among the top 24 by at least two of us.  In other words, it appears to be as clear-cut as it's ever been as to who should be on the team.   

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

We mentioned yesterday that the list for 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, who is ranked #9 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, includes Texas Arkansas, Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Georgia Tech, but, when we said that, we didn't tell you just how tough we think the Longhorns are going to be to beat for Gibson's services.  As a matter of fact, we're hearing that it may happen as soon as the end of the month.  And this presents the University of Texas coaching staff with a very interesting predicament for a number of reasons.  First, Gibson won't sign with a school that doesn't recruit him as a point guard.  Second, unless he grows, Gibson will have to play point guard down the road in the NBA, but right now he's more ideally suited to play the 2-guard spot.  Third, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, also is a prime recruiting targets for the Longhorns.  Fourth, landing Gibson will probably prevent Horton from signing with the Longhorns.  Remember, Horton's older brother, Daniel Horton is one of the main reason why the University of Michigan is so good this year and, as a result, you can bet the younger brother is looking for a school where he can step in and start immediately as a freshman.  So, unless Horton adds more schools to his list, it's our guess that he will pick Missouri over Michigan and Arizona for that very reason.  Remember, Arizona landed 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA in their current recruiting class and Horton's older brother is already running the show at Michigan.  We also believe that Texas and Florida are the favorites for 6'11 LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seagoville) TX, who is ranked #13 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but North Carolina, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are also very high on his list.  Stanford, Wake Forest, and Kansas appear to be the favorites for 6'9 Jr Kevin Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, but don't count out Texas Christian.  If you will recall, Texas Christian head coach Neil Dougherty was the one who signed Langford's older brother, Keith Langford, at Kansas and Dougherty has already proven he get the top players in his own backyard when he signed 6'5 Blake Adams from Aldine (Nimitz) TX, who is ranked #86 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, in this year's recruiting class.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'8 Jr Rob Kurz from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, who is the #1 ranked junior in his area, likes Notre Dame, Villanova, Indiana, St. Joseph's, Stanford, and Penn State.   Rubin's also has an updated list, which includes Vanderbilt, N.C. State, Rutgers, Texas, Virginia, and Missouri, for his #2-ranked junior in the area - 5'11 Jr Sean Singletary from (Penn Charter) PA.  Rubin also confirms that the University of Kentucky is back in the hunt for 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ and we've also heard rumors about the Wildcats getting back into the race for 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, if he re-opens his recruitment.  If you will recall, Alleyne verbally committed Rutgers in the fall, but never signed a National Letter-of-Intent.  Our guess is that Alleyne will honor his commitment, but,whenever people find out a player didn't sign with a school, that automatically starts speculation.  However, we are starting to wonder if this isn't other people just trying to sabatoge the Scarlet Knight's excellent recruiting efforts.   If you will recall, last fall we also heard rumors about 6'4 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ and 6'3 Quincy Douby from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT both reneging on their commitments to Rutgers.  But, when it was all said and done in November, both Webb and Douby signed with the Scarlet Knights.  So until we're told otherwise, Rutgers current recruiting class, which includes Alleyne, Webb, and Douby, will remain ranked #36 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And if the Scarlet Knights also get Watkins, their recruiting class would move into a tie, along with Wake Forest, California, and Iowa State, at #17 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Not only would this give Rutgers head coach Gary Waters twin towers in Alleyne and Watkins and what is arguably the best recruit this year in the Big East Conference in Douby, but it would also move the Scarlet Knights' recruiting class up to #2 in the Big East behind Miami-FL and ahead of Syracuse and Pittsburgh. 

Saturday, February 15, 2003, Sunday, February 16, 2003, & Monday, February 17, 2003

We knew the final three for 6'11 Jr Steve Hill from Bronson (H.S.) MO, who is ranked #23 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, were Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri and knew that a decision by Hill could be forthcoming in the near future.  However, we still can't overemphasize just how important Hill's early verbal commitment to the University of Arkansas last night was in terms of first-year head coach Stan Heath resurrecting the Razorbacks programs.  We're talking about Arkansas beating two of the premier programs in college basketball right in their own backyard for a skilled athletic white big kid who can run and jump.  In other words, we're talking about a prototypical big man that Roy Williams has made a living off of in recent years.   But, in hindsight, when the Jayhawks landed 6'10 Scott Padgett from Reno (H.S.) NV, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, last fall, that obviously helped the Razorbacks, because if Hill had gone to Kansas he would have been competing for the same position as Padgett.  And the fact that Hill should be able to step in immediately and contribute as a college freshman a-year-and-a-half from now was also probably a deciding factor.  If you will recall, the Razorbacks already have two big guys in their current recruiting class, which is ranked #4 by the HOOP SCOOP on our list of Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but 7'0 Julius Lamptey from New Hampton (Prep) NH, who is a physical specimen inside, needs to get into better shape and continue to improve his skill level, and 6'10 Vincent Hunter from Little Rock (Little Rock) AR, who runs the court like a deer and is extremely athletic and mobile for some his size, needs time to get bigger and stronger physically.  Hill also will provide Arkansas with a tremendous inside/outside combination, because the Razorbacks already have landed 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'4 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, in their current recruiting class.  In other words, anybody who is having a good time beating up on the Razorbacks, which currently are 7-14 overall and last in the Southeastern Conference with 2-8 record, this year had better enjoy it while they can, because it appears is that Heath and his staff are on the verge of turning the Arkansas program around almost as fast as Rick Pitino has turned things around at Louisville.  And the icing on the cake would be if Arkansas also were to land 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, who is ranked #9 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, beating schools like Texas, Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Georgia Tech for Gibson promises to be one tall order.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Andy Ikeakor, who is originally from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX has decided to transfer from Tennessee to the University of Houston and this important, because Ikeakor will provide the experience and the size that the Cougars need to round out this year's recruiting class.  And, while it is not the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to count transfers when ranking recruiting classes, if we did include him with Houston's current recrutiing class, Ikeakor would move their class up from #26 to #14 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Remember, the Cougars missed out on getting 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christisan) TX, who, instead, signed with Arizona, but they did sign 6'7 Andrew Francis from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX 6'9 Darius Brannon from Lee (JC) TX; 6'2 Lanny Smith from Missouri City (Hightower) TX, 6'4 Parker Pinkalla from Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, and 6'11 Elijah Miller from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX. 

Today we finalized our mid-season rankings of the top players in the Class 2003, which includes our list of the top 300 seniors ranked in order, as well as our list of the top 400 seniors by position (top 58 centers, 102 power forwards, 71 wing forwards, 96 second guards, and 73 point guards).  Although we haven't made too many significant changes since we last updated this list six months ago, it is important to point out some of the players who are significicantly on the rise, like 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, who moved up from #17 to #7; 6'7 Demetris Nichols from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, who moved up from #46 to #25; 6'4 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, who moved up from #47 to #24; 6'3 Louis McCroskey from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who moved up from #66 to #46; 6'5 Dwight Brewington from Worcester (Academy) MA, who moved up from #128 to #56; 6'8 Cartier Martin from Aldine (Nimitz) TX, who moved up from #89 to #57; 6'0 Maureece Rice from Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion) PA, who moved up from #102 to #59; 6'1 Guillermo Diaz from Miami (Christian) FL, who was not on the list before, but who is now #72; 6'11 Will Bowers from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD, who moved up from #173 to #77; 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, who moved up from #131 to #80; 6'10 Steve Verwers from Weatherford, TX, who moved up from #216 to #88; 6'9 Jason Cain from Philadelphia (Bartram) PA, who moved up from #258 into a tie at #100; 6'7 Chris Cathlin from New Market (Shenandoah Valley) VA, who was not on the list before, but who is now tied at #100; 6'1 Jay Jackson from Monroe (Ouchita Parish) LA, who moved up from #167 into a tie at #100; 6'7 Donell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, who was not on the list before, but who is now #115; 6'8 Anthony Tolliver from Springfield (Kickapoo) MO; who was not on the list before, but who is now #118; 6'3 Abdi Lidonde from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, who moved up from #202 to #122; 6'10 Kirk Walters from Grand Rapids (South Christian) MI, who was not on the list before, but who is now #131; 6'3 Jamon Gordon from Jakcsonville (Jackson) FL, who moved up from #203 to #144; 5'11 Mike Woodard from Fairburn (Creekside) GA, who was not on the list before, but who is now #161; 6'1 Christopher Pugh from Oxon Hill (H.S.) MD, who was not on the list before, but who is now #162; and 6'8 Dwayne Curtis from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, who was not on the list before, but who is now #172.   Unfortunately the only players listed above who are still available are Rice, Cain, Wright, Lidonde, and Pugh.  Also still available and ranked among our top 100 nationally are 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Chrisitian) MD, Rice, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'2 Milton Collins from New Orleans (O.P. Walker) LA, Cain, and 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Waterbury (Sacret Heart) CT.  But in the cases of Rice and Collins, grades are still a question mark.  Among the players most significantly on the decline are 6'8 Reyshawn Terry from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC, who drops from #25 to #138; 6'8 Warren Scott from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who drops from #117 to #118; 6'9 Byron Joynes from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who drops from #121 to #167.  However, in all three cases, we wouldn't be surprised if that trend reversed itself down the road.   As a matter of fact, Terry showed us last summer that he has NBA-like talent, athleticism, and potential.  Joynes,who is best described as a physical speciemen, just needs to get into better shape, which is why schools like Texas, Virginia, and USC are still waiting in the wings.  Scott, who appears to be close to making a verbal commitment to Mississippi, is best in a more wide open setting, but there is no doubt that he will benefit in the long run from the structure that he is getting now while playing in Steve Smith's system at Oak Hill Academy. 

Friday, February 14, 2003

The latest names we've heard for the UCLA job are Florida head coach Billy Donovan, Memphis head coach John Calipari, and Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, but we still think the leading candidate to become the 8th head coach of the Bruins since John Wooden retired in 1975 is Pittsburgh head coach Ben Howland.  Not only is Howland one of the hottest guys in the business, but he's got of the right connections (i.e. he's from the West Coast and is extremely close with adidas' Sonny Vaccaro).  And assuming that current UCLA head coach Steve Lavin and current San Francisco head coach Philip Mathews both get the ax at the end of the season, we think Lavin will be in line for the San Francisco job.  However, we're also starting to hear other names for the Dons job, like Arizona assistant coach Rodney Tention, who is originally from the Bay Area, and Massachusetts head coach Steve Lappas, who apparently has close ties with the athletic director at San Francisco.  And how about UNLV assistant coach Derek Thomas?  If you will recall, the Runnin' Rebels landed 6'10 Chris Adams from San Francisco (JC) CA and 6'3 John Winston from Richmond (Salesian) CA last fall, plus Thomas is more than ready to move into a head coaching job after establishing himself as one of the top assistant coaches in the business, while working for Charlie Spoonhour at UNLV and Saint Louis and Lon Kruger at Illinois and with the Atlanta Hawks in recent years.  We're also hearing Thomas' name mentioned for several jobs that may open, like Cleveland State (8-16) and Western Illinois (6-15), and Chicago State, which already is open.   Remember, nobody has better contacts than Thomas in the Midwest, especially in the state of Illinois, as is evident by the fact that UNLV is listed among the favorites for two of the top juniors in the state - 6'5 Jr DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL and 6'3 Jr Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL.  However, we'd be surprised if Thomas took Chicago State, which has to be one of the worst jobs at the Division I level.  Another option might be for Thomas might to become reunited with Kruger, if he surfaces at someplace like UCLA this spring.  We're also hearing Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown's name being mentioned for North Carolina, if time suddenly runs out for Tar Heels head coach Matt Doherty.  But we'd be shocked if this happened.  If you will recall, the Tar Heels missed the opportunity to hire Brown, who we think is the best coach in basketball at any level, three years ago when they only gave him a token interview.  Remember, they thought Brown was too old.  As for Doherty, when they decided not to fire him after last year's disastrous 8-20 season, the North Carolina administration in essence gave Doherty a vote of confidence for the long haul.  After all, you can't expect a team where all of the top players are freshmen and sophomores to immediately become one of the best teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.  But that's exactly what almost happened, as the Tar Heels went 7-2 (losing only two Illinois and Kentucky) prior to when 6'8 Frosh Sean May broke his foot in the game against Iona on December 27th.  Since that time North Carolina is 6-8, but they beat St. John's the night after they lost May, upset Connecticut in late January, played Duke tough in Durham, NC in early February, and since have won two in a row at home against Florida State, 61-60, and Virginia, 81-67.  And North Carolina has a chance to make that four in a row, if they can win tomorrow at Clemson and Tuesday at home against North Carolina A&T.  That would make the Tar Heels 15-10 heading into the toughest part of their schedule, which includes home games against N.C. State, Georgia Tech, and Duke; road games at Maryland and Wake Forest; and the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, NC.  In other words, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that North Carolina could make the NCAA Tournament this year, even if May, whose playing status for the rest of the season is still in doubt, does not return.   And, if North Carolina does get invited to the NCAA Tournament, we think Doherty, who along with his coaching staff and players has overcome an incredible amount of adversity, should be the ACC Coach-of-the-Year, as well as get consideration for National Coach-of-the-Year honors.  As a matter of fact, we think it's minor miracle that the Tar Heels have beaten anybody since losing the only quality inside player (May) in the entire program almost two months ago.  We also continue to hear that this will be Temple head coach John Chaney's last year.  As a matter of fact, there are people out there who think that the decision has already been made.   However, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin believes Chaney will be at Temple as long as his health is good and he enjoys coaching.  And when the time for Chaney to retire finally does come, Rubin isn't so sure that Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Randy Ayers and Drexel head coach James "Brusier" Flint are the leading candidates for the job.  As a matter of fact, Rubin thinks a number of head coaches, like Pennsylvania's Fran Dunphy and Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich, will get looked at for the job due to their close ties to Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw.  Virginia Tech head coach Ricky Stokes may be able to save his job with a win tomorrow at home against Georgetown and a win next week at Boston College.  That would make the Hokies 4-1 in a stretch that began on February 5th with a 95-74 win over Connecticut.  However, if Virginia Tech beats Georgetown, that would put Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick into an even more precarious position.  Sure, Esherick will always have the support of his former boss, the legendary John Thompson, but currently the Hoyas are 2-7 in the conference, 10-10 overall, and are showing no signs of improvement, as their last two losses have come against UCLA and Rutgers.  We're also hearing that Wright State head coach Ed Schilling, who is 2-10 in the league and 8-14 overall; James Madison head coach Sherman Dillard, who is 5-8 in the league and 9-14 overall; and Florida International head coach Donnie Marsh, who is 1-8 in the league and 7-15 overall; are getting some heat, but, in all three cases, they've recruited extremely well and, as a result, should get the time they need to turn things around next season.  Among those who probably won't be so lucky are Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn, who is now 0-9 in the league and 5-15 overall; Washington State head coach Paul Graham, who is 0-12 in the league and 5-16 overall; Fordham head coach Bob Hill, who is 1-9 in the league and 2-19 overall; North Carolina A&T head coach Curtis Hunter, who is 0-12 in the league and 0-19 overall; Loyola-Maryland head coach Scott Hicks, who is 1-11 in the league and 4-17 overall; and Columbia head coach Armond Hill, who is 0-6 in the league and 2-17 overall.  It also appears that Clemson's 76-59 loss two days ago to South Carolina made things even tougher for Tigers head coach Larry Shyatt, who is now 12-8 overall and 2-7 in the league.  However, if Clemson, which has home games against North Carolina, Florida State, and N.C. State and road games at Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech, can go 4-3 in their final seven regular season games and pull off an upset or two in the ACC Tournament, then Shyatt would have a lot more job security.  Also on the bubble is Texas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins, but, if the Aggies can build on their two-point win against Missouri two nights ago, and beat Colorado, Iowa State, and Texas Tech prior to finishing the regular season against Kansas, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Oklahoma State, then you have to also like Watkins' chances.  Remember, the Aggies only won nine games a year ago, but have a realistic chance to finish with 16 or 17 regular season wins this year.  One guy who isn't in trouble, despite a 2-8 conference record and 10-11 overall record, is Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody.  As a matter of fact, with double-digit wins at home against both Indiana and Purdue in the last 10 days, Carmody probably deserves a raise.  And it wouldn't surprise us, if Northwestern won four or five more games, as they have an extremely favorable schedule the rest of the way with road games at Michigan State, Illinois, and Iowa and home games against Minnesota, Penn State, and Ohio State. 

Thursday, February 13, 2003

It won't be official until he has the press conference tomorrow, but it looks pretty darn certain that 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capitol) LA, who is ranked #11 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is finally going to make it official for LSU.  And, assuming our information is correct, LSU's recruiting class, which currently is ranked #15 by the HOOP SCOOP and already includes 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 5'10 Taurean Minor from Houston (Washington) TX, 6'8 Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY, and Darrell Lazare from Baton Rouge (Woodlawn) LA, will move up to #1 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  In other words, the Tigers would have an amazing athletic wing player in Koundjia, a quality point guard in Minor, two great role players in Neltner and Lazare, and an athletic power forward who plays like former Cincinnati All-American Kenyon Martin in their current recruiting class.  Not only is Bass a blue collar player who does all the dirty work inside, a he rebounds, blocks shots, defends, and doesn't take any prisoners, but he also promises to be the perfect complement inside to 6'9 Jr Jaime Lloreda, as they likely will form one of the best one-two punches in the league next year.  Getting Bass also would make LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre, who currently is ranked #24 on our list of the top assistant coaches and already is widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in the business, one of the hottest guys in the business.  As a matter of fact, we suspect that it's only a matter of time before Pierre moves all the way to the top of our list of assistant coaches, because LSU already appears to be a lock for 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, who is the #1-ranked sophomore in the nation, and he's got a great relationship with two of the top 4th graders in the nation.  Did you know that Mitchell confirmed last summer that Pierre is his godfather and the two 4th graders are Pierre's twin sons?   We also have confirmed that 6'0 Jr Charlie Jones from Katy (Cinco Ranch) TX has made an early verbal commitment to Colorado State and, as a result, the strong pipeline that the Rams have into the state of Texas continues.  If you will recall, a year ago Colorado State landed 6'4 Shelton Johnson from Arlington (Oak Ridge) TX and 6'2 Michael Morris from Katy (Cinco Ranch) TX and in their current recruiting class, which is ranked #63 on list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, they have 6'10 Steve Verwers from Weatherford, TX, 6'8 Phil Thomasson from Burleson (H.S.) TX, and 7'0 Stuart Creason from Coppell (H.S.) TX.   Not only does the commitment by Jones ensure that Colorado State head coach Dale Layer will have a talented young player in the program at every position a-year-and-a-half from now, but he also should provide a perfect complement to Morris, who was a senior when Jones was a sophomore a year ago at Katy (Cinco Ranch) TX, in the backcourt.  Jones is ranked #16 in the junior class in Texas by Mike Kunstadt, but, even more important, is the fact that he's ranked as the #3 point guard in the state beind 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX and 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX.  However, Jones is more of a true point guard than either Gibson or Horton, both of whom are also ranked among the top 10 juniors nationally and are capable of putting up prolific numbers.  In addition to his excellent ball handling and passing skills, Jones also has the ability to lock you up defensively and beat you with his smarts and court savvy.  Obviously this also gives Colorado State a head start on next year's recruiting class, as Jone's verbal commitment moves the Rams' recruiting class into a tie at #21, along with Louisville, Kentucky, and Xavier, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  Jones also is listed among the top juniors by Jim Hicks, who recently sent us his Recruiter's Cheat Sheet 2002-03 Mid-Season Review, which is a must for any school that recruits the Houston area.  Not only does he provide his rankings of the top players in each class, but he also has email addresses and phone numbers for all of the top unsigned players.  And, if that weren't enough, we also need to mention that the Spring Ice-Breaker 2003, which is a basketball showcase sponsored by the Recruiter's Cheat Sheet, will feature Greater Houston's very finest unsigned talent, Sunday, March 16th.  And, yes, according to Hicks, the Spring Ice-Breaker 2003 is already certified and, as a a result, college coaches are allowed to attend.  

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

It's still kind of hard for us not to think of Hal Pastner, who is the director of both the Academy National Invitational and the Kingwood Classic, as Josh Pastner's Dad.  Remember, the younger Pastner, who first made his mark as a walk-on player/coach at the University of Arizona in the late 80's and then as the head coach of the 17-Under Houston Hoops club team several years ago, is now a full-time assistant coach at Arizona and is widely regarded as one of the top up-and-coming guys in the business.   However, the older Pastner, who has run the Houston Hoops club team program as a hobby most of his entire adult life, now appears to be making his mark on the game even faster than his son, as he has done a remarkable job building the Academy National Invitational into what is arguably the #1 high school event in the nation between Christmas and New Year's and the Kingwood Classic into the best spring AAU-like event in the country.  And, if that weren't enough to make Josh's Dad the premier high school basketball and grassroots event operator in the nation, the fact that his company, Vision Sports, is now working with Joe Fisher to run the Mae Fisher Memorial 23rd Annual Las Vegas Easter Classic in Las Vegas, NV, April 16th-20th, should put to rest any debate on the subject.  As a matter of fact, the Las Vegas Easter Classic is the only event that already has been sanctioned this spring by the Nevada High School Athletic Association, which means that college coaches will be able to attend on both Saturday, April 19th, and Sunday, April 20th.  Obviously the primary interest of the college coaches' will be watching the 17-Under Boys/11th Grade Tournament, but, just like the Kingwood Classic, which will be the April 25th-27th in Houston, TX, attempting to cover the entire Las Vegas Easter Classic should be next to impossible, because there will also be tournaments for the 16-Under/10th Grade, 15-Under/9th Grade, 14-Under/8th Grade, 13-Under/7th Grade, 12-Under/6th Grade, 11-Under/5th Grade, and 10-Under/4th Grade age groups, as well as a separate girls tournament for the varsity, 14-Under, 13-Under, and 12-Under levels.  In other words, this promises to be almost as huge an event as the Kingwood Classic and the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV in July not just in terms of quality talent and the top high school players in the nation, but also in terms of exposure.  The Las Vegas Easter Classic also promises to be the perfect complement to the Kingwood Classic, because Texas and Nevada are the only two states in the nation where the state association is sanctioning events in accordance with NCAA guidelines this spring.    So without question these will be the two places to be the last two weekends in April, if you are a high school player, college coach, or a basketball recruiting guru.   For more information about both tournaments, click onto Vision Sports.    In addition to providing us with the scoop about the deal involving the Las Vegas Easter Classic, which was finalized today, Hal Pastner also provides us with several interesting tidbits regarding 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, who is ranked #9 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is a prime recruiting target for schools like Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, and Arkansas.  First, Gibson plans take an unofficial to visit Kansas this weekend.  Second, Gibson's father, Byron Gibson, has agreed to be the head coach of the Houston Hoops this spring and summer. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

The best basketball talent in the nation per capita is arguably in the state of Michigan, but Detroit, MI, which traditionally is one of the top basketball cities in the country, has not been down in recent years.  Instead, the best basketball talent in the state was found in places like Flint, MI and Saginaw, MI.   However, now it looks like the pendulum has shifted back, as the Motor City and the surrounding area is experiencing a major Renaissance in terms of quality high school basketball talent, as 6'4 Dion Harris from Detroit (Redford) MI, 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'9 Walter Waters from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'7 Ije Nwankwo from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 6'2 Bryon Davis from Detroit (Rogers) MI, 6'8 James Matthews from Detroit (Denby) MI, 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI, 6'3 Jr Joseph Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'6 Jr Malik Harriston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'1 Jr Rico Harris from Detroit (Denby) MI, 6'7 Jr Jamaal Lock from Detroit (Redford) MI, 6'6 Jr Isaac Knight from Detroit (Crockett) MI, 5'9 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wyoming Park (H.S.) MI, 6'2 Soph Jarrett Smith from Westland (John Glenn) MI, 6'8 Soph Anthony Sparks from Detroit (Murray-Wright) MI, 6'4 Soph Ramar Trusty from Detroit (Crockett) MI, 6'6 Frosh Tracy Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, and 6'2 Frosh Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI all are ranked among the top players in the state in their class.   So when the quarterfinals of the Detroit Public School League tip off at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI tonight at 5:30 PM, the argument can be made about this being the top public school league tournament in the nation.  Don't believe it?  Well, our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that he expects a number of the top college programs in the nation, including Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Arkansas, Marquette, Missouri, and Kentucky, to be in attendance tonight, and tomorrow night for the quarterfinals and/or Friday night for the semi-finals.  Tonight's first game features Detroit (Renaissance) MI with Crawford and Hairston, who are two of the top three junior in the state, versus Detroit (Denby) MI with Harris, who is the 4th best junior in the state.  Hairston and Harris also are the two top ranked unsigned seniors in the state, so it comes as no surprise when Johnson tells us that Hairston is being recruited by Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Michigan and that the top schools for Harris are Ohio State, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky.  Tonight's second game features Detroit (Murray-Wright) MI with Sparks, who is the #2-ranked sophomore in the state, versus Detroit (MacKenzie) MI.   Tomorrow night's first game, which will tip-off at 5:50 PM, features Detroit (Crockett) MI with Knight and Trusty versus Detroit (Southeastern) MI with Jenkins and Waters, who are two of the top six seniors in the state.  Tomorrow night's second game features Detroit (Redford) MI with Harris, who is the #3-ranked senior in the state, versus Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI with Smith and Smith, who are the top two freshmen in the state, as well as two of the top 10 freshmen in the nation. 

The HOOP SCOOP has learned that DePaul has received an early verbal commitment from one of the top junior college freshmen in the nation in 5'11 Aking Elting from Southern Idaho (JC) ID.   We're talking about an extremely athletic point guard who reminds those who have seen him of Missouri's Rick Clemons.  However, Elting doesn't have the off-the-court baggage that Clemons does, plus Elting is more of pure point guard and not quite as prolific a scorer, although Elting can beat you with his ability to get to the basket and 3-point shooting range.  And just like Clemons, who played high school basketball at Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC, Elting is originally from Elizabethtown, NC.   Not only does Elting promise to give Blue Demons head coach Dave Leitao the ideal point guard he needs to go with the two guards - 6'5 Sammy Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King Prep) NY and 6'2 Tyler Smith from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA - he landed in this year's recruiting class, but Elting also gives DePaul a tremendous head-start on next year's recruiting class.  As a matter of fact, Elting's early commitment moves DePaul into a tie at #8, along with N.C. State, Cincinati, Iowa, and Alabama, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  And, if DePaul also gets 6'4 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West) IL, who is a prime target of Blue Demons, and/or 6'5 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, who has the Blue Demons near the top of his list, along with UCLA, Kansas, Louisville, USC, Connecticut, and Arizona, then they would be well on their way towards landing one of the top recruiting class in the nation a year from now.  And their current recruiting class, which is currently ranked #26 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and includes Mejia, Smith, 6'8 Lorenzo Thompson from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'7 Marcus Heard from Springfield (Southeast) IL, and 6'9 Wesley Green from Eustis (H.S.) FL, would move up to #13, if they also get 6'7 Yahkouba Diawara from Southern Idaho (JC) ID.  We've also heard that the University of Kentucky is recruiting Diawara, but to-date Diawara has only taken one visit (to DePaul) and Blue Demons assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer, who is one of the fastest rising assistant coaches in the nation, obviously is extremely well connected to the College of Southern Idaho' program, as is evident by the fact that he's already gotten a early commitment from Elting. 

Monday, February 10, 2003

One of the people we had on our weekly radio show last night was Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report and he provided some great insight into the recruitment of a number of the top juniors in the state of Illinois, plus he finally seems to realize just how good 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL is, although he still doesn't have Livingston ranked as the #1 junior in the state over 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West) IL.  In other words, Schmidt just thinks Pruitt is that good!  However, he may not get a chance to be proven right or wrong until summer, because Pruitt is still recovering from a leg injury that has sidelined him all year and, as a result, we probably won't get to see him when Aurora (West) IL meets Maywood (Proviso East) IL in the second game of the big doubleheader at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL this weekend.  Schmidt tells us that Livingston has schools like Illinois, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, Arizona, Indiana, and Kansas on his list.  However, the smart money is the Fighting Illini.    As a matter of fact, a lot of people in the business think this one's already a done deal.  And just like Illinois with Livingston, it appears that Marquette is the leader for Pruitt.  Not only has Golden Eagles head coach Tom Crean done a great job recruiting in the state, but he also has Pruitt's close friend and teammate - 6'5 Dameon Mason from Aurora (West) IL - already in the fold.   Indiana appears to be a strong second on Pruitt's list, followed by Illinois, Xavier, Arizona, Purdue, DePaul, Iowa, and Michigan State.  Schmidt also thinks Marquette and Wisconsin are the leaders over Illinois, DePaul, Iowa, Bradley, UNLV, and Cincinnati for 6'5 Jr DeAndre Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL.   However, that could change if 6'8 Jr Kaleen Grimes from Florissant (Hazelwood Central) MO picks Missouri, instead of Illinois.  Did you know that Illinois only has two scholarships to offer in the Class of 2004?  Auburn appears to be more than ready to take advantage of assistant coach Tracy Dildy's strong Chicago ties with 6'3 Jr Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, but Illinois, Marquette, UNLV, Louisville, and DePaul are also on his list.  DePaul's #1 recruiting priority is 6'4 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West) IL and, as a result, we think the Blue Demons will be tough to beat, despite the fact Ohio State, N.C. State, Wisconsin, Seton Hall, and Auburn are also in the hunt.  Missouri, Oklahoma, and Illinois appear to be the top three for 6'2 Jr Xavier Price from O'Fallon (H.S.) IL, but Saint Louis, Marquette, and Nebraska must also be mentioned.  Stanford appears to have the edge over Notre Dame, California, Marquette and Northern Illinois for the services of 6'7 Jr Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL, who, according to Schmidt, is the most underrated player nationally in the state.  Purdue, Michigan State, DePaul, Iowa, and Valparaiso are the leaders for 6'6 Jr Ollie Bailey from Chicago (Farragut) IL.  Valparaiso also appears to be the leader over DePaul and Wiscinson for 6'5 Jr Frank Clair from Chicago (Leo) IL, while Bradley, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, and Northern Illinois are all in the hunt for 6'4 Jr Jeremy Couch from Pekin (H.S.) IL.  We also find Roy and Harv Schmidt's rankings of the top seniors in the state extremely interesting, as their top 15 in order includes 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'4 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, 6'7 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL, 6'5 Dameon Mason from Aurora (West) IL, 6'2 Jimmie Miles from Olympia Fields (Rich Central) IL, 6'1 Anthony Harris from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'5 Florentino Valencia from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'8 Dwayne Curtis from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'5 Nick Brooks from Robinson (H.S.) IL, 6'6 Marcus Heard from Springfield (Southeast) IL, 6'7 Jerrah Young from Chicago (St. Rita) IL, 6'5 Ben Rand from Rochelle (H.S.) IL, 6'8 Lorenzo Thompson from Chicago (Crane) IL, 5'8 Charlie Richardson from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, and 6'4 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL.  Obviously the Schmidt's have Thompson a lot lower than most people, but we're not sure that we disagree.  As a matter of fact, Thompson has a history of stinking it up when I'm in the gym.  In other words, Thompson is going to have to get a lot meaner and tougher and become much more consistent and productive, if he doesn't want DePaul head coach Dave Leitao to recruit right over him.  Instead, the player that the Schmidt's and I will have to agree to disagree upon is Brooks.  Sure, this slasher/athlete has a position question, but we also talking about a scoring machine in transition and he picked the ideal level by signing with Butler.  Moral to the story, when Brooks turns out to be one of the best players in the Horizon League several years from now, just remember who had him in their top 100 nationally, which is where we plan to rank him when we update our national rankings later this month.  We also plan to rank Brooks #3 in the senior class in the state behind Brown and McBride and ahead of Randle and Miles when we publish our Illinois Report exclusively in the Members Section early next week.  If you are interested in comparing our rankings with the Schmidt's latest Illinois rankings, we encourage you to subscribe to the Illinois Bulls-eye Report right away.    You can do so by calling 1-(630) 910-1829, writing Illinois Prep Bulls-eye Report at P.O. Box 488, Downers Grove, IL   60515, or emailing Roy1Harv@aol.com.

Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that 6'0 Brett Warner from Smyrna (H.S.) TN has verbally committed to UNC-Asheville, 6'4 Jake Skogen from Chattanooga (Tennessee Temple) TN has verbally committed to Mercer, and 6'0 Wadele Williams from Columbia (Central) TN has verbally committed to Arkansas-Little Rock.  The commitments by Williams are especially significant, because we're talking about the #10 and #12 ranked players in the state of Tennessee by the HOOP SCOOP.  Whitehead also saw 6'6 Soph Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, who is ranked #6 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP, last weekend and he confirms the fact that Tennessee is the school you have to beat for this athletic wing forward with the ability already to beat you both inside and outside.  As a matter of fact, somebody from the Tennessee coaching staff was also at the game to recruit Smith.  However, this one isn't over yet, as Arizona and Louisville both have been turning up the heat lately on Smith.  Louisville also appears to have jumped into the lead for 6'5 Jr Earl Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who was ranked #23 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP prior to being reclassified as a junior last fall.   If you will recall, North Carolina had been Smith's favorite school since he first exploded onto the national scene last summer at the adidas ABCD Camp and Seton Hall, which is right in his own backyard, was supposed to have been the #2 two school on his list.  However, it now looks like Louisville is the leader, followed by Florida and Pittsburgh.  We also are interested to see how Louisville deals with the situation involving 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL.  If you will recall, Lang verbally committed to Louisville last fall, but his mother insisted that he was still wide open and, as a result, the recruiting process has never stopped, as Louisville, Alabama, and UAB are believed to be the tri-favorites.  But, if Lang does sign with the Cardinals in the spring, it could put the Cardinals into a very awkward position.  Remember, Lang may not make it academically and/or he may enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring.  In other words, it might be a smart move on Louisville's part to accept a verbal commitment from Lang in the spring, but not to sign him to a binding National Letter-of-Intent.   Remember, according to NCAA rules, a school can only sign eight players over a two-year period and this is important, because, if the Cardinals sign Lang in the spring and he doesn't materialize with their recruiting class into school next fall, they would lose the scholarship.  If you will recall, Louisville's recruiting class, which includes 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, is tied at #8 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Louisv