TODAY'S HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION

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Saturday, February 28, 2004, & Sunday, February 29, 2004

When I first heard that ESPN's Dick Vitale had been quoted saying that 11 high school players would likely by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft this spring, I thought he was nuts.  However, upoin further investigation, I've decided that number might actually be too low, as 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Christian) GA, 6'9 Josh Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Manual) IL, 6'9 Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, 6'0 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'9 Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'7 Dorell Wright from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'6 Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'8 Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA, 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 7'0 Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'10 LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 7'0 Robert Swift from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, 7'1 Ivan Chiriaev from Oakville (St. Thomas Aquinas) ON, 6'5 Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, and 6'10 Jackie Butler from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA all either appear to be likely to enter their name into the draft or at least have expressed some interest in doing so.  In other words, we're potentially talking about 16 players and if, what we expect to happen does happen, it would be almost as devastating to the college game as when Kevin Garnett in 1995 and Kobe Bryant in 1996 started the trend, whereby, the top high school players in the nation annually are thinking about going straight to "The League."  Sure, there are probably seven or eight players in the Class of 2004 who are good enough to make some sort of impact in the NBA next season, but this is the best class since the great Class of 1995, which featured players like Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Ron Mercer, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Robert Traylor, Vince Carter, and Paul Pierce.  And this important, because top players in future classes are likely to make the same mistake that the top players made in the late 90's and early part of this decade when they thought they were in the same league with guys like Garnett and Bryant.  Coinciding with this potential mass exodus are quotes from former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith, who recently told the Knight Commission, which is looking for ways to reform college basketball, regarding proposed freshmen-eligibility reforms.  Did you know that Smith has proposed that freshmen recruits should play on freshmen-only teams and junior college transfers would have to sit out a year before playing on the varsity?  "You have to show you're a student first before you have the privilege of playing intercollegiate basketball," Smith told the commission eary this month.  NCAA President Myles Brand also seems to have a similar philosophy, whereby, he wants college basketball and football to become more like the Ivy League and/or minor sports, instead of the big business that it clearly is today.  All this sounds great, but unfortunately they don't seem to get some very important facts.  First, college basketball is the goose that laid the golden egg in terms of funding minor sports and giving gender equity some chance at success.  Second, there is a tremendous amount of competition out there for the entertainment dollar.  Third, college basketball is in endanger of losing big time in that race for the entertainment dollar.  Don't believe it?   Well, just sit back and attempt to tell me who you think will be in the NCAA Final Four a month from now.  Many of the "so-called" experts call it "parity," but I call it mediocrity and the lack of continuity that teams achieve from one-year to the next is getting more evident all the time, as the growing trend appears to be to sign with a college in the fall and turn pro in the spring.  Which brings us to a very important point, if all the players mentioned above do enter the NBA Draft this spring.  Obviously we're talking about who will  be the real big winners in college basketball next year from a recruiting standpoint.  When you combine 5th Year Players and seniors in high school we find that the top 16 players who have signed with a four-year Division I school and are expected to enroll in college as freshmen next fall are 1) 6'8 Rudy Gay from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD, who signed with Connecticut; 2) 6'5 J.R Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who signed with North Carolina; 3) 6'0 Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, who signed with Memphis; 4) 6'9 D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, who signed with Indiana; 5) 6'3 Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, who is signed with Texas; 6) 6'8 Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) NJ, who signed with Texas; 7) 6'3 Joe Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, who is verbally committed to Kentucky; 8) 6'5 Jawann McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, who signed with Arizona; 9) 6'2 DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, who signed with Duke; 10) 6'2 A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who signed with Connecticut; 11) 6'5 Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, who signed with UCLA; 12) 6'5 Robert Vaden from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) NH, who signed with Indiana; 13) 6'1Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, who signed with Syracuse; 14) Corey Brewer from Portland (H.S.) TN, who signed with Florida; 15) 6'2 Jordan Farmar from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, who signed with UCLA; and 16) 6'7 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Charter) NC, who signed with Memphis.  So it appears that the recruiting real winners are Texas, Connecticut, Memphis, Indiana, and UCLA, all of which have two players that are expected to become student-athletes next year.  And when we dig a little deeper, we also have to include Kentucky, Florida State, Cincinnati, Florida, Syracuse, and Missouri on the list of schools that signed more than one player who will probably show up, as the next 24 players ranked in order are 17) 5'11 Sean Singletary from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, who signed with Virginia; 18) 6'6 Churchill Odia from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who signed with Xavier; 19) 5'11 Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, who signed with Villanova; 20) 6'3 Isaiah Swann from Chatham (Hargrave Militray) VA, who signed with Florida State; 21) 6'3 Ramel Bradley from Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL, who signed with Kentucky; 22) 6'2 Rajon Rondo from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed with Kentucky; 23) 6'10 Longar Longar from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who re-signed with Oklahoma; 24) 6'7 Dayshawn Wright from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed with Syracuse; 25) 6'3 Jason Rich from Orlando (Dr. Phillips) FL, who signed with Florida State; 26) 6'3 Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, who signed with Kansas; 27) Roy Bright from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who signed with Cincinnati; 28) 6'1 Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, who signed with Missouri; 29) 6'10 Joakim Noah from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ, who signed with Florida; 30) 6'4 Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, who signed with Oregon; 31) 6'9 Brian Johnson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed with Louisville; 32) 6'9 Cedric Simmons from Shallotte (West Brunswick) NC, who signed with N.C. State; 33) 6'6 Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX, who signed with Missouri; 34) 6'1 Drew Neitzel from Wyoming Park (H.S.) MI, who signed with Michigan State; 35) 6'6 Cheyenne Moore from South Kent (Prep) CT, who signed with Clemson; 36) 6'5 DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL, who signed with Wisconsin; 37) 6'7 Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, who signed with Texas; 38) 6'3 Vincent Banks from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who signed with Cincinnati; 39) 6'5 Josh Shipp from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, who signed with UCLA; and 40) 6'10 Ousmane Barro from Chicago (Julian) IL, who signed with Marquette.  As a matter of fact, when we expand the list to 40, we find that Texas, Kentucky, and UCLA each have three players who make the list.  And when we also factor in junior college players, foreign players, and players who are sitting out, then Louisville with Johnson and 6'7 Donta Smith from Southeastern Illinois (JC) IL, Marquette with Barro and 7'0 Mike Kinsella from Minneapolis (Community and Technical) MN, Oklahoma with Barro and 6'8 Taj Gray from Redlands (JC) OK, Oklahoma State with 6'0 Jamal Brown from Dixie (JC) UT and 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Stillwater, OK, and Baylor with 6'0 Jihad Muhmmed from San Jacinto (JC) TX, 6'11 Mamadou Diene from the Senegel, and 6'2 Aaron Bruce from Horsham, Australia must also be included in the equation of who signed two or more players, both of whom are the equivalent of being ranked among the top 40 high school seniors and will probably enroll in school next fall. 

Friday,  February 27, 2004

We've been telling you for several months that Minnesota head coach Dan Monson is trouble and now that the Golden Gophers are 10-16 overall and 2-12 in the Big-10 Conference, most people would tend to agree.  However, it appears that Monson is suddenly safe (at least for the timing being anyway), because Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi is telling people that the buy-out, which is $1.75 million, is too much to pay at the present time.  And if that's true (our guess is that he's bluffing in an attempt to get the boosters, big money people, and alumni to come up with enough money to soften the blow), it's too bad for the basketball program.  Remember, Kris Humphries, who is averaging a double-double with 22.0 ppg and 11.8 rpg, will likely enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring and, as a result, if a change isn't made this spring, it could set the program back another three or four years and cost the athletic department tens of millions of dollars.  In other words, it's kind of like the situation at Fordham a year ago when people thought Rams head coach Bob Hill might survive after a 2-26 season.  And, if Hill had not been fired, a case could have been made that they should have dropped the sport, because they didn't have a commitment to winning.  And if Maturi doesn't pull the tigger, it also is unfair to both himself, because it probably will end up costing him his job as director of athletics a year from now, and Monson, who deserves a chance to get on with his career at someplace like Idaho, where the head coaching job probably will open this spring and where Monson is an alumnus of the school.  So we stand by our previous prediction that the coaching job at Minnesota will open this spring and that former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin will be the leading candidate for become the next head coach of the Golden Gophers.   It also appears that former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lon Kruger has not only emerged as the leading candidate for the UNLV job, but all that is left to be done is dot all the I's and cross all the T's.  We also have heard Kruger's named mentioned for Utah, which is one of six Division I head coaching jobs that is open now that Mike Dement, who has a 10-15 overall record and is only 4-11 in the league, after nine seasons, has been fired as the head coach at SMU.  Also already open are St. John's, Navy, and Dartmouth and we'd be surprised if Georgetown (13-10 overall and 4-9 in the Big East), Texas A&M (0-13 overall and 7-17 in the Big-12), Miami-FL (13-15 overall and 3-11 in the Big East), Massachusetts (9-16 overall and 3-10 in the Atlantic-10), James Madison (7-19 overall and 3-14 in the Colonial Athletic Association), Southern Mississippi (12-12 overall and 5-8 in Conference USA), Harvard (4-19 overall and 3-7 in the Ivy League), Loyola-Maryland (1-25 overall and 1-16 in the Metro Atlantic), Florida International (5-20 overall and 1-11 in the Sun Belt), Indiana State (4-12 overall and 8-17 in the Missouri Valley), Central Michigan (1-14 overall and 5-21 in the Mid-American), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-23 overall and 1-14 in the Southwestern Athletic), and Maryland-Eastern Shore (7-18 overall and 6-10 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic) are not among the jobs that open this spring.  However, we're not so sure about Virginia, which now has a three game winning streak under its belt with recent wins against Georgia Tech, Clemson, and North Carolina.  Obviously the Cavaliers, which are 15-10 overall and 5-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, still must beat  #11-ranked Wake Forest at home and Maryland on the road, as well as win at least a game or two in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but suddenly the tast at hand for head coach Pete Gillen appears to just be difficult, instead of impossible.  We also find it interesting that Georgetown has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'8 Alfred Aoya from Tilton (School) NH via Cameroon and wonder if this commitment will hold up, if Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick and his staff gets fired this spring.  And, if, by some chance they do survive, is this the beginning of a new trend, whereby, Georgetown will start focusing on recruiting international players, instead of American players, many of whom have made a quick exodus from the Hoyas program during the last several years?  We mention this because 6'5 Jose Garcia from Charlottesville (St. Annes-Belfield) VA via Belgium, also made an unofficial visit to Georgetown earlier this weekend when they played Pittsburgh and, as a result, the Hoyas apppear to be one of the early favorites, along with Virginia Tech, Florida State, N.C. State, Richmond, and Michigan State, for this athletic wing forward who is ranked #124 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP. 

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that it appears the University of Pennsylvania is stocking up 2-guards in this recruiting class.  If you will recall, the Quakers landed 6'3 David Whitehurst from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ during the fall signing period and now Rubin is reporting that they also have landed 6'3 Michael Kach from Winchendon (School) MA and 6'4 Brian Grandieri from Malvern (Prep) PA.  Kach, who is ranked #97 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players, is a lights out 3-point shooter, a pretty good athlete, and the equivalent of a top 200-300 senior nationally.  Grandieri, who is ranked#27 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Rubin, is tough hardnosed competitor with a good mid-range game and a knack for finding ways to score.  Kach and Grandieri also should provide an excellent complement to Whitehurst who brings athleticism, defense, and the ability to slash to the basket to the table.  The addition of Kach and Grandieri also moves Pennsylvania's recruiting class into a tie at #79, along with Boston College, Western Kentucky, George Mason, James Madison, Duquesne, Cornell, Kent State, Butler, Colorado State, Missouri-Kansas City, Liberty, Rutgers, South Alabama, Utah, Hartford, Manhattan, Northwestern, Georgia Southern, Siena, and Penn State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  This also is a perfect illustration of why we think Pennsylvania assistant coach Dave Duke, who is ranked #12 on our list of assistant coaches at the mid-to-low Division I level in the HOOP SCOOP's ranking of the top assistant coaches, is one of the best in the business at evaluating and developing players.  However, this might be the last recruiting class that Duke helps land at Pennsylvania, because the word on the street is that he is one of the leading candidates for the Dartmouth job, which opened on Monday when Dave Faucher announced that he planned to resign at the conclusion of his 13th season as head coach of The Big Green.  And we can't think of anybody who would be better suited for the job than Duke, who not only has served as an assistant coach at both Lehigh and Pennsylvania, but also was the head coach at Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA in the early 80's and was the head coach at Lehigh, where he became the second winningest coach in the school's history, from 1988 to 1996.  In other words, this is a guy who knows what it takes to get it done in the Ivy League, as well as at the mid-to-low Division I level.  Rubin also tells us that 6'3 Anthony King from Aston (Village Charter) PA, who is ranked #15 nationally in the Class of 2008 by the HOOP SCOOP and is the highest ranked 8th grader in his area, has made a verbal commitment.   No, we're not talking about what would be the earliest commitment on record to a four-year Division I school.  Instead, we're talking about where King plans to attend high school and the big winner appears to be Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA.  Rubin also makes note that 6'1 Chris Shovlin from Wilkes-Barre (Gar Memorial) PA recently broke his school's career scoring record (2,468 points), which previously was held by former Florida State All-American and Detroit Pistons guard Bob Sura and, if his team keeps winning in the playoffs, Sholvin could also break all the career scoring records in that part of the state.  We also find in interesting that Rubin has shaken up his rankings of the top sophomores in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area, as the top dozen ranked players on his list are as follows:  1) 7'0 Soph Brian Zoubeck from Haddonfield (H.S.) NJ, 2) 6'4 Soph Wayne Ellington from from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 3) 6'5 Soph Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 4) 6'1 Soph Darrin Govens from Chester (H.S.) PA, 5) 6'5 Soph Earl Pettis from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, 6) 6'7 Soph Daniel Geriot from Springfield (H.S.) PA, 7) 6'9 Soph Andrew Ott from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, 8) 6'8 Soph Jason Love from Rydal (Abington Friends) PA, 9) 6'3 Soph Reggie Reading from Philadelphia (St. Josephs Prep) PA, 10) 6'8 Soph Andrew Jones from Rydal (Abington Friends) PA, 11) 6'6 Soph Cahir Carrington from Philadelphia (Masterman) PA, and 12) 6'4 Soph Kent St. George from Philadelphia (Central) PA.  And this is important for several reasons.  First, the sophomore class in this neck of the woods is extremely strong.  Second, we're working on updating our rankings of the top sophomores in the nation, which will published early next week, and Zoubeck, Ellington, and Henderson are all good enough to be ranked among the top 20 nationally.  As a matter of fact, we've giving Zoubeck serious consideration for the 5th spot in our top five in the class behind 6'11 Soph Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'9 Soph Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 6'9 Soph Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, and 5'11 Soph Darryl Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA.

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

The playoffs in the WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference), which is as good as any high school basketball conference in the nation, begin tonight with a pair of play-in games with Alexandria (Bishop Ireton) VA versus Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC and Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD versus Leonardtown (St. Mary Ryken) MD.  And the winners will advance into the quarterfinals, which will be played on Friday at American University in Washington, DC, with Fairfax (Paul VI) VA versus Washington (St. John's) DC at 3:00 PM, Washington (Gonzaga) DC versus the Alexandria (Bishop Ireton) VA-Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC winner at 4:30 PM, Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA versus the Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD-Leonardtown (St. Mary Ryken) MD winner at 6:30 PM, and Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD versus Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD at 8:15 PM.  The semi-finals, which will be held at 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM on Saturday, and the championship, which will held at 6:00 PM on Sunday, also will be held at American University and our Washington, DC Area Editor Steve Turner thinks it will all come down to whichever team gets hot and puts together three consecutive good games.  "Bishop O'Connell has the best record (21-3) and is 12-1 record in the South Division," says Turner.  "But really any one of seven teams can win it!  DeMatha, which loaded and young, and Paul VI are both coming on strong.  Gonzaga has a lot of players back and they're the defending champion.  St. John's has great young talent to go along with a good mix of seniors.  Bishop McNamara started off strong and all six of their losses have come against teams in the WCAC.  Bishop McNamara has best point guard in league.  Good Counsel finished in 4th Place in the North Division, but have had a four loses by four points or less, they just knocked off one of the two top seeded teams (Gonzaga) in the tournament, and are led by the best player in the area."  Obviously Turner is talking about 6'8 James Gist from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD and he heads Turner's list of the top 25 players in the WCAC regardless of class and position, which also includes 6'4 Jr Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connnell) VA, 6'5 Dwayne Anderson from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'2 Stanley Hodge from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, 6'6 Jr Paul Johnson from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, 5'11 Soph Twyon Lawson from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'5 Freddie Stanback from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'4 Darrell Proctor from Fairfax (Paul VI) VA, 6'9 Jr Desmon Adedeji from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'4 Jr Mamadi Diane from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'6 Jr Dave Neal from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'7 Soph Jeff Allen from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 5'10 Eric Smith from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'3 Ryan Williams from Fairfax (Paul VI) VA, 5'11 Frosh Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'3 Antwan Harrison from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, 6'3 Frosh Nolan Smith from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'5 Jason Wills from Washington (St. John's) DC, 5'10 Soph Nigel Munson from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'2 Brian Hodges from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'2 Jr Chris Jackson from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 6'3 Frosh Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'6 Jr Donta Cunningham from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'5 Jr Tommy Galt from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, and 6'6 Noah Nichols from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD.  Gist signed with Maryland in fall, Ginyard has already made an early commitment to North Carolina, and Anderson is signed, sealed,and delivered to Villanova, which means the top two players still available in the WCAC are Hodge and Johnson.  Hodge, who has improved dramatically since we saw him last summer, has a terrific mid-range game, is an excellent floor general, and is getting underrecruited right now, as is evident by the fact schools like Niagara, Hartford, Towson, Manhattan, Maryland-Baltimore County, Colgate, Canisius, and Robert Morris are showing the most interest.  Johnson is only a junior, but he's attracting strong interest from schools like Notre Dame, Maryland, Villanova, Virginia, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Rhode Island, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Dayton, St. Bonaventure.  Johnson is best described as "a big time slasher/athlete who is developing a good mid-range game."   However, what makes Johnson so intriguing is the fact that he's also an outstanding student and a tremendous competitor, which explains why we have him ranked #79 in the junior class nationally.  Getting back to the senior class, Turner thinks Stanback also could be a major steal for the right mid-to-low major school.  Sure, he's somewhat of a tweener, but Stanback flat out gets it done, as he rebounds well for his size and shoots it well enough to project as a wing forward, despite the fact he's not a great athlete.  Also noteworthy is the fact that over half of the top 25 players mentioned above are underclassmen.  We're talking about eight juniors (Ginyard, Johnson, Adedeji, Diane, Neal, Jackson, Cunningham, and Galt) three sophomores (Lawson, Allen, Munson), and three freshmen (Wright, Smith, and Freeman).  Lawson is so good that he just missed becoming the first freshman since Keith Bogans to be named to the first team all WCAC a year ago.  Allen is a 6'7 wing forward who can play both inside on the block and outside where he knocks down the three.  Munson is a scoring point guard who has already established himself as one of the top 3-point shooters in the WCAC.  Smith, who reminds us so much of his late father (Derek Smith), is versatile enough to play the one, two, and three, can shoot the lights out, and is ranked among the top five freshmen nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  Wright has great court visison, runs the show, and has come on like gangbusters this season.  Freeman already is like a man among boys, which makes him unstoppable inside, as he also has the ability to get to the rim and finish strong.  In other words, DeMatha's top five players include two juniors (Adedeji and Diane), two sophomores (Allen and Munson), and a freshman (Freeman). 

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Sometimes it's better late than never.   In this case we're talking about our Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings for all 326 Division I Teams for 2003-2004 Season, which we've published as an amendment to the talent ratings for the teams in the top 10 Divison I conferences on November 12th.  Not only will this be useful for future reference when we attempt to determine which programs are on the rise or decline over a three or four-year period, but it also serves an important purpose right now for a number of reasons.  First, it allows us to see which teams at the mid-to-low Division I levels have the most talent, as the NCAA Tournament quickly approaches.  The highest ranked team that is not a member of the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern, Big East, Big-10, Big-12, Pacific-10, Conference USA, Atlantic-10, Mountain West, or Western Athletic Conferences is Murray State, which checks in at #53 based on talent, is ranked #56 in the Sagarin Ratings, and has an impressive 20-5 record to-date on the season.  Other teams that are ranked among our top 100 based on talent, but do not belong to one of the top 10 Division I Conferences include Gonzaga at #57, Manhattan at #59, George Mason at #71,Western Kentucky at #76, Valparaiso at #78, Pepperdine at #81, Iona at #87, Wichita State and New Orleans both tied at #89, Old Dominion at #93, Utah State at #96, Arkansas State at #98, and Louisiana-Lafayette at #100.  Second, it allows us to see which teams in college basketball are really overachieving the most based on their current talent level, which includes the top 10 players on each roster based primarily on where they were ranked coming out of high school, prep school, or junior colelge, but also factoring in things like experience.  Among the biggest overachievers are Gonzaga, which is ranked #57 in talent, but #3 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Texas, which is ranked #37 in talent, but #7 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Georgia Tech, which is ranked #95 in talent, but #9 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Pittsburgh, which is ranked #73 in talent, but #10 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; N.C. State, which is ranked #59 in talent, but #12 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Kentucky, which is ranked #50 in talent, but #13 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Providence, which is ranked #42 in talent, but #14 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Vanderbilt, which is ranked #104 in talent, but #18 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Southern Illinois, which is ranked #142 in talent, but #20 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Western Michigan, which is #167 in talent, but #32 in the latest Sagarin Rating; Utah State, which is ranked #96 in talent, but is #34 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Air Force, which is ranked #240 in talent, but is #38 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Nevada, which is ranked #177 in talent, but is #39 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Kent State, which is #173 in talent, but is ranked #40 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Creighton, which is #131 in talent, but #57 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; and Troy State, which is #246 in talent, but #59 in the Sagarin Ratings.  Third, it allows us to see which teams are dramatically underachieving, as Virginia is ranked #4 in talent, but #60 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Missouri is ranked #8 in talent, but #47 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Kansas Sate is ranked #9 in talent, but #85 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Villanova is ranked #12 in talent, but #61 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Syracuse is ranked #13 in talent, but #43 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Iowa is ranked #14 in talent, but #64 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Ohio State is ranked #15 in talent, but #145 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Iowa State is ranked #18 in talent, but #74 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Notre Dame is ranked #21 in talent, but #21 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; Marquette is ranked #24 in talent, but #96 in the latest Sagarin Ratings; and Auburn is ranked #25 in talent, but #68 in the latest Sagarin Ratings.  Fourth, it allows us to see which teams are a surprise to most, but not to us, because we already knew they had a high talent rating.  That list includes Cincinnati, which is ranked #4 in talent and #17 by Sagarin; Louisville, which is ranked #7 in talent and #16 by Sagarin; Florida State, which is ranked #16 in talent and #28 by Sagarin; Maryland, which is ranked #19 in talent and #25 by Sagarin; Missisisippi State, which is ranked #22 in talent and #11 by Sagarin, Oklahoma State, which is ranked #23 in talent and #5 by Sagarin; Seton Hall, which is ranked #28 in talent and #30 by Sagarin; and Charlotte, which is ranked #40 in talent and #27 by Sagarin.  Fifth, our our Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings for all 326 Division I Teams for 2003-2004 Season are an important component that makes determining who should be our National Coach-of-the-Year almost a no-brainer.  Sure, Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery and St. Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli both still have undefeated teams which are ranked #1 and #2, respectively in the latest polls USA Today/ESPN and Associated Press polls.  Pittsburgh hasn't missed a beat under the direction of first year head coach Jamie Dixon and Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton is doing one of his best coaching jobs ever.   We also are very impressed with the incredible jobs that UTEP head coach Billy Gillispie, Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury, Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt, Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith, Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, Southern Illinois head coach Matt Painter, Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz, Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight, Utah State head coach Stew Morrill, Kent State head coach Jim Christian, and Austin Peay head coach Dave Loos have all done this year.  However, the job that Air Force head coach Joe Scott has done this season is almost unprecedented.  Not only has Scott taken a team that finished 12-16 overall and 3-11 in the league a year ago and already won 19 games, but his team is on the verge running away with the regular season conference championship, as they have a two game lead in the conference standings with only three regular season games left to play.  And that's amazing when one remembers that Air Force was the consensus pre-season choice to finish in last place in the league once again this season.  They also have a talent rating that ranks no higher than #240, which means that Scott has his team playing 202 spots higher than their talent level when one compares where the Falcons are ranked based on talent with where they are ranked in the latest Sagarin Ratings.  Obviously Scott and his staff have done a great job of recruiting the right players and developing the talent he has in the program, but the biggest key to Air Force's success is probably the fact that Scott's team runs the Princeton offense just as well any of the teams that were coached by the legendary Pete Carril himself.  And they promise to be even better next year, because Air Force's top three players - 6'3 Jr Tim Keller, 6'4 Soph Antoine Hood, and 6'7 Nick Welch, as well as the top three reserves - 6'6 Frosh Jacob Burtschi, 6'2 Frosh Matt McCraw, and 6'4 Frosh Danny Nwaelele - are all expected to return.

Saturday, February 21, 2004, Sunday, February 22, 2004, & Monday, February 23, 2004

Over the weekend I attended the Chicago Public School Boys Basketball semi-finals at DePaul University and the 9th Annual McDonald's City-Suburban Showdown at Northwestern University and there are a number of interesting things to report.  And right at the top of the list is the emergence of 6'6 Anthony Newell from Chicago (Simeon) IL, who, in our opinion, is the best unsigned senior in the state, along with 6'5 Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL.  We're talking about an aggressive 6'6 athlete with long arms, great hands, and explosive hops, which he uses to score, rebound, and blocks shots around the basket.  However, we project him as a wing forward for the next level, because he also can step out and shoot the three and defend on the perimeter.  In other words, Newell is a prototypical Cincinnati-like player that Bobby Huggins has made a living with over the years.  But in terms of his recruitment, it appears that Newell is probably destined to go the prep school route and then wind up at DePaul a year-and-a-half from now.  Newell finished with 21 points and his teammate - 6'6 Calvin Brock from Chicago (Simeon) IL chipped in with 14 points, as Simeon beat Julian 65-52 in what turned out to be the best game we saw all day.  Making the story even more interesting is what Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report was quoted as saying in the Chicago Sun-Times prior to the game on Saturday morning.  "[Brock] is undoubtedly one of the top three players in the Public League,''  Schmidt said. "The only two players who might be better are Jamarcus Ellis and Ollie Bailey.  He is the top unsigned senior of any kid who will be an academic qualifier."  However, it is ironic that Newell is not only better than Brock right now, but he's also a better prospect than Brock, who is more of slasher than a shooter.  Maybe it's a case of just being in the right time to see a player after he has taken his game to another level.  As a matter of fact, it reminds me of what happened when I touted Ben Wilson as one of the top high school players in the nation after watching him at the Mayor's Tournament at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, IL during the Christmas Holiday Tournament season during the winter of 1983-84.  Not only did Wilson go on to become the best player at the AFBE (Athletes For A Better Education) Camp, which later became the NIKE All-American Camp, but this went a long way towards helping establish our national credibility in the business.  As a matter of fact, Tom Konchalski of the H.S.B.I. Report recently told me that was the first thing we ever remembers reading in the HOOP SCOOP.  Unfortunately Wilson never got to play his senior year of high school or at the college and professional levels, because three days before Thanksgiving in 1984, he was shot and killed while walking down the street only a block away from his high school.  While we're not ready to compare to Newell to Wilson, there are some interesting similarities (i.e. same high school, position, versatility, intensity level, and late bloomer).  And when you remember that they also have 6'6 Brandon Alexander, who also had 14 points, it's easy to see why those in the know think that Simeon has the most athletic front line in the Chicago Public School League this year.  It's also why Simeon is expected to beat Chicago (Westinghouse) IL in the Chicago Public League Championship game, which will be played tonight (Monday, February 23rd) at 8:00 PM at the United Center in Chicago, IL.  Westinghouse, which beat Farragut in the other semi-finals game on Saturday, 57-53, does have 6'8 Jr DeAndre Thomas from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, who finished with 13 points against Simeon.  However, Thomas also fouled out of that game, because he wasn't quick enough to guard Simeon's 6'7 Ollie Bailey, who had 20 points and scored pretty much at while inside.  Instead, the big key for Westinghouse will be whether 6'5 Jamarcus Ellis plays better than he did on Saturday when he finished with 12 points and was a none factor, especially in the first half.  Remember, Ellis, who is ranked #134 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has incredible talent, athleticism, and skills, but he's never put the complete package together, as he's struggled with consistency on the court and with academics and being a person of high character off the court.  We also were very disappointed with the performance turned in by 6'6 Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, who is ranked #3 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and had numerous NBA scouts in the stands to watch him play, against Aurora (West Aurora) IL in the second game of the McDonald's City-Suburban Showdown.   Livingston did finish with 16 points, but he only had four points in the first half and his team trailed 8-2 early, 15-2 at the end of the first quarter, and 31-13 at half-time.  In other words, the 62-52 final score is deceptive, but the 21-point performance turned in by 6'9 Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL is not.  As a matter of fact, this was the best we've ever seen Pruitt play.  We also have to give 6'5 Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, who finished with 13 points, credit for running the team and doing an excellent defensive job on Livingston.  This also freed up 6'2 Jaeh Thomas, who finished with 11 points, to do most of his damage early, as he helped set the tone of the game.   Chicago (Brother Rice) IL jumped out to a 28-13 half-time lead and never looked back against Chicago (St. Patrick) IL, thanks to the efforts of 6'3 Bobby Frasor, who finished with 20 points, and 6'1 Dave Telander, who hit 4-4 3-pointers in the first half en route to 23 points.

Friday, February 20, 2004

We have completed our updated Ranking of the Top 400 Players in the Class of 2005 and we have made some very important changes.  And right at the top of the list are 6'10 Jr Jordan Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, who moves in our rankings from last August when he was ranked #69 to #5 on the current list, and 6'7 Jr Calvin Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, who wasn't even on the list last time, but moves up to #16 this time around.  Wilkes has great hands, excellent footwork, a tremendous understanding of them game, an incredibe wing span, deceptive athleticism, and a silky smooth demeanor, just like his Dad (Jamal Wilkes).  But what makes the younger Wilkes so good are his offensive moves, which are almost impossible to stop, from 15-feet and in.  Miles is the best player that Dallas (Skyline) TX has produced since Larry Johnson in 1987 and, just like Johnson, he's come out nowhere to emerge into one of the premier players in his class nationally.  However, Miles is a lot more versatile than Johnson, as is evident by the fact that Wes Grandstaff plans to play Miles at four different positions on his Team Texas AAU team this spring and summer.  Also not on our list last last August, but now checking in at #29 is 6'6 Jr Jevon Shepherd from Toronto (West Hill) ON and #38 is 6'6 Jr Terrance Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA.  Williams doesn't have a good understanding of the game yet, but we've talking about an amazing athlete who is just oozing with natural talent.  We haven't seen Shepherd yet, but several people who have tell us that he's just as good an athlete as Connecticut's Denham Brown, plus he has a better understanding of the game at the same stage.  Other players who are dramatically on the rise include 6'6 Jr Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA,who moves up from #57 to #26, 6'4 Jr Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, who moves up from #99 to #28, 5'10 Jr A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX #68 to #31.  And, of course there are the players from Long Island that our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio thinks are all legitimately in the 30-60 range nationally in the junior class.  In case you don't know who we're talking about, their names are 6'6 Jr Danny Green from Manhassett (St. Mary's) NY, 6'7 Jr Kahiem Seawright from Uniondale (H.S.) NY, and 6'5 Jr Tyson Johnson from Manhassett (St. Mary's) NY.  Also there is no change in the number of top 100 players who have made verbal commitments.  Currently that number stands at 17, as we've already tracked verbal commitments by 6'2 Jr Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA to Georgia, 6'4 Jr Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS to Mississippi State, 6'6 Jr Shane Clark from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA to Villanova, 6'2 Jr Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY to Syracuse, 6'9 Jr Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN to Duke, 6'2 Jr Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY to Duke, 6'6 Jr Eric Devendorf from Bay City (H.S.) MI to Michigan State, 6'5 Jr Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA to North Carolina, 6'4 Jr Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA to Georgia, 5'10 Jr A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX to Texas, 6'7 Jr Kevin Swinton from Greensboro (Dudley) NC to Wake Forest, 7'0 Jr Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Harlan) IL to Louisville, 6'8 Jr Julius Powell from Newton (Conver) NC to Clemson,  6'7 Jr Joe Krabbenhoft from Sioux Falls (Roosevelt) SD to Wisconsin, 6'2 Jr Jarrett Smith from Westland (John Glenn) MI to Michigan, 6'7 Jr Zach Hillesland from Toledo (St. John's) OH, and 6'8 Jr Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX to Texas Tech.  And we expect a lot more action this spring.  As a matter of fact, a year ago six of the top 13, 13 of the top 30, 23 of the top 50, and nearly half of the top 100 seniors were already off the board by the 4th of July. 

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Earlier today the McDonald's American Team was announced and the 24 players who were selected to play in the game include 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christan) GA, 6'9 Josh Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'9 Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, 6'0 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'9 Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'5 J.R. Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'6 Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'9 Rudy Gay from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD, 6'8 Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA, 6'3 Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, 6'9 D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, 6'0 Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'8 Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'3 Joe Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'5 Jawann McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, 7'0 Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'3 DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'10 LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'5 Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'7 Corey Brewer from Portland (H.S.) OR, 6'2 Jordan Farmar from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 7'0 Robert Swift from Bakersville (H.S.) CA,and 6'2 Rajon Rondo from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  The one glaring omission on the team is 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, who is ranked #10 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, this easily explained, because Palacios was out of sight and out of mind all summer when he was injured and returned home to Columbia.  The only other player that I voted for on our final ballot, which included on the top 20 players, for the McDonald's All-American Team, but who didn't make the team was 6'2 A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) CT.  But this too is explained by the fact that Part missed part of the season due injuries and for disciplinary reasons.  When breaking the teams down, we find that the East Squad, which includes Howard, Josh Smith, Telfair, Jefferson, J.R. Smith, White, Gay, Washington, Mike Williams, Morris, Brewer, and Rando, features four of the top five and nine of our top 15-ranked players in the nation when you combine our ranking of both 5th Year Players and high school seniors.  In contrast, the West Squad, which includes Livingston, Marvin Williams, Davis, Hairston, Gibson, Crawford, Nelson, McClellan, Farmar, Afflalo, Aldridge, and Swift, features only one of the top five and only five of our top 15-ranked players in the nation when you combine our ranking of both 5th Year Players and high school seniors.  Speaking of 5th Year Players, it's too bad 6'7 Dorell Wright from South Kent (Prep) CT was not eligible to play in this year's game.  However, the criteria used for selecting the players for the game clearly states that you can only be eligible to play in the game once when you are a senior in high school.  In other words, a player who reclassifies himself prior to his senior year in high school, but who really is a 5th Year Player, is rewarded.   In contrast, a player who already has been a senior in high school and has elected to go the prep school route is penalized.  We also find the match-ups in the game extremely interesting.  At point guard, it might be too close to call between Livington and Telfair.  However, we think the East Squad has a big advantage at every other position with Dwight Howard and Al Jefferson versus Marvin Williams and Glen Davis inside and Josh Smith and J.R. Smith versus Hairston and Crawford at the wing spots.   When looking at the rest of the players we also think Morris, Mike Williams, White, and Gay have an advantage inside over Swift and Aldridge.  But we think the West's chances with Gibson, McClellan, Nelson, Afflalo and Farmer versus Washington, Brewer, and Rondo on the perimeter.  Also interesting is that fact that Howard, Josh Smith, and Morris have logged a lot of minutes playing together over the years with the Atlanta Celtics.  The same also can be said about Hairston and Crawford, who have teamed together at Detroit (Renaissance) MI and while playing for The Family, which has been one of NIKE's top club teams in recent years.  The McDonald's All-American Game will be played this year in Oklahoma City, OK on Wednesday, March 31st, and you can get more information about tickets, find out about past McDonald's All-Americans, see who is on the selection committee of which I am a member, et al. by clicking on McdonaldsAllAmerican.com.

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has the scoop on 6'7 Jr Zach Hillesland from Toledo (St. John's) OH, who has picked Notre Dame over schools like N.C. State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Northwestern.  We talking about one of the best defenders in the junior class nationally, as he has long arms, excellent athleticism, and the ability to shut down anybody from a point guard to a center.  Instead, whatever question marks their might be at Hillesland's game come at the offensive end.  Remember,  6'1 Brian Roberts and 6'6 Ben Raymond, both of whom are prolific scorers, provide more than enough offensive firepower for Toledo (St. John's) OH and, as a result, Hillesland has assumed the role as his team's defensive stopper.  However, that still hasn't prevented Johnson from ranking Hillesland #2 in the state's junior class and from the HOOP SCOOP ranking him as a borderline top 100 junior nationally. This also puts Notre Dame onto the board, tied at #18, along with Southern Cal and Lamar, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  But, even more important, the addition of Hillesland should give the Irish an excellent complement to 6'4 Frosh Colin Falls and 6'8 Rob Kurz from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA at the wing forward spot for years to come.  And don't be surprised if Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey finds a way to play them all some at the same time.  Remember, some people, including us, questioned whether he could play 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas and 6'2 Soph Chris Quinn together, but not only has it worked like a charm, but they also are currently Notre Dame's two leading scorers.  We also understand that 6'3 Justin Hare from Athens (Bradley-Central) TN, who is ranked #13 in Tennessee and #521 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has decided to attend Belmont after all.  If you will recall, Hare verbally committed to the Bruins last fall, but later reneged and more recently visited the Stanford, which appeared to be the only other school to be seriously recruiting him.  However, when a scholarship offer wasn't forecoming from The Cardinal (they wanted him to walk-on), it appears that Hare realized he was right the first time.  Dave Telep of TheInsidersHoops.com is reporting that 6'9 Jr Joey Cameron from Leeds (H.S.) AL, who verbally committed to Clemson last fall, has reneged on his verbal commitment to the Tigers, as is evident by the fact that he's re-opened his recruitment and is considering schools like Alabama, Auburn, UAB, St.John's, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, North Carolina, LSU, Florida, Kentucky and Clemson.  The loss of Cameron means that Clemson's recruiting class, which also includes 6'8 Julius Powell from Newtown (Conover) NC, drops from #3 into a tie at #12, along with Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Gonzaga, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  We also have confirmed via our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead that 6'8 Shawne Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, who appears to have been ruled ineligible for the rest of the season, has transferred to Laurinburg (Charter) NC, where he is expected to get the grades necessary to play Division I basketball at the University of Memphis next year.  Ironically Laurinburg, NC suddenly appears to be the farm town for future Memphis players, as 6'7 Richard Dorsey from Laurinburg (Institute) NC and 7'0 Kareem Cooper from Laurinburg (Institute) NC also both are part of the Tigers' current recruiting class.  Donnie Wilkie, who invites the teams for the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, is already excited about next year's field as he has signed contracts from Seattle (Prep) WA, Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, Deland (H.S.) FL, and Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL.  Wilkie also expects to get Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA back for a second year, plus the host school - Ft. Myes (Bishop Verot) FL - will have most of its players back for a team that is currently 21-3, which means the 16-team field is already half set.  In other words, the City of Palms Classic already has in the fold for next year three of our top six juniors in the nation in 6'6 Jr Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'3 Jr Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, and 6'8 Jr Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL; the top two sophomores in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Area in 6'5 Soph Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA and 6'5 Soph Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, both of whom are ranked among the top 30 sophomore in the nation; and 6'7 Frosh Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who is one of the top two freshmen in nation.  Wilkie also appears to have the scoop on our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis with regards to 7'1 Frosh Alex Jacobson, who transferring from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA to Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  However, this comes as no surprise to us.  As a matter of fact, when I first saw Jacobson last spring, I was told he was supposed to be heading to Mater Dei.  But apparently he got recruited away to St. John Bosco, were he has averaged 4.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 3.3 apg in 22 games this season on the varsity.  Well, now it looks like Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA head coach Gary McKnight has recruited him back and this should tip the balance of power in Southern California for years to come.   Don't believe it?  Well, last spring I liked him so well that I wrote "Jacobson needs strength, but he's got great hands, long arms, a nice tough, good mobility, and the ability to run the court, which is pretty scary when you remember he's only 14-year-old.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that both King and Jacobson plan to enroll at Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA next year and it's our guess that they will both push for starting spots on the varsity as freshmen.  In other words, they are both that good right now!"  But what do we know?  Remember, I'm the same person who tried to tell everybody how good 6'7 Dorell Wright from South Kent (Prep) CT via Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 6'5 Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'5 Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, and 6'5 Josh Shipp from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA were when nobody else would listen and I've never bought into all the hype with regards to 6'3 Quentin Thomas from Oakland (Tech) CA and 6'7 Lee Cummard from Mesa (H.S.) AZ.  The next one we expect to look like a genius on is 6'10 Jr Jordan Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, who just keeps getting better and better all the time.  As a matter of fact, one astute basketball observer who has seen Wilkes play three times recently thinks that if he grows another two or three inches, we could be talking about the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While I'm not willing to go quite that far, I do plan to rank Wilkes among the top five juniors in the nation when we come out with our updated rankings of the top juniors tomorrow or Friday.  And when I do, make sure you remember where you heard it first!

On Thursday, February 5th, we told you that the word on the street is that UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour may retire at the end of the season and, if this is correct, you can bet that Spoonhour will attempt to pass the baton to his son and assistant coach, Jay Spoonhour.  Well, the older Spoonhour announced last night that he is retiring due to health reasons and the younger Spoonhour has taken over as the interim head coach.  And the timing couldn't be any better, because it provides the son a chance to win over the powers-that-be with a strong finish (currently UNLV is 13-9 overall and 4-5 in the league) with games at home against Colorado State, Wyoming, and Brigham Young and on the road against Air Force and New Mexico.  However, even, if the Runnin' Rebels go 4-1 in their final five regular season games and win several games in their conference tournament, it may not be enough to ensure the younger Spoonhour the job on a permanent basis, even though he is a terrific coach and has played a key role in helping his father build the program the last three years.  Remember, UNLV is still one of the better head coaching jobs in college basketball and, as a result, the administration may make the same type of mistake they made three years ago when they didn't retain interim head coach Max Good and, instead, went after a coach with a big name.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin knows the right people at UNLV to get the job. However, if they wait too long, the University of Minnesota will probably get him first.  If you will recall, we've been telling you for months that Golden Gophers head coach Dan Monson was a lame duck and Lavin is the heir apparent.  The UNLV fans and alumni will probably want Louisville assistant coach Reggie Theus, who not only led the Runnin' Rebels to their first NCAA Final Four appearance in 1977, but also learned a lot during a storied career in the NBA and while working this year as an assistant coach at Louisville for Rick Pitino.  Another intriguing name for the UNLV job is Richmond head coach Jerry Wainwright, who is fits the straight-laced image that UNLV is looking for and is on the verge of building the Spiders into one of the perennial powers in the Atlantic-10 Conference, as is evident by the fact that Richmond has won six of its last eight games and has a shot of making the NCAA Tournament in only his second year on the job.  Or what about Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who not only reminds many of a young Rick Pitino, but also has the energy and recruiting ties necessary to once again transform the program into a national power?  We also continue to hear Gonzalez's name as the leading candidate for Massachusetts, which currently is only 9-13 overall, 3-7 in the league, and isn't getting enough fans in the stands to justify allowing Minutemen head coach Steve Lappas to keep his job.  Or will Memphis head coach John Calipari, who guided UMass to the school's only NCAA Final Four appearance in 1996, have more clout than Pitino, who is an alumnus of the school, and be able to get one of his current assistants - Tony Barbee or Derek Kellogg, both of whom played at Massachusetts, the job?  We've also heard Gonzalez' named mentioned for Miami-FL, where suddenly Hurricanes head coach Perry Clark appears to be in big trouble after losing seven straight to drop to 13-12 overall and 3-8 on the season.  And it may not get any easier, because Miami-FL's next three games are against Connecticut, Providence, and Seton Hall.  Another possibility for Miami-FL appears to be former head coach Mike Jarvis, but,  just like Gonzalez would be at St. John's, if the administration was smart enough to hire him, Jarvis is a perfect fit at Georgetown.   Sure, the Hoyas started off 10-0 this season, but did you know that since that time Craig Echerick's team has only won three games (they've beaten Miami-FL twice and St. John's once)?  We also continue to hear Virginia head coach Pete Gillen's name mentioned as a possibility for the St. John's job, but since we think that's former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty's job to lose, UNLV might be more of a perfect fit.  Sure, Gillen's days appear to be numbered at Virginia, especially after last night's 76-57 lost to Florida State, but we're still talking about a guy who is an excellent coach, as is evident by the fact that he's won an average of 20 games a year for the first 18 years of his coaching career at the Division I level and has turned out some great assistants, like Wake Forest's Skip Prosser, Seton Hall's Louie Orr, Manhattan's Bobby Gonzalez, and College of Charleton's Tommy Herrion, who have gone onto become very successful head coaches.  We also still believe that Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts, and Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare are the leading candidates for the Manhattan job, but it also wouldn't surprise us if the Jaspers hired Massachusetts head coach Steve Lappas or former New Mexico and St. John's head coach Fran Fraschilla, both of whom were previously very successful the first time around at the school.  

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that the PSL (Public School League) Playoffs begin tonight at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI and will feature five of the Detroit News' top 10-ranked teams in the state in Detroit (Renaissance) MI, which is ranked #1 and is 16-0 on the season; Detroit (Denby) MI, which is ranked #2 and is 16-0 on the season; Detroit (Murray-Wright) MI, which is ranked #7 and is 13-2 on the season; Detroit (MacKenzie) MI, which is ranked #8 and is 11-1 on the season; and Detroit (Redford) MI, which is ranked #9 and is 14-1 on the season.  And making the story even more intriguing is the fact that Detroit (Renaissance) MI, which also is ranked #3 in the latest USA Today Super 25 poll and features two locks for the McDonald's American team in 6'3 Joe Crawford and 6'6 Malik Hairston, is probably the best team in Michigan since the great 1991 Detroit (Southwestern) MI team, which featured Jalen Rose and Voshon Lenard and finished ranked #1 in the nation in the final ranking of the USA Today.  Hairston also is expected to be the subject of attention of numerous college coaches who will be in attendance, because he currently is the top unsigned player in the senior class nationally, unless 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA pulls a major surprise and goes to college for a year.  Ohio State, Michigan, UCLA, and Kansas are the top four schools on Hairston's list, but Oklahoma, Louisville, North Carolina, Oregon, and Syracuse all are trying to get into the door.  However, it's probably a case of a little too late.  Renaissance also features 6'3 point guard Marcus Stout, who is being recruited by schools like Temple, Wright State, Oakland, and several Mid-American Conference schools; 5'8 Soph Tajuan Porter and 6'6 Jr Carson Butler, who recently became eligible after transferring from Lansing (Waverly) MI and, as a result, should win easily against Detroit (Central) MI, which is lead by 6'2 Miquel Hall and 6'5 Jr Robert Jolley, in tomorrow night's 7:30 quarterfinals game.  And the winner of the Renaissance-Central game will play the winner of the game between Detroit (Finney) MI and Detroit (McKenzie) MI, which will tip-off tomorrow night at 5:30 PM, in the second semi-finals game on Friday, February 20th, at 7:30 PM.  McKenzie is led by Kent State-bound 5'9 Marcus Crenshaw and Finney's top player is 6'6 Jr Deon Ware, whose brother - 6'8 Gary Ware from Dodge City (JC) KS - signed with Purdue during the Fall Signing Period.   However, Renaissance's biggest challenge should come from the winner of the other side of the bracket, which will tip-off tonight with Detroit (Denby) MI versus and Detroit (Redford) MI at 5:30 PM and Detroit (Crockett) MI versus Detroit (Murray-Wright) MI at 7:30 PM.  Denby, which features Eastern Michigan-bound 6'3 Darryl Garrett, who was somehow named the PSL Player of the Year over Crawford and Hairston last week, Eastern Michigan-bound 6'1 Rico Harris, Buffalo-bound 6'2 Wallace Hall and 6'6 Jr Cliff Paterson, is the slight favorite over Redford, which features 6'7 Jamal Lock, 6'8 Jr Brandon Wolfe, who is the ranked junior power forward in the state, UTEP-bound 6'1 Vernon Carr, and 6'2 Soph Ramone Pettus.  Murray-Wright, which features 6'9 Jr Anthony Sparks, 5'10 Jr Carlos Medlock, and 6'8 Soph Jeremy Henderson is expected to beat Crockett, which features Kent State-bound 6'7 Issac Knight and 6'3 Jr Romar Trustee.  The winner of tonight's Denby-Redford and Crockett-Murray-Wright games will face one another in the first semi-finals game on Friday, February 20th, at 5:30 PM and the winner of the that game will face the winner of the other semi-finals game on Tuesday, February 24th, at 7:30 PM.  While the outcome of the PSL won't have any barring on the seeding for the Michigan High School State Tournament, it does give Detroit (Renaissance) MI and Detroit (Crockett) MI, both of which are Class B teams, a chance to match their wares against the Top Class A teams in the city.  And, barring an upset this week, a Renaissance-Denby match-up next Tuesday might go a long way towards determining who really is the best in the state of Michigan this year. 

Saturday, February 14, 2004, Sunday, February 15, 2004, & Monday, February 16, 2004

Per capita the best basketball state in the nation is the state of Georgia!  Don't believe?  Well, let's take a closer look.  In the senior class nationally our #1-ranked player is 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, our #2-ranked player is 6'9 Josh Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA via Powder Springs (McEachern) GA, and our #17-ranked player is 7'0 Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA.   In the junior class nationally our #3-ranked player is 6'2 Jr Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA and 6'4 Jr Michael Mercer will be ranked among the top 30 when we update our rankings of the top juniors later this week.  In the sophomore class 6'5 Soph Solomon Tat from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, 6'5 Soph Jarvis Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'5 Soph Shaun Watson from Greenville (H.S.) GA, and 6'5 Soph An'Juan Wilderness from Dunwoody (H.S.) GA are all potential future McDonald's All-Americans.  And so are 6'2 Frosh Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkerson County) GA, 6'8 Frosh Montavious Adams from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA, and 5'9 Frosh Tyrone Bramble from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA in the freshman class.  There also are 6'7 8th Grader Olu Ashaolu, who is already starting varsity and his one of the key players at Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, and 4'8 Drew Davis from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, who is already playing on the middle school team and will be the #1-ranked 4th Grader in the nation when we come out with that list later this month.  Obviously the reason I am mentioning all this is because earlier today we finalized our Georgia Report, which includes some interesting comments about some of the top players and our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis' All-State Teams, which include his ranking of the top 30 players in the state regardless of class and position, and his ranking in order of the top 93 seniors, top 52 juniors, top 57 sophomores, top 45 freshmen, top 13 8th graders, top nine 7th graders, top 10 6th graders, top 11 5th Graders, top 11 4th Graders, and top two 3rd Graders in the state.  This comes on the heels of our Florida Report, which was published on Thursday, February 12th, exclusively in the Members Section, and it brings to seven the number of state-by-state and area reports that we've published during the last five months.  Remember, we published our Tennessee Report and Mississippi Report both on September 22, 2003; our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Report on November 26, 2003; our Ohio Report on December 5, 2004; and our North Carolina/South Carolina Report on January 9, 2004.  And within the next month we also are planning to publish updated New York City, Washington, DC Area, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky Reports.  But first we will be updating our national rankings of the top juniors, sophomores, freshmen, 6th Graders, 5th Graders, and 4th Graders to go along with our Rankings of the Top 550 Seniors, which was published on February 2nd; our Rankings of the Top 120 8th Graders, which was published on February 3rd; and our Rankings of the Top 100 7th Graders, which was published on February 4th.  Also on January 26th we published our Exclusive Ranking of the Top Coaches in the Game Today, which provides our annual list of the top head coaches and assistant coaches in college basketball, as well as our ranking of the top 25 high school coaches.  So obviously we've been very busy lately even though there is not a lot going on this time of year in terms of recruiting and verbal commitments. 

Friday, February 13, 2004

It looks like the New York Times created a storm about nothing yesterday with the rumor about University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino being interested in the St. John's job.  Not only does this appear to be false, but it also would inconsistent with everything Pitino has said during his three-years as the head coach of the Cardinals.  Remember, Pitino returned to Louisville not just because the Cardinals have a rich tradition, great fan support, and a very astute athletic director in Tom Jurich, but also because this really is a great place to live (we know first hand, because the HOOP SCOOP is based in Louisville, KY).  Pitino also has developed a love for Thoroughbred Racing, many of his family and friends are here, and he's easily the biggest celebrity in the state.  And don't forget the fact that's Pitino is probably already making over $3 million per year, after one adds up all the money he makes from speaking engagements and commercials, and his dedication, hard work, and excellent coaching are appreciated here (this was not always the case after he left the University of Kentucky to become the head coach of the Boston Celtics in 1997).  In other words, it's easy to see why Pitino now considers this really to be his home and why he talks about this being his last head coaching job.  As a matter of fact, around here nobody, except maybe a few wishful Kentucky fans, put much stock into the possibility of Pitino being interested in the St. John's job.  Instead, the real news that has gotten everybody's attention involves Pitino and Jurich discussing a contrast extention and Pitino has even been quoted saying that he "could see himself coaching here eight to 10 more years."   Besides, St. John's, which appears to be able to spend no more than in the $500,000 to $700,000 range annually for a new coach, can not begin to afford Pitino.   Remember, the cost of living in New York City is almost double what it is in most places, which means instead of playing Pitino $3 million-plus a year, somebody would have to come up with $6 million-plus deal per year just to equal what Pitino is making now.   Instead, we still think former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty is the guy St. John's will hire.  Not only does Doherty have the necessary backing from big money people on Wall Street, but he's proven to be an excellent recruiter and a good coach.  If you will recall, his last team at North Carolina won 19 games and beat teams like Kansas and Stanford prior to when Sean May was lost for the season and Connecticut, Duke, and Maryland down the stretch.  Instead, Doherty's problems stemmed from not getting along with his players.  However, at St. John's, which apparently wants a no-nonsense type head coach, Doherty might be exactly what they are looking for.  But the real reason why we think he will get the St. John's job is Doherty's financial backers will be able to not only sweeten the pie, but also exercise a lot of clout in the decision making process.  Let's say they strike a deal, whereby, St. John's gives Doherty a contract in the neighborhood of $100,000-$200,000 and Doherty's backers pick up the tab for the rest, whereby, he ends up with a total package worth $800,000-$1 million per year.  Our guess is that even Father Donald Harrington, who is the president at St. John's, and the search committee would be able to figure out this is a great deal, as they'd be getting a big name with previous head coaching experience at one of the premier basketball programs in the nation.   And, if Dougherty gets the job, the first person he should hire is his former assistant coach at North Carolina, Fred Quartlebaum, who currently is at Iowa State and is one of the top up-and-coming guys in the business.  After that it gets a little bit tricky, because whoever gets the St. John's job probably will need to hire somebody with strong ties to the high school basketball scene in New York City, like University of Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare, Bayside (Cardozo) NY head coach Ron Naclerio, or New York (Rice) NY head coach Maurice Hicks.  Ironically, Dougherty almost hired Hicks when he left Kanasas to became the head coach at Notre Dame five years ago.  And this time around Hicks, may not be available again, because he might be in line for the Loyola-Maryland job.  Not only does Hicks appear to know all the right people necessary to get the Loyola-Maryland job, but did you know that Hicks is an alumnus of the school?  However, beating out Maryland assistant coach Jimmy Patsos, if he decides he wants the Loyola-Maryland job, might just be wishful thinking.  We also have heard St. John's assistant coach Dermond Player's name mentioned as a potential candidate for the Maryland-Eastern Shore job and how about UTEP head coach Billy Gillispie for the Texas A&M job?  Remember, this is a guy who walked into a program that was in shambles during the fall of 2002, went 6-24 in his first year as a Division I head coach, and had his team picked 9th in the league this year.  However, to everybody's surprise UTEP is currently 18-4 on the season and 9-3 in the league.  Thus, explains why we think Gillispie should get serious consideration for HOOP SCOOP National Coach-of-the-Year honors.  And, if Gillispie does move onto to bigger and better things, UTEP would be best advised to hire somebody Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner, who, at only 26-years-old, is the #5-ranked assistant coach in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.  He also not only has incredible contacts not just in Texas, but nation wide.  We continue to hear former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin's name mentioned for Minnesota and former St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis' name is being tossed out as the most likely successor, if Georgetown head coach Craig Esherick does not survive.  Right now it looks like this one is going to be close, as the Hoyas, who are 13-7 overall, but only 4-6 in the league, should be able to win the next two games on their schedule at Temple and St. John's.   However, after that it gets tough, as Georgetown will have Syracuse and Pittsburgh at home, Seton Hall and Notre Dame on the road, and Virginia Tech at home.  Our guess is the Hoyas will go 3-4 the rest of the way and, if that's the case, is 16-11 during the regular season and a first round or second round loss in the Big East Tournament going to be good enough for Esherick to keep his job?  And things may even be tougher for Virginia head coach Pete Gillen, whose Cavaliers have lost five in row against North Carolina, Wake Forest, Maryland, N.C. State, and Duke and are now only 12-9 overall and 2-8 in the league.  And it doesn't promise to get any easier, as Virginia still has to face Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Wake Forest at home and Florida State, Clemson, and Maryland on the road.  Obviously the Cavaliers can't afford many more losses. But that might be easier said than done, because the first time around against the six teams Virginia has yet to play in the regular season, the Cavaliers are only 2-4.   And the two teams they beat (Florida State and Clemson) will get Virginia at their place next week.  If the bottom does continue to fall out at Virginia, there is no doubt in our mind that the Cavaliers will hire long time former assistant coach Dave Odom, whose team currently is 19-5 overall and 6-4 in the league and deserves some coach-of-the-year consideration of his own at South Carolina this year.  And, if that happens, Chattanooga head coach Jeff Lebo, College of Charleston head coach Tommy Herrion, and Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz will be among the leading candidates to take over at South Carolina.  In our mind, Lutz would be the perfect fit, which would then open the door for Alabama assistant coach Orlando Early, who is another one of the top up-and-coming guys in the business, to return to Charlotte, where he previously worked for both Lutz and Melvin Watkins.

Our New England Editor Wayne Simone and our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin both have confirmed that 6'5 Geary Claxton from New Haven (Career) CT, who was the 3rd best player, behind 6'6 Jon Lucky from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT and 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Oakdale (St Thomas More) CT, on the Connecticut Select team that advanced all the way to the final eight in the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV last summer, has verbally committed to Penn State.   And considering what's still left, it looks like Penn State assistant coach James Johnson, who is one of the hardest working young assistant coaches in the business and did most of the leg work in terms of getting Claxton to pick Nittany Lions, has a major steal on his hands.  Claxton does need to improve his outside shooting, but we're talking about a big time slasher/athlete who rebounds well for his size, is terrific defensively, and is outstanding academically, as is evident by the fact that several Ivy League schools and Notre Dame, as well as Syracuse, Providence, and Villanova, had been showing a lot of interest.  In other words, Claxton, who is expected to step in and immediately challenge for a starting position at the 3-spot, should be the perfect complement to all the good young guards that Penn State will have in the program next year.  Remember, Penn State's two starting guards - 6'0 Frosh Marlon Smith and 6'0 Frosh Ben Luber - are both freshmen, plus they also have two other excellent guards - Danny Morrissey from Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL and 6'1 Mike Walker from Camp Hill (Trinity) PA - already signed, sealed, and delivered for next year.  Speaking of Penn State's current recruiting class, the addition of Claxton moves their recruiting class into a tie at #79, along with Boston College, Western Kentucky, George Mason, James Madison, Duquesne, Cornell, Kent State, Butler, Colorado State, Missouri-Kansas City, Liberty, Rutgers, South Alabama, Utah, Hartford, Manhattan, Northwestern, and Georgia Southern, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  However, even more important, the addition of Claxton gives Nittany Lions head coach Ed DeChellis and his staff the luxury of focusing on big guys and/or landing the two best players still available as they attempt to round out their current recruiting class this spring.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has confirmed that Oklahoma State has an early commitment 6'2 Jr Antonio Hanson from Liberal (H.S.) KS, who is currently ranked #205 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Apparently Hanson visited Stillwater, OK last weekend and was impressed enough to pick the Cowboys over Kansas and several other Big-12 Conference schools.   Hanson does need to get bigger and stronger (currently he's only 6'2, 180 lbs.), but he's a good floor general, excellent defender, and an extremely hard worker.   Obviously this is an good early catch for Oklahoma State, as the addition of Hanson means that 21 of the HOOP SCOOP's top 240-ranked juniors have already made verbal commitments.  That list also includes 6'2 Jr Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA to Georgia, 6'4 Jr Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS to Mississippi State, 6'2 Jr Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY to Syracuse, 6'9 Jr Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN to Duke, 6'2 Jr Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY to Duke, 6'5 Jr Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA to North Carolina, 6'6 Jr Shane Clark from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA to Villanova, 6'7 Jr Kevin Swinton from Greensboro (Dudley) NC to Wake Forest, 6'6 Jr Eric Devendorf from Bay City (H.S.) MI to Michigan State, 6'4 Jr Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA to Georgia, 7'0 Jr Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Harlan) IL to Louisville, 6'8 Jr Julius Powell from Newton (Conver) NC to Clemson, 6'8 Jr Mike Davis from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY to Pittsburgh, 6'7 Jr Joe Krabbenhoft from Sioux Falls (Roosevelt) SD to Wisconsin, 6'9 Jr Joey Cameron from Leeds (H.S.) AL to Clemson, 6'2 Jr Jarrett Smith from Westland (John Glenn) MI to Michigan, 5'10 Jr A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX to Texas, 6'8 Jr Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX to Texas Tech, 6'9 Jr David Weaver from Swannanoa (Owen) NC to Wake Forest, 6'10 Jr Kendrick Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX to Texas Tech.  We also have confirmed that 5'10 Artavis Fisher from Kingston (H.S.) NY recently verbally committed to Siena and we think this is huge.  Sure, Fisher is small, but he really impressed us with his heart, speed and quickness, and ability to put up prolific numbers while playing for the Albany City Rocks last summer at the NIKE Peach Jam Invitational Tournament in Augusta, SC.  Fisher, who is ranked #267 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, joins 6'5 Bilal Benn from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA and 6'1 Jack McClinton from South Kent (Prep) CT, both of whom signed with Saints during the Fall Signing Period, and, as result, Siena's recruiting class moves into a tie at #79, along with Penn State, Boston College, Western Kentucky, George Mason, James Madison, Duquesne, Cornell, Kent State, Butler, Colorado State, Missouri-Kansas City, Liberty, Rutgers, South Alabama, Utah, Hartford, Manhattan, Northwestern, and Georgia Southern, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004. 

Thursday, February 12, 2004

It's one down and one two go in terms of publishing our updated Georgia and Florida reports.  And I am particularly pleased with the final result of the Florida Report, because our new Florida Editor Rick Staudt, who is based in Orlando, FL, but sees players all over the state, has eliminated all the politics and geography that usually must be factored in when covering high basketball in the state of Florida.  In other words, Staudt is just a knowledgeable fan without an agenda that so often comes with coaching an AAU team or being a tournament/event operator.   Staudt also is always there whenever I'm in Florida to cover an event, like the 17-Under National AAU Tournament in Orlando, FL or the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, and he's both knowledgeable and more in line with my way I think in terms of ranking players than most scouting service people who usually overrate size and potential.  A classic example is 7'1 Jr Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, who was touted when he was in the 7th Grade as the #1 player in his class and, as a result, has turned out to be a major disappointment due to the impossible expectations that were created just in case he developed dramatically at some point later in his career.  Remember, big guys develop late, so it has become the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to rank big guys the old-fashioned way.   Let them earn it!  The best illustration of what we're talking about is 7'6 Neil Fingleton from Worcester (Holy Name) MA, who was ranked by everybody, except the HOOP SCOOP, among the top 100 players nationally in the Class of 2000.  Fingleton also was named to the McDonald's All-American Team, but was so bad in the game that he was booed by the local fans in his own backyard of Boston, MA.  To illustrate our point even further, after Fingleton missed his second dunk in the first half of the Capital Classic in Washington, DC in the spring of 2000, I asked one of my competitors whether he still liked him.  "Sure, he's 7'6," was his reply.  At that point I was fed up, so I asked "if I found a 7'6 dead guy and propped his arms up, would like him too?."  Well, to my surprise the answer was "probably, you can't teach somebody to be 7'6."  Unfortunately, even after attending North Carolina for a year and Holy Cross for a-year-and-a-half, Fingleton never panned out.  On the other end of the spectrum is 7'5 Yao Ming from Shanghai, China, who was ranked #20 at the NIKE All-American Camp during the summer of 2000 based on performance in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, with several years time and a lot of hard work, Ming, to our surprise, has developed into one of the best big men in the NBA while playing for the Houston Rockets.  Ironically, the same unnamed competitor that I mentioned above now tells me how smart he was for ranking Ming so high after he was so mechanical and no productive at the NIKE All-American Camp four years ago.  Obviously there is no right or wrong answer here, but there is a difference in philosophy and it does open an interesting debate about whether Bennett will end up being closer to Fingleton or Ming when it is all said and done.  Getting back to the subject at hand, our Florida Report includes, Staudt's ranking of the top 30 players regardless of class and position, which can be found in our six All-State Teams; his ranking in order of the top four 5th Year Players, Top 171 Seniors, Top 100 Juniors, Top 85 Sophomores, Top 39 Freshmen, Top 10 Eighth Graders, Top Seventh Grader, and Top Sixth Grader in the state; and some interesting comments by yours truly about the race for Mr. Basketball in the state, as well as the overabundance of carpetbaggers and great players on the horizon.  As for the Linzy Davis' Georgia Report, we're already about a halfway finished with it and, as a result, expect to publish it sometime this weekend.  So stay tuned! 

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

We have confirmed that 6'3 Cliff Hammonds from Cairo (H.S.) GA, who is ranked #14 in the state on Linzy Davis' list of the top players in Georgia, which we plan to publish by end of the week, has verbally committed to Clemson.  And this is interesting for several reasons.  First, Hammonds promises to be the ultimate role player for the Tigers, because he's capable of stepping in and backing up both the one and the two spots, where 6'4 Jr Chey Christie, 6'2 Soph Shawan Robinson, 5'11 Frosh Vernon Hamilton, and 6'6 Cheyenne Moore from South Kent (Prep) CT will all be battling for playing time next year.  Second, Hammonds can do a little bit of everything, because he's a big time athlete, an excellent outside shooter, a terrific defender, and a good rebounder for his size.  Third, Hammonds is also excellent in the classroom, as is evident by the fact that schools like Stanford and Vanderbilt, were recruiting him and good on the gridiron, because schools like Wake Forest, Clemson, and Vanderbilt were recruiting him for football.  The addition of Hammonds moves Clemson's recruiting class, which also includes Moore, 6'6 Sam Perry from Piedmont (Woodmont) SC and 6'9 James Mays from Garner (H.S.) NC, into a tie at #29, along with Wyoming, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  However, even more important, is the fact that this should allow the Tigers' coaching staff to be very picky about what they do with their two remaining scholarships during the current two-year period.  If you will recall, Clemson already has early verbal commitments from 6'9 Joey Cameron from Leeds (H.S.) AL and 6'8 Julius Powell from Newtown (Conover) NC.  And this is important, because Clemson will only have one more scholarship available next year, if they use their 5th and final scholarship this year to sign 6'9 David Nwankwo from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'9 Jerome Johnson from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, or 6'10 Alan Metcalfe from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA.  Speaking of Metcalfe, this is the one player that we left off our list of the Top 550 Seniors, which we updated on February 2nd, who should be ranked fairly high (in the 125-150 range).  It also appears that several verbal commitments that recently occurred from players in the state of Georgia have fallen under our radar screen, as 6'4 Archie Miaway from Norcross (H.S.) GA picked Georgia Southern and 6'9 Gary Springer from Fairburn (Creekside) GA picked Iona.  We also have the inquiry sign up with regards to 6'8 Warren McClendon from Dublin (West Laurens) GA, who was supposed to have gone to the The Citadel last fall.  However, it now Davis is telling us that McClendon is bound for Mercer.  We were accurate when we reported last summer that 6'9 Robert Dozier from Lithonia (H.S.) GA had verbally committed to Memphis, but he did not sign a National Letter-of-Intent during the Fall Signing Period and, as a result, has reneged on the Tigers.  Memphis is still right at the top of his list, but Dozier also is considering schools like Georgia, Clemson, Miami-FL, Cincinnati, Florida State, and Alabama.  So it should come as no surprise that Memphis' recruiting class, which still includes 6'0 Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'8 Shawne Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, 6'7 Richard Dorsey from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 5'10 Andre Allen from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, and 7'0 Kareem Cooper from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, has dropped from #5 to #10 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, behind Indiana, Louisville, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, and UCLA. 

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

The rosters for the Sonny Vaccaro EA Sports Roundball Classic, which will be held March 24th, at the United Center in Chicago, IL, were announced late last week and we have to give the edge to the East Squad, which has four of the top six players in the game in 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'9 Josh Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'0 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, and 6'7 Dorell Wright from South Kent (Prep) CT.  And the rest of the East Squad, which will be coached by Mike Byrnes of Winchendon (School) MA, is terrific as well, as it includes 6'6 J.R. Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'8 Michael Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 7'0 Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'1 Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, 6'6 Roy Bright from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'9 Cedric Simmons from Shallotte (West Brunswick) NC, and 6'5 Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL.  The West Squad, which will be coached by Chuck Buescher of Peoria (Central) IL, is also pretty good, as it includes 6'6 Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'9 Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'8 Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA, 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'0 Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'3 Demarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'5 Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'5 Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 7'0 Robert Swift from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Joakim Noah from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ, and 6'7 Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX.  The players who have been selected to participate in the McDonald's All-American Game, which will be held in Oklahoma City, OK on Wednesday, March 31st, won't be announced until Thursday, Febuary 19th at 4:30 PM on EPSN and the rosters for the Jordan Capital Classic, which will be held at the University of Maryland on Saturday, April 17th, won't be announced until Tuesday, March 9th. There also will be four other major all-star games with the adidas All-Star Weekend in Knoxville, TN on March 28th; the Charm City Challenge at Towson University in Towson, MD on Sunday, April 4th; the Hoop Summit in San Antonio, TX on Sunday, April 4th; and the Derby Classic in Louisville, KY on Saturday, April 24th and it will interesting to see how many players play in more than two games, excluding the USA Basketball Hoop Summit, which is exempt from NCAA rules which limit a player to only two all-star games without jeopardizing their amateur status. So, if Howard, Smith, Livingston, Telfair, Palacios, Morris, Swift, 6'9 Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, and/or 6'11 LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX participate in any three or more of these games, then it will be obvious that they are going straight to the league. We also have confirmed the dates for the the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, which will be held head-to-head against the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, IN and the Reebok ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ, at the Suwanee Sports Complex in Suwanee, GA on July 6th-11th; the adidas Showtime National Championship, which will be held head-to-head against the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC, at the Suwanee Sports Complex in Suwanee, GA on July 14th-17th; and the adidas Super 64, which will be held head-to-head against the Reebok Big Time Tournament and the Main Event, in Las Vegas, NV on July 22nd-26th. Other events that we've just added to our list of Dates/Future Events include the Pump N' Run Easter Tournament, which will be held at Green Valley High School in Las Vegas, NV, April 16th-18th; the Best of the Summer High School Boy's Tournament, which will be held at Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA, July 27th-31st; and the adidas Junior Phenon Camp will be August 6th-8th in San Diego, CA.  Speaking of events for teams and players at younger age groups, the President's Day NIKE Tournament, which will feature many of the top teams from around the nation from 4th Grade to 8th Grade, is scheduled for this weekend, February 13th-15th, in Portland, OR and the New York Invitational, which is sponored by Team Next and will feature teams in the 5th to 8th Grade range, will be held June 4th-6th in Westbury, NY.  We also want to mention a number of events in Texas, including the Reebok Texas Classic for the 17-under age group in Houston, TX on April 9th-11th; the adidas Elevation Camp in Houston, TX for rising 8th and 9th Graders on June 18th-20th; the adidas Junior Slam Camp in Houston, TX for rising sophomores and juniors on July 6th-9th; the adidas Slam Camp in Houston, TX for rising seniors and graduating seniors on July 11th-14th; adidas Texas Trifecta in Houston, TX  for the 17-under, 16-under, and15-under age groups on July 15th-17th; and the Texas Challenge in Houston, TX on September 4th-5th.

Saturday, February 7, 2004, Sunday, February 8, 2004, & Monday, February 9, 2004

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin was at the Prime Time Shootout in Trenton, NJ over the weekend and, as expected, the highlight of the event was the big match-up between 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, who is ranked #1 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'0 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Howard had 23 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks, and four assists, but Rubin gives the nod to Telfair based on performance, because he not only had 30 points and nine assists, but hit the game winning 3-point shot with only a second left to give Lincoln at 75-72 victory.  But even the individual statistics don't begin to tell the story, as this was the most intensely played game that Rubin has seen all season.  And a big reason why is that just about every NBA team had not just a scout, but also a director of player personnel and/or a general manager in attendance.  Howard simply reinforced the feeling that he should be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft next spring, while Telfair did nothing to hurt his draft status, as most scouts now seem to think he will be a low lottery pick.  The scouts also were there to see 6'9 Josh Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked #2 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is perhaps the best athletic in the senior class nationally.  Smith had 21 points in his team's 69-53 win against Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA and had 18 points and six rebounds in his team's 62-57 win against Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA.  Smith also shared MVP honors in both games, plus he led his team back from a 15-point half-time deficit with a number of highlight film-like moves to the basket.  However, Smith still needs to consistently play with more intensity, if he's going to go #3 in the NBA Draft behind Howard and Connecticut's 6'10 Emeka Okafor.  Obviously this kept Oak Hill's perfect record and #1-ranking by the USA Today intact, plus this game gave 6'2 Rajon Rondo from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'7 DeSean White from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA both an opportunity to show once again why they are two of the fastest rising players in the senior class nationally.   Rondo finished with 15 points and four assists and 6'9 Brian Johnson chipped in with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Oak Hill.  Cardinal Dougherty was led by White with 22 points and 10 rebounds, 6'7 Jr Shane Clark with 22 points, and 5'11 Kyle Lowry with 10 points and seven assists.  Also really impressing Rubin was 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, who finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, as he led his team to a 76-44 win against a loaded Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC team, which included 6'7 Jr Brandon Rush, 6'6 Roy Bright, 6'3 Tasheed Carr, 6'9 Mohamed Tangara, 6'4 Albert Weber, and 6'6 Glen Dandridge.  Another one of the top performances was turned by 6'2 A.J. Price, who not only led Amityville (H.S.) NY to a 72-40 victory over Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, but also won the individual battle against 6'2 Jr Greg Paulus.  Price finished with 28 points and two assists.  Paulus had 18 points and three assists, although he could have had a double-double, if he his teammates could catch and finish.  On of the first night of the Prime Time Shootout, which was played at South Brunswick High School, NJ, 6'5 J.R. Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ had a 40-plus point game.   However, since Rubin only covered the three days of action in Trenton, NJ, this was not included as part of Rubin's rankings of the top players based on performance, which are as follows:  1) Telfair, 2) Howard, 3) Palacios, 4) Smith, 5) Price, 6) Rondo, 7) White, 8) Clark, 9) White, 10) 6'4 Jr Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 11) 6'8 Jr Uche Echefu from Montrose Christian) MD, 12) Johnson, 13) 6'5 Mark Tyndale from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 14) Lowry, 6'9 Soph Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 16) Paulus, 17) 6'0 Jr Mike Garrity from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 18) 6'5 Jr Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 19) 5'11 Frosh Mike Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 20) 6'5 Soph Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 21) 6'7 Jr Antonio Pena from New York (Brooklyn) NY, 22) 6'7 Arturo Dubios from New York (Rice) NY, 23) 6'7 Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 24) 6'7 Dayshawn Wright from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 25) 6'11Tunji Soroye from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 26) 6'6 Dexter Gray from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 27) 6'6 Jr Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) MD, 28) 6'5 Fred Stanback from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 29) 6'1 Jr Sean McGurdy from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 30) Charles Burch from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, 31) 6'6 Jr Kevin Payton from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 32) 6'7 Brian Beckford from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 33) 6'2 Jason Wilson from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, 34) 6'2 Courtney Nelson from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, 35) 6'2 Marcus Williams from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 36) 6'2 Jack Leasure from Rochester (McQuaid Jesuit) NY, 37) 6'4 Jr K.C. Rivers from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 38) 6'5 Jr Mark Johnson from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 39) 6'7 Soph Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NY, 40) 6'5 Tim Pounds from Princeton (The Hun School) NJ, 41) 6'2 Jr Anthony Farmer from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ, 42) 6'3 Jr Nayan Boateng from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 43) 6'9 Chris Henry from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 44) 5'10 Shomari Moore from Camden (H.S.) NJ, and 45) 6'2 Maretese Gilliam from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ.

Our Texas Editor Wes Grandstaff tells us that 6'8 Kevin Langford from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX has verbally committed to the University of California and, as a result, the Golden Bears' recruiting class moves up to #25 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  Langford, who is ranked #150 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is an excellent catch for head coach Ben Braun and his staff, because he will provide depth at both the three and the four spot next year.  Remember, five of the top six players - 6'8 Frosh Leon Powe, 6'5 Frosh Marquise Kately, 6'3 Frosh Ayinde Ubaka, 6'1 Soph Richard Midgley, 6'7 Soph Dominic McGuire - for the Golden Bears, which currently are 11-9 overall and 7-4 in the Pacific-10, are either in their first or second year of college.  Langford, 6'9 Devon Hardin from Newark (Memorial) CA, 6'7 Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL, and 6'11 Sam Rayburn from Portland (Sunset) OR, who are the four players in their current recruiting class, will also all battle for minutes inside next year, as California attempts to find a replacement inside for 6'11 Sr Amit Tamir, who is the only key player who will graduate after the current season is over.  In other words, this is a team to watch in the future!  We also have heard that Louisville is back in the hunt for 6'2 Chris Lofton from Maysville (Mason County) KY, but we're not sure why.  If you will recall, we're talking about one of the fastest dropping players in the senior class nationally (Lofton was ranked #60 nationally at this time a year ago, but is ranked #319 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP).  If Lofton does sign with the Louisville this spring, he would provide some additional outside firepower, but he isn't quick enough nor is he a pure point guard, which is what the Cardinals are really looking for because 6'0 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY will likely enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring and 6'2 Rajon Rondo from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA suprised everybody and cast his lot recently with Kentucky.  Three other players who were highly touted early, but have not lived up to all the hype and expectations are 6'3 Rashaad Carruth, 6'9 Brandon Bender and 6'2 Carlos Hurt.  Bender and Hurt, both of whom originally signed with the University of Louisville when they were high school seniors, but didn't last a full season, both went the junior college route a year ago and are now at Robert Morris College, which is a NAIA school in Chicago, IL.  Carruth is now at Indian Hills (JC) IA and is being recruited by schools like Miami-FL, Florida State, Clemson, New Mexico State, and Texas Tech.  Yes, Texas Tech is on Curruth's list and, if decided to go there, oru guess is that he'd turn out to be one of Bob Knight's best players ever or become the next Neil Reid.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'10 Tony Key from L.A. City (JC) CA is finally playing hard and, as a result, finally appears to be on the right road towards living up to his vast potential.  However, since he participated in the NBA Draft several year ago, he has no Division I eligibility remaining and, as a result, either has play professionally or go the NAIA route next year.   Johnson and our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio both have confirmed that 6'11Mohammed Camara from Riverside (JC) CA wants out of his commitment to St. John's, but that might be easier said than done, because it is our understanding that he signed a National Letter-of-Intent with the Red Storm last fall.  Johnson also tells us that 6'4 Steve Neal from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN, who is ranked #272 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Wyoming.  Neal, who is best described as a slasher/athlete, but a questionable outside shooter, joins 6'10 Justin Williams from Colby (JC) KS, 6'8 Chris Anderson from Eastern Utah (JC) UT, and 6'9 Derek Wabbington from Northeastern Colorado (JC) CO in a recruiting class that is now ranked #29 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004. 

Friday, February 6, 2004

When our Mississipp Editor Lavel Johnson told us recently that the top three schools on the list of 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS were North Carolina, Alabama, and Texas, I'm glad I also added Mississippi State to the list, because it appears that Ellis has made a verbal commitment to the Bulldogs.  At least that's what our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman tells us.  And this is huge, because Ellis, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is the second highest ranked junior nationally, behind 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnette) MS, who recently verbally committed to Georgia, to have made an early verbal commitment.  The addition of Ellis also ensures that Mississippi State will have one of the best backcourts in the Southeastern Conference for years to come.  Remember, 5'11 Frosh Gary Ervin is the 7th man on a team that is currently 18-1 and ranked #7 nationally by both the Associated Press and USA Today/EPSN, plus they also have a verbal commitment in their current recruiting class from 5'11 Charlie White from Jackson (Provine) MS, who is ranked #66 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  So the future, as well as the present, looks extremely bright for Mississippi State head ocach Rick Stansbury, who not only is one of the most underrated coaches in college basketball today (currently we have him ranked no higher than #22 on our list of head coaches in the middle stages of their career), but also has to be one of the leading candidates for National Coach-of-the-Year honors.  Remember, the only pre-season poll that had Mississippi State ranked nationally was the Cats' Pause Pre-Season Basketball Yearbook, which had the Bulldogs ranked #24.  However, you can bet that won't happen next year, because four of Mississippi State's top six players - 6'9 Jr Lawrence Roberts, 6'4 Jr Winsome Frazier, 7'0 Jr Marcus Campbell, and 6'4 Jr Shane Power - are expected to be next year, plus they also have a recruiting class, which includes White, 6'8 Charles Rhodes from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'9 Jerrell Houston from Memphis (East) TN, and 5'9 Jamall Edmondson from Meridian (JC) MS, that is ranked #20 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  The verbal commitment by Ellis, who is one of the most prolific scorers in the class in transition, from mid-range, and when he's bombing them in from downtown, also keeps the local pipeline intact, as every player of note (T.J. Billups, Tang Hamilton, and Rhodes), except for 6'9 Darius Rice, who went, instead, to Miami-FL, has gone to Mississippi State.  Ellis' commitment also moves the Bulldogs' recruiting class up to #6, ahead of  Georgia, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, and Texas Tech and behind Mississippi State, LSU, Syracuse, North Carolina, Villanova, Michigan State, and Louisville, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, last, but not least, is the fact that Ellis' commitment brings the number to nine of the top 30 juniors nationally who have already made verbal commitments, as Williams to Georgia, Ellis to Mississippi State, 6'2 Jr Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY to Syracuse, 6'9 Jr Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN to Duke, 6'2 Jr Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY to Duke, 6'5 Jr Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA to North Carolina, 6'6 Jr Shane Clark from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA to Villanova, 6'7 Jr Kevin Swinton from Greenboro (Dudley) NC to Wake Forest, 6'3 Jr Eric Devendorf from Bay City (H.S.) MI to Michigan State, are all already off the board.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that 6'5 Jamar Jenkins from Chapel Hill (Forrest) TN, who earlier verbally committed to Chattanooga, but, via mutual aggreement, changed his mind, has verbally committed to Western Carolina and 6'2 Justin Hare from Cleveland (Bradley-Central) TN, who is ranked #521 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but is a tough hardnosed kid with great grades, could be close to making a verbal commitment to Stanford.  As a matter of fact, Hare, who originally committed to Belmont, is making an official visit this weekend to Stanford and, to our knowledge, The Cardinal is the only school that he has any interest in.   Whitehead also notes that 6'4 Jr Jamont Gordon from Nashville (Glencliff) TN, 6'6 Jr Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, and 6'1 Jr Josh Thornton from Wyoming Park (Caesar Rodney) DE all made unofficial visits to Knoxville, TN last weekend for the Tennessee-Florida game and the Volunteers offered all three on the spot.  However, it appears that Volunteers have not made the cut 6'8 Soph Branden Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, who is ranked #3 nationally in the sophomore class, as Whitehead tells us that final four appear to be Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Indiana.  We also undertand that Army has added a pair of commitments from 6'2 Ryan Hodgson from Mastic Beach (William Floyd) NY and 6'0 Lance Dietz from Morton (H.S.) IL.  Neither Dietz nor Hodgson, who is the younger brother of Rob Hodgson, is a program turning type of guy, but both hail from successful programs and they do provide pieces to the puzzle, as Cadets head coach Jim Crews and his staff build the program from scratch.  And that maybe an understatement, as the Army has only won 10 games in the nearly two years Crews had been at Army.   However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because Crews is starting four freshmen, 10 of the 17 players on the current roster are freshmen,and they have improved as the season has worn on.  When you also had 6'8 Landon Adler from Monroe (Adams Central) IN, who also already is part of their current recruiting class, into the equation, then it's not hard to see why we think this could be one of the most improved teams in college basketball in a year or two.  However, the Cadets have faced more than their fair share of adversity this season, as, in addition to their 5-14 record, they also are mourning the loss of 6'8 Greg Wallace, who died of a heart attack while practicing by himself in the gym a week ago.  Wallace, whose younger brother, Ryan Wallace is currently a freshman at Army, was at Army the last two years before transferring to Stephen F. Austin, where he was sitting out this season.  Obviously this is a tragedy for the Stephen F. Austin team, but, it also devastating for the Army team, because the upperclassmen (five seniors, one junior, and one sophomore) all were Wallace's former teammates and the freshmen were all effected because Wallace's younger brother is currently part of the group of 10 freshmen who enrolled in school last fall. 

Thursday, February 5, 2004

Two of the hottest topics in basketball right now are yesterday's drug bust that involved 6'2 JamesOn Curry from Mebane Eastern Alamance) NC and the words that Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight exchanged with school chancellor David Smith on Tuesday.   Sure, Knight has had more than his fair share of incidents over the years and we've usually been one of the first people to criticism him when we thought he was wrong.   However, not this time, because, if this had been anybody else, nobody would have ever heard about.  And we think the several other minor incidents (i.e. Knight's comments about his relationship with Steve Alford) that have occurred since Knight arrived three years ago at Texas Tech also have been blown way out of proportion.  In other words, we don't think this is even a story and, as a result, we think Knight should be allowed to move on with his life and coach his team.  Instead, the story should be that Knight has done one of his best coaching jobs ever this year and, as a result, whether you like him or not, has to be one of the leading candidates for National Coach-of-the-Year honors.  Remember, the only place that we know of where Texas Tech was ranked in any of the pre-season polls was USA Today/ESPN where they were ranked #35.  However, the Red Raiders have surprised everybody, as is evident by the fact they are currently ranked #18 in the latest USA/Today/ESPN poll and #19 in the latest Associated Press poll.   And despite two recent losses to #13-ranked Oklahoma State and #14-ranked Texas, they have a 17-4 record on the season and have won 13 of their last 15 games.  This also comes on the heels of an amazing 45-22 record the last two years at Texas Tech, which means that Knight clearly has done as good a job as anybody in college basketball of rebuilding a program during the current three-year period.  If you will recall, when Knight first arrived at Texas Tech, he inherited a team that finished 9-19 overall and 3-13 (tied for 11th in the conference).  Knight also needs just five more wins to move into third place on the all-time win list in college basketball ahead of  former Mt. St. Mary's Jim Phelan and our guess is that this will happen during one of their last two regular season games when Texas Tech plays Missouri and Iowa State on March 2nd and March 6th in Lubbock, TX.  Knight also only needs 51 more wins to move into second place ahead of Adolph Rupp and 54 more wins to move into first place on the all-time win list ahead of Dean Smith.  And with three of his top five players - 6'1 Frosh Jarrius Jackson, 6'2 Jr Ronald Ross, and 6'8 DeVonne Giles - expected to return next year, plus a solid recruiting class, which includes 6'6 Kenna Young from South Plains (JC) TX, 6'5 Martin Zeno from Baton Rouge (Sulphur) LA, 6'8  Dimir Suljagic from Tucson (Salpointe) AZ, 6'8 Phil Harbaugh from Corvallis (H.S.) OR, already in the fold, and a recruiting class, which already includes 6'8 Jr Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX, 6'10 Kendrick Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX, 6'3 Calvin Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX and is ranked #5 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005, on the horizon, Knight could become the winningest coach in the history of the game as soon as late in the season after next.  So when you add that to three NCAA Championships and five NCAA Final Four appearance, the only question left might be when will Knight win another game in the NCAA Tournament.  Did you know that the last time a Bob Knight coached team advanced past the first round in NCAA Tournament was during the 1993-94 season when he was at Indiana?  The Curry arrest is tragic, because we're talking about somebody who appeared to be able to write his own ticket, as is evident by the fact that he already is the state's all-time leading scorer, is #48-ranked senior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and had an athletic scholarship to play basketball at North Carolina.  "Had" is the key word here, because, if Curry is convicted of the charges, which are "two counts each of possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana; two counts of sale and delivery of marijuana; and two counts of possession and selling and delivering a controlled substance on school grounds," you can rest assured that he will never play basketball for the Tar Heels.  And he may not even if he is found innocent. Remember, there were rumors during the spring and summer that the new coaching staff at North Carolina wasn't all that enthralled with Curry's game and, as a result, might rescind the scholarship offer that was made by the previous regime. "We'll find out if there was any truth to those rumors," says our North Carolina/South Carolina Editor Brian Clifton. "If Curry is found innocent and keeps his scholarship, you will know that the Tar Heels really wanted him.  But my guess is that won't happen, because maintaining a squeaky clean image is extremely important at the University of North Carolina.  And even without the drug charges, Curry does not fit the image of the prototypical UNC-student athlete."  Another interesting twist to the story involves the irony that is involved with the fact that Curry was the final recruit that the previous regime landed prior to when Matt Doherty got the ax last spring.  In other words, it's a fitting end to two tragic stories that in some ways took a parallel route.

Speaking of Doherty, despite the fact that our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio told us three weeks ago that Doherty was no longer in the running for the St. John's job, we now have reason to believe that it's already a done deal.  No, we don't have any inside information, but Doherty has started showing up at games that he normally wouldn't attend and is making contact with people he normally wouldn't be contacting, if he wasn't laying the ground work something in the future.   In other words, it's just like when John Calipari started showing up and a number of Dajuan Wagner's games and soon after returned to college coaching at Memphis four years ago.  Moral to the story, things like this don't just happen.  The word on the street also is that UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour may retire at the end of the season and, if this is correct, you can bet that Spoonhour will attempt to pass the baton to his son and assistant coach, Jay Spoonhour.  Remember, the younger Spoonhour is a heck of coach, as is evident by what happened after John Loyer resigned at Wabash Valley (JC) IL right before the start of the season three years ago to become a scout for the Portland Trailblazers.  If you will recall, Spoonhour stepped in as the head coach and they went onto win the Junior College National Championship.  But our guess is that the administration once again will attempt to go with somebody with more head coaching experience, which also probably rules out another former Spoonhour assistant in Western Illinois head coach Derek Thomas.  Instead, we think the timing will probably be better for Thomas to get the Saint Louis job when it opens in a few years.   Remember, Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg is a great coach, but there are questions about how well this staff can recruit.  However, the timing of a Spoonhour retirement might not rule out Louisville assistant coach Reggie Theus.  If you will recall, Theus not only was one of the most popular UNLV players ever, but he had a long and distinguished career in the NBA and he's learned a lot about running a college basketball program working this year for Rick Pitino.   Another potential candidate for the UNLV job will be former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin, but they may have to beat Minnesota to the punch.  Speaking of the Golden Gophers, which are still winless in the Big-10 and are struggling through one one of the worst seasons in school history, the buy-out on Dan Monson's contract is $1.25 million.  However, we also hear that they Golden Gophers want to interview several minority candidates, which may open the door for somebody like former St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis to knock their socks off and get the job.  The coaching job at Idaho will be open this spring and that's important, because, our guess is that Idaho will be Monson's next stop.  Not only was he was a player for the Vandals, but his father, Don Monson, was once the head coach at Idaho, before moving onto the University of Oregon.  We also believe that Michigan State assistant coach Doug Wojcik will take the Navy job this spring for several reasons.  First, he was the point guard at Navy during the David Robinson days.  Second, his brother, David Wojcik in an assistant coach at Navy.  Third, Navy has more than enough money in their budget to get it done against the schools they have to compete against in the Patriot League.   We've also heard Wojcik's name mentioned, along with Maryland assistant coaches Dave Dickerson and Jimmy Patsos and American University head coach Jeff Jones, as the possible successor to Sherman Dillard, if he doesn't survive at James Madison (currently the Dukes are 5-14 overall and 2-9).  The obvious candidates to replace Bobby Gonzalez, if he leaves Manhattan for someplace like St. John's or Massachusetts, are Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts, and Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare.   Actually the smart money is on DeCesare, because he's got all the right ties and knows all the right people.  It also appears that Iowa State head coach Larry Eustachy has the right ties (he's tight with the athletic director) to get the head coaching job at Utah, but there is no way image-wise this is going to get done.   Another name we've heard for Utah is Utah State head coach Stew Morrill, but we don't think that will happen either due to the big brother/little brother relationship that exists between the two schools.  We also believe that Indiana University assistant coach John Treloar would be a perfect fit for Indiana State, if another former IU assistant coach Royce Waltman doesn't keep his job (currently the Sycamores are 8-11 overall and 4-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference).  And, if Treloar does move, that would open the door for Indiana head coach Mike Davis to put Dusty May back on the road.   If you will recall, May was largely responsible for the recruiting success that Indiana had this year when he was on the road this spring and summer.  However, May was moved back into his former role of video coordinator this fall to make room for Thad Fitzpatrick,who was hired as an assistant coach this fall, as part of the D.J. White-package.  As a matter of fact, May is so good that he will be the first assistant coach ever to make our list of the top assistant coaches in his first year at the high Division I level, as soon as Davis at IU or somebody else at another school finds a spot for him. 

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

Coming out right on the heels of our updated rankings of the Top 550 Seniors Nationally and the Top 120 8th Graders Nationally is our rankings of the Top 100 7th Graders and there are only two major changes at the top of this list, as 5'4 Kendall Marshall from Dale City (Evangel Christian) VA moves into the #1 spot on our 6th Grade list and 6'8 Gregory Monroe from New Orleans, LA, who was not previously listed, moves into the #6 spot on our current list.   Apparently we've had Marshall in the wrong class for over two years and this is very ironic, because, thanks to the fact that we rated Marshall as the #1 6th Grader two years ago, he's gotten more national exposure than perhaps any player in the history of basketball at such a young age.  Remember, Marshall has been one of the focal points of numerous stories published by the mainstream media, including Sport Illustrated and the Washington Post, as they editorialize about whether it is too early to be ranking players at this age and whether there will be another LeBron James or Michael Jordan anytime soon.  At least part of the confusion stemmed from the fact that Marshall has been playing up a year at the 7th Grade level on the national AAU-circuit.  The word is that Monroe has an incredible wing span, is extremely athletic and coordinated for somebody so big and so young, and has the versatility to play both inside and outside, which means the sky's the limit with normal development and progression.  Our #1 and #2-ranked players - 6'4 Demetrius Walker from Fontana (Middle) CA and 5'8 Chad Wilson from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale (Baptist) MD - in the Class of 2009 remain the same, but 5'7 Isaiah Williams from Chicago, IL, 6'4 LeShon Williams from Baltimore, MD, and 6'0 Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Institute Collaborative) NY all have moved up a spot or two to take the place of Marshall.  Also noteworthy is the fact that this class promises to follow in the footsteps of the Class of 2004 and Class of 2006, as the next great class in high school basketball.  Already this class has an overabundance of great players, a number of players with excellent size, and a tremendous amount of depth, as is evident by the fact that we already are able to list 100 players ranked in order in this class.  In contrast, we have 120 players ranked in the Class of 2008 and we'll probably have about 60 players ranked in the Class of 2010 when we update that list later this month.  We also plan to update our list of the top players in the Class of 2005, Class of 2006, Class of 2007, and Class of 2011 and start a list of the top players in the Class of 2012.  And you can bet that 4'4 Drew Davis from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, who is the son of our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis, will be right at the top of the list.  Sure, there may be some politics involved with this pick, but Davis is good enough to get minutes on the junior varsity at Community Christian right now and he has proven to be one of the top players nationally in his age group on the AAU-circuit for the last several years.  However, next on our agenda is publishing our updated reports from the states of Florida and Georgia, which should be out by early next week.  And not too far behind should also be our updated New York City and Washington, DC Reports.  So stay tuned!

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Believe it or not, there is somebody out there who is stupid enough to have published their own HOOP SCOOP Ranking of the Top 90 8th Graders, which is complete with the HOOP SCOOP logo, masthead, and six basketball's with the HOOP SCOOP across the middle of the page right under the January 1, 2004 date and above the rankings, which read as follows:   1) 6'8 Michael Beasley from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 2) 5'3 Erving Walker from Brooklyn (PS #308) NY, 3) 5'10 Ashton Gibbs from Scotch Plains (Terrell) NJ, 4) 5'6 Jay Gillman from Redding (Christian Heritage) NJ, 5) 5'10 Justin Breaker from Camden (Glassboro Middle) NJ, 6) 6'2 Kafele Curry from Brooklyn, NY, 7) 6'5 Albert Rodgers from Brooklyn, NY, 8) 6'1 Learnard McNeil from Queens, NY, 9) 7'0 Auri Allen from Laguna Nigel (St. Anne) CA, 10) 6'1 Willie Warren from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 11) 6'3 Marquis Grant from New York (Crossroads) N, 12) 5'7 Christian Lewis from Arlington, VA, 13) 6'3 Anthony King from Aston (Village Charter) PA, 14) 5'8 Korey Lucious from Whitefish Bay (Middle School) WI,....   In other words, somebody is using our name to publish their own rankings and you can bet I was surprised when somebody who had a copy of these bogus rankings faxed them to me and thanked me for ranking his son so high.   Unfortunately the same person who sent me the fax got these ranking from somebody else and it appears he has no idea how I can track down the culprit.  A number of internet searches have also been unsuccessful and, as a result, I would love to get a hold of the address where these bogus ranking can be found on the World Wide Web.  If by some chance, you run across these fake rankings, I encourage you can call me 1-(502) 500-4667, fax me at 1-(502)-254-2646, or email me at hoopscooponline@msn.com.   However, if this person is a friend of yours, you might want to warn him that I am looking for him.  As a matter of fact, you might suggest that he move to a small South American country, because, if I am able to track him down, he's in deep shit.   Obviously this a blatant case of plagiarism, counterfeiting, literary theft, and forgery and we are protected by these things via our copyright and trademark.  So with this in mind, one of the top things on my agenda, after first publishing our Rankings of the Top 550 Seniors Nationally yesterday, was setting the record straight and coming out with our updated list of the Top Players In the Class of 2008.  We did this exclusively in the Members Section earlier today and once again the top player in the class is 5'3 Erving Walker, who our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us is playing better than ever.  Remember, Beasley, who is really a repeat 8th Grader, is the #1 player on the fraudulent list, which shows that the person, who attempting to take money out of our pocket and hurt our business, also is your typical status quo kind of guy.  In sharp contrast, we've never been afraid to go with the small undersized point guard, like Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, both of whom also were from Brooklyn, NY and, just like Walker, were ranked as the #1 player in the nation in their class by the HOOP SCOOP when they were in 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade.  However, it does appear that the imposter does have a very strong Northeastern influence, because nine of his top 14 8th Graders are from the Northeast and only three players aren't from the East Coast.  The plagiarizer also is badly missing on Christian Lewis, Kafele Carty, and Justin Breaker, all of whom are good enough to make our list in the 80-120 range, but should not be ranked among the very elite players in the class.  The plagiarzer also doesn't appear to know how good are 6'2 Jacovan Brown from Port Arthur, TX, 6'6 Olu Ashaolu from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, 6'8 Frederick Dominguez from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'6 Greg Batieste from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 5'6 Brandon Jennings from Laguna Nigel (St. Anne) CA, 6'9 Matt Roberts from Ft. Thomas, KY, 5'9 Chris Beasley from Powder Springs (Lindsay Middle) GA, all of whom we have ranked among our top 14 players in the class.  No doubt I will be glad to match our track record against fraud.  But, then again we probably won't have to, because, if he's not smart enough to quickly settle out of court, I'll probably own him.

Sunday, February 1, 2004 and Monday, February 2, 2004

We've spent most of the last three days updating our Rankings of the Top 550 Seniors Nationally and some of the important changes include 6'0 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who moves up from #9 in our previous rankings (published on August 27th) up to #5 this time around; 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, who moves up from #27 into a tie at #10; 6'10 D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, who drops from #4 into a tie at #10; 6'8 Glenn Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) IL, who moves up from #19 to #9; 6'5 Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who moves up from #74 to #20; 6'5 Robert Vaden from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, who moves up from #38 to #23; 7'0 Robert Swift from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, who drops from #11 to #29; 6'2 Rajon Rondo from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who moves up from #102 to #31; 6'5 DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL, who moves up from #83 to #42; 6'7 DeSean White from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, who moves up from #130 to #48; 6'11 Alexander Kaun from Melbourne (Florida Air Academy) FL, who drops from #37 to #53; 6'9 Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who drops from  #52 to #69; 6'4 Albert Weber from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who moves up from #91 to #70; 6'10 Walter Sharpe from Birmingham (Parker) AL,who moves up from #115 to #72; 6'5 Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, who drops from #17 to #76; 6'9 Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, who moves up from #133 to #80; 7'0 Roy Hibbert from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, who moves up from #127 into a tie at #100; 6'4 Xavier Price from Belleville (West) IL, who drops from #67 into a tie at #100; 6'5 Tommie Liddle from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, who moves up from #199 into a tie at #100; 6'9 Sean Williams from Mansfield (H.S.) TX, who moves up from #150 into a tie at #100; 6'8 Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston (H.S.) WA, who moves up from #137 to #114; 6'6 Sam Perry from Piedmont (H.S.) SC moves up from#146 to #117; 6'3 Demetrius Green from Lexington (Catholic) KY, who moves up from #333 to #122; 6'3 Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, who moves up from #180 to #134; 6'2 Ty Rogers from Eddyville (Lyon County) KY, who moves up from #209 to #143; 6'6 Everett Spencer from Richmond (New Creations) IN, who moves up from #297 to #157; 6'9 Olivier Lamoreaux from Montreal (Champlain St. Lambert) ON, who moves up from #281 to #158; 6'2 Lamario Kersee from Houston (Aldine) TX, who moves up from #335 to #162; 6'2 Pierre-Marie Altidor-Cespedes from Montreal (Champlain St. Lambert) QU, who moves up from #167 to #109; 6'2 Evan Risher from Ft. Worth (Crowley) TX from #323 to #182; 6'4 Dominique Kirk from Dallas (Bryan Adams) TX, who drops from #158 to #192; 6'2 Manny Quazada from Washington (St. Albans) DC, who moves up from #346 to #199; 6'7 Ollie Bailey from Chicago (Farragut) IL, who drops from #148 to #231; 6'4 Matthew Thomas from Riverside (King) CA, who drops from #187 to #234; 6'1 Paulo Santana from Toronto (Central Commerce) ON, who drops from #145 to #239; 6'9 Christian Marshall from Jackson (Wingfield) MS, who drops from #190 to #257; 6'7 Alex Blair from Auburndale (H.S.) FL, who drops from #222 to #292; and 6'2 Chris Lofton from Maysville (Mason County) KY, who drops from #200 to #318.  We also have some important additions to note including 5'10 Germaine Calvin from Tempe (McClintock) AZ at #113, 6'11 Tunji Soroye from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD at #121, 6'6 George Brozos from Reserve (Christian) LA at #136, 6'6 DuBois Williams from Tempe (Marcos De Niza) AZ at #142, 6'2 Jorge Lebrun from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL at #152, 6'6 Quentin Chaney from Tulsa (Booker T. Washington) OK at #148, and 6'6 Chris Fields from Long Beach (Poly) CA at #179.  However, the most important item for college recruiters who need to sign somebody in the spring is our list of the combined list of the top players who are left at each position from both the prep school and high school ranks.  Heading our list of centers are 7'1 Ivan Chiriaev from Oakville (St. Thomas Aquinas) ON, 7'0 Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'9 Andre Blatche from Syracuse (Henninger) NY, 6'11 Kellen Lee from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 7'0 Russell Hicks from Niagara Falls (Westlane) ON, 6'9 Maurice Shaw from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'8 Jerome Johnson from Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL, 6'9 Julian Thomas from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA, 6'10 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'11 Robert Rothbart from Cupertino (Monta Vista) CA, and 6'10 Cassin Diggs from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME.  Heading our list of power forwards are 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'10 Jermaine Bell from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'8 Stanley Branch, who was last seen at Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'10 Walter Sharpe from Birmingham (Parker) AL, 6'8 Tyrus Thomas from Baton Rouge (McKinley) LA, 6'8 Davis Nwankwo from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'7 Michael Binns from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'6 Rell Porter from Pittsburg (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Lamar Roberson from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'10 Hatila De Souza from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'8 Brian Beckford from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'6 Chris Berry from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'8 Frantz Dorsainvil from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'7 Kiwan Smith from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'6 Will Harris from Troy (Redemption) NY, 6'6 Jeff Adrien from Brookline (H.S.) MA, and 6'6 Dexter Gray from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY.  Heading our list of wing forwards are 6'6 Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'6 Roosevelt Lee from New Britian, CT, 6'6 C.J. Anderson from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'3 Demetrius Green from Lexington (Catholic) KY, 6'7 Ty Morrison from Phoenix (Browne) AZ, 6'8 Kevin Langford from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX, 6'6 Wynton Witherspoon from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, 6'4 Draelon Burns from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'6 Chris Fields from Long Beach (Poly) CA, 6'8 Matt Salley from Charlotte (North Mecklenburg) NC, 6'8 Wesley Jones from Beatrice (J.F. Shields) AL, and 6'5 Cornelius Ingram from Hawthorne (H.S.) FL.  Heading our list of 2-guards are 6'4 Jesus Verdejo from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'4 Mark Tyndale from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 6'3 Tyree Evans from Richmond (George Wythe) VA, 6'3 Jamarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'6 DuBois Williams from Tempe (Marcos De Niza) AZ, 6'2 LaMario Kersee from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'2 Ralph Mims from Brunswick (H.S.) ME, 6'5 Richard Hurd from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'3 Robert Lee from Ft. Worth (Western Hill) TX, 6'4 Dominique Kirk from Dallas (Bryan Adams) TX, 6'2 Darnell Harris from Baltimore (St. Francis) MD, 6'3 Rashad Bilal from Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL, 6'2 Kojo Mensah from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'4 Tom Hammonds from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'2 Troy Mathis from Laurinburg (Charter) NC, 6'2 Jonathan Wallace from Harvest (Sparkman) AL, 6'4 Matthew Thomas from Riverside (King) CA, and 6'5 Kevyn Green from Worcester (Academy) MA.  Heading our list of point guards are 6'2 Khalif Ford from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'0 Maureece Rice from Philadelphia (Luthern) PA, 5'11 Dupree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6'2 Cedric Jackson from Columbus (North Burlington) NJ, 6'1 Jamual Warren from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'1 Cliff Clinkscale from Ocala (Shores Christian) FL, 6'2 Ramon Sessions from Myrtle Beach (H.S.) SC, 6'3 Lyndale Burleson from Seattle (Franklin) WA, 6'0 Jordan Carter from Indianapolis (Brebeuf) IN, 6'2 Brandon Johnson from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'1 Paulo Santana from Toronto (Central Commerce) ON, 6'0 Cedrick Middleton from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'1 Brian Waters from Durham (Alamance Christian) NC, and 5'10 Steve Harley from Washington (Marriott Charter) DC.