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Saturday, July 31, 2004

6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA picked up where he left off last night, as he finished with 33 points, 10-18 field goals, five steals, and four assists  and led his team to a 83-80 win over Memphis YOMCA in the championship of the 2004 17-Under AAU Junior Boys' Nationals at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL.  Williams also knocked down three 3-pointers, took several charges, and, once again, played under control enough for us to rank him as the best player in the senior class nationally ahead of 6'11 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL when we adjust our rankings of the top player in the Class of 2005 in mid-August.  Williams was complemented by 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, who finished with 18 points and thrived in the Georgia Stars' uptempo pace; 6'9 Alade Aminu from Stone Mountain (Stephenson) GA, who finished with 12 points, provided an intimidating presence inside, and more than held his own against all the big physical players, like 6'8 Jr Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 6'9 Yamene Coleman from Camden (Wilcox Central) TN, 6'7 Desmond Yates from Somerville (Fayette-Ware) TN, and 6'8 Jr Wayne Chism from Jackson (Southside) TN on Memphis YOMCA; 6'2 Billy Humphrey from Dacula (H.S.) GA, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points, 6'6 Jay Brown from Griffin (H.S.) GA, who finished with nine points and helped control the boards.  Also putting up prolific numbers, as well as making up for his mediocre four-point performance last night was 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who finished with 25 points and hit some clutch 3-point shots just like he did a year ago when he hit five 3-pointers and finished with 29 points en route to tournament MVP honors, as Memphis YOMAC beat Sports Academy (LA) in the championship game.  Williams was complemented by 6'8 Jr Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, who finished with 15 points and hit 11-15 field goals, but still forced things and never really in sync; 6'8 Jr Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, who had 12 points and impressed us with his skills, defense, and versatily for somebody his size (he even stepped out and it a clutch 3-pointer late in the game); 6'3 Jr Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, who scored most of his 13 points early; and 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN, who had five points and two assists, but didn't have the speed and quickness to match-up against Williams and Mercer.  Boo Williams rebounded from last night's mediocre performance against the Georgia Stars to beat Means Streets, 76-64, in the Third Place Game; the Illinois Wolves beat All Ohio Red, 62-44, in 5th Place Game; the Mid-State Ballerz Elite beat Cincinnati AAU Black , 69-67, in the 6th Place Game; the Smyrna Stars beat the Arkansas Wings, 74-65, in the 7th Place Game; Charlotte Monarchs beat the Memphis Bulldogs, 63-61, in the 8th Place Game; Spiece Select 2005 beat Team Georgia Elite, 55-54, in the 13th Place Game; the Morris County Bulls beat Team Louisiana, 57-51, in the Diviison II Championship.  And, with the conclusion of the 2004 17-Under AAU Junior Boys' Nationals, our attention will now turn for the next several days to the 14-Under National AAU Tournament, which starts tomorrow morning at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL and features teams like the P. Miller Ballers, Team Next (NY), Wisconsin-DTA, Pacific-Soldiers, Houston Hoops, Atlanta Celtics, Renegades Black, Memphis YOMCA, Hollywood PAL Eagles, Maryland Rising Stars, and Al Hoyas:  SE Elite 8.  We also will be tracking all the verbal commitments that are sure to come in now that college coaches are off the road with the conclusion of the Summer Evaluation Period, which ends at midnight tonight.  Speaking of verbal commitments, did you know that 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA picked Duke over Georgia Tech, Illinois, USC, Michigan, Pepperdine, Washington, Oregon State, Arizona State, and Wyoming earlier today.  At least that's what our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis is telling us.  And Trigonis, who also is Boykin's club team coach, has to be happy.  Remember, a lot of people on the West Coast, including Greg Hick and Tracy Pierson, thought Boykin was a mid-major player.   And they might be right if Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is planning on using Boykin at the wing forward spot.  If you will recall, Boykins is a killer on the boards who plays every possession like it might be his last, but lacks the athleticism, foot speed, and lateral quickness necessary to play at the big time college level at the wing forward spot.  So assuming that Krzyzewski is no fool and plans to use Boykins primarily at the power foward spot, then this is probably good news for UCLA, North Carolina, Washington, Arizona, and Gonzaga, which are the other schools recruiting 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA.  Obviously this is due to the fact that the Blue Devils already have 6'11 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H..S.) IN and even the Blue Devils can't everybody.  However, they're off to a great start, because the addition of Boykin moves Duke's recruiting class, which also includes McRoberts and 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, up to #2, behind Louisville and ahead of Marquette, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Kansas, Syracuse, Texas, and North Carolina, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And they aren't done yet, because we think the Blue Devils also are very close to getting a verbal commitment from 6'10 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE. 

Friday, July 30, 2004

The Georgia Stars held on to win 64-62 against the Illinois Wolves; Boo Williams beat Team Georgia Elite, 75-62; Mean Streets came back from 15 down to win 83-80 in overtime against All-Ohio Red; and Memphis YOMCA won by 10 against Spiece South 2005 in the quarter-finals and the Georgia Stars beat Boo Williams, 86-68, and Memphis YOMCA held on 56-53 in overtime against Mean Streets in the semi-finals of the 2004 Division I 17-Under AAU Junior Boys' Basketball National Championship earlier today at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL.  However, the big story of the day was the incredible effort that 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA turned in the semi-finals against Boo Williams.  We're talking about 20 points in the first half, but even that doesn't begin to tell you how well Williams played, as he put on what probably was the best individual performance that we've seen all summer.  And he did so without jacking up a lot of bad shots, which is the primary reason why some scouts are not as high on Williams as maybe they should be.  Instead, Williams made everybody around him better, as he finished with four assists, played excellent defense (three steals), and made a living getting to the basket and off transition.  As a matter of fact, on one play Williams brought the house down, as he jumped over an opponent who was all set to take the charge.  Williams only scored two points in the second half, but, by that time it didn't matter, because the Georgia Stars broke the game open in the second quarter by going on a 30-6 run to take a 52-26 half-time lead.  In other words, Williams picked up where he left off earlier this summer at the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs, CO, where he was arguably the best player and, as a result, now must receive serious consideration for top player honors in the senior class nationally, along with 6'11 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, who was our #1-ranked player at the NIKE All-American Camp, and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, who was the MVP at the NIKE Peach Jam.   The other big story of the day was the way Means Streets came back from a 15-point deficit in a game they won against All-Ohio Red in the quarterfinals and a 10-point deficit in a game they lost against Memphis YOMCA in the semi-finals to send both games into overtime.  And we do have to give 6'3 Jerel McNeal from Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) IL credit for being unstoppable on numerous occasions when he took the ball to the hole, 6'2 Brandon Ewing from Chicago (Julian) IL credit for hitting the game tying shot to send the game into overtime in the quarterfinals, and 6'0 Brandon Dagans from Harvey (Thornton) IL credit for hitting several big 3-point shots down the stretch against Memphis YOMCA.  However, in both cases Mean Streets also got a lot of help from the other team via turnovers, bad shots, and missed free throws.  McNeal had 17 points, Dagans had 14 points, and Donnell Lyons from Harvey (Thornton) IL had 10 points in their lost against Memhis YOMCA, but Ewing, who failed to score a single point, and 6'8 Jovan Catron from Harvey (Thornton) IL, who finished with only three points, all off free throws, both came up empty and, as a result, their ability to come back was even more amazing.  And the big guns for Memphis YOMCA also were not quite what we would expect, as 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN and 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN combined for 31 points and made most of the big plays down the stretch.  We also found it interesting that only six players even scored for Memphis YOMCA has 6'8 Jr Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN had only eight points, 6'8 Jr Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN had only eight points, 6'0 Jr Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN had only six points, and 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC had only four points.  In other words, Mean Streets did a great job of taking Memphis YOMCA out of their game, as they denied them scoring opportunities and controlled the tempo.  It also should be noted that we actually go back and forth in terms of who is the better player right now - Niles or Young?  In this game it was Niles, who made several impressive mid-range turn around jumpers, was tough on the boards, and surpringly mobile and athletic around the basket.  However, for Niles even to be mentioned in the same breath with Young, who is an amazing athlete with an incredible amount of natural talent and potential, down the road, he's going to have to really up the intensity level and become a lot more consistent.  We also have noted that Memphis head coach John Calipari has been in the gym every time we've seen the Memphis YOMCA team play this summer, but Smith's final three appear to be Tennessee, Florida State, and Kansas and Prince mentioned N.C. State, Memphis, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, and Mississippi State.  We also were very impressed by 6'9 Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, who finished with 25 points and didn't try and do too much out on the perimeter, in the other sem-finals game.  However, nobody else played well for Boo Williams in the semi-finals.  As a matter of fact, 6'3 Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA and 6'2 Jr Stefan Welsh from Newport News (Woodside) VA combined for a grand total of only four points.  The championship game will tip-off tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 PM and we expect it to be a good old-fashioned shoot-out.  Remember, Memphis YOMCA, which will be attempting to repeat their win in the championship game of this tournament a year ago, has more talent in terms of what they will be than either the University of Memphis or the Memphis Grizzlies and the Georgia Stars, which also won the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX in late April and may have the best senior in the nation in 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, could challenge the Spiece Indy Heat for the Team-of-the-Summer with an impressive win in tomorrow's championship game. 

Thursday, July 29, 2004

What a contrast to trying to cover three different tournaments in five days all over Las Vegas, NV.  We're talking about the 2004 Division I 17-Under AAU Junior Boys' Basketball National Championship, which is being held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL.  And, as things stand now, we're down to a final eight, as it will be the Georgia Stars with 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, and 6'8 Jr Avery Julks from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA versus the Illinois Wolves with 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, 6'1 Bryan Mullins from Downers Grove (South) IL, 6'2 Stewart Mason from  Aurora (Waubansee Valley) IL, 6'3 Sead Odzic from Skokie (West Niles) IL, 6'8 Mike Davis from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL and Boo Williams with 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, 6'3 Marcus Ginyard from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'2 Jr Stefan Welsh from Newport News (Woodside) VA, 6'8 Laurynas Mikolauskis from St. George (Blue Ridge School) VA, 6'0 Jr Scotty Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, and 6'1 Jr Eric Hayes from Potomoc (H.S.) VA verus Team Georgia Elite with 6'5 Markeal Humphrey from Stockbridge (H.S.) GA, 6'5 Jr Solomon Tat from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, 6'5 Chris Miller-Williams from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, and 6'2 Aaron Caruthers from Tyrone (Sandy Creek) GA tomorrow at 2:30 PM on Court #1 and Court #2 and All-Ohio Red with 6'7 Zach Hillesland from Toledo (St. John's) OH, 6'7 Josh Chichester from West Chester (Lakota West) OH, 6'3 James Davis from West Chester (Lakota East) OH, 6'5 Chris Knight from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 6'2 Travis Walton from Lima (Senior) OH, and 6'5 Jamelle Cornley from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH versus Mean Streets with 6'3 Jerel McNeal from Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) IL, 6'6 Jr Jovan Catron from Harvey (Thornton) IL, 6'2 Brandon Ewing from Chicago (Julian) IL, and 5'11 Michael Robinson from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL versus Spiece Select 2005 with 6'0 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN and 6'6 Jordan Armstrong from Muncie (Central) IL versus Memphis YOMCA with 6'8 Jr Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, 6'3 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN, 6'8 Jr Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, 6'0 Jr Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 6'9 Yamene Coleman from Camden (Wilcox Central) TN, 6'7 Desmond Yates from Somerville (Fayette-Ware) TN, and 6'8 Jr Wayne Chism from Jackson (Southside) TN tomorrow at 4:00 PM on Court #1 and Court #2.  Our guess is that it will be the Illinois Wolves, Boo Williams, Mean Streets, and Memphis YOMCA in the final four, which will be played tomorrow night at 8:30 PM and 10:00 PM on Court #1 and Boo Williams and Memphis YOMCA in the championship game on Saturday, July 31st, at 2:30 PM.   And, if that happens, there will be more talent on the floor than in most NCAA Championship games.  It also could be the coming out party for Thaddeus Young, who has been on a retreat taking an advanced math class all summer.  Did you know that Young has a 4.0 gpa and the grades necessary to legitimately get into any Ivy League school?  And, if Young continues to play like he did last night, as he hit a number of big shots and made a number of spectacular moves to the basket, a case might also be made for his being the best player in the country regardless of class ahead of 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ.  However, we don't want to start making comparisons to LaBron James and 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA.  Instead, we liken Young more to Michael Jordan, because he's a world-class athlete with great skills and the work ethic necessary to develop into one of the best wing players to ever play the game.  And, if it happens, remember where you heard it first!  Also playing well and, as a result, really impressing us earlier today were Dominic James, Pierre Niles, Jerel McNeal, Bryan Mullins, Marcus Ginyard, Josh Chichester, 6'5 Reginald Delk from Jackson (Northside) TN, 5'11 Brian Johnson from Baltimore (Mt. St. Joseph) MD, and 6'8 Jr A.J. Tyler from Palm Harbour (University) FL.  Prior to this we thought James might have been overrated, but we changed our mind, because James showed he can hit the 3-point shot, made great decisions, and ran the show to perfection when we saw him against the NIKE Team Florida 16s.   Niles doesn't always play hard enough, but he's an incredible physical specimen who is extremely mobile and suprisingly skilled around the basket.  We still think McNeal is more of a slasher than a shooter, but what a talent!  Everybody has Mullins pegged as a mid-major point guard, but we think he could be a terrific floor general for anybody with four great players around him.  Ginyard really impressed us defensively as he locked up 6'5 Richard Delk from Jackson (Northside) TN when Boo Williams beat the Mid-State Ballerz Elite in what was perhaps the best game in the round of 16 earlier this evening.  We also liked Chichester's skills, athleticism, and how active he is around the basket.  Reginald Delk was making most of his outside shots and beating his made to the basket.  And, any time that happens, he's dangerous!  Johnson is small, but we're talking about a legitimate sleeper for the top 150 nationally, because he's makes excellent decisisons, is quick off the dribble, and is a good ball handler and passer.  Tyler needs to get bigger and stronger physically, but he's active inside, as he scores, rebounds, and makes things happen around the basket.  We also find it interesting that 6'10 Magnum Rolle from Freeport, Bahamas plans to transfer to Laurinburg (Institute) NC and know appears to have Cincinnati, Arizona, Memphis, and Arkansas on his list.  That's right!  It appears that Florida State, which is where Rolle originally verbally committed last winter, is out.  We also understand that 6'10 Franklin Jones from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY has transferred to Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, where he will reclassify as a junior, and it looks like the top schools for 5'10 Devan Downey from Chester (H.S.) SC are Arkansas, Cincinnati, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'0 Korey Spates from Warrenville Heights (H.S.) OH, who is ranked #6 in the state by the HOOP SCOOP, has picked Purdue over Xavier, Cincinnati, and Ohio State.  We're also talking about a player who averaged 28.0 ppg and is the second best point guard in the state behind 6'2 Travis Walton from Lima (Senior) OH.   However, what Spates does best is play great defense and, as a result, it came as no surprise when he shut down 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY at Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in late May.  Getting Spates also is important, because he's the first recruit that the Boilermakers have landed since former Southern Illinois head coach Matt Painter was hired an assistant coach and the heir apparent to Gene Keady, who plans to retire after the upcoming season.  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that former New Mexico head coach and ESPN commentator Fran Fraschilla is trying to get the La Salle job, but our Philadelphia./Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has not heard Fraschilla's name mentioned as one of the potential candidates. Instead, Rubin tells us that the #1 choice is Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy, but he also thinks East Carolina head coach Bill Herrion, who previously was the head coach at Drexel and has strong ties to the Philadelphia area, and Maine head coach John Giannini, who is one of the bright up-and-coming head coaches in the business, are possible choices.  And, if Dunphy does move from Pennsylvania to La Salle, then Rubin thinks the leading candidate for the Pennsylvania job could be former St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis.  We also have confirmed that 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA and 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA both are 100% rock solid  in their verbal commitments to the University of Georgia.  If you will recall, Williams and Mercer were quoted in an article in the local newspaper while playing in the NIKE Peach Jam saying that they are 95% certain that they will attend Georgia, but want to take all of their official visits this fall, as well as explore the possibility of going out of high school straight to the NBA a year from now.  However, now it looks like Williams and Mercer have received the word from Bulldogs head coach Dennis Felton that there will be no exploring of other options, if they plan to attend the University of Georgia.  So now that we know that these two commitments are firm, we find that 13 of the 25, 24 of the top 50, and 45 of the HOOP SCOOP's top 100 are currently already verbally committed to four-year Division I college and universities.  And since today is a slow news day and I'm flying across the country, this also seems like a good time to provide you with a late summer ranking the top 35 players nationally regardless of class, which is as follows:  1) 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 2) 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 3) 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 4) 6'11 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 5) 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6) 6'5 Soph Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 7) 6'7 Jr Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, 8) 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 9) 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 10) 6'10 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 11) 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 12) 6'8 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 13) 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 14) 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 15) 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 16) 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 17) 6'3 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 18) 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 19) 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 20) 6'1 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 21) 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 22) 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 23) 6'7 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 24) 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 25) 6'7 Korvtney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA, 26) 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, 27) 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 28) 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 29) 6'2 Tiki Maybin from Troy (H.S.) NY, 30) 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 31) 6'4 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 32) 6'0 Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, 33) 6'10 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, 34) 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, and 35) 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX.  And, yes, this is a perfect illustration of just how weak the senior class is nationally at the top as six of the top 10 ranked players mentioned above are underclassmen and four of the top 35-ranked players are 5th Year Players, 19 of the top 35-ranked players are seniors, eight of the top 35-ranked players are juniors, and four of the top 35-ranked players are sophomores.

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

More is not always better.  That's the main lesson that we learned the last five days as we attempted to cover the Reebok Big Time Tournament, adidas Super 64, and the Main Event in Las Vegas, NV.  A big part of the problem stemmed from the fact that headquarters and mains gym for the Reebok Big Time Tournament and the adidas Super 64 were located 35 miles away and took almost 45 minutes to drive from one event to the other.  It also was a major disappointment that most of the good NIKE teams went to the Super Showcase in Orlando, FL, instead of coming to the Main Event, which really was a rehash of the two outstanding tournament that Hal Pastner ran in Las Vegas, NV last spring.  And making the Main Event even more difficult to write about is the fact that we'd not only just seen most of the top NIKE teams, like Friends of Hoop-Seattle, Team Texas, Houston Hoops, Metro Hawks, and DC Blue Devils play in the NIKE Peach Jam in North Augusta, SC, but a lot of the top teams, like Team Texas with 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'9 Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Terrel Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'9 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, and 6'3 Austin Johnson from Palo Duro (H.S.) TX; Houston Hoops with 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX, 6'0 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Westfield) TX, 6'1 David Devezin from Sugar Land (Clements) TX, 6'9 Jeremy Barr from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'6 Ashton Hall from Kountze (H.S.) TX, and 6'10 Jeremy Mayfield from Houston (MacArthur) TX; DC Blue Devils with 6'10 Jr Kevin Durant from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'0 Jr Tywon Lawson from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'2 Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'8 Robert Diggs from Brandywine (Gwynn Park) MD, and 6'8 David Neal from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA; and Belmont Shore with 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'3 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'11 Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, and 6'4 Ed White from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA; got knocked off much earlier than expected in the playoffs.  In other words, it was upset city at the Main Event.  However, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, because Friends of Hoops, which featured 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'10 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, and 6'0 Mitch Johnson from Seattle (O'Dea) WA, clearly was the best team in the tournament.  And the big reason why the Friends of Hoop-Seattle were so much better than they were at the NIKE Peach Jam was the return of Webster, who has been sidelined much of the last year with injuries.  If you will recall, Webster played in part of the first game at the NIKE Peach Jam, but did not see a minute of action the rest of the tournament.  In contrast, Webster, who is as good as anybody in the class when he's healthy (right now he's about 80%), provided the perfect complement at the wing spot to Brockman and Hawes, who dominated inside; Downs, who shot the lights out on the perimeter; and Johnson, who is deceptively quick and excellent in transition at the point guard spot, as they coasted to an easy 87-59 win the championship over Cecil-Kirk.  Brockman, who finished with 21 points in the championship game, was the easy choice for tournament MVP, but the guy who stole the show with 24 points and a number of incredible dunks and athletic moves to the basket in the championship game was 6'6 Sam Young, who originally is from Washington (Friendly) DC, but plans to attend prep school this year at Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  We're talking about a 6'6 tweener, because he doesn't have the 3-point shooting range and ball handling and passing skills necessary to play out on the perimeter.  However, it may not matter at the college level, because Young is such a ferocious rebounder and world-class athlete around the basket.  And, if you don't believe me, just ask Georgetown, Miami-FL, Pittsburgh, George Washington, and Maryland, all of whom kept showing up for all of his games.  We also got an updated list of schools for Brockman, who mentiomed Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, Washington, Gonzaga, and Arizona; Webster, who said Arizona was leader over UCLA, North Carolina, Washington, Oklahoma, and Duke; and Hawes, who is getting the most early interest from Notre Dame, UCLA, Arizona, Washington, Kansas, and Texas.  And how about the Metro Hawks with 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco) NJ and 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY?  Remember, they didn't win a game at the NIKE Peach Jam, but advanced all the way to the final four at the Main Event.  The fourth team in the final four was the Fairfield Stars, which featured a bunch of overachievers in 6'2 Mike Trimboll from New Canaan (St. Luke's) CT, 6'1 Danny Powell from Wilbraham (Wilbraham and Munson Academy) MA, 6'5 Chris Sckrellya from Stamford (Trinity) CT, 6'5 Robbie Sisca from Weston (H.S.) CT, and 6'8 Evan Niesler from Raleigh (Word of God) NC and knocked off Team Texas in the second round.  Another big story at the Main Event was the fact that Hal Pastner had some great young teams in the 16-Under, 15-Under, & 14-Under Divisions.  But the fact that we had three major tournaments to cover in only five days made it impossible to see any of them, except in the 15-Under Division, where the Houston Hoops beat Salt Lake Metro, 83-58, in the championship game, and the 16-Under Division, where the Metro Hawks beat the Georgia Stars in the championship game.   Speaking of that 16-Under Division Championship game, this should be a prelude for things to come a year from now in the 17-Under Division, because the Georgia Stars featured 6'8 Jr Avery Jukes from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'6 Jr William Graves from Greensboro (Dudley) NC, 6'4 Soph Horance Neysmith from Mauldin (H.S.) SC, and 6'5 Jr Landon Milbourne from Alpharetta (St. Francis) GA and the Metro Hawks had 6'1 Soph Mike Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'3 Jr Brian McKenzie from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'4 Larry Davis from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 5'10 James Bryant from Ramsey (Don Bosco) NJ, and 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, who pulled double duty and came off the bench for this team.  We also got a great sneak preview of the future at adidas Super 64 and the adidas Elite 36, as EBO/EA Sports and the DC Assault 16's won the championships in their respective tournaments.  And making the story even more interesting for the EBO-EA Sports is the fact that this team had only one senior in 6'7 Titus Shelton from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA.  In other words, 6'11 Jr Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Jr Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'3 Jr Travon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'7 Jr Quincy Pondexter from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'5 Jr Derrick Jaspers from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, and 6'2 Jr Todd Lowenthal from Poway (H.S.) CA all will be back next year and, as a result, a repeat of this year's 68-58 win against the Playaz Basketball Club Gold in the semi-finals and 66-57 win against the Atlanta Celtics in the championship game a year from now wouldn't be a major surprise.  And this year the championship game was never really in doubt as the EBO-EA Sports jumped out to 18-4 early and led 32-12 mid-way throught the first half.  They also featured as very balanced scoring attack, as Willis and Jaspers both finished with 15 points apiece, Brook Lopez had 14 points, Robin Lopez had 10 points, and Pondexter had eight points.  However, Brook Lopez was still the clear-cut choice for tournament MVP honors as he finished with 22 points against Philly MJC in the quarterfinals and 23 points iagainst the Playaz Basketball Club Gold in the semi-finals.   Both the Lopez's are long, agile, mobile, skilled, and very coordinated for somebody so big and so young, but they both need to get bigger and stronger physically.   As a matter of fact, their only real weakness right now is their inability to often finish inside.  However, Brook Lopez more than makes up for that with his ability to step out and hit the 3-point shot, which he did three times in the quarterfinals, twice in the semi--finals, and once in the championship game.  Also playing extremely well for EBO-EA Sports in all three games was Willis, who also finished with 23 points in the quarterfinals and 17 points in the semi-finals and knocked down three 3-pointers in both games.  The Atlanta Celtics 16's coasted to a 96-63 win against the Seattle Rotary Select 16's in the championship game of the adidas Elite 36, thanks to the efforts of 6'6 Frosh Michael Beasley from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, who finished with 25 points, 6'3 Soph Nolan Smith from Washington (St. John's) DC, who finished with 14 points, and 6'0 Soph Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, who finished with 21 points.  Wright also shot the lights out in the championship game, as he hit five 3-pointers.  But apparently that wasn't enough for him to share tournament MVP honors with Smith and Beasley, who were named the co-MVP's in the tournament.  Also stepping up and playing extremely well in the adidas Super 64 were 6'5 Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'4 Jr Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 5'10 Sharaud Curry from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, and 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK.  The all-tournament team included both Lopez's, 6'3 Jr Travon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, and 6'5 Jr Derrick Jaspers from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA from the EBO-EA Sports; 5'10 Sharaud Curry from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6'5 Jr Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'8 Rashard Chase from Atlanta (Mays) GA, and 6'5 LaQuavious Marbury from Lanett (H.S.) AL from the Atlanta Celtics Black; 6'4 Jr Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA and 6'7 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ from the Playaz Basketball Club Gold; 6'6 Adam Arnold from Bellmont (H.S.) IN, 6'1 Arman Bassett from Terre Haute (South) IN, and 6'6 Derek Drews from Elkhart (Central) IN from Indiana Elite; 6'8 Jr Daniel Dean from Salt Lake City (Judge) UT,   6'9 Darin Mahoney from Heber City (Wasatch) UT, and 6'1 Jr Jake Orchard from Salt Lake City (Highland) UT from Utah Pump-N-Run; 6'7 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'5 Bilal Benn from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 6'2 Antonie Brown from Philadelphia (South Philadelphia) PA from Philly MJC; 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) NY and 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY from the Syracuse/Rochester RAP; 6'6 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA, 6'5 Terrance Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, and 5'10 Garrison Carr from Issaquah (H.S.) WA from the Seattle Rotary Select I; 6'5 Antonio Anderson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME and 6'9 Kendrick Price from Cambridge (Buckingham, Browne & Nichols) MA from the New England Playaz; 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK from Pump-N-Run Alaska; 6'11 Jordan Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA and 6'4 Lorenzo Keeler from Winchendon (School) MA from Pump-N-Run I; 6'10 Abdul Herrera from Miami (South Miami) FL and 6'6 Alonzo Gee from Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL from the Tallahassee Wildcats; 6'0 Henry Dugat from Dayton (H.S.) TX and 6'8 Obi Ikeakor form Houston (Westbury Christian) TX from Houston Select I; 6'4 Nate Minnoy from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL and 6'2 Jeremy Pargo from Chicago (Robeson) IL from the Illinois Fire; 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA and 6'3 Stefan Jackson from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA from the Gym Rats; 6'5 Joe Ford from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA and 6'5 Mike Roll from Aliso Viejo (Aliso Niguel) CA from Pump-N-Run Black; 6'6 Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA from the Playaz Basketball Club Black; 6'4 Tony Aker from Brown Deer (H.S.) WI from Friends of Hoop-Wiscosnin; 6'5 Jr Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY from the GC Ballers; 6'2 Jermaine Bolden from Baltimore (Douglas) MD from Baltimore Select; 6'1 Antonio Hanson from Liberal (H.S.) KS from KC Pump-N-Run; 6'7 Marchello Vealy from Oklahoma City (Southeast) OK from Oklahoma Pump-N-Run; 6'11 Ricky Sanchez from Puerto Rico from the Puerto Rico Pump-N-Run; 6'1 Justin Wheeler from North Augusta (H.S.) SC from T.O.P.P. Sports; and 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'6 Terry Martin from Metairie (Ridgewood) LA, 6'1 Jr D.J. Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, and 6'4 Lamar Falley from Las Vegas (Durango) NV from the New Orleans Jazz.  Yes, believe it or not, the New Orleans Jazz landed four players on the all-tourmament team, despite the fact they were not one of the teams that advanced to the final eight in the tournament.  Instead, the final eight included the EBO-EA Sports, Atlanta Celtics Black, Playaz Basketball Club Gold, Utah Pump-N-Run, Philly MJC, Pump-N-Run #1, Indy Heat, and Pump-N-Run Black and in the semi-finals the Atlanta Celtics Black beat Utah Pump-N-Run, 54-48, and EBO-EA Sports beat the Playaz Basketball Club Gold, 68-58, to set up the championship.  In other words, just like at the Main Event, a lot of the best teams, like the Tallahassee Wildcats, Illinois Fire, Syracuse/Rochester Rap, New England Playaz, Houston Select I, New York Ravens, Seattle Rotary Select I, Salt Lake City Metro, and Texas Blue Chips #1, bit the dust early in the adidas Super 64.   And we haven't even mentioned all the other players in the tournament, like 6'7 Charles Little from Cleveland (H.S.) TN, 6'1 Soph Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA, 6'4 Jr Jason Guillory from Lynnwood (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 6'4 Anthony Goods from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'1 Soph Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'9 Jeff Green from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'7 Dante Cunningham from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'9 Arinze Onuaku from Alexandria (Episcopal) VA, 6'3 Jr David Schneider from Phoenix (Brophy) AZ, 6'7 C.J. Clark from Cypress Creek (H.S.) TX, 6'1 Tony Freeman from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, 6'10 Marquis Young from Chicago (Austin) IL, 6'10 Kenneth Cooper from Monroe (Ridgewood) LA, 6'5 Jr Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'5 Soph Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'0 Jr Jawan Carter from Wilmington (Tatnall School) DE, 6'9 Gerald Inman from Montvale (St. Joseph's) NJ, 6'5 Jordan Fowler from Montclair (Prep) NJ, 6'0 Michael Gerrity from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Jr Alex Stephenson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'9 Brayden Bell from Salt Lake City (Brighton) UT, 6'8 James Tchana from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'10 Jimmy Sutton from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) TX,  6'1 Daryl Merthie from Lake Mary (H.S.) FL, 6'5 Jr Aaron Holmes from St.Petersburg (Catholic) FL, 6'3 Harvey Hale from Albuquerque (Rio Grande) NM, with established reputations, as well as the sleepers that emerged, like 6'8 Ryan Reid from Ft. Lauderdale (Boyd Anderson) FL, 6'0 Brandon Johnson from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX,  6'3 Lazar Hayward from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'9 Uriah Heathington from Cairo (H.S.) GA, 7'1 Jared Carter from Georgetown (Scott County) KY, 6'3 Marcus Thornton from Baton Rouge (Tara) LA, 6'8 Jr Travis George from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'6 Matt Mortensen from Provo (Timpview) UT.  Are you starting to get the idea that this was a heck of a tournament?  As a matter of fact, the one of the two biggest differences between the adidas Super 64 and the Reebok Big Time Tournament was organization and media friendliness in terms of statistics and information.  The other big difference was the fact that nearly all of the top players in the nation regardless of class, including 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'5 Soph Bill Walker from Indianapolis (North College Hill) IN, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, and 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, played in the Reebok Big Time Tournament.  However, McRoberts didn't play for the Spiece Indy Heat in the playoffs due to the fact that he had a sprained ankle, which makes the fact that this team walked through Reebok Big Time Tournament the way it did an even more impressive story.  Not only were the Spiece Indy Heat the only team in the tournament to go undefeated, but they also won their six playoff games by an average of 19.5 ppg and their closest game was against the Houston Swish 17's, which they beat 69-58, in their second game of the playoffs.  And 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN redeemed himself in the round of 16, as he not only outplayed 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ in their second head-to-head match-up this summer, but he also helped his team to an impressive 74-55 win against the Long Island Panthers, which what was arguably the second most talented team in the tournament.  However, Oden saved the best for last when he went a perfect 11-11 from the field, scored 26 points, and grabbed seven rebounds in the championship game.  Also stepping up and playing extremely well for the Spiece Indy Heat in the final three games of the tournament were 6'5 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH and 6'1 Jr Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, who averaged 17.7 ppg and 15.0 ppg, respectively.  But we also have to give 6'4 Jr Curtis White from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 5'11 Jr Jordan Cheatham from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'8 Soph Aaron Pogue from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'2 Jr Darin Granger from Indianapolis (Lawrence Central) IN, and 6'7 Donald Cloutier from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN their due, because the accepted their roles and helped make this a team effort.  We also were extremely impressed with Team Breakdown, which lost to Spiece Indy Heat in the championship game, 86-68, but met all of the other challenges along the way, thanks primarily to the efforts of 6'0 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, who hit 5-11 3-pointers and finished with 24 points in the championship game.  Rios, who is a tremendous competitor, good ball handler and passer, terrific outside shooter, and savvy well beyond his years, also finished ranked 10th in the tournament in scoring with 25.5 ppg and had one of the top individual scoring efforts in the tournament when he scored 35 points against Nebraska High 5 2005.  Rios also got plenty of help from 6'7 Adrian Thomas from Pembroke Pines (Flanagan) FL, who has to be one of the fastest rising players in the tournament, 6'7 Kyle Swanson from Springhill, FL, and 6'6 A.J. Jones from Winter Haven (H.S.) FL, but, when it was all said and done, the fact they were one of the last two teams still playing was a major surprise.  So was the fact that Illinois Wolves, which beat the DI Greyhounds, 57-55, in the round of 16, decided to forfeit their game against Oakland Slam N Jam in the quarterfinals and, instead, left town for Orlando, FL to play in the National 17-Under AAU Tournament.  And this is important, because it opened the door for the DI Greyhounds to advance to the final four, along with Spiece Indy Heat, Team Breakdown, and the Dallas Mustangs.  In addition to Oden, Mayo, Ellis,  Rios, Cook, and Conley, we'd also have to rank the performances turned in by 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 5'11 Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, 6'6 Robert Thomas from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'6 Dior Lowhorn from Berkeley (H.S.) CA among the top dozen that we saw in the tournament.  And the statistics pretty much back us up, as the leading scorers in the tournament were as follows:  1) 6'0 Soph Jimmer Fredette from Glen Falls (H.S.) NY with 29.3 ppg, 2) 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS with 29.2 ppg, 3) 6'1 Jr Dwain Williams from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL with 27.3 ppg, 4) 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH with 27.0 ppg, 5) 5'10 Tetrick Stonar from Hartford (Weaver) CT with 26.8 ppg, 6) 6'4 Soph Etwaun Moore from East Chicago (Central) IN with 26.7 ppg, 7) 6'6 Dior Lowhorn from Berkeley (H.S.) CA with 26.6 ppg, 8) 6'1 Stephen Jones from Mississauga (Central Commerce) ON with 26.3 ppg, 8) 6'2 Jr Kyle Pape from Honolulu (Iolani) HI with 26.3 ppg, 10) 6'0 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL with 25.5 ppg, 11) 6'0 Chris Jackson from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA with 25.4 ppg, 12) 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA with 25.2 ppg, 13) 6'6 Roburt Sallie from Laurinburg (Institute) NC with 24.8 ppg, 14) 6'7 Ryan Tillema from Randolph (H.S.) WI with 24.3 ppg, 15) 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ with 24.2 ppg, 16) 6'0 Adam Gore from Monrovia (H.S.) IN with 23.3 ppg, 17) 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA with 23.1 ppg, 18) 6'4 Chris Brickley from Concord (Trinity) NH with 22.8 ppg, 19) 6'3 Jr Brian Mitchell from Savannah (H.S.) GA with 22.2 ppg, 20) 5'10 Avery Smith from Laurinburg (Institute) NC with 21.8 ppg, 21) 6'3 Soph Malik Story from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA with 21.75 ppg, 22) 6'2 Josh Wilson from Kelso (Mark Morris) WA with 21.5 ppg, 23) 6'0 Jr Charles Smothers from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL with 21.3 ppg, 23) 6'5 Jr Grant Agee from Englewood (Arapahoe) CO with 21.3 ppg, and 25) 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC with 21.2 ppg.  Speaking of Rush, we also have to give him credit for being a lot more consistent than he's been most of the spring and summer and, as a result, he's somewhat redeemed himself.  However, we're still not ready rank him among the top five or 10 players in the class until we see him do it again this winter.  We also find it interesting that 6'1 Jr Dwain Williams from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL had the highest individual scoring performance in the tournament with 47 points versus Game Time and the 5th highest individual scoring performance in the tournament with 41 points against the El Toro Chargers.  But we can't rank him among the top players because we didn't see his team play.  Also putting up big numbers was 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who had the second highest individual scoring performance with 45 points against FTW Wolfpack.  And this is important, because Ellis also was the #1-ranked player at the Reebok ABCD Camp, where he also finished ranked #2 in scoring camp with 16.7 ppg, and he is ranked #2 in scoring in the Reebok Big Tie Tournament with 29.2 ppg.  In other words, Ellis has made a strong case to be named as the HOOP SCOOP's Player-of-the-Summer, as well as one of several players, including 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, and 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, who we will consider when we rank the top players in the senior class nationally in August.   However, none of these players will be ranked ahead of 7'0 Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH.  And, if you don't believe Mayo is that good right now, just check out what he's done this summer.  He was one of the top five players at the NBA Players Association Camp.  He was the co-MVP in the Underclassmen All-Star Game and one of five players who we had tied with the #2-ranking at the adidas ABCD Camp.   His team went 5-3 and, with some help from the Illinois Wolves, advanced all the way to final four at the Reebok Big Time Tournament.  And, in the process, Mayo finished as the 4th leading scorer with 27.0 ppg, had the 4th highest individual scoring performance with 43 points against the Los Angeles Stars, which featured 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'7 Lamar Roberson from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, and scored the most total points (216 points in eight games) in the tournament.  Yes, O.J. Mayo has more than lived up to all the early hype that has dated back to when he played on the varsity at Ashland (Rose Hill) KY when he was in the 6th Grade and, as a result, will be ranked among the top three players in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP regardless of class, along with Oden and 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ.  And, unlike Caracter, who was named to the 61-player all-tournament team, Mayo has done it the old-fashioned way.   He's earned it!  Joining Oden and Mayo on the all-tournament team were 6'5 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH and 6'1 Jr Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN from the Spiece Indy Heat; 6'5 Bill Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH from the DI Greyhounds; 6'0 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL and 6'7 Adrian Thomas from Pembroke Pines (Flanagan) FL from Team Breakdown; 6'8 Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ and 6'5 Junior Bernal from Wilbraham (Wilbraham and Munson Academy) MA from New Heights NYC; 6'9 Jr Alfred Aboya from Tilton (School) NH and 6'2 Jerome Dyson from Andover (Proctor) NH from Blessed IJN (NH); 6'8 Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ and 6'4 Raymond Murdock from Phoenix (Pinnacle) AZ from Arizona Magic Blue; 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS and 6'7 Bernard Rimmer from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA from the Magnolia Stars; 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, 6'1 Bryan Mullins from Downers Grove (South) IL, and 6'7 Chris Cornelius from Oak Park (River) IL from the Illinois Wolves; 6'6 Robert Thomas from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT and 6'6 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY from the New York Panthers; 6'4 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA and 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA from the Southern California All Stars; 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC and 6'4 K.C. Rivers from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA from Rocktown (MO);  6'1 Jr Dwain Williams from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL and 6'6 Frosh Martez Walker from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL from the CAL High Rising Stars; 5'11 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX from the Dallas Mustangs; 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA from the Los Angeles Stars; 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ from Arizona Magic White; 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA from H Squad; 6'6 Dior Lowhorn from Berkeley (H.S.) CA from Belmont Shore; 6'9 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON from the Ontario Cyclones; 6'7 Marellus Bennett from Alief (Taylor) TX from Houston Swoosh 17's,6'8 Jr Damion James from Nacodgoches (H.S.) TX from Texas Blue Chips; 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT from Bounce NYC; 6'10 Sylvester Seay from Winchendon (School) MA from Inland I; 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, 6'0 Deonta Vaughn from Indianapolis (Arlington) IN from Shepherd Sports; 6'10 Ken Tribbett from Chester (H.S.) PA from Championship Sports (PA); 6'5 Jabari Currie from Detroit (Pershing) MI from Michigan Hurricanes; 6'6 Tommie Liddell from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL from Team Detroit; 6'4 Chris Brickley from Concord (Trinity) NH from the Granite State Raiders; 6'5 Marcus Malone from Compton (Dominguez) CA from the I Can All Stars; 6'8 Jeremy Buttrell from Colleyville (College Heritage) TX from Texas Top Prospects 2004; 6'9 Daniel Faris from Albuquerque (Eldorado) NM with the NM Force All Stars; 6'0 Soph Jimmer Fredette from Glen Falls (H.S.) NY with Northeast Sharks (NY); 6'9 Jr Matt Hill from Lincoln (Southeast) NE with NE Bison Red; 6'0 Chris Jackson from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA with D. Wright KB3; 6'0 Jack Martin from Chico (H.S.) CA from the Chico Tarheels; 6'4 Soph Etwaun Moore from East Chicago (Central) IN with the E.C Cardinals (IN); 6'7 Jr Michael Sanchez from Springdale (H.S.) AR from the Arkansas Hawks 15s; 6'8 Ike Okoye from Fair Oaks (Wood Creek) CA from Basketballtown Pharoahs; 6'2 Jr Josh Shaw from Morgan (H.S.) UT from Morgan; 6'2 Josh Wilson from Kelso (Mark Morris) WA from Emerald City Chaffey; 6'8 Jr Phil Nelson from Salem (NcNary) OR from Portland Panthers Red; 6'0 Kechan Myers from Philadelphia, PA from Positive Image; Sidney Rice from the Vic Sims All-Stars; Mike Smith from Arkansas Hawks 17s; and 6'0 Drew Shiller from Burlingame (H.S.) CA, 7'7 Jaber Rouzbabni from Richmond, CA via Kimani, Iran.  We mention Rouzbadni last because he deserves special mention, as we might be talking about the tallest human being I've ever seen.  He also is surprisingly agile and coordinated for somebody his size and, as a result, is not a stiff.  Instead, we think he has a huge upside and like him a lot better than Yao Ming, Neil Fingleton, and Shagari Alleyne at the same stage. 

Saturday, July 24, 2004, Sunday, July 25, 2004, & Monday, July 26, 2004

It came as no surprise when we heard that 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY earlier today had verbally committed to the University of Texas.  As a matter of fact, we told you almost two weeks ago that Texas was the heavy favorite over Syracuse and St. John's for Davis' services.  And this is huge for the Longhorns for a number of reasons.  First, Davis is ranked #29 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, which means he's a potential future NBA player, but also not somebody who is good enough to make the jump to The League anytime soon.  Second, Davis has big time athleticism, a high skill level, great hands, and a soft touch, which makes him ideally suited to battle the other two highly touted young inside players - 7'0 LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX and 6'8 Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL - that they signed a year ago for immediate playing time year after next  Third, going head-to-head against Williams everyday in practice should make Davis, whose biggest question marks are being soft and inconsistent, a lot meaner and tougher.  Fourth, the commitment by Davis means that the Longhorns already have an ideal replacement waiting in the wings when and if Aldridge decides to enter the NBA Draft early.  Fifth, getting Davis moves Texas' recruiting class, which also already includes 5'10 A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX, into a tie with Syracuses, Duke, and North Carolina, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Sixth, getting Davis also should help establish a strong pipeline to Ro Russell, who controls most of the good young player in Canada.  Seventh, getting Davis also helps perpetuate the Longhorns' ties to New York City and the program at Bayside (Cardozo) NY, where our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio is the head coach.  If you will recall, Royal Ivey, who was the unsung hero and defensive stopper on Texas' NCAA Final Four team in 2003, also is from Bayside (Cardozo) NY.  We also have confirmed several other verbal commitments, like 6'6 Adam Arnold from Bellmont (H.S.) IN to Indiana State, 6'9 Wacey Hall from Evansville (Mater Dei) IN to Evansville, 6'1 Brandon McPherson from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN to Valparaiso, and 6'6 Roburt Sallie from Sacramento (Valley) CA to Washington.  And Sallie appears to be a major steal, as he did not attend any of the three major shoe company camps and hasn't been seen a lot on the AAU and club team circuit and, as a result, has slipped under the radar screen.  Sallie is an excellent athlete and a prolific scorer, which means the Huskies appear to be well on their way towards landing a terrific recruiting class.  If you will recall, they also already have 6'4 Harvey Perry from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA and 6'8 Artem Wallace from Toledo (H.S.) WA in the fold, but the big key for that to happen will be if they also get 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, and/or 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA.  However, we'd be surprised if the Huskies take both Brockman and Boykin, because they play a similar position.  And, if Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar does land any one of these three players, his recruiting class would move up from #14, which is where it is now, to #5, behind Louisville, Marquette, Oklahoma State, and Notre Dame, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, if they really hit the jackpot and land Webster and Brockman or Boykin, then their recruiting class would move up to #2, behind Louisville, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.   We also have confirmed that 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX, who was ranked #13 at the NIKE Peach Jam by the HOOP SCOOP and was the primary reason why the Houston Hoops advanced to the final four in that tournament, has verbally committed to Arizona for football, but also plans to play basketball.  So obviously we'll count this tough hardnosed blue collar warrior towards Arizona's recruiting class, which now is ranked #18 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Finley also should be the perfect complement to the other recruit that Arizona has in the fold - 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, who also happens to be Finley's teammate on the Houston Hoops.  However, even more important, Finley is not going to scare off 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, both of whom are believed to be leaning towards Arizona, despite the fact that he plays a similar position.  We also have a ton of information regarding the three major tournaments in Las Vegas, NV that concluded yesterday and today, but, quite honestly, have run out gas and need sleep.  So tune in tomorrow for our analysis and all the hightlights from the Reebok Big Time Tournament, adidas Super 64, and the Main Event. 

Friday, July 23, 2004

On paper we thought the adidas Super 64 Tournament would be good, but today it more than surpassed our expectations, as the field featured a lot of really good teams, like the Tallahassee Wildcats, Illinois Fire, New Orleans Jazz, Seattle Rotary Select, Syracuse/Rochester Rap, Playaz Basketball Club Gold, New England Playaz, EBO/EA Sports, Houston Superstars, Texas Blue Chips #1, and DC Assault.  We were especially impressed by the Tallahassee Wildcats, which feature 6'10 Jimmy Sutton from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) TX, 6'6 Alonzo Gee from Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL, 6'1 Daryl Merthie from Lake Mary (H.S.) FL, 6'5 Jr Aaron Holmes from St.Petersburg (Catholic) FL, 6'8 Ryan Reid from Ft. Lauderdale (Boyd Anderson) FL, 5'11 Jermonte Bush from Tallahassee (Rickards) FL, and 6'10 Abdul Harerra from Miami (South Miami) FL.  Sutton is a physical specimen who scores, rebounds, and is active inside and, as a result, needs to be ranked in the 50-100 range nationally , as schools like Florida, Miami-FL, Georgia, Georgetown, Florida State, and Connecticut are all showing a lot of interest.  Gee is a big time slasher/athlete who should be ranked in the same range, as schools like Florida State, Florida, Miami-FL, Alabama, Maryland, UNLV, LSU, Charlotte, and South Florida are all in the hunt.  Merthie is a small quick point guard that makes good decisions, runs the show, finds the open man, and is one of the most underrated player around, as is evident by the fact that his list includes Appalachian State, Colorado State, Houston, High Point, and Miami-FL.  As a matter of fact, we think it's a no-brainer that the Hurricanes should take this guy over 5'11 Jr Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, who has told us at the NIKE All-American Camp that he's verbally committed to Miami-FL, but apparently hasn't passed that same information along to the Hurricanes coaching staff yet.  Holmes is only a junior, but schools like Wake Forest, Florida State, and Michigan State are already knocking at the door of this deadly 3-point shooter with big time talent and athleticism.   Reid isn't as big as Sutton and Harerra physically, but he's more athletic, which explains why schools like Pittsburgh, Florida State, Kansas State, and Iowa State are showing a lot of interest.  Harerra is less of a finished product, but he might have the most potential, which explains why Florida, Florida State, Miami-FL, Georgetown, St. John's, Illinois, Xavier, and Ohio State have been showing up at all his games.  Bush is too small to play higher than the mid-to-low major level, but you have to like the way he competes and gets to the hole.  We also were impressed by the Houston Superstars, which knocked off Seattle Rotary Select in a 88-85 overtime game and featured 6'0 Brandon Johnson from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX and 6'3 Marcus Thornton from Baton Rouge (H.S.) LA, who combined for 55 points.  Johnson is a strong physical point guard with excellent ball handling and passing skills and the ability to get to the hole and make things happen, but right now the only school that is showing any interest is Illinois-Chicago.  And Thornton, who makes more than his share of tough shots and uses his big time athleticism to get to the hole, is getting no interest from any colleges at all, which means he has to be one of the biggest sleepers in the nation, as he can play at the mid-major  level or higher and is legitimately belongs in the top 100-300 range nationally.  Also combining for 40 points in this game were 6'7 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA and 6'5 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, but the guy who made all the big shots (six 3-pointers down the stretch) was 5'10 Garrison Carr from Issaquah (H.S.) WA.   We had Carr pegged as a low Division I player due to his lack of size and the fact that he's more of a shooter than a playermaker, but he has a wide range of schools, like Washington State, UC-Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, American University, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, all showing a lot of interest.  We also saw 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, as well as confirmed that the reports early in the week about his making a verbal commitment to Mississippi State are premature.  We still think that's where Goodridge will end up in the end due his strong ties to Todd Myles and Gary Ervin, but we also took note that in addition to the Bulldogs, schools like Connecticut, Florida State, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Florida, and Pittsburgh, were showing up at all of his games.  The latest list for 6'5 Antonio Anderson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME includes Memphis, Missouri, St. John's, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Gonzaga, St. Joseph's, DePaul, Purdue, and Marquette.  Vanderbilt is the leader for 6'9 Kendrick Price from Cambridge (Buckingham, Browne & Nichols) MA, but he also mentioned Michigan, Georgia, Syracuse, and DePaul.  Among those showing the most interest in 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA are Washington, USC, Kansas, Wyoming, and Oklahoma State and we wouldn't be surprised if somebody like Florida, which is looking for a tough hardnosed undersized inside player like Boykin, turns the heat up on 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA.  Remember, all spring Boykin's top three schools were Louisville, which landed three inside players in last year's recruiting class in 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'9 Brian Johnson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'10 Terrance Farley from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, added 6'10 David Padgett, who transferred from Kansas to Louisville in the spring, and already has landed three more inside players in the Class of 2005, 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 7'1 Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Harlan) IL, and 6'7 Lamar Roberson from Compton (Dominguez) CA; Georgia Tech, which we are projecting will get both 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX and 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX; and Duke, which already has 6'10 Josh Roberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN in the fold and is expected to get 6'10 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE fairly soon.  However, now all three either have or appear to be on the verge of loading up with player who play a similar position to Boykin.  In other words, if you snooze, you lose.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that La Salle head coach Billy Hahn has resigned and already there is speculation about Notre Dame assistant coach Sean Kearney, Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy, Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich, Maine head coach John Giannini, and Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon being the leading candidates for the job.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

I'm notorious for planning everything thing out perfectly and then changing everything on a moments notice, if I find a better way to cover things at the last minute.   I mention this because that's exactly what happened today when I decided to cover the Reebok Big Time Tournament today and the adidas Super 64 tomorrow.   And from what I've seen so far at the Reebok Big Time Tournament the two teams to beat are the Spiece Indy Heat, which features 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'5 Jr Daquan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'1 Soph Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'8 Soph Aaron Pogue from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, and 6'3 Soph Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, and the New York Panthers, which features 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'5 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'6 Jr Robert Thomas from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'5 Will Harris from Troy (Redemption) NY, 5'11 Chris Lowe from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'3 Jr Rashard Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'5 Tyson Johnson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'7 Kahiem Seawright from Uniondale (H.S.) NY, and 6'10 Greg Washington from Troy (Redemption) NY.  Danny Green and Robert Thomas also were two of the best players we saw all day, along with 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, who had the highest individual scoring performance of the entire first day with 39 points versus the DI Greyhounds; 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who had 32 points versus Team Breakdown; 6'5 Soph O.J.Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH who had 30 points versus Arizona Magic White; and 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA who had  25 points versus the Emerald City Pioneers.  Also turning in big scoring performances on the first day were 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS with 34 points versus the Dakota Schoolers, 6'8 Jr Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ with 34 points versus Belmont Shore, 6'2 Malcolm Miller from Ft. Worth (Poly) TX with 33 points versus Inner City Hoops, 6'5 Tyler Nixon from Sumner (White River) WA with 33 points versus I-270 Roadwarriors Red, and 6'5 Tommy Liddell from East (St. Louis Lincoln) IL versus ABC Hoops.  I also finally got the recruiting scoop on 6'6 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who verbally committed to UCLA prior to the start of his freshmen year, but gave our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin a list of schools that included UCLA, North Carolina, Connecticut, Syracuse, Florida, and Washington prior to the start of the Reebok Big Time Tournament.  Well, his father tells us that King is still verbally committed to UCLA, but adds that if his son decides to open things back up some of the schools Taylor would consider all of the schools mentioned above, as well as Arizona and Louisville.  Apparently all this stems from the fact that UCLA stopped recruiting King when he had a bad spring and now that they have turned the heat back up now that King is playing well, King and his family are just taking a wait and see attitude in order to make sure he's made the right decision.  In other words, he's just going to be a sophomore in high school and, as a result, he's got several years to make sure he's made the right decision.  We also inquired about the latest in the recruitment of  6'5 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'6 Jr Robert Thomas from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'9 Jr Tai Gibson from Encino (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'7 Adrian Thomas from Pembroke Pines (Flanagan) FL, 6'0 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'4 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'5 Chris Bethel from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'5 Will Harris from Troy (Redemption) NY, 6'1 Bryan Mullins from Downers Grove (South) IL, and 6'3 Sead Odzic from Skokie (Niles West) IL, and 6'9 Daniel Faris from Albuquerque (Eldorado) NM and we found out some very interesting things.  Fairs mentioned Texas A&M, Lehigh, New Mexico State, and Boise State.  The schools showing the most interest in Odzic are Southern Cal, Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Valparaiso, and Columbia.  Mullins is being recruited the heaviest by Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Ball State, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Northern Illinois.  Richmond appears to be the strong favorite for Harris.  Bethel likes St. Joseph's, Rhode Island, Richmond, Fordham, Pittsburgh, St. John's, St. Bonaventure, Xavier, and Kent State.  Pittsburgh and St. John's are still the leaders for Torres, but Georgia Tech, Louisville, Seton Hall, Xavier, and MIami-FL could make things interesting.  Louisville, Connecticut, Florida, Miami-FL, Duke, and Kentucky are right the top of the list for Rios, who turned 16-years-old yesterday.  Adrian Thomas is getting the most attention from Florida, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Nebraska, and Florida A&M.  Harvey says that Louisville and Connecticut are still the leaders, but also mentioned schools like Syracuse, Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington, UCLA, and Kansas.  Johnson says that Syracuse, Connecticut, and Louisville are the favorites, btu also mentioned Georgia Tech and Texas.   The early list for Gibson includes Connecticut, Georgetown, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, St. John's, Providence, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Georgia.  Connecticut is already the heavy favorite for Rob Thomas, but he also mentioned Syracuse and St. John's.   Green's list includes Pittsburgh, North Carolina, St. John's, Connecitcut, Virginia, Miami-FL, and N.C. State. 

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

We have finally finished with our commentary and analysis from the three major shoe company camps that concluded the second weekend in July, which can be found by clicking on Final Rankings & Analysis from the 2004 NIKE All-American Camp, Final Rankings & Analysis from the 2004 Reebok ABCD Camp, and Final Rankings & Analysis from the 2004 adidas Superstar All-American Camp.   And we did so just in the nick of time, because the Reebok Big Time Tournament, the adidas Super 64, and the Main Event all begin tomorrow morning in Las Vegas, NV.  Also kicking off this marathon week of prep basketball will be the 2004 Pangos Midnight Madness, which will be held tonight at 12:01 AM at the Doolittle Recreation Center in Las Vegas.  Each team will participate in a 25-minute game and the schedule includes Compton Magic versus Belmont Shore on Court #1 and Southern Nevada All-Stars versus Belmont Shore Black on Court #2 at 12:01AM, H-Squad versus Team Texas on Court #1 and Bounce NYC versus Arizona Magic White on Court #2 at 12:30 AM, Philly Flyers versus Arizona Magic Blue on Court #1 and The Hood versus Gym Rats (NJ) on Court #2 at 1:00 AM, and Belmont Shore North versus Las Vegas Dogcatchers on Court #1 at 1:30 AM.   Some of the top players expected to be in attendance include 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'7 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'9 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 6'3 Austin Johnson from Amarillo (Palo Dura) TX, 6'8 Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'4 Terrell Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'2 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Anthony Goods from Corona (Centennial) CA, 6'11 Bamba Fall from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'11 Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Rashad Austin from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 6'6 Dior Lowhorn from Berkley (H.S.) CA, 6'0 Soph Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'5 Jr Jervaugh Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'3 Jr Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 5'10 Frosh Brandon Jennings from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'10 Xavier Crawford from New Hope (Solesbury Prep) PA, 6'4 Ed White from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'6 Joey Shaw from Chandler (H.S.) AZ, 6'3 Kashif Watson from  Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV, and 6'5 Dionte Christmas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA.  Our West Coast editor Dinos Trigonis, who is in charge of putting on the 2004 Pangos Midnight Madness, also recently ran the 2004 Fullcourt Press All-West Camp and the 2004 Pangos Summer Shootout.  In the latter event H-Squad, behind the bookend forwards - 6'7 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA and 6'7 Diamond Simpson from Hayward (H.S.) CA, who were named the co-MVP's of the tournament - coasted to 78-57 win in the Gold Division against Northern Cal Elite, which was led by 6'8 Chris Oakes from Oakland (Castlemont) CA and 6'0 Jr C.J. Morgan from El Grove (Franklin) CA.  Also named to the all-tournament team were 6'5 Gerard Anderson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, 6'8 Rashad Austin from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'8 Kenneth Bowman from Los Angeles (Washington) CA, 5'10 Trae Clark from Newark (Memorial) CA, 6'6 Jeff DeLauney from Huntington Beach (Marina) CA, 6'0 Jr Corey Duncan from Reseda (Cleveland) CA, 6'4 Dominic Duncan-Cruz from Woodside (H.S.) CA, 5'10 Gio Gardner from San Francisco (Mission) CA, 6'4 Anthony Goods from Corona (Centennial) CA, 6'0 Dewey Gradillas from Tucson (Sunnyside) AZ, 6'6 Shaun Green from Olympus (H.S.) UT, 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'2 Keenan Haywood from Oakland (Skyline) CA, 6'2 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'11 Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Soph Jamel Horne from San Diego (University) CA, 5'10 Drew Housman from Calabasas (H.S.) CA, 5'10 Jr Omari Johnson from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'7 Ian O'Leary from Woodland (Christian) CA, 6'5 Jr Nick Larson from Ventura (H.S.) CA, 6'11 Kellen Lee from Denver (Manual) CO, 5'10 Kenneth Maye from San Diego (Hoover) CA, 6'6 Tim Miller from Diamond Bar (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Jerard Moret from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'5 Alex Okafor from San Jose (Mitty) CA, 6'7 Chris Osborn from Scottsdale (Christian) AZ, 6'4 Jr Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'2 James Powell from Glendora (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Charles Prescott from Antioch (Deer Valley) CA, 6'6 Robert Sallie from Laurinburg (Prep) NC, 6'7 Brandon Sampay from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, 6'6 Joey Shaw from Chandler (H.S.) AZ, 6'2 James Shoff from American Fork (H.S.) UT, 6'2 Rick Shoff from American Fork (H.S.) UT, 6'0 Chaz Thomas from Gardena (Serra)CA, 6'3 Jr Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, and 6'0 Soph Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA.  The talent level in the Top 30 "Cream of the Crop" also was the best ever at the 2004 Fullcourt Press All-West Camp, as the list of players included 6'0 Soph Jesse Woodard from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'4 Ed White from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'2 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Anthony Goods from Corona (Centennial) CA, 6'3 Jr Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'4 Jr Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'5 Harvey Perry from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'6 Joey Shaw from Chandler (H.S.) AZ, 6'6 Brantley Watson from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'8 Kenneth Bowman from Los Angeles (Washington) CA, 6'6 Jr Jervaughn Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'8 Jesse Byrd from Oakland (Bishop O'Dowd) CA, 6'7 Diamon Simpson from Hayward (H.S.) CA, and 5'10 Kenneth Moye from San Diego (Hoover) CA on the Blue Squad and 6'0 Daren Jordan from Phoenix (Browne) AZ, 6'3 Lorenzo Keeler from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Gerard Anderson from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Jr Cedric Latimer from Los Angeles (Windward) CA, 6'4 Jerard Moret from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'6 Robert Sallie from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'7 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'11 Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Joe Darger from Riverton (H.S.) UT, 6'9 Maurice Shaw from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'8 Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, and 6'4 Jason Hill from Reseda (Cleveland) OH and the White Squad. 

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Sonny Vaccaro has a trademark on the names of the Roundball Classic All-Star Game, the ABCD Camp, and the Big Time Tournament and, as a result, when he left adidas last winter to take a similar position at Reebok, he retained the names and the right to these events.  Thus, explains why the name has changed, but why everything else, except some of the locations, associated with the Reebok Big Time Tournament is the same this year.  And, as usual, the total number of teams in the tournament (336) is almost overwhelming.   But when you remember that all of the best teams will be in one 64-team Open Division, it becomes a lot more manageable and, as a result, I plan to spend all day Friday, July 23rd, covering the Reebok Big Time Tournament and watching interesting match-ups like the Michigan Hurricanes versus Middlesex (MA) in the Foothill High School Auxillary Gym at 9:00 AM, Houston Elite versus Shepherd Sports in the Foothill High School Main Gym at 10:20 AM, the Illinois Wolves versus Hoop Sessions in the Basic High School Main Gym at 11:40 AM, both Spiece Indy Heat versus Stay in the Game in the Foothill High School Main Gym and Team Breakdown versus Arizona Magic White in the Foothill High School Auxillary Gym at 1:00 PM, D1 Greyhounds versus Los Angeles Stars in the Foothill High School Auxillary Gym at 2:20 PM, the Bounce NYC versus Michigan Hurricanes in the Basic High School Main Gym at 3:40 PM, Inland I versus Colorado Hawks 17's in the Foothill High School Auxillary Gym at 5:00 PM, both the Delaware Sharpshooters versus Texas Blue Chip in Foothill High School Auxillary Gym and the Southeast Elite versus the Michigan Hurricanes in the Basic High School Main Gym at 6:20 PM, Don Marshall Foundation versus H Squad in the Foothill High School Auxillary Gym at 7:40 PM, and Rocktown versus ABC Hoops in the Basic Main Gym at 9:00 PM.  Get the idea that it's not going to be as hard as you might have originally thought, as the teams in the Open Division will all be in two gyms?  We also find the field appears to be a lot stronger than I originally anticipated  as Pool A the Southern California All-Stars, Rise and Shine (MS), Emerald City Pioneers, and Arkansas Hawks 17's; Pool B has North Jersey Hoops, Portland Panthers, Dallas Mustangs 17 Blue, and Granite State Raiders (NH); Pool C has Stay in the Game, Nova United (VA), West Valley BBall I, and Spiece Indy Heat; Pool D has the Arizona Magic White, DI Greyhounds, Los Angeles Stars, and Team Breakdown; Pool E has New York Panthers, I Can All Stars, New Mexico All Stars, Nebraska Bison Red; Pool F has New Jersey Demons, Fox Valley Skillz Blue, Arizona Magic Blue, and Ontario Cyclones; Pool G has Michigan Hurricanes 16's, Las Vegas Prospects, Omaha Crusaders, and Bounce NYC; Pool H has Minnesota Select, Inland I, Colorado Hawks 17's, and Blessed IJN (NH); Pool J has Michigan Hurricanes, Oakland Slam N Jam, Middlesex Magic, and Southeast Elite; Pool K has Texas Blue Chips, Don Marshall Foundation I (NY), H-Squad, and Delaware Sharpshooters; Pool L has Dakota Schoolers, Magnolia Stars, Belmont Shore, and New Heights NYC; Pool M has Youth Interlock Soc. I, Houston Elite, Branch West Reebok, Shepherd Sports (IN); Pool N has Abyssinian (NY), Illinois Wolves, Illinois Bobcats, and Hoop Sessions;   Pool O has Metro Boston/Lena (MA), Rocktown, ABC Hoops, and Team Detroit.  The headquarters for this year's Reebok Big Time Tournament will be at Foothill High School, which is located 800 College Drive in Henderson, NV.  College coaches and the media can check in from 12:00 Noon until 10:00 PM tomorrow, Wednesday, July 21st.  For more information, including a complete schedule of games, directions, and other important information, click onto ReebokBigTime.com.

Monday, July 19, 2004

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that former St. John's interim head coach Kevin Clark will likely move into the open assistant coaching position in August and that 6'10 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA appears to have verbally committed to Mississippi State.  And this makes a lot of sense, if you remember last week that we mentioned that the Bulldogs were the sleeper team to watch on his list.  This is not confirmed yet, but, assuming that Naclerio's source is correct, Goodridge, who is originally from New York City and is close friends with Mississippi State point guard Gary Ervin, will be following in the footsteps of both Ervin and Todd Myles to play for the Bulldogs.  This also will move Mississippi State's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, up to #5 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even important, Goodridge will give head coach Rick Stansbury the quality inside player that he needs to Lawrence Roberts, who will graduate after next season.  We also have confirmed that 6'3 Wesley Matthews from Madison (Memorial) WI, who is ranked #38 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, picked Marquette yesterday and that 6'5 Tommie Liddell from East St. Louis (Lincoln) IL, who verbally committed to UNLV last week, has changed his mind again and now plans to sign with Saint Louis, which was the school he signed with a year ago, once again this fall.  And it appears that 6'4 Harvey Perry from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA has verbally committed to the University of Washington, 6'8 Mark Hall from San Diego (Hoover) CA has verbally committed to Long Beach State, 6'7 Jordan Armstrong from Muncie (Central) IN has verbally committed to Southern Illinois, 6'9 Wacey Hall from Evansville (Mater Dei) CA has verbally committed to Evansville, 6'3 Adam Payton has transferred from Vanderbilt to William & Mary and Cincinnati assistant coach Dan Peters, who has been running the show in Bob Huggins' absence, will be taking a similar position at Ohio State.  But this is still like the calm before the storm, as we're expecting things to be totally crazy later this week when the adidas Super 64, the Reebok Big Time Tournament, and the Main Event all kick off on the same day in Las Vegas, NV.  Our game plan will probably be to start off covering the adidas Super 64.  If you will recall, I only spent one day at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp and I covered the Reebok Summer Classic Tournament in Teaneck, NJ and the NIKE Peach Jam in North Augusta, GA last week and, as a result, I haven't the seen as much of the adidas players and teams as I have the Reebok and NIKE teams this summer.  And it's our guess that the quality of teams across the board in this tournament will be better than the other two, because there are only 64 teams in the field.  And a quick look at the teams in each pool backs up our theory, as Pool A has the Michigan Mustangs Blue, Middlesex Magic, New England Playaz, and Inland; Pool B has EBO/EA Sports, Panthers Select, Puerto Rico Pump N Run, and Hunting Park Warriors 17's; Pool C has Playaz Basketball Club Gold, Inner City Players Basketball Club, IEBP Juniors, Baltimore Select; Pool D has the Atlanta Celtics Black 17's, High Five America San Diego, DTA Wisconsin, and Connecticut Select; Pool E has Seattle Rotary Select I, Gateway Basketball Club, Houston Superstars, Memphis Pump N Run; Pool F has New Orleans Jazz, Colordo Pump N Run, Dallas Slam N Jam Red, and Student Athletes Broncos; Pool G has Gym Rats, Oklahoma Pum N Run, Compton Magic, and Derek Smith All Stars 17's; Pool H has New York Ravens, New Mexico Pump N Run, Austin Dawgs, and Pump N Run International; Pool L has Juice All Stars, Colorado Select Blue, Salt Lake Metro, and Cleveland Basketball Club 17; Pool J has the Tallahassee Wildcats, Pump N Run Alaska, Bellflower H, and Kansas City Pump N Run 17's; Pool K has DC Assault 17's, Playaz BB Club Black, Friends of Hoop, and Texas Blue Chips #1; Pool L has Indiana Elite, Ahead of the Game 17's, Atlanta Celtics Gold, and Houston Select I; Pool M has Pump N Run #1, Syracuse/Rochester Rap, GC Ballers, Dallas Pump N Run Blue; Pool N has Oakland Slam N Jam Soldiers I, LA Rockfish Blue, High Five America Arizona, and Richmond Squires; Pool O has L.A. Rockfish, T.O.P.P. Sports, Utah Pump N Run, and Michigan Mustangs Gold; and Pool P has the Illinois Fire, Boston Saints, Beach Ball Select, and Philly MJB Black.  This tournanent also appears to be more manageable, as it will be played at only three sites (Shadow Ridge High School, Centennial High School, and Desert Pines High School) with only six gyms.  For the complete schedule of games, click onto adidassuper64.com.  Coaches and media packets can be picked up at  Shadow Ridge High School on Wednesday, July 21st, between 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM and Thursday, July 22nd, between 9:00 AM-11:00 AM.  The first set of games will begin at 11:00 AM with the Michigan Mustangs versus the Middlesex Magic in the Main Gym at Shadow Ridge High School, EBO/EA Sports versus Panthers Select in Shadow Ridge Auxilary Gym, the Playaz Basketball Club Gold versus ICPB in the Main Gym at Centennial High School, Atlanta Celtics Black versus High Five America San Diego in the Centennial Auxiliary Gym, Playaz Basketball Club Red versus Colorado White in the Main Gym at Desert Pines High School and DC Assault's 16 versus AST in the Desert Pines Auxiliary Gym.  Those last set of games are in adidas' secondary tournament, which is the called the Elite 36, and Pool AA has the Playazz Basketball Club Red, Colorado Select White, Texas Club Chips #3, and Derek Smith All Stars 16's; Pool BB has DC Assault 16's, AST, IEBP Sophomores, and Houston Superstars II, Pool CC has Texas Club Chips #2, Hunting Park Warriors 16's, Pump N Run #3, IEBP Ballers; Pool DD has Cleveland Basketball Club 16's, Dynasty, Long Island Lightning, L.A. Rockfish Green; Pool EE has EBO/EA Sports II, Kansas City Pump N Run 16's, Pump N Run Black, IEBP 15u; Pool FF has Michigan Mustangs White, Ahead of the Game 16's, Team Houston, and Seattle Rotary Select II; Pool GG has Dallas Slam N Jam, Philly MCJ White, Salt Lake Metro, Gym Rats Juniors; Pool HH has Pump N Run #2, Texas Ambassadors, L.A. Rockfish Gray, and SSS-Sacramento; and Pool II has Atlanta Celtics Black (16's), Dallas Pump N Run 16's, Houston Select II, and High Five America San Diego 16's. 

Sunday, July 18, 2004

The Illinois Warriors, which also won the NIKE Peach Jam in 1998 and have advanced to the final four of the tournament on five different occasions, left little doubt about who the best team in the tournament was last night, as they jumped out  to a 21-9 lead and coasted to a 78-46 victory over BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club) in the championship game.  The best player in both the game and the tournament was 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, who finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in the championship and 23 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in his team's 76-72 win over a tough Boo Williams team in the semi-finals.  However, that only begins to tell the story, as Wright brought the house down in the championship with two of the most spectacular dunks we've seen all summer, used his incredible passing ability to find the open man countless times, and was unstoppable both around the basket and in transiton thanks to his explosive first step, super quick hands and feet, and high skill level.  In other words, Wright is the first player we've seen all summer who has really stepped up and made a strong case for being the best player in the Class of 2005.  Illinois Warriors also featured a balanced attack, as Wright was complemented in the championship game by 6'6 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL with 11 points, 6'2 Jamar Smith from Peoria (Richwoods) IL with 11 points, 6'2 Phillip Perry from Maywood (Proviso East) IL with 11 points, 6'2 Justin Dentman from Carbondale (H.S.) IL with 10 points, 6'4 Josh Tabb from Ullin (Century) IL with eight points, and 6'8 Yan Mack Koswal from Chicago (Julian) IL.  They also show the lights out as they hit 9-18 3-pointers and more than held their own on the boards with 24 points compared to only 3-11 3-pointers and 25 rebounds for BABC.  Only player who scored in double-digits for BABC was 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH.  Speaking of Adrian, he'd get our vote as the sixth best player in the tournament based on performance behind Wright, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA and ahead of 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'8 Chris-Douglas Roberts from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI, 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'1 Denis Clemente from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL, 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX, 6'6 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 6'8 Soph Kevin Love from Medford (South Medford) OR, 5'10 Lavance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, 6'8 Jr Deshawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'10 Jr Spencer Hawes from  Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'8 Maurice Thomas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'5 Jr Obi Munelo from Edmund (Santa Fe) OK, 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN, 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'7 Marcus Landry from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, 5'10 Devan Downey from Chester (H.S.) SC, 5'11 Jr Tywon Lawson from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'5 Terrell Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'9 Jonathan Kale from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6'7 Fendi Onobum from Alief (Taylor) TX, 6'5 David Huertas from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'2 Jr Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, 5'9 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Westfield) TX, 6'7 Darryl Monroe from Virginia Beach (First Colonial) VA, 6'3 Jesse Sapp from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'2 Jr Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 6'0 Jr Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, and 6'1 David Devezin from Sugar Land (Clements) TX.  The Illinois Warriors also beat Boo Williams, 76-72, and BABC beat the Houston Hoops, 51-44, to set up the championship game.  And once again in the semi-finals, Wright had plenty of help from 6'2 Phillip Perry from Maywood (Proviso East) IL (3-3 3-pointers and 13 points), 6'2 Jamar Smith from Peoria (Richwoods) IL (2-4 3-points and 10 points), 6'4 Josh Tabb from Ullin (Century) IL (1-1 3-pointers and five points), and 6'6 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL (1-3 3-pointers and eight points).  Boo Williams was led by 6'7 Daryll Monroe from Virginia Beach (First Colonial) VA, who finished with 20 points and nine rebounds and has to be one of the biggest sleepers to have emerged in the entire tournament.  We're talking about an undersized athletic blue collar power forward who just takes care of business around the basket and, as a result, would be a steal for anybody at the mid-major level.  But Monroe would be an even bigger steal for Longwood, which had him on campus last fall and apparently recently received a verbal commitment.  However, we'd be surprised if that commitment holds up if Monroe goes the prep school route.  Instead, our guess is that Longwood head coach Mike Gillian will try and take Monroe, who was a senior in high school this past season, as a partial qualifier this fall.  And, if that happens, Longwood's recruiting class, which also includes 6'5 Lamar Barrett from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6'4 Jason Davis from Windsor (H.S.) CT, 6'4 Dana Smith from Woodbridge (Hylton) VA, 5'10 Brandon Giles from Rockville (Magruder) MD, and 6'10 Chad Kosmo from St. Petersburg (JC) FL, would be tied at #80, along with UT-Arlington and Eastern Washington, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004.  But that's not possible, because we finalized all of this two weeks ago and Longwood, which is hoping to get into the Big South Conference, won't join the Division I ranks until the coming season.  However, if it did count, Longwood's recruiting class would be tied at #108,along with Cornell, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Alabama A&M, and Jackson State, on our list of the Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 and it would be ranked third in the Big South Conference behind High Point and Liberty and ahead of Radford and Winthrop.  In the other semi-finals game, there were two big differences in the game.  First, 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH and 6'8 Jonathan Kale from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI combined for 25 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks, as they beat the Houston Hoops, which got a combined 19 points and 19 points from 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, 6'6 Ashton Hall from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'9 Jeremy Barr from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'10 Jeremy Mayfield from Irving (MacArthur) TX, and 6'7 Soph Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, at their own game (normally the Houston Hoops brutalize their opponent inside).  Second, BABC's guards - 6'3 Jr Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, 6'3 Farnold DeGand from Medford (John D. Bryant) MA, and 6'6 Colby Santos from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA - combined for 22 points and did a good job defensively against 5'9 Nic Wise from Houston (Westfield) TX and 6'1 David Devezin from Sugar Land (Clements) TX, who also combined for 22 points, but missed a lot of outside shot and never seemed to get into the flow of their transition game.  The leading scorers in the tournament were 6'1 Denis Clemente from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL with 25.8 ppg, 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY with 24.0 ppg, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO with 23.4 ppg,  6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA with 22.2 ppg, 5'10 Devan Downey from Chester (H.S.) SC with 21.2 ppg, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL with 20.0 ppg, 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD with 19.4 ppg, 6'9 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA with 19.3 ppg, 6'8 Chris Douglas-Roberts from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI with 17.8 ppg, 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX with 17.8 ppg, 5'10 Jeremiah Richardson from Hopkins (Lower Richland) SC with 17.3 ppg, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL with 17.2 ppg, 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY with 17.2 ppg, 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH with 17.1 ppg, 6'2 Jr Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI with 17.0 ppg, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL with 16.3 ppg, 6'7 Marcus Landry from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI with 15.8 ppg, 6'8 Soph Kevin Love from Medford (South Medford) OR with 15.8 ppg, 6'7 Antonio Pena from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT with 15.5 ppg, 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN with 15.0 ppg, 6'3 Jesse Sapp from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD with 14.7 ppg, 6'8 Jr Deshawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI with 14.6 ppg, 5'8 Nic Wise from Houston (Westfield) TX with 14.6 ppg, 6'5 David Huertas from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL with 14.4 ppg, 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA with 14.3 ppg, 6'5 Jr Obi Munelo from Edmund (Santa Fe) OK with 14.2 ppg, 6'8 Maurice Thomas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA with 14.2 ppg, 6'0 Jr Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA with 14.0 ppg, 6'5 Terrell Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX with 14.0 ppg, 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA with 13.8 ppg, and 6'6 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL with 13.8 ppg.  The leading rebounders in the tournament were 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH with 9.4 rpg, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL with 8.1 rpg, 6'9 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA with 7.5 rpg, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL with 7.4 rpg, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO with 7.4 rpg, 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX with 7.1 rpg, 6'8 Jonathan Kale from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI with 7.0 rpg, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL with 7.4 rpg, 6'10 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ with 6.7 rpg, 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD with 6.7 rpg,  6'8 Soph Kevin Love from Medford (South Medford) OR with 6.0 rpg, 6'7 Darryl Monroe from Virginia Beach (First Colonial) VA with 5.9 rpg, 6'8 Maurice Thomas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA with 5.8 rpg, 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX with 5.8 rpg, and 7'0 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ with 5.5 rpg.

It looks like Hal Pastner, whose Main Event will be going head-to-head with the Reebok Big Time Tournament and the adidas Super 64 later this week in Las Vegas, NV, is already way ahead of the game, because he's already provided us with the breakdown of teams for the 17-Under Division and he tells us that college coaches and media will be able to pick up their packets at Durango High School in Las Vegas, NV from 7:00-9:00 PM on July 21st or beginning at 7:00 AM on July 22nd.  The cost of the coaches packet is $185 and includes admission to all games.  Some of the key match-ups will include Team Texas Elite with 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX versus 6'10 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN on Thursday, July 22nd, at 11:30 AM; 4toPro Fab Stars from Australia versus the DC Blue Devils with 5'11 Jr Tywon Lawson from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'10 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'2 Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and 6'8 Robert Diggs from Brandywine (Gwynn Park) MD on Thursday, July 22nd, at 1:50 PM; Friends of Hoop-Seattle with 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'7 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'1 Mitch Johnson from Seattle (O'Dea) WA, and 6'10 Jr Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA versus Belmont Shore with 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA and 6'2 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA on Thursday, July 22nd, at 8:50 PM; Team Texas with 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'5 Terrell Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'9 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'9 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, and 6'3 Austin Johnson from Amarillo (Palo Duro) TX versus New York Metro Hawks with 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, and 6'0 Soph Mike Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY on Friday, July 23rd, at 11:30 AM; Houston Hoops with 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX, 6'1 David Devezin from Sugar Land (Clements) TX, 5'9 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Westfield) TX, and 6'7 Soph Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX versus Friends of Hoop-Seattle on Friday, July 23rd, at 12:40 PM.   Other top teams to watch in the 17-Under Division will include the Howard Pulley Panthers Black, Portland Elite Legends, Northern California Elite, Sam Rines Basketball Gold, Kansas City Keys, Birmingham Raptors, Albany City Rocks, King James Shooting Stars, South Florida Chiefs, Rhode Island Breakers, SYF Players, and Victoria Metro from Australia.  Pastner also has provided us with a breakdown of the teams in each pool, which is as follows:  Pool A has the Friends of Hoop-Seattle, Houston Hoops, Belmont Shore, and South Florida Chiefs; Pool B has Team Texas Elite, Metro Hawks, Northern California Elite, and Georgia Elite; Pool C has Victoria Metro (Australia), Utah Vipers, Albany City Rocks, and Howard Pulley Panthers Black; Pool D has Portland Elite Legends, Sam Rines Basketball Gold, and King James Shooting Stars; Pool E has DC Blue Devils, Kansas City Keys, 4toPro-Fab Stars (Australia), and Birmingham Raptors; Pool F has Arizona Stars Team Bibby, Capitol Athletic (PA), Dallas Texas Warriors, and John Muir High School; Pool G has Rhode Island Breakers, Las Vegas Cougars, Basketball Blueprint (CA) and Red Knights (MN); Pool H has SYF Players, Team Texas Blue, Team Walton 1, and Pasadena Hoops; Pool I has Yonge St. Mission (Canada), North Shore Select (HI), South Sand Tarheels (WA), and San Diego Cougars 2; Pool J has New Jersey Wildcats Elite, Santa Barbara Blazers, Friends of Jefferson (OR), and Southwest Rebels (AZ); Pool K has High Five America White, South Texas Stallions, New Mexico Huskies, and Team Walton 3; Pool L has Boise Flite, Grizzly Hoops (UT), High Desert Lakers, and Mt. Vernon Patriots (VA); Pool M has the Utah Bruins, Hawaii Sabers, CTB All Stars 1 (AZ), and Master's Touch II (U.S. Virgin Islands); Pool N has Oklahoma Trotters, Silas Texans, Anaheim Aces, Albany County Heat; Pool O has Illinois Rockets, West Virginia Wildcats, Platinum Starzz (TX), and MPSLO (CA); Pool P has Salt Lake Metro, San Diego Runnin' Rebels, Sam Rines Basketball Blue, adn Run'N'Gun Ballers (AZ); Pool Q has Arizona Cagers Black, Houston Bulldogs, Cypress High, and Kapaun Mt. Carmel Crusaders (KS); Pool R has Step-Up Sports, Northern Arizona Hoops, Waukegan Traveling Stars, and San Antonio Celtics; Pool S has Penn Jersey Panthers, Cincinnati All Stars, I-Can All Stars (CA), and Team Run-N-Gun; Pool T has KC 76ers, Toledo Stars, San Diego Magic, and Dallas Knights; Pool U has World Wide Renegades, Wichita Wolfpack, Colorado Jam Black, and TRRUE Game (CA); Pool V has Memphis Bulldogs, San Diego Cougars 1, Northern Utah Knights, and Alamo Heat; Pool W has Southeast Texas All-Stars Elite, Tennessee Thunder Select, Master's Touch I (U.S. Virgin Islands), Mark Trail War Eagles (GA); Pool X has Bay Area Ballers 1, Dallas Dirty Dozen, Colorado Jam White, and Team Walton 2; Pool Y has KC Pirates, LVNV Rage, Spirit Warriors (OH), and And 1 ARC South; Pool Z has Conquest (Canada), New York City Heat, Corona Flares, and Seawolves-Dallas; Pool AA has Texas Top Prospects, And1 ARC North, Portland 3-Point, and Arizona Saints; Pool BB has East Coast Scholar Athletes (WV), RH Sports (OR), Atla High School (UT), and Total Impact (CA); Pool CC has Minnesota Magic Blue, Austin Dawgs Red, Colorado Jam Purple, and Lodi Heat (CA); Pool DD has Academics First (CA), Fairfield County Stars (CT), Howard Pulley Panthers White; CTB All Stars 2 (AZ); Pool EE has High Five America Arizona, Agassi Stars (NV), Monmouth Power (NJ), and Bay Area Ballers 2; and Pool FF has Chicago Demons, 4D Stars (CA), TA Eagles (TX), and Arizona Rage 1.  Some of the top teams in the 16-Under Division will include Indiana Elite, St. Louis Eagles, REACH Legends, Ferrari Basketball, Georgia Stars, Wisconsin Playground Warriors, South Carolina Elite, Houston Hoops, Team Texas, Murfreesboro Stars, Metro Hawks, DC Blue Devils, and King James Shooting Stars and in the 15-Under Division will include Atlanta Celtics, Illinois Warriors, Playaz Basketball, Tulsa Bulldogs, Salt Lake Metro, Long Island Lightning, Houston Hoops, Metro Hawks, and Team Texas.  For more information about the Main Event, as well as all of the other tournaments and events that Hal Pastner runs throughout the entire year, click on VisionSports.com.

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Will it be Marquette or Wisconsin when 6'3 Wesley Matthews from Madison (Memorial) WI announces his official college decision tomorrow?  Our guess is that it will be Marquette and, if we're right, that will move the Golden Eagles' recruiting class up to #4 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, Marquette already has early verbal commitments from 6'2 Jerel McNeal from Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) IL, 6'1 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN, and 6'4 Jr Anthony Green from Beloit (Memorial) WI, which means that they will have the perfect complement on the horizon to the three inside players that they landed in last year's recruiting class in 7'0 Mike Kinsella from Minneapolis Community/Technical (JC) MN, 6'10 Ousmane Barro from Chicago (Julian) IL and 6'8 Ryan Amoroso from Burnsville (H.S.) MN.  We also like the potential chemistry that should exist among the three players in Marquette's recruiting class, if Matthews picks the Golden Eagles, because James is a pure point guard, McNeal is a great athlete/slasher/defender, and Matthews is a good ball handler and passer, excellent outside shooter, silky smooth athlete, and has a great feel for the game.  However, if Matthews decides to follow in the footsteps of his father (Wes Matthews) to the University of Wisconsin, the Badgers' recruiting class, which also already includes 6'7 Joe Krabbenhoft from Sioux Falls (Roosevelt) SD and 6'2 Phillip Perry from Maywood (Proviso East) WI, would move up to #7 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, if they pull this off, Wisconsin would also be in a very enviable position, because they landed a little bit of everything in last year's recruiting class, which included 6'11 Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI, 6'5 DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL, and 6'2 Michael Flowers from Madison (La Follette) WI, plus they have 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, who red-shirted last winter, ready to step in as a freshman next year.  We have dropped the University of Georgia's recruiting class off our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 altogether, because 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA and 6'3 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA have been quoted within the last several days saying that they are 95% certain that they will attend Georgia, but want to take all of their official visits this fall, as well as explore the possibility of going out of high school straight to the NBA a year from now.  Either you're committed or you're not and, if they're talking about taking visits, our advise to Georgia head coach Dennis Felton would be put at stop to that kind of talk right away or cut them loose, if they aren't sure they want to go to Georgia.   Obviously it will be interesting to see how Felton and his staff handle it.   It also appears that 5'11 Jr Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL is not verbally committed to Miami-FL.  Yes, the Hurricanes did Soto prior when he attended the NIKE All-American Camp and he wants to go to school at Miami-FL, but for whatever reason they apparently aren't ready to accept his commitment.  We have also heard that 6'10 Kendrick Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX and 6'3 Calvin Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX have reneged on Texas Tech, but this is no big lose for several reasons.  First, Johnson played better than we expected when we saw him at the NBA Players Association Camp three weeks ago, but he's still a project and, as a result, Johnson needs the Red Raiders more than Bob Knight needs Johnson.  Second, this will free up a scholarship to sign another inside player who is ready step in and make an immediate impact next year, as well as complement two of Texas Tech's other recruits - 6'5 Terry Martin from Metairie (Ridgewood) LA and 6'8 Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX  - both of whom played extremely well at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, as is evident by the fact that they finished ranked #21 and #27, respectively, overall in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.   We had heard rumors before about the possibility of 6'7 Antonio Pena from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY reclassifying and going the prep school route, but now it appears to be official, as Pena's father told us that his son will attend Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, where he will team up with 6'6 Jr Rob Thomas for the next two years.   Boo Williams tells us that the early list for 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA includes North Carolina, Georgetown, and Maryland and already 6'4 Jr Jeremiah Rivers from Winter Park (H.S.) FL is mentioning Marquette, which is where his father (Glenn Rivers) went to school, Florida State, Notre Dame, Alabama, Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, and Florida.  We also have heard that Kentucky is on the verge of offering 6'9 John Garcia from Brentwood (H.S.) NY, which probably is just another indicator that a verbal commitment by 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO to North Carolina sometime in the near future is imminent.  Remember, the Wildcats currently only have one scholarship available, unless 6'5 Adam Williams, who signed with Wildcats last fall, but plans to attend Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL this fall, decides to go elsewhere (then they would have two scholarships available).  And what you think if North Carolina landed Hansbrough, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, and Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA?   We're not predicting this will happen, but we do think the possibility exists, as Brockman's final four appears to be North Carolina, UCLA, Duke, and Washington.   Another quickly interesting scenario would be if 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL and 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA both pick Arizona.  Not only would that give Arizona head coach Lute Olson an incredible array of talent at the two, three, and four spots with Wright, Webster, 6'5 Jawann McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, who signed with Arizona a year ago and was a McDonald's All-American, and 6'7 Fendi Onobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, who already counts as part of their current recruiting class, but it also probably would make the choice of 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX a little easier.  Currently Miles has Texas, Georgia Tech, Arizona, and Kansas on his list, but we suspect that Kansas, which landed 6'3 Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY and 6'7 Alex Galindo from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ in last year's recruiting class and already has 6'8 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA in their current recruiting class, also may already have too much immediate competition for playing time to get Miles to pull the trigger.   In other words, we think it's really a two-horse race for Miles between Georgia Tech and Texas and the deciding factor may be doing the best job of packaging Miles and 6'9 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, who is interested in attending the same college as Miles.  And that favors Georgia Tech, because Texas is already loaded inside with the likes of  6'8 Mike Williams and 6'11 LaMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, both of whom were apart of last year's #1-ranked recruiting class.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has a list for 6'10 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, which includes Mississippi State, Florida, Seton Hall, St. John's, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Providence, Connecticut, UTEP, UCLA, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Miami-FL.  The list for 5'10 Lavance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY includes St. John's, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Miami-FL, South Florida, and Boston College.  Arkansas is still the favorite for 6'0 Denis Clement from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL, but his list promises to get longer before it gets shorter after leading the NIKE Peach Jam in scoring.  We also are glad to see that Wake Forest assistant coach Chris Mack, who played for Skip Prosser at Xavier and is originally from Cincinnati, OH, and former Ohio State assistant coach Monte Mathis, who also is originally from Cincinnati, OH, have been hired by new Musketeers head coach Sean Miller.  We also think it's interesting to speculate about whether Mathis is the coach to be named later for Thad Matta and the rest of his staff at Xavier, which left a week ago to take the Ohio State job. 

Friday, July 16, 2004

The playoffs are set for the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC, as the quarterfinals at 6:00 PM tonight will feature the Houston Hoops versus Memphis YOMCA, BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club) versus the Friends of Hoop-Seattle, Boo Williams versus the New York Gauchos, and the Illinois Warriors versus the New Jersey All-Stars.  Yes, the Georgia Stars, which featured 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA and 6'3 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, and Team Texas, which featured 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'5 Terrell Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'9 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'9 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 6'3 Austin Johnson from Amarillo (Palo Duro) TX, and 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, failed to make the final eight, which just goes to show how tough this tournament really is.  As a matter of fact, the NIKE Peach Jam probably will turn out to be the best event during the entire month of July, as most of the top NIKE teams and players are participants and all of the games are in the same facility on four courts with only 24 teams.  The four winners of the games mentioned above will play tomorrow morning in the semi-finals at 9:30 AM and 11:00 AM and the championship will be held tomorrow night at 6:00 PM.  The leading scorers in the tournament through last night's games include 1) 6'1 Denis Clement from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL with 25.8 ppg, 2) 5'10 Lavance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY with 22.5 ppg, 3) 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO with 22.3 ppg, 3) 5'10 Deven Downey from Chester (H.S.) SC with 22.3 ppg, 5) 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL with 21.8 ppg, 6) 6'8 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA with 21.0 ppg, 7) 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA with 20.3 ppg, 8) 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL with 19.0 ppg, 9) 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA with 18.3 ppg, 10) 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX with 18.0 ppg, and 10) 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH with 18.0 ppg.  Adrian also was the leading rebounder in the tournament with 9.8 rpg, but even that doesn't begin to illustrate just how dominant this undersized power forward was in this tournament.   We're talking about a physical specimen and an assassin around the basket and, as a result, Adrian has to be ranked as one of the top 5th Year players, along with 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, and 6'10 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, all of whom would be ranked among the top 30 high school seniors or higher in the nation, if we included them in our rankings of the top seniors nationally (it is editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to rank players who have reached their 9th Semester of high school separately).  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that BABC head coach Leo Papile not only compares Adrian to former University of Massachusetts star Louis Roe, but he thinks Adrian is every bit as good as Roe at the same stage.  And that's saying a lot when one remembers that Roe not not only was one of the premier players in college basketball, but he also was the player primarily responsible for transforming the Massachusetts program from an also-ran in the Atlantic-10 Conference into a perennial top 20 team in the nation in the early 90's.  No wonder schools like Arizona, UCLA, Iowa State, Nebraska, Penn State, and Boston College are making a strong push.  However, it's probably already too late, as it appears that Connecticut may already have this one locked up.  And Roe isn't the only one on the BABC team who impressed us, as we also liked 6'8 Jonathan Kale from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, who picked up where he left at the Reebok ABCD Camp last week; 6'3 Jr Anthony Gurley from Newtonville (Newton North) MA, who is one of the best 3-point shooters in the tournament and a legitimate top 100 junior nationally; 6'3 Farnold DeGand from Medford (John D. Bryant) MA, who is a big time athlete and such a good student that he skipped a grade academically; and 6'6 Colby Santos from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, who is one of the most intriguing new players we've seen this summer.  Santos hit 4-9 3-pointers in his first four games of the tournament, but he really doesn't have a shooter's mentality.  Instead, he's a 6'6 point guard who makes excellent decisions, is a good ball handler, and passer, and knows how to run a team.  He's also a tremendous competitor, has a 1200 on the SAT, and is the step-son of Leo Papile.  As a matter of fact, Santos reminds us of a less athletic and not as good a shooting Francisco Garcia.  And our guess is that, if Louisville wanted him, they could get him due to the fact that Rick Pitino hired Papile, who is now the vice president of the team, when Pitino became the head coach and the president of the Boston Celtics in 1997.  However, Louisville appears to have no interest and, as a result, schools like Providence, Arkansas, Miami-FL, Clemson, Arizona, and Brigham Young are now well positioned to get what might turn out to be a major steal.  Several other players who didn't attend any of the three shoe company camps, but who played extremely well at the NIKE Peach Jam are 6'8 Robert Diggs from Brandywine (Gwynn Park) MD, 6'6 Jermichael Finley from Diboll (H.S.) TX, and 6'8 Maurice Thomas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA.  And one of the best players at the NIKE Peach Jam has been 6'4 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, who was sick and didn't play much at the NIKE All-American Camp.  Also getting lost in the shuffle to varying degrees at the NIKE All-American Camp, but playing great at the NIKE Peach Jam have been 6'0 Denis Clement from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL, 5'10 Deven Downey from Chester (H.S.) SC, 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, 5'10 Jr Tywon Lawson from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'5 Obi Muonelo from Edmond (Santa Fe) OK, 6'6 Taylor Griffin from Oklahoma (Christian School) OK, 5'10 Lavance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'8 Jr DeShawn Sims from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6'3 Austin Johnson from Amarillo (Palo Duro) TX, 6'7 Marcus Landry from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, and 6'10 Jr Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA.  Editor's Note:   The Illinois Warriors beat the New Jersey All-Stars, 74-67; BABC beat the Friends of Hoop, 60-59; Boo Williams beat the New York Gauchos, 76-73; and the Houston Hoops knocked off Memphis YOMCA in overtime to set up tomorrow's final four at the NIKE Peach Jam.  Especially noteworthy were the battle between 6'8 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, who had 22 points and six rebounds, and 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, who had 21 points and eight rebounds; the fact that 7'0 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ had only one point against the smaller, quicker, and more athletic Illinois Warriors; 6'9 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, who finished with 17 points and six rebounds against the New York Gauchos, is finally living up to the expectations; and 5'10 Lavance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, who already was one of the leading scorers in the tournament, once again put up big numbers with 23 points, six rebounds, and four assists against Boo Williams.  We look for the winner of the Illinois Warriors-Boo Williams semi-finals game to win the championship against the Houston Hoops, which should beat BABC in the other semi-finals game. 

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Suddenly the inquiry sign is up on the verbal commitment that we reported two days ago by 5'11 Jr Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL to Miami-FL.  However, unless the Hurricanes coaching staff does not plan to offer Soto a scholarship, we stand by what we originally reported.  As a matter of fact, our source on this was Soto himself who told our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson at the NIKE All-American Camp that he is heading to Miami-FL.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Brandon Robinson has transferred from Auburn to Murray State, where he will have one year of eligibility remaining after he sits out next season.   And this is a huge catch for the Racers, because Robinson was the Tigers second leading scorer with 12.0 ppg and third leading rebounder with 6.7 rpg last season.  Robinson also becomes the 11th player that Mick Cronin and his staff have signed since arriving on campus 15 months ago, as they also added a pair of transfers a year ago in 6'4 Trey Pearson, who started as a freshman at Mississippi during the 2002-2003 season, and 6'3 Keith Jenifer, who was a part-time starter at Virginia during the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons; landed 6'7 Kelvin Brown from Ft. Scott (JC) KS and 6'1 Adams Chiles from Vincennes (JC) IN in their first recruiting class last spring, and signed 6'6 Issian Redding from South Plains (JC) TX, 6'9 Reggie Jackson from Lamar (JC) CO, 6'5 Shane Dansby from Harpeth (Kingston Springs) TN, 6'7 Mike McCoy from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'7 Charles Johnson from South Plains (JC) TX, 6'6 Justin Orr from Cincinnati (La Salle) OH, and 6'2 Darnell Hopkins from San Jacinto (JC) TX all in the recruiting class that will enroll in school this fall.  In other words, the only way Cronin could sign any more players would be for the school to also make him the football coach.  It also appears that 6'2 Antonio Hanson from Liberal (H.S.) KS, who previously was verbally committed to Oklahoma State is back on the board and, as a result, the deck appears to be clear at point guard for 5'11 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who is expected to announce for the Cowboys at any time.  And when he does, Oklahoma State will have the outstanding point guard to go along with all of the excellent perimeter players that they have in this recruiting class.  Did you know that 6'7 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX was the leading scorer for week at the Reebok ABCD Camp, 6'6 Roderick Fleming from De Soto (H.S.) TX was the leading scorer for the week at the NBA Players Association Camp, and 6'5 Terrel Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX was one of the best players we saw last night at the NIKE Peach Jam?   However, the icing on the cake would be if Oklahoma State also gets 6'8 Leo Criswell from Kansas City (Piper) KS, who played the best we've ever seen him play at the adidas ABCD Camp, as he finished ranked #7 in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also have confirmed that 6'5 Rasheem Barrett from Atlanta (Marist) GA has verbally committed to Auburn and we wouldn't be surprised if 6'10 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE picks Duke over UCLA, Georgia Tech, Villanova, Michigan, and Georgetown sometime in the immediate future.  Duke also already has in the fold 6'9 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN and 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, who were the HOOP SCOOP's choices as the #1-ranked players at the NIKE All-American Camp and the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, and is believed to be the co-favorite, along with Maryland, over Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Maryland for 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ.  And, if they decide to offer 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, you also can pretty much write that one down.  Duke also was the first school mentioned by 7'0 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, who also has Stanford, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Michigan, Connecticut, and Arizona on his list, and 6'8 Jr Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, who also has Arizona, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Maryland, Kansas, Florida, and UCLA on his list.  So with all this in mind, maybe the real reason why Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't take the Los Angeles Lakers job is because he may have more talent at Duke (in terms of what they eventually will be), if everything mentioned above falls into place, than on the Lakers now that Shaquille O'Neal has been traded to the Miami Heat.   Illinois Warriors head coach Larry Butler tells us that the final three for 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL are Illinois, DePaul, and Arizona, which is interesting, because Roy and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report originally thought Wright was a near lock for Kansas.  However, all that changed when former Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts, who has an extremely close relationship with Butler, got the St. John's job three months ago.  Butler also tells us that it is currently a three-horse race among California, Duke, and Illinois for 6'6 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL.  And this makes perfect sense, because Duke assistant coach Chris Collins played high school basketball at Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, Illinois head coach Bruce Weber's brother (David Weber), and California got 6'7 Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL out of this program a year ago.  The race to get 6'10 Vernon Goodrich from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA appears to be wide open, but the sleeper to watch may be Mississippi State.  Did you know that Goodrich is originally from New York City and he's a lot closer to Mississippi State point guard Gary Ervin than most people realize?  Most people in the know believe that Tennessee is the heavy favorite for both 6'4 Jamont Gordon from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, but did you know that the Volunteers also may be the team to beat for 5'10 Deven Downy from Chester (H.S.) SC?  Speaking of Downy, this pint sized point guard reminds us of Andrew Lavender with his speed, quickness, and court savvy and Teddy Dupay with his willingness to pull the trigger, which might explain why University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan has been showing up at all of Downy's games at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC.  And so are numerous other college coaches, although right now our guess is that South Carolina and Maryland are running second and third on Downy's list.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

The Michigan Hurricanes beat the Illinois Fire, 79-59, to win the Reebok Summer Classic Tournament yesterday at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ, but for the most part this was just a continuation of what I'd seen the previous two days at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  However, there are some important things to note.  First, the Michigan Hurricanes are a dangerous team.  Not only does this team feature 6'4 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'8 Wilson Chandler from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Jabari Currie from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 5'10 Jr Tory Jackson from Sagina (Buena Vista) MI, and 6'11 Jr Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI, but they also have great chemistry and a toughness that often is lacking in this day and age.  As a matter of fact, Devendorf is such a tough hardnosed competitor and so good at beating you both from long range and getting to the basket that, if we had to rank the top 10 seniors in the nation right now, he would make the list, along with 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL.  Devendorf was the leading scorer for the Hurricanes with 22 points, but Wilson, who finished with 19 points and impressed us with athleticism, soft touch, and ability to score around the basket, and Currie, who chipped in with 12 points and finally convinced us that he's a pretty good 3-point shooter, also came up big in the championship game.  And we love Jackson quickness, savvy,   ability to get his shot, and make things happen in transition.  Second, 6'4 Nate Minnoy from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, 6'2 Jeremy Pargo from Chicago (Paul Robeson) IL, 6'2 Tony Freeman from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, 6'8 DeAndre Thomas from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'9 Marquis Young from Chicago (Austin) IL, and 6'5 Jarvis Walker from Olympia Fields (Rich Central) IL just keep getting better and better and, as a result, this might just be the best team that Mac Irvin has had since he had Melvin Ely, Marcus Griffin, and Sergio McClain in 1997, after which Irvin and Larry Butler went separate ways.   However, we're still not buying the hype with regards to Pargo.  Believe it or not, Irvin and his crew are pushing that Pargo is a top 10 senior nationally and they use the fact that Pargo scored 21 points, had eight assists, and was named the co-MVP for his team, along with 6'6 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, in the Senior All-Star Game at the adidas ABCD Camp as evidence.  But we're not buying it, because we still question Pargo's decision making and ability to be a pure point guard at the college level and we use his six turnovers in the all-star as an example.  But that doesn't mean that Pargo hasn't improved and, as a result, belongs closer to top 50 than top100 in the nation (prior to the start of the summer we did not rank Pargo among our top 100 players nationally in the Class of 2005).  If you will recall, we ranked him #25 overall and #7 at the 2-guard spot at the adidas ABCD Camp.   Instead, our favorite player on the Illinois Fire is Minnoy, who, despite his wide-bodied frame, has an incredible knack for finding ways to score both inside and outside, is an excellent rebounder for his size, and plays every possession like it's his last.  In other words, the more we watch Minnoy, the more we're convinced that he's the exception to the rule, whereby, 6'4 power fowards can play at the high Division I level.  We also like Freeman just as well as Pargo, because he has a better feel for the game and is capable of shooting the lights out.  And while the Illinois Fire ran out of gas in the championship game, they were extremely impressive in the quarterfinals against a good Cecil Kirk team, which featured 6'6 SamYoung from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'1 Chester Frazier from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, 6'5 Paris Carter from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, 6'9 Demetrius Phillips form Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, and in the semi-finals against a loaded Playaz Gold Team, which featured 6'8 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'4 Jr Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'5 Jr Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'0 Jr Jawan Carter from Wilmington (Tatnall School) DE.  Third, we got an opportunity to see some players that we hadn't seen before, like 6'6 Sam Young from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who flat out was one of the best tournament, as he used his quickness, athleticism, and toughness around the basket to control the boards and score inside.  Another new name that made us take note was 6'7 Alvin Mofunanya from Englewood (Dwight Englewood) NJ, who provided the inside presence that the Playaz Gold had been missing this spring.  Mofunanya is raw, but he's long, athletic, and active inside and, as a result, he surprises you with how much he gets done.  We also liked the intensity and athleticism displayed by 6'4 Gerald Carter from Plymouth (Holderness) NH, 6'2 Aaron Jackson from West Hartford (Northwest Catholic) CT, 6'4 Andrew Paterson from West Simsbury (The Masters School) CT, 5'11 Damien Davis from West Simsbury (The Masters School) CT, and 6'4 Keith Cothran from New Haven (Hill House) CT, all of whom played for Connecticut Select, but none of whom attended any of the three shoe company camps last week.  We also liked the way 6'4 Soph Eshaunte Jones from Ft. Wayne (Northside) IN used his quick hands and feet, ability to get to the basket, and excellent outside shooting to complement 6'5 Jr Marques Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 6'9 Jr Richard Semrau from Rocky River (Lutheran West) OH, and 6'9 Carl Swanigan from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL on the Blessed IJN team and we thought 6'3 Chris Howard from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA picked up where he left off when we saw him last week at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp.  Not only does Howard have all the physical tools, but he also has excellent handling and passing skills and the court savvy necessary to be one of the better available point guards nationally in a senior class that almost is void of quality point guards.  We also were impressed by 6'8 Kendric Price from Cambridge (Buckingham Brown & Nichols) MA primarily because he increased his level of intensity and 6'5 Antonio Anderson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who could emerge into one of the best players in the nation, if his outside shooting continues to improve.  Remember, 6'5 point guards with good ball handling and passing skills, an excellent feel for the game, and the ability to get to the basket against anybody are at a premium.  We also were impressed by 6'1 Eric Moore from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ and 6'10 Soph Anthony McClain intrigued us with his youth, athleticism, and size.   We also liked the way 6'4 Travan Little from Danbury (H.S.) CT, 6'2 Marvin Owens from Bridgeport (Central) CT,and 6'6 Jr Leslie Simmons from Cornwall on the Hudson (Storm King Prep) CT took it to 6'5 Soph Bill Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH when Stamford Express upset the DI Greyhounds in the quarterfinals.  And, of course, there was 6'10 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, who just gets better and better every time we see him play.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Unless something strange happened, the press conference was scheduled for 5:00 PM today and 6'2 Anthony Farmer from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ verbally committed to Rutgers.  And this is huge for the Scarlet Knights for a number of reasons.  First, although Farmer is a little undersized to play the wing guard spot and doesn't make good enough decisions to be a pure point guard, he is an excellent athlete, good defender, and terrific at getting to the basket, where he draws fouls and gets to the foul line.  Second, Farmer is ranked #99 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Third, Farmer is the #1-ranked senior in South Jersey by the HOOP SCOOP, which means that the Scarlet Knights now have not one, not two, but three in-state players in this recruiting class, which also already includes 6'6 Jaron Griffin from Manchester (H.S.) NJ and 6'8 Gerald Inman from Montvale (St. Josephs) NJ.  And this is important, because for Rutgers to be successful, the Scarlet Knights need to get their share of the better players in their backyard.  Fourth, the addition of Farmer moves Rutgers' recruiting class up to #13 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  It also appears that 6'5 Jordan Fowler from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ is on the verge of making a verbal commitment to St. Joseph's and this too will be an excellent catch, because Fowler is a big time athlete, a tough hardnosed competitor, and capable of playing both inside and outside.  As a matter of fact, Jimmy Salmon, who runs the adidas sponsored Playaz club team progam, which is the top program in New Jersey, thinks Fowler is the best outside shooter that he currently has in his program.  And how about 6'9 Marquis Young from Chicago (Austin) IL to the University of Mississippi?  It's not done yet, but we understand that it will be soon, as this obviously is a case of new Ole Miss assistant coach Tracy Dildy going back to his old stamping grounds and getting what has to be one of the fastest rising players in the state.  Did you know that Young was not even on the radar screen when we updated our rankings of the top 400 players in the Class of 2005 in February, but finished ranked #21 overall and #5 at the center position at the Reebok ABDC Camp that concluded over the weekend?  Other verbal commitments that have occurred within the last several days include 5'11 Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY and 6'2 Sal Patricio from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL both to Hofstra, 5'11 Jr Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL and 6'8 Jr Jimmy Graham from Goldsboro (Charis Prep Academy) NC both to Miami-FL, 6'5 Tommie Liddell from East St. Louis (Lincoln) IL to UNLV, 6'8 Evan Neislor from Raleigh (Word of God) NC to Boston College, and 6'10 Shawn Barlow from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ to Monmouth.  However, both Miami-FL and Hofstra will have to wait until year after next to get all of these guys into school, because Morris and Patricio both plan to go the prep school route a year from now and Soto and Graham both are just rising juniors.  We also have confirmed that 6'4 Draelon Burns from Laurinburg (Institute) NC recently verbally committed to DePaul and it appears that 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT is done deal for Syracuse.  However, this is probably a mute point, despite the fact that Blatche had a bad week at the Reebok ABCD Camp.   Apparently Blatche impressed all the NBA scouts with his high skill level at the morning work-outs and, as a result, will probably still go extremely high in the first round of the NBA Draft a year from now.  We also hear that 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO is a lot closer than we originally thought to making a verbal commitment to North Carolina.  And, if this happens, that should be enough to tip the balance in the race for 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, who is expected to decide between the Tar Heels and the Crimson Tide, in favor of the University of Alabama. We also have confirmed that Elijah Ingram has transferred to New Mexico State and it appears that Louisville is getting involved with 6'5 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, because he is one of the best 3-point shooters in the senior class nationally.  The fat lady hasn't started singing yet, but Pittsburgh is in great shape on 5'11 Jr Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  We also believe that Texas is the strong leader over Syracuse and St. John's for 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY and it appears that SMU is a lot closer to getting 6'11 Bamba Fall from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA than you might think. 

We told you yesterday that our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, who talked to players at the NIKE All-American Camp, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, who talked to the players at the Reebok ABCD Camp, and Patrick Stanwood, who talked to the players at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, had a plethora of recruiting information to pass along.  So here goes:  6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA likes Arizona, UCLA, Washington, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.  The early favorites for 6'10 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN include Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, and Indiana.   The only two schools mentioned by 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL were Alabama and North Carolina.  The same also can be said about 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, whose list only includes Florida and Florida State.  Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas, and North Carolina are the final four for 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO.  Arkansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, Florida, and Connecticut are all in the hunt for 6'5 Chris Douglas-Roberts from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI.   Duke, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Villanova, Michigan, and Georgetown are battling it out for 6'10 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE.  The latest list for 6'8 Jr Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ includes Duke, Arizona, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Maryland, Kansas, Florida, and UCLA.  N.C. State, Connecticut, Seton Hall, St. Joseph's, Michigan, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Indiana, and Virginia make up the list for 6'8 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall) NJ.  Florida State, Arizona, Western Illinois, and Memphis were mentioned by 6'10 Magnum Rolle from Freeport, Bahamas and, as a result, we have to assume that he's reneged on the Seminoles and now back on the board.  The same also can be said about 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who mentioned Memphis, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, and Houston.  If you will recall, Williams signed with Memphis last fall, but didn't make it academically and, as a result, has gone the prep school route.  The early list for 6'7 Jr Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (Area) MN includes Boston College, Iowa, Washington State, Iowa State, UNLV, Purdue, Texas, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Florida State, Wisconsin, Marquette, and Minnesota.  Speaking of the Golden Gophers, has anybody seen anybody from the Minnesota coaching staff so far this summer?  The list for 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX includes Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, and Georgia Tech.  Among those mentioned by 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX were Kansas, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Baylor.  The early favorites for 6'8 Jr Keith Clark from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK are Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Charlotte.   The list for 6'9 Jr Byrce Webster from St. Paul (St. Thomas Academy) MN includes Minnesota, Marquette, Wisconsin, and Boston College.  Texas, Baylor, Kansas, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and Tennessee are all in the hunt for 5'10 Jr Demond Carter from LaPlace (Reserve Christian) LA.  He reneged on Baylor last winter, but 6'9 Jr Chris Rocquemore from Alvin (Livingston Christian) TX still has the Bears at the top of his list, along with schools like Illinois, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, and Texas.  Duke, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, and Oregon State are all already pursuing 6'7 Soph Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR.  The early favorites for 6'3 Jr Trevon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA are North Carolina, Fresno State, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Washington, Louisville, Oregon, and California.  Illinois State, which is where 6'0 Justin Dentman from Carbondale (H.S.) IL signed last fall, is still on his list, but now Dentman, who plans to go to prep school, is mentioning Miami-FL, Georgia Tech, Washington, Connecticut, Illinois, and Illinois State.  The early leaders for 6'4 Jr Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA are Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Wake Forest, and Tennessee.  Among those that have an early jump on 5'10 Jr Tory Jackson from Saginaw (Buena Vista) MI are Florida, Michigan State, California, Kentucky, and Iowa.  The list for 6'3 John Wolf from Cincinnati (St. Xavier) OH includes Marquette, Xavier, Cincinnati, N.C. State, Butler, and Saint Louis.  It's a horse race among Dayton, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, St. Joseph's, Penn State, Akron, and Ohio State for 6'7 Chris Knight from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH.  Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Marquette, and Arizona are all trying to steal 6'7 Wilson Chandler from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI.  N.C. State, Florida, Arizona, Memphis, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Texas are in the hunt with 6'6 J.P Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN.  The early favorites for 6'4 Jr Jeremiah Rivers from Winter Park (H.S.) FL are Marquette, Notre Dame, Alabama, UCLA, Florida, Florida State, and Clemson.  The long list for 6'7 Casaan Breeden from Clio (Marlboro County) SC includes South Carolina, Clemson, N.C. State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, Kentucky, Kansas, DePaul, St. Joseph's, St. John's, Tennessee, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida State, and Auburn.  We still think Michigan is the favorite for 6'5 Jevohn Shepherd from Scarborough (West Hill Collegiate) ON, but Wisconsin, Illinois, and Memphis also get mentioned.  Wake Forest leads Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, Florida State, Michigan, St. John's, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Old Dominion for 6'2 Jr Stefan Welsh from Newport News (Woodside) VA.   Dayton, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Seton Hall, and Southwest Missouri State were mentioned by 6'3 Jarvis Walker from Olympia Fields (Rich Central) IL.  Florida State, Stanford, Tennessee, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgetown, and Memphis were mentioned by 6'8 Rosean Cromwell from Memphis (Fairley) TN.  Already the top three for 6'8 Soph Herb Pope from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD are Pittsburgh, Xavier, and Ohio State, but N.C. State, Minnesota, and Duke also are on his list.  Georgia Tech, Georgia, Illinois, and Michigan are involved with 6'8 Mike Freeman from Alexandria (Hayfield) VA, but he first might be heading to Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD.  Penn State, Villanova, Illinois, Wake Forest, and North Carolina appear to have the early jump on 6'10 Jr Andrew Ott from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA.   Mississippi, Dayton, Auburn, Middle Tennessee, and Appalachian State already have the jump on 6'6 Charles Little from Cleveland (H.S.) TN, who was one of the biggest sleepers to emerge at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  The list for 6'9 Arinze Onuaku from Alexandria (Episcopal Academy) VA includes Georgia, Charlotte, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Maryland, St. Joseph's, Michigan, and Georgetown.  It came as no surprise that Wisconsin and Marquette are right at the top of the list for 6'7 Marcus Landry from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, but he also mentioned Purdue, Iowa, and Connecticut.  Among those involved with 6'7 Taylor Griffin from Oklahoma City (Christian School) OK are Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Dayton, Penn State, UNC-Wilmington, and Tulsa.  Already showing a lot of interest in 6'10 Jr Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA are Connecticut, Stanford, USC, UCLA, North Carolina, Washington, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Duke, and Oregon.  The list for 6'10 Alfred Aboya from Tilden (School) NH includes Georgetown, Virginia, and Kentucky.  They're touting him as the next great point guard to come out of South Carolina, so it comes as no surprise that schools like Clemson, South Carolina, Wake Forest, and Duke are already showing interest in 5'9 Soph Shelton Brown from Bowman (H.S.) SC.  Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Marquette are the early leaders for 6'2 Jr Deonte Roberts from St. Paul (St. Bernards) MN.   Marquette, Louisville, California, UNLV, and Illinois were mentioned by 6'8 Jr Robert Eppinger from Rockford (Jefferson) IL, but prep school at Winchendon (School) MA might first be in his future.  Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Michigan are recruiting 6'0 Paul Gause from Pittsgrove (Arthur P. Schalick) NJ.  LSU, Mississippi, Tennessee, UNLV, Clemson, and Virginia Commonwealth are involved with 6'9 Soph Perry Stevenson from Lafayette (Northside) LA.   The early leaders for 6'3 Jr Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA includes UCLA, USC, California, Kansas, and Iowa.  Syracuse, North Carolina, and Arizona have the early jump on 6'5 Soph Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA.   Connecitcut, Indiana, Notre Dame, Clemson, Virginia, Miami-FL, and St. Joseph's were all mentioned by 6'9 Ahmad Nivins from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ. The list for 6'9 Cyrus McGowen from Meridian (H.S.) MS includes Mississippi State, LSU, Miami-FL, Florida State, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi. 

Friday, July 9, 2004, Saturday, July 10, 2004, Sunday, July 11, 2004, & Monday, July 12, 2004

The results are in and it appears that the Reebok ABCD Camp is the big winner in the battle for the best super-star oriented camp among the three big shoe companies (NIKE, Reebok, and adidas), all of which concluded over the weekend.  Remember, expectations were extremely high for the NIKE All-American Camp for several reasons.  First, most of the top juniors and sophomores in the nation a year ago attended the NIKE All-American Camp and, as a result, it came as no surprise when eight of the HOOP SCOOP's top 11-ranked seniors in 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Tyler Hansborough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, and 6'9 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IL participated at this year's camp.  Second, NIKE is second to none in terms of shoe company sales and market share.  Third, when Sonny Vaccaro left adidas to take over as the head of grass roots basketball for Reebok last winter, it stood to reason that the NIKE All-American Camp would benefit from the fact that Reebok and adidas would split most of the rest of the top players down the middle.  However, it didn't happen, as the Reebok ABCD Camp got all of the rest of the very elite seniors, like 6'3 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'6 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, as well as a number of top level 5th Year Players, like 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'6 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'7 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and all of the very best underclassmen in 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'5 Soph Bill Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, and 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  But in the final analysis that doesn't mean that the Reebok ABCD Camp came out on top.  As a matter of fact, we think the race was too close to call, because the cream really did rise to the top at the NIKE All-American Camp, as most of the top seniors mentioned above and a number of the top underclassmen, like 6'10 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 7'1 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'7 Jr Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 6'8 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, and 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Chrisitan) MD, played extremely well.  In sharp contrast, the big loser was the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, which failed miserably when compared to the NIKE and Reebok camps.  Part of the problem obviously stemmed from the fact that they got a late start, but they would have been much better off (at least from a media coverage standpoint) if they had not chosen the exact same dates as NIKE and Reebok.  The fact that adidas also had seven games on seven different courts running simultaneously and only two sets of games, instead of three sets of games in both the afternoon and evening, made the camp extremely difficult to cover.  And making things even worse was the fact the adidas camp had 260 players versus only 230 players at Reebok and 180 players at NIKE.  In other words, the theory that the camp with the fewest number of players gave NIKE a huge advantage, despite the fact that we think adidas had more depth of talent in the 50 to 100 range.  But you also can make an argument that the glass was half full for the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, because it did have some positives.  First, it did have it's share of big name players like 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 6'7 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, 6'6 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA,6'7 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, and 6'6 Terrance Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA.  Second, the adidas Camp had more than it's fair share of sleepers and players who really increased the value of their stock, like 6'4 Jr Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'2 Jr Luis Guzman from Paramus (Catholic) NJ, 6'7 Jr Yi Li from China, 6'9 Arinze Onuaku from Alexandria (Episcopal) VA, 6'10 Abdul Herrera from Miami (South Miami) FL, 6'3 Zhi Luo from China, 6'10 Jr Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Jr Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaqin Memorial) CA, 6'7 Terry Martin from Monroe (Richwood) LA, 6'10 Kenneth Cooper from Monroe (Ridgewood) LA, 6'5 Jr Derrick Jasper from Paso Robles (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX, 6'3 Nyan Boateng from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, and 6'10 Sam Warren from Denver (Cherry Hill) CO.  Third, the first adidas Camp not under the direction of Sonny Vaccaro turned out to be every bit as good as the first AFBE (Athletes For Better Education) Camp in 1983, which evolved into NIKE ABCD Camp in the mid-80's and the Converse ABCD Camp in Irvine, CA in 1993, which evolved into the adidas ABCD Camp and now is the Reebok ABCD Camp.  Fourth, the adidas Camp was the clear winner over the NIKE All-American Camp and the Reebok ABCD Camp at the point guard spot with 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, who arguably is the best pure point guard in the senior class nationally; 6'2 Jr Luis Guzman from Paramus (Catholic) NJ, who was the most improved player in the camp from start to finish, as he was no place to found in our rankings on the first two days, but finished ranked #3 in camp behind Paulus and Smith; 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, who is another one of the top point guards in the senior class nationally; 6'0 Soph D.J. Augustine, who is a top five-ranked sophomore nationally; 6'6 Antonio Anderson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who has come out of nowhere this spring to become one of the top 5th Year Players in the nation; 6'5 Jr Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, who simply picked up where he left off when we saw him three weeks ago at the NBA Players Association Camp; 5'11 JaJuan Spillman from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, who is second to nobody in terms of speed and quickness at the point guard spot in this class; 6'3 Chris Howard from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, who is a strong physical point guard that makes good decisions and is excellent in transition; 6'0 Jr Jawan Carter from Wilmington (Tartnell School) DE, who is one of the top-ranked junior point guards in the nation; 6'2 Darren Collison from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, who promises to be an excellent back-up point guard to Jordan Farmar at UCLA; and 5'10 Frosh Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, who is one of the top five freshmen in the nation.  However, the adidas camp could not begin to compete with the NIKE All-American Camp, which was absolutely loaded inside, as is evident by the fact that 19 of the top 40 players in camp were power forwards and centers; and the Reebok ABCD Camp, which was top heavy at both wing spots, as 13  of the top 25 players in camp played either the 2-guard or wing forward position.  And to keep track of all this the HOOP SCOOP staff was second to none, as we had Allen Rubin, Dave Schultz, Mike Giuliani, and Mark Komara at the Reebok ABCD Camp from start-to-finish; Mark Melvin, Dinos Trigonis, Linzy Davis, Roy Schmidt, Harv Schmidt, and Dinos Trigonis all for several days each at the NIKE All-American Camp; and Larry Kihnley, Dale Mabrey, and Patrick Stanwood at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp; Chris Johnson at both the NIKE All-American Camp and the Reebok ABDC Camp; and myself (Clark Francis) at all three camps (NIKE on July 7th & 8th, adidas on July 9th, and Reebok on July 10th and July 11th).  Especially noteworthy were the jobs done by Schultz, who is the best there is on getting a handle on every player in camp; Melvin, who did a great job of helping us make the transition (Johnson, Trigonis, and myself were at the NIKE Camp for the first several days and the Schmidt's were there for the last day-and-a-half of camp); and Stanwood, who was the only one who stayed until the bitter end and did an excellent job helping us cover his first camp ever at this level.   To get all of our rankings, which were updated daily and printed exclusively in the Members Section, from all three camps, click on Final Rankings from the 2004 NIKE All-American Camp, Final Rankings from the 2004 Reebok ABCD Camp, and Final Rankings from the 2004 adidas Superstar All-American Camp.  Editor's Note: We also will provide you with our expert analysis and what we thought were the highlights, including the big match-up between 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ and 7'0 Jr Greg Odom from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, from each of the three camps in these three sections as the week goes on.  However, the rest of our day today will be spent at the Reebok Summer Classic Tournament at Fairleigh Dickinson University and tomorrow we will catch you up on a plethora of recruiting information, a lot of which was gathered by Johnson at the NIKE All-American Camp, Rubin at the Reebok ABCD Camp, and Stanwood at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp.  So stay tuned!

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'3 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has a press conference scheduled for 1:30 PM today and he will verbally commit to Syracuse.  This comes as no surprise - we told you this would probably happen earlier this week when Florida landed 6'3 Derwin Kitchen from Jacksonville (Raines) FL and 6'4 David Huertas from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL.  However, it's still huge, because it gives the Orangemen a tough hardnosed athletic 2-guard who can beat you to the basket, shoot the lights out, and complement all of the good guards that Syracuse will have in the program, like Gerry McNamara, 6'2 Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, and 6'2 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, year after next.  The addition of Devendorf, also moves Syracuse's recruiting class, which also already includes Mayben, into a tie at #5, along with Duke and North Carolina, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, if they also get 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, then their recruiting class would move up to #2, behind Louisville and ahead of Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and Georgia.  Rubin also has some more recruiting information, as he tells us that the early list of schools for 6'8 Jr Damion James from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX includes Florida, Texas, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas, and Baylor.  The the leaders for 6'3 Jr Harvey Hale from Albuquerque (Rio Grande) NM are Florida, Marquette, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Oklahoma, and Baylor.  The long list for 6'1 Bryan Mullin from Downers Grove (South) IL includes Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Ball State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola-Chicago, Stanford, Arkansas, Colgate, American, Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, Tulane, and Davidson.  But, even more interesting is the fact that Northwestern is not on Mullin's list.  We also are surprised by the fact that 6'4 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA no longer is mentioning Kentucky.  Instead, Harvey's list includes Connecticut, Louisville, Syracuse, Oregon State, Arizona State, and Washington.  The early favorites for 6'6 Frosh Olu Ashaolu from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA are LSU, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, and Michigan State.  The race for 6'3 Jr Kashif Pratt from New York (Rice) NY includes Florida State, South Florida, Providence, and Syracuse.  Seton Hall, Rutgers, Connecticut, and St. John's are the early favorites for 5'11 Frosh Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ.  Pittsburgh and St. John's are the two you have to beat for 6'5 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymonds') NY, but he also likes Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, Miami-FL, and Xavier.  It's already a war among South Carolina, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, and Penn State for 6'6 Frosh Marshall Moses from Aiken (H.S.) SC.  6'4 Maurice Joseph from Champlain (St. Lambert) QU likes N.C. State, Boston College, Iowa State, George Washington, Northwestern, and Xavier.  It appears that 6'0 Kerchel Carter, who plans to transfer from Scarborough (West Hill) ON to Bayside (Cardozo) NY this fall, is receiving a lot of interest from Nebraska, Iowa State, UTEP, New Mexico State, and Central Michigan.   The list for 6'6 Jr David Jackson from Hermitage (Kennedy Catholic) PA includes Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Penn State.  Kansas State, Florida, SMU, and N.C. State are the early favorites fro 6'9 Jr Tearon Hill from Carrollton (Turner) TX.  Georgetown, Purdue, Clemson, and Florida State are in the hunt for 6'7 Kiwan Smith from Laurinburg (Institute) NC.  The list for 6'10 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt.Zion Christian) NC includes Memphis, DePaul, Clemson, St. John's, Virginia Tech.  Patrick Stanwood, who us cover the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, tells us that 6'9 Leo Criswell from Kansas City (Piper) MO and 6'0 Marcus Walker from Kansas City (O'Hara) MO also appear to be heading to Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) MO, where they will join 6'6 Brandon Rush, who also is originally from Kansas City, MO.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that a press conference has been scheduled today by the Xavier athletic department and, if they are moving this quickly, it has to mean that Musketeers assistant coach Sean Miller will be named as the replacement for Thad Matta, who became the new head coach at Ohio State yesterday.  And, assuming that this does happen, it will be interesting to see if Miller names his younger brother, Arch Miller, who is an assistant coach at Western Kentucky, and/or his father John Miller, who is one of the top high school coaches in the nation at Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA, as is evident by the fact that we have him ranked #15 on our list of the top high school in the coaches in the nation.  Johnson and Chris Monter of collegebasketballnews.com also have some interesting recruiting news to pass along from the NIKE All-American Camp and we will have some of that for you later today.  Speaking of the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, IN it appears to have lived up to its billing, as the top players in camp include 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA,  6'9 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'9 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 6'9 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 5'11 A.J. Abrams from Austin (McNeil) TX, 6'5 Chris Douglas-Roberts from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI, 6'8 Uchechukwu Echefu from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'7 Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'2 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, 6'8 Jr Keith Clark from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'8 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'10 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE, 6'0 Jr Tywon Lawson from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'10 Jr Demond Carter from LaPlace (Reserve Chrisitan) LA, 6'6 Jr Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN, 6'2 Soph Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 7'1 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'10 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita Catholic) CA, 6'2 Jr Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, 6'7 Fendi Obobun from Alief (Taylor) TX, 6'9 Soph Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'9 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'3 Jamar Smith from Peoria (Richwoods) IL, 6'7 Marcus Landry from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, 6'2 Jr Ramar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 6'9 Jr Kevin Durant from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD,  6'8 Soph Herb Pope from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) VA, 6'9 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON, 6'3 Jr Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'4  David Huertas from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 7'1 Jr David Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day FL, 6'7 Casaan Breeden from Clio (Marlboro County) SC, 6'0 Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'8 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Kevin Swinton from Greensboro (Dudley) NC, 6'7 Antonio Pena from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'7 Jr Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'10 Jr Vernon Macklin from Portmouth (Norcom) VA, 6'10 Magnum Rolle from St. George, Virgin Islands, 6'4 K.C. Rivers from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 5'11 Soph Michael Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Alfred Aboya from Tilden (School) NH, 6'9 Jr Chris Rocquemore from Alvin (Livingston Christian) TX, 6'1 Michael Gerrity from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'8 Jr Bryce Webster from St. Paul (St. Thomas Academy) MN, 6'3 Josh Tabb from Ullin (Century) IL, 6'0 Justin Dentman from Carbondale (H.S.) IL, 6'2 Jr Stefan Welsh from Newport News (Woodside) VA, 6'9 Jr Solomon Tat from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, 6'3 Jessie Sapp from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 5'11 Lavance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'6 Jaron Griffin from Manchester (H.S.) NJ, 6'9 Jr Jamil Tucker from Gary (Westside) IN, 6'0 David Devezin from Sugar Land (Clements) TX, 6'4 Jr Jeremiah Rivers from Winter Park (H.S.) FL, 6'11 Bamba Fall from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'7 Joe Darger from Riverton (H.S.) UT, 6'2 Craig Austrie from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'6 Jeff Adrian from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'1 Angel Santiago from Chicago (Von Steuben) IL, 6'9 Yamene Coleman from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'0 Denis Clemente from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL, 6'0 Jr Josue Soto from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'9 Landrell Brewer from Bossier City (Airline) LA, 6'7 Jr Jarod Leonard from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'9 Ross Marsden from Ames (H.S.) IA, 6'7 Jr Alex Tyus from Florissant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 6'10 Jr Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Jr Andre Stephens from Heidelberg (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Jeremy Barr from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'9 Rousean Cromwell from Memphis (Fairley) TN, 6'5 Jevohn Shepherd from Scarborough (West Hill Collegiate) ON, and 5'9 Jr Nic Wise from Sugar Land (Hightower) TX.

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has been in Teaneck, NJ the last two days in order to get an early jump on covering the Reebok ABCD Camp and he's already talked to many of the players about their recruiting.  And right at the top of the list is 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, who mentions North Carolina, Wake Forest, Indiana, and Michigan State.  Our guess is that 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT will by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft a year from now, but he did mention Syracuse, Connecticut, North Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.  LSU and Kentucky were the only two schools mentioned by 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA.  Louisville, Connecticut, Syracuse, Cincinnati, and West Virginia make up the early list for 6'4 Soph O.J.Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH.  Cincinnati, Louisville, and Kentucky were mentioned by 6'5 Soph Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH. Syracuse, Florida, and Michigan State are the final three for 6'4 Eric Devendorf from Bay City (H.S.) MI.  Georgia, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee, UAB, and Alabama are all in the hunt for 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA.  Connecticut, Kentucky, Texas, and Vanderbilt are the top four for 6'5 Wesley Matthews from Madison (Memorial) WI.  The early list for 6'8 Jr Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ includes Duke, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Kansas, and Syracuse.  Miami-FL, Georgetown, N.C. State, and South Florida make up an extremely intereting list for 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ.  Yes, Caracter told Rubin that he plans to transfer back to St. Patrick's this fall.  Syracuse and Texas are believed to be the leaders for 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, but St. John's, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, Georgia Tech, and Memphis also appear to be in the hunt.  The early list for 6'0 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL includes Connecticut, North Carolina, Duke, Florida, and Miami-FL.  South Florida, Rutgers, Richmond, Pennsylvania, and Seton Hall were mentioned by 6'10 Frank Tchuisi from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ.  The favorites for 6'1 Chris Lowe from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY are St. John's, Rhode Island, Oregon State, and UNLV.  Connecticut, Yale, Iowa State, Iona, North Carolina, and Penn State were mentioned by 6'6 Jr Rob Thomas from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT.  Indiana, Temple, and Louisville make up the early list for 6'10 Soph Keenen Ellis from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN.  6'5 Richard Delk and 6'5 Reginald Delk both gave Rubin identical lists as they mentiond Louisville, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Florida, Miami-FL, Tennessee, South Carolina, N.C. State, DePaul, and Illinois and confirmed once again the fact that they plan to attend the same college.  California, UCLA, Washington, and Syracuse were mentioned by 6'4 Jr Patrick Christopher from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA.  UCLA received what is believed to be the earliest verbal commitment ever from 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA a year ago, but now he's mentioning UCLA, North Carolina, Connecticut, Syracuse, Florida, and Washington, which leads us to believe that he plans to renege on the Bruins.  Kentucky, Connnecticut, Arizona, Wake Forest, Florida, Indiana, and UCLA were all mentioned by 6'9 Jr Richard Semrau from Rocky River (Lutheran West) OH.  Tennessee, N.C. State, Georgetown, Clemson, and Maryland appear to be the early favorites for 6'6 Jr William Graves from Greensboro (Dudley) NC.  Connecticut, Pittsburgh, and St. John's are the leaders for 6'11 Franklin Jones from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  Siena, St. Joseph's, N.C. State, UTEP, Villanova, and George Washington were mentioned by 6'5 Bilal Benn from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, which leads us to believe that he is not a lock to return to Siena next year.  Villanova, Creighton, UTEP, George Washington, La Salle, Temple, and East Carolina are all showing interest in 6'6 Dionte Christmas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA.  Maryland, Indiana, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Miami-FL, and Illinois are among those involved for 6'2 Sean McCurdy from Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ.  Providence, Hofstra, Seton Hall, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are the leaders for 5'11 Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY.  Georgia, Marquette, Seton Hall, Rhode Island, Hofstra, Rhode Island, and South Florida get mentioned by 6'7 Kahiem Seawright from Uniondale (H.S.) NY.  Pittsburgh, Miami-FL, St. John's, Connecticut, N.C. State, and Virginia are all in the hunt for 6'6 Danny Greeen from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY.  The race for 6'5 Tyson Johnson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY includes Miami-FL, South Florida, George Mason, Monmouth, Hofstra, Delaware, James Madison, Rider, and Massachusetts.  St. John's, DePaul, and Boston College are the leaders for 6'0 Greg Johnson from Plymouth (Holderness) NH. Louisville, Kentucky, Seton Hall, Wichita State, Oklahoma, and Rider were among those mentioned by 6'6 Shahee Martin from West Hempstead (H.S.) NY.  USC, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso, and Columbia are in the hunt for 6'3 Sead Odzic from Skokie (Niles West) IL.  The favorites for 6'1 Jr Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY already are N.C. State, Louisville, and Manhattan.   It appears that 6'5 Tommie Liddell from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL will attend prep school and, as a result, he mentions UNLV, North Carolina, Miami-FL, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Saint Louis, which is the school that he originally signed with last fall.  The early list for 6'0 Jr Willie Walker from Bolingbrook (H.S.) IL includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Baylor, Marquette, Purdue, Northwestern, Tennessee, and California.  Northwestern, Wisconsin, Marquette, California, Illinois, Notre Dame, Northern Illinois, and Iowa were mentioned by 6'4 Jr Devan Bawinkel from Winnebago (H.S.) IL.  Gonzaga, Ball State, Ohio State, Illinois, DePaul, Purdue, Kansas, and Miami-FL make up an extremely interesting list for 6'3 Jeremy Pargo from Chicago (Robeson) IL. Florida, Miami-FL, Duke, Illinois, North Carolina are the early favorites 6'8 Jr Johnnie Lett from Mobile (Rain) AL.  Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Maryland are the early leader for 6'1 Jr Trevon Hughes from Delafield (St. John's Northwest Military Academy) WI.  Mississippi State, N.C. State, Xavier, Dayton, and Florida are the schools mentioned by 6'7 Derrick Brown from Dayton (Chaminade-Julian) OH.  The leaders for 6'7 Dave Neal from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA are St. Bonaventure, Rice, Princeton, Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt.  Florida, Miami-FL, Duke, Illinois, and North Carolina were mentioned by 6'8 Jr Johnnie Lett from Mobile (B.C. Rain) AL.  The list for 7'0 Jonathan Huffman from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL includes Mississippi State, Georgia, Tennessee, Miami-FL, Alabama, Auburn, and Texas.  Miami-FL, Florida, and Oklahoma are the early favorites for 6'7 Jr Dwayne Collins from Miami (Senior) FL.  Arkansas, Boston College, UNLV, Washington, and Florida among those in the hunt for 6'0 Jovan Adams from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX.  LSU, Duke, Kentucky, Lamar, and Texas are showing the most early interest in 6'1 Frosh J'Covan Brown from Beaumont (Kelly) TX.  Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State all already appear to be in the hunt for 6'6 Jr Dale Van Wright from Houston (Bellaire) TX.  6'10 Sylvester Seay, who plans to return for another year of prep school at Winchendon (School) MA, is being recruited by Arizona State, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, Kansas State, UNLV, Texas A&M, Michigan State, and Virginia Tech.  The early favorites for 6'7 Jr Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ are Rutgers, Seton Hall, and Cincinnati.  The leaders for 6'4 Maxwell Dubios from Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL are Tulane and Ohio State.  Michigan, Michigan State, Central Michigan, Cleveland State, Illinois, and Purdue were mentioned by 6'11 Jr Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI.  The early list for 6'8 Soph Dallas Lauderdale from Solon (H.S.) OH includes North Carolina, Syracuse, and Ohio State.  Syracuse, North Carolina, Michigan, and Ohio State were mentioned by 6'5 Jr David Lighty from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH.  Villanova, Pittsburgh, St. John's, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Providence, Richmond, and DePaul make up the list for 6'8 John Garcia from Brentwood (H.S.) NY.  The list for 6'8 James Tchana from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY includes Purdue, Manhattan, Marquette, St. Bonaventure, St. Joseph's, San Diego, and Arizona.  The early favorites for 5'11 Jr Edward Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI are Michigan State, Michigan, and Cincinnati. Editor's Note: Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin sent us a copy of the rosters for the Reebok ABCD Camp and the camp appears to be much better than originally anticipated, as the rest of the notable names include 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'0 Andre McGee from Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) CA, 6'6 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, 6'8 Jr Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY, 6'11 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'9 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Charter) NC, 6'8 Davon Jefferson form Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Jr Damion James from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX, 7'1 Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Harlan) IL, 6'5 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'5 Harvey Hale from Albuquerque (Rio Grande) NM, 6'5 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'6 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, 6'6 Jr Marques Johnson from Ft. Wayne (Snider) IN, 6'9 Carl Swanigan from Salt Lake City (Hunter) UT, 6'9 Joey Cameron from Leeds (H.S.) AL, 6'0 Soph Cory Fisher from Bronx (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'7 Frosh Olu Ashaolu from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, 5'10 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'4 Seketoure Henry from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'8 Leo Criswell from Kansas City (Piper) KS, 6'1 Jr Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'8 Jr Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'6 Soph Marshall Moses from Aiken (H.S.) SC, 6'2 Jr Willie Kemp from Bolivar (Central) TN, 6'7 Will Harris from Troy (Redemption) NY, 6'10 Jeffrey Pendergraph from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, 6'8 DeAndre Thomas from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 6'5 Soph Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 6'2 Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'2 Kyle McAlarney from Staten Island (Moore Catholic) NY, 6'2 Austin Jackson from Denton (Ryan) TX, 6'5 Soph Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'0 Korey Spates from Warrensville Heights (H.S.) OH, 6'8 Zach Hillesland from Toledo (St. John's) OH,  6'11 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Jonathan Kale from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6'3 Josh Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 6'8 Artem Wallace from Toledo (H.S.) WA, 6'3 Maurice Joseph from Montreal (Champlain-St. Lambert) QU, 6'3 Nate Minnoy from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, 6'9 Ben McCauley from Pittsburgh (Yough) PA, 6'9 Obi Ikeakor from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX,  6'0 Daren Jordan from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, 6'2 Jr Al Graham from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'7 Courtney Fells from Shannon (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Rashad Austin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'7 Derrick Brown from Dayton (Chaminade) OH, 6'8 Michael Freeman from Alexandria (Hayfield) VA, 6'2 Jerrett Smith from Romulus (H.S.) MI, and 6'5 Nathan Skinner from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY.  In other words, it looks like we might have been wrong about the NBA Players Association Camp being the best camp of the summer, as it looks like Sonny Vaccaro, who made the move from adidas to Reebok last winter, has done it again!

Tuesday, July 6, 2004

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski deciding to remain at Duke and not accepting a similar position with the Los Angeles Lakers is great news for college basketball and it sends a very important message that things like loyalty, happiness, success, and not just selling out to the highest bidder are still very important rules by which to live.  In other words, it's not all about who can get the biggest contract, make the most money, and/or be the first pick in the NBA Draft and, as a result, Krzyzewski, who already exemplified all the positive things that are associated with college basketball, also suddenly becomes the sport's most  important role model.  Yes, Krzyzewski said no to a five-year deal with Lakers that was worth over $40 million and, as a result, is now practicing what he is preaching as he attempts to persuade potential future recruits that it's not all just about the money and that they really might be better off if they go to college, instead of just taking the money and running, regardless of the tough path that often awaits down the road.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that 6'6 Chris Berry from Compton (Centennial) CA, who is ranked #224 nationally in the senior class and is one of our favorite players in the Class of 2004, has picked Fresno State over Bowling Green and DePaul.  However, this commitment comes too late to be included in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004.  And so does the information that we've obtained about Louisiana-Lafayette's recruiting class, which apparently includes 6'3 Derek Gray from Jenerette (H.S.) LA, 6'3 Cletis Fobbs from Worcester (Academy) MA, 6'8 Berry Jordan from Kilgore (JC) TX, 6'3 Anthony Rhodman from Louisburg (JC) NC, and 6'7 Spencer Ford from Dixie (JC) UT, who originally committed to LSU fall.  If we did include these five players with Louisiana-Lafayette's recruiting class, it would move into a tie at #76, along with Liberty, Hartford, and North Texas, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 and it would move the Sun Belt Conference up from #9 to #8, ahead of the Atlantic-10 Conference, on our Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference.  But, then again, we could do this for the next two months and never get finished.  In other words, we have to draw the line someplace and we've done so just in the nick of time, because the Evaluation Period for College Coaches begins day after tomorrow.  Now is the time, however, to catch up on several verbal commitments from players in the Class of 2005, like 6'2 Jerel McNeal from Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) IL to Marquette, 6'1 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN to Marquette, and 6'3 Derwin Kitchen from Jacksonville (Raines) FL to Florida, and 6'9 Monquel Pegues from Wilson (Fike) NC to High Point.  Obviously the commitments from McNeal and James are very important, because we're talking about a two guys who are ranked #52 and #67, respectively, in the rising senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  James also figures to the heir apparent at point guard when Travis Diener graduates after next season and McNeal, who is a terrific defender, excellent ball handler, and big time athlete, has the talent and potential to develop into the next Dwayne Wade.  And making the Wade-McNeal comparison even more interesting is the fact that the one question we have with regards to McNeal is the fact that he's not a great outside shooter.  The verbal commitment by Kitchen also probably means that the hand of 6'2 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA will be forced to Syracuse.  If you will recall, Devendorf's top three schools are Syracuse, Florida, and Michigan State and we've been told that the Spartans really have no shot (they're only still being mentioned for political purposes).  Ironically, the commitments by McNeal and James to Marquette and the commitment by Kitchen, who joins 6'4 David Huertas from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, who verbally committed to the Gators last week, moves both recruiting classes into a tie at #10 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  The verbal commitment by Pegues also is important for several reasons.  First, he's an excellent job blocker/rebounder/athlete/scorer around the basket and he's impressed all the scouts who have seen this spring, which makes him a steal for the somebody at the low major level.  Second, he joins 6'4 Melvin Crowder from Pickens (Prince Avenue) SC, who made a verbal commitment to High Point earlier this spring, and, as a result, the Panthers already have a great head start on next year's recruiting.  And this comes on the heels of last year's recruiting class, which finished ranked #50 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 and included 5'11 Titus Byrd from Bossier Parish (JC) LA, 6'1 Akeem Scott from Garrett (JC) MD, 6'5 Arizona Reid from Gaffney (H.S.) SC, 5'11 Anthony Harris from Concord (Central Cabarrus) NC, 6'10 Terrance Stokes from Orlando (Evans) FL, 6'7 Jerald Minnis from Miami (Senior) FL, and 6'8Josh Lamons from Boca Raton (Olympic Heights) FL.   We also have received a report from Greg Swaim of GregSwaim.com about 6'6 Roderick Fleming from De Soto (H.S.) TX, who was the leading scorer two weeks ago at the NBA Players Association Camp in Richmond, VA, making a verbal commitment to Oklahoma State.  And, assuming this holds up (we heard the same thing about Fleming at the NBA Players Association Camp two weeks ago, but Fleming denied it), the Cowboys' recruiting class would move up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, last week Oklahoma State landed 6'7 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX and 6'5 Terrel Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX and earlier this spring they got a verbal commitment from 6'2 Antonio Hanson from Liberal (H.S.) KS.  And this comes on the heels of their top five-ranked recruiting class from the Class of 2004, which includes 6'10 Aaron Pettway from Hutchinson (JC) KS, 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Stillwater, OK, 6'2 JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC, and 6'0 Jamal Brown from Dixie (JC) UT, although Brown is expected to return to junior college for another year and, as a result, could re-open his recruitment.  In other words, there appears to be no end in sight for Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton, who, along with Texas Tech Bob Knight, has a good shot at challenging Dean Smith's record of 879 wins to become the all-time winningest coach in the history of the game.

Sunday, July 4, 2004, & Monday, July 5, 2004

We are finally finished with our Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference and Different Ways to Look at Recruiting, which means that once again we are able to provide you with the most comprehensive look at recruiting found anywhere.  If you will recall, last Thursday we published our 28-page list of Signings & Commitments and our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004, which was 15 pages and included 242 teams ranked in numerical order.  And our Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference, which is 21 pages and includes our rankings for every team in every conference, provides en excellent complement to this because it allows us to see how things break down within each conference, as well as who the big winners and big losers are.  The big winner is the Big-12 Conference, which has four of the top 15-ranked recruiting classes, six of the top 30-ranked recruiting class, and nine of the top 50-ranked recruiting class with Texas at #1, Oklahoma State at #5, Baylor at #10, Kansas at #14, Missouri at #22, Iowa State at #26, Colorodo at #34, Nebraska at #43, and Texas A&M at #43.  And within the Big-12 Conference Baylor, which, against all the odds, not only finished with a top 10-ranked recruiting class, but also kept pace with all the traditional powerhouse teams in the league.  In other words, Iowa State, Colorado, and Nebraska, and Texas A&M all had excellent recruiting classes when compared to the rest of the country, but, at the same time, did not narrow the gap between themselves and the top teams in the league.  The big loser has to be the Atlantic Coast Conference, which actually lost nine points when you add up all the points for each player signed and compare it to last fall.  And this happened despite the fact the Atlantic Coast registered a net gain of two players when compared to last fall, as it   added 6'9 Jerome Habel from Washington (Marriott Charter) DC to Florida State, 6'3 Ralph Mims from Brunswick (H.S.) ME, 6'3 Cliff Hammonds from Cairo (H.S.) GA to Clemson, 6'2 Troy Mathis from Laurinburg (Institute) NC to Clemson, and 6'1 Sterling Ledbetter from Allegany (JC) MD to Maryland and lost 6'6 Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, who signed with Duke last fall, and 6'5 J.R. Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who signed with North Carolina last fall, both to the NBA and 6'2 JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC, who decided to go to Oklahoma State, instead of North Carolina, after running into legal difficulties this spring.  Our Different Ways to Look at Recruiting, which is 14 pages and allows us to track players in a number of different ways, like by talent rating average per recruit, who signed the best two players, best three players, and best four players over the last two years, and what conferences signed the most players who would be the equivalent of a top 100 senior in high school, also allows us to track some very interesting things.  Once again we find that the Atlantic Coast Conference has the highest talent rating average per recruit with a 5.077 Talent Rating Average Per Recruit.  As a matter of fact, when we look back into our archives at Different Ways to Look at Recruiting from the Class of 2000, Different Ways to Look at Recruiting from the Class of 2001, and Different Ways to Look at Recruiting from the Class of 2003 (we ran out time in spring of 2002 and, as a result, this never published in that year), we find that the Atlantic Coast Conference is way out in front of the Big-10 Conference, which is the second best conference when we assign every each conference a numerical ranking from 1-32 and add up all the points with the lowest point total winning.  Obviously the results are very interesting, as the Atlantic Coast Conference has eight points, the Big-10 Conference has 13 points, Southeastern Conference has 14 points, the Big-12 Conference has 16 points, the Pacific-10 Conference has 19 points, the Big East Conference has 21 points, and Conference USA has 22 points.  This also reinforces the fact that these are the top seven high major conferences in college basketball, but some comes next is somewhat of a surprise (most people think the Atlantic-10 Conference is the 8th best Conference in college basketball), as the Mountain West with 34 points and the Western Athletic Conference with 36 points beats out the Atlantic-10 Conference with 45 points and Sun Belt Conference with 48 points.  And, this is important, because it backs up the fact that these four conferences are better than the straight mid-major level conferences, but aren't quite at the level of the seven high major conference.  The best straight mid-major conference appears to be the Horizon League with 50 points, followed by the Colonial Athletic Association with 58, West Coast Conference with 63 points, Mid-Continent with 64 points, Ohio Valley Conference with 72 points, Metro Atlantic with 73 points, Mid-American Conference with 74 points, Southern Conference with 75 points, Missouri Valley Conference with 76 points, America East with 77 points, and the Big West Conference with 79 points.  From there is there is a big drop to schools at the low major level, as the Big Sky Conference has 96 points, the Ivy League has 98 points, the Southland has 99 points, Atlantic Sun with 103 points, Big South with 105 points, Northeast Conference with 106 points, Patriot League with 108 points, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 118 points, Division I Independents with 123 points, and the Southwestern Athletic Conference with 125 points.  We also find it extremely interesting that the team with the highest talent rating average per recruit is Cincinnati, which landed three players who are the equivalent of a high school player in the 11-40 range nationally.  However, since 6'0 Jihad Mohammed from San Jacinto (JC) TX is a junior college player and 6'6 Roy Bright from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC and 6'3 Vincent Banks from Laurinburg (Institute) NC are both 5th Year Players, it should come as no surprised that this class doesn't get the respect that it deserves.  With Connecticut and Louisville tied for #1 on our list of the Highest Talent Rating for the Top Two Recruits and Texas, Kentucky, Cincinnati, and USC tied for #1 on our list of the Highest Talent Rating for the Top Three Recruits, the question suddenly becomes which head coach can put the together all the pieces the fastest and perhaps have what will be the best team in college basketball next year.  We think the smart money is once again on Connecticut, which also has the Highest Talent Rating for the Top Four Recruits from This Year and Last Year Combined.  Remember, the players returning now have the experience that comes from having won the NCAA Championship three months ago, plus they are extremely well coached and have Ed Nelson, who transferred a year ago from Georgia Tech and sat out last season, and Marcus Williams and Marcus White, both of whom red-shirted season, waiting in the wings to go along with a recruiting class that includes 6'8 Rudy Gay from Severn (Archibshop Spalding) MD, 6'2 A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, and 6'2 Antonio Kellogg from Oakland (McClymonds) CA.  When it's all said and done our recruiting wrap-up from the spring signing period is 78 pages and it goes nicely with everything else we've published in recent years from both the fall and spring signing periods, which can be found by clicking on Top Recruiting Classes.  

Saturday, July 3, 2004

It is the editoral policy of the HOOP SCOOP to move the players in each class up by one year on the July 1sr, but for the second consecutive year we have had to make an exception for our New York City Report, which includes Ron Naclerio's rankings of the top 299 seniors, top 225 juniors, 150 sophomores, and 40 freshmen and Michael Moore's ranking of the top 20 8th Graders, 12 7th Graders, 6th Graders, 12 6th Graders, and five 4th Graders and can found by clicking onto Naclerio & Moore Rank 'Em:  The Top Players in New York City.  In other words, we've decided to rely upon somebody other than Naclerio, who doesn't know about, doesn't care about, and doesn't want to watch anybody younger than a freshman in high school, including at IS8, in order to find out about all the great young players on the horizon.  And we think Moore, who also runs the Team Next club team program and coaches many of the top young players in the city, including 5'4 Erving Walker from Brooklyn (P.S.#308) NY, who is the best 8th Grader in the nation, and 6'3 Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (I.S. #96) NY, who is the best 7th Grader in the nation, is the perfect guy to become our new New York City Middle School and Elementary School Editor.  And that's not the only important change we've made with regards to our New York City Report.   While Naclerio's and Moore's rankings still include only the top players from the five boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island) in New York City, the 10 All-Metro Teams, which include the top players regardless of class and position, include the top players from New York City, Long Island, Westchester Couty, and North Jersey.  Obviously this is extremely important, because a lot of the top players no longer come from the city, as is evident by the fact that these rankings include 6'9 Soph Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'5 Earl "J.R." Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'2 A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'10 Joakim Noah from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ, 6'8 Jr Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, 6'3 Keith Benjamin from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Soph Jonathan Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'7 Alex Galindo from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'11 Soph Brian Zoubek from Haddenfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'9 Jr Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'8 Soph Lance Thomas from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 5'11 Frosh Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'2 Courtney Nelson from Bloomfield (Tech) NJ, 6'6 Soph Shamari Spears from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'6 Will Harris from Troy (Redemption) NY, 6'2 Cedric Jackson from Columbus (North Burlington) NJ, 5'11 Frosh Mike Coburn from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 5'11 Soph Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NY, 6'9 Randall Hanke from Pawling (Trinity-Pawling) NY, 6'8 Taj Finger from Bedford (Fox Lane) NY, 6'6 Jr Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'0 Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'6 Jr Jaron Griffin from Manchester (H.S.) NJ, 6'5 Jr Tyson Johnson from Manhasett (St. Mary's) NJ, 6'3 Soph Rashard Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NJ, 6'9 Jr John Garcia from Brentwood (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Jr Gerald Inman from Montvale (St. Joseph's Prep) NJ, 6'6 Jr Kyle Hines from Sicklerville (Timber Creek) NJ, 6'4 Will Scott from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'9 Jr Frank Tchuisi from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'6 Dexter Gray from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY.  In other words, we've found a way to factor in 32 of the top 50 players from the Metropolitan area who previously were getting overlooked, while at the same type not forcing Naclerio to do the impossible job of covering everybody on Long Island, Westchester County, and North Jersey.  And we've done the same thing with the Middle School players, as we've come up with a First and Second Team for this age group that includes 6'8 Frederick Dominguez from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ and 5'10 Ashton Gibbs from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, who the top two 8th Graders in North Jersey.  We also have denoted players with three stars who have been reclassified, like 6'6 Soph Shamari Spears from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 5'11 Soph Eugene Harvey from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'0 Jr Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and 6'6 Will Thomas from Troy (Redemption) NY.  However, we have not reclassified Thomas, because it is now the editorial policy not to reclassify a player once he reaches his senior year of high school. 

Friday, July 2, 2004

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'4 David Huertas from Jacksonsville (Arlington Country Day) FL has picked the University of Florida over the University of Louisville.  And this comes as no surprise, because two weeks ago the Cardinals landed 6'5 Terrance Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, who plays the same position.  This also is big for the Gators for a number of reasons.  First, Huertas is ranked #56 nationally in the rising senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, which means he's pretty good right now.   Second, Huertas also has a huge upside, excellent shooting 3-point shooting range, and big time athleticism.  In other words, as he continues to develop his skills and consistency, the sky's the limit.  Third, getting Huertas gives the Gators not just one of the top players in the state, but also a major recruiting connection to Miami Tropics club team coach Art Alvarez, who controls most of the top players coming the United States from Puerto Rico.  Fourth, getting Huertas give Florida an excellent start on the future, as well an excellent complement to 6'7 Corey Brewer from Portland (H.S.) TN and 6'0 Taurean Green from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) FL, who the Gators landed at the one and three spots in last year's recruiting class.  And when you also remember that the Gators landed 6'10 Joakim Noah from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ and 6'8 Al Horford from Grand Ledge from (H.S.) MI in last year's recruiting class, all the Gators need now is an aircraft carrier who can dominate inside.  Obviously 7'1 Jr Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL fits that description, but they will have to wait another year to get him.  And we think this would be another perfect fit, because Bennett is a long way from being a finished product and Florida head coach Billy Donovan is one of the best there is in terms of individual instruction and player development.  We also have confirmed via Richie Davis, who runs the Fox Valley Skillz club team program, that 6'8 Mike Schachtner from Somerset (H.S.) WI has verbally committed to Wisconsin-Green Bay and 6'4 Jr Anthony Green from Beloit (Memorial) WI has made an early verbal commitment to Marquette.  The commitment by Green is especially noteworthy, because we're talking about a player who has exploded into one of the top prospects in Wisconsin's loaded sophomore class.  Green is described by Davis as an "excellent shooter with great form.  Can handle the ball very well and has excellent hops.  Can take it to the hole in traffic and also has a good jumper.  Has a very fluid/smooth flow to his game."  Green also is the first in-state player than Marquette head coach Tom Crean has landed since he signed 6'9 Steve Novak two years ago.   Schachtner is an important catch for Wisconsin-Green Bay for several reasons.    First, Schachtner an excellent post player, as is evident by the fact that he made the all-tournament team at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, is a consensus top 10 rising senior in the state, and was also being recruited by Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Washington State, Northern Iowa, Miami-OH, and most of the Ivy League.  Second, the addition of Schachtner gives the Wisconsin-Green Bay head coach Tod Kowalczyk not one, but two of the top players in the state.  If you will recall, Wisconsin-Green Bay also got a verbal commitment earlier this spring from 6'5 Cordero Barkley from Racine (St. Catherine) WI and, as a result, their recruiting class moves into a tie at #28, along with Illinois, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Third, getting Schachtner gives the Phoenix another important in with the Fox Valley Skillz, which one of the top club team programs in the state.  Fourth, Schachtner is an excellent student and a great kid, which is an added bonus in this day and age.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'2 Lamar Johnson from Scranton (H.S.) PA has verbally committed to Rider and our Texas Editor Wes Grandstaff tells us that 6'7 Michael Prince from Plano (H.S.) TX has verbally commmitted to Texas Tech.  The verbal commitment by Prince is especially interesting, because we're talking about an athletic white kid who is an excellent defender, but needs to work on his ball handling and outside shooting.  Prince also gets lost in the shuffle on that loaded Team Texas Team, which also includes 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'5 Terrill Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX, 6'3 Austin Johnson from Amarillo (Palo Duro) TX, 6'9 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'8 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX, and 6'11 Bamba Fall from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  However, we still think Prince is a pretty good player and he has an excellent upside, as is evident by the fact that schools like Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tulsa, Colorado State, Pepperdine, and New Mexico were also recruiting him.  Our Canadian Editor Ro Russell tells us that 6'9 Bernard Cote, who recently announced that he is transferring from Kentucky, has decided to enroll at Northwestern.  And we think this is an excellent fit, because it's school at the high major level were he can step in and get plenty of playing time and the Wildcats already have 6'10 Michael Thompson, who transferred from Duke to Northwestern last winter, waiting in the wings.  We also have confirmed that Drew Schifino, who averaged 17.0 ppg in l1 games last year and was the second leading scorer in the Big East Conferencewith 20.1 ppg two years ago, is transferring from West Virginia to Middle Tennessee State.  And this is absolutely huge, because the Blue Raiders already have an SEC-like recruiting class that includes 6'9 Tim Blue from Indian River (JC) FL, 6'3 Jonathan Loe from Northwest Mississippi (JC) MS, 6'0 Francis Cuyler from Cowley County (JC) KS, 6'6 Marcus Morrison from Garden City (JC.) KS, and 6'5 Brian Lake from Bolivar (Central) TN and is ranked #11 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004.  And, if that weren't enough, Middle Tennessee State also has 6'8 Steve Thomas, who transferred averaged 10.2 ppg and 7.3 season before last at the University of Georgia, waiting in the wings. 

Thursday, July 1, 2004

Not only have we tracked all of the recruiting on a daily basis for the Class of 2004 for a number of years, but we also have spent the better part of the last week cross checking our national player rankings and where all the top players in the Class of 2004 have signed and/or verbally committed.  And this is important to point out, because, if we don't know about it by now, it must not be that important.  Or it is something that has happened recently and/or unfortunately slipped under our radar screen.  But regardless of why we don't have whatever late additions that you may want to make us aware of, for our purposes it's time to move on.  This way we can publish our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004, which are derived from our updated list of Signings & Commitments and includes everything that has happened since the conclusion of the Fall Signing Period.   This list not only is extremely important, because it provides a comprehensive list of what players each school has signed, but it also gives you an idea of how good each player is based on a 1-10 rating scale, 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.  Junior college and prep school are factored in as if they were the equivalent of a high school senior.  It also should be pointed out that early verbal commitments for next year, football players, walk-ons, et al. are included on this list.  We tell you this because it is perfectly legitimate to use this list as a source of reference.  However, if somebody decides to rob us blind and doesn't even bother to distinguish these very important points (just like one fool did this several years ago), he'll  be talking to my attorney about what will be a very obvious case of plagiarism.  These rankings obviously will go nicely with Final Rankings of the Top Recruiting Classes from the Class of 1998, Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes from the Class of 1999, Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2000, Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2001, Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Clases from the Class of 2002, and Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes from the Class of 2003, which means we can make all kinds of interesting comparisons from the last seven years.  Like the fact that Duke has had the #1-ranked recruiting class twice (1999 and 2002), but the school with the most top 10 recruiting classes during the last seven years is Florida (#8 in 1998, #9 in 1999, #2 in 2002, and #7 in 2003).  Like the fact that the Southeastern Conference with 16 and the Big-12 Conference with 13 top 10-ranked recruiting classes have accounted for over 40% of the top 10-ranked recruiting classes during the last seven years.  Like the fact that Oklahoma State, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four three months ago, and Oklahoma, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2002, had the #1 and #2-ranked recruiting classes, respectively, in 2000.  We also find that the Big-12 Conference with Texas at #1, Oklahoma State at #5, Baylor at #10, Kansas at #14, Missouri at #22, Iowa State at #26, Oklahoma at #27, Colorado at #34, Nebraska at #39, and Texas A&M at #43 has three top 10-ranked, four top 20-ranked, seven top 30-ranked, and 10 top 50-ranked recruiting classes.  The other big winner appears to be the Pacific-10 Conference, as USC at #7, UCLA at #9, Oregon at #15, Arizona State at #17, and Arizona at #23 all have top 25-ranked recruiting classes.  We also have good news and bad news for Minnesota head coach Dan Monson, whose 2003-04 team was one of the worst in school history, as is evident by the fact that it finished 12-18 overall and 3-13 in the Big-10.  The good news is that Minnesota's recruiting class is ranked #32 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004.  The bad news is that Iowa, which finished 4th in the league, and Indiana and Purdue, which finished tied for 7th in the league, appear to have improved even more, as the Hoosiers check in with the #11-ranked recruiting class, the Hawkeyes had the #19-ranked recruiting class, and Purdue had the #30-ranked recruiting class.  We also found it interesting that the University of Houston, which landed five junior college players this spring in 6'8 Englebert Cherrington from Midland (JC) TX, 6'7 Sergio De Randamie from Midland (JC) TX, 6'8 Rodney Hannah from Yuba (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Chris Lawson from Los Angeles-Southwest (JC) CA, and 6'1 Brian Latham from Midland (JC) TX, came from out of nowhere to be ranked #34 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004.  And how about the fact that the Ohio Valley Conference with Murray State at #20, Eastern Kentucky at #28, and Jacksonville State at #45 has three recruiting classes ranked among the top 50 in the nation?  We also think it is noteworthy that our #1 and #2-ranked assistant coaches a year ago (Paul Biancardi and Mick Cronin) have two of the four highest ranked recruiting classes in the nation, along with Lamar and Middle Tennessee State, among schools outside of the top seven conferences (ACC, SEC, Big East, Big-10, Big-12, Pacific-10, and Conference USA) that traditionally dominate the top of the list of the top recruiting classes.  Also falling into this category of mid-major schools that have had high major-like recruiting classes and, as a result, deserving special mention are Lamar at #4, Middle Tennessee at #11, Eastern Kentucky at #28, Western Illinois #29, Jacksonville State #45, College of Charleston at #49, and High Point #50.  And, of course there is Southern Mississippi, where first year head coach Larry Eustachy is trying to do the same thing he did after taking over at Iowa State when he inherited the #1-ranked recruiting class in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP in 1997 and went onto win 57 games with the nucleus of that group during the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons.  A quick check of our list finds that Southern Miss' recruiting class, which includes 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Indian Hills (JC) IA, 6'1 Michael Ford from Los Angeles Southwesst (JC) CA, 6'2 Solomon Brown from L.A. City (JC) CA, 6'9 Shakiem Mitchell from Globe Tech (JC) NY, 6'8 Dwayne Brown from Southeastern Illinois (JC) IL, and 6'4 Henry Salter from  Gulfport (H.S.) MS, is ranked #16 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004.  And it appears they aren't done yet, as the word on the street is that they also have several players stashed in junior college that they should get a year from now. 

*Rankings provided by HoopScoop