HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR JULY 2002

Wednesday, July 31, 2002

Two days ago we told you the rumors were not true that 6'9 Brent Petway from Griffin (H.S.) GA having verbally committed to the University of Michigan.  But we also added that the Wolverines were the leader over schools like Syracuse, Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown, and Virginia and we even mentioned the fact Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker was at his game on Monday morning at the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball Junior National Championship in Orlando, FL.  However, we didn't tell you that Michigan assistant coach Charles Ramsey had been recruiting Petway for two years and, as a result, was in a perfect position to get one of the fastest rising seniors nationally when he exploded at this tournament.  Prior to the summer Petway was ranked #15 in the class of 2003 in Georgia by the HOOP SCOOP, but he was instrumental in the Georgia Stars advancement into the final four yesterday at the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball Junior National Championship in Orlando, FL.  We're talking about an incredible athlete, excellent shot blocker, and terrific rebounder who is still just like a deer learning to run.  In other words, Petway has an enormous upside and he's also pretty good right now.  As a matter of fact, we'll probably rank him among the top 50 nationally when we update our rankings in August.  Petway also promises to be one of inside players that Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker must sign in order to take the program to the highest level.  He also more than makes up for the loss of 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI, who picked the Spartans over the Wolverines a week ago.  Currently Nauymick is ranked #48 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and has the potential to move even higher.   But when it's all said and done, Petway has even more potential, plus just like Naymick, he's a great kid and he hasn't been corrupted by too much attention too early.  And similar to the situation with Petway two days ago, we're hearing that 6'1 Michael Nardi from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, who is ranked #60 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Villanova.  However, our sources tell us that it's not done yet.  But it doesn't mean it's not going to happen as soon as tonight or tomorrow.  If he had to lay odds, we'd say it's about 99%, but it's always nice to let the kid make the announcement.  Nardi should provide the perfect complement to the two guards that Villanova landed a year ago in Allan Ray and Randy Foye and, if the Wildcats can also get 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends) PA, then Villanova head coach Jay Wright would not only have one of the best, but also one of the deepest, backcourts in college basketball.  Villanova also could once again have one of the best recruiting classes, if Shakur, 6'10 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and any one of the numerous other players they've involved with picks the Wildcats.   Also playing extremely well and, as a result, moving way up in our rankings at the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball Junior National Championship was 6'8 Reyshawn Terry from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC.  Not only did he score 18 points in the championship game, but Terry and 6'1 Chris Paul from Clemmons (North Forsyth) NC were the two players largely responsible for the Kappa Magic's, 78-68, upset victory against All-Ohio Red in the title game.  After the game Terry told us that his final three schools were North Carolina, N.C. State, and Maryland and that also appears to be the order.  Our guess is that he will go to N.C. State.  Obviously the fact that Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek, assistant coach Larry Harris, and assistant coach Mark Phillips were all sitting in the first row watching Terry's every move was to their advantage, but we still think he's the Tar Heels'to lose.  And they just might do that, because North Carolina only has three more scholarships available in the Class of 2003 and Class of 2004 and they have to sign several big men, plus they appear to be interested in landing another point guard, as they are involved with most of the top point guards in the senior class nationally.   Terry has the athleticism, outside shooting, ball handling skills, and size to be a prototypical 3-man at both the college level and someday in the NBA, but he does need to get bigger and stronger and develop a better feel for the game in order to get ranked higher than the 30-50 range nationally, which is where we plan to rank him in our rankings in August.  Getting back to Paul, he was the easy choice for tournament MVP honors, as he led the Kappa Magic with 30 points in the championship game, including 16 points in the 4th quarter, and he scored 16 of his 18 points in the semi-finals last night, as the Kappa Magic beat BABC in overtime, 59-54.  Paul didn't play well when we saw at the NIKE All-American Camp in early July, at least in part, because he was playing out of position, but he more than justified his top 10 national ranking in this tournament.   Not only does Paul have a great feel for the game, but he has excellent ball handhing and passing skills, the quickness and athleticism necessary to get it done in the tough Atlantic Coast Conference, and a deadly 3-point shot.  While this lose may have cost All-Ohio Red our prestigious Team-of-the-Summer Award, it won't cost 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH our HOOP SCOOP Player-of-the-Summer Award.  Lavender came up big the previous night with 27 points, including 14 points in the 4th quarter, against the Georgia Stars and tried to do it again in the championship game, he scored 16 of his 21 points, including three treys, in the second half.  Also chipping in with 16 points was 6'7 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH.  Also surprising a lot of people in the semi-finals last night were 5'11 Matt Causey from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, who scored 14 of his team's first 27 points en route to a 23-point effort, and 6'7 Charles Burch from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, who is terrific on the boards and extremely effective offensively around the basket. 

Tuesday, July 30, 2002

The last few days in July truly are the dog-days of summer for high school basketball players, college coaches, and recruiting and, as a result, we try not penalize anybody who is tired,  runs out of gas, or obviously just wants to go home.   Thus, was the case last night with 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, who was mediocre at best, as the Tallahassee Wildcats lost 81-77 to BABC in the quarterfinals of the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball Junior National Championship in Orlando, FL.  Also last night Kappa Magic beat the Spiece Gym Rats, 70-51, to set up tonight's 8:30 PM semi-finals game against BABC.  The other semi-finals game will be played at 7:00 PM between the All-Ohio Red, which beat Louisiana Select, 63-56, and the Georgia Stars, which beat the Arkansas Hawks, 59-52, in the quarterfinals last night.  Our guess is that it will be All-Ohio Red and the Kappa Magic in the championship game, which will tip-off at 1:00 PM tomorrow afternoon and, if that happens, we could see one of the best match-ups of the entire summer, as two of the top point guards in the nation will square off.  We're talking about 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who is one of the leading candidates for HOOP SCOOP Player-of-the Summer honors, against 6'0 Chris Paul from Clemmons (West Forsyth) NC, who is a not too poor man's version of 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, as well as the #10-ranked senior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  We're still waiting for Lavender to have an incredible game like he did several times in both the NIKE Peach Jam and the AAU Super Showcase, but Paul was tremendous both times we saw him yesterday.  As a matter of fact, Paul has played so well that Brick Oettinger of the Recruiter's Handbook, and PrepStars.com now is telling everybody that he's the best point guard in the nation.   Instead of Lavender, the player who really stepped up from All-Ohio Red last night was 6'0 Jr Denzel Lyles from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, as he hit all the big shots down the stretch.  Lyles has always been excellent in transition, but last night he also impressed everybody with his 3-point shooting.  Another player who has played extremely well in this tournament is 6'9 Brent Petway from Griffin (H.S.) GA, who has emerged into one of the fastest rising big men in the senior class and, as a result, is now on the bubble for our top 100 nationally.  He also provides the perfect complement on the Georgia Stars to 6'3 Tim Morris from Smyrna (Whitfield) GA, 6'5 Almond Morris from Marietta (McEachern) GA, and 5'11 Matt Causey from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, who provide the outside firepower.   Another player who really impressed us today was 6'9 Vincent Hunter from Little Rock (Fair) AR.  We're talking about a long-lanky athlete with an incredible wing span, a soft shooting touch, and the ability to run the court like a deer.   He's also every bit as good as big guys like 6'10 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL and 6'10 Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (H.S.) TX, but right now he doesn't have the name recognition and, as a result, is currently a major sleeper nationally.  Several other big kids we didn't know about until today, but who played well were 7'1 Bryce Husak from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) IA, 6'10 Joshua Boone from Sykesville (South Carroll) MD, and 6'8 Jr Rudy Gay from Baltimore (Eastern Tech) MD.  Husak is intriguing right off the bat, because he's 7'1 and fairly mobile and coordinated for a big white kid his size.  However, he's also got some skills, as well as a nice touch and good hands around the basket.   Boone is the best of the three right now, because he's strong, athletic, and aggressive inside.  He also is very active, as he makes things happen at both ends of the court.  We've been told that Georgetown has encouraged Boone to attend prep school, despite the fact he currently is academically qualified, but he didn't mention the Hoyas when we got a list of schools today.  Instead, he mentioned Rutgers, St. Joseph's, Connecticut, and West Virginia.  Gay is just a rising junior, but he's got tremendous natural talent, a soft touch, and big time athleticism, which translates in a big time player.  In other words, this is one to keep track of for the future. 

Believe it or not, verbal commitments continue to flow in, despite the fact the entire month of July is dead for contact between college coaches and players and their club team coaches at camps and AAU-like events.  As a matter of fact, the only contact colleges can have with recruit is by phone when the player is at home, which often is rare this time of year.  The latest two commitments are from 5'11 Gary Ervin from Fitchburg (Notre Dame Prep) MA to Mississippi State and 6'10 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL to Alabama.  Ervin's commitment may seen like a surprise, because kids from the Northeast don't usually sign with schools in the Deep South.   However, this isn't the first players Bulldogs head coach Rick Stansbury, who still recruits like he's an assistant and, as a result, it second to none in the business when it comes to focusing in on a player and getting his man, has gone into somebody else's backyard and stolen.  Remember, Stansbury landed 6'8 Robert Jackson from Milwaukee (Washington) WI in 1998 and three years ago he beat Alabama for Mario Austin.  This also doesn't come as much of a surprise, because we knew that Mississippi State had shown a lot of interest in Ervin last spring.  However, our guess is that Stansbury didn't pull the trigger at the time, because he knew Ervin would need a year of prep school.  Ervin is a tough hardnosed prolific scorer who thrives in transition and his uptempo style should be perfect in the Southeastern Conference.  He also has shown this summer that he has the talent to play in what arguably is the toughest conference in college basketball and further evidence of that comes from our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, who had Ervin ranked #2 among graduating seniors in New York City in June.  Ervin also was ranked #52 nationally in our Final Rankings from the Class of 2002, but now he will be ranked separately on our 5th year list, because this fall he will start his 9th semester of high school.  Adkins' commitment also shouldn't come as a surprise.  As a matter of fact, we reported two weeks ago when we were at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA that the Crimson Tide was the heavy favorite and that a comment would likely be forthcoming in early August.  Currently Adkins is ranked #27 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but previously that was based primarily on potential.  However, this summer Adkins has taken his game to another level, as his skills continue to get better and better and he's playing with a lot more confidence and aggressiveness.  And Adkins isn't the only big man Alabama is pursuing, as 6'10 Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'11 Shawn Taylor from Vienna (Dooley County) GA, and 6'10 Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (H.S.) TX are also still high on the Crimson Tide's recruiting list.   We also have checked out the rumors about 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked #43 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, making a verbal commitment to the University of Connecticut.  While we suspect it is true that Williams has told the Connecticut coaching staff that he plans to become a Huskie, it is still contingent upon his not changing his mind when he makes an official visit to Storrs, CT in early August.  Assuming that all goes well on the visit, then Williams will probably make an official announcement and the race will be declared official.  But until then, any reports about Williams making it official for the Huskies are premature.  It also appears that our speculation about 5'11 Taurean Minor from Houston (Washington) TX is wrong.  Apparently the Huskies backed off Minor before they found out they were probably going to get Williams, plus it still appears that the University of Cincinnati is still in the hunt for Minor, despite the fact some people think he is the Mike Tyson of the AAU circuit.  Not only does Minor not know when to keep his mouth shut, but his inability to get his teammates involved no-doubt was one of the reason why the Houston Hoops failed to win a tournament all summer, despite the fact this team was absolutely loaded.  Remember, 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX is ranked #2 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX is ranked #8 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'8 Justin Benson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX emerged as one of the biggest sleepers of the summer, and Darryl Sheppard and Hal Pastner are two of the best coaches in the country on the AAU circuit.  However, Bearcats head coach Bobby Huggins apparently is intrigued by the fact that Minor is a smart kid, as is evident by the fact that he has an 1100 on the SAT, plus Huggins has had more success than most dealing with difficuult kids in the past (i.e. Dontonio Wingfield, Art Long, and Donald Little).

Sunday, July 28, 2002, and Monday, July 29, 2002

In a day-and-age when most players are tired from playing an average of two games a day in air-conditioned gyms and all the travel that is now apart of the Summer Evaluation Period during the month of July, 6'0 Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, is one of the few guys we've seen this summer who simply doesn't run out of gas.  We're talking about a guy who single-handedly guided the Florida Hoopsters all the way to the championship game at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, where his team lost by two points to the New York Ravens, on Friday night and then flew to Orlando, FL the next day to participate on the Tallahassee Wildcats, which now have advanced into the quarterfinals, along with All-Ohio Red, Louisiana Select, the Arkansas Hawks, Georgia Stars, North Carolina-Kappa Magic, Spiece Gym Rats, and BABC, of the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball 17-Under National Championship in Orlando, FL.  Washington is an incredible athlete with Allen Iverson-like moves, explosiveness, and ability to create havoc at both ends of the court.  Washington also is an excellent 3-point shooter and when he gets on a role, he not only is a prolific scorer, but he can light up a scoreboard in a hurry.  But what separtes Washington from all the rest is his desire to compete every time he walks onto the court and, as a result, he will be ranked as the #1 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP when we update our rankings in early August.  And we aren't the only one who thinks Washington deserves all the accolades he can get.  As a matter of fact, Gary DeCesare, who is the general manager of the New York Ravens club team, and Brick Oettinger, who is the recruiting guru for the Recruiter's Handbook, and PrepStars.com, both were on our weekly radio show last night and they agreed that Washington not only deserves to be ranked as the #1 player nationally in the Class of 2004, but, assuming that you exclude 6'6 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, who has been sidelined since June, they think Washington is best player in the nation regardless of class.  In other words, Washington is better than all the seniors, except for James, right now!  He also is the leading candidate to be named the HOOP SCOOP's Player-of-the-Summer.  However, we say that with extreme caution, because the only thing that's harder to do than get to the top is stay there.  And a big part of the problem is that, instead of continuing to work on their game, all too often today's players are reading their press clippings and/or think they are already good enough to go straight to the League.   They simply don't understand how important the development process is in all, but a few very extreme case like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.  But that doesn't appear to be the case with Washington.  At least not yet, as the schools he mentioned were Kentucky, Arizona, Florida, Louisville, N.C. State, Florida State, and Kansas.  We also understand that Indiana and Connecticut are on his list list, but we think the two schools that you're going to have to beat are the Gators and the Seminoles and already it appears that the battle for Washington's services is already getting intense.  It didn't matter whether it was last week at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV or this week at the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball 17-Under National Championship in Orlando, FL.  You could count on Florida head coach Billy Donovan to find a visible position standing behind one the baskets and Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton to be sitting in the second or third row on the side prior to each one of Washington's games.  Ironically, Washington's biggest challenger for HOOP SCOOP Player-of-the-Summer honors is 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, whose All-Ohio Red Team also is still playing at the AAU 17-Under National Championship in Orlando, FL.  If you will recall, Lavender was our choice as the best player on the second day of camp at the NIKE All-American.   He also was the leading scorer and #3 in assists at the NIKE Peach Jam and had several 40-plus point games at the AAU Super Showcase.  And now Lavender has led his team into the final four at the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball 17-Under National Championship, as All-Ohio Red has beaten Louisiana Select in the first of four quarterfinals games that are being played consecutively the rest of the day.  Also up for grabs once again is our Team-of-the-Summer Award, because the Houston Hoops, which had made it to the final four of every tournament they've played in prior to this tournament all summer, were upset last night in the second round by the Spiece Gym Rats.  If All-Ohio Red, which also took home the championship at the NIKE Peach Jam, wins the National 17-Under Tournament two days from now, the decision will be easy.  However, if All-Ohio Red falls short, then it becomes a very difficult decision, because no team has won more than one major tournament this summer.  So if that's the case, the New York Ravens will probably win this prestigious award, because nobody has played harder all summer and they were extremely impressive at the adidas Big Time Tournament en route to the championship. 

The best individual performance we saw earlier today at 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball 17-Under National Championship in the Round of 16 was turned in by 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Pineview (H.S.) LA, who scored 37 points in a losing effort against the Georgia Stars.  Also impressing us in that game was 6'9 Brent Petway from Griffin (H.S.) GA, who appears to be one of the fastest rising big men in the nation.  However, the rumors that Petway has verbally committed to the University of Michigan are not true.  The coach of the Georgia Stars Norman Parker does confirm that the Wolverines are the leader and Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker was seen at his game this morning, but schools like Syracuse, Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown, and Virginia are also still on Petway's list.  Getting back to Wafer, Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, and Louisiana Tech are among those that have shown the most interest.  However, we expect that list to get longer before it gets shorter, because Wafer, who is now a legitimate top 10 or 15 senior nationally, just keeps getting better and better every time we we see him.  Louisiana Tech also is believed to be the favorite over Arizona, LSU, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Tulane for 6'8 Phil Millsap from Grambling (H.S.) LA, who is another one of our favorite players, because this undersized athletic power forward always goes to war inside.  Did you know that Millsap's uncle is an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech?  Speaking of close family connections, did you also know that LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre is the Godfather of 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, who is ranked as the #1 sophomore in America by the HOOP SCOOP?  Not only did Mitchell confirm that for us several days ago, but he also told us that Pierre helped raise him.  LSU may also be the favorite now for 5'10 Tauren Minor from Houston (Washington) TX.  Further confirmation of this fact comes from the fact that University of Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins was conspicuous by his absence at the 2002 AAU Boys' Basketball 17-Under National Championship and the University of Connecticut appears to be on the verge of getting a verbal commitment from 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  So the Huskies, which were making a strong push, also appear to be bailing out of the Minor sweepstakes.  As a matter of fact, our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis thinks it may already have happened.  Several things that we have confirmed within the last 24 hours are 6'11 Will Bowers from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD to Maryland and 6'7 Jr Marquise Gray from Flint (Beecher) MI to Michigan State.  Bowers, who is ranked #215 in the junor class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, is best described as a project, but Maryland head coach Gary Williams has made a living taking guys like this and developing them into good players over the years.  Obviously Bowers knows this as well, because Maryland is already recruiting over him in this recruiting class.  If you will recall, 6'9 Hassan Fofana from Worcester (Holy Name) MA is a top priority for the Terrapins.  Gray, who was ranked #16 in the state in our last report, has grown two inches and dramatically improved during the last six months.  So it should come as no surprise that this incredible athlete is now being talked about as a legitimate top 100 junior nationally by our our Michigan Editor Steve Bell.   Gray becomes the fourth player to make an early verbal commitment to Michigan State this spring.  If you will recall, the Spartans also have gotten commitments from a pair of seniors - 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI and 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI - and an early commitment from another junior - 5'10 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wyoming (Wyoming Park) MI.  We also have confirmed via our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson that 6'9 Ousmane Konate from the Senegal has verbally committed to the University of Missouri.  You remember Konate!  He was ranked as the #23 player at the NIKE All-American Camp by the HOOP SCOOP during the summer of 2001, but returned home to his native country and, as a result, has been out-of-sight and out-of-mind for the last year apparently for everybody except the Missouri coaching staff.   However, Konate will have to wait another year before he becomes a Tiger, because prep school at New Hampton (Prep) NH appears to be first in his future.  We also have learned from Van Coleman of Future Stars that 6'4 Mike Henderson from Waterloo (East) IA has reneged on his verbal commitment to Iowa State. 

Saturday, July 27, 2002

The 2002 adidas Big Time All Tournament Team, which includes 65 players was announced immediately following the championship game and that list included 65 players, of which 31 were among those selected by us when we turned in our list yesterday afternoon.  The 31 players we voted for included 6'10 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'2 Jr Jared Haynes from Chicago (Mt. Carmel) IL, 6'8 Matt Webster from Westfield (H.S.) IN, 6'5 Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA,  6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA, 6'3 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, 6'7 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA,  6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 5'8 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'1 Curtis Stinson from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'6 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'5 Earl Smith from Lakewood (H.S.) NJ, 6'3 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'0 Jr Tauren Green from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 5'11 Jr Depree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI,  6'2 Peyton Stovall from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN, 6'5 Dameon Mason from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'9 Jr Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston (H.S.) WA, 6'5 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, and 6'9 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA.  The 34 players we didn't vote for, but who made the 65-man all-tournament team included 6'10 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seagoville) TX, 5'11 Brandon Bell from Flint (Southwestern) MI, 6'2 Jr Jamar Butler from Lima (Shawnee) OH, 6'3 Vincent Camper from Oxford (H.S.) OH, 6'6 Elliah Clark from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'2 Drew Coffman from Midland (Lee) TX, 6'9 Boubacar Coly from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'6 Jr Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 6'11 Sr Nick Fazekas from Arvada (Ralston Valley) CO, 6'5 Thomas Gardner from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'8 Lamont Hamilton from Milford (Academy) CT, 6'8 Ivan Harris from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Justin Hawkins from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'2 Tyler James from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, 6'8 Mark Lovein from Yorba Linda (Esperanza) CA, 6'5 Ricky Lucas from Herndon (H.S.) VA, 6'3 Louie McCroskey from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'3 Trey McDowell from Beaumont (West Brook) TX, 6'1 Elvis Medina from Castlewood (H.S.) ID, 5'10 Soph Andre McGee from Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) CA, 6'9 Sean Phaler from Villa Park (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Jr Tim Pierce from Oakland (Fremont) CA, 6'10 Mitch Platt from Henderson (Green Valley) NV, 5'10 Kenji Rockett from San Diego (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Kevin Rogers from Corona (Centennial) CA, 6'4 Adam Schafer from Rochester (Adams) MI, 6'8 Warren Scott from New Orleans (Abramson) LA, 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'1 Ayinde Ubaka from Oakland (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Omar Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'1 Soph Dwain Williams from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 5'10 James Williams from DeSoto (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Jermyl Wilson from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, and Jajuan Robinson, who played for the Baltimore Bombers, which failed to provide a roster and we didn't get a chance to see play and, as a result, his his height, class, position, and school are unavailable.   Taking a closer look, when the New York Ravens emerged as the champion of the Open Division, it was obvious that they deserved more than two players on the all-tournament team and, as a result, it is easy to see why McCrosky was added to the team.   However, 6'4 Jr Brian Laing from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who played even better than McCrosky in the championship game, also should have been added to the team.   Another good addition to the 65-man team was Jamar Butler, who scored 24 points in the championship game, as he led Team Ohio to the "A" Division Championship.  We still would take 6'7 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA, who played big part in the New Orleans Jazz' quadruple overtime victory against the Illinois Celtics over Vincent Camper, but we can live with Camper being one of of the three players  on the all-tournament team from the New Orleans team, along with Bass and Mitchell.  And the same can be said about Lamont Hamilton being one of the two choices from the Long Island Panthers, along with Villanueva, over  6'5 Sammy Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King Prep) NY.   However, we have to wonder how 6'5 Lodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA didn't make it.  If you will recall, he had a 41-point game against the Los Angeles Rockfish, which was the second highest single game scoring effort in the entire tournament.  And how did 6'8 Justin Petty from Indianapolis (Perry Meridian) IN not make the 65-man all-tournament?  His performance with all the media watching in the quarterfinals when he hit 10-12 field goals and scored 25 points should have ensured that all by itself.  And 5'11 Dez Willingham from DeSoto (H.S.) TX was brilliant from start-to-finish as the Texas Top Prospects took the Michigan Hurricanes to the wire in the second round.  We're also still trying to figure out why nobody from the Southeast Pump N Run made the all-tournament.  We would have had no problem replacing 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL with 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS or 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL, but somebody from that team should have made it.  As a matter of fact, Southeast Pump N Run was the only team that made it as far as the final 16 of the tournament without a single person on the all-tournament team.  We also don't have any problem replacing 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA with Boubacar Coly, but 6'2 Robert McIver from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC put prolific numbers and 6'1 Derek Ravio from Vancouver (Mountain View) WA was the guy who carried his team into the second round of the playoffs while averaging.   We also think final four teams should have had at least three players each on the all-tournament team, if you're going 65 deep and 6'8 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL representing Ft. Sooy-No Limit accomplishes this criteria.  We also think the 6'6 Sean Banks from Oredell (Bergen Catholic) NJ played well enough for the Tim Thomas Playaz Gold to have been on the all-tournament team and, despite the fact Baltimore Select got beat in the second round of the playoffs by DTA Wisconsin-Gold, they still should have had somebody on the all-tournament team ahead of somebody fro the Baltimore Bombers, which was an "A" Division team.  Our choice from Baltimore Select is still 6'2 Tyler Smith from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD.  Last, but not least among our choices for the all-tournament team, was 6'0 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, but we understand the politics involved with this one.  Remember, for year's Pat Barrett's program was sponsored by NIKE and, despite its current shoe company independence, we suspect this program gets its financial support from Tyson Chandler.  Other players who played well enough to deserve a mention or made names for themselves when we saw them, but who did not make the all-tournament were 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, 6'6 Jr Churchill Odia from Lagos, Nigeria, 6'8 Will Sheridan from Hockessin (Samford) DE, 6'8 Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI, 6'10 Kyle Visser from Ada (Forest Hills Central) MI, 6'3 Dion Harris from Detroit (Redford) MI, 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'2 Byron Davis from Detroit (Rogers) MI, 6'10 Walter Waters from Detriot (Southeastern) MI, 6'0 Drew Neitzel from Wyoming (Wyoming Park) MI, 6'4 David Hoskins from Plymouth (Salem) MI, 6'9 Gary Ware from Detroit (Finney) MI, and 6'6 Soph Dion Ware from Detroit (Finney) MI, 6'2 Jimmy Miles from Homewood (Christian) IL, 5'10 Carl Marshall from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'8 Lorenzo Thompson from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'6 Florentino Valencia from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'2 Jr Jason Thomas from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'1 Todd Abernathy from Indianapolis (Heritage Christian) IN, 6'6 D'Andre Peyton from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, 6'6 Justin Cage from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'7 Adam Liddell from Waterloo (DeKalb) IN, 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, 6'0 Brett McDade from Denton (Ryan) TX, 6'9 Christopher Reay from Plano (West) TX, 6'7 Andrew Francis from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6'8 Warren Carter from Lake Highlands (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Phil Tomlinson from Burleson (H.S.) TX, 6'4 Parker Pinkalla from Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, 6'2 Milton Collins from New Orleans (O.P. Walker) LA, 6'4 Albert Weber from New Orleans (Higgins) LA, 6'0 Bolester McCalabb from New Orleans (Abramson) LA,  6'5 Lamar Sanders from Hickory Platt (H.S.) MS, 6'3 Casey Long from Opelousas (71st) LA, 6'11 Soph Luke Bonner from Manchester (Trinity) NH, 62 Soph Chris Brickley from Manchester (Trinity) NH, 6'3 Shelby Jordan from Hillcrest (H.S.) IL, 6'6 Edward Finner from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'8 Michael Rembarto from Chicago (St. Rita) IL, 6'9 Jr Aaron Agnew from Bellaire (H.S.) OH, 6'10 Jr Mark Terwilliger from Troy (H.S.) OH,  6'6 C.J. Anderson from Cincinnati (Winton Woods) OH, 6'8 Derrick Simmons from Lake Wales (H.S.) FL, 6'1 Jr Brandon Johnson from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'9 Jason Cain from Philadelphia (Bartrum) PA, 6'3 Jr Cherron Fisher from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6'5 Michael Cook from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 5'11 Japhet McNeil from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'3 Tariq Atkins from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'7 Jr Gavin Grant from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'10 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'8 Donta Milligan from Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY, 6'0 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, 6'8 Jeff Parmer from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'9 Femi Ibikunte from Syracuse (Hampton) NY, 6'8 Marcus Dove from Long Beach (Millikan) CA, 6'8 Blake Schlib from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'5 Rodney Edgerson from Peoria (Woodruff) IL, 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'3 Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'8 Marcus Slaugher from Mareno Valley (Valley View) CA, 6'11 Aaron Gray from Emmaus (H.S.) PA, 6'7 Mike Tuck from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'6 Eugene Kotorobai from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'7 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 5'11 Bashir Mason from Newark (St Benedict's) NJ, 6'4 Jr John Lucky from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT, 6'3 Kelvin Nelson from Milford (Academy) CT, 6'4 Jai Miller from Selma (H.S.) AL, 6'6 Jr Josh Dollard from Hemingway (H.S.) SC, 6'7 Jr Sam Manhanga from Northfield (Mt. Herman) MA, 6'8 Josh Love from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'6 Jr Douglas McLaughlin-Williams from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 6'3 Jr Lyndale Burleson from Seattle (O'Dea) WA, 6'3 Jr Rodney Stuckey from Kent (Kentwood) WA, 6'11 James Paullin from Battle Ground (H.S.) WA.  The leading scorer in the tournament was 6'2 Kevin Rogers from Corona (Centennial) CA with 27.3 ppg.  The rest of the top 10 in scoring includes 6'5 Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA with 26.7 ppg, 5'10 James Williams from De Soto (H.S.) TX with 26.7 ppg, 6'4 Adrian Schaffer from Rochester (Adams) MI with 26.5 ppg, 6'2 Drew Coffman from Midland (Lee) TX  with 26.5 ppg, Jajuan Robinson from the Baltimore Bombers with 26.2 ppg, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA with 26.0 ppg, 6'1 Elvis Medina from Castleford (H.S.) ID with 25.8 ppg, 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN with 25.8 ppg, and 6'8 Mark Lovein from Yorba Linda (Esperanza) CA with 25.5 ppg.  The second 10 includes 6'6 David Pendergraft from Brewster (H.S.) WA with 25.3 ppg, 6'6 Adam Morrison from Spokane (Meade) WA with 24.8 ppg, 6'2 Tim Anderson from El Paso (Franklin) TX with 24.8 ppg, 6'11 Nick Fazekas from Arvada (Ralston Valley) CO with 24.5 ppg, 6'3 Tyrese McDaniel from Fresno (Clovis West) CA with 24.5 ppg, 6'3 Chris Robinson from San Diego, CA with 24.2 ppg,  6'6 Tom Whitehead from Dixie (St. George) UT with 24.0 ppg, 6'4 Patrick Hannaway from Colorado Springs (Doherty) CO with 23.5 ppg, 6'5 Maurice Maxwell from Philadelphia (Luthern) PA with 23.5 ppg, and 6'6 Jr Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA with 23.3 ppg.  The third 10 in scoring includes 6'2 Kejuan Johnson from Lakewood (Artesia) CA with 23.0 ppg, 6'1 Derek Ravio from Vancouver (Mountain View) WA with 22.8 ppg, 6'5 Sean Marshall from Rialto (Eisenhower) CA with 22.8 ppg, 6'1 Soph Dwain Williams from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA with 22.7 ppg, 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA with 22.5 ppg, 6'3 Buddy Bailey from Anchorage (Christian) AK with 21.8 ppg, 6'3 Jr Jesse Halley from Roselle (H.S.) NJ with 21.8 ppg, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL with 21.7 ppg, and 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ with 21.6 ppg.  And rounding out the top 40 in scoring are 6'0 Ryan Neve from Salt Lake City (Jordan) UT with 21.5 ppg, 6'2 Robert McIver from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC with 21.3 ppg, 6'5 Blake Harden from Albuquerque (Hope Christian) NM with 21.5 ppg, 6'4 Drew Terry from Irvine (Northwood) CA, 6'0 Jr Brody Angley from Redding (Enterprise) CA with 21.0 ppg, 6'5 Zakee Boyd from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA with 21.0 ppg, 5'11 Jr Depree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI with 20.9 ppg, 6'5 Shaddean Aaron from Claremont (H.S.) CA with 20.8 ppg, 6'6 Bobby Nash from Honolulu (Iolani) HI with 20.8 ppg, 6'2 Brian Leetch from Oyster Bay (St. Dominic) NY with 20.5 ppg, 6'0 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA with 20.5 ppg, 5'8 Jr David Holston from Auburn Hills (Avondale) MI with 20.5 ppg.  The highest single-game scoring performance was turned in by Lovein, who had 44 points against Colorado Chaos 17s Blue.  Lovein also finished tied with Washington, Rogers, Ariza, and 5'10 Kenji Rocket from San Diego (H.S.) CA, all of whom scored 37 points in a game, for the sixth highest single-game scoring performance.  Also joining Lovein with two of the top 40 single-game scoring performances were Washington with 37 points versus the New York Ravens in the championship game and 34 versus the Michigan Hurricanes and 6'3 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL with 33 points versus Mater Dei and 32 points versus the Hunting Park Warriors.  The other top 10 single-game performances at the adidas Big Time Tournament were turned by 6'5 Lodrick Stewart with 41 points versus the LA Rockfish, Schaffer with 40 points versus the Alley Cats, 6'0 Jr Kevin Ellison from Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) CA with 39 points versus Seattle FOH White, and 6'8 Ryan Coldren from Eugene (Mavist) OR with 38 points versus the Austin Dawgs I. 

Friday, July 26, 2002

The Florida Hoopster lost a heart breaker to the New York Ravens, 71-69, in the championship game at the adidas Big Time Tournament, but it should not have cost 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Washington) FL, who clearly was the best player in the tournament, tournament MVP honors.  Talk about a travesty of justice and/or a need to be politically correct by picking somebody from the winning team.  This was a no-brainer, because Washington, who scored 37 of his team's 69 points, also had 10 rebounds, two steals, and shot 12-20 from the field, 5-8 from beyond the arc, and 8-8 from the free throw line.  This explosive athlete who thrives in transition also singlehandedly kept the Hoopsters in the game, as he scored 23 of his team's first 39 points, plus he was almost impossible to stop whenever he touched the basketball.  And, if that weren't enough, Washington also finished tied for six for the highest single game point total in the tournament with 37 points and his 21.7 ppg scoring average in hte tournament ranked him 28th among all players on all 344 teams.  Instead, tournament MVP honors went to 6'1 Curtis Stinson from Winchendon (School) MA, who scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the championship game.  While Stinson played well all week, he only hit 5-14 field goals and 6-10 free throws in the championship game and, as a result, wasn't even the best player in the championship game for the Ravens.  Instead, our vote our have gone to 6'4 Jr Brian Laing from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, if you had to pick an MVP from the winning team.  But that would never happen, because New York Ravens General Manager Gary DeCesare is the first to admit that he always pushes his seniors.  The Ravens jumped out to an 8-0 lead early and were up by as many as 13 in the first half.  However, the Florida Hoopsters went on a 35-11 run to start the second half and, by the time the Ravens regained any momentum, they were behind, 65-62.  From that point on it really shouldn't have been that close, but the Florida Hoopsters missed opportunity after opportunity and the Ravens missed free throw after free throw.  But in the end, the Ravens had several calls go their way and they did something they couldn't do two years ago in this tournament with Julius Hodge and company - they took home the title.  The only other player to score in double-digits for the Florida Hoopsters was 6'1 Jr Brandon Jenkins from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, who finished with 11 points.  In addition to Laing and Stinson, the Ravens got 13 points 6'8 Justin Marshall from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY and 10 points from 6'3 Tariq Atkins from Bronx (St.  Raymond's) NY.  However, the key the Ravens' success as always was 5'8 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who scored only six points and had six assists and five turnovers in the championship game.  But as it often the case, statistics don't always tell the story and, as Merritt goes, so do the Ravens.  So here's another legitimate candidate for tournament MVP honors, if you are going to give it to somebody on the Ravens.  We'll have more on the tournament, the all-tournament team, and the leading scorers sometime tomorrow, as we travel to Orlando, FL for the National 17-Under AAU Tournament, exclusively in the Members Section.

Earlier today they asked us to pick our all-tournament team for the adidas Big Time Tournament and the 44 players we voted for are as follows:  6'10 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'2 Jr Jared Haynes from Chicago (Mt. Carmel) IL, 6'8 Matt Webster from Westfield (H.S.) IN, 6'5 Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'5 Lodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA,6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 5'11 Dez Willingham from DeSoto (H.S.) TX, 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA, 6'3 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, 6'7 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA, 6'7 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA, 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 5'8 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'1 Curtis Stinson from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'5 Sammy Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King Prep) NY, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'8 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL, 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'6 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'6 Sean Banks from Oredell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, 6'5 Earl Smith from Lakewood (H.S.) NJ, 6'3 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'0 Jr Tauren Green from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 5'11 Jr Depree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, 6'8 Justin Petty from Indianapolis (Perry Meridian) IN, 6'2 Peyton Stovall from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN, 6'2 Robert McIver from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 6'5 Dameon Mason from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'9 Jr Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston (H.S.) WA, 6'5 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, 6'2 Tyler Smith from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD, 6'9 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'1 Derek Ravio from Vancouver (Mountain View) WA, and 6'0 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA.

We have another upset, as the Florida Hoopsters have knocked off the New Orleans Jazz, 63-54, in the first semi-finals game.   Once again the leading scorer for the Florida Hoopsters was 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL with 24 points, but the best player for the Hoopster was 6'0 Jr Tauren Green, who plans to transfer from Ft. Lauderdale (Westminster) FL to Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL this fall.  Green not only finished with 17 points, but he led his team in rebounding with 10 boards.  The two players who played the best for the New Orleans Jazz were 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA with 16 points and 15 rebounds and 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  The second semi-finals was a total blowout, as the New York Ravens jumped out to a 46-24 lead and never looked by en route to a 75-42 victory to set up the championship game between the Florida Hoopster and the New York Ravens.  The leading scorer for the Ravens was 6'3 Louie McCroskey from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY with 19 points, but 6'1 Curtis Stinson from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'4 Jr Brian Laing from from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'3 Tariq Atkins from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY chipped in with 15, 13, and 12 point apiece and 6'7 Jr Gavin Grant from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY tied McCroskey for top rebounding honors in the game with nine boards each.  The only two players in double-digits for Billy Shepherd were 6'7 Pete Campbell from Yorktown (H.S.) IN with 12 points and 6'8 Matt Webster from Westfield (H.S.) IN with 10 points.  Obviously Billy Shepherd Sports just ran out of gas, but  they also had a lot of trouble with the New York Ravens' quickness, athleticism, and pressure.  We also have confirmed that the St. Louis Eagles have beaten the Houston Hoops in the championship game at the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, FL, but the big story in that tournament was the incredible play by 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who scored 47 points against the Houston Hoops and 40 points against the New Jersey Demons earlier in the week.  And this comes on the heels of Lavender's excellent week at the NIKE All-American Camp, where he was ranked as the #1 player in camp by the HOOP SCOOP after the second day, and the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA, where he led All-Ohio Red to the championship and led the tournament in scoring and finished third in assists.   Getting back to the AAU Super Showcase, the Houston Hoops knocked off All-Ohio Red and St. Louis beat Team Georgia Elite to set up the championship game, which was played earlier today.  The Houston Hoops may have lost the game, but right now they are the heavy favorite to be the HOOP SCOOP's Team of the Summer.  Did you know that they have finished in the final four of every tournament they've played in this year?  If you will recall, they finished in the final four at Boo Williams in early April, they won the Houston Kingwood Classic in late April, they finished in the final four at the NIKE Memorial Day Classic in late May, they finished second at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA last week, they finished second at the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, FL, and they have to be one of the favorites to win the National 17-Under Tournament, which starts today in Orlando, FL.  

Another big difference between the adidas Big Time Tournament and the NCAA Tournament is that Cinderalla teams never seem to make it as far as the NCAA Final Four.  However, that's exactly what has happened today at adidas Big Time Tournament, as Billy Shepherd Sports pulled off another stunning upset against the Ft. Sooy-No Limit in the final quarterfinals game of the day.  And after watching Billy Shepherd Sports, it's easy to see how they also beat the Atlanta Celtics in the round of 16 last night.  They are well coached, fundamentally sound, and extremely skilled, plus they shoot the lights out and are as competitive as any team in the tournament.  In other words, they play just like Gonzaga.  And just like Gonzaga, they have more talent than most people realize, as 6'8 Matt Webster from Westfield (H.S.) IN, 6'8 Justin Petty from Indianapolis (Perry Meridian) IN, and 6'2 Payton Stovall from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN are all good enough to be ranked among our top 200 nationally.   In Wesbter's case, make that top 100 nationally.  Webster is a killer inside, but he also can step outside and shoot the three and/or power his way to the basket and dunk in your face.  Not only does he remind us of former Purdue All-American Brian Cardinal, but we think he has a chance to be just as good at the next level.  Webster tells us that Wright State is the current leader over Ball State, Bowling Green, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois, but after a 28-point/11-rebound performance that also included 10-13 field goals, 2-3 3-pointers, and 6'9 free throws versus Ft. Sooy-No Limit, there is no question that the word is going to get out that Webster is one of the biggest sleepers in the nation.  And Petty, who isn't as strong inside as Webster, but is just as good on the perimeter, isn't too far behind, as he too had a brilliant performance against Ft. Sooy-No Limit with 25 points, including 10-12 field goals.  Stovall, who says he's been attracting interest from schools like Ball State, Wright State, UNC-Wilmington, Evansville, Wichita State, Kent State, Boston College, and Drake, doesn't put up prolific numbers like Webster and Petty.  Instead, he just quietly runs the show and makes his teammates better.  Stepping up with 27 points, including 6-12 3-pointers, for Ft. Sooy-No Limit was 6'3 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL.  But it wasn't enough as Billy Shepherd Sports upset Ft. Sooy-No Limit, 96-83, to advance into the semi-finals against the New York Ravens.  Speaking of the Ravens, they knocked off the Long Island Panthers, 78-65, in yet another upset (even though we predicted it) two hours ago.  The Ravens were led by 5'8 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'1 Curtis Stinson from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'4 Jr Brian Laing from from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'3 Louie McCroskey from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who combined for 64 of the Ravens 78 points.  In contrast, only two players - 6'8 Donta Milligan from Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY with 10 points and 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ with 18 points - scored in double digits for the Panthers.  But 6'5 Sammy Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King Prep) NY did chip in with 10 rebounds and was a major factor at the defensive end.  So that meeans the final four is set with the Florida Hoopsters and the New Orleans Jazz in the first game (currently in progress - a one point game with 8:54 remaining n the second half) and the New York Ravens and the Billy Shepherd Sports coming up next game. 

In contrast to the NCAA Tournament, where most of the stunning upsets occur early in the tournament, most of the major surprises at the adidas Big Time Tournament have occurred in the later rounds.  As a matter of fact, upsets were the order of the day in half of the eight winners bracket games in the Open Division last night.  And right at the top of the list of upsets was the New York Ravens 29-point win against the Tim Thomas Playaz Gold.  The other upsets occurred when Billy Shepherd Sports beat the Atlanta Celtics, 67-61, the Florida Hoopsters beat Seattle Rotary Select I, 69-66, and DTA Wisconsin Gold beat Southeast Pump N Run, 66-65.  And the four games were also extremely close, as the Michigan Hurricanes had to hold on to beat the Alabama Ice, 81-73, the New Orleans Jazz beat Gary Payton NIKE Select, 80-75, the Long Island Island Panthers survived against the Tim Thomas Playaz Black, 70-65, and Ft. Sooy-No Limit prevailed against the Mississippi Panthers, 86-80.  And the upsets continued this morning as the Florida Hoopsters knocked off the Michigan Hurricane, 73-72, in the first of four quarterfinals games.  The big hero in the game was 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, who shot the lights out, hitting 8-11 field goals, 4-5 3-pointers, and 14-16 free throws, en route to 34 points.  The big bum in the game was 5'10 Dewayne Green from Creedmore (Christian Faith) NC, who missed two free throw with one-and-a-half seconds remaining in the game.  The first free throw would have tied it and the second free throw would have won it.  And this isn't the first time Green has chocked at crunch time in this tournament.  Did you know that he missed a pair snowbirds late in the game two years ago when the Michigan Mustangs (now the Hurricanes) lost by one in overtime.  However, Green's biggest claim to fame might be when he was matched up against 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY in the Underclassmen All-Star at the adidas ABCD Camp a year ago.  If you will recall, Telfair scored 20 points against Green in the first half in what turned out to be the best performance of the entire summer.  The second quarterfinals game has just been completed and the New Orleans Jazz  coasting to 30-point victory against an undermanned and overachieving DTA Wisconsin Gold team, which is led by 5'11 Jr Depree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI.  Fletcher is yet another jet-quick point guard who is an excellent defender, outstanding playmaker, and excellent 3-point shooter.  He also has the heart of a lion and, as a result, schools like Marquette, Boston College, Wisconsin, Xavier, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State are already showing a lot of early interest.  However, DTA Wisconsin was only going to go as far as Fletcher would take them and he was mediocre at best against the Jazz, as he scored only 15 points and hit only 6-20 field goals.  The Jazz featured a very balanced scoring attack, as five players scored between between 14 and 12 points.  The next quarterfinals game between the New York Ravens and the Long Island Panthers is a rematch of a game a year ago between these two teams in the same round of this tournament.  If you will recall, the Panthers won that game en route to the championship.  However, this time we're picking the Ravens.   We also are picking Ft. Sooy-No Limit to beat Billy Shepherd in the last quarterfinals game of the day.  But we do so with an asterisk, because this Billy Shepherd team is the only team that has gone deep into the playoffs that we haven't seen.   And there was no reason to, because a quick look at their roster tells us that they don't have single player we've ever heard of.  Assuming that our predictions for the next two games are correct, that will set the stage for the final four at the adidas Big Time Tournament, as the Florida Hoopsters will face the New Orleans Jazz at 2:00 PST and the New York Ravens will face Ft. Sooy-No Limit at 3:40 PM PST.  The winners, which we're predicting will be the New Orleans Jazz and Ft. Sooy-No Limit, will square off in the championship game at 6:20 PM at Green Valley High School. 

Thursday, July 25, 2002

The round of 16 at the adidas Big Time Tournament is currently under way and picking a favorite to win the tournament is almost impossible.   Right now the first two spots in the final eight have already been decided, as Florida Superstars knocked off Seattle Rotary Select I and Michigan Hurricanes beat the Alabama Ice.  Southeast Pump N Run is up by one at the half against DTA Wisconsin in the game we're currently watching at Durango High School and it will be the New Orleans Jazz versus Gary Payton NIKE in the other game that is currently under way at Green Valley High School.  Later tonight it will be the New York Ravens versus the Tim Thomas Playaz Gold, the Long Island Panthers versus the Tim Thomas Playaz Black, Atlanta Celtics versus Billy Shepherd Sports IN, and Ft. Sooy- No Limit versus Mississippi Panthers.  We're also talked with some more players and here is what we've found out about their recruiting.  Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Kansas are believed to be the leaders for 6'5 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, but Oklahoma, North Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi also make his list.  Clemson, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Alabama, Arkansas, and Wichita State were the schools mentioned by 6'2 Milton Collins mentions New Orleans (O.P. Walker) LA and 6'8 Warren Scott from New Orleans (Abramson) LA has Arkansas, UAB, Tulane, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Houston, North Carolina, California, LSU, and Memphis on his list.  Seton Hall, Gonzaga, DePaul, Drexel, and Towson were the schools mentioned by 5'11 Japhet McNeil from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY.   Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Michigan, San Diego State, Marquette, Wake Forest, Kansas, and Arizona make up a very interesting list for 6'10 Kyle Visser from Ada (Forest Hills Central) MI.   The early list for 6'9 Jr Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston (H.S.) WA includes Gonzaga, Washington, Idaho, USC, Florida, Stanford, and Santa Clara. 

Right after we talked about what a great reloading job that the Universtiy of Florida is doing with last year's and their current recruiting class, we got word that the Gators had landed 6'8 Christian Drejer from Denmark.  This is extremely important, because Drejer not only is the best European player currently available, but he also is expected to be the foreign player who makes the biggest impact in college basketball next year.  As a matter of fact, the word we get from coaches who have seen him play is that Drejer is better than former Gators star Mike Miller, who went onto become the NBA Rookie of the Year a year ago, at the same stage.  We also understand that Drejer can play the one, two, and three spots, which means that the University of Florida now appears to be the team to beat in the Southeastern Conference, as well as one of the teams beat in college basketball this year, along with Arizona, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, et al.  This also moves Florida's recruiting class up from #9 to #2 in our Final Ranking of the Top 140 Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2002, which was published earlier this month, but, which was revised today due to this late breaking development.  And that's not the only major commitment we've added to our list today, as 6'8 Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA has finally made it official for the University of California.  Remember, we've been reporting for six months at the Golden Bears were one of the favorites for Powe, who is ranked #15 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  The addition of moves California's recruiting class into the #1 position on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, ahead of Illinois, Florida, Wake Forest, and Valparaiso, all of which also have already landed three players for the Class of 2003.   If you will recall, the earlier this spring Golden Bears also got verbal commitments from 6'3 Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA and 6'6 Dominic McGuire from San Diego (Lincoln) CA.   We also talked earlier today with 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA and he tells us that he has a final six that includes Arizona, Villanova, N.C. State, Syracuse, Connecticut, and North Carolina.  If you will recall, several days ago our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin reported that Shakur had narrowed it to five and the Tar Heels weren't on the list.   Maybe Shakur likes the North Carolina better than his high school coach, because that's where Rubin got his information.  We also hear that 5'10 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA has already told UCLA head coach Steve Lavin that he will sign with the Bruins in November, but he wants to wait until after the 2002 Confederation of Pan American Basketball Associations Men's Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Isla de Margarita, Venezuela to make the official announcement.  However, a source close to the UCLA program with neither comfirm nor deny this rumor.  If you will recall, the smart money was on Brooks going to the University of Oregon.  As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why Oregon backed off 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA was because it appeared that Brooks was a near lock for the Beavers. 

The playoffs of the adidas Big Time Tournament are just like the NCAA Tournament.  Not only is the format single-elimination, whereby, if you lose, you go home, but the intensity level and level of competition are incredible and tracking the progress of each team in the tournament is almost hypnotic.  And the talent on nearly every team is as good and/sometimes even better than what you will find at the big time college level.  The players just aren't as mature, skilled, and/or well coached.  And just like the NCAA Tournament, two of the top teams in the tournament escaped yesterday in the round of 64, as the Michigan Hurricanes beat the Texas Top Prospects, 88-86, in overtime, and the New Orleans Jazz beat the Illinois Celtics, 113-104, in quadruple overtime.  And that's a great place to start when talking about what we've seen during the last 24 hours, because the Illinois Celtics-New Orleans game was the best game we've ever seen in this tournament.  The Celtics didn't have any big name players, but they had incredible heart and weren't going to go home quietly, as 6'2 Jr Jared Haynes from Chicago (Mt. Carmel) IL, 6'3 Shelby Jordan from Hillcrest (H.S.) IL, 6'8 Michael Remberto from Calumet City (H.S.) IL and 6'6 Edward Finner from Chicago (Julian) IL all stepped up big for this team that appears to be sponsored by Boston Celtics star Antonie Walker, who was one of the coaches of the team.  Haynes, who scored 35 points, was easily their best player.  We're talking about a super quick point guard who has excellent handling and passing skills and a knack for finding ways to scored - in transition he just blows right past you en route to the basket and outside he has plenty of moves to get his shot.  He also is a master at changing speeds and directions and, as a result, he's got a big time future.   All he needs to do now is get bigger and stronger physically.  Jordan complements Haynes perfectly in the backcourt, because he is a jet in transition, plus he defends well and rebounds well for his size.  Finner is an undersized power forward, but he rules the boards and finds ways to score in the low post.  Remberto is an athletic big man with a soft touch and good rebounding skills, but he needs to get tougher, if he wants to be successful inside at the next level.  And ultimately that also was the difference in the game, as 6'7 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University Lab) LA, 6'7 Brandon Bass from New Orleans (Capital) LA, and 6'8 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, and simply overpowered the Celtics whenever they had the Jazz on the ropes.  Mitchell also showed why we think he's the #1 sophomore in America, as he 31 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and made several big 3-pointers in the overtime.  And that was the difference in the game - the Celtics not only couldn't put the Jazz away, but missed a number of opportunities to win the game during the four overtimes.  In other words, just like the NCAA Tournament, having been their before is often the difference between winning and losing, especially the deeper you go into the tournament.  The Michigan Hurricanes already had plenty of talent to begin with, as their roster already included 6'6 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'10 Walter Waters from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'2 Byron Davis from Detroit (Rogers) MI, and 6'0 Drew Neitzel from Wyoming  (Wyoming Park) MI.  But two days ago head coach Chris Grier added 6'3 Dion Harris from Detroit (Redford) MI to the roster and yesterday 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI also showed up.  And Grier needed all the help he could get, as the Texas Top Prospects, which were led by 5'11 Dez Willingham from DeSoto (H.S.) TX, 6'0 Brett McDade from Denton (Ryan) TX, and 6'9 Chris Reay from Plano (West) TX almost blew the Hurricanes back to Michigan for the third straight year with an early round upset.  However, the Hurricanes prevailed, despite the fact that Willingham and McDade, both of whom are fierce competitors, made all the big plays down the stretch.  Willingham, who is an absolute steal for Kansas State, not only is he an excellent playmaker, penetrator, and passer, but he's also a terrific 3-point shooter and excellent defender.  So is McDade, who uses his strength, athleticism, and upper body strength to beat you going to hole.  He also shows can hit the 3-point shot, but right now McDade projects as an undersized combo guard and, as a result, he has an interesting list, which includes schools like Tulsa, Houston, Nebraska, St. John's, UNC-Wilmington, and the College of Charleston.  We saw one of the best players in the tournament, as well as in the nation regardless of class, earlier this morning when we watched Seattle Rotary Select I beat the Fairfax County Stars (VA), 80-62.  The player is 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA and he simply has picked up where he left off at the adidas ABCD Camp, where he finished among the leaders in both scoring and rebounding.  Williams remind Louis Johnson of the Long Beach Press-Telegram of a young Glenn Robinson, because he is a relentless competitor and incredible athletic with the skills to play both inside and outside.  Williams says he's wide open, but we know that Arizona head coach Lute Olson, who, by the way, is the leading candidate for the HOOP SCOOP's Most Visible Head Coach of the Summer Award, North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty, Oregon assistant coach Scott Duncan, and Washington assistant coach Cameron Dollar were all seen at this game at 9:00 AM this morning.  We mentioned yesterday that 6'8 Trevor Ariza was as good as anybody we saw on the second day of the tournament and he followed that up yesterday with a 37-point performance versus the Palo Verdes Panthers in the first round of the playoffs  That ties Ariza for 5th on the high single-game scoring list with 6'2 Kevin Rogers from Corona (Centennial) CA with 37 points.  The five players head of them are 6'8 Mark Lovein from Yorba Linda (Esperanza) CA with 44 points, 6'4 Adrian Schafer from Rochester (Adams) MI with 40 points, 6'0 Jr Kevin Ellison from Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) CA with 39 points, 6'8 Jr Ryan Coldren from Eugene (Mavist) OR.  And 10th on that list is 6'6 Jr Josh Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA with 34 points against the L.A. Rockfish, but Smith fell off yesterday, because his outside shot wasn't going down the same way he was earlier in the tournament. 

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, who is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but who will be a 5th year player next year and, as a result, will be listed in the future by the HOOP SCOOP on a separate 5th year list, has narrowed his list to Arizona, N.C. State, Connecticut, Villanova, and Syracuse.  Rubin also tells us that Arizona and N.C. State appear to be the two favorites and, if the Wolfpack can pull this off, N.C. State head coach Herb Sendek could have the best backcourt in college basketball a year-and-a-half from now.  Remember, Julius Hodge was one of the best freshmen in college basketball last year.  Speaking of Shakur, he's been slowed by an injury at the adidas Big Time Tournament, but he still played about half the game yesterday against the H-Squad and we have to give him credit, because, unlike many of the top seniors in the nation, including 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Will Sheridan from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, and 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, this guy always comes to play.   Speaking of Ariza, after a mediocre performance at the adidas ABCD Camp, where he finished ranked #45 in camp, he has finally turned it up at the adidas Big Time Tournament.   As a matter of fact, he's the best player we saw all day yesterday during the second day of the tournament.  Not only did Ariza get it done inside, as he scored, rebounded, and blocked shots, but he also used his quickness and versatility to impress us out on the perimeter, where he beat his man to get good looks at the basket and handled and passed well enough to finally convince us he can develop into a wing forward down the road.  He also played at a level of intensity that we hadn't seen before and, as a result, has to once again projects as one of the top players in the class.  We also still believe that Florida is the leader for Ariza, despite the reports that he won't leave the West Coast.  Previously we'd heard that Ariza's mother didn't like to fly, so Florida's chances appeared to be greatly diminished.  However, now we're hearing that Ariza's mother plans to move to the city where the university her son signs with is located.  And, if that's the case, we're guessing it will be Florida, because the Gators have been there the longest and the strongest.  Also don't forget Ariza's family lived in Gainesville, FL when Ariza was a kid.  Obviously getting Ariza would be the icing on the cake for Florida head coach Billy Donovan, because the Gators already have 6'8 Chris Richard from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, and 5'11 Lee Humphrey from Maryville (H.S.) TN in the fold, plus they landed the HOOP SCOOP's #9-ranked recruiting class last year when they signed 6'2 Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown (Academy) PA, 6'7 Mario Boggan from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 6'4 Rashid Al-Kaleen from Charlestown (H.S.) MA.  In other words, it looks like Gators have done a great job of reloading.  As for Appleby, a number of people were disappointed with his performance both at the NIKE All-American Camp and during the first day of the adidas Big Time Tournament, but I thought he played well when we saw him yesterday.  Not only does Appleby have excellent handling and passing skills, but he's also an excellent outside shooter with good athleticism and a flare of the spectacular, which is why he reminds us of Brett Nelson in many ways.  We also were very impressed last night with 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NY, but we really didn't get any new insight into his recruiting, except that Illinois is right there at the top of his list, along with Villanova, Seton Hall, and St. John's.  UCLA is also mentioned for Villanueva, but those in the know tell us the Bruins are a distant 5th.  And playing well this morning was 6'8 Demetris Nichols from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, who scored 30 points versus the Alabama Ice in the first round of the playoffs.  Obviously Nichols, who is bound for Syracuse, had something to prove after not being named to play in the Senior All-Star Game at the adidas ABCD Camp.  We also talked with 6'10 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, who is emerging into a one of the top big men in the senior class nationally, this morning and he confirmed that Louisville is the leader over Alabama, UAB, Purdue, Connecticut, New Mexico, and LSU.  However, the rumors about Lang having already made a verbal commitment to the Cardinals appear to be premature.  We've also gotten a list of schools from 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA, 6'6 Sammy Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King) NY, 6'8 Dante Milligan from Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY, 6'9 Boubacar Coly from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'3 Vincent Camper from Oxford (H.S.) MS, and 6'8 Jeff Parmer from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY.  Bass says he's still open, despite the fact we think LSU, Mississippi State, and Cincinnati will be tough to beat.  But Bass' list also includes Miami-FL, Missouri, Connecticut, USC, DePaul, UNLV, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida Stat, and Georgetown.  Mejia, who is one of the fastest rising players in the nation, also says he is wide open, as St. John's, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Miami-FL, Connecticut, Louisville, DePaul, Illinois, Florida State, Providence, and South Florida all get mentioned.  Milligan, who is still somewhat of a sleeper nationally, but who has played well every time we've seen him all summer, likes Providence, Florida State, Tulane, DePaul, UAB, Stanford, Notre Dame, and Massachusetts.  Coly has a very impressive list, which includes Mississippi, Wake Forest, Florida State, SMU, Texas, Kansas, and Maryland.  Camper says he likes Fresno State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, UCLA, and Connecticut.  Parmer likes West Virginia, Providence, Marquette, and Providence, but after his performance yesterday, we expect that list to expand.  And Parmer isn't the only big man who impressed us yesterday on the Donyell Marshall I Team.  As a matter of fact, Parmer and 6'9 Femi Ibikunte from Syracuse (Hampton) NY complement each other perfectly with their big time athleticism, toughness on the boards, and aggressiveness to the basket.  We also understand that Maryland is extremely close to getting a verbal commitment from 6'11 Will Bowers from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD.   Sure, Bowers is a project right now, but he has a 3.5 gpa, 1300 SAT, and is a local kid.  It also appears that two other players on Baltimore Select are close to making a college decision, as 6'4 Mike Popoko from Owings Mills (McDonough) MD and 6'5 Josh Johnson from Annapolis (H.S.) MD both are trying to decide between Towson and Wagner.  Also showing up at most of Baltimore Select's game have been Connecticut, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Penn State, and Kentucky, so our guess is that those are the schools that likely will have the most interest in 6'2 Tyler Smith from Colora (West Nottingham) MD.  We also were trying to figure out who the entire TCU coaching staff was watching on the Ft. Worth Lions on the first day of the tournament, but now we now, because we've sense been told that Texas Christian is the heay favorite over SMU for 6'8 Art Pierce from Tyler (Grace) TX. 

Tuesday, July 23, 2002

One of the biggest stories at the adidas Big Time Tournament after a-day-and-a-half of action involves 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, who currently is ranked #6 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  If you will recall, Butch was missing in action at the adidas ABCD Camp due to a leg injury and back spasms.  However, yesterday afternoon he picked up right where he left off when we saw him two months ago at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, as once again he was unstoppable when he got the ball in scoring position.  Not only does he have terrific offensive moves, but he showed us he also has 3-point range, excellent passing skills and court vision.  In other words, he has a great feel for the game and is surpringly agile and coordinated for somebody his size.  Butch is also a great competitor and he was quickly establishing himself as one the best players in the entire tournament when he experienced a reoccurrence of his injury late in the first half yesterday against the Ft. Worth Lions.    Obviously this was a major disappointment, especially for the head coaches like North Carolina's Matt Doherty and Arizona's Lute Olson, both of whom are recruiting Butch, but had to watch Butch sit on the bench in street clothes last night's 10:20 PM game between the New York Ravens and the Fox Valley Skillz Black.  Some of the other top performances on the first day of the adidas Big Time Tournament were turned in by 6'6 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'6 Earl Smith from Lakewood (H.S.) NJ, 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'9 Jr Joshua Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA, and 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY.  Telfair still tried to beat his man one-on-one too much, but he also did a much better job of getting his teammates involved and hitting the open man than he did at at the adidas ABCD Camp two weeks ago.  Speaking of Telfair and the Juice team for which Telfair plays, did you know that his teammate - 6'6 Elliah Clark from Winchendon (School) MA - verbally committed to Miami-FL yesterday?     Outlaw was sensational from out on the perimeter, plus he brought the house down with a number of earth-shattering dunk and he played a lot harder than he did at the adidas ABCD Camp.  Earl Smith, who has to be the leading candidate for the HOOP SCOOP's Sleeper of the Summer, never seems to have a bad game, as he consistently beats you both inside and outside with his quickness, athleticism, and ability to score.   North Carolina currently appears to be the school you have to beat, but Earl Smith also told us he likes Villanova, Seton Hall, Maryland, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Rutgers, and Miami-FL.  Famutimi was as good as anybody we saw all day yesterday and the reason why we know feel like he's a serious candidate for our top five nationally is his ability to score from just about anywhere.  In other words, the one big question we previously had with regards to Famutimi was his outside shooting has been answered, as he consistently has nailed the 3-point shot both here and at the adidas ABCD Camp.  If Josh Smith, who was the #1-ranked player at the adidas ABCD Camp by the HOOP SCOOP, continues to play like he did yesterday, there is no doubt in our mind that he will make a serious challenge to Telfair and 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS for top player honors in the Class of 2004.  Yes, Josh Smith is that good!   Not only is he incredibly quick and aggressive on the boards and blocking shots, but he also amazed us on several occasions with his ability to get and make 3-point shots.   He also is extremely versatile and multi-dimensional and, just like 6'7 Carmelo Anthony from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who established himself as the best player in Class of 2003 at this tournament a year ago, the sky appears to be the limit for Josh Smith.  So it should come as no surprise that Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt was watching his every move yesterday.  As a matter of fact, Hewitt was also closely observing 6'9 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'10 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark) GA, and 6'4 Jr Dwayne Day from Vidalia (H.S.) GA, all of whom play for the Atlanta Celtics and all of whom are top priorites for Georgia Tech.  So is getting Telfair and, if Hewitt pulls this off, we could be talking about one of the great recruting classes of all time!  However, it probably won't be that easy, because looks like it's going to be an all-out war between Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia for all of Wallace Prather's players.  Smith tells us that the early favorites are Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Alabama, N.C. State, and LSU.   Prather, who the head coach of the Atlanta Celtics, tells us that Georgia Tech, Georgia, Florida, and N.C. State are at the top of Howard's list.  Prather also tells us that Morris likes Georgia Tech, Georgia, UNLV, Seton Hall, Michigan, and Notre Dame and that Day has the most interest in Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Florida State, and Alabama.  We also were impressed yesterday with 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, who finally has lived up to all the hype.  If you will recall, Jenkins was mediocre when we saw him at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in the spring and only average at the adidas ABCD Camp.   However, yesterday he made some terrific passes and impressed with his handling skills, defense, ability to make things happen in transition, and get to the basket.   

Monday, July 22, 2002

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Seton Hall has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'11 Grant Billmeier from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ and Dave Telep of TheInsidersHoops.com is reporting that the University of Florida has gotten verbal commitments from 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA and 6'2 Lee Humphrey from Maryville (H.S.) TN.  These commitments come right on the heels of commitments by 6'3 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL to Notre Dame, 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI to Michigan State, 6'9 Jemario Davidson from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA to Alabama  6'5 Justin Cage from Indianapolis (Pike) IN to Xavier, and 6'3 Jeremy Ingram from Kinston (H.S.) NC to Wake Forest, all of which have occured within the last several days.  Why are players making commitments so fast and furiously?  Well, college coaches and most of the top players in the country have been off the road for the last four days and it appears that these guys knew what they wanted to do and, as a result, wanted to get it over with prior to the start of the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV and the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, FL, both of which begin tomorrow.  This brings the number of top 50 players in the Class of 2003 who have already verbally committed to 18.  And digging a little deeper, 37 of our top 100-ranked seniors are already off the board and  67 of our top 280-ranked seniors are gone.  Getting back to the latest three verbal commitments, none of which, by the way, are a surprise, Billmeier going to Seton Hall is important, because this establishes that the current regime can get Kevin Boyle's players.  Remember, Boyle, who is the head coach at St. Patrick, always has players and, with that in mind, maybe the Pirates can also convince 6'1 Michael Nardi from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ to stay home and become part of the package.  We also find it interesting that Rubin doesn't think the Pirates are in the market for another point guard and, as a result, aren't in the hunt for Nardi.  But if that's the case, why is Seton Hall one of the favorites for 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH?  And getting Billmeier won't hurt their chances of getting 6'10 Frosh Derrick Caracter, who is now at Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, if by some change he doesn't go pro right out high school.  As for Apple and Humphrey, we've been talking about the possibility of both players going to Florida for several month.  We've also pointed out that the Gators won't take three point and/or combo guards and, as a result, you can scratch 6'1 T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL from Florida's recruiting list.  Moral to the story, if Bannister, who has always listed Florida at the top of his list, really wanted to play for the Gators, he shouldn't have waited this long. 

Sunday, July 21, 2002

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'3 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL, who is ranked #158 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP and is one of the best 3-point shooters in the senior class nationally, has verbally committed to Notre Dame.  Our Michigan Editor Steve Bell has tipped us off about 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI, who is ranked #48 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, picking Michigan State.  We also have confirmed that 6'9 Jemario Davidson from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA has decided to attend the University of Alabama and that 6'5 Justin Cage from Indianapolis (Pike) IN has committed to Xavier.  The commitment by Falls is important, because it helps perpetuate the strong pipeline that Irish head coach Mike Brey and his staff are building in the state of Illinois.  If you will recall, Notre Dame landed 6'8 Ricky Cornett from Homewood (Christian) IL a year ago and they are also in the hunt for 6'3 Shannon Brown from Homewood (Christian) IL.  The commitment by Naymick is even bigger for the Spartans.   Everybody figured Naymick was going to stay home, but the Spartans gain turns out to be University of Michigan's loss.  Remember, Naymick was exactly what the doctor order as Wolverines head coach Tommy Amaker attempts to restore the Michigan program back to national promience.  Instead, Naymick appears the final piece to the puzzle for Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who already has the Spartans well on their way towards becoming what could prove be the next dynasty in college basketball.  Still don't believe that Michigan State has the best program in college basketball today head of both Duke and Arizona?  Well, do you know what team has been to the NCAA Final Four the most times in the last four years?  And, if Zach Randolph and Jason Richardson hadn't declared hardship for the NBA Draft a year ago, Michigan State might have made it four-for-four a year ago.  And there may be no end in site.  In addition to landing the #2-ranked recruiting class, which included 6'10 Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI, 6'7 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'4 Maurice Ager from Detroit (Crockett) MI, 6'10 Erazem Lorbeck from Slovenia, 6'2 Rashi Johnson from Mott (JC) MI, and 6'7 Delco Rowley from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN - in our final rankings from the Class of 2003, the Spartans already have an early jump on the future.  With Naymick and 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, who is ranked #24 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, also already in the fold, Michigan State's class move up right behind Illinois, Wake Forest, and Valparaiso on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and it beats everybody when one looks at what program has signed the two best players in the class.   And if that weren't enough, the Spartans also has an early commitment from 5'11 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wyoming (Wyoming Park) MI, who draws a lot of comparisons at the same stage to former Ohio State All-American Jay Burson.  Davidson, who is ranked #142 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, was one of the best players on the first practice day at the NIKE All-American Camp for about 10 minutes, but then was sidelined for the rest of the week with an injury.  He also was slowed at Five-Star's Pitt III Session enough to keep him out of the NBA Orange-White All-Star Classic and make some people question how badly he really wants it.  In other words, based on talent, skills, and athleticism, Davidson is probably better than where he have him ranked, but he's going to have to earn it before we move him into our top 100 nationally.  We also believe that the Crimson Tide will get a verbal commitment from 6'10 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL, who is ranked #27 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, we don't look for that to happen until the Summer Evaluation Period is over, which means a commitment should be forthcoming to the Crimson Tide in early August.  Alabama also is still right there with 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, who is ranked #52 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but who will move up dramatically after being ranked #15 overall by the HOOP SCOOP at the adidas ABCD Camp.   However, if we had guess right now on Lang, it looks like the Crimson Tide are going to finish a close second behind Louisville.  The Cage story is also interesting, because Xavier currently has no more scholarships available for the Class of 2003 and, as a result, he may have to go the prep school route.  If you will recall, Xavier already has two commitments in next year's recruiting class from 6'7 Justin Doellman from Union (Ryle) KY and 6'6 Robert Barker from Greensburg (H.S.) IN, plus they also recently got an early commitment for the Class of 2004 from 6'3 Jr Darryl Garrett from Detroit (Denby) MI.  In other words, Musketeers continue to get further and further ahead of the game.  Getting back to Gage, then again, he may not have to go to prep school, if David Young and/or Lionel Chalmers decide to not to accept the extra year of eligibility each has been granted. 

Yesterday afternoon we attended the awards ceremony for Five-Star's Pitt III Session and the Most Outstanding Player for the Week in the NBA was 6'6 Romeo Travis from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, despite the fact he was very average in the Orange-White All-State Game.  Last night Travis seemed to be more concerned about shooting 3-pointers than taking care of business inside, which is what he did the rest of the week, as is evident by the fact he was also named the Best Rebounder in the NBA.  Also taking home several awards from the NBA Division were 6'4 Mamadou Diakhate from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY and 6'6 Jr Churchill Odia from Lagos, Nigeria.  In addition to being named MVP in the Orange-White All-Star Game, Diakhate got the Mr. Hustle and Sportsmanship Awards.  Odia was named the Most Promising Prospect, which is the award given to the top underclassmen in camp, and Best Defender, plus he proved to be one of the most potent offensive threats in the all-star game with three treys and 14 points.  The MVP in the camp playoffs was 6'1 Jr TaQuan Evans from Troy (La Salle Institute) NY, the Best Playmaker was 5'11 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wyoming (Wyoming Park) MI, and the high scorer for the week with 11.2 ppg was 6'1 Lorenzo Shine from Detroit (Rogers) MI.  Shine also was received the 6th Man Award, because he played on the second unit, which plays in the first and third quarters.  Making Shine's story even more interesting is the fact that this is only the second time in the 38-year history of the camp that a player who played in the first and third quarters was the leading scorer in camp.  The Role Player of the Week was 5'10 Ed Berrios from Bronx (Roosevelt) NY, the Foul Shooting Champ hitting 47-50 three throws was 6'0 Jr Corey Jones from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, the Mr. Stations Winner was 6'5 Craig Hazel from Miami (Pace) FL, and sharing the Mr. Stations 13 Award were 6'2 Pat Coyle from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'7 Douglas McLaughlin-Williams from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 6'1 Jose Olivero from Fairfax (Woodson) VA, 6'5 Luke Owings from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, and 6'0 Jake Rauchbach from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL.  The Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Division, which was primarily made up of juniors, was 6'4 Jr Mark Gant from Oswego (H.S.) IL.  The MVP in the all-star game last night was 5'11 Jr Cameron Dantley from Washington (St. Albans) DC.  And, yes, he is the son of Adrian Dantley.  The MVP in the NCAA Playoffs and the Best Playmaker for the week was 6'0 Jr Ryne Liggins from Pittsburgh (Penn Hills) PA.  The Best Rebounder was 6'5 Jr Sheldon Stewart from Orleans (St. Matthews) ON, the Best Defender was 6'6 Ogbarra Kuduz from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, and the leading scorer for the week was 6'6 Jr Jack Berry from Ft. Lauderdale (Westminister) FL.  The Most Improved Player in the NCAA was 6'0 Jr Chris Jula from Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA, Mr. Hustle Award went to 6'1 Jr Mark Patterson from Kenmore (St. Josephs) NY, and the Role Player for the Week was 6'1 Jr Nick Barardini from Lake Forest (H.S.) IL.  The Mr. Stations Winner was 6'2 Jr Alvah Floyd from Norfolk (Lake Taylor) VA and the Free Throw Shooting Champ hitting an incredible 86-90 on an outdoor court was 5'10 Jr Ben Falkenberg from Wadworth (H.S.) OH.  The  Most Outstanding Player and the Best Playmaker in Five-Star's loaded Developmental League was 5'11 Soph Tyrese Rice from Chesterfield (Bird) VA.  The leading scorer with a 17.3 ppg average for the week was 6'4 Soph Greg Orton from Huber Heights (Wayne) OH.  The Best Defender was 6'6 Soph Mike Davis from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL, the Best Defender was 5'11 Soph Tony Freeman from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, the MVP of the Playoffs was 6'0 Soph Jason Snow from Canton (McKinley) OH, the Mr. Hustle Award went to 5'8 Soph Jacob Fanning from Danbury (Marblehead) OH, the Mr. Stations Award went to 6'3 Soph Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, the Foul Shooting Champ was 6'0 Soph Bill Leising from Bluffton (H.S.) IN, Role Player of the Week was 6'3 Soph Robert Jones from Ft. Pierce (H.S.) FL, and the Most Improved Player for the Week was 6'1 Soph Daniel Cox from New Castle (H.S.) IN. 

We finally have caught up with our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis and he tells us his 5th Annual Full-Court Press All-West Camp, which was held July 12th-14th, was better than ever.  What made the camp so good was the overall depth of athleticism and parity of the camp, as well as the emergence of some major sleepers, like 6'3 Leon Jacobs from Los Angeles (Manual Arts) CA, 6'7 Dorrell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 6'7 Alan Wiggins from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 6'2 Larry Cunningham from Downey (H.S.) CA, and 6'8 Marcus Slaughter from Riverdale (J.W. North) CA.  Trigonis also tries to put 6'7 Ruben Boykin from Los Angeles (University) CA, into the sleeper category, but, based on the fact he scored 18 points and had eights and was the MVP in the the Top 25 All-Star Game for his team, Boykin probably should be in the dramatically improved category.  If you will recall, the last time we saw Boykin, he was average at best and, as a result, we thought he'd been overhyped.  The MVP for the other team in the Top 25 All-Star game was 6'1 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, who finished with 19 points and four assists.  Speaking of the Top 25 All-Star Game, not only was this the highlight of the camp, but Trigonis couldn't stop telling us that it was the best all-star game he has ever seen.  He's talking about a one-point game at half-time that eventually was decided in sudden death overtime by 6'5 Jr Rocky Hinds from Playa del Rey (St. Bernard) CA, who hit the game winning free throw.  Other top players in camp included 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Sean Phaler from Villa Park (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Soph Ruben Boykin from Los Angeles (University) CA, 6'9 Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'2 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA,  5'10 Kevin Bell from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'4 Jr Arron Aflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'7 Marcus Dove from Long Beach (Millikan) CA, 6'6 Soph Titus Shelton from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, 5'11 Soph Brian McTear from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, 6'1 Mike Watson from Oceanside (El Camino) CA, 7'0 Jarrod Boswell from Lakeside (El Capitan) CA, 5'11 Rico Tucker from San Diego (University) CA, 6'3 Benas Veikalas from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 6'2 Jr Lorenzo Keeler from Escondido (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Travon Free from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'2 Jr Ralph Miley from Downey (Calvary Chapel) CA, 6'3 Jr Thomas Woods from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'3 Jr Matt Sargeant from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA, 6'3 Will Mrz from Wheat Ridge (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Rodrick Craig from San Jose (Valley Christian) CA, 6'7 Zach Ryan from Garces (Bakersfield) CA, 6'6 Chris Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 5'10 Ron Howard from Riverside (J.W. North) CA, 6'0 Jonathan Moore from Claremont (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Chris Hemphill from Gardena (Serra) CA, 5'11 Soph Dwain Williams from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'4 Josh Flynn-Brown from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'8 Jr Zachariah Johnson from Sacramento (Grant) CA, 6'6 Perrin Johnson from Claremont (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Soph Brian Harvey from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Derrick Williams from Los Angeles (Price) CA, 6'1 Drew Gibson from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 6'0 Jon Sharper from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'5 Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 6'4 Drew Terry from Irvine (Northwood) CA, 6'2 Sinqua Walls from El Segundo) CA, 6'2 Antoine King from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'6 Keith Spencer from Chula Vista (Eastlake) CA, 6'5 Richard Moss from La Jolla (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Mark Lovein from Anaheim (Esperanza) CA, 6'1 Kevin Rogers from Corona (Centennial) CA, 6'5 Jushay Rockett from Long Beach (Cabrillo) CA, 6'7 Kevin Lewis from Los Angeles (Locke) CA, 6'8 Derek Risper from Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) CA, and 5'6 JayDee Luster from San Diego (Waggenheim) CA, who is ranked as the #13 8th grader nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.

Saturday, July 20, 2002

A year ago 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA, who is currently ranked as the #4 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP and already is verbally committed to Duke, was named the Most Outstanding Player for the Week in Five-Star's Pitt III Developmental League.  Two years ago this prestigious honor went to 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, who has been the consensus #1-ranked player in the nation regardless of class for over a year now.  Notre Dame's Chris Thomas won the award in the summer of 1999, former Michigan State point guard Marcus Taylor and Louisville's Luke Whitehead shared the award in 1998, and Arizona's Jason Gardner took home Most Outstanding Player honors in the Developmental League in 1997.  Who will be next?  Well, we made a stop at Five Star's Pitt III session the last days just to find out.  And last night we got a good look at all the candidates, including 6'3 Soph Charles Belton from Tyrone (Sandy Creek) GA, 6'6 Soph Mike Davis from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL, 5'11 Soph Tony Freeman from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, 6'6 Soph Cassan Breedan from Bennettsville (Marlboro County) SC, 6'1 Soph Marcus Walker from Kansas City (Bishop O'Hale) MO, 6'0 Soph Sean McCurdy from Trumbell (St. Joseph) CT, 6'3 Soph Josiah Thunshell from Bismark (H.S.) ND, 6'4 Soph Greg Orton from Huber Heights (Wayne) OH, 6'3 Soph Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, 6'4 Soph Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'5 Soph Jererd Moret from West Hollywood (Pacific Hills) CA, 6'0 Aaron Caruthers from Tyrone (Sandy Creek) GA, 6'3 Soph Travis Walton from Lima (H.S.) OH, and 6'4 Jr Dan Fountain from Woodbridge (H.S.) VA, in the Developemental All-Star Game and there is no clear-cut choice.  Belton got it done both inside and outside, as he finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and game MVP honors.  Davis only four points in the all-star game, but this active athlete with long arms, explosive quickness, and good fundamentals, gets the nod as the most talented player in the game over Walker, Freeman, and Breedan.   Walker had seven points in the all-star game, but he played better when we saw in the camp playoffs and at the NIKE All-American Camp, where he impressed with his outside shooting, passing, and athleticism.  Freeman impressed us with his ball handling and passing skills, quickness off the dribble, and his ability to make his teammates better.  Breedan has grown six inches in the last two years and, as a result, is like a deer just learning to run when he plays inside.  However, he's knows how to play away from the basket and has incredible athleticism, great timing, excellent hands, and an aggressive nature on the boards.  McCurdy has deceptive speed and quickness, good handling skills, court savvy, and a soft shooting touch.   Thunshell, who also hit a pair of treys and proved to be quick enough to defend out on the perimeter, is versatile enough to play both inside and outside.  However, to play inside at a higher level, Thunshell will have to get bigger and stronger.  So does Orton, who also finished with 12 points.  But unlike Thunshell, all of his points came inside, which is a concern down the road, because this wiry thin athlete projects right now as a tweener.  Ayers is similar to Davis, but he's not as big, explosive, or athletic, but he does have the frame and bloodline (his father is former Ohio State head coach Randy Ayers, who was a first team all-stater in Ohio in 1975).  Green falls in-between Davis and Ayers at 6'4, plus he knows how to use the glass, rebounds well, and is active inside.  Caruthers is like a jack-of-all trades, as he rebounds well for his size, is good defensively, active offensively, and extremely athletic.  Fountain, who was the only junior in the game, is a 4-man who rebounds and scores inside, plus he has the ability to step out and hit the mid-range jumper.  Moret was active inside, as he controlled the boards and scored all of his 12 points in the low post.  Walton didn't play well in the all-star game and he needs to improve his outside shooting, but we're talking about athlete who is an outstanding on-the-ball defender and an excellent floor general with great court awareness.   Five-Star's NBA Orange-White All-Star Classic also had some players that need to mentioned, like 6'4 Mamadou Diakhate from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'6 Jr Churchill Odia from Lagos, Nigeria, 6'4 J.R. Pinnock from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA, 5'11 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wyoming (Wyoming Park) MI, 6'2 Marcus Hammond from Memphis (East) TN, 6'5 Sekou Lewis from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'1 Jr Taquan Evans from Troy (La Salle Institute) NY, 6'1 Jr Taurean Green from Ft. Lauderdale (Westminster) FL, 5'11 Brian Smith from Lexington (Catholic) KY, 6'3 Mike McKinney from Evanston (Township) IL, and 6'5 Kristof Kendrick from Lafayette (Central Catholic) IN.  Diakhate wasn't the best athlete in the game, but he might have played the hardest, plus he has the uncanny ability to be in the right place at right time and, as a result, helped set the tone of the game early, as he scored over half of his 23 points in the first five minutes.  Odia was the best prospect in the game.  Not only is he a world-class athlete, but is an excellent 3-point shooter, a good ball handler, and has a great feel for the game.  Odia, who plans to play for the Nigerian team in the African 18-Under Finals in Egypt, August 2nd-10th, is the best player in all of Africa in his age group, according to our International Editor Chris Johnson.  Odia also plans to return to the United States this fall and enroll in high school at someplace like Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Pinnock, who Howard Garfinkel proclaims to be the biggest sleeper in America, is another world-class athlete and exciting dunker.   However, he needs to show us a jump shot and work on his perimeter skills.   Neitzel is a great outside shooter, but he didn't show much of that in the all-star game.  Instead, he has got most of his 13 points off transition.  Neitzel also made his teammates better and played good defense.  All Neitzel lacks are size and strength, but, if he can overcame that at the next level, he has a chance to become the next Jay Burson.  Hammond is listed as a point guard and is ranked #12 in the senior class in Tennessee by our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman.   But we think Hammond is better than that, because he exploded to the hole in transition, hit the three, and rebounded well for his size.  In other words, we're talking about somebody who is extremely versatile.  Lewis and Evans get mentioned, because they both impressed us with their athleticism and ability to make shots.   Green, who is the son of former UNLV star and current Florida Atlantic head coach Sidney Green, impressed us with his ball handling and passing skills and ability to make things happen in transition.  Smith, who is the youngest son of University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith, plays under control, makes good decisions, and even showed he can keep honest with his 3-point shooting.  McKinney was the leading scorer in the game with 22 points, but most of it was off leftovers at garbage time.  Kendrick, who is the son of former Purdue assistant coach and player Frank Kendrick, is a smart player who took what they give him to the tune of 16 points.  However, Kendrick needs to become more aggressive.  Also noteworthy is the fact that some of the bigger name players in camp, like 6'9 JeMario Davidson from Stone Mountain (H.S.) GA, 6'3 Vincent Banks from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'9 Jr Rasean Dickey from Bennettsville (Marlboro County) SC, 6'9 Byron Mullins from Atlanta (Washington) GA, and 5'10 Ed Berrios from Bronx (Roosevelt) NY didn't get to play in the Orange-White All-Star Game.  Dickey and Davidson both had an excuse, because they came to camp hurt.  But Banks, who prior to the summer was ranked #95 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, was such a non-factor in the try-outs on the first day that was delegated to play on the second unit.  In other word, if you bring your "C" game to the Five-Star Basketball Camp, you're not going to have a very successful week. 

Friday, July 19, 2002

Brick Oettinger of the Recruiter's Handbook and PrepStars.com has confirmed for us that Wake Forest has a verbal commitment from 6'3 Jeremy Ingram from Kinston (H.S.) NC, who is ranked #46 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  This brings the number of players that the Demon Deacons already have verbal commitments from to three and this is important for several reasons.  First, it means that Wake Forest now has the Best Recruiting Class To-Date for Class of 2003.  If you will recall, the Demon Deacons also landed 6'0 Chris Paul from Clemmons (West Forsyth) NC, who is ranked #10 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Todd Hendley from Sanford (Lee County) NC, who is ranked #132 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and that is enough to beat out both Illinois and Valparaiso.  In case you didn't know, Illinois previously had the Best Recruiting Class To-Date for Class of 2003 with 6'3 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, who is ranked #26 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'7 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL, who is ranked #42 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Warren Carter from Dallas (Lake Highlands) TX, who is ranked #197 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and Valparaiso, was a close second with 6'8 Kenneth Harris from Hammond (Bishop Noll) IN, who is ranked #18 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'6 Oumar Sylla from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, who is ranked #82 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'5 Jimmy Miles from Homewood (Christian) IL, who is ranked #99 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  If you will recall our rating system, whereby, a top five player nationally is worth 10 points, a top 10 player nationally is worth nine points, a player in the 11-40 range nationally is worth eight points, a player in the 41-70 range nationally is worth six points, a player in the 71-100 range nationally is worth four points, a player in the 101-300 range nationally is worth three points, a player in the 301-1000 range nationally is worth two points, and anybody not ranked among the top 1000 gets one point.  With that in mind, it easy to see just how close the race is among Wake Forest (8+6+3=17), Illinois (8+6+3=17), and Valparaiso (8+4+4=16).  And those aren't the only three schools that have already received verbal commitments from more than one player in the Class of 2003, as Kansas has already gotten 6'6 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK and 6'1 Jeremy Case from McAlester (H.S.) OK; LSU has already gotten 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC and 6'7 Darnell Lazare from Baton Rouge (Woodlawn) LA; California from has already gotten 6'4 Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA and 6'6 Dominic McGuire from San Diego (Lincoln) CA; Georgia has already gotten 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA and 6'4 Jordan Howell from Madison (Bob Jones) AL; Xavier has already gotten 6'7 Justin Doellman from Union (Ryle) KY and 6'6 Robert Barker from Greensburg (H.S.) IN; Purdue already gotten 6'7 Ije Nwankwo from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI and 6'7 Adam Lidell from Waterloo (DeKalb) IN; Penn State has already gotten 6'0 Ben Luber from Newtown (North Council Rock) PA and 6'10 John Kelley from Wayne (DePaul) NJ; and Georgetown has already gotten 6'9 Darian Townes from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC and 5'11 Matt Causey from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA.   The Hoyas also have the best already jump on the Class of 2004 with early commitments from 7'0 Jr Roy Hibbert from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD and 6'5 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD.   Also checking in with a pair of early commitments from the Class of 2004 are Wisconsin, which has already gotten 6'11 Jr Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI and 6'2 Jr Michael Flowers from Madison (La Follette) WI, and Purdue, which landed 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN and 5'10 Jr Desmond Gadis from Indianapolis (Pike) IN prior the start of their freshman year.  Second, this brings the number of players ranked among our top 50 nationally to 17, the number of players ranked among our top 100 nationally to 35, and the number of players ranked among our top 280 nationally to 56.  In other words, one-third of the top 50 players are gone, over one-third of the top 100 players are gone, and 20% of the top 280 nationally are gone.

One of the big questions everybody had going into the summer was how would the new NCAA rules effect the recruiting process?   Well, it looks like the NCAA has created another monster!  Not only do most college coaches have no idea where they stand with the players they are presently recruiting, but it is almost impossible to get involved with a new player who has emerged until the summer evalution period is over.  All in the name of making sure nobody gets a recruiting advantage, which obviously helps the big time schools, like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, et al., but hurts most of the 330-plus Division college and universities.  Actually, I don't care if somebody gets a recruiting advantage.   If somebody wants to outwork the next guy, he should be rewarded, not penalized and restricted.  It's the American way!  And the more limitations and restrictions you put on the recruiting process, the more mistakes are going to be made and, as a result, transfer rates will continue to rise dramatically.  Isn't that exactly what you don't want when the student-athlete is making one of the most important decisions of his life and NCAA member institutions of higher learning are making a scholarship investment, which is worth six figures per player?  But when I pointed this out to LuAnn Humphrey, who is the basketball certification representative in the field for the NCAA, she disagreed.  Instead, she told me that the student-athlete can get all the information they need to make an intelligent decision about a school on the internet.   I was too shocked and speachless to tell her that she should be a college president.  Obviously she is totally clueless!  This is not some minor sport, where true amateurism still exists.  Instead, we're talking about big business and competition for the entertainment dollar.  Remember, the last time the NCAA signed a television contract with CBS to televise the NCAA Tournament, it was to the tune of $3 billion.  Also don't forget college basketball is the "goose that laid the golden egg" for minor sports and gender equity.  However, the NCAA has everybody on pens-and-needles trying to figure out exactly what the rules are.  A classic example occurred last week at the adidas ABCD Camp.  According to Sonny Vaccaro, the uniforms for the players at this year's camp were donated to adidas free of charge, but the NCAA still required each player to pay $100, if he wanted to keep the apparel, or return all the gear at the end of camp.  And, then, along came Stephon Marbury, who played at the camp in 1994 and 1995 and wanted to give something back to the game.  Marbury not only offered to pay for all the gear, but offered to write Vaccaro a check for $6,000 right on the spot.  However, Humphrey told Vaccaro that by accepting the check and giving the players the apparel for free, it would violate each player's amateurism status and, as result, make everybody who attended the camp a professional athlete.  Give me a break!  And I know Vaccaro feels that same way.   As a matter of fact, I've never seen him so mad.  Remember, Vaccaro has always adopted the philosophy that the kids come first.  That's in sharp contrast to the NCAA, which is a pompous sanctimonious organziation and is only in business to perpetuate itself.  And that's the problem.  Everybody bends over backwards to accommodate the NCAA, because they want the college coaches to be present at attend their event.  Sure, the NCAA has the right dictate what's its member institutions can and can't do and, as a result, govern college coaches and recruiting.  But when it starts effecting the livelihood, the money making potential of those not associated with their organization, and free enterprise, that's illegal.   Unfortunately, though, it's almost impossible to beat the NCAA in court.  As a matter of fact, one lawyer, Richard Meltzer, who currently has taken the NCAA to court, told us at the adidas ABCD Camp that any time he files a motion, the NCAA meets it with a 60-page brief.  In other words, the NCAA will outspend you and bury you with paperwork.  Remember, the NCAA has huge legal staff exactly for that purpose.  And the NCAA has adopted a Gestapo-like approach to running the summer evaluation period for college coaches.  Don't believe it?  Well, many of the rules are so ambiguous that most college coaches aren't sure what they can and can't do and they are afraid to even say hello to people they have known for years.  How petty are the new rules, which prevent college coaches from talking with AAU and club team coaches and coaches certified to work camps?  Well, Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker couldn't even say hello to his former high school coach, who helped raise Amaker, because he was coaching at the adidas ABCD Camp.  DePaul assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer couldn't speak to Dave Benezra, who coaches the Los Angeles Rockfish program, as well as publishes Recruiting USA, despite the fact Oppenheimer was the best man in Benezra's wedding a month ago.  Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner can't talk to his own father, Hal Pastner, who is the director of the Houston Hoops AAU program.  This is ridiculous!  So was Humphrey's encounter with Mark Komara, who is the director of the Southeast Pump and Run club team, at the Three Stripes Classic last weekend in Hempstead, NY.  In an attempt to do things right and make sure that her son continued to play for one of the top AAU programs in the nation, Jackie Butler's mother moved this summer from McComb, MS to Huntsville, AL.  That way her son would be in compliance with the 100-mile rule and be able to play for the same team he played for a year ago.  However, Humphrey questioned Komara's motives, despite the fact there is nothing in the rule that establishes a time for length of residence or says the parent can't move back to their previous residence once the summer is over.  Humphrey told Komara that Butler continuing play in his program was wrong.  Talk about being hypocritical! This entire ordeal that the NCAA is putting college coaches, AAU coaches, event operators, et al. is nothing short of outrageous, wrong, and probably illegal, if a good lawyer wants to spend the time to challenge in it court.  It's too bad that Vaccaro didn't just tell the NCAA where to go and give all the players at his camp their gear anyway.  Do you will think the NCAA would have cut-off-their-nose-in-order-to-spite-their-face by calling into question the eligibility status of half of the top high school players in the nation.  Instead, the NCAA would probably not sanction the adidas ACBD Camp next summer.  However, you might be surprised at how close that came to happening this summer and, it wasn't the NCAA making the decision.  And if the adidas and/or NIKE decides next summer that they don't need all the aggravation and don't do what it takes to get certified by the NCAA, don't you think college coaches will be screaming like crazy?  But maybe college coaches boycotting games and the college and university presidents who do get it threatening to bolt from the NCAA is the only way we can assure that college basketball does not to go down the drain.  Can't happen you say?  Actually there already is an established precedent.  Remember what happened to Track & Field in the 50's.

Thursday, July 18, 2002

It came as no surprise that 6'5 Michael Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA, who is ranked #17 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, picked Maryland over Boston College and Connecticut yesterday.  But we are surprised that it took so long.  If you will recall, we've been telling you that Maryland was the heavy favorite on this one for months.  And now we going to tell you that Connecticut, not Cincinnati, appears to be the favorite for 5'11 Taurean Minor from Houston (Washington) TX, who is ranked #7 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  The word we get is that Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins is getting tired of waiting on certain players, like Minor and 6'7 Corey Gibbs from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, both of whom really like Cincinnati, to pull the trigger.  Did you know that the Bearcats are no longer recruiting Gibbs and it wouldn't surprise us if the Bearcats also stop recruiting Minor.  And if that happens, that's exactly what the Huskies, which are really turning up the heat on Minor, have been waiting for.  Remember, no program in college basketball does a better job of getting involved with an overwhelming number of players and then sitting back and waiting to see where the chips fall.  In other words, when the door opens, the Huskies coaching staff, which is second to none with Jim Calhoun, Tom Moore, and Clive Vaughn, is almost always in a position take advantage of the opportunity.  However, when asked about his list, Minor told us that he's still wide-open, as he mentioned Connecticut, LSU, Cincinnati, Texas, Oklahoma, and UNLV.  The Huskies also appear to be right at the top of the list for 5'11 Gary Irvin from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY.  But Irvin also likes Arizona, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Mississippi State, N.C. State, and Temple.  We also got an updated list from 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who says his final five are Duke, Arizona, Indiana, Texas, and North Carolina.  Louisville also is reported to be on Ebi's list, but Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino was not seen at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA.  So we don't put much credibility in that rumor.  However, Texas head coach Rick Barnes, Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner, and Indiana head coach Mike Davis all were there to watch Ebi and the Houston Hoops in the championship game of the NIKE Peach Jam yesterday.  Speaking of Davis, no head coach in America is working any harder than this guy.  And this isn't the first time we've seen Davis stick around to the bitter end at a tournament, long after most of the other coaches have left.  As a matter of fact, Davis was the only head coach who saw the championship games at the Las Vegas Desert Shootout and the Houston Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX, both in April.  At the time we thought Davis was wasting his time chasing Ebi, but, similar a year ago to 6'3 Bracey Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, who signed with Indiana last fall, the longer this one goes, the better chance we like the Hoosiers' chances.  And Ebi isn't the only player that Davis is hot after, as 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA, and 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Pineville (H.S.) LA are all top priorities for Indiana, plus we think 6'9 Jr D.J White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL is already a lock for the Hoosiers.      

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'2 Chris Spears from Centerville (H.S.) OH, who is ranked #38 in the state in the Class of 2003 by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Dayton.  But Johnson thinks Spears is better than that for two reasons.  First, Spears is hands down the best shooter in the state and he's got NBA-like range.  Remember, there is always a premium on outside shooting.  Second, Spears has been playing for Mike Price's Cincinnati AAU team and, as a result, has dramatically improved during the last several months.  If you recall, there is not a better AAU coach in the nation than Price.  Whether Dayton will keep on recruiting 6'5 Reggie Harwell from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH now that they have Spears is something we will have to check into, but the Flyers were right at the top of Harwell's list when our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin talked with him last week at adidas ABCD Camp.  Another player Rubin talked with at the adidas ABCD Camp is 6'1 Jr Ronald Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL and he tells us that Steele's early list includes Alabama, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and UAB.  Alabama, Saint Louis, Utah, Memphis, and Florida State are among those involved with 6'6 Justin Jonus from Douglass (H.S.) AL.   The early favorites for 6'1 Jr Antonio James from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL are Tennessee, Alabama, Memphis, and Florida.  It comes as no surprise that 6'2 Jamaal Dixon from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA has schools like Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Rice on his list, because he has a 3.1 gpa and 1100 SAT.  However, Dixon also mentions Pittsburgh, East Carolina, South Alabama, and UNC-Wilmington.  Marquette, Loyola-Illinois, South Florida, Providence, and Kent State are in the hunt for 6'4 Andres Sandoval from Winchendon (School) MA.  Rhode Island, Boston College, Davidson, William & Mary, and Notre Dame are showing the most interest in 6'1 Jermaine Anderson from Exeter (H.S.) NH.   The early list for 6'1 Rashon Rando from Louisville (Eastern) KY includes Louisville, N.C. State, USC, North Carolina, Illinois, and Kansas.  It appears that 6'8 Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY has narrowed it down to Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford, Michigan, Purdue, and Kentucky.   Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Minnesota, and Missouri are the schools you have to beat for 6'1 Quinton Day from Kansas City (Paseo) MO.  The favorites for 6'2 Byron Davis from Detroit (Rogers) MI are Wisconsin, Marquette, Rutgers, DePaul, and Kentucky.  Michigan, Michigan State, Kent State, and Iowa are already showing interest in 6'0 Jr Vernon Carr from Detroit (Redford) MI.  Syracuse, St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul, and Florida were mentioned by 6'6 Sammy Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King Prep) NY, but after this terrific performance at the Three Stripes Classic last weekend, a lot of other schools are trying to get involved.  The list for 6'9 Boubacar Coly from Laurinburg (Institute) NC includes Maryland, Wake Forest, Kentucky, and Mississippi.  Arizona State is believed to be the favorite for 6'8 Lawrence Carrier from Salisbury (School) CT, but he also has Connecticut, Miami-FL, Duke, Florida State, UCLA and USC on his list.  Memphis has the inside track for 6'3 Jamual Warren from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, but Maryland, St. John's, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova, DePaul, and Louisville also make the list.  Seton Hall, Miami-FL, Kentucky, Rider, Manhattan, Villanova, and Iona make up a very interesting list for 6'0 Edward Berrios from Bronx (Roosevelt) NY.  We thought 6'4 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ was going to make a commitment last week at the adidas ABCD Camp, but it didn't happen.  Instead, he tells us he'll make up his mind in early August.  Webb also tells us that Syracuse and Villanova are the leaders over Seton Hall and Rutgers.  Miami-FL, Rutgers, Villanova, Seton Hall, and N.C. State are way out in front on 6'6 Earl Smith from Lakewood (H.S.) NJ, who is the biggest sleeper to have emerged so far this summer.  Syracuse is believed to be the favorite for 6'8 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, but Florida, Villanova, Rutgers, Connecticut, and Maryland are also in the hunt.   Syracuse, Villanova, Notre Dame, Stanford, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Clemson are the early favorites for 5'11 Jr Sean Singletary from Philadelelphia (Penn Charter) PA.  Jordan Ingram, the 6'6 from Radnor (Archbishop Carroll) PA, is getting the most interest from Marquette, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Boston University, and Rutgers.  Rutgers, Villanova, Syracuse, Seton Hall, and St. Joseph's are among the schools listed by 6'2 Jr Cedric Jackson from Burlington (North Burlington) NJ.  St. Joseph's, San Diego, and South Florida are the schools you have to beat for 6'10 Konimba Diarra from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY.  Illinois, Notre Dame, Georgetown, South Florida, Florida, Connecticut, St. John's, West Virginia, Yale, and Harvard are the favorites for 6'4 Mamadou Diakhate from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY.  Pittsburgh, Rutgers, La Salle, Marquette, Drexel, George Mason, Hartford, and Stony Brook are all in the hunt for 6'2 Bashir Mason from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  The early leaders for 6'8 Stanley Branch from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ are Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia, Villanova, and Kentucky.  The list for 6'4 Gerald Brown from Baltimore (Douglas) MD includes Providence, Syracuse, George Mason, Massachusetts, South Alabama, and Florida State.  Maryland, Notre Dame, Stanford, Connecticut, Ohio State, St. Joseph's, and Providence are all involved with 6'11 Will Bowers from Severn (Archbishop Spaudling) MD, despite the fact he doesn't get a lot of playing time for Baltimore Select.  Connecticut, Georgetown, Charlotte, Boston College, Cincinnati, and La Salle are recruiting 6'8 Richard Dorsey from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  We also got a similar list from 6'2 Tyler Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, which includes Connecticut, Georgetown, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Marquette, and Syracuse.  Rutgers, Ohio State, N.C. State, and Seton Hall all were mentioned by 6'0 Dewayne Green from Creedmore (Christian Faith) NC.  Davidson, Bucknell, and Princeton are the top three for 6'3 Mrichko Massoco from Laurinburg (Institute) NC.  A very early list for 6'0 Soph Dwain Williams from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA includes Arizona, UCLA, Maryland, and Indiana.  Texas Tech, Baylor, Stanford, and Loyola-Marymount lead for 6'6 Tyler McGinn from Gilbert (Mesquite) AZ.  7'0 Stuart Creason from Dallas (Coppell) TX is getting interest from a wide range of schools, including Princeton, Yale, Utah, Illinois, Oregon, and Colorado State. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2002

Yesterday we said we weren't ready to rank 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who finished first in the tournament in scoring and third in assists, as the #1 player at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC.  But after watching him lead All-Ohio Red to a thrilling 75-72 overtime win in the championship game against the Houston Hoops, we are now ready to make that statement.  Lavender scored 27 points, dished out five assists, and made big play after big play down the stretch in the both semi-finals against Boo Williams and against the Houston Hoops in the championship game.  Lavender is lightning quick, makes great decisions, gets everybody involved, and uses his explosiveness to challenge the big guys and score inside, as well as keep you honest outside with his 3-point shooting.  Sure, a lot of college coaches won't recruit Lavender, because they think he will have match-up problems at the next level, but not Pittsburgh, Marquette, Seton Hall, Oklahoma, Clemson, Mississippi, and Ohio State.  We also got a list of schools from Lavender's teammate - 6'7 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, which includes Pittsburgh, Marquette, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and Clemson.  And, if all the talk about a package for Lavender and Foust is true, you can eliminate Mississippi and Ohio State from Lavender's list and Cincinnati from Foust's list.  Speaking of Foust, we're still not sure if he'll ever be ready to convert to the wing forward spot, but he is pretty good inside, despite his tweener size, as was evident by his 14 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game.  And that's saying a lot when one remembers Foust was going up against 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who finished tied for 9th in scoring and 4th in rebounding.  However, Ebi, who is ranked #2 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, was mediocre at best in the title game with only five points, three rebounds, and six blocks.  Instead, the three guys who came up big for the Houston Hoops in the championship game were 6'8 Justin Benson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX with 20 points and five rebounds, 5'11 Tauren Minor from Houston (Washington) TX with 16 points, and 6'4 Michael Morris from Katy (Cinco Rancho) TX with 17 points, including 3-4 3-pointers.  Benson, who was one of the biggest surprises of the tournament, is extremely effective around the basket with his excellent offensive moves, strength, and athleticism.  Prior to the tournament, Benson had been getting interest from Pepperdine, UTEP, Houston, Baylor, Texas Southern, and Providence, but, after his performance here, you can bet that his list will get longer before it gets shorter.  Minor scored most of his points when the game was on the line, but he also cost the Houston Hoops, which were up six with less than a minute to play, the game.  In other words, he had no business taking the shot he missed and getting a technical in the final 20 seconds.  Complementing Lavender and Foust on All-Ohio Red were 6'3 Antonio Graves from Mansfield (H.S.) OH, who was 3-3 from beyond the arc, 6'0 Denzel Lyles from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH with 16 points, and 6'3 Kevin Anderson from Worthington (Thomas Worthington) OH with seven points and nine rebounds.  Lavender with 10 points and three assists, Foust with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and 7'0 Josh Higgins from Vandalia (Butler) OH were intrumental in All Ohio Red's 54-52 win in the semi-finals last night against Boo Williams.  Higgins, who is attracting interest from schools like Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan, Drake, Evansville, Illinois, State, Air Force, and most of the Mid-American Conference, is big and slow, but also skilled, getting better, and 7-feet tall.  Remember, size is hard to find in this day-and-age.  The leading scorer for Boo Williams was 6'3 Mario Taybron from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) VA, who will be a 5th year player next year, but who would be top 100 senior nationally, if he counted on our senior list.   Taybron had 15 points, while 6'3 J.R. Reynolds from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who was 3-4 from 3-point land, chipped in with 11 points and 6'8 Valdas Vasylaus from Norfolk (Collegiate) VA added 12 points and four rebounds.  Vasylaus is a role player on this team, but we think he's got a lot of potential.   In other words, this deceptive, but versatile power foward would be an absolute steal for somebody in the Colonial Athletic Association.  In the other semi-finals game last night 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX helped the Houston Hoops put Howard Pulley away early, as he scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half.  The half-time score was 47-29 and from there the Houston Hoops coasted to a 85-76 victory, thanks also to the efforts of Minor, who also finished with 23 points, Ebi with 18 points, and Benson with 15 points.  The best player and leading scorer for Howard Pulley with 15 points was 6'2 Kammron Taylor from Minneapolis (South) MN.  So he's the 25th man on the all-tournament team that we provided you with yesterday afternoon.  Otherwise, we wouldn't change a thing.  But picking Taylor over 6'9 Daniel Coleman from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'7 Dan Fitzgerald from St. Paul (St. Thomas Academy) MN, 6'4 Darren Clarke from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'4 Kevin Henderson from Minneapolis (South) MN, 5'11 Jessie Burton from Minneapolis (South) MN, and 6'7 Matt Annen from Elk River (H.S.) MN wasn't all that easy.  And I'm not the only one who doesn't want to have to pick just one of the Howard Pulley guys over all the rest.  As a matter of fact, Wisconsin-Green Bay head coach Tod Kowalczyk would like to sign as many as five of these guys.  Obviously Coleman, who committed to Boston College last month, is not an option, but all the rest of the Howard Pulley's players are realistic targets for Kowalczyk and pulling this off may not be a difficult as it looks.  Did you know that they only Division I school in the state is the Univesity of Minnesota and the closest school in a neighboring state is Wisconsin-Green Bay?  The leading scorers at the NIKE Peach Jam were Lavender with 22.8 ppg, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA with 21.4 ppg, 6'4 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL with 20.6 ppg, 6'1 Greg Brown from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI with 20.5 ppg, 6'1 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI with 20.2 ppg, 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS with 19.5 ppg, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL with 19.5 ppg, 6'6 Dion Dacons from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA with 18.4 ppg, Ebi with 17.3 ppg, and 5'11 Gary Ervin from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY with 17.3 ppg.   The leading rebounders at the NIKE Peach Jam were Jefferson with 9.8 rpg, 6'7 Torre Johnson from Milwaukee (Juneau) WI with 9.2 rpg, 6'7 Marcus Heard from Springfield (Southeast) IL with 8.5 rpg, Ebi with 8.4 rpg, 6'8 Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S.) LA with 8.3 rpg, 6'9 Jeff Horowitz from Charlotte (South Mecklenburg) NC with 7.2 rpg, 6'7 Brian Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH with 7.0 rpg, 6'4 Kevin Henderson from Minneapolis (South) MN with 6.9 rpg, 6'10 Vince Scott from Phoenix (Greenway) AZ with 6.8 rpg, and 6'6 Jr Morris Almond from Marietta (McEachern) GA with 6.8 rpg.  The assist leaders at the NIKE Peach Jam were 6'2  Soph Tikki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY with 5.2 apg, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX with 4.8 apg, Lavender with 4.3 apg, 6'0 Will Blalock from Boston (East Boston) MA with 3.8 apg, 6'0 Wes Otis form Capital Heights (Central) MD with 3.8 apg, 5'11 Jr Charlie White from Jackson (Provine) MS with 3.2 apg, 5'9 Carlos English from Warren (Fitzgerald) MI with 3.0 apg, 6'2 Soph Isaiah Swann from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA with 2.8 apg, 6'1 Troy Aaron from Lake Charles (St. Louis) LA with 2.8 apg, and 6'4 Darryl Strawberry, Jr from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA with 2.8 apg.   Some other players who deserve special mention because they either played well or we like their potential or both include 6'6 Soph Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, 6'8 Jr Darnell Jackson from Oklahoma City (Northwest Classen) OK, 6'5 Brett Collins from Phoenix (Mountain Pointe) AZ, 6'2 Jay Jackson from Monroe (Ouachita) LA, 6'8 Jr Charles Rhodes from Forest (H.S.) MS, 6'7 Jr Charles Thomas from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 5'11 Jr Charlie White from Jackson (Provine) MS, and 6'5 Jr Robert Clark from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'4 Kelvin Nelson from Milford (Academy) CT, 6'5 Gary Forbes from Brooklyn (Banneker) NY, 6'0 T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'7 Greg Dilligard from Ewing (Highland) MO, 6'4 Jr Terry Evans from St. Louis (Cardinal Ritter) MO, 6'7 Renaldo Balkman from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'8 Jr Alex Blair from Auburndale (H.S.) FL, 6'6 Jason Dukes from Cocoa (H.S.) FL, 6'8 Jr Marvin "Rell" Porter from Pittsburg (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Chris Moore from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, and 6'8 Jr Jerrell Houston from Memphis (East) TN, 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI, and 6'1 Romar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, who scored 14 points versus Riverside Church and who has to be one of the top 8th graders in the nation.

Tuesday, July 16, 2002

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'9 Yaniv Green from Israel made it official for the University of California over the weekend.  Green, who is by-far-and-away the best of the four Israeli players who have signed with Division I college and universities this spring, picks the Golden Bears over UCLA and Connecticut.  This is significant enough for us to make a change to our Final Ranking of the Top 140 Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2002, as California's class moves up from #109 nationally into a tie at #39 with Marquette and New Orleans.  It also has been reported that 6'9 Nick Stigger from Van Nuys (Montclair Prep) CA has verbally committed to USC, but sources closes to the program tell us that it hasn't happened yet.  We also can't confirm that 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA has committed to USC, despite the fact he told our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin at the adidas ABCD Camp that he committed to the Trojans several weeks ago.  But nobody close to the USC program knows anything about a commitment by Allen, although everybody seems to believe the Trojans are the school you will eventually have to beat.  As a matter of fact, our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis thinks the main hold-up is that Allen has been advised to wait and take some visits before making a final decision.  We also still think USC is the heavy favorite for 6'4 Rodrick Stewart and 6'4 Lodrick Stewart, both from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA and the longer this ong goes, the more it favors the local schools.   Remember, new University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar is one of the most personable people and best recruiters in the business and Washingon State, which landed three good junior college inside players in their last recruiting class in 6'8 Justin Bellegarde from Mendocino (JC) CA, 6'11 Justin Kordsmeier from North Arkansas (JC) AR, and 6'8 Ezenwa Ukeagu from Palm Beach (FL) AR, is only a couple of perimeter players away from turning the corner in a hurry.  However, our guess is that this one is going to happen sooner than later and, if we're right, that could be the start of what may turn out to be a terrific recruiting class.  Obviously landing Stigger is an option, but USC assistant coach Kurtis Townsend has been seen watching California Team Select, which features 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'9 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, at the NIKE Peach Jam and, if the Trojans add Ariza and Ibekwe to a recruiting class that already includes the Stewart twins, USC's would be out of scholarships and, as a result, Stigger would have to look elsewhere.  And, if that does happen, USC's recruiting class would easily be ranked among the top 10 recruiting classes at the conclusion of fall signing period in November.  We also continue to hear that 6'8 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC may renege on LSU, 6'2 Jimmy Miles from Homewood (Christian) IL may renege on Valparaiso, and 6'3 Tron Smith from Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) CA may renege on Arizona State.  However, until we hear otherwise officially, we will continue to count all three players with the school to which they originally committed.  As a matter of fact, Miles told us that the adidas Three Stripes Classic that his commitment to Valparaiso is good.  Koundjia probably wants the attention that goes with being recruited, especially after the value of his stock rose dramatically at the adidas ABCD Camp, but the word on the street is that LSU stashed him at Laurinburg (Institute) NC.  So we'd be surprised if Laurinburg head coach Chris Chaney doesn't make sure that LSU gets Koundjia back.  Smith seems to tell different people different things at different times, but Elvert Perry, who is his coach on the Inland Club team, has a history of sending his players to Arizona State (i.e. Jason Braxton).   So don't be surprised if the Sun Devils not only end up with Smith, but also 6'8 Lawrence Carrier from Salisbury (School) CT. 

We've been telling you for the last month that 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, who was ranked #15 by the HOOP SCOOP at the adidas ABCD Camp, was a lock for the University of Alabama.   However, now we have new information that leads us to believe the University of Louisville is now the leader.  We also still believe the Cardinals are one of the favorites, along with Villanova, Seton Hall, and Miami-FL, for 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY.  And, if head coach Rick Pitino gets both Lang and Alleyne, he would have a pair of twin towers that he can put on the court at the same time, as well as two guys who would go head-to-head everyday in practice.  But feel to bad for Crimson Tide head coach Mark Gottfried, because 6'11 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL told us last night at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA that Alabama is the heavy favorite over Florida State and Tennessee.   We also believe that DePaul may be the team you have to beat now for 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, who is ranked #4 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Speaking of Brown, we continue to hear that Duke is going to also make a strong push, but right now the other favorites appear to be Kansas, Michigan State, and Cincinnati.  Michigan, Memphis, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Boston College, Boston University, Providence, and Massachusetts all appear to be in the hunt for 6'10 Courtney Simms from Dedham (Noble & Greenough) MA.  Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall, Illinois, and UCLA appear to be the final five for 6'10 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ and 6'5 Gary Forbes from Brooklyn (Banneker) NY, who was one of the best players in camp the three days I was at the NIKE All-American Camp last week, has Georgia Tech, Virginia, Connecticut, St. John's, Mississippi State, Providence, Temple, Massachusetts, Drexel, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh all on his list.   Dayton is recruiting 6'7 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, but the Flyers coaching staff doesn't seem to be interested in 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, because they don't want to bring in another point guard right behind 6'0 Warren Williams from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, who signed with the Flyers during the Spring Signing Period.  So our guess is that Dayton will have no shot at Foust.  As a matter of fact, their high school coach Bruce Howard tells us that Foust and Lavender plan to go together as a package.  And their list, which includes Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Marquette, is extremely interesting.   Speaking of Lavender, he appears to have picked up where he left off at the NIKE All-American Camp after the second day when he was ranked as the #1 player in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.   I'm not ready to rank him as the #1 player at the Peach Jam, but the fact that he is ranked #2 in scoring with 21.0 ppg and #3 in the assists with 3.8 apg is extremely impressive.  Also impressive statistically at the Peach Jam is 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who currently is tied at #6 in scoring with 20.0 ppg and is first in rebounding with 11.3 rpg.   But Ibi also continues to coast, just like he did at the NIKE All-American Camp last week.  Instead, the player that Ebi is tied with at #6 in scoring at the Peach Jam is the best player.  We're talking about 6'10 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS  and he also checks in right behind Ebi in rebounding with 10.3 rpg.  However, unlike Ebi and everybody else, except for 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, we've seen in recent years, Jefferson has no business thinking about playing college basketball.  He's already a physical specimen with tremendous athleticism, mobility, and moves to the basket.  He also is a warrior on the boards, plus he plays like he still has something to prove.  And maybe he does, because he wasn't at the NIKE All-American Camp last week and he still hasn't been seen a lot on the AAU/club team circuit.  So obviously this is the guy who will replace 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY as the #1-ranked junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP. 

This afternoon All-Ohio Red beat the Tallahassee Wildcats, 97-63; the Houston Hoops beat the Illinois Warriors, 90-83; Boo Williams beat Riverside Church, 66-59; and Athletes First beat Howard Pulley, 81-77; to set up tonights two semi-finals games in the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA.  In the first game at 7:00 PM, the Houston Hoops should be the heavy favorite over Howard Pulley, which already has overachieved to get this far in the tournament and has nobody capable of stopping 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX and 6'8 Justin Benson from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX inside and 5'10 Tauren Minor from Houston (Washington) TX and 6'3 Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX on the perimeter.  Speaking of Ebi, he finally played with the effort we saw last spring at the Houston Kingwood Classic and when this incredible athlete with long arms, explosive quickness, and good moves around the basket does that, there is no doubt about it - he is the second best player in the senior class nationally behind 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH.  The second game between All-Ohio and Boo Williams may be too close to call, because neither team has an overwhelming inside presence, but has a lot of firepower on the perimeter.  All-Ohio has the best player in game in 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, but the next three best players - 6'3 J.R. Reynolds from Roanoke (Catholic) VA, 6'3 Mario Taybron from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) VA, and 6'3 Jr Marquis Cooke from Suffolk (Nansemond River) VA - all play for Boo Williams.   So does 6'5 Jr Freddie Stanback from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA and 6'8 Valdas Vasylaus from Norfolk (Collegiate) VA.  All Ohio gets the edge inside with 6'7 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH and 7'0 Josh Higgins from Vandalia (Butler) OH, plus also get good perimeter play from 6'3 Antonio Graves from Mansfield (H.S.) OH, 6'3 Kevin Anderson from Worthington (Thomas Worthington) OH, and 6'0 Jr Denzel Lyles from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH.    In addition to Ebi, Lavender, 6'10 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, 6'6 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'0 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'1 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'8 Chris Richard from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'8 Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S.) LA, 6'7 Marcus Heard from Springfield (Southeast) IL, and 6'1 Greg Brown from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, who were the top dozen players based on performance in the tournament, the rest of the all-tournament team at this point should include Minor, Gibson 5'11 Gary Irvin from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, 6'10 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL, 6'2 Blake Ahearn from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'9 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Ryan Lambert from Germantown (Northwest) MD, 6'10 Courtney Simms from Dedham (Noble & Greenough) MA, 6'4 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL, 6'2 Soph Tikki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, 6'6 Dion Dacons from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'10 Vince Scott from Phoenix (Greenway) AZ, and whichever player steps up the most tonight for Howard Pulley in the semi-finals. 

We reported earlier that DePaul appears to be the team to beat for 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, but what would you think if the Blue Demons also  landed 5'10 Charlie Richardson from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'7 Marcus Heard from Springfield (Southeast) IL, and 6'4 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL?  Well, Illinois Warriors head coach Larry Butler thinks new Blue Demons head coach Dave Leitao and his staff have just as good a chance of pulling off this major recruiting coup, as Pat Kennedy did at this time in 1998 when he ended up with Quinton Richardson, Bobby Simmons, and Lance Williams.  And Butler should know, because he has Brown, Richardson, Heard and Falls all in his program right now and he had Richardson and Simmons in his program in the late 90's.  Florida continues to be the favorite for 6'1 T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, but he also continues to mention Duke, N.C. State, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Miami-FL, Maryland, and Texas.  The Gators also appear to be the early favorite for 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, who was ranked #4 at center and #21 overall at the adidas ABCD Camp by the HOOP SCOOP, but Arkansas, North Carolina, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, Missouri, and Seton Hall also are on his list.  One of the biggest sleepers we saw at the adidas Three Stripes Classic at Hofstra University over the weekend was 6'7 Andrew Francis from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX.  Not only does Francis have the ball handling and passing skills and make good enough decisions at 6'7 to play the point guard spot, but he's also an excellent student, as is evident by the fact that he has a 3.6 gpa and got 970 on the SAT when he was in 7th grade (he hasn't taken the SAT since, but plans to take it again this fall).  Right now Baylor appears to be the leader, but Francis also has Marquette, Houston, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Georgia Tech on his list.  Baylor also appears to be the favorite over Alabama and Arkansas for 6'10 Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (H.S.) TX.   Pittsburgh and Connecticut are the leaders for 5'9 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, but this tough hardnosed point guard, who played much better at Three Stripes than he did at the adidas ABCD Camp, also is getting a interest from Florida, DePaul, Georgetown, and N.C. State.  N.C. State, Illinois, Miami-FL, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Providence, Connecticut, and Hofstra were all mentioned by 6'3 Ramel Bradley from New York (Park West) IL, who after playing well at both the adidas Camp and the Three Stripes Classic, is now one of the fastest rising guards in the nation.  Nebraska, Boston College, DePaul, Oregon, USC, and UCLA are all showing interest 6'0 Khalif Ford from Diamond Bar (H.S.) CA.  Charlotte, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, Connecticut, Maryland, West Virginia, Louisville, Memphis, LSU, and Arizona were all mentioned by 6'1 Tre Kelly from Washington (Dunbar) DC.  The early list for 6'0 Jr Earl Risby from Washington (Dunbar) DC includes Michigan, Missouri, Georgetown, Charlotte, and Kentucky.  Speaking of the Wildcats, 6'8 Omari Israel from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD says Kentucky was his favorite team whe he was growing up, but he hasn't heard much from the Wildcats lately.  Instead, Israel is getting the most attention from Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Rhode Island, and Notre Dame.   Marquette, Oklahoma, and Illinois appear to be the favorites for 6'5 Dameon Mason from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, but Saint Louis, DePaul, Purdue, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State are also on his list.  It appears to be a two-horse race between Georgetown and Charlotte for 6'2 Tyler Smith from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD.  Miami-FL, Seton Hall, and Mississippi are showing the most interest in 6'7 Dennis Howard from Ft. Worth (Northside) TX.    St. John's and Louisville are battling it out for 6'7 Nate Daniels from Broward (JC) FL, who was the #1-ranked wing forward in the freshman class of the junior class ranks last year.  However, also Texas Tech or Duquesne could still sneak in the back door.

Saturday, July 13, 2002, Sunday, July 14, 2002, & Monday, July 15, 2002

After five days at the adidas ABCD Camp and three days at the adidas Three Stripes Classic, it was obvious that fatigue had taken its toll on a lot of the players.  This was especially evident in the Three Stripes Championship Game, as 6'0 Khalif Ford from Diamond Bar (H.S.) CA didn't play (he is still slowed after having orthoscopic surgery a month ago) for the the L.A. Rockfish and 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Garces) CA didn't play very much.  Instead, two of the three players - 6'0 Jim Goffredo from Crescenta Valley (H.S.) CA and 6'5 Jr Joel Smith from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH - who stepped up for the L.A. Rockfish, did not attend the adidas ACBD Camp.  And the third player - 6'6 Justin Hawkins from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, who appears to have taken his game to another level after finishing ranked #12 at the 2-guard spot at the adidas ABCD Camp, still has a lot to prove and is in excellent condition.  Hawkins has a soft touch, good handlings and passing skills, is excellent in transition, plays good defense, and rebounds well for his size.  In other words, we're talking about a jack-of-all trades with excellent athleticism and a big time future.  And, unlike most L.A. Rockfish players, Hawkins is currently underrated, instead of being overhyped.  Hawkins scored 18 points and Goffredo, who shoots it almost as well as he does in the classroom, as is evident by the fact that he has a 1320 on the SAT and has never gotten anything less than an "A," had 13 points in the championship game.  However, that was not enough the the L.A. Rockfish to take home the title, as New York Elite prevailed, 52-49, in the championship game, thanks to the efforts of 6'8 Gordon Klaiber from Troy (Redemption) NY, 6'5 Keith Simmons from Kingston (H.S.) NY, 6'5 Gene Selimi from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, and 6'2 Wes Matthews from Jackson Heights (McClancy) NY.  Selimi and Simmons, both of whom were named to the all-tournament team, along with Hawkins, Goffredo, and Joel Smith, provide the outside shooting.  Matthews does most of his damage slashing to the basket and in transition.  Klaiber, who was named the tournament MVP, simply does it all!  And what a steal Klaiber could be for Albany, which currently is the only school on his list.  Not only does he possess the athleticism and inside/outside game to provide the perfect complement to 6'0 Jamar Wilson from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, who signed with Albany last fall, but he also is good enough to attract big-time looks.  We'd be talking about a legitimate top 100 player in his class, if he were a high school senior.  Instead, Klaiber will be listed separately on our 5th year list.  Also making the all-tournament team were 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NY, 5'9 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'2 Curtis Stinson from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'2 Gerald Brown from Baltimore (Douglas) MD, 6'2 Lawrence McKenzie from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seagoville) TX, 6'6 Sammie Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King) NY, 6'3 Ramel Bradley from New York (Park West) NY, 6'7 Oumar Sylla from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'2 Jimmy Miles from Homewood (Christian) IL, 6'6 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, 6'5 Earl Smith from Lakewood (H.S.) NJ, and 6'7 Jr Stanley Branch from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  Also playing well and, as a result, deserving special mention are 6'5 Zakee Boyd from Philadelphia (Lutheran Academy) PA, 6'10 Hassan Fofana from Worcester (Holy Name) MA, 6'10 Wayne Marshall from Philadelphia (Martin Luther King) PA, 6'11 Longar Longar from Rochester (John Marshall) MN, 6'5 Andres Sandoval from Winchenon (School) MA, 6'11 Kiamba Diarra from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'4 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, 6'7 Andrew Francis from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6'5 Demeon Mason from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'7 Lorenzo Thompson from Chicago (Crane) IL, 5'11 Soph Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL, and 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'0 Earl Rigsby from Washington (Dunbar) DC, 6'1 Trey Kelly from Washington (Dunbar) DC, 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'6 Eliiah Clark Winchendon (School) MA, 6'5 Mike Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA, 6'3 Kevin Davis from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT, 6'4 David Hoskins from Plymouth (Salem) MI, 6'8 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX, 6'10 Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (H.S.) TX, 6'3 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ,  6'6 Jr Gavin Grant from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'4 Jr Brian Laing from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'2 Tyler Smith from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD, and 6'8 Richard Dorsey, who now appears to be heading to Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, instead of Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD.   And of course, we have to mention all the other guys on the Tim Thomas Playaz Gold, which was upset in the semi-finals by New York Elite.  As a matter of fact, every player - Banks, Earl Smith, 6'7 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'7 Will Sheridan from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, 6'2 Jamar Nutter from West Orange (Seton Hall) NJ, 6'4 Marquise Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'0 Jr Sean Singletary from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, and 5'11 Joe Sandberg from Oradell (Bergan Catholic) NJ - on this team is getting recruited at the high major level.  In the other semi-finals game in the National Tournament, which was the winner's bracket, the Los Angeles Rockfish upset the Illinois Fire.  In the American Tournament, which was the tournament for the second place teams in each pool, the New York Ravens beat Baltimore Select in the championship and the New Jersey   Demons in the semi-finals.  Speaking of the game between the Ravens and Demons, that was one of the most intensely played games of the tournament.  And maybe the fact that Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was in the house to watch Deng had something to do with it.  Remember, we've been telling you since Christmas that Deng, who easily was the best player in the tournament, was a near lock for the Blue Devils.  Also ranked among our top 10 players in the tournament in order are Villanueva, Livingston, Earl Smith, McKenzie, Banks, Brown, Aldridge, Mejia, and Bradley.   A special thanks to Three Stripes Classic Tournament Director Gary DeCesare, who in only two years has built this into one of the premier events of the entire summer, as well as a must stop on our summer camp tour. 

Friday, July 12, 2002

For the second consecutive year 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY was both the leading scorer and the game MVP in the Underclassmen All-Star Game last night at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ.  However, unlike a year ago when Telfair put on the best performance of the entire summer, last night Telfair never saw a shot he didn't like, as he hit only 10-27 field goals and only 3-10 3-point field goals en route to a 26-point performance.   That's right!  He attempted well over one shot per minute played and his selfish attitude was even more disgusting when you look at the shooting percentages of most of his teammates - 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox (Central) AL hit 4-7 FG's (57.1%), 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA hit 6'8 FG's (75%), 6'5 Jr David McClure from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT hit 5-6 FG's (83.3%), 6'6 Jr Timothy Pierce from Oakland (Fremont) CA hit 6-10 FG's (60%), 6'10 Jr LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seagoville) TX hit 3-5 FG's (60%), 6'7 Jr Cameron Stanley from Raleigh (Millbrook) NC hit 2-3 FG's (67%), 6'9 Soph Yi Jianlian from China hit 4-9 FG's (44.4%), 5'10 Soph Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA hit 2-4 FG's (50%), and 6'6 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX hit 1-1 FG's (100%).  As a matter of fact, only four players on the White Team had a lower shooting percentage than Telfair, as 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL hit 2-5 FG's (40%), 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA hit 3-9 FG's (33.3%), 5'11 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY hit 1-7 FG's (14.3%), and 6'2 Jr Taurean Green from Boca Raton (Westminister) FL hit 0-4 FG's (0%).  6'10 Jr David Burgess from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA also played for the White Team, but failed to take a shot.   Obviously when a player is in the groove and shooting the lights out, he's going to get the green light.  However, when a player is struggling, like Telfair did all week, you don't take 27 shots and totally forget your teammates.  That's being a "selfish pig" and, as a result, there is no doubt in our mind that somebody will replace Telfair as the #1-ranked sophomore in the nation next time we update our national rankings.  Telfair also got dropped another dozen spots from #42 to #54 in our final ranking of the top 70 players in camp.  But even that doesn't begin to tell you how bad Telfair was last night.  But this does!  When 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL stole the ball away from Telfair and went in for a layup, the crowd, which was pro New York City, cheered loudly for Washington.   Speaking of Washington, he led the Green Team to a 110-105 victory and took home his team's MVP honors with 22 points.  He also solidified a spot among the top 10 players in camp behind Smith, 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Academy) NJ, 6'8 Ivan Harris from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and ahead of 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilxcox Central) AL, 6'7 Sean Banks from Oredell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, and 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX.  Villaneuva was the leading scorer and rebounder with 19 points and 10 rebounds en route to his team's MVP honors in the Senior All-Star Game and Famutimi had one of the best days in the history of the camp to move into the #3 spot on our list.  However, just like Telfair after the Underclassmen Game, 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, who had 15 points and was the MVP for the Green Team in the Senior All-Star Game, he dropped 11 spots in our final rankings.  Outlaw did dazzle the crowd with a number of spectacular dunks, but he only had five rebounds and he convinced us that he really has no understanding of how to play the game.  Instead, our two favorite players for the Green Team were Banks and 5'10 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA, both of whom finished with 12 points apiece and combined for 4-8 3-pointers.  Speaking of Brooks, he finished ranked #16 in camp, but only #4 at the point guard position by the HOOP SCOOP.   As a matter of fact, five of the top eight players in camp were power forwards, two were point guards, and one was a wing forward.  And going a little deeper, seven of the top 20 players in camp were power forwards, while the wing forward and point guard spots both had four players a piece ranked among the top 20, followed by the center spot with three, and the 2-guard spot with two.  However, when we look at our list of the top players by position, the point guard spot easily has the most depth, as 32 players are listed at the point guard position.  That's in sharp contrast to the power forward spot, which had 26 players; the center and 2-guard spot with 23 players apiece; and the wing forward spot with only 22 players listed.  In other words, the adidas ABCD Camp was especially strong at the both inside positions and the point guard spot and weaker at both wing spots.  It also was clearly better than the NIKE All-American Camp, which lacked the overall depth of the adidas ABCD Camp for the second consecutive year.  It also clearly didn't have as many quality inside players and point guards.  Instead, the talent was much more evenly distributed at each position, as the top 30 players at the NIKE All-American Camp included seven 2-guards, six center, six power forwards, six point guards, and five wing fowards.  The 2-guard spot also appears to have been the deepest position at NIKE, as 25 2-guards were ranked on our position list.  Next was the point guard spot with 24 players, followed by the power forward spot with 21 players, the center spot with 18 players, and the wing forward spot with 17 players. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson talked with 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'10 Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 7'1 Jr Robert Rothbart from Cupertino (Monte Vista) CA, 6'7 Jr Charles Thomas from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'4 Demetric Bennett from Albany (Monroe) GA, 6'10 Longer Longer from Rochester (John Marshall) MN, 6'10 Shawn Taylor from Vienna (Dooley County) GA, and 6'3 Jr Jason Rich from Orlando (Dr. Phillips) FL earlier this week at the NIKE All-American Camp and what he found out is very interesting.  Everybody knows that Duke is the leader for Deng, but would you believe the rest of Deng's list includes Texas, Virginia, Wake Forest, Missouri, Fairfield, and George Washington?  If you will recall, Ajou Ajou Deng, who transferred from Connecticut and became eligible at Fairfield last December, is Luol Deng's older brother and Deng Gai, who was a freshman last year at Fairfield, is Luol Deng's cousin.  Did you also know that George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs was the one who discovered Ajou Ajou Deng in England and signed him when he was an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut?  Tangara mentioned North Carolina, Duke, Michigan, Cincinnati, and Connecticut, but we know that Memphis and Georgia are also very much in the mix.  Rothbart is hoping that North Carolina will come calling, but Pac-10 schools like California, Stanford, Arizona, and UCLA are more realistically in his future.  Thomas also is hoping to hear from the Tar Heels, but   right now the co-favorites are Oklahoma and LSU.  Longer is being recruited by Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Iowa State, Marquette, Wisconsin, N.C. State, and Wyoming, but we suspect his list will get longer before it gets shorter after his excellent performance at the NIKE All-American Camp.  Taylor hasn't played well this spring and summer, but Alabama, Cincinnati, Georgia, and Miami-FL haven't given up yet.   Cincinnati is the early favorite for Rich, but Arizona, Florida, Clemson, and Kentucky are also in the hunt.  The HOOP SCOOP's Adam Gorney talked with 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX after the Senior All-Star game last night at the adidas ABCD Camp and it appears that Perkins is not the lock for the NBA that everybody thinks he is, as Alabama, Memphis, Miami-FL, North Carolina, and Texas all appear to be very much in the hunt.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'6 Florentino Valencia from Chicago (Crane) IL likes Illinois, DePaul, Syracuse, Florida, Cincinnati, Michigan, and Michigan State.  Maryland, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Rutgers, West Virginia, North Carolina, and N.C. State are all in the hunt for 6'7 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ.  The list for 6'3 Abdi Lidonde frm Barrington (St. Andrews) RI includes Boston College, Missouri, Stanford, Providence, Fairfield, Kent State, and Miami-OH.  Villanova, Virginia, Wake Forest, La Salle, Pennsylvania, and St. Joseph's are the leaders for 6'9 Jason Cain from Philadelphia (Bartrum) PA.   Seton Hall, Rutgers, Connecticut, Villanova, and Pittsburgh were the ones mentioned by 7'0 Darryl Watkins form Paterson (Catholic) NJ.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'4 Ricardo Billings from Detroit (Rogers) MI has failed to qualify academically, but, according to his high school coach, Steve Hall, Billings still plans to eventually enroll at Ohio State once he become eligible to play at a four-year school after likely going the prep school and/or junior college route.  Instead, the Buckeyes will give the scholarship to 6'2 Emonte Jernigan, who left Oregon State a year ago and, as a result, will be eligible immediately for the Buckeyes this fall.  Jernigan, who is best described as a deadly 3-point shooter, also visited Saint Louis, Fresno State, and Missouri.  However, he picked Ohio State, because he felt like he will excel in head coach Jim O'Brien's 3-guard system.  We also have confirmed something that we thought had happened yesterday - 6'8 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL, who is ranked #42 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to the University of Illinois.  That brings the number of players in the Class of 2003 who have already made early verbal commitments who are ranked among the top 50 nationally to 15, among the top 100 nationally to 33, and among the top 280 nationally to 54.    And more verbal commitments appear to be just around the corner, as we're hearing that Maryland is to getting it done for 6'4 Michael Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA and 6'11 Hassan Fofana from Worcester (Holy Name) MA and LSU may be a lot closer than most people realize on 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA. 

Thursday, July 11, 2002

Coming to the defense yesterday of Illinois Bulls-eye Report Editor & publisher Roy Schmidt, who put the finishing touches on our final rankings from the NIKE All-American Camp two nights ago, were several colleges coaches.  They tell us that 6'3 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL did step up on the day Schmidt was wrapping up the camp, especially during the afternoon session.  If you will recall, we told you that his final rankings were not reflective of what we'd seen during the three days I was in attendance at the camp and, as a result, I raised some interesting questions, which obviously helped stimulate a good debate.  Remember, this is an art, not a science, and, as a result, our rankings are only reflective of what we've seen.  And while I still question some of the adjustments Schmidt made, I also think it was important not to edit them.  In other words, I really don't know what happened on the final day at NIKE and if I didn't have a lot of confidence in Schmidt's ability to evaluate talent, I wouldn't have put him into this position.  If you will recall, Schmidt has helped us cover the NIKE All-American Camp and the adidas ABCD Camp since the late 1980's and I regard him as one of the most astute evaluators of talent in the business.   But that doesn't mean I'm not going to question him, if what I've seen is consistent with what I'm being told.  However, in the overall scheme of things, how Brown played really isn't all that important.  What is important is a growing trend, whereby, the top players in the nation don't put the same focus upon playing well at the superstar oriented camps that they once did.  It used to be that the NIKE and adidas camps were where you make your reputation, but now most of the top players seem to be just going through the motions.   And that's why ranking 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Academy) NJ, and 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL among the top six players in camp was so discouraging.  But not as discouraging as watching 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY at the adidas ABCD Camp.   As a matter of fact, Telfair easily wins the award for biggest disappointment in camp and even he seems to agree.  Telfair was quoted yesterday in the New York Daily News saying that "he's not as excited about the camp this year because of the fact there aren't as many guards as there were last year, when he said he was 'just up, ready to go.'"   Currently we have Telfair ranked no higher than #44 in camp and, if he didn't have a big name and reputation, he probably would be ranked even lower.  Sure, Telfair has tremendous talent and potential, but, the truly great ones come to play every night.   And having said that and what we've seen so far at this camp, we have to now serioulsy question whether Telfair has what it takes to become a great one?  Whether Telfair will respond to this criticism the same way 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY did a year ago at this camp, but then came back to play extremely well the rest of the summer, is anybody's guess.  But right now Telfair appears to be following in the footsteps not of Stephon Marbury, Kenny Anderson, et al. of the geat point guards from New York City, but, instead, of all the players who have not lived up to the early hype in recent years like Lenny Cooke, DeAngelo Collins, Chris Burgess, Marvin Stone, Anthony Perry, Lester Earl, William Avery, Willie Mitchell, Damien Wilkins, Jarod Ward, JaRon Rush, Korleone Young, Ronnie Fields, Jamie Brandon, and Rashard Griffith.   Instead, the players who seem to doing the best at the adidas ABCD All-American are the players who still have something to prove.  Like 6'7 Jr Josh Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA, who has skyrocked into the #1 spot in camp with what was arguably the best performance at the two big camps this summer.  Like 6'3 Mustafa Skakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, who is one of the leaders in the camp in assists and steals.  Like 6'7 Regis Koundjia from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who reminds many of the scouts in attendance of Gerald Wallace with his long arms and incredible athleticism.  Like 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, who called me two months ago and wanted to know why he wasn't rated higher than top 25 in his class nationally.  Like 6'8 Ivan Harris from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who has exploded into one of the top players in the Class of 2003 during the last month.  Like 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, who plays in the shadow of, but is consistently better right now than 6'11 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS on the Southeast Pump & Run.  Like 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, who has dramatically improved his outside shooting this spring.  Like 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, who has had questions about his lack of explosiveness and quickness at times during the last year.   A quick look at the statistical leaders halfway through the last day of the adidas camp shows that Harris is the leading scorer in camp averaging 20.6 ppg, followed by Josh Smith, who is a close second at 20.4 ppg, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL with 17.4 ppg, Villanueva with 17.0 ppg, 6'7 Sean Banks from Oredell (Bergan Catholic) NJ with 16.7 ppg, 6'2 Curtis Stinson from Winchendon (School) MA with 16.3 ppg, 5'9 Soph Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) C with 15.9 ppg, 6'2 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA with 15.6 ppg, Mike Williams with 15.6 ppg, 6'10 Jr LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX with 15.4 ppg, and Smith with 15.4 ppg.  Also ranked among the top 10 in camp in rebounding are Mike Williams with 8.4 rppg and Smith with 8.0 rpg.  The rest of the top 10 list in terms of rebounding includes 6'10 Jr David Burgess from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA with 11.9 rpg, 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard with 9.4 rpg, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL with 8.9 rpg, 6'7 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA 8.9 rpg, 6'8 Lamont Hamilton from Milford (Academy) CT with 8.3 rpg , 6'8 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ with 8.1 rpg, 6'8 Dante Milligan from Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY with 8.0 rpg, and 6'4 Detregric Slater from Waynesboro (Wayne County) MS with 8.0 rpg.  The leader in assists is 5'8 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY with 5.7 apg, the leader in steals is 6'0 Dewayne Green from Creedmore (Christian Faith Center) NC with 2.6 spg, and the leader in blocks is Josh Smith with 3.6 bpg.  In the Senior All-Star Game tonight at 8:30 PM, the White Team will include Shakur, Villanueva, Koundjia, Lang, Roberts, Stinson, Clarke, 6'8 Will Sheridian from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA, 6'9 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'7 Lorenzo Thompson from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'6 Florentino Valencia from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, and 6'4 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  Green Team will include Harris, Perkins, Banks, Hamilton,6'4 Mike Jones from Braintree (Thayer) MA, 5'9 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA, 6'0 Vernon Hamilton from Richmond (Heritage) VA, 6'6 Sammie Mejia from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King) NY, 6'6 Bobby Nash from Honolulu (Iolani) HI, 6'6 Earl Smith from Lakewood (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'10 Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, 6'9 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'11 Malick Badiane from Thies, Senegal, and 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ.  Famutimi was an honorary selectee, but is not eligible to play in the senior game, because Michigan players are not allowed to play in all-star games.   In the Underclassmen All-Star Game tonight at 7:00 PM, the White Team will include Josh Smith, Aldridge, Howard, Burgess, Telfair, 5'9 Soph Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, 5'11 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, 6'6 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX, 6'11 Soph Yi Jianlian from China, 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL, 6'6 Jr Timothy Pierce from Oakland (Fremont) CA, 6'2 Jr Taurean Green from Baca Raton (Westminister) FL, 6'5 Jr Dave McClure from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'7 Jr Cameron Stanley from Raleigh (Millbrook) NC, and 6'1 Soph Dwain Williams from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA.  The Green Team will include Mike Williams, Nelson, Marvin Williams, Washington, Livingston, 6'1 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Soph Tasmine Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'6 Soph Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, 6'8 Jr Stanley Branch from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'8 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University) LA, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Garces) CA, 6'11 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'6 Jr Roy Bright from Durham (Northern Durham) NC, 6'2 Soph Jeremy Pargo from Chicago (Paul Robeson) IL, and 6'4 Jr Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA.  5'10 Jr Drew Netizel from Wyoming Park (H.S.) MI was an honorary selectee, but is not eligible to play in the Underclassmen Game, because Michigan players are not allowed to play in all-star games.  There is always politics involved when picking the all-star teams, but how can 6'8 Demetris Nichols from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI and 6'5 Thomas Gardner from Portland (Jefferson) OR not be in the senior game? 

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has talked with a number of players at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ and he has a lot of recruiting information to pass along.  And right at the top of the list is 6'3 Gerald Brown from Baltimore (Douglas) MD, who earlier this week made it official for Providence.  Arizona State, Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina, and N.C. State are all in the hunt for 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA.  Kansas, North Carolina, Washington, and Washington State are the early favorites for 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, who is ranked #48 nationally in the Class of 2004 by the HOOP SCOOP, but has emerged one of the top 12 players in camp.  We still think Oregon is the school you will have to beat for 5'10 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA, but don't rule out UCLA, North Carolina, Washington, New Mexico, and San Diego State just yet.   Connecticut, Rutgers, Penn State, Kent State, George Washington, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Yale, and Brown comprise an interesting list for 6'5 Ricky Lucas from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD.  Stephen Danley, the 6'8 power forward from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD with a 1570 SAT (1600 is a perfect score) likes Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Davidson, William & Mary, and Kentucky.   North Carolina, Oregon, UNLV, USC, Duke, and Nebraska are all showing interest in 6'0 Kalif Ford from Diamond Bar (H.S) CA.  Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall, Illinois, UCLA, and Kentucky were mentioned by 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, but he's also talking about the NBA.  So is 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, but after the way Butler has played in this camp, he'll be hard pressed to start at Louisville, Mississippi State, or LSU, which are the top four schools on his list, a year-and-a-half from now.   Connecticut, Miami-FL, and George Washington are the leaders for 6'0 Maureece Rice from Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion) PA and 5'9 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY likes Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, DePaul, and Georgetown.   Florida, Maryland, USC, UCLA, Arizona, and Tennessee head the list for 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA.  The top schools for 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT are N.C. State, Seton Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Boston College.  Alabama, Auburn, Georgia Tech, LSU, and Stanford were mentioned by 6'0 Jai Miller from Selma (H.S.) AL.  The early list for 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Garces) CA includes Illinois, USC, North Carolina, and California.  Boston College, Oregon, Marquette, and Utah are the favorites for 6'7 Justin Hawkins from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA.  It's already a battle for 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwwest Atlanta Christian) GA among N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Florida, Duke, North Carolina, and Stanford.  Howard's Atlanta Celtics teammate - 6'11 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA - mentions Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Georgia, Tennessee, and UNLV.  Florida, Georgia, Clemson, and Auburn all in the hunt for 6'6 Travious Powell from Cuthbert (Randolph Clay) GA.   Texas Tech, LSU, Utah, and Oregon State are the leaders for 6'3 John Winston from Richmond (Salesian) CA.  Stanford, USC, North Carolina, Minnesota, Memphis, and UCLA are showing the most interest in 6'9 Nick Stigger from Van Nuys (Montclair Prep) CA.  Stanford, Oregon, Utah, Northwestern, West Virginia, Ohio State, Harvard, and Yale make up an interesting list for 6'1 T.J. Paterick from Jacksonville (Mease) FL.  The list for 6'4 Vincent Camper from Oxford (H.S.) MS includes UCLA, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, Connecticut, Cincinnati, and Stanford.  Michigan State, Iowa, Dayton, Marshall, Ohio University, and Kent State were all mentioned by 6'4 Demetrius Johnson from Warrenville Heights (H.S.) OH.   Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, Bucknell, California, and Pepperdine are involved with 6'1 David Gale from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH.  It's a three-horse race among Kent State, Drake, and Central Michigan for 6'2 Justin Ingram from Lansing (Waverly) MI.   Rutgers, Providence, La Salle, and Drexel are recruiting 6'1 Darnell Corbitt from Philadelphia (Ben Franklin) PA.  Wake Forest, Maryland, Virginia, Stanford, Boston College, Ohio State, and Purdue are all being mentioned by 6'9 Hassan Fofana from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  The early list for 6'11 Jr LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seagoville) TX  includes Florida, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Seton Hall.   N.C. State, Illinois, Providence, Miami-FL, Charlotte, and Connecticut were mentioned by 6'3 Ramel Bradley from New York (Park West) NY.  One of the biggest sleepers in the camp is 6'1 Max Schafer from Wayne (DePaul) NJ and that is evident by his list, which includes Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Holy Cross, William & Mary, Towson, La Salle, Delaware, and Kent State.  Villanova, Seton Hall Rutgers, Michigan, Notre Dame, Virginia, Wake Forest, Yale, and Pennslyvania are all being mentioned by 6'8 Will Sheridan from Hockessin (Sanford) DE.  Seton Hall, Rutgers, Maryland, Pittsburgh, and Villanova among those involved with 6'3 Jamar Nutter from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, while 6'3 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ has Connecticut, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Kentucky, and Notre Dame at the top of his list.  We thought 6'5 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ would commit during the adidas ABCD Camp to Rutgers, but it hasn't happened yet.  Also still on Webb's list are Syracuse, Rutgers, and Seton Hall.  Rubin didn't get a list for 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, but the word on the street is that Arkansas has emerged as the leader.  We also are hearing that the University of Illinois is on the verge of getting a verbal commitment from 6'8 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL.  As a matter of fact, the word we get is that the press conference is scheduled for this afternoon.  Assuming that happens, Randle would join 6'4 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL to give the Fighting Illini two of the top three seniors in the state.  And they could make it three-for-three by also landing 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Currently the list for Brown includes Illinois, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Duke, DePaul, UNLV, Notre Dame, Kansas, Iowa, and Louisville.  Speaking of Cardinals, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, who currently is ranked #13 in camp, says Louisville is his favorite school, but our Alabama Editor Mark Komara still thinks Alabama will tough to beat. 

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

The final day of the NIKE All-American Camp is today, but a year ago an overwhelming number of players left the camp early and, as a result, we decided to wrap things early ourselves in Indianapolis, IN this year and, instead, spend the final three days at adidas ABCD Camp.   However, we did get a final report on the NIKE Camp late last night from Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report and we were very surprised.   However, this may be explained in one of three ways.  The first choice seems the least likely, because Dave Telep of the TheInsidersHoops.com and Van Coleman of Future Stars, both of whom were at the NIKE Camp yesterday, but here at the adidas camp today, both thought 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL continued the trend yesterday, whereby, they just went through the motions most of the week.  The second choice is that the level of mediocrity in the senior class is much worse than we originally thought and, as a result, the NIKE All-American Camp was the worst camp we've attended since the evolution of the summer star oriented camp in 1983.  However, in fairness to NIKE, we don't expect that trend to continue.   As a matter of fact, that's the one place where NIKE appears to have it all over adidas right now, as the camp in Indianapolis, IN had 22 underclassmen ranked among our top 50 players in camp versus the camp in Teaneck, NJ, which has 16 underclassmen ranked among our top 50 in camp.  The third choice is that our buddy Roy Schmidt either has his own agenda or he is totally a status quo type of guy and, as a result, doesn't want to take any heat.  The best example might be his comments about ranking Shannon Brown so low earlier in the week when he mentioned that he wasn't looking forward the hard time he was anticipating getting from Brown's father with regards to his son's low ranking in camp.  Obviously this would explain why Brown moved up nearly 20 spots, all the way up to #6, without putting on one of the top performances on the entire summer yesterday.  We also are trying to figure out how 6'6 Gary Forbes from Brooklyn (Banneker) NY dropped all the way down to #14 in camp, after being one of the top players during each of the first three days.  As a matter of fact, Coleman thought Forbes, who was #14 and Brown, who was #6, should have been switched when looking at our rankings earlier today.  In other words, Schmidt's adjustments to our final rankings do not reflect what we saw during the three days I was at the NIKE Camp.  But, instead of editing his rankings, I thought it would be best to point out some of the major differences and the fact that Schmidt may have certain agendas. 

Tuesday, July 9, 2002

After three days at the NIKE All-American Camp, one the big stories is the emergence of several freshmen as two of the top players in camp.  As a matter of fact, after his dominant performance yesterday afternoon against 6'10 Kenneth Harris from Hammond (Bishop Noll) IN, it is easy to rank 6'10 Frosh Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ as the best player in camp.  Caracter not only is a physical specimen inside, but he also has surprising mobility, excellent skills, and a soft shooting touch away from the basket, which makes him almost unstoppable against guys three and four years older.   Also extremely impressive yesterday and, as a result, also ranked among our top 10 players in camp is 5'8 Frosh Demond Carter from Laplace (Reserve Christian) LA.  Carter is extremely poised for his age, as he makes things happen in transition, gets to the basket, and beats you with his outside shooting.  He also isn't a selfish pig like 5'11 Taurean Minor from Houston (Washington) TX.   Speaking of Minor, he might be as good as any player in camp after three days, but he has done so at the expense of his teammates.  Thus, explains why Minor doesn't get ranked any higher than #9 in our rankings.  We also were extremely impressed again with 6'8 Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S.) LA, 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Pineview (H.S.) LA just gets better and better every time we see him, and 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN is one of the few true warriors in camp.  And rounding out our top five players in camp is 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who still hasn't risen to the occasion and taken over.  However, it doesn't really matter, because Ebi is the most talented player in camp, despite the fact he didn't outplay '6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ when their two teams met on Sunday afternoon.  Early this morning I will be flying from Indianapolis, IN to Newark, NJ to spend the last three days at the adidas ABCD Camp and I am especially looking forward to the two big matchups at 2:00 PM.  Not only do the two top point guards in the camp - 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY and 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA - go head-to-head, but the #2 and #3-ranekd centers - 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX and 6'9 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY - will square off.  While Allen Rubin, Adam Gorney, Mike Giuliani, Chris Johnson, and myself will be providing in-depth coverage of the adidas ABCD Camp for each of the next three days, Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report will remain at the NIKE All-American Camp and let us know what changes we need to make as the week winds down in Indianapolis.  One final note from NIKE involves 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH.  If you will recall, he was absolutely sensational on Sunday and, as a result, was ranked as the #1 player in camp by the HOOP SCOOP 24 hours ago.   However, Lavender was mediocre in both the afternoon and evening sessions yesterday, so it should come as no surprise that he drops to #19 in camp after the third day.   

Monday, July 8, 2002

While the NBA guys all seem to get caught with size (i.e Yao Ming going #1 in the NBA Draft), it is ironic that after the evening session of the second practice day at the NIKE All-American Camp, the #1 ranked player in camp by the HOOP SCOOP is a 5'7 point guard.  We've talking about Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who scored at will in transition, but, at the same, didn't forget his teammates.  As a matter of fact, no point guard in camp did a better job of getting his teammates involved.   Lavender edges out 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who was the best player in camp after the first day.  Rounding out our top five in camp are 6'6 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK, 6'4 Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S.) LA, and 6'4 Roderick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, none of whom are ranked among the very elite players nationally in the Class of 2003.  The #1 ranked underclassman and the only underclassmen ranked among our top 10 in camp is 6'9 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  However, 13 of the top 30 players in camp are underclassmen and 33 of the 65 players who were ranked among the top players at their position in camp are underclassmen.  In other words, if the glass is half full, the camp has an incredible amount of young talent.  But if the class is half emtpy, the camp really lacks depth in the senior class.  Certainly this will give you a good guide as to what has happened during the first two days of camp, but, like they say, you are only as good as your last game.  So players like 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'4 Shannon Brown from Proviso East) IL had better bring their "A" game the next three days if they want to have a chance to move in the rankings.  Remember, we rank players based primarily on camp performance and not college and pro potential, which means a guy like 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY can't just stand around in the high post, be tall, and be ranked among our top players in camp.   Our International Editor Chris Johnson has to be pleased by the fact that four Africans - 6'10 Longar Longar from Rochester (John Marshall) MN, Deng, Tangara, and Ebi - are ranked among the top dozen in camp.  And when you add 6'8 Jr Juan Diego Tello Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, there are five foreign players ranked among the top 25, plus two more - 6'7 Jr Churchill Oda Ehis from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'9 Ousmane Barro from Chicago (Julian) IL - who just miss making our top 30 in camp.

Sunday, July 7, 2002

After the first practice session last night, 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is already verbally committed Duke, emerged as the best player at the NIKE All-American Camp.   Humphries was like a man among boys, as he scored at will from 15-feet and in.   He also was one of the few players in camp who actually did more than just go through the motions last night.  Speaking of the importance of playing hard, it's obvious that most of these guys are waiting until Monday when the college coaches arrive before turning it up and, as a result, we're going to place a lot of importance on who plays hard early when ranking the top players in camp.  However, with 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury  Christian) TX, who was the second best player last night, it may not matter, because he's just so talented, athletic, and skilled.   Also ranked among our top 20 players in camp after one session are 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, 6'7 Corey Gibbs from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, 6'6 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK, 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI, 6'10 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'10 Longar Longar from Rochester (John Marshall) MN, 6'4 Roderick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'4 Jr Terry Evans from St. Louis (Cardinal Ritter) MO, 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Pineville (H.S.) LA, 5'11 Tauren Minor from Houston (Jones) TX, 6'8 Chris Richard from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'0 Chris Paul from Clemmons (West Forsythe) NC, 6'7 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'8 Jr Jerrell Houston from Memphis (East) TN, and 6'8 Jr Juan Diego Tello Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY.  We also thought the two underclassmen from the Albany City Rocks - 6'7 Jr Dayshawn Wright from Syracuse (Fowler) NY and 6'1 Soph Tikki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) OH - and the two freshmen 5'9 Demond Carter from Laplace (Reserve Christian) LA and 6'10 Derrick Character from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ also were among the better players in camp.  Speaking of Character, Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ head coach Kevin Boyle tells us that Character made it official earlier this week and, as a result, St. Patrick once again should be one of the premier high school high school teams in the nation next year.   Several other players who would be ranked among the better in camp include 6'9 Jr Kalen Grimes from Florissant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 6'3 Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'5 Jr Malik Harriston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'2 Antwi Atuahene from Toronto (Marian Academy) ON, 6'7 Jr Rudy Gay from Baltimore (Eastern Tech) MD, 6'0 Jay Jackson from Monroe (Ouachita Parish) LA, 6'7 Shaune Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN. 6'4 Blake Adams from Houston (Nimitz) TX, 6'10 Courtney Sims from Roslindale (Noble and Greenough School) MA, and 6'7 Jr Charles Thomas from Jackson (Lanier) MS.  We didn't get a chance to see 6'10 Jermareo Davidson from Stone Mountain (H.S.) GA, who an ankle injury on Friday night, but we understand he was extremely impressive before the injury.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson talked with Naymick, Tanagara, Thomas, 6'5 C.J. Anderson from Jackson (Lanier) MS, and 7'0 Robert Rothbart from Cupertino (Monta Vista) CA yesterday and found out the following about their recruitment.  Naymick says he plans to commit during the dead period between July 17th-21st.  The final four are Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Stanford, but right now he's offering no clue as to who might be in the lead.  Our guess is that it will be either Michigan or Michigan State, but Ohio State could turn out to be the compromise choice, if he decides it's impossible to pick one in-state school over another.  Tanagara mentions North Carolina, Duke, Michigan, Cincinnati, and Connecticut, but we also know that Memphis, Tennessee, and Georgia are in hot pursuit.  Anderson likes Georgetown, Cincinnati, DePaul, Florida, Maryland, Purdue, and Michigan State, but only the Hoyas and the Bearcats have offered. Thomas says his favorite school is North Carolina, but he hasn't heard much from the Tar Heels.  Instead, it appears that Oklahoma and LSU, both of which Thomas hears from regularly, are the favorites for this outstanding defender with an incredible wing span and good rebounding skills.  And just like Thomas, Rothbart wants to hear from North Carolina.  However, the Pac-10 is more realistic, as schools like California, Stanford, and UCLA top his list.

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin talked with a number of players at the adidas ABCD Camp last night and earlier today and it appears that he has stumbled upon a major scoop.  Believe it not, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Rolling Hills (Palos Verdes) CA says he verbally committed to USC several weeks ago, but that's the first we've heard of it.  However, it's not the first our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonas has heard about it.  But Trigonis tells us that he didn't mention it because "the commitment is premature."  Does that mean the Trojans haven't offered Allen, who is ranked #39 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, yet or is Trigonis just trying to influence the deal?  Cincinnati, Connecticut, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, UNLV, and USC were the schools mentioned by 6'8 Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA, who is currently ranked #13 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  LSU, Duke, Michigan, Alabama, North Carolina, and Arizona were all mentioned by 6'7 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, who is the #1-ranked sophomore in America by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, we'd be surprised if Mitchell goes anywhere but LSU.  Did you know that his godfather is LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre?   Maryland stills leads Boston College and Connecticut for 6'5 Michael Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA.  LSU, Maryland, Kansas, and Indiana are the favorites for 6'8 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University) LA. The list for 6'10 Tyrone Nelson from Homestead (H.S.) TX includes Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Texas.  Indiana, Utah, and Kansas are the leaders for 6'6 Richard Cobbs from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA.  We thought 6'8 Jr Sylvester Seay was at Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, but he said he was at San Bernadino (H.S.) CA.  Either way, he has an interesting combination of East Coast and West Coast schools on his list that includes Syracuse, Boston College, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, and USC.  Alabama is believed to be the heavy favorite for 6'10 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, but the first school out of his mouth was Louisville, followed by Alabama, Auburn, UAB, Connecticut, and Purdue.  Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa State, Stanford, Utah, USC, and UCLA were all mentioned by 6'10 Jr David Burgess from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA.  Obviously it comes as no surprise that Burgess didn't mention Duke.  One of the top recruiting priorities for Tulane is 6'7 Kenny Hooks from Curley (East Central) MS, so it comes as no surprise that the Green Wave is right at the top of his list, along with Mississippi State, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.  Stanford, DePaul, Arizona State, Colorado State, SMU, Rice, Texas A&M, Drake, Massachusetts, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale were all mentioned by 6'6 Michael Milton from Plano (H.S.) TX.  Texas, Texas Tech Marquette, Tennessee, N.C. State, and Kansas were mentioned by 6'5 Jawann McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX.  Michael Umeh, the 6'2 2-guard from Missouri City (Hightower) TX likes Georgeia Tech, Colorado State, Tulane, Tulsa, UNLV, and Houston.   North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri are the early favorites for 6'6 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (LBJ) TX.  Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Marquette, Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, and North Texas are all in the hunt for 6'10 Jr Delbert Simpson from Tyler (John Tyler) TX.  5'8 Jr Justin Wilson from Dickinson (H.S.) TX likes Louisville, Colorado State, and Michigan.  Texas, Oklahoma, TCU, Houston, Oregon State, Oregon, Nebraka, Baylor, Yale, and Princeton were mentioned by 6'3 Lanny Smith from Missouri City (Hightower) TX.  The early list for 6'6 Jr Shan Foster from Kenner (Bonnabell) LA includes Purdue, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, LSU, and Southern Miss.  Tennessee and Florida are the early favorites for 5'10 Jr Mike Williams from Orlando (Edgewater) FL.  Colorado State, Loyola-Marymount, New Mexico, Pepperdine, Yale, Brown, and Princeton are showing the most interest in 6'4 Brett Collins from Phoenix (Mountain Pointe) AZ.   A really early list for 6'10 Soph Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Finger) IL includes Louisvlle, Kentucky, Illinois, and Florida.

Saturday, July 6, 2002

This afternoon we finished our Final Ranking of the Top 140 Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2002 and Thursday we published our final list of National Commitments.  However, our Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference from the 2001-2002 Spring Signing Period and our report, which provides you with Different Ways to Look at Recruiting from The 2001-2002 Spring Signing Period, both will have to wait until August, because we've run out of time.  Especially noteworthy are some of the teams that we previously had not been tracking on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date, but are now ranked pretty high.  The two that we find to be the most interesting are Southern Mississippi, which now is ranked #32, and New Orleans, which checks in at #39.  The key for Southern Miss, which also landed 6'11 Geoffrey Brown from Sheridan (JC) WY, who was one of the top junior college big men in the nation last fall, was keeping the top three graduating seniors in the state - 6'4 Jason Forte from Bay Springs (H.S.) MS, 6'5 Sammy Richardson from Utica (Hinds County) MS, and 6'2 Jarekus Singleton from Clinton (H.S.) MS - at home and picking up 6'8 Greg Johnson from Southern Union (JC) AL when he couldn't get into Mississippi, which is where he signed last fall.  If you will recall, the Southeastern Conference has a rule, whereby, a player has to attend the same junior college for three straight semester before transferring to a four-year school in the league and that's why Johnson's National-Letter-of-Intent was ruled null-and-void.   The big prize for New Orleans is 6'1 Johnell Smith from Chipola (JC) FL, who also signed with the Privateers a year ago, but didn't make it academically and, as a result, spent another year in junior college.  He'll join 6'10 Ben Elias from Tallahassee (Richards) FL, 6'8 Billy McDade from Largo (H.S.) FL, 6'9 Shawn Molloy from Raeford (Hock County) NC, and 6'7 Tommy Biggans from Vero Beach (H.S.) FL to give the Privateers the #1-ranked recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference.  And we look for Monte Towe and his staff  to continue to be strong in the state of Florida in the future.  As a matter of fact, we think it's a two-horse race between New Orleans and the University of Florida for 6'0 Mike O'Donnell from Largo (H.S.) FL and our guess is that the Privateers will prevail for several reasons.  First, O'Donnell is the high school teammate of McDade, who signed with New Orleans last fall.  Second, the University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan can't take all the point guards - 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, 6'1 T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, and 6'2 Lee Humphrey from Maryville (H.S.) TN - that that Gators are out in front on.  Third, Towe, who has spent a good part of his adult life coaching at the University of Florida and in the junior college ranks, is a legend in the state. We also have confirmed via Dave Telep of TheInsidersHoops.com that the Gators have gotten a verbal commitment from 6'8 Chris Richard from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, who is ranked #49 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis tells us that 6'8 Patrick Ewing, Jr from Marietta (H.S.) GA is transferring to Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD and a reliable source tells us that UTEP assistant coach Silvy Dominguez has gotten the open assistant coaching position at UTEP.  So this may open the door for UTEP to hire former Baylor assistant coach Mike Wilson, who has plenty of contacts in Texas dating back to his days at Baylor. 

Friday, July 5, 2002

We were right yesterday when we told you that we thought Dave Telep of the TheInsidersHoops.com had jumped the gun on reporting that 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, who is ranked #40 nationally in the Class of 2003, by the HOOP SCOOP.  It didn't become official until noon today.  That's when University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino got the phone call from this athletic combo guard.  Louisville also is hoping to get a commitment from 7'3 Shargi Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, but Villanova, Seton Hall, and Miami-FL are also all right in the thick of things.  In other words, we don't look for anything to happen with Alleyne at least until after the NIKE All-American Camp is over the middle of next week.  However, we are expecting 6'3 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, who is ranked #151 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, to make it official for Rutgers early next week at the adidas ABCD Camp.  And, if that happens, that could get the ball rolling for the Scarlet Knights to solidify a package that might also include 6'8 Jr Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'11 Jr Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'1 Jr Will Sheridan from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, 6'2 Jr Jamar Nutter from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, and 6'7 Jr Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, all of whom play for Jimmy Salmon on the Tim Thomas Playazz.  Speaking of Salmon, he apparently was giving our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Allen Rubin a hard time about was written recently on our web site.  Salmon had heard second-hand from a number of college coaches that he was trying to package all the above mentioned players to Rutgers.  But that's not what we said at all.  Instead, we suggested that Rutgers make Salmon part of the package, if that would help in terms of getting all or most of his players.  "And how about also making Jimmy Salmon, who is the director of the Tim Thomas Playaz program, part of the package," is the exact quote from Wednesday, June 26th.  "Remember, Salmon already has college coaching experience dating back to the year he spent at Villanova with Tim Thomas, plus he's since built the Tim Thomas Playaz into one of the premier club team programs in the nation."  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has confirmed that 6'8 Ivan Harris from Springfield (South) OH will indeed transfer to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  If you recall, we reported that this was supposed to happen about a week ago.  While this will be Harris' third school in three years - he transferred from Springfield (North) OH to Springfield (South) OH year ago, he still isn't moving fast enough to keep up with Brandon Bender.  If you will recall, since quitting the team at Louisville in January, originally it looked like Bender would either go straight to the NBA or to Malcolm X (JC) IL.  However, he later surfaced at Vincennes (JC) IN.  But that didn't last long and now he appears to be heading to Cincinnati State (JC) OH.

Thursday, July 4, 2002

We saw 6'3 Jimmy Hudson from Eustice (H.S.) FL, who is ranked #154 nationally in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, two months ago at the Houston Kingwood Classic and we liked his athleticism, upside, and ability to hit the trey.  In other words, chalk another one up for Clemson, because the Tigers have gotten an early commitment from Hudson and, as a result, have another person who can help them recruit on the road this summer.  Obviously we're talking about Hudson and his friendship with a number of other players that Clemson is targeting in next year's recruiting class.  This comes on the heels of Clemson's current recruiting class, which includes 6'9 Akin Akingbala from Greenwich (Brunswick) CT, 6'7 Lamar Rice from Mott (JC) MI, 6'5 Ori Ichaki from Israel, 6'2 Shawan Robinson from Raleigh (Leesville Road) NC, and 6'5 Julian Betko from Sharon (H.S.) PA and is ranked #41 nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Speaking of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date, we will be changing that to Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2002 sometime tomorrow.  We also are just about finished updating our list of National Commitments and, yes, Hudson is on the list.  However, 6'4 Jr Adam Williams from St. Albans (H.S.) WV to Kentucky and 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI to Louisville are not on the list.  Dave Telep of the TheInsidersHoops.com is reporting that Jenkins has verbally commitment to the Cardinals.  While we expect this to happen soon, we believe that Telep has jumped the gun.  Either that or our best source on these things has fallen asleep at the switch.  We also think the Cardinals could get another verbal commitment sooner than later and the most likely candidate is 7'3 Shargi Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY.  And if both of these commitments materialize, that would give the Cardinals two legit top 40 players in the nation (currently Alleyne is ranked #30 nationally and Jenkins is ranked #40 nationally in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP).  Both All-Star Sports and the Charleston Gazette are reporting that Williams has made an early verbal commitment to the Wildcats, so we will add Williams to our list of verbal commitments as we continue to update that list.  This is especially interesting, because nobody in the business, except Gibbons, has ever seen Williams, much less heard of him.  Apparently Gibbons had him at one of his workouts this spring and he plans to rank Williams among the top 25 players in his class nationally.  However, we have to wonder whether that's because Williams is going to Kentucky and whether he is really that good?  Remember, some people in our business have a tendency to overhype players who are going to certain schools.  But Williams must be pretty good, because the Wildcats coaching staff got a good look at him last month at their basketball camp.  Making the story even more intriguing is the fact that Williams father is the head coach at St. Albans High School and the last great player he had was Florida's Brett Nelson.   Speaking of the Wildcats coaching staff, it came as no surprise that University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith hired Hawaii assistant coach Scott Rigot several days ago.  Rigot was an assistant coach, along with Smith, in the George Felton regime at the University of South Carolina in the late 1980's and also was the head coach at Spartanburg Methodist (JC) SC from 1990-96 and UAB from 1996-99.  Rigot has also had an reputation for being an excellent coach and teacher dating back to the old days when college coaches were allowed to work the Five-Star Basketball Camp, but the recruitment of international players is his specialty.  As a matter of fact, Hawaii has gone to the NCAA Tournament the last two years with a roster full of foreign players, like Carl English and Phil Martin, both of whom are from Canada, Predrag Sovovic, Mindaugas Bumeika, Bosko Radovic, Nkerunem Akpan, Paul Jesinskis, Haim Skimonovich, Lance Takaki, and LucArthur Vebobe.  As for who Univesity of Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace might hire, two great candidates for the job would be UTEP assistant coach Silvy Dominguez and former Richmond assistant coach Mike Wilson. 

Immediately following the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ will be the adidas Three Stripes Classic, which will be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY on July 12th-14th.  The list of team's that will be participating includes Baltimore Select, DC Assault, Connecticut, Select, Illinois Fire, Sam Rines, New Jersey Deamons, Long Island Panthers, LA Rockfish, Minutemen Press, Texas Blue Chips, Philadelphia Phoenix, Inland, Southeast Raptors, Michigan Mustangs, Richmond Squires, Tim Thomas Playaz, New York Elite, Middlesex Magic, New York Ravens, Ft. Sooy, USA All-Stars, Houston Superstars, Juice All-Stars, and Team Minnesota.  So obviously most of the top players from the adidas ABCD Camp will be in attendance, plus, this will give us a chance to see everybody in more of a team setting.  Gary DeCesare, who is the tournament director for the adidas Three Stripes Classic, tells us that the first set of games will tip-off at 5:00 PM on Friday, July 12th.   There also will be a set of games at 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM on Friday night, followed by non-stop action all day on Saturday, July 13th, from 9:00 AM to 10:30 PM.  The playoffs will begin at 6:00 PM on Saturday and the sem-finals be held on Suday, July 14th, at 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM, with the championship games at Noon and 1:30 PM.  For more information as it becomes available, click on St. Raymond's High School.  DeCesare also was the head coach of the East Squad, which finished last weekend at the Men's Youth Basketball Development Festival last weekend in Colorado Springs, CO, and he tells us that the best player was easily 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX.  This comes as no surprise to us, because we've been telling everybody who would listen that Ebi is the second best player in the Class of 2003 behind 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH since we saw him right after Christmas in the Academy National Invitational Tournament in Houston, TX.  Ebi not only was the leading scorer with 29 ppg, the leading rebounder with 16 rpg, and leader in blocked shots with 4.0 ppg, but he also had the best individual performance on the entire tournament with 39 points and 20 rebounds versus the North.  Also playing extremely well were 6'10 David Padgett from Reno (H.S.) NV, who lead the tournament in field goal percentage (65%) and 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, who went for 36 points versus the West squad.  However, Lavender, who averaged 21 ppg, was not the leading scorer for his team.  Instead, the leading scorer for the North was 6'8 Ivan Harris from Springfield (South) OH with 23 ppg and 10 rpg.  Also chipping in for 20 ppg for the North was 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Complementing Ebi on the South Squad were 5'10 Tauren Minor from Houston (Washington) TX with 19.0 ppg, 6'2 Jr JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC with 15 ppg, and 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Pineville (H.S.) LA with 14.0 ppg.  The best player for the East Team, as well as the second best player in the entire tournament, according to DeCesare, was 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who finished with 18 ppg, 5 apg, and 6 rpg.   Also playing well for the East were 6'7 Demetrius Nichols from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI with 15 ppg, 6'7 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergan Catholic) NJ with 14 ppg, and 6'3 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ with 13 ppg.  The West Squad was led by 6'4 Roderick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA with 23.0 ppg, Padgett with 17 ppg, 6'2 Marcus Williams from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA wih 16 ppg, and 6'4 Loderick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA with 10 ppg.  DeCesare also mentions 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, who was one of the only underclassmen in attendance, and 6'9 Travis Outlaw, who was absolutely sensational in his final game. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2002

Everybody thinks of Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, and DePaul when you start talking about the top teams in Conference USA, but the team that has recruited as well as anybody in the league recently is Charlotte.   Don't believe it?  Well, what would you think if I told you that they just got a commitment from 6'11 Martin Iti from Winchendon (School) MA?   Remember, this tremendous athlete and shot blocker not only has an incredible upside, but he's pretty good right now, as was evident a month ago at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, where he finished ranked among our top 10 players in the tournament.  Of course, there is always the chance that Iti will by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring, but, assuming that Iti does play a year or two for the 49ers, then head coach Bobby Lutz will have one of the best front lines in college basketball.  Obviously we're talking about Iti being the center and 6'7 Curtis Withers from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC, who is ranked #31 nationally in the graduating senior class and who is beast inside with his athleticism, build, and ferociousness on the boards.  Charlotte also has 6'6 Vincent Grier from Raleigh (Bonner Academy) NC and 6'8 Tyler Best from Lafayette (Central Catholic) IN in the current recruiting class, which is ranked #51 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date, plus in a year they will have 6'2 Brendan Plavich, who led the Southeastern Conference last season in 3-point shooting at Vanderbilt.  If you will recall, Plavich transferred from Vandy to Charlotte this spring.  In other words, the lineup of the future for Charlotte will likely include Iti, Withers, 6'5 Eddie Basden, Grier, and Plavich and, if Lutz can keep them all together for a couple of years, we may be talking about one of the best teams in college basketball  We also are talking about a coaching staff that deserves a raise, because getting Iti is one of the biggest catches to-date in next year's class.  And the Iti comitment isn't the only big news of the day, as our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has confirmed that 5'10 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wymoing Park (H.S.) MI, who has ranked #112 nationally in the junior class, has made an early verbal commitment to Michigan State.  Neitzel is tough hardnosed competitor with good speed and quickness for a white, plus he has excellent ballhandling skills and NBA 3-point range.  Neitzel would be comparable to former Michigan State All-American Scott Skiles, if it weren't for the fact that physically he's got to get a lot bigger and stronger.   Instead, our Michigan Editor Steve Bell thinks Neitzel is more like former Ohio State point guard Jay Burson.  And just like Burson, Neitzel puts up prolific numbers.  So obviously the Spartans will be set in the backcourt for years to come, because earlier this spring they also got an early commitment from 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, who is ranked #24 nationally in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And the icing the cake would be for the Spartans to also land 6'10 Jr Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI, who is ranked #48 nationally in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Sure, the Spartans have signed a number of big guys, including 6'10 Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) MI, 6'10 Erazem Lorbeck from Slovenia, 6'8 Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'7 Delco Rowley from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN, but currently there is not a true low post center in the entire program.  In other words, Naymick would be the final piece to the puzzle, as Michigan State continues on their quest to be the next dynasty in college.  Remember, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans to three of the last four NCAA Final Four's and everybody, expect Marcus Taylor will be back next season.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Marcus White from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, who is ranked #82 nationally in the graduating senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed with the University of Connecticut.  This is an important catch, because White was the best inside player still available.  He was the only player ranked among our top 100 graduating seniors who was still available.   White has a lot natural talent and excellent skills, but he needs to learn to play harder, which he will, if he is going to be successful playing for Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun.  Making the situation even more ironic is the fact that White, who originally signed with DePaul last fall, appears to be the player to be named later in the Dave Leitao deal.  Remember, Leitao, who was ranked as one of the top five assistant coaches in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP when he was at Connecticut, became the new head coach at DePaul this spring.  We also have confirmed via our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis that Wesley Stokes, who is transferring from Missouri, has finally picked a school.  Write him down for San Diego State!  He joins 6'10 Chris Manker, who announced he is transferring from Oregon State to San Diego State, and 6'6 Travis Hanour, who announced he is transferring from Arizona to San Diego State, earlier this spring.  If that weren't enough, the Aztecs also added a pair of recruits - 6'3 Brandon Heath from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'10 Samuel Eze from Abuga, Nigeria - to a group that returns all of its top players, except Randy Holcomb, from a team that won 21 games and played in the NCAA Tournament three-and-a-half months ago. 

Tuesday, July 2, 2002

For all practical purposes, the summer camp season officially begins this weekend as both NIKE All-American Camp, which will be Friday, July 5th, to Wednesday, July 10th, and the adidas ABCD Camp, which will be Sunday, July 7th, to Thursday, July 11th, will be getting under way.  The NIKE All-American Camp is closed to all spectators and media on Friday, July 5th, so we plan to arrive on Saturday, July 6th, in time for the evening practice session, which will be from 7:00 PM-10:30 PM CST.  We also will attend the evening practice session on Sunday, July 7th, which will be at the same time - 7:00 PM-10:30 PM CST.  We also plan to watch stations on Monday, July 8th, from 9:00 AM-Noon and games in both the afternoon from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM and the evening from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.  The camp will follow the same playing schedule on Tuesday, July 9th, and Wednesday, July 10th, but on Tuesday morning I will fly to Newark, NJ to attend the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ, which will follow a similar afternoon and evening schedule.  At adidas, they will have a practice session from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM on Sunday, July 7th.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, July 8th-10th, the afternoon session will run from 2:00 PM-5:30 PM and the evening session will be from 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM.  On Thursday, July 11th, the playoffs will be from 9:30 AM-4:00 PM, the Underclassmen All-Star Game will be at 7:00 PM, and the Senior All-Star Game will be 8:30 PM.  The NIKE All-American Camp is not open to the public and media outlets are limited to only two credentials per publication.  In contrast, the adidas ABCD Camp is open to the public and there is always a $5 per person charge per session.  College coaches will be allowed to attend both camps starting on July 8th.  The official roster for the NIKE All-American won't be released until, Saturday, July 6th.  The official roster for the adidas ABCD Camp normally isn't released until one-hour prior to the afternoon session on Monday, July 8th.  Among the players we expect to be in attendance at the adidas ABDC Camp are 5'10 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'3 Mustafa Shakur from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'2 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'9 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'10 David Padgett from Reno (H.S.) NV, 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 5'10 Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin) WA, 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (H.S.) WI, 6'3 Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'4 Dion Harris from Detroit (Redford) MI,  6'9 Walter Waters from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'3 Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, 6'7 Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL, 5'10 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'10 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'8 Brandon Bass from New Orleans (Capital) LA, 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'7 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'8 Lawrence Carrier from Salisbury (School) CT, 6'8 Jr Sylvester Seay from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'5 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'5 Jr Dwayne Day from Vidalia (H.S.) GA, 6'7 Jr Josh Smith from Marietta (McEachern) GA, 6'8 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark) GA, 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL, 6'10 Stefan Zimmerman from Orem (Mountain View) UT, 6'7 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, 6'3 Jr Jemarcus Ellis from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'3 Omar Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'2 Marcus Williams from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA, 6'8 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'1 Ayinde Ubaka from Oakland (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA, 6'8 Ivan Harris from Springfield (South) OH, 6'6 Oumar Sylla from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'2 Jimmy Miles from Homewood (Christian) IL, 6'8 Omari Israel from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'3 Art Bowers from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'8 Will Sheridan from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, 6'3 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'4 Roderick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'4 Loderick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'10 Jr Ra'Sean Dickey from Clio (Marlboro County) SC, 6'1 Lawrence McKenzie from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN, 5'9 Soph Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, 6'5 Roosevelt Lee from New Britain (H.S.) CT, 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'6 Elliah Clark from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'11 Martin Iti from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'9 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Garces) CA, 6'0 Khalif Ford from Diamond Bar (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY, 6'10 Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'5 Bobby Nash from Honolulu (Iolani) HI, 6'2 Bryon Davis from Detroit (Rogers) MI, 5'9 Jr Drew Neitzel from Wyoming Park (H.S.) MI, 6'1 Jr Rico Harris from Detroit (Denby) MI, and 6'11 Malik Badiane from the Senegal. Among the players we expect to be in attendance at the NIKE All-American Camp are 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'4 Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, 5'11 Tauren Minor from Houston (Washington) TX, 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'8 Kenneth Harris from Hammond (Bishop Noll) IN, 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Drew Naymick from North Muskegon (H.S.) MI, 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Frosh Derrick Character from Scotch Plains, NJ, 6'1 Soph Eric Price from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'7 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'2 Jr JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC, 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'8 D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, 6'5 J.R. Giddens from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK, 6'1 T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'10 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL, 6'8 Chris Richard from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 5'11 Jr Alex Gordon from Pensacola (H.S.) FL, 6'5 Jr Cornelius Ingram from Hawthorne (H.S.) FL, 6'5 Jr Brandon Rush from Kansas City (Westport) MO, 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Pineville (H.S.) LA, 6'9 Jr Juan Diego Tellos Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'10 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Alex Weeks from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, 6'2 Vincent Banks from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'5 Mike Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA, 6'2 Soph Monte Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'2 Soph Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Jr DayShaun Wright from Syracuse (Fowler) NY, 6'11 Jr Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI, 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'4 Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'4 Wendell White from Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) CA, 6'8 Emmanuel Willis from Mendenhall (H.S.) MS, 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 5'7 Andrew Lavender from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, 6'5 C.J. Anderson from Cincinnati (Winton Woods) OH, 6'6 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH, 6'9 Dan Coleman from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'5 Ricky Lucas from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'1 Michael Nardi from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'3 Jr Marquis Cooke from Sulfolk (Nanesmond River) VA, 6'9 Darian Townes from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 7'0 Jr Roy Hibbert from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'2 Jr Isaiah Swann from Rockville (Magruder) MD, 6'7 Jr Charles Thomas from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'3 Jr Bobby Clark from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'7 Jr Charles Rhodes from Jackson (Provine) MS, 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI, 6'4 Jr Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaisssance) MI, 6'3 Jr Joseph Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'8 Keith Wooden from Lawrence (Free State) KS, 6'3 Jr Tyree Evans from Richmond (George Wythe) VA, 6'0 Derek Ravio from Vancouver (Mountain View) WA, 5'10 Frosh Demond Carter from La Place (Reserve Christian) LA, and 6'2 8th Grader O.J. Mayo from Rose Hill (H.S.) KY.

Monday, July 1, 2002

"Fired UR assistant has questionable past.  Age, education, experience in doubt" read the headline of the article written by John O'Connor in yesterday's Richmond Times-Dispatch. And the article was just as sensational. "Mike Wilson gained a reputation as one of college basketball's top recruiters through the past decade,"  says O'Connor.  "But when Wilson switched from Auburn's staff to UR's on May 22, exactly who moved into the Robins Center's basketball suite?  "Did UR get Mike Wilson, 42? Or Mike Wilson, 46? Did Richmond hire the Mike Wilson who graduated from Southeastern Louisiana? Or Mike Wilson who attended Allegheny Community College in Pittsburgh and took correspondence courses from Southeastern University in Washington?  Did Richmond get the Mike Wilson who lettered four seasons in basketball at Bethel Park High in Pittsburgh and went on to become the school's head coach? Or a guy who never played basketball at Bethel Park or coached the sport there? Wilson's bios in media guides at the schools at which he worked as an aide - Penn State, McNeese State, UNC Wilmington, Baylor, Rhode Island and Auburn - present a confusing portfolio that frequently does not match reality. Wilson was fired by UR on Friday for reasons Jerry Wainwright and Jim Miller, Richmond's athletic director, chose not to explain. UR's announcement of the dismissal stated only that Wilson 'has been released.'  Richmond's action came a day after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contacted Miller about several discrepancies in Wilson bios, including the one produced by UR when Wilson was hired in May.  'I felt like I was honest with Richmond,' Wilson said.  'I didn't try to mislead them in any way.  I didn't try to give them something on my resume that was inaccurate.  Everything is right on the money.' Wilson says he was surprised when Miller requested a meeting Friday morning.  'I was brought in by the AD and he asked me to resign,' Wilson said.  'I contacted an attorney and he told me not to resign.   Then, they terminated me.  They never gave me a reason.  I've never been told why.  It was sort of bang, bang, and then it was over.'  Wilson knew why.   'This has been going on for a couple of months,' he conceded.  According to Wilson, UR understood the truth when he was hired:  There were several inaccuracies in his bios at previous schools.  He said he brought them to the attention of his employers at Richmond when he submitted his resume.  If that's the case, Miller either didn't understand what Wilson was telling him, or Miller wasn't seriously concerned about the issue until the Post-Gazette called.  A Post-Gazette reporter informed Miller that the newspaper planned to write stories about college coaches and administrators who enhanced resumes with false info. Wilson, a Pittsburgh native and Bethel Park High graduate, was among the subjects in articles that appeared in the Post-Gazette yesterday.  The Post-Gazette reported that Wilson is 46, not 42, his age as listed by Auburn. Wilson would not reveal his age in an interview Friday.  But he admitted that he did not attend Southeastern Louisiana, listed as his alma mater in most bios, including the one on UR's Web site. Wilson's bio in the 1993-94 Penn State media guide claimed that he graduated from Ohio University in 1982.  And Wilson did not play hoops at Bethel Park High, according to the school's former coach, "Red" Ryan.  Nor did Wilson coach there. "I guess he thought no one would ever check," Ryan told the Post-Gazette.  Previous bios state that Wilson played and was the head coach at Bethel Park.  He also claimed to have coached at another high school at which he never worked.  Other bios indicate Wilson graduated from Bethel Park in 1977.  In fact, he graduated in 1973.  Asked to explain the discrepancies, Wilson initially suggested the mistakes were made by sports information offices at various colleges.  Asked more specifically about errors, Wilson said, 'I let some things go.'  He could not explain further, Wilson said, because he's considering legal action.  He would not identify who or what school or schools he might take legal action against."  Wilson also was quoted saying, "I know I'll get another job.  People know me."  But "do they," asked OConnor.  Obviously O'Connor doesn't know Wilson, who not only is one of "basketball's best recruiter's," but also is widely regarded as one of the best guys in the business and was ranked among the top five assistant coaches by the HOOP SCOOP last February.  And he's done it the hard way.  When I first met Wilson he was an assistant coach at Skippery Rock and at Penn State, McNeese State, UNC Wilmington, Baylor, Rhode Island, and Auburn, he's always gotten players and, as a result, has left the program in better shape than before he arrived.  He also was the guy that University of Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins tried to hire twice last summer, but Wilson had just gotten remarried and didn't want to move again after being at Auburn for only a year.  Speaking of Huggins, you can be darn sure that nothing like this would happen at Cincinnati, because Huggins could care less about being politically correct.  He also backs his people up, which is something that Richmond head coach Jerry Wainwright and the Spiders athletic department appears to have failed to have done.  The key word here is "appears," because what we know about the case and what has been written above by O'Connor isn't enough to get anybody fired.  We're not talking about a job resume' or a job application and we're not talking about anything pertaining to Wilson's performance on the job.   As a matter of fact, the headline "Fired UR assistant has questionable past. Age, education, experience in doubt" is almost as misleading as all the discrepancies on Wilson's bio itself.  The tone of the headline makes you wonder whether Wilson got caught embazzling money, buying players, or dealing drugs.  Who cares how old he is or where he graduated from college, as long as he does have his degree.  And anybody who questions Wilson's experience is bordering on reckless disregard as to whether the information is true or false, which is the standard of proof necessary to win a liable case when somebody is recognized as a public figure.  Unless the University of Richmond has a lot more than has already been reported, it looks like they have set a dangerous precedent, whereby, accuracy on your bio is a lot more important than your performance on the job.  Now if O'Connor and/or the University of Richmond could prove that Wilson doesn't have a college degree, which is necessary to get hired as an assistant coach by most Division college and universities, then maybe all the rest of the stuff that O'Connor so eloquently described above would be relevant.  However, we'd be very surprised if that happened.  Certainly O'Connor is good writer, but he's a lousy journalist, because he's either made a mountain out of molehill or he's failed to uncover the real story behind the story.  As for Wilson, there is no doubt that he will be one of the leading candidates for whatever jobs become available in the immediate future.  Remember, getting players, not biographical information, wins games!   And that's the bottom, as long as your school doesn't go on probation and you are doing things right.

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