HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR MAY 2000

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

Sunday at the NIKE Bluegrass Classic 6'7 Jr Sean Kline from Huntington (North) IN, who ranks #3 in the junior class in Indiana by Jim Kasberg, confirmed to us that he has a press conference scheduled for Friday, June 2nd.  He also confirmed that his final two are Notre Dame and Indiana.    However, he wasn't saying which school would win out for his services.   So we asked several of the coaches for the Bloomington Red AAU team, but if they knew, they weren't talking.   Neither was his teammate - 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, who verbally committed to the Irish two weeks ago.   However, we do have a source who is close to the Indiana program that tells us that it is done deal for the Hoosiers.    Sure, something could change at the 11th hour, like his mother, who apparently has a problem with IU head coach Bob Knight, talking him into changing his mind.  But in the past, our source has been amazingly accurate.  And that's not the only good news for Indiana fans.  We talked with 6'1 Jr Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS, who ranks as one of the top 10 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions and he tells us that his top three schools are Indiana, Georgetown, and Alabama.  He also mentioned Miami-FL, Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Duke, UCLA, and LSU, but if he were to pick the Hoosiers, he would instantly turn Indiana into a NCAA title contender again the moment he gets on campus.  Remember, the point guard spot is currently the only question mark on what appears to be a young, but talented team.   With the return of Kirk Haston and Jeffrey Newton and the addition of 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN and George Leach, Indiana's front line should the best its been in years.  And Kline will add even more depth when he arrives in a year.  Dane Fife, Kyle Hornsby, and 6'3 A.J. Moye from Atlanta (Westlake) GA are all excellent at the 2-guard spot and 6'1 Andre Owens from Indianapolis (Perry Meridian) IN, who is a great defender and incredible athlete, but who lacks the decision making necessary to get it done running a team at the big time college level, promises to be an excellent backup combo guard.  The only question is who will step into the point guard spot next year?  If nobody does and they aren't successful at landing Williams, another possibility is 6'0 Jr Donald Perry from Tallulah (Reuben McCall) LA, who impressed us enough in the Gibbons Tournament to get serious top 100 national consideration.  This lightning quick point guard with good handling and passing skills and surprising 3-point range, also mentions Indiana right at the top of his list, along with Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Louisiana Tech, and Mississippi State.  And if that weren't enough, it also looks like Indiana is also among the top five, along with Alabama, Georgetown, Mississippi State, and Utah for 6'5 Jr Dwayne Mitchell from New Orleans (John F. Kennedy) LA, who ranks among our top 60 juniors nationally.  You might be wondering how all this is possible after all the negative publicity that Indiana head coach Bob Knight has received in recent months?  The answer is Mike Davis, who is widely regarded as one of the best assistant coaches, as well as one of the best people in the business.  Remember, Davis was formerly an assistant coach at Alabama and he's the one with all the Southern contacts that have proved to be so valuable in recruiting at Indiana the last several years. 

One of the bright young coaches in the business is Wabash Valley (JC) IL head coach John Loyer, who in only one year has transformed the Warriors into one of the most athletic junior college teams in the nation.   This becomes especially evident when one looks at his recruiting class, which includes 6'4 Antwan Barber from Elizabethtown (H.S.) KY, 6'5 Herman Davis from Mansfield (H.S.) OH, 6'6 Andre Harlie from Statesboro (H.S.) GA, 6'2 C.J. Hill from Indianapolis (Ben Davis) IL, 6'0 Johnny Hollingsworth from Grove City (George Jr. Republic) PA, 6'9 Steve Strickland from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) IL, 5'8 Al Huff from Covington (Holmes) KY, 6'2 Deshaun Jackson from Covington (Holmes) KY, and 6'6 Gene Bowie from Bronx, NY.  The marquee name in the class is Barber, because he put up huge numbers while leading his team to the Kentucky State Championship in March.   However, a variety of sources tell us that Davis, Harlie, and Hill all are potentially better, as well as just as athletic.  If that weren't enough, Loyer also has 6'5 John King from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH and 6'2 Carlton Mims from Evanston (Township) IL both waiting in the wings.  Another junior college program that could make a lot noise nationally next year is Dixie (JC) UT, which recently signed 6'3 Alfred Williams from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Dominique Townes from Millersburg (Military) KY, and 6'8 Michael Haynes from Millerburg (Military) KY.  Of Course, if Haynes qualifies academically, he will honor the National Letter-of-Intent he signed with Fordham last fall, but it hasn't happened yet.  But Townes is the important one, because he is extremely close friends with 6'9 Jason Parker from Fork Union (Military Academy) VA, who is running out of time to become academically qualified.  If you will recall, Parker signed with North Carolina a year ago, but had to go the prep school route.  If Parker doesn't make it, he may still enroll at North Carolina as a part-time student and continue to try and get the necessary score on the SAT.  However, we're hearing that he doesn't want to have to sit out next year, which makes the junoir college route a possible alternative.  Speaking of junior colleges, it looks like Indian Hills (JC) IA is on the verge of replacing 6'7 Corey Hightower and 7'1 Ernest Brown, both of whom declared for the NBA draft his spring, with another likely future NBA player in 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC.   We also continue to hear that 5'8 Kenneth Brunner from Southern Idaho (JC) ID is bound for Georgia, but don't look for anything to happen until we find out how Brunner does in summer school.

We continue to hear Oklahoma assistant coach Ray Lopes and Missouri-Kansas City assistant Steve Eck both being mentioned for the opening created when head coach Bob Sundvold was recently fired at Missouri-Kansas City.  However, the leading candidate appears to be Illinois assistant coach Derek Thomas and this makes perfect sense, because Thomas is from the Kansas City area and is widley regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the business.  He's also one of the best recruiters in the nation.  Remember, if St. Louis head coach Charlie Spoonhour hadn't retired a year ago and Thomas hadn't moved onto University of Minnesota, the Billikens probably would have gotten 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, who is the most naturally talented player in the senior class nationally.  Obviously, all of Thomas' contacts in Missouri and Illinois were a big reason why head coach Lon Kruger hired Thomas in March and we expect Kruger to take Thomas with him to the Atlanta Hawks, unless Thomas gets the head coaching job at Missouri-Kansas City.  And that would be to bad, because then the game would be losing not just one, but two of the best people in the business.  Speaking of the open head coaching position at the University of Illinois, their three prime targets appear to be Tulsa head coach Bill Self, Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson, and Seton Hall head coach Tommy Amaker are the three coaches.  However, if they can't come to terms with one of the those three big name coaches, then current Illinois assistant coach Rob Judson will be in line for the job.  Like everybody else, we heard the rumor that St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis was supposed to interview for the New Jersey Nets job yesterday, but it didn't happen.  Instead, he believe Jarvis will stay put for a while, unless the Boston Celtics job opens.  Rhode Island head coach Jerry Degregorio has not one, but two assistant coaching positions to fill now that Jeff Jones has become the head coach at American University and Mike Wilson has taken a similar position at Auburn.  So we think it's a no-brainer that Degregorio will hire former Sacramento State head coach Tom Abatemarco, who has both head coaching experience and great recruiting skills.

Tuesday, May 30, 2000

Yesterday our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin told us that 6'4 Dahntey Jones had decided to officially transfer from Rutgers to Duke.  So it came as no surprise when we read this today in the USA Today.  One that we don't think anybody has yet is Rhode Island assistant coach Mike Wilson, who has established himself as one of the best recruiters in the nation in recent years at UNC-Wilmington, Baylor, and Rhode Island, taking a similar position at Auburn.  And one of the first players we expect Wilson to sign at Auburn next year is 6'9 Walter Kalabokuba from Nigeria.  We talking about a 245 lbs. monster athlete who Wilson stashed a year ago at Lincoln Trail (JC) IL, because he didn't have the necessary academics to become eligible at a four year school.  The reason we know this is that our Kentucky Editor Larry Kihnley saw him when he took his former player - 6'0 Michael Griffin - to Lincoln Trail recently.  And that's another scoop, Griffin is transferring from Tennessee Tech to Lincoln Trail (JC) IL.  Speaking of transfers, it looks like 6'10 Frosh Grant Billmeir from Pennington (H.S.) NJ, who ranks as one of the top 20 freshmen in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, will be at Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ next year.  We continue to hear that 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ will transfer to Memphis, TN and that 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL will transfer to Louisville, KY, but we don't think it will happen in either case.  We've also heard that 6'3 Jr Billy Edelin from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD may transfer to Louisville (Ballard) KY.  While Edelin and 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY both have played for the USA Players this spring, we think the chances of this happening are slim and none for the reason.  Speaking of Bender, his latest list includes USC, N.C. State, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Duke, Florida, Connecticut, and Louisville.  The race between 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX suddenly is too close to call again between Louisville and Arizona, because Houston Hoops head coach Josh Pastner, who is one of the bright young guys in the business, has gotten the graduate assistant position at Arizona.  Remember, Hurt's grandmother lives in Louisville and his cousin is former Louisville player Derwin Webb.   As a result, Hurt has always been a Louisville fan.  However, he also is close to Pastner, who will be with Hurt all July while the Houston Hoops travel around on the summer circuit.

We found the quotes by Pat Forde in his column in the Louisville Courier Journal on Sunday regarding the recruitment of 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who ranks as the #1 junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, particularly interesting, because they simply reinforce what we've been saying all along.  We pick it up after Forde starts talking about how Denny Crum committed a minor violation when he was quoted on an internet site about Wagner.  "That was a secondary NCAA rule violation because coaches can't comment on unsigned recruits," says Forde.  "The punishment figures to be a letter of reprimand, but the slip also earned Crum a reprimand from Wagner's mother, Lisa Moore, and his godfather/uncle, William Wesley.  'He never even talked to Dajuan, so how would he know what he's going to do?'  Moore said, 'I don't appreciate stuff like that.'  Wesley called Crum 'a crackpot' who bungled Wagner's recruitment.  He said Crum didn't attend any of Wagner games this year at Camden (NJ) High School, didn't recruit Barclay until too late and didn't offer a coaching position to Milt Wagner when the UofL great supposedly inquired three years ago.  'This was a Louisville kid from the beginning,' Wesley said, 'and they lost him.'  The Wagner saga has produced a scenario that would have been utterly preposterous even a year ago:  Milt at hated rival Memphis, and Dajuan's family washing its hands of the Cardinals.  'If it's up to me,' Moore said, 'he isn't taking a visit to UofL.'"   Either the University of Louisville coaching staff is totally incompetent when it comes to recruiting or the rumors are true that Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich told Crum to back off in the recruitment of Wagner due to concerns about Wagner's posse, as well as taking another player from Camden, NJ, especially after the problems they had with Nate Johnson. Instead, it appears that Louisville has been willing to take the gamble that they will get 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX and 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, both of whom rank among the top 10 in the junior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.    Remember, Hurt's mother is from Louisville and he has grown up following the Cardinals.  As a matter of fact, he even was quoted this weekend in the Courier-Journal saying that his favorite player growing up was DuJuan Wheat.    Louisville also appears to be the leader for Cisse, especially after they recently signed his older brother 6'8 Daouda Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL.  Let's say they sign Hurt, Cisse, and 6'6 Jr Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, whose best friend 5'11 Bryant Northern from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN announced recently that he would walk-on the Louisville basketball team next year, then Crum would have the horses again to make a strong run at another NCAA Championship.  However, if the gamble doesn't pay off and Hurt, Cisse, and Coutee all go elsewhere, you can bet that there will be hell to pay from the Louisville fans.  And if Wagner ends up playing a year or two at Memphis, Crum will probably want to take a longer vacation that Knight did recently.  That's if he can keep his job!  In other words, the next six months will be crunch time for the Louisville coaching staff and the outcome will more important than any NCAA Final Four game Crum has ever coached in. 

We found it interesting that the first school mentioned by 7'1 Jr Desagana Diop was Miami-FL, because we've always heard that he was stashed at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA by the Hurricanes.  In addition to Miami-FL, Diop's list also includes North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, Michigan.  The favorites for 6'10 Jr Larry Turner from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA are Maryland, Georgia, N.C. State, Clemson, and Alabama.  Georgia, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Alabama, and Duke are the top five for 6'9 Jr Josh Powell from Riverdale (H.S.) GA.  Miami-FL, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Texas, and LSU are involved with 6'6 Jr Is'mail Muhammad from Atlanta (W.D. Mohammed) GA.   A lot of people think 6'8 Jr Dennis Latimore from Halstead (H.S.) KS will sign this fall with either Kansas or Arizona, but he also has Stanford, UCLA, Florida, Kentucky, Texas, and Missouri on his list.  UCLA is the new school on the list of 6'11 Jr Rick Rickert from Duluth (East) MN, but right now it looks like Iowa, Florida, and Duke are the leaders over Minnesota, Arizona, Michigan State, Utah, and UCLA. The early list for 6'7 Soph Evan Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA includes UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, and UNLV.  Georgia, LSU, Alabama, Mississippi, South Alabama, and Southern University have the early jump on 6'7 Jr Jasper Johnson from Hollandale (Simmons) MS and 6'3 Jr Mario Jointer from Jackson (Jim Hill) MS is getting interest from LSU, Alabama, Old Dominion, and Ohio University.  He has a 3.8 gpa, so it makes sense that schools like Harvard, Princeton, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Villanova are involved with 6'8 Jr Lonnie Jackson from Montgomery (Carver) AL.  It's still questionable whether he will make it academically, but 6'2 Jr Johnathan Hargett from Durham (Emmanuel) NC likes Maryland, Arizona, Miami-FL, Ohio State, and North Carolina.   Providence, St. John's, Rhode Island, Fordham, and Massachusetts are at the top of the list for 6'7 Jr Kenny Adelake from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY.   Duke, N.C. State, Seton Hall, Connecticut, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Florida are the leaders for 6'10 Jr Mark Kornecny from Waterbury (Holy Cross) CT.   Florida, Vanderbilt, New Mexico, Virginia Tech, and Colorado have the jump on 6'9 Jr Jamal Levy from Homestead (Berkshire School) FL.  Temple appears to be the favorite for 6'9 Jr Brandon Brigman from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, but he also mentions Villanova, Syracuse, Virginia, Florida State, and Massachusetts.   Marquette, N.C. State, Iowa, Florida, Tennessee, and Rutgers are all in the hunt for 6'6 Jr Quemont Greer from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI.   We didn't get a list from 5'11 Jr Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, because he said he was too wide open.  However, Ford's AAU coach John Eurey tells us that Kentucky, Georgetown, Texas, Duke, UCLA, and Louisville are showing the most interest.  Eurey also tell us that Kansas, Duke, Louisville, and Florida appear to be the favorites for 6'3 Jr Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX.

Saturday, May 27, 2000, Sunday, May 28, 2000, and Monday, May 29, 2000

The Atlanta Celtics won the championship at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions for the third consecutive year, but by the time they met the Georgia Stars in the championship game, we were long gone back to the Louisville, KY to cover the last two days of the NIKE Bluegrass Classic.  So we will only talk about what we saw first hand on Friday and Saturday in Chapel Hill, NC.  We understand that tournament MVP honors went to 6'11 Jr Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, but Brown was not much of a factor when we saw the Georgia Stars against DC Assault on Saturday night.  Also disappointing were most of the other big name big men who were in the tournament, like 6'9 Jr Tony Key from Russellville (H.S.) KY, 6'10 Jr David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 6'10 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, and 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL.   But we need to qualify that, because Curry was one of the leading scorers in the tournament (20 ppg after two games) and Cisse was one of the leading rebounders and shot blockers in the tournament.  However, if people are talking about you as a lottery pick in the NBA darft in the spring of 2001, like Curry and Cisse, your level of expectation increases dramatically.  Which is why it is important to point out that Cisse's lack of offense was more obvious than it was three weeks ago at the Spiece Run'N-Slam in West Lafayette, IN and Curry just doesn't play hard enough to warrant being ranked any higher than top five in the class.  Instead, the point guards and the multi-dimensional wing players were the ones who stole most of the thunder at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions.   Let's start with 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ, who set the single game tournament scoring record with 56 points against the PG Jaguars on Saturday morning.  He also had 35 points when we saw him on Friday night against the Atlanta Celtics, which means he was by far and away the leading scorer in the tournament averaging 45.5 pgg when we left late Saturday night.  As a result, the debate rages on as to who the #2 ranked player in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area should be - Turner or 6'5 Jr John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA, who was hurt and didn't play in this tournament.  Also averaging over 30 ppg were 6'5 Jr Julius Hodge from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'5 Soph Lenny Cook, who apparently is transferring from New York (La Salle) NY to Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ.    Hodge still needs to get stronger, but he's combines athleticism, skills, and a tremendous knack for scoring both inside and outside.  As a result, he may be en route to becoming the best player Gary DeCesare has ever produced at St. Raymond's.  Cook isn't as explosive to the basket and he's three inches taller, but he reminds us of Cincinnati's Kenny Satterfield.  Just like Satterfield, Cook has those long arms and quick hands and feet.  He also plays with a lot of intensity at the defensive end and, as a result, he makes a living turning defense into offense, as he beats you either going to the hole or pulling up from beyond the arc.  Also, averaging over 30.0 ppg was 6'1 Jr Johnathan Hargett from Durham (Emmanuel) NC, but he didn't have to carry his team the way 6'0 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI and 6'3 Soph Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL did. Roberson had 23 points when we saw him in the opening game of the tournament against St. Louis Gateway.  However, even more important, Roberson didn't think twice about taking over for 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, who is out with mono, 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, who was missing in action, and 6'6 Jr Jaquan Hart from Flint (Northern) MI, who was playing for the Flint Team in another tournament during the Memorial Day Weekend.   Roberson was deadly from 3-point land early, but he also made numerous great passes and played excellent defense, despite the fact that he's just come off an leg injury that had sidelined him all spring.  As a matter of fact, nobody played any better than Roberson either Friday night or all day Saturday, which is why he now edges out 6'1 Soph Chad Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL as our #1 ranked player in the sophomore class nationally.  Prior to the tournament we'd heard that Dockery might not be the #1 ranked sophomore class in Illinois, because he had not played well late in the season and this spring.   However, in our mind, he solidified himself as one of the top five sophomores in the nation with his ball handling, passing, penetrating, and outside shooting.  As a matter of fact, he did for the Illinois Fire, which was missing two of its best players in 6'7 Soph Stanley Gaines and 6'4 Jr Lavar Seals, both from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL.  Also sensational when we saw them on Friday night against the USA Players were 5'11 Jr Terrance Ford and 6'3 Jr Daniel Ewing, both Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, as was 6'0 Jr Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS against the New York Ravens Saturday night.  Speaking of the USA Players, we have to give 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY credit for playing hard, dominating the boards, and keeping his mouth shut.   Previously we'd been disappointed in 6'11 Jr Rick Rickert from Duluth (East) MN when we saw him three weeks ago at the Spiece Run'N-Slam, but he was much more aggressive and confident inside and, as a result, one of the best big guys in the tournament.  We also thought 6'7 Soph Evans Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA was terrific for Belmont Shore, but we were disappointmented with 6'6 Jr Dijon Thompson from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA.  It's not that Thompson played bad, but he wasn't able to live up to the hype that had been created by his AAU coach Dinos Trigonis, who also happens to be our Southern California Editor.  Thompson is a great passer and ball handler for his size and he's very efficient, but saying that he's better than 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA is a little ridiculous. We also liked 6'1 Jr Charles Frederick from Baco Raton (Pope John Paul VI) FL, but sometimes he needs to slow down, makes better decisions, and take better shots.   Finally we were impressed with 6'9 Jr Brandon Brigman from Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA, who in the past has always passed the look-test, but who always seemed to leave his game at home in the past.  Among the biggest sleepers in the tournament were 6'1 Jr Mitchell Bittle from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC, 6'7 Jr Jasper Johnson from Hollandale (Simmons) MS, 6'3 Jr Mario Jointer from Jackson (Jim Hill) MS, 6'9 Jr Jamal Levy from Homestead (Berkshire) FL, 6'7 Jr Illian Evtimov from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC, and 6'6 Jr Cortez Davis from Ft. Washington (Friendly) DC.  Bittle needs strength, but he's an excellent 3-point shooter, is quick off the dribble, and  has great body control, which he uses to score when going to the basket.  Johnson is a wide body who doesn't take any prisoners inside, but he also has a nice touch, good range, and surprising mobility.   Jointer needs strength, but he's got big-time athleticism, good handling skills, and a picture-perfect 3-point shot.  Levy, who is originally from Panama, needs strength, but this multi-dimensional athlete effortlessly blocks shots, rebounds, and shoots threes.  He also even showed he can bring the ball up the court against pressure and make the great pass, just like Tracy McGrady.  However, we don't want to start making those kind of comparisons just yet.  Evtimov isn't as tough as his older brother, Vasco Evtimov, but is a great stationary 3-pointer shooter.  Cortez is undersized, but is extremely talented, very athletic, and really aggressive inside.  He also runs the court and handles it well enough outside to make his upside very intriguing, especially if he develops into a decent outside shooter.  Make sure you remember the names, because they all will be ranked among our top 100 nationally or higher in the loaded junior class.  We also thought 6'5 Jr Ronald Howard from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'3 Jr Kenny Taylor from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'6 Jr Quemont Greer from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI helped themselves in this tournament.   Howard is tremendous in transition, but we'd like for him to improve his outside shooting.  Taylor simply picked up where he left off at Slam Dunk to the Beach, as he hit numerous 3-pointers and provided the perfect complement to Ford and Ewing.   Greer may be undersized, but who cares - he's definitely a big time player!   We also got our first look at 6'1 Soph Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop McNamara) PA and boy is he impressive.  Not only is a deadly long range bomber, but he's extremely athletic and he makes excellent decisions.  And how could we not mention 6'8 Soph Charlie Villanueva from Elmhurst (Newtown) NY and 6'2 Jr Jeremiah King from Paterson (Catholic) NY?  Villanueva has a great frame, excellent athleticism, and good mobility, which he uses to do most of his damage inside.  But he also can go outside and knocked down the 3-pointer.   Villanueva not only was one of  the leading scorers (23.5 pgg) and leading rebounders in the tournament, but he clearly established himself as one of the top sophomores in the nation.  The biggest enigma in the tournament was 6'9 Jr Josh Powell from Riverdale (H.S.) GA.  He's very athletic and extremely naturally talented, but he's not tough enough to play inside and doesn't shoot it well enough to play out on the perimeter.  The obviously the question becomes where do you play him?  We've talked about seemingly everybody else, so it is only fitting to conclude with the absolutely loaded Atlanta Celtics.   Inside they featured 7'1 Jr Desagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, but they also came off the bench with 6'10 Jr Sani Ibrahim from Atlanta (W.D. Mohammed) GA, 7'0 Jr Marcus Campbell from Albany (Westover) GA, and 6'9 Jr Justin Stubbs from Fayetteville (Christian) AR. Campbell and Stubbs are still a projects, but Ibrahim is a top 100 junior nationally.   Not only do we like his upside, but we also like his willingness to compete and the fact that he uses his quick hands to block shots and get rebounds.  Complementing the big guys are 6'5 Jr Greg Tinch from Albany (Westover) GA and 6'6 Jr Is'mail Muhammad from Atlanta (W.D. Mohammed) GA.  Neither is going to beat you with their outside shooting, but it didn't seem to matter with Hargett and 6'1 Soph Michael Ford from Macon (Northeast) GA,who is legitimate top 75 sophomore nationally, in the backcourt.  The backcourt was even deeper, but 6'5 Jr Barry Elder from Madison (Morgan County) GA was injured and, as a result, didn't play after the first night. 

The championship game at the NIKE Bluegrass Classic was anticlimactic, because all of the elite players in the tournament, like 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6'9 Jr Elton Brown from Newport News (Warwick) VA, 6'1 Soph Chad Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, and 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA had already lost and, as a result, gone home.   Instead, our choice for tournament MVP honors went to 5'11 Jr Travis Diener from Cloquet (Fond du Lac) MN, who scored 17 points and led his team to a 80-70 victory in the championship game.  Diener needs to get bigger and stronger and, as a result, doesn't pass the look-test.  However, he passes the play-test, because he's surprisingly quick and athletic, makes excellent decisions, and has great court savvy.  Plus, he has a knack for finding a way to score with his excellent 3-point shooting range and deceptive moves to the basket.  Not only is Diener one of the biggest sleepers in the nation, but he's also a legitimate top 100 junior nationally.  We liked three players - 6'7 Soph Donte Minter from Mt. Ulla (West Rowan) NC, 6'4 Soph Rashan McCants from Ervin (H.S.) NC, and 6'2 Soph Justin Gray from West Charlotte (H.S.) NC - on the Charlotte Royals, but the sophomore he stole all the thunder was 6'6 Soph Lester Abrams from Pontiac (Northern) MI, who was our choice for MVP in the 16-Under Division.  Abrams, who finished with 29 points, three blocks, three assists, and six rebounds in the championship game against the Arkanas Rockets, is clearly better than 6'6 Soph Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, who probably should have been mentioned above, because he played very well at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions.  However, Trannon can't shoot and do things out on the perimeter like Abrams can.  We're talking about the #2 sophomore in the Michigan behind 6'0 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI and a sure-fire McDonald's All-American.    Abrams is an excellent 3-point shooter off the dribble and has great handling and passing skills, plus, at this level he's almost unstoppable when he goes to the hole.   If that weren't enough, Abrams, whose early favorites are Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa State, and Michigan State, also is a great kid and has a 3.67 gpa in the classroom.   Also very impressive on The Family of Detroit 16-Under team, which beat the Arkansas Rockets 79-58 in the championship, was 6'9 Frosh Walter Waters from Detroit (Southeastern) MI.  He reminds us of a young Robert Traylor, although Waters is more mobile and in better shape than Traylor was at the same stage.   But just like Traylor, Waters is a physical speciment with soft hands, a nice touch, and a great nose for the ball, which makes him a great rebounder.  Another one of the fastest rising sophomores in the nation is 6'9 Soph Amare Stoudemire, who was listed on the roster from Lake Wales (H.S.) FL, but who appears to be transferring from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Stoudemire has long arms and excellent timing, plus he's becoming more aggressive, which is why he is developing into an outstanding shot blocker.  He also has better skills and post moves than you'd expect from somebody so big and so young.  We also continue to be impressed with 6'3 Frosh Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, who already is one of the best players on the Kentucky Elite team.  We had seen the Bray Center at Spiece three weeks ago, but they added a tough little point guard in 5'11 Jr Will Bynum from Chicago (Crane) IL.  Bynum's range is limited, but he's got great moves to the hole and is physically strong enough to go in and score against bigger guys.   As a result, Bynum will rank among our top 100 nationally.  One of the best athletes in the tournament was 6'1 Soph Mike Lesma from York Crispus (Attucks) PA via the Ivory Coast.  Others who emerged were 6'8 Jr Keith Wilright from Oakland (Tech) CA, 6'10 Soph Kevin Field from Tacoma (Wilson) WA, and 6'2 Frosh Justin Lee from Birmingham (Ramsay) AL.   Falling into the same category as 6'9 Jr Josh Powell from Riverdale (H.S.) GA is 6'10 Jr Duane Erwin from Huntsville (Lee) AL.   Erwin, who is the cousin of Kentucky's Marvin Stone, needs to develop a killer instinct and, if he doesn't, the value of his stock will continue to drop.  However, at least one Alabama Laser really helped himself this weekend.  No, we're not talking about Moore, who was good, but not exceptional enough to keep the #1 ranking in the sophomore class away from 6'0 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (Buena Vista) MI, who was sensational at the Gibbons Tournament.   Instead, we're talking about 6'4 Tabius Tate from Montgomery (Carver) AL, who is bound for prep school, because he's a 16 year old senior.  And what a steal this slasher/athlete could be in a year - are you listening Murry Bartow?  Beyond that it's pretty much the same old stuff - Wagner went for 41 points in one game on Saturday, but then was slowed by an injury.  Chandler has some amazing dunks, but his team was eliminated by the St. Louis Eagles in the round of 16 on Sunday night.  A lot of people were impressed with 6'5 Jr Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, but just as many questioned whether he can handle the rock and/or shoot the three.  Louisville fans watched every move by 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, who was sensational when we saw him against Kentucky Elite.  And 6'8 Jr David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) MO, who is one of the true warriors nationally in the class, continues to just get better and better.  We still think Lee needs to improve his outside shooting and/or get bigger and stronger for the highest level, but if we're ranking him only based on college potential, he might be top five in the class.  In case you were wondering about 6'10 Jr Ali Dauda from Nigeria, he never showed up.  Apparently he couldn't get a visa out of Italy, so at least report he was heading to France and hopes to be in the United States sometime next week.  Stay tuned!   

Friday, May 26, 2000

Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that UCLA has added a walk-on in 6'5 Ryan Mollins from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA.  This may not seem very important, because Mollins only ranks no higher than #41 in California by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, he is extremely close friends with 6'6 Jr Dijon Thompson from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA, who is currently the fastest rising junior on the West Coast, as well as high priority for UCLA.  Mollins also was considering San Diego State, UC-Santa Barbara, and Loyola-Marymount.  Everybody thinks 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ,who ranks as the #1 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP,   is a lock for the University of  Memphis, but it has been widely reported that he plans to also make official visits to Louisville, Kentucky, Miami-FL, and Connecticut.   We have yet to confirm this, but it looks like 6'11 Johnny Davis from Detroit (Central) MI, who was ranked high based on is size and potential in 8th grade, but who has shown little improvement since, has signed with Garden City (JC) KS.

Everybody seems to think that 6'7 Dahntey Jones is transferring from Rutgers to Duke, but our New England Editor Wayne Simone is not so sure it's going to happen.  As a matter of fact, Jones has postponed announcing his decision and the longer it goes, the more it probably favors the Scarlet Knights.  There is also the possibility that Rutgers could lose assistant coach Walter Townes, who along with Toledo assistant coach Tony Jones, appears to be the favorite for King Rice's job at Providence.   Speaking of Providence, we reported a week ago that Providence assistant coach Steve Demeo was on the verge of getting a head coach job.  However, our New York Editor Ron Naclerio, who coached Demeo in high school at Bayside (Cardozo) NY, thinks Demeo will be at Providence for at least another year.   "The timing isn't right," says Naclerio.  Kenyon Hunter, who as a full-time assistant coach at Duquesne, has left to become the director of basketball operations at N.C. State.  We mentioned yesterday that Ohio State assistant coach Rick Boyages was in line for the William & Mary job, but we didn't tell you why.  Did you know that Buckeyes head coach Jim O'Brien and the athletic director were best friends when they were in college.   However, there is still the possibility that William & Mary will from within, which means current assistant coach Mark Lezanic has a better shot at the job than one might think.  In addition to the original names, like Tulsa head coach Bill Self, Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, Appalachian State head coach Buzz Peterson, and St. John's head coach, Mike Jarvis, other names now being mentioned for the Illinois job include Tulane head coach Perry Clark, Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson, Bradley head coach Jim Molinari, Marquette head coach Tom Crean, and Washington head coach Bob Bender.

Thursday, May 25, 2000

We still haven't heard anything official about Illinois head coach Lon Kruger accepting the Atlanta Hawks job, but we stand by what he reported yesterday.  As a matter of fact, we heard that Kruger will be getting $2.5 million per year, instead of the $2 million a year figure that has been widely reported.  Yesterday we provided a list of potential candidates to replace Kruger, but our New England Editor Wayne Simone, who has been way ahead of everybody else on the story, has two more names who should be added to the list.   University of Oregon head coach Ernie Kent would be a natural for the job, because he's had tremendous success the last two years in the Pacific-10, plus he was born and raise in Rockford, IL.  It would be a big jump for University of Maine head coach John Giannini, but he's built that program from the ground up, plus he was an assistant coach for the Fighting Illini during their NCAA Final Four season in 1989 under Lou Henson.  We also understand that 6'8 Jr David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) MO is having second thoughts about the University of Illinois.  A source who is close to the Lee tells us that he really liked Kruger, but that was the main selling point.  We also are hearing that Notre Dame may be at lot closer to getting a verbal commitment from 6'7 Jr Sean Kline from Huntington (North) IN than most people realize.  Obviously this would not bold well for Indiana University, because that would mean that the Hoosiers would have no shot at two of the top three players in the state.  Remember, 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame ironically on the same day that the IU President Myles Brand announced that he had given in to Bob Knight and, as a result, compromised the schools integrity and destroyed his personal reputation.

The early list for 6'1 Jr Brandon Cheatham from Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA includes Memphis, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and N.C. State, which makes perfect sense.  Obviously, it's the John Calipari connection that gets the Tigers right at the top of the list.  Remember, Calipari and Cheatham's AAU coach John Miller are related.  Apparently Calipari is telling Cheatham that he can step in and run the show and 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is ranked as the #1 junior in the nation by the  HOOP SCOOP, will see a lot of action at the 2-spot.  And this too is sellable, because Calipari had a history of playing several guards together in the backcourt (i.e. Edgar Padilla, Derek Kellogg, and Camerlo Travieso) and not really worrying about their positions.  Ohio State makes the list, because it's only an hour and a half away from where Cheatham lives and Pittsburgh gets mentioned because his father wants him to stay close to home so he can see him play.  Cincinnat is also natural, because J.O. Stright, who is the general manager of the Pittsburgh Jots, is a close friend of Bearcats head coach Bobby Huggins.  Remember, Danny Fortson, who is another one of Stright's former players, played for the Cincinnati.  N.C. State also makes sense, because John Miller's older son, Sean Miller, is an assistant coach for the Wolfpack, and his younger son, Arch Miller, plays for N.C. State.

We've heard Wagner assistant coach Jim Miel mentioned as a possible candidate for the Loyola-Maryland job and that's not as far-fetched as you might think.  As a matter of fact, when he was an assistant coach at Towson State for a number of years, he did a great job recruiting in Baltimore, MD, which is a must for anybody to do well at this small catholic school in the Metro Atlantic Conference.  However, we think the obvious candidate for the job is Ohio State assistant coach Paul Biancardi.  Not only is Biancardi one of the best recruiters in the nation, as well as one of the brightest young guys in the business, but he also is used to getting it done at a school like Loyola-Maryland.   Remember, Biancardi played a big part in Jim O'Brien's success at Boston College and a lot of people think Loyola-Maryland has the potential to be a smaller version of Boston College.  We're also hearing that another Ohio State assistant coach Rick Boyages is in line for the William & Mary job.  Did you know that Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL head coach has taken a major step by landing an assistant coaching position on Louie Orr's staff at Siena?

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin is reporting that 6'1 Tyrone Barley from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ has signed with St. Joseph's.  He is expected to fill the void created when Larry Jennings recently announced that he was going to transfer.  Barley was recruited as the backup point guard behind 5'11 Jameer Nelson from Chester (H.S.) PA, but he also will should get some minutes at the 2-spot.  We're still not sold on 6'5 Jr Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY, but a lot of big time people are recruiting him, including UCLA, Kentucky, N.C. State, Duke, Louisville, Western Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Alabama.   You might also want to add Tennessee State to that list, because the word on the street is that former Eastern Kentucky assistant coach Kris Carrier, who is Carrier's uncle, is about to hired by onto the staff by new head coach Nolan Richardson, III. 

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Yesterday we heard that Illinois head coach Lon Kruger had interviewed for the Atlanta Hawks job.  Then, this morning we kept hearing that he'd taken his name out of consideration.  But that is not true.   As a matter of fact, our New England Editor Wayne Simone is telling us that it's already done.  Write it down!  Kruger to the Atlanta Hawks! Obviously this is a sad day for college basketball, because Kroger is widely recognized as one of the top head coaches in the nation.  However, for our purposes, it's exciting, because this is a major scoop!  Also, it opens up all kinds of possibilities in terms of job speculation.  Obviously, current  Illinois assistant coach Rod Judson, who is also a former player for the Fighting Illini, will be candidate for the job.  However, we suspect they'll try and hire a proven head coach.  A perfect candidate would be St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis.  Remember, yesterday rumor had it that he was in line for a Big 10 job, but most people in the know that it was Michigan.  Only problem with that is that Michigan isn't open, plus our sources tells us that Jarvis will likely be staying put at St. John's for a while.  How about Tulsa head coach Bill Self, who is probably the hottest young guy in the business after guiding the Golden Hurricanes to the NCAA Final Eight in March?  Another great choice would be Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, who already has proved he can recruit in the state when he was the head coach at Illinois State.  Do you believe that Seton Hall head coach Tommy Amaker when he says he wants to stick around and coach the players he signed in that great recruiting class last fall? Our guess is that if Illinois came up with the right deal, he'd be gone in a New Jersey minute.  Appalachian State head coach Buzz Peterson and Hofstra head coach Jay Wright also have to be mentioned with any big job that opens up and how about Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins?

Anybody who doubts that the Deep South is absolutely loaded needs to look no further than HOOP SCOOP's latest Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana Prep Report, which was published today exclusively in the Members Section.  Our first team regardless of position and class includes 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA, 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, and 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL.  The second five is also tremendous as it includes 6'1 Soph Chad Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, 6'1 Jr Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS, 6'7 Justin Reed from Jackson (Provine) MS, 6'5 Brandon Mouton from Lafayette (St. Thomas More) LA, and 6'7 Nick Anderson from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA.  One player who didn't make the list is 6'10 Jr Ali Dauda from Nigeria.  Where he will end up in school next year is anybody's guess, but the word is that he will be playing for the Alabama Lasers this summer.   We mention him here, because he's supposed to be super.  In otherwords, he's 6'10, 240 lbs., and more athletic than anybody on our Alabama/Mississippi/Louisiana list.   Speaking of our Deep South list, it includes 109 seniors, 78 juniors, 33 sophomores, 18 freshmen, 22 8th graders, and two 7th graders all ranked in order by class.   You can access it by clicking on Alabama/Mississippi/Louisiana Prep Report and then scrolling down to where it says The Hoop Scoop Ranks 'Em:  The Top Players In The Deep South (Alabama/Mississippi/ Louisiana).   A special thanks to Lavel Johnson, Michael Theus, & et al. who helped make our rankings as accurate as possible.  

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Two of the biggest tournaments of the entire year - the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC and the NIKE Bluegrass Tournament in Louisville, KY - both will be held this weekend and we are very seriously considering both tournaments.  Gibbons' Tournament will tipoff Friday night at 7:00 PM and then run from 9:00 AM until 11:00 PM on Saturday and from 9:00 AM until 5:30 PM on Sunday.  The NIKE Bluegrass Tournament will tipoff at 8:30 AM on Saturday morning and run until 8:30 PM that evening.  Then, on Sunday it will be even more of a marathon, as games begin at 8:30 AM and run until 11:30 PM.  Monday should be easy, with quarterfinals games scheduled for 9:30 AM, semi-finals games scheduled for 12:30 PM, and the championship slated for 3:00 PM.  The plan now is to catch all the action on Friday and Saturday at the Gibbons' Tournament.  Then, we'll drive all night Saturday night and spend all of Sunday and the early part of Monday at the NIKE Tournament.  The 17-Under Division at Gibbons' appears to be loaded!  Pool A will feature the Michigan Mustangs, Belmont Shore, Tallahassee Wildcats, and St. Louis Gateway.  Pool B will include the Tim Thomas Playaz, the Pepsi Challenge, Durham Disciples, and Houston Select.  Pool C includes the Illinois Gold, Long Island Panthers, Kappa Magic (NC), and Jackson Panthers.  Pool D features the Georgia Stars, DC Team Assault, the Pittsburgh Jots, and Midland Lakers (SC).  Pool E has the Atlanta Celtics, P.G. Jaguars (MD), Memphis YOMCA, and the New Jersey Gym Rats.  Pool F has the Tennessee Travelers, Illinois Fire, Charlotte Aces, and Team Y.E.S. (WA).   Pool G includes the New York Ravens, New Orleans Jazz, Illinois Select, and the Blue Ridge Wildcats.  Pool H includes the Friends of Hoops, (WI), Houston Superstars, USA Players, and BeachBall Select (SC).  And Pool I has the Salisbury Hornets (NC), Alabama Ice, Greensboro Gaters (NC), Ft. Worth Lions (TX), Team Carolina Topps, and NEP-17 (PA).  The lineup for the NIKE Bluegrass Tournament also is very impressive!   Pool A features the Kentucky Hoop Stars #2, Albany City, Sports Express, and Emerald City.  Pool B has the Houston Hoops, Portland Legends, Magnolia Stars, and the Charlotte Royals.  Pool C features Coast to Coast, Bloomington Red, Howard Pulley, and The Family.  Pool D has the Southern California All-Stars, Bray Center, Kansas City 76ers, and the Arkansas Rockets.  Pool E includes Georgia Elite, Potomac Valley, Shreveport Bossier, and Team Florida.  Pool F has Boo Williams, Playground Warriors, Alabama Select, and Arizona Stars.  Pool G features the Alabama Lasers, Arkansas Wings, the Carolina Warriors, and the Kentucky Hoop Stars.  Pool H includes the St. Louis Eagles, New York Riverside Church, Del Val Hoops, and High Five America.   Pool J has Team Texas, Cleveland Top Prospects, Illinois Warriors, and the New Jersey Celtics. 

"If new University head coach John Calipari can't take him, he'll at least find a good spot for him," says Jim Rothman, the Mid-South Editor of the HOOP SCOOP. Rothman is talking about 6'6 Willie Jenkins from Memphis (Fairley) TN, who has signed with the University of Massachusetts.  Jenkins isn't there yet, but says he had a good senior year and thinks he has a chance to develop into an excellent Atlantic-10 player.   Our buddy Jim Haley, who is the long time legendary head coach at Ocala (Vanguard) FL tells us that one of his former players - 6'5 Anthony Reason from Compton (JC) CA - has signed with Gonzaga University.  Reason averaged 10.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg for a high powered team that went 27-6 and advanced to the second round of the Southern California Regional.  He also shot 54.5% from the field (127 for 233) and 46.5% from 3-point range (27 for 58).  "Anthony will bring an incredible amount of enthusiasm to the Zags with his hustle and drive to compete," says Haley.   "The fans will fall in love with him as he leaves it all on the floor when the final buzzer sounds.  I feel Coach Few and the Zags staff got the best wing forward sleeper on the West Coast."  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has confirmed that East Carolina has signed 6'7 Gabriel Mikulas from Argentina.  Rubin also reports that St. Bonaventure is hiring Desmond Oliver as an assistant coach.  He will replace Brian Nash, who has moved onto become an assistant coach at Siena under Louie Orr.

Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis continues to tell us that the fastest rising player in Southern California is 6'6 Jr Dijon Thompson from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA.  As a matter of fact, now he's getting a little ridiculous, because he's touting him ahead of 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, who ranks among the top 10 nationally in the loaded junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Thompson, who can play either the one, two, or the three spot, made an unofficial visit to UCLA on Saturday and he'd be a heck of a consolation prize for the Bruins if 6'5 Jr Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who committed to the Bruins last fall, but reneged this spring, ends up going somewhere else.  Thompson also has USC, Kansas, Kentucky, California, Arizona, Missouri, UNLV, Oregon State, Washington State, and Notre Dame all on his list, but right now we think UCLA may be tough to beat. Trigonis also tells us that 5'9 Wesley Stokes from Long Beach (Poly) CA, who is now the heir apparent to the starting point guard spot at Missouri since  Keyon Dooling has entered his name into the NBA draft, has passed the SAT and, as a result, is now academically qualified.  Trigonis also tells us that Tito Maddox has fulfilled all the requirements to become eligible to play next year at Fresno State.  However, we're still waiting to see whether 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA will become academically qualified. 

Monday, May 22, 2000

The big news today in New York City is that St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis turned down the Washington Wizards job and a contract estimated to be worth $2 million per year.  We find this absolutely amazing not just because of the money, but due to what Jarvis went through this spring with the NCAA.  However, as was the case when Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo turned down the Atlanta Hawks several weeks ago, the big winner is college basketball.  As a matter of fact, the continuity provided by the overwhelming number of great coaches in the game today is what's saving college basketball, despite all the early defections annually by players to the NBA.  Getting back to New York City, Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY head coach Gary DeCesare tells us that 6'5 Jr Julius Hodge from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who now  as a top 20 junior nationally, has narrowed his list to N.C. State, North Carolina, Florida, Syracuse, and Maryland.  Hodge, who was also named the MVP for the spring season at the IS8 Tournament in Jamaica, NY, now edges out 6'2 Jr Ben Gordon from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY as the #1 junior in the New York City area.  Speaking of Gordon, he told our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio yesterday that St. John's, Duke, Seton Hall, Syracuse, and Villanova are among the early favorites. 

The latest list for 6'2 Jr Ernest Turner from Somerdale (Sterling) NJ, who still ranks #3 in the junior class in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Area by Allen Rubin, includes Syracuse, Villanova, Rutgers, N.C. State, Southern California, Florida, and Temple.  Actually the race between Turner and 6'5 Jr John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA for the #2 spot in the area behind 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ is almost too close to call.  However, Rubin feels that Allen had a better season, as well as a better spring, and has a more impressive list of schools, which includes Seton Hall, Syracuse, Connecticut, Villanova, Temple, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Massachusetts.  Another player who Rubin currently has underrated in the area is 6'9 Jr Dwayne Jones from Aston (American Christian) PA.   Right now Jones is considering St. Joseph's, Temple, Villanova, Drexel, Penn State, Florida State, Hofstra, and Delaware, but that list will likely continue to expand as coaches find out how much better he's gotten.  Rubin also is reporting that 6'5 Rodney Bass from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA has signed with Texas Tech and that might be the perfect spot for him, because Red Raiders head coach James Dickey is outstanding at developing talent.  Currently Bass is a guy without a position, because he's not big and strong enough to play inside and doesn't have the ball handling, passing, and outside shooting skills to play out on the perimeter.  However, he is a terrific athlete and he plays hard, so he has the potential to develop into an outstanding college player.  We also like Rubin's rumor about Wagner transferring to Memphis to live with his father.  And that would be the smart move, because Milt Wagner was recently hired onto the University of Memphis staff, as an administrative assistant.   Certainly that would eliminate any future recruiting of Dajuan, which you can bet will go on if he remains in Camden, NJ with his mother and stepfather.

When we first heard about the tragic death of former St. John's All-American Malik Sealy Saturday afternoon at the Brooklyn USA-Albany City Rocks quadrupleheader at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, NY, everybody was stunned and saddened.  Sealy one of the most popular players New York City has ever produced, as well as a great role model and tremendous ambassador for the game.  He was the star for the great Bronx (Tolentine) NY team, coached by John Sarandrea, that went 30-1.  They lost only once early in the season in Hawaii to Jersey City (St. Anthony's) NJ, which included a trio of terrific juniors in Bobby Hurley, Jerry Walker, and Terry Dehere, and then even onto win the mythical national championship. The year was 1988 and that was a golden era in high school basketball, because that was the class that also nationally produced Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens, et al. It was also the age of Kenny Anderson, who at the time was a junior in high school.  As a matter of fact, it was Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY that Tolentine knocked off to win the New York City Catholic Championship en route to the national title.   If you will recall, that Tolentine team also included Adrian Autry and Brian Reese, who were both sophomores.  We saw Sealy a number of times at Five-Star and the NIKE All-American Camp and he was truly one of our all time favorite players, because he was a true warrior, great competitor, and winner in every sense of the word.  He was the senior class president at Tolentine and graduated in four years at St. John's, where was the second all-time leading scorer in school history behind Chris Mullin.   He was then drafted in the NBA by the Indiana Pacers and played for several other teams, including the Los Angeles Clippers, before finally finding a home a year ago with Minnesota Timberwolves.  He not only had become one of the most popular players in Minnesota, but he was about to become a free agent and re-sign for big money with the Timberwolves next season.  He also had done some acting and had a clothing line.   He came from a great family and, as a matter of fact, his father had once been a body guard for Malcolm X.  And like Malcolm X, Malik's life was cut short early Saturday morning when he was hit head-on by a car traveling in the wrong direction on Minnesota Highway 100.  He was pronounced dead at the scene.  And with his death Sealy becomes the second player from that Tolentine championship team to die tragically.   Several years ago 6'5 Jerome Holmes, who had gotten involved with drugs, was shot and killed.  Holmes originally had signed with Pete Gillen when he was at Xavier, but later transferred and dropped off the basketball map.  Sealy's funeral will be Friday morning at 10:00 AM in Harlem. 

Sunday, May 21, 2000

Brooklyn USA beat the Albany City Rocks in three of the four games in the quadrupleheader at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, NY yesterday and there were a number of excellent players who made a huge impression on us during the course of the afternoon.   However, we have to begin with 5'10 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Ann Sullivan) NY, who is the #1 8th grader America.   Telfair not only dominated the 8th grade game with amazing passes, explosive speed and quickness, and excellent outside shooting, but also was the leading scorer for his team with 16 points in the 11th grade, despite only playing half the game.  As a matter of fact, Telfair is such a competitor that he wanted to play in all four games, but Tom "Ziggy" Sicignano didn't think that would be fair to other players.   Still, Telfair was a joy to watch in the two games he did play in, because he's got a incredible vision, savvy, court sense, and feel for the game for somebody so young.   He also cheers for his teammates and provides the leadership that is expected from a point guard, even though he was the youngest player on the team in the junior age group by several years.   Obviously Telfair is the type of players others will want to play with in the same program in the years to come, which is why we'd be surprised if many of the other good young players in the Brooklyn USA program bolt to other programs in the New York City as they get older, which is something that has happened in the past.   At the top of the list is 6'8 Frosh Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, who was a defensive force and shot blocker in the 9th grade game, but more of a scorer (14 points) when playing up in the 10th grade game.  Taft needs to physically get a lot stronger, but he does get after it inside and, as a result, dominates at his age level.    Taft's father is 6'11, so he'll probably be a 7-footer before he's through growing, but what makes him a can't miss future superstar are his terrific agility and mobility, which is rare for somebody so big and so young.    The leading scorer with 20 points and the perfect complement to Taft in the 9th grade game was 6'6 Kirk Bunn from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, who makes a living slashing to the basket.  Bunn is wiry strong, which is why he's such a good rebounder, and he possesses a soft touch, which he uses out to mid-range.   Also impressing us on the 9th grade Brooklyn USA team were 5'9 Frosh Japhet NcNeil from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'6 Frosh Aaron Harvey from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY and 6'5 Frosh Timmy Wall from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY.   Wall is a tough hardnosed white kid with deceptive speed and athleticism, as well as the ability to beat you outside with picture perfect 3-point shot.   However, on this team he was primarily a role player.  Harvey did most of his damage using his explosiveness slashing to the basket, while McNeil created havoc defensively with his speed and quickness.  McNeil also is an outstanding passer and good playmaker, although his decision making needs work, he likes to pull the trigger too often from outside, and he gambles too much.  Brooklyn USA also was loaded in the 8th grade age group.  In addition to Telfair, 6'0 James Walker from Brooklyn, NY and 6'2 Abdoulaye Fall from Brooklyn, NY, and 6'1 Terrance Portis from Brooklyn, NY all could have terrific futures, but they all have to grow or develop their permeter skills in order to be successful at high levels.   Moving down even younger, Brooklyn USA's 7th grade team beat the Silver Bullets Basketball Club from Long Island in the preliminary game, 96-35, thanks the efforts of 6'1 Saiquon Stone from Brooklyn, NY and 5'3 Eugene Harvey from Brooklyn, NY, both of whom have to be ranked among the top 7th graders in the nation.   Stone is excellent at putting the ball on the floor and is a terrific passer, but he does most of his damage inside at this level, because he's got long arms, explosive quickness, and great hands.   Plus, he really gets after it for somebody so young.  He'll get bigger and stronger as he gets older, but if he develops a consistent outside shot, the sky is the limit, becuase he'll be a multi-dimensional athlete out of the Kevin Garnett, Lamar Odom, and DerMarr Johnson mold. Whether he'll ever be as good  as that will depend upon how hard he's willing to work, but the natural talent, athleticism, and inside/outside skills are already in place.  The word is that Harvey doesn't have the same willingness to work two or three hours everyday, like Telfair does, but his decision making, passing, court awareness, and understanding are just as good and, as a result, he could develop into a great one.  Also playing well for the Brooklyn USA 7th grade team were 6'0 Jermaine Campbell from Brooklyn, NY and 5'6 Mitchell Smith from Brooklyn, NY.  Smith needs strength, but he's a slasher with great moves to the hole and a great bold line (he's the younger brother of Iowa State's Jamal Tinsley).  Campbell is a blue collar player in the boards, but how much better he gets will depend a lot on how much more he grows.  However, time is on his side.  The best player for the Silver Bullets Basketball Club was 5'5 Brett Wilson from Central Islit (Cordello School) NY.  Wilson has a great handle, but he needs to work on his decision making, if he wants to be a pure point guard down the road, and his outside shooting, if he wants to become a two.  The Albany City Rocks got beat 62-43 by Brooklyn USA in the 8th grade game, but they did have three excellent players - 6'5 Matthew Mannion from Troy (Castleton Maple) NY, 6'4 Josh Pelletier from Troy (La Salle) NY, and 6'2 Christian Keith from Albany (Vanderheiden Hall) NY.   Mannion was their best player, because he was just so tough on the boards and dominant inside.  He's got excellent skills, great hands, and good body control, plus he's got an effective outlet pass.  The only question is how much more he'll grow?   With three or four inches, he should project as a Big East power forward.   Pelletier is a veratile white kid with surprising athleticism.  He's best around the basket right now, but he does have a good mid-range jumper and good passing and handling skills.  Keith is a quick leaper and big time athlete, but right now we question what position he'll play down the road.   The Albany City Rocks also got beat 75-53 in the 9th grade game, but it could have been a lot worse, because they didn't have much.  However, it was a much different story in the 10th grade game, as Albany City jumped out to 31-13 lead with 4:23 left in the second quarter, coasted to a 50-32 lead at the end of the three quarters, and hung on to win 63-59.  Their best player was 6'8 Soph Rashawn Freeman from Schenectady (H.S.) NY.  Remember the name, because he'll be a potential McDonald's All-American in two years.  He's super quick around the basket and he's got extremely soft hands and a great touch, which explains why he got most of his shots seem to bounce or role in.  He's also got a great frame and is aggressive inside, but he needs to get physically stronger.   However, time is on his side, because he won't be 16 until November, which makes him very young for his grade.  We also were very impressed with 6'6 Soph Anthony Bruin from Colonie (H.S.) NY and 6'1 Soph Michael Beers from Broadalbin (H.S.) NY.  Bruin, who is the son of former Syracuse All-American Tony Bruin, is a terrific athlete and is so explosive that he's almost unstoppable at this level when he goes to the basket.   He's also got great hands and extremely long arms, but he extremely thin and doesn't show much shooting range right now.   Beers is a great outside shooter, but he has the handling and passing skills, as well as enough speed and quickness, to play point guard.  We also really liked his competitive nature and basketball smarts.   The best player of the entire day, as well as one of the biggest surprises was 6'8 Yamar Diene from Poughkeepsie (H.S.) NY.  We saw him last fall and immediately like his potential, because he was such a world-class athlete.  However, he stood around a lot and didn't show much of a feel for the game.  But now the improvement is like night and day.  He dunks, rebounds, and dominates inside like Donnell Harvey, but he's better offensively away from the basket.  Diene is young for his age, which means he's already a senior in high school.  He's also verbally committed to Rice.  What a steal!  Based on what he did yesterday, there is no doubt in our mind that he's a top 100 senior nationally and, with coaching and continued development, he has a chance to play in the NBA someday.  We also liked 6'0 Jr  David Johnson from Albany (Nishayuna) NY and 6'5 Jr Marcus Snipes from Schenectady (H.S.) NY.  Johnson doesn't score much, but he's quick off the dribble and does what a point guard should with his ball handling and passing.  Snipes has long arms and is a good rebounder, but his forte is exploding to the hole with his big time dunking ability.  A special thanks to Ziggy for inviting us for the second consecutive year to one of our favorite one day events of the entire year.  He does a great job of running Brooklyn USA and should be commended for giving so much back to both his kids and the community.  Deserving similiar praise is Jim Hart, who is the director of the Albany City Rocks, as well the guy who has a great tournament in the middle of June at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, June 16th-18th.  We're talking about the Rumble in the Bronx and it should once again be one of the best events of the entire year. 

Saturday, May 20, 2000

Charlie Weber and Wayne Simone are two of the best there is at putting together and running AAU-like tournaments and events, so there is no doubt in our mind that the event they are planning will be one of the top places to be this summer.  The July version of the Charlie Weber Invitational Tournament, which will be held at Penn State University, July 19th-21st, is expected to feature 64 teams in the 17-Under age group, 32 teams in the 16-Under age group, and 16 teams in the 15-Under, 14-Under, 13-Under, and 12-Under age groups and it is the perfect stop for teams coming east after they're done in the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, July 15th-19th.  As a matter of fact, except for the NIKE Super Showcase in Orlando, FL, there is no other major tournament being held East of the Mississippi River during those dates and Weber tells us that the schedule will be arranged to avoid any conflict for teams coming from Las Vegas.  The entry fee is $325 for the first team and only $300 for each additional team.  Each team is guaranteed at least three games and all games will be played on the campus of Penn State University.  College coaches and club team coaches who are interested in attending or participating should contact Weber at (703) 256-0727 or Simone at (203) 596-9264.

Yesterday the NBA announced that 33 college and two high school players have filed as early entry candidates for the NBA draft, which will be held June 28th in Minneapolis, MN.  The list in alphabetical order includes 6'1 Jr Erick Barkley from St. John's, 7'0 Soph Ernest Brown from Indian Hills (JC) IA, 6'6 Soph Schea Cotton from Alabama, 6'6 Frosh Jamal Crawford from Michigan, 6'5 Jr Joshua Cross from Southern Illinois, 6'8 Jr Kaniel Dickens from Idaho, 6'3 Soph Keyon Dooling from Missouri, 5'10 Khalid El-Amin from Connecticut, 6'10 Jr Steve Eldridge from Henderson State, 6'8 Jr Marcus Fizer from Iowa State, 6'7 Frosh Donnell Harvey from Florida, 6'7 Jr Corey Hightower from Indian Hills (JC) IA, 5'10 Jr Rashaad Hines from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6'4 Jr Jimmie Hunter from Life, 6'9 Frosh DerMarr Johnson from Cincinnati, 6'7 Frosh Jason Kapono from UCLA, 6'5 Jr Mark Karcher from Temple, 6'6 Jr Andre Mahorn from Utah State, 6'5 Jr Paul McPherson from DePaul, 6'3 Jr Brian Merriweather from Texas-Pan American, 7'0 Jr Chris Mihm from Texas, 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, 6'8 Soph Mike Miller from Florida, 6'10 Soph Jerome Moiso from UCLA, 7'1 Soph Joel Pryzbilla from Minnesota, 6'6 Jr Michael Redd from Ohio State, 6'5 Soph Quentin Richardson from DePaul, 6'6 Soph JaRon Rush from UCLA, 6'7 Jr Jeryl Sasser from SMU, 6'1 Frosh Kenny Satterfield from Cincinnati, 7'2 Soph Karim Shabazz from Providence, 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'9 Soph Stromile Swift from LSU, 6'10 Soph Joe White from Texas A&M, and 6'7 Jr Derrick Worrell from Pittsburgh.  Brown, Fizer, Johnson, Mihm, Miles, Pryzbilla, and Swift are all good enough to be lottery picks, but after that beauty will likely be in the eye of the beholder.  The biggest surprise on the list is Satterfield, because our sources told us that he didn't enter his name into the draft.  The most intriguing is Eldridge, because he disappeared at a Division II school in Arkansas after establishing himself as a good high school player.   The list of 20 international players who have applied for early entry into the draft includes 7'1 Alexios Amanatidis-Zevrosenko from Olympiakos (Greece), 7'1 Dalibor Bagaric from Benston Zagreb (Croatia), 6'4 Sani Becirovic from Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia), 7'0 Primoz Brezec from Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia), 6'8 Goran Cakic from Beobanka (Yugoslavia), 6'9 Antonis Fotsis from Panathinaikos (Greece), 6'2 Vlado Ilievski from Partizan (Yugoslavia), 6'8 Yaseen Mahmood (Musa) from Rayyan (Qatar), 6'10 David Mushkodiani from Academic Sofia (Georgia), 6'7 Stevan Nadjfeji from Beobanka (Yugoslavia), 6'11 Mehmet Okur from Tofas Bursa (Turkey), 6'11 Olumide Oyedeji from DJK Wurzburg (Germany), 6'11 Lazaros Papadopoulos from Iraklis (Greece), 6'9 Kaya Peker from Karsiyaka (Turkey), 6'2 Teemu Rannikko from Piiloset Turku (Finland), 6'8 Mladen Sekularac from FMP Zeleznik (Yugoslavia), 7'2 Iakovos Tsakalidis from AEK (Greece), 6'10 Kostas Tsartsaris from Peristeri (Greece), 6'2 Kerem Tunceri from Galatasaray (Turkey), and 6'8 Hidayet Turkoglu from Efes Pilsen (Turkey).  Iakovos Tsakalidis, Hidayet Turkoglu, and Olumide Oyedeji are the three foreigners with a good shot to go fairly high in the first round.

Friday, May 19, 2000

Everybody talks about New York Riverside Church, the Long Island Panthers, the New York Ravens, and the Bronx Gauchos, but since the departure of Ed Cota and Devonaire Deas et al. four years ago many have forgotten about the Brooklyn USA.  However, all that is about to change, because program director Tom "Ziggy" Sicignano has a plethora of young talent in the program, including 5'10 Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Ann Sullivan) NY, who ranks as the #1 8th grader in the nation and has the talent and potential to become the next Stephon Marbury.  So naturally we're looking forward to attending the battle for Upstate-Downstate bragging rights when the Albany City Rocks meets Brooklyn USA in a quadrupleheader at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, NY tomorrow beginning at 12 Noon.  That's when the eighth grade (Class of 2004) game tips off, followed by the Freshman (Class of 2003) game at 1:30 PM., the Sophomore (class of 2002) Game at 3:00 PM. and the Junior (Class of 2001) at 4:30 PM.  And if that weren't enough, the day's action will preceded by a seventh-grade matchup between
Brooklyn USA and the Long Island Silver Bullets at 11:00 AM.  Each game will feature many of the top-ranked class players from upstate New York and Brooklyn.  For more information, the latest rosters, ticket information, and directions to Xaverian High School, check the Brooklyn-Albany Hoops Challenge website by clicking www.eteamz.com/upstatedownstate.

We continue to hear rumors about 6'7 Jr James White transferring Kensington (Newport School) MD to York (Crispus Attucks) PA, but White's high school coach Chris Chaney says that nothing will become official until after the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions next weekend.  Chaney does confirm that White transferring is possibility, but adds that right now White's father is still weighing his options.  Chaney also tells us that Duke and North Carolina are the strong favorites for White.  Maryland is probably #3 on his list, followed by schools like Cincinnati, LSU, Syracuse, Connecticut, and Texas.  As a matter of fact, that's our Question of the Day. Where do you think White, who is a phenomenal athlete and a legitimate top 10 junior nationally, will go to college?   Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Marist has gotten 6'11 Steve Castleberry from New Hope (Solebury School) PA.  Our New England Editor Wayne Simone tells us that 6'6 Ryan Gomes from Waterbury (Wilby) CT, who is one of the best combo forwards still available, has Creighton, Providence, Clemson, and Siena on his list.   We are getting reports that 5'9 Kenneth Brunner from Southern Idaho (JC) ID has signed with University of Georgia, but we can not confirm that as official.  However, we do know that Georgia head Jim Harrick has used his West Coast connections to get involved late, so it wouldn't be a major surprise if it happens.

Thursday, May 18, 2000

It's not officially done, but you almost write 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA down for Georgia Tech.  That's right!  New head coach Paul Hewitt has gotten it done in a hurry.  Sure, schools like Kentucky, Louisville, Miami-FL, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Memphis are still being mentioned, but our sources tells us that Hewitt has already said the magic words, which are "the 2-guard is Carruth's to lose."  Speaking of Oak Hill, it looks like that basketball factory in Western Virginia is one of the leaders for 6'3 Billy Edelin from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD.  Remember, we reported that Edelin had been expelled from DeMatha last week and now it is being reported that he definitely will not be back for what many think will legendary head coach Morgan Wootten's last year.  Also on Edelin's list are Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, Kensington (Newport School) MD, Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, Falls Church (Bishop O'Connell) VA, and even Silver Springs ( Montgomery Blair) MD, which is the public right away around the corner from where he lives.  But the biggest basketball story in Washington, DC involves the return of former George Washington head coach Mike Jarvis.  At least that's what the word on the street is in both New York City and Washington, DC.  We can't confirm whether Jarvis has officially accepted the job, but we do know that Michael Jordan has asked St. John's athletic director Ed Manetta and school president Donald Harrington for permission to talk to Jarvis.

Can you believe that 6'4 Jr Anthony Rice from North Clayton (College Park) GA, 6'6 Jr Josh Pace from Griffin (H.S.) GA, and 6'10 Soph Alexander Johnson from Albany (Dougherty) GA have not yet been invited to the NIKE-All-American Camp, despite the fact that Linzy Davis' Georgia Elite AAU program is sponsored by NIKE?  We're talking about three potential NBA players.  Pace, who can play the one, two or the three spot, is a phenomenal athlete, excellent 3-point shooter, and tremendous defender.  He also ranks among the top 25 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, which is why Texas, Miami-FL, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, and Maryland are making him a top priority.  As a matter of fact, Maryland told Davis that they'll take whoever commits first between Pace or 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport School) MD.  Rice currently ranks among our top 40 nationally, but is still one the biggest sleepers in the nation.  However, all that will change this summer when college coaches see his athleticism, work ethic, and deep shooting range.  As a matter of fact, we think he could end up being just as good as 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.   Davis says N.C. State, Kentucky, Missouri, Connecticut, Georgia, Clemson, and Georgia Tech are showing the most interest in Rice, but he's still wide open.   Johnson's athleticism, skills,  and power make him one of the top five players nationally in the sophomore class.  Right now Cincinnati appears to be the early favorite, but Davis says Johnson also mentions Georgia Tech, Georgia, Connecticut, Florida State, and Florida in that order. 

It has been widely reported that David Murray, Donta Wade, and Llewellyn Cole have been expelled and Jamaal Camah has been barred from participating on the team for a year by Providence College after a fight that occured on April 10th.   However, it has not been widely reported that Providence may also be on the verge of losing two of its assistant coaches.  You can write this one down!  King Rice is taking a job working with Rick Fox, who was his teammate when they were both at North Carolina.  And it also looks like Steve Demeo is on the verge of getting a Division II head coaching job in Florida.  Two days ago we reported that Loyola-Maryland head coach Dino Gaudio would resign and return to Xavier, which is where he was previously an assistant coach, along with Skip Prosser, under Pete Gillen.  Well, it was announced today that Gaudio is officially out at Loyola-Maryland.  We also have confirmed that Rhode Island assistant coach Mike Wilson has interviewed for the Auburn job and right now it looks like he's the leading candidate.  Also being strongly considered for the open Auburn assistant coaching job are UAB assistant Andy Kennedy and New Jersey Nets Scouts Greg Polinsky, who was previously a long time assistant coach at Alabama.

Wednesday, May 17, 2000

Racer Insider is reporting that 6'4 Johnny Mitchell from Montgomery (Jefferson Lanier) AL has signed with Murray State.  This is an excellent addition to what already is an outstanding recruiting class, because Mitchell is an outstanding 3-point shooter and he can play both the one and the two guard spots.  If you will recall, a month ago the Racers also got commitments from 7'1 Andy Hornig from Germany and 6'5 Cuthbert Victor from the Virgin Islands and last fall they signed 6'8 Jamar Avant from Murphysboro (H.S.) IL, 6'8 Roderick Thomas from Southern Utah State (JC) UT, and 6'3 Maumbo Rivera from St. Croix, Virgin Islands - Murray State signed last fall in a recruiting class that was ranked #37 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.   Transfers and non qualifiers who are sitting out don't count when ranking recruiting class, but if they did Murray State would have one of the top 15 recruiting classes in the nation, because 5'11 Kevin Paschel from Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, 6'5 Antoine Whelchel from Gainesville (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Chiwale Bedeau from Port of Trinidad, Spain, and 7'0 Lennart Christensen from Copenhagan, Denmark are all waiting in the wings. 

Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin has confirmed that 6'9 Reggie Okosa is transferring from Virginia Commonwealth to La Salle.  Rubin also is reporting that Boston College has signed 6'1 Ryan Sidney from Ann Arbor (Pioneer) MI, who ranks #9 in the state of Michigan by Steve Bell.  When he transferred from Ann Arbor (Huron) MI to Pioneer this year, head coach Brian Townsend did a great job of transforming from being just raw athlete into one of the best all around scorers in the state.  "He also was the best clutch 3-point shooter in the state," says Bell.  "He also a   3.0 gpa at one of the best public high school in the state, which makes him an absolute steal for Boston College," We also were glad to see that Marquette assistant coach Tim Buckley got the Ball State job.  Remember, it was rumored that Ball State may end up hiring a Division I head coach, but Buckley has paid is dues as an assistant coach and he is very familiar with program (he was an assistent coach at Ball State for five years before moving onto Marquette a year ago).  

Yesterday Milt Wagner told the Memphis Commerical Appeal that his son 6'2 Jr DaJuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is ranked as the #1 junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, has already finalized his decision and, as a result will sign with the University of Memphis next fall.  Apparently this was important to Milt, because he didn't want people to think the only reason he got the job was to influence where his son would go to college.  "My son already admitted to everybody that he wants to go where his best friend Arthur Barclay goes, and Arthur has already signed here," said Wagner.   "So (DaJuan's decision is already finalized.  It wasn't about me."   With Barclay already signed, sealed, and ready to be delivered and Milt on staff, we think the chances of Wagner actually playing at the University of Memphis dramatically increase.  However, we still think there is a good possibility that he will bypass college and enter his name into the NBA draft in the spring of 2001.  And if he does that, we think he's good enough for some astute NBA general manager to pick #1 in the entire draft.  Of course, like every other high school player, Wagner would be best served if he went to college for a year or two, but he's so naturally talented that with normal development in five or 10 years he should be one of the best players in the League.  

Tuesday, May 16, 2000

Our New England Editor Wayne Simone is hearing from a number of different sources that St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis is in Washington, DC interviewing for the Washington Wizards job.  Redmen.com also confirms this and adds that there is a press conference scheduled for Friday, which makes sense, because Jordan has said that he wants to have a coach in place by Sunday's NBA lottery selections.  In a related Associated Press article earlier this evening we find that Michael Jordan has hired Darrell Walker, who was the interim head coach, as Director of Player Personel for the Wizards.  Jordan also appointed Golden State assistant coach Rod Higgins as the Assistant General Manager and it appears that John Paxon, who was Jordan's former teammate with the Bulls, has taken his name out of the running of the head coaching position.  As a result, there are only two remaining candidates - Lenny Wilkens and Jarvis.  And our sources tell us there is no way that Wilkens is getting the Wizards job.  Instead, he's maneauvering for the Vancouver Grizzlies job.    Assuming that Jarvis does get the head coaching job with the Wizards, we believed that Hofstra head coach Jay Wright is lock for St. John's.   Current Red Storm assistant coach Kevin Clark also we be mentioned, but the only other potentially serious candidate that we can think of is new Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt.  But he's not leaving with only a month under his belt at Georgia Tech.  Former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins is also being mentioned, but he's a longshot.  So is St. Bonaventure head coach Jimmy Baron, who was interviewed for the job last time it was open.  So write it down:   Jarvis to the Wizards and, if that happens, we think Jarvis will take Clark and his son, Mike Jarvis, Jr, with him.   Wright moves to St. John's, which opens the door for Tom Pecora to get take over at Hofstra, which he and Wright have build into the second best program in New York.  The irony is that Pecora was very disappointed a year ago when he didn't get the Wagner College job, but now his disappointment from a year ago could turn into a dream come true.  And if he gets the job, our prediction is that he'll be there forever, because he's a New York fixture.   Obviously, if Wright gets the St. John's job, Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY head coach Gary DeCesare, New York (Rice) NY and head coach Maurice Hicks will be prominent candidates for an assistant coaching position with the Red Storm.   However, the smart money is on Bayside (Cardozo) NY head coach Ron Naclerio.   Not only is he an alumnus of the school and a good friend of Wright and athletic director Ed Manetta, but he is one of the best individual workout coaches in the nation.   This important from a recruiting standpoint, because many of the young players gravitate toward Naclerio, because he is willing to offer his time and energy to help make them better. 

Our New England Editor Wayne Simone also tells us that new Memphis head coach John Calipari has finally rounded out his coaching staff by hiring Youngstown State assistant coach Derek Kellogg, who now appears to be on the fast track to becoming a Division I head coach.   Remember, Kellogg, who was a former player for Calipari at Massachusetts, left George Mason, where he was the #3 assistant, to take one of the on-the-road recruiting positions last spring at Youngstown State.  And now he's with Calipari and he's only about 26 years old.  Now that Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has taken his name of out the mix for the Atlanta Hawks job, the rumors about University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith taking the job are flying again.  At least that's what our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio is telling us.   But Smith isn't the only name that Naclerio is hearing.  That's right!   University of Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins' also is said to be mentioned for the job. We're also hearing that Loyola-Maryland head coach Dino Gaudio will resign and return to Xavier, where he was previously an assistant coach, along with Skip Prosser during the Pete Gillen days.

We reported yesterday that Auburn had signed 7'0 Marin Bota from Zagreb, Croati, but it now appears that the Tigers have added another late signee to their recruiting class in 5'10 Lincoln Glass from Lincoln Trail (JC) IL.  We also told you last week that Eastern Kentucky was getting 6'3 Clinton Sims from St Catharine (JC) KY.   Well that's official now, plus new head coach Travis Ford has also added 6'3 Shawn Fields, who is transferring from Georgia.  A week ago our New York Editor Ron Naclerio told us that 6'7 Doug Wrenn, who is transferring from Connecticut, might end up at New Mexico.  Apparently that was incorrect.  Instead, we're hearing that Wrenn will likely return home to the University of Washington.  He can take the spot of 6'4 Senque Carey, who just happens to be transferring from Washington to New Mexico.  New Mexico also has signed 6'6 Alvin Broussard from Albuquerque (Valley) NM.  New Hampshire has signed 6'6 Allen Gould from New Hampton (Prep) NH and 6'7 Ben Sturgill from Hamilton (H.S.) OH.  Rice has gotten an early commitment from 6'1 Jr Brock Gillespie from Clarksville (H.S.) TN. 

Monday, May 15, 2000

We have confirmed that the University of Louisville has signed 6'8 Mac Wilkinson from Louisville (Ballard) KY and 6'8 Daouda Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL and we believe the Cardinals will also get 6'8 Joseph E'Sima from Riverside (JC) CA.  Wilkinson and E'Sima aren't expected to walk in and start from day one, but both are good enough to contribute, along with 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA, who signed earlier in the spring and has top 100 potential, and 6'6 Luke Whitehead from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed last fall and ranks #33 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  While Cisse is a project right now, taking him may pay dividends down the road, because he not only has a lot potential, but his younger brother is 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, who ranks #6 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is a bigger and stronger version of Donnell Harvey.  Obviously that would push Louisville into the forefront in the recruitment of the younger Cisse, who is exactly what Louisville needs right now - a shot blocking center who takes no prisoners inside.   We also believe Louisville is now the school you have to beat for 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX.  Remember, a week ago we reported that Arizona was on the verge of getting an early commitment from 6'2 Jr Salim Stoudamire from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR.  Well, it hasn't happened yet, but it will sometime fairly soon.  This is important, because Stoudamire will be the heir apparent to Gilbert Arenas at the two spot, as well as an excellent backup to Jason Gardner at the point spot.  So it makes sense that Louisville would move to the top of Hurt's list, especially since his mother is from Louisville,KY and went to Louisville (Male) KY in the early 1970's.  Obviously this explains why Hurt has become Louisville's #1 target in the junior class.  Louisville also was recently involved with 6'9 Randy Holcomb from Los Angeles City (JC) CA, but he has signed with San Diego State.

We had heard last week that Auburn was on the verge of getting 7'0 Marin Bota from Zagreb, Croatia, but it didn't become official until today.  Bota has spent the last two years playing in a league in Europe and is 21 years old, but he does meet all the requirements to have four years of college eligibility remaining.   He's also good enough to step in and make a major impact in the middle for Auburn next year.  Speaking of schools in the Southeastern Conference, Mississippi State appears to have won the battle for 6'8 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL again.  Remember, he verbally committed to Alabama last August, but then, as predicted by the HOOP SCOOP, signed with Mississippi State on the first day of the fall signing period.  Now everybody thinks Austin is going pro, but they're wrong.  Apparently all this got started when ESPN's Andy Katz reported that to be the case over the weekend.   However, our sources tells us that Austin did not enter his name into the draft and, as a result, he will be at Mississippi State next year.  Which means we know of only two high school players - 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL and 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA - who entered their names into the NBA draft by last night's midnight deadline.  Miles was no surprise, but it looked like Stevenson was going to attend Kansas after his parents went public with their displeasure.  However, Stevenson really had no choice, because already has signed with sports agent David Faulk and the jump he made on his latest attempt to pass the SAT was even more ridiculous than his incredible vertical leaping ability.   As a result, the chances of the NCAA Clearing House allowing the score were slim and none. 

It looks like we were right about Indiana head coach Bob Knight getting off the hook.  A three game suspension, $30,000 fine, and zero tolerance policy sounds tough, but if they didn't have guts to get rid of Knight now, they never will.   Moral to the story is that if you've won three NCAA Championships and people think you're God in the state of Indiana, you can get away with just about anything.  Don't believe it?  How long do you think an athletic director or college president at any other school in the nation would put up with this kind of garbage?  How long would a coach under their charge have a job if he got caught choking a player on video tape?   How long would that coach have a job if he verbally and/or physically challenged the athletic director?  How long would he have a job if he got caught assaulting and abusing his assistant coaches?  How long would he have a job if he threw a vase at a secretary?  And what about all the lying and covering up?  When asked none of the players who were there could remember the Neil Reed choking incident, but there they all were on video tape watching it?  And why was the incident with Sports Information Director Kit Klingelhoffer never mentioned?  As a matter of fact, the manipulation of the facts and orchestration of letting Knight off the hook made a mockery of the entire process.  Remember, there are federal laws about attacking employees and, they don't call for giving second chances.  Indiana University President Miles Brand says he is interested in maintaining the integrity of the school, but his actions indicate otherwise.  While the national media will be having a field day with the fact that Brand didn't have guts or the backbone to do what should have been done, college coaches will be using this to their advantage in recruiting.  As a matter of fact, just today 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, who is widely regarded as the #1 junior in the state of Indiana, made an early commitment to Notre Dame.  Sure Thomas could have played for that tyrant in Bloomington, but Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty is out of the Dean Smith school, whereby, he is a class act and treats his players like human beings. 

Saturday, May 13, 2000, and Sunday, May 14, 2000

A lot of people thought 6'8 Garner Meads from Salt Lake City (Brighton) UT signed with Stanford last fall, but it didn't happen.  Then, it looked like Utah was the heavy favorite throughout most of the winter and spring, but it didn't happen.  Instead, Meads has signed with Brigham Young and this is big, because he ranks #24 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP and, as a result, was the highest ranked recruitable player left on the board.  Part of the delay appeared to be that Brigham Young didn't have a scholarship available, but 6'1 Todd Christensen has decided to transfer to Westminister College.  Also, 6'4 David Nielsen will sit on next year as a medicial redshirt, so the door is open for Meads, who is now fully recovered from his knee surgery, to walk in and make a major impact next year.  Then he will go on his two year mission.  We have also learned that 6'10 Anthony Coleman from Compton (Centennial) CA, who was expected to go the prep school route, has instead signed with Xavier.  He will take the scholarship, which was vacated when 6'7 Aaron Turner announced he was transferring a week ago.  Iona has convinced 6'8 George Jenkins from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY to stay home.  He picked the Gaels over schools like West Virginia, Boston College, Fairfield, and George Mason.  Originally we thought 6'2 Drew Schifino from Pittsburgh (Penn Hills) PA would stay home and sign with either Duquesne or Pittsburgh, but last week he picked West Virginia.  However, we believe prep school, probably Fork Union (Military Academy) VA, will be in his future first.   

Will Indiana University head coach Bob Knight keep his job and should he keep his job?  You can tell us by clicking on our Question of the Day.   Our guess is that Indiana University President Myles Brand will let Knight off the hook, but he shouldn't.  Knight has crossed the line of what any normal person can do and even has the gaul and audacity to try and manipulate the process at the 11th hour with a weak apology, whereby, he finally admits that he has a problem with his temper.  However, he doesn't offer us any real assurance that he's going to do anything about it.  Where are the promises to seek counseling and/or get psychiatric help?  And where is the apology to Neil Reed and all the other people he has publicly lambasted?  Our guess is that Brand will reprimand Knight, whereby, if he does anything out of line for the next two years, he's gone.  Or so he thinks.  It's  great window dressing.  It looks like you've solved the problem, especially if Bobby can overcome his temper problem enough not shoot, hit, choke, push, kick, or head-butt somebody in a public venue.  But there is one big problem.  What happens when something else comes out next week?    We still don't think the nuclear bomb in all this has been dropped yet, which is why the meeting earlier today by the Board of Trustees was so important.  They're off the hook!  They no longer are responsible for making what very well could have been the toughest decision they will ever have to make.  Instead, that responsibility rests on the head of only one man and before all this over, we think Brand will be the one who is out.  That's what usually happens to weak old men who don't have the guts to do the right thing.  This is how tyrants and dictators solidify their power.    Assuming that Brand lets Knight off the hook, do you really think he's going to say a word the next time Knight does something?  And if Knight is allowed to stay, do you really think he's going to let those who crossed him off the hook?  Sick people do sick things and it will be payback time.  And the first person Knight will try and destroy is his former assistant coach Ron Felling, who is the person alleged to have pushed by Knight in a confrontation in early December.  You can bet we'll hear about a conspiracy that involves Felling and Terry Reed, who is Neil Reed's father and has been a close friend of Felling for nearly 30 years.   We suspect there will be more tapes, more players and possibly even more assistant coaches coming forward, and probably some lawsuits.  But one thing is for sure, this is far from over.

Friday, May 12, 2000

We have confirmed that 6'9 Andreaus Bloch from Germany via Fresno (Central) CA has signed a National Letter-of-Intent with   Villanova.  Apparently the connection with newly hired assistant coach Chris Walker, who had previously recruited him at Pepperdine, was not the only thing in the Wildcats favor.  The word is he had a great time and feel in love with the place when he made his official visit earlier this week.  Upon returning from the visit, Block signed the letter yesterday morning and faxed it to his mother in Germany so she could co-sign it.  Bloch is your stereotypical European player in that he is very skilled and can the lights out.  But he doesn't like phyiscal contact, which means he'll have get bigger and tougher in order to play in the Big East.  Speaking of foreign players on the West Coast, did you that UCLA had 6'10 Jair Veldhuis and 6'3 Bryan Defares, both from Holland via Mill Valley (Tamalpais) CA, on campus on Tueday, May 9th?  Veldhuis, who is a physical specimen inside, would be extactly what UCLA needs to replace Jerome Moiso, who has put his name into the NBA draft.  However, Villanova and Nevada may to be tough to beat, assuming that he qualifies.  UCLA also isn't close to getting a commitment from Defares, because the Bruins coaching staff is waiting to see what 6'1 Tony Parker from France does.  If you will recall, Parker went to the same high school in France as Moiso and ever since the NIKE HOOP Summit in Indianapolis, IN on April 2nd, UCLA has been one of the leaders.  As a matter of fact, UCLA assistant coach Jim Saia was the only coaching to immediately go to France and recruit him in person.   However, there are questions about Parker's academics and we've heard he has yet to graduate from high school.  All this becomes important, because Parker is good enough to play professionally in France and make big money while grooming himself for the NBA.   While Parker certainly is good enough to step in and solve UCLA's point guard needs, his one weakness is outside shooting.  And finding another outside shooter at this late date may be pivotal to UCLA's success next year, if the rumors about Jason Kapono putting his name into the NBA draft are true.  However, we won't have to wait very long to find out, because the deadline for declaring for the draft is Sunday, May 14th. 

The word on the street in Washington, DC is that 6'3 Billy Edelin from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD has been expelled from school and will have to finish the year at home.  Obviously this sends major shock waves through the basketball community, because Edelin is the #5 ranked junior in the Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia area, as well as a legitimate top 40 junior nationally.  And even more important, losing Edelin could hurt the chances of legendary Morgan Wootten going out next year in a blaze of glory.  While DeMatha was good this past season, it still was a major rebuilding year by DeMatha standards. Obviously this could be the beginning of a major recruiting battle, but our guess is that if Edelin is going to make a change it will happen soon.  In other words, the longer it goes, the more likely things will get straightened out and, as a result, he will return to DeMatha for his senior season.  As long as we're talking about players from the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference who have been dismissed from their team, did you know that 6'5 Jr Steve Leven is out at Washington (St. John's) DC?   Originally from Australia, Leven didn't make our list of the top juniors in the area that was published yesterday, but he should have.  Apparently he is finishing the current school year at St. John's, but will be looking for another school next year.   Right now it appears to be a two horse race between Fort Washington (National Christian) MD and Kensington (Newport School) MD.

It's always nice to see first year head coaches do well in recruiting and that certainly is the case for Texas-El Paso boss Jason Rabedeaux, who had to replace four guards in this recruiting class.  Well, the UTEP staff has come through with flying colors, because they've signed 5'10 Eugene Costello from Midland (JC) TX, 6'2 Chris Neal from Chemeketa (JC) OR, 6'6 Antone Jarrell from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'6 Nick Enzweiler from Morago (Campolindo) CA, and 6'6 Leonard Owens from Western Nebraska (JC) NE.  Costello, who signed last fall, is the prize of the class, because he's a first team Junior College All-American and he has the total package in terms of tremendous natural talent, skills, athleticism, leadership, and understanding of the game. He promises to be a coach on the floor for the Miners, plus he can shoot the lights out, as was evident by his 46% 3-point shooting last year.  Neal should provide the perfect complement to Costello in the backcourt, because he can play either guard spot.  He's also a big-time 3-point shooter and an excellent leader.  Jarrell, Enzweiler, and Owens are also all terrific 3-point shooters.  Jarrell, who will see plenty of playing time at both wing spots, was ranked among the top 100 nationally by Bob Gibbons of All Star Sports and was one of the main reasons why Jefferson High School went undefeated in the state of Oregon and finished ranked #4 nationally in the USA Today.  Enzweiler, who was the consensus top ranked player in the San Francisco area, is probably the best shooter of the bunch, as he made five or more 3-pointers in 12 games as a senior.  Owens, who is a jack-of-all-trades, promises to be an excellent role player, because he does all the little things that help win games.   Transfers don't count when we rank recruiting classes, but if they did, the Miners class would be ranked among the top 20 classes nationally, because 6'10 Brian Stewart, who transferred from Washington State to San Jose State and now to UTEP, and 6'7 Leviticus Williamson, who transferred a year ago from Notre Dame, are both currently waiting in the wings and will also be eligible next season.

UNLV signed 6'4 Jermaine Lewis from Kilgore (JC) TX several weeks ago, but it hasn't been widely reported.  This is huge for the Runnin' Rebels, because he should fill their perimeter shooting void.  As a matter of fact, Lewis was one of the best catch and shoot 3-point shooters in the junior college ranks last winter.  He also was named the Texas Co-Junior College Player of the Year,   along with 6'4 Emmanuel McElroy from Tyler (JC) TX, and was the leading scorer (26.0 ppg) in the Texas junior college ranks this past winter.  He picked UNLV over New Mexico, Wyoming, Purdue, and Texas Christian.  We also have confirmed that John Calipari has hired Milt Wagner as an administrative assistant and, as a result, a verbal commitment to Memphis from his son - 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ - should be forthcoming in the summer or fall.  We knew that 6'2 Keith Jenifer from Towson (Catholic) MD was probably prep school bound, but now it appears to be official.   Jenifer will attend York (Crispus Attucks) PA, which is quickly becoming one of the premier prep schools in the nation, next season.  Eastern Kentucky got 6'1 Rick Jones, who is transferring from Vanderbilt, earlier this week and now we hear that 6'3 Clinton Sims from St. Catherine (JC) KY is about to make it official for Travis Ford and the Colonels.  We won't have to worry about where 6'7 Jr Samuel Nadeau from Burlington (Life) NJ via Lakewood (Artesia) CA via Newark (Eastside) NJ via France will end up next, because our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Nadeau has signed a professional contract to play in Spain.  Nadeau is a great athlete and ranks #4 in the junior class in Philadelphia/South Jersey/Eastern Pennsylvania by Rubin, but he's still very raw.  As a result, we've probably heard the last of him, unless he develops his skills and ends up in the NBA someday.  We also still expect 6'8 Joseph E'Sima from Riverside (JC) CA to sign with the University of Louisville, but don't be surprised if an official announcement is not forthcoming in the immediate future. 

Thursday, May 11, 2000

More time and effort has been put into our Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia Report than any other State-by-State Report we've ever published and it appears to be worth it.  I am particularly pleased with our ranking of the top freshman, many of whom I got a chance to see in April.  As a matter, the Class of 2003 in the Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia area is sensational.  It has everything, including a top five player nationally in his class in 6'7 Omari Isreal from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, who promises to be even better than 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport School) MD.  It has great point guards like 6'0 Frosh Earl Risby from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, 6'1 Frosh Vernon Hamilton from Chester (Thomas Dale) VA, 6'1 Frosh J.R. Reynolds from Roanoke (Catholic) VA, and 5'11 Frosh Tre Kelly from Washington (Dunbar) DC.  There are some terrific 3-point shooters, like 6'1 Frosh Dominique Smallwood from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Jr Alfred Walsh from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, and 6'1 Frosh James Taylor from Baltimore (Dunbar) MD.  And it has some size with 6'6 Frosh Marcus Sikes from Petersburg (H.S.) VA, 6'7 Frosh Jerome Johnson from Baltimore (Dunbar) MD, and 6'5 Frosh Ricky Lucas from Falls Church (Bishop O'Connnell) VA, although Lucas is working to become more of a perimeter player.  You get our comments about all of the top freshmen and juniors in the area by clicking on our Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia Report.  And if that's not enough, you also can get our complete list of the top players in each class by clicking on The HOOP SCOOP Ranks 'em:  The Top Players in Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia.   This list includes our ranking in order of the top 124 seniors, top 105 juniors, top 64 sophomores, top 47 freshmen, top 30 8th graders, top 26 7th graders, and top four 6th graders.  A special thanks to Steve Turner, Chris Chaney, Tony Squire, and et al. who helped make this report one of the best ever.  And we hope to keep it that way, because Turner, who is one of the most knowledgeable people there is when it comes to basketball in the area, has agreed to become our Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia Editor.  

If you liked the Neil Reed chocking incident on video tape, you'll love what's in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Indianapolis Star today.  The Sun-Times article is by Jay Mariotti and the headline reads More trouble for Knight.  "Never has the ground beneath Bob Knight seemed more unsteady, ready to buckle and bury him," says Mariotti.  "In the latest tremor that could end his reign of terror at Indiana, allegations surfaced Wednesday that Knight physically confronted longtime assistant coach Ron Felling, an episode that led to Felling's sudden dismissal from the program in December." However, this should come as no surprise to HOOP SCOOP readers, because at the time we told you that there was a lot more to the Felling retirement story than meets the eye.  And we dropped another hint in the middle of March right after Indiana got beat by Pepperdine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  "It looks like former Indiana University assistant coach Ron Felling was absolutely right when he was talking to Bowling Green head coach Dan Dakich in a telephone conversation on December 1st, which ironically was Felling's last day on the job.  Felling told Dakich that Coach (Knight) needed to ease up on the team.  Apparently the night before Bob Knight had come down especially hard on his players, despite the fact they'd played well and beaten Notre Dame.  And Felling went on to predict that the players wouldn't respond well later in the season if Knight didn't eventually start reinforcing the team with something positive to balance out all the negative.   It's too bad Knight wasn't listening to the conversation, because that could have been one of the major reasons why the Hoosiers started off so strong, but ended up so bad."  It's obvious now that Knight was listening.  As a matter of fact, we've heard the same story that corresponds with what Mariotti says in his article, which can be found clicking on http://www.suntimes.com/output/mariotti/jay11.html, 20 different times from people in the know since it was announced that Felling had resigned the day of the Kentucky-Indiana game.  If that weren't bad enough for one day, the headline on the front page of the Indianapolis Star in an Associated Press article by Steve Wilstein reads IU trustees might ask for Knight's resignation. Underneath a smaller headline reads A high-ranking school official says the trustees' decision could be "tantamount to dismissal."  "In one of the latest damaging allegations to emerge, Knight is accused of throwing a vase near a secretary 12 years ago, shattering it against an office wall," says Wilstein. "If the Knight investigation is expanded, it could include the accusation about the vase, which reveals as much about him as it does the campus culture that has loved, feared and tolerated him for three decades.  Venting his fury at the athletic director at the time, the late Ralph Floyd, Knight allegedly grabbed a vase in the office of Floyd's administrative assistant and flung it across the tiny room, shattering the glass on a framed picture.   Pieces of glass and porcelain flew in front of the administrative assistant, Jeanette Hartgraves, as she recoiled in terror.  Later Wilstein quotes Hartgraves saying, "'We're not supposed to be talking to the press,' she said.   'But I've seen his temper other times ... the shouting and the cursing, things like that.'"  There is a lot more in the article and you can get it by clicking on http://www.starnews.com/sports/indianasgame/iu/0512ap_trust.html.   So now the big question becomes what's next?  Our guess is that more former players and perhaps even other former coaches will go on record about abuse.  We also suspect that we'll hear about Knight's attempt to cover up and intimidate former players into coming out in his defense.  As a matter of fact, we've heard that Knight sent out a prepared statement for each former Indiana player to sign and forward to the board of trustees.  Obviously, Knight's defenders will still try and tell us it's some kind of conspiracy, but to believe that, more people would have to be lying than were lying for Bill Clinton.  Our theory is that God just got so sick and tired of hearing his name used in vain and vulgarized so often by Knight that he himself decided to bring him down.  In other words, what goes around comes around.  Which brings us to Question of the Day.   How long will Knight be the coach at Indiana University?  A day, a week, a month, a year, or as long as he wants.

Wednesday, May 10, 2000

Today is a day of mourning for those at the University of Alabama, because assistant coach Robert Scott, who been diagnosed with stomach cancer last September, died last night.  Scott, who had recently been replaced on the road by former Memphis assistant coach Johnny Jones, was still on the staff in an administrative capacity.  He was an outstanding recruiter and a great person.  He will be missed by his family and all who knew him in the basketball world. His funeral will be at Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, AL on Saturday at 3:00 PM and a Memorial Service will be held on Sunday at 3:00 PM in Tuscaloosa, AL.  Scott came to the University of Alabama from UAB and it is truly ironic that we're talking about that right now, because current UAB assistant coach, Andy Kennedy, who was repsonible for recruiting what might be the best class ever for the Blazers this year, may be on the verge of taking a similar position at Auburn.   However, it may not be done yet, because it would not look good if UAB continues to lose assistant coaches to Alabama and Auburn.  Which is why it wouldn't surprise us if head coach Murry Bartow ups the ante.  Remember, Bartow's father, Gene Bartow, is the athletic director and it stands to reason that Murry should be able to talk him into giving Kennedy a big raise.  If Kennedy does take the Auburn job, he would be replacing Mike LaPlante,who recently got the head coaching job at Jacksonville State in the Trans American Athletic Conference.  And this too is important, because he is well connected in Africa and, as a result, he'll make a living signing great athletes with size from places like the Senegal. 

Ohio State assistant coach Paul Biancardi, Michigan State assistant coach Stan Heath, Arizona assistant coach Jay John, Kentucky assistant coach Shawn Finney, and  former Ball State assistant coach Tim Buckley are the five people being mentioned with the Ball State job.  But we suspect that athletic director Andrea Seger has something else in mind, like hiring somebody who already is a head coach.  We've heard UNC-Wilmington head coach Jerry Wainwright and Bowling Green head coach Dan Dakich both mentioned.  However, we'd be surprised if Dakich gets it, because it's tough to take another job in the same conference, although his Indiana connections and loyalty to Bob Knight could be enough to make the difference.  We don't have any names yet for the Arkansas-Little Rock job, which opened when Sidney Moncrief decided he's be happier as an assistant coach in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks.  But the trend is clear!  Former NBA players with big names (i.e. Clyde Drexler) don't seem to be able to walk into college programs and immediately turn things around.   This probably won't happen for another year, but we're hearing that UCLA assistant coach Jim Saia is the leading candidate for the Fresno State job when Jerry Tarkanian retires.  And this makes perfect sense, because he was the head coach at Columbia (JC) CA, which is north of Fresno, and was an assistant coach at Fresno State under former head Gary Colson.  Saia also is extremely close to Fresno State associate athletic director Scott Johnson. 

The last day for a player  to entire his name into the NBA draft is Sunday, May 14th, and the last day for a player to sign a binding National Letter-of-Intent is Monday, May 15th, so the next four or five days could be busy.  And all this ties together, because some college coaches are still going after it like it's September or October.  If you have a player who is thinking about going pro, you'd better be prepared to bring somebody else in.  A good example is the University of Cincinnati, because Kenneth Satterfield is now talking about putting his name into the draft at the 11th hour.  And if that happens, the Bearcats may already have found a replacement in 5'11 Eric Bush from Barton County (JC) KS, who may be eligible next season, if he passes enough classes this spring.  If that happens, he'd be able to finish up in the summer and have three years of college eligibility remaining.  Right now it looks like Fordham is the leader, but the Bearcats signed Bush's teammate 6'9 Jamal Davis this spring, so the contacts are there for them to step in and make things interesting.   We were glad to see University of Alabama signee 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL announce that he plans to go to college for at least a year.   Apparently he was hurt by his sub par performances in the McDonald's All American Game and Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic, but in the long run it may turn out positive, because he'll have time to develop his perimeter shot and work on his consistency.  Right now the only high school player to have declared for the NBA is 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, but we still that 6'9 Alton Ford from Houston (Milby) TX and/or 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL may do something at the last minute.  We're hearing that Miles may go has high as top five and Austin might be worth taking a chance on in the last first round.  However, if Ford goes, he may still be waiting to his name called when the get done with the second round. 

Xavier, Louisville, and UNC-Charlotte are the final three for 6'8 Jr Mac Wilkson from Louisville (Ballard) KY, but we'd be surprised if he goes anywhere but Louisville.  Remember, his step-brother is Felton Spencer and, as a result, he's been a Louisville fan all his life.  Clemson has beaten Providence, Purdue, Louisiana Tech, and Southwest Missouri State for 6'5 Jamar McKnight from Northwest State (JC) MS and 6'1 Rick Jones, who is transferring from Vanderbilt, did make it official yesterday for Eastern Kentucky.   We continue to hear rumors about Dahntay Jones possibly transferring from Rutgers, but he has yet to obtain his release.  Still, Duke, Stanford, and Georgia Tech are being mentioned.  Alabama has gotten a commitment from 6'8 Reggie Rambo from Alexandria (Peabody) LA, 5'10 Kevin Augustine from Fullerton (JC) CA is going to Nebraska, and 6'10 Kendall Dartez from Cecilia (H.S.) LA has signed with Lee (JC) TX.  Also junior college bound is 6'7 Omar Weaver from Compton (Centennial) CA.   Weaver has signed with Hutchinson (JC) KS and that's interesting, because it keeps him in the area.  Remember, he made a verbal commitment to Missouri, but never signed a National Letter-of-Intent last fall, so when he ran into off the court problems, he was not locked into counting towards Missouri's recruiting class. 

Tuesday, May 9, 2000

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio is reporting that 6'7 J.C. Mathis from Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY picked the University of Virginia over Georgia Tech late this afternoon.  Mathis isn't as good as his hype, but he is one of the only players with any size who was unsigned heading into the spring signing period.  He's also already qualified academically and he does have a lot of potential.  Thus, explains why the schools that were involved read like a Who's Who of College Basketball.  Naclerio also tells us that former Cal State-Sacramento head coach Tom Abatemarco is in line for the assistant coaching job at Rhode Island, which was recently vacated by Jeff Jones when he became the head coach at American University.  And if that happens, Rams head coach Jerry Degregorio could have one of the best staffs ever assembled when it comes to getting it done on the recruiting trail.   Remember, recruiting is Degregorio's forte, plus Abatemarco, who has been at the head of his class since he was with Jim Valvano at N.C. State in the early 1980's, and Mike Wilson, who is the recruiting coordinator, are two of the best recruiters in the business.  However, for that to happen, they would have to move current assistant coach Tom Garrick into Jones' old position, so that both Wilson and Abatemarco could be on the road.  Naclerio thinks Doug Wrenn, who is transferring from the University of Connecticut, may be bound for New Mexico and he believes everybody is missing on major sleeper who as of yet doesn't have a single Division I offer. Naclerio is talking about 6'6 Dain Ervin from Angelo State (JC) TX, who has the grades and is good enough to play for the right high major program.  If that weren't enough, Naclerio has confirmed that new Bishop Loughlin head coach Ted Gustus will retain long time assistant coach Kenny Pretlow, who also is the head coach for New York Riverside Church program.   This is significant, because there were rumors about Pretlow becoming an assistant coach at New York (Rice) NY and, if this had happened, it may have caused some animosity between Pretlow and Bishop Loughlin, which passed him by for the job after a number of years of paying his dues in the same job that he has now.  In other words, if Pretlow had gone to Rice, a lot of the good young players in the program at Bishop Loughlin may have gone with him. 

Sam Albano of Redmen.com reminds us that 7'3 Curtis Johnson from Norfolk (Ryan Academy) VA made a commitment to St. John's last week, but he's a project at best and, as a result, not much of a consolation prize for 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) NJ, who made it official last Friday for the NBA draft.  As a matter of fact, Johnson, who ranks #74 in the Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia area by the HOOP SCOOP, was so big and slow the last time we saw him that he should take up a sport where he doesn't have to show his lack of speed and quickness.  He should take up mountain climbing.  He could be the mountain!   However, you can't teach somebody to be 7'3, so I'm sure there will be some who overrate him high based on his size and potential.  Remember, this was the same theory everybody seemed to use when they touted 7'6 Neil Fingleton from Worcester (Holy Name) MA.  Speaking of Fingleton, after watching him the post season all-stars games, we not only stand by the fact that we didn't rank him among our top 100 nationally.  As a matter of fact, when we finally come out with our final senior rankings probably sometime in June, Fingleton will be hard pressed to make our top 300 seniors.  He's just that much of project!  Getting back to St. John's, their recruiting class still currently ranks among our top five nationally, even without Miles.   After all, they did sign 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from New York (Rice) NY, 6'11 Mohammed Diakite from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'5 Willie Shaw from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'7 Eric King from from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY last fall.

Kansas appears to be the early favorite, but Arizona, USC, Stanford, Oregon State, and Notre Dame are all in the hunt for 6'0 Jr Aaron Miles from Portland (Jefferson) OR, who is not only one of the best pure point guards in the junior class, but also appears to be one of the best kept secrets in the class nationally.  Arizona, Minnesota, Florida, Duke, Iowa, Utah, Michigan State are all on the list of 6'11 Jr Rick Rickert from Duluth (East) MN, who hit the game winning 3-point shot to help the Pump'N Run team survive in the first round of the playoffs at the Spiece Run'N Slam Tournament over the weekend.   Stanford, UCLA, USC, and California were the schools listed by 6'2 Jr Derrick Craven and 6'2 Jr Errick Craven, both from Torrance (Bishop Montgomery) CA when we talked with them on Sunday.  They both also confirm that they want to attend the same school and they tell us that Arizona has stopped recruiting them.   As a result, we now believe Arizona is on the verge of getting a commitment from 6'2 Jr Salim Stoudamire from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, who is one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation.  He's also the nephew of former Arizona All-American Damon Stoudamire and he would be the perfect guy to have waiting in the wings behind Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas, who currently form what might be the best backcourt in college basketball. Michigan State is the early favorite over Syracuse, UCLA, Iowa State, and Cincinnati 6'7 Jr Najeeb Echols from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, who has really picked up his intensity level this spring and, as a result, is vastly improved.  It hasn't been officially announced yet, but we understand that Eastern Kentucky is getting 6'1 Rick Jones, who is transferring from Vanderbilt.  And talk about a perfect fit!  Jones is a prolific outside shooter and new Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, who has been working camps for his father since he could walk and talk and was the missing piece to the puzzle at point guard for Rick Pitino at Kentucky in the early 90s, is one of the best teaching young head coaches in the game today.

Manhattan College head coach Bobby Gonzalez went to Portugal last week for a coaching clinic and he thought he had is coaching staff intact.  He'd just hired former Manhattan star Travis Lyons, who had spent the last year as a graduate assistant at New Mexico.  He also had moved Mike Bramucci up from the third spot on the staff into the a recruiting position to replace Chuckie Martin, who had been hired by James "Bruiser" Flint at Massachusetts.  However, when Gonzalez returned home last night the first thing he had to do was start working on finding a replacement for Lyons.  Apparently Lobos head coach Fran Fraschilla got nervous when Troy Weaver left to take the Syracuse assistant coaching job.   So Fraschilla offered Lyons substantially more than he'd be making at Manhattan and Lyons stayed in Albuquerque, NM.  Well, it looks like Gonzalez hires assistant coaches like he recruits (fast and furiously), as it has taken less than 24 hours to hire Kendrick Moore.  And this should come as no surprise because Moore, who transferred from Missouri to Providence College, was a player for Gonzalez when he was an assistant for the Friars during the Pete Gillen era.  Making the story even more interesting is the fact that Moore was an administrative assistant at Hartford last year, but was out when Paul Brazeau got fired in early March.  As a result, he was looking for a job this spring and the word we get is that Gonzalez almost hired him the first time - or at least until Lyons came into the picture.

There were no big surprises, as Team Breakdown beat the Friends of Hoop/Young Lions, 90-48, in the championship game in the 17-Under Division; the Tim Thomas Playazz beat the Spiece Pistols, 64-56, in the championship game in the 16-Under Division; and the Houston Hoops defeated the Spiece Gym Rats Central, 55-44, in the 15-Under Division in Seventh Annual Run'N Slam All-Star Classic at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN on Sunday.  Let's start with the Tim Thomas Playazz team, which might be the deepest AAU team top to bottom that we've ever seen.  In terms of college potential, there were at least 10 players on the roster who will likely get recruited someday at the high Division I level.  The leading scorer in the championship game was 6'4 Soph Kennell Sanchez from Pennsauken (Bishop Eustace) NJ, who ranks #5 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey by Allen Rubin, but who should be ranked no lower than #2 in the area behind 6'2 Soph Gerry McNamara from  Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA.  Sanchez is physically strong enough to overpower just about anybody he faces at this level, but we also liked his passing, handling, shooting, and rebounding, which is why we thought he was their best player.  However, he's not their best prospect, because most of his teammates are a grade younger.  In the championship game Sanchez was complemented by 6'2 Frosh Jamar Nutter from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, who had 14 points, but also impressed us with his passing, feel for the game, and defense.  However, most of his points came off transition, which is why we think he needs to develop more of a shooter's mentality for the next level.  But he's got plenty of time, because he's only a freshman.  So is 6'5 Frosh Roosevelt Lee from New Britain (H.S.) CT, who is a multi-dimensional athlete with great passing and slashing ability.  After that you can take you pick who like best among 6'4 Frosh Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'7 Frosh William Sheridian from Hockessin (Sanford) DE, 6'9 Frosh Darryl Watkins from Wayne (Passaic Tech) NJ, 5'11 Frosh T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 5'10 Soph Seve Consins from Metuchen (St. Joseph) NJ,  and 6'1 Soph Kaleef Willis from Pennsauken (Bishop Eustace) NJ.  Webb is an aggressive defender with explosive speed and quickness, which he uses to beat you in transition or pull up and hit the open 3-pointer.  Sheridian is very athletic inside, where he is an excellent rebounder and shot blocker.  You also have to like the fact Sheridian already works hard without the ball and has a size 17 shoe, which means he may have unlimited potential. Watkins also has tremendous potential, because he has good hands, a soft touch, and a nice hook shot.  However, Watkins needs to become more consistent.  Bannister is small, but he has good body control, excellent speed and quickness, and great ball handling and passing skills.  Consins is a great defender.  Willis is an excellent combo guard who does a little bit of everything.  And that weren't enough, 6'9 Soph Eric Davis from Rydal (Abington Friends) PA, who ranks #12 in the sophomore class in the Philadelphia Area by Rubin, was no better than the 10th best player on the Tim Thomas Playazz.  Davis was active and he has long arms, but right now he's a still a project.  The Houston Hoops weren't as deep as the Tim Thomas Playazz, but their front line, which included 6'9 Frosh Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'9 Frosh Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, and 6'5 Frosh Keena Young from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, was sensational.  Perkins and Ebi only scored 13 points and 14 points respectively in the championship game, but Perkins scored over 30 points on several different occasions, while Ebi averaged in the high teens for the tournament.  Young provides the perfect complement out on the wing, because he's a big time athlete and a tremendous passer with excellent slashing and good enough 3-point shooting skills.  The only question mark for the Houston Hoops is point guard, but they got away with it here, because 6'5 Frosh Michael Morris from Katy (Cinco Ranch) TX, who is the son of former Auburn All-American Chris Morris, handles, passes, shoots, and rebounds well enough to play four different positions.  Also helping out was 6'2 Frosh Michael Rose from Houston (Spring Woods) TX, but he got a shooter's mentality, which is why they used him mosttly at the wing guard spot.  The leading scorer in the championship game for Team Breakdown was 6'1 Jr Martin Osumani from Hialeah (Champagnat) FL with 23 points.   Osumani isn't a great athlete, but he's deceptively quick off the dribble and he's got great moves to the basket.  You also have to admire his competitiveness and his craftiness with the ball.  He was complemented by 6'9 Jr Jamal Levy from Miami (Berkshire) FL, 6'4 Jr Joshua Chambers from Miami (Berkshire) FL, and 6'8 Jr Papa Ba from Miami (Northwestern) FL.  Levy needs bulk and strength, but he's got great body control, long arms, and excellent mobility.   Chambers, who has already made an early verbal commit to Colorado, makes his living out on the perimeter and in transition.  Ba using his long arms and legs and athleticism to block shots and get it done on the boards inside.

Monday, May 8, 2000

Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman has confirmed that 6'7 John Grice from Shelby State (JC) TN, who shot 39.6% from 3-point land and has a high arching jump shot, had a 10:00 AM press conference this morning and has elected to stay home and attend the University of Memphis. This this leaves the University of Kentucky's recruiting class without the star wing forward they were looking forward and, as a result, Kentucky fans have to be more than a little disappointed. However, it also marks the continuation of a trend, whereby, Memphis, which is under the direction of new head coach John Calipari, is one of the hottest programs in college basketball. It also may be one of the most improved. Grice, who finished fourth in scoring and had a 41 point effort in the consolation championship game in the National Junior College Tournament in March, was part of that great class locally in 1997, which also produced Tennessee's Tony Harris, Wake Forest's Robert O'Kelley, Illinois' Cory Bradford, Memphis' Marcus Moody, UNLV's Kenny Dye, and Life University's Jimmie Hunter.  Grice picks Memphis over Mississippi, Arkansas, and Florida State, but even more important, he moves the Tigers recruiting class into the top dozen on our preliminary list of the top recruiting classes to date during the spring signing period. If you recall, the previous regime landed 6'5 Lou Wright and 6'2 Scooter McFadgon, both from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, last fall. Then, in March the new staff started off quickly by locking up 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ and recently more recently signed 6'9 Modibo Diarra from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA.  Getting Diarra wasn't as impressive as when Calipari landed 7'0 Marcus Camby when he was at the University of Massachusetts. But getting Diarra is still pretty important, especially in a senior class that had very little size, because he ranks #47 nationally and #7 overall at the center position.  Instead, Calipari will have to wait until next year for the franchise player, as 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who ranks as the #1 player in his class nationally, is all but a lock for the Tigers. Speaking of Wagner, we continue to hear it's done deal that his father, Milt Wagner, will be hired by Calipari as an administrative assistant.  But as of yet we haven't heard anything official.

We continue to hear  rumors about University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith being in line for the Atlanta Hawks job, but we no longer believe that there is a possibility that this is going to happen. Apparently Smith was approached about the job recently, but he told the Hawks that he wasn't interested.  Instead, it looks like the Hawks are interested another NCAA Championship coach.  We're talking about Michigan State's Tom Izzo and, despite the fact that he recently signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Spartans, we think that this is a possibility.  And if Izzo takes the Hawks job, the question becomes who would be the next head coach at Michigan State?  Our guess would be Marquette head coach Tom Crean.   Remember, Crean was an assistant coach under Izzo before taking the Marquette job last spring and, as a result, he played a big part in recruiting Michigan State's NCAA Championship team.  Also, Crean, who is originally from the state of Michigan, is widely recognized as one of the top young head coaches in the nation.  One thing is for sure, whoever is the head coach at Michigan State next year will be in great shape, because the Spartans return everybody except Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, and A.J. Granger from their NCAA Championship team, plus they have two outstanding recruits in 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI, who ranks #4 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN, who is the  #1 ranked in the nation regardless of class by the HOOP SCOOP.

We were glad to see that 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA has had second thoughts about going directly from high school into the NBA draft this spring.  If you will recall, he had a press conference scheduled last Wednesday, but it was cancelled after his parents went public with comments about their being dead set against Stevenson entering his name into the NBA draft.   It was nice to see that his parents were willing to stand up and do what they think is best for their son, but even more important, we think this will give Stevenson the time he needs to develop both as a person and as a basketball player at the University of Kansas.  Maybe 6'7 Donnell Harvey from Cuthbert (Randolph-Clay) GA will also see the light and go back to the University of Florida for another year.   Unfortunately the people advising Harvey haven't learned from their previous mistakes.  Remember, Dion Glover left Georiga Tech and Jumaine Jones left Georgia prematurely and, as a result, are struggling to get minutes in the NBA when they could instead be the focus and superstar of their respective college teams.  Harvey could be the next Dennis Rodman, but he needs to develop enough of a mid-range game to at least keep you honest.  And where do you think that is more likely to happen, everyday at the University of Florida under the tutorage of Billy Donovan or will sitting at the end of the bench in the NBA?

Saturday, May 6, 2000, and Sunday, May 7, 2000

Pool play has come to a conclusion and the playoffs will begin in less than an hour tonight at the Spiece Run'N Slam All-Star Classic at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.  But the big story so far has been the emergence of two players - 6'9 Jr Osumane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL and 6'9 Frosh Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX - as National Player-of-the-Year contenders in their respective classes.   We're not ready to proclaim Cisse as the best junior in America, but after his performance this morning, he definitely moves into that very elite group of juniors nationally that includes 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'11 Jr Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, and 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood ( Mayfair) CA.  Cisse, who was ranked as the #2 center at the adidas ABCD Camp last summer by the HOOP SCOOP, was academically ineligible to play this past season after transferring from Montgomery (Catholic) AL to Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, but the layoff hasn't hurt him at all.  As a matter of fact, he was the most dominant player in the tournament that we've seen so far.  He's tremendous on the boards and his agressiveness and intensity remind us Kenyon Martin and/or Donnell Harvey, but he's bigger and he's a better shot blocker.  Don't believe it?  Well, we may have to start keeping a new statistic, which is blocked shots per possession.  That's right!   Several times he blocked several shots in sequence, as he tallied over a dozen rejects in the game against the Cobras at 9:30 AM this morning.  And like both Martin and Harvey, Cisse's offensive game is very limited, but it doesn't matter. He's just so dominant at the other end!   Most of the other scouts at the tournament don't know about Perkins yet, but Chris Johnson and caught the last quarter, plus overtime, of the thriller between the Playground Warriors and the Houston Hoops in the 15-Under age group.  Like Cisse, Perkins plays hard, blocks shots, and is aggressive on the boards, but he's the best freshman in America hands down, thanks to his ability to score around the basket.  As a matter of fact, he finished with 30 points against the Playground Warriors and there is no telling how many he might have had, if he had a great point guard to help set him up.  If that weren't enough, Perkins, whose long arms, big time athleticism, and ability to run the court like a dear, is still growing, plus he'll continue to get outstanding coaching from Josh Pastner and his father, Hal Pasnter, in the Houston Hoops program.  Which means there is no telling how good Perkins might get.  So forget about hiring the younger Pastner, who is widely recognized as one of the bright young coaches in the business, because he appears to be one of the keys to getting Carlos Hurt.    Instead, somebody, who has the foresight to look ahead, should hire Pastner, because then he could recruit Perkins for the next three years via his father.  And if Perkins is so good that he goes straight from high school into the league, 6'9 Frosh Ndidi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, who has to be a legitimate top 20 freshman nationally, would be a great consolation prize.  Ebi doesn't have Perkins' frame, but he does have great athleticism, excellent mobility, long arms, soft hands, and excellent touch around the basket, as was evident by the fact that he had close to 20 points of his own. 

Among the players we have gotten a list of schools for at the Spiece Run'N Slam All-Star Classic at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN this weekend are 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 6'4 Jr Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA, 6'9 Jr Osumane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, 6'4 Jr Donell Taylor from Montgomery (Sidney Lanier) AL, 6'7 Barry Thompson from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'8 Jr Jason Maxiell from Dallas (Newman Smith) TX.   Hurt gave us Louisville, Arizona Syracuse, Cincinnati, and Texas A&M in that order.  Thomas tells us that he plans to take unofficial visits to Notre Dame this Wednesday and Stanford on Friday of this week and adds they're the leaders.  However, he also mentions Michigan State, Indiana, Duke, and UCLA.  Spears says Florida State, Rutgers, Miami-FL, Duke, Cincinnati, LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M are at the top of his list, but adds there are others.  Everybody seems to be recruiting Cisse, but the schools being mentioned the most are Cincinnati, Duke, St. John's, Mississippi, and Louisville.  Taylor appears to be a priority for Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Florida, but that list will get longer before it gets shorter, because athletic 6'4 point guards who can penetrate and pass like he can are hard to find.  Thompson mentions Miami-FL, Connecticut, Florida State, Providence, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Marquette, Rhode Island, and Oklahoma.  Maxiell says Cincinnati, Tulsa, and Oklahoma are the earlier favorites, but you can bet Texas will make a strong push and, as a result, be tough to beat at crunch time. 

Friday, May 5, 2000

Earlier this week we got a fax from Don Crenshaw, who is the Manager of High School Basketball Development with NIKE, and he wanted us to give him our selection of the top 20 high school basketball players in America regardless of class and position so he can help formulate the 1999-2000 NIKE All-American Basketball Team.  Certainly he will get other opinions, but I want to pass along who I voted for, because it makes you realize just how good the junior class is nationally and, as a result, it becomes evident that the talent pool right now in high school basketball is the best it's been in years.  And this brings us to our Question of the Day, which is who would you vote for as the #1 high school player in the nation regardless of class.  It's a tough call, but based on his sensational spring, I voted for 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN over all the great juniors.  Remember, he led his team to the Indiana State Championship with 28 points in the championship game and was named MVP in all three all-star games he played, including last weekend when he had 39 points and 24 rebounds in the NIKE Derby Classic.  As a matter of fact, our Kentucky Editor Larry Kihnley, who was at the game told us several days ago that he thought Randolph was one of the best high school players he's ever seen.  And he might be right based on his performance in that game.  Rounding out the rest of the top five are 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'11 Jr Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, and 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI.   All I can say it is that it can't get much better than this when 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, who will likely be a lottery pick in the NBA draft in the spring of 2001, if all the reports are true that he will go directly from high school into the NBA, doesn't get ranked any higher than #6 in the nation.  Finally we get to several seniors - 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA and 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, the #1 prep school player - 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, - and yet another junior - 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, as we round out the first 10.  Our second 10 includes 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Waverly (Lansing) MI, 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA, 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'5 Jr Josh Childress from Lakewood ( Mayfair) CA, 6'1 Soph Chad Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS.  We only had 20 spots to fill, but we would have liked to have gone 30, because 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, 6'9 Jason Parker from Fork Union (Military Academy) VA, 6'8 Jeff McMillan from Oakdale (St. Thomas) CT, 5'11 Jr Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, 6'1 Jr Maurice Williams from Jackson (Murrah) MS, 6'3 Eddie Starks from Miami (Northwest Christian) FL, 6'2 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 6'0 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC are all sensational. 

Several days ago we mentioned the Spiece Tournament in West Lafayette, IN, but there are several other major tournaments going on this weekend, including The Southern Invitational in Charlottesville, VA, which is a joint effort by Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports and the Hoop Group.  And should be excellent, especially in the 17-Under Division, as the Boo Williams team includes 6'8 Jr Elton Brown from Newport News (Warwick) VA, 6'8 Jr Jason Clark from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'4 Soph J.J. Riddick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, and 6'0 Soph Johnny Gilchrist from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA; the Raleigh Heat has 6'9 Soph Shavik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC; the Tennessee Travelers feature 6'11 Jr David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN; the USA Players are expected to have 6'3 Jr Billy Edelin from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, 6'9 Jr Tony Key from Russellville (H.S.) KY, and 6'9 Jr Jamal Sampson from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA; Team Assault includes 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD, 6'2 Jr Tony Bethel from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'6 Jr Tyree Spinner from Fairfax (Paul VI) VA, and 6'9 Jr Robert Little from Fairfax (Paul VI) VA; Kappa Magic has 6'1 Jr Mitchell Bittle from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC and 5'7 Jr Turner Battle from Kernersville (East Forsyth) NC; the Richmond Squires will include 6'1 Johnathan Hargett from Durham (Emmanuel) NC, 6'8 Jr Harvey Thomas from Durham (Emmanuel) NC, 6'5 Jr Shawn Harris from Ettrick (Matoca) VA, and 6'4 Jr Darius Hargrove from Alberta (Brunswick) VA; Potomac Valley has 6'9 Jr Jordan Collins from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD and 6'8 Jr Levi Watkins from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD; Durham Disciples feature 6'8 Jr Anthony Richardson from Raleigh (Leeville Road) NC; and the New Jersey Celtics havs 6'8 Jr Marcus Austin from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ.

Patrick Jira of The Recruiting Beat told us last night that 6'2 Marcus Barnes from Miami (Senior) FL has elected to stay home and attend the University of Miami-FL, which also got a commitment from 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS and also now appears to be a very serious contender for 6'4 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Our New England Editor Wayne Simone tells us that new Siena head coach Louie Orr may be close to hiring St. Bonaventure assistant coach Brian Nash.   Simone and our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio via Sam Albano of Redmen.com both tell us that Travis Lyons won't be joining the staff at Manhattan after all.  Instead, New Mexico head coach Fran Fraschilla has moved Lyons up from the graduate assistant position into the #3 position on the staff to replace Darren Savino, who is moving into Troy Weaver's former position.  Remember, we reported yesterday that Weaver had been hired by Jim Boeheim at Syracuse.   Speaking of New Mexico, Lobos head coach Fran Fraschilla and top assistant Joe Dooley have once again proved that they are two of the best recruiters in the business, as they have added 6'3 Eric Chatfield from Western Nebraska (JC) NE, 6'7 Isaiah Johnson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, and 6'8 Dion Broom from Yavapai (JC) AZ this spring.  They also landed 6'9 Malcolm Battles from Okaloosa Walton (JC) FL and 6'9 Patrick Dennehy from Mountain View (St. Francis) CA last fall, plus they have 6'4 Ruben Douglas, who transferred from Arizona sitting out.  We don't count tranfers, but if we did, this would be a top 10 recruiting class, because Dennehy, Battles, and Chatfield, who was a first team junior college All-American in 1998-99 at at Angelina (JC) TX before sitting out this past season to work on his academics, are all big time players.  Broom is a wide body, Johnson is an athlete, and Douglas started half the year as a freshman at Arizona last year.

Thursday, May 4, 2000

Fordham checked in at the conclusion of the fall signing period tied for #8 with Texas and Oklahoma State in our ranking of the top recruiting classes and with the addition today of 6'9 Liberto Tetimadingar from Worcester (Academy) MA that's exactly where the Rams would be ranked if he wrapped up all the signings today.  Tetimadingar signed the National Letter-of-Intent and then boarded a plane to France, so that he could personally get his mother to co-sign the letter, which is necessary to make it binding.  Tetimadingar is a perimeter player and that's exactly what Fordham needs, because the Rams loaded up with good inside guys - 6'8 Jeff McMillan from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'8 Michael Haynes from Millersburg (Military) KY, 6'11 Glenn Batemon from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI, 6'11Yankuba Camara from Chester (H.S.) PA, and 6'8 Cori Spencer from Laurinburg (Institute) NC - last fall.  While Batemon and Camara will need time to develop inside and Spencer promises to be nothing more than a good role player, McMillan is an absolute beast, as well as the one of the very elite power players in the nation, and Haynes is an excellent combo forward with a huge upside.   So if you add Tetimadingar at the 2-spot, all that appears to be missing is a good point guard.  And at the rate they're going, it should take them too long to get one.  

Earlier this week we reported that 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA had yet to made it academically based on information from a source, who is accurate 99 times out of 100, from Southern California.   However, that source is wrong, at least according to a source close to the University of Louisville program who tells us that Myles has qualified.  Upon checking with the original source, he now says that he doesn't know whether Myles has made it or not.  He's also not willing to go on record with further details that led him to his original conclusion.  Normally this wouldn't be any big deal, but some Louisville fans just don't know when to quit.  One guy went so far as to say that we never get anything right and used the Denny Crum retirement rumor a year ago last February as his sole example.  Let's deal with the Crum rumor first.   We reported that as rumor and by definition, a rumor is going to be wrong at least half the time.  Also, we beat Dick Vitale, who reported the same rumor on ESPN a month later, but I don't ever hear Louisville fans taking him to task like they have with us.  Nor should they!  As for our credibility and accuracy, nobody goes as further out on a limb with predictions and analyzing possibilities and our track record speaks for itself.  Obviously, the Louisville fans who think we're way out in left field, haven't been paying attention.  And maybe it just pisses them off, because we've been so right about Louisville's recruiting over the years.  A blind man can see they don't have the talent they had in the 70s and 80s, but everybody gets all pissed off when we tell it like it is.  And that's our goal whether it is good or bad.  Today it happens to be good, because we think the Cardinals are on the verge of landing several players, including 5'11 Bryant Northern from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN and 6'8 Joseph E'Sima from Riverside (JC) CA.  Both would be good gets, because E'Sima would provide needed size inside and Northern, who ranks no higher than #33 in the senior class in Indiana by Jim Kasberg, would provide depth at point guard, plus his best friend is 6'5 Jr Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, who ranks among the top 30 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.   We also confirmed that 6'11 Jr David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN, who ranks among the top 15 juniors in the nation, was recently on Louisville's campus for an unofficial visit and 6'8 Randy Holcomb from Los Angeles (JC) CA, who has Providence, San Diego State, and Kansas State also on his list, is on campus for an official visit today.  However, we do not confirm the rumors about Louisville possibly hiring Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX head coach Ron Courtney after next season.  Louisville is recruiting Courtney's top two players - 5'11 Jr Terrance Ford, who has Iverson-like speed and quickness and ranks among our top 10 juniors nationally, and 6'3 Jr Daniel Ewing, who is one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation and is a legitimate top 25 junior nationally.  But we'd be shocked if they hired Courtney, because he has no influence in their recruitment.  Remember, the guy with all the influence is John Eurey, who has been their AAU coach since both were in junior high school.

Sam Albano of Redmen.com tells us that New Mexico assistant coach Troy Weaver has been hired by Jim Boeheim to replace Louie Orr at Syracuse.  Naclerio also tells us that Syracuse's other two assistants - Mike Hopkins and Bernie Fine - will trade positions, but Fine isn't being demoted even though he's being taken off the road.  As a matter of fact, Fine will become the associate head coach.   Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio also hears Hal Wissel in the mix for the General Manager position of the New Jersey Nets.  Also being mentioned are John Thompson and Julius Erving, but Naclerio likes Wissel, because he's got an excellent resume, which includes being the former head coach at Fordham, the former director of player personnel for the Nets, and an outstanding teacher at the Five-Star Basketball Camp.  We thought Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY head coach Gary DeCesare might be in line for one remaining assistant coaching position at Memphis, but Albano thinks Youngstown State assistant coach Derek Kellogg, who played for John Calipari at Massachusetts, will get the job.  Naclerio also thinks Dahntay Jones may be transferring from Rutgers and Duke is being mentioned as a possibility.   However, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, who also has heard the rumor, thinks it's premature.  "He hasn't asked for his release or sat down and talked with the coaching staff," says Rubin.   "And when he does, if there is a problem, everything will probably be worked out.  So my gut feeling is that he'll be a Rutgers next year."  Rubin also tells us that former Tennessee State head coach Frankie Allen will be the next head coach at Howard University. 

The new staff at Hartford got a late start, but is now involved with a number of players, including 6'5 Ryan Gomes from Waterbury (Wilby) CT, 6'6 Richard Hampton from Cleveland (East) OH, 6'3 Raymond Noiles from Boston (English) MA, and 6'4 Nolan McBride from Hartfor (Weaver) CT, who actually has been rumored to be done for the Hawks.   However, Patrick Jira of The Recruiting Beat says it may be close, but no cigar yet.  Speaking of Hartford, we made a comment immediately after new head coach Larry Harrison got the job that was not taken in the spirit that it was intended.  What was said isn't important, but the fact that we have always recognized Harrison as one of the hardest working assistant coaches and best recruiters in the business is important.  While surprising at first, because his name was never prominently mentioned, Harrison got the job the same way he's always gone about recruiting.  You don't hear his name mentioned a lot, but in the end he outworks everybody else and, as a result, more often than not he gets his man.  As a result, he is one of the few assistant coaches to ever land #1 ranked classes at more than one school.  Not only do you have to respect somebody like that, but you also have to assume that Hartford is now on the fast track when talking about programs on the rise in college basketball.

Wednesday, May 3, 2000

When the Indiana High School Association decided to implement class basketball several years ago, they basically ensured that the Spiece Run'N Slam at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN on the first Saturday in May would be the premier basketball event annually in the state of Indiana.  It's also one of the best basketball events in the nation regardless of the time of year and it doesn't matter that college coaches can't come.  It's so good even that I now annually have to miss the Kentucky Derby and that's saying a lot, because my father has grandstand seats (remember I'm from Louisville, KY and I've been going to the Derby most of my life).  However, we're talking about an event that will feature 68 teams in the Seniors-To-Be Division, 52 teams in the Juniors-To-Be Division, and 28 teams in the Sophomores-To-Be-Division.  Over 50 different scouting services are expected to attend and at peak times they will have their choice of watching games on 26 different courts. And making this even more interesting is the fact that this one of the few tournaments that cross shoecompany lines, as many of the top teams nationally from both NIKE and adidas will be in attendance.  In the Seniors-To-Be Division there is no Pool #1, but Pool #2 will include the West Valley Basketball Club, Bray Center NIKE, Arizona Heat, and Northwest All-Stars.  Pool #3 includes Pump N Run, Bloomington Silver, Illinois Warriors A, and Randolph Boys Club.  Pool #4 has Bloomington Red, Team Breakdown, Cincinnati AAU #1 Black,, and Illinois Wildcats.  Pool #5 includes Municipal Gardens, Playground Warriors, Portland Legends, and Oconomowoc Lakers.   Pool #6 has Indiana Select Gold, St. Louis Gameface, All Ohio Red, and Lake Bearcats.  Pool #7 includes Spiece Gym Rates NW Stars, Los Angeles Orcas, Salt Lake Metro, and Illinois Finest.  Kentucky Elite, Team Texas Red, Tiffany's, and Tim Thomas Playazz are in Pool #8.  Pool #9 will include Cincinnati AAU #2 Red, Brooklyn USA Basketball, Central Kansas Jazz, and Georgia Select.  Pool #10 includes the Cobras, Illinois Warriors B, Challenge, and St Louis Blue Devils.  Pool #11 has the Indiana Crusaders, Kentucky Blue, Sam Rines Basketball, and St. Louis Mustangs.  Pool #12 includes SMAC Bearcats, Naptown Stars, Thatcher Thunder, and Spiece Gym Rats North Stars.  Pool #13 includes Illinois Gold, Los Angeles Rockfish, The Family/Detroit, and Stay in the Game.  Pool #14 features the Houston Hoops, Friends of Hoop Orange, Howard Pulley Panthers Green, and Tallahassee Wildcats.  Pool #15 has the Spiece Gym Rats Central Stars, Courthouse Elite, Martin Brothers - Iowa Select, and Friends of Hoop/Young Lions.  Pool #16 includes the Gateway Basketball Club, Full Court X-Press, Cincinnati AAU #3 White, and Learning Exchange Wildcats.  Howard Pulley Panthers White, Friends of the Hoops Black, St. Louis Eagles, and Chicago Demons will be in Pool #17 and Pool #18 will feature the Indiana Cyclones, Ft. Wayne Warriors, The Hoop, and Wisconsin Razz. 

One of the toughest jobs in all of college basketball due to their high academic standards is Rice, but the Owls coaching staff has done a great job of identifying who they should go after and getting it done this spring.    At the top of the list is 6'2 Rashid Smith from Alexandria (Peabody) LA, who was a First Team All-State selection, as well as MVP in the state tournament and one of the biggest sleepers in the Deep South.  They also got a major steal in 6'9 Tamar Diene from Poughkeepsie (H.S.) NY, who impressed us last fall when we saw him at the Five-Star Invitational Tournament at Staten Island.  However, the word we're getting is that he's come on like gangbusters the last two months and, as a result, in the end Rice had to fight off a number of Big East and Atlantic-10 schools.  The best 18-Under Player in Australia was 6'7 Christian Kollik.  But he won't be much longer, because he too signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Rice and he should provide plenty of outside fire power and athleticism.  Last, but not least, is 6'2 Omar Mance, who is transferring from LSU to Rice.  You remember him!  Mance, who was widely regarded as one of the best defensive players in the nation, was an athletic combo guard at Lithonia (H.S.) GA several year ago.   Mance doesn't count in the class, because we don't count transfers when ranking recruiting classes, but this might be the best unheralded group that anybody in the nation has signed this year.  And just as important, the Owls added an overwhelming amount of athleticism, which is exactly what they needed to do. 

Our Northeast Editor Dave Schultz tells us that 6'8 J.C. Mathis from Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY, who ranks #8 in New York City by the HOOP SCOOP and is one of the few players with any size still available, has narrowed his list to Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Massachusetts.   Schultz also tells us that 6'4 Royal Ivy from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ is supposed to sign with Texas, but our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that it has been put off until tomorrow.  However, even Naclerio is now saying it's a done deal for the Longhorns.  Dayton has gotten its final commitment of the spring signing period in 6'3 Stan King from Denver (East) CO.  King doesn't rank among our top 100 nationally, but he's not too far off.  We like his strength, athleticism, and ability to fill the lane in transition.  However, he needs to develop better perimeter skills and shooting range.   Southern California has gotten the shooter they were looking for in 6'3 Gennaro Busterna from McCook (JC) NE and 6'9 Andreaus Bloch from Germany via Fresno (Central) CA may be heading to Villanova.  Fresno State, Northwestern, and Pepperdine were on the list, but yesterday when Villanova hired Pepperdine assistant coach Chris Walker, who had previously been recruiting Bloch, the Wildcats became a major factor.

Kansas may have gotten an early commitment from 6'6 Jr Bryant Nash from Carrollton (R.L. Turner) TX, which in part may make up for the loss of 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) WA, who is supposed to have press conference today to announce that he will enter his name into the NBA draft.  However, everybody doesn't appear to be on the same page when it comes to Stevenson's decision.  As a matter of fact, his parents not only are very unhappy with the decision, but said so today in the Fresno Bee.  "'It's more than likely we won't even be there (the press scheduled for today),' Terry Popps, the stepfather, said of him and his wife,'" in the article by Andy Boogaard. "'We're devastated.'  Genice Popps, Stevenson's mother said, 'I'm not happy at all because I feel people have been doing things behind my back.'  She targeted her wrath at Darren Matsubara, her son's longtime summer tournament coach, whom she said has been feeding her son NBA information and orchestrating the decision without here knowledge until Monday.  'He's known this.  He's done research,' she said.  'Then he comes here Monday and tries to tell me stuff.  He asked if I wanted to meet with agent David Falk and another guy.  I told him I didn't want to hear it, and that I didn't want to meet with anybody.'  Her husband added:  'DeShawn has been programmed by Mats.'   Matsubara declined comment late Tuesday, saying he didn't want to settle an argument with the family through the media."  Stevenson will be the first player this spring to officially declare for the NBA draft when he makes the announcement today.   But he won't be the last.  Everybody already knows that 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL is NBA bound and you can bet there will be others, like 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'9 Alton Ford from Houston (Milby) TX, and 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN.   The official announcement won't come until Friday, but unlike Stevenson, Miles has almost no chance to make it academically, which means he has a choice of sitting out next year as an academic casualty at St. John's or going straight into the League.  Which would you do?  But Stevenson, who hasn't passed the SAT test yet either, is capable of doing well in college.  As a matter, he's a middle class kid and needs the coaching that somebody like Jayhawks head coach Roy Williams can provide.  In other words, he's got too much bullshit in his game and needs to develop better perimeter skills and shot selection, plus he needs to learn how to be a team player.  And this is why he doesn't currently rank any higher than #8 in the senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, despite the fact that he was the leading scorer in the McDonalds All American Game.   However, that doesn't mean that he won't be great in the League down the road, because he is a sensational athlete, a terrific long range shooter, and a physical specimen, but like so many others, he needs the time to develop.

Tuesday, May 2, 2000

Darius Rice, the 6'9 wing forward from Jackson (Lanier) MS, shocked the basketball today when he picked Miami-FL over Kentucky, Memphis, and Mississippi State.  However, when it comes to Rice nothing should shock us.  Remember, this is the player who verbally committed to Kentucky last fall, led Mississippi State to believe that if he didn't sign in the fall that they would get him in the spring, and allowed Memphis' new head coach John Calipari to get involved and make a strong push.   However, Miami-FL head coach Leonard Hamilton is one of the best recruiters in the business and there were actually rumors lately that Miami-FL was a lot stronger lately than anybody believed.  So why didn't anybody believe that the Hurricanes were a serious contender?  Well, Rice had cried wolf for so long that everybody stopped listening.   Rice couldn't even make up his mind about playing in the NIKE Derby Festival Classic until the last minute.  As a matter of fact, the two things that Rice always did best  were tell everybody what the want to hear, but at the same time keep his options open.  However, Rice's commitment does make sense, because at Miami-FL he should be able to step in and make an immediate impact as a freshman.  However, if he'd gone to Kentucky, he would have had to wait his turn behind Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans.  Still there is the possibility that Rice could enter his name into the NBA draft, which may have been why he didn't play in the Derby Classic on Sunday.  If you will recall, he shot the lights out in the McDonalds All American Game and, as a result, the value of his stock may be higher with NBA scouts that it actually should be.  In other words, if he played Derby Classic and had an off night, it might have diminished his value.  Several scouts have told us that Rice could be drafted as high as #20 in the NBA Draft in June, but right now he just misses being ranked among our top 10 nationally.  Rice is a great outside shooter and an extremely talented athlete.  However,  he lacks the strength and killer demeanor to take the punishment he would face night in and night out in the league, plus he's a great kid and an outside student who would thrive both on and off the court in a college environment.  Now that Rice, who was the top unsigned senior in the class nationally, is off the board, it appears that the focus of the University of Kentucky will turn toward 6'7 John Grice from Shelby State (JC) TN.  If you will recall, Kentucky and Memphis were two of the finalists for both Rice and Grice, but it appeared that Grice was waiting to see what Grice did. 

It's no big surprise, but when the second best unsigned player in the senior class nationally finally signs his National Letter-of-Intent, it is news.  That's what happened today with 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, who made it official for Missouri.   Right now Bryant is more of an inside player, but he doesn't have the aggressive mentality necessary to be a power forward at the big time college level.  And that's one of the reasons why he picked Missouri.  Apparently they plan to play him at the wing forward position, but for that to happen Bryant needs to continue to work on his outside shooting and perimeter skills.  The addition of Bryant moves Missour's recruiting class up from #11 last fall into the #8 spot.  Remember, last fall the Tigers added 6'9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6'5 Rickey Paulding from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, and 5'10 Wesley Stokes from Long Beach (Poly) CA, which means head coach Quin Snyder should be set at every position in the future, except the power forward spot.  He'll probably have to wait another year to fill that void, but 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI is considered a near lock.  However, Missouri did not have the best recruiting class in the league.  That's right!  Now that 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL appears to be going straight to the League, the great recruiting class that St. John's brought in last fall loses some of its luster.   Instead, the race now appears to be almost too close to call among Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, which are now ranked #1 and #2 in our preliminary rankings.  Iowa State is checks in at #10 and Texas could also jump into the top 10, if the Longhorns get 6'4 Royal Ivy from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ. Speaking of Ivy a lot of people think he's already a done deal for Texas, but our New York City Ron Naclerio tells us it's not over yet. "It's probably 99% done, but he still may take a visit to Providence or Clemson," says Naclerio. Also ranked among our top 10 recruiting classes are Connecticut, Cincinnati, St. John's, Iowa, and Seton Hall, which check in at #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7, and North Carolina, which is ranked #9. 

Another recruiting class which is dramatically on the rise is the University of Michigan's class, which was ranked #23 nationally last fall with only two players - 6'6 Bernard Robinson from New Hampton (Prep) NH and 5'8 Avery Queen from Winchendon (School) MA.  Earlier this spring the Wolverines also added 6'0 Maurice Searight from Orchard Lake (St. Mary's) MI, who had a great senior year, as he led his team to the state championship in both football and basketball. Vincent Baldwin, the Editor and Publisher of Michigan Prep Spotlight, thinks Searight is the best football in the state, but Searight prefers basketball, which means Wolverines head coach Brian Ellerbe will have all kind of depth in the backcourt next year.  However, that monster in the middle was missing until today.  We talked with 7'0 Josh Moore from Long Beach City (JC) CA on Saturday at the tournament in Missouri and he told that he expected to sign with Michigan, if his visit yesterday and today to Ann Arbor, MI went well.  However, we didn't expect it to happen quite this soon.   Write it down!  Our Michigan Editor Steve Bell confirms that Moore did sign the National Letter-of-Intent today.  Moore also tells us that he's been playing every day in Southern California against 7'0 Ernest Brown from Indian Hills (JC) IA and, while Brown always seems to get the best of him, it's been a great experience.  Hopefully, it has made him tougher and work harder, because that's always been the question marks on Moore.  However, his size and physical presence have neen in doubt.  As a matter of fact, they don't make too many guys that big!  And it looks like he's gotten bigger, quicker, and stronger since his high school days.

As expected, 6'4 Jr Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL has commitment to the University of Iowa.  San Diego State has landed 6'6 Curtis Washington from Portersville (JC) CA, plus they are picking up Vanderbilt-transfer 5'10 DeAndre Moore, who signed   started in high school for three years for Lakewood (Artesia) CA and one year for Compton (H.S.) CA.  Pepperdine has signed 6'7 Glen McGowan from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA and Long Beach State has landed 6'2 Terrance Watkins from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY.  It's common knowledge that 6'7 Shawn Hampton is transferring from Virginia Commonwealth, but did you know that he's going to Rutgers?   Did you also know that 6'1 Cliff Hawkins from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed with Kentucky last fall, has yet to qualify?  Neither has 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA, who recently signed with Louisville.  Tulsa got a huge commitment last week from Ermal Kuqo from Fort Scott (JC) KS, who is a consensus top 10 player in the junior college ranks.  We also have confirmed that 6'11 Brian Rowan from St. Paul (St. Thomas Academy) MN has signed with Lamar and, as expected, 6'5 Krunti Hester, who is transferring from Marquette, has decided to follow head coach Mike Deane to Lamar.  However, 6'5 Greg Manderson from Eastfield (JC) TX, who signed with Cardinals last fall won't be attending Lamar next.  Instead, he spend another year taking care of business in junior college.  

Monday, May 1, 2000

It came as no surprise that the Michigan Mustangs beat Illinois Gold in the championship of the 2000 Show-Me Shootout in Columbia, MO.  Despite the fact that their star point guard 6'0 Soph Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI has been sidelined this spring with a leg injury, the Mustangs are absolutely loaded, as is evident when one looks at their roster, which includes 6'4 Jr Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'9 Jr Robert Whaley from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Jr JaQuan Hart from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'6 Soph Matt Trannon from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'10 Jr Jeff Ferguson from Benton Harbor (H.S.) MI, 6'3 Jr Cecil Hood from Detroit (Central) MI, 6'0 Jr Ricky Morgan from Pontiac (Northern) MI, and 6'5 Frosh Oluf Famutimi from Flint (Northern) MI.  Torbert, who ranks top five juniors in the nation, along with 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'11 Jr Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, and 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, by the HOOP SCOOP, combines a terrific feel for the game, excellent athleticism, good shooting range, and great skills to be the model of consistency in his class.  Has anybody ever seen this guy have a bad game?  Everybody assumes that he will follow in a long line of players from Flint, MI, who have gone to Michigan State, but Cincinnati, Missouri, Connecticut, and Ohio State also have to be mentioned.  Whaley hasn't lived up to his early press clippings for over a year now, but he's still a legitimate top 20 player nationally in his class due to his incredible frame and excellent skills.  And you can almost write this one down as well.  His list does include Michigan State, Connecticut, Ohio State, and Cincinnati, but it would a major upset if he goes anywhere but Missouri.   Remember, Whaley lives with the parents, who also are his legal guardian, of Missouri assistant coach Tony Harvey.  We also think Ferguson will be part of the Whaley package to Missouri.  Did you know that Ferguson also lives with Harvey's parents?  Hart, who is one of the fastest rising players in the class, is a world-class athlete who can beat you to the hole and drill it from outside.  His early list includes Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin.   Roberson's early favorites are Michigan State, Cincinnati, and Kentucky. Trannon is another excellent athlete, but right now his position at the next level is a question mark.  However, he's got time to develop a perimeter game or grow some more, because he's just a sophomore.  Morgan and Hood share the point guard spot, while Famutimi, who recently transferred from Canada to Flint, MI, is a big time athlete, as well as a legitimate top 20 freshman in America.  Remember the name, because Famutimi promises make some major noise this summer at the adidas ABCD Camp, where he will get an opportunity to be more than just a role player on a great team.  We talked a lot about the top players in the tournament on Saturday, but the biggest surprise over the weekend was 6'5 Jr Anthony Rice from North Clayton (College Park) GA, who is currently one of the best kept secrets in the nation.  He's not as good as 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who also plays for the Georgia Elite program, but who was missing in action this weekend.  As a result, Rice got to show just how good an outside shooter (almost as good as Carruth) he is in his own right, plus he's more athletic and he gets his shot better off the dribble than Carruth.  He also has a 3.3 gpa and has a long list of schools, including Florida State, Auburn, Miami-Fl, Clemson, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Kentucky, N.C. State, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas, that are already showing a lot of interest.  We also have to mention a number of players from the Bossier Select, including 6'4 Jr Corey Dean from Ruston (H.S.) LA, 6'5 Jr Antonio Hudson from Grambling (H.S.) LA, 6'2 Jr Ben Benfield from River Ridge (John Curtis) LA, 6'7 Jr Danny Granger from Metairie (Grace King) LA, 6'6 Jr Kevin White from Springhill (H.S.) LA, all of whom will be recruited at the mid-to-high major level.  We also liked 6'2 Jr Keenan Jones from Oesso (H.S.) MN, 6'4 Jr Andy Hannan from Minneapolis (Holy Angels) MN, both of whom played for the Howard Pulley Team, and 6'1 Jr Jerrod Jones from Mascoutah (H.S.) IL, who was the guy who got 6'8 Jr David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) IL the ball for the St. Louis Eagles I.  We also were very impressed with 6'1 Jr Adam Chiles from Louisville (Ballard) KY, who led Kentucky Select, but we're still not sure what position he plays at the next level.  However, it may not matter, because he's so athletic and so strong, which is why he's so deadly when he gets into the lane and pulls up on his 15-foot jumper.   And no Chiles isn't a lock to stay home, although Louisville, Kentucky, and Western Kentucky are all on his list.  So are Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Indiana State, and Iowa State.  As a matter of fact, he told us that if he had to decide to today, he'd pick the Volunteers.  Two names to remember for the future are 5'10 Soph Daniel Brown and 6'0 Frosh Shannon Brown, both from Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Daniel is a jet quick point guard with great penetrating and defending skills.  Shannon is more of wing guard and he to his a big-time athlete.  We also have to mention 6'7 Frosh Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who is one of the top five freshmen in the nation.  Schaen still needs to get stronger physically, but he's already are priority for schools like UCLA, Syracuse, Stanford, Kentucky, Arizona, California, San Francisco, and Iowa State.

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has the scoop on where 6'9 Carlton Aaron from Winchendon (School) MA is going to sign this spring.  Write this huge physical specimen down for Temple!  And that appears to be the perfect fit, because Aaron has always had problems in terms of weight and grades.  Rememeber, Temple has worked miracles with a lot players who were academic casualties in the past, plus Aaron may finally get the discipline he needs via head coach John Chaney's infamous early morning practices to get into great shape.  Aaron has always been a physical specimen, but when he's in shape, he's a potential NBA player.  Rubin also tells us that the University of Georgia is on the verge of getting signing 6'10 John Toombs from York (Crispus Attucks) PA and that would make perfect sense, because Toombs is a Georgia native.  Also still on Toombs list are Villanova and Tulane.

Right now this is unconfirmed, but we believe that the University of Iowa is on the verge of getting an early commitment from 6'4 Jr Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL.  And it may happen sooner than later.  Currently the HOOP SCOOP only has Pierce ranked #12 in Illinois' loaded junior class, but G.J. King, who is the major contributor to these rankings questions his high school competition.  However, we suspect all this will change once everybody sees him this summer.  Not only has he grown three inches in the last year, but the word we're getting from source independent of King tell us that this phenomenal has come on like gangbusters during the last six months.  Pierce is best described as an excellent ball handler and passer and good 3-point shooter, but driving to the hoop, making jumpshots off the dribble, and locking opponents up defensivley with his long arms are the things he does best.  If Pierce does pick Iowa, you can be sure that 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN will be looking elsewhere, most likely Notre Dame or Stanford.  However, one thing is for sure!  Thomas won't add Indiana back to his list.  If you will recall, he wasn't even serious about the Hoosiers before the Bob Knight scandal errupted this spring.  But that doesn't mean that all the top kids in the state of Indiana are looking elsewhere.  As a matter of fact, we'd be surprised if 6'7 Jr Sean Kline from Huntington (North) IN doesn't commit to the Hoosiers sometime this spring or summer.  We also believe that Indiana is still a lot stronger than most people realize for 6'5 Jr Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, who is ranked #2 in the state by the HOOP SCOOP, behind Thomas and ahead of Kline. 

We also are hearing that 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, who ranks #3 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP in the senior class, will have a press conference on Friday and we would be surprised if he doesn't announce that he will bypass college and declare for the NBA draft.  Apparently his chances are slim and none of making it academically.  As a matter of fact, we hear that was his plan all the time, so he never bothered to do much in the classroom or in terms of preparing for the SAT.  This is also important, because if Miles put his name into the draft, we will no longer count him with St. John's recruiting class, which currently is #1 in the nation.  And if that happens, Oklahoma State's class would move into the #1 spot.  However, we'll talk more about that when it happens.   Getting back to Miles, we'd probably draft him in the top 10, but not the top five, based on his tremendous athleticism and vast potential.  However, Miles currently weights less than 200 lbs. and he appears to have lost his outside shooting touch this spring.  So that pick is based on what he could be in five or 10 years and not what he will be next year or the year after.  Moral to the story, if you're a NBA General Manager and you are worried about keeping your job next year, this is not your man.

Speaking of the NBA, we continue to hear rumors about Isiah Thomas becoming the General Manager of the Atlanta Hawks and University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith being hired to fill the void that was created last week when Lenny Wilkens resigned.  Now that Stan Kroenke has bought the Denver Nuggets, we're hearing that Bobby Huggins will be hired as the new head coach.   However, there is one problem - Dan Issel is extremely popular in Denver.  So throw that theory out the window, unless Issel gets the Kentucky job, if Smith gets the Hawks job.  We also are hearing that St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis still may be bound for the NBA.   The New Jersey Nets or the Boston Celtics are a possibility, but we think the Washington Wizards are more probable.  We also still think Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino will be someplace else next year.  If Smith were to leave Kentucky and Pitino took the job again, there would be 5,000 Celtics fans at the airport in Boston to make sure he gets on the plane and 15,000 Kentucky fans at the airport in Lexington, KY to welcome him with open arms.   However, we still think the New Jersey Nets are also a possibility for Pitino.   And that might be good for the owner of the Celtics, Paul Gaston, because then maybe he could move back to Boston.   Did you know that Gaston recently bought a house in Greenwich, CT in order to get away from Pitino and all the heat he was taking in Boston?  As for Smith, he continues to deny any interest in the Hawks job, but we know for a fact that he has been contacted by the Hawks on more than one occasion in the last week.

As predicted by the HOOP SCOOP last week, Manhattan assistant coach Chuckie Martin has taken a similar position at the University of Masschusetts.  So that means Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez will move Mike Bramucci up from the third spot into a recruiting position and Travis Lyons, who was at New Mexico this past year as a graduate assistant, will return to Manhattan, where he had a tremendous college career after graduating from high school at Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD.  Speaking of coaching changes in New York, Bayside (Cardozo) NY head coach Ron Naclerio may be in line for the job at Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY if Gary DeCesare gets the job at Memphis.  That's right!  Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman ran into DeCesare while he was in town interviewing for the job last Friday and the word is that DeCesare has a great shot a getting the non-recruiting position.  We also are still waiting to see if new Tigers head coach John Calipari hires former Louisville All-American Milt Wagner, but we'd be surprised if he doesn't.  

Did you know that 6'9 Ronnie Griffin from Tallahassee (JC) FL has gone to the University of Oklahoma?  We didn't until a coupe of days ago.  Another one that slipped right past us is 6'6 Cedric Knight from Louisville (Ballard) KY to Illinois State.  UNC-Charlotte had 6'8 Mac Wilkinson from Louisville (Ballard) KY on campus over the weekend, but Georgia Tech, Dayton, Louisville, and Clemson also still on his list.   Speaking of Louisville, they had been trying to get Wilkinson to walk-on.   However, now that they have as many as five or six scholarships available (a week ago Quintin Bailey and Caleb Gervin were suspended for a year due to their use of marijuana), they need all the size they can get, and time is running out to sign anybody, they should make Wilkinson a recruiting priority.   Wilkinson isn't real tough inside, but offensively he's extremely skilled and he's a tremendous kid.

Houston Hoops are now the undisputed #1 AAU team in Texas after knocking off Team Texas Red last week in the Tops in Texas Tournament, which was run by Mike Kunstadt, in Austin, TX, and yesterday beating the Houston Superstars, 73-72, in the Kingwood Spring Classic in Kingwood, TX.  And just like last week 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX was named the tournament as he scored 31 points in the championship game.  Hurt now ranks as the #1 junior in the state over 5'11 Jr Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, but the race is still almost too close to call, because Ford, who had 28 points of his own in the title game, also ranks among our top 10 juniors nationally.   Ford was complemented by 6'3 Jr Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, who scored 14 points for the Houston Superstars, while 6'2 Jr Darrell Mason from College Station (Bryan) TX chipped 14 points for the Houston Hoops.   And this isn't the only good news for Josh Pastner, who is the head coach of the Houston Hoops, as well as a walk-on at the University of Arizona.   The Wildcats have an early commitment from 6'11 Jr Channing Frey from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ.  We're not sure if Frey should be ranked among our top 100 nationally yet, but he has a tremendous frame and he plays extremely hard, which is just one of the reasons why we think getting him so early is a major coup for head coach Lute Olson.  He's also an in-state kid, plus he's the high school teammate of 5'10 Jr Jason Fontenot and 6'0 Jr James Fontenot, both from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ and both of whom are being recruiting by Arizona.

I continue to get emails from people who try and defend Indiana University head coach Bob Knight.  Obviously they just don't get it!    However, the general public, which is being influenced by newspaper columnists from all over the nation who are having a field day with what's happened this spring, does get it.  Remember, the investigation by Indiana University and the athletic department that found no evidence that Knight had abused Neil Reed or any other player in his 29 years as head coach of the Hoosiers.  Which brings us to our very important Question of the Day.   During the course of the investigation one of three things had to have transpired in order for them to have reached that conclusion.  Which was it?  A) they did not talk to any of the players who have since come forward and provided evidence to the contrary; B) they did talk to the players, but the players lied to them; C) they talked to the players and they told them the truth, but they decided to cover it up and/or disregard facts.  Sure Knight said that he may have done something, but he doesn't remember chocking Reed.  He also down played the incident by saying that he would never do anything to physically harm one of his players.   However, the videotape makes it obvious that he went over the line of what is acceptable behavior by coach when teaching a player.  As a result, Knight's defenders are arguing over what "is" means and when that happens right and wrong suddenly are tossed right out the window.  Anybody else would be long gone.   However, most people still think Knight will survive.  But if he does, the University, the NCAA, and the game in general will be cheapened and compromised forever and, in the process, they all become the poster boy for the game's hypocrisy.  Indiana University can either do the right thing and get rid of Knight or they can line up all their ducks in a row and tell everybody they've arrived at a compromise with which everybody can hopefully live.  Unfortunately that's not possible.  And they'd better not do it, because we hear the worst is yet to come.  Our guess is that one of Knight's latest targets - former Indiana University assistant coach Ron Felling - may be the one who drops the next bomb.  Remember, Felling has been accused of leaking the videotape of Knight chocking Reed to CNN/SI.  But if they can't prove it, Felling has one hell of a lawsuit.  Also, remember that Felling mysteriously quit in December and that was never really properly explained.  And do you really think Knight wants it explained?  We also have to wonder which former player will be next?  First it was Reed, then it was Ricky Calloway alleging that Knight hit Steve Alford.  Next it was Butch Carter alleging racial slurs and most recently it was Andre Patterson saying that if he'd known what he knows now, he would have gone elsewhere.  And don't forget the incident with athletic director Clarence Doninger.  Can't Knight get along with anybody?  Obviously not, which is just one of the many reasons why Bob Knight has to go.  He's an embarrassment to the University and he has proven to be exactly the opposite of everything he's always preached and claimed that to have stood for.  What a lousy role model!  As a result, Indiana fans have a right to be very disappointed, but they should not defend him, because they only make themselves look blind and stupid.  And by doing so they themselves are telling us that they condone Knight's behavior and, as a result, become part of the problem.  For years I have laughed about Knight's antics, but now I am appalled.  There is no wiggle room and no changing my mind.  So instead of making excuses for Knight, tell me who you think will be the next head coach at Indiana?   Dan Dakich, Jim Crews, Quin Buckner, Randy Wittman, and all the other former Indiana players and coaches will be mentioned, but with the exception of Iowa head coach Steve Alford, none of them should even be given a look.  Obviously, it may be impossible to get Alford to leave Iowa.  So, instead, they should go after somebody like Utah head coach Rick Majerus, who is widely regarded as one of the top five coaches in the game today.   Majerus is also like Knight, because he is very demanding on the court.  However, unlike Knight, Majerus is a wonderful person and, as a result, would be able to recruit like crazy.  Every player in the state would be lining up to play for him.  Another tremendous candidate would be Tulsa head coach Bill Self, who young, good looking, well spoken, and tremendously respected by the media.  He guided the Golden Hurricane to within one game of the NCAA Final Four a month and a half ago and at about the same time turned down close to a million dollars a year from University of Nebraska.  Self is a great recruiter, excellent motivator, and chip off the old block (he was an assistant under Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State before moving onto Oral Roberts and Tulsa as a head coach) as a bench coach.  Ironically, Self was in Indianapolis, IN today for a golf outing?  While this is a total coincidence and nothing should be read into this, maybe it is a prelude of things to come.  Remember, Indiana is the one of the best basketball jobs in the nation.  Not only did Indiana win NCAA Championships long before Knight ever arrived, but the potential is there to win big after Knight is long gone.  Hopefully, general Douglas MacArthur's quote about old soldiers never dying will soon apply to Knight.  Instead of dying, Knight should just fade into the night. 

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