HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR JUNE 2007

Friday, June 29, 2007, & Saturday, June 30, 2007

It is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to advance all of the players in each class by one year annually on July 1st, so obviously we have published our Final Ranking of the Top 1000 Players in the Class of 2007 (Graduating Seniors) just in the nick of the time to add to our archives, which now span a quarter of a century.   If you will recall, we also published Final Ranking of the Top 1000 Players in the Class of 2006 a year ago; a Final Ranking of the Top 800 Players in the Class of 2005 two years ago; a Final Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2004 three years ago;; a Final Ranking of the Top 300 Players in the Class of 2003 four years ago; a Final Ranking of the Top 400 Players in the Class of 2002 five years ago; and a Final Ranking of the Top 450 Players in the Class of 2001 six years ago.   And, going back even further, we also published a Final Ranking of the Top 100 Players in the Class of 2000, Class of 1999, Class of 1998, Class of 1997, Class of 1996, Class of 1995, Class of 1994, Class of 1993, Class of 1992, Class of 1991, Class of 1990, Class of 1989, Class of 1988, and Class of 1987; a Final Ranking of the Top 50 Players in the Class of 1986, Class of 1985, and Class of 1984; and a Final Ranking of the Top 100 Players in the Class 1983, which has been reprinted from All-Star Sports with the permission of Bob Gibbons.  And to complement our Final Ranking of the Top 1000 Players in the Class of 2007 (Graduating Seniors), we also are ready to publish our Ranking of the Top 100 5th Year Players, which includes anybody who was in his 9th Semester or more of high school this past season.  As for the Class of 2007, it doesn't have great depth nor does it have an overabundance of quality point guards and big men.  But is pretty good at the top as 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Huntington (H.S.) WV, 6'8 Michael Beasley from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'3 Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, 6'8 Donte Geen from Towson (Catholic) MD, and 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL are all terrific players.  However, none of them are expected to be as good as Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, who went #1 and #2 in the NBA Draft last night.  Speaking of Oden and Durant, I think the Portland Trailblazers, which already are the team that passed on Michael Jordan when they drafted Sam Bowie #2 in 1984, they may have missed out on getting one of the all time great players in the history of the game again.  Remember, most great players have at least one of three things:  1) size, 2) athleticism, and outside shooting.  Not only does Durant have all three of these qualities, but he has an incredible work ethic and that burning desire that is necessary to achieve greatness.  And what Durant did this past season when he was one of the top five players in the Division I ranks in both scoring and rebounding is unprecedented in the history of the game, as only a handful of players have ever done this before and nobody has ever accomplished this during their freshman season.  Durant does need to get bigger and stronger physically, but he's one of the few players in this day and age who is actually the right age, as he's currently still only 18-years-old.  In other words, Durant has still not even come close to reaching his upside and potential, which means we're talking about somebody who has the potential to become one of the all-time great players in the history of the game, along with players like Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, LaBron James, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, et al.  So, if are the general manager of the Portland Trailblazers and you think Greg Oden will be that good, then drafting Oden was the smart move due to the fact that great big men are so hard to find in the NBA.  But to put this into a different perspective, who was better at the end of their college career, Greg Oden or Patrick Ewing?  The overwhelming consensus of people that I have talked with think Ewing was clearly better, which leads us to another question.  Would you rather have the next Patrick Ewing or the next Michael Jordan?  Only time will tell, but has anybody on paper in the history of the NBA Draft ever had a better résumé than Kevin Durant?  You can't even mention LaBron James, because he never could shoot it like Durant nor did he proved that he could do it on the college level like Durant did this year due to the fact that he jumped straight to the league right out of high school.  Others have tried to make the Carmelo Anthony comparison, because, as a college freshman, he led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA Championship.  However, Durant didn't have as experienced a supporting cast, as the Longhorns had three other freshmen in their starting lineup most of this past season.  Obviously all this is good food for thought, but, if I am correct and Durant  does turn out to be one of the all time great players in the history of the game and/or better than Oden, then remember where you heard it first!!!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Last night I was at the High Potential/Blue Chip Basketball Camp at Georgetown College in Georgetown, KY and clearly the best player in camp was 6'2 Frosh Trae Golden from Powder Spring (McEarchern) GA, who is ranked #17 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Golden, who also made an unofficial to the University of Kentucky earlier this week and is already attracting interest from schools like Kentucky, Georgia, Louisville, Clemson, and North Carolina, was named the Best Underclassman and the MVP of the camp and he also took home co-MVP honors in the Top 30 All-Star Game with 13 points.  Golden was like a man among boys with his athleticism and explosiveness to the hole and his outside shooting, which was evident in the all-star where he drained three 3-pointers.  Another name to write down for the future 5'11 Soph Terry Johnson from South Holland (Seton Academy) IL, who scored 24 points and took home MVP honors for his team in the all-star game.  We also were impressed with 6'7 Jr Matthew Sauey from Ocala (Trinity Catholic) FL, who was the runner-up MVP of the camp and the Slam Dunk Champ and had 12 points in the Top 30 All-Star Game.  Sauey is an athletic white kid with a 4.0 gpa and the versatility, athleticism, and skills necessary to play both inside and outside.  Sauey does need to get strong physically, but we think he could be a steal for somebody in the Ivy League or the Patriot League.  Also falling into this category is 6'7 Jr Zach Rickens from Cordova (St. Benedict's) TN, who impressed us with his high energy level, ability to step out and shoot the three, and nose for the ball and timing inside.  And, of course, there was 6'5 Jr Taylor Stewart from Lexington (Catholic) KY, who surprised us with his deceptive athleticism and knack for finding ways to score and rebound around the basket.  We also liked 6'7 Jr Jordan Lee from Georgetown (Scott County) KY, who finished with 12 points and was arguably the most athletic inside player in the game, and 6'2 Frosh Aaron Crosby from Louisville (Manual) KY, who started off slow, but finished with 18 points and did a good job getting to the basket and hitting the outside shot.  We also have to mention 6'6 Jr Rayco Bryant from Franklin (Franklin-Simpson) KY, who is a physical specimen inside, but also is deceptive around the basket with his athleticism and post moves.  There also a number of excellent 3-point shooters in the game, including 6'5 Soph Zena Upshaw from Chicago (University of Chicago Lab) IL, 6'3 Soph Jonathan Ferguson from Sandy Hook (Elliott County) KY, 6'2 Jr Noah Keeton from Stanford (Lincoln County) KY, 6'0 Jr Adam Decker from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, 6'4 Soph Anton Nixon from South Holland (Seton Academy) IL, and several good point guards in 6'1 Jr Ethan Faulkner from Sandy Hook (Elliott County) KY and 6'1 Soph Jonathan Thomas from Dallas (Bishop Dunne) TX.   Some other award winners include 5'11 Jr Blaine Stull from Mt Sterling (Montgomery County) KY, who was the Top Sleeper; 6'4 Jr Trey Shirley from Edmonton (Metcalfe County) KY, who was the Most Improved; 5'10 Soph Sean Ballard from Shepherdsville (Bullitt Central) KY, who has the Best Attitude; 6'2 Frosh Zachary McElwain from Louisville (Seneca) KY, who was the Best Ball Handler; 5'9 Soph Norris Beckley from Shelbyville, KY, who was the Best Passer; 6'4 Jr Nicholas Smith from Middlesboro, KY, who was the Best Defensive Player; 6'7 Soph Andrew Donovan from Frankfort (Franklin County) KY, who was the Best Rebounder; 6'0 Jr Keaton Worland from Peru, IN, who was the Best Hustler; 6'2 Frosh Kyle Bair from Grayson (East Carter) KY, who was the Best Station Worker; and 5'10 Jordan McElwain from Greenville (Muhlenberg North) KY, who was both the 6'0 Under Free Throw Champ and the 6'0-Under 3-Point Shooting Champ.  We also got a chance to watch several games in the Junior Division and I was especially impressed with 6'3 8th Grader Scott Schuette from Lexington (Catholic) KY, who was named the Camp MVP in the Junior Division; 5'10 7th Grader Kenneth Murphy from Glennville, GA, who was named the Best Rebounder in the Junior Division; 6'2 8th Grader Ricky Ricketts from Bardstown (Nelson County) KY; and 5'1 5th Grader Allonzo Trier from Federal Way (Sequoia) WA, who was named as an alternate for the Junior All-Star Game.  Some of the other award winners in the Junior Division include 6'2 8th Grader Hunter Sizemore from London (South Laurel) KY, who was Top Sleeper; 5'5 7th Grader Chris Harrison from Louisville (Crosby) KY, who was the Best Ball Handler; 6'1 8th Grader Luke King from Mt. Olive (Deming) KY, who was the Best Passer and the Center or Forward Free Throw Shooting Champ; 5'6 6th Grader Reed Dungan from Powder Springs (Tapp) GA, who was the Best Defensive Player; 5'8 8th Grader Jonathan Caldwell from Mt. Olive (Deming) KY, who was the Best Hustler; 5'8 7th T.J. Anstett from Frankfort (Lincoln-Way) KY, who was the Best Station Worker; and 6'2 8th Grader Neal Pawsat from Maysville (Mason County) KY, who was the Runner-up MVP. 

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that 6'1 Jr  Jordan Theodore from Paterson (Catholic) NJ has verbally committed to Seton Hall and this is an important catch for a number of reasons.  First, Theodore is ranked among the top 100 juniors nationally by a lot of people in our business.  Second, he's a local kid, which is important as the Pirates show that they can keep the top players in their backyard at home.  Third, Theodore is ideally suited to step in and provide Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and his staff with the perfect complement to 5'10 Soph Eugene Harvey at the point guard spot year after next.  Fourth, Theodore is super quick, has excellent ball handling and passing skills, and is a terrific on the ball defender, and he shoots it better than Harvey does from beyond the arc.  Fifth, Theodore is exactly what the doctor ordered for next year's recruiting class, as the Pirates have everything but a point guard in the fold in their current recruiting class, which includes 6'5 Jeremy Hazel from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, 6'6 Michael Glover from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'9 Brandon Walters from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'10 Augustine Okosun from Harcum (JC) PA, 6'9 Mike Davis from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, and 6'3 Chris Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ and is tied at #16, along with St. John's and Charlotte, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  We also have confirmed via our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson that 6'6 Jr DeAndre Liggins from Chicago (George Washington) IL has verbally committed to the University of Kentucky.  And this is huge of the Wildcats, because Liggins, who is like a point/forward, is ranked #24 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Liggins not only is he a terrific passer and excellent rebounder, but he has the ball handling skills necessary to bring the ball up the court, is a good outside shooter, is a physical specimen, and has big time athleticism.  The addition of Liggins also gives the Wildcats' coaching staff a new addition in every class this spring.  If you will recall, 6'1 Soph G.J. Vilarino from McKinney (H.S.) TX made an early verbal commitment to the Wildcats right after they got the job in early April   Then, they added 6'5 Alexander Legion from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'8 Patrick Patterson from Huntington (H.S.) WV to their current recruiting class.  And last week they got an early verbal commitment from 6'8 Frosh Dakota Euton from Ashland (Rose Hill) KY.  In other words, it looks like new Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie is living up to his reputation as both one of the best recruiters in the business, as well as one of the hottest up-and-coming guys in the game today.  We also think it's interesting to point out that Liggins becomes the 50th player that is ranked among our top 100 juniors nationally to have made a verbal commitment to a four-year Division I college or university.  That list includes 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA to Arizona, 6'8 Jr Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edwards) OH to Michigan State, 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT to Indiana, 6'7 Jr Emmanuel Negedu from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH to Ohio State, 6'5 Jr Malcolm Lee from Riverside (J.W. North) CA to UCLA, 6'2 Jr Michael Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ to Rutgers, 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ to Louisville, 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA to USC, 6'6 Jr DeAndre Liggins from Chicago (George Washington) IL to Kentucky, 5'7 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY to Florida, 5'11 Jr Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (St. Puis X) WI to Michigan State, 6'4 Jr Melquan Bolding from White Plains (Archbishop Stepanic) NY to Louisville, 6'8 Jr Drew Gordon from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA to UCLA, 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH to Cincinnati, 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV to Nevada, 6'0 Jr Jeremiah Kelly from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL to DePaul, 6'8 Jr Howard Thompkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA to Georgia, 6'7 Jr Nate Miles from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA to Connecticut, 6'1 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Romero Osby from Meridian (Northeast Lauderdale) MS to Mississippi State, 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA to Arizona, 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA to North Carolina, 6'2 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA to Georgetown, 7'1 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH to Xavier, 6'7 Jr Kris Joseph from Washington (Bishop O'Connell) DC to Syracuse, 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA to Iowa, 6'2 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA to Pittsburgh, 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN to Ohio State, 6'3 Jr Travis Releford from Shawnee Mission (Bishop Miege) MO to Kansas, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY to Connecticut, 6'9 Jr Malcolm White from Mendenhall (Genesis One) MS to Mississippi, 6'11 Jr Andy Poling from Portland (Westview) OR to Gonzaga, 6'6 Jr Scotty Hopson from Hopkinsville (University Heights) KY to Mississippi State, 6'7 Jr Darnell Wilkes from Nashville (Pioneer Christian) TN to Cincinnati, 6'4 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL to Marquette, 6'4 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL to Florida, 6'3 Jr Bud Mackey from Georgetown (Scott County) KY to Indiana, 6'8 Jr Chris Braswell from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD to Georgetown, 6'10 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC to Wake Forest, 6'0 Jr Travon Woodall from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ to Pittsburgh, 6'11 Jr Phillip Jurick from Chattanooga (East Ridge) TN to Tennessee, 6'4 Jr D.J. Seeley from Modesto (Christian) CA to California, 6'2 Jr Ashton Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall) NJ to Pittsburgh, 6'11 Jr Catalin Baciu from Fletcher (Veritas Academy) NC to Clemson, 6'0 Jr Antoine Young from Bellevue (West) NE to Creighton, 6'4 Jr Luke Loucks from Clearwater (H.S.) FL to Florida State, 6'7 Jr James Southerland from Bayside (Cardozo) NY to Syracuse, and 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX to Rutgers.  And that's pretty incredible when one remembers that the beginning of the Summer Evaluation Period, which begins on July 6th, is still a little over a week away.  Johnson also tells us that 6'2 Joe Jakubowski from Toledo (St. John's) OH, who is ranked #256 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has reneged on Rice and is now heading to Bowling Green and he is predicting that 6'7 Jr Draymond Green from Saginaw (H.S.) MI will pick Michigan State over Michigan when he makes it official tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson talked to a number of players at the NBA Players Association 2007 Top 100 High School Players Camp and I was especially interested in the fact that Alabama, South Carolina, and Cincinnati are favorites for 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, who is ranked #114 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but finished ranked #6 in camp by Johnson and, as a result, is now one of the fastest rising players in the nation.  The list for 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN includes Memphis, Virginia, Tennessee, Clemson, Vanderbilt, Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Texas.  The finalists for 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN are North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Iowa, Iowa State, Notre Dame, and Purdue.  Among those showing the most interest in 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL are Florida, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio State, and Texas.   The leaders for 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY are Kentucky, Louisville, Illinois, Florida, Miami-FL, Cincinnati, and Tennessee.  It now appears to be a two-horse race between Arizona State and Minnesota for 6'7 Jr Martez Walker from Montverde (Academy) FL.  The early favorites for 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK are Kansas, North Carolina, Memphis, Texas, and Ohio State.  The latest list for 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY includes Indiana, West Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky, St. John's, Massachusetts, Memphis, Virginia, Ohio State, and UCLA.  The early favorites for 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ are Georgetown, Wake Forest, Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, Rutgers, Miami-FL, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, and Ohio State.  The updated list for 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL includes Pittsburgh, Louisville, Florida, Florida State, Miami-FL, Indiana, West Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland, Clemson, Minnesota, and Ohio State.  It looks like Bradley, Saint Louis, Wichita State are the schools you have to beat for 6'3 Jr Matt Roth from Washington (Community) IL.  Duke, Florida, Florida State, Villanova, Louisville, and Ohio State are in the hunt for 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL.  Cincinnati, Georgetown, Florida State, Oklahoma, Miami-FL, Oregon, Georgia, Mississippi, and LSU make up an interesting list for 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA.  The race in on among North Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Alabama, and Georgia Tech for 6'10 Jr Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL.  Baylor, Mississippi, Kanas, LSU, Arkansas, and Miami-FL are showing the most interest in 6'9 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA.  The list for 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA includes Ohio State, Tennessee, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Michigan State, Kentucky, Florida, and Florida State.  The leaders for 6'10 Jr Ralph Sampson from Duluth (H.S.) GA are Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Colorado, and UNLV.  The list for 6'10 Soph Daniel Orton from Oklahoma City (Bishop McGinness) OK includes Maryland, Syracuse, Oklahoma, Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, and Wake Forest.  It appears that Dayton, West Virginia, Purdue, Duquesne, and Bowling Green are among those showing the most interest in 5'10 Jr Eric Evans from Detroit (Northwestern) MI.  Michigan, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Minnesota, and Arkansas were mentioned by 6'3 Jr Devoe Joseph from Pickering (H.S.) ON.  Wake Forest, Clemson, North Carolina, Xavier, Virginia Commonwealth, Miami-FL, Illinois, Georgia, High Point, East Caorlina, and Boston College make up a very interesting list for 6'8 Jr Kenny Gabriel from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC.  Virginia Tech, Illinois, West Virginia, and South Carolina are involved with 5'11 Jr Damier Pitts from Charlotte (Christian) NC.  6'7 Jr Draymond Green from Saginaw (H.S.) MI was not at the NBA Players Association 2007 Top 100 High School Players Camp, but Johnson tells us that he's supposed to make a verbal commitment within the next several days to either Michigan or Michigan State.  Apparently Ohio State is out and Indiana, which is the other school still Green's on list, appears to be a long shot at best.  It also looks like 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, who is ranked #42 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, made it official yesterday for the University of Arizona.  If you will recall, when Withey reneged on Louisville three weeks ago, most people thought it was only a matter of time before this rapidly developing 7-foot center picked the Wildcats.  Obviously this is great addition, because the one final remaining piece to Arizona's puzzle was a dominating center to go along with 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'7 Jr Emmanuel Negedu from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, and 6'5 Jr Brenden Lavender from Mesa (Mountain View) AZ in a recruiting class that is now ranked #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008.  And this comes on the heels of Arizona's current recruiting class, which is tied for #9, along with LSU, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and includes 6'3 Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'7 Jamelle Horne from San Diego (H.S.) CA, 7'1 Alex Jacobson, from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'7 Zane Johnson from Phoenix (Thunderbird) AZ, and 6'3 Laval Lucas-Perry from Flint (Powers) MI.  In other words, the Wildcats now have two top 10-ranked recruiting classes in a row and a big reason why they have been successful on the recruiting trail is Josh Pastner, who is ranked #5 on our list of the top assistant coaches in the game today.  However, even more important is the fact that Arizona is on track to have an excellent player at every position with Jennings at the point, Bayless at the two, Budinger at the three, Negedu at the four, and Withey at the five year after next, if Bayless sticks around more than just one year and 6'8 Frosh Chase Budinger doesn't enter this name into the NBA Draft in the spring of 2008.  We also think it's interesting to put out that Arizona, USC, and UCLA are ranked #2, #3, and #4 respectively on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008, which means the Pacific-10 Conference is already well on its way towards cleaning up in recruiting as a conference with next year's recruiting class.  Johnson also tells us that 6'3 Jr Travis Releford from Shawnee Mission (Bishop Miege) MO, who is ranked #62 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, recently made it official for the University of Kansas and HOOP SCOOP Associate Editor Patrick Stanwood has informed me that 6'6 Frosh C.J. Leslie from Holly Spring (H.S.) NC, who is ranked #40 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made an early verbal commitment to N.C. State.  And, believe it or not, Leslie becomes the seventh player who is ranked among our top 50 freshmen nationally to have verbally committed to a four-year Division I college or university.  The others are 6'8 Frosh DeShaun Thomas from Ft. Wayne (Bishop Luers) IN to Ohio State, 6'7 Frosh Jared Sullinger from Columbus (Northland) OH to Ohio State, 6'6 Frosh Jereme Richmond from Winnetka (North Shore Country Day) IL to Illinois, 6'8 Frosh Dakota Euton from Ashland (Rose Hill) KY to Kentucky, 6'7 Frosh Dwayne Polee from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA to USC, and 6'0 Frosh Jamison Stern from Waxahachie (H.S.) TX to Baylor.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin also checks in with the following commitments:  6'3 Khalif Foster from Bryn Athyn (Academy of the Church) PA to Robert Morris, 6'7 William Royal from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH to Robert Morris, 6'5 Torrance Timothy from Lansdowne (Pennwood) PA to Howard, and 6'7 Jr Jermaine Jackson from Reading (H.S.) PA to Rider.  That last one is especially noteworthy, because Jackson is ranked #257 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and #6 in the junior class in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Rubin.  Our California Editor Alan Utter tells us that 6'5 Frosh Anthony Brown from Spokane, WA has made an early verbal commitment to the Washington State and it looks like Old Dominion may have stolen one in 6'1 Jr Marquel Delancey from Alexandria (Mt. Vernon) VA.  We're talking about somebody who is totally under the radar screen, but a source who has seen Delancey play think he's could turn out to be a hidden gem.  "He's strong, fast, athletic, is an excellent defender, and he knows how to run a team." 

Monday, June 25, 2007

It looks like Joe Keller, who is the President and C.E.O. of both the adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp  and the adidas Junior Phenom Camp, was true to his word when he told us several weeks ago that one of the big stories at this year's adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp, which concluded yesterday at Alliant University in San Diego, CA, would be the overwhelming number of players that are currently under the radar screen, but who really help themselves at this camp.  And right at the top of the list is 6'7 Frosh Desmond (D.J.) Simmons from Richmond Salesian) CA, who not only impressed us with his incredible athleticism, high level of intensity, and ability to play both inside and outside, but also finished as the #1-ranked player in the older age group (Class of 2010) and was the MVP in the all-star game with eight points and a number of key rebounds down the stretch.  Also falling into this category were 6'6 Frosh Jason Morris from Lakeville (Hotchkiss) CT, who is currently ranked #167 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'1 8th Grader Karl Cochran from Atlanta, GA, who is not currently ranked on our List of the Top 400 8th Graders Nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but was clearly the best player in the younger age group (Class of 2011).  However, Cochran will be, as we're talking about somebody with a Tracy McGrady-like game and who capped off an incredible week with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and one blocked shot in the all-star game.  Morris only had two points in the all-star game, but was sensational when we saw him earlier in the camp when his strength, skills, and athleticism to dominate the game both inside and outside.  We also had never previously heard of 6'7 Frosh DeAndre Daniels from Covington, LA, who finished ranked #5 in the older Division and was arguably the best big man for his team in the all-star game.  But this long lanky athlete finished with four points and impressed us with his soft touch and ability to block shots and get more than his fair share rebounds against guys who are bigger and stronger physically.  Also totally off our radar screen was 6'0 8th Grader Cezar Guerrero from Huntington Park, CA, who has jet-like speed in the open court, which he used to score 10 points in the all-star game.  Another new name is 6'10 Frosh Chad Calcaterra from Cloquet (H.S.) MN and, when it's all said and done, he could turn out to be the best prospect in camp.  We're talking about somebody with an incredible wing span who runs the court surprisingly well, has excellent timing and shot blocking ability, and did surprisingly well, as he finished with eight points against all the big time athletes in the all-star.  The best pure point guard in camp was arguably 6'2 Frosh Torrell Candelaria from Philadelphia (Girard College) PA, but he's ranked no higher than #471 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP.   6'2 Frosh DeAndre Williams from Rancho Cucamonga (Los Osos) CA is currently ranked #540 nationally in the freshman class, but this incredible athlete who can run the floor and shoot the three was clearly one of the top five players in his age group and one of the better players in the all-star game.  And, of course, there was 6'1 Frosh Desmond Irving from Radnor (Archbishop Carroll) PA, who was one of the unsung heroes of the camp, as he impressed us with his outside shooting, ball handling and passing skills, and ability to lock you up defensively.  As a matter of fact, Irving was named to the All-Defensive Team in the older age group, along with 6'7 Frosh Aaron Brown from Sharon Hills, PA, 6'3 Frosh Jake Smith from Bernie, MO, 5'11 Frosh Michael Maya from Albuquerque, NM, 5'8 Frosh Luke Schreiner from Grand Forks, ND, 5'8 Frosh Andre Adams from Cypress, TX, 6'0 Frosh T.J. White from Raytown, MO, and 6'0 Frosh Terrence Ingram from San Diego, CA.  And, as long as we're talking about the best defensive players in camp, 6'1 8th Grader Karl Cochran from Atlanta, GA, 6'0 8th Grader Roger Hubbard from Marietta, GA, 6'2 8th Grader Patrick Lucas-Perry from Flint, MI, 6'0 8th Grader Robert Selmon from Phoenix, AZ, 5'9 8th Grader Christian Carvin from Elk Grove, CA, 5'8 8th Grader Reginald Leverette from Grandview, MO, 5'6 8th Grader Trey Norris from Grand Prairie, TX, 6'4 8th Grader Joseph Mero from Sandy, UT, 5'8 8th Grader Kenny Berry from Kansas City, MO, and 6'0 8th Grader Joey Gripper from Philadelphia, PA were the players named to the All-Defensive Team in the younger age group.  Speaking of Gripper, for the third time in four years he was a borderline all-star and didn't make the cut (he was named as an alternate).  And, while this has to be a big disappointment right now, it's probably the best thing that could have happened to Gripper, because he's the type of guy who knows how to turn a negative into a positive and get better (he was one of the most improved players in the camp since we last saw him a year ago).  Gripper also deserves special mention, because he was the best player on a bad team and he not only ran the show, made his teammates better, scored his share of points, and got a surprising number of rebounds, but he helped them win some games they shouldn't have won.  Also named as alternates for the all-star games due to injuries were 6'3 Frosh Josh Selby from Bel Air (John Carroll) MD, 6'2 8th Grader Corbin Miller from Sandy, UT, and 5'10 8th Grader Deion Houston from Grand Prairie, TX.  However, they were three of the best players in camp in their respective age group and you can see where they stack up against all of the other top players in camp by clicking onto HOOP SCOOP's Exclusive Ranking of the Top Players at the Adidas Junior Phenom Top 150 Frosh/Soph Camp.  And, after careful examination of this list, it will become obvious just how deep the older division was with quality inside players, as 19 of the top 40-ranked players played one of these two positions, and how deep the point guard position was in the younger age group, as 11 of the top 40-ranked players were point guards. 

Saturday, June 23, 2007 & Sunday, June 24, 2007

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson was one of the only people who was at the NBA Players Association 2007 Top 100 High School Players Camp in Charlottesville, VA from start to finish and his Final Ranking of the Top Players based primarily on performance in camp are as follows:  1) 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 3) 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 4) 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, 5) 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 6) 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 7) 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 8) 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 9) 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 10) 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 11) 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 12) 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, 13) 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 14) 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 15) 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 16) 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, 17) 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 18) 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 19) 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 20) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 21) 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 22) 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 23) 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 24) 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 25) 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 26) 5'9 Isaiah Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 27) 6'1 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian) GA, 28) 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 29) 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH, 30) 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 31) 6'0 Jr Dashon Harris from Montverde (Academy) FL, 32) 6'7 Jr Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 33) 6'9 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 34) 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Canton (Cherokee) GA, 35) 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 36) 6'7 Jr Scott Suggs from Washington (H.S.) MO, 37) 6'5 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 38) 6'8 Jr Kenny Gabriel from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC, 39) 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, and 10) 6'8 Soph Kyle Hardrick from Norman (H.S.) OK.  Especially noteworthy is the fact that the two players who we mentioned after the first afternoon of camp (Jennings and Samuels) turned out to be the #1 and #2-ranked players in camp.  We also are not surprised by the fact that 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, who clearly got the best of 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH in their head-to-head match-up on Thursday night, and 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, who shot the lights out and was absolutely sensational when we saw him in the evening session on Thursday, were two of the players who just continued to get better and better as the camp wore on.  Johnson also points out that 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, and 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH also should be on the list of players who helped themselves the most after I left early on Friday morning to attend the Phenom Top 150 Frosh/Soph Camp in San Diego, CA.  Johnson also wants to mention the fact that former Wright State head coach and current ESPN.com Paul Biancardi not only guided the Spurs to the camp championship with a 73-50 win against the Suns in the title game, but he ended up looking a like a genius after he moved 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL to the second unit, where he created match-up problems in the camp playoffs.  Dunigan also was the leading scorer with 12 points and nine rebounds in the championship game.  6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA and 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL also chipped in with 10 points apiece and 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ had four points, although he did manage to take home tournament MVP honors.  Leading the way for the losing Suns were 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH and 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK with 10 points apiece.  Johnson also mentions the fact that 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, who had 20 points in the title game, led the Magic to a 77-76 victory over the Mavericks in the Silver Division Championship.  The leading scorers for the losing Mavericks were 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, who finished with 21 points, and 6'7 Jr Scott Suggs from Washington (H.S.) MO, who finished with 15 points.  Speaking of Suggs, he clearly was the biggest sleeper to emerge at this year's NBA Players Association 2007 Top 100 High School Players Camp.  We also think it's interesting to point out that 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, who was ranked as high as #5 in camp on Thursday, dropped all the way to #18 in our final ranking of the top players in camp.  "He's young and he just hit a wall as the camp wore on," says Johnson.  Johnson also goes even deeper, as he give us one final look at the camp with a breakdown of the top players at each position.  The top centers in camp were 1) 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 2) 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 3) 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 4) 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 5) 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH, 6) 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 7) 6'10 Jr Kenny Kadji from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 8) 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Berkeley (H.S.) CA, 9) 6'10 Jr Miles Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC,, 10) 6'10 Jr Ralph Sampson from Duluth (H.S.) GA, 11) 6'10 Soph Daniel Orton from Oklahoma City (Bishop McGinness) OK, 12) 6'9 Jr Christian Morris from South Kent (Prep) CT, 13) 7'0 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC, 14) 6'10 Jr Henry Sims from Baltimore (Mt. St. Joseph) MD, 15) 7'0 Jr Assane Sene from South Kent (Prep) CT, 16) 6'11 Soph DaShonte Riley from Birmingham (Detroit County Day) MI, 17) 6'9 Jr LA. Pomlee from Davenport (Central) IA, and 18) 6'11 Jr John Brandenburg from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO.  The top power forwards in camp were 1) 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 2) 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 3) 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 4) 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 5) 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6) 6'9 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 7) 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Canton (Cherokee) GA, 8) 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 9) 6'5 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 10) 6'8 Jr Kenny Gabriel from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC, 11) 6'8 Soph Kyle Hardrick from Norman (H.S.) OK, 12) 6'10 Jr Andre Clark from North Little Rock (West) AR, 13) 6'10 Soph Mason Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC, 14) 6'9 Jr Frank Ben-Eze from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 15) Jr Clarence Trent from Gib Harbor (H.S.) WA, 16) 6'7 Jr Quintrell Thomas from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 17) 6'5 Jr Frank Otis from Oakland (McClymonds) CA, and 18) 6'7 Jr Martez Walker from Montverde (Academy) FL.  The top wing forwards in camp were 1) 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 2) 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 3) 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 4) 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 5) 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 6) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 7) 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 8) 6'7 Jr Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 9) 6'7 Jr Scott Suggs from Washington (H.S.) MO, 10) 6'8 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 11) 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 12) 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 13) 6'8 Soph Richard Howell from Lawrenceville (Central Gwinnett) GA, 14) 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 15) 6'6 Jr Drew Maynard from Lake Orion (H.S.) MI, 16) 6'5 Jr Teondre Williams from Norcross (Meadowcreek) GA, 17) 6'5 Jr Maurice Hubbard from Chantilly (Westfield) VA, and 18) 6'6 Soph Tevin Baskin from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT.  The top second guards in camp were 1) 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, 2) 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 3) 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 4) 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, 5) 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6) 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 7) 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 8) 6'5 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL, 9) 6'4 Jr Jeremy Green from Austin (Bowie) TX, 10) 6'3 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 11) 6'3 Jr Devon Joseph from Toronto (Pickering) ON, 12) 6'5 Jr Matt Humphrey from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, 13) 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN, 14) 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA, 15) 6'5 Jr Brandon Lavender from Mesa (Mountain View) AZ, 16) 6'5 Jr Nick Fruendt from Batavia (H.S.) IL, 17) 6'3 Jr Matt Roth from Washington (Community) IL, 18) 6'3 Soph Austin Carroll from Worcester (Academy) MA.  The top point guards in camp were 1) 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, 3) 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 4) 5'9 Isaiah Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 5) 6'1 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian) GA, 6) 6'0 Jr Dashon Harris from Montverde (Academy) FL, 7) 6'3 Jr Andrew Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, 8) 6'1 Soph Malik Wayns from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 9) 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 10) 6'2 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, 11) 6'1 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 12) 6'2 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 13) 6'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, 14) 5'10 Jr Eric Evans from Detroit (Northwestern) MI, 15) 5'9 Frosh Phillip Pressey from Ashburnham (Cushing Academy) MA, 16) 6'0 Zach Rosen from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 17) 6'2 Soph C.J. Harris from Winston-Salem (Mount Tabor) NC, and 18) 6'0 Jr Rotnei Clarke from Claremore (Verdigris) OK. 

Friday, June 22, 2007

I flew across the country earlier today to over the Phenom Top 150 Frosh/Soph Camp in San Diego, CA, but our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson checks in with his ranking of the top players ranked in order based primarily on performance in camp at the NBA Players Association 2007 Top 100 High School Players Camp after the first five sessions (two Wednesday, two Thursday, and one this morning) and they are as follows: 1) 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 3) 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 4) 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 5) 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, 6) 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 7) 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 8) 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 9) 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, 10) 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 11) 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 12) 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 13) 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 14) 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 15) 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 16) 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 17) 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 18) 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 19) 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 20) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 21) 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, 22) 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 23) 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 24) 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 25) 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 26) 6'9 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 27) 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 28) 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 29) 6'2 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, and 30) 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Canton (Cherokee) GA.  The top centers in camp are 1)) 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 2) 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 3) 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 4) 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 5) 6'10 Jr Kenny Kadji from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6) 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH, 7) 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 8) 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Berkeley (H.S.) CA, 9) 6'9 Jr Christian Morris from South Kent (Prep) CT, 10) 6'10 Soph Daniel Orton from Oklahoma City (Bishop McGinness) OK, 11) 7'0 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC, 12) 6'10 Jr Miles Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC,13) 6'10 Jr Ralph Sampson from Duluth (H.S.) GA, 14) 6'9 Jr LA. Pomlee from Davenport (Central) IA, and 15) 7'0 Jr Assane Sene from South Kent (Prep) CT.  The top power forwards in camp are 1) 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 2) 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 3) 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 4) 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 5) 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6) 6'9 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 7) 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Canton (Cherokee) GA, 8) 6'10 Soph Mason Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC, 9) 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 10) 6'8 Jr Kenny Gabriel from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC, 11) 6'5 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 12) 6'7 Jr Quintrell Thomas from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 13) 6'10 Jr Andre Clark from North Little Rock (West) AR, 14) 6'8 Soph Kyle Hardrick from Norman (H.S.) OK, and 15) Jr Clarence Trent from Gib Harbor (H.S.) WA.  The top wing forwards in camp are 1) 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 2) 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 3) 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 4) 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 5) 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 7) 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 8) 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 9) 6'7 Jr Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 10) 6'7 Jr Scott Suggs from Washington (H.S.) MO, 11) 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 12) 6'8 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 13) 6'8 Soph Richard Howell from Lawrenceville (Central Gwinnett) GA, 14) 6'6 Jr Drew Maynard from Lake Orion (H.S.) MI, and 15) 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.  The top second guards in camp are 1) 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, 2) 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 3) 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 4) 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 5) 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, 6) 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 7) 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 8) 6'4 Jr Jeremy Green from Austin (Bowie) TX, 9) 6'5 Jr Matt Humphrey from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, 10) 6'5 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL, 11) 6'3 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 12) 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN, 13) 6'3 Jr Matt Roth from Washington (Community) IL, 14) 6'5 Jr Brandon Lavender from Mesa (Mountain View) AZ, and 15) 6'3 Jr Devon Joseph from Toronto (Pickering) ON.  The top point guardsin camp are 1) 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, 3) 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 4) 6'2 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, 5) 6'1 Soph Malik Wayns from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA,  6) 5'9 Isaiah Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 7) 6'1 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian) GA, 8) 6'0 Jr Dashon Harris from Montverde (Academy) FL, 9) 6'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, 10) 5'9 Frosh Phillip Pressey from Ashburnham (Cushing Academy) MA, 11) 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 12) 6'3 Jr Andrew Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, 13) 6'0 Zach Rosen from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 14) 6'1 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, and 15) 5'10 Jr Eric Evans from Detroit (Northwestern) MI. 

Now that New Mexico State head coach Reggie Theus has made it official and taken the Sacramento Kings job and Coastal Carolina head coach Buzz Peterson has left to become the Director of Player Personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats, the number of Division I head coaching changes during the 2006-07 season now stands at 55.  The other 53 jobs have already been filled, as Jeff Reynolds has replaced Jeff Bzdelik at Air Force, John Pelphrey has replaced Stan Heath Arkansas, Kevin Broadus has replaced Al Walker at Binghamton, Louis Orr has replaced Dan Dakich at Bowling Green, Brad Stevens has replaced Todd Lickliter at Butler, Benjy Taylor has replaced Kevin Jones at Chicago State, Jeff Bzdelik has replaced Ricardo Patton at Colorado, Tim Miles has replaced Dale Layer at Colorado State, Joe Scott has replaced Terry Carroll at Denver, Keno Davis has replaced Tom Davis at Denver, Kirk Earlywine has replaced Mike Burns at Eastern Washington, Marty Simmons has replaced Steve Merfeld at Bowling Green, Rod Barnes has replaced Michael Perry at Georgia State, Tommy Amaker has replaced Frank Sullivan at Harvard, Bob Nash has replaced Riley Wallace at Hawaii, Tim Jankovich has replaced Porter Moser at Illinois State, Kevin McKenna has replaced Royce Waltman at Indiana State, Kevin Willard has replaced Jeff Ruland at Iona, Todd Lickliter has replaced Steve Alford at Iowa, Frank Martin has replaced Bobby Huggins at Kansas State, Billie Gillispie has replaced Tubby Smith at Kentucky, Ritchie McKay has replaced Randy Dunton at Liberty, Dan Monson has replaced Larry Reynolds at Long Beach State, Kerry Rupp has replaced Keith Richard at Louisiana Tech, Donnie Jones has replaced Ron Jirsa at Marshall, Meredith Smith has replaced Larry Lessett at Maryland-Eastern Shore, John Beilein has replaced Tommy Amaker at Michigan, Tubby Smith has replaced Dan Monson at Minnesota, Anthony Evans has replaced Dwight Freeman at Norfolk State, Saul Phillips has replaced Tim Miles at North Dakota State, Ricardo Patton has replaced Rob Judson at Northern Illinois, Sydney Johnson has replaced Joe Scott at Princeton, Tom Moore has replaced Joe DeSantis at Quinnipiac, Brad Greenberg has replaced Byron Samuels at Radford, Mike Rice has replaced Mark Schmidt at Robert Morris, Rick Majerus has replaced Brad Soderberg at Saint Louis, Bill Grier has replaced Brad Holland at San Diego, Kerry Keating has replaced Dick Davey at Santa Clara, Ronnie Arrow has replaced John Pelphrey at South Alabama, Tim Carter has replaced Jamal Brown at South Carolina State, Stan Heath has replaced Robert McCullum at South Florida, Roger Reid has replaced Bill Evans at Southern Utah, Mark Schmidt has replaced Anthony Solomon at St. Bonaventure, Mark Turgeon has replaced Billy Gillispie at Texas A&M, Perry Clark has replaced Ronnie Arrow at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Jim Wooldridge has replaced David Spencer at UC-Riverside, Matt Brown has replaced Rich Zvosec at UC-Riverside, Jim Boylen has replaced Ray Giacoletti at Utah, Bobby Huggins has replaced John Beilein at West Virginia, Gregg Marshall has replaced Mark Turgeon at Wichita State, Randy Peele has replaced Gregg Marshall at Winthrop, and Heath Schroyer has replaced Steve McClain at Wyoming.  That leaves New Mexico State and Coastal Carolina as the only two job left to be filled.  And this comes right on the heels of the 58 Division I head coaching changes a year ago, which means that in the last two years over one-third of the 336 schools at the Division I level have changed head coaches.  Contrast this with the fact that two years ago there were only 48 head coaching openings, three years ago there were only 41 head coaching openings, four years ago three were only 45 head coaching openings, and five years ago there were only 42 head coaching openings at the Division I level.  The five finalist for the Coastal Carolina job appear to be former Auburn head coach Cliff Ellis, former Kentucky assistant coach David Hobbs, Florida assistant coach Lewis Preston, South Carolina-Upstate head coach Eddie Payne, and Coastal Carolina assistant coach Jamie Kachmarik and some of the names that we've heard being mentioned for the New Mexico State job are former Arizona State head coach Rob Evans, current New Mexico State assistant coaches Chris Pompey and Damon Archibald, Louisville assistant coach Marvin Menzies, Kentucky assistant coach Glynn Cyprien, Texas assistant coach Rodney Terry, and former Iowa State head coach Wayne Morgan.  Evans would make perfect sense, because he's an alumnus of the school.  Pompay has never had head coaching experience, except at the AAU level, but he still would be an excellent choice, because he's the architect behind the Aggies' current recruiting class, which is ranked #20 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007, and the guy who was personally responsible for landing 6'9 Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 6'4 Jahmar Young from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'5 Paris Carter from Cecil (JC) MD, all of whom project as high major players.  Morgan is a good name, because he's got head coaching experience at both Long Beach State and Iowa State and was one of the best recruiters in the business back when he was an assistant coach at Syracuse for a number of years.  Terry is one of the bright up-and-coming guys in the business, Cyprien is an excellent recruiter, and Archibald is one of the most astute guys in the business.  But, when the dust has cleared, the smart money should be on Menzies to once again follow in Theus' footsteps.  Remember, Rick Pitino had enough influence to help get Theus the job the last time around and Menzies has strong ties to Dana and David Pump, who among other things now have a search firm that finds basketball head coaches for Division I college and universities.  The verbal commitments also just kept right on coming yesterday, as 6'4 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL made it official for the University of Florida prior to the evening session at the NBA Players Association Camp in Charlottesville, VA, 6'1 Terrance Joyner from Mendenhall (Genesis One) MS committed to the University of Arkansas, 6'0 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian) GA now appears to be heading to Clemson, 6'10 Jr Miles Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC has made it official for Stanford, and 6'2 Jr Will Hamilton from Greenfield (Central) IN and 6'2 Jay Smith from Trinity Valley (JC) TX have both are now apart of Eastern Illinois' 2008 recruiting class.  The commitments by Shipman, Joyner, and Wright are all particularly interesting, because they all are very athletic and their best days are still of them.  Shipman, who is ranked #74 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has been terrific this spring, but we still question whether he has the understanding of the game necessary to be step in and make an immediate impact year after next for the Gators.  Joyner, who has some similarities in his game to Tracy McGrady, is already a 5th Year Player.  However, he's being listed as a junior, which leads us to believe that he will count with Arkansas' 2008 recruiting class.  Wright is a terrific talent, but we question whether he has the point guard mentality necessary to step in and run the show for the Tigers. 

Thursday, June 21, 2007

The early returns are in and the HOOP SCOOP's ranking of the top players ranked in order based primarily on performance in camp at the NBA Players Association 2007 Top 100 High School Players Camp after the first three sessions (two yesterday and one this morning) of camp are as follows: 1) 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 3) 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 4) 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 5) 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6) 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 7) 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 8) 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, 9) 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 10) 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, 11) 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 12) 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 13) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 14) 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 15) 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 16) 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 17) 6'7 Jr Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 18) 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 19) 6'5 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 20) 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 21) 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 22) 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 23) 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 24) 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, and 25) 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson and I have also broken the camp down by position and the top centers in camp are 1) 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 2) 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 3) 7'1 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 4) 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Berkeley (H.S.) CA, 5) 6'9 Jr Christian Morris from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6) 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 7) 7'0 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC. 8) 6'10 Jr Miles Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC, 9) 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, and 10) 6'10 Jr Kenny Kadji from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL; the top power forwards in camp are 1) 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 2) 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 3) 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 4) 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 5) 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6) 6'5 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 7) 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 8) 6'9 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 9) 6'8 Jr Kenny Gabriel from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC, 10) 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Canton (Cherokee) GA, 11) 6'10 Soph Mason Plumlee from Arden (Christ School) NC, and 12) 6'8 Soph Kyle Hardrick from Norman (H.S.) OK; the top wing forwards in camp are 1) 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 2) 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 3) 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 4) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 5) 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6) 6'7 Jr Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 7) 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 8) 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 9) 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 10) 6'8 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 11) 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 12) 6'8 Jr Romero Osby from Meridian (Northeast Lauderdale) MS, and 13) 6'6 Jr Drew Maynard from Lake Orion (H.S.) MI; the top second guards in camp are 1) 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 2) 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 3) 6'5 Jr Elliott Williams from Memphis (St. Georges) TN, 4) 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 5) 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6) 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, and 7) 6'5 Jr Matt Humphrey from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL; and the top point guards in camp are 1) 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 2) 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL,3) 5'9 Isaiah Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 4) 6'1 Soph Malik Wayns from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 5) 6'2 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, 6) 6'1 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian) GA, 7) 5'9 Frosh Phillip Pressey from Ashburnham (Cushing Academy) MA, 8) 6'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, 9) 6'1 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, and 10) 5'10 Jr Eric Evans from Detroit (Northwestern) MI.  The camp is not nearly as good as we originally thought in terms of star power, but it does have excellent depth and it is loaded with great young players, as is evident by the fact that seven of the top 13-ranked players in camp are underclassmen.  There also is absolutely no doubt that Jennings is the best player in the camp and, ironically, the second best point guard in camp is 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, who clearly outplayed 6'2 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI in their head-to-head battle last night.  We also liked 6'8 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL better than 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ when their teams matched up earlier today.  Samuels has better skills, but Green is tougher and more athletic and, as a result, edges out Samuels for the #3-ranking in camp .  The biggest disappointment in camp has to be 7'1 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH who is ranked #8 nationally in the junior class, but has been soft, lazy, out of shape, and unable to finish against the first unit players in what appears to be one of the weakest positions in camp.  And making this story even more interesting is the fact that our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson lobbied hard to get Mullens ranked among the top 10 junior nationally when we published our Ranking of the Top 750 Players in the Class of 2008.  The camp is good at the top at the 2-guard position, but this is clearly the weakest position in terms of overall depth.  The opposite appears to be true at the point guard spot, while the two deepest positions in camp are clearly power forward and wing forward spots.  Also interesting is the fact that after the first day of action 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD was the leading scorer in camp and one of the leading rebounders in camp, but was ranked no higher than #13 overall and #4 at his position in camp.  However, Vinson accomplished this while playing on the second unit and statistics are just one of many things that we look at when ranking the top players in camp.  We also think it's interesting to point out that 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 6'3 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, and 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, who check in at #15, #18, and #19, respectively in our Ranking of the Top 750 Players in the Class of 2008, are three players that we went way out a limb on and all three are ranked among the top players in the camp.  However, we're still waiting for 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, who was ranked #9 in our Ranking of the Top 750 Players in the Class of 2008, to duplicate the way he played when we saw him earlier this spring at the Bill Hensley Memorial Run'N Slam in Ft. Wayne, IN.  In other words, Shumpert did make one big shot in overtime of the first game yesterday, but otherwise he's just been solid.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Every once in a while you do catch lightning in a bottle and it appears this may be the case as everything seems to be coming together to make the NBA Players Association Top 100 High School Players Camp in Charlottesville, VA what may turn out to be the premier event of the entire summer.  First, is the tremendous media presence, as most of the top people in our business, like Bob Gibbons of All-Stars Sports, Van Coleman of the Hoop Masters, Dave Telep of Scout, Justin Young of Rivals, Rob Harrington of the Recruiters Handbook and Prepstars, Rob Matera of All-Stars Sports, Norm Eavenson of All-Stars Sports, and Clark Francis of the HOOP SCOOP, and a surprising number of sportswriters from newspapers around the nation, like the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Lexington Herald-Leader, showed up this morning for the opening round of action.  Second, the amount of talent at this year's camp is very impressive, as the list of teams is broken down as follows:  Team #1 - the Spurs have 6'10 Jr Michael Dunigan from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, 6'7 Soph Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 6'1 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 7'0 Jr Assane Sene from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'8 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6'3 Soph Austin Carroll from Worcester (Academy) MA, and 6'1 Zack Rosen from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ; Team #2 - the Cavaliers have 7'1 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH, 6'8 Jr Romero Osby from Meridian (Northeast Lauderdale) MS, 6'5 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA, 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN, 6'2 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, 6'10 Jr Ralph Sampson from Duluth (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Canton (Cherokee) GA, 6'5 Jr C.J. Williams from Fayetteville (Jack Britt) NC, 6'4 Jr Elton Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Soph C.J. Harris from Winston-Salem (Mount Tabor) NC, 5'9 Frosh Phillip Pressey from Ashburnham (Cushing Academy) MA, and 6'6 Soph Robert Sampson from Duluth (Northview) GA; Team #3 - the Suns have 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 6'9 Jr Frank Ben-Eze from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'3 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 6'10 Soph Daniel Orton from Oklahoma City (Bishop McGinness) OK, 6'8 Soph Kyle Hendrick from Norman (H.S.) OK,  6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'2 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, and 5'11 Jr Keiton Page from Pawnee (H.S.) OK; Team #4 - the Pistons have 7'0 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 6'5 Jr Nick Fruendt from Batavia (H.S.) IL, 6'3 Jr Bud Mackey from Georgetown (Scott County) KY, 6'11 Jr Angel Garcia from East Chicago (Central) IN, 6'7 Jr Martez Walker from Montverde (Academy) FL, 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Fayetteville (Fayette County) GA, 6'3 Jr Matt Roth from Washington (Community) IL, 6'1 Soph Maalik Wayns from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, and 6'4 Jr Shaun Scott from Atlanta (The Lovett School) GA; Team #5 - the Jazz have 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 6'5 Jr Teondre Williams from Norcross (Meadowcreek) GA, 6'3 Jr Michael Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'0 Jr Rotnei Clarke from Claremore (Verdigris) OK, 6'9 Jr Christian Morris from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'10 Jr Andre Clark from North Little Rock (West) AR, 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'0 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, and 5'8 Jr Byron Brown from Buffalo (City Honors) TX; Team #6 - the Magic have 6'11 Jr John Brandenburg from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'4 Jr Elliott Williams from Collierville (St. Georges) TN, 5'9 Isaiah Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'10 Jr Miles Plumlee from Arden (The Christ School) NC, 6'10 Soph Mason Plumlee from Arden (The Christ School) NC, 6'8 Soph Richard Howell from Lawrenceville (Central Gwinnett) GA, 6'5 Jr Matt Humphrey from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, and 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX; Team #7 - the Mavericks have 6'10 Jr Xavier Gibson from Dothan (Northview) AL, 6'9 Jr JaMychal Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 6'5 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL, 6'7 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, 6'3 Jr Andrew Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, 6'9 Jr LA. Pomlee from Davenport (Central) IA, 6'9 Jr Terrence Henry from Monroe (Carroll) AL, 6'7 Jr Scott Suggs from Washington (H.S.) MO, 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA, 6'1 Jr Andy Burns from Minnetonka (H.S.) MN, and 6'2 Jr Matt Pressey from Ashburnham (Cushing Academy) MA; Team #8 - the Lakers have 6'10 Jr Henry Sims from Baltimore (Mt. St. Joseph) MD, 6'7 Jr Quintrell Thomas from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'6 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Jr Brandon Lavender from Mesa (Mountain View) AZ, 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Berkeley (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Jr Frank Otis from Oakland (McClymonds) CA, 6'6 Soph Tevin Baskin from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'4 Jr Jeremy Green from Austin (Bowie) TX, and 5'11 Jr Damier Pitts from Charlotte (Christian) NC; Team #9 - the Heat have 6'10 Jr Kenneth Kadji from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'7 Jr Clarence Trent from Gib Harbor (H.S.) WA, 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'2 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 6'0 Jr Dashon Harris from Montverde (Academy) FL, 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 6'5 Jr Maurice Hubbard from Chantilly (Westfield) VA, 6'3 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, and 6'5 Jr J. Ross Lister from Gainesville (Riverside Military) GA; Team #10 - the Wizards have 7'0 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC, 6'8 Jr Kenny Gabriel from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC, 6'6 Soph Paris Bennett from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'5 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6'0 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian) GA, 6'11 Soph DaShonte Riley from Birmingham (Detroit County Day) MI, 7'0 Jr Ben Cronin from Syracuse (Henninger) NY, 6'6 Jr Drew Maynard from Lake Orion (H.S.) MI, 6'3 Jr Devoe Joseph from Pickering (H.S.) ON, 5'10 Jr Eric Evans from Detroit (Northwestern) MI, 6'4 Jr Mike Shanahan from North Huntinton (Norwin) PA, and 6'7 Jr Draymond Green from Saginaw (H.S.) MI.  So naturally when you have this much talent and this much media in the same place at the same time, anybody who plays well in this camp and is on the fringe of being named the McDonald's All-American Team will have a big advantage when the voting for the game takes place next January.  In contrast, it stands to reason that anybody at 2007 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs, CO, which is going on at the same time, but does not have nearly the same media presence, who falls into the same category probably won't get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making the McDonald's All-American Team.  This morning I watched two games (the Spurs versus Lakers and the Jazz versus the Magic) and the best player was clearly 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who impressed us with his speed and quickness in transition, ball handling, passing, and ability to find the open man, and ability to make tough shots (he had at least four 3-pointers, three of which came with a hand in his face).  We also were impressed with how much more fluid and athletic 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ was since the last time we saw him, which leads us to believe that he might be underrated at #20 in our updated Ranking of the Top 750 Players in the Class of 2008.  We also thought 6'4 Jr Elliott Williams from Collierville (St. Georges) TN, 6'3 Jr Michael Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'6 Soph Dominic Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'8 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, and 6'7 Jr DeQuan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA were among the better players during the morning session.  And how about 7'0 Jr Assane Sene from South Kent (Prep) CT?  We're talking about a second unit guy, but this long lanky shot blocking athlete with a huge upside is the best new name that we've gotten so far out of the camp  Tonight I will watch the Heat versus the Cavaliers and the Magic versus the Suns and tomorrow morning I will watch the Spurs versus the Mavs and the Pistons versus the Wizards, which means heading into tomorrow's evening session when I plan to wonder around and watch a little bit of everybody, I will have already seen every team play once and two teams play twice.  After that our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson ,who should arrive in time for tonight's evening session, will take over with our coverage of this camp, because on Friday morning, June 22nd, I will catch an early flight to go cover the adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp at Alliant University in San Diego, CA.  It also looks like players in Texas are even more flaky than we originally thought, as is evident by the fact that 6'9 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX, who verbally committed to Texas A&M two days ago, has become the second player in the state this spring to turn around and change his mind immediately after making the announcement.  The first was 6'8 Jr Will Brown from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX, who committed to UTEP several months ago, but now is back on the board.  It also appears that 5'9 8th Grader Ryan Boatright from Aurora, IL, who is ranked #316 nationally in the 8th Grade by HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to USC after being offered by Trojans head coach Tim Floyd at Southern Cal's summer basketball camp.  And making this story even more interesting is the fact that Boatright is now the youngest player that we can ever remember having made a verbal commitment to a four-year Division I college or university.  Of much getter importance is the fact that 5'11 Donte Smith from Mt. San Antonio (JC) CA, who was one of the top freshmen in the junior college ranks and is great at running a team, also has verbally committed to USC.  And, if that weren't enough, we also have been told by 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA himself that he is still verbally commitment to Trojans, which means that they once again now have the #2-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

We are finally ready to publish our updated Ranking of the Top 750 Players in the Class of 2008 and, before we go any further, there are some very important things that you need to know about this class.  First, it does not have much star power, as, in our opinion, 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA is the only super player in the class.  Second, the Class of 2008 lacks depth.  As a matter of fact, there are players ranked among the top 100 nationally that in a number year would be hard pressed to be ranked in the 150-200 range.  Third, our ranking of an alarming number of players in this class has been like the stock market, as players like 6'4 Jr Iman Shumpert from Oak Park (River Forest) IL, 6'8 Jr Aleksander Olek Czyz from Reno (H.S.) NV, 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 6'8 Jr Storm Warren from Richmond (Monroe) LA,  6'2 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'7 Jr Draymond Green from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'7 Jr Kris Joseph from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Jr Eric Frederick from San Antonio (Cornerstone Christian) TX, 6'4 Jr D.J. Seeley from Modesto (Christian) CA, 6'8 Jr Terrance Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA have come out of the woodwork; players like 6'7 Jr Emmanuel Negedu from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'2 Jr Michael Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Jr JaMichael Green from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 6'0 Jr Jeremiah Kelly from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL, 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Cherokee (H.S.) GA, 6'11 Jr Jamisen Morgan from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 6'10 Jr Tony Woods from Rome (H.S.) GA, 6'11 Jr Tyler Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 7'1 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH, 6'11 Jr John Brandenburg from St. Louis (DeSmet) MO, 6'4 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6'10 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC, 6'3 Jr Devon Joseph from Toronto (Pickering) ON, 6'7 Jr Toby Veal from Savannah (Sol. C. Johnson) GA have move up dramatically; players in the class, like 6'8 Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6'8 Jr Howard Thompkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'7 Jr Troy Gillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Berkeley (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Jr Chris Braswell from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'2 Jr Ashton Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'7 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 7'2 Jr James Tyler from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, and 6'2 Jr Cordell Passley from Indianapolis (Pike) IN have dropped dramatically.  Fourth, the class does have good size, as 37 of our top 100-ranked juniors are 6'8 or bigger, 16 of our top 100-ranked juniors are 6'10 or bigger, and three of our top-100 ranked juniors are 7'0 or bigger.  However, not enough of these guys want to take care of business inside and too many of these players are soft, inconsistent, and would rather live out on the perimeter.  And, after the barrage of commits that occurred yesterday, the number of verbal commitments that we've tracked from players currently ranked among the top 100 juniors nationally now stands at 47.  That list includes 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA to Arizona, 6'8 Jr Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edwards) OH to Michigan State, 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT to Indiana, 6'7 Jr Emmanuel Negedu from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH to Ohio State, 6'5 Jr Malcolm Lee from Riverside (J.W. North) CA to UCLA, 6'2 Jr Michael Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ to Rutgers, 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ to Louisville, 5'7 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY to Florida, 5'11 Jr Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (St. Puis X) WI to Michigan State, 6'4 Jr Melquan Bolding from White Plains (Archbishop Stepanic) NY to Louisville, 6'8 Jr Drew Gordon from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA to UCLA, 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH to Cincinnati, 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV to Nevada, 6'0 Jr Jeremiah Kelly from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL to DePaul, 6'8 Jr Howard Thompkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA to Georgia, 6'7 Jr Nate Miles from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA to Connecticut, 6'1 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Romero Osby from Meridian (Northeast Lauderdale) MS to Mississippi State, 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA to North Carolina, 6'2 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA to Georgetown, 7'1 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH to Xavier, 6'7 Jr Kris Joseph from Washington (Bishop O'Connell) DC to Syracuse, 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA to Iowa, 6'2 Jr Nasir Robinson from Chester (H.S.) PA to Pittsburgh, 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN to Ohio State, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY to Connecticut, 6'9 Jr Malcolm White from Mendenhall (Genesis One) MS to Mississippi, 6'11 Jr Andy Poling from Portland (Westview) OR to Gonzaga, 6'10 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX to Texas A&M, 6'6 Jr Scotty Hopson from Hopkinsville (University Heights) KY to Mississippi State, 6'7 Jr Darnell Wilkes from Nashville (Pioneer Christian) TN to Cincinnati, 6'4 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL to Marquette, 6'3 Jr Bud Mackey from Georgetown (Scott County) KY to Indiana, 6'7 Jr Troy Gillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA to Oklahoma State, 6'8 Jr Chris Braswell from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD to Georgetown, 6'10 Jr Ty Walker from Wilmington (New Hanover) NC to Wake Forest, 6'0 Jr Travon Woodall from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ to Pittsburgh, 6'11 Jr Phillip Jurick from Chattanooga (East Ridge) TN to Tennessee, 6'4 Jr D.J. Seeley from Modesto (Christian) CA to California, 6'2 Jr Ashton Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall) NJ to Pittsburgh, 6'11 Jr Catalin Baciu from Fletcher (Veritas Academy) NC to Clemson, 6'0 Jr Antoine Young from Bellevue (West) NE to Creighton, 6'4 Jr Luke Loucks from Clearwater (H.S.) FL to Florida State, and 6'7 Jr James Southerland from Bayside (Cardozo) NY to Syracuse.  In other words, the recruiting process has been speeded up so much in recent years that nearly half of the top 100 juniors are already off the board and the beginning of the Summer Evaluation Period for Division I college coaches is still over two weeks away.  We also have confirmed that 6'4 Jr Quincy Roberts from Harrisburg (H.S.) PA has verbally committed to Miami-FL and this appears to be a good catch for a number of reasons.  First, Roberts is a pretty good player, as is evident by the fact that he is ranked #112 nationally in the junior class in our updated Ranking of the Top 750 Players in the Class of 2008 and #3 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Allen Rubin.  Second, Roberts is a slashing athletic 2-guard with a knack for finding ways to get the basket and score, which makes him ideally suited to step in year after next and complement 6'0 Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'10 Freddy Asprilla from Miami (Calusa Prep) FL, 6'7 Julian Gamble from Durham (Southern Durham) NC, and 6'2 Lance Hurdle from San Bernardino (JC) FL, all of whom are apart of their current recruiting class.  Third, the addition of Roberts gives Miami-FL an important in into both the Philadelphia area and the Northeast, which could prove valuable down the road when it comes time to selling some of the other top players in that part of the country on Sunshine and playing for the Hurricanes. 

Saturday, June 16, 2007, Sunday, June 17, 2007, & Monday, June 18, 2007

One of the big stories over the weekend at the Rumble in the Bronx at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY was all the verbal commitments, including 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT to Indiana, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY to Connecticut, and 6'2 Jr Aston Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ to Pittsburgh, all of whom made their decision public while playing in the tournament.  We also have been informed by our Texas Editor Tim Miller that 6'11 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX has made it official for Texas A&M; our Lavel Johnson tells us 6'8 Jr Romero Osby from Meridian (Northeast Lauderdale) MS has verbally committed to Mississippi State; our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that 5'8 Soph Chaz Williams from Brooklyn (Bishop Ford) NY has made an early commitment to Hoftstra; our New England Editor Adam Finkelstein is reporting that 6'6 Andre McFarland from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH finally appears to be heading to Colorado State and 6'1 Charoy Bentley from Bridgeport (Warren Harding) CT is a late addition for St. Joseph's; and our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'7 D.J. Wright from Toronto (Taps) ON is following former LSU assistant coach Nikita Johnson to Louisiana Tech, 5'11 Jr Kwami Mitchell from Whitefish Bay (Dominican) WI has become Saint Louis' third recruit for the Class of 2008, 6'4 Jr Brian Walsh from Moon Township (Moon Area) PA has become Xavier's fourth recruit for the Class of 2008; and 6'4 Soph Brandon Mitchell from Amite (H.S.) LA has made an early verbal commitment to LSU.  And, if that weren't enough, HOOP SCOOP Associate Editor Patrick Stanwood tells us that 6'8 Frosh Dakota Euton from Ashland (Rose Hill) KY, who is ranked #26 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made an extremely early verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky.  As for the Rumble in the Bronx itself, it turned out to be a big weekend for the Playaz, which beat Martin Brothers Select, 83-72, in the championship game of the 17-Under Division; beat New England Select, 77-67, in the championship game of the 16-Under Division; and lost to New Heights in the semi-finals of the 15-Under Division.  However, before we proclaim the Playaz as the best club team program in the New York City area, one has to remember that a number of the top players, including 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'5 Jr Sylvan Landesberg from Flushing (Holy Cross) NY, and 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, did not play in this tournament over the weekend, which was a major disappointment for us considering that is one of the few times a year that I get to New York City to watch all of the top players in one setting.  Instead, the two players who impressed me the most during the weekend were 6'2 Jr Mike Rosario from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ and 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY and, as a result, they both will move into the top 20 on our List of the Top Juniors Nationally, which I plan to publish either tomorrow or Wednesday.  Rosario, who hit seven 3-pointers en route to 34 points in one game and finished with 23 points in the championship game, shot the lights out all weekend, as he took home tournament MVP honors in the 17-Under Division.  Jones impressed us with his toughness around the basket defensively and his ability to hit the outside shot at the offensive end.  In other words, it looks like he picked up right where he left off last month in the playoffs in the IS8 Spring League at IS8 Middle School in South Jamaica, NY.  And, unlike an overwhelming number of the top players in the junior class nationally who have either already made their college decision or are close to making their college decisions, Jones appears to be wide open, as his list of schools includes Syracuse, Ohio State, UCLA, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, St. John's, Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, Memphis, Massachusetts, and West Virginia.  Jones also expressed an interest in attending the same school, as his long time AAU teammate - 6'6 Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, who also was one of the best outside shooters and better players in the 17-Under Division, along with 6'9 Jr Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA, 6'7 Soph Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 5'8 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'3 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 6'8 Jr Storm Warren from Monroe (Richwood) LA, 6'9 Jr Ed Davis from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, and 6'2 Jr Darryl Bryant from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY.  We also have to give a special mention to 6'0 Zach Rosen from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who is one of the toughest hardnosed competitors that we've seen in a long time, as he's just what the doctored order for the New York Elite team, which features all those 7-footers, but in the past has lacked good guard play.  Rosen, who had 29 points when we watched him against the I Can All-Stars, is an outstanding leader, great passer, excellent 3-point shooter, and got deceptive speed and quickness, which helps explain why schools like Stanford, Pennsylvania, Rutgers, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Gonzaga all showing interest in this point guard with a 4.0 gpa.  The biggest sleeper in the tournament was 6'8 Fred Fareid from Newark (Technology) NJ.  Faried, who signed with Morehead State earlier this spring, but may go the junior college or prep school route, is a bouncy athlete who needs strength, but scores, rebounds, and plays with a lot of energy around the basket.  He also was the guy who got his team over the hump with 23 points versus the Westchester Hawks in the quarterfinals.  We also have to mention 6'1 Soph Khalil Murphy from Burlington (Life Center) NJ and 6'0 Soph Justin Crosgile from Wayne (DePaul Catholic) NJ, who used their speed, quickness, outside shooting, and court savvy to lead the New Jersey Roadrunners to the championship in the 17-Under Silver Division.  Murphy also was one of the big heroes of the day, as he hit a 60-foot game winning 3-point shot against the New England Playaz in overtime of the championship game.  Another one of the best individual performances that we saw all weekend as turned in by 6'8 Soph Justin Thomas from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD.  We're talking about a beast inside when he was matched up against 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY and the Westchester Hawks on Saturday night.  Thomas not only impressed us with his intensity on the boards and ability to score around the basket, but he was surprisingly mobile, excellent at getting up and down the court, and has good passing skills, and soft hands.  Unfortunately Thomas did not duplicate this effort on Saturday morning, as he apparently was slowed by injuries and failed to score when his team lost to the New England Playaz in the quarterfinals of the Silver Division.  So based on past history and overall consistency, we give 6'9 Soph Dante Taylor from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD the nod as the better of of the two players at this basketball factory in Maryland.  We also have to give the Fordham coaching staff a lot of credit, because the two guys they got verbal commitments from earlier this spring - 5'11 Jr Jio Fontan from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ and 6'4 Jr Alberto Estwick from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ - both were very impressive in this tournament.  Fontan was the floor general who led the Playaz to the championship in the 17-Under Division and Estwick was one of the best 3-point shooters in the entire tournament.  We also have to mention that Team Breakdown, which featured 6'3 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, and 6'2 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL was true to its name, as they broke down against the Metro Hawks in the first round of the playoffs in the Gold Division.  6'5 Soph Dominique Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ finished with 20 points and took home tournament MVP honors in the 16-Under Division, but the player who impressed me the most was 6'6 Jr Brian Oliver from Newcastle (William Penn) DE, who had 24 points in the championship game and shot the lights out in every game.  We also liked the way 6'0 Jr Tamir Jackson from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, who finished with 22 points in the championship game, mixed things up with his ability to get to the basket and keep you honest with his outside shooting.  The biggest surprise in the 16-Under Division was 6'8 Soph Tucker Halpen from Dedham (Noble & Green) MA, who had 23 points in the championship for New England Select and run the court and shot the 3-point shot so well that he reminds us of a smaller version of Kevin Pittsnogle.  There was no championship game in the 15-Under Division due to the fact that California Supreme left for the airport to catch a flight, but 6'7 Frosh Dwayne Poole from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'3 Frosh Taran Buie from Albany (Bishop Maginn) NY left no doubt about the fact they are two of the best players nationally in their class in the semi-finals.  As a matter of fact, we think a strong argument can be made for ranking Poole, who is already verbally committed to USC, among the top five players nationally in the Class of 2010, and Buie, who has big time athleticism and moves to the basket, isn't too far behind.  We also really liked the skills and the way 6'9 Frosh Will Reagan from Buffalo (Nichols) NY runs the court, as he reminds us of a young Christian Laettner.  And, if Reagan grows another two or three inches, they sky really could be the limit.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Just like 6'1 Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ did a year ago at Rumble in the Bronx, 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who is ranked #12 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, plans to announce his college decision at this tournament tomorrow at noon at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY.  The final three schools on this list are Indiana, Miami-FL, and Texas.  But he hasn't visited the Austin, TX yet, so the smart money says you can pretty much eliminate the Longhorns.  If Ebanks picks the Hoosiers, he will be the perfect complement to Indiana's current recruiting class, which is ranked #1 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and includes 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'5 Jamarcus Ellis from Chipola (JC) FL, 6'9 DeAndre Thomas from Chipola (JC) FL, 6'8 Brandon McGee from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'10 Eli Holman from Richmond (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Eshaunte Jones from Ft. Wayne (North Side) IN, and 6'4 Jordan Crawford from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  However, even more important, if Gordon, who will be ranked #2 nationally in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2007, and Ellis, who was a consensus top five-ranked junior college player in the nation, both aren't one and done guys in college next year, the Hoosiers could be as good as anybody in college basketball at the perimeter spots year after next.  If Ebanks picks the Hurricanes, then Miami-FL head coach Frank Haith, who already has most of the pieces to the puzzle in place now that he has an excellent point guard in 6'0 Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL ready to step in next year and run the show, will have the star that he needs to take the program to another level.  And, if that weren't enough, the addition of Ebanks also will should help get the New York to Miami pipeline going.  If you will recall, Ebanks, who started his high school career at Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, is originally from New York City.  Getting back to the Rumble in the Bronx, it appears that 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY probably won't be in attendance due to the fact that he is supposed be going to Portland, OR to play in an event that is being run by adidas.  However, there still should be a number of excellent players in attendance, including 6'10 Jr Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'10 Jr Ed Davis from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, 6'5 Jr Sylvan Landesburg from Flushing (Holy Cross) NY, 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation (American Heritage) FL, 5'8 Jr Ervin Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'6, Jr Mookie Jones from Peekskill (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Jr Storm Warren from Richwood (Monroe) LA, 5'11 Jr Kemba Walker from New York (Rice) NY, 6'7 Jr Troy Gillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'7 Jr James Southerland from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'5 Jr Ryan Pearson from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'0 Jr Trinity Fields from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'3 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 6'4 Soph Durand Scott from New York (Rice) NY, 5'11 Soph Lamont Jones from New York (Rice) NY, 6'2 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, 6'3 Frosh Taran Buie from Albany (Bishop Maginn) NY, 6'3 Frosh Doron Lamb from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, and 6'2 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  The list of teams in the 17-Under Division is as follows:  Pool A has Louisiana Select, New Hampshire Wildcats, Connecticut Flame, and Ahead of the Game (PA); Pool B has Martin Brothers Select, Connecticut Basketball Club, Westchester Hawks, and New Jersey Roadrunners; Pool C has 2D1 California, New York Ravens, Brooklyn USA, and New York Elite; Pool D has Juice All Stars, Connecticut Phenom Elite, New York Jaguars, and Lancaster Elite; Pool E has the Albany City Rocks, Hoop Magic (VA), Team NJ ABC, and Connecticut Hoop Stars; Pool F  has the New York Gauchos, Florida Ambassadors, New Hampshire Playerz, and New Jersey Express; Pool G has the Baltimore Stars, Team Takeover, BC Eagles, and New Jersey Shore Shots; Pool H has the Metro Hawks, Carolina Crusaders, Team New York, and Garden State Spartans; Pool I has Team Breakdown, Long Island Lightning, Lazz Development, and Central Jersey Hawks; Pool J has New York Elite, I Can All Stars L.A., Diamond State Titans, and Rising Stars; Pook K has the New York Panthers, Rhode Island Hawks, Louisiana Yam City, and Hammond Hurricanes; Pool L has the Playaz, Middlesex Magic, Bartram Blazers (FL), and Student Athletic Broncos; Pool M has the New England Playaz, Team Odom (NY), and SRAP, and South Jersey Select; and Pool N has the Westchester Hawks - J, NCO, V2F Conqerors, and Rhode Island Breakers. 

Thursday, June 14, 2007

When we told you several days ago that 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ had verbally committed to the University of Louisville, we also alluded to the fact that 6'4 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA would probably be next.  And, while this one still isn't done yet, we do think you can pretty much write this one down for the Cardinals.  In other words, we think Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and staff are on the verge of a major coup, as they are expected to beat schools like Villanova, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Memphis for one of the top five-ranked juniors in the nation.  Evans is a big time athlete, is great getting to the basket, and is an excellent 3-point shooter.  However, we're still not sure whether he'll end up ultimately being a point guard or a 2-guard due to the fact that he's best with the ball in his hands, but does not make great decisions with the ball and does not have a pure point guard's mentality.  Getting Evans also will be huge for the Cardinals, because he will provide the perfect complement year after next to all of the other good young players that Louisville has in the program, like 6'8 Frosh Derrick Caracter, 6'3 Frosh Edgar Sosa, 6'8 Frosh Earl Clark, and 6'2 Frosh Jerry Smith, and already in next year's recruiting class, which currently includes both Samuels and 6'4 Jr Melquan Bolding from White Plains (Archbishop Stepanic) NY.  So, with 5'10 Soph Andre McGee and 6'5 Soph Terrance Williams also both expected to be around for two more years and three players - 7'1 Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL, 6'9 George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, and 6'2 Preston Knowles from Winchester (Clark County) KY - in their current recruiting class, the Cardinals will only have one more scholarship remaining in the Class of 2008 once they have secured the verbal commitment that we expect them to get from Evans.  And they also are involved with a number of the top players in the junior class nationally, like 6'10 Jr Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, who will be ranked #6 nationally in the junior class when we publish our updated Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2008 next week; 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas from Plantation(American Heritage) FL, who is now a legitimate top 15-ranked junior nationally after he blew up at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on Memorial Day Weekend in Chapel Hill, NC; 6'7 Jr Kevin Jones from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, who also has drawn rave reviews this spring with his outstanding play in the IS8 Spring League at IS8 Middle School in South Jamaica, NY; 6'7 Jr Darius Miller from Maysville (Mason County) KY, who is a big time athlete and the best prospect to come out of the state in several years; 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, who reneged on the Cardinals last week, but still has Louisville on his list; and 6'11 Jr Angel Garcia from Gary (Andrean) IN, who is intriguing due to his length, athleticism, and potential.  Moral to the story, Louisville's biggest recruiting problem right now appears to be having enough scholarship to go around.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is reporting that 6'6 Jr Terrelle Pryor from Jeanette (H.S.) PA, who is ranked currently ranked #68 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but is arguably the best football prospect in the nation in the Class of 2008, has narrowed his list down to 12 schools (Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia).  Johnson also notes that Pryor is expected to sign a National Letter-of-Intent to play football, but also plans to play basketball in college.  Johnson also tells us that 6'9 Jr Willie Reed from Shawnee Mission (Bishop Miege) KS has become the second player that new Saint Louis head coach Rick Majerus and his staff have signed this spring.  If you recall, they already also recently landed 6'11 Jr Brett Thompson from Vienna (H.S.) IL and it's our guess that new Billikens assistant coach Porter Moser, who previously laid the foundation with these players when he was the head coach at Illinois State during the last four years, is the big reasons why Saint Louis is already way ahead of the game in terms of landing players in the Class of 2008.  HOOP SCOOP Associate Editor Patrick Stanwood tells us that 6'8 Jr Steve Moore from Independence (Truman) MO has verbally committed to Missouri and our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Michigan State, Florida, Villanova, Duke, and North Carolina appear to be the early favorites for 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, who is ranked #3 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Rubin also tells us that Maryland, Marquette, Rutgers, Kansas, Indiana, Wake Forest, and Pittsburgh are showing the most interest in 6'8 Jr Quintrell Thomas from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ and he reminds us that 6'6 8th Grader Michael Gilchrist from Somerdale, NJ and 5'8 8th Grader Shaquille Stokes from New York, NY are both planning on enrolling at this basketball factor in North Jersey this fall.  Rubin also tells us that 6'7 Jr Jermaine Jackson from Reading (H.S.) PA, who is ranked #6 in the area's junior class by Rubin, likes Rider, Rutgers, Villanova, St. Joseph's, and Georgetown. 

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

This weekend I will be at the Rumble in the Bronx and next week I will be at the NBA Players Association Camp in Charlottesville, VA.  But the most important event that I will be covering in the immediate future should be the adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp at Alliant University in San Diego, CA on June 22nd-24th.  Not only does camp promise to provide us with a great sneak preview of the future, but it also was the place a year ago where we saw 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ and 6'9 Soph Stephan Van Treese from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, who are currently ranked #3 and #10 nationally in the Class of 2009, establish themselves as two of the premier players in their class nationally.  And, Joe Keller, who is the President and C.E.O. of both the adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp  and the adidas Junior Phenom Camp, expects the same thing to happen again this year.  As a matter of fact, he predicts that players like 6'2 Frosh Josh Selby from Bel Air (John Carroll) MD, 6'5 Frosh Jason Morris from Lakeville (Hotchkiss) CT, and 6'6 Frosh Josh Turner from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT will go off the Richter scale in a Sophomore Division that is expected to be loaded with guys who are under the radar screen.  In contrast, the big story in the Freshman Division is expected to be all the big name players who will be in attendance, like 6'6 8th Grader Aaron Ross from Little Rock, AR, 6'7 8th Grader Damion Cain from Chino Hills, CA, 6'5 8th Grader Aaron Brown from Sharon Hill, PA, 6'2 8th Grader Vaughn Gray from Paterson, NJ, 6'0 8th Grader Corbin Miller from Sandy, UT, 5'11 8th Grader Eric Moody from Richmond, VA, 6'2 8th Grader Juan'ya Green from Philadelphia, PA, 6'2 8th Grader Jabari Brown from Oakland, CA, 6'0 8th Grader Ben Dillard from Frisco, TX, 6'2 8th Grader Devin Coleman from Philadelphia, PA, 6'5 8th Grader John Pierre from Miami, FL, 5'10 8th Grader Joey Gripper from Philadelphia, PA, 5'7 8th Grader Dion Houston from Grand Prairie, TX, 6'2 8th Grader Marc Brown from Mansfield, TX, and 5'9 Frosh Roger Hubbard from Marietta, GA.  Also, just like a year ago, when ESPN's Outside the Lines was at the camp doing a story about the ranking of basketball players at an early age, Sports Illustrated plans to have a writer (George Dohrmann) at this year's adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp and a number of other media outlets, including CBS, Fox, and a reality television show that will be televised nationally in 2008, will also be in attendance.  However, none of this comes as a surprise to us, because Keller is the one who came up with the concept of bringing the top 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade players together in a national setting when he founded the adidas Junior Phenom Camp three years ago.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that numerous other people are now attempting to duplicate this concept.  However, for our purposes this is still the best place to go in order to get the most bang for the buck, as nobody is wired into more people and has more contacts at the middle school level than Keller.  And this extremely important when it comes time to recruit the top players in the nation to attend your camp.  We also like the fact that camp is well organized and Dave Taylor, who is the camp director, does a great job of making everything run like clockwork.  The adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp will feature players in the Class of 2010 and Class of 2011 and, according to their web site, they only have six spots still available in the older division and only three spots still available in the younger division.  The adidas Junior Phenom Camp will feature players in the Class of 2012, Class of 2013, and Class of 2014 and, as things stand now, the oldest age group is already completely full, the middle age group has five spots still available, and the youngest age group has nine spots still available.  In other words, time is running out for anybody who has not already done signed up, but plans to attend either the adidas Phenom 150 Freshman & Sophomore Camp or the adidas Junior Phenom Camp this summer.  The adidas Junior Phenom Camp will be held in San Diego, CA on August 10th-12th, which perfect timing, because it begins right after the conclusion of the 14-Under AAU Nationals in Orlando, FL.  It also is extremely important, because this will provide us with our first look at many of the top players nationally in the Class of 2014.  And to illustrate this point even further is the fact that 5'8 6th Grader D.J. Griggs from Houston, TX and 5'9 6th Grader Kasey Hill from Eustis, FL not only firmly established themselves as the #1 and #2-ranked players in this class based on their performance at this camp last summer, but their head-to-head battle in the 6th Grade All-Star Game was one of the best match-ups at any level of the entire summer. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

With the publication of Tim Miller's Texas Report, which includes his ranking of the top 153 seniors & 5th Year Players, top 135 juniors, top 117 sophomores, top 81 freshmen, top 58 8th Graders, top 41 7th Graders, and Top 35 6th Graders, it's easy to see why the HOOP SCOOP is now second to none when it comes to knowing who the top high school basketball players are in the Lone Star.  And, if that weren't enough, the HOOP SCOOP also still has a great relationship with Wes Grandstaff, who runs the Team Texas club team program and is the former Texas Editor of the HOOP SCOOP; Hal Pastner, who is the director of the Houston Hoops AAU program and one of the guys who runs some of the top events (i.e Houston Kingwood Classic, Las Vegas Easter Classic, Main Event, and the Academy National Invitational) in the nation; and Jim Hicks, who publishes RCSSports.com and is the #1 authority on high school basketball in the Houston area.  And this is important, because Texas is quickly becoming one of the most important basketball states in the nation and there appears to be no end in sight as every class from the sophomore class on down appears to be absolutely loaded.  The state also has more than it's share of great players, as is evident by the fact that 6'11 DeAndre Jordan from Houston (Episcopal Academy) TX and 6'11 Anthony Randolph from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX are two of the better players nationally in the Class of 2007; 6'4 Jr Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX and 6'3 Jr J'covan Brown from Port Arthur Memorial) TX are both ranked among the top 10 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP; 6'6 Soph Nolan Dennis from Richland Hills (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, and 5'8 Soph Tommy Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX all will be probable McDonald's All-American's two years from now; 6'0 Frosh K.C. Ross-Miller from Irving (God's Academy) TX is ranked #5 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP; 6'7 8th Grader LaBryan Nash from Dallas, TX is ranked #5 nationally in the Class of 2011 by the HOOP SCOOP; 5'11 7th Grader J. Mychal Reese from Bryan, TX is ranked #1 nationally in the Class of 2012 by the HOOP SCOOP; and 5'9 6th Grader D.J. Griggs from Lake Jackson, TX is ranked #1 nationally in the Class of 2013 by the HOOP SCOOP.  The publication of this Texas Report also is important, because it brings the number of state-by-state and area reports that we've published so far this year to 10.  If you will recall, we also published Dennis Marshall's Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia Report on January 25th, Adam Finkelstein's New England Report on February 1st, Larry Kihnley's Kentucky Report on February 5th, Lavel Johnson's Mississippi Report on February 13th, Rick Staudt's Florida Report on February 27th, Ron Naclerio's New York City Report on March 6th, Allen Rubin's Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Report on March 23rd, Andre Whitehead's Tennessee Report on March 25th, and Chris Johnson's Ohio Report on May 17th.  However, we will have to wait until August or September to publish reports from other states, like Georgia, California, and Michigan, because the summer is quickly approaching and we're running out of time.  Did you know that in the next three weeks I'm am still planning on publishing a pre-summer Ranking of the Top Players in Class of 2008 (Juniors/Rising Seniors), a Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2007 (Graduating Seniors), and a recruiting wrap-up for the Class of 2007 that will include our Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes, Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference, and Different Ways to Look at Recruiting.  I also will be at the Rumble in the Bronx at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY this weekend, the NBA Players Association Camp in Charlottesville, VA next week; the adidas 150 Frrosh/Soph Camp in San Diego, CA on June 22nd-24th, High Potential Blue Chip Basketball Camp at Georgetown College in Georgetown, KY on June 27th, and the Freshman All-American Camp in Chantilly, VA on June 30th-July 2nd.  In other words, I'm going to be busy between now and the 4th of July, which is the drop dead date to get everything done before the start of the Summer Evaluation Period.   We also have confirmed via a source that we believe to be impeccable that 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, who is ranked #22 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, verbally committed to the University of Louisville earlier this evening.  And this comes as somewhat of a surprise to us, because a source that we thought was reliable in New York City had been telling us for some time now that Samuels was a 99% lock for North Carolina.  However, this does make sense when one remembers that Samuels made an unofficial visit to Louisville over the weekend and the Cardinals are second to none when when it comes to closing the deal when they get a player on campus.  Obviously Samuels is a great replacement for 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, who reneged on Louisville last week.  And they may not be done yet, as it also looks like the Cardinals may be close to getting a verbal commitment from 6'5 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, who is ranked #2 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  The addition of Samuels moves Louisville's recruiting class up #5 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008.  However, if they also get Evans sooner than later, then the Cardinals recruiting class, which also already includes 6'3 Jr Melquan Bolding from White Plains (Archbishop Stepanic) NY, will move up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008.  So stay tuned! 

Saturday, June 9, 2007, Sunday, June 10, 2007, & Monday, June 11, 2007

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV has reneged on the verbal commitment that he made Ohio State three months ago and now plans to attend the University of Nevada.  And this comes as a major surprise, because one of the big reasons why Babbitt picked the Buckeyes in the first place was the fact that both his mother and his father are originally from Ohio and most of their relatives still reside in the state.  However, it now appears that Babbitt's father can't find a similar job to the one his has now in Reno, NV in Columbus, OH and, as a result, they've decided that they want their son to stay close to home so they can see him play.  Obviously this is not good news for Ohio State.  But, before you start to feel too sorry for the Buckeyes, don't forget that they still have the #1-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008 with 6'11 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH, 6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OG, 6'1 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, and 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN all in the fold.  Ohio State's loss also is Nevada's gain, because the Wolfpack suddenly have one of the top power forward prospects in the junior class nationally in the fold, as well as the ideal replacement year-after-next 6'11 Sr Nick Fazekas, who was one of the premier inside players in college basketball this past season.  And this isn't the only major coup recruiting coup that Wolfpack head coach Mark Fox and his staff have pulled off the spring.  Did you know that three weeks ago they also landed 6'4 Ray Kraemer from Weatherford (JC) TX, who the North Texas Junior College Conference Newcomer-of-the-Year and a first-team all league player during the 2005-2006 season?  Kraemer also finished second in the league in scoring with 18.0 ppg and was fourth in the league in rebounding with 8.3 rpg two years ago, but then fell under the radar screen this past season when he sat out with a shoulder injury.  And this is important, because Kraemer will have three years of eligibility remaining at the University of Nevada, two of which will be with Babbitt, as they promise to form one of the best one two-punches in the league during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.  Getting back to Ohio State, we suspect they will turn the heat back up on all of the top power forward prospects, like 6'9 Jr Al-Farouq Aminu from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'10 Jr Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) NY, 6'10 Jr Ed Davis from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, and 6'8 Jr Aleksander Olek Czyz from Reno (H.S.) NV, that are still available in the junior class nationally.  Remember, with the recent success that Ohio State had has both on the hardwood and the recruiting trail, there is no question that the Buckeyes can now bang with the big boys, which translated means they can get involved just about anybody in the nation.  We also have confirmed that the University of Dayton has landed 6'4 Chris Johnson from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH and this too is important for a number of reasons.  First, Johnson is extremely versatile, is an excellent offensive rebounder, has a great nose for the ball, and is a very good catch and shoot 3-point shooter.  So he is ideally suited to complement 6'6 Chris Wright from Trotwood (Madison) OH, who is excellent off the dribble and is the marquee player in this year's recruiting class.  Second, just like all of the other players - 6'6 Chris Wright from Trotwood (Madison) OH, 6'8 Thiago Cordeiro from Barton County (JC) KS, 6'9 Devin Searcy from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI, and 6'1 Stephen Thomas from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN, and 6'9 Jr Josh Benson from Dayton (Dunbar) OH - that Dayton has already landed in this year's and next year's recruiting classes, Johnson has a huge upside and he's also pretty good right now, as is evident by the fact that Johnson is ranked #117 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and #7 in the junior class in the state by our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, who coincidentally has the same name.  Third, with the addition of Johnson, suddenly the top nine-ranked juniors in the state are all already off the board, as 7'1 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH to Ohio State, 6'7 Jr Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH to Michigan State, 6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH to Cincinnati, 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH to Xavier, 6'10 Jr Josh Benson from Dayton (Dunbar) OH to Dayton, 6'3 Jr Robert Wilson from Garfield Heights (H.S.) OH to Wisconsin, and 6'7 Jr Kyle Rudolph from Cincinnati (Elder) OH to Notre Dame for football are all verbally committed to four-year Division I schools.  And, with the exception of Roe, Wilson, and Rudolph, they all elected pick an in-state school, which also is important, because it illustrates just how hard it is to beat schools like Ohio State, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Xavier for the top players in their backyard.  Our Texas Editor Tim Miller tells us that 6'5 Chris Babbs from Arlington (Oakridge) TX has verbally committed to New Mexico and he thinks this too is an excellent catch.  Not only is Babbs one of the best 3-point shooters in the state, but he also will be ranked #15 in the junior class on Miller's updated list of the top players in the state, which will be published exclusively in the Members Section within the next few days.  And this comes on the heels of the four players - 6'7 Darrington Hobson from Decatur (Christian) IL, 6'10 Monquel Peques from Cape Fear (JC) NC, 6'7 Johnnie Harris from Chipola (JC) FL, and 6'0 Dairese Gray from Elkhart (Concord) IN - in the current recruiting class that the new regime has landed since taking over the program earlier this spring.  HOOP SCOOP Associate Editor Patrick Stanwood tells us that 6'2 Soph Chris Lutz is transferring from Purdue to Marshall.  And this is big for the Thundering Herd, because we're talking about somebody who started 24 games and averaged 9.2 ppg two years ago and started 10 games and averaged 6.1 ppg this past season.  We also understand that 6'4 Soph Maurice Joseph, who is transferring from Michigan State, will make it official for the University of Vermont tomorrow.  Talk about a major steal!  Remember, this is a guy who was ranked  #135 in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2005 when he was a senior at Montreal (Champlain-St. Lambert) QU.  Joseph also combines big time athleticism with an excellent long range jump shot, which means that if he can continue to develop his ball handling skills, he could evolve into one of the best players in the league. 

Friday, June 8, 2007

The inquiry sign is up with regards to whether 6'8 Frosh DeShaun Thomas from Ft. Wayne (Bishop Luers) IN is verbally committed to Ohio State.  The word on the street is that Thomas has decommitted  and there are three big problems related to this that I need to address.  First, this is impossible, because there is no such word.  And, even if decommit was a word, it is not a good one, because it does not fully illustrate just how big a jerk somebody is when they have made a commitment and then taken their word back.  Obviously whoever coined this word wanted to take the sting out of this practice, which is all too common in today's basketball recruiting word.  Instead, I prefer the word renege, which means to "go back on," and is synonymous with "breaking your word" or "going back on your word."  Second, picking a college is one of the most important decisions of your life, because where you live, who you marry, and what kind of job you have the rest of your life are often determined by where you go to college.  In other words, it's kind of like getting married, whereby, it might be right to get it right the first time.  In Thomas' case, if these reports are correct, his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes lasted exactly a week.  Even more ironic is the fact that Thomas made this commitment more than three years from the time he actually will enroll in college.  And this is important, because it illustrates just how much the recruiting process has been speeded up in this day-and-age, how many recruiting mistakes are made, and just how meaningless some of these early verbal commitments are by freshmen and sophomores in high school.  Third, there seems to be some question about whether Thomas has actually reneged on the Buckeyes.  Our Texas Editor Tim Miller tells us that is being reported on the internet by a number of sources that Thomas has re-opened his recruitment.  Miller also says that he has confirmed this with several of his own sources, as it appears the grandmother wanted Thomas to take some more visits to schools like Indiana, Purdue, Duke, and Michigan State in order to make sure that he is making the right decision.  However, our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, who has talked with people close to Thomas and the Ohio State program, tells us that they all seem to think the verbal commitment that Thomas made a week ago to the Buckeyes is firm.  So we're going to do some further investigation and then report back to you when we've hear from Thomas directly one way or another.  Another illustration of just how much the recruiting process has been speeded up can be found by looking on Johnson's Ohio Report, which was published on May 17th, as the top eight of the top nine-ranked juniors in the state are already verbally committed.  They are 7'1 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH to Ohio State, 6'7 Jr Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH to Michigan State, 6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH to Ohio State, 6'8 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH to Cincinnati, 7'0 Jr Kenny Frease from Massillon (Perry) OH to Xavier, 6'10 Jr Josh Benson from Dayton (Dunbar) OH to Dayton, 6'3 Jr Robert Wilson from Garfield Heights (H.S.) OH to Wisconsin, and 6'7 Jr Kyle Rudolph from Cincinnati (Elder) OH to Notre Dame for football.  The highest ranked player still available in the junior class in the Buckeye State is 6'5 Jr Chris Johnson from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH and his list includes West Virginia, Akron, Dayton, Xavier, Wisconsin, Kent State, and Wright State.  Johnson also tells us that 6'3 Jr Devon Moore from Columbus (Northland) OH is attracting interest from schools like Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan State, and Florida State.  Among those in the hunt for 5'10 Jr Anthony Hitchens from Chillicothe (H.S.) OH are Dayton, Butler, Akron, SMU, West Virginia, Bowling Green Central Michigan, Kent State, Ohio University, Duquesne, Wright State, Winthrop, and Liberty.  The leaders for 6'3 Jr Greg Avery from Warren (Harding) OH are Wright State, Winthrop, and Liberty are all in the hunt for Western Carolina, Butler, Wright State, Oakland, Ohio University, and Akron.  The list for 6'8 Jr Lee Tabb from Toledo (Rogers) OH includes Toledo, Kent State, Miami-OH, Drake, Wright State, and Bowling Green.  The top three for 6'3 Jr Ryne Smith from Toledo (Whitmer) OH are Bowling Green, Fairfield, and Eastern Michigan.  Some of the school being mentioned by 6'2 Jr Scott Stucky from Dublin (Coffman) OH are Miami-OH, Towson, Akron, Ohio University, Butler, and Wright State.  Johnson also tells us that 6'0 Jr Troy Long is transferring from Cincinnati (Woodward) OH to Cincinnati (Withrow) OH and 6'7 Mylan Murphy from Peninsula (Woodbridge) OH, who originally was supposed to be going the junior college route to Columbus State (JC) OH, now appears to be heading to prep school at Lalumiere Prep in LaPorte, IN and is being recruited by schools like Baylor, Wichita State, Akron, Bowling Green, Butler, and Kent State.  Johnson also provides us with the list of players who have been invited to attend the 2007 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs, CO on June 20th-24th and it includes 6'9 Jr Al-Farouq Aminu from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'5 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'4 Jr Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX, 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA, 6'10 Jr Greg Monroe from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, 6'8 Jr Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH, 6'10 Soph DeMarcus Cousins from Birmingham (Erwin) AL, 6'3 Jr J'Covan Brown from Port Arthur (Memorial) TX, 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'10 Jr Ed Davis from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, 6'5 Jr Malcolm Lee from Riverside (J.W. North) CA, 5'11 Jr Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (Puis X) WI, 6'9 Jr Drew Gordon from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA, 5'8 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'8 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 6'7 Jr Reeves Nelson from Modesto (Christian) CA, 6'8 Jr Nate Miles from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'5 Soph Leslie McDonald from Eads (Briarcrest) TN, 6'1 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, 6'10 Jr Tony Woods from Rome (H.S.) GA, 6'3 Jr Travis Releford from Kansas City (Bishop Miege) MO, 6'7 Soph Jamil Wilson from Racine (Horlick) WI, 6'11 Jr Andy Poling from Portland (Westview) OR, 6'3 Jr Andrew Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, 6'6 Jr Scotty Hopson from Hopkinsville (University Heights) KY, 6'7 Jr Jeremy Thompson from Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) NC, and 6'2 Jr Jerime Anderson from Anaheim (Canyon) CA.  We also have confirmed that 6'4 Pierre Brown from Williamsburg (Jamestown) VA has signed with Mount St. Mary's.  We're talking about a 6'4 strong post player in high school, but he also the perimeter skills and outside shooting necessary to be an excellent wing player in the Northeast Conference.  And Brown isn't the only one that Mount St. Mary's head coach Milan Brown and his staff have stolen in this year's recruiting class, as they also have signed 6'8 Marlon Cribbs from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'7 Daniel Thompson from Springdale (C.H. Flowers) MD, and 6'7 Shawn Atupen from Newport News (Woodside) VA. 

Thursday, June 7, 2007

It looks like Clay Dade, who is director of the Freshman All-American Camp, which will be held at the Hoop Magic Sports Academy in Chantilly, VA on June 30th-July 2nd, has hit the jackpot with his inaugural camp.  Not only does he have very little competition in terms of camps and events that are being held right before Summer Evaluation Period that begins on July 6th, but it also looks like he has done a great job of getting an overwhelming number of the top rising freshmen in the nation (Class of 2011) to attend his camp.  And, if you don't believe it, just check out the list of players that Dade says are planning to attend.  It includes 6'3 8th Grader Anthony Wroten from Renton, WA, 6'7 8th Grader Ramone Eaton from Sacramento, CA, 6'8 8th Grader LaQuinton Ross from Jackson, MS, 6'6 8th Grader Aaron Ross from Little Rock, AR, 6'7 8th Grader LaBryan Nash from Dallas, TX, 6'2 8th Grader Najee Whitehead from Mt. Vernon, NY, 5'7 8th Grader Corey Edwards from Queens, NY, 5'11 8th Grader Jacoby Davis from Charlotte, NC, 5'6 8th Grader Alvin "P.J." Boutte from Indianapolis, IN, 5'8 8th Grader Tavon Sledge from Spring Valley, NY, 5'7 8th Grader Sterling Gibbs from Scotch Plains, NJ, 6'7 8th Grader Julian Royal from Roswell, GA, 6'2 8th Grader Vaughn Gray from Paterson, NJ, 6'0 8th Grader Davontay Grace from Brooklyn, NY, 5'10 8th Grader George Marshall from Chicago, IL, 6'0 8th Grader Corbin Miller from Sandy, UT, 5'11 8th Grader Eric Moody from Richmond, VA, 6'5 8th Grader Corey Blackwell from Duluth, GA, 6'6 8th Grader Jacob Lawson from Reidsville, NC, 6'0 8th Grader Myck Kabongo from Toronto, ON, 5'8 8th Grader Shaquille Stokes from New York, NY, 5'7 8th Grader Myles Mack from Paterson, NJ, 6'5 8th Grader John Pierre from Miami, FL, 6'3 8th Grader Jermaine Saunders from Far Rockaway, NY, 6'1 8th Grader Marlin Lane from Deland, FL, 5'11 8th Grader Tyrone Johnson from Plainfield, NJ, 6'6 8th Grader Alex Cooper from Houston, TX, 5'9 8th Grader Joey Imuzai from Snellville, GA, 6'3 8th Grader Kevin Ware from Atlanta, GA, 6'2 8th Grader Kenny Enoch from Indianapolis, IN, 6'4 8th Grader Dante Henton from Lansing, MI, 6'7 8th Grader Thomas Gibson from Cedar Hill, TX, 6'4 8th Grader Mychal Ammons from Vicksburg, MS, 6'1 8th Grader Glenn Brooks from Seattle, WA, 6'10 8th Grader Kyle Caudill from Brea, CA, 5'8 8th Grader Shai Fields from Galveston, TX, 5'10 8th Grader Shannon Scott from Norcross, GA, 6'8 8th Grader Tyler Adams from Brandon, MS, 6'4 8th Grader Algie Key from Decatur, GA, 5'7 8th Grader Lamin Fulton from Philadelphia, PA, 6'2 8th Grader Derrick Gordon from Plainfield, NJ, 6'3 8th Grader Brendale Smith from Detroit, MI, 5'8 8th Grader Takwail Bailey from Camden, NJ, 6'7 8th Grader Johnny O'Brien from Cleveland, MS, 6'3 8th Grader Shamell Williams from Bronx, NY, 6'8 8th Grader Isaiah Hill from Indianapolis, IN, 5'8 8th Grader Miles Davis from Plainfield, NJ, 6'0 8th Grader Scott Wilkenben from Gainesville, FL, 6'1 8h Grader Marcus Jones from Pennsauken, NJ, 5'9 8th Grader Kevin Smith from Baltimore, MD, 6'2 8th Grader Rodney Hood from Meridian, MS, 6'3 8th Grader Darius Nelson from Sacramento, CA, 5'9 8th Grader Tyler Hubbard from Mitchellville, MD, and 6'4 8th Grader Daniel Grieves from Gulfport, MS.  In other words, Dade is telling us that he already has six of the top 10, and 22 of the top 50, 36 of the top 100-ranked players in the class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP lined up to play in his camp.  And, if he pulls this off, it will be one of the premier basketball events of the entire year.  And, if that weren't enough, Dade also is telling us that he has an impressive of list of coaches who are going to work the camp, which includes Mike Jones and David Adkins of Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, Chris Chaney of Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, Trevor Brown from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, Luther Riley from Jackson (Provine) MS, Willis Holliday of the Carolina Cougars, Daniel Grieves from Bay Saint Louis (St. Stanislaus) MS, Rod Watts of the Michigan Mustangs, Lyndon DeBellotte of the DC Blue Devils, O.J. Matthews of the Diaper Dans, N.C. State assistant coach Pete Strickland, Memphis assistant coach Derek Kellogg, Virginia assistant coach Billy Courtney, Florida assistant coach Rob Lanier, Florida State assistant coach Andy Enfield, Georgetown assistant coach Rob Burke, New Mexico State assistant coach Chris Pompey, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi assistant coach Brian Merritt, and George Mason assistant coach Chris Caputo.  And he's also still awaiting confirmation from North Carolina assistant coach Joe Holladay, Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski, Seton Hall assistant coach Dermon Player, Virginia Tech assistant coach James Johnson, and Texas assistant coach Russell Springman.  The reason NCAA Division I college coaches can work this camp is due to the fact that the players will have not yet enrolled in high school and, as a result, are not yet considered prospective student athletes.  So obviously these guys will get a huge recruiting advantage, as well as a great head start on the future.  The headquarters for the camp will be the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, VA and Friday, June 29th, there will be check in the afternoon and a reception in the evening for adults (no players) at the Westfields Marriott.  The schedule for Saturday, June 30th, will include Dynamic Warm-Up/Conditioning, Skills Stations, Practice Group and Seminars, Games, Lunch, Skills Stations, Games, Dinner, and Games.  The schedule for Sunday, July 1st, will include Dynamic Warm-up/Conditioning, Skills Stations, Games, Lunch, Skills Stations, Games, Dinner, and Games.  The schedule for Monday, July 2nd, will include Dynamic Warm-Up, Skills Stations, Games, Lunch, Guest Speaker, Top 40 All-American Game, and Top 20 All-American Game.  And yes, I do plan to be at this event and, if most of the players that are mentioned above also attend, this will be a great prelude to the 14-Under AAU Nationals in Orlando, FL on August 1st-8th. 

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

The big recruiting news of the day involves 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, who has reneged on the verbal commitment that he made last fall to the University of Louisville and now appears to be considering schools like Arizona, UCLA, Boston College, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Texas, Washington, and Kentucky.  Louisville also still appears to be in the hunt for Withey, but, when something like this happens, the school the player originally had verbally committed to usually ends up losing out.  The most recent major exception to this was Arizona, which watched 6'3 Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ re-open his recruitment a year ago only to make it official again for the Wildcats several months later.  In this case, we think Arizona also is the school to beat due to the fact the Wildcats were the first school to offer Withey a scholarship the first time around and the Wildcats coaching staff is second to none when it comes to turning up the heat at crunch time.  And, if Arizona pulls this off, then their recruiting class, which already is ranked #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008 and includes 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'7 Jr Emmanuel Negedu from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, and 6'5 Jr Brenden Lavender from Mesa (Mountain View) AZ, will have the one thing (a dominating big man) currently missing in the program.  Withey obviously would be a perfect fit the Wildcats due to the fact that Arizona head coach Lute Olson has a great history of taking big men with upside and potential and turning them into a finished project.  However, in the case of Withey, who is ranked #69 nationally in the junior class, but is dramatically improved this spring, he is already ideally suited to step in year after next and make an immediate impact for the Wildcats.  And, while this is great news for all of the schools that are sure to get involved (good big men are extremely had to find in this day-and-age), it's not good news for the Cardinals, which now only has one player in the fold for the Class of 2008 in 6'3 Jr Melquan Bolding from White Plains (Archbishop Stepanic) NY.  Withey appeared to be the ideal replacement for 6'11 Jr David Padgett, who will graduate at this time next year.  But, then again, when 6'8 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ makes an unofficial visit to Louisville, KY a week from now, it should be even easier to sell him on the fact that they will have an obvious need inside at exactly the time he would enroll in school in the fall of 2008.  However, getting this done might be easier said than done, as North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, and Rutgers also are among the finalists for Samuels' services.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'5 Jr John Corrigan from Harrisburg (Bishop McDevitt) PA, who is one of the best 3-point shooters that Rubin saw all spring, has made an early verbal commitment to Navy.  And it appears that Corrigan, who also is an outstanding student and first class person, picked the Midshipmen over Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Lafayette, Delaware, Lehigh, and Fairfield.  Rubin also tells us that 6'7 Frosh Richard Fleming, who played high school basketball at Hershey (H.S.) PA, Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, and Chester (H.S.) PA, is transferring from Fairfield to Maryland-Baltimore County, and 6'5 Frosh Brian Morris, who played high school basketball at Camp Hill (Trinity) PA, is transferring from Richmond to Towson.  Our Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson tells us that 5'10 Kenny Dawkins from Arizona Western (JC) AZ, who originally is Holly Springs (H.S.) MS, recently signed with Lamar and 6'8 Jr Oliver Jefferson from Killeen (Ellison) TX recently was added to Jackson State's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'7 Jenirro Bush from East Oktibbeha (H.S.) MS, 6'0 Rod Melvin from Brandon (H.S.) MS, 7'0 Brandon Baker from Opelika (H.S.) AL, 6'0 Jerome Davis from Opelika (H.S.) AL, 6'5 Chris Hyche from Jackson (Provine) MS, and 6'4 De'Shun Dixon from LeLand (H.S.) MS and is ranked #92 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  And, in both cases, Johnson thinks these are good catches.  "Jefferson isn't ranked that high, but big bodies and players that work hard are always at a premium in the Southwestern Athletic Conference," says Johnson.  Dawkins was a Second Team Junior College All-American, but the reason why Johnson likes him so well are his ability to run a team, his tough hardnosed demeanor, and his ability to knock down the outside shot.  Dawkins joins 6'6 Aston Hall from Angelina (JC) TX, 6'6 Justin Nabors from Northeast Mississippi (JC) MS, and 5'10 Brandon McThay from Kilgore (JC) TX in recruiting class that is now tied at #84, along with Lamar, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  Johnson also is looking forward to the W.B. Sports Academy Top 20 Showcase, which will be held this Saturday at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS and will feature players like 6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'8 Jr Romero Osby from Meridian (Northeast Lauderdale) MS, 6'9 Jr Rashanti Harris from Columbus (New Hope) MS, 6'9 Jr Malcolm White from Mendenhall (Genesis One) MS, 6'9 Jr Terrence Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 6'8 Jr Storm Warren from Monroe (Richwood) LA, 6'7 Jr Latavious Williams from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Malcolm Kirkland from Madison (Central) MS, 6'2 Terrance Joyner from Mendenhall (Genesis One) MS, and 6'7 8th Grader Laquinton Ross from Jackson, MS.  That's three top five-ranked players nationally (Jennings is ranked #1 in the junior class, Sidney is ranked #1 in the sophomore class, and Ross is ranked #3 in the 8th Grade by the HOOP SCOOP) in their respective classes, four of the top six-ranked juniors (Osby, Harris, White, and Williams) in Mississippi by Johnson, and two of the best juniors (Henry and Warren) from Louisiana.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

"No matter how well he does or how many games he wins, the chances of Billy Donovan becoming a Hall of Fame coach in the NBA are slim and none," says our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio.  "But, if Donovan stays in college for the next 20 years and continues to build on what he's already done at the University of Florida, he not only should be a lock for the Hall of Fame, but he also has a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as John Wooden as the best coach in the history of the game."  And just like Wooden was when he was an All-American at Purdue University, Donovan was a pretty good player back when he was at Providence College and led the Friars to the NCAA Final Four in 1987.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that 1987 was the year they put the 3-point shot into college basketball and Rick Pitino, who was the coach of the Friars at the time, not only knew what to do with the 3-point shot, but also had two great outside shooters in Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks, who together did more to revolutionize the way the game is played today than anybody else in the last 20 years.  When one also remembers that Donovan is one of the best recruiters in the game today and is just as good a person as he is a basketball coach, it should be obvious that the big winner in all of this college basketball.  So don't listen to the people who think Donovan looks bad because he changed his mind about becoming the next head coach of the Orlando Magic and, instead, decided to return the University of Florida for his 11th season.  And tell former Charlotte Bobcats president Ed Tapscott, who has been quoted saying Donovan will "probably never get another pro offer," that Donovan probably will never want another pro offer.  Remember, Donovan already has it made at the University of Florida, where he is expected to get a contract worth $3.5 million per year when he signs on the dotted line later this year.  But, even more important, is the fact that Donovan once again has become a great role model for the next college coach who is thinking about making the jump to the NBA, as well as the next generation of players who still need more time to develop in college, but are tempted to take the big money and run sooner than they should.  In other words, the message should be loud-and-clear that college basketball is head-and-shoulders above the pro game and one of the big reasons is that the college sport is full of great coaches and first-class people like Billy Donovan.  So, instead of dealing with a bunch of overpaid pampered superstars next season, Donovan now appears to back on track to rebuild the Florida program in a hurry.  Sure, Donovan has his work cut out for him, as his top six players (Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, Lee Humphrey, and Chris Richard) from the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Championship teams are gone.  But the Gators do have some good young players in the program in 6'0 Soph Walter Hodge, 6'10 Frosh Marreese Speights, 6'7 Frosh Dan Werner, 6'3 Frosh Brandon Powell, and 6'7 Frosh Jonathan Mitchell and they also have the #3-ranked recruiting class, which includes 6'4 Nick Calathes from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 6'7 Alex Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, 6'9 Chandler Parsons from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 5'8 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, and 6'6 Adam Allen from Milton (H.S.) FL, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  And contrary to reports by other internet sites, 5'8 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY also is still verbally committed to the Gators.  Our Texas Editor Tim Miller tells us that 6'10 Brandon Webster from Irving (God's Academy) TX, who is ranked #122 on our List of the Top 5th Year Players, verbally committed to Fresno State late last week.  And this one is very intriguing, because we're talking about somebody with a NBA-like body and good shot blocking and rebounding ability.  Unfortunately Webster is also very lazy and, as a result, needs somebody to light a fire under his tail in order to get him to consistently play hard.  Miller also reminds us that 6'8 Daquon Montreal from Irving (God's Academy) TX, who originally verbally committed to Texas Christian, and 6'9 Kevin Anderson from Irving (God's Academy) TX are both heading to Southern Idaho (JC) ID.  Miller also thinks the University of Oklahoma is the school you have to beat for 6'5 Jr Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX and 6'1 Jr Rotnei Clarke from Claremore (Verdigris) OK.  And this makes perfect sense due to the fact that Clarke is an in-state kid and Clarke and Warren are close friends and AAU teammates on the Team Texas NIKE-sponsored club team.  Miller also thinks 6'8 Soph Keith Gallon from Houston (Timberwood) TX and 6'10 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX will be joining 6'5 Jr Willie Warren from Ft. Worth (North Crowley) TX at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA next year.  However, it looks like the reports about Jones heading to Oak Hill are nothing more than a good rumor right now.  And the same also can be said about players like 6'9 Jr Ed Davis from Richmond (Benedictine) VA, 6'3 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 6'3 Soph Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara (H.S.) CA ending up next year at this basketball factory in Virginia.  Miller also tells us that 6'8 Frosh George Odufuwa is transferring from Arizona State to the University of North Texas.  And this is just the icing on the cake of what already is a good recruiting class for Mean Green head coach Johnny Jones, who also will return five of his top eight players from a 23-11 team that lost to Memphis in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  If you will recall, 6'5 Tristan Thompson from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'0 Ryan McCoy from Midland (JC) TX, 6'4 Adam McCoy from Mesa (JC) TX, and 5'10 Josh White from Baton Rouge (Christian Life) TX are already in the fold and Odufuwa is the physical specimen and rebounder inside that the North Texas coaching staff was looking for to complement the excellent group of just mentioned guards. 

Saturday, June 2, 2007, Sunday, June 3, 2007, & Monday, June 4, 2007

Believe it or not, a number of the top players, including 6'3 Jr J'Covan Brown from Port Arthur (Memorial) TX, 6'4 Jr Malcolm Lee from Riverside (J.W. North) CA, 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6'8 Jr Howard Thompkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'0 Jr Larry Drew from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'8 Jr Chris Singleton from Cherokee (H.S.) GA, 6'7 Jr Clarence Trent from Gig Harbor (H.S.) WA, 6'2 Jr Aston Gibbs from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'7 Jr Tyreese Breshers from Los Angeles (Price) CA, 6'9 Jr Terrence Henry from Monroe (Carroll) LA, 6'9 Jr Andre Clark from North Little Rock (H.S.) AR, 6'4 Jr Brad Tinsley from Oregon City (H.S.) OR, 6'3 Jr Chris Jones from Newark (Memorial) CA, 6'2 Jr Jerime Anderson from Canyon (Anaheim) CA, 6'7 Jr James Southerland from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'10 Jr Chris Gabriel from San Juan Capistrano (J. Serra) CA, 6'3 Jr Frank Otis from Oakland (McClymonds) CA, 6'3 Jr Verdell Jones from Champaign (Central) IL, 6'5 Jr Brandon Lavender from Mesa (Mountain View) AZ, 6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'3 Soph Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Soph Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'9 Soph David Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Soph David Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Soph Lorenzo Brown from Roswell (Centennial) GA, 6'9 Soph Chris Cunningham from Diamond Bar (Diamond Ranch) CA, 6'7 Soph Quincy Acy from Mesquite (Horne) TX, 6'7 Soph Joe Burton from Hemet (West Valley) CA, 6'7 Soph Aaron Moore from Riverside (Poly Technic) CA, and 6'10 Soph Jeremy Tyler from San Diego (H.S.) CA, were no-shows over the weekend at the 2007 Pangos All-American Camp at the Galen Center Pavilion on the USC Campus in Los Angeles, CA.  But it really didn't matter, because 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is the #1-ranked junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, played so well that he probably would have taken home camp MVP honors even if all these other players had shown up so that all of the national scouts, like Van Coleman of Hoop Masters, Brick Oettinger of Prep Stars and the Recruiters Handbook, Rob Harrington of Prep Stars and the Recruiters Handbook, Evan Daniels of the Scout.com, and Clark Francis of the HOOP SCOOP, could see them play.  And this was important for Jennings, because what the just mentioned group thinks about Jennings' game is a lot more important than what some of the local scouts think about this incredibly talented point guard who has patterned his game in many ways after Kenny Anderson and is clearly the most naturally gifted point guard to come down the pick in a long time.  However, Jennings has been bashed by some of the local scouts for being too selfish, although it's hard to back up this argument when he gets 12 points and 10 assists in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game and was our second choice for MVP for his team, behind 6'6 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA, who finished with 30 points.  We also find it amusing when we hear that Jennings was "a bad fit" for UCLA and this weekend one critic of Jennings even went so far as to say that the only reason that Arizona recently took him was because they were desperate to get a point guard in the Class of 2008.  Obviously all this is totally ridiculous and making the story even more interesting is the fact several of Jennings' biggest critics didn't even bother to show up at the camp to watch him play on the final day.  Jennings did jack up more than his fair of shots on the first night, but he also did all of the things that you look for in a great point guard on Saturday night and, as a result, once again reinforced our belief that he will someday evolve into one of the bestpoint guards to ever play the game.  The other player who was absolutely terrific at the 2007 Pangos All-American Camp was 6'8 Jr Aleksander Olek Czyz from Reno (H.S.) NV, who now has to be touted as the #1-ranked player in Reno, NV.  And that's saying a lot, because 6'8 Jr  Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV is a legitimate top 25-ranked player nationally in the junior class.  In other words, Czyz is one of the fastest rising players in the nation, as well as legitimate top 20 junior nationally.  We're talking about an extremely athletic white kid with a 40-inch vertical leap, a killer mentality when he decides to go the basket and when the ball comes off the glass, and an excellent repertoire post moves.  Right now schools like Arizona State, Washington State, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Oregon, and Nevada are showing the most interest.  But, once college coaches see Czyz this summer, his list will likely include schools like Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, Connecticut, UCLA, Arizona, and Texas.  Yes, he is that good!  And we have to give our Wisconsin/Minnesota/Iowa Editor Antonio Curro, who also was in attendance at the camp, his just due on this one, because he was the first person to tell us that Czyz was one of the most undervalued players in the junior class nationally.  Also showing major improvement since the last time was say him was 7'0 Jr Jeff Withey from San Diego (Horizon) CA, who had 12 points and nine rebounds in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  Withey no longer is fragile inside, as he uses his excellent skills and incredible wing span to block shots, score both in the high post and the low post, and get his share of rebounds.  We also really liked the way 6'7 Soph Hollis Thompson from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, who had 14 points in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, used his athleticism to get to the basket and drain the three.  But what really makes Thompson so intriguing is the fact that he's only just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential.  The fact Thompson, whose three early favorites appear to be Duke, Georgetown, and UCLA, also has 4.2 gpa and is a terrific kid is just an added bonus.  Everybody also was impressed with 6'6 Jr Daquan Jones from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, who had only seven points in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, but consistently used his athleticism, aggressiveness around the basket, and excellent outside shooting to get the best of everybody he played against all weekend.  We also liked the way 6'3 Soph Quinton Dailey from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV used his explosiveness to make things happen in transition and the way 6'2 Jr Oscar Bellfield from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who only scored two points in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, but actually was one of the unsung heroes in the game with two points and 10 assists, made everybody around him better.  Two other players who really helped the value of their stock, thanks to their excellent athleticism and ability to flat out shoot the lights out were 6'6 Jr Tony Mitchell from Swainsboro (H.S.) GA, who finished with 16 points in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, and 6'4 Jr Teondre Williams from Norcross (Meadowcreek) GA, who finished with four points and two rebounds in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  Another one of our favorite players in camp was 6'8 Jr Storm Warren from Monroe (Richwood) LA, who had 16 points and eight rebounds in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game and was a physical specimen and a force to be reckoned with inside.  Some of our least favorite players in camp were 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins from Berkeley (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Jr Troy Gillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'6 Jr Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Merion) LA, and 6'10 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX, despite the fact they combined for 63 points and 23 rebounds in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  The problem is that they the diminish many of the best aspects of their game by spending entirely too much time out on the perimeter, instead of taking care of business inside.  Watching Jones play especially drives me nuts, because the two things he does best are block shots and shoot threes, which makes him like a poor man's 6'11 Anthony Randolph from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX.  Moral to the story, if these guys want to be wing players, I'll be glad to oblige them.  However, we hope they aren't too disappointed when the value of their stock drops like a rock.  We're also not real wild about 6'10 Jr Edgar Garibay from Compton (H.S.) CA, who had eight points and seven rebounds in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  But, at least he knows what he is and he ends up with a surprising number of rebounds, despite his lack of bulk inside.  We also have mixed emotions about 6'0 Jr Cashmere Wright from Savannah (Urban Christian Academy) GA.  He's so naturally talented and such an outstanding scorer, as is evident by the fact that he had 18 points in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  But, at the same time, Wright has no idea how to run a team, which leads us to believe that he's best suited to play at the mid-major level, where he can get away with being an undersized 2-guard.  Another guy just oozing with potential is 6'7 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  Unfortunately, he too has no idea how to play the game, which is a big reason somebody like Pepperdine has a legitimate shot to steal him.  We did not think that 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA played very well on Friday night and on Sunday in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  But Story's outside shoot was falling and he scored a lot points in both of his games on Saturday.  We also probably wouldn't have put 6'4 Jr D.J. Seeley from Modesto (Christian) CA in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game due to the fact that he was a late arrival and only played in half the camp games.  However, we were impressed with his athleticism and ability to create his own shot.  The one player who clearly did not belong in the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game was 6'6 Jr J.P. Olukemi from Simi Valley (Stoneridge) CA.  But he arrived late and missed his opportunity to play in the Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  So it appears the people running the camp felt sorry for Olukemi and inserted him into the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  And even worse was the public address announcer who didn't turn the microphone off when he hummed and talked to himself.  Not only was this very annoying, but it has been an on going problem for years at Dinos Trigonis' events.  Neither 6'6 Soph Manny Atkins from Tucker (H.S.) GA nor 6'6 Soph Terrance Shannon from Forsyth (Mary Persons) GA were among the group of players, which included 6'2 Terrence Joyner from Mendenhall (Genesis One) MS, 6'1 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Soph Justin Hawkins from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, and 6'7 Jr Gideon Gamble from Atlanta (Westlake) GA, that we thought were on the bubble for the Top 20 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.  However, Shannon, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and led his team to a 77-66 win in the Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, was one of those players that grew on you as the week wore on.  He's best described as an undersized power forward, because he plays hard, was one of the best rebounders in the entire camp, and is very mobile and athlete for somebody his size.  Atkins needs to get meaner and tougher, but he's long and athlete, can shoot the three and get to the basket, rebounds well for his size, and finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, which earned him co-Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, MVP honors, along Shannon.  Gamble was terrific the first night, but leveled off as the camp wore on.  However, we still really like his athleticism, multi-dimensional game, long wing span, and huge upside.  And yes, Gamble is the same guy that we liked when we saw him the first time we saw the Atlanta Celtics play at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions a week ago.  But, then we forgot all about him after he was sidelined with an injury for the rest of the tournament.  Joyner is an explosive athlete who surprises you with his ball handling and passing skills and creativity when it comes to finding a way to get to the basket.  Franklin is a scoring machine, but also is a great passer and an excellent ball handler, which makes him potentially one of the best players to ever play for Gary McKnight at Mater Dei.  Hawkins also impressed us with his point guard skills and ability to make people better.  We also think it's interesting to point out that, while we liked a lot of the guards and perimeter players in the Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, most of the inside players were disappointing.  We talking about 6'7 Jr Richard Howell from Lawrenceville (Central Gwinnett) GA, 6'9 Soph Shawn Kemp Jr from Cherokee (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Jr Enoch Adoh from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA, 6'9 Genesis Maciel from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'9 Jr Colin Borchert from Glendale (Mountain Ridge) AZ and 6'9 Jr Will Brown from Duncanville (H.S.) GA.  And those last three fall into the same category as Simpkins, Gillenwater, Washington, and Jones.  They want to do too much out on the perimeter and not enough inside.  As for Howell, Kemp, and Adoh, their performances in the Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game mirrored their performances the previous two days, which just reinforced our belief that they didn't deserve to be in this game.  Another one of the strengths of the camp was all the good young players.  And this was especially evident in the Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, as Atkins, Shannon, Hawkins, Franklin, 6'1 Soph Darius Morris from Los Angeles (Windward) CA, 6'5 Soph Roger Franklin from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Soph Jerry Brown from San Francisco (Sacred Heart) CA, 6'5 Frosh Tyler Lamb from Ontario (Colony) CA, and 6'2 Frosh Trae Golden from Powder Springs (MacEachern) GA all played well enough to deserve special mention.  Some players who we thought should have been considered for the Top 44 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game, but didn't make the cut were 6'0 Soph Robert Smith from Perris (H.S.) CA, who in our opinion was one of the biggest sleepers to emerge in the camp, 6'3 Jr James Dean from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'4 Jr Ebuka Anayora from Lawrenceville (North Gwinnett) GA, 6'6 Soph Devonte Elliott from Paramount (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Jr David Laury from Riverside (H.S.) NJ, 6'8 Jr Terrell Chandler from Los Angeles (Pacific Hills) CA, and 6'5 Jr Rome Draper from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA. 

Friday, June 1, 2007

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that that 6'8 Frosh DeShaun Thomas from Ft. Wayne (Bishop Luers) IN has made an early verbal commitment to Ohio State and this is huge for a number of reasons.  First, Thomas is ranked #2 nationally in our Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2010, which we published exclusively in the Members Section earlier today.  Second, the addition of Thomas gives the Buckeyes early commitments from two of the top three ranked freshmen in the nation, as Thomas is following in the footsteps of 6'7 Frosh Jared Sullinger from Columbus (Northland) OH, who picked the Buckeyes three weeks ago.  Third, this once again illustrates just how strong Ohio State is when it comes to recruiting the top players in the Midwest.  If you will recall, the Buckeyes already have 7'1 Kosta Koufas from Canton (Glen Oak) OH, 6'9 Jr Dallas Lauderdale from Solon (H.S.) OH, 6'6 Jr Eric Wallace from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'6 Jon Diebler from Upper Sandusky (H.S.) OH, and 6'6 Evan Turner from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL signed, sealed, and delivered in this year's recruiting class; they already have early verbal commitments for next year from 7'1 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (H.S.) OH,  6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH, 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6'1 Jr Anthony Crater from Flint (Southwestern) MI, and 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN; and they now they have both Thomas and Sullinger in the fold for the Class of 2010.  And making this story even more interesting is the fact that the Buckeyes now have the #1-ranked recruiting class in both our Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2008  and Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2010.  And they aren't done yet, as 6'2 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL, who is ranked #1 in our Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2010, and 6'2 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, who is ranked #6 in our Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2010, also appear to be prime recruiting targets for the Buckeyes.  And, if they pull this off, then it will be obvious that Ohio State can now get involved with any player in the nation and, as a result, will be on par with the very elite schools, like Duke, North Carolina, and Florida before Billy Donovan took the Orlando Magic head coaching job earlier today, in college basketball that select, instead of recruit.  Fourth, the verbal commitment by Thomas to Ohio State is just one more illustration of how much the recruiting process has been speeded up in recent years.  And, if you don't believe it, just check out the fact that three of the HOOP SCOOP's top 15-ranked freshmen and five of the HOOP SCOOP's top 50-ranked freshmen are already verbally committed.  They are Thomas and Sullinger both to Ohio State, 6'6 Frosh Jereme Richmond from Winnetka (North Shore Country Day) IL to Illinois, 6'7 Frosh Dwayne Polee from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA to USC, and 6'0 Frosh Jamison Stern from Waxahachie (H.S.) TX to Baylor.  To put this into even better perspective is that fact that 10 years ago there would normally be in the neighborhood of eight-to-12 early verbal commitments by players ranked among the top 100 rising seniors right before beginning of the Summer Evaluation Period.  In other words, if you're not on top of who the top freshmen and sophomores are in the nation, you're really behind the curve in this day-and age.  So obviously our Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2010 provides college coaches a tremendous head start on the future and it gives us an incredible perspective, as we're already been tracking many of these guys for two or three years now.  Speaking of our Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2010, picking 6'2 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft. Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL as the #1-ranked player in the class was easy after watching him dominate a week ago in the 16-Under Division at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions.  The same also can be said about 6'8 Frosh DeShaun Thomas from Ft Wayne (Bishop Luers) IN and 6'7 Frosh Jared Sullinger from Columbus (Northland) OH being ranked #2 and #3, respectively.  Thomas impressed us with his improved perimeter skills a month ago at the Bill Hensley Memorial Run'N Slam All-Star Classic in Ft. Wayne, IN and Sullinger is very similar to 6'5 Frosh Jayvaughn Pinkston from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, who is a 6'5 beast inside.  But Sullinger is two inches bigger.  However, it got extremely difficult when trying to separate the next three players - 6'5 Frosh Jayvaughn Pinkston from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, 6'0 Frosh K.C. Ross-Miller from Irving (God's Academy) TX, and 6'2 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA.  But, in the final analysis, we went with Pinkston, because he earned it after leading his team to the 14-Under AAU National's last summer in Orlando, FL.  Ross-Miller is already getting it done on Team Texas, while playing at the 17-Under level, and Marshall is still one of my favorite players, because he's such a great leader and floor general and had such a good year while starting on the varsity as freshman for one of the better teams in the tough DC Catholic League this past season.  We also suspect that 6'10 Frosh Jeremy Tyler from San Diego (H.S.) CA, who we currently have ranked #7 on our list, will end up being ranked among the top three players in the Class of 2010.  But we've decided to let him earn it.  Remember, this spring isn't the first time we've heard all the hype about Tyler's size, athleticism, and potential, as he was being touted as the #1-ranked player in the class before the 14-Under AAU Nationals last summer.  However, Tyler was embarrassingly non-productive when he went head-to-head 6'5 Frosh Jayvaughn Pinkston from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY in the semi-finals and wasn't much better in the quarterfinals when 6'2 Frosh Brandon Knight from Ft Lauderdale (Pine Crest) FL not only stole the show, but almost single-handedly pulled off the upset against a loaded California Supreme team that also included 6'2 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA and  6'5 Frosh Tyler Lamb from Ontario (Colony) CA.  We also think it's worth pointing out that the Class of 2010 is extremely top heavy with great point guards, as nine of the 25-ranked players in our Ranking of the Top 600 Players in the Class of 2010 play that position.  They are 6'0 Frosh K.C. Ross-Miller from Irving (God's Academy) TX, 6'2 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 6'2 Frosh Tony Cheanault from Philadelphia (Neumann-Goretti) PA, 5'8 Froph Phil Pressey from Ashburnham (Cushing Academy) MA, 6'2 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'1 Frosh Noah Cottrell from Poca (H.S.) WV, 6'1 Frosh Pe'Shon Howard from Lakewood (St. Edward's) OH, 5'8 Frosh Daryl Trayham from Upper Marlboro (Wise) MD, and 5'10 Frosh Joe Jackson from Memphis (White Station) TN.