Tuesday, June 30, 1998

It should come as no surprise that the NBA will lockout at mid-night tonight, because they have been talking about it for months. "Under the lockout, there will be no trades, no free agent signings, no practices, no summer leagues and no signing of rookies," according a front page article today in the USA Today. Obviously, this will be particularly devastating for somebody like 6'8 Al Harrington from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, who was ranked as the consensus #1 high school player in America last season and was the only high school player taken last week in the first round of the NBA draft. How did Harrington become the #1 player? That's a great question, because a year ago at this time he ranked no higher nationally than top 30 or 40 in his class. He rose to the top, because he spent every day last summer, except for two weeks when he went to the NIKE Camp and out west to play in the adidas Big-Time Tournament, working with his personal trainer and AAUcoach Sandy Pyonin, Not only is Pyonin a straight shooter without any hidden agendas, but he is in the business for all the right reasons (he loves the game and he wants to help kids develop). Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Harrington's agent and other new found advisors, who apparently don't want Pyonin in the picture anymore, as it is our understanding that Harrington doesn't even talk to Pyonin now. Although Harrington is a better than average student and is academically qualified under NCAAstandards, we have to wonder how smart it is to get rid of one of the best guys (Pyonin) you'll find anywhere in terms of working on skills and player development. Especially at a time when you need all the help you can get, because until the lockout is over, there will be no summer leagues or anywhere else normally available where you can improve your game. As a matter fact, the veteran NBA players were told months ago, that the normal places, where they can play, keep sharp, and work on their game, won't be available this summer. Instead, they were told that they had to make arrangements to do all this on their own.

We just got off the phone with James Hart, who coaches the Albany Rocks AAU, and he gives us the latest list of schools for 6'3 Eric Siegrist from Poughkeepsie (Spackenhill) NY, who we mentioned earlier as one of the best players at the NBA Players' Association Camp, 6'7 James Thomas from Schenectady (H.S.) NY, and 5'11 Bryan Evans from Brewster (H.S.) NY. Siegrist, who is one of the best shooters in the class nationally, is being recruited heavily by Michigan, St. John's, Maryland, George Washington, Northwestern, Siena, Rider, and Clemson. Right now Syracuse is also showing some interest, although the Orangemen really don't need anybody at his position. Thomas tells is that Michigan is the leader, but says Wyoming, Virginia Tech, Fordham, Seton Hall, and Boston College are also heavily involved. The top five for Evans are Boston University, Rider, Drexel, Siena, and Manhattan.

According to the New York Daily News, 6'3 Brian Woodward from Bayside (Cardozo) NY hasn't recovered fully enough from his ACL injury to play in July and, as a result, this alone may cost Woodward his #1 ranking in Class of '99 in New York City at the endof the summer. If you will recall, a lot of people feel like Ron Naclerio, our New York City Editor, has overhyped Rafer Alston, who got drafted #39 by Milwaukee last week in the NBA draft, for years. Naclerio also coaches Woodward, who right now gets the nod over 6'0 Majestic Mapp from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY and 6'1 Kenny Satterfield from New York (Rice) NY. But if you don't play, you don't win ties, which is how close a call it really is. However, hopefully Woodward will be fully recovered and able to play by Five-Star Honesdale II in late August and we'll get to make the call then.

After a week of tryouts at Colorado Springs, CO, the players have been selected for the USA Basketball Men's World Youth Games to be held in Moscow, Russia, July 11th-20th. The list is very top heavy with five underclassmen and four players from Illinois and two from Iowa. It includes 6'9 Jr Andre Brown from Chicago (Leo) IL, 6'8 Jr T.J. Cummings from Homewood (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'9 Jr Darius Miles from East St. Louis (Lincoln) IL, 6'4 Jerrell Parker form Chicago (DeSales) IL, 6'7 Jr Glen Worley from Iowa City (West) IA, 6'3 Kirk Hinrich from Sioux City (West) IA, 6'10 Tahj Holden from Little Silver (Red Bank) NJ, 6'10 Nick Horvath from Arden Hills (Mound View) MN, 6'6 Casey Jacobson from Glendora (H.S.) CA, 6'0 Kenneth Lawrence from North Little Rock (H.S.) AR, 6'3 Jr Scooter Sherrill from Mt. Villa (West Rowan) NC, and 6'7 Travis Watson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.

Monday, June 29, 1998

Last night the championship game of the Pro Am Tournament in Washington, DC between DC Assault and the Alabama Lasers, featured what is arguably the top three candidates for national player-of-the-year honors in the class of '99. They are 6'4 Keith Bogans from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'10 Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL, and 6'9 Dermarr Johnson from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD. DC Assault jumped out to a 23-12 lead against the the Lazers and once that happened, that was all she wrote. And the player who was most responsible was Bogans, who, after his 22 point performance and total domination of the game last night, gets my vote for the #1 ranking in his class nationally as the summer camp season gets under way. How good is Bogans? Brick Oettinger of the Recruiters' Handbook told us last fall that Bogans is the closest thing he has seen to Michael Jordan, who to this day Oettinger claims is still the best 2-guard prospect he's ever seen, since he first saw Jordan as a 6'4 junior in high schoool. That's a pretty tall order, but another great comparison is Bogans with Kobe Bryant at the same stage of his career. I have yet to find anybody who saw a lot of both players in high school who doesn't think long and hard before deciding who is better.

While neither 6'10 Jr Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL nor 6'9 Dermarr Johnson from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD made the six man all-tournament team at Pro Am Tournament in Washington, DC, the team did include 6'4 Keith Bogans from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'4 Bernard King from Gibsland (Gibsland-Christian) LA, 6'0 Jr Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'7 Rob Grizzard from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'1 Val Barnes from Arlington (Lee) VA, and 6'2 David Fanning from Chesapeake (Western Branch) VA. However, we may have to just throw this tournament out when ranking Stone, because he rarely got the ball and never really got on track, due to the relentless pressure put on by DC Assault throughout the game.

Despite the fact that 6'4 Keith Bogans from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD wants everybody to believe that he is still wide open, he told us last night after the championship game at the Pro Am Tournament, where he was named the MVP, that the primary schools on his list are Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech, Connecticut, and Michigan. We find it extremely interesting that Maryland was not on his list. Even more interesting is the fact that Bogans told somebody who has close ties to the HOOP SCOOP that if 6'10 Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grisssom) AL goes to Kentucky, that he's going there too.

One of our favorite players at the NBA Players' Association Camp was 6'1 Jr Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, but we neglected to mention him yesterday among top players in camp. As a matter fact, he was not only one of the few point guards who was willing to pass the ball, but he clearly made his teammates better. Brown, who will play again for the Houston Hoops AAU team this summer, is definitely better than his AAU teammate and backcourt mate 6'4 Antonio Falu from Houston (Waltrip) TX, who ranks #31 nationally in the Class of '99 on our Pre-Summer National Player List. Brown shoots it much better than Falu, he makes better decisions, and he always finds a way to get his teammate involved, thanks to his phenomenal passing skills and excellent court vision. Brown also shoots better than the other two great point guards - 6'0 Jr Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY and 5'9 Jr Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY - in the Class of 2000 from New York City and that could be what separates him from the rest when it is all said and done. Brown's early list of schools includes Georgia Tech, Michigan, Texas, Arizona, and Connecticut.

Sunday, June 28, 1998

Awards presented at the conclusion of the NBA Players' Association Camp last night , included 6'3 Soph Rashaad Carruth from Decatur (Cathedral) GA, who was the foul shooting champion; 6'0 Tanner Turley from Bowling Green (Greenwood) KY, who was the 3-point shooting champion; 6'7 LaVell Blanchard from Ann Arbor (Pioneer) MI, who was won the Attitude-Plus Award; 5'9 Brian Chase from Washington (Dunbar) DC, who got the Leadership Award; 6'2 Jr Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who won the Mr. Hustle Award; 6'2 Tony Robertson from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, who was both the slam dunk winner and the MVP for the week. However, the biggest story was 6'10 Brian Cook from Lincoln (H.S.) IL, who proved that he was everything Van Coleman and Stephen Wacaser told us he was this spring. Mark him down as a McDonald's American next spring and a legitimate candidate to be ranked among our top 10 at the end of the summer. Cook, who has already committed to Illinois, reminds us of former Kansas All-American Danny Manning.

Also playing extremely well at the NBA Players' Association Camp were 6'4 Kevin Gaines from Las Vegas (Clark) NV, 6'3 Eric Siegrist from Poughkeepsie (Spackenhill) NY, 6'7 Jason Parker from Charlotte (West Charlotte) NC, 6'7 George Williams from Sugar Land (Elkins) TX, 6'7 Travis Kraft from Mayville (Mayport GC) SD, 6'4 Antonio Falu from Houston (Waltrip) TX, and 6'9 Ray Henderson from Charlotte (East Mechlenberg) NC. But the biggest surprise in camp was 6'6 Larry Drake from Groveport (Groveport-Madison) OH, who currently ranks no higher than #24 in Ohio by Chris Johnson. However, if he shoots like he did yesterday all the time, that might be 23 spots too low. Until now we've always thought of him as tweener, but he nailed everything in sight yesterday - off the dribble, over defenders, it didn't matter.

The guy at the NBA Players' Association Camp with most attitude was 6'9 Leon Smith from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, who told us that his list includes only Syracuse and the NBA. Smith also told us that he wants to get away from home, so don't look for him to go to Illinois or DePaul, athough he did confirm that the Blue Demons are recruiting him hard. We also talked with several other players from Illinois, including two Smith's teammates from Martin Luther King High School - 6'8 Demetrius Williams and 5'11 Emmanuel Didly. Didly, whose uncle is DePaul assistant coach Tracy Didly, mentioned DePaul first, but also included California, Clemson, Connecticut, and Bowling Green on his list. Williams likes Duke, Stanford, North Carolina, and Syracuse, but it will interesting to see if he has the grades necessary to get into some of those schools.

One of the nicest kids we talked with at the NBA Players' Association Camp was 6'7 LaVell Blanchard from Ann Arbor (Pioneer) MI. But he wouldn't give us a list, because he said he is just too wide open, He did confirm that his cousin is Michigan State star point guard Mateen Cleaves. Wouldn't it be something if a player from Ann Arbor, especially one who is as good as Blanchard, went to Michigan State, instead of Michigan? Especially when Michigan needs all the help they can get right now.

We knew that 6'10 Wesley Wilson from Villejo (H.S.) CA was going to prep school next year, but we didn't know until yesterday that he was heading to Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME. At least, that's what he told us. We also have confirmed that 6'6 Jamal Brown from Baltimore (Dunbar) MD and 6'0 Al Miller from Washington (Coolidge) DC are both heading to Maine Central Institute as well. But the best may be yet to come, because we have it confirmed three different ways that of the top players in the nation is thinking seriously about transferring to this basketball factory in Maine next year. However, we can't tell you who it is, because we promised two of our sources that we wouldn't reveal who it is just yet.

Saturday, June 27, 1998

A number of the very elite players in the nation, including 6'10 Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL, 6'4 Keith Bogans from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'9 Dermarr Johnson from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, and 6'7 Donnell Harvey from Cuthbert (Randolph Clay) GA, were on hand at the Pro Am Summer Classic in Washington, DC, but the big story was the performance put on by 6'3 Jr Maurice Searight from Orchard (St. Mary's) MI and the emergence of 6'4 Bernard King from Gibsland (Gibsland-Coleman) LA. The Alabama Lasers beat the Motor City Mavericks in the first game, but Searight, who is ranked #7 among juniors nationally on our recently published pre-summer national player list, went for 28 points, as he was the second leading scorer for the entire day. King has the size and shooting range of a wing guard, but also has the quickness, savvy, and handling skills to develop into a big-time point guard. We love his explosiveness of the dribble, abilty to the hole, and knack for finding the open man. Right now he ranks #459 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but we predict he'll be top 40 by everybody at the end of the summer. His list includes Baylor, Southwestern Louisiana, Marquette, LSU, Purdue, Wyoming, Seton Hall, and Louisiana Tech, but you can bet that schools like Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, amd Duke will be recruiting him before it's over. The fact that he's grown three inches in the last year and he's already academically qualified are just an added bonus.

Another player who really impressed us on the opening day at the Pro Am Summer Classic in Washington, DC was 6'4 Jamison Brewer from East Point (Tri-Cities) GA. He just missed making our top 100 list nationally, but he should move way up, because he is another point guard with both size and excellent shooting range. Brewer needs to bulk up, but he is really quick off the dribble and he knows how to get his shot. He's also an excellent ball handler and passer and he work hard at the defensive end. Right now he appears to be wide open as his list list includes Clemson, Xavier, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan State, Virginia, Connecticut, Providence, South Florida, Georgia State, USC, UNC-Charlotte, and Old Dominion.

After attending Duke's team camp last week 6'10 Nick Horvath from Arden Hills (Mound View) MN, who ranks #159 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has gone ahead and committed to the Blue Devils. However, we think Horvath will be a good role player at Duke and , as a result, we wouldn' t be surprised if they recruit over hiim right away - like this year. A similar situation exists for 6'1 Julius Barnes from Rowland Heights (Rowland) CA, who committed to Stanford several days ago.

Yesterday at the NBA Players' Association Camp 6'5 Jr Luke Whithead from San Francisco (St. Ignatius) CA denied that there was any truth to the rumor that he and 6'10 Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL we thinking about going to the same college. However, he did confirm that they are good friends and the second school out of his mouth was Kentucky. The first was UCLA. Also mentioned were Arizona, Duke, and North Carolina.

Friday, June 26, 1998

Yesterday we ran into technical problems with our modem and have spent most of our time during the last 24 hours either traveling our attempting to fix the problem. It looks like we now have it solved, but we are out of time until late tonight, as we are heading to the gym at the University of the Distirct of Columbia to cover the ProAm Tournament. Among the top players we expct to see today are 6'10 Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL and 6'7 Rob Grizzard from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL. As for the NBA Draft comments, they will have to wait, but our Five-Star Report can be gotten by clicking on coverage.

Thursday, June 25, 1998

Until today we have listed players in the Class of '99 as juniors, the Class of 2000 as sophomores, the Class of 2001 as freshman, etc. But for the HOOP SCOOP's purposes today is graduation day, as every player moves up a year. As a result, any player listed without a class is inow in the Classof '99, instead of the Class of '98. Players in the Class of '98 are now considered college incoming freshmen and will be referred to as graduated. Underclassmen will be listed as such. (i.e. players in the Class of 2000 are now juniors).

Last night we attended the all-star game at Five-Star Honesdale's June Session and 6'8 Jr Scott Hazelton from Lawrence (Central Catholic) MA had a dunk at the buzzer, which tied the Orange-White All-Star Game, 84-84, as the game went into overtime. Hazelton also scored all four of his team's points in the extra period, as he claimed all-star game MVP honors with 21 points. Also impressing us with his performance, especially at the defensive end, was another outstanding junior from New England in 6'10 Jr Modibo Diarra from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA. We will have all the award winners from the camp and more highlights from the all-star game later today. When this is completed, we'll establish a link to that page.

The official list for 6'4 Kevin Gaines from Las Vegas (Clark) NV, who ranks #12 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is expected to push 6'2 Brett Nelson from St. Albans (H.S.) WV and 5'10 Jr Jason Gardner from Indianapolis (North Central) IN for top point guard honors in the class this summer, includes Michigan, Duke, Arizna, Stanford, Kentucky, and St. Louis.

Wednesday, June 24, 1998

New Jersey beat Boston, 115-77, Sunday afternoon to claim the championship in the Boston Shootout and 6'2 Jr Jason Williams from Metuchen (St. Josephs) NJ continued to show why many think he is one of the fastest rising players in America, as he took home tournament MVP honors. Williams had 28 points and eight rebounds in the championship game. However, claiming MVP honors in the title game with 29 points and 10 points was 6'6 Slobadon Savovic from Newark (East Side) NJ, who ranks #95 nationally on our just completed national players list. But based on his performance in this tournament Savovi needs to move much higher. As a matter of fact, several observers tell us that Savovi was the best player in the tournament.   It looks like Ohio State has a major steal on their hands. In the semi-finals New Jersey beat New Hampshire, 91-89, and Boston beat Washington, DC, 84-81. The all tournament team included Williams, Sovovi, and 6'9Jr Jerome Trawick from East Orange (Clifford Scott) NJ, all from the New Jersey Team; 6'5 Scott Clark from Milford (Academy) CT and 6'1 Courtney Eldridge from Braintree Acadmy) MA, both from the Boston Team; 6'2 Donte Smith from Washington (Anacostia) DC and 5'10 David Morris from Laurel (St. Vincent (Pallotti) MD, both from Washington, DC Team; 6'10 Ajou Ajou Deng from Oakdale (Thomas (More) CT from the Connectictut Team; and 6'5 Adam Harrington (from Northfield (Pioneer Valley) MA and 6'8 Mike Miller from Mitchell (H.S.) SD, both from the New Hampshire Team. We also found it interesting that 6'9 Jr Matt Bonner from Concord (H.S.) NH did not make the all-tournament team.

6'7 Greg Stevenson is transferring from Penn State to the University of Richmond. And his makes perfect sense, because Stevenson, whose brother recently graduated from Richmond, is from this part of the country, as he played his high school ball at Fayetteville ( Seventy-First) NC. Stevenson tried to played the wing spot at Penn State, but he is best described as an athletic power forward, which is why he will fit in perfectly at Richmond, where he will sit out next year and then have two years to play.

Boston College has picked a big late commitment in 6'5 Kenny Walls from San Francisco (Gaileo) CA, who recently became academically qualified. Walls was a sleeper until we saw him and ranked him #5 among wing forwards at the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions a month ago. Right now we have Walls #132 nationally and that is real fair, but it wouldn't surprise us a bit, if he turns out to be a star at Boston College. He's a terrific athlete and he has plenty of upside.

Tuesday, June 23, 1998

Today is a monumental occasion, because after a year and a half of planning and compiling data, you can get our complete national player list by going to our National Player List page. To get there click on Player List. Then click on whatever class you want and our database will sort all the players ranked in order nationally in the class. However, make sure you have some time (it took 15 miuntes for my computer to transfer the Class of '99 onto my screen) and a lot of memory on your computer.. However, it is well worth the wait. Also worth noting is the fact that we have combined 5th Year, Prep School, and Foreign players who are being recruited to America under Class of '97.

Chris Johnson, our Ohio Correspondent, also is second to none in Iowa, as for the second time a week, he has scooped everybody with a commitment by an Iowa junior to Northwestern. Last week the Wildcats got a commitment from 6'9 Jr Adam Robinson from Cedar Falls (H.S.) IA. Now Johnson is reporting that head coach Kevin O'Neill has a commitment from 6'10 Aaron Jennings from Van Horne (Benton County) IA.

Virginia Commonwealth won't be getting 6'9 Devon Wade from Hagerstown (JC) MD, who was ranked as one of the top junior college players in America last year, because he won't be graduating from junior college. However, VCU still has the best recruiting class in the Colonial Athletic Association. And now it's not even close, because they signed 6'10 Fdor Lilcholitou from Russia, who reportedly was one of the top five players in the Albert Schweitzer Youth International Tournament in Mannheim, Germany in early April.

Several weeks ago 6'7 Jr Jamario Moon from someplace in rural Alabama and 6'6 Jr Danny Jones from Birmingham (Carver) AL both transferred to Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC. However, they didn't last long at this basketball factory in Durham, which has more raw talent than any of the area ACC powers. Apparently, the both will be returning home to Alabama, but we're not sure where either player will end up, because Carver High School has closed and we never knew where Moon was from in the first place. Speaking of Moon, we understand that he's so crazy that he makes Corey Hightower look normal, but he can play. As a matter of fact, Mt. Zion Christian head coach Joel Hopkins had apparently sold Moon on the fact that he could become the next Tracy McGrady.

Monday, June 22, 1998

The Pittsburgh Jots beat Bucks County, 81-76, yesterday in the championship game of the Keystone Blazers Invitational at Radnor, PA and 6'4 J David Young from New Castle (H.S.) PA, who is one of the fastest rising players in the nation was named MVP. Young, who had 20 points in the title game, was complemented by 6'10 Jr John Grove from Grove City (George Jr. Republic) PA, who chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds, and 6'7 Soph John Pawlak from Natrona Heights (Highlands) PA, who add 13 points. Also worth mentioning was the 35 point scoring effort by 6'0 Jr Todd Billet from Lincroft (Christian) Brothers) NJ in the semi-finals. However, the best prospect HOOP SCOOP Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin saw all weekend was 6'1 Frosh DaJuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ.

Now that is it official that Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson won't be back next year, we can have fun speculating on who the new Bulls head coach might be. The obvious favorite has to be Iowa State head coach Tim Floyd, because he has close ties to Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause. However, it is our understanding that it is unlikely that Michael Jordan would play for Floyd if he were hired as coach of the Bulls next seaon. Instead, it has been suggested that Jordan might be more receptive to playing for somebody like former Seattle SuperSonics head coach George Karl or Kansas head coach Roy Williams. If you will recall, Williams was an assistant coach at North Carolina when Jordan played for the Tar Heels in the early '80s and Karl also is a North Carolina alumnus.

Sunday, June 21, 1998

When Indiana University head coach Bob Knight retires, who do you think will he will recommend as his successor? How about his son Patrick Knight, who at 27 years of age already has experience as a scout with the Phoenix Suns and as head coach of the Wisconsin Blast in the International Basketball Association and the Columbus Cagerz of the World Basketball League. The younger Knight now is in the perfect position for his father to eventually try and get him his job, because Patrick has been named to fill the assistant coaching position at Indiana that became open recently when Craig Hartman decided to leave the Indiana staff to pursue other endeavors. Whether Knight can actually pull this off remains to be seen , but I'd be willing to bet that he tries. Maybe in about five years, after Patrick has enough experience to take over the job, "The General" will retire two weeks before the start of the season, similiar to the way former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith ensured that his long time assistant coach Bill Guthridge would get the Carolina job.

He wasn't quick enough or athletic enough for the University of Kentucky to offer last fall, but all 6'9 J.R. Van Hoose from Paintsville (H.S.) KY, who signed with Marshall last fall, has done at the high school level is win. In addition to leading his team to the final four of the Kentucky State High School Tournament each of the last three years, including the state title in 1996, Kentucky's Mr. Basketball overcame back spasms that had sidelined him earlier in the week to lead the Kentucky All-Stars to a 80-76 victory over the Indiana All-Sar last night in Frankfort, KY. Van Hoose, who was both the leading scorer and rebounder in the game with 24 points and 14 rebounds, was complemented by 6'6 David Graves from Lexington (Catholic) KY and 5'9 Dominick Taylor from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, who did most of the damage late in the game for the Kentucky All-Stars. Indiana University's 6'3 Tommy Coverdale from Noblesville (H.S.) IN and Purdue's 6'7 Rodney Smith from Indianapolis (Pike) IN led the Indiana All-Star's in scoring with 16 points and 14 points, respectively.

Saturday, June 20, 1998

The big news out of Los Angeles is that 6'9 Jerome Moiso from France via Milford (Academy) CT, who ranks #2 on our prep school and foreign players list, has finally gotten the necessary score on the SAT, and, as a result, will be eligible to play next year as a freshman for the Bruins.

UCLA already has the #1 ranked recruiting class, but the Bruins may not be done yet. They are still recruiting 6'9 David Anderson from Australia, but a commitment probably won't be forthcoming until August when he is expected to decide between playing for UCLA or turning professional in Australia. UCLA also is still among the final three, along with Texas and Texas Tech, for 6'8 Chris Owens, who is transferring from Tulane. However, if UCLA gets Owens, he would not count in the recruiting class, because transfers don't count with our rankings of recruiting classes.

Despite recent rumors regarding 6'5 Jr Kareem Rush from Kansas City (Pembroke Hill) MO being close to making a commitment to Duke, we still think UCLA is way out in front for both Rush and 6'9 Jr Carloz Boozer from Juneau (Dougals) AK. However, 6'7 Jr Jason Kapono from Lakewood (Artesia) CA is also a big prioirty for next year UCLA and they are also recruiting Kapono's teammate 6'8 Jr Justin Davis, 6'11 Jr Ryan Wildenborg from Kirkland (Juanita) WA, 6'9 Jr Courtland Freeman from Myrtle Beach (Socastee) SC, and 6'9 Jr Andrew Gooden from El Cerrito(H.S.) CA.

Tonight in Frankfort, KY the Kentucky All-Stars will meet the Indiana All-Stars in the first of two games in the 59 year old annual series. The Kentucky All-Stars includes Kentucky's Mr. Basketball 6'9 J.R. Van Hoose from Paintville (HS.) KY, 6'3 Todd Tackett from Painstville (H.S.) KY, 6'5 Eric Brown from Lexington (Bryan Station) KY, 6'6 David Graves from Lexington (Catholic) KY, 6'3 J.P. Blevins from Edmonton (Metcalfe County) KY, 6'6 Wes Burtner from Winchester (Clark County) KY, 6'8 Harold Swanagan from Hopkinsville (University Heights) KY, 6'5 Jaron Brown from Lexington (Bryan Station) KY, 6'2 Casey Simpson from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY, 6'9 Aaron Morgan from Richmond (Madison Central) KY, 6'5 Quintin Bailey from Louisville (Iroquois) KY, 5'9 Dominick Taylor from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, and 6'6 Thadeus Key from Russellville (H.S.) KY. The Indiana All-Stars includes Indiana's Mr. Basketball 6'3 Tommy Coverdale from Noblesville (H.S.) IN, 6'6 Kueth Duany from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'2 Clint Keown from Evansville (Memorial) IN, 6'4 Isaac Kincaid from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'6 Rodney Smith from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'6 Rylan Hainje from Indianapolis (Central) IN, 6'5 Ben Corley from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN, 6'7 Djibril Kante from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'0 Maynard Lewis from Terre Haute (South) IN, 5'11 Patrick Jackson from Muncie (Delta) IN, 5'10 Robbie Kent from North Vernon (Jennings County) IN, 6'9 Adam Ballinger from Bluffton (H.S.) IN, 6'11 John Allison from New Palestine (H.S.) IN, and 6'3 Greg Tonagel from LaPorte (H.S.) IN.

Friday, June 19, 1998

Two of the better players in Louisville - 6'4 Quintin Bailey from Louisville (Iroquois) KY and 6'3 Aaron Knight from Louisville (Ballard) KY - have both elected to stay home and walk-on at the University of Louisville next year. This is extremely important, because Knight's younger brother - 6'5 Soph Cedric Knight from Louisville (Ballard) KY, who has had a great spring and, as a result, will rank as the #1 junior in Kentucky when HOOP SCOOP Kentucky Editor Larry Kihnley finishes his new Kentucky Report next week - will likely follow his older brother to Louisville. And in all likelihood so will 6'8 Soph Mac Wilkinson, who is former Louisville star Felton Spencer's younger brother, and 6'9 Frosh Brandon Bender, also both from Louisville (Ballard) KY. If that wasn't enough to ensure that Ballard High School will be a national power for the next several years, rumor has it that 6'1 Soph DaJuan Wagner from Cademn (H.S.) KY may be transferring to, you guessed it, Louisvllle (Ballard) KY. Actually, we know for a fact that Wagner has been in Louisville recenty looking at high schools. If you will recall, earlier this weeek we reported that Wagner would likely leave Camden (H.S.) NJ, unless his father , Milt Wagner, gets the head coaching job.

Any idea who new head coach Tom Penders is going to hire at George Washington as his assistants? How about Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY head coach Gary Decesare, who already has close ties with Penders. As a matter of fact, Decesare sent both Vohn Hunter and Terrance Rencher to play for Pender at Texas. Not only would hiring Decesare make perfect sense, but it would also give Penders the inside track at getting two of the top four players in New York City next year in 6'2 Jr Majestic Mapp and 6'7 Jr Gregory Morton, both from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY.

We are in the process of finishing Wayne Simone's New England Report and and our pre-summer national player list, but we do have the Oklahoma Report ready. You can get to this report by clicking on report Oklahoma. A special thanks to Greg Swaim, who publishes Midwest Basketball, because he got this report to us on almost a moments notice. Swaim also runs a mumber of excellent events including the Converse Summer Jam on July 31st at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK and the Converse September Slam on September 19th at Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City, OK. For more information about his publication and/or both events call Midwest Basketball/Converse Shootouts at (405) 377-HOOP or check out their Web Site on the Internet at Midwest Basketball.

Thursday, June 18, 1998

Yesterday was a daily double for players from Iowa making early commimments to colleges, as 6'9 Jr Adam Robinson from Cedar Falls (H.S.) IA committed to Northwestern and 6'9 Jr Jason Sarchet from Newell (Newell-Fonda) IA picked Drake over Creighton, Nebraska, and South Dakota State.

It should be official later this afternoon - former University of Texas head coach Tom Penders will be announced as the new head coach George Washington University. While it may be hard to equal former head coach Mike Jarvis on the bench, there is no doubt that Penders will still take the program to another level, because he should be able to recruit like crazy, as players love the wideopen style that made Penders to successful at both Rhode Island and Texas.

We've been hearing for some time that University of Washington signee 6'7 Doug Wrenn from Seattle (O'Dea) WA, who ranks #14 nationally in the graduating senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is prep school bound. However, we didn't know what school he plans to attend until yesterday when we found out it will be Milford (Academy) CT.

Wednesday, June 17, 1998

The graduating senior class in Georgia is way down, but the junior and sophomore classes are loaded.  Our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis' takes a look at all of the top juniors in Georgia, plus that sensational freshman 6'4 Rashaad Carruth from Decatur (Cathedral Prep) GA, in his Georgia Report, which is now complete. To got to his report click on Georgia.

St. Joseph's, Cincinnati, Villanova, South Carolina, Virginia, Penn State, Drexel, USC, and San Francisco are the leaders for 6'4 Jr John Cox from Philadelphia (Eng. & Science) PA, who ranks #9 in the Philadelphia Area by Allen Rubin and #167 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.

Today is the deadline for players to take their name out of the NBA draft and Chris Monter, Editor and Publisher of the Monter Draft News, is reporting that five players have done exactly that. They are 6'11 Dirk Nowitzki from Germany, 6'11 Lamar Odom from Rhode Island, 6'10 Bud Eley from SE Missouri State, 6'7 Rico Harris from L.A. City (JC) CA, and 6'9 Lee Nailon from Texas Christian.

When we first knew Ray Martin, he was an assistant coach under Jim Valvano at N.C. State. Then he spent several years at Tennessee under Wade Houston and later paid his dues as an assistant coach at Florida A&M and Miami-OH. Those years at the lower Division I level should prove especially valuable now, because Martin, who is one of the best people in the business, is returing home to New York as the new head coach at Long Island University. Martin gets the job over Rutgers assistant coach Rob Lanier, who played a big part in the Scarlets Knights current top 20 recruiting class, which is one of the best in school history.

The list for 5'11 Jr point guard Kevin Lee from Lansing (Everett) MI, who ranks #9 in Michigan by Stephen Bell and #199 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, includes Michigan, UNC-Charlotte, Cincinnati, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan. Right now Michigan appears to be the early favorite, because they're showing the most interest - they send him something every day.

Tuesday, June 16, 1998

The Summer Camp season is just around the corner and games at the two biggest events - the NIKE All-American Camp and the adidas ABCD Camp - will both begin on July 7th and end on July 10th. George Raveling, who is NIKE's director of summer basketball operations, tells us that July 7th will be a full day at NIKE in Indianapolis, IN, despite the fact that college coaches are not allowed out until the July 8th, with stations in the morning and a full schedule of games in both the afternoon and evening. On July 7th the same holds true for the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ. However, unlike NIKE, which will end at noon on Friday, July 10th, the adidas Camp will have a single elimination tournament that will begin at 9:00 AM and run through 4:00 PM, followed by several all-star games Friday night. Also unlike the NIKE Camp, which is closed to the public, the adidas Camp is open and the charge is $5 per person per session.

6'5 Jr Brian Wethers from Murrietta (Murrietta Valley) CA, who is ranked #35 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is still wide open, but the schools that are showing the most interest are Kansas, Notre Dame, Utah, Duquesne, Michigan, Kentucky, N.C. State, Duke, UCLA,and USC.

According to David Benezra, the Editor and Publisher of Recruiting USA, 6'11 Dirk Nowitzki from Germany will likely play professionally overseas next year. "It is the ideal situation," says Benezra. "He can avoid the uncertainty of the lockout and get paid more to play and train next year in Europe than he could by directly making the jump into the NBA. I hear he has offers to play in both Spain and Italy for $1.5 million and that 's net, not gross."

Monday, June 15, 1998

Ohio State, Northwestern, Tennessee, and Purdue are all still on the list for 7'1 Jr Nathan Popp from Lexington (Catholic) KY, but you can write it down, if Kentucky offers him. Assuming they do, Popp plans to red-shirt his first year. Another player that Kentucky will likely get is 6'7 Jr Derek Smith from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY, but the Wildcats won't have to tie up a basketball scholarship to get him, because he's also who currently ranked as the #1 football player in the state. Right now Kentucky is the heavy favorite for Smith, Ohio State is second on his list, and Tennessee, Penn State, Michigan, and Purdue are also still in the hunt.

Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin talked with 6'9 Jr Stephen Pelle from Mercersburg (H.S.) PA and 6'8 Jr Andrew Sullivan from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ during the weekend and got a list of schools from both players. Pelle, who is already academically qualified  (3.75 gpa and 1120 SAT), likes Colordado, Villanova, Michigan, UCLA, Notre Dame, Florida, Stanford, and Baylor. Sullivan already has narrowed his list to Villanova, Duke, Maryland, Connecticut, and Indiana.

Now that Mike Jarvis has the St. John's job, it is going to be interesting to see how the new regime recruits New York City. If you will recall, Jarvis doesn't have much of a history recruiting in the Big Apple, which is a must for any coach to be successful at St. John's, and he has never been a high profile guy on the recruiting trail. However, one thing is for sure. Jarvis should be successful as long as 6'1 Erick Barkley from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME is running the point. And look for Barkley to have an immedidate impact next year, because he did recently get the necessary score on the SAT, which means he will be eligible to play next year as a freshman.

Sunday, June 14, 1998

This weekend we finished the Ohio Report and you can easy get to it by clicking on Ohio. This brings the number of state-by-state reports we have completely finished and entered into our database to eight. The other area include New York, Philadelphia, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, and Michigan. We are also hoping to finish the Georgia and New England Reports this week and then finalize our national player list by early next week. Then the summer officially starts for me, as I will be off to the Five Star Honesdale I, the Pro Am  DC Summer Classic in Washington, DC, and the NBA Players Association Camp at Princeton, NJ. All three events will be exclusively covered by the HOOP SCOOP on a daily basis.

The latest list for 6'7 Jr George Williams from Sugar Land (Elkins) TX, who ranks as the #1 junior in Texas and a top 20 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, includes Texas, Houston, UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke.

Ron Naclerio talked with New York (Rice) NY head coach Maurice Hicks yesterday and got the latest recruiting update on all of his players. The list for 6'1 Jr Ken Satterfield, who ranks #3 in New York City's junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is seemingly endless, but Clemson, Virginia, Miami-FL, Pittsburgh, and Xavier are showing the most interest. Miami-Fl, Xavier, Richmond, and Virginia Tech are the leaders for 6'3 Jr Kevin Bell, who is the #8 ranked junior in New York by the HOOP SCOOP. 5'8 Andre Barrett is only a sophomore, but he loves Duke. As a matter of fact, if the Blue Devils offered tomorrow, he'd probably commit.

Due to a fight in a state playoff game in March, the New Jersey State High School Athletic Association has barred Camden (H.S.) NJ from participating in the boys' state tournament and has limited the team to playing conference games only for the next two years. It also has recommended that long time legendary head coach Clarence Turner be suspended next season. Turner is presently appealing the suspension, but if he loses, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that both Kevin Walls and Milt Wagner, both former Camden greats, are among the leading candidates for the job. The smart money is on Wagner, because there are already rumors that his son 6'2 Frosh DaJuan Wagner, who promises to be the best player in the history of the school, is thinking about transferring to a high school in Louisville, KY. If you will recall, Wagner led the University of Louisville to the NCAA Championship in 1986 and Louisville is the heavy favorite to get his son when he graduates from high school in three years.

Saturday, June 13, 1998

We've been reporting since March that LaSean Howard was transferring from Syracuse, but only today did we learn where Howard is transferring - Long Beach State. And it makes perfect sense. If you will recall, Long Beach State head coach Wayne Morgan was formerly an assistant coach at Syracuse and was responsible for recruiting both Howard and Ramel Lloyd, another Orangeman who transferred to Long Beach State a year ago, the first time around.

As of now 6'11 Dirk Nowitzki from Germany has not taken his name out of the NBA draft, so whether he tries to play at a four year college next soon could become a mute point. Therefore, it might be a good time to spectulate on where he might get picked on June 24th. We understand that Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino loves Nowitzki, but it would be a major surprise if Nowitzki was still available when the Celtics pick at #10. So obviously they'd have to trade up to have a shot to get him. We also understand that Denver has interest in picking Nowitzki #3 and Vancouver is thinking about trading their #2 pick, which brings us to two very interesting questions. Does Boston have anybody that they could trade besides Ron Mercer to get the #2 pick? If you were Vancouver, would you trade the #2 to pick to the Celtics for Mercer?

We hear that the George Washington job is Tom Penders' job if he wants it. However, it looks like he is having second thoughts, because he just signed a television contact that is worth over $300,000, which means he's in no hurry to take the first job that comes along. As a result, Penders obviously thinks he will may get a better head coaching job if he waits until next spring.

Friday, June 12, 1998

Among the players we were impressed with the most at the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions several weeks ago were 6'2 Jr Majestic Mapp and 6'7 Jr Gregory Morton, both from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY. It looks like N.C. State was also very impressed, because the Wolfpack coaching staff has offered both players and we understand from very reliable sources that the feeling is mutual. As a result, N.C. State is now the heavy favorite to package both Mapp and Morton. And remember where you heard it first!

We mentioned yesterday that we currently working on our national pre-summer player list, but we didn't give you a preview of our ranking of the top 10 players nationally in the junior class. Now we will! The top dozen juniors in order are 6'10 Jr Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL, 6'4 Jr Keith Bogans from DeMatha (Hyattsville) MD, 6'11 Jr Jonathan Bender from Picayune (H.S.) MS, 6'9 Jr Carlos Boozer from Juneau (Douglas) AK, 6'9 Jr Dermarr Johnson from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, 6'11 Casey Sanders from Tampa (Prep) FL, 6'2 Jr Brett Nelson from St. Alban's (H.S.) WV, 5'10 Jr Jason Gardner from Indianapois (North Central) IN, 6'7 Jr Donnell Harvey from Cuthbert (Randolph Clay) GA, 6'9 Jr Matt Bonner from Concord (H.S.) NH, 6'7 Jr Damien Wilkins from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, and 6'3 Jr Kevin Gaines from Las Vegas (Clark) NV.

If former Texas head coach Tom Penders gets the George Washington job, that will stop some of the domino effect, because right now he's out of the college loop. However, if Rhode Island head coach Jim Harrick goes to the Los Angles Clippers and/or Iowa State head coach Tim Floyd takes the Chicago Bulls job, we would still anticipate a lot more movement still to come this summer in terms of coaches moving and getting jobs.

Thursday, June 11, 1998

We are in the process of putting together our national pre-summer player list, which will include the top 1000 graduating seniors, top 1000 juniors, top 1000 sophomores, and top 500 freshmen. The graduating senior class is subpar and the sophomore class is solid at best, but the junior class and the freshman are both loaded. Speaking of the top freshmen, 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Decatur (Cathedral Prep) GA now edges out 6'11 Frosh Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA as the #1 player in the class of 2001, after his performance in the NIKE World Junior Tournament in France last week. Carruth goes back and forth between North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Right now the Tar Heels are his favorite school followed by Georgia Tech, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, Michigan, California, and Arizona.

When Dennis Felton got the head coaching job at Western Kentucky in March, he didn't know if he'd be able to sign anybody, because he didn't have any scholarships available. But apparently some players are leaving, because the Hilltoppers already have signed three pretty good players this spring in 6'3 Bennie Stewart from Concordville (Glen Mills) PA, 6'5 Quentin Smith from Milford (Academy) CT, and 6'4 Tremaine Rowles from Baltimore (Lake College Prep) MD and now they are addding a transfer in 6'10 Brian Allenspach, who is leaving Davidson.

Two more names we've heard for the George Washington job are former University of Texas head coach Tom Penders and former University of Virginia head coach Jeff Jones. Right now Penders, who we understand interviewed for the George Washington job yesterday, appears to be the leading candidate.

Wednesday, June 10, 1998

It is a well known fact that Kentucky is the heavy favorite for 6'10 Jr Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL, who ranks as the #1 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but the rest of his list has not been so widely publicized.  It also includes North Carolina, Indiana, Florida State, and Alabama. Speaking of Alabama, if new Crimson Tide head coach Mark Gottfried can't successfully turn the tide with Stone, it will be come even that much more important for him to land 6'7 Jr Rob Grizzard from Birmighan (Central Park Christian) AL and/or 6'8 Jr Erwin Dudley from Union (R.C. Hatch) AL, who rank as the #2 and #3 players in Alabama's junior class. Right now Grizzard's list includes Alabama, Auburn, UAB, Florida State, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Texas. Dudley likes Alabama, Auburn, Missisippi, Georgetown, and UAB.

It won't be officially announced that Mike Jarvis is taking the St. John's job until tomorrow, but we understand that George Washington University has already asked for and received permission to talk with both Delaware head coach Mike Brey and Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff. We hear that Brey is the first choice, because he's a Washington, DC guy (an alumnus of DeMatha High School and George Washington University), but we hear he'll might not take the job, because he wants to stay and finish the job at Delaware, where he expects to win big next year. This means Wolff, who is very tight with a number of the people in the athletic department, including Don Perno (Wolffe played for Perno in college at the University of Connecticut) at George Washington will likely get the job. If this happens, look for Virginia assistant coach Bobby Gonzalez, who has close ties with Rick Pitino, to be in line for the Boston University job.

Another one of the top players at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago, IL, June 2nd-5th, was Bryce Drew, but Ron Naclerio of the HOOP SCOOP didn't rank him among the top five players who helped themselves the most in camp, because Drew was out the last two days with a pulled hamstring. "If you were looking for a higher classed version of Matt Maloney, you loved him," says Naclerio. "But if you were looking for somebody who can run and press, you didn't like him so much. Apparently one of the teams that is expecially high on Drew is the Houston Rockets. If Drew is still available, look for the Rockets to use either the #16 or #18 pick, both of which the received in the trade with Toronto for Kevin Willis, to draft him.

Tuesday, June 9, 1998

One of our best people is our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman and late last night we finally finished entering all the names and editing his latest Tennessee Report, which might be his best ever, as it includes all those terrific freshmen we saw on the 15-Under Tennessee Travelers AAU Team two weeks ago at the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC. The complete list of all the top players in Tennessee by class is available by clicking on Tennessee, which will link you to our Tennessee Report. Then go to the bottom of the page and click on Tennessee again and you will be linked to the list.

It looks like the Mike Jarvis situation has gone full circle. Last week he was in as the St. John's coach, then he was out, then it was a wait and see situation. "But now it's over," says HOOP SCOOP Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin. "The only question now is when they'll schedule the press conference. New York is a pro town and they may want to wait until after game #4 of the NBA finals in order to ensure the most publicity. If that happens, don't look for an annoucement until Thursday."

It was a done deal, but Virginia couldn't get 6'11 Leroy Womack, who is transferring from LSU, into school. Instead, we now look for Womack to end up at someplace like McNeese State. Not only is Cowboys head coach Ron Everhart recruiting the heck of Womack, but Everhart, who formerly was an assistant coach at Tulane before taking over at McNeese State, has the connects to pull this one off. Getting back to Virgnia, don't be surprised if the Cavaliers get an early commiment from 6'0 Jr Todd Billet from Lincroft (Christian Brothers) NJ, who also has Rutgers, Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern, and St. John's on his list.

Monday, June 8, 1998

We announced last week that Illinois State had gotten a commitment from 6'1 Isaac Kincaid from Indianapolis (Pike) IN and now it looks like head coach Kevin Stallings has also stolen 6'5 Shelton Wise from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME. Not only does this move Illinois State's recruting class into the #1 poistion in the Missouri Valley Conference just ahead of Wichita State, but it moves their class from #106 to #61 nationally. Wise's commitment to Illinois State also is important, because he's the 10th player at Maine Central Institute to sign with a Division I school this a year. St.  John's got 6'1 Erick Barkley, Boston College signed 6'3 Clinton Sims, Villanova landed 6'2 Bobby Smith, Georgtown inked 6'1 Kevin Braswell, Maine stole 6'2 Huggy Dye, N.C. State got 6'8 Keith Bean, Eastern Kentucky took 6'4 Williams Morris, West Virginia landed 6'8 John Oliver, and Xavier resigned 6'6 Aaron Turner.

Millersville University, a Division II school in Pennyslvania, has gotten commitments from two excellent players for a program at this level in 6'1 Khari McKie from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA and 6'4 Tim Blume from Archibald (Valley View) PA.

Baylor assistant coach Mike Wilson is not somebody you want to go head-to-head recruiting against, because he's like a quiet assassin - you usually don't notice him, but he nearly always seems to get his man. At the top of his list is 6'7 Terry Black from Indian Hills (JC) IA, who promises to be one of the leading candidates for National Junior College Player-of-the-Year honors next year. We also understand that Baylor is one of the favorites for 6'9 Stephen Pelle from Mercersburg (H.S.) PA and, if 6'8 Ugonna Onyekwe from Mercersburg (Prep) PA, who signed last fall with Long Beach State, decides to return to prep school for another year, we wouldn't be surprised if Wilson successfully packages Pelle and Onyekwe.

We understand that St. John's is still trying to work things out with George Washington head coach Mark Jarvis and, if they do, the leading candidates for the George Washington job would like be Delaware head coach Mike Brey, Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff, Drexel head coach Billy Herrion, current George Washington assistant coach Kevin Clark, and former George Washington and current California assistant coach Scott Beeten.

6'6 Jr Casey Jacobsen from Glendora (H.S.) CA was recently quoted on the Duke Basketball Report Web Site saying: "I don't mind, going to a school like Duke, because of all the tradition, and it's one of the best academic schools along with basketball in the nation. I'm not looking to stay home. Playing at Duke would be a dream. Who would turn down that? Whether I'm from a different continent or in California, I don't care." Somehow somebody has managed to twist that into a verbal commitment for the Blue Devils. Not only has this not happened, but we would be very surprised if Jacobsen picked ever picked Duke. Kentucky's also still on his list, but he's not going there either. It's either going to be Stanford or Utah, but as Mike Miller has pointed out on his West Coast Hoops Web Site, it will very difficult for somebody who is as gifted academically as Jacobsen is, to turn Staford down, despite the fact that his favorite coach is Utes head coach Rick Majerus.

Sunday, June 7, 1998

If it seems like 6'5 Schea Cotton from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT has been around forever, he has been. If you will recall, after receiving tremendous notoriety in junior high school, he repeated 8th grade. He then enrolled at Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, but during his high school season transferred to Bellflower (St. John Boscoe) CA. However, he was missing in action most of his junior and senior year due to injuries and academic problems. Schea signed with Long Beach State a year and a half ago, but got out of it because his brother (James Cotton)  had decided not to return to Long Beach State for his senior year. Instead, Jmaes was going hardship into the NBA draft, so the NCAA gave Schea an exemption and let him out of his letter-of-intent. Last spring Schea signed with UCLA, but the NCAA invalidated his SAT score the week before school started last fall, due to the fact that he received special help from the testing service. Apparently he took the test without a time limit. His family contends that he has a learning disability, but the NCAA says it didn't receive proper information about it. So last fall Cotton enrolled in prep school with every intention of honoring his commitment to UCLA. But during the winter he eliminated the Bruins, instead picking N.C. State over Syracuse, Connecticut, and  Georgia Tech. Despite the fact Cotton went to prep school and pased the test again, history appears to have repeated itself, as the NCAA did the same thing again last week by ruling him ineligible to play next year at N.C. State. Where will Cotton end up next? Prep school for another year. Junior college. The NBA. The CBA. At N.C. State as a Prop 48 casualty. He still has plenty of options and I'm sure the story will continue to be interesting

We continue to hear that an exception will be made by the NCAA for 6'11 Dirk Nowitzki from Germany so that he can go to California or Kentucky. However, we'd be surprised, because when we talked with the NCAA a month ago, they told us that his being in the military and taking some classes in a college in Germany didn't change anything. He was still in their eyes somebody who had given up his amateur status and he was not eligible for an exception, because he was not currently a member institution that was part of their organization. But let's say for a minute that he does appeal to the NCAA and gets his college eligibility restored. How smart is that? He's the only potential franchise player in the NBA draft and just like Kevin Garnett, I'd pick Nowitzki #1 in the draft. Just for the record, when Garnett came out, everybody thought I was nuts, because in Basketball Times, I said I'd trade Scottie Pippen to whoever had the #1 pick, so I'd be sure to get Garnett. Maybe Boston Celtics general manager Rick Pitino can work a deal, whereby, he trades Ron Mercer and the Celtics #10 pick to the Clippers for Nowitzki. As it stands now, we're hearing that Denver is interested in drafting Nowitzki at #3, but we still don't think most pro scouts know how good this guy is or how much potential he has.

Saturday, June 6, 1998

How good is 6'10 Jr Marvin Stone from Huntsville (Grissom) AL, who ranks as the #1 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP? Good enough to be named MVP of the NIKE World Junior Tournament in France last week, despite that Stone's team, the L.A. Sports Express, lost to Russia and Haiti and, as a result, didn't make it out of pool play, despite the fact they beat the eventual champion (Turkey). Not only did Stone make his presence felt inside, but he also impressed scouts with his ability to take his man away from the basket, as he hit four consecutive 3-pointers during one stretch. Also playing especially well for the L.A. Sports Express were 6'4 Frosh Rashaad Carruth from Decatur (Cathedral Prep) GA and 6'10 Wesley Wilson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA, who is expected to raise his value dramatically next year in prep school.

Ron Naclerio of the HOOP SCOOP was at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago, IL, June 2nd-5th, and he reports that the players he feels helped themselves the most were 6'9 Demarco Johnson from UNC-Charlotte, 6'7 Ruben Patterson from Cincinnati, 6'7 Tremaine Fowlkes from Fresno State, 6'2 Rafer Alston from Fresno State, and 6'9 Jahidi White from Georgetown. Naclerio also liked 5'10 Tyson Wheeler from Rhode Island, but adds that his lack of size will scare a lot of scouts. A guy nobody had ever heard of before was 6'5 Mike Campbell from Long Island University, but he helped himself enough to be considered the biggest sleeper to emerge at the camp. Another surprise was 6'5 Felipe Lopez of St. John's. Among the guys who showed that they aren't ready now and probably should have waited a year or two to come out are 6'5 Ricky Davis from Iowa and 6'7 Korleone Young from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA. Among the bigger disappointments were 5'11 Tyrone Lue from Nebraska, 6'3 Charles Jones from Long Island University, 6'11 Randall Jackson from Florida State, and 6'4 Miles Simon from Arizona.

We are finally done with our ranking of players signed by conference who rank among the top 100 in high school or the equivalent in junior college or prep school. The winners were the Southeastern Conference and the Big East Conference, which tied at 26 top 100 players each, followed by Conference USA with 25, the Pacific 10 Conference with 23, and the Western Athletic Conference and the Big 12 with 18 each. Extremely interesting is the fact the Big East Conference finished tied with most top 100 players signed, but had only five players who rank among the top 40 or higher, which is less than any other other elite conferences mentioned above, except for the Western Athletic Conference. For a complete list of the top 100 players signed by conference, click on different.