TODAY'S HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION

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Saturday, May 31, 2003

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that it is being reported by espn.com that 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS plans to verbally commitment while on his official visit to Arkansas on Tuesday, June 3rd.  The article also says Jefferson plans to pick Arkansas over LSU, Florida, and Alabama and it quotes him saying he's "always been an Arkansas fan."  This is huge for a number of reasons.  First, Jefferson is ranked as the #2 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP and, as a result, is the highest ranked player to-date in the junior class to have made a verbal commitment.  Second, assuming that Jefferson doesn't by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft a year from now, Jefferson will provide the perfect complement inside to 6'10 Jr Steve Hill from Bronson (H.S.) AR, who picked Arkansas over Missouri and Kansas earlier this year.  Third, this will move Arkansas' recruiting class up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  Fourth, a commitment by Jefferson would mean that the Razorbacks are only a great point guard away from having all the pieces necessary to make a serious run at the NCAA Championship year after next.  Remember, Arkansas' current recruiting class, which includes 6'5 Olu Famutimi from Flint (Northwestern) MI, 6'4 Ronnie Brewer from Fayetteville (H.S.) AR, 7'0 Julius Lamptey from New Hampton (Prep) NH, 6'10 Vincent Hunter from Little Rock (Fair) AR, and 6'6 Preston Crawford from Hebron Springs (H.S.) AR, who plans to enroll in school as a walk-on next year, is tied at #8, along with Louisiana Tech and Maryland, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And the final to piece to the puzzle could be 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #8 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  As a matter of fact, both Horton and his father, who are attending the Pangos All-American Camp in Cypress, CA this weekend, told us earlier tonight that, if Arkansas gets Jefferson, it certainly would enhance their chances of getting Horton.  Currently Missouri is the leader for Horton's services, but Florida, Arkansas, Kansas, Arizona State, and Florida State are also on the hunt.  And, while it appears that it will be only a matter of a couple of days before Arkansas moves into the #2 spot on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, we also have confirmed that USC's recruiting class has dropped from #2 to #5 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, because 6'4 Soph Curtis Allen from Rolling Hills (Palos Verdes) CA has reneged on the Trojans.  And this is the second time that Allen was supposed to be heading to Southern Cal, but was later put back onto the available board.  If you will recall, Allen told our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin last summer at the adidas ABCD Camp that he had verbally committed to USC, but, at the time, we were not able to confirm his commitment via sources close to the Trojans' program.  However, last fall Allen's commitment to USC was official announced.   And it would not surprise us if Allen changed his mind again and reaffirmed his verbal commitment to USC, which would tie the record currently held by 6'10 Jermaine Bell from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA for committing and reneging the most times to the same school.  Remember, to-date Bell has committed to St. Johns' three times and reneged twice.  However, for now it appears that Washington, Arizona State, Gonzaga, Marquette, and Oklahoma State are the top schools on Allen' list.  Actually the smart money is one the Cowboys, because 6'6 Marcus Dove from Long Beach (Millikan) CA and Allen are the best of friends.  We also got a list of schools for 6'4 Jr Matt Thomas from Riverside (King) CA, which includes California, Colorado, San Francisco, UC-Santa Barbara, Texas A&M, Clemson, and Stanford; 6'3 Jr Matt Sargeant from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA, which includes Stanford, Princeton, UC-Santa Barbara, Northwestern, and Colorado; and 6'4 Jr Kyle Weaver from Beloit (Memorial) WI, which includes Bradley, Ball State, Northern Iowa, and Washington State, at the Pangos All-American Camp this weekend.  Speaking the Pangos All-American Camp, 6'0 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, and 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY all failed to show.  But that didn't stop the camp from being a smashing success.  As a matter of fact, NIKE and adidas would do well to follow in the footsteps of this camp, because this level of intensity and unselfish play has not been seen at any other superstar oriented in recent years.  With one set of games left to be played tomorrow morning and the Top 40 and Top 20 All-Star Games to played at 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM, our ranking in order of the top players in camp is as follows: 1) 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, 2) 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 3) 6'4 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 4) 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 5) 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6) 6'10 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 7) 6'6 Jr Jawaan McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX,  8) 6'6 Soph Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 9) 6'6 Jr Gordon Watt from Evanston (H.S.) IL, 10) 6'5 Soph Brian Harvey from Carson (H.S.) CA, 11) 6'7 Soph Rashad Austin from Claremont (H.S.) CA, 12) 6'6 8th Grader Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 13) 6'4 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 14) 6'9 Soph Theo Davis from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 15) 6'7 Jr Ty Morrison from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, 16) 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 17) 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 18) 6'3 Robert McIver from Winchendon (School) MA, 19) 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 20) 6'6 Jr Chris Berry from Compton (Centennial) CA.

Friday, May 30, 2003

Earlier today we talked with 6'0 Soph Eric Price from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ and he confirms that he has made an early verbal commitment to the University of Memphis.  Obviously this is important, because Price is currently ranked as the #2 sophomore nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but it also is very interesting for a number of other reasons.  First, Price had a miserable season last year at Washington (Dunbar) DC, but we're going to throw that out, because the entire team lacked both chemistry and discipline when we got to see them at the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL.  In contrast, Price was terrific the year before last while playing as a freshman at Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD for the legendary Stu Vetter, which leads to believe that Price's biggest problem right now is lack of coaching.   Second, Price is the second player in the Class of 2005 to have already made an early verbal commitment.  If you will recall, 6'8 Soph Justin Wilkerson from Greenville (H.S.) TX made an early verbal commitment to Texas Tech last fall.  Third, it will be interesting to see if Price's commitment holds up.  Not only do a high number of players who make commitments this early have a history of changing their minds, but Price already appears to be well on his way towards becoming one of the most well traveled players of all time.  If you will recall, Price started his high school career as a starter two years ago at Washington (Gonzaga) DC; then was rumored to heading to Parkdale (Riverdale Baptist) MD before transferring to Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, where he repeated his freshman year; last year he teamed with 6'0 Trey Kelley and 6'2 Jr Earl Risby at Washington (Dunbar) DC; and now he plans to attend Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ next year.  Speaking of players who have changed their mind, we have confirmed that 6'1 Jr Lorenzo Keeler from Escondido (H.S.) CA, who is ranked #217 nationally in the junior class, by the HOOP SCOOP, has reneged on San Diego.  And just like 6'0 Jr Enrico Tucker from San Diego (University) CA, who also reneged on San Diego earlier this year, we hope Keeler realizes that he may have made the right choice the first time and doesn't try to sign with somebody at too high a level.  We also have confirmed via our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis that 6'11 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC had a great visit to Louisville yesterday and, as a result, it still looks like the Cardinals are the team to beat for his services.  However, Davis also adds that Memphis, Michigan, Arizona, Michigan State, Arkansas, Duke, Miami-FL, and Iowa State are in the hunt for Tangara.  And when Tangara left Louisville, KY this morning, he flew to Los Angeles, CA to attend the Pangos All-American Camp, which will begin tonight at the Warrior Center in Cypress, CA.  Also listed on the tentative rosters for the Pangos All-American Camp are 6'6 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 6'10 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seagoville) TX, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livington from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton Centennial) CA, 6'3 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) CA, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'2 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 6'7 Soph Shane Clark from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 5'10 Jr Andre McGee from Moreno Valley (Canyon Springs) CA, 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA, 6'6 Jr Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, 6'3 Jr Robert McIver from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'6 Jr Jawaan McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, 6'5 Soph Brian Harvey from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Soph Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 5'9 Frosh Nic Wise from Katy (Cinco Rancho) TX, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6'9 Soph Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, 6'4 Jr Matthew Thomas from Riverside (King) CA, 6'5 Frosh Jervaughn Johnson from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'5 Jr Josh Shipp from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'7 Jr Tim Pierce from Oakland (Fremont) CA, 6'6 Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 6'9 Soph Theo Davis from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'7 Jr Ty Morrison from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, 6'8 Soph Lawrence Hill from Glendale (Deer Valley) AZ, 6'6 Soph Brian Grimes from Philadelphia (Germantown Academy) PA, 5'10 Soph Brian McTear from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, 6'2 Jr Ralph Miley from Downey (Calvery Chapel) CA, 6'3 Jr Quentin Thomas from Oakland (Tech) CA, 6'5 Soph Ryan Scott from Reston (South Lakes) VA, 6'7 Soph Rashad Austin from Claremont (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Jr David Burgess from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA, 6'10 Soph Jordan Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'10 Jr Aaron Angew from Bellaire (H.S.) OH, 6'6 8th Grader Taylor King from San Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'8 Jr Zachary Johnson from Sacramento (Grant) CA, 6'11 Jr Todd Follmer from Santa Margarita (Rancho Margarita) CA, 6'9 Jr Chris Henry from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Jr Mike Yelovich from Mt. Zion (H.S.) IL, 6'10 Soph Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Soph Julius Powell from Newton (Newton-Conover) NC, 5'10 Jr Jason Murdock from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 5'11 Jr Enrico Tucker from San Diego (University) CA, 6'10 Jr Ephraim Johnson from San Bernardino (Arroyo) CA, 6'6 Jr Gordon Watt from Evanston (Township) IL, 6'9 Jr Trey Dudy from Merced (Stoneridge) CA, 6'8 Jr Lorenzo Mata from South Gate (H.S.) CA, 6'2 Jr Lorenzo Keeler from Escondido (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Soph Joe Darger from Riverton (H.S.) UT, 6'2 Soph Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 6'7 Jr Tai Wesley from Provo (H.S.) UT, 5'10 Frosh Joseph Johnson from Gardena (Serra) CA, 6'7 Jr Xavier Kilby from Phoenix (Desert Vista) AZ, 6'7 Jr Marcus Lewis from Long Beach (Poly) CA, 6'4 Jr Willie Morse from State College (H.S.) PA, 6'6 Soph Titus Shelton from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Jr Jabari Samuels from Merced (Stoneridge) CA, 6'6 Jr Chris Berry from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'4 Soph Marcus Carter from Claremont (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Jr Marcus Malone from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'4 Soph Drew Gladstone from Greenwich (H.S.) CT, 6'4 Jr Draelon Burns from Milwaukee, WI, 6'4 Jr Skuyler McKay from Los Angeles (Price) CA, 6'3 Jr Matt Sargeant from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA, 6'3 Soph Davon Lloyd from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'3 Frosh Christian Polk from Phoenix (Deer Park) AZ, 6'3 Jr Adrian Aye-Darko from West Hill (Chaminade) CA, 6'3 Jr Sean Green from Fontana (H.S.) CA, 6'3 Jr Jonathan Toliver from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'2 Larry Cunningham from Downey (H.S.) CA, 6'1 Soph Daren Jordan from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, 6'1 Jr Antonio Kellogg from Oakland (McClymonds) CA, 6'1 Soph Greg Ausdrie from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'1 Jr Keena Payton from Oakland (Skyline) CA, 6'0 Soph Kerchel Carter from Toronto (Henry Carr) ON, 6'0 Fresh Todd Lowenthal from Newport Beach (Newport Harbor) CA, 6'6 Soph Joey Shaw from Chandler (H.S.) AZ, 6'6 Frosh Kenny Ray Washington from Phoenix, AZ, 5'11 Soph Vinnie Ciecka from Haddonfield (H.S.) NJ, 5'10 Soph Shane Mahoney from Malibu (H.S.) CA, 5'10 Soph Tre Clark from Newark (Memorial) CA, 5'9 Soph Mark Hill from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, 5'9 Jr Marquis Washington from Carson (H.S.) CA, 5'10 Jr T.J. Benson from Tempe (Corona del Sol) AZ, 6'6 Jr Lee Cummard from Mesa (H.S.) AZ, 6'5 Soph Jason Deutchman from Santa Monica (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Jr Phillip Nkrumah from Ascension, ON, 6'4 Soph Ed White from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'3 8th Grader Jimmy Hirschman from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, and 6'2 8th Grader Duran Neil from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ. 

Thursday, May 29, 2003

Dave Telep of TheInsidersHoops.com is reporting that Missouri has finally won the sweepstakes for 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who is ranked #21 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  "Finally" is the key word, because on several previous occasions we jumped the gun and reported that Kleiza was already done deal for the Tigers.  Actually he was!  Sources close to Kleiza tell us that he made up his mind to attend Missouri in March, but the entire matter was put on hold until the situation involving the phone calls made by the Missouri coaching staff to Jason Conley's mother was resolved.  And this allowed both Florida State and North Carolina to turn up the heat and make it a three horse race.  The commitment by Kleiza moves Missouri's recruiting class into a tie at #6, along with LSU, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  If you will recall, Missouri also has landed 6'5 Thomas Gardner from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'3 Randy Pulley from Barton County (JC) KS, 6'1 Spencer Laurie from Springfield (Kickapoo) MO, and 6'9 Ousmane Konate from Laurinburg (Insititute) NC, although Konate will also count in next year's recruiting class, because he plans to attend another year of prep school at Laurinburg.  The Tigers also appear to be in great shape on 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX and 6'8 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX, which means that Missouri head coach Quin Synder appears to be perfectly positioned to replace the heart-and-sole of his current team, which includes 6'9 Jr Arthur Johnson, 6'5 Jr Rickey Paulding, and 6'9 Jr Travon Bryant, when they graduate after next season.  Kleiza is expected to step into the power forward spot, but he also is mobile enough, athletic enough, and good enough on the perimeter with his ball handling and passing skills and 3-point shooting to project as a wing forward someday in the NBA.  We also have confirmed that 6'6 Gaylon Dorsey from Western Oklahoma (JC) OK has signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Middle Tennessee State.  This moves Middle Tennessee State's recruiting class, which also includes 6'8 Alex Weeks from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, 6'2 Montrell Crittendon from Newbern (Dyer County) TN, 6'8 Kenyatta Swader from Smyrna (H.S.) TN, 5'11 Bryan Smithson from Kennesaw (North Cobb) GA, 6'4 Ben Britt from Chattanooga (Red Bank) TN, and 6'5 Michael Cuffe from Neosho (JC) KS, up to #27 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, several of these players are expected not to make it academically, so Dorsey not only promises to fill an important potential void in this recruiting class, but he also is expected to be the replacement for 6'9 Jr Napoleon Rhodes, who announced that he is transferring from Middle Tennessee State this spring.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that Raiders' assistant coach Donnie Tyndall has played an important role in terms of landing two consecutive top 30-ranked recruiting classes.  If you will recall, when Tyndall was an assistant coach at Idaho a year ago, the Vandals finished with the #15-ranked recruiting class in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also have confirmed that 6'7 Gaston Moliva from Norfolk (Ryan Academy) VA has verbally committed to Richmond, which means the Spiders now have three players who should make an immediate impact next year in the fold in the current recruiting class.  Remember, Richmond also landed 5'10 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY and 6'4 Andre Sandoval from Winchendon (School) MA last fall.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'5 Frosh Adam Haluska from Carroll (Community) IA has been given his release from Iowa State and it appears that this athletic white kid who was a top 50 high school senior a year ago may be following the footsteps of 6'2 Mike Henderson from Waterloo (East) IA, who originally made an early verbal commitment to Iowa State, but later changed his mind and signed with the University of Iowa last fall.  We also have confirmed that 6'9 Soph Brian Thornton, who decided to transfer from Vanderbilt a month ago, has signed with Xavier.  Thornton, who has been a two-year starter for the Commodores, will not count towards Xavier's recruiting class, because it is our editorial policy not to count transfers when ranking recruiting classes.  However, if he did count, Thornton would move Xavier's recruiting class up to #35 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Thornton will count towards Xavier's five scholarship limit in this year's recruiting class, along with 6'9 Boubacar Coly from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'7 Justin Doellman from Union (Ryle) KY, 6'5 Robert Barker from Greensburg (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 Justin Cage from Indianapolis (Pike) IN.   However, their fifth recruit - 6'2 Stan Burrell from Indianapolis (Ben Davis) IN - plans to go the prep school route, so he also will count with next year's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'3 Darryl Garrett from Detroit (Denby) MI.  In other words, the Musketeers have reloaded and anyway you slice it, this program is poised to be one of the powerhouse teams in the Atlantic-10 for years to come.  It also appears that the four finalists for the Wagner job are former Lamar head coach Mike Deane, Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, Georgetown assistant coach Ronny Thompson, and Wagner assistant coach Jim Meil.  Our guess is that Meil will get the job, but if he doesn't, you can rest assured that he will follow Dereck Whittenburg to Fordham.  We also expect Whittenburg to hire former Long Island head coach Ray Martin.  And that would be a great move, because Martin has all the New York City ties necessary to get more than their fair share of the top kids in the New York Metropolitan area.  Another great hire was made recently by new Columbia head coach Joe Jones when he stole Manhattan assistant coach Mike Bramucci away from Bobby Gonzalez.  At first it doesn't make sense that Memphis assistant coach Steve Roccaforte, who was ranked #8 on our list of the top assistant coaches when we updated that list in January, would consider moving to Lamar as an assistant coach.  However, Roccaforte is an alumnus of the school, he has a lot of family in the area, and he will be the heir apparent to Billy Tubbs in a couple of years.  And, if Roccaforte leaves Memphis for Lamar, our guess is that Tigers head coach John Calipari will move up Tony Barbee and Derek Kellogg, who are two of the bright young assistant coaches in the business, and hire somebody like former Wright State head coach Ed Schilling.  Remember, Schilling worked for Calipari as an assistant at the University of Massachusetts and with the New Jersey Nets.  And how about Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY head coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton to Louisville as part of the package with 6'0 Jr Sebastian Telfair, who is the #1-ranked junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP?  Remember, Pitino has an assistant coaching position and several administrative spots to fill and it wouldn't be the first time he has filled a position with the high school coach of a recruit.  If you will recall, Pitino hired Jamal Magloire's high school coach when he was the head coach at the University of Kentucky.  We also are very impressed with by the staff that new Wright State head coach Paul Biancardi has put together.  Ed Huckaby learned from the one of the best young head coaches in the business when he worked for Steve Merfeld at Hampton, Larry Greer played an important role in helping Dennis Wolff build Boston University into one of the top mid-major programs in the Northeast, and Akron assistant coach Brian Donoher not only knows the state of Ohio like the back of his hand, but he also is the son of former Dayton head coach Don Donoher. 

Ohio State and Kansas appeared to be the two leaders for 6'6 Jr Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI prior to the NIKE Memorial Day Classic in Bloomington, IN, but Hairston was extremely impressed with Indiana University over the weekend and, as a result, it appears we now have tri-favorites as we track the quest for Hairston's services.  If you will recall, Hairston was the best player at both the Spiece Run N' Slam three weeks ago in Ft. Wayne, IN and at the NIKE Memorial Day Classic this past weekend, which means he gets our vote as both the Player-of-the-Spring and the Fastest Rising Player in the Junior Class Nationally.  He also is expected to be one of our top five juniors nationally when we update our rankings for Class of 2004 in June, so you can rest assured that his list, which also includes Michigan State, UCLA, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Marquette, Arizona, N.C. State, and Virginia Tech, will get a lot longer before it gets shorter.  However, when it is all said and done, we still think Ohio State is the school you have to beat, because they've been there the longest and the strongest and Buckeyes assistant coach LaMonta Stone is second to none when it comes to recruiting in Michigan.  Remember, Stone used to be the head coach at River Rouge (H.S.) MI and was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan prior to joining the Ohio State coaching staff a year ago.  We also think when it is said and done that 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL will pick Indiana over Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi State.  Previously we also thought that 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA was a lock for North Carolina, but he tells us that it's no longer a foregone conclusion.  Instead, Johnson says North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame, Maryland, and Florida all have a legitimate shot.   Florida, Florida State, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, and Connecticut are the favorites for 6'3 Jr Jason Rich from Orlando (Dr. Phillips) FL.   The list for 6'6 Jr DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL includes Marquette, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, DePaul, and Wisconsin.   Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and California are the three finalists for 6'7 Jr Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL, but we think the smart money is on California.  As a matter of fact, don't be surprised if the Golden Bears get a verbal commitment from Vierneisel within the next week.  We also understand that 6'2 Jr Jordan Farmer from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA has made it official for UCLA,which means our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis was right on the money several days ago when he told us that a verbal commitment by Farmer to the Bruins was anticipated by the end of the week.  N.C. State, Ohio State, Kansas State, Northern Illinois, and Illinois State were mentioned by 6'2 Jr Trent Meachum from Champaign (Centennial) IL, but this list should change dramatically.  Remember, the value of Meachum's stock has risen sharply after taking home tournament MVP honors at the NIKE Memorial Day Classic in Bloomington, IN, plus N.C. State no longer is the hunt for a point guard and Ohio State is involved with numerous point guards and, as a result, will likely take the first one that pulls the trigger.   LSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi State are the favorites for 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS.  Cincinnati, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Syracuse were all listed by 6'2 Jr Isaiah Swann from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  The list for 6'11 Jr Alexander Kaun from Melbourne (Florida Air Academy) FL includes Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, Florida State, Duke, Kansas, Georgetown, and Miami-FL.  The early favorites for 6'8 Soph Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL are North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn, Duke, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Arizona and the very early favorites for 6'9 Frosh Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN are Tennessee and Kentucky.  We also have finally confirmed via Big Apple Sports that 5'10 Jerel Blassingame from L.A. City (JC) CA has signed with UNLV.   And this is huge for several reasons.  First, Blassingame is one of the top junior college players in the nation, as is evident by the fact that he was ranked as the #2 among point guards by the Sporting New Pre-Season Yearbook.  Second, the commitment by Blassingame gives UNLV head coach Charlie Spoonhour the point guards he needs to replace 6'1 Sr Marcus Banks, who was the best point guard in the league last year.  Third, this moves the Runnin' Rebels recruiting class up to 5th, behind Kansas State, Florida State, Miami-FL, and Oklahoma and ahead of LSU, Louisiana Tech, Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Virginia, Mississippi, Syracuse, Kansas, Iowa State, UTEP, Cincinnnati, Florida, Utah, Louisville, and Michigan State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.   If you will recall, UNLV previously had signed another one of Blassingame's teammates - 6'8 Romel Beck, from L.A. City (JC) CA, plus they also landed 6'10 Chris Adams from San Francisco (JC) CA, 6'6 Andy Hannan from Minneapolis Community (JC) MN, 6'3 John Winston from Richmond (Salesian) CA, and 6'2 Michael Umeh from Sugar Land (Hightower) TX.  In other words, it looks like Spoonhour is loading up on quality junior college players and, as a result, if he does retire in a year or two, he should be able to go out in a blaze of glory.  And, if that weren't enough UNLV also has gotten an early verbal commitment from yet another player from L.A. City (JC) CA.  We're talking about 6'4 Wilbur Williams and he's pretty good too.   As a matter of fact, Williams led five L.A. City scorers in double digits with California Junior College Championship Game with 21 points (8-11 field goals) and nine rebounds. 

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Believe it or not 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS finished as the leading scorer with 25.4 ppg and the leading rebounder with 9.6 rpg in the NIKE Memorial Day Classic over the weekend in Bloomington, IN, but he was not our #1-ranked player in the tournament.  Instead, that honor goes to 6'6 Jr Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, who simply picked up where he left off three weeks ago at the Spiece Run N' Slam in Ft. Wayne, IN.   Hairston, who finished third in the tournament in scoring with 21.2 ppg and fifth in rebounding with 7.2 rpg, does it all both inside and outside, as he rebounds extremely well for a guy his size, is an excellent 3-point shooter, a good ball handler and good passer, and an aggressive defender.  In contrast, Jefferson gets most of his points due to his mammoth size and excellent skills inside.  However, Jefferson doesn't have the incredible athleticism necessary to have the same long range potential like Hairston, 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, and 6'10 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX.  Which brings us back to an interesting question - are we rankings players based on what they are right now or how they played in the tournament, what they will be like in college, or what their potential is once they reach the NBA?  For our purposes our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, who covered this tournament from start-to-finish, ranks them based on tournament performance and his top 30 players in order are as follows:  1) Hairston, 2) Jefferson, 3) Aldridge, 4) White, 5) 6'7 Jr Shawne Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, 6) 6'4 Jr Joe Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 7) 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 8) 6'7 Jr Dayshawn Wright from Syracuse (Fowler) NY, 9) 6'6 Jr Jawaan McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX, 10) 6'8 Jr Alex Thompson from Ames (H.S.) IA, 11) 6'3 Jr Jason Rich from Orlando (Dr. Phillips) FL, 12) 6'2 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 13) 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, 14) 6'7 Jr Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL, 15) 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, 16) 6'8 Jr Kalen Grimes from Florissant (Hazelwood Central) MO, 17) 6'2 Jr Trent Meachum from Champaign (Centennial) IL, 18) 6'1 Jr Justin Dentinam from Carbondale (H.S.) IL, 19) 6'3 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI, 20) 6'7 Jr Jimmie Binnie from Johnston (H.S.) IA, 21) 6'8 Jr Darnell Jackson from Oklahoma City (Classien) OK, 22) 6'2 Jr Isaiah Swann from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 23) 6'1 Jr Ronald Roman from Bronx (All Hallows) NY, 24) 6'8 Jr James Gist from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD, 25) 6'7 Soph Brandon Rush from Kansas City (Westport) MO, 26) 6'8 Soph Keith Braumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL, 27) 6'8 Soph Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, 28) 6'5 Jr Robert Clark from Jackson Lanier) MS, 29) 6'6 Jr DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL, and 30) 6'4 Jr Keith Benjamin from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY.  And a quick look at the leading scorers - 1) Jefferson with 25.4 pgg, Shawne Williams with 21.7 ppg, Hairston with 21.2 ppg, Price with 21.0 ppg, McClellan with 21.0 ppg, Crawford with 20.4 ppg, Aldridge with 20.2 ppg, Gibson with 19.7 ppg, Brambaugh with 19.0 ppg, and Swann with 18.9 ppg - and the leading rebounders - Jefferson with 9.6 rpg, Aldridge with 9.5 rpg, Wright with 9.4 rpg, 6'9 Jr Ra'Sean Dickey from Bennettsville (Marlboro County) SC with 9.0 rpg, and Hairston with 7.2 rpg - simply reinforces Johnson's rankings.   As a matter of fact, the top three players in the tournament (Hairston, Jefferson, and Aldridge) all finished ranked among the top 10 in scoring and top five in rebounding.   In other words, it was pretty much status quo, except for a few players, like 6'1 Jr Sundiata Gaines from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, 5'9 Frosh Demond Carter from Laplace (Reserve Christian) LA, and 6'11 Jr Alexander Kaun from Melbourne (Florida Air Academy) FL, who failed to live up to their reputations.  Gaines was not the same player we heard about earlier this spring from our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio.   Remember, Gaines was the leading scorer at IS8.  Carter wasn't nearly as good as when he established his reputation last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp and Kahn was limited by the fact he was plagued by foul trouble, which made him tentative at the offensive end and gun shy in terms of rebounding and blocking shots at the defensive end.  The biggest sleeper to emerge in the tournament was 6'2 Jr Trent Meachum from Champaign (Centennial) IL.  We're talking about a tough hardnosed floor general with excellent handling and passing skills who led his team to a   73-61 victory over the Illinois Warriors in the championship of the 17-Under Division.  Meachum also took home tournament MVP honors, despite the fact he only scored eight points in the championship game.  Instead, he made a living setting up 6'8 Jr Alex Thompson from Ames (H.S.) IA and 6'7 Jr Jimmie Binnie from Johnston (H.S.) IA, who combined for 34 points in the championship game.  The leading scorer for Illinois Warriors was 6'6 Jr DeAaron Williams from Bartonville (Limestone) IL wth 15 points, but that was his best game of the tournament.   Thus, explains why Johnson has 6'7 Jr Eric Vierneisel from Algonquin (Jacobs) IL and 6'1 Jr Justin Dentinam from Carbondale (H.S.) IL, who combined for 21 points in the championship game, both are ranked ahead of Williams.  The Illinois Warriors did manage to win the 16-Under Division, as they knocked off Indiana Red, 65-62, in overtime in the championship game.  The Illinois Warriors were led by 6'0 Soph Jarrett Starwood from Aurora (Waubonsie Valley) IL with 25 points, 6'9 Soph Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL with 12 points, and 6'2 Soph Jamar Smith from Peoria (Richwoods) IL had 12 points.  However, our choice for tournament MVP honors in the 16-Under Division was 6'9 Soph Josh McRoberts from Carmel (H.S.) IN, who finished with 21 points for Indiana Red in the championship game and easily was the best player young player of the weekend, ahead of 6'3 Soph Romar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, 6'6 Soph Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'9 Frosh Brandon Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN, and 6'6 Frosh Tracy Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, all of whom have are ranked among the top players nationally in their respective classes.  The Family beat Indiana Red, 67-53, in the 15-Under Championship, as the Smith's combined for 41 points and 6'5 Frosh Omar Thomas from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI chipped in with 13 points.  The leading scorer for Indiana Red was 6'5 Frosh Eric Werskey from Seymour (H.S.) IN, but the guy to remember on this team is 6'1 8th Grader Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (Northview Middle) IN.

Monday, May 26, 2003, and Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson told me last night that Patrick Sparks had cancelled his official visit to Ohio State, which was scheduled for today.  So it comes as no surprise that Sparks has made it official for the University of Kentucky.  But, for our purposes, we will not count Sparks with the current Wildcats recruiting class, because it is not the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to count transfers when ranking recruiting classes.  Sparks also won't get an athletic scholarship when schools starts next fall, because the Wildcats already have used all 13 scholarships available for next season.  Instead, Sparks will get a partial academic scholarship until a basketball scholarship becomes available or the following year after Gerald Fitch, Cliff Hawkins, Erik Daniels, and Matt Heissenbuttel graduate.  However, this is still huge for Kentucky, because Sparks, who was the Sun Belt Player-of-the-Year this past season, is expected to be the heir apparent to Hawkins and Fitch in terms of stepping in, running the show, and providing leadership year-after-next.  Sparks also will get a chance to learn the system and continue to develop as a player next year while playing against Fitch and Hawkins everyday in practice next season.  Johnson also tells us that 7'0 Jr Seth Gorney from Vandalia (Butler) OH has picked Iowa over Ohio State and our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis thinks UCLA is now in the driver's seat for 6'2 Jr Jordan Farmer from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, who was named the MVP at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions over the weekend.  If you will recall, the smart money previously was on Florida, but Trigonis believes that a verbal commitment could be forthcoming to UCLA even before the Pangos All-American Camp begins this weekend.  And, if that happens, UCLA recruiting class, which already includes 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, would move into a tie at #4, along with Michigan, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  And just ahead of where UCLA would be, if the Bruins get Farmer, is Iowa's recruiting class with Gorney, 6'8 Jr Alex Thompson from Ames (H.S.) IA and 6'6 Jr J.R. Angle from Trafalgar (Indian Creek) IN.  In other words, it looks like Hawkeyes head coach Steve Alford and his staff have found three extremely skilled players who are capable of stepping in and providing an excellent complement to their current recruiting class, which includes 6'8 Nick DeWitz from Mesa (JC) AZ, 6'2 Mike Henderson from Waterloo (East) IA, 6'6 Ben Rand from Rochelle (H.S.) IL, and 6'10 Erek Hansen from Kirkwood (JC) IA.  Now all they have to do is find another great one, like 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Luezinger) CA, who will be ranked #4 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP when we update our rankings of the Class of 2003 in June.  Remember, the Hawkeyes have been involved with Wright the strongest and the longest, but will have to keep recruiting him for another year, because Wright needs at least that much time in prep school to get his academics in order.  The verbal commitment by Gorney means that Ohio State will shift their attention towards landing 6'8 Jr Al Horford from Grand Wedge (H.S.) MI and 6'10 Jr Matt Terwilliger from Troy (H.S.) OH.  Currently it appears the Buckeyes are the favorite for Horford over Marquette, Xavier, Miami-FL, and Michigan State, while Terwilliger's final three are Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame.  We also talked with a number of players at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions over the weekend and got a lot of recruiting information.  Duke, Georgia Tech, and Indiana are believed to be the top three schools for 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, but he also mentioned Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia.  Indiana, Florida, Duke Miami-FL, Kentucky, Missouri, Florida State, Alabama, Arizona, and UCLA were all mentioned by 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Powder Springs (McEachern) GA, but a year of prep school may be in his future first.  Indiana, Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi State, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are involved with 6'6 Jr Dwayne Day from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA.  Kentucky and Georgia Tech are the leaders over Louisville and Tennessee for 6'11 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA.  No list was provided by 6'0 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, but his high school and AAU coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton tells us that Louisville, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, St. John's, Arizona, and Michigan State are showing the most interest.  Our guess is that it will be Louisville, although Syracuse is looking stronger all the time.  Syracuse, Seton Hall, Miami-FL, and Memphis are the favorites for 6'3 Ramel Bradley from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL.  Syracuse also is right at the top of the list for 6'1 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, who also mentions Seton Hall, Connecticut, North Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky, and Boston College.  Mississippi State, Virginia, Louisville, and Texas were the four schools mentioned by 6'5 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Nottingham) MD, but, Texas is already done recruiting for next year and, if Louisville gets 6'5 Jr Earl J.R. Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, they would be out of the picture as well.  Speaking of Smith, his AAU coach Jimmy Salmon tells us that N.C. State has made Smith a top priority and North Carolina is back in the picture.  And that's important, because the Tar Heels have always been Smith's favorite school.  Another top priority for N.C. State is 6'9 Jr James Mays from Garner (H.S.) NC, so it comes as no surprise that the Wolfpack were the first school he mentioned.  Also on Mays' are South Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Auburn, and Connecticut.  N.C. State also might have been the favorite for 6'3 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, but when the Wolfpack took 6'1 Tony Bethel, who transferred from Georgetown to N.C. State, last week, Memphis, Connecticut, Florida, Auburn, Ohio State, Purdue, Marquette, Seton Hall, Villanova, and Iowa became the most prominent schools on Cerasoli's list.  The list for 6'6 Jr Roy Bright from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC includes N.C. State, Tennessee, Connecticut, Charlotte, Alabama, Wisconsin, N.C. State, and Clemson.  Louisville is still at the top of the list for 6'9 Jr Robbie Simpson from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, but he also mentioned Kentucky, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Syracuse.  Ohio State, Texas A&M, Virginia, Providence, Arkansas, La Salle, and Drexel are the leaders for 6'4 Tasheed Carr from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  The early favorites for 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LAare LSU, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Duke.  LSU, Miami-FL, Oklahoma, Indiana, Connecticut, Louisville, and Cincinnati were all mentioned by 6'8 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (LSU Lab) LA.  Ohio State, Indiana, Arkansas, and Xavier are the favorites for 6'1 Danny Morrissey from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, but he also has Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Florida State on his list.  Tennessee, Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, and Oklahoma are the early favorites for 6'6 Soph Tyler Smith from Giles (Pulaski County) TN.  The list for 6'7 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurst) IN includes Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Connecticut, DePaul, Florida, Florida State, and Wake Forest.   Missouri leads Oklahoma, UCLA, and Kentucky for 6'8 Jr Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX We also confirmed via 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, who has a 3.6 gpa and an older brother who was the starting point guard last year at Michigan, that Missouri is his favorite, although Florida, Kansas, Arizona State, Florida State, and Arkansas are also still on his list.  The list for 6'2 Robert McIver from New Haven (Hillhouse) CT includes Miami-FL, Massachusetts, DePaul, Florida State, Iowa State, and Missouri, but a year in prep school is first on his agenda.  Indiana, Charlotte, Central Connecticut State, La Salle, and St. Joseph's were mentioned by 6'7 Jr Deron Washington from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD.  Providence, Charlotte, St. Joseph's, George Washington, George Mason, and Maryland were mentioned by 6'8 Jr Jared Gaither from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD.  St. Joseph's leads Houston, Charlotte, Indiana, Notre Dame, George Mason, James Madison, and Virginia Commonwealth for 6'1 Jr Abdulai Jalloh from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD.  The favorites for 6'9 Jr Andre Blatche from Syracuse (Henninger) NY are Manhattan, Providence, Maryland, Connecticut, and Syracuse.  Seton Hall, Penn State, Providence, Centreal Connecticut State, Miami-FL, Hofstra, and Rhode Island were all mentioned by 6'6 Rahshon Clarke, who will be attending prep school next year at North Bridgton (Bridgton (Academy) ME.   Virginia leads Syracuse, Villanova, and Miami-FL for 6'9 Jr Cornelio Guibunda from Stamford (King & Low Heywood Thomas) CT.  Providing us with a list of both colleges and prep schools was 6'9 Jr Dontay Tabbs from Philadelphia (George Washington) PA.  The colleges include Providence, Coppin State, Rutgers, St. Joseph's, and La Salle and the prep schools include Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, Northfield (Northfield-Mt. Herman) MA, and Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA.  Sienna, Providence, St. Joseph's, Canisius, and Penn State are in the hunt for 6'4 Jr Bilal Benn from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA.   Xavier, Ohio State, Central Michigan, Michigan, Michigan State, Wyoming, Marquette, Northwestern, and Oakland are showing the most interest in 6'10 Jr Goran Sutton from Lansing (Everett) MI. 

A lot of people are still tyring to figure out how the Atlanta Celtics, which featured 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Powder Springs (McEachern) GA, 6'11 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'6 Jr Dwayne Day from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA, 6'0 Maureece Rice from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'9 Osmane Kanate from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'4 Frosh Javaris Crittenton from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, and 6'3 Jr Montavious Waters from Albany (Westover) GA, lost in the championship game at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC.   However, that's exactly what happened, as Pump N' Run, which featured 6'2 Jr Jordan Farmer from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'4 Jr Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'6 Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA, and 6'0 Enrico Tucker from San Diego (University) CA, not only was not intimidated by all the size and talent that the Atlanta Celtics possess, but they took it right to Celtics as they coasted to a 94-86 victory in the championship game.  "Actually it was a rout," says our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whithead, who was the only one on our staff who stuck it out until the bitter end.  "The Celtics did make it respectable in the end, but Pump N' Run shot well from the perimeter and exploited the Celtics' guards in defensive transition, as they fast breaked them to death."  Dudley was the 8th leading scorer in the tournament with 23. 8 ppg, Taylor used his used his athleticism to get to the basket and his textbook 3-point shot to beat his man from beyond the arc, and Farmer was Whitehead's favorite player in the entire tournament.  "Farmer needs to get bigger and stronger physically, but he plays with great energy, has incredible lift, great ball handling skills, the ability to get by anybody and finish, great court awareness, an excellent outside shot, and was the catalyst who made this team go.  So naturally Farmer took home tournament MVP honors.  Taylor and Dudley were also named to the all-tournament team, along with Howard, Smith, 6'0 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'5 Jr Earl "J.R." Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'1 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY, 6'3 Soph Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'7 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (LSU Lab) LA, 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 5'11 Jr Sean Singletary from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'2 Soph Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 6'6 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6'10 Jr Cedric Simmons from Shallote (West Brunswick) NC, 6'7 Jr Corey Brewer from Portland (H.S.) TN, 6'2 Jr Tyree Evans from Richmond (George Wythe) VA, 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'6 Jr Cameron Stanley from Raleigh (Millbrook) NC, 6'5 Jr Brian Laing from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'1 Sylvester Mayes from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN, 6'2 Robert McIver from New Haven (Hillhouse) CT, 6'3 Jr Toney Douglas from Jonesboro (H.S.) GA, 6'2 Jr Chris Lofton from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 6'7 Jr Deron Washington from Ft. Washington (National Christian) DC, 6'2 Jr Ronald Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, 6'5 Jr Draelon Burns from Milwaukee (Custer) WI, 6'4 Jr Bilal Benn from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, 6'1 Jr Troy Mathis from Laurinburg (Charter) NC, 6'5 Jr Anthony Morrow from Charlotte (Latin) NC, 6'2 Jr Dan Harkins from Portage (H.S.) WI, and 6'2 Jr Nolan Richardson IV from Tulsa (Central) OK.  And while the all-tournament team appears to include just about everybody and his brother, there is one glaring omissions and several other omissions that we would not have made, if we's been picking the 34-man all tournament team.  As a matter of fact, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, who is ranked #10 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, was our #2-ranked player based on performance in the entire tournament.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that Bob Gibbons himself introduced Williams at his 1:30 PM press conference on Satruday afternoon, which is when Williams verbally committed to the University of Texas.  We're also still trying to figure out how 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'6 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurst) IN, 6'3 Ramel Bradley from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'3 Jr JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC, and 6'7 Jr Lamar Robinson from Baton Rouge (Christian Life) LA were left off the all-tournament team, as well as why 6'10 Jr Joakim Noah from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ was named the MVP in the Select Division Tournament, which was the tournament where the second place teams advanced to after play pool.  The best player on the team easily was 6'1 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY and 6'6 Rahshon Clark from Far Rockaway (H.S.) NY, who will be attending prep school next year at North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, also received consideration for our top 40 list, which can be found below.  Speaking of that list, the consensus top player in the tournament by those on our staff, which included our Whitehead, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, and myself, Clark Francis, who were in attendance was 6'0 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY.  Williams was second, followed in order by 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'8 Jr Glen Davis from Baton (LSU Lab) LA, 6'5 Jr Earl "J.R." Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Powder Springs (McEachern) GA, 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA, 6'2 Jr Jordan Farmer from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, and 6'1 Sylvester Mayes from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN.  The second 10 in order includes 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, 6'2 Robert McIver from New Haven (Hillhouse) CT, 6'1 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (H.S.) NY, 6'10 Jr Cedric Simmons from Shallote (West Brunswick) NC, 6'3 Soph Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'2 Soph Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, and 6'4 Jr Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA.   The third in order includes 6'6 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurst) IN, 6'3 Ramel Bradley from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'3 Jr JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC, 6'7 Jr Lamar Robinson from Baton Rouge (Christian Life) LA, 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'2 Jr Chris Lofton from Maysville (Mason County) KY, 6'5 Jr Dave McClure from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'6 Jr Roy Bright from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, and 6'2 Jr Ronald Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, and 5'11 Jr Sean Singletary from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA.  The fourth 10 in order includes 6'6 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6'11 Jr Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI, 6'7 Jr Deron Washington from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 6'7 Jr Shane Foster from Kenner (Bonnabel) LA, 6'3 Jr Tasheed Carr from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC,  6'2 Jr Darius Nichols from Radford (H.S.) VA, 6'6 Jr Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, 6'6 Jr Shane Clark from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 6'5 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Nottingham) MD, and 6'2 Jr Jamar Butler from Lima (Shawnee) OH.  We also need to make a special note that there were some teams that none of us got a chance to see and, as a result, some players, like 6'3 Jr Toney Douglas from Jonesboro (H.S.) GA, 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'2 Jr Tyree Evans from Richmond (George Wythe) VA, 6'10 Jr Mohamed Tangara from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'1 Jr Troy Mathis from Laurinburg (Charter) NC, and 6'5 Jr Brian Laing from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, were not considered for the above list.  The two biggest disappointments in the tournament were 6'9 Shawn James from Brooklyn (Redirection) NY and 6'9 Jr Walter Sharpe from Birmingham (Parker) AL.  James does have long arms and can block shots, but his offensive game is almost none existent and he didn't get much done at either end of the court.   In other words, to mention James in the same breath with 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA and 6'1 Sylvester Mays from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN, both of whom have come out of the woodwork this spring and have emerged into two of the top seniors nationally, is a joke.  Sharpe is a good player, but anybody who mentions him in the same breath, which had been done this spring, with 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL and 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL needs to find a new line of work.  The leading scorers in the 17-Under Division are as follows:  1) 6'5 Jr Earl "J.R." Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ with 31.0 ppg, 2) 6'2 Soph Greg Paulus from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY with 26.7 ppg, 3) 6'1 Jr Josh Wright from Utica (Proctor) NY with 25.0 ppg, 4) 6'1 Jr Troy Mathis from Laurinburg (Charter) NC with 24.8 ppg, 5) 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA with 24.7 ppg, 5) 6'2 Robert McIver from New Haven (Hillhouse) CT with 24.7 ppg, 7) 6'1 Sylvester Mayes from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN, 8) 6'6 Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA, 9) 6'2 Jr Tyree Evans from Richmond (George Wythe) VA with 23.3 ppg 10) 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL with 22.0 ppg, 11) 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA with 21.8 ppg, 12) 6'7 Jr Lamar Robinson from Baton Rouge (Christian Life) LA with 21.7 ppg, 12) 6'3 Jr Tyler Wolfe from Cedar Springs (H.S.) MI with 21.7 ppg, 12) 6'2 Jr Dan Harkins from Portage (H.S.) WI with 21.7 ppg, and 12) 6'2 Jr Chris Lofton from Maysville (Mason County) KY with 21.7 ppg.  We did not get a chance to see a lot of the 15-Under and 16-Under Divisions, but what we did get to see was terrific.  Let's start with the 15-Under Division, which was won by the Boo Williams team that featured 6'8 Frosh Vernon Macklin from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, who is our #2-ranked freshman in nationally.  If you will recall, this is the guy we told you after first seeing him last summer at the 14-Under National AAU Tournament in Orlando, FL was one of the most athleticially gifted freshmen at his size that we've ever seen.  Macklin also has a great feel for the game, plays with incredible intensity for somebody so big and so young, and his skills are dramatically improved.  So it should come as no surprise that Macklin took home tournament MVP honors and that this Boo Williams team is undefeated so far this spring.  Macklin also has plenty to go with him, as 6'3 Frosh Ben Fenney from Portsmouth (Norcom) VA, 6'2 Frosh Stephan Welsh from Newport News (Woodside) VA, 6'1 Soph Calvin Baker from Hampton (Phoebus) VA, 6'4 Soph Lew Radford from Newport News (Heritage) VA, 6'7 Frosh Damein Harris from Newport News (Heritage) VA, and 6'5 Frosh Marvell Powell from Hampton (Warwick) VA all thrive in transition.  As a matter of fact, several scouts who were watching the same game, liked Powell just as well as Macklin.  In other words, we're talking about a multi-dimensional athlete with a great inside/outside game that includes great moves to the basket, a nice looking 3-point shot, and the ability to rebound, handle, and pass extremely well for somebody his size.  The Boo Williams team was matched up against the Atlanta Celtics Black, which means their 8th grade team was playing in the 9th Grade Division.  The most intriguing player on the team was 6'8, 240 lbs. 8th Grader Martavius Adams from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA, but 6'5 8th Grader Alex Moorman from Savannah (Day) GA was the leading scorer with 14 points, 6'2 8th Grader Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA is the best athlete, and 5'10 8th Grader Adam Callaway from Mableton (Pebblebrook) GA is the point guard who makes them go.  The all-tournament team in the 15-Under Division included Macklin, Welsh, Radford, 6'7 Frosh Terrel Williams from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'0 Frosh Nick Vier from Oradell (Bergan Catholic) NJ, 6'3 Soph Doneal Mack from Charlotte (Independence) NC, 6'6 Frosh Demetrius Jemison from Birmingham (Huffman) AL, 6'0 8th Grader Jamelle McMillan from Seattle (University Prep) WA, 6'6 Frosh Irshad Martin from Winston-Salem (Forsyth Country Day) NC, 6'1 Frosh Lance Jeter from Beaver Falls (H.S.) PA, and 6'1 8th Grader Nolan Smith from Washington (St. John's) DC, who is ranked as the #2 8th Grader in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.   Smith also finished tied with 6'5 Frosh An'Juan Wilderness from Atlanta (Dunwoody) GA as the 4th leading scorer with 16.0 ppg.  Also ranked among the top 10 in scoring in the 15-Under Division ahead of Smith and Wilderness were Mack with 25.0 ppg, Martin with 18.5 ppg, and McMillan with 17.7 ppg and behind Smith and Wilderness were 6'6 8th Grader Mike Beasley from Laurinburg (Institute) NC with 15.3 ppg, Jeter with 14.6 ppg, Macklin with 14.6 ppg, 6'0 Frosh Taurus Dortch from Birmingham (Ramsay) AL with 14.0 ppg, and 5'8 8th Grader Brock Young from Raleigh (Daniels Middle School) NC.  We also very impressed by the Illinois Wolves, which went onto win the championship in the 16-Under Division.  Not only does this team feature an incredible backcourt with 6'1 Soph Bryan Mullins from Downers Grove (H.S.) IL and 6'3 Soph Bobby Frasur from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, but 6'3 Soph Sean Odfic from Skokie (Niles West) IL is a lights out 3-point shooter on the perimeter and 6'7 Soph Mike Davis from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL and 6'5 Frosh Peter Flowers from Oak Park (Fenwick) IL are excellent inside.  Mullins was the named the tournament MVP, but we like Frasur's upside a lot better.  Not only are we talking about a legitimate top 50 sophomore in the nation, but Frasur reminds in many ways of Syracuse's Gerry McNamara.  In other words, Frasur is a tough hardnosed white kid with good handling and passing skills, excellent 3-point shooting range, and surprising athleticism.  However, the player who impressed us the most in the 16-Under Division was 6'3 Soph Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, who is ranked #3 nationally in the sophmore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  But that's too low, because Williams is a big time athlete with great skills and he can already do it all!  Which means 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA suddenly has serious competition for top player honors in the Class of 2005.  We also were impressed by all the good young players that Miami Tropics have in 6'1 Frosh Josue Soto from Puerto Rico, 6'4 Soph David Huerta from Puerto Rico, 6'5 Soph Sammy Hernandez from Miami (Christian) FL, 6'3 Soph Brian Hoff from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, and 6'4 Soph Felix Gonzalez from Miami (Champagnat) FL, plus we got our first look ever at 7'2 Frosh Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL.   And Bennett is a lot better than we expected, because he's got good hands, excellent skills, good coordination for a   young big man his size.  In other words, the sky's the limit!  Soto is a savvy, smart, quick point guard who is mature beyond his years.  Huerta is a big time athlete with an incredible wing span and a nice looking 3-point shot.  Hernandez is a tremendous rebounder.  Gonzalez and Hoff are both excellent 3-point shooters.  Mullins, Frasur, Davis, Williams, Soto, Huerta, 6'3 Soph Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'1 Soph Andrew Pusar from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'8 Soph Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'4 Soph Jason Deutchman from Santa Monica (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Soph Kevin Swinton from Greensboro (Dudley) NC, 6'8 Soph Obi Ikeakor from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'4 Soph Travis Sikes from Nashville (Christ Presbyterian Academy) TN, 6'2 Jr Ruell Pringle from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, 6'9 Soph Charles Jackson from Buena Vista (Tri County) GA,  6'4 Jr Jason Black from Martin (Westview) TN, 6'5 Soph Reginald Delk from Jackson (Northside) TN, 5'10 Soph Carl Sims from Waco (H.S.) TX, and 6'3 Soph Craig Austrie from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT.  The leading scorers in the 16-Under Division were Deutchman with 22.3 ppg, Sikes with 21.5 ppg, Swinton with 20.0 ppg, Pringle with 19.5 ppg, Jackson with 19.3 ppg, Williams with 18.3 ppg, and Frasur with 17.7 ppg.     

Saturday, May 24, 2003, & Sunday, May 25, 2003

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that the rumors about Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown planning to call it quicks this spring are true.  And assuming this is correct, the leading candidate to replace Brown appears to be Portland Trailblazers head coach Maurice Cheeks.  If you will recall, Cheeks was an All-Star point guard with the 76ers, plus now appears to be the perfect time for Cheeks get out Portland, especially after Trailblazers General Manager Bob Whitsit was recently forced out.   However, Cheeks may not want to deal with Allen Iverson, which means the heir apparent to Brown may still be University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith.  Our guess is that Smith would jump at a chance to take the job, if the money is right.  Remember, Smith recently signed an eight-year $20-plus million deal with Kentucky, but next year promises to be a rebuilding year, unless the Wildcats can overcome their lack of size inside.  Naclerio also tells us that Brown may become the next general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers and, if that happens, our sources tell us that Brown will likely hire Memphis' John Calipari to coach the team.  This makes sense, because Calipari  previously worked for Brown as an assistant coach for the 76ers prior to taking over as the head coach of the Tigers three years ago.  And, if all this falls into place, the perfect candidate to replace Calipari at Memphis would be Indiana University head coach Mike Davis.  However, the way things appear to be working out for Davis at Indiana, we'd be surprised if he goes anywhere in the immediate future.  In other words, don't be surprised when 6'9 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who recently was released from his National Letter-of-Intent by Duke, ends up at Indiana next fall, plus it appears that the Hoosiers are already well on their way towards landing one of the top recruiting classes in the nation in the Class of 2004.  As a matter of fact, 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN pulled a major surprise after his team was eliminated in the NIKE Memorial Day Classic this weekend in Bloomington, IN, when he verbally committed to Indiana earlier this evening  This moves Indiana's recruiting class into a tie at #15, along with UCLA and N.C. State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004 and we think it's only a matter of time before Indiana also gets 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillside) AL, despite the fact that White also still has North Carolina, Florida State, Mississippi State, and Alabama on his list.  We also believe that Indiana is among the final two, along with Oregon, for 6'4 Jr Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, they appear to be one of the top three, along with Georgia Tech and Duke, for 6'11 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Atlanta Southwesst Christian) GA, and they were the first school mentioned by 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Powder Springs (McEachern) GA when we talked to him  yesterday at the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC.  So, if all this falls into place, the Hoosiers will have a recruiting class that would be ranked #1 in the nation on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  And that's saying a lot, because Texas' recruiting class already is pretty sensational, especially after 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, who is ranked #10 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, as expected, joined a recruiting class yesterday that already includes 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, and 6'10 Jr Conner Atchley from Clear Lake (H.S.) TX. Getting back to Vaden's verbal commitment to Indiana, it also appears that Purdue has found somebody to replace Vaden, who originally committed to the Boilermakers prior to the start of his freshman season two years ago, but recently reneged on that commitment.  The commitment to Purdue that we're talking about was made on Friday by 6'4 Jr Xavier Price from O'Fallon (H.S.) IL.  We also have confirmed that 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ has signed with Syracuse, which means the Orangemen's recruiting class moves into a tie at #12, along with Kansas, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, these two recruiting classes may not remain tied for very long, because Naclerio also is telling us that he has a source who believes that 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NY has not signed with an agent and, instead, is planning on taking his name out of the NBA Draft and going to Kansas, which would move the Jayhawks recruiting class up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003. 

Friday, May 23, 2003

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio attended the IS8 Playoff games earlier this week and he provides us with the award winners, all-tournament teams, and the results from the three make-up games that were played due to the fact 6'8 Sean James from Brooklyn (Redirection) NY, who competed the first time around, will be 20-years old on September 10th (IS8 rules prohibit players from playing, if they turn 20 before the end-of-the-year).  In the make-up quarterfinals game, which was played on Tuesday, May 20th, the Long Island Panthers B Team was down by as many as 20 points in the first half to the Future Stars, which is New York Riverside Church's younger team.  But thanks to the efforts of 6'5 Soph Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY and 6'2 Soph Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, who combined for 44 points, the Panthers B Team cut the led to four points with two minutes remaining.  However, that was as close as they were going to get, as Future Stars, which were led by 6'2 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY with 21 points and 6'7 Jr Arturo Dubois from New York (Rice) NY with 20 points, prevailed, 82-71.  Future Stars also pulled it out against Starrett City, 85-84, in a double overtime thriller in the make-up semi-finals game on Wednesday, May 21st.  Price once again was the leading scorer with 30 points, but he missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer that would have won it in regulation.  Price was complemented by 6'8 Soph Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco) NJ with 20 points and 6'9 Frosh Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ with 17 points.  Starrett City got a spectacular performance from 6'1 Kiamondre Owes from Bronx (Cardinal Hayes) NY, who also finished with 30 points, but to-date does not have one Division I scholarship offer, despite the fact he is reported to be academically qualified.  6'9 Chris Taft chipped in with 20 points and 6'4 Soph Saiquan Stone from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY hit the game tying shot to send the game into the second overtime.  The make-up championship game, which was last night, was equally good as the New York Gauchos were down to the Future Stars by five points with 52 seconds remaining, but pulled it out 81-80, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by 6'1 Jr Ronald Ramone from Bronx (All Hallows) NY and 6'1 Jr Sundiata Gaines from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, who actually in hit the game winning shot with only four second left, in the final minute.  The leading scorers for Future Stars were 6'4 Wes Matthews from Valley Stream (H.S.) NY with 18 points and Price with 16 points, but also noteworthy is fact that this started out as Caracter's best game of the entire tournament, as he had 11 of his 15 points before he picked up three quick fouls late in the first quarter.  Caracter also finished with 12 rebounds and three blocks, but did not win any awards or make the all-tournament team.  Instead, the Most Valuable Player in the Playoffs was 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, the Sportsmanship Award went to Price, and the Player-of-the-Year, who is the guy who gets a 30-inch color television, was Gaines.   Gaines also was the leading scorer for the tournament with 35.3 ppg.  The First Team All-Tournament Team included Taft, 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, 6'6 Frosh Jon Mitchell from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, and 6'5 Kenny Jones from Babylon (H.S.) NY.  The Second Team All-Tournament Team included Robinson, Owes, Price, 5'11 Ed Barrios Bronx (Theodore Roosevelt) NY, and 5'10 Richard Forbes from Far Rockaway (H.S.) NY, who finished as the second leading scorer in the tournament with 35.0 ppg.  The Third Team All-Tournament Team included Ramone, 6'2 Jr Keith Benjamin from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'6 Rashon Clarke from Far Rockaway (Beach Channel) NY, 5'9 Jr Chris Noel from New York (Wadleigh) NY, and 6'0 Zarrett Rogers.   Naclerio also tells us that if 6'8 Shawn James from Brooklyn (Redirection) NY had not been disqualified, he would have been named to the Second Team All-Tournament Team.  Speaking of James, he is one of three players, along with 6'1 Sylvester Mays from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN and 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, who have come out of the woodwork and established themselves as one of the top players in the nation in their respective classes (Mays and Wright are both seniors and James is already a 5th year player).  Unfortunately none of them have the grades necessary to be eligible to play as a college freshman next year at the Division I level and, as a result, junior college appear to be in Mays' future, Wright is expected to go the prep school route, and the word we're getting right now is that James will enroll at Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL next fall. 

Thursday, May 22, 2003

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that it looks like the well-traveled 6'9 Julian Sensley from L.A. City (JC) CA is finally going home.  If you will recall, Sensley started his high school career at Kailua (Kalaheo) HI, played AAU ball for the L.A. Rockfish club team, attended prep school at Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, and attended or planned to attend Diablo Valley (JC) CA, Southern Nevada (JC) NV, L.A. City (JC) CA, the University of California, Iona, Fresno State, and San Francisco.  However, now it looks like he's going to get out of his National Letter-of-Intent with the Dons, because he's still not eligible to play at a Division I school.  Instead, it appears that Sensley will enroll at the University of Hawaii, where he plans to take the necessary classes and, hopefully, become eligible in the fall or winter.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that Sensley still has three years of college eligibility remaining and is potentially the best player Rainbows head coach Riley Wallace has ever signed.  Remember, Sensley was ranked #24 in our final rankings of the Class of 2000 and #2 among prep school players by the HOOP SCOOP in the Class 2001.  Sensley is versatile enough to play both inside and outside.  In other words, we're talking about a physical specimen who is unstoppable around the basket, as well as somebody who is athletic enough and a good enough ball handler and 3-pointer shooter to make a living out on the perimeter.  And Sensley isn't the only players that Wallace has added to the three players - 6'6 Bobby Nash from Honolulu (Iolani) HI, 6'2 Logan Lee from South Plains (JC) TX, and 6'8 Jeff Blackett from Salt Lake City (JC) UT - that Hawaii landed last fall.  Did you know that the Rainbows also recently landed 6'4 Jake Sattos from Southeastern (JC) IA?  Not only does this move Hawaii's recruiting class up to #27 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but it's the first time in recent years that the Rainbows have not signed any international players.  That's probably because former Hawaii assistant Scott Rigot is now at Kentucky and he kept his streak of landing at least one international player in a year alive this spring when the Wildcats added 7'2 Lubasz Obrzut from Poland via North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME.  Instead, Johnson notes that it appears that Hawaii is keeping the top players at home, as is evident by the fact that Sensley is returning and Nash elected to signed with the Rainbows last fall.  Further evidence of this trend will come if the Rainbows also can get 6'2 Jr Derrick Low from Honolulu (Iolani School) HI, who is ranked #115 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, in next year's recruiting class.  But, regardless of what Low does next year, the Western Athletic Conference has cleaned up this year, as Louisiana Tech's class is ranked #6, UTEP's class is tied at #13, Hawaii's class is #27, and Tulsa's class is tied at #60 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Johnson also tells us that Georgetown has added another recruit in 6'8 Sead Pizdarevic from Sacramento (Capital) CA and, as a result, the Hoyas' recruiting class, which also includes 6'10 Darian Townes from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 7'0 Reh Rahamini from Daytona Beach (JC) FL, 5'11 Matt Causey from Gainesville (East Hall) GA, and 6''0 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, moves into a tie at #46 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  We also have confirmed that 6'1 Anthony Harris from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL has signed with Miami-FL, so their recruiting class moves back into a tie with Oklahoma at #3.  If you will recall, Miami-FL already has signed 6'9 Lenard Harden from Garden City (JC) KS, 6'6 Eliiah Clark from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'1 Guillermo Diaz from Miami (Christian) FL, and 6'8 Anthony King from Durham (Southern Durham) NC, plus their commitment from 6'3 Vincent Banks from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA is firm, although they plan to stash him next year in prep school.  However, for our purposes Banks still counts and they appear to be able to sign on more, because they are being giving back a scholarship they lost several years ago.  And, if that happens, the Hurricanes could end up with the #1-ranked recruiting class in the nation.  It also appears that Evansville has another player in the fold in 6'7 Bradley Strickland from Atlanta (DeKalb-Lakeside) GA  and, as a result, the Aces recruiting class moves into a tie at #93 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And it would move even higher, into a tie at #66, along with George Mason, Saint Louis, and Eastern Kentucky, if we also counted transfers when ranking recruiting classes.  Remember, earlier this spring Tyler Best, decided to transfer from Charlotte to Evansville.

The Memorial Day weekend is one of the biggest basketball weekends of the entire year and I plan on being at the top two events - the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on Friday, May 23rd, and Saturday, May 24th and the NIKE Memorial Day Classic in Bloomington, IN, on Sunday, May 25th, and Monday, May 26th.  Also helping me cover the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, which will be held from Friday, May 23rd-Sunday, May 25th, will be our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin and our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead.  And our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson will be at the NIKE Memorial Day Classic, which will be Saturday, May 24th-Monday, 26th, the entire time.  Let's first take a closer look at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, which will include 64 teams in the 17-Under National Tournament with 16 pool winners advancing into the National Playoffs and 16 second place teams in each pool advancing to the Select Playoffs.  Pool #1 has The Playaz, Houston Westside, KC Pump N' Run, and Middlesex Magic; Pool #2 has Ft. Sooy-No Limit, Squires Richmond, Randolph Boys Club, and the Hoopsters, SC; Pool #3 has Belmont Shore, CA, Michigan Hurricanes, Minnesota Magic, and Milwaukee Run. Rebels; Pool #4 has Southeast Pump N' Run, Illinois Wolves, Houston Superstars, and Hunting Park, PA; Pool #5 has the Long Island Panthers, Florida Hoopsters, Georgia Elite, and L.A. Sports Academy; Pool #6 has North Carolina Gators, Juice All-Stars, NY, Tennessee Travelers, and Beach Ball Select; Pool #7 has the Southern California All-Stars, Georgia Stars, First Class (IL), and Charlotte Aces; Pool #8 has Cleveland Basketball, Arkansas Hawks, Colorado Pump N' Run, and West Virginia Select; Pool #9 has Raleigh's Finest, New York Ravens, Rise & Shine, MS, and Lynchburg Hoops; Pool #10 has Pump N' Run (CA), New Orleans Jazz, Grand Rapids Storm, and Westchester Hawks (NY); Pool #11 has Philly MJC, Derek Smith All-Stars, Alabama Challenge, and Tulsa Jr Hurricanes; Pools #12 has the Michigan Mustangs, Syracuse/Rochester RAP, Utah Bruins, and North Greenville, SC; Pool #13 has Blessed IJN (IN), DC Assault, Connecticut Flame, and Garner Road Red; Pool #14 has the Magnolia Stars (MS), Kappa Magic, East Coast Eagles, and Team Disciples (NC); Pool #15 has Cecil Kirk (MD), Houston Select, Team Richmond, and Alabama Blue Chips; and Pool #16 has the Atlanta Celtics, Illinois Fire, Baltimore Select, and Coastal Pops (MA).   Obviously the 17-Under Division is absolutely loaded and, as a result, we will attempt to see as many teams and part of as many games as we can.  In other words, we plan to remain at the UNC-Dean E. Smith Center most of the time.  The 16-Under Division will include 32 Teams in the National Tournament, with eight pool winners advancing to the 16-Under National Quarterfinals.  Pool A has the Miami Tropics, Derek Smith All-Stars, Illinois Wolves, and Team Minnesota; Pool B has the Virginia Heat, Michigan Hurricanes, Tennessee Travelers, and Connecticut Flame; Pool C has the Georgia Stars, Michigan Mustangs, Jersey City Heat, and East Coast B-Ball; Pool D has DC Team Assault, KC Pump N' Run, Houston Superstars, and Mid-State Ballersz Elite; Pool E has Tennessee Thunder, Team Richmond, Grand Rapids Storm, and Pittsburgh Jots; Pool F has The Playaz, Southeast Pump N' Run, Georgia Hawks, and Cleveland Basketball; Pool G has North Carolina Gators, Belmont Shore (CA), Charlotteville (VA), and Fastbreak USA (FL); and Pool H has the Atlanta Celtics, Houston Select, Charlotte Stars United, and Warriors Elite (NC).  The 15-Under Division will include 16 Teams in the National Tournament, with four pool winners advancing to the 15-Under National Semifinals.  Pool A has Boo Williams Blue, DC Assault, Team Heat (NC), and the Atlanta Celtics Black; Pool B has Birmingham Raptors, Seattle Team Yes, Tennessee Travelers, and North Carolina Gators; Pool C has Rise & Shine (MS), Charlotte Royals, Atlanta Celtics Gold, and Pittsburgh Jots; and Pool D has the Georgia Stars, The Playaz, Cleveland Basketball, and Garner Road.   For more information and the complete tournament schedule, click on Bob Gibbons All Star Sports.  The NIKE Memorial Day Classic will include 32 teams in the Senior or 17-Under Division (can't turn 18 before September 1, 2003) and each team is guaranteed three games in pool play and at least one game in the playoffs.  Pool A has the Jackson Tigers, Louisiana Select, Howard Pulley Blue, and Athletes First; Pool B has the New York Gauchos, Tallahassee Wildcats, Indiana White, and Alabama Lasers; Pool C has California Team Select, Albany City Rocks, Charlotte Royals, Kentucky Hoostars #2; Pool D has New York Riverside Church, Baltimore Blue, Martin Brothers Select, and the South Carolina Ravens; Pool E has DC Blue Devils, Boo Williams, Coast to Coast, and Team Oregon; Pool F has the Illinois Warriors, Memphis Y.O.M.C.A., Houston Hoops, and Arizona Stars; Pool G has Team Texas, Indiana Red, Howard Pulley White, and The Family; and Pool H has the St. Louis Eagles, Team Florida, Wisconsin Playground Warriors, and Kentucky Hoopstars #1.  While the 17-Under Division at the NIKE Memorial Day Classic has only half  as many teams as the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, it too should be absolutely loaded in terms of the quality of talent per team.  The Junior Division will include 24 teams in the 16-Under Division (can't turn 17 before September 1, 2003) and each team is guaranteed three games in pool play and at least one game in the playoffs.  Pool A has Howard Pulley White, St. Louis Eagles, Alabama Lasers, and New York Gauchos; Pool B has Indiana Red, Kentuckyt Hoopstars Jr's, Martin Brothers Select, and Common Bond Ann Arbor; Pool C has EBA Hoops, Cal Team Select, Wisconsin Playground Warriors, and Illinois Warriors; Pool D has Howard Pulley Blue, Mean Streets, The Family, and South Carolina Ravens; Pool E has MBA, Indiana Heat, Arizona Stars #1, and Team Texas; and Pool F has New York Riverside Church, DC Blue Devils, Portland Elite Legends, and Southpoint Shooters.  The Sophomore Division will include 16 teams in the 15-Under Division (can't turn 16 before September 1, 2003) and each team is guaranteed three games in pool play and at least one game in the playoffs.  Pool A has Indiana Red, Arkansas Wings (Cooper), Common Bond, and Evansville; Pool B has Memphis Y.O.M.C.A., Northwest Arkansas Raptors, MBA (Barnett), and Arizona Stars; Pool C has the Illinois Warriors, Kentucky Hoopsters, St. Louis Eagles, and Arkansas Wings; and Pool D has The Family, Howard Pulley, DC Stars, and MBA.  For more information and the complete tournament schedule, click on HoopsFuture.com.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

We have confirmed that 6'4 Jordan Howell from Madison (Jones) AL has picked Tennessee over Alabama, Auburn, and Vanderbilt and this important for several reasons.  First, it shows that the Volunteers are able to go into Alabama and get a player that both Auburn and Alabama wanted.  Second, Howell is versatile enough to play either guard spot.  Third, the addition of Howell will give the Volunteers incredible depth in the back-court for at least the next three years.  Remember, 6'2 Frosh C.J. Watson, who averaged 9.1 ppg and 5.5 apg as the starting point guard this past season; 6'5 Scooter McFadgon, who was waiting in the wings last year after transferring from Memphis; 6'5 Frosh Stanley Asumnu; 6'3 Frosh John Winchester; 6'4 Dane Bradshaw from Memphis (White Station) TN; and Howell will all be competing for playing time at the one, two, and the three spots  And the Volunteers will also be extremely young inside, as 6'8 Soph Elgrace Wilborn and 6'10 Major Wingate from Suwanee (Gwinnette) GA battle for the spot along side of 6'10 Soph Brandon Crump, while 7'0 Frosh Justin Herndon and 6'8 Jermere Hendrix, who sat out this year after transferring from Clemson, should provide valuable depth.  As a matter of fact, this entire group will get not one, but two full seasons together, plus the Volunteers also plan to add another wing player, like 6'7 Jr Corey Brewer from Portland (H.S.) TN, 6'7 Jr Shawne Williams from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, 6'9 Jerrell Houston from Memphis (East) TN, or 6'6 Lorenzo Wade from Las Vegas (Cheyenne) NV, who is expected to go the prep school route next year, and another inside player, like 6'9 Jr Damien Harris from Greenville (Hampton) SC, 6'9 Jr Ra'Sean Dickey from Bennettsville (Marlboro County) SC, and 6'8 Jr Juan Diego Palacios from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, in next year's recruiting class.  In the other words, the Volunteers were 17-11 overall and 9-7 in the Southeastern Conferene a year ago, but they should continue to show steady improvement during each of the next three years.  And the icing on the cake would be for the Volunteers to follow all this up with 6'6 Soph Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN, who is ranked as the #6 sophomore in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP and promises to be one of the best players ever from the state.  And Jordan Howell isn't the only player in the family who intends to change schools this spring.  As a matter of fact, we hear that it just about a done deal for 6'1 Brett Howell, who is transferring from William & Mary after averaging 5.0 ppg and starting half the season.  Believe it or not, it appears that the older brother plans to go to Auburn as a walk-on.  We also understand via our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis that it is only a matter of time before 6'9 Jr Robert Dozier from Lithonia (H.S.) GA, who made an official visit to Memphis last weekend, makes it official for the Tigers.  However, once schools like Georgia, Clemson, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida State, and Auburn find this out, you can bet they will start turning up the heat.  We also find it interesting that 6'1 Tony Bethel, who is transferring from Georgetown after starting nearly every game the last two seasons and averaging in double-digits both seasons, is going to N.C. State.  Apparently a bird-in-the-hand is worth two-in-the-bush, because, while Bethel is not a great player, he is good enough to make some of the top point guards in the class, like 5'11 Jr Sean Singletary from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, 6'3 Jr Marquis Cooke from Sulfolk (Nansemond River) VA, 6'4 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'2 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, and 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, think twice about going to N.C. State.   Our guess is that N.C. State will continue to recruit all of these guys, because Bethel can also play the 2-guard spot, as is evident by the fact he started all season at the off-guard spot as freshman at Georgetown year before last).  However, at the same time, we hear they will concentrate on landing an athletic wing forward to complement 6'9 Jr Cedric Simmons from Shallotte (West Brunswick) NC.  If you will recall, N.C. State stole Simmons, who is ranked #31 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, last fall. 

It appears that the College of Charleston has stolen one in 6'8 Josh Jackson from Aiken (South Aiken) SC.  Not only are we talking about the MVP in the North Carolina-South Carolina All-Star Game, but at 6'8, 255 lbs., Jackson is a force on the boards and tough to stop offensively inside.  But like the other major sleepers - 6'7 Shawn James from Brooklyn (Redirection) NY, 6'1 Sylvester Mays from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN and 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA - who have come out of the woodwork this spring, it appears that Jackson doesn't have the grades necessary to get into a four-year Division I school next year and, as a result, prep school appears to be in his future.  However, this still moves the College of Charleston's recruiting class into a tie at #80, along with East Carolina, Butler, Manhattan, New Orleans, and New Mexico State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  If you will recall, the Cougars also signed 5'11 Dontaye Draper from Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY, 6'9 Jeff Horowitz from Charlotte (North Mecklenburg) NC, and 6'7 Jabyron Wilson from Lake City (H.S.) SC last fall.  The College of Charleston also has Robert Swaim, who transferred a year ago from Connecticut, sitting out and they may add another transfer this spring, like Jermaine Harper, who is transferring from Virginia.   But none of these guys is expected to be College of Charleston head coach Tommy Herrion's best recruit.  It's not done yet, but the word on the street is that former William & Mary assistant coach Patrick Skerry will likely be hired by Herrion at the College of Charleston sometime within the next week or two.  If you will recall, Skerry, who is ranked as the #2 assistant coach at the lower Division I level by the HOOP SCOOP, did not get the William & Mary job and, as a result, is currently looking for a job.  We also have heard Bryant College head coach Max Good, Long Beach State assistant coach Reggie Warford, former North Carolina assistant coach Fred Quartlebaum, Army assistant coach Mark Sembrowich, Utah assistant coach Silvey Dominguez, Kansas State assistant coach Charles Baker, and Iowa State assistant coach Bob Sundvold all mentioned as potential candidates for Wayne Morgan's new staff at Iowa State.  The smart money now appears to be Wagner assistant coach Jim Meil being the heir apparent to Dereck Whittenburg at Wagner, but the list continues to grow, as former Lamar head coach Mike Deane, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, Seton Hall assistant coach Brian Nash, Missouri-Kansas City associate head coach Ken Dempsey, George Washington assistant coach Steve Pikeill, Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare, Charlotte assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry, Georgetown assistant coach Ronny Thompson, and Siena assistant coach Steve Seymour also are being mentioned.  We thought Mississippi State stashed 6'0 James Parker from Eastern Oklahoma (JC) OK in junior college two years ago, but now it appears that Butler has beaten schools, like Gonzaga, Fresno State, San Francisco, and Massachusetts, for Parker's services and, as a result, their recruiting class moves into a tie at #59, along with Tulsa, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin is now telling us that 6'6 Maurice Maxwell from Philadelphia (Luthern) PA has signed with Massachusetts after all.  If you will recall, Maxwell recently reneged on the Minutemen and was showing interest in Miami-FL and Indiana.  However, Maxwell still has a ways to go, if he wants to break the record held by 6'10 Jr Jermaine Bell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, who has already verbally committed three times and reneged twice on St. John's.  Thanks to the fact that Reggie Tisdale of Indiana Basketball News tipped us off several days ago, we had already had 6'3 Robert Nelson from Elyira (H.S.) OH on our list of Recent Signings & Commitments.  But we didn't mention that this is a major steal for the Aces (we probably were too busy moving Massachusetts' recruiting class up and down on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, due to the fact Maxwell couldn't make up his mind).  And our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson reminds us that this is not the first time that Evansville head coach Steve Merfeld has landed an underrecruited player from this part of Ohio.  If you will recall, Merfeld signed Anthony Stacey, who later became an All Mid-American Conference Player, when he was an assistant coach at Bowling Green in the mid-90's.

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

I did not get a chance to attend the Five-Star Hoop Classic in Boston, MA over the weekend, but the tournament director, Tony Bergeron, tells us that 6'5 Jr Josh Shipp from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA did everything, including take home tournament MVP honors and lead his team to the championship.  Cal Team Select also got strong efforts from 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who impressed everybody with his ball handling skills, athleticism, and outside shooting, and 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA and 6'9 Soph Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, who provided the necessary inside presence.  They beat Playaz Basketball Club, which featured 6'5 Jr J.R. Smith from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'7 Jr Alex Galindo from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'11 Jr Jermaine Bell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, and 6'2 Jr Jamual Warren from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, in the championship and Bergeron thinks Smith has improved more in one year than any other player in the country, which is saying a lot, because he was top 25 player in his class when we first saw him last summer at the adidas ABCD Camp.  "Smith shoots the three with deep range, is an incredible athlete, and plays with passion!" says Bergeron.  In addition to Shipp and Smith, 6'8 Jr Rudy Gay from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD, 6'7 Jr Dayshawn Wright from Syracuse (Fowler) NY, 6'6 Jr Charles Burch from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, and 6'3 Jr Marquis Cooke from Sulfolk (Nansemond River) VA were also named to the All-Tournament Team.  Also in the semi-finals were BABC, which featured Burch, and Hampton Road with Cooke, 6'7 Soph Brian Gilmore from Chesapeake (Great Bridges) VA, and 6'7 Soph Donnie Stith from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA.  Bergeron describes Cooke as a strong point who gets to the rack, Stith as a good rebounder, and athlete, and Gilmore as a savvy and very effective post player.  Gay and 6'9 Jr Jerome Johnson from Potomac (Bullis School) MD, who is described as a "great baseline player and strong finisher," led Cecil Kirk to a 3-0 record in pool play, but they lost by 10 to the Playaz Basketball Club in the quarterfinals.  Also getting beat in the quarterfinals were Abyssinian Church, the Albany City Rocks, and Metro Boston.  The best players for Abyssinian Church were 5'9 Jr C'Ron Lee and 5'9 Kendell Provet.   Lee is small, but he has incredible range, impressive speed, and is an excellent defender.  Provet needs a year of prep school, but is described as "a great on the ball defender, good penetrator, and superior ball handler."  The Albany City Rocks were led by Wright and 5'8 Jr Artavius Fisher from Kingston (H.S.) NY.  "Wright has Elton Brand qualities, is much moved, and has a legit face up game to boot!" says Bergeron.  "Fisher is an incredible shooter.  Keydren "Kiki" Clark (St. Peter's) all over again."  Metro Boston featured 6'1 Michael Vaz from Springfield (Commerce) MA, who was the Player-of-the-Year in both football and basketball in Western Massachusetts last year and is heading to prep school at North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME next year.  Brookwood Elite featured 6'5 Soph Greg Page from Montreal (Lindsay Place) QU and 6'9 Jr Colin Page from Montreal (John Rinnie) QU.  The younger Page is unknown, says Bergeron.  "Shoot the three, drives, and has a chance to be a mid-major player."  The older Page has a wing span of 7-feet, plus he is a great athlete with good timing, the ability to face-up, and big-time potential.  Connecticut Select was led by 6'5 Jr John Lucky from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT, who is best described as a powerful point guard who defends and has a great feel for the game.  Other players who need to mentioned include 6'9 Jr Luke Bonner from Manchester (Trinity) NH, 6'4 Jr Brian Laing from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'2 Soph Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'7 Jr Arturo Dubois from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Soph Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco) NJ, 6'7 Jr Ben Coblyn from Amherst (H.S.) MA, 5'10 Jr Yusuf Abdul-Ali from West Springfield (New Leadership) MA, 6'1 Soph Rodney Pierce from Buffalo (Turner-Carroll) NY, 6'1 Jr Mike Trimboli from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT, 6'2 Frosh Andre Tarver from Bronx (Wings) NY, and 5'9 Frosh Rasheem Jenkins from Bronx (Wings) NY, who had 10 3-pointers versus Metro Boston.  

Just when we thought it was safe to start thinking about putting the finishing touches on our rankings of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who verbally committed to Duke last fall, is suddenly back on the board.  Apparently this was a mutual decision by both the player and the school and, as a result, he has been released from his National Letter-of-Intent.  Obviously this is huge, because Humphries, who appears to be free and clear to go to any Division I school this spring, is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class.  This also could be big for the University of Minnesota, which is in desperate need of an inside player to replace Rick Rickert, who elected to declare hardship and go into the NBA Draft this spring.  However, the word we get is that the Golden Gophers aren't interested, because they don't want to have to deal with Humphries' father, who is one of the most overzealous parents you will ever find.   We've also heard Illinois mentioned, but the smart money appears to be on Indiana, which also is in need of a quality inside player, at least until 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, who is thought to be a near lock for the Hoosiers, arrives in Bloomington, IN a year from now.  Not only would Humphries satisfy this need perfectly, but in Mike Davis' system, he would also have the freedom to step out on the perimeter and make a living off shooting the 3-point shot just like Kirk Haston did two years ago during Davis' first year as the head coach at Indiana.  All this important, because Humphries' father thinks his son is only going to be in college for a year or two.  As a matter of fact, we heard rumors earlier this spring about the possibility of Humphries by-passing college altogether and entering his name into the NBA Draft this spring.  Another player who still has time to take his name out of the NBA Draft this spring is 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ and, if that happens, don't be wouldn't surprise if the Blue Devils jump back into the hunt for Villanueva.  Remember, Villanueva strongly considered the Blue Devils the first time around and his teammate - 6'8 Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ is already signed, sealed, and delivered for the Blue Devils.  It also looks like San Diego State assistant coach Brian Dutcher, who is one of the best recruiters in the business, has struck again, as he already is close to closing the deal on 6'9 Sean Phaler from Villa Park (H.S.) CA.   If you will recall, UCLA head coach Ben Howland decided that Phaler wouldn't fit into his system and late last week advised him to look elsewhere. We also have confirmed that Missouri-Kansas City has landed 6'4 Jamaal Thompson from Lincoln (JC) IL and 6'5 Corey Starks from Chaffey (JC) CA.  Immediately Starks, who is ranked among the top 70 junior college players by the Recruiter's Handbook, becomes the prize of this class, which moves into a tie at #73 on list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and also includes 6'1 Brandon Temple from West Plains (JC) MO, 6'4 Mike English from Kaskaskia (JC) IL, and 6'8 Blake Crawford from Overland Park (Blue Valley North) KS.  It also appears that Clarion University got a major steal recently in 6'3 Khary Moore from Pottstown (Hill School) PA, who is ranked #88 on our list of the top 5th year players.  Add Moore to Clarion's recruiting class, which also includes 5'11 Bobby Franklin from Pittsburgh (Plum) PA, plus throw in several transfers - 6'5 Michael Clarke, who is transferring from Central Connecticut State, and Lee Church, who is transferring from Stony Brook, and it is easy to see why this Division II school in Pennsylvania appears to have cleaned up.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead was at the Ballerz Tournament of Champions in Lexington, TN over the weekend and he tells us that it was loaded outstanding young talent from West Tennessee.  And right at the top of that list were 6'4 Soph Reginald Delk and 6'4 Soph Richard Delk, both from Jackson (Northside) TN and both whom are nephews of former University of Kentucky All-American Tony Delk.  Like most twins, the Delk's complement one another extremely well, as Reginald, who is the better of the two, has range out to 30-feet and can slash to the basket.  Richard is more of a shooter than a slasher, but he also runs the point and distributes the ball.  Other young players that Whitehead wanted to mention include 6'4 Soph J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN, 6'7 Soph Desmond Yates from Somerville (Fayette-Ware) TN, 6'7 Soph Tremaine Snyder from Memphis (Melrose) TN, 6'5 Soph Steven Blair from Memphis (Carver) TN.  Prince is a 6'4 point guard who hands well, but needs to work on his outside shooting.  Yates is an athletic shot blocker/rebounder/finisher.  Synder is a slasher/athlete who thrives in transition.  Blair is a power force and aggressive player inside, but he also has a good mid-range shot. 

We have learned that 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, who is ranked #10 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, will make an official announcement this weekend at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions regarding his college decision.  Right now the final three are Texas, Florida, and Alabama, but the smart money is one Texas and, assuming that we're correct, this would make the Longhorns tough to beat when we compile our final rankings of the top recruiting classes a year from now for the Class of 2004.  As things stand now in our ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, the #2-ranked team, which is USC, would have to sign the equivalent of a top five player nationally in order to just move into a tie with the Longhorns, which already have early verbal commitments from 6'3 Daniel Gibson from Houston (Jones) TX, 6'11 LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX, 6'7 Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, and 6'10 Conner Atchley, from Clear Lake (H.S.) TX.  And, if they get Williams, their lead for the top-ranked recruiting class in the Class of 2004 would become as overwhelming as Secretariat's lead was when he entered the homestretch in the Belmont 30 years ago.  This addition also would give the Longhorns the #1-ranked recruiting class this year ahead of Kansas State on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, Texas' class would drop to #2, if Florida State gets 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD.  As a matter of fact, Texas' only problem is that all five of the scholarships they had available for next year's recruiting class are already taken.  If they had any more scholars, the Lornhorns also probably would get 6'6 Marshall Brown from Austin (Lyndon B. Johnson) TX and they probably would continue to recruit 6'1 Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, despite the fact that's a pretty tail order to fill.  Remember, Texas had already promised Gibson that he will play point guard.  Instead, it appears that Missouri is the favorite for both Brown and Horton.  We also understand that 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL will likely make it official for Alabama when he's at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions this weekend and the word we get is that 6'2 Jr Jordan Farmer from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA is close to making a verbal commitment to Florida.  However, this hasn't happened yet, as UCLA will get a chance to make a strong pitch tomorrow for Farmer on his official visit to Westwood.  But unless something unforeseen happens to change his mind, we think the Gators may get this one done by the end of the week.  Obviously this would be huge for the Gators, because it would give Florida head coach Billy Donovan his second California recruit in a week.  If you will recall, last Thursday the Gators won the sweepstakes for 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA, plus they are one of the favorites for 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, who is expected to go the prep school route and, as a result, will likely be our #1-ranked 5th year player next year.  In other words, all those trips that Donovan, who is as hard a working head coaches in the business, took to the West Coast this spring have paid off, because his current recruiting class is tied with Cincinnati at #15 our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and getting Farmer would give him an early jump on next year, as the Gators would move into a tie with #21, along with Notre Dame, Georgetown, Maryland, Mississippi State, and St. John's, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  And, while this is good news for Florida, it is not good news for the new coaching staff at UCLA, which suddenly is finding it difficult to recruit the top juniors on the West Coast.  It was no surprise when 6'9 Jr Devon Hardin from Newark (Memorial) CA recently picked California, but it would be a surprise if UCLA lost Farmer especially this soon.  It also is almost as surprising that UCLA isn't one of the finalists for some of the other top juniors on the West Coast, like 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'9 Jr Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston (H.S.) WA, 6'4 Jr Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA.  Speaking of Taylor, he suddenly becomes the only junior ranked among Dinos Trigonis' top eight juniors in California who is still available.  Remember, 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacremento (Sheldon) CA has already committed to Duke, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA has already committed to UCLA, 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA have already committed to USC, and Hardin has already committed to California.  We also have confirmed that 6'0 Antonio Haynes from Georgia Perimeter (JC) GA has verbally committed to Western Kentucky and we expect 6'1 Patrick Sparks, who is transferring from Western Kentucky, to make it official for the Wildcats once he completes his official visit to the University of Kentucky today or tomorrow.  It is not the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to include transfers when ranking recruiting classes, but, if we did include Sparks with Kentucky's recruiting class, which is currently tied at #71, along with Stanford and Fresno State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, their class, which also includes 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Sheray Thomas, from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, 6'7 Bobby Perry from Durham (Hillcrest) NC, and 7'2 Lukasz Obrzut from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, would move up to #28.   However, even more important, Sparks would get a chance to learn Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith's system while playing against 6'1 Jr Cliff Hawkins and 6'3 Jr Gerald Fitch everyday in practice, as he sits out next year.  Haynes, who is the second recruit signed by the new coaching staff this spring, is not ranked among the top junior college players in the nation, but he did lead Camilla (Mitchell-Baker) GA to three straight Georgia Class AA championships and he put up impressive numbers last season, as he was ranked #1 in the junior college ranks in both assists (14. 6 apg) and steals (7.1 spg) and #8 in field goal percentage, plus he averaged 13.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, shot 46.9% from beyond the arc, and 93.5% from the foul line.  In other words, it looks like Hilltoppers head coach Darrin Horn has found the ideal replacement for Sparks, as well as somebody who is ready to step in and run his team.  This moves Western Kentucky's recruiting class into a tie at #74, along with James Madison and West Virginia, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  If you will recall, the current staff also landed 6'8 Ryan Lambert from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA and the previous regime landed 7'0 Josh Higgins from Vandalia (Butler) OH, 6'4 Nick Hill from DuQuoin (H.S.) IL, 5'9 Kevin Bridgewaters from Columbia (Adair County) KY, and 6'8 Damian Staples from Southeastern Illinois (JC) IL.  However, Staples has since reneged and signed with Iowa State. 

Monday, May 19, 2003

Under normal circumstances the Juice All-Stars would have forfeited the championship game of the IS8 Playoffs against the New York Gauchos, but the re-playing of the quarterfinals game between the Long Island Panthers B Team and Future Stars at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, May 20th, the re-playing of the semi-finals game between the winner of the game between the Long Island Panthers B Team-Future Stars and Sarrett City at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, May 21st, and the re-playing of the championship game between the winner of Long Island Panthers B Team -Future Stars versus Sarrett City and the New York Gauchos at 7:00 PM on Thursday, May 22nd, is almost as strange as the circumstances that caused all this confusion in the first place.  The problem stems from the fact that the Juice All-Stars had a player - 6'9 Shawn James from Brooklyn (Redirection) NY, who is 20-years-old (the tournament rules clearly state that any player who will be 20-years-old this year is not eligible to play at IS8).  As we understand it, this matter was brought to the attention of IS8 Tournament Director Pete Edwards during the semi-finals on Saturday and, as a result, he spent the rest of the day and evening trying to get the situation resolved.   However, with the place packed for the championship game at noon on Sunday, Juice All-Stars head coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton and most of his team had not shown up for the game.  Morton did finally did arrive at 1:50 PM without the necessary documentation and without his two best players - James and 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY.  Obviously the situation was one of total chaos, as the championship game was postponed, the Juice All-Stars were thrown out of the tournament, and all of the three teams that learlier had lost heartbreakers to the Juice All-Stars were give new life in the tournament.  All this is important, because the Juice All-Stars would not have won any of their playoffs games without James, who was ineligible during most of his high school career at Brooklyn (Automotive) NY and currently is in this 5th or 6th year or high school at an alternative school, as is evident by the fact that his birth certificate, which was finally made available earlier today, says James was born on September 10, 1983.  In other words, we're talking about one of the best players at IS8, but outside of the playgrounds of New York City, nobody had ever heard of him before.  "James has long arms, incredible timing, and the best shot blocking ability I've seen in New York City since Samuel Dalembert and Duane Causwell," says our New York City Ron Naclerio.  "James has also grown several inches during the last year and has an incredible natural feel for the game.   But nobody really knows what kind of kid he is or whether he has any chance of making academically in college."  In other words, we're talking about the third player this spring who has transformed himself from total obscurity into one of the best players in the country.  If you will recall, the other two were 6'1 Sylvester Mays from Ft. Wayne (Wayne) IN and 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA.  Recapping last week's games at IS8, Naclerio tells us that Starrett City pulled off the upset, 79-71, in the first quarterfinals game against S.O.N.D.A.Y. Express on Thursday night.  The leading scoring in the game was 6'9 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY with 26 points, but the key player down the stretch was 6'4 Soph Saiquan Stone from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, who did a little bit of everything, as helped Starrett City rally from behind to win the game.   S.O.N.D.A.Y. Express was led by 6'7 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ with 19 points and the playmaking of 5'10 Japhet McNeil from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY.  The Juice All-Stars jumped out to a 30-9 first quarter lead and never looked back as they beat the Future Stars, 85-66, in the second quarterfinals game on Thursday night, thanks primarily to the incredible performances turned in by Telfair and James.  This was vintage Telfair, as he had 20 points in the first half and 26 points for the game.  When Telfair wasn't hitting NBA 3-pointers or getting to the basket for a  lay-up, he was setting up a teammate with incredible pass.  James not only was blocking everything in sight, but he kept many of the rejects in play, which often led to easy transition baskets at the other end.   James also held 6'9 Frosh Derrick Caracter scoreless, as he altered the #1-ranked freshman's shots both around the basket and out on the perimeter.   The Jersey Jaguars led most of the way against Mt. Vernon in the third quarterfinals game, which was held on Friday night, but 6'2 Jr Keith Benjamin from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY took over at crunch time and Mt. Vernon prevailed, 81-70.   The Long Island Panthers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the fourth semi-finals game, which also was held on Friday night, but the New York Gauchos came back to tie it at 41-all late in the first half.  And by the end of the third quarter, the Panthers were up by eight points, thanks primarily to the efforts of 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, 6'1 Jr Sundiata Gaines from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, and 6'1 Jr Ronald Ramone from Bronx (All Hallows) NY.  The Gauchos ended up winning it, 93-86, and Gaines, who set the new IS8 single-game scoring record with 63 points earlier this spring, had a tremendous 36-point performance.  Also coming up big inside for the Gauchos was 6'9 Frosh Curtis Kelley from New York (Rice) NY with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks, as he more than just held his own against 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ and 6'8 Lamont Hamilton from Milford (Academy) CT.  Mt. Vernon jumped out to a 19-4 lead early and they were still up 50-38 at the end of the third quarter in the first semi-finals game on Saturday afternoon.   However, the Gauchos exploded in the 4th quarter, as they went on a 24-8 run and sealed the victory.  This time the hero inside was 6'9 Soph Mike Davis from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY with 16 points, while the three-guard tandem of Robinson, Gaines, Ramon once again proved to be unstoppable on the perimeter with a combined   34 points.  If you will recall, Taft played for the Juice All-Stars a year ago, so it was revenge time, as he finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds for Starrett City, in the other semi-finals game Saturday afternoon.  Also chipping with 18 points for Starrett City was 6'1 Kaimondre Owes from Bronx (Cardinal Hayes) NY, but that still wasn't enough to overcome Shawn James, who finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds, and nine blocked shots.  James also picked up the slack for Telfair, who, while nursing a sprained thumb and ankle, hit only 4-16 field goals and 0-5 3-pointers and had six assists and six turnovers en route to a mediocre 14-point performance. 

Sunday, May 18, 2003

One down and one to go!  That's were we stand with regards to publishing two of our most important state-by-state and area reports.  The one down is the California Report, which, when printed out is 17 pages and features six five-man All-State Teams regardless of class and position, and my expert commentary about the top players in each class, including 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, who is now the top ranked senior in the state by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'4 Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, who is the top ranked junior in Southern California by the HOOP SCOOP.  It also includes Dinos Trigonis' ranking in order of the top 219 seniors, 174 juniors, 144 sophomores, 65 freshmen, 27 8th graders, 16 7th graders, 10 6th graders, one 5th grader, and two 4th graders and you can get the rankings by clicking on Trigonis Ranks 'Em:  The Top High School  Players in California.  Obviously this is the perfect complement to Trigonis' Fullcourt Press Scouting Service, which is a must for the college coach, and fullctpress.net website, which is a must for both the college coach and avid basketball fan who wants an even more in-depth look than we can provide on basketball in California on an on-going basis.  As things stand now, only two players ranked among our top 35 seniors, Wright, who edges out 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and 6'8 Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA as the top #1-ranked player in the class, and 5'11 Khalif Ford from Diamond Bar (H.S.) CA, who checks in at #35, are unsigned and uncommitted.   However, that will likely change, if 6'9 Sean Phaler from Villa Park (H.S.) CA takes UCLA head coach Ben Howland up on his offer and gets his release in order to attend another school.  Speaking of Phaler, he has not asked for his release yet, but his father has already contacted Washington, Oregon, and San Diego State, plus New Mexico, Indiana, and Washington, last two of which were among the finalists the first time around, have also been mentioned.  Ironically, six of our top eight juniors - 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacremento (Sheldon) CA to Duke, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA to UCLA, 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA to USC, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA to USC, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA to USC, and 6'9 Jr Devon Hardin from Newark (Memorial) CA to California - have already made early verbal commitments and three of the top 10 juniors have changed schools this spring.  Nelson has transferred from Vallejo (H.S.) CA to Sacremento (Sheldon) CA, Swift has switched from Bakersfield (Garces) CA to Bakersfield (Highland) CA, and Rothbart has moved from Mountain View (St. Francis) CA to Cupertino (Monta Vista) CA.  How soon we will get the New York Report done will depend upon how soon things slow down in terms of spring signings and commitments and coaching rumors, but we had to get the California Report finished so we could take it with us while we cover the Inaugural Pangos All-American Camp, which is set for May 30th-June 1st at the Warrior Center in Cypress, CA.  This promises to be one of the most important events of the entire year and, as usual, we will be one of the only national recruiting publications, web sites, and/or scouting services who will be in attendance.  This camp, which is by invitation only, will showcase 80 of the top high schoo players in the nation and will consist of individual skill instruction, guest speakers, and games.  Action begins Friday night, May 30th, and concludes with the Top 40 Game (1:00 PM) and Top 20 Game (2:00 PM) on Sunday, June 1st.  The camp will be open to the public daily with an admission charge of $5.  However, it is not open to Division I college coaches, because it is being held during a dead period.  And that's too bad, because some of the top players who are expected to be in attendance include 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 6'3 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Sacramento (Sheldon) CA, 6'8 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 6'8 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, 6'9 Jr Devon Hardin from Newark (Memorial) CA, 6'3 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Nottingham) MD, 6'6 Lorenzo Wade from Las Vegas (Cheyenne) NV, 6'8 Jr Shawn Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) CA, 6'5 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurst) IN, 6'6 Jr Ty Morrison from Phoenix (Trevor Browne) AZ, 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills Prep) CA, 6'10 Jr Aaron Agnew from Bellaire (H.S.) OH, 6'5 Jr Josh Shipp from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'6 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'4 Jr Matt Thomas from Riverdale (King) CA, 6'7 Soph Jamal Boykin from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'9 Soph Amir Johnson from Los Angeles (Verbum Dei) CA, 5'10 Soph Andre McGee from Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) CA, 6'5 Soph Marcus Johnson from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'5 Soph Shane Clark from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 6'5 Soph Brian Harvey from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Soph Jordan Wilkes from Los Angeles (Loyola) CA, 6'6 Soph Titus Shelton from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Soph Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, and 6'4 Soph Ed White from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA.  For more information on this event, please contact event director Dinos Trigonis at (562) 223-0190. 

Saturday, May 17, 2003

Now that 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA has picked Florida over the Kentucky, it appears that the Wildcats are going to make a strong push for 6'1 Patrick Sparks, who is transferring from Western Kentucky.  Sparks has already visited Oklahoma State and Louisville and he also has schools like Auburn, North Carolina, New Mexico, Boston College, and Kansas on his list.  However, those in the know tell us that smart money is on the University of Kentucky.  Originally we thought that Kentucky would save the scholarship for next year, but the point guards in the junior class that we though Kentucky had a great chance to get no longer appear to be an option, as 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL recently made an early verbal commitment to Memphis and 6'3 Jr Tramell Wooten from Mt. Vernon (Montgomery County) GA turned out to be a bust when he got his first national exposure at the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX three weeks ago.  So now taking Sparks appears to be a perfect fit, because the Wildcats have only two guards - 5'9 Frosh Brandon Stockton and 6'5 Soph Josh Carrier - in the program that have more than one year of eligibility remaining.  In other words, Sparks would sit out next year, learn the system, and be the heir apparent at the point guard spot to 6'3 Jr Gerald Fitch and 6'1 Jr Cliff Hawkins, both all of whom will graduate after next season.   And this would be the obvious move, if the Wildcats don't have a quality big man waiting in the wings who is ready to step in and take their final scholarship this year.  However, it would put them in an awkward position for next year, because NCAA rules limit Division I schools from signing more than eight players over a two-year period.  Remember, Kentucky already has 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, 7'2 Lubasz Obrzut from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'8 Sheray Thomas from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, and 6'7 Bobby Perry from Durham (Hillcrest) NC already in the fold for this year, plus they already have an early commitment in next year's recruiting class from 6'4 Jr Adam Williams from St. Albans (H.S.) WV.  In other words, if the Wildcats take Sparks, they will only have two remaining scholarships available for the Class of 2004, which is the best class in years.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Robert Ferguson from Cape Coral (Mariner) FL has signed with St. Joseph's, which means that their recruiting class has moved into a tie at #105, along with George Washington, Hawaii, Old Dominion, Hartford, Nebraska, Loyola-Illinois, New Mexico State, and Western Michigan, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, even more important, it appears that it's mission accomplished for Hawks assistant coach Matt Brady, who is second to none at getting players who will continue to develop in the program.  Remember, St. Joseph's wanted to sign three inside players this year and Ferguson, 7'0 Artur Surov from Savannah (Memorial Day) GA, and 6'9 Ardydas Lidzius from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD obviously fill the bill.  We also understand that 6'0 Jr Rodney Foster from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX has made an early verbal commitment to Rice University.  Foster is not a top 100 junior nationally, but he's close, because he's an excellent ball handler and passer, good outside shooter, and is a winner, as was evident by the fact he made the game winning shot for the Houston Hoops in the championship game at Las Vegas Easter Classic in Las Vegas, NV a month ago.  And making this commitment even more important is the fact that the Owls should now have the inside track for Foster's teammate - 6'6 Jr Matt Wheaton from Houston (Madye Creek) TX, who is an excellent athlete, good outside shooter, and excellent rebounder for his size.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that 6'8 Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA has gotten a 1020 on his SAT and, as a result, is now qualified to go to UCLA.  In other words, maybe new UCLA head coach Ben Howland new something the rest of us didn't when he decided not to make a strong push for 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA.  Remember, Abukar has always liked UCLA, but Howland thought Ariza and Abukar were similar type players.  Trigonis also tells us that the local media is reporting that Howland has told 6'9 Sean Phaler from Villa Park (H.S.) CA, who signed with UCLA last fall, that he is not his type of player and that he will see not playing time at UCLA.  So now it appears that Phaler is looking for another school and, despite the fact, that he's extremely soft, 6'9-white kids who can shoot the lights out are at a premium and, as a result, it's our guess that he will have no problem find another school.  However, Howland also said that he will honor Phaler's scholarship, so until he officially announces he is leaving, UCLA's recruiting class will remain ranked #69 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Our New England Editor Wayne Simone tells us that 6'2 Ricardo Freeman from Seward County (JC) FL, who signed with South Florida last fall, has been released from his National Letter-of-Intent, and, as a result, is now being recruited by schools like Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Tennessee, and UNLV.   However, our guess is that this list will get longer before it gets shorter, because we're talking about one of the top junior college point guards in the nation.  Simone also tells us that 6'2 Mike Baskerville from Hartford (Weaver) CT has signed with Lon Morris (JC) TX and Chris Monter of the Monter Draft News tells us that 7'0 Yankuba Camara from Moberly (JC) MO has been released from his National Letter-of-Intent and, as a result, Miami-FL's recruiting class drops from being tied at #3, along with Oklahoma, to being tied at #6, along with Maryland and Arkansas.  However, if they get 6'6 Maurice Maxwell from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, who is making an official visit to Miami, FL this weekend, then the Hurricanes' recruiting class would move back into a tie with Oklahoma at #3.   Monter also tells us that 6'9 Ousmane Konate, who signed with Missouri last fall, will return to Laurinburg (Institute) NC, for a 5th year.  But for our purposes, he will continue to count with Missouri's recruiting class this year, unless they officially release him from his National Letter-of-Intent.  We also have finally been made aware of the fact that 6'8 Damian Staples from Southeastern Illinois (JC) IL reneged on his commitment to Western Kentucky and signed with Iowa State a month ago.  This moves Iowa State's recruiting class into a tie at #13 with UTEP on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  But that may not last long, because Staple apparently is trying to get released from his National Letter-of-Intent from Iowa State and has interest in schools like Cincinnati, Michigan State, and Georgetown.  The list for the Wagner job also continues to grow, as Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, Charlotte assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry, Georgetown assistant coach Ronny Thompson, and current Wagner assistant coach Jim Meil all are now being  mentioned as candidates to replace Dereck Whittenburg.  Meil helped recruit the current players and is already in place.  Thompson has his father's connections and his brother, Princeton head coach John Thompson, has a 48-34 career record, including 16-11 overall and 10-4 in the Ivy League a year, at the helm of the Tigers.  Nickelberry has previous experience in the Northeast Conference dating back to when he helped build the program as an assistant coach at Monmouth, plus he's one of the fastest rising assistant coaches in the college basketball.  And so are DeMeo and DeCesare, both of whom have all the New York City contacts necessary to keep the top players at home and, as a result, must be mentioned as a serious candidate for any job that opens in the New York Metropolitan area. 

Friday, May 16, 2003

As things stand now, there are only five players - 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Maureece Rice from Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion) PA, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, and 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT - who are ranked among our top 100 seniors nationally that are still unsigned and uncommitted.  Two of them (Wright and Rice) appear to have no chance of making it academically and Davis is keeping his options open, as Division I schools like Penn State, Xavier, St. Bonaventure, and Fordham and prep schools like Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY, and Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME are all showing interest.  Watkins will likely pick either Rutgers or Syracuse and Kleiza appears to have a final  three of Florida State, North Carolina, and Missouri.  Kleiza is the important one, because he is ranked #21 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and, as a result, could dramatically effect our rankings of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, if he picks either the Seminoles or the Tigers.  So let's take a closer look!  With the addition of 6'10 Alexander Johnson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME two days ago, Florida State's recruiting class, which also includes 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'10 Diego Romero from Lon Morris (JC) TX, and 6'7 Antonio Griffin from Scottsdale (JC) AZ, moved up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And, if they get Kleiza, who is best is best described as a blue collar power forward who doesn't take any prisoners, is aggressive on the boards, surpringly mobile in transition, and versatile enough to step out and beat you with his 3-point shot, then we'd be talking about the #1-ranked recruiting class in the nation, as well as a potential Fab Five in what has to be one of the fastest turnarounds in college basketball history.  If Kleiza picks Missouri, he would move the Tigers' recruiting class, which currently is ranked #21 and includes 6'5 Thomas Gardner from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'9 Ousmane Konate from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, 6'3 Randy Pulley from Barton County (JC) KS, and 6'1 Spencer Laurie from Springfield (Kickapoo) MO, into a tie at #5, along LSU, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And, if Kleiza picks North Carolina, he would move their recruiting class, which also already includes 6'8 Reyshawn Terry from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC, into a tie at #83 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, even more important, if the Tar Heels get Kleiza, the new coaching staff at North Carolina will have done something in a month that the previous regime could not do in a year-and-a-half, which is find another quality player good enough to step in and immediately complement 6'8 Frosh Sean May inside.  In other words, getting Kleiza would instantly give Roy Williams one of the final pieces to the puzzle to go along with May, 6'0 Frosh Raymond Felton, 6'3 Frosh Rashad McCants, 6'8 Soph Jawad Williams, 6'2 Soph Melvin Scott, 6'5 Soph Jackie Manuel, and 6'5 Frosh David Noel.  We also have confirmed that two more of the top junior college players - 6'8 Levi Rost from Lansing (JC) MI has signed with Western Michigan and 6'6 Jeff Varem from Vincennes (JC) IN has signed with Washington State, which means there isn't much left in the junior college ranks, except for a few players, like 5'10 Jerel Blassingame from L.A. City (JC) CA, 6'0 Joel Shelton from Mineral Area (JC) MO, 6'9 Brandon Bender from Cincinnati State (JC) OH, and 6'1 Carlos Hurt from Vincennes (JC) IN.  The signing of Varem by Washington State is especially noteworthy.  Not only does this give the Cougars a recruiting class that is tied at #83 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but it also gives new head coach Dick Bennett and his staff a pair of excellent junior college players to build his program around for the next two years.  Remember, the previous regime landed 6'10 Justin Garcia from San Bernardino (JC) CA last fall and Bennett is second to none a game tactician.  We're also still waiting to see if Miami-FL lands 6'6 Maurice Maxwell from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, who has reneged on his verbal commitment to Massachusetts and is visiting Miami-FL this weekend.  Maxwell would be the 7th player in this recruiting class, which means that several players may have to pay their own way or go the junior college or prep school route next year.  However, we don't worry about who actually is going to enroll in school in the fall when we are finalize our rankings of the top recruiting classes in June.  Instead, we're just concerned with who has signed and/or committed and right now the Hurricanes have 6'9 Lenard Harden from Garden City (JC) KS, 6'6 Eliiah Clark from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'3 Vincent Banks from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'1 Guillermo Diaz from Miami (Christian) FL, 7'0 Yankuba Camara from Moberly (JC) MO, and 6'8 Anthony King from Durham (Southern Durham) NC in a recruiting class that is tied for #3, along with Oklahoma, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And, if they should by some chance also add Maxwell to this group, we'd be talking about a class that is tied at #1 with Kansas State, if Kleiza doesn't pick Florida State or a class that is tied at #2 with Kansas State behind Florida State, if Kleiza does pick Seminoles.  Obviously we will continue to make adjustments to our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, as additional information becomes available for the next several weeks, but right now the big winner appears to be Southeastern Conference, which has three of the top 10 recruiting classes, five of the top 20 recruiting classes, and eight of the top 60 recruiting classes.  The Big East Conference and Conference USA also check in with eight of the top 60 recruiting classes, but  Conference USA only has two classes and the Big East only has one class ranked among the top 20 recruiting classes.  However, the Big East would have two top 20 classes, if Watkins picks Syracuse, because the Orangemen's recruiting class, which currently is ranked #3 and includes 6'8 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'7 Demetris Nichols from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, and Willie McCroskey from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, would move into a tie at #12, along with Kansas, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And, the Big East could have two top 10 recruiting classes, if 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, who verbally committed last fall to Illinois, but has reneged and put his name into the NBA Draft this spring, does not sign with an agent, elects to take his name out of the draft and commitments to Connecticut this spring.   We'd be surprised if this happens, but, if it does, Connecticut's recruiting class, which is currently ranked #33 and includes 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Josh Boone from Colora (West Nottingham) MD, and 6'7 Ryan Thompson from Western Nebraska (JC) NE, would move up to #9 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And the Huskies' recruiting class would move up to #1, if Florida State doesn't get Kleiza, Connecticut lands Villanueva, and we counted transfers.  Remember, 6'8 Ed Nelson recently transferred from Georgia Tech to Connecticut.  However, it has never been the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to count transfers when ranking recruiting classes.  Another major surprise involves the fact that Western Athletic Conference with Louisiana Tech and UTEP and the Mountain West Conference with Utah and UNLV both have two teams that are ranked among the top 20 on our list of Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Last week we mentioned that 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ still had Rutgers, Villanova, North Carolina and Kentucky on his list, but since that time we've talked with Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard and it appears to be a two-horse race between Rutgers and Syracuse for Watkins' services.  Seton Hall also is mentioned as a potential long shot, but that's it!  As a matter of fact, Waters wrote an article on Thursday, May 8th, that can be found by clicking on http://www.syracuse.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/105238293111893.xml?syrsposmb, that quotes Watkins' father saying that Villanova, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina have been eliminated.  It also appears that Kentucky is out and Syracuse is in, as is evident by the fact that Watkins is scheduled to make an official visit to Syracuse next weekend, May 23rd-25th.  Obviously the Orangemen are taking advantage of the fact that they're the hottest team in college basketball after winning the NCAA Championship a month ago and, if they are able to pull this off, then their recruiting class would move into tie at #14, ironically along with Kansas, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Remember, the Orangemen signed 6'8 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City (St. Anthony ) NJ, 6'7 Demetris Nichols form Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, and 6'3 Willie McCroskey from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY last fall and, if they get Watkins, they will have landed an impact player at every position, except point guard in this recruiting class.   And they may get the point guard of their dreams next year, because they have really turned the heat up recently on 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is the #1-ranked junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.   And so has UCLA and Pittsburgh, but, in the end, we still think Louisville is going to extremely tough to beat on Telfair, due to the fact they been there the longest and the strongest and Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino has all the right contacts necessary in New York City to get this one done.  Getting back to Watkins, he is currently ranked #60 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he has the athleticism, explosiveness, wing span, and skills necessary to develop into a dominant force, if he ever becomes more consistent and meaner and tougher inside.  In other words, the sky's the limit for Watkins and our guess is that he still will end up at Rutgers, due to the fact the've been there all along and he is best friends with 6'5 Marquis Webb from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, who is signed with the Scarlet Knights last fall.  Not only would this be more than a nice consolation prize for 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, who verbally committed to Rutgers last fall, but reneged this spring and, instead, signed with Kentucky, but it also would move Rutgers' recruiting class, which also includes 6'3 Quincy Douby from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'2 Antwi Atuahene from Toronto (Henry Carr) ON, and 6'9 Byron Joynes from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA up to #23 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And even more important, this addition would give Scarlet Knights head coach Gary Waters the best incoming player in the league (Douby), unless 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) CT pulls his name out of the NBA Draft and goes to Connecticut, and the incoming player in the league with the most potential (Watkins).  We also have confirmed that 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA has picked the Florida over Kentucky and, as a result, the Gators' recruiting class moves into a tie at #15, along with Cincinnati, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Abukar originally signed with Georgia last fall, but was released from his National Letter-of-Intent this spring and, as a result, was free-and-clear to transfer to any Division I school.  And the school he picked appears to be the ideal fit, because Abukar gives Gators head coach Billy Donovan an outside/inside guy with size, athleticism, and excellent 3-point shooting ability.  Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman tells us that 6'6 Josh Peppers from Memphis (White Station) TN, who is ranked #6 in the senior class in the Tennessee by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed with Central Florida.  Obviously the connection here is Golden Knights assistant coach Tom Schubert, who used to be an assistant coach at Memphis State during the Larry Finch era.  We also have confirmed that Murray State has landed 6'1 Adam Chiles from Vincennes (JC) IN and it still appears to be a two-horse race for Trey Pearson, who is transferring from Mississippi, between Murray State and Austin Peay.  However, new Murray State head coach Mick Cronin lost out in the sweepstakes for 6'7 Guy Ngarndi from Louisville (Western) KY earlier this week.  If you will recall, we told you that Cronin could hit the jackpot by landing four outstanding players this spring in Chiles, Ngarndi, Pearson, 6'7 Kelvin Brown from Scott (JC) KS, who signed with Murray State several weeks ago.  Well, two of four isn't bad and it's not over yet for Pearson.  As a matter of fact, Brown, Chiles, and 6'10 Pearson Griffin from Murray State (JC) OK, who signed with the Racers last fall and was ranked as the #8 center in the junior college ranks by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, is enough to get Murray State's recruiting class ranked #34 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003. 

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis has confirmed that 6'10 Alexander Johnson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, as expected, has signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Florida State and this is huge for a number reasons.  First, Johnson is ranked #8 on our 5th year list, which means he's the equivalent of being a top 30 player nationally, if he was a high school senior.  Second, this moves the Seminoles' recruiting class up to #2 behind Kansas State on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Third, it gives Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton a great player at every position, except point guard, in this recruiting class.  Remember, the Seminoles signed 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, who is ranked #9 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP; 6'10 Diego Romero from Lon Morris (JC) TX, who was ranked as one of the top five junior college players in the nation by Street & Smith Pre-Season Yearbook, and 6'7 Antonio Griffin from Scottsdale (JC) AZ, who was ranked as the #6 power forward in the junior college ranks by Lindy's Pre-Season Basketball Magazine.  Fourth, it firmly establishes the fact that Florida State will be one of the most improved teams in college basketball next year.  And they aren't done yet, because right now it appears to be a three horse race for 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD and we are making Florida State the favorite over North Carolina and Missouri.  That not only would mean that Florida State's recruiting class would easily be ranked #1 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but it also would be an incredible story.  Remember, Hamilton and his staff got a late jump when they got the job a year ago, but now they are on the verge of landing a Fab Five-like recruiting class and, as a result, they should be one of the better teams in the always tough Atlantic Coast Conference next year.  Davis also has confirmed that 6'2 Quin Humphrey from Stockbridge (H.S.) GA has signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Youngstown State, which means that history is repeating itself.  If you will recall, last fall the Penguins landed 5'11 Mike Woodard from Fairburn (Creekside) GA, who, just like Humphrey, is an absolute steal for Youngstown State.  Not only are we talking about two of the top 10 seniors in the state of Georgia and two top 200 players nationally in the Class of 2003, but also potentially one of the best backcourts in the Horizon League for years to come.  Most of the credit has to go to Youngstown State assistant coaches Ross Burns and Eric Skeeters.   Speaking of Skeeters, did you know that he was the Washington, DC/Baltimore Editor for the HOOP SCOOP prior to getting into college coaching as an assistant coach at Coppin State and more recently at Youngstown State?  And did you also know that he has taken a similar position at Virginia Tech?  Obviously this is a great move for new Hokies head coach Seth Greenberg, who plans make a living getting his share of the better players out of the Washington, DC/Baltimore area.  We also find it ironic that a year ago at this time former Long Beach State head coach Wayne Morgan was looking for a job.  Any job!  And, as of today, he's the new head coach at Iowa State.  In other words, there is something to be said about being a good guy, working hard, and paying your dues.  Another guy who falls into that category is former Long Beach State assistant coach Reggie Warford?  Remember, Warford, who currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA and runs a security company, helped build the Pittsburgh program back in the mid-80's and he has ties in all over the Midwest and South dating back to his playing days at the University of Kentucky during the Joe Hall era.  Moral to the story, don't be surprised if Warford is the first guy that Morgan hires at Iowa State!  Another guy who was in the right place at the right time is Wagner head coach Dereck Whittenburg.  We say  that, because it appears that Fordham was determined to hire somebody with head coaching experience, but who also knows how to recruit like a big time assistant coach.  Well, Whittenburg is former Atlantic Coast Conference assistant coach dating back to his days at Georgia Tech and he built the Wagner program from the ground up during the last four years.  So suddenly the question becomes who is going to replace Whittenburg at Wagner and potentially Mike Jarvis at St. John's?   Did you know that Jarvis appears to be the leading candidate to replace Washington Wizards head coach Doug Collins, who is expected to be bought out of his contract for $10 million later this spring our summer.  Our source on this is Sam Albano of Redmen.com and, in addition to being on top of this story, he also provided us with a sneak preview on Sunday on our weekly radio show, which you can listen to if you click on HOOP SCOOP On-Radio, of all the breaking news yesterday and today involving potential conference realignments for the Big East and ACC.  We mention this because Albano has agreed to be back on our show this Sunday to give us another update and, as a result, continue to keep us days ahead of the mainstream media.  Getting back to Jarvis, getting the Wizards job would give him a chance to return to Washington, DC, where he was highly successful as the head coach at George Washington University, make a lot more money than he's making now, and do what he does best, which is just coach and not have to worry about recruiting.   And, if Jarvis does move onto the Wizards, the ideal replacement for Jarvis at St. John's would be Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez and the ideal replacement for Gonzalez at Manhattan would be Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, who is the #1-ranked assistant coach by the HOOP SCOOP now that Ohio State's Paul Biancardi is the new head coach at Wright State and Louisville's Mick Cronin is the new head coach at Murray State.  As for Whittenburg's replacement at Wagner, the other two finalists for the job last time around were Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora and Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo.   So our guess is that DeMeo's has to be the early favorite for the job.  Not only does he already know all the right people at Wagner, but they already know he has all the right New York City connections and that he is one of the bright up-and-coming guys in the business.  However, before DeMeo gets the head coaching job at Wagner, he still has some unfinished business to attend to at Providence, like getting 6'9 Jr Jerome Johnson from Potomac (Bullis School) MD who is ranked #7 in the Washington, DC Area by Steve Turner, to make an early verbal commitment to the Friars.  Right now Providence is the heavy favorite and, as a result, it's more a question of when Johnson is going to make it official for Providence versus whether he's going anywhere else.  We also received word that 6'6 Maurice Maxwell from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA has reneged on his verbal commitment to Massachusetts and is visiting Miami-FL this weekend.  This drops Masschusetts' recruiting class into a tie at #143, along with Florida International, St. Joseph's, Clemson, Gonzaga, Texas, Purdue, Tennessee, and Old Dominion, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and it also would move the Hurricanes into the #1 spot, if Maxwell picks Miami-FL and Kleiza doesn't pick Florida State.  We also have confirmed that Liberty has signed 6'11 Emmanuel Segun from Eastern Wyoming (JC) WY, which means their recruiting class moves up to #52 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  This class also includes some other pretty good players in 6'4 Mike Battle from White Plains (Southern Maryland Christian) MD, 6'7 Lee Lightborne from Marshalltown (JC) IA, 6'8 Doug Stewart from Stanford (Grace Christian) NC, and 6'3 David Dees from Dayton (Christian) OH, but the big prize is 6'1 Larry Blair from Camden (Military) SC, who is a consensus top 200 senior nationally, as well as potentially one of the best players in the league from day one.  It already has been widely reported that 6'8 Soph Brian Thornton is transferring from Vanderbilt, but most people don't know yet that Xavier appears to have the inside track over Boston College and Michigan.  We also have confirmed via our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson that 6'3 Byron Davis from Detroit (Rogers) MI has picked New Mexico State over Louisiana-Lafayette, Penn State, Central Michigan, Kent State, and Wichita State.  This comes on the heels of last week's commitment from 6'9 Andre Scott from Schoolcraft (JC) MI and, as a result, New Mexico State's recruiting class moves into a tie at #105, along with George Washington, Hawaii, Old Dominion, Hartford,  Nebraska, and Loyola-Illinois, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, that doesn't begin to tell the story, because Davis is ranked as the second best 2-guard in the state by Vincent Baldwin in the Michigan Prep Spotlight; Scott has never lived up to his potential, but he's always had the talent, athleticism, and skills to play at a high level dating back to his days at Hyattsville (DeMetha) MD when he was ranked among the top 10 freshmen in the nation; and 6'6 David Fisher from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX is ranked #168 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.   Last, but not least, Ollie Goulston, who is Abukar's coach on the EBO-San Diego club team, tells us that 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA will pick either Florida or Kentucky tomorrow at a 2:30 PM press conference at his high school.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us the same thing, but neither Goulston or Trigonis is willing to go on record and make a prediction.  In other words, this one is truly too close to call!

The HOOP SCOOP has confirmed that 6'10 Asrangue Souleymane from Laurinburg (Institute) NC has signed with Cincinnati, 6'5 Jesus Verdejo from Miami (Christian) FL has signed with Temple, and 6'9 Jr Devon Hardin from Newark (Memorial) CA has made an early verbal commitment to the University of California.  Souleymane's commitment to Cincinnati is an excellent consolation prize, because it now appears that 6'10 Alexander Johnson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, who previously was considering Cincinnati, Connecticut, and Florida State, is now a done deal for the Seminoles.  Souleymane doesn't have much of an offensive game, but he already is good enough to make an impact at the big time college level at the defensive end, as he blocks shots, rebounds, and uses his quickness and athleticism to be aggressive around the basket.   Souleymane originally committed to American University last fall, but it appears he either didn't sign a binding  National Letter-of-Intent or didn't meet the tough entrance requirements necessary to get into school and, as a result, is free and clear to sign with the Bearcats this spring.  It also appears that Souleymane has gotten a lot better since we saw him last November at the War on the Shore National Prep School Invitational Tournament in Milford, DE, which means he not only will provide the Bearcats with another inside player, but also some insurance in case 6'10 Robert Whaley from Barton County (JC) KS doesn't get his legal problems dismissed.   Souleymane moves the Bearcats' recruiting class, which also includes 6'4 Nick Willams from Chipola (JC) FL and 6'8 Mike Pilgrim from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, up to #15 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.   But that doesn't tell the complete story, because 6'7 James White, who transferred from Florida to Cincinnati last fall, also counts as one of the five scholarship players in this class for the Bearcats under the five-and-eight rule, whereby, Division I schools are limited to five players one-year and three the next.  However, it is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP not to count transfers when ranking recruiting class.  But, if we did, Cincinnati's recruiting class would be ranked #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  The signing of Souleymane also is important, because it allows Bearcats head coach Bobby Huggins and his staff to concentrate exclusively on the future.  Remember, they got an early commitment from 6'2 Jr Jamar Butler from Lima (Shawnee) OH and it appears they are in the final three for 6'10 Jr Matt Terwilliger from Troy (H.S.) OH, who is the #2-ranked junior in the state by our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson.  Terwilliger, who visited Ohio State last weekend and Notre Dame the weekend before, will be in Cincinnati this weekend and our guess is that an official decision could be forthcoming in the near future.  We also think it's really a two-horse race between the Bearcats and the Buckeyes, because Notre Dame got a verbal commitment from a similar type player - 6'8 Jr Rob Kurz from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA - a week ago.  And, if Terwilliger picks the Bearcats, their recruiting class would move up to #6 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  They also would be able to focus all of their attention on 6'3 Jr Jason Rich from Orlando (Dr. Phillips) FL and 6'2 Jr Isaiah Swann from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who are the Bearcats' other top two priorities in the junior class, as they attempt to find a replacement for Tony Bobbitt and Field Williams, both of whom will graduate a year from now, at the 2-guard spot.  Verdejo is a big time athlete, a good outside shooter, and a legitimate top 100 senior nationally, which means he should be the perfect complement at Temple next year to 6'5 Frosh Maurice Collins, 6'4 Jr David Hawkins, 6'3 Mario Taybron from Norfolk (Ryan Academy) VA, and 6'3 Dustin Salisbury from Lancaster (McCaskey) PA, as Owls head coach John Chaney has what promises to be his most athletic group of perimeter players ever.  And when you add 6'10 Wayne Marshall from Philadelphia (Martin Luther King) PA and 6'6 Dion Deacons from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA to the equation, then it is easy to see why Temple's recruiting class is tied at #37, along with Texas Christian and Arizona State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  It is also easy to see why Owls head coach John Chaney is not ready to call it quits, as nine of the Temple's 10 scholarship players will be freshmen and sophomore next year, plus he has one of the best young recruiters in the business in assistant coach Dan Leibovitz.  We knew that California was going to be tough to beat for Hardin, but we didn't expect it to happen quite this soon, especially after he gave us a long list of schools that included California, Arizona, USC, Kansas, LSU, UNLV, Utah, Washington, Oregon State, and Oregon, just two-and-a-half weeks ago.  Hardin is an big time athlete, a tough hardnosed competitor, an excellent rebounder, and a fresh face, which means he hasn't been already corrupted by too much explosure too early in his career.  Hardin also is one of the fastest rising players in the junior class nationally, so he should provide Golden Bears head coach Ben Braun with the ideal replacement for 6'10 Jr David Ellis from Sacramento (Capital Christian) CA, who made an early verbal commitment to California last fall, but since has been persuaded to change his mind, and the perfect complement inside to 6'8 Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA.  Speaking of Powe, he heads this year's recruiting class, which also includes 6'1 Ayinde Ubaka from Oakland (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Marquise Kately from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, and 6'6 Dominic McGuire from San Diego (Lincoln) CA and is tied at #26, along with Wake Forest and Iowa State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  California also has another early commitment from 6'11 Sam Rayburn from Portland (Sunset) OR, which means they already have a great head start on next year, as their irecruiting class is tied at #12, along with Michigan State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  And it would move even higher, if the Golden Bears get 6'8 Jr Maart Leunen from Redmond (H.S.) OR.  We mention this because Leunen is a legitimate top 75 junior nationally and, according to our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis, California is one of the favorites, along with Oregon State, Oregon, California, Kansas, North Carolina, Stanford, and Gonzaga.  Trigonis also confirms that 6'8 Romel Beck from L.A. City (JC) CA has finally made it official for UNLV and he believes that 6'0 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA has picked Georgetown over Fresno State, although no official announcement has been forthcoming. 

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that, except for the New Jersey Jaguars' stunning 71-68 upset of New York Riverside Church, which previously had always made it to the semi-finals and/or the championship game in the tournament, and the fact the Long Island Panthers, which have 11 Division I players, almost lost to LPAC when 5'11 Ed Barrios Bronx (Theodore Roosevelt) NY missed a 3-pointer that circled the rim with his team two points down in the final seconds, it was pretty much status quo in the first round of the IS8 Playoffs last week in Jamaica, NY.  The regular season at IS8 this spring consisted of 40 teams, 24 of which made the playoffs and eight of which got a bye in last week's first round.  And this sets the stage for the IS8 quarterfinals, which begin tomorrow night at 6:30 PM when the Juice All-Stars with 5'11 Jr  Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is the #1-ranked junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'4 Ramel Bradley from Bradenton (Bradenton School) FL meets Future Stars, which is the younger New York Riverside Church Team, with 6'9 Frosh Derrick Caracter from Scotch Plains (H.S.) NJ, 6'2 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, 6'8 Soph Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco) NJ, and 6'2 Frosh Desean Gist from New York (Rice) NY.   Then, at 8:00 PM tomorrow night, it will be Starrett City, which is the first time this team has participated in the tournament, with 6'9 Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'4 Soph Saiquan Stone from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'1 Kaimondre Owes from Bronx (Cardinal Hayes) NY, and 6'5 Kirk Bunn from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, versus S.O.N.D.A.Y. Express with 6'7 Sean Banks from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, 5'10 Japhet McNeil from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'0 Mitch Buford from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 5'11 Soph Chris Martin from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'11 John Kelly from Wayne (DePaul) NJ, 6'3 Tariq Atkins from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'7 Justin Marshall from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'8 Dante Mulligan from Pawling (Trinity Pawling) NY.  The third quarterfinals game will tip-off at 6:30 PM on Friday night, as the upset-minded Jersey Jaguars with 6'3 Devon Drakeford from Englewood (Dwight Morrow) NJ, who is coming off a 35-point performance against Riverside Church, meets Mt. Vernon, which is made up entire of the Mt. Vernon High School team with 6'2 Jr Keith Benjamin, 6'7 Frosh Jon Mitchell, 6'6 Jr Dexter Gray, 6'2 Jr Jonathan Smith, 6'3 Jr Shanty Robinson, and 5'11 Mike Coburn, who is one of the best 8th graders in the country.   The final quarterfinals game, which is scheduled to tip-off at 8:00 PM Friday night, will feature the New York Gauchos with 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, 6'1 Jr Sundiata Gaines from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, 6'1 Jr Ronald Ramone from Bronx (All Hallows) NY, 6'9 Frosh Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Soph Mike Davis from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, and 6'5 James Barrett   from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY versus the Long Island Panthers with 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NY, 6'8 Lamont Hamilton from Milford (Academy) CT, 5'8 Daon Merritt from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 5'11 Cameron Tyler from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 6'0 Jr Cliff Clinkscale from Ocala (Shores Christian) FL, 6'5 Kyle Neptune from Brooklyn (Friends) NY, 6'7 Soph Antonio Pena from Brookyln (Lincoln) NY, 6'6 Rashon Clarke from Far Rockaway (Beach Channel) NY, 6'6 Eliiah Clark from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'10 Joachim Noah from Brooklyn (Poly Prep) NY.  Our guess is that Future Stars will beat S.O.N.D.A.Y Express in the first semi-finals game on Saturday morning at 11:00 AM and whoever wins the game between the Gauchos and the Panthers will breeze past Mt. Vernon in the second semi-finals game on Saturday morning at 12:30 PM en route to the championship, which will be played at 11:00 AM, Sunday, May 18th. 

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

We told you on Sunday that 7'2 Lukasz Obrzut from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME had decided to attend the University of Kentucky, which means we had the scoop a full 48-hours in advance of the most of the rest of media.  However, we still haven't confirmed whether Obrzut has actually signed a binding National Letter-of-Intent, although we are willing to take his word for it.  Remember, this is the guy who verbally committed to Fordham last fall and never waivered on that commitment right up until the bitter end when Bob Hill and his staff got fired after finishing 4-24 this past season.  As a matter of fact, Hill deserves credit for continuing to take an interest in Obrzut, even after he was fired, by getting involved in the recruiting process and helping him find another school.   Obrzut has a nice frame, surprising mobility and quickness for a big guy his size, and a nice shooting touch, but he's not a force inside and he needs to develop a lot more consistency, if he wants to more than a role player in the Southeastern Conference.   Unfortunately time is not on his side, because the Wildcats needs immediate inside help next year, as the only inside players currently in the program are 6'6 Soph Chuck Hayes, 6'8 Sheray Thomas from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, and 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY.  Instead, Obrzut is just like Alleyne in that his best days are still ahead of him, although he needs time to not only develop, but get bigger, stronger, meaner, and tougher.  The addition of Obrzut moves Kentucky's recruiting class into a tie at #70, along with Stanford and Fresno State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and, if they also get 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA, their recruiting class would move up to #26 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Speaking of Abukar, Ollie Goulston, who is Abukar's coach on the EBO-San Diego club team, tells us that Abukar has narrowed his list to Kentucky and Florida and that a decision could be forthcoming within the next several days.  And, if Abukar picks the Wildcats, they will have signed three inside players this spring, but not one of them is expected to fill the bill inside next year.  Sure, Abukar has improved dramatically since we saw him last summer and, as a result, he will be ranked in the 30-40 range when we update our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2003, but he's more of perimeter player than a force inside.  However, Abukar and 6'8 Jr Erik Daniels will probably see some time at power forward, anyway, because, our guess is that Wildcats head coach Tubby Smith will try and get away with playing a smaller and quicker line-up next year.  If, on the other hand, Abukar picks Florida, the Gators' recruiting class, which already includes 6'8 Chris Richard from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'3, Ryan Appleby from Stanwood (H.S.) WA, and 6'2 Lee Humphrey from Maryville (H.S.) TN, will move up to #15 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And this would come on the heels of Florida's #2-ranked recruiting class, which included 6'8 Christian Drejer from Denmark, Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'5 Matt Walsh from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, 6'7 Mario Boggan from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 6'4 Rashid Al-Kaleen from Charlestown (H.S.) MA, a year ago, plus they should have 6'9 Soph David Lee back for two more years.  In other words, it looks like Billy the Kid has already reloaded and Abukar would just be the icing on the cake.  We also have confirmed that 6'5 Zakee Boyd from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA and 5'10 DeShaun Lynch from Detroit (Crockett) MI have both signed with Wright State, which means that new Raiders head coach Paul Biancardi, who previously was the HOOP SCOOP's #1-ranked assistant coach in the nation, is already off to a fast start on the recruiting trail this spring.   Boyd is more a slasher than a shooter, but we're talking about a big time athlete who would be a borderline top 100 player, if he was still a senior in high school (currently he is ranked #34 on our 5th year list).  Lynch is a crafty floor-general who sees the floor well, makes his teammates better, and puts up prolific numbers, as was evident by the fact that he was the 3rd leading scorer in the Detroit Public League this past season.  Lynch also is a major sleeper nationally, as is evident by the fact he's not ranked on our current list of the Top 300 Seniors Nationally, but he did join some pretty fast company, like 6'0 Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, 6'4 Brandon Jenkins from Detroit (Southeastern) MI, 6'4 Jr Joseph Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, and 6'4 Dion Harris from Detroit (Redford) MI on the Post Season All-City Team, which was named by the Detriot Free-Press.  However, for this class to remain ranked ahead of Butler, which is tied at #77, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which is tied at #92 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, Biancardi will have to either convince 6'8 Matt Webster from Westfield (H.S.) IN, who is ranked #92 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, to not ask for his release or he'll have to go out and add not one, but two more players to this recruiting class.  If you will recall, the previous regime landed three excellent players last fall in Webster, 6'6 Vladimiras Severovas from Beverly Hills (Groves) MI, and 6'1 Todd Abernathy from Indianapolis (Heritage Christian) IN.  However, Abernathy reneged on his commitment this spring and, instead, is now bound for Mississippi, and Webster is thinking about going elsewhere.   But, if Webster stays, their recruiting class, which currently is tied at #59, along with Pepperdine and San Francisco, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, would feature an impact player at every position but center.  In other words, Biancardi already has Wright State on track to join Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee as one of the elite teams in the Horizon League, as well as one of the premier mid-major programs in college basketball. 

Monday, May 12, 2003

Last week we thought it was pretty much a done deal that Wyoming head coach Steve McClain would take the Iowa State job.  However, it appears that the Cyclones didn't want to pay McClain's $350,000 buy-out at Wyoming and, as a result, Chattanooga head coach Jeff Lebo now appears to be the #1 choice, although he has been in Ames, IA now for over 24-hours and they still appear to be a long way away from working out a deal.  Our sources tell us that Iowa State is offering in the neighborhood of $600,000 per year, but Lebo wants $800,000 per year.   By the time we all wake up tomorrow, they may already have come to terms and Lebo may be the next head coach at Iowa State, but the longer this one goes, the less likely we think the chances are that Lebo will take the job.  In other words, our guess is that if Lebo hasn't been named the head coach Iowa State by noon tomorrow, all bets are off.   Instead, Cyclones assistant coach Wayne Morgan will probably be the named the interim head coach and the school will wait until after the end of June, which is when Iowa State athletic director Bruce Van De Velde's contract runs out, so a new athletic director can be hired and he can bring in his own guy.  Remember, Morgan does have head coaching experience at Long Beach State, but he's also a Northeast guy and the ideal job for Morgan would be to become the new head coach at Fordham or Rick Pitino's top assistant coach at Louisville.   Ironically, both jobs are currently open, but we have not heard Morgan's name mentioned in connection with either job, despite the fact he appears to have no shot at getting the head coaching job at Iowa State on a permanent basis.  Instead, the name we're starting hear for Iowa State, if the Lebo contract negotiations fall through and they want to move quickly, is Maryland assistant coach Jimmy Pastos, who also happens to be one of the leading candidates for Fordham.  Remember, just about everybody on Iowa State's "A" list, including McClain, Creighton head coach Dana Altman, Former Chicago Bulls head coach Tim Floyd, Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes, former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lon Kruger, has expressed no interest or already turned the job down.  Equally hard to read is the situation at Fordham, although the leading candidates do appear to be Pastos, Wagner head coach Dereck Whittenburg, and former North Carolina assistant coach Fred Quartlebaum, who is an alumnus of the school.  However, we're also not ready to rule out Fairfield head coach Tim O'Toole, Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, Kentucky assistant coach Scott Rigot, and Richmond assistant coach Gary DeCesare just yet.  Obviously this list reads like a Who's Who of Great Recruiters and less like a list of guys with a lot of head coaching experience at the Division I level and that's exactly what the school needs - somebody who can recruit like crazy, especially in the New York City area.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that the latest high school player to entire his name into the NBA Draft is 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, which means that there are now six high school players - 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH, 6'11 James Lang from Birmingham (Central Park Central) AL, 6'10 Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS - who have entered their names into the NBA Draft.  Johnson also tells us that 6'5 Jimmy Tobias from Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL has signed with the University of Oklahoma; 6'5 Dan Cage from Indianapolis (Chatard) IN, who signed with St. Bonaventure last fall, has reneged and, instead, now plans to go to Vanderbilt; 6'5 Purnell Smith from Indianapolis (Pike) IN has signed with Buffalo; and 6'2 Stan Burrell from Indianapolis (Ben Davis) IN has committed to Xavier, but first plans to go the prep school route to Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  So Burrell will count in Xavier's current recruiting class, which is now tied at #43 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and also includes 6'9 Boubacar Coly from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'7 Justin Doellman from Union (Ryle) KY, 6'5, Robert Barker form Greensburg (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 Justin Cage from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, and Xavier's recruiting class next year, which now includes Burrell and 6'3 Jr Darryl Garrett from Detroit (Denby) MI and is now tied at #25 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  Oklahoma landing Tobias, who is ranked #116 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, also is very significant, because that moves the Sooners's recruiting class into a tie at #2, along with Miami-FL, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  A lot people probably will assume that Tobias will take the place of 6'7 Brandon Foust from Columbus (Brookhaven) OH when this class enrolls into school next fall.  But they will be surprised, because Foust already has made it academically and, as a result, will be eligible to play for the Sooners as a freshman next season.  Instead, it appears the plan is to send 6'10 Longar Longar from Rochester (John Marshall) OK to prep school and sign him again next year.  And that's not the only major action in terms of our ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.   As a matter of fact, we believe that Florida State is going to get both 6'10 Alexander Johnson from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, who is the #8-ranked 5th year player by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who is ranked #21 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And, if that does indeed happen, then Florida State's recruiting class, which currently is ranked #14 and already includes 6'5 Vakeaton Wafer from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'10 Diego Romero from Lon Morris (JC) TX, and 6'7 Antonio Griffin from Scottsdale (JC) AZ, would move up to #1 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  In other words, the spring signing period ends in only two days on Wednesday, May 14th, but we still have a good old-fashioned horse race on our hands. 

We have confirmed that 6'7 Guy Ngarndi from Louisville (Western) KY, who is ranked #269 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed a National Letter-of-Intent for Manhattan, but it looks like we may have jumped the gun on 7'2 Lukasz Obrzut from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME, because, as of yet, an official announcement and/or a signed National Letter-of-Intent has not been forthcoming for the University of Kentucky.  However, we stand by our source, which we believe to be impeccable.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Ryan Lambert from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA has signed with Western Kentucky, 6'5 Julian Mascoll from Clearwater (Countryside) FL has signed with Eastern Kentucky, and 6'9 Jacque Pate from Howard (JC TX and 6'0 Lester "Bo" McClabb from New Orleans (O.P. Walker) LA have both signed with New Orleans.  Lambert doesn't make up for the loss of Patrick Sparks, who announced a month ago that he is transferring, but he does give new Hilltoppers head coach Darrin Horn what potentially could be one of the best one-two inside punches in the league.  Lambert is a strong physical athletic power forward who rebounds and scores around the basket, which makes him the perfect complement to 6'8 Damian Staples from Southeastern Illinois (JC) IL, who signed with the Hilltoppers last fall.  And to give you an even better idea of just how good both of these guys are, Staples was ranked as the #6 power foward by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook prior to the start of the season and was named Second Team 2003 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball All-American at the conclusion of the season and Lambert is ranked #40 on our list of 5th year players, which means he'd be ranked among our top 150 nationally, if he was still a high school senior.  The addition of Lambert moves Western Kentucky's recruiting class, which also includes 7'0 Josh Higgins from Vandalia (Butler) OH, 6'4 Nick Hill from DuQuoin (H.S.) IL, and 5'9 Kevin Bridgewaters from Columbia (Adair County) KY, into a tie at #55, along with Tulsa, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, even more important, the addition of Lambert means that Horn and his staff, which includes three of the bright young guys in the business in Holy Cross assistant coach Sean Doherty, Southeastern Louisiana assistant coach William Small, and N.C. State graduate assistant coach Archie Miller, can start working exclusively on recruiting juniors.  Getting back to Sparks, the only thing we know for sure is that he visited Oklahoma State last weekend.  However, we do know that there appears to be mutual interest in number of schools, like N.C. State, Louisville, Kentucky, Stanford, Florida, and Notre Dame.  The addition of Mascoll gives Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford the nucleus he not only needs to turn the program around in a hurry, but a good group of young players in the program that also includes 6'0 Frosh Matt Whitt, who was named the Rookie-of-the-Year in the Conference this year, and 6'6 Soph Michael Haney.  If you will recall, the Colonels have already landed 6'7 Michael Brock from Independence (Simon Kenton) KY, 6'3 Brandon Moore from Huntington (Spring Valley) WV, 6'4 Mamadou Diakhate from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 6'6 Terrez DeWalt from St. Catharine (JC) KY, and 6'5 Julian Mascoll from Clearwater (Countryside) FL.  Brock, who was one of the top five seniors in the state this past season, is a tough hardnosed combo forward who can play both inside and outside, thanks to his ability to shoot the three and score around the basket.  Moore was the best player in West Virginia last season, as is evident by the fact that he was named Mr. Basketball in West Virginia last season.  Diakhate doesn't have a true position, but he's a jack-of-all-trades, a physical specimen, and great leader, which means he's an asset to any program, as well as a steal for EKU.  So is DeWalt, who, along with Mascoll, gives Ford two of the best athletes, as well as perhaps two of the biggest sleepers.  Not only is this recruiting class tied with Tulane, George Mason, and Saint Louis at #61 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but it easily is the best recruiting class that Ford has landed during his three years at helm of the Colonels.  The addition of Pate and McCalebb moves New Orleans' recruiting class up into a tie with East Carolina, Butler, and Manhattan at #76 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but this also solves a number of important needs for the Privateers.  First, Pate, who provides yet another big body who can play on the blocks, should be the perfect complement inside to 6'10 Ben Elias from Ocala (Christian Shores Academy) FL and 6'8 Nate Park from Odessa (JC) TX, both of whom signed with New Orleans last fall.  Second, McCalebb gives the Privateers the scoring guard that they will need to complement 6'2 Johnell Smith next season and replace him the year after.  Third, McCalebb and 6'3 Chad Barnes, who is a transfer from Loyola University, which is a NAIA school in New Orleans, gives head coach Monte Towe a local flavor that his team has lacked the two years.  Speaking of Barnes, did you know that he was the 5th leading scorer nationally in NAIA last season?  So, if counted with New Orleans' recruiting class, it would be ranked #50 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, he doesn't count, because it is not the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP to count transfers when ranking recruiting classes.  Fourth, once again this firmly establishes that Privateers assistant coach Patrick Harrington is one of the most astute evaluators of talent in the business.  The signing of McCalebb is also important, because he was one of the top unsigned players in the nation.  As a matter of fact, by our count, there were only 13 unsigned seniors - 6'7 Dorell Wright from Lawndale (Leuzinger) CA, 6'8 Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 Maureece Rice from Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion) PA, 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA, 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT, 6'5 Jesus Verdejo from Miami (Christian) FL, 6'5 Jimmy Tobias from Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL, 6'1 Anthony Harris from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 6'2 Robert McIver from New Haven (Hillhouse) CT, 6'7 Barbarcour Thiem from Washington (Spingarn) DC, 6'2 Christopher Pugh from Oxon Hill (H.S.) MD, and 6'2 Marcus Hammond from Memphis (East) TN - that were ranked ahead of McCalebb before he made it official for the Privateers earlier today. 

Saturday, May 10, 2003, and Sunday, May 11, 2003

The HOOP SCOOP has a very reliable source that tells us 7'2 Lukasz Obrzut from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME has decided to attend the University of Kentucky.  We don't know if Obrzut has actually signed a binding National Letter-of-Intent or whether the Wildcats coaching staff has accepted the commitment, but we do know that the decision has been made and that the other schools on his list have been notified.  If you will recall, we reported last Wednesday that Obrzut was in the process of making an official visit to the University of Kentucky, but we seriously questioned whether the Wildcats would take Obrzut and 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY, neither of whom is good enough to make an impact for the Wildcats next year, in the same recruiting class.  Apparently we were wrong, but we still have to  question just how good the Wildcats will be, if 6'6 Soph Chuck Hayes, Alleyne, Obrzut, and 6'8 Sheray Thomas from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD are the four best big men in the program next year?  It kind of reminds you of Matt Doherty going to war at North Carolina last season with 6'9 Frosh Sean May, 6'8 Sr Will Johnson, 6'8 Frosh Byron Sanders, and 6'11 Frosh Damion Grant as the only big men in the Tar Heels program.  In other words, next year promises to be a rebuilding year for the Wildcats, unless Smith has another big man up his sleeve, like 7'0 Darius Silinskis from Lithuania, who also is rumored to have signed with Kentucky this spring, or 6'11 Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, who has still Rutgers, Villanova, North Carolina and Kentucky on his list.  It also makes us wonder if Smith, who recently signed a new eight-year contract that is worth more than $20 million, will turn down the right NBA job this spring, if they offer him enough money.  It also will be interesting to see how Wildcat fans, who have already questioned Kentucky's recruiting in recent years, react to landing a recruiting class that is tied at #67, along with Stanford and Fresno State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  We also have confirmed that Utah has signed 6'10 Jonas Langvad, who is the second best player that country has produced in recent years behind 6'8 Christian Drejer, who came on strong at the University of Florida late in the year.  Langvad is described by Utes head coach Rick Majerus as a cross between Keith Van Horn and Hanno Motpola, both of whom previously played for Majerus at Utah and currently are in the NBA.  And, if you also count 6'9 Andrew Bogut from Australia, who originally signed with Utah a year ago, but failed to meet the NCAA Clearinghouse standards the first time around, Utah's recruiting class moves up to #15 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  If you will recall, last fall the Utes also signed 6'6 Justin Hawkins from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'10 Stefan Zimmerman from Orem (Mountain View) UT, 6'2 Josh Olson from Sandy (Alta) UT, and 6'4 Ryan Werch from Ripon (H.S.) WI.  Bogut is the best player on the Australian National Team and Zimmerman is an extremely skilled big man, which means Majerus has reloaded with more than his fair share of size inside.  It also appears that 6'7 Guy Ngarndi from Louisville (Western) KY, who is ranked #269 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, will shock a lot of people tomorrow when he makes it official for Manhattan.  But not us!  As a matter of fact, we tried to warn you on April 29th when we said that Murray State is the leader for Ngarndi, "but we suspect that new Racers head coach Mick Cronin is getting a little bit nervous right now.  Did you know that Ngarndi has been telling other players in town that he plans to go Indiana, if they offer and he makes it academically?  And, if that weren't enough for Cronin to attempt to overcome, did you know that Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, who is second to none as a recruiter, was in town yesterday to see Ngarndi in a work-out and make an in-home visit?"  Obviously Indiana didn't offer Ngarndi and Gonzalez once again lived up to his reputation, as the Jaspers' recruiting class moves into a tie at #74, along with East Carolina and Butler.  Remember, Manhattan also landed 6'8 Obadiah Toppin from Globe Tech (JC) NY earlier this spring and last fall they signd 6'6 Christano Johnson from Laurinburg (Charter) NC and re-signed 6'8 Okty Yilmaz, who they stashed in prep school at Winchendon (School) MA this past season.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that new Columbia head coach Joe Jones has added his first recruit in 6'7 Gerard Barrett from Middleburg (Notre Dame) VA, but most of the credit on this one has to go to Jim Engels, who previously was the top assistant at Rider.  We also have confirmed that 5'8 T.J. Gray from Chicago (Julian) IL has signed with Western Illinois and this is a great catch for former UNLV assistant coach Derek Thomas, who became the head coach of the Leathernecks less than a month ago.  What Gray lacks in size at only 5'8, he more than makes up for with his quickness, ball handling and passing skills, and the ability to keep you honest with his outside shot.  Not only did we think he was the third best player on the Ft. Sooy-No Limit team, behind only 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL and 6'3 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, that we saw a week ago at the Spiece Run'n Slam in Ft. Wayne, IN, but Roy and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report think Gray might be the biggest sleeper to emerge in the state this spring.   Gray joins the three players - 6'5 Doyle Cole from Jacksonville (JC) TX, 6'6 Keith Archie from Kishwakee (JC) IL , and 6'4 Anthony Lenior from Redlands (JC) OK - that the previous regime signed last fall and, as a result, their recruiting class moves into a tie at #110, along with Holy Cross, Ohio University, Southwest Missouri State, Louisiana-Lafayette, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, even more important, is the fact that Gray and Cole both have the talent and potential to develop into two of the better players in the league. 

Our Alabama Editor Mark Komara tells us that 6'2 Ronald Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL has finally verbally committed to the University of Alabama.  "Finally" is the key word here, because we've been waiting for this one to happen for over a month.  Steele is ranked #171 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but Komara tells us that Steele has dramatically improved since we saw him last summer and, as a result, he now should be ranked in the 50-100 range nationally.  "Steele is a pure point guard with excellent speed and quickness, the ability to lock you up defensively, and terrific court savvy," says Komara.  "He also is an excellent floor general, a good student (3.4 gpa), and an excellent student of the game."  This moves Alabama's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'7 John Felix from Bevill State (JC) AL, into a tie at #4, along with Iowa on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  But this only appears to be the beginning, because the Crimson Tide also has 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL, 6'8 Jr Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'9 Jr Walter Sharp from Birmingham (Parker) AL, and 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL high on their priority list.  If they get Miles, who is ranked #30 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is believed to be a near lock for the Crimson Tide, that move Alabama up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  And, if they get both Miles and Williams, that would move Alabama's recruiting class into the #1 spot ahead of Texas on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  However, if Williams picks Texas, which currently is the favorite for Williams over Florida and Alabama, then the Longhorns would have the #1-ranked class, unless Alabama can get both White and Sharp.  But that is a pretty tall order for Mark Gottfried and his staff, because they are expected to get intense competition for Sharp from Auburn, Miami-FL, Cincinnati, Florida State, and Mississippi State and White is believed to be near lock for Indiana.  Our Washington, DC Area Editor Steve Turner confirms 6'8 Jr James Gist from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD has verbally committed to Maryland and once again you can pretty much throw out our current rankings, because Gist, who is currently ranked #179 nationally and #10 in the DC Area in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made a dramatic jump this spring.  As a matter of fact, if Turner were to update his junior rankings right now, he'd rank Gist #3 in the DC Area behind 6'9 Jr Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA and 6'6 Jr Churchill Odia-Ehis from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD and ahead of 7'0 Jr Roy Hibbert from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'8 Jr Davis Nwankwo from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 6'9 Jr Jared Gaither from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, and 6'9 Jr Jerome Johnson from Potomac (Bullis) MD.  And, after watching Gist play for the DC Blue Devils in the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX two weeks ago, there is no question in our mind that we'd have him ranked among our top 50 nationally.  Gist still needs to get stronger and develop a mid-range shot, but he does have a nice jump hook, an incredible wing span, great hands, and an excellent nose for the ball.  So it should come as no surprise when Turner tells us that he thinks Gist is one of the best shot blockers and offensive rebounders in the junior class nationally.  This moves Maryland's recruiting class into a tie at #20, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Mississippi State, and St. John's, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, but don't look for the Terrapins to have a third consecutive top 10-ranked recruiting class.  If you will recall, a year ago Maryland's recruiting class was ranked #6 by the HOOP SCOOP and included 6'8 Travis Garrison from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'9 Jamar Smith from Allegany (JC) MD, 6'2 Johnny Gilchrist from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, 6'7 Nik Caner-Medley from Portland (Deering) ME, and 6'4 Chris McCray from Capital Heights (Fairmont Heights) MD and their current recruiting class, which includes 6'8 Ekene Ibekwe from Carson (H.S.) CA, 6'4 Michael Jones from Braintree (Thayer Academy) MA, 6'11 Hassan Fofana from Worcester (Holy Name) MA, 6'11Will Bowers from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD, 6'4 D.J. Strawberry from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, is tied at #4, along with Oklahoma, LSU, and Arkansas, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  So, as things stand right now, the Terrapins only have one more available scholarship for the Class of 2004 and it is obvious that 6'7 Jr Rudy Gay from Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD or 6'8 Jr Adrian Joseph from Oradell (Bergen Catholic) NJ, both of whom are high on Maryland's priority list, would be the perfect complement to Gist in next year's class.  In other words, Terrapin assistant coaches Dave Dickerson and Jimmy Pastos haven't missed a beat on the recruiting trail since Billy Hahn, who was widely regarded as one of the most astute assistant coaches in the business, left two years ago to become the head coach at La Salle and, as result, Maryland appears to be well positioned to remain one of the premier teams in college basketball for a long time.

Friday, May 9, 2003

A week ago we not only told you that we thought Larry Eustacy would not survive as the head coach at Iowa State, but we mentioned that we thought the three leading candidates to take over at the helm of the Cyclones would be former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls head coach Tim Floyd, Creighton head coach Dana Altman, and Wyoming head coach Steve McClain.  Well, now it looks like a near lock for McClain.  As a matter of fact, we have heard that the press conference to announce McClain as the new head coach of the Cyclones will be on either Monday or Tuesday of next week.  And, assuming that our information is correct, the big question becomes who will be the next head coach at Wyoming?  We already have reported that if the job opens, the obvious favorite would be Wyoming assistant coach Joe Dooley, who not only is currently ranked #20 on our list of the top assistant coaches, but also has had previous head coaching experience at the Division I level dating back to his days at East Carolina.  However, we've also heard Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall and Middle Tennessee State head coach Kermit Davis mentioned as possible candidates for the Wyoming job.  And, if Davis were to get the Wyoming job, Middle Tennessee State assistant coach Donnie Tyndall, who did a great job of helping build the Idaho program a year ago and the Middle Tennessee State program this past year, would be the obvious heir apparent to Davis, just like Pat Skerry was the obvious successor to Rick Boyages at William & Mary when Boyages left to return to Ohio State as the associate head coach a month ago.  However, some athletic directors do not make the smart move, as is evident the fact that Hampden-Sydney head coach Tony Shaver got the William & Mary job, instead of Skerry.  We're talking about a guy (Skerry) who not only had helped transform the Tribe from being a bottom-of-the-league team into a middle of the pack team in just three years, but also somebody we respect and think so highly of that we ranked him as the #2-ranked assistant coach at the mid-to-low Division I level.  Skerry also had an excellent recruiting class waiting in the wings.  As a matter of fact, if Tribe athletic director Terry Driscoll had just hired Skerry right off the bat, 6'3 Andre Ingram from Highland Springs (H.S.) VA, who is ranked #215 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, would have signed this spring with William & Mary, instead, of American University, which is the school he picked several weeks ago.  And, if Driscoll had hired Skerry, instead of Shaver, a week ago, he may would have landed 6'3 Marcus Hammond from Memphis (East) TN, who is ranked #171 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'6 Mike Milton from Plano (H.S.) TX, who is the best unsigned senior left in the state of Texas.  Instead, it appears that Milton will likely sign with SMU and Hammond, who was at Evansville last weekend, is expected to Evansville, Drexel, or UNC-Wilmington.  We also have hear rumors about the possibility of 6'7 Frosh Jack Jenkins, who was the Tribe's third leading scorer (8.2 ppg) and third leading rebounder (4.3.rpg), 6'7 Soph Tom McLaughlin, who sat out last year after transferring from Princeton, and 6'9 Frosh Brian Hutt, who sat out as a fresh-shirt freshman this past season, all transferring.  In other words, Driscoll hired a guy who has spent the last 18 years at the Division III level, which is much different, especially in terms of recruiting, and, as a result, may have set the program back two or three years.  Making the story even more tragic is the fact that William & Mary, which was 7-11 in the league 1and 2-16 overall last year, had one starter, two part-time starters, and a number of excellent young players in the program, and the guy most responsible for putting all the pieces into place didn't get the break he deserved.  Instead, some big money guy at William & Mary got his guy in place and our guess is that Driscoll will probably pay the price for this mistake with his own job in three or four years.  Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report told us several days ago that Purdue assistant coach Jay Price would probably fill the final coaching spot on Bruce Weber's staff at the University of Illinois.  If you will recall, we've already previously mentioned the fact that Fighting Illini assistant Wayne McClain had been retained from the previous regime and more recently we confirmed that Chris Lowery, who was an assistant coach at Southern Illinois, is following Weber to Illinois.  Schmidt also followed that up by telling us that former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin was in line to replace Price as the top assistant coach at Purdue.   Obviously this makes sense, because Lavin got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant coach at Purdue and, if he steps in and pays his dues as an assistant coach for a few years, Lavin probably would be the heir apparent to replace Keady when he eventually retires.  Ironically, this is not the first time we've mentioned Lavin as the possible successor to Keady.  Did you know that we actually started that rumor two years ago when Lavin was taking heat from UCLA fans early in the season?  We also find it interesting that the mainstream media last night and today has jumped on the Lavin to Purdue story, but the Associated Press article in the Louisville-Courier Journal that I read this morning does not mention that Price is leaving to take the assistant coaching job at Illinois.  So from their perspective, it's only speculation, because as things stand now, Price is technically still an assistant coach at Purdue and, as a a result, the Boilermakers don't have an opening for Lavin.   However, we also have confirmed that Price is in Champaign, IL and, it stands to reason that he didn't go there on vacation.  In other words, it's done, but the official announcement has not been made yet. 

Thursday, May 8, 2003

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has a number of signings to pass along and a great place to start is with 6'8 Marcus Jackson from South Plains (JC) TX and 6'10 Cassiano Matheus from South Plains (JC) TX, both of who originally signed with the University of Georgia, but now are expected to get out of their National Letters-of-Intent and, as a result, plan to sign with Marquette and Utah State.  Jackson, who was ranked as the #5 power forward by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook prior the start of the season and was named a First Team Junior College All-American at the conclusion of the season, is expected to be the perfect replacement inside for 6'9 Sr Robert Jackson, who is the only player from the current Marquette team who will graduate this spring.  This is important, because, if 6'4 Jr Dwayne Wade, who has entered his named into the NBA Draft, but, to our knowledge has not signed with an agent, by some chance returns next season, then the Golden Eagles could be even better than they were when they advanced to the NCAA Final Four a month ago.  But, even if Wade doesn't come back, Marquette head coach Tom Crean will have the most depth he's ever had, because his current recruiting class, which is tied at #39, along with Iowa and UNLV, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, also includes 6'5 Dameon Mason from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'8 James Matthews from Detroit (Denby) MI, and 6'1 Brandon Bell from Flint (Southwestern) MI.  Matheus' decision to attend Utah State moves their recruiting class, which also includes 6'1 Chris Huber from Dixie (JC) UT, who was the #4-ranked point guard in the junior college ranks by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook prior to the start of the season; 6'8 Jason Williams from Santa Rosa (JC) CA, who is ranked among the top 70 junior college players by the Recruiter's Handbook; and 6'7 Michael Wilds from Chipola (JC) FL; into a tie at #50, along with Boston College, St. John's, and Temple, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  This also drops Georgia's recruiting class totally off our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, (that's in sharp contrast to when the Bulldogs' class finished ranked #16 at the conclusion of the fall signing period last November), because 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA, 6'4 Jordan Howell from Madison (Abbeville) AL, and 6'8 Corey Gibbs from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA also are in the process of getting out of their National Letters-of-Intent.  The leaders for Abukar still appear to be Kentucky, Florida, and Louisville.  Howell will probably end up at Alabama and Gibbs is expected to go the prep school route.  And, if that weren't enough bad news for Bulldogs head coach Dennis Felton, we also are beginning to hear that 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from McEachern (Powder Springs) GA, who reportedly was a near lock for Georgia, if the old regime had stayed in place, is wide open again.  Johnson also tells us that 6'4 Dion Sherrell, 6'3 James Holmes, and 6'9 Andre Scott, all from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, have all gone in different directions.  Sherrell was ranked as the #4-ranked shooting guard by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, so obviously this is a major steal for the University of Wyoming.  Holmes originally was expected to make a verbal commitment to Wright State, but apparently he changed his mind after making an official visit to South Florida last weekend.  Obviously this was a case, whereby, former Western Michigan head coach Robert McCullum, who recently replaced Seth Greenberg at South Florida, was able to take advantage of his strong Midwest ties.  Scott is an interesting catch for New Mexico State, because we're talking about a guy who was ranked among the top five or 10 freshmen in the nation, but never seemed to have the drive and determination to live up to all the early hype, as he made stops in high school at Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, and Limestone (Washington College) MD and as a freshman in college at the University of Rhode Island prior to going the junior college route.  Saint Louis has landed its 5th recruit in 6'9 Ian Vouyoukas from Athens, Greece, but, despite reports to the contrary, Johnson tells us that Vouyoukas has not played for the Greek Junior National Team.  Still, this, 6'9, 240 lbs. power forward is good enough to provide a nice complement to 6'9 Tom Frericks from Chipola (JC) FL and 7'1 Bryce Husak from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) IA inside and 6'3 Darren Clarke from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN and 6'0 Brandon Morris from Western Iowa (JC) IA should step in and help the Billikens next year on the perimeter.  So could 5'9 Jr Dwayne Polk from St. Louis (Vashon) MO, who has made an early verbal commitment to the Billikens.  Johnson also confirms that the University of Washington has landed 6'8 Hakeem Rollins from Mesa (JC) AZ and 6'2 Josh Gonner from Hutchinson (JC) KS has picked the University of South Carolina.  Gonner moves the Gamecocks' recruiting class into a tie at #20, along with Auburn, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, despite the fact they haven't signed a single player ranked among our top 40 or higher nationally.  However, 6'8 Renaldo Balkman from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, 6'9 Brandon Wallace from Aiken (Silver Bluff) SC, and 6'0 Tre Kelly from Washington (Dunbar) DC have the talent and potential to develop into three of the better players in the league and 6'1 Jeff Vaughn from  Bevill State (JC) AL and 6'10 Paulius Joneliunas from Roanoke (Catholic) VA should provide valuable depth for the Gamecocks.  Rollins, who was an Honorable Mention pick on the 2003 NCJAA Division I Men's Basketball Team, gives Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar another junior college player who is expected to provide an immediate impact.  Remember, Washington landed 6'5 Tre Simmons, who was the #9-ranked power forward by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, last fall, and, as a result, this two man recruiting class is tied at #99, along with Ohio State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  The commitment by 6'7 Mike Rudoy from Chicago (Latin) IL, who is ranked #34 in Illinois by the HOOP SCOOP, to Princeton is interesting, because his father, Herb Rudoy is one the top NBA agents in the country.  Johnson also has the scoop with regards to 6'0 Carl Marshall from Chicago (Crane) IL, who is ranked #252 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, going to Baylor.  And, last, but not least, Johnson also confirms that 5'10 Jr Charles White from Jackson (Provine) MS has made an early verbal commitment to Mississippi State.  There is no doubt that this going to open a lot of eyes, because White plays on the Jackson Tigers, along with 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS and, as a result, it will be assumed that this will give the Bulldogs an added advantage in their quest to land the HOOP SCOOP's #2-ranked junior in the nation.  However, White is pretty good in his own right!   As a matter of fact, the word out of Mississippi is that he has emerged as the #2-ranked junior in the state behind Jefferson.  In other words, it looks like Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury, who is one of the best recruiters in the business, is not only stocking up on inside players, but he's also getting more than his fair share of quality guards.  If you will recall, Mississippi State landed 6'10 Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, and 5'11 Gary Ervin from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, all three of whom are legitimate top 30 players in the nation, last fall and 6'3 Detrick Slater from Waynesboro (Wayne County) MS, who is the #5-ranked senior in the state by our Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson, this spring in a recruiting class that is now ranked #8 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.   Moral to the story, if Outlaw and/or Butler don't by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft this spring and Jefferson enrolls at Mississippi State in the fall of 2004, then the Bulldogs might just be our pre-season #1-ranked team in college basketball in 2004-2005.   And, if all this materializes the way Stanbury hopes it does, remember where you heard it first!

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Our International Editor Chris Johnson has told me on several occasions that he's heard the University of Kentucky has a signed National Letter-of-Intent in hand from 7'0 Darius Silinskis from Lithuania.  Apparently Silinskis was in Lexington, KY on an official visit in April, but, as is so often the case with foreign players, there are visa and academic questions that must be answered, plus it appears that Silinskis is more interested in being drafted in the NBA or playing professionally in Europe than attending college in the United States.  Obviously that would be plan "A" in the Wildcats quest for an inside presence next year to replace Marquis Estill, who has elected not appeal for another year of eligibility.  And today we found out what plan "B" might be by reading an article that was written by Michael Smith in the Louisville Courier-Journal.  Have you ever heard of 7'2 Lukasz Obrzut from Poland via North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME?  Well, we've not only heard of him, but we saw him play at the War on the Shore National Prep School Invitational in Milford, DE and, at the time, we thought he was a good catch for Fordham, which got a verbal commitment from active big man in early November.  However, Obrzut never signed with Rams, which means he's under no obligation to attend Fordham.  Obrzut runs the court, has a soft touch out to 15-feet, is surpringly athletic, and has the frame necessary to develop into a physical specimen inside.  But, like so many players from Eastern Europe, Obrzut is not a dominant force inside.  In other words, Obrzut needs to get bigger and stronger and meaner and tougher inside, if he wants to make an impact in the Southeastern Conference.  Obrzut also is not as good as 7'3 Shagari Alleyne from New York (Rice) NY is right now, which means that if the Wildcats sign him, they would have not one, but two projects, neither of whom are not expected to make an immediate next year, in this recruiting class.  "For us, he was not the band leader, but he was part of the orchestra," said Whit Lesure, who was Obrzut's prep school coach last season.  "At times he played phenomenally.  He did things at times that made you think he's as good as any big man in the country.  As far as playing every possession with the kind of intensity needed, that will have to come with experience."  In other words, Obrzut does have a lot of potential and, as a result, his #59-ranking on our 5th year list, which makes him the equivalent of a player in the 100-300 range nationally if he was a high school senior, is more than justified.  There is no question he would be a steal for somebody like East Carolina, where he recently visited, or Utah, which is where he will visit on Sunday.  However, we're scratching our head wondering why Obrzut is making an official visit the University of Kentucky today and tomorrow.  Remember, Kentucky is a team whose goal is to compete for the NCAA Championship every year and, if you're not good enough to make an immediate impact, they should be able recruit somebody better next year.  Making the story even stranger is the fact that, if Kentucky adds 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA and Obrzut to a recruiting class that already includes Alleyne, 6'8 Sheray Thomas from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, and 6'7 Bobby Perry from Durham (Hillside) NC, they have signed five players in this recruiting class, but still not solved their inside problems for next season.  And they also would have only two scholarships available for next year.  If you will recall, the Wildcats already have an early verbal commitment from 6'4 Jr Adam Williams from St. Albans (H.S.) WV.   Our New York Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that 6'0 Guy Hague Minto from Brooklyn (Franklin D. Roosevelt) NY, who is ranked #33 on the updated New York City Report that we hope to publish by this time next week, has signed with Canisius and our Washington, DC area Editor Steve Turner tells us that we have a serious race on our hands for top recruiting honors in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.  Florida A&M, which landed 6'1 Eddie Withers from Seminole (JC) OK, 6'8 Michael Harper from Tallahassee (JC) FL, and 6'9 Tony Marajo from Palm Beach (JC) FL currently has the best recruiting class in the league.  But right now Howard University, which signed 6'7 Kshaun Daley from Marietta (H.S.) GA last fall and 6'8 James McBryde from Erie (JC) NY, 6'2 Will Gant from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 6'0 Darek Mitchell from Ashland (Patrick Henry) VA, and 6'4 Daryl Hudson from Belleview (H.S.) MI this spring, is a close second.  And Howard will sneak into the lead, if they also get 6'5 Stanley Green from Shawnee (Lenape) NJ, who is ranked #19 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Allen Rubin.   Our guess is that this will happen sooner than later, because Daley probably isn't going to meet the entrance requirements and, as a result, Howard head coach Frankie Allen, will stash him next year at a prep school.  However, for our purposes we count players who have signed and/or committed, which means who actually enrolls in school next fall is a problem that the coaching staff and the admissions department will have to deal with long after we're done with our final ranking of this year's top recruiting classes.  Turner also tells us that the heading coaching job at Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC may be filled by the end of the week and three finalists are Catholic University assistant coach Steve Howes, Archbishop Carroll assistant coach Bill Howze, and former Georgetown player Fred Brown.  Our guess is that Brown will get the job due primarily to his strong connections to John Thompson and the Hoyas program, but Howes and Howze are both much more qualified for the job.  Not only have they both paid their dues and know what it takes to get it done in the tough DC Catholic League, but they also have a great future, if they get the right break.  And obviously this would be the right break, because Archbishop Carroll has the potential to be one of the top high school basketball jobs in the DC area, as well as the country, if they hire somebody who knows what they're doing versus having the right political connections.  We also have confirmed that George Mason has landed 6'7 Makan Konate from Worcester (Academy) MA and 6'5 Gabe Norwood from State College (H.S.) PA.  Norwood is a skilled athletic white kid who can shoot the lights out.  He also guided his team to the 4A State Championship and his father is an assistant football coach at Penn State.  When we saw Konate last November, we thought he was no better than the 7th best player on his prep school team.  However, that's still pretty good when one finds out that Providence-bound 6'5 Dwight Brewington, Boston College-bound 6'1 Steve Hailey, 6'8 Nick Stafford, 6'3 Carl Elliott, and Yale-bound 6'7 Sam Kaplan were the players that we ranked ahead of him.  Worcester Academy Head Coach Mo Cassara, also has a bright future, as is evident by the fact that he was recently hired as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton.  And don't be surprised if one of his first recruits is Stafford, who is one of the best unsigned players still available. 

We had heard that 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, who is ranked #27 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, might renege on the verbal commitment he made to Purdue University.  If you will recall, Vaden and 6'1 Jr Desmond Gadis from Indianapolis (Pike) IN both announced for the Boilermaker prior to the start of their freshman season, which to our knowledge are the two earliest verbal commitments to a four-year Division I college or university on record.   Well, Vaden not only confirmed it, but he gave us a list of schools that includes Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, and North Carolina.  However, Vaden also added that Purdue is still the leader, which leads us to believe that Vaden just wants to be recruited and as a result, make sure he's making the right decision.  But, in the end, unless something unforeseen happens, like Boilermakers head coach Gene Keady announces that he's going to retire or the school goes on probation for recruiting violations, we'd be shocked Vaden goes anywhere else.  Remember, Vaden lives with the Gadis family, which has strong ties to the Purdue program.  Gadis is the son of former Southern Methodist player Dave Gadis and the nephew of former Purdue guard Mack Gadis.  But for now, Vaden is still available, unlike the following players who have already made early verbal commitments:  6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL to Memphis, 6'3 Jr Daniel Gibson from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX to Texas, 6'11 Jr LeMarcus Aldridge from Dallas (Seogoville) TX to Texas, 6'2 Jr DeMarcus Nelson from Vallejo (H.S.) CA to Duke, 6'2 Jr JamesOn Curry from Mebane (Eastern Alamance) NC to North Carolina, 6'11 Jr Steve Hill from Branson (H.S.) MO to Arkansas, 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA to UCLA, 6'9 Jr Cedric Simmons from Shallotte (West Brunswick) NC to N.C. State, 6'3 Jr Jamar Butler from Lima (Senior) OH to Cincinnati, 6'6 Jr J.R. Angle from Trafalfar (Indian Creek) IN to Iowa, 6'11 Jr Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI to Wisconsin, 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI to Michigan, 6'3 Jr Joe Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI to Michigan, 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX to Texas, 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA to USC, 6'6 Jawann McClellan from Houston (Milby) TX to Arizona, 6'5 Jr David Pendergraft from Brewster (H.S.) WA to Gonzaga, 6'10 Jr Jermaine Bell from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL to St. John's, 6'7 Jr Marquis Gray from Flint (Beecher) MI to Michigan State, 7'0 Jr Roy Hibbert from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD to Georgetown, 6'2 Jr Tony Douglas from Jonesboro (H.S.) GA to Auburn, 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA to USC, 6'9 Jr Spencer Tollackson from Chaska (H.S.) MN to Minnesota, 6'8 Jr Rob Kurz from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA to Notre Dame, and 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA.  In other words, 25 of the top 100 juniors nationally are currently verbally committed and, if you also include Vaden's commitment to Purdue, the commitment that 6'5 Jr Cheyenne Moore from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD made to Georgetown, but has since reneged on and Bell, who has already committed to St. John's three times and reneged on the Red Storm twice, we already tracked 29 top 100 early verbal commitments from the Class of 2004.  And we think it's only a matter of time before a number of other players like 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL goes to Indiana, 6'10 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Southwest Atlanta Christian) GA goes to Georgia Tech, 6'8 Jr Randolph Morris from Fairburn (Landmark Christian) GA goes to Georgia Tech, 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL goes to Alabama, 6'2 Jr Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY goes to St. John's, 6'7 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University) LA goes to LSU, 6'4 Jr Bryce Taylor from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA goes to either Oregon or Indiana, and 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL goes to Illinois.  However, both Livingston and his AAU coach, Verdell Jones Jr, told us at the Spiece   Run'N Slam in Ft. Wayne, IN over the weekend that Livingston is still wide open, as his final five include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Duke, and Louisville.  We also got a list of schools from a number of other players, like 6'6 Jr Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, 6'3 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'6 Jr Vince Humphrey from Oak Park (Fenwick) IL, 6'11 Jr Chris Miles from Provo (Timpview) UT, 6'1 Jr Brian Roberts from Toledo (St. John's) OH, and 6'0 Jr Alan Hanson from Wauwatosa (East) WI, that we saw at the Spiece   Run'N Slam.  Hairston's list includes Kansas, Ohio State, Michigan State, Missouri, Kentucky, and UCLA.  Lowry mentioned Ohio State, Xavier, Syracuse, St. Joseph's, La Salle, Pittsburgh, and Temple.  Cerasoli said he likes Ohio State, N.C. State, Seton Hall, Connecticut, Villanova, and Auburn.  Cerasoli also confirmed that DePaul is out.  Pruitt mentioned Arizona, Marquette, Wisconsin, Indiana, Xavier, and Michigan State.  Humphrey is getting the most attention from Saint Louis, Ball State, Northern Illinois, Rice, Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Western Michigan, but we think he's better than the schools on his list.  The top five for Miles appear to be Utah, Brigham Young, Oregon, Gonzaga, and UCLA.  Roberts likes Xavier, Ohio State, Dayton, Minnesota, Bowling Green, Miami-OH, Clemson and Stanford.  Hanson's list includes Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marquette, Valparaiso, and Iowa State.  We also understand via Reggie Tisdale of Indiana Basketball News that Louisville plans to stash 6'9 Jr Carl Swanigan from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN in prep school next year at Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA.  And we can confirm that Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino did watch Swanigan at the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX a week ago.   However, the most item of all involves 6'3 Frosh Romar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI, who is ranked #7 nationally in the great Class of 2006.   His early list of schools includes Michigan, Michigan State, Duke, Kentucky, Purdue, North Carolina, and Texas A&M, but you can make Indiana the heavy favorite.   Not only are Indiana head coach Mike Davis and Smith's father originally from the same town in Alabama, but when Davis was a little kid, Smith's father used to baby-sit for him. 

Tuesday, May 6, 2003

The HOOP SCOOP has confirmed that 6'3 Jr Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA followed up on his unofficial visit last week to USC by making a verbal commitment to the Trojans last night.  This comes as no surprise, because Pruitt's father indicated to us last fall that he wanted his son to attend school close to home.  As a matter of fact, the impression we got is that Arizona was too far away for him to go to school, which meant it almost had to be UCLA or USC.  And, when the Bruins locked up 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA a month, that pretty much made it a question of when Pruitt was going to verbally commitment rather than whether he was going to commit to the Southern Cal.  Pruitt is an excellent outside shooter, but he handles and passes the ball well enough to play the point guard, which means that he promises to be one of many interchangeable parts that USC head coach Henry Bibby will have at the one, two, and three spots for years to come.  Remember, Errick Craven and Derrick Craven both will be back for two more years, plus USC's current recruiting class includes 6'4 Rodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'4 Lodrick Stewart from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, and 6'0 Quentin Day from Kansas City (Paseo) MO and they already have both Pruitt and 6'4 Jr Curtis Allen from Palos Verdes (Rolling Hills) CA verbally committed in the Class of 2004.  And when you also add 7'0 Jr Robert Swift from Bakersfield (Highland) CA, who made an early verbal commitment to USC two months ago, it is easy to see why we have the Trojans' recruiting ranked #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.  However, even more important is the fact that USC has already landed three of the top six juniors in the state in Pruitt, Swift, and Allen, who are ranked #3, #4, and #6, respectively, by our California Editor Dinos Trigonis, whose new rankings will be published later this week exclusively in the Members Section.  This is very important, because the competition with UCLA for the top players in their backyard for years to come promises to be intense.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has confirmed that 6'5 Omar Thomas from Panola (JC) TX signed with UTEP, which means that Miners head coach Billy Gillispie is turning this program around in a hurry.  If you will recall, Gillispie, who previously was an assistant coach at Illinois, inherited a team that went 6-24  after he took over for Jason Rabedeaux last fall.  However, Gillispie now has two of the top junior college players in the nation in the fold in Thomas, who was the leading scorer (36.1 ppg) and the second leading rebounder (17.0 ppg) in the National Junior College Division I ranks last year, as well as a First Team Junior College All-American in 2002, and 6'1 Filberto Rivera from Southeastern Iowa (JC) IA, who was ranked as the #3 point guard in junior college by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook before the start of the season and was a First Team Junior College All-American at the end of the season.  We also have confirmed that 6'0 Sheldon Pace from Chaffey (JC) CA, who signed last fall with UTEP, has asked for and received his release, which made room for Thomas to join a recruiting class that also includes 6'9 Thomas Gehrke from Brazil, 6'8 Brent Murphy from Lon Morris (JC) TX, and 6'5 Jason Williams from Kilgore (JC) TX and is ranked #13 our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Obviously Gillispie had to go the junior college route this year and get the quick fix he needed to turn the program around in a hurry, but don't be surprised if he does equally well recruiting high school talent from the state of Texas in the future.  As a matter of fact, nobody has better contacts for the purposed of recruiting in the state than Gillispie does.  Not only was he an assistant coach at Tulsa, Baylor, and South Plains (JC) TX, but Gillispie got his start as a high school coach at New Braunfels (Canyon) TX, Copperas Cove (H.S.) TX, and Killeen (Ellison) TX.   However, that's not the biggest surprise on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Did you know that we have Kansas State's recruiting class, which includes 6'10 Justin Williams from Kankakee (JC) IL, 5'7 Dez Willingham from De Soto (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Jeremiah Massey from Oxnard (JC) CA, 6'8 Cartier Martin from Aldine (Nimitz) TX, 6'9 Dramane Diarra from Cloud (JC) KS, 6'4 Lance Harris from Columbia (Hickman) MO, and 6'10 Tyler Hughes from Olathe (North Olathe) KS, ranked #1 and we have Louisiana Tech's class, which includes 6'8 Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S.) LA, 6'3 JueMichael Young from Chipola (JC) FL, 6'7 Barry Thompson from Odessa (JC) TX, 6'3, Donell Allick from Seward County (JC) KS, 6'1 Solomon Brown from Cypress (JC) CA, and 6'2 Fred Marshall from Coffeyville (JC) KS, ranked #3 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003?  Don't believe Louisiana Tech can have the #3-ranked recruiting class in the nation, do you?  Well, let's take a closer look.  If you will recall, Millsap is ranked #32 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP; Young was ranked as the #6 shooting guard by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook; Thompson was ranked #46 nationally in the Class of 2000 when he was a senior at Winchendon (School) MA; Brown was ranked #24 among 5th year players by the HOOP SCOOP in the Class of 2001 when he was at Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, and Allick is listed as one of the top 70 Junior College Players in the nation by the Recruiter's Handbook.  And we wouldn't be surprised if something similar happens at Illinois State during the next several years.  Did you know that Louisiana Tech assistant coach Steve Forbes, who is the guy who deserves a lot of the credit for landing this incredible class, was hired a week ago by Porter Moser at Illinois State? 

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 5'10 Japhet McNeil from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY and 6'4 Frank Robinson from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME have both signed with East Carolina; 5'11 Marlon Smith from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY has signed with Penn State; 7'0 Artur Surov from Finland via Savannah (Memorial Day) GA has signed with St. Joseph's; 6'8 Jr Rob Kurz from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA has made an early verbal commitment to Notre Dame; and 6'3 Russell Carter from Paulsboro (H.S.) NJ has signed with Notre Dame.  The commitment by Carter moves Notre Dame's recruiting class up to #76 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003, but it also is significant, because he provides some insurance in case Chris Thomas decides to keep his name in the NBA Draft.  And, if that happens, Irish head coach Mike Brey will still have plenty of options to go along with Chris Quinn in the backcourt, as 6'4 Torrian Jones, 6'3 Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL, and Carter all will give him a different look at the 2-guard spot next year.  Falls lacks speed and quickness, but he can shoot the lights out.  Jones is an excellent athlete, but he's more of a slasher than a shooter.  Carter, who is ranked #12 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by the HOOP SCOOP, does both, although he has yet to learn to play defense and put the complete package together.   And Kurz, who is an outstanding 3-point shooter, but only an average athlete, does the same thing at the 3-spot, as he provides the perfect balance to the athleticism that 6'8 Omari Isreal from Wheaton (Good Counsel) MD brings to the table.  Isreal might also see some playing time at the 4-spot, but 6'8 Frosh Ricky Cornett, who is expected to start at the 4-spot next year, will have plenty of competition for that spot from 6'8 Dennis Latimore, who is transferring from Arizona to Notre Dame, the following year.  And if Isreal and Kurz don't fill the bill at the 3-spot year after next, then Cornett could provide yet another option out on the perimeter.  In other words, the Irish have plenty of firepower to go along with 6'10 Frosh Torin Francis, who will anchor things inside for the next three years, and Quinn, who is perfectly capable of replacing Thomas at the point.  McNeil and Robinson join 6'4 Mike Cook from New Hampton (Prep) NH and 6'8 Keith Foster from Winston-Salem (R.J. Reynolds) NC and, as a result, East Carolina's recruiting class moves into a tie at #70, along with Butler and Princeton, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, when it is all said and done, this group may turn out to be a lot better than that, because all four of their recruits have a major upside.  Remember, Cook is a physical specimen, an excellent rebounder for his size, and is unstoppable for when he takes the ball to the basket.  Foster needs to get meaner and tougher inside, but, with his athleticism, skills, and body, the sky is the limit.  McNeil got underrecruited due to his lack of size, but he's got excellent ball handling and passing skills, explosiveness off the dribble, tremendous court savvy, the ability to lock you up defensively, and that New York City toughness.  This is the first time Robinson's name has appeared on our radar screen, but the word is that he's a major sleeper who is capable of scoring a lot of points.  Surov is not real physical inside, but, at 7-feet, 245 lbs., he can score around the hoop, is mobile for his size, has great hands, and range out to 17-feet.  Surov joins 6'9 Ardydas Lidzius from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who signed with St. Joseph's a week ago, and, as result, the Hawks' recruiting class moves up into a tie at #138, along with Florida International, Clemson, Gonzaga, Texas, Purdue, Tennessee, New Orleans, and Old Dominion, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  However, even more important, these two recruits give head coach Phil Martelli the size he needs to replace 7'1 Sr Alexandre Sazonov, who graduates this spring, plus they should provide the perfect complement to 6'10 Frosh Dave Mallon and 6'11 Frosh Dwayne Jones for years to come.  These two additions also once again establish that Hawks assistant coach Matt Brady, who has been at St. Joseph's for 10 years now, not only is one of the best shooting intructors and young X's and O's guys in the business, but he's a heck of recruiter.  At first glance, Smith, who is ranked #236 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP and #10 in the senior class in New York City by Ron Naclerio, doesn't appear to be a good catch for Penn State.  But that's not true for a number  reasons.  First, the new staff got the job late and the pickings this time of year are pretty slim, especially when you're trying to find somebody who is good enough to step in and make an immediate impact in the Big-10.  Second, getting Smith should help establish an important pipeline into New York City for the future.  Third, Smith does have the talent and potential to be ranked a lot higher.  Fourth, if Penn State doesn't use the scholarship this spring, they will lose it.  If you will recall, the only two players the previous regime signed last fall were 6'0 Ben Luber from Newtown (Council Rock North) PA and 6'10 John Kelley from Wayne (DePau) PA.  Fifth, Smith plays for one of the top high school coaches (Jack Curran) in one of the top high school programs in the nation. 

Saturday, May 3, 2003, Sunday, May 4, 2003, & Monday, May 5, 2003

Rarely does our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin stay for the end of an event, but you can bet that if he'd been at the Spiece Run'N Slam over the weekend Ft. Wayne, IN, he would have stayed until the bitter end.  Not only would Rubin have wanted to see Philadelphia MJC beat the Dajuan Wagner Rising Stars, both of which are from his area, in the championship game, but he also wouldn't have wanted to miss the Dajuan Wagner Rising Stars' stunning upset against the Illinois Wolves in the second round of the playoffs and the 41-point performance by 5'11 Jr Kyle Lowry from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, as Philadelphia MCJ upset the Family, 85-69, in the semi-finals.  Lowry also finished with 21 points, as Philadelphia MJC beat the Dajuan Wagner Rising Stars, 62-55, in the championship game.  And regardless of whether his team won, lost, or somehow even tied in the title game, Lowry was the easy choice for tournament MVP honors as he did just about everything for his team, except sell tickets.  Not only does Lowry make his teammates better, score both inside and outside, and play excellent defense, but he's also the quintessential point guard, as he's a great leader/competitor/winner and, as a result, has to be one of the fastest rising players in the junior class nationally.  As a matter of fact, Lowry is currently ranked #67 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but next time we update our rankings, he will be listed among our top 30 juniors nationally, plus he will get serious McDonald's All-American consideration, if he continues to play like this summer and next winter, when I fill out my ballot next spring.  However, Lowry wasn't the player who helped himself the most over the weekend at the Spiece Run'N Slam.  Instead, that honor has to go to 6'6 Jr Malik Hairston from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, who scored 38 points in his head-to-head match-up against 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden from Indianapolis (Pike) IN and the Spiece Top Prospects and averaged 31. 3 ppg in pool play.  Our guess is that Hairston, who won't be 17-years-old until next February, got tired as the tournament wore on, because his outside shot stopped falling, but we're talking about somebody who would be the #1-ranked player in the sophomore class nationally, if he wasn't a full year ahead of himself in school.  We're talking about somebody with a 3.0 gpa student who attends the best public school in Detroit, as well as a player who reminds of Carmelo Anthony in many ways.   Not only is Hairston an amazing rebounder for his size, but this multi-dimensional athlete is an excellent ball handler and passer, a deadly 3-point shooter, and almost impossible when he decides to take the ball to the hole.  Hairston also has a flare for the spectacular and he uses his unbelievable speed, quickness, timing, and leaping ability to make a living off rebounds and alley-oop dunks.  Hairston is not as big nor as polished as Anthony was when we made him the #1 player in the senior class nationally, but Hairston is a lot better than Anthony, who grew four inches during his sophomore and junior year, was when he was only 16-years-old.  In other words, we're talking about somebody who has to be ranked right up there, along with 6'9 Jr Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, 5'11 Jr Sebastian Telfair from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'0 Jr Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, 6'9 Jr Josh Smith from Powder Springs (McEachern) GA, 6'9 Jr D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL, 6'9 Jr Marvin Williams from Bremerton (H.S.) WA, 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, and 6'11 Jr Dwight Howard from Atlanta (Atlanta Southwest Christian) GA, as one of the top players in the already loaded Class of 2004.   Hairston also appears to be the best wing player in the junior class nationally, but, depending upon which day you see them, he often isn't even the perimeter player on The Family club team.  Believe it or not, 6'4 Jr Joseph Crawford from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, who also has terrific skills, unbelieveable moves to the basket, deadly 3-point shooting range, and incredible athleticism, is just as good.  "We go back-and-forth on which one is better," says Vince Baldwin, who is the program director of The Family Club Team, as well as the Editor and Publisher of Michigan & Ohio Prep Spotlight and the Michigan Editor of the HOOP SCOOP.  "One day I think Hairston is the better player and the next day the edge will go to Crawford."  Regardless of which one you like better, we're talking about arguably the best wing forward and the best 2-guard in the nation, as well as two of the fastest rising players nation, as is evident by the fact that we currently have Coleman ranked #46 and Hairston ranked #53 in the junior class nationally.  Making the story even more interesting is the fact that both Crawford and 6'6 Jr Ronald Coleman from Romulus (H.S.) MI, who is an excellent outside shooter, but not nearly as athletic as Hairston and Crawford, both are already verbally committed to Michigan.  Thus, explains why Hairston doesn't even have the Wolverines on his list.  Instead, Hairston tells us that he likes Ohio State, Kansas, Michigan State, Missouri, Kentucky, and UCLA, although he also adds that he's still wide open.  And setting the table for Hairston, Crawford, and Coleman was 5'9 Jr Marcus Crenshaw from Detroit (MacKenzie) MI, who has terrific ball handling and passing skills, jet-like speed and quickness, and ability to score both in transition and from beyond the arc.   As a matter of fact,  Crenshaw was the second leading scorer in the city of Detroit last year (28.9 ppg).  All Crenshaw lacks is size, which means he's ideally suited for most of the schools on his list, which currently includes Kent State, Xavier, Dayton, Detroit, Wright State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Cleveland State, Toledo, and Canisius.  We also were impressed with 6'8 Soph Brandon Wolfe from Detroit (Redford) MI, who is Baldwin's #2-ranked sophomore in Detroit.  Not only does he have nice moves around the basket and a toughness on the boards, but this surprisingly skilled athlete does most of the blue collar work inside.  In other words, it easy to see why our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson thinks The Family is the best club team in the nation, as well as why their loss in the semi-finals to Philadelphia MCJ was such a surprise.  Earlier we mentioned Vaden and now is the perfect time to get back to him, because he was one of the top five players in the tournament, along with Livingston, Hairston, Crawford, and Lowry.  Not only has Vaden lost all of his baby fat, but his body now looks like it has been chiseled to perfection.  Vaden also is a big-time athlete and an excellent outside shooter, as was evident by the fact that he hit seven 3-pointers en route to a 33-point effort against the Compton Magic, which was led by 6'4 Jr Arron Afflalo from Compton (Centennial) CA.  Also playing great in that game, but missing in action later in the tournament was 6'5 Jr Courtney Lee from Indianapolis (Pike) IN, who needs strength, but has the talent, skills, and athleticism to deserve top 100 consideration nationally. We also liked 6'8 Jr Lowell Grissom from Ft. Wayne (Carroll) IN, who does most of the dirty work inside and, as a result, projects as a good mid-major player, but the Spiece Top Propects lacked the guard play necessary to beat the Dajuan Wagner Rising Stars, which is the team they faced in the 8:00 AM game on Sunday morning in the round of 16.  In contrast, the Dujuan Wagner team, which featured 6'1 Jr Albert Fisher from Pennsauken (H.S.) NJ and 6'4 Jr Charron Fisher from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, was strong both inside and outside.  So was DTA Wisconsin, which was got 52 points in the semi-finals from 5'11 Jr Dupree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI and 6'7 Jr Jermyl Jackson-Wilson from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI.  One of the most interesting head-to-head battles of the entire tournament featured 6'11 Greg Steimsma from Randolph (H.S.) WI versus 6'11 Jr Chris Miles from Provo (Timpview) UT.  Steimsma, who is much more coordinated and mobile than when we last saw him a year ago, won the battle, but Miles' team (Utah Heat) won the game, thanks to the fact that he had more to go with him.  Miles looks like and is mobile like 7'0 Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI, but he lacks the skills and the strength to put up prolific numbers in structured situation like Butch does.  Miles was complemented inside by 6'7 Jr Darrin Mahowery from Heber City (Wasatch) UT, who is a blue collar banger on the boards, and outside by 6'4 Jr Matt Morteuser from Salt Lake City (Timpview) UT, who was one of the better 3-point shooters in the tournament.  The second most talented team in the tournament, behind The Family, was the Illinois Wolves, which featured 6'9 Jr Shaun Pruitt from Aurora (West Aurora) IL, 6'8 Jr Ollie Bailey from Chicago (Farragut) IL, 6'6 Jr Frank Claire from Chicago (Leo) IL, 6'6 Jr Vince Humphrey from Oak Park (Fenwick) IL, and 5'10 Jr Jarryd Loyd from Skokie (Niles) IL.  Pruitt still isn't 100%, but he was healthy enough to combine with Bailey, who is like a poor man's Michael Wright, to form one of the best one-two inside punches in the tournament.  Claire is a phyiscal specimen with good athleticism, long arms, and good hands, but we're still not sure what position he plays.  Humphrey plays both inside and outside, because this explosive athlete is an excellent 3-points shooter and a good rebounder for his size.  Loyd, who was one of the best point guards in the entire tournament, makes good decisions, is a good ball handler and passer, beats everybody off the dribble, and makes the game go faster.   He also is an intense competitor and a good student (3.0 gpa) and, as a result, we think he has the potential to be ranked among our top 100 nationally.  However, he's also small, which explains why his list includes schools, like Creighton, Indiana State, Northern Illinois, Bradley, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Dayton, Marquette, Loyola-Illinois, Lehigh, and Auburn.  Other players who have to be mentioned include 6'1 Jr Brian Roberts from Toledo (St. John's) OH, 6'3 Jr Ty Rogers from Eddyville (Lyon County) KY, 6'8 Jr Alex Thompson from Ames (H.S.) IA, 6'3 Jr A.J. Ratliff from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'3 Jr Justin Cerasoli from Aurora (Aurora West) IL, 6'9 Jr Curtis Muse from St. Louis (Vashon) MO, and 6'7 Jr Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX.  Roberts, who has a 3.8 gpa and 23 ACT, needs to get stronger, but we think he's got good enough ball handling and passing skills to play point guard, plus he is a good athlete, an excellent outside shooter, and a real competitor, which is why we think he's a great sleeper for our top 100 nationally.  Rogers is a great 3-point shooter, but he ran the show, made his teammates better, and proved that he has good enough ball handling and passing skills to play point guard for Murray State, Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, and Western Kentucky, all of which apparently have offered him.   However, Rogers needs to be careful not to go any higher than that, because he lacks the foot speed and athleticism to play at the big time level.  Thompson isn't as athletic as we thought he'd be, but he's just as skilled and savvy and he can play both inside and outside.  Therefore, he has to rank in the 50-100 range nationally.  Ratliff remains an enigma, because he's got all the tools, but lacks strength, toughness, and consistency.  It was status quo for Cerasoli, as he helped Livingston guide the Ft. Sooy-No Limit into the quarterfnals of the playoffs, but he was not nearly as good as when we saw him at the KMOX Shootout in St. Louis, MO last December.  Muse is a raw athlete, but he plays fairly hard and, at 6'9, he's intriguing.   Dowell didn't shoot it as well as when we saw him Houston, TX a week ago, but the Houston Westside All-Stars, which also featured 6'0 Jr Charlie Jones from Katy (Cinco Ranch) TX, 5'10 Jr Sean Morris from Katy (Cinco Ranch) TX, 6'4 Jr Richard Hurd from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, and 6'3 Jr Myles Guidry from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, were one of the better teams in the tournament.  We also got a chance to see three of the top four juniors in the state of Indiana in the Juniors-To-Be Division in 6'11 Jr Luke Zeller from Washington (H.S.) IN, 5'10 Jr Dominic James from Richmond (H.S.) IN, and 6'6 Jr Derek Drews from Elkhart (Central) IN and both match-ups between the Spiece Indy Heat and The Family in the Sophomore-To-Be Division.  At also came as no surprise that 6'3 Frosh Romar Smith from Detroit (Martin Luther King) MI and 6'11 Frosh Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, both of whom are ranked among our top 10 freshmen nationally, were the two best players in the Sophomores-To-Be Division, but equally impressive was 6'0 Frosh Scott Reynolds from Herndon (H.S.) VA, who scored 44 points when we watched him against the Spiece Central Stars.  Reynolds, who used to be from Illinois and, as a result, played on the Illinois Warriors Team this weekend, totally dominated the game with his deep shooting range, ability to get to the basket, and excellent ball handling and passing skills.

Friday, May 2, 2003

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has confirmed that 6'6 Durrell Vinson from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ has signed with Wagner, 6'1 Maurice Madden from Ft. Washington (Upper Dublin) PA has signed with Drexel, and 6'6 Dion Deacons from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has signed with Temple.  The commitment by Deacons is Temple's second in the last week, as 6'3 Dustin Salisbury from Lancaster (McCaskey) PA, who is ranked #8 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Rubin, made it official for the Owls last Monday.  And we think both players are great catches.  Not only does Deacons have a 3.8 gpa and 1100 SAT, but we're talking about the leading scorer (16.8 ppg) and leading rebounder (7.6 rpg) on Oak Hill's team this past season.  Salisbury is a protypical athletic wing forward who won the Slam Dunk contest recently at the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic in Pittsburgh, PA.  They join 6'3 Mario Taybron from Norfolk (Ryan Academy) VA and 6'10 Wayne Marshall from Philadelphia (Martin Luther King) PA to move Temple's recruiting class into a tie at #49 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And they aren't done yet, as it appears the Owls are also close to getting 6'5 Jesus Verdejo from Miami (Christian) FL, who is tied ranked #100 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  That would that move Temple's recruiting class up to #33, tied with Arizona State and Texas Christian, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And once again the guy who deserves most of the credit is Temple assistant coach Dan Leibovitz, who is currently ranked #40 and moving up on our list of the Top Assistant Coaches in the nation.  As a matter of fact, if Rubin were telling him who recruit, Leibovitz couldn't have done a better job of finding last minute replacements for Glen Elliott, Chris Gaither, and Hawley Smith, all of whom have decided to transfer from Temple this spring.  Vinson, who is ranked #39 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Rubin, is an undersized power forward who is a face-up shooter from mid-range and a good rebounder for his size.  Madden,who is ranked #21 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey area by Rubin, is a combo guard who is more of a slasher/shooter/scorer than a set the table type guy.  Ollie Goulston, who is the head coach of EBO-San Diego, tells us that Creighton, Penn State, and San Diego are the leaders for 6'6 Jared Dudley from San Diego (Horizon) CA and our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that Fresno State appears to be on the verge of getting a verbal commitment from 6'1 Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA.  It also looks like Ohio State is the heavy favorite for 5'11 Jr Dupree Fletcher from Milwaukee (Rufus King) WI, who is ranked #29 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, Fletcher does also still mention Louisville and Virginia.  The list of schools for 6'1 Jr A.J. Price from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #19 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, includes St. John's, N.C. State, Virginia, North Carolina, and Rutgers.  Kentucky, Duke, and UCLA are being mentioned for 6'6 Soph Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA, who is the #1-ranked sophomore nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but we think you can just about right this one down for LSU.   Remember, Mitchell's godfather is Tigers assistant coach Butch Pierre, who is one of the best recruiters and fastest rising assistant coaches in the nation.   LSU also is the heavy favorite for 6'7 Jr Glen Davis from Baton Rouge (University) LA, who is ranked #57 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he also mentions Miami-FL, Indiana, Connecticut, Kansas, Oklahoma, Auburn, Louisville, Tulane, and Florida State.  Alabama, Auburn, Miami-FL, Cincinnati, Florida State, and Mississippi State are fighting it out for 6'9 Jr Walter Sharp from Birmingham (Parker) AL, who is still one of the better kept secrets nationally in the junior class.  Another sleeper for our top 100 junior list nationally is 6'6 Shane Foster from Kenner (Bonnabel) LA.  Right now LSU, Vanderbilt, Illinos, Mississippi, and Kansas are all interested, but you can bet this skilled athlete's list will get longer before it gets shorter.  Oregon, Connecticut, Indiana, Notre Dame, USC, Kansas, North Carolina, and Cincinnati are all on the list of 6'7 Jr Marcel Jones from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  The list for 6'9 Jr Aaron Agnew from Bellaire (H.S.) OH, who checks in at 6'9, 350 lbs., includes Cincinnati, Xavier, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Florida State, and Michigan State.  Indiana, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Kentucky appear to be at the top of the list for 6'7 Jr James Hardy from Ft. Wayne (Elmhurst) IN, but he also mentions Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Connecticut, Florida, and Wake Forest.   Louisville appears to be the leader over Purdue, Notre Dame, Utah, Penn State, and Arizona for 6'9 Jr Carl Swanigan from Lafayette (Jefferson) IN, but prep school or junior college appear to be first in his future. 

Thursday, May 1, 2003

Ollie Goulston, who is the head coach of EBO-San Diego, as well as the AAU coach of 6'9 Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA, tells us that his star player plans to make an official visit to the University of Kentucky tomorrow and an official visit to the University of Florida next weekend.  Goulston also reminds us that Abukar made an unofficial visit to Louisville when he was at the Derby Classic last weekend, plus he tells us that Missouri, Oregon, Georgia Tech, and Connecticut may also get official visits prior to when Abukar makes a decision.  Speaking of Connecticut, the Huskies also are still in the hunt, along with Florida State and Cincinnati, for 6'10 Alexander Johnson from North Bridgeton (Bridgton Academy) NH, they are a lot stronger than most people realize for 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, and they will likely get 6'8 Soph Ed Nelson, who is transferring from Georgia Tech.  Apparently Nelson's father is from Boston, MA, which means that Boston College and Massachusetts also have a legitimate shot, but, when it is all said and done, we'd be surprised if he goes anywhere else.  Nelson, who was ranked #69 nationally in our final rankings of the Class of 2001, was the Rookie-of-the-Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 2001-2002 and was the 8th leading rebounder (6.5 rpg) in the league this past season.  However, Nelson won't count with Connecticut's recruiting class, because it is not our editorial policy to count transfers when ranking recruiting class.  But, if the Huskies get any of one of the three players mentioned above to go along with their current recruiting class, which is ties with Syracuse and Michigan at #29 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003 and includes 6'2 Marcus Williams from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Josh Boone from Colora (West Nottingham Prep) MD, and 6'7 Ryan Thompson from Western Nebraska (JC) NE, then their class would move up to #7 on our list of Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  And, if that happened and we did include Nelson, then their recruiting class would be ranked #1.   In other words, any way you slice it, it looks like Connecticut is getting ready to make another run at a National Championship next year.  Remember, all five starters and seven of their top eight players - 6'1 Jr Taliek Brown, 6'2 Soph Ben Gordon, 6'9 Soph Emeka Okafor, 6'10 Frosh Hilton Armstrong, 6'4 Frosh Rashad Anderson, 6'8 Frosh Marcus White, and 6'5 Frosh Denham Brown - will return next year from a team that finished 10-6 in the Big East and 23-10 this past season.  This also is a testament to the fact that Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun still has one of the best coaching staff's in college basketball with Clive Vaughn, George Blaney, and Tom Moore.  If you will recall, DePaul head coach Dave Leitao, George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs, and Central Connecticut State head coach Howie Dickenman all previously worked for Calhoun at the University of Connecticut before branching out on their own.   We also have confirmed that Holy Cross has landed a pair of recruits in 5'11 Torey Thomas from Stamford (Trinity Catholic) CT and 6'7 Josh Kramer from San Diego (Torrey Pines) CA.  Thomas, who was named the MVP in the state championship game, is an excellent point guard who can penetrate, dish, and lock you up defensively and Kramer is a skilled power forward who can rebound, pass, and step out and hit the three.  In other words, Kramer should provide a nice complement to 7'6 Neil Fingleton, who transferred from North Carolina to Holy Cross a year ago.  And, if Fingleton counted with Holy Cross' recruiting class, which also includes 6'4 Keith Simmons from Kingston (H.S.) NY and 6'7 Joe Young from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, their recruiting class would move into a tie with Georgia State at #72 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2003.  Currently Holy Cross' is tied at #103, along with Chattanooga, Ohio University, Southwest Missouri State, and Louisiana-Lafayette, which is still pretty darn good for a school in the Patriot League.  We also have confirmed that 6'1 Jr A.J. Graves from Switz City (White River Valley) IN plans to follow in the footsteps of his two older brothers, Matthew Graves and Andrew Graves, both of whom played at Butler in the late 90's.  We're talking about a poor man's Kirk Hinrick or Brett Nelson, which means Graves, who is Butler's first early commitment in the Class of 2004, is a combo guard with good ball handling and passing skills, the ability to shoot the lights out, and the ability to make things happen.  

There have been 38 Division I college coaching openings already this year, but, as things stand now only four of those jobs are still open, as Fordham, North Carolina A&T, St. Bonaventure, and William & Mary have yet to be filled.  The smart money seems to be on former Louisville assistant coach Jerry Eaves getting the North Carolina A&T job, Notre Dame assistant coach Anthony Solomon or Seton Hall assistant coach Brian Nash getting the St. Bonaventure job, Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff or Maryland assistant coach Jimmy Pastos getting the Fordham job, and William & Mary assistant coach Pat Skurry replacing Rick Boyages as the head coach of the Tribe.  Of the 34 jobs that have already been filled, 13 of them have been filled by somebody who is moving up or making a lateral head coaching move, as Kansas' Roy Williams moved to North Carolina, Illinois' Bill Self moved to Kansas, Pittsburgh's Ben Howland moved to UCLA, Southern Illinois' Bruce Weber moved to Illinois, Dayton's Oliver Purnell moved to Clemson, East Tennessee State's Ed DeChellis moved to Penn State, South Florida's Seth Greenberg moved to Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky's Dennis Felton moved to Georgia, Arkansas-Little Rock's Porter Moser moved to Illinois State, Western Michigan's Robert McCullum moved to South Florida, Murray State's Tevester Anderson moved to Jackson State, South Carolina State's Cy Alexander moved to Tennessee State, and Central State's Michael Grant moved to Southern University.  Five more jobs have been filled by a head coach who has been out of coaching, as former Wisconsin head coach Dick Bennett took over at Washington State, former UAB head coach Murry Bartow took over at East Tennessee State, Texas Christian head coach Billy Tubbs took over at Lamar, former Iowa head coach Dr. Tom Davis took over at Drake, and former George Mason head coach Ernie Nestor tookover at Elon College.   That leaves 16 jobs that have been filled by assistant coaches, as Ohio State's Paul Biancardi took over at Wright State, Louisville's Mick Cronin took over at Murray State, Michigan State's Brian Gregory took over at Dayton,  UNLV's Derek Thomas took over at Western Illinois, Marquette's Darrin Horn took over at Western Kentucky, Michigan State's Mark Garland took over at Cleveland State, Villanova's Joe Jones took over at Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth assistant coaches Ben Betts took over at South Carolina State, Kansas State's Robbie Laing took over at Campbell, Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixion moved up to replace Ben Howland, Southern Illinois' Matt Painter moved up to replace Bruce Weber, Western Illinois' Steve Hawkins moved up to replace Robert McCullum, Arkansas-Little Rock's Steve Shields moved up to replace Porter Moser, Georgia State's Michael Perry moved up to replace Lefty Driesell, Chicago State's Kevin Jones moved up to replace Bo Ellis, and Milan Brown replaced the Jim Phelan, who is retiring while he still ranks #3 on the all-time win list in college basketball, at Mt. St. Mary's.  That's in contrast to a year ago when 19 of the 42 head coaching jobs that were open were filled by assistant coaches.  We also were pleased to see that three of our top five-ranked assistants (Biancardi, Cronin, and Gregory), four of top 10-ranked assistants (Biancardi, Cronin, Gregory, and Dixon), and six of our top 40-ranked assistants (Biancardi, Cronin, Gregory, Thomas, and Horn) got head coaching jobs.  It also looks like our top two-ranked assistant coaches at the mid-to-low Division level (George Mason's Mike Gillian and William & Mary's Pat Skerry) are both on the verge of landing head coaching jobs.  Gillian is expected to land the job at Longwood College, which currently is in the process of making the transition to Division I, and Skerry, as we mentioned earlier, is just waiting for the administration at William & Mary to make the obvious move and hire him as the head coach.  In both cases we think it will be a great hire!   Remember, Gillian and Skerry both recruit like they're at the high major level in terms of the way they get after it and always sign players that are better than their league.  And Gillian may not be the only assistant coach at George Mason that Patriots head coach Jim Larranaga has to replace this spring.  Did you know that Bill Courtney, who promises to be the next in a long line of assistants to have worked for Larranaga, could be in line to replace Pastos, if he gets the Fordham job, at Maryland, or Solomon, if he gets the St. Bonaventure job, at Notre Dame?  We also expect former UT-Chattanooga head coach Henry Dickerson, who had a 73-73 record and got 14 of his players to graduate during five years at the helm of the Mocs, to get back into coaching this spring.  As a matter of fact, we've heard Dickerson's name mentioned as a possible candidate for a number of assistant coaching positions at places like Penn State, East Tennessee State, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, and the College of Charleston.

The coaching merry-go-round is starting to heat up again, as earlier this week Southern Illinois head coach Bruce Weber got the Illinois job, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins has turned down the St. Bonaventure job, and it only appears to be a matter of time before Larry Eustacy is out at Iowa State.  Eustachy's admission about being an alcoholic and photographs of him partying with college students and kissing young women in Columbia, MO alone aren't enough to get anybody fired.   However, when you add up all the other stuff that has happened during the last year, like Cyclones player Jared Homan being arrested for public intoxication and Cyclones asssistant coach Randy Brown being charged with possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice in March; Cyclones player Clint Varley being arrested for drunk driving in February; Chris Alexander, who was a junior college transfer, being arrested for assault in October; and Cyclones player Omar Bynum being arrested for driving under the influence last July; suddenly we're talking about both a trend and a lack of control over the program.  Maybe Iowa State athletic director Bruce Van De Velde, who Eustacy helped get the job in the first place, would be more willing to weather the storm, if Eustachy's record wasn't 29-33 overall and only 9-23 in the Big-12 Conference during the last two years.  This is in sharp contrast to the 72-26 record Eustachy posted during his first three years at Iowa State and, as a result, Van De Velde has urged the school to fire Eustachy, who, as of yesterday at 11:30 AM, has five days to appeal to the president's office.  Obviously all this is too bad, because Euctachy is an outstanding coach, as is evident by the fact that he is ranked #23 on our list of the top head coaches in nation and was one of the leading candidates for National Coach-of-the-Year honors three years ago when the Cyclones went 32-5 and lost to Michigan State in the Regional Finals.  Eustachy also has assembled one of the best coaching staff's in the business with former San Jose State head coach Steve Barnes and former Long Beach State head coach Wayne Morgan as his top two assistants.  But, unless Eustacy can pull a rabbit out of his hat, it appears to be only a matter of time before Iowa State will be searching for a new head basketball coach.  And the three most likley candidates for the job should be former Iowa State head coach Tim Floyd, Creighton head coach Dana Altman, and Wyoming head coach Steve McClain.  Floyd's and Altman's ties are obvious, but did you know that McClain is originally from the state of Iowa?  And, if McClain gets the job, Cowboys assistant coach Joe Dooley, who is ranked #20 on our list of the top assistant coaches, would be the ideal replacement at Wyoming.  Remember, Dooley already has head coaching experience dating back to his days at East Carolina.  Hopkins was the obvious candidate for St. Bonaventure all along, but, either the money wasn't right or he feels like he doesn't need to take the job in order to become the heir apparent to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, who will probably retire in another five-to-10 years.  Remember, Syracuse has a history of hiring from within, as is evident by the fact that in the spring of 1976 when Orangeman head coach Roy Danforth left to take a similar position at Tulane, Boeheim, who had been a player at Syracuse in the 60's and an assistant coach at Syracuse from 1969 to 1976, took over as the head coach of the Orangemen.  And Hopkins, who is widely regarded as one of the top up-and-coming assistant coaches in the business, has taken a similar career path, as he played at Syracuse from 1989 to 1993 and has been an assistant coach at Syracuse since 1995.  So suddenly the question becomes does St. Bonaventure hire Seton Hall assistant coach Brian Nash or Notre Dame assistant coach Anthony Solomon?  Remember, St. Bonaventure is a tough job and regardless of which direction they decide to go, it will be very important for the new head coach to hire somebody with strong recruiting ties in the Northeast, Midwest, and Canada.  Somebody like Norfolk State assistant coach Daryl Sharp, who is one of the most astute and hardest working assistant coaches in the business today.  Did you know that Sharp, who previously was the director of basketball operations at the University of Louisville, was largely responsible for the Cardinals landing Reece Gaines and he also could have gotten former Louisville head coach Denny Crum several other players, like Boston College point guard Troy Bell (Sharp lived in Minneapolis, MN prior to moving to Louisville) and Syracuse Hakim Warrick (Sharp is originally from Philadelphia, PA) without ever have been on the road?   However, Crum didn't want to bring in two freshman guards in the same recruiting class and he simply dropped the ball on following up early on Warrick.  Sharp also has strong ties in Canada, as is evident by the fact that he is close to Ro Russell of Grass Roots Basketball Canada and Norfolk State recently landed 6'7 Kevin Francis from Toronto (Scarborough) ON.  Weber wasn't the Fighting Illini's first choice for the job, but he may turn out to be the ideal person to replace Bill Self, who recently replaced Roy Williams at Kansas after Williams took the North Carolina job.  Not only is Weber a straight-up guy and an excellent basketball coach, but he's used to knocking heads with the high profile schools in college basketball when it comes to recruiting the top players in the state of Illinois and in the city of Chicago dating back to his days at Purdue, where he spent 18 years as an assistant coach.  Weber also did extremely well as the head coach at Southern Illinois, where in five years he had a 103-54 record, which was highlighted by a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.  Ironically, Matt Painter, who was Weber's top assistant coach at Southern Illinois, as well as a player that Weber recruited to Purdue and sleeper in high school who was first discovered by the HOOP SCOOP, has once again followed in Weber's footsteps.  No, Painter is not joining Weber at Illinois.  Instead, Painter has been named as the new head coach of the Salukis.  However, we don't see that as much of a disadvantage for Weber who already has hit the recruiting trail running.   As a matter of fact, even before Weber got the job, he was in Houston, TX on Saturday and Sunday at the Kingwood Classic and, you can bet, that he was already focusing on 6'6 Jr Shaun Livingston from Peoria (Central) IL, who is ranked #4 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and was believed to be a near lock for the Fighting Illini before the previous regime left.  However, the most important guy on the staff in terms of helping Illinois land Livingston had already been retained by the university before Weber had even interviewed for the job.  We're talking about Wayne McClain, who not only is the father of former Illinois player Sergio McClain, but also is a former legendary high school coach with several state championships on his résumé dating back to his days at Peoria (Manual) IL.  A bigger challenge might be convincing 6'9 Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ to honor the commitment he made to the Fighting Illini last fall.  If you will recall, Villanueva has already entired his name into the NBA Draft, but, if he doesn't sign with an agent and decides to return to college basketball, he may decide to follow Bill Self and his staff to Kansas or pick a school, like Connecticut, which is closer to home, or even go to UCLA or Indiana.