HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR JULY 1999

Saturday, July 31, 1999

Among the players we talked to on the last day at the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA were 6'2 Adam Boone from Minnetonka (H.S.) MN, 6'9 Jr Duane Erwin from Huntsville (Lee) AL, and most of the Houston Hoops players after they won the tournament.  Boone tells us that he's not a lock for Stanford, which had been the word around the press table last night.  He did mention The Cardinal, but said he also likes Minnesota, Duke, Kentucky, Florida State, Notre Dame, Texas, and St. Louis.  The early favorite for Erwin is Auburn, but UAB, Kentucky, Florida State, Alabama, and Mississippi are also in the hunt.  Florida State, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, LSU, Texas, Rutgers, Baylor, and Colorado are all involved with 6'1 Trayveon Scott from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA,  We got exactly the same list that we got in June from 6'3 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, but he tells us that Louisville is not the heavy favorite anymore.  Instead, he says he really likes all four schools - Arizona, Louisville, Houston, and Cincinnati. Those with a shot at 6'7 Nick Anderson from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA include Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, Florida State, Houston, and Tennessee.  Florida, Florida State, Houston, Texas, Wyoming, and Tulsa are involved with 6'7 Derrick Obasahan from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX.

The HOOP SCOOP has a very reliable source who tells that at 1:00 PM today 6'5 David Holmes from Washington (Coolidge) DC verbally committed to Manhattan.  We also understand that Holmes, who is borderline academically, will be transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA this fall.  Although that's been rumored for some time, that too became official today.  How big a recruit is this for new Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who had previously established himself as the #1 recruiting assistant in the nation during the last several seasons?  It's bigger than when he landed Shamgod Wells and Jamal Thomas when he was at Providence. It also is bigger than the recruiting class, which featured Travis Watson, Majestic Mapp, and Roger Mason, that he brought in last year at Virginia.  When was the last time Manhattan or any other school in their conference landed a player who was an not only an all-star at the adidas ABCD Camp, but also had several 30 point games and finished second in camp in scoring with 22.1 ppg and ninth in rebounding with 7.1 rpg?  Holmes was underrecruited due to his lack of grades and tweener size.  But make no mistake about it - this is a major coupe for Gonzalez.  Holmes is terrific basketball player and the sky is the limit, especially if he improves his skills away from the basket.  And if that happens, don't be surprised if he eventually develops into the best player in the Metro Atlantic, as well as a potential NBA player.  Obviously this is why we rank him among our top 50 nationally.

It will be remembered as one of the great upsets of all time.  The Illinois Warriors jumped out early to a 11-5 lead against New York Riverside Church in the semi-finals of NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA.  Neither team could buy a basket early, but then the Warriors started hitting some shots, as they outscored Riverside Church 24-11 to make it 35-16 at half-time.  At that point the Riverside Church was shooting 6-27 from the field, while the Warriors were 11-33.  However, the big story was the 11 blocks by the Warriors, including nine by 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, who finally is playing in this tournament like he did all spring when he was the leading candidate for National Player of the Year honors.   Even more important, the Warriors totally attacked Riverside Church defensively, as they took them out of their game.  At half-time the big question obviously was would Larry Butler's team be able to withstand that the run that Riverside Chruch was sure to make in the second half.  But it never came.  Instead, the Illinois Warriors outscored Riverside Church 12-2 to begin the second half and 6'5 Brett Melton from Mahomet (Mahomet-Seymour) IL got hot.  At that point it was 47-18 and the technicals started to come (the unofficial count was someplace between eight to 12 - we actually lost count).  Soon it was 71-27 and it continued to get even worse.  So with the score 84-36 with 1:27 remaining, the game was called.  Melton was the MVP, as he finished with eight 3-pointers and 37 points.  It wasn't pretty, but it was one of the most incredible games I've ever seen, as the Illnois Warriors provided Riverside Church with their first loss of the summer.  In the other semi-final game the Houston Hoops came back to knock off Howard Pulley at the buzzer.  Not only did 6'6 Jr Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA score the game winning basket in the closing seconds, but he had 27 points, five rebounds, and four assists.  Thus, the stage has been set for today's championship game.  Will the Illinois Warriors finally win a tournament this summer or will an extremely well coached Houston Hoops team pull off the upset?  Do you remember the Houston-N.C. State NCAA Championship in 1983?  Houston was clearly the better the team, but N.C. State proved that miracles do happen. And after last night, anything is possible in this tournament.

Speaking of the Howard Pulley team, we reported earlier that 6'0 Jake Sullivan from Oakdale (Tartan) MN had committed to Iowa State, but we did not report that the Cyclones also have gotten his AAU teammate 7'0 Andrew Skoglund from Hopkins (H.S.) MN, as well as 6'11 Ernest Brown from Indian Hills (JC) IA.  Skoglund, who is huge, but right now has to be regarded a project, announced right after Sullivan did several weeks ago.  But in the chaos of the summer, it got lost in the shuffle.  Brown, who has to be ranked as one of the top two of three junior college players in the nation, made it official earlier this week.

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has talked to Albany (Westover) GA head coach Willie Boston and this legendary coach, who won five state championships during the '90, confirms that 5'11 Jr  Jonathan Hargett and 7'0 Jr  Marcus Campbell both will be transferring from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC to Westover this fall.  Johnson also tells us that Hargett and current Westover high flying athlete and star 6'5 Jr Greg Tinch, already have been talking about going to Ohio State as a possible package when they graduate from high school two years from now.  Hargett's early list also includes St. John's, Miami-FL, and Connecticut.  Campbell like Florida State, Connecticut, LSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgetown. We also continue to find out more about the situation at Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC involving head coach Joel Hopkins.  We have confirmed that he was out, but more recently Hopkins has patched things up with the head master and administrators at the school.  However, part of the deal is that if Hopkins stays, certain people have to go, including Hargett and Campbell.  Also Hopkins has to tone down some of his recruiting.  Apparently there's power struggle going on and, as a result, somebody has to go.

Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat tells us that Missouri may now be the leader for 6'7 Omar Weaver from Compton (Centennial) CA.  Jira also tells us that Manhattan is the leader for 6'5 David Holmes from Washington (Coolidge) DC, who is in New York City for an on-campus visit this weekend, and that 6'6 Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC has verbally committed to New Mexico, although he still plans to make visits to Georgetown and Arizona.  While Robinson appears to be a done deal, it appears that his AAU teammate - 6'2 Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA - has not committed to New Mexico.  At least not yet! And as long as we're mentioning Oak Hill Academy, did you know that both Holmes and 6'10 Jr Tony Key from Russellville (H.S.) KY might be going to play for head coach Steve Smith?

Jerry Gale, the Editor & Publisher of SoCal Hoops, tells us that he thinks USC will end up getting both 5'9 Kenneth Brunner from Southern Idaho (JC) ID and 5'9 Wesley Stokes from Long Beach (Poly) CA.  This could be big for the Trojans, because Brunner is still a tremendous talent and, although there are some question marks about Stokes, he is extremely popular among players in Southern California and some think that landing Stokes could be enough to sway some of the great juniors to pick the same school next year.  However, don't look for it to make much of an impact with 7'1 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'11 Jr Jamal Sampson from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'4 Jr Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  Yesterday we asked Pat Barrett, who is the AAU coach of the Southern California All-Stars, where he thought Chandler would go to college.  Obviously things can change, but Barrett did confirm that right now UCLA is the strong leader.  Barrett also confirms the rumor about the possible package deal with Childress, Sampson, and Bozeman to Kansas.  And this makes even more sense when one sees Kansas head coach Roy Williams at every one of their games.  We couldn't talk with Bozeman yesterday, because he'll be out for at least four or five months with an injury.  But when we asked both Childress and Sampson about schools and Kansas is right at the top of their list.  Childress also mentioned Utah, Arizona, and Stanford.  Sampson, who is the second cousin of former NBA star Ralph Sampson, also mentioned UNLV and North Carolina.  Chandler also gave us a list, but nothing has changed since we talked with him two months ago when he gave us UCLA, Kentucky, Arizona, and Kansas.  Although Kansas isn't in the lead right now, he could be part of the Jayhawk package with Sampson, Childress,and Bozeman.  However, all that could change if Tar Heels head coach Bill Guthridge retires next spring and Williams gets the North Carolina job.  Remember, we've been hearing that rumor since early March.  Don't you just love all the speculation!

The championship at  NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA.  was anticlimatic when compared to both of the semi-final games last night. But the Houston Hoops took home there third championship of the summer by upsetting the Illinois Warriors 55-52.  However, 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL didn't play due to a stiff shoulder and the Houston Hoops did a great job of defending 6'5 Brett Melton from Mahomet (Mahomet-Seymour) IL, who only hit 1-6 shots and scored only three points in the championship, and 6'8 T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, who only had six points and four rebounds.  As a matter of fact, the only player for the Warriors to score in double digits was 6'3 Dwayne Wade from Peoria (Richards) IL, who had 23 points in the championship game.   Stepping up once again for Houston in the championship game was last night's hero 6'6 Jr Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA, who had 20 points and 15 rebounds today.  If he's not the tournament MVP there should be an investigation.  However, college coaches will have to wait for another year to sign Spears, who also is a terrific football players at both tight end and middle linebacker positions.  However, the early list for Spears, who is a freak of nature, because they don't make to many this big, mobile, and athletic, includes Florida, Florida State, USC, UCLA, Arizona, and LSU.  This is the third championship that the Houston Hoops have won this summer.  Earlier they won the Great American Shootout and the Great Southwest Classic.  They finished second in the Mae Fisher NIKE Easter Classic in Las Vegas, NV and in the NIKE Bluegrass Classic in Lexington, KY.  They also made the final four at Spiece in Lafayette, IN in early May and were in the final eight in both the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA and the NIKE Peach Jam in Orlando, FL.  And they did all this without the talent or experience of Riverside Church or the Illinois Warriors.  There is no question that the coach of the Houston Hoops, Josh Pastner, has done an amazing job.  Not only do the Houston Hoops rank right up there as one of the top five best coached AAU programs in the nation, along with Cincinnati AAU, Howard Pulley, BACD, and Bloomington AAU, but they get our vote for Team of the Summer.

We will have all those awards sometime in early August, but right now we have to talk about why New York Riverside Church isn't the Team of the Summer.  When you have the best team and you're supposed to win every game, you'd better not stub your toe.  Well, New York Riverside Church lost again today via of forfeit.  That's right!  Riverside Church, which is widely regarded as the North Carolina of AAU programs went home and didn't play in the third place game in the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA.  Doesn't Ernie Lorch, who has been the head coach and general manager of Riverside Church for almost 40 years, realize that he is an important role model for his players?  There is no doubt that he felt like he got screwed by the officials with all the technical fouls in the second half last night, but by that point the only thing in doubt was the final score.  There is nothing wrong with letting your feelings be known, but you don't go home!  This sends a terrible message to your players.  When things don't go your way, you have to suck it up and kept going both in basketball and in life.  Unfortunately this important message won't be learned this time around by the Riverside Church players.  And this is one of the most legitimate programs in the nation.  No wonder kids in this day and age act like spoiled brats.  In contrast, in the championship game the Illinois Warriors handled a heart breaking loss with a lot of class.  Head coach Larry Butler was disappointed, because something also seemed to happen to the Warriors in the big game this summer.  This time his star player 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL was out with a stiff shoulder and his  players missed all the big shots down the stretch, including the last second shot by 6'5 Brett Melton from Mahomet (Mahomet-Seymour) IL, which would have tied the game if it had gone in. But there was no major incident at the conclusion of the game.  Instead, they congratulated the Houston Hoops players and quietly went about their business. Moral to the story, it's too bad that the New Riverside Church players weren't still around, because maybe they had stayed the would have learned another important lesson from the Illinois Warriors, like how to be a gracious loser!

Some of the statistics in that incredible semi-final game last night in the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA between the Illinois Warriors and New York Riverside Church are worth mentioning.  Did you know that only four players - 6'5 Andre Sweet from New York (Rice) NY had 14 points, 6'3 Terrance Watkins from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY had 10 points, 6'1 Omar Cook from New York (Rice) NY with nine points, and 6'5 Willie Shaw from Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY with three points - even scored for Riverside Church.  In other words, 6'2 Michael Boynton from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from New York (Rice) NY, and 6'7 Zach Williams from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY all came up with goose eggs.  For the game New York Riverside Church hit only 11-46 from the field and was only 0-9 from beyond the arc.  Maybe the 19 blocks by the Illinois Warriors had something to do with that, but also the Warriors 46-29 rebounding advantage was a major difference in the game.  So was their shooting. The Warriors hit only 11-33 from the field in the first half, but they were 16-24 (that's 66%) in the second half, including 9-19 3-pointers. Miles only had seven points, but defensively made a huge difference with seven rebound and nine blocks.  He was complemented inside by 6'8 T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks, 6'3 Dwayne Wade from Peoria (Richards) IL with seven rebounds, and 6'7 Todd Townsend with eight rebounds and four blocks. The official number of technicals was only seven - two on the New York Riverside Church bench, two on Cook, one on Watkins, one on Williams, and one on Boynton.  But the most interesting statistic of all was the final, 84-36 score.  When was the last time anybody has beaten New York Riverside Church by 48 points?

Last night we talked with 6'11 Darryl Isaac from Phoenix (Peoria) AZ and he confirms that he has verbally committed to Arizona State University.  This is an important recruit for the Sun Devils, because Isaac, who has top 100 potential nationally, is a local kid and he's improved a lot since we first started watching him a year ago.  However, this skinny athletic shot blocker still needs to become more aggressive and get bigger and stronger.  Texas now appears to be the leader for 6'7 James Thomas from Milford (Academy) CT, who has come on like gangbusters this summer, and it appears that Connecticut is the co-favorite now, along with UNLV, for 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who has played so well this summer that he might rank as the #1 player in the senior class, if we counted him with seniors.  But we don't.  Instead, he will be at the top of our 5th year list.  Also showing a lot interest in Butler are Michigan and St. John's.  One of the most improved players we've seen in the last year is 6'8 Terry Sanders from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI.  Sanders has combined athleticism and toughness to become one of the few inside players capable of stepping in and contributing immediately at the high Division I level.  However, prep school at Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA will be in his future first.  Obviously this gives the University of Virginia a huge advantage, because their part-time assistant coach Scott Shepherd was the head coach at Hargrave last year.  Also on Sanders' list are N.C. State, Marquette, Dayton, St. Louis, Virginia Tech, and Rutgers.

Say what you might about Indiana University head coach Bob Knight, but he's smart enough to know when the heat is on, which explains why he was in San Diego, CA last night at the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA.  The player he was watching was 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, who was ranked as the #1 player at the NIKE All-American Camp by the HOOP SCOOP in early July.  As a result, Jeffries is one of the top two or three players in the nation, as well as onr of the most important recruits of Knight's career.  If the Hoosiers do not get Jeffries and Knight does something stupid, it might just cost him his job.  However, if Knight signs Jeffries and wins a couple of games in the NCAA Tournament, he probably could throw another chair and get away with it.  As a result, we think Jeffries will wind up at Indiana, although Duke, Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan State, Arizona, and Iowa are all still in the hunt.  Knight also was back this morning to watch Jeffries and several players, including 6'1 Soph Chad Moore and 6'9 Duane Erwin, both from Huntsville (Lee) AL, for the Alabama Lasers.  Indiana has an especially strong in with Moore, because Indiana assistant coach Mike Davis and Moore's mother have been close friends for years.

Also playing better last night at the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA was 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, who has been a major bust every other time we've seen or heard about him this summer.  Miles does need to up the intensity level, but he did do a lot to effect that game last night by blocking shots, scoring on the break, rebounding, passing, and playing defense.  Right now Miles is still wide open, but he gave us a list that includes St. John's, Michigan, Duke, DePaul, Maryland, Missouri, St. Louis, Illinois, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Connecticut, Kentucky, UCLA, and Indiana.  We also talked to Miles AAU teammate 6'8 T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL and he's interested in Ohio State, Kentucky, Duke, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, DePaul, St. John's, and Nebraska.  Michigan, Michigan State Missouri, Miami-FL, Detroit, and Xavier are recruiting 6'9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI and 6'5 Rickey Paulding from Detroit (Renaissance) MI tells us Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, Miami-FL, and Missouri, all of whom were watching him last night, are his favorites.  We had been especially high on 6'7 Gerald Riley from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA, but last night he was on fire, as he scored 45 points against the Southern California All-Stars. Right now his list includes Georgetown, Miami-FL, Arkansas, Georgia, and Auburn, but if continues to play this well, a lot of other big time schools we jump into the picture.

The final four at the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA is set with the Illinois Warriors versus New York Riverside Church and the Houston Hoops versus Howard Pulley (MN).  The game  will tip off at 7:00 PM PCT tonight, but the winner of the first game will be tough to beat in the championship.  New York Riverside Church can make history with a win tonight and tomorrow.  Never before has a team gone undefeated during the summer.  But the Illinois Warriors are pretty good too.  The haven't won a single event this summer, but they've been knocking on the door everyplace they've been.  Also they are the defending champions in this tournament.  So the stage is set.  Will 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from New York (Rice) NY, 6'2 Michael Boynton from Brooklyn (Bishop Laughlin) NY, 6'5 Willie Shaw from Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY, 6'7 Zach Williams from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, et al. achieve greatness?  Or will 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, 6'8 T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'5 Brett Melton from Mahomet (Mahomet-Seymour) IL, 6'3 Dwayne Wade from Peoria (Richwoods) IL, and 6'7 Todd Townsend from Chicago (Morgan Park) IL et al. be able win the big one tonight and then another big one tomorrow?   If they do, Miles could redeem himself after a very disappointing summer.  Stay tuned, because we'll provide you with highlights at the conclusion of the tournament tomorrow night.

The word on the street is that Joel Hopkins, who has been missing in action this summer, is no longer the head coach at Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  However, that is not correct! As a matter of fact, we know somebody who has talked with Hopkins this week and the word is that he is still recruiting as hard as every for next season.  And he may need to find a few more, because Wallace Prather, who the head coach of the Atlanta Celtics, tells us that two of his players - 5'11 Jr  Jonathan Hargett and 7'0 Jr  Marcus Campbell - won't be returning to Mt. Zion Christian next season.  Prather isn't sure where they will end up, but mentions Albany (Westover) GA has a possibility.  If that happens, Westover should be one of the premier high school teams in the nation during the 2000-2001 season. Remember, legendary  Westover head coach Willie Boston already has another Atlanta Celtic in 6'5 Jr Greg Tinch from Albany (Westover) GA, who currently ranks among the top 25 juniors nationally.  As long as we're talking about players from that basketball factory in Durham, NC, everybody has known for some time that Virginia Commonwealth was the leader for the extremely talented and very athletic  6'4 Antonio Hargrove from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  However, you probably don't know that Hargorve has made it official for VCU.  Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin tells us that it happened last night.

Allen Rubin also tells us that new Fordham head coach Bob Hill has gotten his first recruit.  We're talking about 6'7 Chris Dockery from Medford (Shawnee) NJ via prep school at Cheshire (Academy) CT.  Apparently Dockery caught the eye of the Fordham coaching staff while playing for Rick Barrett's Gym Rats team at the adidas Big Time Tournament. Also we are getting reports that 6'6 Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC and 6'1 Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA both stopped in Albuquerque, NM and visited the University of New Mexico on their way back from the West Coast.  The word we're getting from people back in the Washington, DC area is that it's done.  And don't be surprised if an official announcement is forthcoming in the near future.  This comes as no surprise, because New Mexico assistant coach Troy Weaver started the DC Assault program and even went back to help coach the team this spring, after leaving the University of Pittsburgh when head coach Ralph Willard resigned in March.

It's been a good summer for Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, which earlier won the Derek Smith Shootout in Louisville, KY and this past weekend won the Steamboat Classic in Murfreesboro, TN.  Pleasure Ridge Park lost its top three players from a year ago, but 6'5 Blake Downing, who was the obvious choice for tournament MVP honors, has stepped up to become the next in a long line of good players in the program.  Downing had 17 points in the championship game, but even more important he has a knack for coming  up with the key steal, rebound, and defensive play.  Downing was complemented by 5'6 Keyonn Tutt and 6'2 Steven Koger, who is a world-class athlete, as Pleasure Ridge Park beat Worthington (Christian) OH in the championship, 49-46.  Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman was also especially impressed with 6'6 Chris Daniels from Albany (H.S.) GA, 6'9 Kyle Davis from Blakely (Early County) GA, 6'8 James Avent from Murphysboro (H.S.) IL, and 6'4 Jason Edwin from Warsaw (H.S.) IL, . "I don't know where Daniels ranks nationally, but he'd be the best player this year  in Tennessee hands down," says Rothman.  "Davis is a physical specimen inside and he's one of the best kept secrets in America.  If he's not top 100 nationally, he's darn close.  Avent was the best rebounder I saw in the tournament and Edwin is a wing player who can shoot, slash, and jump out of the gym.  He's a smaller version of Gerald Wallace." Others mentioned by Rothman were 6'3 Earnest Shelton from Memphis (White Station) TN, 6'5 Scott Hundley Georgetown (Scott County) KY, 6'7 Jr Nate Austin from Georgetown (Scott County) TN, 6'5 Sam Smith from Worthington (Christian) OH, 6'4 Scooter McFadgon from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, 6'5 Lou Wright from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who Rothman says is transferring to Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, where he'll play next season with his cousin (McFadgon).

Arizona State, UCLA, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miami-FL, Washington State, Oregon State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech are all mentioned by 6'11 Brandon Crump from Houston (Klein) TX, who has tremendous potential, because he's only 16 years old and he possesses great athleticism and versatility.  We're not sure what position 6'5 Jr Greg Tinch from Albany (Westover) GA plays, but it might not matter, because he's so athletic and naturally talented.  Thus, explains why Ohio State, Clemson, Wake Forest, and Syracuse are all showing early interest.  UCLA is still the favorite, but 5'9 Wesley Stokes from Long Beach (Poly) CA also likes Duke, Arizona, Oregon State, Kansas State, San Diego State, and Massachusetts.  The latest list for 6'7 Justin Reed from Jackson (Provine) MS includes Texas, Mississippi, Michigan State, Florida, Arkansas, and Miami-FL.  Have you ever heard of 6'8 Antonie Jones from Tallahassee (JC) FL via Live Oak (H.S.) FL?  You will, because sources tell us he will be one of the top two or three junior college players in the nation next season.  Right now it looks like a war between Florida and LSU, but South Florida and Utah are also on his list.  We know that St. John's liked  6'0 Heath Orvis from Longmont (H.S.) CO last summer at the BCI Tournament in Phoenix, so it comes as no surprise that Orvis, who was supposed to walk-on at Colorado, has elected to go to St. John's, where he will be a scholarship player.  Orvis is best described as a poor man's Teddy Dupay and, as a result, he will be an excellent backup point guard, as well as a crowd favorite at St. John's.

A year ago the NIKE Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA was one of the top events of the summer and it promises to be equally good this year, as New York Riverside Church tries to become the first team ever to go undefeated during an entire summer.  If you will recall, the Hawks won the Pro Am Tournament in Washington, DC in late June, the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA two weeks ago, the NIKE Super Showcase in Orlando, FL last week, and the Slam-n-Jam NIT at Long Beach State two days ago.  However, Sports Express L.A., Southern California All Stars, Illinois Warriors, Houston Hoops, The Family-Detroit, Bloomington Red AAU, Howard Pulley (MN), Alabama Lasers, Portland Legends, Georgia Stars, Salt Lake City Metro, Bray Center, Arizona Stars, and High Five America promise to make things interesting for Riverside Church.  Games begin today at 4:00 PM the Sports Center, which is located on the campus of United States International University in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego, CA and it is open to the public.  Games will resume tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM and run through 3:00 PM.  We will be there in time for the beginning of the afternoon session, which will begin at 4:00 PM and conclude after 10:00 PM.  The same schedule will be in effect on Thursday, July 29th, but pool play will be over.  Instead, it will be the playoff time.  On Friday, July 30th, the morning session beings at 9:00 AM and the tournament will conclude with the championship at 3:00 PM.

If we had known earlier about the Elight 8 End of the Summer Basketball Tournament at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, CA on July 29th-31st, we might have gone, because it features eight of the better club teams in Southern California.  The lineup will includes EBO-EA Sports with 6'5 Deshawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) WA and 6'6 Sredrick Powe from Brandon (H.S.) FL; Inland with 5'7 Avery Queen from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'5 Wayne Tinsley from Salisbury (School) CT, and 6'8 Soph Lawrence Ryan Carrier from Redlands (H.S.) CA; Belmont Shore with 6'5 Tito Maddox from Compton (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (H.S.) CA, and 6'7 Omar Weaver from Compton (Centennial) CA; Pump n Run I with 6'1 Brandon Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'2 Salim Stoudamire from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, and 6'5 Lou Wright from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA; the Los Angeles Rockfish with 6'8 Julian Sensley from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 5'11 Russell Lakey from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'11 Jr Alex Graham from Redlands (H.S.) CA, and 6'10 Jr Rory O'Neil from Ridgecrest (Burroughs) CA; Oakland Slam N Jam with 6'6 Nick Enzwieler from Moraga (Campolindo) CA, 6'0 Joe See from Concord (De La Salle) CA, and 6'9 Jr Demarshay Johnson from Oakland (Tech) CA; Bay Area Ballers 6'0 Justin Logan from Fork Union (Military) VA and 6'4 Janou Rubin from Hayward (Logan) CA; and SSA Sacramento with 6'7 Jameel Pugh from Sacramento (Grant) CA.

The MVP in the 17-Under National AAU Junior National Championship was 6'3 Cedric Banks from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, who scored 35 points in the semi-finals against the Connecticut Rising Stars and 37 points in the championship against the Illinois Warriors. He led the Illinois Hawks to a 73-59 victory over the Illinois Warriors in the championship, but Patrick Jira, who is the Editor & Publisher of the Recruiting Beat tells us that the big story was the matchup between 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL and 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL.  When the dust cleared, Wallace was the undisputed winner with scored 27 points.  Miles, on the other hand, registered a great big goose egg with zero points, although his play in the second half was virtually non-existent.  Miles also only had six points in the championship game.  As a result, it looks like Miles has taken the quickest route south that we can remember in recent years.  If you will recall, Miles was the best player in the nation, along with Wallace, after playing so well in the spring and early summer. Jira makes the comparison to 6'9 Dermarr Johnson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, but at least Johnson had some moments where he looked outstanding last summer.  It will be interesting to see if  Miles can make the same turnaround that Johnson made last season at Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME.  Speaking Maine Central Institute, Jira talked to 6'4 Tito Maddox from Compton (H.S.) CA and tells us that Maddox is now planning on going to MCI.  Jira also tells us that his DC Editor Stephen Richardson talked with 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, who ranks among our top 20 juniors nationally, and the word is that White plans to remain at Newport Prep.  We reported last week that 6'8 Torey Reed from Milford (Academy) CT is transferring to Newport Prep and now Jira tells us that his AAU teammates 6'8 Omari Westley from Cleveland (John F. Kennedy) OH will also be heading to this basketball factory, which is run by head coach Chris Chaney.

Also concluding yesterday at Long Beach (Millikan) CA was the Rim Rattler 1999 Southern California Summer Showdown, which was won by the Ican All-Stars, thanks to the efforts of 6'1 Leroy Dawson from Los Angeles (H.S.) CA, 6'7, Brandon Moorer from Los Angeles (Manual Arts) CA, 6'2 Chris Exilus from Farmington (North Marion) WV, and 6'5 Steveroy Dailey from Bridgton (Academy) ME.  In our last ranking of the top players in California, we had Dawson and Moorer no higher than in 60-80 range, but both should be in the 10-30 range.  Dawson impressed us in the semi-finals by hitting seven 3-pointers and scoring 20 points, but even more important are his athleticism, explosiveness, and passing and handling skills.  Dawson, who was named the tournament MVP, will be a 5th year player next year, but if he were included with seniors, he'd definitely be ranked among our top 200 nationally.  Moorer scored 21 points in the championship game and if this athletic combo forward hits everything in sight, like he did in this game, he too should attract some big time looks. However, just like Dawson, he plans to go the prep school route either at Bridgton (Academy) ME or Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME and then he will decide whether to go to Texas A&M-Corpus Christ, which is where he signed last fall.  Exilus is a slasher with great body control and lots of athleticism, but who he got onto this team from California is anybody's guess. Dailey is another versatile athlete who will make our list of the top 5th year players nationally.  The Ican All-Stars beat the On2Hoops San Diego Future Stars in the championship game, 85-75, but we thought the losing team had more talent, as 6'5 Nick Booker from La Jolla (The Bishop's School) CA, 6'2 Jr  Jaris Cole from La Jolla (The Bishop's School) CA, 6'4 Chris Prins from Escondido (Calvin Christian) CA, and 6'4 Jr Nick Traner from Fallbrook (H.S.) CA all are worth mentioning.  Booker impressed us with his body, rebounding, and moves to the basket.  But he also has excellent hands and lots of versatility, although developing more range may be necessary, if he wants to become a wing forward at the next level.  Cole is an excellent combo guard who combines a great body, lots of athleticism, and a great shooting tough, which he used to score 19 points in the semi-finals and 22 points in the championship. Prins is a tough hardnosed white kid who also put up prolific numbers to the tune of 29 points in the semis and 18 points in the championship.  They're all complemented by Traner, who is an excellent 3-point shooter, although he didn't get enough open looks in the championship game.  Also worth mentioning is 6'4 James Phillips from Temecula (Temecula Valley) CA, who hit seven 3-pointers and had 25 points in the semi-finals for Inflight.  And this was no fluke, because Phillips was one of the leading scorers last week at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.  He also is a legitimate sleeper, because he has a great body and is a big time athlete.  Earlier in the tournament we saw 6'7 Omar Weaver from Compton (Centennial) CA and he didn't disappoint us as he showed the same deep shooting range we saw last winter when we saw him at the Nations Bank City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL.  Another great outside shooter who we saw several times at the Rim Rattler 1999 Southern California Summer Showdown was 6'4 Sterling Brown from Woodinville (H.S.) WA.

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson was at Five-Star's Pitt III session last night and he tells us that Northwestern head coach Kevin O'Neill was a happy man, because his prize recruit 6'1 Jitim Young from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL was the MVP in the Orange-White All-Star Game with 16 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.  Young hasn't committed to Northwestern yet, but most people in the know think it is only a matter of time, as O'Neill has obviously has targeted somebody who he can get.  Also worth mentioning in the NBA, which is Five-Star's top league, are 6'5 Jr Arrio Scott from Lynchburg (Episcopal) VA, who was the Most Promising Prospect, and 6'2 Tony Stockman from Medina (H.S.) OH, who was named the best playmaker and the Most Outstanding Player for the week.  As a matter of fact, Johnson discovered Stockman, who is now being recruited by Kansas State, Clemson, Colorado, Nebraska, Ohio  State, and Miami-OH, last spring at the Solon Cage Classic.  However, it's Five-Star's Developmental League that gets most of the attention at Pitt III and Johnson was impressed by 6'4 Soph Allejandro Carmona-Sanchez from Collegio Mercy Soto High School in Puerto Rico. Carmona-Sanchez was the leading scorer for the week, as well as the Most Outstanding Player in the league.  Another name to remember is 5'11 Soph Jermaine Thomas from Frederick (Governor Thomas Johnson) MD, who was named the best playmaker of the week.  The best rebounder was 6'10 Soph  Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence Catholic) IL and 6'9 Roy Enright from Omaha (Creighton) NE was terrific most of the week, although he missed the all-star due to a sprained ankle.  Enright, who is long time Five-Star coach Herb Welling's stepson, is a better prospect than T.J. Pugh and that's an interesting comparison, because both Enright and Pugh are from the same high school.

It comes as no surprise that New York Riverside Church won its fourth consecutive Slam-n-Jam National Invitational Tournament Title at Long Beach State University, but the championship game against No Limit was closer than the 74-65 final score would indicate.  Tournament MVP honors went to 6'3 Terrance Watkins from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, who mentions St. Louis, Massachusetts, Hofstra, Manhattan, Fairfield, Georgia Tech, and St. John's. Also named to the all-tournament team from New York Riverside Church, which has a chance to become the first club team ever to go undefeated and win five consecutive tournaments during the summer this week in the 1999 Nike Summer National Basketball Championship in San Diego, CA, were 6'7 Zach Williams from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY and 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY.  Others on the all-tournament team were 6'1 Jr Keilon Fortune, 6'5 Soph Darius Sanders from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'2 Steve Moore from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Glenn McGowan from Venice (H.S.) CA, 6'7Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'3 Sidney Hampton from Merino Valley (Valley View) CA, 5'9 Jr Wil Bynum from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'8 Jabbar Battle from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'8 Soph DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Cody Pearson from Sherman Oaks (Notre Dame) CA, 6'6 Soph Mike Chavez from Heart (Butte) MT, and 6'7 Chris Walton from San Diego (University) CA.  We've talked about a lot about the New York Riverside Church players before and there isn't much new to add, except Watkins and 6'5 Willie Shaw from Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY did give us a list of schools.  Watkins mentioned St. Louis, Massachusetts, Hofstra, Manhattan, Fairfield, Georgia Tech, and St. John's.  Shaw likes St. John's, Miami-FL, Massachusetts, Boston College, Xavier, St. Louis, Temple, Villanova, Seton Hall, and Rutgers. Especially impressive in the championship game and a big reason why the game was so close was the performance by Bynum, who is  ranked #7 among junior in Illinois by the HOOP SCOOP. He's small, but he's extremely quick off the dribble and is an excellent penetrator and passer.  We also liked his savvy, decision making, and ability to get his shot off the dribble.  In the third place game The Hood beat North Riverside, 70-65, but several of Dominguez's top players didn't play, including 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler, who is a consensus top five junior nationally.

Late last night at the Best of the Summer Boy's Basketball Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills, CA, 6'0 Andre Hazel from Lakewood (Artesia) CA went coast-to-coast in the final four seconds and hit the game winning shot to give QBL Lakewood a 55-53 victory over the Michigan Mustangs.  So much for our prediction yesterday about the Mustangs being favored to win the tournament, but the bottom line is that QBL wanted it more.  Also still playing are Pump N Run I and Salt Lake Metro, which will meet in one of the two remaining quarterfinal games at 10:00 AM PST.  In the other quarterfinal game, which will follow immediately, the Cleveland Basketball Club will meet DC Assault.  Then it will be QBL versus Texas Blue Chip at 12:30 PM and the winner of the two earlier games at 1:45 PM.  Then the championship game will be played 4:00 PM, but we're making no predictions, because, after the Michigan Mustangs lost, we thought it would be DC Assault and the Madison Broncos playing for the championship.  While a number of the players on DC Assault, like 6'6 Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC, 6'6 David Holmes from Washington (Coolidge) DC, and 6'8 Maurico Branwell from Burtonsville (Paint Branch) MD, are academic question marks and prep school may be in their future, nearly all of the players for the Broncos are already going to prep school.  As a result, it looked like the Broncos had a major advantage with 6'8 Jeff McMillan from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who is their best player, 6'4 Justice Graham from Laurenburg (Prep) NC, who is a lights out shooter, 6'0 Carl Krauser from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who is a good point guard, and 6'6 Patrice Thevont from Brooklyn (Midwood) NY and 6'8 Cori Spencer from Laurenburg (Prep) NC, who are tough inside.  However, Texas Blue Chip came back from a major deficit in the last game of the night last night to pull off the upset. Texas Blue Chip took advantage of McMillan fouling out and got a lot of layups, but 6'11 Brandon Crump from Houston (Klein) TX reminds us of Brad Sellers and 6'3 Reggie Barry is a lights out 3-point shooter, 6'9 Thomas Jackson from Winchendon (School) MA is a force on the boards, 6'1 Howard Smith from Winchendon (School) MA makes good decisions, and 6'11 DeMarcus Watson from Houston (Nimitz) TX has a tremendous upside.  As a result, this looks like the best team Mitch Malone has had in years.

We talked to a number of players from Team Carolina yesterday and it looks like three of their best players - 6'8 Michael Hayes, 6'8 Tizzo Johnson, and 6'2 Dominique Townes - all will be attending the new prep school - Millersburg Academy - in Kentucky next year.  We also found it interesting that 6'9 Jason Parker from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC was listed on the roster, even though he was a no show.  Even more interesting is the fact that the school Parker was listed with is Millersburg Academy.  So it stands to reason that Parker could end up at Millersburg Academy, if he doesn't make the necessary grades and test score to get into North Carolina in the fall.  Hayes and Townes both are 5th year players, but Johnson is still just a senior in high school.  His list of college includes Louisville, Tulsa, Colorado, Georgetown, Georgia State, and Florida State.  Hayes says Tulsa, Cincinnati, Arizona, Louisville, Kentucky, South Carolina, Clemson, and Auburn have all been calling.  Townes is getting interest from American University and Penn State.  Another player on Team Carolina - 7'0 J.T. Ivie from Mt. Airy (Habersham Central) GA -  may be close to making a commitment and we think it will be Tulsa over Alabama.   Ivie is big and slow, but he's got an excellent drop step, great passing skills, and a great work ethic, which why we think he would be a steal of the Golden Hurricane.  As a matter of fact, he has a lot of Bryant Reeves in him and we're sure that head coach Bill Self  has used that as part of his sales pitch.  Remember, he was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State when "Big Country" improved so dramatically in the span of a couple of seasons.  Speaking of Self, he tells us that he is not a candidate for the Minnesota job, because he recently signed an extension on his contract at Tulsa and, at least for now, he plans to stay put.

We are now getting reports that Gonzaga head coach Dan Monson has been named as the new head coach at the University of Minnesota and this is especially interesting, because the Golden Golphers already have several players on their roster, including Ryan Wildenborg, from the Pacific Northwest.  Obviously Monson gets the job due to his success this past season at Gonzaga, but it will be especially interesting, as well as very important, to see who he hires as his assistants.  Remember at Gonzaga he did it with no name players, but that will be very tough to do night in and night out in the Big 10.  So obviously, hiring a great recruiter is a must.  In the other breaking story of the day, Mike Duncan of the Cleveland Basketball Club has given us the scoop on 6'8 Tory Reed from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD.  Reed committed to UNC-Charlotte last night, but right now nobody else knows it yet.  This comes as no big surprise, because another player from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD - 6'10 Rodney White - committed to UNCC last fall.  If that weren't enough talented power players for one program, we also still think UNC-Charlotte could get 6'9 Jason Parker from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC if he is a non-qualifier.  The key would be that Parker could live at home and pay in-state tuition as a part-time student, while sitting out his first year of college.

It's safe to say that DC Assault likes playing in the Best of the Summer High School Boy's Basketball Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills, CA. Two years ago with DerMarr Johnson, Keith Bogans, and Kevin Lyde they won the championship and last year with Johnson, Derick Payne, and talented group of guards, they finished second to the New Orleans Jazz.  And this year without a superstar, but with perhaps a better overall  team, they beat Texas Blue Chip in the semi-finals and knocked off QBL Lakewood in the championship, 62-56.  DC Assault may not have somebody the level of Bogans or Johnson, but 6'6 Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC, who was named tournament MVP, is one of the fastest rising players in the nation.  He's become a lot more consistent on his 3-point shot, plays excellent defense, and has incredible moves to the basket.  He also a warrior and he finishes nearly everything.  As a result, we think he's a legitimate top 30 player nationally whose value continues to rise.  Another player whose value is going back up is 6'2 Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  He's not a pure point guard, but he  played exceptionally well in this tournament and he made most of the big plays down the stretch in the championship game.  Also playing extremely well for DC throughout the week were 6'6 David Holmes from Washington (Coolidge) DC, 6'3 David Hawkins from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, and 5'10 LaFonte Johnson from Baltimore (Dunbar) MD.  We talked with Holmes, Hawkins, Robinson, and Johnson after the championship game about their recruiting and there were no big surprises.  Holmes, who likes USC, Manhattan, Ohio State, and Connecticut, confirms that he's transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Hawkins has Miami-FL, George Washington, Florida State, Xavier, and Vanderbilt on his list.  Robinson's list includes New Mexico, Connecticut, Michigan, Georgetown, and Georgia.  Johnson, who is a 5th year player, tells us that he's probably going to prep school at Winchendon (School) MA, but also mentioned Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME as possibilities.  Johnson's list of colleges includes Massachusetts, UNLV, St. Joseph's, and Temple.  Also advancing to the final four for the second time this week in a major tournament was Pump N Run I, but DC Assault was too much for them, especially without 6'0 Brandon Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) OR, who had to catch a flight before the semi-final game.  Although Pump N Run I lacked a strong point guard against DC Assault, they were strong inside with 6'10 Jr Rick Rickert Duluth (East) MN,  6'8 Aerick Sanders from Serra (H.S.) CA, 6'11 Heath Bailey from Beaverton (H.S.) OR, and 6'9 Justin Villapique from Simi Valley (H.S.) CA and Brandon Fullove from Simi Valley (H.S.) CA provided toughness and good outside shooting on the perimeter.

One of the big stories at the Best of the Summer High School Boy's Basketball Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills, CA was the early exit by the New Orleans Jazz, which lost to EBO/EA Sports in the second round of the playoffs.  This was a huge upset, because, if you will recall, only four days earlier the New Orleans Jazz won the prestigious adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV and they were the defending champions in this tournament from a year ago. Right now we're in the round of 16, but we'll go out on a limb and project the Michigan Mustangs with 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Eugene Seals from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, and 6'1 Soph Anthony Roberson from Flint (Saginaw) MI as the favorite over teams like DC Assault, EBO/EA Sports, Texas Blue Chip, Team Texas 2000, Pump n Run I, etc.  However, we still have a long way to go before the championship game, which is scheduled for 4:00 PM PST tomorrow afternoon and the players are tired.  Many of them haven't even been home since the left for the NIKE or adidas ABCD Camp several weeks ago.  Neither have the college coaches or the scouts.  And there  is still a lot more to come.   Day after tomorrow we'll still be the Los Angeles area for the final day of both the Slam-n-Jam National Invitational Tournament at Long Beach State, where New York Riverside Church is expected take home its third title of the summer, and the 1999 Rim Rattler Southern California Summer Showdown at Long Beach (Millikan) CA.  Then it will be on to San Diego for the NIKE Tournament of Champions and back to Las Vegas, NV for the Grand Finale.

Another one of the highlights of the day at the Best of the Summer High School Boy's Basketball Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills, CA was watching 6'7 Jonathan Sanders from Belleview (Christian) CO, who has to be one of the biggest sleepers in the nation, despite the fact he was at the adidas ABCD Camp, earlier this month.  Sanders tells us that he was playing out of position at adidas, which might explain why he didn't make our list of top players in camp and/or by position.  Sanders doesn't have the natural talent of Magic Johnson, but there are a lot of similariters.  Both have great passing and handling skills with either hand, both like use their body to back you into the lane, both play point guard on offense and inside defensively, and neither were very good shooters from outside at the high school level.  However, physically Sanders can't compare to Johnson.  Instead, he's more like Penny Hardaway.  Yale was the first school involved, because Johnson has a 1200 SAT and excellent grades, but he tells us that Kansas, Colorado, UCLA, Colorado State, Notre Dame, and Wyoming have been showing a lot of interest.  As a matter of fact, Jayhawks head coach Roy Williams has been at several of his games.  Get the idea that his guy is pretty good?  We talking about a legitimate top 30 or 40 player nationally in his class and once he becomes a little more consistent with the outside shot and adds some strength, the sky should be the limit.

Quality big guys are few and far between in this day and age, which explains why there is so much interest in 6'11 Jarod Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD.  Reiner needs strength, but he's active, mobile, and skilled, plus he good moves around the basket and is very effective in the paint.  He's also an excellent student, as is evident by his 3.6 gpa and 26 ACT, and he's a terrific kid.  When we watched him play yesterday, we found it interesting that Florida head coach Billy Donovan and assistant John Pelphrey, Connecticut assistant Dave Leito, Texas head coach Rick Barnes, Iowa head coach Steve Alford, Syracuse assistant Louie Orr, and Virginia head coach Pete Gillen and assistant Tommy Herrion all were in attendance at his game. Also on the list he gave us were Utah, Wisconsin, Auburn, and Clemson. That's a pretty good group for a player who ranks in the 50 to 100 range nationally.  Also playing well when we saw him yesterday was 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ.  Our buddy Rick Barrett, who is both Turner's AAU coach and guardian, tells us that Turner's list includes Temple, Florida, Massachusetts, N.C. State, St. Joseph's, and UNLV.  We also talked with 6'7 Scott Hazelton from Lawrence (Central Catholic) MA today and he tells us he's considering St. John's, Syracuse, Villanova, Providence, Massachusetts, Duke, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia, and Kansas.  It's been rumored that Duke was his favorite school, but that they had stopped recruiting him.  However, Hazelton does not confirm either that Duke has back off or that he likes Duke above the rest.  UCLA, Miami-FL, Alabama, North Carolina, and UNLV are all involved with 5'6 Avery Queen, who is expected to transfer from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME to Winchendon (School) MA in the fall, but we have reason to believe that Michigan might be the leader.

We talked with a number of the players from New York Riverside Church yesterday, including 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from New York (Rice) NY, 6'2 Michael Boynton from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'7 Zach Williams from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'6 Andre Sweet from New York (Rice) NY.  Sweet surprised us when he told us that Florida State was the leader over Miami-FL, N.C. State, Xavier, and Rutgers.  Can you believe that St. John's didn't even make his list? Perhaps that's because the Red Storm are now the heavy favorite with for his AAU teammate 6'5 Willie Shaw from Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY, who is one of the fastest rising players nationally in the senior class.  Williams says he likes St. John's Virginia, Florida State, Rutgers, Hofstra, and Villanova.  Boynton's list includes Manhattan, Florida State, Massachusetts, Seton Hall, Ohio State, Hofstra, Iona, and Fairfield.  Cuffe is talking about Virginia, N.C. State, Florida State, Villanova, St. John's, Xavier, and Florida.  As for 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, he's still mad that we had 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI ranked ahead of him at the NIKE All-American Camp and he wouldn't give us a list.  However, Ernie Lorch, the head coach of Riverside Church, let it slip out that Connecticut is a lot stronger than most people realize for Cook.  We find that especially interesting, because Connecticut has never signed a player from Riverside Church.  However, when it is all said and done, we still think Cook will opt for North Carolina.  As a matter of fact, every time we see Riverside Church play, Tar Heels head coach Bill Guthridge is in the house to see Cook and they don't lose many they really want.

Now that Virginia athletic director Terry Holland is officially out of the running for the head coaching job at Minnesota, the speculation continues about who will be the successor to Clem Haskins.  According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Gonzaga head coach Dan Monson and Rice University head coach Willis Wilson have both been given permission by their respective schools to interview for the job.  Also on the list are are Tulsa head coach Bill Self and Evansville head coach Jim Crews, although their schools have not released any information regarding whether they have been granted permission to talk with officials at Minnesota.  Also the University of Minnesota has told a number of its players, including Ryan Wildenborg, Antoine Broxsie, and Nick Sinville, all of whom are talking about transferring, that they will not be granted a release until after a new head coach is hired.

Everybody knows that North Carolina is the heavy favorite for 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, but he'd better make up his mind soon, because the Tar Heels have also gotten involved with 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY.  The word is that it's always been Barrett's dream to play in the ACC and, if the Tar Heels coaching staff offers, he'll probably accept on the spot.  Right now Cook is still UNC's #1 choice, but the big question is how long will they wait for Cook, if they can get Barrett?  And getting Barrett might help get 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, who has emerged as the #1 player in the nation after tremendous performances at both the adidas ABCD Camp, where he was the best player in camp a week and a half ago, and the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV during the last week.  Another school that is especially strong with both Barrett and Griffin is Seton Hall.  Remember Pirates assistant coach Rob Jackson was formerly an assistant coach at Roman Catholic and head coach Tommy Amaker and his staff have done a great job recruiting both Griffin and Barrett, who got to be close friends while playing on the same team at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ.

Now that the New Orleans Jazz won the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas and  New York Riverside Church won the NIKE Super Showcase in Orlando, FL, the place to be is in Southern California, which is where three AAU tournaments - the Best of the Summer High School Boy's Basketball Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills, CA, the 1999 Slam-n-Jam National Invitational Tournament at Long Beach State, and the 1999 Rim Rattler Southern California Summer Showdown at the Warrior Center in Cypress, CA - are being held within 15 minutes of each other.  One of the few major teams we didn't see during our four days in Las Vegas, NV was the Capital Players, so we made sure we saw them this morning at Best of the Summer.  However, Virginia bound 6'6 Maurice Young from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD wasn't there.  Neither were any other players from the DC area.  Instead, the Capital Players featured 6'9 Jr  Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'5 Dwon Clifton from High Point (Westchester) NC, 6'4 Jr Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, and 6'8 Keith Duncan from Newark (East Side) NJ.  If you were thinking Duncan has been around for a long time, you're right!  He'll be a 5th year player next season.  He also provides the perfect complement to Bender, who has all kinds of natural  talent and great skills, but who isn't a relentless warrior.  As a matter of fact, Bender, who says he's being recruited by Florida, N.C. State, Michigan, Louisville, Missouri, Cincinnati, and Connecticut, might be too nice a kid.  Hopefully, he'll find a mean streak and become a killer inside.  We also found out that Clifton is being recruited by Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State, Villanova, New Mexico, N.C. State, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech.  However, we question his position, because he doesn't shot the ball consistently well enough to be a wing guard at the highest level and he doesn't handle it well enough to be a pure point.  As a result, he may turn out to be a great role player at the top top level ACC.  We didn't get schools on O'Bannon, but we did like his shooting range, athleticim, and potential.

We've been talking about it for the last week, so it comes as no surprised that 6'2 Brendon Plavich from Dalton (H.S.) GA has publicly announced for Georgia Tech.  It also comes as no surprise that 6'5 Jerome Harper has announced that he is transferring from Columbia (Keenan) SC to Limestone (Washington College) TN.  Speaking of this basketball factory in Tennessee, don't be surprised if they not only make a run at the high school national championship next year, but also replace Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC as one of the premier programs in the nation.  Did you know that Mt. Zion Christian head coach Joel Hopkins is no longer at the school and all of his players are looking to transfer elsewhere?  However, unlike at Mt. Zion, the situation appears to be a lot better at Washington College for the kids.  In otherwords, it appears to be a legitimate school and that's a good thing, because they have an excellent player returning in 6'9 Arturas Cizauskas.  Add Harper, 6'9 Andre Scott, who is transferring from Greenbelt (Roosevelt) MD, two outstanding big men from Africa in 6'9 Jr LaSana Kouyate and 6'10 Soph Sani Ibrahim, and Harper's younger brother - 6'3 Alexander Harper, who also is transferring from Columbia (Keenan) SC, and the cupboard already appears to be full.  However, they may not be done adding transfers yet.  That's right!  We hear that 6'9 Kendall Dartez from Cecilia (H.S.) LA, 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, and 6'8 Maurico Branwell from Burtonsville (Paint Branch) MD are all considering making a move to Limestone (Washington College) TN.  Speaking of transfers, Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat tells us that 6'5 David Holmes from Washington (Coolidge) DC is transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.

New York Riverside Church picked up where it left off at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA last week by winning the NIKE Super Showcase in Orlando, FL yesterday with a 70-43 victory over the Playground Warriors from Brookfield, WI.  However, the best player and perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament, according to Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat, was 6'7 Omar Weaver from Compton (Centennial) CA via Washington (Coolidge) DC.  Apparently Weaver, who is an incredible natural talent, picked up where he left off when Jira and I saw him last winter at the Nations Bank City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL. Jira tells us that Weaver was great throughout the tournament, but on the first day he was incredible, as he scored 34 points and hit 8-10 3-pointers in what has to be one of the top performances of the summer.  "He's a top five or 10 player in his class," says Jira. The only problem is what class?  He's been reclassified, so Jira will rank him with seniors.  However, he's in his 9th semester of high school, so we'll rank him with 5th year players.  In any case, Jira tells us that Fresno State, Miami-FL, Maryland, Wyoming, and Georgetown are all recruiting him.  However, Kansas is the school he really wants to go to, but thus far, they haven't shown any interest.  Jira also was very impressed by the play of 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, but the other big surprise was 6'8 Herve Lamizana from Elizabeth (St. Patrick's) NJ.  What a difference a week can make.  Lamizana was terrible at the NIKE All-American Camp, but in Orlando he hit three 3-pointers in one game and in other games was great defensively and flashing to the basket.  Among those sidelined in Orlando, FL were 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, who has sprained ankle, and 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who is out with a bruised wrist.

This morning we talked with Rob Ridnour, who is one of the top high school in the state of Washington, as well as one of the best AAU coaches in the nation.  He's also the father of 6'3 Luke Ridnour from Blaine (H.S.) WA, who is out for the rest of the summer with a possible torn ACL.  However, that hasn't stopped schools like Kentucky, UCLA, Washington, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Texas, Washington State, and Northwestern from calling.  Another player who ranks among our top 100 nationally who will be on the disabled list for the rest of the summer is 6'9 Patrick Dennahy from Mountain View (H.S.) CA.  It looks like he too has a torn ACL. Several other players from the Pacific Northwest who we talked to today were 6'2 Alvin Snow from Seattle (Franklin) WA and 6'8 Kenny Gainous from Kent (Kent-Meridian) WA.  Snow, who an athletic 2-guard with excellent shooting range is considering a wide variety of schools, including UNLV, Portland, Pittsburgh, San Jose State, St. Mary's, Washington State, and Eastern Washington. Gainous is pencil thin, but he's effective both inside and outside, because he's got good hands, a nice looking mid-range jumper, and excellent moves to the basket.  However, right now he's still a sleeper, although he is getting some interest from schools  like Oregon, Cal Poly-San Luis-Obispo, Washington State, Portland, Boise State, Cal State-Fullerton, Colorado State, San Jose State, and USC.

Last night the Tim Thomas Playaz hung close and 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA was terrific, as he scored 34 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked four shots.  But 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA, 6'1 Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS, 6'4 Brandon Mouton from Lafayette (St. Thomas More) LA, 6'3 Juemichael Young from Hammond (H.S.) LA, and 6'3 Dwayne Mitchell from New Orleans (John F. Kennedy) LA were all in a zone, as the New Orleans Jazz hit  70% in the second half, many of which came from downtown, to win the championship of the 5th Annual adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.  The New Orleans Jazz beat the Tim Thomas Playaz, 110-103, but the the score doesn't begin to tell the story.  We're talking about the best game of the tournament and perhaps the best game of the summer, as the Jazz came back from a 46-41 half-time deficit to score 64 points in the second half.  And during that stretch they broke the game open by scoring on 10 consecutive trips down the floor.  When the dust cleared Mouton had 30 points, Duhon had 17, Williams had 14, Mitchell had 12, and Young had nine. Also playing well for the New Orleans Jazz were 6'7 Justin Reed from Jackson (Provine) MS and 6'9 Kendall Dartez from Cecilia (H.S.) LA, although he didn't log many minutes in the second half.   And the Tim Thomas Playaz was not with its stars, as 6'6 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ had 21 points, and 6'4 Jr John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA had 19 points.  Duhon, who took home MVP honors, was named to the all-tournament team, along with Young, Mouton, Griffin, Toney-El, 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'1 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC, 6'7 Chris Sloan from St. Louis (Francis Howell) MO, 5'11 Russell Lakey from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'8 Julian Sensley from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'9 Aerick Sanders from Serra (H.S.) GA, 6'1 Brandon Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'4 Lewis Monroe from Madison (West) WI, 6'3 Brian Kennedy from Madison (East) WI, 5'10 Jr Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'3 Keith Triplett from Toledo (Bowsher) OH, 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'2 Brian Morrison from Redmond (Lake Washington) WA, 6'9 Taurance Johnson from Williamsport (H.S.) PA, 6'1 Marcus Shropshire from Grand Prairie (South Grand Prairie) TX, 6'10 Sean Paul from Elko (H.S.) NV, 6'1 Jamaal Brimmer from Las Vegas (Durango) NV, 6'5 Orien Greene from Gainesville (H.S.) TX, 6'1 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 6'0 Andre Hazel from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'11 Jared Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD, 6'7 Jonathan Sanders fromWestminster (Belleview Christian) CO, 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ, and 6'5 Deshawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA.  The leading scorer at the the adidas Big Time Tournament was 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ with 32.2 ppg.  He was followed by 6'4 James Phillips from Temecula Valley (H.S.) CA with 27.8 ppg, 6'5 Deshawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA with 27.2 ppg, 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC with 26.3 ppg.  Speaking of Harper, he turned in the best individual performance of the entire tournament when he hit nine 3-pointers and scored 35 points on Thursday afternoon.  However, his team was eliminated early in the playoffs.  So were the Bronx Ravens with 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, who was injured an didn't play in his team's last game.

After the championship game at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV, we talked to the tournament MVP 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA and he confirmed what we already know.  Duke is the leader, followed by Kentucky, Georgia, LSU, and Texas in that order.  Duhon also says that UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt are on his list.  6'4 Brandon Mouton from Lafayette (St. Thomas More) CT, who was the leading scorer in the championship game, also has Texas, LSU, and Notre Dame on his list, but he tells us that he likes Southwestern Louisiana and Alabama.  The early list for 6'1 Jr Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS, who scored most of his points in the championship game early, includes Mississippi State, Mississippi, and Alabama.  One of the biggest sleepers in the tournament is 6'7 Thomas Bailey from San Antonio (Holmes) TX.  Right now only a handful of schools, like Washington State, Houston, and Texas Christian are even sending him mail, but with his athleticism and ability to play block shots and beat you with finesse inside and his ability to handle it and shoot it outside, his value should increase dramatically after this tournament.  Washington State, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, Syracuse, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona State,  Southern Cal, and Notre Dame are all recruiting 6'2 Curtis Allen from Tacoma (Wilson) WA, who ranks among the top 250 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  The early list for 6'10 Jr Michael Fey from Olympia (Capital) WA, who has played  his way into our top 50 nationally in the junior class, includes UNLV, Massachusetts, Oregon State, Oregon, Colorado State, and Oklahoma. Not only does 6'9 Zeb Cope from Columbia (Hammond) SC have schools like Villanova, Virginia, Rutgers, Yale, Stanford, Clemson, and Texas on his list, but he also already has a 1290 on his SAT.

We aren't 100% sure where  6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC will be going to high school next year - it looks like he will be transferring to Limestone (Washington College) TN - but we do know where he plans to go to college.  Harper, who ranks among the top five seniors nationally and is a legitimate candidate for national player-of-the-year honors, has announced that he will attend University of Cincinnati.  This is huge, because the minute 6'9 DerMarr Johnson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who might have been the best player in the country last year, if you include 5th year players, thinks about going pro, the Bearcats will have somebody almost as good ready to step in and take his place.  Perhaps a bigger question is whether Harper will make it academically.  He was enrolled at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA taking summer school classes, but then he went to the adidas ABCD Camp and head coach Steve Smith told him to look for another high school, because he couldn't afford to miss any school, if he wants to make it academically and be eligible to play in college as a freshman.  So it wouldn't be a major surprise if Harper decides to go straight to the NBA out of high school.  Few players can successfully make the jump from high school to the pros, but he might be more ready than most, because he can get his shot against anybody and he has excellent height from a combo guard.  Actually he reminds us of Latrell Sprewell, but he's a better shooter and better ball handler.  We also have confirmed that 6'4 Matt Lottich from Winnetka (New Trier) IL has picked Stanford over Duke and  Northwestern.  This comes as no surprise, but it too is a great get, because Lottich is tough hardnosed white kid who can shoot the lights.  He's also played his way into our nationally top 50 this summer after impressive performances at both the NIKE All-American Camp and the NIKE Peach Jam.  Another commitment we have confirmed, but are puzzled by is 6'7 Andrew Wilson from Kennesaw (Harrison) GA, who was nothing more than a role player on the Georgia Stars AAU Team, to Florida State.  They can get a guy like that anytime and he definitely isn't the answer if they want to close the gap with the University of Florida, which is now not only the premier team in the state, but now should be one of the powers nationally in college basketball.  We haven't confirmed this yet, but we continue to get reports that 6'2 Brendon Plavich from Dalton (H.S.) GA has verbally committed to Georgia Tech.  Although we think this eventually happen, we think he will play it out for a while and visit several schools, including Utah.

Obviously things could change, but right now it looks like 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL and 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, both of whom rank among our top 10 nationally, are going to go to Alabama as a package.  The same thing could happen with 6'6 Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC and 6'2 Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA with New Mexico.  Remember, former DC Assault head coach Troy Weaver is now an assistant coach at New Mexico and, as a result, the Lobos are very strong in the DC area.  Right now 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA has 10 schools on his list, but Seton Hall appears to be a lot stronger than most people realize.  Did you know that Pirates assistant coach Rob Jackson was formerly an assistant at Roman Catholic? However, in the end, we think North Carolina will be very tough to beat.  We also think the Tar Heels will get 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, who is one of the top point guards in the nation.  However, Duke may bring in somebody even better at the same position.  That's right, 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA has made a strong case for a top five national ranking in the last two weeks. Right now it looks like the Blue Devils are way out in front, but it may not be all that easy to bring in another great guard.  Remember, Jason Williams and Michael Dunleavy only one year ahead of him in the program. Speaking of the top point guards in the nation, we still think 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI will pick Michigan State, 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY will go to St. John's, and 6'2 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL will stay home go to DePaul.  He says he's still wide open, but we continue to hear that UCLA is the leader for 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY.  We also think UCLA will be tough to beat for 6'5 Deshawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, who has been much more unselfish, but just as prolific as he was a week ago at the adidas ABCD Camp, at the adidas Big Time Tournament.  A lot of schools are also involved with 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, but in the end, he's the most important player Indiana has recruited since Alan Henderson.  If IU head coach Bob Knight doesn't get Jeffries and he does something stupid, he could be in big trouble.  However, if Knight gets Jeffries and then gets the to final 16 or further in the NCAA Tournament, nobody would probably say a word if he threw another chair.  However, the word is that he wants to leave and it wouldn't surprise us a bit if he ended up at Arizona.  Did you know that one of his best friends is Luke Recker?  We're not sure if Duke is going to offer 6'7 Scott Hazelton from Lawrence (Central Catholic) MA, but if they do, write it down - he wants to got there.

The final four is set at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV, as the Michigan Mustangs beat Gateway (MO), 75-65, the New Orleans Jazz beat DC Assault, 95-83, the Tim Thomas Playaz beat Team Wisconsin, 77-58, and Pump n Run Gold beat the Los Angeles Rockfish, 77-54, in the quarterfinals this morning.  The semi-finals games and the championship game later today could have important ramifications in our national player rankings, because if the Tim Thomas Playaz wins the championship and 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA continues to play at his current level, it will be very hard not to rank him as the #1 player in the class.  Remember, he was the #1 ranked player at the adidas ABCD Camp a week and a week half ago and he rarely has a bad game.  He also takes what you give him and he's versatile enough to beat you inside or outside.  A strong performance by 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA would probably ensure him a spot in our top five nationally.  Also in the Michigan Mustangs-New Orleans Jazz matchup it will be interesting to whether 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI redeems himself and lives up to his tremendous potential.  In the Mustangs won point overtime win last night against the Alabama Ice in the round of 16, Whaley played harder than we've seen him all summer, but he missed a number of big shots from in the paint down the stretch.  However, 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI came through in the clutch and a strong effort by Torbert and a lackadisical effort by Whaley later today would be more than enough for us to drop him behind Torbert on our national juniors list.  Another player who is still playing who really impressed us last night was 6'1 Brandon Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) OR, who really schooled the younger guards from QBL-Lakewood in the 10:40 PM game last night.  Brooks, who has one of the quickest first steps in the class, is tremendous in transition and has a great knack for penetrating and dishing to the open man.  He also has a great knack for being in the right place at the right time, which means he gets more than his share of steals and rebounds.

The New Orleans Jazz beat the Michigan Mustangs, 96-87, and the Tim Thomas Playaz beat the Pump n Run Gold, 76-66, in the semi-finals at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV earlier today.  The semi-final games werent what we expected.  Throughout the tournament 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA has been the star for the New Orleans Jazz and 6'7 Justin Reed from Jackson (Provine) MS was mediocre at best.  However, Reed went for 29 points against the Michigan Mustangs. Also chipping 21 points was 6'9 Kendall Dartez from Cecila (H.S.) LA.  He's raw, but Dartez is an excellent shot blocker and he gets after it inside, even though he doesn't have much of a frame yet.  If I told you that 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI and 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI would score 12 points and nine points apiece and that the Mustangs leading scorers will be 6'1 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI and 6'2 Nucleus Smith from Pontiac (Northern) MI with 17 apiece, you probably wouldn't like the Mustangs chances.  In the other semi-final game Pump N Run Gold played the Tim Thomas Playaz extremely tough, but the depth of the Playaz and the play of 5'11 Michael Cleaves from Paterson (John K. Kennedy) NJ and 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA.  Cleaves had 15 points, but did something that nobody has been able to do all tournament - shut down 6'1 Brandon Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) OR, who had only three points in the semis.  Griffin had 22 points, but more important he dominated at the defensive end.

 Among the players we talked with at the adidas Big Time Tournament yesterday were 5'10 Jr Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'3 Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'8 Tory Reed from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (H.S.) CA, 7'1 Chris Alexander from Harvey (Thornton) IL, 6'7 Michael Joiner from Fayetteville (71st) NC, 6'4 Tre Simmons from Seattle (Washington) WA, 6'8 Taurance Johnson from Williamsport (H.S.) PA, and 6'4 Antonio Hargrove from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  Many think that Virginia Commonwealth is a lock for Hargrove, but he also mentions Virginia, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Xavier, N.C. State, James Madison, and Tennessee.  Johnson says he likes Duquesne, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Xavier, Miami-FL, Florida State, and Connecticut.  Simmons has Southern Cal, New Mexico, Portland State, Washington State, Santa Clara, Baylor, and Navy all knocking at his door, but after watching him yesterday, we think a lot more big time schools should get involved.  We don't look for Joiner to go very far from home, as his list includes North Carolina Duke, UNC-Charlotte, N.C. State Wake Forest, and Old Dominion.  Fresno State, DePaul, and Massachusetts are the leaders for Alexander.  Myles likes Georgia Tech, USC, San Diego State, Wyoming, Iowa State, Connecticut, and Fresno State.  Reed says he's not committed to Massachusetts, but does have UMass on his list, along with Missouri, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Massachusetts, Southern California, and California.  Ewing likes Duke, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Michigan State, and Connecticut.  Ford's list includes Duke, Connecticut, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Florida, Florida State, and UCLA.

The longer it goes the less likely it appears that Virginia athletic director Terry Holland will take the Minnesota job.  As a matter of fact, we have very several reliable sources who tell us that something would have to change dramatically for him to accept the job.  Perhaps more money, but they have already offered him the moon.  Or perhaps his wife.  Apparently she wants him to take the job.  But let's assume that Holland isn't going to take it.  Then, the leading candidate might be long time Evansville head coach Jim Crews.  And if he doesn't get it, other names we've heard include Tulsa head coach Bill Self, George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, Creighton head coach Dana Altman, and Butler head coach Barry Collier.  Recently former NBA head coach Bob Hill got the head coaching job at Fordham, but a lot of people in business question whether he has the contacts in New York City to get it done in his backyard.  Wouldn't Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY head coach Gary Desecare be a natural for the assistant coaching job?  Or perhaps former UNLV assistant coach Greg Vetrone, who is totally a New York guy.

We spent all day yesterday watching pool play at the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV and the highlight of the day the performnace by 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, who already ranks among our top five seniors nationally.   Harper is a tremendous athlete and he can get his shot from anywhere, because he's so explosive off the dribble and he's got excellent moves, super quickness, and deep shooting range.  Harper tells us that his high school situation is still up in the air, but does confirm that going to Limestone (Washington College) TN is a likely option.  Right now it looks like Cincinnati leads, but he also has Clemson, Duke, Florida, N.C. State, Missouri, Kentucky, and South Carolina on his list.  Also impressing us yesterday were 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, 6'2 Brian Morrison from Redmond (Lake Washington) WA, and 6'7 Omari Westley from Cleveland (John K. Kennedy) OH.  Barrett is injured, but he still was the dominant player in the game at 5'9, as he hit three's, played defense, penetrated, and distributed, and that's saying a lot, because he was matched up against 6'2 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL.  Originally we thought Morrison, who was good at the adidas Camp last week (we ranked him #48 in camp and #9 at the 2-guard spot), was a quicker version of 6'2 Jake Sullivan from Oakdale (Tartan) MN, but he is more of a pure point guard than Sullivan, plus he's a lot better than Sullivan.  As a matter of fact, Morrison might be the one of the most underrated players nationally in his class.  He doesn't pass the look test, but he's extremely explosive, which is expecially evident when he goes to the hole and dunks in your face, and he's got excellent handling and passing skills.  Right now Clemson, Miami-FL, Vanderbilt, Washington, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, and Utah are on his list, but don't be surprised if some heavy hitters like Kentucky and UCLA get involved.  We didn't get schools for Westley, but he reminded several coaches who saw him against Houston Select yesterday of former UNLV star Stacey Augman.  He looks like him, he's built like him, and he plays like him.  Speaking of Houston Select, 6'9 Alton Ford from Houston (Milby) TX is playing better than when we saw him at the adidas ABCD Camp last week, but we'd still like to see him get after it more on the boards.  However, he hasn't had any problems at offensive end - he is one the leading scorers in camp and he has really impressed us with passing ability and feel for the game.

One of the big stories after the first two days at the adidas Big Time Tournament is the prolific scoring by 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ, who had 40 points against the Houston Super Stars and 36 points against Utah Select.  The 40 point effort tied him for the highest individual scoring performance in the tournament, along with 5'11 Branden Joseph from Milwaukee (Bayview) WI.  The third highest scoring effort was turned in by 6'5 Deshawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, who also was the leading scorer at the adidas ABCD Camp last week, with 39 points, followed by 6'5 Jr Elzie Bibbs from Lansing (Eastern) MI with 37 points, and Turner with 36 points.  Next, tied for 6th with 35 points apiece, were 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, 6'3 John Labanowski from Houston (Kinkaid) TX, 6'4 James Phillips from Temecula (Temecula Valley) CA, 5'9 Frosh Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY, and 6'3 Jr Tim Gainey from Colorado Springs (Mitchell) CO.  And just missing making the 10 with 34 points was 6'3 Drew Schifino from Pittsburgh (Penn Hills) PA, who really impressed us earlier today with his ability to score off the dribble and ability to take it to the hole.  Also impressing us today were 6'3 Dominique Jones from Richmond (Manchester) VA, 6'3 Tim Ellis from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, and 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA.  Bryant doesn't beat you by overpowering you, but he's extremely mobile, has good handling skills from somebody his size, and he finds ways to score.  Plus he won't turn 17 until next February, which means he's almost a year younger than his class.  Right now UCLA appears to be the leader for Bryant, but his list also  includes Arizona, Louisville, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Kentucky, California, Duke, Syracuse, and Utah.  Ellis might be the biggest sleeper in the nation right now, because until today neither Brick Oettinger of the Recruiters Handbook nor myself had ever heard of this extremely talented two guard.  Ellis is a prototype wing guard who can shoot the lights out and take it to the hole against anybody.  As a matter of fact, he was so good this morning that Oettinger thinks he has twice as much potential as Michigan bound Jamal Crawford, who hails from the same school..  That's a pretty strong statement, because, if Crawford, who was a 5th year player last season, had counted with last year's seniors, he would have been ranked among our top 30 nationally in the senior class.  Ellis currently is considering Eastern Washington, Washington State, Wyoming, UCLA, Cal State-Fullerton, Santa Clara, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Pepperdine.  Jones is another prolific scorer (27 points today versus the St. Francis Hawks today anf he hit the game winning shot in the evening against Inland I) with big-time athleticism and the ability to beat you both off the dribble from long range and going to the hole. Right now he's wide open on schools, but right now his list, which promises to get longer before it gets shorter, includes Central Florida, Hartford, Dayton, James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth, Notre Dame, UNC-Wilmington, Xavier, and George Mason.

 We are still waiting to see if Virginia athletic director Terry Holland returns to college coaching after a 10 year absence by accepting a seven year deal at $1.2 million per year at Minnesota. We should know something by the end of the weekend, but if he takes the job, we've heard that Rhode Island assistant coach  Jeff Jones or former Washington State head coach Kevin Eastman could be in line to become Holland's right hand man at $150,000 per year.  However, we're also hearing from sources close to Jones, who was hired just two months ago, plans to stay put at Rhode Island.  Our comments about the Illinois Warriors yesterday were premature, because within a 24 hour span the team with 6'11Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL got knocked off in the AAU National 16-Under AAU Tournament in Detroit, MI and Eddie Butler's team lost in the semi-finals to Howard Pulley in the NIKE Peach Jam. Speaking of the NIKE Peach Jam, it comes as no surprise that New York Riverside Church knocked off  Howard Pulley (MN) in the championship game  by 15 points. Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin called last night to give us to give us three late commitments from players in the Class of '99.  Cleveland State has a steal in 6'1 Jermaine Robinson from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, 6'6 T.J. Leis from Philadelphia (Cedar Grove) PA has picked Delaware State, and Drexel has landed 6'7 Robert Battle from Philadelphia (Northeast) PA.  Few people have ever seen or even know about 6'2 Lawrence Owens from Milwaukee (Washington) WI, but he has made an early committment to the University of Wisconsin.  We have not confirmed that 6'5 Scott Hundley from Georgetown (Scott County) KY has committed to Vanderbilt, but earlier this week it was reported by several of our competitors that he's picked the Commodores.

Our International Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Vasco Evtimov will not be back next year at North Carolina.  Apparently he is tired of fighting the NCAA regarding his amateur status and does not want to sit out an 18 game suspension, because the NCAA views him as a professional athlete. Instead, he has decided to play professionally abroad.  This could be a major blow to the Tar Heels, especially if 6'9 Jason Parker from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC doesn't qualify academically.  Remember, neither Brian Bersticker nor Kris Lang provide a powerful  presence inside at the power forward spot. As of yet, we've heard nothing official about Parker's eligibility status one way or the other, but this late no news might turn out to be bad news.  If he's a partial qualifier, he could go somewhere else (the ACC doesn't allow prop's), get financial aid and sit out next year.  But if  he doesn't pass the test and doesn't have the score, his options would be really limited.  Going to prep school would do him no good, so, instead, he would either have to go the junior college route or he could enroll in school someplace and pay his own way.  If that happens, the smart money would be on UNC-Charlotte, because paying in-state tuition wouldn't be that expensive and he could live at home, thereby, saving the expense of  room and board.  And if you will recall, he almost went to UNC-Charlotte in the first place.

The other big story that Chris Johnson has for us is that the Illinois Warriors have a chance to  finish both first and second in the AAU National 16-Under Tournament that is currently being played in Detroit, MI.  Apparently 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL has picked up where he left off at the NIKE All-American Camp last week and is such a dominant force that scouts in attendance are now talking about Curry being ranked as the #2 junior in America behind 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ.  The other Illinois Warriors Team at the 16-Under's is led by  6'6 Jr Roger Powell from Joliet (Township) IL and apparently they're playing so well that many think they could match up against Curry & company in the championship later this week.  The Illinois Warriors also were in the final four at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA when we left last night to fly across to the country to Las Vegas, NV for the adidas Big Time Tournament.  In the quarter-finals yesterday afternoon, 6'4 Matt Lottich from Winnetka (New Trier) IL and 6'5 Brett Melton from Mohomet (Mohomet-Seymour) IL shot the lights out as they combined for 6-11 3-pointers and 32 points, as they helped the Warriors to beat the Alabama Lasers, 84-71.  In that game 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL did have six rebounds and six assists, but he also only had nine points and was nothing like he was when we saw him in April and May when we thought he might be destined for greatness.  In the other quarterfinal games at the Peach Jam, Howard Pulley (MN) beat the Arizona Stars, 73-56, Coast to Coast (FL) beat Bloomington Red, 67-54, and New York Riverside Chirch destroyed the Houston Hoops, 69-45.  Especially noteworthy was the poor performance by 6'3 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, who had zero assists, three turnovers and hit only 3-13 shots, including only 1-6 from beyond the arc. However, Hurt may have had an excuse, because he was being guarded by 6'2 Michael Boynton from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, who always seems to draw the toughest defensive assignment.  Also not shooting well in the game was 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, who was 3-10 from the field and only 1-5 from 3-point land. However, the rest of Cook's game didn't seem to suffer, as he handed out seven assists and had three steals.

The latest on the Minnesota job is that it's Terry Holland's job if he wants it.  The former Virginia head coach and current Virginia athletic director is in Minneapolis, MN right now and we think he would be the perfect candidate for the job, because he's both an excellent coach and a class act.  We understand that another previously mentioned candidate for the Minnesota job, Seton Hall head coach Tommy Amaker, has no interest right now.  At first this may come as a surprise, but not when you're hearing that Seton Hall is one of the favorites for both 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA and 5'8 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY.  Also the Pirates already have a commitment from 6'5 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ and we think a commitment from  6'3 Rashid Dunbar from Bayonne (Marist) NJ will be forthcoming sometime in the future.  Earlier this week we also reported that 6'0 Derrick Snowden from Severn (Archishop Spalding) MD may be on the verge of making a commitment to the Pirates.  However, we have a reliable source who tells us that's not even close to happening, because they want to wait and see what Barrett does before they sign anybody else at the point guard spot.  We also have a reliable source who tells us that 6'7 Tremayne Singletary from Bayside (Cardozo) NY is transferring to Cheshire (Academy) CT, where he will be reclassified as a junior.  However, for our purposes, a year from now he will be on our 5th year list, because he will be in his 9th and 10th semesters of high school.

We're down to the final eight at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA and later this afternoon that will be cut to four when the Illinois Warriors faces the Alabama Lasers, New York Riverside Church  meets the Houston Hoops, Howard Pulley (MN) goes up against the Arizona Stars, and Coast to Coast (FL) plays Bloomington Red.  The winners will meet in the semi-finals at 8:00 PM and 9:15 PM tonight and the winners tonight will meet for the championship at 11:00 AM tomorrow morning.  Our guess is that it will be New York Riverside Church against Bloomington Red.  Speaking of Riverside Church, last night 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY won the match-up against  6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, even though they didn't guard each other most of the game.  However, Riverside won the game against the Houston Jaguars, 72-61.  Brown hit his first two shots from beyond the arc and Cook's shot wasn't dropping, as he went through one stretch where he missed six or seven 3-pointers in a row. And that was the difference in the game, as the Jaguars surprised everybody when they came out in a zone defense.  The leading scorers in the game was 6'2 Field Williams from Houston (Waltrip) TX and 6'7 Jason Herring from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA with 15 points apiece.   Brown also had 14 points for the Jaguars, while Cook led New York Riverside Church with 13 points.  Herring is especially noteworthy, because he wasn't at NIKE or the adidas Camps and he's pretty good.  Herring is an excellent rebounder and is very active inside, which is why schools like Texas Tech, Southern Miss, Texas, Wyoming, Houston, Tulane, New Mexico, Miami-FL, Missouri, and Hofstra have all shown interest.  Another one of our favorite players in this game was 6'5 Willie Shaw from Bronx (John F.Kennedy) NY.  We've always liked Shaw's athleticism and potential, but he also now is showing us some range on his jumper.  His list includes Miami-FL, St. John's, St. Louis, Ohio State, Providence, Syracuse, Seton Hall, and Temple, which might be the perfect fit, because Shaw reminds us of former Temple All-American Eddie Jones in many ways.
 

The Peach Jam 99 NIKE Invitationall in Augusta, GA is absolutely loaded and tonight we are especially looking forward to the matchup between New York Riverside Church and the Houston Jaguars. However, we won't get to see 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's) NY and 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY go head-to-head.  Last night Cook told us that 6'2 Michael Boynton from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlyin) NY will get the defensive assignment against Brown.  Cook also took the time to work us a little bit.  He not only made sure that we knew that he was the best guard in the nation, but also assured us that he outplayed 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI in their meeting on the first day at the NIKE Camp.  However, we stand by our previous statement - Taylor was better, but not by much!  We also talked to a number of other players last night and today at the Peach Jam and we found out some very interesting things.  One of the most athletic and explosive big men we've seen in a long time is 6'10 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn) GA and, although we liked him both at the NIKE Camp last week and in the game this morning, he tells us he's a lot better than he's shown so far this summer, because he's had to make sacrifices for his team.  Brown also tells us that he's not very far along in the recruiting process.  So far he's received some interest from Georgia Tech, South Florida, and Florida State, but the only school that is recruiting him hard is Florida.  And just think how good the Gators would be if they signed him to along with Donnell Harvey, who, by the way, has made it academically and will eligible to play next year as a freshman.  Also on the Georgia Stars is 6'3 Marvin Lewis from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who is one of the best 3-point shooters we've seen all summer.  Most his shots don't come off the move, but he's a pure shooter when he gets an open look.  His list includes Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Miami-FL, Villanova, George Washington, Connecticut, Alabama, and Texas.

The two guards for Leo Papile's BABC team are both underclassmen, but they both gave us an early list of schools.  Connecticut, Miami-FL, Ohio State, Providence, Boston College, Seton Hall, and Texas are the early favorites for 6'2 Jr Jermaine Watson from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA.  Providence, Boston College, Connecticut, Clemson, Florida State, and Ohio State were all mentioned by 6'2 Soph Marshall Williams from Winchendon (School) MA, who was ranked as the #10 player at the NIKE Camp last week by the HOOP SCOOP.  Stanford still leads for  6'4 Matt Lottich from Winnetka (New Trier) IL, but he also mentions Duke, Northwestern, Southern Cal, Iowa, Penn State, and Akron.  A player we apparently missed on at the NIKE Camp (he didn't even make our list) is 6'9 Isaiah Fox from Santa Monica (Crossroads) CA.  This physical specimen with excellent rebounding skills and good mobility for somebody his size is receiving interest from UCLA, Southern California, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Florida State, and Virginia.  One of our favorite players in the class is 5'11 Steve Scoggins from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  This fierce competitor is being recruited by Utah, Miami-FL, Villanova, UNLV, Arizona State, and UCLA.  St. John's, Duke, Villanova, Southern California, Kansas, California, Stanford, Arizona, Miami-FL, and Florida are all on the list of 6'5 Luke Whitehead, who confirms that he is transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Stanford, Arizona, St. John's and Maryland are the early favorites from 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, who was ranked #11 at the NIKE Camp last week by the HOOP SCOOP.

 Several days ago we reported that 6'0 Derrick Snowden from Severn (Archishop Spalding) MD had verbally committed to Seton Hall. It appears that we may have jumped the gun a little, because everybody claims that he hasn't made a decision yet. However, we still think it is going to happen.  A commitment that we do know is as good as gold is 6'3 Drew Schifino from Pittsburgh (Penn Hills) PA to Duquesne.  This is big for the Dukes, because they have beaten the University of Pittsburgh for a top 100 player right in their own backyard.  Somebody told us yesterday that 7'1 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA had made an early commitment to Arizona State.  This really took us by surprise, because we didn't even know that the Sun Devils were on his list.  But upon checking further we found out that somebody got the names confused.  The player who is going to Arizona State is Tyson Johnston, who is transferring from Utah.

Our final rankings for the NIKE All-American Camp are now official and it comes as no surprise that 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN is ranked as the #1 player in camp.  However, it was a lot closer than you might think.  As a matter of fact, G.J. King of the Recruiter On Line and Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat both voted for 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME as their #1 player and 6'1 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ had a terrific day on Saturday, which is why he moves up to #3 behind Jeffries and Butler.  A year ago 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI was the best player in camp, but this year he slips to #4.  Next is 6'11 Jr  Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, who got better and better as the week wore on.  So did 6'8 Michael Sweetney from Oxon Hill (H.S.) MD, who was probably the most improved player in camp the last two days, as he jumped from #27 to #6.  We also switched Sweetney's position from power forward to center, because that's where he played in camp.  This is important, because our rankings are based primarily on camp performance and the position a player played in camp.  The biggest disappointment of the week was 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL.  He did show flashes, but for the most part it looked like he never got in the flow, as he never really figured out his role or position.  As a result, it will be interesting to see how he looks once he gets back with the Illinois Warriors at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA later today.  Also fading as the week wore on was 6'9 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN.  But perhaps that's because he's still not in top playing shape.  We will write more about the camp during the rest of the week, but you can get our final rankings from the camp by clicking on NIKE All-American Camp.  A special thanks to King, Jira, Chris Johnson, and several people, who can't be named, for doing an outstanding job of helping us cover this camp,as well as helping us put the finishing touches on our rankings.

Monday, July 12, 1999

Wrapping up the adidas ABCD and NIKE All-American Camps are our top priorities, but recruiting is something that can't be put on hold for very long, as is evident by the fact that we've picked  up two verbal commitments within the last 24 hours.  Yesterday we found out that the University of Iowa finally has offered 6'1 Brody Boyd from Dugger (Union) IN, who has wanted to commit to the Hawkeyes for some time. And this comes as no surprise, because Boyd was terrific all week at the NIKE All-American Camp.  This has not been officially announced yet, but our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that Seton Hall has a commitment from 6'0 Derrick Snowden from Severn (Archishop Spalding) MD, who was ranked #23 overall and #7 at the point guard position at the adidas ABCD Camp.  This comes on the heels of another important commitment several days ago to Seton Hall.  If you will, recall 6'5 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall) NJ announced on Thursday, July 8th, at the adidas Camp that he was committed to the Pirates.We haven't confirmed this yet, but we are getting reports that 6'2 Brendon Plavich from Dalton (H.S.) GA has verbally committed to Georgia Tech.  We have confirmed that 6'10 Nyah Jones from Meridian (JC) MS will not be going to the University of Missouri, which is where he signed last fall.  Instead, he is heading to Southeast Missouri State. 
 
In just three years Tony Martin has turned Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD, which was 31-5 last year, into one of the powers in the Maryland high school ranks.  However, he is leaving to become the third assistant at Towson University.  Among the possible successors are Kensington (Newport School) MD head coach Chris Chaney, Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD assistant Ralph Burley, former Navy and Pittsburgh head coach Paul Evans, and Catholic University assistant coach Steve Howes.  Rutgers, Villanova, Florida State, Delaware, and Maryland-Baltimore County are all involved with 6'8 Mohammad Folana from Potomac (The Bulles School) MD.  The top three schools for 6'4 Marvin Lewis from Rockville (Montrose Chrisitan) MD are Wake Forest, Clemson, and George Washington, but James Madison and Delaware are trying to make a push.  And don't be surprised if Delaware gets 6'7 Robin Wentt from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD.  Remember, Delaware head coach Mike Brey was an assistant at DeMatha under Morgan Wootten.  Speaking of Wootten, most people in the know in the DC area think Wootten won't be at DeMatha next year, despite the fact that he announced several months ago that he would coach there for at least another year.  If Wootten retires, he still may stay involved in basketball by helping ou his son, Joe Wootten, who recently got the head coaching job at Falls Church (Archbishop O'Connell) MD.  The rumors appear to be stemming from the fact former long time DeMatha assistant coach Pat Smith has resurfaced in the DC area as an assistant at The Bulles School.  This is important because the two leading candidates for the DeMatha job are Bulles head coach Mike Hibbs and DeMatha junior varisty coach Tom Burke.  So if Hibbs gets the job at DeMatha, it makes perfect sense that Smith would move into the head coaching position at Bulles.  However,  the best team in the DC area in the immediate future will likely be Montrose (Rockville Christian) MD, which beat Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD last night in the finals of the DC Board Games.  It's no surprise that 6'4 Marvin Lewis and 6'10 Mohamd Diakite were outstanding for Montrose Christian, but they also have a sleeper in 6'3 Drew Hall. And if that weren't enough, new head coach Stu Vetter will likely bring in several new players.  He always does!
 

We didn't rank 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY any higher than #11 at the adidas ABCD Camp.  But if he had played all week like he did in the all-star game, where he scored 24 points and was perfect from beyond the arc, hitting 4-4 3-pointers, he would have received strong consideration for MVP honors in camp.  That honor went to 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, who was #3 in scoring with 21.3 ppg, #2 in rebounding with 9.0 rpg, and was the unanimous pick as the best player in camp according the our staff - Clark Francis, Allen Rubin, Dave Schultz, Ron Naclerio, Chris Johnson, and Mike Guiliani, all of whom covered the camp exclusively for the HOOP SCOOP.  Also considered for camp MVP honors were 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, who is an incredible natural talent with tremendous athleticism, a competitive nature, and unbelieveable moves to the basket, which is why we call him the best prospect in camp, and 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, who  averaged an unprecedented 8.1 apg, including six assists in the all-star game.  Speaking of the all-star game,  the unanimous choice by the media for game MVP honors was Brown, but 5'7 Avery Queen from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who scored only five points, but did have 10 assists, shared game MVP honors, because he played a pivotal role in the final minutes when the Red Team came back to beat the White Team 124-122.  The same thing happened in the Underclassmen All-Star Game.  The consensus MVP by the media for game MVP honors was 5'10 Jr Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, but the powers that be in the camp Ford a co-MVP, along with 6'9 Apolinar Fernandez from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.   Fernandez, who was the third highest ranked underclassmen in camp, showed great flashes, but Ford was by far and away the best and most consistent player throughout the game.  We already have posted our finally rankings from the adidas ABCD Camp.  However, we are far from done with our coverage of the camp, because we have yet to add all the stats and comments we want to make about the top players in the camp.  We will be doing that in the next several days and we will tell you when we are finished.  We will do the same with the NIKE All-American Camp, but right now we are still as in the dark about the final results as you are, because we are waiting for our people to check in and provide us with their final rankings from the camp.  Until then, you can get our rankings of the camp from only after the first two days of camp by clicking on NIKE All-American Camp.  We are especially interested in finding out who was the best player in camp.  When I came back to the adidas Camp yesterday morning, it was almost too close to call among the top three players - 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, and 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME - and 6'9 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ also had a shot with a strong showing yesterday and this morning.

Saturday, July 10, 1999

We're back in Teaneck, NJ for the all-star games at the adidas ABCD Camp, which will tipoff at 7:00 PM EST, and top player honors in camp are still up in the air.  Right now 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA gets the nod, but a good game from 5' 9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY and/or 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL could make it real interesting. Griffin, Barrett, 6'5 Jerome Harper from Limestone (Washington College) TN, 6'5 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'9 Alton Ford from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, 6'2 Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'7 Scott Hazelton from Lawrence (Central Catholic) MA, 6'5 Wayne Tinsley from Solesbury (H.S.) CT , 6'9 Reo Logan from Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) IL, 5'7, Avery Queen from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'6 Lou Wright from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'3, Jumichael Young from Hammond (H.S.) LA, 6'7 Justin Reed from Jackson (Provine) MS, and 6'11 Jared Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD all have been named to play tonight on the Red Team in the Senior All-Star Game.  They will be matched up against Wallace, 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salem) LA, 6'5, DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) PA, 6'9 Abdou Diame from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'8 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'1 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 6'6, Bernard Robinson from Washington (Dunbar) DC, 6'5 Floyd McClain from Houston (Eisenhower) TX, 6'8, Chris Hobbs from Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill East) NC, 6'0 Derrick Snowden from Severn (Archbishop Spaulding) MD, 6'4 Matt Lotich from Winnetka (New Trier) IL, 6'4, Antonio Hargrove from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'10 Chris Wilcox from Whiteville (H.S.) NC, and 6'8 Zebulun Cope from Hopkins (Hammond) SC, all of whom were named to play on the White Squad.  The Underclassmen All-Star Game should also be very interesting.  The White Team includes 6'0 Jr Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS, 6'2, Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ,  6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, 6'9 Jr Apolinar Fernandez from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, and 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (Catholic) AL, 6'0 Jr Jonathan Hargett from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'2 Jr Salim Stoudamire from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'3 Jr Latrell Fleming from Milwaukee (Dominican) WI, 6'6 Jr Tyrone Sally from Chesterfield (Meadowbrook) VA, 6'9 Frosh Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, 6'2 Soph Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'3 Soph Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Wolfson) FL, 6'4 Jr Derek Stribling from Winter Haven (Lake Region) FL, 6'7 Jr Jamaal  Williams from Compton (Centennial) CA, and 6'9 Jr Harvey Thomas from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.   They will be matched up against the Red Team with 5'10 Jr Terrance Ford from 6'3 Jr LeVar Seals from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL, 6'7 Jr Quemont Greer from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, 6'8 Jr Jack Martinez from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'0 Jr Brandon Cheatham from Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA, 6'1 Jr Ben Gordon from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'2 Jr Errick Craven from Torrance (Bishop Montgomery) CA, 6'8 Jr Julian Sensley from Kailua (Kaleheo) HI, 6'10 Jr Mark Konecny from Southbury (Holy Cross) CT, 6'2 Jr Derrick Craven from Torrance (Bishop Montgomery) CA, 6'3 Jr Darius Hargrove from Albert (Brunswick) VA, 6'5 Jr Greg Tinch from Albany (Westover) GA, 6'8 Jr Jawad Williams from Lakewood (St. Edwards) OH, and 6'8 Lawrence Ryan Carrier from Redlands (H.S.) CA. Unfortunately Michigan state rules prohibit players from that state from playing in all-star games, so 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (H.S.) MI, and 6'10 Jr Jeffrey Ferguson from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI won't get to play in the Underclassmen Game.
 
Most  people know that Bob Hill has gotten a long term contract at Fordham University, but you probably don't know who he's going to hire as his assistants.  We've heard that he's already decided upon former Seton Hall and West Virginia assistant coach Mike Brown, who is now the head coach at Hunter College in the Division III ranks.  We've also confirmed through Steve Smith that 6'5 Luke Whitehead from San Francisco (St. Ignatius) CA will be transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA next fall and that Iowa State has gotten an early commitment from 6'2 Jake Sullivan from Oakdale (Tartan) MN.  This is especially big because Sullivan is currently ranked as the #7 wing forward at the NIKE All-American Camp and is a legitimate top 100 senior nationally.

After two days at the NIKE All-American Camp, we think it is safe to say that the race for top player honors is too close to call among 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'9 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'2 Jr  Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ.  As a result, whoever plays the best the last day and a half of camp will get our vote for best player honors in camp.  Wouldn't it be something if that honor went to Taylor, who right now is running a very close second behind Jeffries.  If that happens, he would become the first player ever to win MVP honors at a superstar oriented camp, like NIKE or adidas, two consecutive years.  That alone might be enough to get us to rank him #1 in the senior class nationally, which is kind of funny, because most scouts had dropped him, because he doesn't play AAU ball and they've forgotten how good he was since they last saw him a year ago at NIKE or Five-Star Pitt IV.  Instead, it appears he's been home working on his game and it shows. Also interesting is that five of the top nine players on our list are point guards and only six wing guards rank among our top 50 players in camp. Obviously they are the best and worst positions in camp.  Our Philadelphia Area Correspondent Allen Rubin checks in from the adidas ABCD Camp and he tells us that we missed the game of the year, which featured the Warriors with 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA and 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY against the Mavs with 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL and 6'8 Marion Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL.  He's talking about four of the top five players in camp in a game that went overtime and was finally won when Barrett made a great pass to Griffin, who scored the game winning basket.  In other key matchups yesterday Barrett outplayed 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY and Wallace got the best of 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC.  However, the best still is yet to come, because today and tomorrow are the final days at NIKE and tonight the all-star games will be played at adidas.  We should have finally results from both camps sometime tomorrow.  But for now, you get our updated rankings of the top players from both camp by on adidas ABCD Camp and/or NIKE All-American Camp.

Friday, July 9, 1999

We are now getting reports that 6'9 Andre Scott from Greenbelt (Roosevelt) MD will transfer to Limestone (Washington College) TN. Did you know that Washington College also has two outstanding big men from Africa who will enroll this fall in 6'9 Jr LaSana Kouyate and 6'10 Soph Sani Ibrahim?  If that weren't enough, Washington College also has another foreign big guy returning in 6'9 Arturas Cizauskas and 6'3 Jr Alexander Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC also has decided to attend school at this basketball factory in Tennessee in the fall.  Obviously this why one of the hot rumors on the street is that 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, who is Alexander Harper's younger brother, is bound for Washington College.  We know for a fact that college coaches are already calling the head coach at Washington College, because they think it's already a done deal.  Well, it's not, but if he does materalize there is fall, Washington College could be one the top five high school teams in the nation next year, because Harper ranks as one of the top five seniors in the nation, Scott has lots of talent, and the foreign kids are supposed to be dynamite.

G.J. King of the Recruiter On Line talked to some players at NIKE this morning and tells us that Northwestern is the leader for 6'0 Jitim Young from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL and that's a good thing, because we know for a fact that he's Wildcats head coach Kevin O'Neill's #1 priority.  As a matter of fact, O'Neill plans to follow him around the entire month of July.  King also tells us that Kansas is the strong favorite for 6'7 Jr Dennis Latimore from Halstead (H.S.) KS, who ranks among the top 10 juniors in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, but don't be surprised if Notre Dame turns out to be a lot stronger than most people realize. Michigan State, Kentucky, UCLA, Connecticut, and Michigan are the leaders for 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI. The list for 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY is particularly interesting, because neither St. John's nor Syracuse are mentioned (remember a month ago he told us he wasn't that high on the Red Storm and and the Orangemen).  The five schools Cook mentioned were North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida State, Connecticut, and Miami-FL.

This morning we have published our updated rankings from the adidas ABCD Camp, which includes play from both July 7th & July 8th, and the NIKE All-American Camp, which includes just yesterday.  The big story at adidas continues to be the outstanding play by 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, who is now the leading scorer in the camp.  Also worth mentioning is the 36 point performance yesterday at adidas by 6'5 David Holmes from Washington (Coolidge) DC, which explains why he has made the biggest jump of any player in camp from our rankings on the first day.  Speaking of big scorers, no statistics are being kept at NIKE, but the leading scorer in camp has to be 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, but he isn't ranked any higher than #5 in camp, because he shoots all the time.  As long as we're comparing the two camps, it looks like NIKE has better underclassmen and better overall depth, but there is very little difference at the top of both camps.   To get our complete player rankings from the camps, click on adidas ABCD Camp and/or NIKE All-American Camp.

Thursday, July 8, 1999

The HOOP SCOOP's Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin called this morning to tell us that he has a source who tells him that 6'5 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ will announce for Seton Hall tonight.  This is huge, because Toney-El has been talking about going to Seton Hall as part of a package with his buddy 6'3 Rashid Dunbar from Bayonne (Marist) NJ for a long time.  Now that Toney-El has made it official, we think it will only be a matter of time before Dunbar follows suit.  We also have confirmed that Erik Brown, who was the freshman of the year in the OVC last year at Morehead State, has decided to transfer to the University of Louisville.  Another recent commitment that we have yet to report is 6'11 Mohamed Diakere from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD to St. John's.  Also Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat is back in the country after month's vacation to the Czech Republic and he already has the sccop on 6'5 Luke Whitehead from San Francisco (St. Ignatius) CA, who is transferrring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Speaking of Oak Hill, it looks like 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC won't be going to Oak Hill after all.   However, that will have to wait, because the night session of the NIKE Camp is less than half an hour from tipoff.

Our unanimous choice for the #1 player at the NIKE All-American Camp after the first afternoon of play was 6'9 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN.  Jeffries can do it - block shots, handle the ball, shoot the three, active on the boards, and has amazing hands.  As a matter of fact, he reminds Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat of Duke's Shane Battier, but with a better jumper. And just like Battier, Jeffries has a tremendous understanding of the game.  One of the other highlights of the this afternoon was watching the matchup between 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY and 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, who are two of the premier point guards in the nation.  Artie McLaughlin of the HOOP SCOOP gave Taylor the slight advantage, because he shoots it better.  Taylor also has a quicker release and a nice shot.  However, Cook drives to the basket better and is a better passer.  Some of the other players who really impressed us this afternoon were 6'2 Ed Starks from Miam (Northwest Christian) FL  6'3 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX,  6'4 Eugene Seals from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Luke Whitehead from San Francisco (St. Ignatius) CA, 6'9 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (H.S.) GA, 6'4 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6'2 Terrance Watkins from Rogersville (H.S.) AL, and 6'8 Brett Buscher from Chesterton (H.S.) IN.  Just like yesterday at adidas, we will rank the top players from the first day at NIKE late tonight and post it in this section by noon tomorrow.

It has to be a record at a superstar oriented camp (like adidas or NIKE) where point guards are often more concerned about padding their own stats than making their teammates better.  We already mentioned that 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY had 11 assists in the opening session yesterday afternoon and last night he added 13 more to the total.  However, that only partially tells the story, because, in our opinion, Barrett was also the most dominant player in camp yesterday, as he hit three's, created havoc defensively, and made great decisions.  Barrett also made his teammates better. If you don't believe it, just ask Barrett's teammate, 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, who was ranked #2 in camp by the HOOP SCOOP at the conclusion of the opening day. The leading scoring camp averaging 29 ppg was 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, but his first three options were me, myself, and I, so he'll have to settle for a #3 ranking behind Barrett and Griffin.  Another player who falls into that category was 6'0 Jr Jonathan Hargett from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC and, as a result, nobody on his team played well, which is why we snubbed him in our rankings of the top point guard in camp.  Also playing extremely well and dominated the camp inside were the two big guys from Alabama - 6-9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (Catholic) AL and 6'8 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, both of whom are ranked among both the leading scorers and rebounders in camp.  But the best player in camp from Alabama is 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, who redeemed himself in the night session with a 23 point effort (he only had six points yesterday afternoon) and he deserves a lot credit, because it would be easy to sit out with an injury and rest on your reputation.  One player who  is doing exactly that is 6'3 Tamir Goodman from Baltimore (Talmudical) MD.  However, we never thought he was that good to begin with.  One of the biggest surprises of the evening session was 6'9 Mauricio Branwell from Laurel (Paint Branch) MD, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Among the lesser name guy who impressed us in the evening session were 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ,  6'4 A.J. Moye from East Point (Westlake) GA, 6'4 Ramell Ross fom Fairfax Station (Lake Broddock) VA, and  6'4 Antonio Hargrove from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  We also liked a number of the foreign players, including 6'4 Aly Samabaly from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH via Mali, France, 7'0 Valimir Radinovic from Toronto (T.A. Blakelock) ON, and 6'9 Soph Alasane Kouyate from Medina (H.S.) OH.  And how about 6'9 Frosh Major Wingate from Florence (Wilson) SC, who has now clearly established himself as the #1 freshman in America?  We also were surprised by a number of the big guys, including 6'11 Jared Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD and 6'11 John Godfrend from Grandforks (Red River) ND.  For our complete list of rankings after the first day, click on adidas ABCD Camp.

Wednesday, July 7, 1999

The adidas ABCD Camp begins later today and the NIKE All-American Camp starts tomorrow, so obviously everything else will be put on hold, especially finishing our rankings of the top players by class and our state-by-state reports.  However, we have finally finished our comprehensive New York City Report and it comes as no surprise that our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio has provided us with 20 pages of rankings.  It includes 482 graduating seniors, 356 rising seniors, 189 rising juniors, 124 rising sophomores, 26 rising freshmen, 10 rising 8th graders, and a pair of rising 7th graders.  There also is a two pages introduction that includes all-city teams and some interesting comments about the next great class in New York City, which just happens to be the Class of 2000.  To get introduction click on  New York City Report  and to get Naclerio's ranking click on Naclerio Ranks 'em:  The HOOP SCOOP's Ranking of the Top Players in New York City.
 
Sometimes t's strange how things work out.  We're in New Jersey, where we will start off covering the adidas ABCD Camp later today, but we don't have rosters yet.  However, we do have a composite list of who's at the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, IN.  In alphabetical order some of the top names at NIKE include 6'2 Adam Boone from Minnetonka (H.S.) MN, 5'11 Chevis Brimmer from Meraux (Archbishop Hannan) LA, 6'9 Andre Brown from Chicago (Leo) IL, 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Poly) CA, 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from New York (Rice) NY, 6'9 Jr T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, 6'7 Jr Najeeb Echols from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'7 John Gilbert from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN, 6'9 Rolando Howell from Hopkins (Lower Richland) SC, 6'3 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6'7 Jr Sean Kline from Huntington (North) IN, 6'8 Jr Dennis Latimore from Halstead (H.S.) KS, 6'2 Cornelius McFadgon from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, 6'3 Brett Melton from Mahomet (Mahomet-Seymour) IL, 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, 6'1 Jr Teddy Mumford from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'5 Rickey Paulding from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'9 Jesse Pinegar from Salt Lake CIty (Brighton) UT, 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN, 6'7 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MI, 6'3 Luke Ridnour from Blaine (H.S.) WA, 6'10 Jr Jamel Sampson from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'2 Maurice Searight from Orchard Lake (St. Mary) MI, 6'8 Cory Seels from Tampa (Robinson) FL, 6'5 Scooter Sherrill from Mt. Ulla (West Rowan) NC, 6'5 Jr Marcellus Sommerville from Peoria (Manual) IL, 6'3 Eddie Starks from Miami (Northwest Christian) FL, 5'9 Wesley Stokes from Long Beach (Poly) CA, 6'1 Soph Marshall Strickland from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA,  6'7 Michael Sweetney from Oxon Hill (H.S.) MD, 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'7 Jr Levi Watkins from Laurel (St. Vincent Pallotti) MD, 6'3 Jr Jermaine Watson from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA, 6'7 Luke Whitehead from San Francisco (St. Ignatius) CA, 6'8 Glen Worley from Iowa City (West) IA, and 6'9 Andrew Zahn from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA.

Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin talked with players at the adidas ABCD Camp all day yesterday, including 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'3 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6'1 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Scott Hazelton from Lawrence (Central Catholic) MA, 6'5 Dwon Clifton from High Point (Westchester) NC, 5'7 Avery Queen from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, and 6'3 Jr Levar Seals from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL. Stevenson says that UCLA, Duke, Connecticut, St. John's, and Kansas are among the man schools on his list.  Duke, Maryland, Cincinnati, Florida, N.C. State, Texas, Kentucky, and South Carolina are involved with Harper.  Whaley's early list includes Michigan State, Missouri, Georgetown, and Duke. Torbert gave us the same list he gave us a week ago at the Pro Am Tournament in Washington, DC.  So did Griffin, who mentions Cincinnati, Duke, North Carolina Connecticut, Massachusetts, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Temple, Kentucky, and Maryland. Speaking of Griffin, head coach Bill Ellerbee tells us  there is no truth to the rumor that Griffin is thinking about transferring to Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, but we still find it interesting that Griffin is playing on Ellerbee's team in camp. The favorites for Sawyer are UCLA, DePaul, Connecticut, Syracuse, Kentucky, and Missouri.  Barrett likes Connecticut, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, St. John's, Seton Hall, Clemson, Texas, Notre Dame, Syracuse, and UCLA.  Hazelton mentions Duke, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Villanova, Providence, St. John's, Syracuse, and Clemson.  N.C. State, North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia Tech are all hot and heavy after Clifton.  Queen says he likes Michigan, Miami-FL, UCLA, Georgetown, and Connecticut.  Bender likes N.C. State, Florida, Louisville, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia Tech, and Kentucky, but if you will recall, he's already talking about declaring for the NBA draft afterr his junior year of high school.  Seals early list includes Marquette, Arizona, and Tulane.  Also several players,  including 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL and 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA were late arrivals and, as a result, were not seen at practice last night.  Games officially begin at 2:00 PM in Teaneck, NJ this afternoon and we will provide you with some brief highlights from this afternoon before the evening session begins. Then, late tonight we will put all the pieces together from the first day, including ranking the top players by position and overall in the camp and post all that on the web site by noon tomorrow.

At the conclusion of the afternoon session on the first day of the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ there was very little doubt that the best player in camp was 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA. Stevenson, who currently is ranked #3 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP in the rising senior class, went for 32 points, but that only tells part of  the story.  He was on fire from beyond the arc, as he hit 6-8 3-pointers, most of those shots were contested and/or off the dribble.  Also mentioned among our top players in camp after one session are 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, who was both one of the leading scorers and the leading rebounder in camp, 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (Catholic) AL, 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, and 6'4 David Hawkins from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 6'7 Jr  James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD and 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, who had 11 assists this afternoon.   Among the lesser known players who really played well this afternoon were 6'0 Russell Lakey from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 7'0 Tom Timmermans from Blue Ridge (Dyke) VA, 6'2 Brian Morrison from Redmond (Lake Washington) WA, 6'4 Yuri Demetris from Glenshaw (Shaler) PA, and 6'3 Percell Coles from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA.  Two of the biggest disappointments in camp were 6'8 Alton Ford from Houston (Mibly) TX and 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childesburg (H.S.) AL, although Wallace may have an excuse, because he is still recovering from an injury that has sidelined him for the last week.

Tuesday, July 6, 1999

We do not have this confirmed, but a very reliable source tells us that Camden (H.S.) NJ has won its appeal with the New Jersey State High School Association and will be eligible to play in non-league games, including the state and holiday tournament games, next season.  Our buddy Donnie Wilkie, who runs the Nations Bank City of Palms Holiday Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, will be pretty happy when he hears this news, because he's been holding a spot open for Camden just in case they do win their appeal.  This is huge, because it means that 6'3 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is widely regarded as the #1 junior in America, will help ensure that Wilkie's tournament is as strong as ever.  If you'll recall, Wilkie also pulled off what might have been the supreme coupe when he lined up Childersburg (H.S.) AL before most people had ever heard of 6'7 Gerald Wallace, who is now regarded as one of the top players nationally in the Class of 2000.  Getting back to the Camden situation, Glen Jackson, who took over for the legendary Clarence Turner as head coach at Camden last fall, will be back next season.  Apparently that was part of the deal, because the NJSHAA has made it clear in no uncertain terms that they did not want Turner to return.  The word we're getting is that all this will be announced officially tomorrow.

Among the players we saw at the practices at the adidas ABCD Camp earlier tonight was 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY.  You remember him! He's the guy who three weeks ago was quoted in the Louisville Courier-Journal saying that he was thinking about declaring for the NBA draft after his junior season, which would be next spring.  Since that time Bender has told us that the entire thing was blown out of context and even went so far as to deny making the statement.  However, upon checking with the Courier-Journal, the newspaper not only stands by the story, but several of the reporters have told us that Bender called them on several different occasions.  Later in the conversation Bender also told us that it has turned out surpringly well, because Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports, Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat, and several other publications have moved him into their top 10 nationally.  "Sports Illustrated has even called," says Bender.   But at the same time Bender tried to tell us that the media puts too much pressure on players at such a young age. "If it weren't for the Paparazzi following Princess Diana around, she'd still be alive today," said Bender.  Obviously that's wrong, because Princess Diana's driver had been drinking and had been driving way too fast while making a game out of alluding the Paparazzi.  However, the similarity is interesting, because if Bender doesn't live up to his high expectations, he will probably place the blame on us. That's fine, but really the blame will rest only with him and the sooner he learns to take responsibility for his own actions the better he will be.  How hard does he want to work?  That's the biggest question, because the talent is there.  Stay tuned!

By now most people know about the murderous rampage launched by Benjamin Nathaniel Smith over the weekend in the Midwest.  And you probably also know that Ricky Byrdsong, who was the former head coach at Northwestern University, was the first person that Smith killed.  Byrdsong was murdered at 8:52 PM on Friday night while walking with his children in Skokie, IL.  This is truly a tragedy, because Byrdsong was one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.  He was also one of the best recruiters.  As a matter of fact, when Kevin O'Neill, who replaced Byrdsong several years ago as the head coach at Northwestern, and Byrdsong were together as assistants at Arizona under Lute Olson in the late '80s, they never lost a player they got on campus for an official visit.  I still remember O'Neill telling me that it was his job to get Arizona involved and once they got a recruit on campus, it was Byrdsong's job to close the deal.  "There was nobody any better," said O'Neill.  This is important, because it shows how well Byrdsong related to people regardless of race or background.  Byrdsong didn't get it done at Northwestern, which is one of the toughest jobs in the nation, but he did turn it around at the University of Detroit before moving on to Northwestern.  However, even more important, those who knew him knew that he was a good coach, an excellent role model, and a terrific person.  Which is why we are dedicating this summer's live evaluation period (the 23 days from July 8th to July 31st when coaches can be on the road) to the memory of Ricky Byrdsong.  It won't be the same without him.

We are not combining the last three days because it was the 4th of July weekend and/or because there hasn't been much to write about the last few days.  Instead, upon arriving in New Jersey on Friday night, July 2nd, we ran into major computer problems and after four different trips to Best Buy on Saturday and Sunday, we finally opted to buy a new labtop computer in order to ensure that we can devote all of our time to covering both the adidas and NIKE Camps this week.  However, not all of the problems have been solved (i.e. my email is down and may be for some time - I have no idea how to set it back up).  So if you need to reach me, call me 1-(502)-493-0043 and your call will be tranferred to my digital phone.  However, be forewarned.  I will be in the gym all day Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Late at night we will be doing player rankings and I likley will be up all night on Wedneday and Friday, because I have a 6:00 AM flight to Indianapolis Thursday morning and another 6:00 AM flight back to Newark on Saturday morning.   Obviously this is not the time to call just to chat.  However, if it is important or you have a subscription problem, don't hesitate to call.  You should be able to reach me.  However, if can't, leave a message and I will get back to you at my earliest convenience.

Last week we told you that Sean Connolly, who is transferring from Providence College, would be in Columbus over the weekend and that a commitment might be forthcoming before the beginning of the summer evaluation period for college coaches, which begins July 8th.  Well, write it down!  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Connolly committed to Ohio State during the visit.  Not only did Connolly pick the Buckeyes over schools like N.C. State  and Purdue, but he did so without even visiting anywhere else.   However, this comes as no surprise. If you will recall, Connolly originally committed to the same coaching staff that was at Boston College three years ago.  However, when Jim O'Brien left for Ohio State, Connolly changed his mind and, instead, went to Providence.  One commitment over the weekend for Ohio State is big enough, but Johnson also tells us that the Buckeyes have landed 6'11 Matt Marinchick from Hudson (H.S.) OH.  Marinchick isn't a top 100 player nationally in his class, but he had enough to potential to already to be attracting interest in from schools like Kentucky, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Dayton, Maryland, and Northwestern.

We've been predicting for some time that 6'5 Raoul Heinen from The Netherlands would pick George Mason over Clemson. Well, write it down! Heinen told the George Mason coaching staff that he will sign with the Patriots next fall. That's right! He will not count with this year's recruiting class. Instead, he'll take the first of four scholarships that George Mason has available for next year. He also is expected to be the next point guard to develop under head coach Jim Larranaga. Remember, Larranaga sent Antonio Daniels to the NBA from Bowling Green and the last two years had another good one in Jason Miskiri at George Mason. Several other players who will be playing next year made late commitments this week. We're talking about 6'10 Luis Villafane from Puerto Rico to Niagara and 6'7 Mike Patton from Tampa (Gaither) FL to Appalachian State. Patton's situation is particularly interesting, because he committed to Santa Fe (JC) FL earlier, but then made the necessary score and head coach Buzz Peterson stole him at the end. Also interesting is the fact that Atilla Cosby is transferring from Pittsburgh to New Mexico. This isn't the first time that Cosby has followed assistant coach Troy Weaver to a school.  If you will recall, Cosby played for Weaver with the DC Assault AAU team and then went to Pittsburgh with Weaver as part of the package. We still think that Sean Connolly, who is transferring from Providence will pick Ohio State and, as a matter of fact, he will be there this weekend.

Today is a very important day, because for our purposes, every player is moved ahead in class by a year. As a result, anybody who was listed as junior yesterday will be listed as senior today. However, that doesn't mean that we are totally finished with graduating seniors.  We've finished our ranking of recruiting classes by conferences today, but we still need more time to look at recruiting in a number of different ways, like who signed the best two players, best three players, and talent rating average per recruit. Also before the NIKE and adidas camps begin, we plan finish up Ron Naclerio's New York Report and seniors will be included on that list. Otherwise, it is full speed ahead with the future and hopefully the next two classes will be better than the last two, which failed to live up to expectations. As a matter of fact, the senior class (Class of 2000) is looking pretty good. Currently we have 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (Lincoln) IL ranked #1. Next is 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, who was the best player a year ago at the NIKE All-American, but who has dropped in some rankings because he hasn't played AAU ball and nobody has seen him since last summer, except on his high school team. However, we still think merit and past accomplishments means something and unless somebody clearly outplays him at NIKE, we're sticking with him. Rounding out our top five are 6'8 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, and 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC. He might just be the best player in class and you read it here first months ago, but we want 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL to earn it this summer. So Wallace will have to settle for #6 right now, followed by 6'8 Alton Ford from Houston (Milby) TX and the three great point guards from New York City - 6'1 Jr Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY. That means that 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA, 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, and 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN currently rank no higher than our third five in the senior class and that tells me that it could be a great summer.

Some of the other players we talked to at the NBA Players Association Camp, included 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME,  6'8 Ivan McFarlin from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'10  Jr Jordan Collins from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'9 T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'2 Field Williams from Houston (Waltrip) TX, 6'7 Herve Lamizana from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, and 6'1 Jr Melvin Scott from Baltimore (Southern) MD. The first school mentioned by Butler is UNLV and this comes as no surprise, because everybody knows that it is only a matter of time before his former high school coach Max Good is named as an assistant at UNLV. Butler also mentions Connecticut, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Marquette. McFarlin is getting interest from SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Miami-FL, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Southern Cal, and Cincinnati. The early favorites for Collins are Duke, North Carolina, Florida State, Kentucky, and Michigan, but that may change if he doesn't get in better shape and develop better work habits. Cummings says that the rumors about Ohio State being the early favorite and DePaul being out is totally off base. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even mention the Buckeyes, as his list includes Duke, Connecticut, DePaul, Maryland, Arizona, Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas, and Temple.Williams has an interesting list that includes Wake Forest, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Temple, Duke, and Auburn. Lamizana is a great athlete, but he still has a long way to go to become a good basketball player. However, that hasn't stopped North Carolina, Villanova, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Massachusetts, Xavier, Wake Forest, St. John's, and Clemson from showing early interest. Scott is only a junior, but he likes Maryland, Duke, Wake Forest, and Florida State.

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