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Thursday, March 31, 2005

The Most Valuable Player Award in the McDonald's All-American Game last night in South Bend, IN went to 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, who finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.  However, McRoberts only scored three points in the second half when his team was making a comeback from a 65-43 half-time deficit and, as a result, would not have been our choice for game MVP honors.  Instead, we would have given this prestigious award to either 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX or 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK.  Green, who also played on the East Squad, which beat the West Squad, 115-110, hit his first five shots, four of which were 3-pointers, en route to a 24-point effort that included six 3-pointers and 10 points after the intermission.  As a matter of fact, Green was so good that he has to have been the player in the game who helped himself the most in the eyes of the NBA Scouts and General Managers who were in attendance last night.  Chalmers only had two points in the first half, but he hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch en route to a 20-point effort for the losing West Squad.  However, neither of these two players is going to Duke, which is the school that ESPN and it's announcers are so blatantly biased toward that it's tough to listen to.  We also were impressed with 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored the first eight points of the game, as the West Squad jumped out to an early lead.  But, even more important, Webster, who finished with 16 points, let it be known that he plans to attend college next year at the University of Washington, which is where he signed during the Fall Signing Period.  And, this is important, because Webster is our choice for National Player-of-the-Year honors and we live in a day-and-age when most of the top high school players think they're ready to by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft.  Did you know that our choice for National Player-of-the-Year - 6'11 Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA and 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary') OH - each of the last two years was the #1 pick in the NBA Draft in 2003 and 2004, respectively, and prior to that 6'8 Carmelo Anthony from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA in 2002, 6'2 DaJuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ in 2001, 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) in 2000, and 6'7 Donnell Harvey from Cuthbert (Randolph Clay) GA in 1999 lasted only one year in college and 6'8 Al Harrington from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ in 1998 entered the NBA straight out of high school?  In other words, even, if Webster does enroll at the University of Washington next fall, don't expect him to stay the enter four years, unless they put an age limit in when the NBA Players Association Union re-negotiates their collective bargaining agreement this summer.  We also were disappointed that the prolific scoring battle between 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who had only eight points, and 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, who had 14 points, didn't materialize, as both players finished with only one 3-pointer and several explosive moves to the basket.  Instead, the other heroes were 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, who finished with 13 points and made two big free throws to ice the game in the final minute; 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, who had 15 points and impressed with his aggressiveness and willingness to do all the little things that don't show up in the box score; 6'3 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who scored 13 points, but did most of his damage off transition; and 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, who scored 13 points and impressed with his outside shooting.  Also hitting a pair of 3-pointers and finishing with eight points was 6'8 Micah Downes from Bothell (H.S.) WA, but, in his case, any thoughts about whether he should by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft should have been put to rest.  Also scoring nine points was 6'11 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ, but most of this came off garbage inside.  And chipping in with seven points apiece were 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, and 6'6 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY; 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, and 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA all had six points apiece; 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA had four points; 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL had two points; 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA had a point; and 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 6'9 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, and 6'11 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE all failed to score.  Speaking of Boateng, our International Editor Chris Johnson tells us that he's been scratched from participating in the NIKE Hoop Summit, which will be held in Memphis, TN on Saturday, April 9th.  And taking Boateng's place will be Indiana-bound 6'9 Ben Allen from Australia, who is supposed to be the second best international player who has signed with a four-year Division I school in this recruiting class.  We also have the rosters for the Derby Classic All-Star Game, which will be held on Saturday, April 16th, in Louisville, KY.  The Black Team will include Kansas-bound 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, Louisville-bound 5'10 Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, Memphis-bound 6'5 Antonio Anderson from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, Maryland-bound 6'7 Shane Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, Louisville-bound 6'5 Terrance Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, Tennessee-bound 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaksi (Giles County) TN, Notre Dame-bound 6'7 Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, N.C. State-bound 6'9 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, Louisville-bound 6'8 Chad Millard from Brewster (Wolfeboro Academy) NH, Louisville-bound 7'0 Jonathan Huffman from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, Louisville-bound 7'0 Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Harlan) IL, and Notre Dame-bound 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN.  The Gold Team will include Duke-bound 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, UCLA-bound 6'2 Darren Collison from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, Arizona-bound 6'7 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA, Arizona-bound 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN, Indiana-bound 6'6 Joey Shaw from Chandler (H.S.) IN, Alabama-bound 6'6 Alonzo Gee from West Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL, UCLA-bound 6'8 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON, Mississippi State 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, Syracuse-bound 6'9 Arinze Onuaku from Alexandria (Episcopal Academy) VA, and 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Uche Echefu from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 7'1 Jared Carter from Georgetown (Scott County) KY, and 6'0 Dominic Tilford from Jeffersontown (H.S.) KY, all of whom are undecided.  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio provides us the rosters for both National Game and the Regional Game of the Jordan Classic, which will be held at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 16th.  And there is only one change from the original roster in the National Game that we published on February 10th.  We're talking about the addition of 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, who will be on the Home Team, along with 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent ( Prep) CT,6'11 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) RI,  6'7 Jon Brockman from Smohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'3 Lewis Clinch from Cordale (Crisp County) GA, 6'8 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Provine) MS, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, and 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA.  The Away Team will include 6'11 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ, 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'8 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'6 Calvin Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'11 Magnum Rolle from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'9 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL.  The City Team in the Regional Game will feature 6'5 Chris Bethel from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'9 Mike Davis from Brooklyn (Banneker) NY, 6'5 Drew Gladstone from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'4 Akeem Gooding from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'5 Steve McKoy from New York (Frederick Douglass) NY, 6'0 Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'4 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'7 Steve Rossiter from Staten Island (Monsignor Farrell) NY, 6'5 Saiquon Stone from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, and 5'10 Herbie Allen from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY and the Suburban Team will feature 6'2 Craig Austrie from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, 6'8 John Garcia from Brentwood (H.S.) NY, 6'0 Terence Grier from Cranford (H.S.) NJ, 6'5 Tyrone Hanson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NJ, 6'8 Gerald Inman from Montvale (St. Joseph's) NJ, 6'5 Tyson Johnson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'0 Marquis Jones from South Plainsfield (H.S.) NJ, 6'3 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY, and 6'8 Kaheim Seawright from Uniondale (H.S.) NY. 

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Our International Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Baylor has hit the jackpot, because, after leading his to a Third Place finish in the National Junior College Tournament last week, 6'11 Mohamed Kone from Southern Idaho (JC) ID has verbally committed to the Bears.  We're talking about the best junior college player in the country, according to Jerry Mullens, who publishes the Roundball Review and is one of the top junior college scouts in the nation.  "Kone is incredibly skilled, extremely athletic, and versatile enough to play both inside and outside," says Johnson, who compares Kone to 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT and Kevin Garnett.  "But Kone is a lot meaner and tougher than Blatche and is not nearly as good as Garnett, although he does have the same ability to put the ball on the floor, pass, and shoot out on the perimeter."  And, when you add Kone to a front line that next year will also include 6'11 Jari Vanttaja from Oulu, Finland, who is expected to be the best incoming international player into the Division I college ranks next season, and 6'11 Mamadou Diene from the Senegal, who signed with Baylor a year ago, but did not arrive in the United State and enroll in school in until January, after being slowed by malaria, and, as a result, red-shirted this season, it's easy to see why we think Baylor could have one of the best front-lines in the league next year.  We also think Baylor, which was 1-15 in the Big-12 Conference and 9-19 overall this year, could be the most improved team in college basketball next year.  If you will recall, they had the #10-ranked recruiting class, which included Diene, 6'2 Aaron Bruce from Horsham, Australia, 6'1 Kavis Shipman from Tyler (JC) TX, 6'0 Roscoe Biggers from Globe Tech (JC) NY, 6'5 Patrick Fields from Panola (JC) TX, and 6'5 Richard Hurd from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 and they already had the #13-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 with Vanttaja, 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'7 Tony Jones from Hill (JC) TX, 6'1 Henry Dugut from Dayton (H.S.) TX, 6'1 Curtis Jerrells from De Valle (H.S.) TX all already in the fold this year.  So with the addition of Kone, it should come as no surprise that Baylor's recruiting class is now tied at #6, along with Memphis, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Yes, that's two consecutive top 10-ranked recruiting classes for the Bears.  And, while this is a surprise to many, it is no surprise to us.  Remember, Baylor head coach Scott Drew not only is a chip off the block (his father, Homer Drew, is one of the best head coaches at the mid-major level at Valparaiso), but he's got more international contacts that anybody in the business.  And his assistants (Mark Morefield, Jerome Tang, and Matt Driscoll) not only are three of the best up-and-coming guys in the business, but they leave no strong unturned in their quest to get good players.  Kone picked Baylor over schools like Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Florida State, and UNLV.  Southern Idaho Junior College assistant coach Babacar Sy also told Johnson that 6'10 Abdoulye Ndiaye, who was the other twin tower from the Senegal on this junior college powerhouse team, has four official visits scheduled for this spring to Southern Cal, Georgetown, Washington State, and Florida State.  And, if that weren't enough, Johnson also tells us that Sy has stashed another player  from the Senegel with the same last name at Burlington (Life Center) NJ.  His name is 6'11 Jr Hamady Ndiaye and, since arriving in the United States last fall, he's gained 35 pounds and improved to the point where our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin thinks he's a top 100 player nationally in the junior class.  Rubin also plans to rank the younger Ndiaye # 6 in his area in the junior class, behind 6'5 Jr Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 7'0 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, 6'5 Jr Gerald Henderson from Merion (Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, 6'4 Jr Reggie Reading from Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) PA, and 6'5 Jr Earl Pettis from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA.  Rubin also tells us that 5'11 Derek Heckendorn from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ  has verbally committed Lafayette, 6'3 Thomas Young from Plymouth Meeting (Plymouth Whitemarsh) PA has verbally committed to Maryland (Baltimore County) MD, and 6'3 Bryce Brigham from Bellevue (Interlake) WA has verbally committed to Navy.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Jerome Johnson from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA has verbally committed to UNLV, which means the Runnin' Rebels' recruiting class has moved into a tie at #3, along with Washington, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, UNLV already has 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Wendall White from Antelope Valley (JC) CA, 6'3 Jason Petrimoulx from Dixie (JC) UT, 6'8 Gaston Essengue from Compton (JC) CA, 6'1 Jovan Adams from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, and 6'7 Joe Darger from Riverton (H.S.) UT all in the fold.  We also told you three weeks ago that Manhattan was close to getting a verbal commitment from 6'8 Frank Traore from Burkina, which is a small country in Western Africa, via South Kent (Prep) CT and Eastfield (JC) TX.  Well, you can write that one down, plus it's also been reported within the last several days that 6'10 Omar Samham from Danville (San Ramon Valley) CA has verbally committed to San Francisco, 6'10 Ronnie Aguilar from Los Angeles (Marshall) CA has verbally committed to Colorado State, 6'0 Patrick Gerrity from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA has verbally committed to Pepperdine, 6'3 Aaron Jackson from Worcester (Academy) MA has verbally committed to Duquesne, 6'5 Juwan James from Jacksonville (Raines) FL has verbally committed to James Madison, 6'3 Hiram Thompson from Oakridge (El Dorado Hills) CA has verbally committed to Hawaii, 6'6 Rodney Edgerson from Illinois Central (JC) IL has verbally committed to Washington State, and 6'5 Andy Rautins from Jamesville (Jamesville-Dewitt) NY has verbally committed to Syracuse.  Aguilar and Samham are ranked no higher than #82 and #94, respectively, by our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis.  But, like they say, you can't teach and the pickings are slim for schools looking for quality size in this recruiting class.  However, there is no doubt in our mind that Gerrity is a steal for Pepperdine.  Not only is he terrific in transition, but he's an excellent ball handler, passer, and outside shooter and he's been the starting point guard for four years for one of the premier high school programs in the nation.  Jackson is a big time athlete who is ranked #214 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and was the best player on Wayne Simone's Connecticut Select team last summer.  James is a tweener all the way, but he always seems to puts up prolific numbers and gets more than his fair share of the rebounds, which was why he was one of the better players we saw each of the last two years at the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL.  Thompson is ranked #79 in the senior class in California by Trigonis, which makes us wonder whether he's not good enough to Hawaii or whether he just doesn't play for Trigonis.  Edgerson is a talented wing forward who was a first team all-state selection two years when he was a high school senior at Peoria (Woodruff) IL.  Rautins is the son of former Syracuse player Leo Rautins.  It also appears that 6'2 Craig Austrie from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, who is ranked  #198 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has reneged on his committed to Massachusetts due to the coaching change and now appears to be heading to Connecticut.  However, we think he got it right the first time, unless all he wants to be is a good role player on a great team.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Diamon Simpson from Hayward (H.S.) CA, who is ranked #179 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has reneged on Fresno State.  And this too is due to the coaching change, but he might be smart to wait and see who the new head coach is going to be before he makes a final decision.  Speaking of the Fresno State job, it appears that Texas Tech assistant coach Pat Knight has emerged as one of the leading candidates for the job.  We've also heard that former Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson has been offered the Coastal Carolina job, but it's going to take a lot more than the $100,000 salary per year salary that's currently on the table to get this done.  We also understand that either Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart or Maryland assistant coach Dave Dickerson will get the Tulane job and that the list for Louisiana-Monroe still includes Cincinnati assistant coach Andy Kennedy, LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre, and Alabama assistant coach Orlando Early.  But the best coaching rumor of the day involves Boston College Al Skinner emerging as the leading candidate for the Virginia job.  And this makes perfect sense, because Virginia wants to hire a black head coach, Skinner is extremely hot after his team went 25-5 on the season, and winning consistently at Boston College will be tougher than ever now the Eagles are joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.  And, if this happens, don't be surprised if Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez goes to Boston College.  Remember, Gonzalez is like an adopted son in the Rick Pitino coaching family (Pitino almost hired him twice when he was at Kentucky)  And this is important to know, because Pitino and Gene Defilippo, who is the Director of Athletics at Boston College, are close friends dating back to when Defilippo was an assistant athletic director at the University of Kentucky.  In other words, it appears that Gonzalez may luck out this time around, because Boston College is a much better job than Massachusetts.  And, this too would be a great fit, because Gonzalez is second to none as a recruiter and a coach. 

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Already 31 Division I head coaching jobs (Centenary, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Fresno State, Howard, IUPI-Ft. Wayne, Jacksonville, Louisiana-Monroe, Loyola-Marymount, Massachusetts, New Mexico State, Purdue, San Jose State, Savannah State, Siena, Southern Cal, St. Francis-NY, Stony Brook, Tennessee, Tulane, Tulsa, UC-Riverside, Vermont, Virginia, VMI, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Youngstown State) have opened this year and 11 of those jobs already have been filled, as South Carolina assistant coach Ricky Stokes has gotten East Carolina, Indiana University Director of Basketball Operations Dane Fife has gotten IUPU-Ft. Wayne, Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford has gotten Massachusetts, Louisville assistant coach Reggie Theus has gotten New Mexico State, former Southern Illinois head coach and current Purdue assistant coach Matt Painter has gotten Purdue, California assistant coach George Nessman has gotten San Jose State, former Iowa State, Chicago Bulls, and New Orleans Hornets head coach Tim Floyd has gotten Southern Cal, Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl has gotten Tennessee, Michigan State assistant coach Doug Wojcik has gotten Tulsa, UC-Riverside assistant athletic director David Spencer has gotten UC-Riverside, and former Catholic University and current Maryland assistant coach Mike Lonergan has gotten Vermont.  In other words, the 11 jobs that have been filled so far have gone to six Division I assistant coaches, two Division I head coaches, a recycled former pro head coach, an assistant director of athletics, and a director of basketball operations.  And, in addition very few dominos having fallen, is the fact that not very many big time head coaching jobs have opened this year.  As a matter of fact, this has been the least interesting year we can ever remember in terms of head coaching changes and coaching rumors.  However, all that could be about to change, depending upon what happens at Virginia.  We still have a hard time believing that Tubby Smith would leave Kentucky, but the word on the street is that he is right at the top of the Cavaliers' list and they are talking to the tune of $3.5 million.  Currently Smith makes $2.5 million as the head coach of the Wildcats and, if they want to keep him, they should have no problem matching the offer.  Besides, if Smith wanted to leave, he's already had plenty of opportunities to go the NBA in recent years.  But each time he's decided to stay point, which leads us to believe he's happy at Kentucky.  However, let's assume that we're wrong and Smith does end up at Virginia.  Then, suddenly the possibilities are almost endless.  First, let's look at who Smith might hire on his coaching staff.  Our guess is that former Tulane head coach Shawn Finney would be right at the top of the list.  Remember, Finney worked for Smith at both Georgia and Kentucky, he's a great recruiter, and now has Division I head coaching experience.  We also would assume that Smith would take Kentucky assistant coach David Hobbs, who also has heading coaching experience dating back to his days at Alabama and is one of the best X's and O's guys in the business, with him and we wouldn't be surprised if he also hired former Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson.  Did you know that Smith and Peterson talked quite a while prior to their game in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and Smith told Peterson after the game to keep in tough?  Maybe this means something and maybe it doesn't, but Peterson is a great recruiter and he too has plenty of head coaching experience from his days at Appalachian State, Tulsa, and Tennessee.  Second, let's look at who the University of Kentucky might hire if Smith were to leave.  Our guess is the Florida head coach Billy Donovan is right back at the top of the list after having knocked off the Wildcats not once, but twice late in the season.  Another good name is Marquette head coach Tom Crean, but this is not as obvious a call as it was two years ago when Marquette knocked the Wildcats en route to the NCAA Final Four.  Other possible candidates for the Kentucky job might include Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, former Portland Trailblazers head coach Mike Dunleavy, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Flip Sanders, and Golden State Warriors head coach Mike Montgomery.  Montgomery, who apparently wants to return to the college game, also is rumored to be on the "A" list for the Virginia job, along with Smith and Texas head coach Rick Barnes.  However, if they can't get any of these high profile big name head coaches, then West Virginia head coach John Beilein might be a great alternative.  Remember, Beilein did an amazing job this year guiding the Mountaineers into the NCAA Elite Eight, has a predominately junior and senior team, and hasn't recruited well enough to keep the Mountaineers among the top half of the Big East in the future.  And, if Beilein were to get the Virginia job, that would open the door for Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins to move to West Virginia.  If you will recall, Huggins is an alumnus of the school and almost took the job when it was open several years ago.  We also hear that Wisconsin assistant coach Rob Jeter, who used to be an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee during the Bo Ryan era, is a near lock to replace Bruce Pearl.  But we're also hearing names like Wisconsin-Milwaukee assistant coach Tony Jones, who is the guy responsible for all the good players that they've signed out Michigan in recent years, and Marquette assistant coach Jeff Strohm.  We also think Strohm has a great shot at getting the Eastern Illinois job and we're hearing that Louisville assistant coach Kevin Willard can get the Eastern Kentucky job.  However, it appears that Willard doesn't want it.  We're also hearing Maryland assistant coach Dave Dickerson and LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre, both of whom are ranked among the top 15 assistant coaches in the nation and are ready for head coaching positions, being mentioned for Tulane.  However, in this case, we'd have to go with Pierre, because he's second to none as a recruiter and knows where all the top young players are Louisiana.  We also find it interesting that St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett as the leading candidate for the Fresno State job, it looks like Seton hall assistant coach Brian Nash will get the St. Francis-NY job, and Arizona assistant coach Rodney Tention may have the inside track for the Loyola-Marymount job.  It also appears that Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins is the leading candidate for Siena, Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine has interviewed for Florida Atlantic, and Richmond assistant coach Gary Decesare, Boston College assistant Bill Coen, and Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo are all in the hunt for Stony Brook.  And don't be surprised if Cincinnati assistant coach Andy Kennedy moves onto Louisiana-Monroe and Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart get the Tulane job.  The Athletic Director at Louisiana-Monroe knows Kennedy from their days together at UAB and Everhart helped build the Tulane program during the Perry Clark era.  Michigan assistant coach Charles Ramsey and Michigan State assistant coach Mark Montgomery are the two finalists for Eastern Michigan and Walsh College head coach Jeff Young appears to be in line for the Youngstown State job.  Speaking of Walsh College, did you know that they recently won the NAIA National Championship, thanks at least partly to the fact Walsh assistant coach Jerrod Calhoun, who used to be the director of basketball operations at Cincinnati, brought 6'9 Robery Whaley with him when he transferred from Cincinnati a year ago.  And this could be important, because Cincinnati assistant coach Frank Martin is being mentioned for the Florida Atlantic job, which means that Bearcats head coach Bobby Huggins could potentially lose his entire coaching staff this spring.  So, if by some change this happens, it makes sense that he might want to hire somebody who is familiar with the program.  To get the HOOP SCOOP's complete list of all of the job changes, click on Coaching Changes.

Saturday, March 26, 2005, Sunday, March 27, 2005, & Monday, March 28, 2005

The games were all close (two overtimes and a double overtime), but this year's NCAA Final Four arguably has the best group of teams since the 1993 NCAA, which featured North Carolina, Michigan, Kentucky, and Kansas and, ironically, included teams from three of the same states and two of the head coaches (Rick Pitino and Roy Williams) who will be coaching in this year's Final Four.  Illinois, not only has established itself as the #1 team in the nation all season long with 36-1 record, but they showed they have the stuff that great teams are made of with their 14-point comeback with four minutes left in the regional finals against Arizona.  Likewise with Louisville, which not only is the hottest team in college basketball (they've won 13 straight and 22 of their last 23 games), but also overcame a 20-point first-half deficit and 66.7% 3-point shooting (18-27) by West Virginia, to set up a match-up in the NCAA Final Four that has the potential to be nothing short of spectacular.  And the other semi-finals game should be pretty good too, because North Carolina features the best starting five in college basketball and Michigan State not only has depth, experience, and the toughness, but also has as much talent as any team in college basketball.  As a matter of fact, a quick look at the HOOP SCOOP's Talent Ratings, which were published prior to the start of the season and can be found by clicking on Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings, shows that Michigan State is the most talented team in the country.  Another interesting story involves the amount of experience that Pitino, Williams, and Michigan State's Tom Izzo have already had coaching in the NCAA Final Four, as they already have made a combined total of 11 NCAA Final Four appearances, have coached in the title game a combined total of five times, and have won NCAA Championships a combined total of two times.  In contrast, Illinois head coach Bruce Weber has never been to a NCAA Final Four either as a head coach or as an assistant coach and, as a result, it will be extremely interesting to see how he and his team deal with all the pressure, attention, and hoopla that goes with being one of the only four teams left standing.  Reinforcing this question even further is the fact that during the last 32 years, which is how long I've been going to the NCAA Final Four, only eight coaches (Norm Sloan with N.C. State in 1974, Jud Heathcote with Michigan State in 1979, Jim Valvano with N.C. State in 1983, Rollie Massimino with Villanova in 1985, Steve Fisher with Michigan in 1989, Jim Harrick with UCLA in 1995, Tubby Smith with Kentucky in 1998, and Jim Calhoun with Connecticut in 1999) have won the NCAA Championship on their first appearance in the Final Four.  In other words, only three times during the last 15 years has a rookie head coach in the NCAA Final Four won the National Championship and Tubby Smith, who is one of those three, inherited a team from Rick Pitino at Kentucky, which had lost to Arizona in the title game the year before.  In addition to keeping track of all that has been going on in the NCAA Tournament during the last four days via the pocket sized television set and head phones that I now own, I also have spent a considerable time in the gym covering the Las Vegas Easter Classic in Las Vegas, NV, which had some very interesting stories of its own.  And right at the top of the list was the emergence of 6'8 Jr Chase Budinger from Carlsbad (La Costa Canyon) CA, who was ranked #84 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP when we last updated our rankings for the Class of 2006 last fall, but now is arguably the best junior on the West Coast ahead of 6'11 Jr Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, 6'11 Jr Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'11 Jr Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA, 6'9 Jr Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'4 Jr Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'3 Jr Trevon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'3 Jr Patrick Christopher from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'6 Jr Seth Tarver from Portland (Jesuit) OR, 6'2 Jr Tyree Thompson from Compton (Centennial) CA, and 6'6 Jr Jervaughn Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA.  Budinger is extremely agile and athletic, has great body control, is an excellent 3-point shooter, a good rebounder, and is a lot stronger and tougher than he looks.  He also plays hard, is very fluid, and has an excellent nose for the ball, which is why he's a top priority for schools like UCLA, Arizona, Stanford, North Carolina, and Kansas.  Budinger also was the perfect complement to 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who is one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation and a great rebounder for his size; 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, who does a lot of the dirty work inside and, like King, has already made an early verbal commitment to UCLA; 6'8 Taj Gibson from Merced (Stoneridge Prep) CA, who surprised us with his ability to hit the mid-range jumper and higher level of intensity; and 5'10 Frosh Brandon Jennings from Compton (Dominguez) CA, who promises to be the best point guard that Pat Barrett, who has run the Southern Cal All-Stars for over 20 years, has ever had.  And, if that weren't enough, the Southern California All-Stars also had 6'8 Jr Matt Shaw from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, who passes the look test, but doesn't play very hard; 6'5 Frosh Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, who has always been a great 3-point shooter, but now has improved other areas of his game; 6'5 Frosh Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, who is a prolific scorer, has a great feel for the game, and is one of the top young players on the West Coast; 6'11 Frosh Beas Hamga from Merced (Stoneridge Prep) CA, who is long, lean, athletic, and just oozing with potential; and 5'11 Jr Jonathan Gibson from West Covina (H.S.) CA, who has the speed, quickness, and outside shooting to back-up at both guards spots.  In other words, the Southern Cal All-Stars were absolutely loaded and, as a result, it came as no surprise that they beat the Houston Hoops 69-66 in the championship game of the 17-Under Division of the Las Vegas Easter Classic.  And, in the process, they featured a well-balanced attack, as Budinger had 14 points, Gibson had 13 points, Jennings had 12 points, and King had 10 points in the championship game.   And so did the Houston Hoops, which was led by 5'8 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 6'8 Soph Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'8 Jr Darius Santee from Missouri City (Ft. Bend Marshall) TX, 6'7 Jr Jerrod Johnson from Humble (H.S.) TX, 5'10 Soph Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, 6'6 Soph Mike Singletary from Houston (Kingwood) TX, and 6'7 Soph Isaiah Rusher from Houston (Bellaire) TX.  However, neither Wise, who finished with 11 points in the championship game, but was unable to play due to an injury when the game was on the line, nor Johnson, who is ranked as one of the top five sophomores in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, was on top of their game in title game and, as a result, the Houston Hoops missed out on sweeping the championship in three of the top four age brackets in the tournament.  And the brings us to the next great story, which involves the Houston Hoops 15-Under Team beating Team California not once, but twice in their quest for the championship in the 15-Under Division.  The first time they played against one another in pool play, the Houston Hoops were up by over 20 points late in the game, as they coasted to a 67-52 victory.  However, Team California, which was playing up a year, almost pulled off the upset in the championship game, thanks primarily to the efforts of 6'2 8th Grader Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara, CA, who finished with 21 points and played at a level of intensity that hopefully will be contagious to the other players on his team.  The Houston Hoops had jumped out to a 8-0 lead and led 12-2 early in the game.  But then Team California went on a 14-2 run, as Nelson hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 11 of his team's first 16 points.  From there it was too close to call, as it went right down the wire.   6'3 8th Grader Demetrius Walker from Fontana (Middle School) CA also chipped in with 19 points in the championship game, but over half of his points came off free throws and he needs to play a lot better than he did here, if he wants to continue to be ranked as the #1 8th Grader in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.  And the same also can be said about 6'7 8th Grader Aaron Moore from Riverside, CA, who is ranked #5 nationally in the class by the HOOP SCOOP, but doesn't play hard and lacks the drive and determination necessary to become a great player.  And what's happened to 5'9 8th Grader G.J. Vilarino from Phoenix, AZ, who is ranked #4 nationally in the Class of 2009 by the HOOP SCOOP and was absolutely sensational when we saw him a month ago in Portland, OR?  Well, it looks like they've stopped getting him shots and it appears his confidence level has gone right out the window.  But, then again, that's what can happen when you have too many stars.  However, while the stars have all been underachieving, 6'2 8th Grader Rome Draper from Fontana, CA is the ultimate role player, as he plays great defensive, helps handle the ball, rebounds well for his size, and always comes to play, and 6'3 8th Grader Terran Carter takes care of business on the boards and scores inside.  But, in the end, the Houston Hoops' age and experience were just too much to overcome.  Remember, this is a team that features 6'7 Frosh Corbin Ray from Katy (Taylor) TX, who reminds us a young Josh McRoberts with his incredible skills and ability to beat you both inside and outside; 6'5 Frosh DeEverett Williams from Alief (Hastings) TX, who is a wide body that deceives you with his surprising mobility, skills around the basket, and unwillingness to take any prisoners inside; 5'9 Frosh Chris Iles from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who is a lights out 3-point shooter, but also doubled as the point guard, because 6'2 Frosh Jacovan Brown from Beaumont (Kelly) TX was missing in action for this tournament; 6'2 Frosh Trent Rogers from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who is a silky smooth athlete with an incredible wing span and a slasher's mentality; and 6'5 Frosh Sammy Duggins from Alief (Hastings) TX, who uses his athleticism to complement Williams and Ray on the boards.  The Houston Hoops also won the 14-Under Division, thanks primarily to the efforts of 5'8 8th Grader Tommy Griffin from Houston, TX, who is ranked #6 nationally in the Class of 2009 by the HOOP SCOOP.  Griffin had 16 points in the championship, but, even more important, is the fact that he's the glue that hold everything together, as he makes great passes, plays excellent defense, and makes big shots.  The fact that Griffin also is a great kid and a tremendous leader is just an added bonus.  The Houston Hoops, which also featured 6'4 8th Grader Marquis Toliver from Houston, TX, 5'9 8th Grader Jamal Fenton from Houston, TX, 6'5 8th Grader Kevin Perry from Houston, TX, and 6'1 8th Grader Hunter Holbrook from Houston, TX, beat the Rising Stars, 59-51, in the 14-Under Championship and coasted past Poly Nation in the semi-finals.  The best player for the Rising Stars was 6'3 8th Grader Marcus Jordan from Chicago, IL, who, just like his father, has outstanding skills and a terrific understanding of the game.  However, unlike his father, the younger Jordan is not an incredible athlete and he'll need to get a lot bigger and stronger before anybody starts comparing him to Michael Jordan.  Speaking the game's greatest player, the fact that Jordan showed to watch his son play several times at the Las Vegas Easter Classic was one of the highlights of the tournament for Tournament Director Hal Pastner.   We also were impressed by 5'9 8th Grader Kyle Coleman from Las Vegas, NV, 5'8 8th Grader Mitchell Clark from Las Vegas, NV, 5'7 7th Grader Jonathan Lloyd from Las Vegas, NV, and 6'2 8th Grader Mike Cutright from Las Vegas, NV for the Poly Nation team in the 14-Under Division.  Clark and Coleman were both super quick and terrific in transition.  Lloyd ran the show and had point guard skills and maturity beyond his age.  Cuthright was active and athletic inside.  We also were impressed by the TG Basketball team that featured 6'3 Randy Collins from LaPorte, TX, 5'10 K.C. Ross-Miller from Lewisville, TX, 5'8 Ray McCallum Jr from Norman, OK, and 6'4 Evan Washington from De Soto, TX, all of whom are ranked among the top 25 7th Graders in the nation, in the 15-Under Division.  However, we were disappointed by the fact that, after winning all three of their games in pool play, TG Basketball was upset in the first round of the playoffs with a missed lay-up at the buzzer.  If they would have won that game, TG Basketball would have faced Team California and that would have been a game for bragging rights, because Team California head coach Joe Keller and TG Basketball head coach Tim Miller have arguably the best teams in the nation, respectively, in the 14-Under and 13-Under age groups.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that they both played up in the 15-Under Division in this tournament as they build for the future.  Some other players that we were impressed with and/or have to mention in the 17-Under Division include 6'6 Jr Bussey Ellis from San Juan Capistrano (Serra) CA, 6'7 Jr Jarrel Smith from Northridge (Birmingham) CA, 6'7 Jr Kevin Galloway from Sacramento (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Soph Mac Koshwal from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'7 Jr Thijin Moses from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'2 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 6'1 Frosh Chris Solomon from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'9 Jr Linzy Robertson from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, and 5'11 Jr Joseph Johnson from Gardena (Serra) CA.  Ellis was one of the best 3-point shooters in the tournament.  Smith needs to get bigger and stronger, but he's a big time athlete and he can both shoot the three and get to the basket.  Galloway does most of his damage inside, where he uses his explosive athleticism to score around the basket and get it done on the boards.  Koshwal, who is a physical specimen, combines power and athleticism, which makes his tough to stop inside.  Moses doesn't shoot it as well as former Syracuse player Duany Duany, but that's who he looks like and plays like.  Williams is a world-class athlete, excellent 3-point shooter, and he gets better and better everything we see him.  However, everybody will have to wait another year to recruit him, because Rick Issacs, who is both Williams cliub team coach and legal guardian, confirms that Williams is planning on going to prep school next year.  Solomon promises to be the next great player to come out Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA.  Robertson is a 6'9 power forward with lots of athleticism and potential.  Johnson is a jet quick point guard with great grades, good ball handling skills, and the court savvy necessary to get mid-to-high major looks.  We also need to mention 6'2 Jr P'Allen Stinnett from Las Vegas (Palos Verdes) NV, 6'5 Jr Andre McFarland from Las Vegas (Durango) NV, 6'0 Jr Marcus Lawrence from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV, and 6'7 Soph Billy White from Henderson (Green Valley) NV, all of whom played for the Las Vegas Prospects in the 17-Under Division.  Stinnett is probably the best of the bunch right now, because he's a world-class athlete who can beat you with his outside shooting and his ability to get to the hole.  McFarland probably has the most potential, but this athletic wing forward hasn't put it all together yet.  Lawrence is one of the three best point guards on the West Coast, along with 6'3 Jr Trevon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA and 6'1 Jr Todd Lowenthal from Poway (H.S.) CA.  White is a big-time athlete who scores and rebounds inside, is excellent in an uptempo setting, and the sky's limit, if he continues to grow.  Stinnett also provided us with a list of school that includes Louisville, UNLV, Oregon State, Brigham Young, and Iowa State, but he also mentioned that he'd like to go to the same school as a package, along with Lawrence and McFarland.  We know that Oregon State would take all three right now and the possibility of staying home and playing for the Runnin' Rebels also is very attractive.  However, the sleeper might be New Mexico State.  Remember, new Aggies head coach Reggie Theus is legend in Las Vegas, NV and he has more than enough ties to get this done.

Friday, March 25, 2005

We are now ready to name Utah's Andrew Bogut as the HOOP SCOOP's Post-Season National Player-of-the-Year over Wake Forest's Chris Paul, Kansas' Wayne Simeon, Duke's J.J. Redick, and Louisville's Francisco Garcia and Louisville's Rick Pitino as the HOOP SCOOP's  Post-Season National Coach-of-the-Year over Illinois' Bruce Weber, Washington's Lorenzo Romar, West Virginia's John Beilein, and Utah's Ray Giacoletti. The choice for Bogut is pretty much a no-brainer, because he not only is the best player in college basketball, but he is averaging a double-double with 20.4 ppg and 12.2 rpg, is the best passing big man in college basketball since Bill Walton, and means more to his team than any other player in the game today.  And, if that weren't enough, Bogut also got his team into the NCAA Sweet 16 and likely will be the #1 player chosen this spring in the NBA Draft, if he forgoes his finally two years of college eligibility and enters his name into draft.  On the other hand, Pitino wasn't even on the list until Louisville's incredible post-season run, which has included a 75-74 win against Memphis in the Conference USA Championship, a 76-54 win against Georgia Tech in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, and a 93-79 yesterday against Washington in the Regional Semi-Finals.  Louisville also now has the longest winning streak going in college basketball with 12 straight wins and they have won 21 of their last 22 games.  But, even more important, Louisville now appears to be on the favorites to win the NCAA Championship, and, in the process, Pitino has done a remarkable of getting his team to overcome injuries and covering up their weaknesses, which includes lack of size inside, lack of depth, and a lack of a true point guard.  As a matter of fact, this team reminds us of his Providence team with Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks, which reached the NCAA Final Four in 1987, although this team has a lot more talent than that team had and it doesn't die like that team did when it was having an off shooting night.  However, this Louisville team is just as lethal from beyond the arc, as it is averaging 40.1% from 3-point land for the season and always seems to find a way to cut the other team's heart out when they need a big three.  And, if Louisville beats West Virginia in the Regional Finals tomorrow, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino will have done something that no other head coach in the history of the game has done.  We're talking about taking three different teams to the NCAA Final Four.  Pitino, who also guided Providence to the NCAA Final Four in 1987 and Kentucky to the NCAA Final Four in 1993, 1996, and 1997, already is in a very elite group of coaches, which includes Eddie Sutton at Arkansas and Oklahoma State, Lee Rose at Charlotte and Purdue, Larry Brown at UCLA and Kansas, Gene Bartow at Memphis and UCLA, Lou Henson at New Mexico State and Illinois, Lute Olson at Iowa and Arizona, Hugh Durham at Florida State and Georgia, and Jack Gardner at Kansas State and Utah, who have made NCAA Final Four appearance with two different teams.  And, if Louisville wins today against West Virginia, Pitino will also join a very elite group of head coaches who have made the most NCAA Final Four Appearances.  If you will recall, John Wooden heads this list with 12 NCAA Final Four appearances, followed by Dean Smith with 11, Mike Krzyzewski with 10, Denny Crum and Adolph Rupp with six apiece, and Bob Knight, Lute Olson, and Guy Lewis with five apiece.  And, if North Carolina beats Wisconsin tomorrow, Roy Williams will also join this very elite group.  And, if North Carolina wins the NCAA Championship, Williams will have won the big one at the same rate of speed as Krzyzewski, who made four NCAA Final Four appearances before winning it in his 5th appearance in 1991, and faster than his former boss and mentor Dean Smith, who made six NCAA Final Four appearances before winning it in his 7th appearance in 1982.  And, if Louisville, Arizona, Kentucky, or Michigan State, or wins the NCAA Championship 10 days from now, Pitino Olson, Tubby Smith, or Tom Izzo will join a very elite group of head coaches who have won two or more NCAA Championships.  As things stand now, this list includes John Wooden with 10 NCAA Championships, followed by Adolph Rupp with four, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight with three apiece, and Jim Calhoun, Denny Crum, Dean Smith, Henry Iba, Ed Jucker, Branch McCracken, and Phil Woolpert with two apiece.  Pitino also has had an important influence on the game in terms of grooming great head coaches for the future.  As a matter of fact, four of Pitino's former assistants - Tubby Smith at Kentucky, Billy Donovan at Florida, Ralph Willard at Holy Cross, and Herb Sendek at N.C. State - are on our list of the Top 40 Division I head coaches and Murray State's Mick Cronin is on our list of the Top Up-And-Coming Guys in the Business.  And making this story even more interesting is that fact that Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, who played for Pitino at Kentucky, has been named as the new head coach at Massachusetts and Louisville assistant coach Reggie Theus has been named as the new head coach at New Mexico State.  It also wouldn't surprise us if Louisville assistant coach Kevin Willard moved into Ford's spot at Eastern Kentucky, if Louisville Administrative Assistant Scott Davenport gets the Bellarmine job, and Louisville assistant coach Vince Taylor gets the Charlotte job, if 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz  gets the Tennessee job.  In other words, it's theoretically possible that Pitino may have to hire an entirely new coaching staff this spring.  However, if Pitino adapts and adjusts as well as he has with his current team, which lost 6'9 Frosh Brian Johnson due to injuries prior to the start of the season and Sebastian Telfair and Donta Smith last spring to the NBA Draft, there may be no end in sight for the Cardinals.  Remember, Louisville is expected to return 6'3 Jr Taquan Dean, 6'8 Frosh Juan Diego Palacios, 6'3 Soph Brandon Jenkins, and 6'6 Frosh Lorrenzo Wade; they have both Brian Johnson and 6'11 Soph David Padgett, who is transferred a year ago from Kansas, sitting out; and they have a recruiting class, which is ranked #1 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 5'10 Andre McGee from Moreno Vallety (Canyon Springs) CA, 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Terrance Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 7'0 Clarence Holloway from Chicago (Harlan) IL, 6'9 Chad Millard from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, and 7'0 Jonathan Huffman from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Our International Editor Chris Johnson informs us that the rosters for the NIKE Hoop Summit, which will played on Saturday, April 9th, in Memphis, TN, have been announced and it looks like the International Team is the best it's been in years, thanks primarily to the efforts of Rich Shuebrooks, who is a scout for the Memphis Grizzles, an employee of NIKE, and the guy primarily responsible for putting together the team.  The International Team will include 6'10 Nemanja Aleksandrov from Serbia & Montenegro, 6'7 Marco Belinelli from Italy, 6'11 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) DE, 6'11 Vilmantas Dilys from Lithuania, 7'0 Semih Erden from Serbia & Montenegro, 6'1 Adam Gibson from Australia, 6'9 Ian Mahinmi from France, 6'0 Michael Mokongo from France, 6'4 Martynas Pocius from Plymouth (Holderness School) NH, and 6'11 Dusan Sakota from Greece.  Pocius and Boateng have both signed with Duke, but Aleksandrov is the best player on the team.  However, he may not play due to an injury.  We're talking about a wing forward who has an incredible wing span, is extremely skilled, and has already entered his name into the NBA Draft.  And Johnson tells us that he's good enough to probably be a lottery pick and that he draws comparisons to Dirk Nowitski, although Aleksandrov is not as athletic as Nowitski.   Pocius, who is originally from Lithuania is a strong physical athlete with a great vertical leap, terrific skills, and an excellent 3-point shot.  Boateng, who is ranked #31 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, needs to continue to develop his offensive skills, become more consistent, and play harder, but he is a good rebounder/defender/shot blocker and has a tremendous upside.  Belinelli is an explosive leader, a big time 3-point shooter, and is the best 2-guard to come out of Italy in recent memory.  Dilys, who was the star of the Lithuanian 16-Under Junior National team two years ago, is still growing, very skilled, and is one of the two players on the team who is still recruitable and has college eligibility remaining.  Gibson is the other player on the team who falls into this category and he not only is widely regarded as the best young point guard in Australia, but also proved himself against great competition a year ago in the Albert Schweitzer Games.  Erden was the top rated prospect from Turkey, but is now playing professionally now in Serbia & Montenegro.  This 240 lbs. center with a tremendous wing span also more than held his own against the USA Olympic Team in an exhibition game last summer.  Mahinmi is an extremely athletic black power forward from France who is known for his rebounding and shot blocking and is frequently compared to former UCLA star Jerome Moiso.  Mokongo, who has jet-like speed and quickness, was the starting point guard on the 18-Under French Junior National Team.  Sakota was born and raised in Serbia, but now plays professionally in Greece.  So it should come as no surprise that this skilled wing forward will likely enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring.  The United States will include 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'9 Tyler Hansborough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TX, 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmooor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL.  It also should be pointed that players who play in this game are exempt from the two all-star game limit.  If you will recall, NCAA rules prevent high school players from playing in more than two post-season all-star games if they want to retain their amateur status and college eligibility.  Johnson also tells us that 6'8 David Palmer from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked #579 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Seton Hall.  However, we're not sure whether Palmer is any more likely to play for the Pirates than he would have if he'd gone to Illinois.  Remember, this the guy who verbally committed to Illinois last fall, but, at the time, we were scratching our head, because Palmer, who had athleticism and potential when he was young, has not developed the skills and consistency necessary to play at the high Division I level. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'4 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH has a press conference scheduled for 4:30 PM today to announce his college decision and he would be shocked if this prolific scoring athletic wing guard does not pick Ohio State.  Cook also has North Carolina, Wake Forest, Indiana, Cincinnati, Michigan, and Michigan State on his list, but the only unofficial visits he's taken have been to Wake Forest and Ohio State.  Cook also was spotted recently sitting right behind the Ohio State bench when the Buckeyes upset Illinois in the final game of the regular season.  Obviously anytime you get somebody who is ranked #6 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, it's huge.  But this also doesn't hurt the Buckeyes' chances with 6'0 Jr Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, if they put an age limit in when they renegotiate the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement this summer.  Remember, Cook, Conley, and Oden have developed a close friendship while playing for the Indy Spiece Heat club team and, as a result, there already has been speculation about Cook and Conley going to the same school as a package.  And assuming that Cook does pick Ohio State, he would be the perfect complement to 6'0 Sylvester Mays from Redlands (JC) OK, who is widely regarded as the best point guard in the junior college ranks this year and picked the Buckeyes last fall, when he arrives on campus year after next.  Ohio State also signed 6'10 Brayden Bell from Salt Lake City (Brighton) UT during the Fall Signing Period, which means that Thad Matta and his staff appear to be well on their way towards resurrecting the Ohio State basketball program.  It also appears that 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC may have redeemed himself.  If you will recall, we've been Rush's biggest critic, because he has a tendency not to play hard and lives off an incredible dunk or two for the rest of the game.  However, Rush led his team to a 136-119 victory last night and took home co-MVP honors, along with 6'3 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, in the Roundball Classic in Chicago, IL.  Not only did Rush finish with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but he also had five assists, and hit 10-14 field goals.  Devendorf had 17 points, but it was probably his seven assists that gave him the nod over 6'9 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, both of whom also finished with 17 points for the winning West Squad, in the race for co-MVP honors for the West Squad.  Johnson also had four blocked shots, four rebounds, four steals, and 8-11 field goals, which is not good news for University of Louisville fans, who are hoping that Johnson won't decide to by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft this spring.  Also chipping in for the West Squad were 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA with 13 points and 3-8 3-pointers; 6'6 Wilson Chandler from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI with 13 points; 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC with 12 points, but only 1-6 from beyond the arc,; 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN with 11 points, seven rebounds, and 3-4 3-pointers; 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA with eight points, and 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX with seven points and 10 assists.  Yes, you read that right!  Eaton had 10 assists and, as a team, the West Squad had 36 assists, which has to be close to a record for an all-star game.  The co-MVP's for the East Squad were 6'6 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY with 15 points and nine rebounds and 6'4 Nate Minnoy from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL with 16 points.  However, the leading scorer for the East Squad was 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, who finished with 17 points, but hit only 5-12 field goals, 0-4 3-pointers, and 7-8 free throws.  We also are impressed with the stat line for 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, who finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds and 6'3 Jerel McNeal from Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) IL, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and 2-2 3-pointers.  Also chipping in for the East Squad were 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but only 5-15 field goals; 6'8 DeAndre Thomas from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL with 11 points; 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL with eight points, three assists, and 2-3 3-pointers; 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA with six points, four rebounds, and three assists; 6'2 Tony Freeman from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL with five points and only 1-7 field goals; and 6'7 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA with four points, three blocked shots and six rebounds.  We also are glad to see that Mike Davis has gotten another year to turn things around at Indiana University and that Temple head coach John Chaney will be back for another year.  However, this does not bold well for young up-and-coming guys hoping to move up the coaching ladder.  But that doesn't appear to be stopping Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, who, believe it or not, now appears to be on the brink of getting the Massachusetts job.  It's not that Ford isn't more than qualified ( he did a great job of turning Eastern Kentucky around), but he has no East Coast ties and the list of possible candidates to replace Steve Lappas at Massachusetts is amazing, as former Virginia head coach Pete Gillen, Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee, Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard, Connecticut assistant coach Tom Moore, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Kent State head coach Jim Christian, former Ohio State head coach Jim O'Brien, Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart, Davidson head coach Bob McKillop, Ohio University head coach Tim O'Shea, Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl, UNC-Greensboro head coach Fran McCaffery, and television analyst Fran Fraschilla have all been mentioned as possible names for the job.  It also appears that Creighton head coach Dana Altman interviewed today and, as a result, is the new flavor of the day for the Tennessee job.  However, anything could happen in connection with the Volunteers job, as Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz, UAB head coach Mike Anderson, Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl, Miami-FL head coach Frank Haith, and Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight all continue to be mentioned.  And, if Knight were to get the Tennessee job, would Red Raiders assistant coach Pat Knight inherit the throne at Texas Tech.  Or will the younger Knight get the head coaching job at Indiana State?  We also are hearing that Seton Hall assistant coach Brian Nash has emerged as the leading candidate for St. Francis- NY and that Mississippi assistant coach Tracy Dildy and Indiana University Director of Basketball Operations Dane Fife are among the favorites to take over at IUPU-Fort Wayne.  And wouldn't former California head coach Todd Bozeman or Clemson assistant coach Kevin Nickleberry be great at Howard?  And so would Valparaiso assistant coach Rex Walters at Florida Atlantic and Louisville assistant coach Kevin Willard at Eastern Kentucky, if Ford does get the Massachusetts job.   Editor's Note:  We have confirmed that 6'4 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH did verbally committed to Ohio State and, as a result, the Buckeyes now have the #3-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

If you don't believe high school basketball reigns supreme in the Western part of the state, just take a look at where all the teams are from that played for the state championship in the Tennessee State Tournament over the weekend in Murfreesboro, TN.  We're talking about Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, which beat Jackson (Northside) TN, 64-42, to win the Class AAA State Championship; Bolivar (Central) TN, which beat Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, 44-40, to win the Class AA State Championship; and Middleton (H.S.) TN, which beat Trenton (Peabody) TN, 56-49, to win the Class A State Championship.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead was there and he tells us that the best player in the entire tournament was 6'2 Jr Willie Kemp form Bolivar (Central) TN, who not only scored 17 points in the championship game, but refused to let his team lose for the second straight year, as he took home tournament MVP honors in Class AA.  As a matter of fact, Whitehead likes Kemp so much that he ranks the guy that Memphis head coach John Calipari, Arkansas head coach Stan Heath, and Tennessee assistant coach Chuck Benson all were there to see ahead of 6'8 Jr Pierre Niles from Memphis (Ridgeway) TN on his list of the top juniors in the state.  However, after watching Niles at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, SC in late December, we have to disagree.  Not only is Niles a 6'8 physical specimen who can beat you both inside and outside, but he's legitimately one of the top dozen juniors in a loaded junior class nationally.  Thus, explains why Whitehead has Kemp ranked as the #3 junior in the state, behind 6'9 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN and 6'8 Jr Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN and ahead of Niles, but we have Niles ranked as the #3 junior in the state, behind Wright and Young and ahead of Kemp.  There also are other differences, which is why, if you're interested in high school basketball in Tennessee, we encourage you to check out Whitehead's rankings on his web site, which can be found at TennesseePrep.com, and our rankings, which can be found by clicking onto Tennessee Report.  Yes, we are finally finished with our updated Tennessee Report, which includes our Tennessee's Editor Jim Rothman's comments about just how good the junior class really is in the state and their ranking of the top players in the state, which can be found by clicking onto Whitehead & Rothman Rank 'Em:  The Top High School Players in Tennessee and includes their list of the top 340 seniors, 218 juniors, 120 sophomores, 82 freshmen, eight 8th Graders, 14 7th Graders, one 6th Grader, and one 5th Grader.  Getting back to what happened in the Tennessee State Tournament, just like Kemp did in Class AA, Niles scored 16 points and took home tournament MVP honors en route to the Class AAA State Championship.  Niles was complemented by 6'6 Jr Ernest Fields with 15 points, 6'4 Michael Rice with 10 points, and 5'10 Jordan Mincy, who ran the show an improved the value of his stock dramatically.  Mississippi State-bound 6'5 Reginald Delk led the losers with 16 points in the championship game and 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN was named Mr. Basketball in Class AAA, although his team did not get a chance to participate in the state tournament.  Kemp was the only player on his team to score in double-digits in the championship game in the Class AA championship, but 6'9 Jr Wayne Chism from Bolivar (Central) TN came up big with 21 points and 14 points in the semi-finals against Sullivan (Central) TN.  The leading scorer for losers with 12 points in the Class AA Championship Game was 6'1 Soph Maurice Miller from Raleigh-Eygpt) TN, but he was so mediocre earlier in the tournament that we dropped him to #2, behind 5'7 Soph Randy Culpepper from Memphis (Sheffield) TN, in our ranking of the top sophomores.  And, similar to Prince in Class AAA, the Mr. Basketball award in Class AA went to Thaddeus Young, despite the fact that his team did not advance into the state tournament.  In contrast, the Mr. Basketball Award winner, which went to 6'7 Nicheaus Dokes from Trenton (Peabody) TN, in Class A did get a chance to play in the state tournament and he finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game.  However, that still wasn't enough for his team to overcome a well-balanced Middleton team, which was led by 6'2 Jr Marq Murden with 17 points in the championship game.  It also should be pointed out that Brentwood (Academy) TN won the Division II State Championship several weeks ago and that 6'9 Jr Brandan Wright was named the tournament MVP and Mr. Basketball for that classification. 

Saturday, March 19, 2005, Sunday, March 20, 2005, & Monday, March 21, 2005

In case you were wondering whatever happened to 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, who is ranked #22 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, the word is that he's back in Toronto, ON, where he plans to get his academics in order and enroll at a four-year Division I school next fall.  In other words, it appears that he's not going to go the prep school route, because he will have the necessary SAT score and enough core classes to graduate, if he attends summer school.  However, Ro Russell, who is our best source on basketball in Canada, does not want to reveal where Davis is currently enrolled in high school, because they don't want his recruitment to become like a circus again.  If you will recall, Davis verbally committed to Texas in July, but later reneged on the Longhorns and everything became a total mess when he dropped out of Cardozo and returned home after playing only one high school game this past season.  Russell also did not give us a list of schools, but did tell us that Davis' mother is calling the shots and, as a result, he'll be glad to pass along her phone number to anybody interested in getting involved.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'9 John Plefka from Santa Fe (JC) FL has verbally committed to Texas Tech and this appears to be excellent catch for the Red Raiders.  Not only is Plefka big, strong, and physical inside, but he also has a great understanding of the game, excellent leadership qualities, and is a good shooter out on the perimeter.  No doubt Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight has made a living with skilled players like his over the years.  But, even more important, is the fact that Plefka should provide the perfect complement to a recruiting class, which is now ranked #23 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes 6'6 Dior Lowhorn from Berkeley (St. Mary's) CA, 6'8 Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Terry Martin from Monroe (Ridgewood) LA, 6'7 Michael Prince from Plano (West) TX, 6'7 Dazzmond Thornton from Denver (East) CO, and 6'7 Jeremey Buttel from Colleyville (Heritage) TX.  The addition of Plefka also probably will exclude the Red Raiders from taking 6'9 Jeremy Barr from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who is one of the fastest rising unsigned big men in the nation and still has Texas Tech, USC, Oklahoma State, and Colorado on his list.  Plefka also will provide insurance in case Lowhorn doesn't show up.  Yes, we've heard rumors that Lowhorn, who is an undersized beast on the boards, may renege on the commitment that he made to the Red Raiders last fall.  However, this made be easier said than done, because he did sign a binding National Letter-of-Intent.  And, if Lowhorn does honor is commitment, he may not make it academically, which means that Knight may stash him someplace where they will be sure to get him back, like San Francisco (JC) CA.  And reinforcing our believe that this will happen even further is the fact that the Red Raiders now have seven players in this recruiting class, but will lose only four players when 6'2 Sr Ronald Ross, 6'8 Sr Devonne Giles, 6'5 Sr Curtis Marshall, and 6'9 Sr Joey Hawkins graduate this spring.  The Red Raiders also don't have a junior on the roster, which means that they already have an excellent nucleus around which to build in the future with players like 6'1 Soph Jarrius Jackson, 6'9 Soph Darryl Dora, 6'8 Soph John Ofoegbu, 6'0 Soph LucQuente White, 6'1 Soph Drew Coffman, 6'7 Soph Tanner Odgen, 6'5 Frosh Martin Zeno, and 6'8 Frosh Damar Suljagic.  But right now the numbers don't add up, as they currently are either two or three scholarships over the limit, depending upon whether 6'8 Frosh Philip Harbaugh counts (Harbaugh is on the roster, but didn't play this year and, as a result, we assume that he red-shirted) next year.  Johnson also tells us that Air Force has landed 6'7 Ben Walker from Lehi (H.S.) UT, which means the Falcons recruiting class moves into a tie at #68, along with Air Force, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, Air Force also signed 6'5 Andrew Henke from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'7 John Kreklow from Blaine (H.S.) MN, 6'6 Chris Osborne from Scottsdale (Christian) AZ, and 6'7 Aleks Perka from Houston (Klein Forest) TX during the Fall Signing Period and this winter received a verbal commitment from 6'6 Mason Wooldridge from Fork Union (Military) VA.  Johnson also informs us that 6'1 Deonte Williams from Romulus (H.S.) MI, who is one of the best 3-point shooters in the state, recently verbally committed to East Tennessee State.  Obviously this is case, whereby, Buccaneers assistant coach Mike Boyd was able to take advantage of his old Michigan contacts and swoop in and steal this undersized 2-guard while bigger school were trying to decide whether they should offer Williams a scholarship.  And, after Williams had a break-out game with 21 points, as he led his high school team to a 82-68 victory in the state Class A quarterfinals last week against Ferndale (H.S.) MI, they probably wished they had, because we're also talking about one of the fastest rising players in the state.  It also appears that Marquette has received an early verbal commitment from 6'1 Soph Scott Christophersen from Melrose (Melrose-Mindor) WI, who is arguably the #1 sophomore in the state and is ranked #99 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  The Golden Eagles also have a verbal commitment from 6'4 Jr Anthony Green from Beloit (Memorial) WI, which means that Marquette head coach Tom Crean and his staff are doing a great job of locking up their fair share of the top young players in the state extremely early.  But the icing on the cake would be if they can also get 6'2 Jr Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, who is ranked #14 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and promises to be the one of the best players to ever come out of Wisconsin.  However, regardless of whether they get Smith and/or Crean stays or goes (he's rumored for some big time jobs, like Indiana and Iowa, if they should open this spring), the Marquette program will still be in great shape as it heads into the Big East Conference next year.  Remember, they stocked up with some good inside players (Ousmane Barro, Mike Kinsella, and Ryan Amoroso) a year ago and they have a great group of guards in the fold in their current recruiting class, which is ranked #16 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes 6'4 Wesley Matthews from Madison (Memorial) WI, 6'2 Jerel McNeal from Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) IL, 6'1 Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 Matt Mortensen from Provo (Timpview) UT.  We also understand that 6'5 Jr Aaron Holmes from St. Petersburg (Catholic) FL, who is ranked #77 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has reneged on his verbal commitment to N.C. State.  So, as things stand now, only eight of our top 100 ranked juniors are off the board, as 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA is committed to UCLA, 6'11 Jr Brook Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA is committed to Stanford, 6'11 Jr Robin Lopez from Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial) CA is committed to Stanford, 5'10 Jr Demond Carter from Laplace (Reserve Christian) LA is committed to Baylor, 6'6 Jr William Graves from Greensboro (Dudley) NC is committed to North Carolina, 6'7 Jr Jamie Skeen from Huntersville (North Mecklenburg) NC is committed to Wake Forest, 6'3 Jr Patrick Christopher from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA is committed to California, and 5'9 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX is committed to Arizona. 

Friday, March 18, 2005

One of the discouraging things about high school basketball are all the archaic rules that the state associations use to maintain control over their member institutions and, as a result, prevent anything resembling a high school basketball national championship from occurring, unless one of the premier Christmas tournaments in the nation puts together an incredible field in December and/or the Hoop Group gets enough of the top players and teams at the And1 High School Basketball Championship in June to make it seem legitimate.  And compounding the problem even further are the problems that schools that aren't in a state high school association run into in terms of scheduling and being able to play against teams that are in certain state associations.  Well, thanks to the efforts of our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis, who also is the director of the Georgia Elite club team program, the head basketball coach at Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, and the guy who takes a team to Douai, France annually in June to play in the Junior World Championship, this may be about to change.  Yes, it looks like Davis is the driving force behind putting together an organization called the National Elite Athletic Association, which will be patterned in many ways after the NCAA and will make up a group of top level high school programs that are looked upon as outcasts by the establishment, but have good basketball teams and, in most cases, provide excellent academic alternatives for the student-athlete who wants to make it at both the college and professional levels.  In other words, it looks like Davis is attempting to put together a league of his own, which will governed by National Federation High School rules, but will be beyond the control of the state high school associations.  And, it looks like he's off to a heck of a start, because the list of schools that have already expressed an interest in joining the National Elite Athletic Association, include Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, Laurinburg (Institute) NC, Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, Pickens (Prince Avenue Prep) FL, Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, Houston, (Gulf Shores) TX, Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, Mendenhall (Genesis I) MS, Richmond (New Creations) IN, Raleigh (Word of God) NC, Charlotte (Victory Christian) NC, Statesville (Christian) NC, Millersburg (Military Academy) KY, Atlanta (Greater Atlanta Adventist) GA, Marietta (Covenant) GA, LaGrange (Dawson Street Christian) GA, LaGrange (Sound Doctrine) GA, and Decatur (Green Pastures) GA.  And, if that weren't enough, Davis also hopes to line up schools like Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, which is the premier high school basketball program in the nation, Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, and Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, as he attempts to put together conferences in different areas of country.  Davis also tells us that the first meeting of the National Elite Athletic Association will be held in Las Vegas, NV, April 17th-19th, which is convenient, because it comes right on the heels of Hal Pastner's Las Vegas Spring Showcase in Las Vegas, NV, April 15th-17th.  At that point Davis hopes to put together plans to hold both a pre-season tournament, similar to the NIT, and post season tournament, whereby, all the members institutions get a chance to compete for the National Championship.  "Any high school that abides by National Federal High School rules will be free to join," says Davis.  However, in the beginning you can be sure that no team that already belongs to a state high school association will join, because this is starting off as strictly a league for basketball.  But, as other people become involved, they branch out incorporate other sports and they start bringing in a lot of money via television revenue and major sponsorship, good teams belonging to state high school associations may become as extinct as the dinosaur.  I'm sure there will be a lot of people out there who think this is just a pipe dream and that Davis won't be able to pull all this off.  But that's also what they said when they first heard that Davis planned to become the head coach at Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA, recruit internationally, and turn this small school of only 60 students into one of the best high school basketball teams in the nation.  But, after going overseas and spending time in countries like Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Poland, and Lithuania, Davis has established a strong pipeline for players who want to come to the United States and, in only the second year of the program, they just completed a 28-3 season against a national schedule.  And, next year, everybody will be back.  We're talking about 6'7 Frosh Olu Ashaolu from Canada, who is ranked #5 nationally in the freshman class by the HOOP SCOOP; 6'5 Jr Solomon Tat from Nigeria, who is ranked #53 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP; 6'4 Jr Carlos Morais from Angola and 6'7 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Ivory Coast, both of whom already made verbally commitments to Kansas State; 6'8 Jr Petras Balocka from Lithuania, who already has four years of experience playing on the Lithuanian Junior National Teams; 6'10 Jr Krzysztof Janiszewski from Poland, who played for the best junior club team in Poland at age 16; 6'8 Jr Jakub Gadomski from Poland, who earned a spot on Poland's national team and has played in the Polish Junior Championships; 6'9 Soph Chris Barnes from College Park, GA, who was the starting center as a freshman a year ago at Atlanta (North Clayton) GA; 6'6 Jr Cortez Johnson from Albany, GA, who is the younger brother of Florida State's Alexander Johnson; 6'7 Jr Aleksander Mrozik from Poland; 6'8 Jr Paulius Cibulskis from  Lithuania; 6'5 Jr Derek Duvall from Atlanta, GA; 5'10 Jr John Peeples from Jonesboro, GA.  And the pipeline should continue, as Davis continues to take advantage of his foreign contacts and college coaches stash players in his program, because they know that Davis is a legitimate guy and they will get them back.   As a matter of fact, that's exactly what's going to happen with Morias and Cisse, both of whom were put at Community Christian by Kansas State assistant coach Jimmy Elgas, who has more than his own share of international contacts.  Moral to the story, these two players are going to go wherever Elgas goes.  And this is important, because the situation right now with regards to whether the current regime at Kansas State will get another year is totally up in the air.  

Thursday, March 17, 2005

It is with deep regret that I announce that I have accepted the resignation of Wes Grandstaff, who has been our Texas Editor for the last five years.  Not only did Grandstaff do an excellent job of keeping us on top of both recruiting in the state, but he also was a valuable source on players and played in instrumental role in getting the HOOP SCOOP to dramatically expand its coverage all the way down to the 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade age levels.  But I also am pleased to announce that Tim Miller, who runs the adidas-sponsored TG Express club team program and already is one of our best sources of information with regards to younger players nationally, feels like he's ready to assume the role that Grandstaff has fulfilled for the HOOP SCOOP in recent years.  And Miller's first order of business was to assure us that there will be no politics with regards to his rankings.  As a matter of fact, Miller likes 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, who already is the best player to ever play in Grandstaff's Team Texas program, even better than I do.  And that's saying a lot, because I plan to rank Arthur #5 nationally in the junior class next time we update our nationally rankings.  However, not everybody agrees.  And right at the top of the list is Mitch Malone, who runs the Texas Blue Chip program, at one time was our Texas Editor, and still is a good friend to the HOOP SCOOP.  Instead, Malone thinks his player - 6'8 Jr Damion James from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #9 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP -  should get the nod.  "Arthur is an incredible athlete and is versatile enough to play both inside and outside, says Malone.  "But he's not nearly as versatile as James, who can play as almost any position on the court.  "James is capable of dominating a game without scoring a lot points.  Instead, he's a triple-double guy who more often than not will have 10 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and three or four blocked shots.  And he's a lot stronger, has better skills, and a better command of the game of the game than Arthur.  But what really sets James apart is his ability to get it done against top level competition.   I'm not knocking Arthur, because I think he is a great player - one of the top 10 juniors in the country.  I just think James is better."  In other words, beauty is often in the eye of the beholder and, any way you slice it, there are two great juniors in the state, as well already talk about James and Arthur both by-passing college and entering the NBA Draft a year from now.  Malone also is excited, because he thinks he will have plenty to go with James this summer on his Texas Blue Chip club team.  At the top of the list are 6'7 Jinski Grigsby from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX and 6'9 Jr Tearon Hill from Carrollton (Turner) TX, both of whom are expected to go the prep school route next year and, as a result, will give Malone's team an added year of experience this summer.  Grigsby, who is ranked #160 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has the ability to play inside, but he also shoots the ball well enough and does enough other things out on the perimeter to be a wing forward at that the next level.  Hill, who is a 4th year junior that ranked #91 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is good at mixing it up, blocking shots, and rebounding inside, but he also is very athletic and knows how to score in the low post.  And complementing James, Grigsby, and Hill out on the perimeter will be 6'1 Jr Jacoby Satterwhite from Corpus Christi (Miller) TX, 6'0 Jr Kendle Hall from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX, 6'5 Jr Tremaine Simmons from Crockett (H.S.) TX, 5'9 Jr Ryan Wilson from Oklahoma City (John Marshall) OK, 6'3 David Manning from Tyler (Lee) TX, and 6'3 Frosh Zach Williams from Garland (H.S.) TX.  Satterwhite is a great athlete, physical specimen, and an excellent point guard who knows how to make those around him better.  Hall is a strong physical point guard with huge hands who can lock you up defensively and get to the basket.  Simmons is athletic as heck and can shoot the lights out, which is why some people call him "a poor man's Gerald Green."  Wilson is a quick little point guard who can run the show, play excellent defense, and shoot the three.  Manning is a big time athlete, good defender, can shoot the three, and is an excellent student, but he likely will go the prep school route next year in order to increase the value of his stock a year from now.  Williams, who promises to be the next great player to play in the Texas Blue Chip program, gained valuable experience while playing on Malone's second team last summer at the 17-Under age level.  "Williams reminds me of Anthony Roberson at the same stage, although he's bigger and stronger than Roberson when he was a freshman."  We also have received a report from an extremely reliable source that Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes plans to resign tonight, which means that 27 head coaching jobs have already come open this year and six of them have already been filled.  Did you know that since we last talked about coaching rumors earlier this week, two more head coaching jobs have opened (Sidney Green is out at Florida Atlantic and Pete Strickland is out at Coastal Carolina) and two more head coaching jobs have been filled (South Carolina assistant coach Ricky Stokes is in at East Carolina and California assistant coach George Nessman is in at San Jose State)?  And, assuming that this report is correct about Lopes being out at Fresno State, the two leading candidates to take over at the helm of the Bulldogs appear to be St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett, Fresno City (JC) CA head coach Vance Walberg, and former USC interim head coach Jim Saia, who was one of the finalists for the Fresno State job the last time it was open.  But, even more important, whoever gets the job needs to make sure that he retains current assistant coach Vonn Webb, who not is one of the best recruiters in the business, but also has all of the ties necessary, dating back to his two tours of duty as the head coach at Fresno (Washington Union) CA from 1995-99 and 2000-2003, to keep the top local players at home.  We also have heard the rumor about Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight being interested in the Tennessee job, University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith being the #1 choice for the Virginia job, and former Ohio State head coach Jim O'Brien and Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart being on the list for the Massachusetts job.  However, in the case of Knight and Smith we'd be surprised if this happened, but for entirely different reasons.  There is no question in our mind that Knight would be dynamite at Tennessee and that Tennessee has the resources, facilities, fan support, and conference affiliation necessary to make this a great job, if they hire the right coach.  However, we're not they're willing to make the same type of commitment in men's basketball that they've made to football and women's basketball.  The word we're getting is that Virginia wants to hire the biggest name minority head basketball coach that they can find and Smith obviously fits that the description.  But will Smith actually leave Kentucky for Virginia or will he just use this as a bargaining chip to get the Wildcats to up the ante on his already extremely lucrative contract?  We also continue to hear Texas head coach Rick Barnes being mentioned as a possibility for Virginia, but the name that intrigues us the most for this job is Golden State head coach Mike Montgomery.  As for the Massachusetts job, we told you earlier in the week that they aren't very many big time jobs open right now and, as a result, the list of candidates for this job is truly amazing, as the list now includes O'Brien, Everhart, former Virginia head coach Pete Gillen, Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee, Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard, Connecticut assistant coach Tom Moore, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Davidson head coach Bob McKillop, Ohio University head coach Tim O'Shea, Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl, and television analyst Fran Fraschilla.  Editor's Note:  The HOOP SCOOP has now confirmed that Ray Lopes has resigned due to the fact that it's been determined by the school that he violated a NCAA rule about telephone calls to recruits.  Lopes, who replaced Jerry Tarkanian in the spring of 2002, had a 50-37 record and he had the program heading in the right direction.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Like everybody else, I am anxiously awaiting the start of the NCAA Tournament, which begins tomorrow.  However, there also is another tournament that I'm looking forward to covering later in the month .  I'm talking about the Las Vegas Easter Classic, which will be held March 23rd-26th in Las Vegas, NV and will feature teams like the Southern Cal All Stars Red, Houston Hoops, H-Squad, Belmont Shore, South Florida Chiefs, Chicago Jaguars, Las Vegas Grizzlies, God Squad (OR), 1 Tough School A (CA), Arizona Cagers, Pump N Run Black, Cavs (CA), and the Las Vegas Prospects in the 17-Under Division; Utah Swoosh, 1 Tough School (CA), Cavs (CA), and Academics First (CA) in the 16-Under Division; the Houston Hoops, Team California, Team Showtime, Arizona Stars, Utah Bruins, West Jordan Jaguars (UT), MVP Flight (CA), Poly Nation (NV), and Salt Lake Metro in the 15-Under Division; the Houston Hoops, ARC Vikings (CA), Rising Stars, Utah Wildcats, ABC/California, Blue Chips, San Diego All Stars, Poly Nation Basketball, Arizona Stars, and All American Hoops in the 14-Under Division; TC Force (MN) and Utah Pump N Run in the 13-Under Division; and the Houston Hoops, Cavs, MVP Flight Elite Black (CA), and Salt Lake Metro in the 12-Under Division.  Yes, it looks like Hal Pastner, who also will be hosting the Las Vegas Spring Showcase on April 15th-17th; the Houston Kingwood Classic on April 22nd-24th; and the Spring Extravaganza in both Houston, TX and Las Vegas, NV on April 30th and May 1st, will be tipping the spring off with a bang.  And what really has us excited is the fact that we'll get a great head start on our competition in terms of seeing many of the top players in the nation this spring and summer.  The championship game in the 17-Under Division will be played on Saturday, March 26th, at 7:40 PM in South Gym at the UNLV McDermott Center, the championship game in the 16-Under Division will be played on Saturday, March 26th, at 4:30 PM at the Becker Community School; the championship game in the 15-Under Division will be played on Saturday, March 26th, at 7:40 PM in the North Gym at the UNLV McDermott Center, the championship game in the 14-Under Division will be played on Saturday, March 26th, at 8:50 PM in the South Gym at the UNLV McDermott Center, the championship game in the 13-Under Division will played on Saturday, March 26th, at 4:20 PM at the Chuck Minker Rec Center, and the championship game in the 12-Under Division will be played on Saturday, March 26th, 12:40 PM at Freemont Middle School.  But the highlight of the entire tournament may be when the Houston Hoops and Team California meet in pool play at 8:50 PM on Friday, March 25th.  Yes, Team California, which features 6'3 Demetrius Walker from Fontana, CA, 5'9 G.J. Vilarino from Phoenix, AZ, 6'6 Aaron Moore from Riverside, CA, 6'3 Terran Carter from Chatsworth, CA, 6'1 Rome Draper from Fontana, CA, 6'2 Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara, CA, 6'0 Justin Hawkins from Los Angeles, CA, and 5'9 Gary Franklin from Los Angeles, CA, all of whom are ranked among the 8th Graders nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, will be playing up a year in this tournament.  And we have to give Joe Keller credit, because this should be a great test for the defending AAU National Champions from the 13-Under age group.  Not only are the Houston Hoops' 15-Under Team, which features 6'1 Frosh Jacovan Brown from Beaumont (Kelly) TX, 6'6 Frosh Corbin Ray from Katy ((Taylor) TX, 6'6 Frosh DeEverett Williams from Alief (Hastings) TX, 6'8 Frosh Dwight White from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'5 Frosh Sammy Duggins from Alief (Hastings) TX, 6'0 Frosh Chris Illes from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, loaded, but this entire age group is loaded.  And Team California is not the only team that will be playing up, as TG Basketball will feature a combined group of players that will include 6'3 Randy Collins from LaPorte, TX, 5'10 K.C. Ross-Miller from Lewisville, TX, 6'4 Jackson Jeffcoat from Plano, TX, 5'8 Ray McCallum Jr from Norman, OK, and 6'4 Evan Washington from De Soto, TX, all of whom are ranked among the top 25 7th Graders in the nation, in the 15-Under Division.  Yes, that is the same team that Tim Miller has won back-to-back national championships with in the 11-Under and 12-Under AAU Nationals the last two summers and they're playing up not one, but two years.  And, of course there is the Houston Hoops 17-Under Team, which includes 6'7 Soph Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'6 Soph Mike Singletary from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 5'10 Soph Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, and 6'7 Soph Isaiah Rusher from Houston (Bellaire) TX, all of whom ranked among the top 40 sophomores in the nation, and the Southern California All-Stars with 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who is ranked #9 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And, as usual, Pastner has stacked the top pools so that the best teams will get a chance to play one another both in pool play and during the playoffs.  I'll spent a lot of time watching the 17-Under Division, where Pool A will include Southern Cal All-Stars Red, South Florida Chiefs, Chicago Jaguars, Las Vegas Grizzlies, Pool B will include Houston Hoops, God Squad Athletics (OR), 1 Tough School A, and Las Vegas Prospects Gold; Pool C will include H Squad, Las Vegas Prospects, Arizona Cagers 1, and Las Vegas Rage; Pool D will include Belmont Shore, Arizona CTB, AAC Stars 2 (NV), and Las Vegas Lightning; Pool E will includes the Cavs (CA), Las Vegas Dynasty, Idaho Elite, and Alta Loma Rancho Cucamonga Wolverines; Pool F will include Pump N Run Black, Ajax Pickering Trojans (ON), San Diego Runnin' Rebels, and Agassi Stars (NV); Pool G will include AAC Stars 1 (NV), CI Gibson HS (Bahamas), Huskies (UT), and Showtime (CA); Pool H will include Nevada Elite, 1 Tough School B (CA), Arizona Cagers 3, and Dogcatchers (NV); Pool I will include Las Vegas Toros, AV Coyotes (CA), Utah Diggers, and Moapa Valley Blue Devils (NV); Pool J will include Southern Cal All-Stars Black, Arizona Cagers 2, RBC West (CA), Dogcatchers 2; and Pool K will include CABC (CA), Arizona Rage, Jammers (UT), and Southern Nevada Unsigned Seniors.  However, I also will focus on the 15-Under Division, where Pool A will include the Houston Hoops, Team California, Texas Showtime, and the Arizona Stars, Pool B will include the Utah Bruins, Las Vegas Outlaws, Unique Physiques (CA), and Dog Catchers (NV); Pool C will include West Jordan Jaguars (UT), TG Basketball, Boomers (UT), AAC Stars (NV); Pool D will include MVP Flight Elite (CA), Blue Chips (NV), Wolverine (UT), and Arizona Cagers; and Pool E will include Poly Nation (NV) Salt Lake Metro (UT), A1 Athletics (CA) and Nuff Sed (NV), and the 14-Under Division, where Pool A will include the Houston Hoops, ARC Vikings (CA), Rising Stars (IL), and Utah Wildcats; Pool B will include ABC/California Hoops (CA), Blue Chips (NV), Wayne PAL Wolfpack Blue (NJ), and Highland Hawks (CA); Pool C will include San Diego All Stars, Arizona Gym Rats Black, Outlaws ((NV), and Pocket Junior King (CA); Pool D will include Poly Nation Basketball (NV), Arizona Warriors Black, Wayne PAL Wolfpack Silver (NJ), and Unique Physiques (CA); Pool E will include Arizona Stars, Salt Lake Select, (UT), Las Vegas Rage and Arizona Warriors White; and Pool F will include All American Hoops, Xtreme (CA), Las Vegas Dynasty, and Reno Ballers.  For even more information about the  Las Vegas Easter Classic and any of the other events that Pastner will be running this spring and summer, click onto VisionSports.com.  Speaking of all of these, any teams that enters any of the springs tournaments (the Las Vegas Easter Classic, Las Vegas Spring Showcase, and the Houston Kingwood Classic) will get $50 off when they also register to participate in one of the summer tournaments (Houston National Summer Showcase, the Main Event in Las Vegas, and the National Youth Basketball Championships in Las Vegas, NV).  Pastner also is excited about the fact the Las Vegas Spring Showcase should be even better than it was a year ago and that the Spring Extravaganza in both Houston, TX and Las Vegas, NV on April 30th and May 1st will be live for college coaches on Saturday, April 30th.  And so will the Las Vegas Spring  Showcase on Saturday, April 16th, and Sunday, April 17th and the Houston Kingwood Classic on Saturday, April 23rd, and Sunday, April 24th, which means that Pastner clearly is the "King of the Spring" in terms of running major events.  And the Houston Kingwood Classic is still the granddaddy of them all, as this year's field once again will be the largest weekend basketball tournament in the United States and will include over 600 teams in nine different age groups ranging from 17-Under all the way down to 9-Under.  Right now the 17-Under Division has 189 teams, the 16-Under Division has 92 teams, the 15-Under Division has 92, and the 14-Under Division has 40 teams.  So you can bet that once again over 500 college coaches and all the top scouting services in the nation, including the HOOP SCOOP, will cover this event, which will include teams like 1 Tough School , 43 Hoops Elite, 805 Basketball, A1 Athletics, AAC Stars, ABC/California Hoops, Academics First, Acadiana Hoops, Agassi Stars, Alabama Challenge, ARC BTI, Arizona Cagers, Arizona CTB, Arizona Magic, Arizona Stars, Arkansas Lakers, Arlington Swoosh, Atlanta All Stars, Atlanta Celtics, Austin And 1, Austin Ballerz, Baltimore Select, Baltimore Stars, Basketball Unlimited, Bay Area Hoosiers, Belmont Shore, Bingo's All-Stars, Blessed IJN, Branch West, Breakdownmagazine.com, Centex Shooters, Champaign Wolfpack Hoops, Chicago Jaguars, Chi-Town Mixers, City Rocks, Coast 2 Coast Basketball, Columbus Titans, Compton Magic, Connecticut Flame, CT Young Gunz, Cy-Fair Cougars, D-1 Greyhounds, Dallas Mustangs, Dallas Pacers, Dallas Slam, Dogcatchers, Edwards Bulldogs, El Paso Suns, El Paso Wildcats, Emerald City Pioneers, Ferrari Youth Basketball, First Class, Force, Fox Valley Skillz, Friends of Hoop, Full Package Athletics, Future Stars, GA Blue - Spalding Eagles, Gastonia Mountaineers, Gateway Basketball Club, Georgia Elite, Georgia Hurricanes, Georgia Stars, Georgia Warriors, God Squad Athletics, Gold Coast Wizards, Grand Bahama Hoops, Ground Zero, High Five America, Houston Cobras, Houston Cyclones, Houston Defenders, Houston Elite, Houston Falcons, Houston Flight, Houston Gold, Houston Heat, Houston Hoops, Houston Hoops Action, Houston Hoopstars, Houston Jaguars, Houston Knights, Houston Lynx, Houston No Limit, Houston Pacers - ITP, Houston Panthers, Houston Powerhouse, Houston Rebels, Houston Select, Houston Shocks, Houston Southwest Bulldogs, Houston Storm, Houston Superstars, Houston Swoosh, Houstonians, Howard Pulley Panthers, H-Squad, I-Can All Stars, Illinois Bobcats, Illinois Defenders, Illinois Patriots, Indiana Elite, Indiana Elite, Inner Strength, Jackson Panthers, Jersey Hot Shots, Junior Celtics, Junior Tycoons, Kansas City Elite, KC 76ers, KC Keys, KC Magic, Kentucky Hoopstars, King James Shooting Stars, Kingwood Kats, Kingwood Mustangs, L.I. Trotters, Lake Houston Hoops, Lakers - WI, Las Vegas Dynasty, LBA Seawolves, Long Island Lightning, Longhorns, Louisiana Lakers, Louisiana Sports Academy Ravens, Madison County Ballers, Marietta Devils, Master's Touch, Mean Streets, Metrocrest, Miami Tropics, Michigan Hurricanes, Midwest Storm, Milwaukee Spartans, Minnesota Stars, MPSLO, Nashville Shooting Stars, Nashville Stallions, Nebraska High 5, Nevada Elite, New Heights NYC, New Orleans Jazz, New Orleans Panthers Select, New York Elite, New York Ravens, Next Level BC All Stars, Next Level Santa Monica, Neymours Falcons - Bahamas, NM Force All Stars, NOGA African All Stars, Nor Cal Elite, North Channel Cyclones, North Mississippi Kings, Northside Mavericks, NW Arkansas Raptors, Oakland Rebels, OK Showtime Elite, Old Gold Basketball, Orlando Hounds, Orlando Wildcats, Philadelphia Ballhawks, PHPS Select, Pittsburgh Jots, Platinum Starzz, Port Arthur Heat, Port Arthur Spurs, Portland Elite Legends, Pro Skills, Pro Skills, Quannas White Select, Racine Basketball (RBC), RBC West, RMG Hoops, Rocktown, Sacramento Classics, San Antonio Celtics, San Antonio Eagles, San Antonio Flyers, San Antonio Hawkeyes, San Antonio Mustangs, San Antonio Roadrunners, San Antonio RoHawks, San Antonio Young Gunz, San Diego Cougars, Scadding Court Ballhawks, SE Texas All-Stars Elite, Smyrna Stars, So Cal Razorbacks, South Carolina Elite, South Carolina Ravens, South Florida Heat, Southeast Elite, Southeast Texas SLAM, Southern Cal All Stars, Southwest Celtics, Southwest Magic, Southwest Rebels, Spiece Cincinnati Tigers, St. Johns - Bahamas, St. Louis Eagles, Starkville Bulldogs, SYF Players, Syracuse Rochester RAP, Syracuse Select, TA Hoop Dream, Team Angels, Team CBIZ - Ohio Pride, Team Colorado (Fellas), Team Fort Worth, Team Hoop Zone, Team Houston, Team Indiana, Team Melo, Team NCI, Team Phoenix, Tennessee Travelers, Texas Ambassadors, Texas Blue Chips, Texas Heat, Texas Hoopstars, Texas Jayhawks, Texas Select, Texas Showtime, Texas Terps, Texas Thunder, Texas Top Prospects, Texas Wolverines, TG Basketball, The Family, The Warriors, Thunder Basketball, Tigers, TJ Ford Elite, Tulsa Titans, Utah Heat, Utah Pump N Run, Utah Swoosh, Victoria Australia, Victoria Prep - Canada, Waukegan Traveling Stars/Illinois Surge, West Atlanta Tar Heels, West Coast Ballers, West Side Hoops, West Virginia Wildcats, Westfield Mustangs, Westlake Hoops, Whatcom Hoops, and Worldwide Renegades.  Pastner also is excited about the fact that Main Event and the adidasSuper64, which are two of the three big tournaments in Las Vegas, NV in July, will have the winners of their respective tournaments go head-to-head on July 26th at the Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in a game that is made for television.  And last, not least, is the fact that Arizona-bound 5'8 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX recently led his team with 20 points and five rebounds to a 54-52 win against De Soto (H.S.) TX in the Texas State Championship Game at the Erwin Center in Austin, TX.  Wise, who was named the tournament MVP, also had 10 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds in the semi-finals against Dallas (Carter) TX.  And the best may be yet to come, because Wise, Singletary, who also had 30 points in that semi-finals win, and several other excellent sophomores will all be back next year and, as a result, Houston (Kingwood) TX promises to be one of the top high school basketball teams in the country in 2005-2006.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Kenny Gillion of BreakDownMagazine.com tells us that 6'4 Jermaine Taylor from Tavares (H.S.) FL, who is ranked #15 in the state by our Florida Editor Rick Staudt and is ranked #195 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Central Florida.  What a steal!  We're talking about a big time athlete who can beat you both with his ability to slash to the basket and his excellent 3-point shooting.  Taylor also is an excellent rebounder for his size, as is evident by the fact that he's averaging a double-double this season (25.0 ppg and 11.0 rpg), plus he's a terrific wide receiver on the gridiron, which means that it will be interesting to see if he attempts to play both sports in college.  Taylor becomes Central Florida's first recruit in this recruiting class, but they have the potential to be even better next year , despite the fact that 6'2 Sr Gary Johnson and 6'1 Sr Kingsley Edwards, who are the starting guards on Central Florida's 24-8 team that will meet Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, will both graduate later this spring.  Not only will Taylor join 6'6 Soph Joshua Peppers, 6'3 Jr Troy Lindbeck, and 6'3 Jr Justin Rose on the perimeter a year from now, but 6'4 Soph Carlton Christian, who transferred from Marquette, 6'3 Soph David Noel, who transferred from UNC-Wilmington, and 6'1 Soph Michael O'Donnell, who transferred from N.C. State, all are currently waiting in the wings and, as a result, the Golden Knights could be potentially even better next season.  And they'd better be, because the are joining Conference USA next season.  Taylor picked Central Florida over schools like Penn State, Texas A&M, Houston, and Boston College, but Gillion tells us that he wouldn't be surprised if Taylor doesn't use this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things in a couple of years, just like 6'7 Sr Joey Graham and 6'6 Sr Stephen Graham did two years ago when they transferred from Central Florida to Oklahoma State.  Gillion also is trying to make us rethink our original decision not attend The Breakdown Hoops Festival, which will be July 13th-16th in Miami, FL.  Some of the top players and teams that are expected to be in attendance at the Breakdown Hoops Festival include the Spiece Indy Heat with 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'4 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'0 Jr Michael Conley from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, and 6'9 Soph Aaron Pogue from Dayton (Dunbar) OH; the New York Panthers with 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'6 Jr Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, and 6'3 8th Grader Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY; Team Breakdown with 6'0 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'7 Jr Dwayne Collins from Miami (Senior) FL, and 6'4 Jr Jonathan Hall from Miami (Senior) FL; Arizona Magic with 6'0 Soph Jerrad Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ and 6'4 Jr Christian Polk from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ; Michigan Hurricanes with 5'10 Jr Tory Jackson from Saginaw (Buena Vista) MI and 7'0 Jr Tom Herzog from Flint (Powers) MI; D-One Sports with 6'6 Soph Eric Wallace from Kernersville (Robert B. Glenn) NC and 6'7 Soph Marshall Moses from Aiken (H.S.) SC; Long Island Lightning with 6'1 Soph Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ; Dallas Mustangs with 6'2 Jr Donald Sloan from Dallas (Seogoville (TX) and 6'4 Jr Derrick Roland from Dallas (Seogoville) TX; Lee Bulls with 5'10 Jr London Warren from Jacksonville (Raines) FL, 7'1 Jr Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, and 6'7 Soph A.J. Stewart from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL; the Las Vegas Prospects with 6'3 Jr P'Allen Stinnett from Las Vegas (Palos Verdes) NV and  6'5 Jr Andre McFarland from Las Vegas (Durango) NV; et al.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that the two highly coveted big men from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, which won the District 13 junior college championship last week and is heading to the National Junior College Tournament, are still wide open.  Johnson is talking about 6'10 Mohamed Kone, who was named the MVP in the District 13 Tournament and had 30 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocked shots in his team's 120-110 semi-finals win over Eastern Utah (JC) UT, and 6'10 Abdoulye Ndiaye, who almost had a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and nine blocks in his team's 70-62 win the championship against Salt Lake City (JC) UT.  Currently the favorites for Kone are Baylor, Arizona State,  Kansas, UNLV, and Florida State.  Ndiaye's list includes USC, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgetown, Florida State, Oregon, and Washington State.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that Southern Idaho Junior College assistant coach Babacar Sy, who is the legal guardian of one of the two above mentioned players and the cousin of the other one, is planning on starting a new prep school next season in Florida.  And, you can bet that it will rival other basketball factories, like Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA and Montverde (Academy) FL, that have started up during the last several years and have a combination of both American and international players.  And, you can bet that Sy, who also coaches the Senegal National Team and has a scouting service that touts the top players from Africa, will get more than his fair share of good players right off the bat.  As a matter of fact, Sy is the guy who has already helped players like Marquette's Ousmane Barro, Alabama's Jean Felix, Baylor's Mamadou Diene, and Colorado's Michael Morandias get to the United States.  Getting back to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament that will take place this year in Hutchinson, KS on March 22nd-26th, the first round bracket is set and it will be Northwest Mississippi (JC) MS versus Moberly (JC) MO at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, March 22nd, followed by Iowa Western (JC) IA versus Walters State (JC) KS at 12:45 PM, Chipola (JC) FL versus Brunswick (JC) NC at 2:30 PM, Seminole State (JC) OK versus Globe (JC) NY at 5:00 PM, Arizona Western (JC) AZ versus Midland (JC) TX at 6:45 PM, and Southern Idaho (JC) ID versus Northeastern Junior (JC) CO at 8:30 PM.  The final two first round games will be played on Wednesday, March 23nd, with Highland (JC) IL versus North Dakota State (JC) ND at Noon and the District 6 Champion, which will be determined tomorrow night, versus Paris (JC) TX at 1:45 PM.  And, as things stand now, it looks like the four teams to beat are Arizona Western (JC) AZ, which was the #1-ranked team in the final National Junior College Athletic Association poll of the year and is 31-1 on the season, Chipola (JC) FL, which is 31-2 on the season; Southern Idaho (JC) ID, which is 30-2 on the season; and Northwest Mississippi (JC) MS, which is 29-2 on the season.

Monday, March 14, 2005

While NCAA Selection Sunday is always like Christmas for the college basketball fan, the next day (today) is often the worst day of the year for Division I head coaches who are hoping to get just one more year to turn things around.  And, if you don't believe me, just ask Virginia's Pete Gillen, Tennessee's Buzz Peterson, Massachusetts' Steve Lappas, and Tulane's Shawn Finney, all of whom were fired today.  The fact that Gillen got the ax comes as no surprise.  As a matter of fact, part of the deal when he was retained a year ago was that there were no if's, and's, or, but's this year.  The Cavaliers had to be in the NCAA Tournament, which they have only done once during Gillen's seven-years at Virginia, or Gillen, who already was hanging on by the skin of his teeth, would be looking for a job.  Unfortunately Virginia finished with a 14-15 record overall and was tied for last in the league, along with Florida State, with a 4-12 conference record, and the rest is history.  But Gillen is still an excellent coach, so it comes as no surprise that he is being mentioned for both the Siena and the Massachusetts jobs.  However, we suspect getting the Siena job will be a lot easier than getting the Massachusetts job, which is one of the three best head coaching jobs that is currently open, along with Virginia and Tennessee.  Remember, USC, Vermont, and Purdue have already been filled and just today Michigan State assistant coach Doug Wojcik got the Tulsa job.  This leaves 20 Division I head coaching jobs that are currently open, as the list, which also can be found by clicking on Coaching Changes, includes Virginia, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Tulane, New Mexico State, East Carolina, San Jose State, Siena, Loyola-Marymount, Eastern Michigan, Youngstown State, Stony Brook, VMI, Centenary, Eastern Illinois, St. Francis-NY, Howard, UC-Riverside, IPFW, and Savannah State.  In other words, there are a lot of lousy jobs at the lower Division I level, but not very many good jobs that are open at the high Division I level.  As for Massachusetts job, the list continues to get longer, instead of shorter, as Gillen, Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee, Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard, Connecticut assistant coach Tom Moore, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Davidson head coach Bob McKillop, Ohio University head coach Tim O'Shea, Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl, and television analyst Fran Fraschilla are all great names for the job.  Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz appears to be the leading candidate for the Tennessee job, but some of the other names that are being tossed around include St. Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli, Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins, Marquette head coach Tom Crean, UAB head coach Mike Anderson, George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs, Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall, Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, and Murray State head coach Mick Cronin.  And, if Lutz does get the Tennessee job, that would open the door for Virginia Commonwealth head coach Jeff Capel, former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty, Louisville assistant coach Vince Taylor to get the Charlotte job.  Don't believe Taylor can get that the Charlotte job?  Well, Taylor not only has paid his dues, but he should be able to recruit like crazy both in the United States and internationally.  And, of course, it doesn't hurt when both Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski are calling pushing you for the job.  Remember, Taylor played at Duke for both Krzyzewski and Bill Foster in the late 70's and early 80's.  And, if Louisville's makes a strong push in the NCAA Tournament, also don't be surprised if Louisville assistant coach Reggie Theus gets the New Mexico State job or the Long Beach State job, if it opens, and Louisville Administrative Assistant Scott Davenport gets the Bellarmine job.  We also continue to hear Texas head coach Rick Barnes, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, South Carolina head coach Dave Odom, George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs, Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker, and DePaul head coach Dave Leitao all being mentioned as candidates for the Virginia job and Indiana University head coach Mike Davis, former Miami-FL head coach Perry Clark, LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre, and Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart being mentioned for the Tulane job.  We also have heard Davis' name mentioned for Missouri, if Tigers head coach Quin Snyder is one of the next to go.  And, if that happens, there is no doubt in our mind that Iowa head coach Steve Alford is hot enough to secure the Indiana job.  We also find it ironic that the Tulsa job went to Doug Wojcik, who used to be an assistant coach at North Carolina during the Matt Doherty era.  Our guess is that they couldn't finalize the deal with Doherty, so they took Wojcik instead.  The names we're hearing the most for Stony Brook are Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare, Boston College assistant coach Bill Coen, and Villanova assistant coach Ed Pinckney.  It also appears that Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins is emerging as the leading candidate for the Siena job and we're wondering if former Tulane head coach Shawn Finney will return to the University of Kentucky, where he was an assistant coach for three years for Tubby Smith.  However, for that to happen, Wildcats assistant coaches David Hobbs and/or Scott Rigot would have to move into a head coaching jobs.  Another question that has yet to be answered is whether Temple head coach John Chaney will be back next season.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin thinks he will.  However, if Chaney does decide to retire, we hope that the Owls will at least consider former Temple assistant coach Dean Demopolous.  Remember, it was Demopolous and the late Jim Maloney who helped Chaney build the program into a national power by recruiting Mark Macon, Eddie Jones, Aaron McKee, Mark Strickland, Donald Hodge, Duane Causwell, Rick Brunson, Pepie Sanchez, et al.  And, when Chaney does decide to retire, you can bet that names like Drexel head coach James "Brusier" Flint, Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy, former Ohio State head coach Randy Ayers, television analyst Fran Fraschilla, television analyst Steve Lavin, and Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez will be mentioned for the job.  As a matter of fact, Gonzalez interviewed for the DePaul job whenTemple athletic director Bill Bradshaw was the AD at DePaul.  Other jobs that we think might open this spring include Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Arizona State, Kansas State, Brigham Young, Southern Utah, Weber State, Idaho, Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Coastal Carolina, Indiana State, Western Carolina, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Florida Athletic, and UT-Martin.  And that doesn't even include the domino effect, which could put the number of coaching changes this year well into the 40 or 50 range, depending upon how many assistant coaches move into head coaching positions and how many former head coaches get recycled.  Remember, the dominos drop best when the head coaches who are hot at the top level get even better jobs, the head coaches who have paid their dues at the mid major level Division I level move up the ladder, and top level assistant coaches moves into the mid-to-low major jobs. 

Saturday, March 12, 2005, & Sunday, March 13, 2005

 NCAA Selection Sunday is like Christmas for the college basketball fan and, now that we know the pairings for the tournament, we can provide you with our expert analysis both in the space below and on our weekly radio show, which you can listen to by clicking on HOOP SCOOP On-Radio.  First, I think it is important to point out that the NCAA Selection Committee appears to have done an excellent job of selecting the 65 teams for this year's tournament.  As a matter of fact, this afternoon I selected the 65 teams that I thought should in this year's field and the only two teams that didn't make it were Texas A&M and Maryland and the only team that was in the field that I thought did not belong was Northern Iowa.  That's right!  The NCAA Selection Committee took three teams from the Missouri Valley Conference.  But, in the final analysis, there was very little difference between Northern Iowa, which was 21-10 and was ranked #42 and had the 77th toughest scheduled in the Sagarin Ratings, and Wichita State, which did not make the tournament, although the Shockers had a 20-9 and was ranked #55 and had the 79th toughest schedule in the Sagarin Ratings.  Instead, I liked Maryland, which had a 16-12 record, beat Duke not once, but twice, and is ranked #34 and faced the 22nd toughest schedule in the Sagarin Ratings, better than both them.  I also thought both Texas A&M and Iowa State should have been in the field, but, if I had to pick one over the other, I would have taken Texas A&M, which finished with a 19-9 record and was ranked #32 in the Sagarin Ratings.  In contrast, Iowa State finished with an 18-11 record, was ranked #49 in the Sagarin Ratings and didn't finish as strong as Texas A&M down the stretch.  However, it appears they gave the nod to Iowa State based on their strength of schedule (the Cyclones strength of schedule was #46, while the Aggies strength of schedule was #102.  And once again we are using the Sagarin Ratings, because the RPI is a flawed Ranking System, whereby, 25% of the ranking is based on your opponent's strength of schedule, which has nothing to do with how good you are.  Other teams that were on the bubble, but didn't make my cut of 65 included Vanderbilt, which was 18-13, but was ranked #48 against the 47th toughest schedule; St. Joseph's, which was 19-11, but was ranked #71 against the 113th toughest schedule; DePaul, which was 19-10, but was ranked #64 against the 97th toughest schedule; and Notre Dame, which was 17-11, but was ranked #61 against the 71st toughest schedule.  But that's it, as the last four we thought should have been in the field of 65 were Maryland, Texas A&M, St. Mary's, and Nevada.  Also extremely interesting is the fact that only five of the top 55-ranked teams by Sagarin didn't make the NCAA Tournament.  We're talking about Texas A&M at #32, Maryland at #34, Ohio State at #35 (the Buckeyes are on probation and, as a result are not eligible for the NCAA Tournament), Vanderbilt at #48, and Wichita State at #54.  In other words, this appeared to be cut-off, as no team lower than St. Mary's, which was ranked #55 by Sagarin, got an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.   However, we were not impressed by the way the NCAA Selection Committee's seeding of the tournament and the best illustration is Louisville being a #4 seed.  Obviously the NCAA Selection Committee had no respect whatsoever for Conference USA and, while a high rating in the RPI, a tough strength of schedule, and playing in a tough conference all are things to be looked at, the most important thing still should be winning games.  In Louisville's case, we're talking about a team that has won nine in a row and 18 of its last 19 games.  The Cardinals also are 29-4 on the season and have beaten seven teams (Florida, Cincinnati twice, UAB twice, Charlotte, and Eastern Kentucky) and lost to two teams (Kentucky and Iowa) that are in the NCAA Tournament.  And when Memphis plays like they did against Louisville on two of their three meetings this year, they could have beaten just about in the country.  Louisville also was ranked #4 in last week's USA Today/ESPN Poll, #6 in the last week's Associated Press Poll, and is #8 in the Sagarin Ratings.  But they are still ranked below Gonzaga, which is a team in a mid-major conference; Kansas, which has lost five of it's last eight games; and Arizona, which has lost three of its last five games; all of which were #3 seeds.  As a matter of fact, if you look at the two most recent Associated Press and USA/Today polls, you will find that only three teams (North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Louisville) did not lose a week ago and only five teams (Illinois, Duke, Louisville, Oklahoma State, and Washington) did not lose this week.  In other words, Louisville was only team ranked among the top 10 teams in either poll that has not lost a game during the last two weeks of season.  And only two other teams (Gonzaga and Florida) in the top 25 of either poll are nearly as hot.  Thus, explains why we think Louisville is one of the most undervalued teams in the tournament when you start talking about who has a chance to go to the NCAA Final Four and/or win the National Championship.  But their first round game isn't a pushover, as Louisiana-Lafayette is not only the toughest of the #12-seeded teams, but also features two former Southeastern Conference players in 6'4 Sr Orien Greene and 6'4 Jr Dwayne Mitchell and 6'6 Jr Tiras Wade,  who was East Tennessee State's leading scorer with 16.3 ppg and third leading rebounder with 5.7 rpg prior to transferring to Louisiana-Lafayette two years ago.  However, you can bet that Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who is a master at physiology and motivation, will use all this to his advantage.  Remember, this is an experienced team that keeps finding way to win close games and they shoot the lights out (they were 15-23 from beyond the arc against Memphis yesterday).  So assuming that Louisville gets the monkey off their back in the first round (Louisville lost to Butler in the second round two years ago and lost to Xavier in the first round a year ago), we're looking for the Cardinals to beat Georgia Tech in the second round and upset Washington and Wake Forest in the regional semi-finals and finals.  We also look for #11-seeded UAB to knock off #6-seeded LSU, #9-seeded Pittsburgh to beat #8-seeded Pacific, #10-seeded Creighton to beat #7-seeded West Virginia; #11-seeded UCLA to beat #6-seeded Texas Tech, #10-seeded N.C. State to beat #7-seeded Charlotte, #9-seeded Mississippi State to beat #8-seeded Stanford, and #10-seeded Iowa to beat #7-seeded Cincinnati in the first round; for #5-seeded to beat #4-seeded Boston Boston College and #11-seeded UAB to beat #3-seeded Arizona in the second round; #4-seeded Florida to beat #2-seeded North Carolina in the regional semi-finals; and for #2-seeded Oklahoma State to beat #1-seeded Illinois and #2-seeded Kentucky to beat #1-seeded Duke in the regional finals.  This would set up a NCAA Final Four that would include three #2 seeds in Oklahoma State, Connecticut, and Kentucky and a #4 seed in Louisville.  And making the story even more interesting, if this were to happen, would be the fact that three of the four  head coaches (Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, and Tubby Smith) the NCAA Final Four would either have previously coached or currently coach at Kentucky.  Also worth noting is the fact that the only two active head coaches who are undefeated in the NCAA Final Four are Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Kentucky's Tubby Smith and that the experience factor in the NCAA Final Four can not be underestimated.  So, with that in mind, I'm pick the two teams (Connecticut and Oklahoma State) that we there a year ago to play for the NCAA Championship.  It also find it interesting that the Big East with Syracuse, Connecticut, Villanova, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia and the Big-12 Conference with Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, and Iowa State both got six teams in the tournament, while the Atlantic Coast Conference with Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and N. C. State, the Big-10 with Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, and Southeastern Conference with Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Alabama, and Mississippi State all got five teams apiece; Conference USA with Louisville, Cincinnati, Charlotte, and UAB and the Pacific-10 with Washington, Arizona, UCLA, and Stanford both got four teams apiece; the Missouri Valley Conference with Creighton, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa got three teams, and the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga and St. Mary's, the Mountain West with New Mexico and Utah, the Western Athletic with Nevada and UTEP, and the Big West Conference with Pacific and Utah State got all got two teams apiece into the field of 65. 

HOOP SCOOP NCAA TOURNAMENT PREDICTIONS

Chicago Regional
First Round                                              Second Round  Regional Semi-Finals          Regional Finals   NCAA Semi-Finals  Final Two  NCAA Champion
(Seed) Team (Record) (Sagarin Ranking) (Sagarin Strength of Schedule Ranking) (Hoop Scoop Talent Ranking)
(1) Illinois (32-1) (2) (65) (14)
                                                                Illinois
(16) Fairliegh Dickinson (20-12) (201) (303) (203)
                                                                                                 Illinois
(8) Texas (20-10) (25) (37) (12)
                                                                Texas
(9) Nevada (24-6) (41) (142) (67)  

                                                                                                                                            Illinois

(5) Alabama (24-7) (16) (40) (28)  
                                                                Alabama
(12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee (24-6) (36) (183) (100)  
                                                                                                 Alabama
(4) Boston College (24-4) (18) (64) (42)  
                                                                Boston College
(13) Pennsylvania (20-8) (69) (180) (211)    

                                                                                                                                                                Oklahoma State

(2) Oklahoma State (24-6) (7) (5) (21)  
                                                               Oklahoma State
(15) SE Louisiana (24-8) (147) (288) (196)  
                                                                                                 Oklahoma State
(7) Southern Illinois (26-7) (31) (59) (81)  
                                                               Southern Illinois
(10) St. Mary's (25-8) (55) (108) (117)  

                                                                                                                                         Oklahoma State

(3) Arizona (27-6) (12) (26) (10)  
                                                               Arizona
(14) Utah State (24-7) (44) (217) (117)  
                                                                                                 UAB
(6) LSU (20-9) (30) (29) (38)  
                                                               UAB
(11) UAB (21-10) (46) 87) (64)  

                                                                                                                                                                                       Oklahoma State

Albuquerque Regional
First Round                                              Second Round  Regional Semi-Finals          Regional Finals   NCAA Semi-Finals  Final Two  NCAA Champion
(Seed) Team (Record) (Sagarin Ranking) (Sagarin Strength of Schedule Ranking) (Hoop Scoop Talent Ranking)
(1) Washington (27-5) (5) (17) (27)
                                                                Washington
(16) Montana (18-12) (182) (238) (159)
                                                                                                 Washington
(8) Pacific (26-3) (27) (161) (120)
                                                                Pittsburgh
(9) Pittsburgh (20-8) (29) (83) (31)  

                                                                                                                                            Louisville

(5)  Georgia Tech (19-11) (20) (15) (48)  
                                                                Georgia Tech
(12) George Washington (22-7) (40) (153) (50)  
                                                                                                 Louisville
(4) Louisville (29-4) (8) (96) (13)  
                                                                Louisville
(13) Louisiana-Lafayette (20-10) (73) (112) (126)    

                                                                                                                                                                Louisville

(2) Wake Forest (26-5) (4) (10) (16)  
                                                               Wake Forest
(15) UT-Chattanooga (20-10) (142) (230) (175)  
                                                                                                 Wake Forest
(7) West Virginia (21-10) (38) (49) (90)  
                                                               Creighton
(10) Creighton (23-10) (47) (93) (128)  

                                                                                                                                         Wake Forest

(3) Gonzaga (25-4) (21) (81) (47)  
                                                               Gonzaga
(14) Winthrop (27-5) (106) (296) (309)  
                                                                                                 Gonzaga
(6) Texas Tech (20-10) (22) (34) (82)  
                                                               UCLA
(11) UCLA (18-10) (51) 27) (29)                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Connecticut

Syracuse Regional
First Round                                              Second Round  Regional Semi-Finals          Regional Finals   NCAA Semi-Finals  Final Two  NCAA Champion
(Seed) Team (Record) (Sagarin Ranking) (Sagarin Strength of Schedule Ranking) (Hoop Scoop Talent Ranking)
(1) North Carolina (27-4) (1) (6) (4)
                                                                North Carolina

(16) Oakland (12-18) (185) (162) (265)
(16) Alabama A&M (18-13) (290) (330) (270)
                                                                                                 North Carolina
(8) Minnesota (21-10) (37) (45) (76)
                                                                Minnesota
(9) Iowa State (18-11) (49) (46) (53)  

                                                                                                                                            Florida

(5) Villanova (27-7) (17) (41) (25)  
                                                                Villanova
(12) New Mexico (26-6) (39) (201) (59)  
                                                                                                 Florida
(4) Florida (23-7) (15) (50) (3)  
                                                                Florida
(13) Ohio University (21-10 (79) (122) (164)    

                                                                                                                                                                Connecticut

(2) Connecticut (22-7) (13) (33) (2)  
                                                               Connecticut
(15) Central Florida (24-8) (169) (306) (247)  
                                                                                                 Connecticut
(7) Charlotte (21-7) (45) (101) (43)  
                                                               N.C. State
(10) N.C. State (19-13) (28) (18) (49)  

                                                                                                                                         Connecticut

(3) Kansas (23-6) (9) (1) (9)  
                                                               Kansas
(14) Bucknell (22-9) (112) (226) (203)  
                                                                                                 Kansas
(6) Wisconsin (22-8) (19) (20) (22)  
                                                               Wisconsin
(11) Northern Iowa (21-10) (42) (77) (156)  

                                                                                                                                                                                       Connecticut

Austin Regional
First Round                                              Second Round  Regional Semi-Finals          Regional Finals   NCAA Semi-Finals  Final Two  NCAA Champion
(Seed) Team (Record) (Sagarin Ranking) (Sagarin Strength of Schedule Ranking) (Hoop Scoop Talent Ranking)
(1) Duke (25-5) (3) (4) (5)
                                                                Duke
(16) Delaware State (19-13) (210) (290) (276)
                                                                                                 Duke
(8) Stanford (18-12) (50) (11) (66)
                                                                Mississippi State
(9) Mississippi State (22-10) (33) (57) (36)  

                                                                                                                                            Duke

(5) Michigan State (22-6) (11) 69) (1)  
                                                                Michigan State
(12) Old Dominion (28-5) (53) (237) (104)  
                                                                                                 Syracuse
(4) Syracuse (27-6) (14) (75) (6)  
                                                                Syracuse
(13) Vermont (24-6) (43) (195) (159)    

                                                                                                                                                                Kentucky

(2) Kentucky (25-5) (6) (48) (18)  
                                                               Kentucky
(15) Eastern Kentucky (23-8) (144) (279) (193)
                                                                                                 Kentucky
(7) Cincinnati (24-7) (23) 90) (11)  
                                                               Iowa
(10) Iowa (21-11) (26) (24) (34)  

                                                                                                                                         Kentucky

(3) Oklahoma (24-7 (10) (30) (7)  
                                                               Oklahoma
(14) Niagara (20-9) (128) (259) (203)  
                                                                                                 Oklahoma
(6) Utah (27-5) (24) (124) (54)  
                                                               Utah
(11) UTEP (27-7) (52) (173) (46)  

Friday, March 11, 2005

Pittsburgh may have gotten knocked off by Villanova in the second round of the Big East Tournament, but all the news wasn't bad for the Panthers yesterday, as they received an early verbal commitment from 6'9 Soph Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, who is ranked #28 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  We're talking about a quick active athlete with an incredible wing span, a live body, the ability to score around the basket, dominate on the boards, and a tremendous upside.  Pittsburgh beat schools like Ohio State, Xavier, N.C. State, Minnesota, and Duke for Pope's services, but, even more important, is the fact they are getting the best player to come out of the Pittsburgh area since Danny Fortsen.  Actually Pope was enrolled at the Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD a year ago, but returned home this year for his sophomore season.  However, we also continue to hear rumors that Pope will be transfer yet again next season to Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, where he will be teammates with 6'7 Soph Michael Beasley, who is ranked #3 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'3 Soph Nolan Smith, who is ranked #8 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And this would make perfect sense, because Beasley, Smith, and Pope also were teammates on the DC Assault Club, which won the 16-Under Division of the adidas Super 64 Tournament in Las Vegas, NV last summer.  And Pope is not the only great player who is rumored to be transferring to Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD.  As a matter of fact, we've been hearing for months that 6'9 Kevin Durant from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked #18 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'0 Jr Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked #18 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, both could join Beasley, Smith, and Pope at Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD next year to form what could potentially be the high school team in the nation.  But, as things stand now, the word is on the street is that Lawson's chances of transferring are probable and Durant's chances of transferring a possible.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'4 Jr David Lighty from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, who is ranked #36 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, tore an ACL in a high school game a week ago and, after undergoing a MRI yesterday, is now expected to be out four to six months, which means he is now expected to miss the entire spring and summer.  However, that won't stop schools like Ohio State, Syracuse, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and Michigan State from continuing to recruit him.  Also being sidelined for most of the last year has been 6'3 Jeff Brown from Miami (Hernando) FL and, as a result, this incredible athlete has fallen under the radar screen.  And this is important, because Kenny Gillion of BreakDownMagazine.com tells us that it looks like the College of Charleston has stolen another one.  "Brown is similar to Brian Green," says Gillion.  "But Brown, who was being recruited by schools like Miami-FL, Florida State, and Texas A&M before he got hurt last spring at the Kingwood Classic, is a better player than Green.  If you will recall, Green, who is ranked #45 in the junior college ranks by the HOOP SCOOP, verbally committed to the College of Charleston last fall, but reneged soon after and then signed with Florida A&M during the Fall Signing Period.  Gillion also gives College of Charleston assistant coach Patrick Skerry credit for getting this done, which once again simply reinforces our ranking of Skerry as the #2 assistant coach in the nation at the mid-to-low Division I level.  The addition of Brown also moves the College of Charleston's recruiting class, which`also includes 6'7 David Lawrence from Daytona Beach (JC) FL, 6'11 Ben Brown from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'4 Ryan Scott from Reston (South Lakes) VA, into a tie at #30, along with Texas A&M and Miami-FL, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  But, even more impressive is the fact that Lawrence is one of the top junior college players in the nation and only one school (Marshall) that doesn't currently belong to one of the top 10 conferences in the nation has a recruiting class ranked higher than the College of Charleston.  It also appears that Manhattan may be close to getting a verbal commitment from 6'8 Frank Traore from Burkina, which is a small country in Western Africa, via South Kent (Prep) CT and Eastfield (JC) TX.  And, if Jaspers head coach Bobby Gonzalez, pulls this off, he'd have the killer that he needs inside to complement all the great young players that he already has in the program.  Did you know that Manhattan started three freshmen - 6'6 Frosh C.J. Anderson, who was the second leading scorer (16.1 ppg) and the leading rebounder (8.6 rpg) on the team and was the best freshman in the league this year, 5'8 Frosh Arturo Dubois, and 6'0 Frosh Jeff Xavier - on a team that was 15-14 overall and 9-9 in the league this season?  In other words, with Traore, who has good hands, a terrific body, a soft touch, and is a physical specimen around the basket, Dubois, Anderson on the front-line and Xavier and 6'0 Jr Jason Wingate in the backcourt next year, the Jaspers should be in the same position a year from now that they were two years ago when they evolved into the premier team in the league.  So, with this in mind, should Gonzalez jump at the Massachusetts job, if it opens next Monday?  Or should Gonzalez sit tight and ride the wave the next two years at Manhattan?  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio thinks Gonzalez should take the job and run, because the Metro Atlantic Conference is a tough mid-major conference and, unlike the Atlantic-10 Conference, you almost have to win your conference tournament championship in order to get invited to the NCAA Tournament.  However, unless Gonzalez gets considerably double the money, I'm not so sure.  Remember, Massachusetts will probably not be the final stop in Gonzalez's career and he'll probably win more games the next two years, if he just stays put.  Speaking of the Massachusetts job, everybody knows that if it opens, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino is going to push Gonzalez and Memphis head coach John Calipari is going to push Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee.  And making this story even more interesting is the fact that the intensity of the rivalry between the two (Pitino and Calipari) is so intense that they both might be willing to chip in some of their own money to help get their guy the job.  

Thursday, March 10, 2005

By our count, there already have been 20 Division I head coaching jobs that have opened during the current basketball season.  They are Centenary, East Carolina, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Howard, IPFW, Loyola-Marymount, New Mexico State, Purdue, San Jose State, Savannah State, Siena, Southern Cal, St. Francis-NY, Stony Brook, Tulsa, UC-Riverside, Vermont, VMI, and Youngstown State.  And, with former New Orleans Hornets head coach Tim Floyd already having taken the USC job, Maryland assistant coach Mike Lonergan already having taken the Vermont job, and Purdue assistant coach Matt Painter already in place to take over for the retiring Gene Keady, that means there are 17 Division I head coaching jobs that are currently open.  The name we're hearing the most to replace Billy Herrion at East Carolina is South Carolina assistant coach Ricky Stokes, but some people think that new Pirates athletic director Terry Holland will be able to convince George Mason head coach Jim Larranga to take the job.  And this would make sense for several reasons.  First, Larranaga worked for Holland as an assistant coach at Virginia in the early 80's and he and Holland are still extremely close friends.  Second, East Carolina will remain in Conference USA next year, which makes this a step up from the Colonial Athletic Association, if Larranaga does take the job.  Remember, Memphis, UAB, Southern Miss, Houston, East Carolina, and Tulane are remaining in the league and UTEP, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Marshall, and Central Florida will be joining the league next season.  This (Tulsa joining Conference USA) also probably explains why former North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty is so interested in the Tulsa job.  As a matter of fact, we hear Doherty is not only one of the two finalists, but also is a near lock, because the big money people are behind him.  And this too is important, because Tulsa has been a launching pad for some great head coaches, like Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, and Bill Self, over the last 25 years.  The list for Eastern Michigan will likely include Michigan assistant coach Charles Ramsey, UCLA assistant coach Ernie Zeigler, Bowling Green assistant coach LaMonta Stone, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tony Jones.  Two great names for the IPFW job are IUPUI assistant coach Todd Howard and Baylor assistant coach Mark Morefield and a great name for the Stony Brook job, because he grew up just down the road from Stony Brook on Long Island, is Boston College assistant coach Bill Coen.  We also continue to hear Coen's name being mentioned for the Siena job.  But we think Coen's probably a long shot for Siena, because Virginia head coach Pete Gillen has the name and Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Georgia Tech assistant coach Cliff Warren, and Memphis assistant coach Derek Kellogg all have great connections.  It also looks like Cincinnati assistant coach Andy Kennedy, Pittsburgh assistant coach Joe Lombardi, and Baylor assistant coach Matt Driscoll will be among the candidates for the Youngstown State job and the list for New Mexico State is extremely interesting, as former Georgetown head coach Craig Esherick, former USC head coach Henry Bibby, Arizona State assistant coach Tony Benford, Florida assistant coach Larry Shyatt, Colorado assistant coach Paul Graham, New Mexico State interim head coach Tony Stubblefield, Arkansas Rim Rockers (CBA) head coach Joe Harge, and Texas Tech video coordinator Bubba Jennings have all been mentioned for the job.  However, it appears New Mexico State has hired a marketing firm to help select the coach, so count on them to screw it up.  Kansas assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, who is a native of San Jose, CA, former USC interim head coach Jim Saia, California assistant coach Joe Pasternack, Stanford assistant coach Eric Reveno, and Stanford assistant coach Tony Fuller all should be looked at for the San Jose State job.  However, if they're smart, they'll do whatever it takes to get Fresno City (JC) CA head coach Vance Walberg, who has picked up in the junior college ranks where he left off at Fresno (Clovis West) CA.  Did you know that his #1-ranked and undefeated junior college team is averaging 106 ppg this season?  And, if that weren't impressive enough, Walberg's teams have lost a grand total of five games in the three years he's been coaching at  Fresno City (JC) CA.  San Bernardino Valley head coach Phil Mattews is being mentioned for the UC-Riverside job, but the smart money is on UC-Riverside assistant athletic director Dave Spencer.  He's the guy who recruited recruited Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble to Loyola-Marymount and later he worked for Stan Morrison at USC and Pacific, Seth Greenberg at Long Beach State, and Pat Foster at Nevada.  Or maybe Morrison, who is the athletic director at UC-Riverside, will just hire himself.  We also think it is interesting to note that John Masi, who is the guy they're replacing at UC-Riverside, had a 462-269 career record and 21 straight winning seasons at the Division II level, before going 42-89, including only 9-19 overall and 4-14 in the Big West Conference this season, since joining the Division I ranks four years ago.  Loyola-Marymount interim head coach Brian Priebe, Metro State Mike Dunlap, and former San Francisco head coach Phil Matthews are the three names being mentioned for the Loyola-Marymount job.  But, if they don't hire somebody, like San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher, UCLA assistant coach Kerry Keating, UCLA assistant coach Donny Daniels, Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner, and Arizona assistant coach Rodney Tention, who can recruit, it isn't going to matter how many coaching changes they make.  Speaking of somebody who made a bad hire three years ago, Long Beach State isn't open yet.  But it will be and some of the names we're hearing are former USC head coach Henry Bibby, former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin, former UCLA head coach Jim Harrick, Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski, Kansas assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, and UNLV assistant coach Marvin Menzies. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

It's very ironic that the two best high school players that I've ever seen - Clark Kellogg, who I saw in the Derby Classic in 1979, and Lloyd Daniels, who I saw as a junior in high school at two different sessions of the Five-Star Basketball Camp - do not make the HOOP SCOOP's Ranking of the Top High School Players Since 1984, which includes the top 60 high school seniors that I've seen play personally, as editor and publisher of the HOOP SCOOP over the last 22 years.  It also should be pointed out that Allen Iverson does not make the list, because, just like Daniels, he did not play his senior year in high school.  This list also is based exclusively upon how good each player was when I saw him in high school and not how good or how bad he did at the college and professional level, which explains why players like Felipe Lopez, Randy Livingston, Dajuan Wagner, and Chris Burgess are ranked so high on the list.  It also will probably come as somewhat of a surprise that Kevin Garnett, and not LeBron James, is the top ranked player on this list, which includes the top five players ranked in order on the First and Second Teams and a total of 12 five-man teams, which include the top players regardless of class and position.  However, when Garnett by-passed college and entered his name into the NBA Draft in the spring of 1995, I wrote in my monthly column in Basketball Times that the Chicago Bulls should trade Scottie Pippen to the team that has the #1 pick in order to be sure to get Kevin Garnett.  That way the Bulls would still have the best player in the league when Michael Jordan retired. Yes, Garnett, who was drafted #5 overall in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, was that good and, yes, 10 years later, he is arguably as good as any player in the league.  Garnett also started the trend, whereby, all of the top high school players think they can by-pass college and go straight to the NBA, but, along with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Amare Stoudemire, he was one of the only players who really was ready to make the big jump.  And, while there are 12 players on our list who have made the jump straight out of high school to league, only five of them are ranked among our top 20, as Garnett and James both are on the First Team, Howard is on the Second Team, Stoudemire is on the Fourth Team, and Bryant is on the Fifth Team.  As a matter of fact, when Bryant was a senior in high school, the race for top player honors in the Class of 1996 was almost too close to call between Bryant and 6'10 Tim Thomas from Paterson (Catholic) NJ.  Actually we thought Thomas was the better player, but Bryant played harder and, as a result, got the nod.  Thus, explains why both Bryant and Thomas are ranked both ranked on our Fifth Team.  It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise that Kentucky with Shawn Kemp (he signed, but never played with the Wildcats), Ron Mercer, Rex Chapman, Antonie Walker, Jamal Mashburn, and LeRon Ellis edges out North Carolina with Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Raymond Felton, J.R. Reid, and Marvin Williams and Michigan with Chris Webber, Terry Mills, Juwan Howard, Robert Traylor, and Rumeal Robinson in the race for the most names in the HOOP SCOOP's Ranking of the Top High School Players Since 1984.  However, it may come as a surprise to a lot of people that Duke has only three players (Chris Burgess, Luol Deng, and Grant Hill) and that LSU has as many as four players (Randy Livingston, John Williams, Shaquille O'Neal, and Chris Jackson) on our list.  As a matter of fact, no school, except LSU, had as many as four players ranked on the first six teams.  The state that has produced the most players in the HOOP SCOOP's Ranking of the Top High School Players Since 1984 is Virginia with eight, but they owe an assist to Steve Smith, because Carmelo Anthony, Jerry Stackhouse, Ron Mercer, Josh Smith, and Brian Shorter all played for him at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  So, if you exclude Virginia, Illinois with Kevin Garnett, Darius Miles, Juwan Howard, Shaun Livingston, Marcus Liberty, and Antonie Walker becomes the most fertile state with regards to producing the best players over the last 22 years.  But when you only go 30 deep, Indiana with Shawn Kemp, Glenn Robinson, Zach Randolph, and Alan Henderson is the state that comes out on top.  We also think it's noteworthy that the Class of 1985, which featured Danny Ferry, Ed Horton, Tony Kimbro, Jeff Lebo, and Tito Horford; the Class of 1998, which featured Al Harrington, Korleone Young, Rashard Lewis, Quentin Richardson, Dan Gadzuric, and Stromile Swift; the Class of 1999, which featured Donnell Harvey, Keith Bogans, Ken Satterfield, Jason Williams, Marvin Stone, and Caron Butler; and the Class of 2005, which features Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'9 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, and 6'2 Louis Willams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA; don't have anybody good enough to make the list.  And, despite the fact Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Kwame Brown, Ousmane Cisse, and DeSagana Diop all went straight to the NBA right out of high school, the Class of 2001 only had one player (Dajuan Wagner) who makes our list.  Obviously all this is subject to debate, but, along with Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports, Brick Oettinger of Prep Stars and the Recruiters Handbook, Van Coleman of Future Stars, and Tom Konchalski of the H.S.B.I. Report, I am one of the only five people in the nation whose job has been to watch, evaluate, and rank these players for over two decades.  So you might want to pay attention, because, any way you slice it, this is a heck of a list.  And it goes nicely with all of our other rankings.  If you will recall, we also have provided you with our HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams, which was published on December 31st and includes our ranking of the top 60 players nationally regardless of class and position.  And, of course, there also is our ranking of the top players nationally by class that includes our Ranking of the Top 100 5th Year Players for the Class of 2005, which was published on February 9th; our Ranking of the 625 Top Players in the Class of 2005 (Seniors), which was published on September 7th; our Ranking of the Top 575 Players in the Class of 2006 (Juniors), which was published n September 20th; our Ranking of the Top 460 Players in the Class of 2007 (Sophomores), which as published on January 21st; our Ranking of the Top 260 Players in the Class of 2008 (Freshmen), which was published on January 27th; our Ranking of the Top 175 Players in the Class of 2009 (8th Graders), which was published on October 10th; our Ranking of the Top 225 Players in the Class of 2010 (7th Graders), which was published on January 13th; our Ranking of the Top 150 Players in the Class of 2011, which was published on February 26th; and our List of the Top 100 Players in the Class of 2012 (5th Graders), which was published on February 27th.  In other words, we're so far ahead of the competition that it's scary and a perfect example of what we're talking about is the junior class nationally.  Right now we have 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN ranked ahead of 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (Elizabeth) NJ, despite the fact that Caracter outplayed Oden last summer at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  If you will recall, Oden is one of the few players out there who can totally dominate a game without playing hard, thanks to his incredible wing span, excellent hands, great timing, explosive athleticism, and 7-foot height.  And while that gives him the edge over Caracter, it may not be enough to ensure him the #1-ranking his the Class of 2006 the next time we update our list of the top juniors nationally.  Remember, we rank players the old fashioned way, whereby, they have to earn.  And, based on the way 6'4 Jr Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA has played this winter, we're going to have to think long and hard about ranking him #1 nationally in the junior class.  As a matter of fact, the way Ellington is playing and, with all of the other intangibles (i.e. incredible athleticism, great outside shooting, tremendous court savvy, and an unbelievable feel for the game), he might turn out to be the closest thing to Michael Jordan since Michael Jordan.   And, if we turn out to be right, remember where you heard it first!!! 

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that 6'2 David Sills from Bunker Hill (JC) MA has verbally committed to the University of Houston and, if you're wondering who this guy is, you're not the only one.  Sills played at New York (Frederick Douglass) NY as a freshman and sophomore in high school, but was not academically eligible during the rest of his high school career.  Instead, he is one of those playground legends who had the nickname "The Enigma" when he played in the Rucker League and is as strong, as physical, and as tough as they come.  Sills originally signed with Northeastern, but failed to make it academically and, as a result, went the junior college route where he was named to First Team All-Conference as a freshman at Odessa (JC) TX two years ago.  He also played briefly a year ago at Southern Idaho (JC) ID and now is finishing up at Bunker Hill (JC) MA.  We're talking about a left-handed combo guard with big time athleticism and the ability to beat you both inside and outside.  But even that doesn't begin to illustrate what a steal Naclerio thinks this could be for Houston head coach Tom Penders.  As a matter of fact, Naclerio thinks Sills would be one of the top junior college players in the nation, if he wasn't sitting out this year focusing exclusively on academics.  "But taking him is also a gamble," says Naclerio.  "Sills could get kicked off the team after the first week of practice or he could end being one of the players in the league.  He didn't get the nickname enigma for nothing." And making the story even interesting is the fact that the addition of Sills moves Houston's recruiting class into a tie at #69, along with Florida State, Stanford, Charlotte, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, the Cougars already signed 6'3 Carlton Spencer from Canyons (JC) CA and 6'9 Emmanuel Adeife from Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL during the Fall Signing Period.  And this comes on the heels of the #34-ranked recruiting class, which included 6'8 Englebert Cherrington from Midland (JC) TX, 6'7 Sergio De Randamie from Midland (JC) TX, 6'8 Rodney Hannah from Yuba (JC) CA, 6'3 Chris Lawson from Los Angeles-Southwest (JC) CA, and 6'1 Brian Latham from Midland (JC) TX, that they landed a year ago.  Yes, that 's seven junior college players that Penders has landed since he came out of retirement last year at this time and we suspect this trend to continue, because Lawson, Hannah, Cherrington, De Randamie, and Latham all contributed to this year's 18-12 team that will probably just miss getting invited to play in the NCAA Tournament.  Naclerio also tells us that St. John's has landed 6'0 Jr Doug Wiggins from East Hartford (H.S.) CT and this is interesting, because we're talking about a combo guard who will be ranked in the 100-200 range nationally next time we update our rankings of the top juniors nationally.  However, Wiggins is a good student, nice kid, and is capable shooting the lights out, as was the case last fall when he hit eight 3-pointers in a game.  So it comes as no surprise that Wiggins has received early interest from a wide variety of schools, including Connecticut, Providence, George Washington, DePaul, West Virginia, Boston College, Boston University, Hartford, Fairfield, and Quinnipiac.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that Southern Cal has landed 6'9 Rousean Cromwell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL and this too is interesting for a number of reasons.  First, Cromwell has a huge upside, but always has been injury prone and appears to lack the toughness, which partly explains why he is ranked no higher than #302 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Second, Cromwell is not much of an offensive threat, but he is good at the defensive end with his athleticism, rebounding, and shot blocking ability.  Third, Cromwell transferred from Memphis (Farley) TN to Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL when school began last fall and, as a result, it will be extremely interesting to see just how much he improves during a year's time.  Fourth, Cromwell appears to be at least one of the replacements for 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Garden City (JC) KS, 6'9 Samba Gueye from Senegal, and 6'7 Theo White from Tyler (JC) TX, all of whom were a part of USC's recruiting class last fall, but have since decided to look elsewhere due to the coaching change.  Speaking of Southern Cal's recruiting class, which also included 6'3 Sean Odzic from Skokie (Niles West) IL and 6'8 Michael Freeman from Alexandria (Hayfield) VA, both of whom signed with Trojans last fall and are still committed to the Trojans, the addition of Cromwell moves their current class into a tie at #117, along with Ball State, Illinois, Liberty, Fordham, James Madison, and Idaho, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Not only is this dramatically lower than where their recruiting class was ranked last fall when it was tied at #21, along with Auburn, but new USC head coach Tim Floyd and his staff still have a lot of work to do this spring, if they plan to find somebody who can step in and make an immediate impact inside next season.  Remember, Southern Cal does have some excellent perimeter players, like 6'4 Frosh Gabriel Pruitt, 6'4 Soph Lodrick Stewart, 6'6 Frosh Nick Young, and 5'10 Jr Dwayne Shackleford, already in the program.  But the cupboard is still almost totally bare inside.  We also have confirmed that 6'11 John Bryant from Pinole (Pinole Valley) CA has verbally committed to Santa Clara.  However, we're not sure what this means, because this 6'11, 320-pound physical specimen is ranked no higher than #114 in the state's senior class by our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Navy, Villanova, Drexel, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Fairfield, La Salle, Georgia, American University, and Manhattan make up the latest list for 6'9 Kent Tribbett from Chester (H.S.) PA and that 6'4 Noel Wilmore from Chester (H.S.) PA is getting the most attention from Toledo, George Washington, Wisconsin, SMU, Providence, Rutgers, and UTEP.  We also understand that the early favorites for 6'4 Jr Daye Kaba from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY are Pittsburgh, St. John's, Boston College, Richmond, Miami-FL, Providence, Rutgers, Villanova, and Connecticut.

Monday, March 7, 2005

Some of the leading candidates for National Coach-of-the-Year honors include Illinois' Bruce Weber, Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, Utah's Ray Giacoletti, and Pacific's Bob Thomason, but, as things stand now, we think it's a no-brainer for Boston College head coach Al Skinner.  If you will recall, the Eagles were picked to finished in the middle pack in all of the pre-season polls, but they finished the Big East Conference regular season with a 13-3 conference record and a 24-3 overall record, which made them tied for #1 in the league, along with Connecticut, as they head into the conference tournament this weekend.  And they could be even better next year, if 6'7 Jr Craig Smith and 6'7 Soph Jared Dudley, both of whom were named to the Big East All-Conference Post-Season All-Conference Team, both return.  Skinner also guided Boston College to a 27-5 season in 2000-01 and has posted an impressive eight-year 146-98 record at the helm of the Eagles, but we also have to wonder if Skinner would be smart to return next year, if he can get the right big time job this spring.  If you will recall, Boston College will be heading into the tough Atlantic Coast Conference, where winning the league will be even more difficult, because the Eagles will have to play teams like Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest beginning next year.  But right now there is not a job out there that might open that we can point to and think is a perfect fit for Skinner, who currently is ranked #27 on our list of the top head coaches and has a 284-224 career head coaching record, which also includes nine years at Rhode Island, where he was 138-126.  As things stand now, it looks like Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas State, Brigham Young, Arizona State, and Tulane all could potentially open this spring and, believe it or not, the two names we're hearing the most for the Virginia job are Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith and Texas head coach Rick Barnes.  However, we think the chances of Smith moving from Kentucky to Virginia are slim and none and we're not convinced that Barnes will leave the Longhorns, despite the fact he's originally from Hickory, NC and has a history of moving around, as is evident by the fact that he's made stops at George Mason, Providence, Clemson, and Texas during his 18-year head coaching career.  However, in his first six years at Texas, Barnes has guided the Longhorns to six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including three straight Sweet 16 appearances and a trip to the Final Four a two year ago.  Barnes also has as much good young talent in the program as any team in college basketball, thanks primarily to a #1-ranked recruiting class a year ago.  And more help is also on the way, because 5'10 A.J. Abrams and 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX are already signed, sealed, and delivered for next year.  And, if that weren't enough, Barnes also already makes seven figures and, with the dramatic improvement that high school basketball has made in recent, Texas now is one of the best jobs in college basketball.  But, if Barnes surprises us and does take the Virginia job, then that might open the door for Miami-FL head coach Frank Haith to return to Texas.  Normally we'd say that a first-year Division I head coach wouldn't have a shot at a job like this, but Haith was the one largely responsible for Texas' #1-ranked recruiting class a year ago and a 16-11 overall record and 7-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this year is extremely impressive.  And, if Haith were to get the Texas job, then the word on the street is that would open the door for Virginia Commonwealth's Jeff Capel, who now has an impressive 60-30 3-year head coaching record at VCU, including a 19-12 record this season, to get the Miami-FL job.  History says, if Indiana beats Minnesota in the first round of the Big-10 Tournament later this week, that they can get an invite to the NCAA Tournament.  Obviously the precedent was Georgia, which won only 16 games in 2001, but it might be a good idea for the Hoosiers to also to knock off Illinois just to make sure.  But that's easier said than done, especially after Illinois' stunning upset at Ohio State yesterday.  However, regardless of what happens, we think Indiana head coach Mike Davis deserves another year.  Not only has his team made an impressive run down the stretch, winning four of its last five games, but, with another excellent recruiting class and 6'8 Marco Killingsworth waiting in the wings, the Hoosiers should be able to make another run at the NCAA Final Four a year from now.  We'd be surprised if Iowa opens, because Hawkeyes have finished strong with wins against Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan, have a 19-10 overall record, and are a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.  However, if either Indiana or Iowa opens, then Marquette head coach Tom Crean will probably be one the leading candidates for either or both jobs.  Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Randy Wittman, television analysts Rick Majerus and Steve Lavin, and Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings also have been mentioned for the Indiana job, but it would be a financial windfall to the school, if they hired Alford.  Remember, he's still one of the most popular players to ever play at Indiana University and you can bet he'd take the job, especially since he's struggled at Iowa in recent years.  We're hearing that it's about 50-50 with regards to whether Tennessee's Buzz Peterson will be back next year.  But, even if he is, there probably will be some major changes on the coaching staff.  Having said that, the one guy that he should keep is Chuck Benson.  Not only is he the work horse of the staff, but he's also got all the right connections, as his father (Charlie Benson) runs the Tennessee Travelers AAU program, is the one of the best people in the business, and is a legendary figure in the state.  Even, if Snyder survives this year at Missouri, they're probably just delaying the inevitable, although the timing might be important, especially if one of the Duke assistant coaches gets a head coaching job this spring.  Remember, Steve Wojciechowski, Johnny Dawkins, and Chris Collins are three of the top up-and-coming guys in the business and Snyder did a great job recruiting for Mike Krzyzewski in the late 90's.  Maybe Wojo to get something like Long Beach State or Virginia Commonwealth, if all the dominos that we mentioned above were to fall right, and Synder will move back into his old spot at Duke.  It's hard to believe that Ricardo Patton has been a Colorado for nine years.  And, without 7'0 David Harrison to play for him, Larry Gay and Terry Dunn, who is now the head coach at Dartmouth, to recruit for him, and a 13-15 overall record and 4-12 conference record, it's even harder to believe that he'll be there beyond this season.  The popular consensus seems to be that Kansas State head coach Jim Woolridge will survive and Nebraska head coach Barry Collier won't, unless the Cornhuskers beat Missouri in the first round the Big-12 Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 10th, and can win a game or two in the NIT.  In other words, a 14-14 finish with loses to Kansas State and Missouri would not be a good way for Nebraska to end the season.  Kansas State (16-11 overall and 6-10 in the league), on the other hand, has won three of its last four games and still has a chance to win 20 games with a win strong showing in the NIT.  Steve Cleveland had a 129-87 record during his first seven years at Brigham Young, but, without a single win in the NCAA Tournament (0-3) and a 9-20 overall record and 3-11 conference record this season, it's time to go, although it appears they may make Cleveland the athletic director and move BYU assistant coach Dave Rose into the head coaching spot.  We thought Arizona State head coach Rob Evans was safe until the bottom fell out late in the season (the Sun Devils lost their last three and six of their last eight games of the season).  However, even if Evans has to beat the posse' out of town, he should do just fine, because he then should be the leading candidate for the New Mexico State job.  We'd like to see Tulane head coach Shawn Finney get another year for the simple fact that it will be easier to win in Conference USA next year with Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, Charlotte, Texas Christian, Saint Louis, and South Florida all departing and UTEP, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Marshall, Central Florida all joining the league.  But, with 11-17 and 10-17 records in his 4th and 5th seasons, Finney's day of reckoning may be sooner than later and, as a result, some of the names we're hearing include LSU assistant coach Butch Pierre, Indiana head coach Mike Davis, former Tulane head coach Perry Clark, Lamar assistant coach Steve Roccaforte, and Northeastern head coach Ronnie Everhart. 

Saturday, March 5, 2005, & Sunday, March 6, 2005

Good luck to anybody who is trying to make heads or tails out of who the best teams are in college basketball, especially after today when #1-ranked Illinois lost 65-64 to Ohio State, #3-ranked Kentucky lost 53-52 to Florida, #6-ranked Duke lost 75-73 to North Carolina, and #7-ranked Kansas lost to 72-65 to Missouri.  And, if that weren't enough to confuse things, since the last ESPN/USA Today poll a week ago, #5-ranked Boston College was upset 72-50 by Pittsburgh, #8-ranked Oklahoma State was knocked off 74-73 by Texas, #10-ranked Washington was beaten 77-67 by Stanford, and #13-ranked Syracuse lost 88-70 to Connecticut.  In other words, only three of the top 10-ranked teams (North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Louisville) and only seven of the top 15-ranked teams (North Carolina, Wake Forest, Louisville, Arizona, Michigan State, Gonzaga, and Utah) escaped without a loss during the last week and, as a result, it will be extremely interesting to see who is ranked where when the new college basketball polls come out tomorrow.  If I had a vote, I think it would be too close to call between Illinois and North Carolina.  Remember, the Buckeyes had been perfect all season until they suffered their heart-breaking one-point loss to Ohio State earlier today.  But losing this game may actually help them, instead of hurt them, because it gets the monkey off their back right before the Big-10 Conference Tournament and the NCAA Tournament both begin.  The Tar Heels not only knocked off the Blue Devils today, but they also have won seven in a row since losing to Duke on February 9th, 12 of their last 13 games since losing to Wake Forest on January 15th, and 26 of their last 28 games since losing to Santa Clara in their first game of the season.  So flip a coin, draw straws, take a number, or just give me the one you don't want.  Yes, it really is that close for the top spot.  However, it does get a little bit easier to pick the rest of our top 25, which would include Wake Forest at #3, Louisville at #4, Connecticut at #5, Kentucky at #6, Arizona at #7, Michigan State at #8, Duke at #9, Gonzaga at #10, Utah at #11, Washington at #12, Syracuse at #13, Boston College at #14, Kansas at #15, Pacific at #16, Oklahoma State at #17, Alabama at #18, Oklahoma at #19, Cincinnati at #20, Villanova at #21, Wisconsin at #22, Pittsburgh at #23, Florida at #24, and Holy Cross at #25.  Yes, Connecticut should move up from #16 to #5, because they are playing about as well as anybody in college basketball, after knocking off Syracuse by 18 points earlier today, Georgetown by 19 points last week, and Pittsburgh by nine points and Notre Dame by 14 points two weeks ago.  And, if the Huskies go on to win the Big East Conference Tournament later this week, they should get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  And so should Illinois, if the Fighting Illini win the Big-10 Conference Tournament, and Louisville, if the Cardinals win the Conference USA Tournament.  Which leaves North Carolina and Wake Forest to fight it out for the top-seeded spot in the entire tournament.  We also find it interesting that five of our top 25 teams are from the Big East and, if you also include Louisville and Cincinnati, then seven of our top 25 teams will be members of that league a year from now.  We also have taken another good hard look at who we think should be in the NCAA Tournament and the 65 teams that we've come up with obviously the five teams that have already won their conference tournament and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  This list includes the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament winner Central Florida (24-8 overall and 14-7 in the league), the Big South Conference Tournament winner Winthrop (27-5 overall and 15-1 in the league), the Ivy League Tournament winner Pennsylvania (19-8 overall and 12-1 in the league), Ohio Valley Conference Tournament winner Eastern Kentucky (21-8 overall and 11-5 in the league), and the Southern Conference Tournament winner UT-Chattanooga (19-10 overall and 10-6 in the league).  And, unless they get upset in their conference tournament later this week, the America East Conference should be represented by Vermont (23-6 overall and 16-2 in the league), the Big Sky Conference should be represented by Portland State (19-8 overall and 11-3 in the league), the Big West Conference should be represented by Pacific (25-2 overall and 18-0 in the league), the Colonial Athletic Association should be represented by Old Dominion (27-5 overall and 15-3 in the league), the Horizon League should be represented by Wisconsin-Milwaukee (23-5 overall and  14-2 in the league), the Metro Atlantic Conference should be represented by Niagara (19-9 overall and 13-5 in the league), the Mid-Continent should be represented by Oral Roberts (24-6 overall and 13-3 in the league), the Mid-American should be represented by Miami-OH (18-9 overall and 12-6 in the league), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference should be represented by Delaware State (16-13 overall and 14-4 in the league), the Patriot League should be represented by Holy Cross (24-5 overall and 13-1 in the league), the Southland should be represented by Southeast Louisiana (21-8 overall and 13-3 in the league), the Sun Belt Conference should be represented by Western Kentucky (21-7 overall and 9-5 in the league), and the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which has six teams (Alabama A&M, Grambling, Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State, Southern University, and Jackson State) all with between six and eight losses in the league, is still too close to call.  It also should be noted that the regular season conference winner can't win either the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament or the Northeast Conference Tournament championships.  In the Northeast Conference we're talking about Monmouth, which was upset earlier today by Wagner.  Not only does this set up a championship game between Long Island (15-14 overall and 10-8 in the league) and Wagner (12-16 overall and 10-8 in the league), but, if Wagner wins, it will mean that  Mike Deane will have guided three different programs during head coaching career into the NCAA Tournament (the other two being Siena and Marquette).  The Missouri Valley Conference is a little more complicated, because Southern Illinois (26-7 overall and 15-3 in the league) still should get a bid, despite the fact they got knocked off in the conference tournament semi-finals earlier today by Southwest Missouri.  Instead, the Missouri Valley Conference's automatic bid will go to the winner of the Southwest Missouri (18-11 overall and 10-8 in the league) or Creighton (22-10 overall and 11-7 in the league).  We also think the Atlantic-10 Conference with St. Joseph's (17-10 overall and 14-2 in the league) and George Washington (19-7 overall and 11-5 in the league); the Mountain West Conference with Utah (25-4 overall and 13-1 in the league) and New Mexico (23-6 overall and 10-4 in the league), the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga (23-4 overall and 12-2 in the league) and St. Mary's (24-7 overall and 11-3 in the league), and the Western Athletic Conference with Nevada (24-5 overall and 16-2 in the league) and UTEP(24-7 overall and 14-4 in the league) should all get two teams invited into the NCAA Tournament.  That leaves 36 spots for teams in the top seven conferences and, as things stand now, the Conference with the most teams, is the Big East with Boston College (24-3 overall and 13-3 in the league), Connecticut (21-6 overall and 13-3 in the league), Syracuse (24-6 overall and 11-5 in the league), Villanova (21-6 overall and 11-5 in the league), Pittsburgh (20-7 overall and 10-6 in the league), and Notre Dame (17-10 overall and 9-7 in the league).  We also think the Atlantic Coast Conference with North Carolina (26-3 overall and 14-2 in the league), Wake Forest (25-4 overall and 12-3 in the league), Duke (22-5 overall and 11-5 in the league), Georgia Tech (17-10 overall and 8-8 in the league), and N.C. State (17-12 overall and 7-9 in the league); the Big-12 Conference with Kansas (22-5 overall and 12-4 in the league), Oklahoma (23-6 overall and 12-4 in the league), Oklahoma State (21-6 overall and 11-5 in the league), Texas Tech (18-9 overall and 10-6 in the league), and Texas (20-9 overall and 9-7 in the league); Conference USA with Louisville (26-4 overall and 14-2 in the league), Cincinnati (24-6 overall and 12-4 in the league), Charlotte (21-6 overall and 12-4 in the league), UAB (20-9 overall and 10-6 in the league), and DePaul (18-9 overall and 10-6 in the league); Southeastern Conference with Kentucky (23-4 overall and 14-2 in the league), Alabama (23-6 overall and 12-4 in the league), Florida (20-7 overall and 12-4 in the league), LSU (19-8 overall and 12-4 in the league), and Mississippi State (21-9 overall and 9-7 in the league) all have five teams apiece that will make the NCAA Tournament.  That leaves only four spots remaining for teams in the Pacific-10 Conference in Arizona (25-5 overall and 15-3 in the league), Washington (24-5 overall and 14-4 in the league), UCLA (18-9 overall and 11-7 in the league), and Stanford (17-11 overall and 11-7 in the league); only four spots remaining for teams in the Big-10 Conference in Illinois (29-1 overall and 15-1 in the league), Michigan State (22-5 overall and 13-3 in the league), Wisconsin (20-7 overall and 11-5 in the league), and Minnesota (20-9 overall and 10-6 in the league), and only two spots remaining for all the teams that we think are on the bubble, like Indiana (15-12 overall and 10-6 in the league), Iowa (19-10 overall and 7-9 in the league), Maryland (16-11 overall and 7-9 in the league), Iowa State (17-10 overall and 9-7 in the league), Texas A&M (19-8 overall and 8-8 in the league), West Virginia (18-9 overall and 8-8 in the league), and Vanderbilt (18-12 overall and 8-8 in the league).  However, none of these teams may make if there are some major surprises as all the conference tournaments play themselves out later this week. 

Friday, March 4, 2005

I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that Hal Pastner, who is the president of VisionSports and the tournament director for the Main Event, and Ron Montoya, who is the tournament director of the adidasSuper64, the principal of Valley High School, and is in charge of the Academy of Tourism and Hospitality, have gotten together with Pat Christenson, the president of Las Vegas Events, to form the Las Vegas Prep Basketball Showcase, which will be held on July 26th at the Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  This event will include the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and championship games in the Main Event and iin the adidasSuper64, as well as a championship game between the winners of these two tournaments.  "Our goal is to increase the prestige of these tournaments and to improve the overall fan experience," says Christenson.  "By bringing the tournaments together, we think we have a format that be attractive to potential television partners."  The bad news is that the Reebok Big Time Tournament, which has been the premier event of the entire summer for the last 10 years, will be winding down at the same time.  In other words, unfortunately once again we'll have to split our time between both events and, as a a result, neither event will get the coverage that they deserve.   Instead, we're looking forward to covering all the events this spring, like the Las Vegas Easter Classic in Las Vegas, NV on March 23rd-27th, the Boo Williams Invitational Tournament in Hampton, VA, April 8th-10th; the Las Vegas Spring Showcase in Las Vegas, NV, April 15th-17th; the Houston Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX, April 22nd-24th; the Spiece Run'N Slam All-Star Classic in Ft. Wayne, IN, April, 29th-May 1st; the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC, May 28th-30th; the Pangos All-American Camp in Cypress, CA, June 3rd-5th; the Rumble in the Bronx in the Bronx, NY, June 10th-12th; the NBA Players Association Camp in Richmond, VA, June 20th-26th; a lot more, because there will be actually time to focus upon seeing and discovering players, instead of just running all over Las Vegas, NV, which is what we did a year ago with three massive tournaments going head-to-head all at the same time.  However, we continue to hope that Sonny Vaccaro, who switched from adidas to Reebok a year ago and understands the grass roots shoe company business better than anybody, will realize that he needs get in on this act as well, especially if somebody like ESPN gets involved.  And, of course, there is Dinos Trigonis, who also will be getting in on the action by hosting what will be his second annual Pangos Midnight Madness, which will be held at the new Tarkanian Basketball facility on Friday, July 22nd at 12:01 AM right when the second live period in July for college coaches begins.  Speaking of the Summer Evaluation Period in July, did you know that the dates have been moved up this year and, as a result, college coaches will be allowed to go out on the road from July 6th-15th, they will be off the road from July 16th-21st, and they will be back on the road on July 22nd-31st?  Obviously this explains why the dates for the all of the major camps, like adidas, NIKE, and Reebok, have been moved up this year.  As things stand now, the Reebok ABCD Camp will be held from July 4th-9th in Teaneck, NJ, the adidas ABCD Camp will be held from July 5th-9th in Suwanee, GA; and the NIKE All-American Camp will be held from July 5th-9th in Indianapolis, IN.  Unfortunately I do not plan to attend the NIKE All-American Camp this summer, but to compensate for this I will get to see most of the top NIKE Players at the Boo Williams Invitational Tournament in early April and the NIKE Peach Jam, which will be held from July 12th-15th, in Augusta, SC.  I also am thrilled by the fact that it appears that the NBA Players Association Camp won't have the same problem it did a year ago when NIKE steered all of its top players to Portland, OR for an instructional clinic the same weekend and, as a result, this should turn out to be the best event of the entire year.  We also are looking forward to seeing all the great young players who will be at the Las Vegas Eastern Classic and the Houston Kingwood Classic, but, for the most part, my focus be on watching high school players until I arrive at the 14-Under Nationals in Orlando, FL, August 1st-8th, and the adidas Junior Phenom Camp in San Diego, CA, August 12th-14th.  As a matter of fact, the only national lists that I plan to publish during the next four months are our ranking of the top juniors (Class of 2006), which will be published in May, and our final ranking of the top seniors (Class of 2005), which will be published in June.  Instead, I will be focusing exclusively on covering events, staying on top of coaching rumors, and attempt to publish as many state-by-state reports as possible during the next several months.  So stay tuned! 

Thursday, March 3, 2005

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 7'0 Robbie Jackson from Aberdeen (H.S.) MD has verbally committed to Villanova, but first it looks like this 7-foot, 280 lbs. center with soft hands, the ability to run the court, and a huge upside will go the prep school route.  And, if Jackson, who currently is ranked #477 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, can duplicate the type of improvement that he made last summer at Eastern Invitational Camp next year at Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, then he should be able to step in year-after-next and make an immediate impact for the Wildcats inside.  Villanova beat schools like George Mason, Virginia Tech, Virginia Military, East Carolina, and Towson for Jackson's services and, as a result, their recruiting class, which also already includes 6'5 Dwayne Anderson from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'8 Dante Cunningham from Oxon Hill (Potomac) MD, 6'5 Bilal Benn from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 6'9 Frank Tchuisi from Newark (St. Benedict) NJ, moves up to #38 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Our Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson tells us that Jackson State has landed 6'7 Jeremy Caldwell from Jackson (Murrah) MS, who is ranked #5 in the state by the HOOP SCOOP.  And this is important for several reasons.  First, Caldwell has long arms, is very athletic, runs well, is a great leaper, a good shot blocker and rebounder, and can hit the face-up 15-footer, which should allow him to step in and make the same type of impact next year that 6'0 Frosh Charlie White, who is averaging 8.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 3.3 apg, and is one of the best players on the team, is making this year.  Second, it appears that second-year Tigers head coach Tevester Anderson is getting more than his fair share of the top local players.  Did you know that White, who finished ranked #84 in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2004, and Webb, who Johnson had ranked #9 in his final rankings of the top seniors in the state in 2003, joined together to lead Jackson (Provine) MS  to the Class 4A State Championship?  And did you also know that Anderson has two players sitting out this year - 6'5 Soph Trey Johnson, who was Alcorn State's leading scorer a year ago, and 6'4 Soph Julius Young,  who played in the junior college ranks last year at Bevil State (JC) AL and is a good athlete with an excellent frame and a good 3-point shot - both whom previously were teammates at Jackson (Murrah) MS?  Third, the addition of Caldwell should give Jackson State the best recruiting class in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for the second straight year.  Actually, a year ago the Tigers finished tied at #108, along with Alabama A&M, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004, but when you also remember that Johnson and Young are sitting out, it's not even close with regards to which school landed the most good players.  And, with 6'8 Eric McKinney from Waldo (H.S.) AR and 6'4 Deverrio Watson from Waldo (H.S.) AR, both of whom signed with Jackson State last fall, also already in the fold, Jackson State's recruiting class now is tied at #109, along with Bowling Green, Appalachian State, San Diego, and Oakland, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  In other words, it looks like Anderson, who previously was regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation when he was an assistant coach at Georgia and Auburn, hasn't lost his touch and, as a result, it appears that Jackson State is on track to become the best team in the league for a long time.  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that 6'1 Herb Allen from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, who is ranked #320 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Fairfield.  And Naclerio tells us that this is an excellent catch, because Allen is a scoring point guard who should be able to step in and make an immediate impact next year for the Stags. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

The University of Hartford has landed 6'4 Adam Parzych from Lindenhurst (H.S.) NY and this is exactly what the doctored ordered for Hawks, because we're talking about a tough hardnosed kid who knows how to play and is an excellent 3-point shooter.  Parzych is not on a lot of people' radar screen yet, because he's only been in the United States for a year and he did not make the tour last summer.  However, he should provide an excellent complement to 6'8 Kenny Adeleke, who transferred from Hofstra to Hartford last fall and is sitting out this year; 6'1 Soph Rich Baker, who has red-shirted this year; and 6'0 Chris Cole from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, who signed with the Hawks last fall.  In other words, Hartford head coach Larry Harrison will have four new players next year who should not only make an immediate impact, but also should move the Hawks into the upper echelon of the league.  Remember, Adeleke has one year of eligibility remaining, but he should be able to step in and immediate contend for America East Player-of-the-Year honors, Cole and Baker should solved the point guard problems, and Parzych should give them additional depth out on the perimeter.  But, if they don't live up the expectations next year, then the current regime could be in big trouble, because this is their 5th Year on the job and they currently are 8-19 overall and ranked last in the league with a 4-14 record.  In sharp contrast, with Tennessee's 73-61 loss earlier tonight to the University of Kentucky, it appears that Volunteers head coach Buzz Peterson is in big trouble.  Sure, Peterson is a likable guy and was an excellent coach both at Appalachian State an Tulsa, where he posted a 102-50 record over a five-year period.  But during the last four years at Tennessee he has a 59-58 overall record, has yet to make the NCAA Tournament, has not won a game in the NIT, and is 15-22 in games decided by four points our less (or in overtime) in each of the last three seasons.  Peterson's current team also is 12-16 on the season, 5-10 in the  league, and has lost five of its last six and eight of its last 10 games.  And making matters even worse is the fact that the Volunteers were expected to win 20-plus games and they will lose two of their best players - 6'5 Sr Scooter McFadgon and 6'10 Sr Brandon Crump - after the current season.  They do have 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, who is ranked #34 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, already signed, sealed, and delivered, and they probably also will land 6'4 Jamont Gordon from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is is ranked #46 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but will this be enough to turn things around next season?  The success rate of Southeastern Conference head coaches who have gotten a 5th Year says no, according to John Adams, who is the Sports Editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, in a column earlier this week.  Adams does mention former Auburn head coach Sonny Smith, Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, and former LSU head coach Dale Brown as examples of coaches who turned things around in year #5, but he also notes that they were the exception to the rule.  Adams also mentions that "Peterson talked with athletic director Mike Hamilton and UT president John Peterson on Monday about ways to improve the program.  He said he would be more demanding with coaches and players and also become more involved in the recruiting."  Adams goes onto say "that's not a plan.  That's an admission of neglect.  Peterson has had four year to prove he's the right guy for the job.  At today's heading coaching prices, that's enough time.  He's deserves one more chance - a shooter's chance - next week in the SEC Tournament."  Not only do we agree, but it fits in perfectly with our philosophy, whereby, when it doubt you fire the coach.  Sure, most coaches at the high Division I level are excellent at what the do, but they often run out of time, because they haven't recruited good enough players, or have had injury and chemistry problems.  Combine that with the fact that college basketball is big business and there is so much money at stake that you'd rather error on the side of getting rid of a coach too soon instead keeping him too long.  And usually this is better for the coach, because more often than not he will end up make good living as a commentator working ESPN and, as a result, can be extremely picky about taking his next job.  However, as things stand now, our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead still thinks Peterson will get another year, because he is extremely popular with the fans and the administration doesn't want to buy-out another coach (they're still paying off Wade Houston and Jerry Green).  But, if Peterson and his staff do get the ax, the name we're hearing the most for the Tennessee job is Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz, who not only is a heck of a coach, but also an excellent recruiter.  Other potential candidates might include Murray State head coach Mick Cronin, Western Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn, and Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, who, believe it or not, not only has taken one of the toughest Division I jobs in the nation and turned things totally around, but he already has won 20 games this year and his team is one of the favorites to the win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament later this week in Nashville, TN.  We also are wondering if Missouri head coach Quin Snyder's job is really safe?  Remember, the Tigers have lost 10 of their last 15 games and the current regime is banned from being able to go out on the road and recruit for the next year.  In other words, it appears the plan to is let Snyder go down with the ship.  But it's our guess that if somebody comes up with enough money, he'll be out of there this spring.  As a matter of fact, how many times have you heard that a coach's job was safe and he gets fired two weeks later?   We also continue to hear the same old names, like Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker, George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, and South Carolina head coach Dave Odom for the Virginia job, but now it appears that DePaul head coach Dave Leitao's name has been added to the list.  However, when it's all said and done, we think Larranaga will get the job, if Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage is making the call.  However, we don't think Larranaga has a shot, if it's left up to a search committee, because he doesn't have a big enough name and his team is only 16-12 overall and 10-8 in the league this season.  We also hear Virginia head coach Pete Gillen's name being mentioned for the Siena job, but some of other great names for Siena include Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Boston College assistant coach Bill Coen, Georgia Tech assistant coach Cliff Warren, Memphis assistant coach Derek Kellogg, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, and Seton Hall assistant coach Brian Nash.  Actually we think the smart money is on Warren, who was at Siena during the Paul Hewitt days and has played an instrumental role in helping the Yellowjackets get to the NCAA Final Four a year ago.  We also continue to hear Memphis assistant coach Tony Barbee and Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez being mentioned as the leading candidates, if Massachusetts opens.  And this makes sense due to John Calipari's and Rick Pitino's strong ties to the school, but if it becomes too difficult to pick one over the other, it would not surprise us a bit if somebody like Connecticut assistant coach Tom Moore became the compromise choice.  We also believe that Youngstown State and Eastern Michigan will both open this spring.  And, if they do, Cincinnati assistant coach Andy Kennedy and Pittsburgh assistant coach Joe Lombardi are great names for Youngstown State and Bowling Green assistant coach Lamonta Stone is a great name Eastern Michigan.  If you will recall, Stone was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan before moving onto Ohio State and Bowling Green. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that 6'8 Diamon Simpson from Hayward (H.S.) CA has verbally committed to Fresno State and we think this is a great catch for the Bulldogs.  Simpson does need to get bigger and stronger in order to play inside and/or develop better perimeter skills to play outside at the college level, but he is very athletic, extremely competitive, excellent on the boards, and tough to stop offensively around the basket, which explains why we have him ranked #179 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  This means that Simpson should provide an excellent complement to 6'8 James Tchana from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, who is one of the best rebounders in the senior class nationally, and 6'10 Eric Van Vliet from Santa Cruz (H.S.) CA in a recruiting class that is now tied at #103, along with Penn State, St. Joseph's, and Florida International, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even more important, the addition of Simpson should give Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes plenty of options inside as he attempts to replace 6'7 Sr Dreike Bouldin and 6'9 Sr Mustafa Al-Sayyard, both of whom will graduate this spring.  Remember, 6'6 Frosh Chris Berry (6.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg) and 6'9 Frosh Hector Hernandez (4.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg) are ranked among the top seven players on the team both in scoring and rebounding right now and Tchana, Simpson, and Van Vliet all are good enough to step in and contribute immediately a year from now.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that 6'3 Soph Javance Coleman, who is the team's leading scorer with 16.6 ppg; 6'4 Frosh Donovan Morris, who is the team's third leading scorer with 11.1 ppg; 6'3 Frosh Dwight O'Neil, 5'11 Dominique White, 5'9 Frosh Kevin Bell, and 6'3 Frosh Carl Ross will provide plenty of help on perimeter for the next two and three years, respectively.  As a matter of fact, Lopes and his staff now have the ability to be extremely picky about who they sign this spring and/or in next year's recruiting class, because they currently are on track to have only one junior, seven sophomores, and three freshmen on scholarship when school starts next fall.  In other words, by our count, Fresno State will only have three more scholarships available during the next two years and you can bet they will save one for 6'3 Jr Trevon Willis from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, who is ranked #50 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Normally we wouldn't give the Bulldogs much of shot at keeping Willis at home, because schools like Connecticut, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Washington, Oregon, and Miami-FL also are all in the hunt.  However, Fresno State assistant coach Vonn Webb was Willis' high school coach when he was a freshman at Fresno (Washington Union) CA and Webb is a heck of a recruiter.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson doesn't have any verbal commitments to pass along, but he does have a list of schools for all the top juniors in the state.  Ohio State and Wake Forest are the leaders for 6'5 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, but North Carolina, Cincinnati, and Michigan must also be mentioned for this prolific scoring and athletic 2-guard who is ranked #6 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Ohio State, Syracuse, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and Michigan State are the leaders for 6'5 Jr David Lighty from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH.  Kentucky is still believed to be the favorite for 6'9 Jr Richard Semrau from Rocky River (Lutheran West) OH, but Johnson tells us that the Wildcats had better hurry up and offer, because, the longer it goes, the more interesting schools like Wake Forest, Illinois, North Carolina, Florida, and Louisville promise to make it.  Michigan State, Ohio State, Connecticut, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, and Georgia Tech are already battling it out for 6'7 Jr Raymar Morgan from Canton (McKinley) OH and the race is on among Michigan, Xavier, Dayton, Michigan State, Missouri, West Virginia, and Purdue for 6'3 Jr James Deus from West Chester (Lakota East) OH.  And, at the other school in the same town, 6'8 Jr Josh Chichester from West Chester (Lakota West) OH is being recruited by Cincinnati, Ohio State, Dayton, Xavier, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Wake Forest, and Notre Dame.  The list for 6'9 Jr Kurt Huelsman from St. Henry (H.S.) OH includes Bowling Green, Michigan State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier, Dayton, Purdue, and Duquesne.  Chris Monter of CollegeBaketballNews is reporting that 6'6 Jr Isiah Dahlman from Brahm (H.S.) MN, who is ranked #21 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, still has Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Boston College, and Georgia Tech on his list.  However, the word on the street for months is that Dahlman's already a done deal for Michigan State.  Monter also appears to have the scoop on who will be on the United States team in the NIKE Hoop Summit, which, in recent years has been played on Sunday between the semi-finals and the championship game in the city of the NCAA Final Four, but this year is scheduled on Saturday, April 9th, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN.  The 10 players who are supposed to be in the game are  6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 6'7 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, and 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT.  It also is important to point out that players who participate in this game are exempt from the two post-season all-star game limit that is required by the NCAA in order to maintain amateur status and, as a result, be eligible at a four-year Division I school next fall.  It also comes as no big surprise that 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL has been replaced by 6'8 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA and that two more players - 6'3 Nate Minnoy from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL and 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA - have been added to play in the 2005 Roundball Classic on Tuesday, March 22nd, in Chicago, IL.  So, as things stand now, the only player who is scheduled to play in the McDonald's All-American Game, the Roundball Classic, and the Jordan Classic is 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS.  And this obviously is important, because once Ellis has played in all three games, he will have revoked his amateur status and, as a result, assure his early entry into the NBA Draft this spring.   Ellis will join 6'4 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'8 Wilson Chandler from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'9 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 5'11 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'5 Bryan Harvey from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'10 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'6 Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'8 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'9 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN on the West Team in the 2005 Roundball Classic.  And they will face an East Team, which will feature 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA, 6'10 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, 6'1 Tony Freeman from Westchester (St. Joseph) IL, 6'6 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'8 Davon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Jerel McNeal from Country Club Hills (Hillcrest) IL, 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt Zion Christian) NC, 6'8 DeAndre Thomas from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'3 Nate Minnoy from Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL, and 6'7 Marcus Williams from Seattle (Roosevelt) WA   Ellis also will participate on the West Team, along with 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, 6'8 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'3 Bobby Frasor from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'10 Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'7 Martell Webtser from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, and 6'11 Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN in the McDonald's All-American Game, which will be played on Wednesday, March 30th, in South Bend, IN.  And they will face an East Team that will include 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA, 6'11 Eric Boateng from Middleton (St. Andrews) DE, 6'11 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ, 6'9 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'3 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 6'10 Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'2 Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, and 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA.  So, when Ellis steps out onto the court in the Jordan Classic on Saturday, April 16th, in the Jordan Classic in New York, NY, we'll remove his name from Mississippi State's recruiting class and ignore his press conference to announce that he's going straight to "The League," because Ellis will just be stating the obvious.  Getting back to the Jordan Classic Rosters, the Home Team will include 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent ( Prep) CT,6'11 Eric Boateng from Middletown (St. Andrews) RI,  6'7 Jon Brockman from Smohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'9 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 6'3 Lewis Clinch from Cordale (Crisp County) GA, 6'8 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Provine) MS, 6'8 Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, and 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA and the Away Team will include 6'11 Andrew Bynum from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ, 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'8 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, 6'6 Calvin Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX, 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'11 Magnum Rolle from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'9 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL.