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Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Did you know that 6'2 Jeremy Pargo from Chicago (Robeson) IL , who is ranked #78 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed with Gonzaga?  Well, I didn't until I received an email yesterday that informed me that this happened a-week-and-a-half ago.  Still, this is huge, because the Zags just keep recruiting like they're a school at the high major level.  If you will recall, they already have verbal commitments from 6'10 Mamery Diallo from Midland (JC) TX, who is ranked #32 in the junior college ranks by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'6 Larry Gurganious from Berkeley (St. Mary's) CA, who is ranked #165 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and, as a result, have a recruiting class that is tied at #50, along with South Carolina, Oregon State, Arizona State, and UTEP, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And this comes on the heels of last year's recruiting class, which finished tied at #55 in our Final Rankings of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 and included 6'5 David Pendergraft from Brewster (H.S.) WA, who was ranked #47 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2004; 6'9 Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston (H.S.) WA, who was ranked #80 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in Class of 2004; 6'8 J.P. Batista from Barton County (JC) KS, who was ranked #13 among incoming junior college players to Division I schools by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook; and 6'1 Pierre-Marie Altidor-Cespedes from Montreal (Champlain-St. Lambert) QU, who finished ranked #49 overall at the adidas ABCD Camp in July of 2003 by the HOOP SCOOP.   And going back a little further we also find that 6'1 Soph Derek Raivio was tied at #100 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2003, 6'8 Soph Adam Morrison was ranked #260 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2003, 6'9 Soph Sean Mallon was ranked #85 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2002, and 6'6 Jr Erroll Knight was ranked #93 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2001.  So next season six of Gonzaga's top 11 players (Pargo, Pendergraft, Heytvelt, Raivio, Mallon, and Knight) will have been ranked among our top 100 nationally when they were seniors in high school.   Two more (Batista and Diallo) were ranked among the top 40 in players in their class in the junior college ranks and the other three (Morrison, Gurganious, and Altidor-Cespedes) were definitely on the radar screen prior to arriving in Spokane, WA.   In other words, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few has not only done a great job of helping the Zags get to the top, but also keeping them there, as he has averaged 26.6 wins per year during his five-year reign.  However, with talent like this in the program, it will be hard for the Zags to play the Cinderella role anymore.   We also have heard the rumors about the possibility of 6'4 Rodrick Stewart, who recently announced that his is leaving USC, transferring to Gonzaga, but the smart money is on Kansas.  Remember, Kansas assistant coach Kurtis Townsend was the guy who originally recruited the Stewart twins to Southern Cal.  Big Apple Sports is reporting that Ohio University has landed 6'1 Tony Chatman from Monroe (JC) NY and our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'10 Tom Leszczynski from South Huntington (St. Anthony's) NY has signed gone to Lafayette, 6'9 Evan Harris from Pottstown (The Hill School) PA has gone to Harvard, and 6'8 Noah Levine from Pottstown (The Hill School) PA has gone to Princeton.  Rubin also has the latest on 6'5 Bilal Benn from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'8 Jerome Johnson from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'9 Kent Tribbett from Chester (H.S.) PA, 6'4 Noel Wilmore from Chester (H.S.) PA, and 6'2 Jr Darrin Govens from Chester (H.S.) PA.  The early favorites for Govens, who will be ranked #5 in the junior class on Rubin's updated report that will be published within the next several days, are Florida State St. Joseph's, Miami-FL, Virginia, Wake Forest, Penn State, and Temple.  Wilmore is getting the most attention from James Madison, George Washington, Virginia Tech, and Toledo.  The list for Tribbett now includes Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia, Navy, George Washington, Rutgers, Penn State, Fairfield, and Lehigh.  Johnson likes UNLV, Penn State, Illinois, Ohio State, and St. John's.  The final three for Benn appear to be Villanova, Penn State, and La Salle.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us Xavier and Dayton have both offered 6'4 Jr James Dews from West Chester (Lakota East) OH, but schools like Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Miami-FL, Georgetown, West Virginia, and Connecticut also are showing serious interest.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that UCLA, Wake Forest, California, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Oregon, USC, Georgia Tech, Arizona, UNLV, Arizona State, and Pepperdine are all showing early interest in 6'8 Jr Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA.  Stanford, California, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, and Cornell are mentioned for 5'10 Jr Joseph Johnson from Gardena (Serra) CA.  The list for 6'9 Jr James Cawthorne from Villa Park (H.S.) CA includes Washington State, Oregon, USC, Arizona State, Wyoming, San Diego, Pepperdine, and UC-Santa Barbara.  The two favorites for 6'0 Jr Marcus Lawrence from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV are UNLV and Oregon State.  It also appears that Texas is the team to beat for 6'8 Jr Damion James from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX; Oklahoma, Texas, Connecticut, and Kansas are the leaders for 6'9 Jr Darrell Arthur from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX; and Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Connecticut are all in the hunt for 6'9 Jr Bryan Davis from Grand Prairie (H.S.) TX. 

Saturday, November 27, 2004, Sunday, November 28, 2004, & Monday, November 29, 2004

It looks like the floodgates are open!  We're talking about what appears to be the beginning of what is expected to be a steady flow of early verbal commitments by juniors that is sure to turn into a flood by next spring.  Remember, a year ago 36 of our top 100-ranked players in the Class of 2004 had already verbally committed by July 1st.  And two years ago that number was even greater as 48 our top 100-ranked players in the Class of 2003 were already off the board by July 1st.  However, as things stand now, only five players - 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA to UCLA, 5'10 Jr Demond Carter from Laplace (Reserve Christian) LA to Baylor, 5'9 Jr Nic Wise from Houston (Kingwood) TX to Arizona, 6'8 Jr Jimmy Graham from Goldsboro (Charis Prep) NC to Miami-FL, and 6'4 Jr Aaron Holmes from St. Petersburg (Catholic) FL to N.C. State - who ranked among our top 100 juniors nationally have already made early verbal commitments.  And three of those players have gone within the last week.  If you will recall, a-week-and-a-half-ago Keefe picked the Bruins, the day before Thanksgiving Holmes picked the Wolfpack, and over the weekend Carter picked the Bears.  Carter is ranked #41 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but, after scoring 39-points in a head-to-head match-up against 6'4 Jr Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS on Saturday night, there is no doubt he will move back up in our rankings of the top juniors nationally.  We say move back up, because Carter was ranked as high as top five nationally in the Class of 2006 two years ago, after being ranked among the top five players at the NIKE All-American Camp.  We're also talking about a lights out 3-point shooter and a scoring point guard who helped lead his team to two stunning upsets against Los Angeles (Westchester) CA and Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA a year ago at Slam Dunk to the Beach.  So obvioulsy it looks like the week that Baylor assistant coach Jerome Tang spent last December at this tournament baby-sitting 6'9 Jr Chris Roquemore and 6'6 Rashad Woods, both of whom were playing for Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX and both of whom had made verbal commitments and later reneged on the Bears, wasn't a waste of time after all.  The verbal commitment by Carter also moves Baylor's recruiting class into a tie at #1, along with South Carolina and UCLA, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  But, even more important, it illustrates what you can do, if you don't want to make excuses about probation and simply work hard to build the program.  Did you know that Carter is the 15th player that Baylor has landed since Scott Drew and his staff took over a year-and-a-half ago?  Remember, a year ago they brought in a class that included 6'11 Frosh Mamadou Diene, 6'2 Frosh Aaron Bruce, 6'1 Jr Kavis Shipman, 6'0 Soph Roscoe Biggers, 6'5 Soph Patrick Fields, and 6'5 Frosh Richard Hurd, plus they added 6'5 Soph Tim Bush, who sat out last year after transferring from LSU.  And this year they already have 6'10 Jari Vanttaja from Oulu, Finland, 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'7 Tony Jones from Hill (JC) TX, 6'1 Henry Dugat from Dayton (H.S.) TX, and 6'1 Curtis Jerrells from Del Valle (H.S.) TX in the fold.   That's 12 players.  Carter makes 13 and Roquemore and Woods, both of whom verbally committed to Baylor last fall, but later reneged, make 14 and 15.  And they don't appear to be done yet, because our International Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Baylor also is the leader for 6'11 Jr Hamady Ndiaye from Burlington (Life Center) NJ, who will be ranked #17 in the junior class on Allen Rubin's updated Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Report, which we plan to publish by the end of the week.  Ndiaye is very raw offensively, but Johnson thinks he has the potential, athleticism, and shot blocking ability to eventually develop into a top 100 player in the class nationally.  The early commitment by Holmes to N.C. State also is huge, because we're talking about a big time athlete and excellent 3-point shooter who when it is all said and done might be the best prospect on that loaded Tallahassee Wildcats team, which has already had seven players - 6'6 Alonzo Gee from West Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL to Alabama, 6'10 Jimmy Sutton from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) FL to Florida, 6'1 Darryl Merthie from Lake Mary (H.S.) FL to Marshall, 6'8 Ryan Reid from Lauderdale Lakes (Boyd Anderson) FL to Florida State, 6'10 Abdul Herrera from Miami (South Miami) FL to Cincinnati, 6'9 Hyman Taylor from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) FL to Virginia Tech, and 6'7 Kyle Marks from West Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL to Nebraska - to sign with schools at the mid-to-high major level.  Holmes, who is currently ranked #77 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but is expected to move up dramatically once he gets out of the shadow of all the above mentioned players, moves N.C. State's recruiting class into a tie at #35, along with Wisconsin and Clemson.  Holmes also should provide the perfect complement to 6'8 Brandon Costner from West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'6 Courtney Fells from Shannon (H.S.) MS, and 6'8 Ben McCauley from Pittsburgh (Yough) PA, all of whom are apart of their current recruiting class, and 6'10 Frosh Cedric Simmons, 6'7 Frosh Gavin Grant, and 6'10 Frosh Andrew Brackman, all of whom are freshmen in the program.  In other words, the Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek and his staff have done a great job of reloading, as they already have landed everything except a pure point guard in last year's, this year's, and next year's recruiting classes.  It also appears that the University of Missouri has gotten an early verbal commitment from 6'8 Jr Adam Knollmeyer from Jefferson City (Helias) MO, who promises to be a good role player from the Tigers.  Remember, Missourui doesn't need much, because the programs is already well stocked with good young players, like 6'5 Soph Linas Kleiza, 6'5 Soph Thomas Gardner, 6'1 Soph Spencer Laurie, 6'0 Frosh Jason Horton, 6'8 Frosh Kalen Grimes, 6'7 Frosh Marshall Brown, and 6'6 Frosh Glen Dandridge and they also have 6'8 Leo Criswell from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA and 6'6 Matt Lawrence from Wildwood (Lafayette) MO in their current recruiting class.  The only commitment by a senior that we've picked up over the Thanksgiving Holiday belongs to Howard University, which has landed 6'5 Norman Simmons from Los Angeles City (JC) CA.  And this is big for several reasons.  First, Simmons is an undersized power forward who uses his athleticism and rebounding to take care of business inside.   Second, the addition of Simmons moves Howard's recruiting class, which also includes 6'11 Kemanie Samuels from Seminole (JC) FL, 6'6 Chris Evans from Ft. Worth (Dunbar) TX, and 6'7 Bishop Wheatly from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX, into a tie at #94, along with Pennsylvania, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Third, Simmons is good enough to step in at the power forward spot next year and immediately replace 6'9 Sr James Wilkinson, who will be one of the best players in the league this year, but will graduate next spring.  Fourth, Simmons plays for one of the best head coaches in Mike Miller and best programs in Los Angeles City (JC) CA in the junior college ranks. 

Thursday, November 25, 2004, & Friday, November 26, 2004

Earlier this week I received my 2004-2005 HoopsUSA High School Tournament and Events Report and it's better than ever, as it includes a list of all the major tournaments and events that will be held this winter.  However, even more important, it also previews all the teams and top players that will be in each event and it provides contact information for the tournament director for each event.  Obviously this is every important for somebody like me, because it allows me to plan my winter schedule, which will tip-off next weekend at the Marshall County Hoopfest in Benton, KY.  I also am already planning on attending the Shop & Save Shootout in St. Louis, MO on Thursday, December 9th; the 4th Annual L&N Federal Credit Union Blue-Chip Basketball Shootout in Louisville, KY, on Friday, December 10th; the Kentucky Bank Shootout in Paris, KY on Saturday, December 11th; the King of the Bluegrass on in Fairdale, KY, on Thursday, December 16th, and Friday, December 17th; the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, December 18th-22nd; the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, SC, December 26th-28th; the Academy National Invitational in Houston, TX, December 29th-30th; the Dell Curry Foundation Shootout in Charlotte, NC, December 31st-January 31st, the West Virginia Showcase in Shepherdstown, WV, January 14th-15th; and the Martin Luther King Classic Shootout in Hillside, IL, January 16th-17th.  Getting back to Oliver's report, it is well worth the $125 cover price, because you can't get all of this information anywhere else.  So we encourage you to order your personalized copy by clicking on HoopsUSA.com or by calling Oliver at 1-(843) 650-5422.   It also should be pointed out that Slam Dunk to the Beach will not be held this year and, as a result, several other smaller tournaments will likley pop in the East.   So we'll provide you with all the details as they become available.  We also have used Oliver's report and a list of events that our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis plans to publish on his web site, which can be found at Full Court Press, as important sources of reference to assemble what we think is the most comprehensive list of Dates/Future Events.  This list extends all the way into the spring and summer and includes all of the Five-Star Basketball Camps, the tentative dates for some of the Hoop Group's top events, all of the dates for Hal Pastner's events, all of the Fullcourt Press events, and most of the spring all-star games, like the EA Sports Rounball Classic in Chicago, IL, March 22nd; the McDonald's All-American Game, which will be held this year in South Bend, IN, on March 30th; the USA Basketball Hoop Summit in St. Louis, MO, April 3rd; and the adidas Kentucky Derby Classic in Louisville, KY, April 16th.  We also find it interesting that the adidas Superstar All-American Camp in Suwanne, GA is scheduled to begin on July 5th.  If the 6th and 7th are actual playing dates, then we'll give the adidas Camp great coverage.  But, if play doesn't begin at the adidas Camp a day or two before the NIKE All-American Camp, which is scheduled for July 5th-9th, and the Reebok ABCD Camp, which is scheduled for July 6th-10th, then I plan to ignore it the best that I can.  In other words, if adidas wants to go head-to-head with the other two major shoe company camps, then it has to establish that its camp is just as good as the other two.  And last summer that did not happen.  We also find it interesting that Charlie Weber will be running an adidas sponsored Memorial Day Tournament at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD.  While, I always try and support Weber's events, because he's one the good people in the business, I plan to ignore this one the same way I did last spring when they took the NIKE Memorial DayClassic out of  my backyard and put it in New Orleans, LA.  If you will recall, for the first time in years, last spring we exclusively covered the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions during Memorial Day Weekend.  And all of this is important, because the proliferation of events has already reached an epidemic proportion and it's getting worse, instead of better.  As a matter of fact, if the current trend continues, in four or five years there will be double the number of events that there are right now and already a lot of events that used to be good have turned into crap.  Obviously this is occurring because more and more people are trying to get a piece of the pie (make money off the game), but a big part of the problem also stems from the fact that the three major shoe companies have decided to go head-to-head whenever possible.  Not only does this make it more difficult for people like us to cover even the good events, but more players are falling through the cracks, more players are getting burned out, and games are less meaningful than ever.  It also comes as no surprise that a good in-between game is a lost art, nobody plays any defense anymore, good 3-point shooters are at more of a premium than ever, and playing hard is now recognized as a skill (most players in this day and age are too busy reading their press clipping and trying to go straight to the NBA as soon as possible).  However, the biggest problem facing the basketball player today might be a lack of maturity.  Yes, those formative years in college really are a lot more important than most people realize and Ron Artest might be the guy who provides a perfect illustration of somebody who never learned how to better deal with the challenges that go along with being able to function successfully in mainstream society.   Instead, like so many of these guy, he just took the money and ran.  But this does not comes as any surprise, because it is now every young player's dream to by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft right after he gets his high school diploma.  In sharp contrast, 10 years ago it was every player's dream to go to college, play in the Final Four, and win a NCAA Championship.  And making the story even more tragic is the fact that the corruption and greed that goes along with all this is making things even worse, not better.  As for Artest and the other NBA players who were responsible for last week's brawl with the fans at the Detroit Pistons-Indiana Pacers game, I still are waiting for somebody to give us a good reason why any of the players who gave the game such a black-eye should be ever allowed to play in the League again.   And I don't want to hear about how it will effect the Indiana Pacers' playoffs chances this year.  Obviously it's all a lot bigger than that, because these players a role model whether we like it or not and they have already sent a terrible message to both our youth and our society.  Naturally I'm interested in your thoughts and comments, so please feel free to email me at hoopscooponline@msn.com or fax me at 1-(502)-254-2646.  Also feel free to email me with information about any tournaments, camps, or events that we don't already have on our list of Dates/Future Events and make sure you buy Eddie Oliver's 2004-2005 HoopsUSA High School Tournament and Events Report.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Now that the Fall Signing Period has come and gone and the high school basketball season is upon us, a quick look at who is still one the board show that there is not much left to be done in the Class of 2005.  As a matter of fact, the only player who is left that is ranked among our top 20 nationally is 6'8 Keith Brumbaugh from Deland (H.S.) FL.  But, if he doesn't by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring, you can write this one of  down for Florida State.  One player also is left in the 20-40 range, but we're hearing that 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY may go the prep school route and then try and enter his name into the NBA Draft in the spring of 2006.  Also still on the board is 6'4 Jamont Gordon from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who is ranked #46 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead still thinks it's only a matter of time before Gordon picks the University of Tennessee.  Also still available in the 50-100 range are 6'8 Uche Echefu from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'8 Gary Flowers from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, 6'2 Jeremy Pargo from Chicago (Robeson) IL, 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'9 Kent Tribbett from Chester (H.S.) PA, and 6'6 Paul Johnson from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, but prep school may be in Pargo's and Williams' future next year.  And, if you also include 5th Year Players who are still available and are the equivalent of a top 100 senior nationally, then 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'6 Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'6 Brandon Rush from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, and 6'0 Eric Price from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA also must be mentioned.  However, Blatche and Rush both appear to be near locks to by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft and Thomas will need another year in prep school, which means he's actually a junior academically.  And a quick look at whose left among the top junior college players reveals that 10 of our top 30-ranked players are still on the board.  We're talking about 6'8 Rekalin Sims from Salt Lake (JC) UT, 6'11 Abdoulayne Ndiayne from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, 6'11 Mohamed Kone from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, 6'3 Jason Petrimoulx from Dixie (JC) UT, 6'3 Eddie Smith from Moberly (JC) MO, 6'4 Tyrone Young from Vincennes (JC) IN, 6'0 Jamaal Brown from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, 6'8 Anderson Ferreria from Chipola (JC) FL, 7'0 Fernadno Bonfirm from Western Nebraska (JC) NE, and 6'7 Marlon Mahorn from Coffeyville (JC) KS, but even in the junior college ranks the pickings are pretty slim, except for the astute head coach who hires Southern Idaho (JC) ID assistant coach Steve Flint, who likely will deliver three of the top junior college players (Ndiayne, Kone, and Brown) as part of the package.  So now seems like an excellent time to start looking at juniors.  As things stand now, only three players - 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA to UCLA, 5'9 Jr NicWise from Houston (Kingwood) TX to Arizona, and 6'8 Jr Jimmy Graham from Goldsboro (Charis Prep) NC to Miami-FL - that are ranked among our top 100 juniors nationally have made early verbal commitments and only one top level junior college freshman - 6'11 Ranard Robinson from Fullerton (JC) CA to South Carolina - is already off the board.  But doesn't mean that we don't have a pretty good idea about going to happen.  As a matter of fact, there is no question our mind that 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ will by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft in the spring of 2006.  We also suspect that 6'9 Kevin Durant from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'8 Damion James from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX will by-pass college and enter the NBA Draft, which means the two highest ranked players in the class that are recruitable both may be from Tennessee.  Obviously we're talking about 6'9 Jr Brandan Wright from Brentwood (Academy) TN and 6'8 Jr Thaddeus Young from Memphis (Mitchell) TN, but it may be easier said than done for the Volunteers and Tigers to keep them both at home, because schools like Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, and Indiana are among the early favorites for Wright and Connecticut, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Florida, and Cincinnati are among those most mentioned for Young.  We also know that 6'0 Jr Darryl Augustine from New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA is LSU's top recruiting priority, 6'6 Jr Isiah Dahlman from Brahm (H.S.) MN already appears to be a near lock for Michigan State, and Duke is the heavy favorite for 6'8 Jr Lance Thomas from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 7'0 Jr Brian Zoubek from Haddonfield (Memorial) NJ, and 6'5 Jr Gerald Henderson from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA.  We also think the Blue Devils will be tough to beat for 6'5 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, despite the fact that Illinois, California, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan State, and Arizona are all being mentioned.  Did you know that Duke assistant coach Chris Collins played high school basketball at Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL?  And making this one even more interesting is the fact that Illinois head coach Bruce Weber's brother, David Weber, is Scheyer's high school coach.  We also now that one of Connecticut's top priorities in the junior class is 6'5 Jr Wayne Ellington from Merion Station (Episcopal Academy) PA, but North Carolina may be tough to beat, because the Tar Heels are his favorite team and Rashad McCants is his favorite player.  University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar will try and hit the trifecta by getting 6'11 Jr Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA to join his two AAU teammates - 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA and 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, both of whom signed with Huskies this fall.  And, believe it or not, the top two schools for 6'9 Jr Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY appear to be St. John's and Manhattan.  The top three for 6'4 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH are North Carolina, Ohio State, and Wake Forest and 6'0 Jr Tywon Lawson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA is a top priority for Maryland.  Wisconsin and Marquette appear to be the early favorites for 6'2 Jr Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, but don't be surprised if Louisville gets this one done.  The connection is the fact that Smith and former Louisville All-American Darrell Griffith are cousins.  Look for 6'11 Jr Brook Lopez from Fresno (Edison) CA and 6'11 Jr Robin Lopez from Fresno (Edison) CA both to pick Stanford and don't be suprised if it happens in January.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

For the last three days I've done nothing except finalize our Exclusive Talent Ratings, so now is a good time to catch up on all the recent signings and commitments.  It's been slow on the high school front, as the new signing was by 6'11 Kenneth Cooper from Monroe (Richwood) LA, who is ranked #171 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  If you will recall, several months ago we thought Cooper was a near lock for Texas Tech.   That was right after Cooper's high school teammate - 6'7 Terry Martin from Monroe (Richwood) LA - picked the Red Raiders and before they landed 6'7 Dior Lowhorn from Berkeley (St. Mary's) CA.  It also was erroneously reported by some people in the business (not us) that Cooper had signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Louisiana--Lafayette.  But it never happened and Cooper, who finished ranked #22 overall and #5 at the center position by the HOOP SCOOP at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp, made it official for the Cowboys last Wednesday when signed a binding National Letter-of-Intent.  Cooper is not a finished product, but is a physical specimen, good around the basket, and has a big upside, which means he should fit in perfectly with the rest of Oklahoma State's recruits - 6'7 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'5 Terrel Harris from Garland (South Garland) TX; 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, and 6'6 Roderick Fleming from De Soto (H.S.) TX, all of whom are extremely athletic and ranked in the 15-70 range nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  Speaking of the Cowboys' recruiting class, the addition of Cooper moves it into a tie at #8, along with LSU, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even more important, it look like Oklahoma State has done a great great job of reloading, which is important when you have seven seniors - 5'11 Sr John Lucas, 6'8 Sr Ivan McFarlin, 6'7 Sr Joey Graham, 6'6 Stephen Graham, 6'6 Sr Daniel Bobik, 6'6 Sr Terrance Crawford, and 7'2 Frans Steyn - on your 12-man roster.  Did you also now that Oklahoma State can get  6'3 Danny Williams from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA, who is ranked #91 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, if they want him?  And, if that happens, the Cowboys' recruiting class would move up to #6, behind Louisville, Duke, Mississippi, Memphis, and Washington and ahead of North Carolina and Mississippi State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, we suspect that Williams will go to prep school for a year and then count towards Oklahoma State's 2006 recruiting class.  On the high school front the list is long, as 6'6 Jamar Finley from Panola (JC) TX has signed with Texas A&M, 6'5 Moses Gonzalez from Ventura (JC) CA has signed with UTEP, 6'8 Facundo Giorgi from Southeastern Iowa (JC) IA has signed with Florida International, 6'8 Rashad Jennings from Chattanooga (JC) TN has signed with Idaho, 6'6 Francis Kabore from Gulf Coast (JC) FL has signed with Tennessee Tech, 6'5 Matt Lojeski from Eastern Wyoming (JC) WY has signed with Hawaii, 6'7 Todd Martin from Chaffey (JC) CA has signed with Troy State, 6'6 Dominique Ricks from Saddleback (JC) CA has signed with Long Beach State, 5'11 Vandrell Rivers from Southern Union (JC) AL has signed with Duquesne, 6'8 Lamar Sanders from Northwest Mississippi (JC) MS has signed with Arkansas-Little Rock, 6'8 Alassane Savadogo from Gulf Coast (JC) FL has signed with South Carolina, 6'8 Adam Tanner from Seward (JC) KS has signed with San Diego, 6'3 Johwen Villegas from Southeastern Iowa (JC) IA has signed with Florida International, and 6'8 Igor Vrzina from Hill (JC) TX has signed with Idaho.  The two most significant of these signing are by Gonzales and Savadogo, who are ranked #31 and #34, respectively, on our list of the top junior college players.  The addition of Gonzalez will move UTEP's recruiting class, which also includes 6'4 Stephon Jackson from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA and 6'8 Maurice Thomas from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, into a tie at #50, along with Oregon State and Arizona State on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  But that only begins to tell the story.  If you will recall, two year ago UTEP landed a recruiting class, which included 6'2 Sr Filberto Rivera, 6'5 Sr Omar Thomas, 6'8 Sr Thomas Gehrke, 6'5 Jr Jason Williams, and 6'8 Jr Brent Murphy, that not only was ranked #21 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but also was largely responsible for one of the biggest one-year turnarounds in college basketball history, as the Miners went from being 6-24 in 2002-2003 to 24-8 in 2003-2004.  Then, despite the fact that Billy Gillespie, who was the architect behind the turnaround, left to take the Texas A&M job, the Miners new coaching staff still finished with a recruiting class that included 6'8 Stanley Branch from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'6 Miguel Ayala from Fullerton (JC) CA, 6'3 Kelvin Davis from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'2 Vernon Carr from Detroit (Redford) MI and was tied at #39, along with LSU, and Nebraska, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 last spring.  That's three top 50-ranked recruiting classes in a row, which means that in two short years the Miners have gone from outhouse to the penthouse in the Western Athletic Conference.  The addition of Savadogo also moves South Carolina's recruiting class into a tie a at #50, along with Oregon State, UTEP, and Arizona State on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.   Remember, the Gamecocks already have landed 6'5 Bryce Sheldon from Fullerton (JC) CA and 6'7 Dominique Archie from Augusta (Josey) GA.   But the best is yet to come, because they also have a verbal commitment from 6'11 Ranard Robinson from Fullerton (JC) CA, who is one of the top freshmen in the junior college ranks.  Obviously this gives the Gamecocks a tremendous head start on next year, as their recruiting class is currentyl tied at #1, along with UCLA, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  We also impressed by the recruiting class that Arkansas-Little Rock is putting together.  If you will recall, they already have landed 6'6 Chris Thornton from Yuba (JC) CA, 6'1 Terrance Akins from Holmes (JC) AR, 6'5 Lorenzo Razz from Palm Beach (JC) FL, 6'6 Charles Moore from Altheimer (H.S.) AR, and 6'3 Antwon Harris from State Fair (JC) MO.  So with the addition of Sanders, who is ranked #34 in the junior college ranks by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, their recruiting class moves up to #43 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005. 

Saturday, November 20, 2004, Sunday, November 21, 2004, & Monday, November 22, 2004

It's finally done!  I'm talking about our 2004-2005 College Basketball Section, which includes the HOOP SCOOP's Pre-Season Ranking Top 40 College Basketball Teams; 2004-2005 Pre-Season All-American Teams; 2004-2005 Pre-Season College Basketball Ranking Comparisons; Tracking the Top Division I Head Coaches (Both Active and All Time; NCAA Tournament Information (Past, Present, & Future); and Career Coaching Record and Ranking by Number of Wins for All Division I Head Coaches; and features our Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings.  Everybody always talks about what teams have the most talent in college basketball, but we're the only one who has taken the time and has the expertise to not only provide you with a rating for each team, but also to make all kinds of interesting comparisons that can be found on our charts with the biggest one-year and two-year talent increases and decreases, the teams with the best starting fives and the best benches (second five), and a conference-by-conference breakdown of where each team stands in talent for each of the last three years (2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005).  A quick look at our Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings shows that Gonzaga (42.9 points), Pepperdine (35.8 points), and San Diego (33.8 points), all of which belong to the West Coast Conference, are three of the four highest ranked teams based on talent that don't belong to one of the top 10 conferences (ACC, SEC, Big East, Big-10, Big-12, Pac-10, Conference USA, Mountain West, Atlantic-10, and Western Athletic) in college basketball.  Another one of the more interesting things that we've found is the fact that Northwestern has registered the biggest one-year talent increase (+27.7 points).  And this is usually one of the first major warnings that a team could be on the verge of being one of the surprise teams in college basketball.  Remember, Northwestern has added a pair of excellent transfers in 6'10 Jr Michael Thompson, who transferred from Duke, and 6'4 Soph Tim Doyle, who transferred from St. John's; they have four starters - 6'8 Jr Vedran Vukusic, 6'2 T.J. Parker, 6'4 Jr Mohamed Hachad, and 6'8 Sr Davor Duvancic - back from a team that finished tied for 5th in the league at 8-8 and was 14-15 overall; and they have added three solid recruits in 6'1 Frosh Brandon Lee, 6'6 Frosh Gary Lee, and 6'5 Frosh Sterling Williams.  When you also take into account that Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody's teams play a very deliberate style just like they did when he was at Princeton and his top four players (Thompson, Vukusic, Parker, and Hachad) will be back as seniors a year from now, then it stands to reason that the Wildcats will continue to make major strides each of the next two seasons.  We also find it interesting that the team that has registered the second biggest one-year talent increase is Wisconsin (+25.0 points).  And this helps explain why the Big-10 Conference is ranked second, behind the Atlantic Coast Conference and ahead of the Pacific-10 Conference, Big-12 Conference, Big East Conference, Southeastern Conference, Conference USA, Mountain West Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and Western Athletic Conference, in our conference talent ratings.  Big two-year talent increases also are important and it should come as no surprise that Wake Forest is right at the top of the list with a +31.2 points increase.  And the rest of this list, which includes Florida State (+30.0 points), Wisconsin (+29.7 points), Northwestern (+26.6 points), Arkansas (+26.4 points), UTEP (+25.6 points), Pittsburgh (+23.7 points), Southern University (+22.8 points), Boise State (+21.2 points), Monmouth (+21.1 points), Air Force (+21.1 points), North Carolina (+20.9 points), California (+20.4 points), Pepperdine (+19.4 points), Nevada (+19.4 points), Syracuse (+19.3 points), South Carolina State (+18.5 points), Murray State (+18.3 points), East Tennessee State (+18.2 points), Birmingham Southern (+18.2 points), Illinois (+17.9 points), Southern Illinois (+17.7 points), Florida Atlantic (+17.6 points), New Mexico (+17.5 points), and Tennessee State (+16.5 points), reads like a Who's Who of the Programs on the rise in college basketball.  And that's a very strong statement when one remembers that Wisconsin (25-7), Pittsburgh (31-5), Air Force (22-7), Syracuse (23.8), Murray State (28-6), and Illinois ((26-7) were all pretty darn good a year ago.  A big two-year talent decrease can either be a sign that the program is in the process of rebuilding (i.e. Manhattan, which is down -12.4 points from a year ago, but still should be pretty good this year with the arrival of 6'6 Frosh C.J. Anderson, who is potentially the best player in the program's history) or that a coaching change has either happened or is going to happen.  Obviously St. John's, which currently is ranked #108 with a 42.2 talent rating and has registered the biggest one-year (-16.0 points) and the biggest two-year (-23.0 points) talent decreases, is a classic illustration.   However, it also stands to reason that the Red Storm will have one of the biggest talent increases in college basketball during the next several years as Norm Roberts and his staff quickly  restore the program.  Did you know that Michigan State, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Florida are the four teams that ranked among the top 10 on our list of the teams with both the most talented starting fives and most talented second fives (benches)?  So it should come as no surprise that the Huskies, Spartans, and Tar Heels are the top three ranked teams in the HOOP SCOOP's Pre-Season Ranking Top 40 College Basketball Teams.   However, in hindsight we wish we'd ranked the Gators a little higher in our pre-season rankings.  Remember, Florida had a top 10-ranked recruiting class, which included 6'7 Corey Brewer from Portland (H.S.) TN, 6'10 Joakim Noah from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ, 6'8 Al Horford from Grand Ledge (H.S.) MI, and 6'0 Taurean Green from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) FL and they return four starters from a team that finished second with 9-7 record in the SEC East and was 20-11 overeall a year ago.  The Gators also are ranked #3 in talent behind Michigan State and Connecticut, but in the pre-season rankings they are ranked #7 by Basketball Times, #8 by Street & Smith, #12 by CBS SportsLine.com, #16 by the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, #19 by the HOOP SCOOP, #22 by USA Today/ESPN, #23 by the Associated Press, #25 by the Sporting News, and #28 by Lindy's.  In other words, the Gators might be a great sleeper for this year's NCAA Final Four.  We also look at each team within their conference in terms of talent rating and talent ranking for the last three years, plus we provide each team's talent rating and ranking for the top five players and talent rating for the top 10 players.  Let's use Florida as an example.  The Gators have the best talent in the league with 84.0 points, which ranks them #3 in the nation.  They also get 50.1 points for their starting five, which ranks them #6 nationally, and 33.9 points for their bench (second five).  Their 2002-2003 team had a talent rating of 76.7 and was ranked #3 nationally and their 2003-2004 team had a talent rating of 69.7 and was ranked #11 nationally.  So it stands to reason that this likely will be the Billy Donovan's best team since 2000 when he guided the Gators all the way to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament.  We also provide all this information for each team that is changing conferences next year in both the league they are leaving and the conference they are entering, which also makes for some neat comparisons.  Especially noteworthy is Conference USA, which is losing Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, Charlotte, Texas Christian DePaul, Saint Louis, and South Florida and is adding UTEP, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Marshall, and Central Florida.  To find all this, simply click on 2004-2005 College Basketball Section and scroll down to right below Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings.

Friday, November 19, 2004

When we mentioned the fact twice in the last month that UCLA would only have two remaining scholarships for the Class of 2006 and Class of 2007, if they also got 6'8 James Keefe from Racnho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, we had no idea that it would happen so soon.  However, this is huge for a number of reasons.  First, Keefe is ranked #23 nationally in the junior class.  Second, the addition of Keefe will give UCLA head coach Ben Howland four quality inside players to go to war with in the 2006-2007 season.  Remember, 6'9 Lorenzo Mata is a freshman this year and 6'9 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON and 6'8 Alfred Aboya from Tilton (School) NH are already the fold for next year.  Third, Keefe is the highest ranked junior in the nation to have already made an early verbal commitment and, as a result, UCLA's recruiting class moves into in a tie at #1, along with South Carolina, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  And, with an early verbal commitment from 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, the Bruins also have the #1-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006.  Fourth, getting Keefe eliminates any doubt that UCLA can still get the top players in their backyard.  If you will recall, the landed 6'2 Frosh Jordan Farmar, 6'5 Frosh Arron Afflalo, and 6'5 Frosh Josh Shipp a year ago and they already have an early verbal commitment from King.  Fifth, with three other players - 6'2 Darren Collison from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Luc Richard Mbah A Moute from Montverde (Academy) FL, 6'5 Mike Roll from Aliso Viejo (Aliso Miguel) CA - also already in the fold in this recruiting class, suddenly the Bruins can be extremely picky about who they give those final two scholarships to during the next years.  Which raises a very interesting question.  If 6'8 Jr Alex Stepheson from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, who is ranked #40 nationally in the junior class and beat Keefe in the head-to-head match-up that we saw two months ago at the 2004 Fullcourt Press Fall Showcase at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, CA, wants to make an early verbal commitment to UCLA right now, should they take the commitment?  Obviously this is a nice problem to have, but it also illustrates the fact that Howland and his staff already have the Bruins perfectly positioned to be one of the premier programs in college basketball for a long time.  And so does University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, whose latest is addition is 7'0 Joe Wolfinger from North (Northfield-Mt. Herman) MA, who is ranked #27 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players.  And with the addition of Wolfinger, who should be the perfect addition to a recruiting class that already includes 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'6 Robert Sallie from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'4 Harvey Perry from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'0 Justin Dentmon from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'8 Artem Wallace from Toledo (H.S.) WA, the Huskies recruiting class moves ahead of North Carolina into the #5 position on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  But even more important, nobody in the country has signed two better players than Webster and Brockman.  Remember, we currently have Brockman ranked #11 and Webster ranked #13 in the senior class nationally.  However, if Webster is playing as well as everybody says he has been this fall, we may have to move him back up to #1 in the class, which is where he was ranked prior to getting hurt last winter.  We also are intrigued by the Huskies scholarship situation, as they currently have 16 players on their roster.  We're talking about four seniors in 6'5 Sr Tre Simmons, 6'7 Sr Hakeem Rollins, 6'2 Sr Will Conroy, and 6'3 Alex Johnson; seven juniors in 5'9 Jr Nate Robinson, 6'6 Jr Brandon Roy, 6'6 Jr Bobby Jones, 6'7 Jr Matt Fletcher, 6'5 Jr Jamaal Williams, 6'7 Jr Zane Potter, and 6'8 Jr Mike Jensen; three sophomores in 6'7 Soph Ryan Appleby, 6'4 Soph Brandon Burmeister, and 6'9 Soph Hans Gasser; and two freshmen in 6'4 Frosh Joel Smith and 6'8 Frosh Zach Johnson.  We assume that Potter, Gasser, and Burmeister are walk-ons, but, even if that's the case, the numbers don't add up, as the Huskies only have four seniors and a total of seven players in this recruiting class.  Obviously Romar will find a way to finesse this, but, by our count, they're three scholarships over the 13-scholarships they'll have available for next season.  However, any way you slice it, they will have plenty of room next year for 6'11 Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Prep) WA, who is ranked #11 nationally in the senior class and should be the final pieces to the puzzle for the Huskies.  Remember, the Huskies will have six scholarships available year after next when Robinson, Roy, Jones, Fletcher, Williams, and Jensen all graduate.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Uriah Hethington from Cairo (H.S.) GA has signed with Middle Tennessee State, 6'8 Frank Tchuisi from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ has signed with Villanova, 6'7 Cedric McGowan from Kilgore (JC) TX has signed with Cincinnati, and 6'9 Dennard Abraham from South Plains (JC) TX has signed with Towson.  Obviously new Towson head coach Pat Kennedy, who has always been a great recruiter, hasn't lost his touch, because Abraham is ranked #39 on list of the top junior college players in the nation.  However, this is huge for another reason, especially when you also take into consideration that 5'10 Terrance Whiters, who transferred from Loyola-Illinois to Towson, is sitting out this season.  In other words, the new regime is getting some of the top players from the Baltimore area to return home and that should pay big dividends down the road in terms of getting the top local talent.  Hethington, who is ranked #248 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, probably won't qualify academically.  But that's good for Middle Tennessee State, because, if everybody thought he was going to make it, the Blue Raiders probably wouldn't have gotten him.  We're talking about a lefty shot blocking/rebounding athlete who is good enough to step in immediately and replace 6'9 Sr Steve Thomas, if by some chance he is eligible next season, as well as provide the perfect complement down the road inside to 6'8 Soph Alex Weekes.  The addition of Hethington also moves Middle Tennessee State's recruiting class into a tie at #84 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, they also have signed 6'2 Kevin Kanaskie from State College (H.S.) PA, 6'9 Donaris Hair from Picayune (H.S.) MS, and 6'3 Darren Avery from Corinth (H.S.) MS.  The addition Hethington also will continue to perpetuate Middle Tennessee State's strong Georgia ties.  If you will recall, the Red Raiders already have six players from the Peachtree State in the program in Thomas, Weekes 6'3 Sr Mike Dean, 5'11 Soph Bryan Smithson, 6'0 Jr LT. Lockett, and 6'6 Frosh Brandon Carter.  McGowan is ranked #7 among power forwards in the junior college ranks by the Lindy's 2004-2005 Basketball Yearbook.  However, even more important, he's the prototypical Cincinnati power forward who is very athletic, tough on the boards, and excellent in transition.  The addition of McGowan also gives the Bearcats a little big of everything in this recruiting class, because 5'10 Deven Downey from Chester (H.S.) SC is a jet-quick point guard who can put prolific numbers, 6'3 Tyree Evans from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA is an athletic two-guard who can shoot the lights out, and 6'10 Abdul Herrera from Miami (South Miami) FL has the size and potential necessary to develop into one of the better big men in the league down the road.  Tchuisi is ranked #342 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but it finally looks like he's starting to live up to expectations (he was ranked among our top 100 nationally in his class when he was younger).  As a matter of fact, St. Benedict's head coach Danny Hurley tells us that Tchuisi has dramatically improved his fall.  In other words, Villanova may not only have a major steal, but also another inside player to complement 6'9 Jr Jason Fraser, 6'8 Soph Will Sheridan, and 7'0 Jr Chris Charles a year from now. 

Thursday, November 18, 2004

For the third consecutive year we have published our Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings, which not only allow us to measure where each team in college basketball stands in terms of talent, but also provide us with the ability to make all kinds of interesting comparisons.  To do this we have assigned each player on every team a 1-10 ranking, based on where he was ranked when he came out of high school, prep school, or junior college (a player who is the equivalent of a top five high school senior nationally is worth 10 points, a top 10 player is worth nine points, a player in the 11-40 range is worth eight points, a player in the 41-70 range is worth six points, a player in the 71-100 range is worth four points, a player in the 101-301 range is worth three points, a player in the 301-1000 range is worth two points, and anybody not ranked among the top 1000 is worth only one point).  We also upgrade players, if they get a lot better in college, and we factor in things like depth (we only use the top 10-ranked players on each team) and experience (we add one-ten of a point to each player's ranking each year).  Other things like coaching, chemistry, experience, and past history also must be taken into account when ranking the top teams in college basketball, but nowhere else will you get an accurate measurement of which teams in college basketball have the most talent.  And nobody is more qualified to do this, as we are second to none with regards to ranking the top high school players and evaluating recruiting classes.  So, with this in mind, we find extremely interesting that Michigan State, which returns five starters from a team that was 12-4 in the Big-10 and 18-12 overall, is ranked #1 based on talent, and has improved +6.5-points in talent in the last year, and +11.4-points in talent during the last two years, is ranked no higher pre-season than #6 by Dick Vitale, #8 by the Lindy's 2004-2005 Basketball Yearbook, #10 by USA Today/ESPN, #11 by Street & Smith, #12 by the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, #13 by the Associated Press, #15 by Basketball Times, #16 by CBS SportsLine.com, #17 by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook.  And when you add the fact that Michigan's State's chemistry should be greatly improved with the addition of 6'0 Frosh Drew Neitzel, who not only is a pure point guard, but also is a tough hardnosed competitor reminiscent of Scott Skiles, then it's easy to see why we think all of the pre-season rankings, except ours (we have Michigan State ranked #2), have the Spartans ranked too low.  Obviously all this is very valuable information and you can make these types of comparison for any college team by clicking on Exclusive HOOP SCOOP Talent Ratings, which provides you with the number of starters returning; last year's conference and overall records; each team's talent rating for 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005; and what the talent increase/decrease has been over the last year and the last two years, and our 2004-2005 Pre-Season College Basketball Ranking Comparisons, which includes the pre-season rankings for the HOOP SCOOP, Associated Press, USA Today/ESPN, the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, Lindy's 2004-2005 Basketball Yearbook, Street & Smith, CBS SportsLine.com, Dick Vitale, Basketball Times, and the Blue Ribbon Yearbook.  Our Exclusive Talent Ratings also show that the University of Connecticut has the second best talent in college basketball, but that's including 6'0 A.J. Price, who was sidelined indefinitely with an intracranial hemorrhage.  Without Price, the Huskies would be ranked #5, behind Michigan State, Florida and North Carolina.  However, we still rank Connecticut #1 in our pre-season rankings, because we think Price will return and they have the second best talent overall; the 5th most talented starting five, behind Michigan State, North Carolina, Duke, and Kansas; and the most talented bench (second five), ahead of Florida, Syracuse, Texas, Ohio State, Louisville, USC, Michigan State, Missouri, North Carolina. Florida State, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Virginia, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Duke, Arizona, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Villanova, Illinois, Washington, Kansas, Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Maryland, Memphis, Oregon State, Charlotte, LSU, Utah, Gonzaga, Iowa, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Nebraska, UNLV, Arizona State, Seton Hall, Tennessee, Purdue, Marquette, Vanderbilt, Houston, and Southern Mississippi.  And when you factor in other things like recent history, number of returning starters, new players, chemistry, and coaching, we think the race is extremely close among Connecticut, Michigan State, North Carolina, Kansas, Wake Forest, and Illinois, which are our pre-season top six-ranked teams this year in college basketball.   If you will recall, North Carolina returns five starters from a team that was 8-8 in the conference and 19-11 overall and has registered a +19.9-point talent increase in the last year, thanks primarily to the addition of 6'9 Frosh Marvin Williams, who is the best incoming freshman in college basketball this year, and an added year of experience for all of the returning players.  Kansas, which has four starters back from a team that was 12-4 in the conference and 24-9 overall, checks in at #9 in talent, but also has the 4th best starting five in our talent ratings, and has increased +6.4 points in talent since last year. Wake Forest has all five starters back from a team that was  9-7 in the league and 21-10 overall, but what makes the Demon Decaons so intriguing are the fact that 6'0 Chris Paul is arguably the best player in college basketball today and they have a +12.8-point talent increase from a year ago and a +31.2-point talent increase from two years ago.  Illinois also has five starters back from a team that was 13-3 in the conference and 26-7 overall and this is illustrated by the fact the Fighting Illini has had a year-one +16.1-point talent increase.  Speaking of one-year talent increases, believe it or not, Northwestern has registered the biggest one-year talent increase (+27.7 points), thanks to the addition of several transfers in 6'10 Jr Michael Thompson, who transferred from Duke, and 6'4 Tim Doyle, who transferred from St. John's, and three solid recruits in 6'1 Brandon Lee, 6'6 Frosh Gary Lee, and 6'5 Frosh Sterling Williams.  And right behind the Wildcats with a +25.0-point talent increase is Wisconsin, followed by New Mexico with a +24.0-point talent increase, Oregon State with a +23.9-point talent increase, Pittsburgh with a +22.5-point talent increase, Nevada with a +21.0-point talent increase, Texas with a +20.8-point talent increase, Kentucky with a +20.4-point talent increase, Washington with a +20.3-point talent increase, North Carolina with a +19.9-point talent increase, Southern University with a +19.9-point talent increase, Monmouth with a +19.7-point talent increase, Boise State with a +19.7-point talent increase, Air Force with a +19.6-point talent increase, Arizona with a +19.5-point talent increase, George Washington with a +18.2-point talent increase, and USC with a +18.1-point talent increase.  Obviously there are two important ways a team can have a dramatic increase in talent.  The first is via recruiting better players than are already in the program (i.e. Texas and Kentucky, which had the two best recruiting classes in the nation last year) and the second is if we increase the value of some of the existing players already in the program (Air Force where 6'3 Sr Tim Keller, 6'8 Jr Nick Welch and  6'5 Jr Antoine Hood have emerged from relative obscurity into three of the better players in the league).  We also

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

The signing and commitments just keep rolling in, as 6'8 Leo Criswell from Virginia Beach (Coast Christian) VA has signed with University of Missouri, 6'10 Eve Samuel from Sheridian (JC) WY has signed with Western Illinois, 6'0 Marcus Walker from Kansas City (O'Hara) MO has signed with Nebraska, 6'1 Aaron Nixon from San Bernardino (JC) CA has signed with Long Beach State, 6'11 Arvydas Vaitiekus from Marshalltown (JC) IA has signed with Utah State, 6'5 Jimmy Conyers from White Plains (Southern Maryland Christian) MD has signed with Akron, 6'5 John Rybak from Milwaukee (West Alice) WI has signed with Akron, 5'11 Marlon Sanders from Cleveland Heights (H.S.) OH to Dartmouth, and 6'3 Kevin Egee from Folsom (Ridley) PA has made it official for Pennsylvania.  Criswell picking Missouri was expected (we told you yesterday that this was probably going to happen), but Nixon picking Long Beach State is a major surprise, because we're talking about the #1-ranked junior college player in the nation by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook.  And it's pretty darn important, because Nixon should provide the perfect complement a year from now to 6'2 Jr Jibril Hodges and 6'5 Jr Keion Kindred, who are expected to form one of the best backcourts in the league this year.  We're talking about a powerful, but quick and athletic combo guard who is a terrific penetrator, good ball handler, and excellent 3-point shooter.  In other words, Nixon really can do it all!  And when you also factor in 6'11 Sr Anthony Coleman; 6'6 Jr Shawn Hawkins, who is ranked #42 among incoming junior college players to four-year colleges this season; and 6'7 Soph Onye Ibekwe, who sat out last season after transferring from Oklahoma State, then it's easy to see why think the 49ers, which have won only 11 games the last two years, will show dramatic improvement this year and be even better next year when Nixon and the two inside guys - 6'8 Mark Hall from San Diego (Hoover) CA and 6'9 Mark Dawson from Pasadena (JC) CA - that they signed also arrive.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin thinks Egee, who was ranked #64 on his last report, is the biggest sleeper in his area.  "Egee an excellent defender, goes hard to the basket, has a good mid-range game, and is an absolute steal for Penn," says Rubin.   However, this should come as no surprise, because University of Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy is second to none as a coach and his staff does a great job of evaluating talent and getting the right players.  And this year is no exception, as the Quakers also already have 6'7 Brennan Votel from Covington (Catholic) KY, 6'7 Tommy McMahon from San Mateo (Serra) CA, and 6'2 Aaron Cohen from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA in the fold and, as a result, now have edged out Yale and Columbia with the best recruiting class in the Ivy League.  The commitment by Samuel to Western Illinois also is significant, because he was good enough for UNLV assistant coach Marvin Menzies to bring over from Nigeria and stash two years ago when he was an assistant coach at San Diego State.   And making the connection even more interesting is the fact Western Illinois head coach Derek Thomas worked for UNLV's Lon Kruger when he was the head coach at both the University of Illinois and the Atlanta Hawks.  So we're guessing that Samuel wasn't quite good enough to fit into UNLV's plans, but more than good enough for Thomas to steal once they tipped him off about Samuel being available.  After all, we're talking about somebody who, at 6'10, 250 pounds, is an excellent shot blocker/rebounder/defender, as well as probably one the last pieces to Western Illinois' puzzle.  If you will recall, a year ago the Leathernecks landed a recruiting class, which included 6'7 Fred Oguns from Sheridan (JC) WY, 6'8 Eliz Cepeda from Southeastern Iowa (JC) IA, 6'3 David Jackson from Memphis (Westside) TN, 6'4 Troy Okelson from Dodge City (JC) KS, 6'0 Nathan Kester from Illinois Central (JC) IL, 6'9 Kyle Lasek from Moline (H.S.) IL, 6'8 Navanta Kentel from Pine Bluff (H.S.) AR, and 6'5 Allen McFarland from Las Vegas (Durango) NV, that finished ranked #29 in our Final Rankings of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2004 and earlier this year they also landed 6'8 Chris Gonzalez from Navarro (JC) TX, who is ranked #58 nationally in the junior college ranks by the HOOP SCOOP.  So it's our guess that Samuel will not only provide an important presence inside, but he also will be in the starting line-up next year, along with Oguns, Cepeda, Gonzalez, and Jackson.  The verbal commitment by Vaitiekus to Utah State also is interesting for several reasons.  First, he should be an excellent complement to 6'10 Steve Cobbley from North Idaho (JC) ID, as the Aggies bring in not one, but two big men in this recruiting class.  Second, Vaitiekus averaged only 3.0 ppg and 3.1 rpg last year at South Plains (JC) TX, but does have great size, runs the court extremely well, blocks shots, and has the potential to develop into a good player.  Third, the addition of Vaitiekus moves Utah State's recruiting class, which also includes Cobbley, 6'3 Michael Daniels, from Grayson (JC) UT, 6'4 Tyler Newbold from Payson (H.S.) UT, and 6'0 Mikel Watson from Oceanside (El Camino) CA, up to #34 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  The verbal commitment by Walker, who is ranked #172 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, provides Nebraska with a prolific scoring and very athletic combo guard, but we question whether he's the pure point guard that the Cornhuskers need to complement all the other excellent guards - 6'2 Marcus Perry from Southern Union (JC) AL, 6'5 Joe McCray from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, and 6'3 Jamel White from Laurinburg (Institute) NC - that they have signed in this year's and last year's recruiting classes.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also has the early recruiting scoop on some of the top younger players in the Ohio, like 6'4 Jr Daequan Cook from Dayton (Dunbar) OH, 6'5 Jr David Lighty from Cleveland (St. Joseph) OH, 6'8 Jr Josh Chichester from West Chester (Lakota West) OH, 6'7 Jr Raymar Morgan from Clinton (McKinley) OH, and 6'9 Soph Aaron Pogue from Dayton (Dunbar) OH.  Ohio State appears to be the early favorite for Pogue.  Morgan likes Ohio State, Michigan, Arizona, Connecticut, and Syracuse.  Lighty's list includes Ohio State, Syracuse, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Michigan.  The top three for Cook appear to be North Carolina, Ohio State, and Wake Forest, but Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Miami-FL also must be mentioned.  Johnson also tells us that the Cincinnati-based DI Greyhounds, which feature 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, and 6'5 Soph Bill Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, aren't the only up-and-coming AAU program in the state.  And the to this is the fact the Cleveland Basketball Club and the Cincinnati Bearcats are planning to merge together and will feature 6'10 Frosh B.J. Mullen from Canal Winchester (Harvest Prep) OH, 6'8 Frosh Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, 5'10 Frosh Anthony McBride from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH, and 6'4 Rayshawn Goines from Cleveland (Rhodes) OH.  And, if they also add 6'5 Frosh Delvin Roe from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH, who is the third best freshman in the state, then this team will feature the top four freshmen in the Buckeye State in Mullen, Gates, Roe, and Goines.  We also find it interesting that Mullens, who already is verbally committed to Ohio State, is doing a good job recruiting both Gates and Goines for the Buckeyes.  As a matter of fact, Johnson tells us that all three (Mullens, Gates, and Goines) will be in Columbus, OH this weekend for the Ohio State-Michigan football game.  

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

The word on the street is that 6'8 Leo Criswell from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA wants to sign with Kentucky.   However, his mother wants Criswell, who attended Kansas City (Piper) KS prior to going the prep school route this year, to attend a college closer to home and, as a result, the smart money now appears to be on the University of Missouri.  And, if Criswell does pick the Tigers, he would be an excellent replacement for 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO, who, at one time, was thought to be a lock for Missouri, but ended up picking North Carolina earlier this fall.  Sure, Criswell does need to become more consistent and get bigger and stronger physically.   But it's tough to argue with the fact that he was the best player in camp after the first day at the Reebok ABCD Camp and finished as the #1-ranked power forward and the #7-ranked player overall in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.  A verbal commitment by Criswell also would move Missouri's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'6 Matt Lawrence from Wildwood (Lafayette) MO, into a tie at #60, along with SMU, Ohio State, and Providence, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  But, even more important, Criswell would be a perfect complement to all the good young players that Missouri head coach Quin Snyder already has in the program.  If you will recall, seven of their top 10 players are freshmen and sophomores.  Obviously we're talking about 6'0 Frosh Jason Horton, who should solve all the point guard problems; 6'8 Soph Linas Kleiza, and 6'8 Frosh Kalen Grimes, who should provide one of the best one-two punches in the league; 6'5 Soph Thomas Gardner, who has the natural talent, athleticism, and potential to develop into one of the best 3-point shooters inthe league; 6'7 Frosh Marshall Brown, who is capable of playing both inside and outside; 6'6 Frosh Glen Dandridge, who is a lights out 3-point shooter; and 6'1 Soph Spencer Laurie, who is a tough hardnosed competitor and a good back-up at both guard spots.  In other words, Missouri, which also has 6'5 Sr Jason Conley, 6'3 Jr Jimmy McKinney, 6'9 Jr Kevin Young, and 6'11 Jr Jeff Ferguson, is good enough to emerge as one of the surprise teams in the nation this year.  And, with an added year of experience and somebody like Criswell also added to the puzzle, we could be talking about Snyder's best team yet at Missouri.  And that's saying a lot, because Snyder is 100-63 overall and 5-4 in the NCAA Tournament during his five-year reign at Missouri.  Our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis tells us that 6'3 Eduardo Bermudez from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA has signed with Appalachian State and we think this is a major steal.  Not only are we talking somebody who is an excellent athlete, good defender, and one of the leading scorers on what is an absolutely loaded high school team, but also somebody who is a prototypical Puerto Rican player in that he can really shoot and is a tough hardnosed competitor with an excellent feel for the game.  And Bermudez isn't the only player that Appalachian State appears to have stolen, as they also have 6'9 Tyler Webb from Nickelsville (Twin  Springs) VA, 6'5 Jarvis Jackson from Winston-Salem (North Forsyth) NC, and 6'0 Ryann Abraham from Boonville (Starmount) NC in the fold.  Abraham also is a tough hardnosed competitor, as well as pure point guard and an excellent complement to Bermudez on the Puerto Rican team that they played for this past summer.  Webb, who is best described as a finesse/power forward, because he can step out and shoot the three, but also takes care of business inside, as is evident by the fact that he averaged 19.4 ppg and 14 rpg and was the state's runner-up player of the year last season.  Jackson, who is ranked #418 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is an excellent athlete, but more of a slasher than a shooter.  We also have confirmed that Hofstra has landed 6'8 Jr Dane Johnson from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, which means that the Pride now have six players from the New York City area in the fold in this year's and next year's recruiting classes.  If you will recall, Hofstra landed 6'0 Greg Johnson from Plymouth (Holderness) NH, 6'9 Greg Washington from Central Islip (H.S.) NY, and 6'8 Chris Gadley from Amherst (Central) NY in their current recruiting class, which also includes 6'9 Arminus Urbutis from Montverde (Academy) FL, and they also already have early verbal commitments from 5'11 Jr Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY and 6'2 Sal Patricio from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL.  And, with the addition of Dane Johnson, who is a project right now, but, at 6'8, 250 pounds, has a huge upside, Hofstra's recruiting class moves up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006. John Adkins, who is the head coach of the Tallahassee Wildcats and a long time contributor to the HOOP SCOOP, provides us with scoop about 6'1 Darryl Merthie from Lake Mary (H.S.) FL picking Marshall University.  And this is significant for a number of reasons.  First, we're talking about one of the most underrated point guards in the nation, as well as the #112-ranked senior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.   Second, Merthie, who is a strong physical point guard who makes good decisions and knows how to run a team, is expected to replace 6'3 Sr A.J. Hamilton and 6'3 Sr Ronny Dawn, both of whom will graduate after this season, and be the point guard of the future for the Thundering Herd.  Third, Merthie promises to be the perfect complement in this recruiting class to 6'9 Jean-Francois Bro-Grebe from Northeastern Colorado (JC) CO, 6'5 Markel Humphrey from Stockbridge (H.S.) GA, and 6'4 Travis Aikens from Daytona Beach (JC) FL.  Speaking of Marshall's four-man recruiting class, the addition of Merthie moves this class into a tie at #22, along with St. John's, Colorado State, Auburn, and Notre Dame, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Not only does this give Marshall the best recruiting class among schools in the Mid-American Conference, but it also ranks them #1 among schools not in the top 10 conferences in the college basketball (ACC, SEC, Big East, Big-10, Big-12, Pac-10, Conference USA, Atlantic-10, Mountain West, and Western Athletic).  And that too is important, because Marshall will move up in class next year by joining Conference USA.  Adkins also tells us that 6'9 Hyman Taylor from Ft. Lauderdale (Cardinal Gibbons) FL recently made it official for Virginia Tech.  Currently Taylor is ranked #209 nationally in the senior class, but it's Taylor's upside that has Adkins really excited.  Did you know that Taylor has grown a foot in the last year?  So once his body catches up and adjusts, the sky really could be the limit.  And Taylor can block shots, rebound, and step out and hit the mid-range jumper right now.  We also have confirmed that Middle Tennessee State has landed 6'2 Kevin Kanaskie from State College (H.S.) PA, who was the point guard who led Martin Brothers Select to a runner-up finish at the Super Showcase in Orlando, FL in July, and 6'7 Donaris Hair from Picayune (H.S.) MS, who is ranked #12 in the state by our Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson.  Hair joins 6'3 Darren Avery from Corinth (H.S.) MS, who is ranked #7 in the state by Johnson, to give Middle Tennessee two players from Middle Tennessee State head coach Kermit Davis' old stamping grounds.  Did you know that Davis, who is a native of Leakesville, MS, graduated from Mississippi State and was the youngest head coach in the nation when he was hired at Southwest Mississippi Junior College in 1984?  We also have added some more junior college signings that are being reported by Big Apple Sports and they include 6'9 Mark Dawson from Pasadena (JC) CA to Long Beach State, 6'3 Antwon Harris from State Fair (JC) MO to Arkansas-Little Rock, 6'1 Quran Wimberley from Jacksonville (JC) TX to Southeastern Louisiana, 6'2 Alex Cox from Indian Hills (JC) IA to Denver, 6'4 Clark Woods from Lansing (JC) MI to Sacramento State (JC) CA, 6'7 Justin Holt from Indian Hills (JC) IA to New Mexico, and 6'2 Julian Richardson from South Plains (JC) TX to San Jose State.  The most significant of these signings is by Holt, who is ranked #27 our list of the Top Junior College Players in the Nation.  And this isn't the first time that Holt has decided on a school.  If you will recall, he originally signed with Oregon State three years ago as a high school senior at Tacoma (Lincoln) WA.  Then, Holt signed with Iowa State two years ago and Virginia Tech a year ago.  Hopefully a fourth time will be a charm for Holt, who joins 6'7 Chris Dunn from Mesa (JC) AZ, 6'9 Joel Box from John Woods (JC) IL, 6'5 Anthony Teague from Dodge City (JC) KS, and 6'9 Daniel Farris from Albuquerque (Ed Dorado) NM in a Lobos' recruiting class that is tied at #15, along with UCLA, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  We also find it interesting that 6'1 Quran Wimberley from Jacksonville (JC) TX, who was ranked #50 by Rick Ball in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, has signed with Southeastern Louisiana. 

Monday, November 15, 2004

It's not done yet, but the word on the street is that 6'8 Leo Criswell from Virginia Beach (Coastal Christian) VA, who is ranked #10 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players and is the equivalent of a top 30 high school senior, if we included him on our list of the Top Players in the Class of 2005, is close to making a verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky.  And this is exactly what the doctored ordered for the Wildcats, because Criswell is capable of playing both the wing forward and the power forward spots, thanks to the fact that he has the quickness, athleticism, and 3-point shooting necessary to play out on the perimeter and the ability to be a dominant force inside.  Illustrating all this even further is the fact that Criswell finished ranked #7 overall at the Reebok ABCD Camp, which put him in pretty fast company behind 6'4 Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MD, 6'9 Jr Derrick Caracter from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'8 Gerald Green from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, 6'5 Soph O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 7'0 Jr Greg Oden from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, and 6'5 Soph Bill Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH.  And the statistics also back this up, because he finished ranked #4 in camp with 15.5 ppg, tied for 5th in rebounding with 6.2 rpg, and tied for 3rd in steals with 1.8 spg.  In other words, if Criswell picks the Wildcats, it would be mission accomplished for Tubby Smith and his staff, whose only recruiting priority in this class was to find somebody as good or better than 6'8 Soph Sheray Thomas, who right now appears to be the heir apparent to 6'6 Sr Chuck Hayes at power forward next year.  If you will recall, the Wildcats missed on their other prime recruiting targets in this recruiting class when 6'7 Tasmin Mitchell from Denham Springs (H.S.) LA picked LSU, 6'9 Tyler Hansbrough from Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO picked Missouri, and 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA picked Auburn and, as a result, had recently gotten involved with 6'9 Curtis Brown from Atlanta (Mt. Olive) GA, who probably isn't good enough, and 6'8 Uche Echefu from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, who is ranked #71 nationally, but is expected to wait and sign during the Spring Signing Period.  Prior to Criswell's visit to Lexington, KY over the weekend, UNLV was believed to be the leader over Missouri and St. John's.  And, if the Runnin' Rebels can overcome this last minute push by the Wildcats, then it would have major implications for their recruiting class, which already includes 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Wendall White from Antelope Valley (JC) CA, 6'8 Gaston Essengue from Compton (JC) CA, 6'1 Jovan Adams from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, and 6'7 Joe Darger from Riverton (H.S.) UT and is tied at #10, along with Baylor, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Not only would we be talking about a recruiting class, whereby, three players (Jefferson, Criswell, and White) would be the equivalent of a high school senior ranked in the 20-40 range nationally, but also a recruiting class that is tied at #4, along with Memphis, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  We have confirmed that 6'10 Walter Waters from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, who is ranked #29 on our list of the Top Junior College Players Nationally, has signed with Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  And we think this is huge, because Waters not only is a physical specimen inside who signed with Pittsburgh and was ranked #66 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Class of 2003, but he is ideally suited to complement 6'10 Jr Derrick Ford, who was ranked as the #35 incoming junior college player in college basketball this year by the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, and 6'3 James Douglas from Schoolcraft (JC) MI, who is ranked #43 in the junior college ranks this year by the HOOP SCOOP and also has signed with Wisconsin-Milwaukee this fall.  And, when you also add 6'8 Ryan Childress from Cincinnati (Moeller) OH into the equation, then Wisconsin-Milwaukee's recruiting class moves into a tie at #50, along with Florida State, Georgetown, Stanford, and Charlotte, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And they aren't done yet, as 6'8 Elliott Johnson from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI, who is ranked #161 nationally in the senior class and is one of the biggest sleepers still available, also is expected to sign on the dotted line with the Panthers sooner than later.  And, if this happens, then the Panther's recruiting class would move up to #40, which is one spot ahead of Wisconsin-Green Bay, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Not only would this give Wisconsin-Milwaukee the best recruiting class in the Horizon League, but it would mean that the state would be tied with North Carolina for the state with the most teams ranked among our top 45 recruiting classes.  And the four teams from North Carolina all belong to the Atlantic Coast Conference, as Duke checks in at #2, North Carolina is #5, Wake Forest is #29, and N.C. State is #32 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005..  In contrast, the four teams from Wisconsin belong to three different conferences, as #16-ranked Marquette currently is in Conference USA, but next year is heading to the Big East; #32-ranked Wisconsin is in the Big-10; and #41-ranked Wisconsin-Green Bay is in the Horizon League.  Moral to the story, not many states in the nation have four better teams than Wisconsin.  We also have confirmed that 6'6 Terrance Woodbury from Norfolk (Granby) VA, who is ranked #135 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed with the University of Georgia, which means the Bulldogs now have a recruiting class that is ranked #18 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, Georgia already has landed 6'2 Louis Williams from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, 6'4 Michael Mercer from Snellville (South Gwinnett) GA, and 7'0 Rashaad Singleton from Graceville (H.S.) FL.  That's the good news!  The bad news is that Williams, who is the #1-ranked senior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, likely will by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring.  Not only would this mean that the Bulldogs recruiting class would slip to #50, but it also would drop to #7 in the league, behind #3-ranked Mississippi, #7-ranked Mississippi State, #8-ranked LSU, #9-ranked Alabama, #22-ranked Auburn, and #29-ranked Florida.  And, if Tennessee gets, 6'4 Jamont Gordon from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, which we expect to happen, then it would drop to #8, because the Volunteers recruiting class would move up to #22, one spot ahead of Auburn, St. John's, Notre Dame, and Colorado State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Obviously this is not the kind of news that Georgia head coach Dennis Felton wants to hear, but it's even worse when one remembers that the Bulldogs are currently picked 6th in the SEC East and, after 6'1 Frosh Sundiata Gaines and 6'4 Frosh Channing Toney, and 6'1 Soph Levi Stukes, need all the help they can get.   We also have confirmed via Roy Schmidt of the Illinois PrepBulls-eye Report that the University of Illinois has decided not to take 6'8 David Palmer from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, because he hasn't qualified academically.  But we think this is a great move for another reason.  He's not good enough, as is evident by the fact that we have him ranked #579 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Schmidt also tells us that 6'5 Jr Jonathan Scheyer from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, who is ranked #15 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has eliminated three schools (Notre Dame, North Carolina, and UCLA) and now only has a list of seven schools (Duke, Illinois, California, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan State, and Arizona) still on his list.  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that Monmouth recently got a verbal commitment from 6'5 Tyrone Hanson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY and yesterday they also signed 6'5 Tyson Johnson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY.  Right now Johnson, who is capable of playing both inside and outside and is ranked #147 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, appears to be the steal.  But down the road Naclerio thinks Hanson may turn out to be the better of the two, which means they have landed not one, but two of the better players in the league in this recruiting class. 

Saturday, November 13, 2004, & Sunday, November 14, 2004

With the publication of our 2004-2005 Pre-Season All-American Teams, it comes as no surprise that Wake Forest's 6'0 Jr Chris Paul is the HOOP SCOOP's 2004-2005 Pre-Season College Player of the Year.  Obviously is great for the both the Demon Deacons in particular and college basketball in general, because Paul is a great ambassador for the game, as well as the quintessential role model both on and off the court.  And it appears that Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser agrees, because last summer he told us that Paul is an even better person than he is a basketball player.  Also joining Paul on the First Team are Louisville's 6'7 Jr Francisco Garcia, N.C. State's 6'6 Sr Julius Hodge, Kansas' 6'9 Sr Wayne Simien, and Mississippi State's 6'9 Sr Lawrence Roberts, which means that three of the top five players in college basketball this year are seniors.  We also find that three players on the Second Team, which includes Syracuse's 6'8 Sr Hakim Warrick, Providence's 6'7 Sr Ryan Gomes, Kentucky's 6'6 Sr Chuck Hayes, Arizona State's 6'8 Jr Ike Diogu, and 6'0 Jr Jose Juan Barea, also are seniors, which means that six of the top 10 players in college basketball this season have used their full allotment of eligibility.  However, just think about how good college basketball would be today if Kwane Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Dajuan Wagner, Carlos Hurt, Ousmane Cisse, Jonathan Hargett, Rick Rickert, Josh Childress, Maurice Williams, DeSagana Diop, David Harrison, et al. had stuck around for all four years.  Among those who did stick around, Hodge, who was ranked #5 in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2001, is exactly where he should be (on our First Team).  But our #2-ranked player in that class (Michigan State's 6'4 Sr Kelvin Torbert) never lived up to his press clipping in college and heading into his senior year is not even one of the best players on what is a loaded Michigan State team.  An even bigger bust is our #6-ranked player in the class - 6'2 Sr Carlos Hurt, who played for a year at Louisville, but then went the junior college route to Wabash Valley (JC) IL and now is the point guard at Robert Morris College, which is a NAIA school in Chicago, IL.  Florida's 6'9 Sr David Lee and Seton Hall's 6'5 Sr John Allen both of whom were tied at #10 on our list of the Top Players in the Class of 2001, also never turned out to be as good as expected, despite they fact Lee averaged 13.3 ppg and 6.8 rpg for Florida and Allen averaged 12.4 ppg and 4.7 rpg for Seton Hall a year ago and are two of the better players on their team's.  Also tied at #10 and falling into the bust category is 6'5 Sr Cedric Bozeman, who averaged 7.5 ppg and 5.5 apg on a mediocre UCLA team a year ago.  However, Kansas' 6'1 Sr Aaron Miles, who also was tied at #10, is one of top 10 players in the Big-12 Conference and played an important role on two NCAA Final Four teams and an Elite Eight Team the last three years.  The jury is still out on 6'4 Rashaad Carruth, who checked in at #19 in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2001, because he played a year at Kentucky, sat out a year, played a year at Indian Hills (JC) IA, and now is hoping to be the star this year at Southern Miss.  Our #21-ranked player in that class was 6'9 Sr Jawad Williams and he'll be the 5th starter on our #3-ranked team in the nation this year.  Our #23-ranked player Dommanic Ingerson started out at Michigan, but now is at San Francisco; our #27-ranked player Dwayne Mitchell started out at Auburn, but now is at Louisiana-Lafayette; and our #28-ranked player Andre Patterson started out UCLA, now is a Tennessee.  Our #24-ranked player 6'7 Sr Jason Maxiell promises to be Cincinnati's best player this season and our #26-ranked player 6'9 Sr Jamal Levy is one of the unsung heroes on that Wake Forest team.  Which brings us to our #29-ranked player - 6'9 Sr Wayne Simien, who was the 15th highest ranked player by the HOOP SCOOP four-years ago that is still in college.  And, when one remembers that nine of the players mentioned above (Torbert, Hurt, Lee, Allen, Bozeman, Williams, Ingerson, Mitchell, and Patterson) didn't live up to expectations, one has exceeded expectations (Maxiell), the jury is still out on one (Carruth), and three are about where they should be (Hodge, Miles, and Levy), it's not that hard to see why Simien, who is an overachieving blue collar athlete inside, is where he is today.  Instead, the surprise players on our First and Second Team College All-American Teams are 6'9 Sr Lawrence Roberts, who was ranked #60 in the senior class, 6'6 Sr Chuck Hayes, who was ranked #82 in the senior class; 6'8 Sr Hakim Warrick, who was ranked #91 in the senior class; and 6'7 Ryan Gomes, who was ranked #18 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players in 2001.  And of the other 10 seniors ranked among our top 50 college players, Cincinnati's 6'7 Sr Jason Maxiell was ranked #24, Marquette's 6'0 Sr Travis Diener was ranked #39, Notre Dame's 6'1 Sr Chris Thomas was ranked #49, Kansas' 6'4 Sr Keith Langford was ranked #64, Georgia Tech's 6'4 Sr B.J. Elder was tied at #100, Arizona's 6'11 Sr Channing Frye was ranked #160, and Gonzaga's 6'10 Sr Ronny Turiaf, Oklahoma State's 6'7 Sr Joey Graham, Oklahoma State's 5'11 Jr John Lucas, Vermont's 6'9 Sr Taylor Coppenrath were all unranked in our Final Ranking of the Top 450 Players in the Class of 2001.  We also find it interesting that 25 of our top 50-ranked college players are juniors, nine are sophomores, and none are freshmen.  We did think about including several players in the top 50 on our First Team All-Freshman Team, but Memphis' 6'0 Frosh Darius Washington, Louisville's 6'8 Frosh Juan Diego Palacios, Connecticut's 6'8 Frosh Rudy Gay, North Carolina's 6'9 Frosh Marvin Williams, and Indiana's 6'9 Frosh D.J. White all would have been ranked no higher than on the 8th, 9th and 10th Teams, so we decided to go ahead and give the some older players their just due.  Besides, these guys will get enough encouragement to entire by-pass college and enter their name into the NBA Draft after a year or two (they don't need anymore).  It also comes as no surprise that there are only six centers and 14 power forwards ranked among our Top 50 players in college basketball.  Remember, size is at a major premium in the NBA and, as a result, most of the players who fall into this category are already long gone.  Instead, 16 of the top 50 college players are point guards, nine are two guards, and five are wing forwards, which means that 60% of the players named to our 10 five-man College All-American Teams are either guards or perimeter players. 

Friday, November 12, 2004

After Slam Dunk to the Beach Executive Director Bobby Jacobs ducked being on our weekly radio show not once, but twice, it did not come as much of a surprise when we found out two days ago that this year's tournament had been officially cancelled.  If you will recall, Jacobs had been missing in action since August until he appeared two weeks ago at the Les Kaune Memorial Basketball Junkies Dinner in Philadelphia, PA.  And, at that point, Jacobs officially announced that the War on the Shore National Prep School Invitational in Milford, DE had been postponed until next spring, but swore up and down that the Slam Dunk the Beach was still on for December 26th-30th.  Whether it's health problems, financial problems, or both, this obviously is a tragedy, because Jacobs was a great ambassador for the game and his tournament was always one of the highlights of the entire year.  It's also too bad for the teams that were supposed to participate in this year's Slam Dunk to the Beach, because now the mad scramble is on to line up games and, as a result, we wouldn't be surprised if several different tournaments and new events pop up on the East Coast this winter.  However, for my purposes, the decision has already been made to cover the Beach Ball Classic, which will be held December 25th-30th in Myrtle Beach, SC, and the Academy National Invitational, which will be held December 28th-30th, in Houston, TX.  The field for the National Division of the Academy National Invitational includes the pre-season #1-ranked team in the nation in Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, LaPlace (Reserve Christian) LA, Montverde (Academy) FL, Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA, and Houston (Westbury Christian) TX and the field for the Texas Division of the Academy National Invitational includes Houston (Aldine) TX, Kingwood (H.S.) TX, Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, Houston (Cypress Ridge) TX, Houston (Westfield) TX, Houston (Bellaire) TX, Garland (South Garland) TX, and Missouri City (Marshall) TX.  The 16-team field for the 2004 Beach Ball Classic will include Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, Compton (Dominguez) CA, Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, New Orleans (Brother Martin) LA, Memphis (Ridgeway) TN, Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, Dayton (Dunbar) OH, Miami (Senior) FL, New York (Frederick Douglas) NY, Dunwoody (H.S.) GA, Toronto (Henry Carr) ON, Greenville (J.L. Mann) SC, Aiken (H.S.) SC, Anchorage (Bartlett) AK, Myrtle Beach (Socastee) SC, and Myrtle Beach (H.S.) SC.  I also am looking forward to the Marshall County Hoop Fest, which will be held December 2nd-4th in Benton, KY and will feature Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA in the final game of the evening on both Friday night and Saturday night.  The tournament actually begins on Thursday with Paducah (Lone Oak) KY versus Hopkinsville (Christian County) KY at 6:00 PM, Mayfield (Graves County) KY versus Metropolis (Massac County) IL at 7:30 PM, and Cadiz (Trigg County) KY at 9:00 PM.  Then, on Friday there will be a girls' game 5:30 PM, followed by Paducah (Tilghman) KY versus Bowling Green (H.S.) KY at 7:00 PM, Benton (Marshall County) KY versus Bolivar (Central) TN at 8:30 PM, and Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA versus Jackson (Lanier) MS at 10:00 PM.  And, on Saturday, the day will begin with a 3-point shooting contest at 8:00 AM, two girls' games at 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM, Jefferson City (H.S.) MO versus Tucson (Santa Rita) AZ at Noon, Webster Groves (H.S.) MO versus Fairdale (H.S.) KY at 1:30 PM, Coconut Creek (North Broward Prep) FL versus Houston (Westbury Christian) TX at 3:00 PM, a Slam Dunk Contest at 5:30 PM, Carbondale (H.S.) IL versus Memphis (White Station) TN at 6:00 PM, Belleville (Althoff) IL versus Chicago (Hales Franciscan) IL at 7:30 PM, Poplar Bluff (H.S.) MO versus Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) IL versus 9:00 PM, and Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL at 10:30 PM.  We also have confirmed that Charlie Weber will be running a new event (the adidas Memorial Day Tournament at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD), which will go head-to-head against the Reebok sponsored Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, NC and the NIKE Memorial Day Classic in New Orleans, LA.  Weber also is excited about the fact that both of his spring tournaments in Washington, DC, which will be held on April 15th and April 22nd, once again will be NCAA sanctioned and, as a result, NCAA Division I college coaches will be able to attend.  We also have confirmed some more signings and commitments that include 6'0 Corey Lewis from Dodge City (JC) KS to Colorado State, 6'3 Carlton Spencer from Canyons (JC) CA to Houston, 6'2 Tyke Cockerham from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN to Morehead State, 6'3 Cordaryl Ballard from Columbus (Mifflin) OH to Morehead State, 6'5 Tristan Rogers from Kokomo (H.S.) IN to Morehead State, 6'8 Larry Williams from Chattanooga State (JC) TN to Georgia State, 6'7 Jonathan Bohanna from Southwestern Illinois (JC) IL to Georgia State,  6'10 Chad Wynn from Marietta (H.S.) GA to Georgia State, 6'8 Harold Stewart from Crowley (H.S.) TX to North Texas, 6'10 Justin Howerton from Howe (H.S.) TX to North Texas, 6'4 Jimmy Tobias from Compton (JC) CA to Georgia Southern, 6'2 Kevin Thomas from Compton (JC) CA to Georgia Southern, and 6'2 Courtnei Houston from Mt. Olive (Prep) GA to Georgia Southern.  Tobias, who was ranked #132 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2003 and originally signed with Oklahoma when he was a high school senior, is the best catch of the above mentioned group.  We're talking about somebody with big time athleticism, lots of versatility, and a knack for winning.  As a matter of fact, Tobias and Thomas, both started on the Ft. Lauderdale (Dillard) FL team that won three straight 5A State Championships in Florida.  Thomas also is pure point guard who knows how to play the game, score in transition, and hit the three and Houston can flat out shoot the lights out, which means that Georgia Southern should have one of the best backcourt trios in the Southern Conference in 2005-2006 ande 2006-2007.  These three additions also move Georgia Southern's recruiting class into a tie at #71, along with Miami-FL, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, believe it nor not, Georgia State's recruiting class is even better, as Williams, has grown three or four inches and improved dramatically since his high schools days at Louisville (Seneca) KY; Bohanna is a force on the boards; Wynn has the size and potential necessary to develop into a good player; and 6'8 Rashad Chase from Atlanta (Mays) GA, who also recently verbally committed to the Panthers, is ranked #103 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Ballard, who is like a jack-of-all-trades and is a strong physical athlete; Rogers, who is a great athlete and leaper; and Cockerham, who is a very heady, quick, and athletic guard combo guard with the ability to also beat you with his 3-point shooting and excellent defense; appear to be exactly what the doctor ordered for Kyle Macy and the Eagles.  Howerton originally verbally committed to Texas A&M, but now this 6'10, 240-pound center who is ranked #242 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is a steal for the Mean Green.  And so is Stewart, who averaged 11.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 3.4 spg a year ago and is now ranked among the top 30 players in the state by some scouting services and web sites.  The signing of Lewis by Colorado State also is important, because he is the #6-ranked point guard in the junior college ranks by the Lindy's 2004-2005 Basketball Yearbook and, as a result, the Rams' recruiting class moves into a  tie at #22, along with St. John's, Auburn, and Notre Dame, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.   Remember, Colorado State already has verbal commitments from 6'10 Michael Harrison from Northeastern Colorado (JC) CO, who is ranked #7 nationally on our list of the Top 60 Junior College Players; 6'8 C.J. Clark from Cypress Creek (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #215 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP; and 6'2 Stephan Gilling from Chino Hills (Ayala) CA.  That leaves Spencer, who is one of the best pure shooters in the nation as well as one of the best junior college players on the West Coast, as is evident by the fact that he was named a First-Team All-State junior college selection in California after averaging 19.1 ppg, 6.2 apg and 5.7 rpg as a freshman last season.  That him ranked 19th among the state's scoring leaders and 14th in assists.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Our International Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Baylor has landed what is arguably the best recruitable international player who is not already attending a college in the United States. We're talking about 6'10 Jari Vanttaja from Oulu, Finland, who runs the court, is very athletic, has good moves around the basket, and is a good 3-point shooter.    In other words, Vanttaja is a younger version of 6'10 Hanno Mottola, who is the best player to ever come out of Finland, helped lead Utah to the NCAA Final Four in 1998, and is the only player from Finland to ever play in the NBA. Vanttaja also played on the Finish Junior National Team, which participated in the Albert Schweitzer Games in Germany last spring and advanced to the second round of the European Championship last summer.  Johnson also tells us that Vanttaja is better than Indiana-bound 6'10 Ben Allen from Australia, who previously was the best international player to verbally commit or sign with a Division I school in this recruiting class, but, like most European players, Vanttaja does need to become more physical and tougher inside.  Obviously getting Vanttaja is a major coup for Baylor head coach Scott Drew and his staff, because their recruiting class moves up to #10 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, they already have 6'8 Kevin Rogers from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, 6'7 Tony Jones from Hill (JC) TX, 6'1 Henry Dugat from Dayton (H.S.) TX, and 6'1 Curtis Jerrells from De Valle (H.S.) TX in the fold and all this comes on the heels of last year's top-10 ranked recruiting class, which included 6'11 Mamadou Diene from Senegal, 6'2 Aaron Bruce from Horsham, Australia, 6'1 Kavis Shipman from Tyler (JC) TX, 6'0 Roscoe Biggers from Globe Tech (JC) NY, 6'5 Patrick Fields from Panola (JC) TX, and 6'5 Richard Hurd from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact the the Bears coaching staff has done all this with the threat of NCAA Sanctions hanging over their head.  But with Diene, Rogers, Vanttaja, Jones, and 6'9 Jr Tommy Swanson all battling for playing time inside; Fields, Hurd, and 6'5 Tim Bush, who transferred from LSU to Baylor last year, all vying for playing time out on the perimeter; and Bruce, Shipman, Biggers, Dugat, and Jerrells all assured of getting playing time at the guard spots, the Bears should have as good a depth as any team in the league a year from now.  As a matter of fact, as things stand now, they are out of scholarships.  However, Hurd originally signed on as a walk-on, so, if the Bears can could get 6'11 Abdoulayne Ndiayne from Southern Idaho (JC) ID and/or 6'11 Mohamed Kone from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, that would be a way for them to find another at least one more scholarship.  Remember, Southern Idaho Junior College assistant coach Steve Flint used to be an assistant coach at Valparaiso, so, if Baylor assistant coach Mark Morefield gets a head coaching job next spring, Flint, who likely would bring two of the top 10 junior college players with him, would be a natural fit.  It also appears that South Florida may have stolen one in 6'7 McHugh Mattis from St. Petersburg (JC) FL.  Not only is Mattis an excellent athlete who thrives in an uptempo setting, but he shoots it extremely well and can score off the bounce. The addition of Matthis provides an excellent complement to South Florida's other two recruits - 6'3 Chris Howard from Middleburg (Notre Dame) MA and 6'6 Zarron Cann from Brandon (H.S.) FL, as South Florida's recruiting class moves into a tie at #62, along with Cincinnati and Michigan, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And thanks to Big Apple Sports, we also have added a number of other junior college commitments to our list of Recent Commitments, including 6'10 Kurt Looby from Tyler (JC) TX to Iowa, 6'7 Leandro Buboltz from South Plains (JC) TX to South Alabama, 6'11 Jabbar Young from San Bernardino (JC) CA to San Diego State, 6'0 Ed Moore from Tyler (JC) TX to Gardner-Webb, 6'3 Trey McDowell from San Jacinto (JC) TX to Louisiana Tech, 6'6 Wendell White from Antelope Valley (JC) CA to UNLV, 6'1 Terrance Akins from Holmes (JC) MS to Arkansas-Little Rock, 6'5 Lorenzo Razz from Palm Beach (JC) FL to Arkansas-Little Rock, 6'6 Chris Thornton from Tuba (JC) CA to Arkansas-Little Rock, 6'6 Danny Cavic from Santa Ana (JC) CA to San Francisco, and 6'3 Wayne Williams from South Georgia Tech (JC) GA to Illinois State.  Williams actually verbally committed earlier this fall to Florida A&M, but now it appears he has reneged on the Rattlers and, instead, joins 6'2 Dodie Dunson from Bloomington (H.S.) IL, 6'2 Brandon Holtz from Bloomington (H.S.) IL, and 6'4 Roberto Fortes from Daytona Beach (JC) FL to not only provide Illinois State with four excellent guards, but also a recruiting class that is ranked #65 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even more impressive is that fact that this quartet of guards also provides the Redbirds with the best recruiting class in the league, as well as the 8th best recruiting class among schools outside of the top 10 conferences (ACC, SEC, Big-10, Big-12, Big East, Pacific-10, Conference USA, Atlantic-10, Mountain West, and Western Athletic), behind Marshall, Wisconsin-Green Bay, College of Charleston, Utah State, Cal State-Fullerton, Chattanooga, and Hofstra.  The best player of the group mentioned above is White, who was ranked as high as top five in the nation among junior college players by Street & Smith and, as a result, UNLV's recruiting class moves into a tie at #10, along with Baylor on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, earlier this fall the Runnin' Rebels also landed 6'8 Devon Jefferson from Lynwood (H.S.) CA, 6'8 Gaston Essengue from Compton (JC) CA, 6'1 Jovan Adams from Houston (Gulf Shores) TX, and 6'7 Joe Darger from Riverton (H.S.) UT.  And White, who has the skills necessary to play both inside and outside, fits in perfectly with this class, because Essengue is a blue collar power forward, Darger is an excellent 3-point shooter, Adams is a combo guard who thrives in transition, and Jefferson is a world class athlete who is ranked #27 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is capable of putting up prolific numbers.  The commitment by Looby, who was ranked #8 among centers in the junior college ranks by Van Coleman in the Lindy's College Basketball Yearbook, to the Hawkeyes also is important, because he'll give Iowa head coach Steve Alford additional front-line depth a year from now when 6'8 Jr Doug Thomas, 6'7 Jr Greg Brunner, and 6'11 Jr Erek Hansen are seniors.  And, after they've graduated the following year, Looby likely will be the heir apparent to the starting spot at center.  Young's commitment to San Diego State comes as no surprise, because he did the same thing a year ago.  However, the addition of Young does move the Aztecs' class into a tie at #54, along with Chattanooga, Virginia, and Hofstra, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Young also gives head coach Steve Fisher four players in this recruiting class who should make an immediate impact next year, as his other three recruits - 6'7 Kyle Spain from Newark (Memorial) VA, 6'10 Brett Hoerner from Fullerton (H.S.) CA, and 6'2 Khalif Watson from Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) NV - all are ranked in the 100-200 range nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  The commitment by Moore to Gardner-Webb also is interesting, because we're talking about a an explosive 6'1, 200-pound athletic combo guard with a 42-inch vertical leap, the ability to lock you up defensively, and a good instincts at both ends of the court.  And so is the commitment by Buboltz to South Alabama, because he's capable of playing the three, four, and five spots, which means he's the ideally suited to back-up 6'10 Jr Jacque Pate, 6'7 Jr Brandon Gordon, and 6'4 Jr Jeffrey Collins a year from now and likely take over one of their spots the following year.  We're also intrigued by all the players that have signed with Arkansas-Little Rock.  We're talking about the three players mentioned above, as well as 6'6 Charles Moore from Altheimer (H.S.) AR.  We also have confirmed that 6'6 Ashton Farmer from Charleston (H.S.) MO and 6'4 Brandon Ballard from Monette (Buffalo Island Central) AR both have signed with Arkansas State, 6'2 Ryan Williams from Jonesboro (H.S.) AR has signed with Tulane, 6'0 Tyler Holloway from Decatur (Austin) AL has signed with Murray State, and 6'1 Tyler Morris from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN and 6'8 Emmanuel Adako from Decatur (Towers) GA have signed with Eastern Kentucky. 

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

It looks like it's one down and one to go for UCLA.  We're talking about today's verbal commitment by 6'8 Alfred Aboya from Tilton (School) NH, who ranked #65 nationally in the senior class nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, to UCLA and the fact that we think the Bruins are the heavy favorite to also secure an early verbal commitment from 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, who is ranked #23 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  If you will recall, UCLA already has four excellent players in the program in 6'2 Frosh Jordan Farmar, 6'5 Frosh Arron Afflalo, 6'5 Frosh Josh Shipp, and 6'9 Frosh Lorenzo Mata and they also have verbal commitments in this recruiting class from 6'9 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON, 6'2 Darren Collison from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, 6'5 Mike Roll from Aliso Viejo (Aliso Miguel) CA, and 6'7 Luc Richard Mbah A Moute from Montverde (Academy) FL.  So, with the addition of Aboya, the Bruins not only will have a recruiting class that is ranked #13 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005, but they also will have brought in nine new scholarship players since Ben Howland and his staff took over a year ago last spring.  And, if they get Keefe, that will give the Bruins 10 new players and, assuming that 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who made what we believe is the earliest verbal commitment ever a year ago, honors his verbal commitment, that would give the Bruins 11 players.  In other words, Howland and his staff already have most of the pieces in place and, as a result, they can be extremely picky about who they offer their remaining scholarships to in the Class of 2006 and Class of 2007.  And while all this is great news for UCLA, it's not good news for Georgetown, which lost 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA to Mississippi State yesterday and Aboya to UCLA today.  But don't worry about the Hoyas, because they do have a recruiting class that is tied at #49, along with Florida State, Stanford, and Charlotte, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes 6'1 Josh Thornton from Wyoming Park (Caesar Rodney) DE, 6'5 Marc Egerson from Philadephia (Lutheran) PA, and 6'7 Octavious Spann from College Park (Banneker) GA.  However, even more important, is the fact that Georgetown assistant coach Kevin Broadus is second to none in terms of contacts and recruiting in the Washington, DC area, which means the Hoyas are perfectly positioned to battle Maryland for the all the great young players in their backyard.  We also have finally confirmed that 6'7 Korvotney Barber from Manchester (H.S.) GA, who is ranked #12 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made if official for Auburn and, as a result, the Tigers' recruiting class, which also already includes 6'9 Joey Cameron from Leeds (H.S.) AL, 6'7 Rasheem Barrett from Atlanta (Marist) GA, and 6'7 Josh Dollard from Pickens (Prince Avenue Prep) SC, moves into a tie at #22, along with St. John's and Notre Dame, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, if Auburn also gets 6'3 Jarvis Hill from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who appears to be heavily leaning towards the Tigers, then their recruiting class would move up to #17 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman tells us that since the University of Memphis lost out recently to Iowa State for 6'11 Shawn Taggart from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, the Tigers have decided to re-sign 7'0 Kareem Cooper from Laurinburg (Institute) NC.  And this is important, because Cooper joins 6'8 Shawne Williams from Laurinburg (Charter) NC to become apart of two top five-ranked recruiting classes by the same school.  If you will recall, a year ago Memphis' recruiting class a year ago was ranked #4 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Classs of 2004 and included Taggart, Shawne Williams, 6'0 Darius Washington from Orlando (Edgewater) FL, 6'9 Waki Williams from  Mt. San Jacinto (JC) CA, 6'7 Richard Dorsey from Laurinburg (Institute) NC; 5'10 Andre Allen from Memphis (Hamilton) TN, and 6'1 Tanqueray Beavers from Athens (H.S.) AL.  And this year the Tigers have a recruiting class that is ranked #4 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes Cooper, Shawne Williams, 6'5 Chris Douglas-Roberts from Detroit (Northwestern) MI, 6'5 Antonio Anderson from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'11 Ricky Sanchez from Bradenton (Pendleton School) FL, and 6'9 Robert Dozier from Laurinburg (Institute) NC.  And their class would be ranked #3 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005, if Mississippi hadn't today signed 6'7 Michael Smith from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who originally signed with Arkansas State when he was a high school senior a year ago Jacksonville (H.S.) AR.  If you will recall, the Rebels already have verbal commitments from 6'10 Carl Swanigan from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'3 Clarence Sanders from Okaloosa-Walton (JC) FL, 6'9 Marquis Young from Chicago (Austin) IL; 6'5 Bobby Clark from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL, 6'7 Trey Hampton from Birmingham (Hoover) AL, 6'9 Xavier Webb from Atwood (West Carroll) TN, and 6'5 Jarvis Walker from Olympia Fields (Rich Central) IL, which means they now eight players in the fold as it appears that Rod Barnes and his staff are in the process of totally revamping the program.  We also have confirmed that New Mexico State has beaten Miami-FL, Texas A&M, and Massachusetts for 6'9 Chinemelu Elonu from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, who is one of the fastest rising seniors in the state, and it appears that Miami-OH has stolen one in 6'4 Mike Bramos from Grosse Pointe (North) MI, who is ranked #246 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  It also appears that High Point is continuing to clean up.   Remember, a year ago the Panthers finished with a recruiting class, which included 5'11 Titus Byrd from Bossier Parish (JC) LA, 6'1 Akeem Scott from Garrett (JC) MD, 6'5 Arizona Reid from Gaffney (H.S.) SC, 5'11 Anthony Harris from Concord (Central Cabarrus) NC, 6'10 Terrance Stokes, 6'10 from Orlando (Evans) FL, 6'7 Jerald Minnis from Miami (Senior) FL and 6'8 Josh Lamons from Boca Raton (Olympic Heights) FL, that was ranked #50 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes of the Class of 2004.  They also had already verbal commitments in this class from 6'4 Melvin Crowder from Pickens (Prince Avenue) SC, 6'4 Troy Bowen from Nashua (North) NH, and 6'9 Monquel Pegues from Wilson (Fike) NC.  So, with their latest two additions - 6'11 Cruz Daniels from Clearwater (H.S.) FL, who broke the single season shot blocking record in the state with 174 rejects last season; and 6'7 Matt Boswell from Piedmont (Wrenn) SC, who is a power forward can also step out and shoot the three, it's obvious that High Point head coach Bart Lundy will have plenty of options as he attempts to replace 6'3 Sr Zione White, 6'6 Sr Danny Gathings, 6'9 Sr Patrick Hilliman, and 6'6 Sr Jerry Echenique, all of whom will graduate next spring.

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

It's all kind of ironic.  We're talking about the verbal commitment that 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA made today to Mississippi State.  If you will recall, our NewYork City Editor Ron Naclerio told that this was a done deal in July, but more recently it appeared the the Bulldogs were out of the picture entirely.  As a matter of fact, Goodridge's mother called us in August to set the record straight about he son's recruitment and in September she told us that he son's final two schools were Pittsburgh and Georgetown.  But then Pittsburgh dropped out.  We also continue to hear rumors about the possibility that Goodridge (ready or not) will by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring, which also would be ironic, because he then would be following the footsteps of a number of other high school players who first committed to the Bulldogs, but later decided to take the money and run.  But assuming that Goodridge does become a Bulldog next season, then he would be the perfect replacement for 6'9 Sr Lawrence Roberts, who graduate after this season, as well as an excellent complement inside to 610 Frosh Walter Sharpe, who down the road has the talent, athleticism, skills, and upside necessary to emerge into one of the big men in the Southeastern Conference. Normally a school in the Deep South getting a player from New York City (Goodridge is originally from the Big Apple, but attends prep school in Philly), would be a major surprise.  But not in this case, because Goodridge is following the footsteps of former Bulldogs 2-guard Todd Myles, who graduated from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY in 1995 is now the head coach at that school, and current Bulldogs point guard Gary Ervin, who also played high school basketball at Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY prior to going the prep school route at Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA two years ago.  The verbal commitment by Goodridge, who is ranked #6 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players, also is very significant, because this moves Mississippi State's recruiting class moves up to #7 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005, behind Louisville, Duke, Mississippi, Memphis, North Carolina, and Washington and ahead of LSU, Alabama, and Kansas.  In other words, it appears that the Southeastern Conference is cleaning up, as four of the top 10 recruiting class belong to teams in this league.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also tells us that 6'9 Arinze Onuaku from Alexandria (Episcopal Academy) VA, who is ranked #178 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Syracuse and this is interesting for several reasons.  First, Onuaku, who made a name for himself at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp when he finished ranked #12 in camp and #3 at the center position by the HOOP SCOOP, is not a finished product, but he is a pretty good insurance policy, if the Orangemen don't get 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY.   Second, Onuaku is not good enough to scare of Davis, if he does pick the Orangemen.  Third, Onuaku also had Maryland, Georgia, Boston College, and Pittsburgh on his list, but with his verbal commitment to Syracuse, Onuaku gives the Orangemen an inside player to go along with the two great guards - 6'2 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY and 6'3 Eric Devendorf from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA - that they already have in this recruiting class.  Fourth, the addition of Onuaku moves the Syracuse's recruiting class into a tie at #16, along with Pittsburgh, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, let's say the Orangemen do get Davis and somebody convinces 6'11 Andray Blatche, who originally is from Syracuse (Henninger) NY, but now attends prep school at South Kent (Prep) CT, that he will be making a big mistake if he enters the NBA Draft next spring and, instead, returns home and attends Syracuse for a year or two.  Then, we'd be talking about the #3-ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005, plus we'd be talking about what would likely be Jim Boeheim's best team ever a year from now.  And that's a pretty strong statement when one remembers that Boeheim already has won one NCAA Championship and made two other NCAA Final Four appearances.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that 6'5 Jeff Smith from Chattanooga (Tyner Academy) TN has become Chattanooga's fourth recruit.  If you will recall, the Mocs got a commitment over the weekend 6'8 Michael Ford from Bevill State (JC) AL, last week they landed 6'7 Khalil Hartwell from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, and a couple of weeks ago they landed 6'7 Nicheaus Dokes from Trenton (Peabody) TN.  Ford is a big strong power forward who is good enough to walk in next year and start immediately.   Hartwell, who is ranked #63 on our 5th Year List, needs to get bigger and stronger, but he's a big time athlete with a huge upside.  Smith is more of a slasher than a shooter, but has the skills necessary to play the one, two, or three and he too is a big time athlete.  Dokes is hard working blue collar combo forward who is better inside right now, but, if he continues to improve the way he did during the summer, could develop into a wing forward down the road.  So it should come as no surprise that Chattanooga's recruiting class is now tied at #49, along with Florida, State, Georgetown, Stanford, and Charlotte, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Whitehead also tells us that the commitment by Smith means that there are now 22 players in the state - 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN to Tennessee, 6'6 J.P. Prince from Memphis (White Station) TN to Arizona, 6'5 Reggie Delk from Jackson (Northside) TN to Mississippi State, 6'5 Richard Delk from Jackson (Northside) TN to Mississippi State, 6'7 Lawrence Kinnard from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN to UAB, 6'4 Anthony Mason from Memphis (Fairley) TN to St. John's, 6'5 Charles Little from Cleveland (H.S.) TN to Dayton, 6'4 Jonathan Adams from Chattanooga (Baylor) TN to Old Dominion, 6'7 Nicheous Dokes from Trenton (Peabody) TN to Chattanooga, 6'8 Xavier Webb from Atwood (West Carroll) TN to Mississippi, 6'5 Daniel Puckett from McEwen (H.S.) TN to Tulane, 6'8 Matthew Dotson from Centerville (Hickman County) TN to Tennessee, 6'4 Jeff Smith from Chattanooga (Tyner Academy) TN to Chattanooga, 6'7 Calvin Williams from Memphis (Hillcrest) TN to Colorado, 6'6 Colin Cunningham from Memphis (White Station) TN to Holy Cross, 6'6 Donnell Mayben from Covington (H.S.) TN to Tennessee Tech, 6'5 Drake Reed from Clarksville (Northeast) TN to Austin Peay, 6'3 Corey Pfleiger from Dickson (County) TN to Rice, 6'6 Vashon Ingram from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN to UT-Martin, 6'2 Caleb Skogen from Chattanooga (Temple) TN to Mercer, 6'6 Thomas Pfaff from Clarksville (Northeast) TN to Lipscomb, and 6'2 Reggie Peyton from Cordova (St. Benedict) TN to Birmingham Southern - who have already verbally committed to Division I schools.  And that doesn't even include 6'8 David Palmer, who transferred from Antioch (H.S.) TN to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and is verbally committed to Illinois, and 6'4 Jamont Gordon, who transferred from Nashville (Glencliff) TN to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and is expected to sign with Tennessee. 

Monday, November 8, 2004

As you can probably tell, I've been concentrating on getting our pre-season college basketball rankings and other related information published during the last three days and our timing couldn't be any better, because there has not been a lot happening in the recruiting world in terms of verbal commitments, transfers, and recruiting information.  Perhaps the biggest story involves the fact that 6'4 Rodrick Stewart is transferring from USC.   If you will recall, Stewart is a big time athlete and has a tremendous amount of natural talent, as is evident by the fact that he was ranked #25 nationally in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2003.  However, it appears that Stewart's twin brother (Lodrick Stewart) has become the better college player, as is evident by the fact that Lodrick started last year for the Trojans and averaged 8.7 ppg and Rodrick was a sub who averaged only 4.4 ppg.  So now it appears that Stewart twins, who have been inseparable in the past, now plan to go in different directions, as Lodrick plans to stay at USC and Rodrick is looking elsewhere.  As of yet there is no word on where Stewart will transfer, but we can tell you where he won't be going.  We talking about the University of Washington and Stewart, who played high school basketball at Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA isn't expected to return home for several reasons.  First, the Huskies already have six players in their current recruiting class, which is ranked #6 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and includes 6'6 Martell Webster from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'7 Jon Brockman from Snohomish (H.S.) WA, 6'6 Roburt Sallie from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'4 Harvey Perry from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'0 Jusitn Dentmon from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'8 Artem Wallace from Toledo (H.S.) WA.  Second, and even more important, is that fact that Stewart likely will not get a release from USC to transfer to another Pac-10 school and, as a result, will have to sit out two years, instead of just one, if he transfers to Washington.  Instead, Gonzaga might be option.  But we think the smart money is on Kansas.  If you will recall, Kurtis Townsend, who is the guy that did all the leg work in terms of getting both Stewart's to USC, is now an assistant coach for the Jayhawks.  And the one position where Kansas still has a need at the two guard spot, since 6'6 C.J. Miles from Dallas (Skyline) TX picked Texas over Kansas and Georgia Tech early this fall.  Remember, Kansas landed 6'11 Alexander Kaun from Melbourne (Florida Air Academy) FL, 6'8 Darnell Jackson from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, and 6'10 Chester Giles from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'3 Russell Robinson from New York (Rice) NY, and 6'7 Alex Galindo from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ a year ago and they already have 6'8 Julian Wright from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'8 Micah Downs from Bothell (H.S.) WA, and 6'2 Mario Chalmers from Anchorage (Bartlett) AK in their current recruiting class.  We also have confirmed via Big Apple Sports that 5'11 Dez Willingham from Mountain View (JC) TX has verbally committed to SMU, 6'1 Anthony Chavers from Tyler (JC) TX has verbally committed to Washington State, 6'5 Ben Pemberton from Tyler (JC) TX has verbally committed to Pacific, 6'2 Travis Jones from Seminole (JC) FL has verbally comitted to South Carolina State, 6'8 Michael Ford from Bevill (JC) AL has verbally committed to Chattanooga, and 6'11 Ranard Robinson from Fullerton (JC) CA has verbally committed to South Carolina.  The verbal commitment by Robinson to the Gamecocks is a major coup not just because he's one of the top freshmen in the junior college ranks, but also due to the fact that this gives South Carolina head coach Dave Odom and his staff a tremendous head start on the future.  As a matter of fact, this commitment moves South Carolina's recruiting class right to the head of the class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2006, which can be found right below our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, Robinson, whose final three included Marquette, Miami-FL, and South Carolina, does not come as much of a surprise, because earlier this fall the Gamecocks also landed his teammate - 6'5 Bryce Sheldon from Fullerton (JC) CA, who is ranked #41 on our list of the Nation's Top Junior College Players.  The verbal commitment by Willingham also is pretty darn good, because we're talking about somebody who was ranked #38 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players in the Class of 2003 when he was a a high school senior at De Soto (H.S.) TX and was supposed to have been the point guard of the future at Kansas State prior to being slowed by injuries a year ago and going the junior college route this season.  The commitment by Willingham also provides evidence that first-year SMU head coach Jimmy Tubbs is already starting to lock up the top players from the Dallas area and, as a result, a year from now the Mustangs could have one of the best back-court duos in college basketball, because 6'0 Jr Bryan Hopkins and Willingham are both tremendous talents who are great in transition and excellent at lighting up a scoreboard.  We also have confirmed that St. John's has beaten schools like William & Mary, Clemson, and St. Bonaventure for 6'11 Tomas Jasiulionis from Richmond (Trinity Episcopal) VA.  No, Jasiulionis is not a finished product, but, 6'11, 240-pounds, he does have a lot of potential and is capable of playing both inside and outside due to the fact that he is an excellent passer, runs the court, and can shoot out on the perimeter.  However, Jasiulionis will need to get bigger and stronger in order to be more than just a good role player in the Big East.   But that's good, because a commitment from Jasiulionis won't scare off 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, who would be the icing on the cake to a recruiting class that now is tied #18, along with Baylor and UNLV, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005 and also already includes 6'10 Aaron Spears from Highland (JC) IL, 6'4 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'7 Anthony Mason from Memphis (Fairley) TN.  And, if the Red Storm really hits the jackpot and gets both Davis, who is ranked #22 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, who is ranked #80 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, then their recruiting class would move up #7, behind Louisville, Duke, Mississippi, Memphis, North Carolina, and Washington and ahead of LSU, Alabama, Kansas, and Oklahoma State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And, if that happens, it might be a good idea to give Norm Roberts and his staff a raise. 

6'10 Jeremy Mayfield from Irving (MacArthur) TX has picked Nevada over Nebraska and 6'5 Mike Roll from Aliso Viejo (Aliso Miguel) CA has reneged on UC-Santa Barbara and, instead, now is verbally committed to UCLA.  And this is interesting, because the Bruins now have landed three excellent role players to come in behind the great point guard in 6'2 Frosh Jordan Farmar and the two excellent perimeter players in 6'5 Frosh Arron Afflalo and 6'5 Frosh Josh Shipp that they signed a year ago.  If you will recall, UCLA already has verbal commitments from 6'2 Darren Collison from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA and 6'7 Luc Richard Mbah A Moute from Montverde (Academy) FL.  They also have a verbal commitment from 6'9 Ryan Wright from Mississauga (Loyola Catholic) ON, who is ranked #36 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and the are still in the hunt for 6'8 Alfred Aboya from Tilton (School) NH, who is ranked #65 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And, if they get Aboya, then UCLA would have two excellent complements inside to 6'9 Frosh Lorenzo Mata.  And, if they also get 6'9 Jr James Keefe from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, who is ranked #23 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is the Bruins' prime recruiting target for next year, then they would be in the very enviable position, whereby, they will be able to be extremely picky about who they sign in both the Class of 2006 and the Class of 2007.  Remember, UCLA also already has an early verbal commitment from 6'7 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, which means they will have only two scholarships remaining prior to the Class of 2008, if they get both Aboya and Keefe.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'7 Dave Smith from Cape May Court House (Middle Township) NJ, who is a blue collar power forward, has picked Lafayette and 6'9 Alex Vander Baan from Whitinsville (Christian) MA has verbally committed to Holy Cross.  And this is important for the Crusaders, because it moves Holy Cross' recruiting class into a tie at #110, along with Southwest Missouri State, Howard, Pennsylvania, and Navy, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005, as well as into a tie with Navy for the top recruiting class in the Patriot League.  We also undersand that Bethune Cookman has landed 6'6 Travis Ivey from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, 6'5 Calvin O'Neil from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, and 6'9 Ron Mitchell from Hillsborough (JC) FL and they also may steal 6'6 John Gooden from Bronx (Cardinal Hayes) NY, who is now attending prep school at Washington (The Gunnery School) CT.  Ivey is a highly skilled inside player who, at 6'6, 250 pounds, is the #2-ranked power forward in the state by Maryland Prep Hoops.com.  O'Neil is a big time slasher/athlete and excellent defender who is ranked #83 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players.  Mitchell is an intangibles guy who, at 6'9, 215 pounds, can shoot the three, bring the ball up the court, rebound, and score inside.  Gooden is an undersized left-handed athletic power forward with a huge upside and a nice shooting touch out to 15-feet.  So it should come as no surprise that Bethune Cookman's recruiting class is now tied at #110, along with Holy Cross, Southwest Missouri State, Howard, Navy, and Pennsylvania, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even more important, if the Wildcats also land Gooden, then their recruiting class would move into first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, ahead of Florida A&M.   We also have confirmed that Maryland-Baltimore County has landed 6'8 Uwemedimo Eshietedoho from Miami (American) FL.  We're talking about a long athletic shot blocking rebounding power forward who should provide an excellent complement in this recruiting class to 5'8 Jason Greene from Whitehall (H.S.) PA, who is ranked #561 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  This commitment should also help perpetuate the strong ties that Retrievers assistant coach Jeff Estes has in the state of Florida.  Remember, Maryland-Baltimore County also got a verbal commitment last spring from 6'5 Rashad Bilal from Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL last spring.  It also appears that Fordham has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'8 Demetrius Phillips from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, who is ranked #70 on our list of the top 5th Year Players, because he is a raw athlete with a huge upside.  And when you add this to all the good front-court players - 6'7 Frosh Michael Binns, 6'7 Frosh Sebastian Greene, and 6'8 Frosh Bryant Dunston - that the Rams landed a year ago and 6'5 Chris Bethel from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who verbally committed to the Rams earlier this fall, then it's easy to see why we think it's only matter of time before Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg turns this into one of the better programs in the Atlantic-10 Conference. 

Sunday, November 7, 2004

It was a tough call, but, regardless of whether 6'0 Frosh A.J. Price, who recently suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, is able to return this year, we are picking the University of Connecticut as our pre-season #1-ranked team.  Remember, the Huskies are absolutely loaded, as 6'10 Soph Josh Boone, 6'10 Jr Hilton Armstrong, 6'8 Jr Ed Nelson, and 6'8 Soph Marcus White will anchor things inside; 6'10 Soph Charlie Villanueva and 6'9 Frosh Rudy Gay will provide firepower both inside and outside; 6'5 Jr Rashad Anderson, 6'5 Jr Denham Brown, and 6'6 Jr Ryan Thompson promise to be terrific out on the perimeter; and 6'2 Soph Marcus Williams and 6'2 Frosh Antonio Kellogg should be more than just adequate at point guard.  No wonder the Huskies are ranked #2 overall and #1 in terms of which teams have the Most Talented Second Five in the HOOP SCOOP's Exclusive Talent Ratings, which will be published within the next week.  And, if they get Price back, all of those pre-season publications that passed on ranking the Huskies in their top five, much less #1, will be wishing that they had it to do over again (Lindy's has the Huskies #5, the USAToday/ESPN, Street & Smith, and the Cats' Pause Pre-Season Yearbook all have the Huskies ranked #7, CBS SportLine.com has the Huskies ranked #8, Dick Vitale has the Huskies ranked #12, and the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook has the Huskies ranked #13).  So it should be easy to see why Connecticut edges out Michigan State, which returns all five starters from a team that was 18-12 a year ago, but also has lacked chemistry and a quality point guard the last several years, for the #1 spot in HOOP SCOOP's Pre-Season Ranking Top 40 College Basketball Teams.  And, if Michigan State's 6'0 Frosh Drew Neitzel, who not only is a pure point guard, but also is a tough hardnosed competitor reminiscent of Scott Skiles, is as good as we think he is, then all of the pre-season rankings will be 0-2 in terms of picking the two best teams in college basketball (Dick Vitale ranks the Spartans #6; Lindy's has the Spartans ranked #8; USA Today/ESPN has the Spartans ranked #10; Street & Smith has the Spartans ranked #11; CBS SportsLine.com has the Spartans ranked #16; the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook has the Spartans ranked #17; and the Cats' Pause Pre-Season Yearbook has the Spartans ranked #19).  And the fact that Michigan State is ranked #1 overall and #1 in terms which teams have the Most Talented Top Five in the HOOP SCOOP's Exclusive Talenting Ratings just reinforces our belief that they Spartans are as good as anybody, except Connecticut, in college basketball.  North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Illinois also return all five starters from teams that went 19-11, 21-10, and 26-7, respectively, and Kansas has four starters back from a 24-9 team. However, we still have reservations about the Tar Heels' toughness and chemistry; the Demon Deacons' defense; the Fighting Illini's offensive production, size, and toughness inside; and whether 6'11 Frosh Alexander Kaun,6'8 Frosh Darnell Jackson, and 6'10 Frosh C.J. Giles are ready collectively or individually to step up for the Jayhawks and replace Jeff Graves inside.  However, in each of these four cases, we're talking about a team with a lot of experience, that is very well coached, and is on the cutting edge of being a NCAA Final Four team.  And Kentucky could join this group, if talent trumps experience.  But, if it doesn't, then Oklahoma State, Syracuse, and Memphis, all of which return four starters apiece, and Syracuse, which has almost everybody back, may all turn out to better than the Wildcats.  Yes, there really is that much parity at the top this year in college basketball.   But, after that, it gets a little bit easier as Duke, Pittsburgh, Mississippi State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Florida, and Texas, Maryland, Gonzaga, Florida State, N.C. State, Stanford, Alabama, Charlotte, Washington, Michigan, Oklahoma, George Washington, Indiana, UTEP, Marquette, Virginia, LSU, Murray State, Wisconsin, Texas Tech, and Southern Illinois round out the HOOP SCOOP's Pre-Season Ranking Top 40 College Basketball Teams.  And Memphis, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida State, Charlotte, George Washington, Indiana, UTEP, Marquette, Virginia, LSU, Murray State, and Southern Illinois are ranked disproportionately a lot higher by use than most everybody else.  Also espeically noteworthy is the fact that we ranked Memphis higher than Louisville, which is contrary to nearly all of the pre-season polls (Athlon has the Cardinals ranked #1 and the Tigers ranked among its top 16; the USA Today/ESPN has the Cardinals ranked #13 and the Tigers ranked #23; Street & Smith has the Cardinals ranked #14 and the Tigers ranked #19; the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook has the Cardinals ranked #14 and the Tigers ranked #24; CBS SportLine.com has the Cardinals ranked #18 and the Tigers ranked #30; Lindy's has the Cardinals ranked #20 and the Tigers ranked #35; the Cats' Pause Pre-Season Yearbook has the Cardinals ranked #18 and the Tigers ranked #8; and Dick Vitale doesn't have either the Cardinals or the Tigers ranked among his pre-season top 16 teams).  But that's not knocking Louisville.  We just think Memphis is that good.  Remember, in addition to returning four starters from a team that finished 22-8 a year ago, they also add most of the players, including 6'0 Frosh Darius Washington, who not only is the missing piece to the puzzle at point guard, but also should immediately be one of the best players in the league, from a top five-ranked recruiting class.  Also especially noteworthy is the fact that the Atlantic Coast Conference has six teams (#3-ranked North Carolina, #5-ranked Wake Forest, #12-ranked Duke, #16-ranked Georgia Tech, #21-ranked Maryland, #23-ranked Florida State, and #24-ranked N.C. State) in our pre-season top 25 and seven teams, when you also include #35-ranked Virginia, in our top 40.  We also find it interesting that Conference USA has five teams (#11-ranked Memphis, #15-ranked Louisville, #17-ranked Cincinnati, #27-ranked Charlotte, and #34-ranked Marquette) in our top 35.  Or, if you decide to already include Louisville, Cincinnati, and Marquette with the Big East, which already has #1-ranked Connecticut, #9-ranked Syracuse, #13-ranked Pittsburgh, and #18-ranked Notre Dame, then it's easy to why some people think this league will rival the Atlantic Coast Conference as college basketball's toughest conference for years to come, as the league will then have seven teams in our top 35.  And, if you include all 40 of our pre-season ranked teams, then the Big-12, Big-10, and the Southeastern conferences also have five teams that make the list. 

Saturday, November 6, 2004

Upon completion of our sections that provide you with NCAA Tournament Information (Past, Present, & Future), which includes a list of the winners and teams in each of 66 NCAA Final Fours; a separate list with the site, winning team, winning coach, and the winner of the Outstanding Player Award in each of the 66 NCAA Final Fours; and Future NCAA Tournament information; and Tracking the Top Division I Head Coaches (Both Active and All Time), which includes a list of the Active NCAA Final Four Head Coaches, Active Division I Head Coaches with the Highest Winning Percentage, Winningest All Time Division I Head Coaches, Coaches with the Most NCAA Championships, and Coaches with the Most NCAA Final Four Appearances, we decided to go one step further and provide you with our list of the top 15 head coaches in the history of the game and our list of the top dozen college programs.  The list of the top 15 coaches ranked in order includes John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight, Jim Calhoun, Lute Olson, Denny Crum, Roy Williams, Eddie Sutton, Jerry Tarkanian, Henry Iba, Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim, and Tubby Smith, but picking Smith over Rupp and Calhoun over Olson were extremely close calls.  So was picking Kentucky over North Carolina, Kansas over Connecticut, and Arizona over Louisville on our list of the top dozen programs, which ranked in order includes Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Connecticut, Arizona, Louisville, Indiana, UCLA, Syracuse, Michigan State, and Cincinnati.  We also have some interesting comments about each coach and program, so we encourage you to take a closer look by clicking on Tracking the Top Division I Head Coaches (Both Active and All Time) and scrolling down until you find them both.  I also am interested in your thoughts and comments with regards to why you think a program should be ranked higher or lower than I have them ranked, so feel free to email me at hoopscooponline@msn.com.   Some other interesting items that can be found when looking at these pages, include just how dominant the Duke program has been during the last 20 years under the direction of Mike Krzyzewski, who has guide the Blue Devils to 10 NCAA Final Four appearances in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2004 and three NCAA Championships, all of which have comes since Bob Knight won his last title at Indiana in 1987.  We also find it interesting that the only active head coaches (Krzyzewski, Knight, and Calhoun) who has won more than one NCAA Championship also are the three highest ranked active coaches on our list of the top head coaches of all time.  And, if any one of three wins another NCAA Championship, would that be enough to tip the balance to get him ranked #2 on the list behind Wooden?  And, with Calhoun, that's not only possible, but almost probable, if, by some chance, A.J Price is able to return to full health and rejoin the team beginning second semester of this year.  Remember, Connecticut doesn't have a senior on its roster and they have the best depth in college basketball today, as you will see when we publish our talent ratings exclusively in the Members Section.  We already mentioned yesterday the horse race that exists among Olson, John Chaney, Krzyzewski, Calhoun, and Boeheim on our list that provides the Career Coaching Record and Ranking by Number of Wins for All Division I Head Coaches, but this is even better illustrated on our list of the Winningest All Time Division I Head Coaches, as Olson checks in at #15 on the list with 711 wins, Chaney is #16 on the list with 708 wins, Krzyzewski is #17 on the list with 694 wins, Calhoun is #18 on the list with 680 wins, and Boeheim is #19 on the list with 676 wins.  In other words, only 35 wins separates all five of these legendary head coaches and, assuming they don't retire in the two or three years, they all likely will pass the four coaches ahead of them - Phog Allen, Norm Stewart, Ray Meyer, and Don Haskins, all of whom are now retired.  Another NCAA Championship by Rick Pitino, who currently has one title and four NCAA Final Four appearances, or a NCAA Championship by Roy Williams, who has four NCAA Final Four appearances, was the winningest coach in the 90's, is the second winningest active coach in college basketball, and is ranked #1 on our list of the coaches with the most wins per season when you exclude coaches who have only one year of head coaching experience, would also put either or both in that very elite category, along Krzyzewski, Knight, and Calhoun.  And a NCAA Championship for Williams would also get rid of the nay sayers who are critical because he has not yet won the big one.  However, these things usually take care of themselves over the course of time.  If you will recall, Dean Smith didn't win the NCAA Championship until his seventh attempt in 1982; it took Mike Krzyzewski five attempts to win it before finally succeeding in 1991; and great coaches like Lute Olson, Denny Crum, and Rick Pitino are 1-5, 2-6, and 1-4, respectively, in terms of championships won versus Final Four appearances made.  Moral to the story, winning the NCAA Championship is a lot easier said than done.  Obviously all this is important, because the race is on among Krzyzewski, Knight, Calhoun, Olson, Williams, Sutton, Pitino, Boeheim, Smith, Chaney, Tom Izzo, Gary Williams, Bobby Huggins, Bo Ryan, Lou Henson, and John Calipari, as they continue to re-write the record book in numerous different ways.  And saving a copy of our section Tracking the Top Division I Head Coaches (Both Active and All Time) is a must, because it will help you keep track of it all!

Friday, November 5, 2004

One of the things that separates the HOOP SCOOP from our competition is our ability to track trends and look at things in different ways that you can't find anywhere else.  And a perfect example is our chart that features the Career Coaching Record and Ranking by Number of Wins for All Division I Head Coaches.   Not only do we provide you with each coach's career record, number of years he's been coaching, average wins per season, last year's record, the NCAA Record, and the current school, but you can find a number of other fascinating trends and items that are worth noting.  First, Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight, who first on the active win list with 832 wins, is closer to breaking Dean Smith's all-time career win record of 879 wins than he is to second place, which is held by New Mexico State head coach Lou Henson, who checks in with 775 wins.  And, at Knight's current pace (21.9 wins per season for 38 years), he will break Smith's record in the 5th game of the 2006-2007 season.  Second, is the fact, that if Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton has another year like he did a year ago (31-4), he will be right on the heels of Henson.  Third, the race among Arizona's Lute Olson (711 wins), Temple's John Chaney (708 wins), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (694 wins), Connecticut's Jim Calhoun (680 wins), and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (676 wins) has become extremely close, as only 35 separates these five legendary coaches.  As a matter of fact, Olson passed up Chaney and Calhoun passed up Boeheim last season.  And you can bet the race between Calhoun and Boeheim, who have won the last two national championships and are expected to keep their programs at the top of the Division I spectrum in the foreseeable future, will continue to be neck-and-neck for years to come.  Fourth, did you know that seven of the top 20-ranked coaches (Knight, Henson, Jacksonville's Hugh Durham, Lamar's Billy Tubbs, Drake's Tom Davis, Houston's Tom Penders, Valparaiso's Homer Drew, and Washington State's Dick Bennett) have either retired and spent a year away from coaching in recent years?  In other words, all of these guys potentially could have been more wins than they currently have in the career.  Fifth, is the list of the top 20 coaches in terms of average wins per season, which includes Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon with 31.0 wins per year for 1 season, Murray State's Mick Cronin with 28 wins per year for 1 season, North Carolina's Roy Williams with 27.3 wins per year for 16 seasons, Gonzaga's Mark Few with 26.6 wins per year for five seasons, Western Michigan's Steve Hawkins with 26.0 wins per year for one season, Kentucky's Tubby Smith with 25.5 wins per year for 13 seasons, Ohio State's Thad Matta with 25.4 wins per year for four seasons, Birmingham Southern's Duane Reboul with 24. 5 wins per year for 15 seasons, Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Bruce Pearl with 24.3 wins per year for 12 seasons, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim with 24.2 wins per year for 28 seasons, UTEP's Doc Sadler with 24.0 wins per year for five seasons, Dayton's Brian Gregory with 24.0 wins per year for one season, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski with 23.9 wins per for 29 seasons, Memphis John Calipari with 23.8 wins per year for 12 seasons, Cincinnati's Bobby Huggins with 23.6 wins per year for 23 seasons, South Dakota State's Scott Nagy with 23.3 wins per year for nine seasons, Louisville's Rick Pitino with 23.1 wins per year for 18 seasons, Butler's Todd Lickliter with 23.0 wins per year for three seasons, Michigan State's Tom Izzo with 23.0 wins per year for nine seasons, and Arizona's Lute Olson with 22.9 per year for 31 seasons.  Especially noteworthy is the fact that only two of the top seven coaches mentioned above (Roy Williams and Tubby Smith) have stood the test of time.   And really standing the test of the time are Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Bobby Huggins, and Lute Olson, who have won a combined 2623 games over 111 years with 23.6 wins per season.  Sixth, are the other coaches who stand out disproportionately with regards to where they are ranked versus the number of years they've been coaching like, like Purdue's Gene Keady with 543 wins in 26 seasons, Maryland's Gary Williams with 522 wins in 26 seasons, UC-Irvine's Pat Douglass with 482 wins in 23 seasons, Wiscosnin's Bo Ryan with 451 wins in 20 seasons, William & Mary's Tony Shaver with 365 wins in 17 seasons, Texas Rick Barnes with 343 wins in 17 seasons, Florida A&M's Mike Gillespie with 299 wins in 13 seasons, Stephen F.Austin's Danny Kasper with 283 wins in 13 seasons, Southern Miss' Larry Eustachy with 260 wins in 13 seasons, Wake Forest's Skip Prosser with 232 wins in 11 seasons, Kansas' Bill Self with 231 wins in 11 seasons, Florida's Billy Donovan with 204 wins in seasons, Alabama's Mark Gottfried with 187 wins in nine seasons, Notre Dame's Mike Brey with 184 wins in nine seasons, St. Joseph's Phil Martelli with 179 wins in nine seasons, Lipscomb's Scott Sanderson with 160 wins in eight seasons, Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt with 142 wins in seven seasons, Pepperdine's Paul Westphal with 136 wins in six seasons, Illinois' Bruce Weber with 129 wins in six seasons, Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury with 126 wins in six seasons, Marquette's Tom Crean with 102 wins in five seasons, Missouri's Quin Snyder with 100 wins in five seasons, Manhattan's Bobby Gonzalez with 94 wins in five seasons, Indiana's Mike Davis with 81 wins in four seasons, Tulsa's John Phillips with 59 wins in three seasons, College of Charleston's Tommy Herrion with 45 wins in two seasons, Kent State's Jim Christian with 43 wins in two seasons, and UAB's Mike Anderson with 43 wins in two seasons.  Seventh, are the guys who have been head coaches for more than one year, but won less than 10 games last year and are averaging single-digit wins per year.  This list includes San Jose State's Phil Johnson, who was 6-23 a year ago and is averaging 8.3 wins per year; Bethune Cookman's Clifford Reed, who was 8-21 a year ago and is averaging 7.3 wins per year; Albany's Will Brown, who was 5-23 a year ago and is averaging 6.3 wins per year; Nicholls State's Ricky Blanton, who was 6-21 a year ago and is averaging 4.5 wins per year; Savannah State's Edwards Daniels, who was 5-24 a year ago and is averaging 4.0 wins per year; and Arkansas-Pine Bluff's Van Holt, who was 1-26 a year ago and is averaging 2.5 wins per year.  We also plan to publish tomorrow our list Tracking the Top Division I Head Coaches (Both Active and All Time) and NCAA Tournament Information (Past, Present, & Future).  Then, on Sunday we'll publish our 2004-2005 Pre-Season Top 40 Teams and Pre-Season College Team Ranking Comparisons for 2004-2005, on Monday we'll publish our Pre-Season College All-American Teams, and sometime later next week we'll publish our Exclusively Talent Ratings for Each College Team complete with the number of starters each team has returning, last year's records (conference and overall), the league in which each team participates, the talent rating for each team for the 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005 seasons, and the increase or decrease in talent each team has made during that time.   We'll also have some other new items later this month, like which teams in college basketball have the most talented top five players, most talented second five players, and a talent rating breakdown for each team by conference.  And this is important, because anybody who has access to this information will be so far ahead of those people who rely primarily on the pre-season basketball publications and the mainstream media for their information that it's not even funny! 

Thursday, November 4, 2004

John Adkins, who is the head coach of the Tallahassee Wildcats and a long time contributor to the HOOP SCOOP, tells us that 6'7 Kyle Marks from West Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL has verbally committed to Nebraska.  We're talking about a guy who got lost in the shuffle last summer while playing on an AAU team that featured four front line players - 6'6 Alonzo Gee from West Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL, 6'10 Jimmy Sutton from Boca Raton (Cardinal Gibbons) FL to Florida, 6'10 Abdul Herrera from Miami (South Miami) FL to Cincinnati, and 6'8 Ryan Reid from Lauderdale Lakes (Boyd Anderson) FL to Florida State - who have signed with high Division I programs.   However, Adkins thinks this is a major steal, because Marks is a freak-like athlete who rebounds well for his size, has a nice shooting touch, and a huge upside.  And this would be consistent with the type of player that the Cornhuskers have been able to land in both last year's and this year's recruiting classes.  If you will recall, a year ago they landed 6'5 Joe McCray from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who was ranked as high as #53 nationally by the Sporting News, 7'0 Alexis Maric from Burlington (Life Center) NJ, who was ranked as high as #61 nationally by Bob Gibbons; and 6'2 Marcus Perry from Southern Union (JC) AL, who was an Honorable Mention Junior College All-American; and they already have Marks, 6'6 Will Harris from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who is ranked #15 on our list of the Top 5th Year Players; 6'3 Jamel White from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, who is a silky smooth athletic 2-guard with prolific scoring ability, New York City toughness, and a huge upside; and 6'7 Chris Balham from Shawnee Mission (West) KS, who is a ferocious rebounder and major sleeper; in the fold in their current recruiting class.  And they aren't done yet, as the Cornhuskers appear to be one of the final two, along with Nevada, for 6'10 Jeremy Mayfield from Irving (MacArthur) TX, who has been ranked as high as #95 nationally in the senior class by Gibbons.  And, assuming that Mayfield makes it official for the Cornhuskers sooner than later, Nebraska will have landed either last year or this year four players (Harris, McCray, Maric, and Mayfield) who have been ranked among somebody's top 100 senior nationally and three other players (Perry, White, and Balham) who are may turn out to be a major steals and their recruiting class will move up to #21 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  In other words, Nebraska head coach Barry Collier slowly but surely is building the Cornhuskers program the same way he built the program during his 11-year reign at Butler from 1989 to 2000.  If you will recall, Collier inherited a program at Butler that registered only three winning seasons in the previous 15 years and had just two 20-win seasons in the 91 years prior to his arrival.  However, after going 103-93 in his first seven seasons, Collier's teams at Butler won 22 or more game per season each of his last four years, as they posted a 90-39 record during that time period.   Collier also has built the Cornhuskers program from scratch, as is evident by the fact that his team's had a 38-50 record during his first three year's at Nebraska.   But last year they made a strong push in the right direction with a 18-13 record and four seniors - 6'4 Sr Jake Muhleisen, 6'0 Sr Marcus Neal, 6'5 Sr Corey Simms, and 6'9 Sr John Turek - return from that team, which means Collier will have a good combination of both youth and experience this year and a strong nucleus around which to continue to build in the future.  And, just like Collier did at Butler, where his coaching staff included Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, Oregon State head coach Jay John, and current Butler head coach Todd Lickliter, the Nebraska coaching staff, which includes Scott Spinelli, Reggie Rankin, and Doug Novsek, is second to none.  We also have confirmed via our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis that 6'6 Chris Miller from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA has verbally committed to South Carolina State and via our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin that 6'8 Charles Jackson from Buena Vista (Tri-County) GA has verbally committed to Illinois.  The verbal commitment by Miller is huge, because he's a beast inside and a potential four-year starter.   However, the verbal commitment by Jackson has everybody scratching their head, because he's ranked #394 nationally in the senior class and lacking skills and having only fair athleticism, is a better football player than a basketball player.  And, when you add Jackson to a recruiting class that also includes 6'3 Jamar Smith from Peoria (Richwoods) IL, who is ranked #127 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP; 6'1 Chester Frazier from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, who checks in at #68 on our 5th Year List; and 6'8 David Palmer from Antioch (H.S.) TN, who is ranked #579 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP; then it becomes even more strange, unless the Fighting Illini coaching staff wants to sign some good role players who will provide quality depth for the next four years.  And that's exactly what we believe they are doing, as their current roster includes four juniors in 6'0 Jr Dee Brown, 6'3 Jr Deron Williams, 6'10 Jr James Augustine, and 6'8 Jr Marcus Arnold; three sophomores in 6'8 Soph Brian Randle, 6'3 Soph Richard McBride, and 6'9 Soph Warren Carter; and two freshmen in 6'5 Frosh Calvin Brock and 6'9 Frosh Shaun Pruitt.  So, as things stand now, Illinois needs to land a total of eight recruits either this year or next year.  And that's not even taking into account the fact that Brown may enter forego his final year of college eligibility and enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring.  We also have confirmed that Howard University has landed 6'7 Bishop Wheatley from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX and this is huge for a number of reasons.  First, Wheatley is ranked #471 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, which means that Bison head coach Frank Allen and his staff have landed two top 50 seniors from Texas who are in two of the top programs in the state.  If you will recall, Howard also recently got a verbal commitment from 6'6 Chris Evans from Ft. Worth (Dunbar) TX.  Second, getting Wheatley should give Allen an excellent trio inside for the next two years, because, in addition to Wheatley and Evans, Howard also has a verbal commitment from 6'11 Kemaine Samuels from Seminole (JC) FL.  Third, the addition of Wheatley moves Howard's recruiting class into a tie at #107, along with Southwest Missouri State, Navy, and Pennsylvania, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And this is important, because suddenly Howard's recruiting class is challenging Florida A&M's recruiting class for the top spot in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.  We also have confirmed commitments from 5'10 Paul Gause from Pittsgrove (Arthur Schalick) NJ to James Madison, 6'8 Raymond Sykes from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL to Clemson, and 6'9 Brandon Bryant from Detroit (Rogers) MI to Weber State.  The verbal commitment by Bryant is interesting, because he's 6'9 and the verbal commitment by Gause was expected, as is evident by the fact that we told you this was in the process of happening yesterday.  Sykes is ranked #272 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but don't let that fool you.  We're talking about a long lanky athlete, excellent post defender, and somebody who really came on as the summer wore on.  Sykes also provides an excellent link for the Tigers to the NIKE Team Florida club team program, which is important, because Tom Topping always has more than his fair share of the top players in the state.  The addition of Sykes also moves Clemson's recruiting class into a tie at #28, along with Marshall, St. John's, Wisconsin, and N.C. State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005. 

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

With the beginning of the Fall Signing Period set to begin a week from today and most of the top players in the nation already off the board, it should come as no surprise that for the third consecutive day that the most important verbal commitment of the day is from a junior college player.   Today we're talking about 6'7 Theo White from Tyler (JC) TX, who has become the 5th player in USC's current recruiting class.  If you will recall, the Trojans already have landed 7'0 Julius Lamptey from Garden City (JC) OK, 6'9 Samba Gueye from the Senegal, 6'3 Sean Odzic from Skokie (Niles West) IL, and 6'8 Michael Freeman from Alexandria (Hayfield) VA.  So, with the addition of White, their recruiting class moves up to #14 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  The addition of White also is very important for a number of other reasons.  First, White, who is an undersized athletic blue collar power forward, is a warrior on the boards and similar in a lot of ways to Chuck Hayes.  Second, White gives the Trojans a fourth inside player in this recruiting class to go along with 6'8 Frosh Emmanuel Willis, which should give the Trojans one of the best front lines in the Pacific-10 Conference a year from now.  Third, White should be one of the last pieces to the puzzle, as this class comes on the heels of last year's recruiting class, which finished tied at #7, along with Florida, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes in the Class of 2004, and included Willis, 6'5 Nick Young from Reseda (Cleveland) CA, 6'5 Gabriel Pruitt from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, and 6'1 Dwayne Shackleford from Allegany (JC) MD. In other words, USC head coach Henry Bibby should have what clearly will be his best team yet a year from now, as Pruitt, Shackleford, 6'4 Soph Lodrick Stewart, and 6'4 Soph Rodrick Stewart will provide plenty of options in the backcourt; Young should be terrific at the wing forward spot; Willis and White both will be killers inside; Lamptey will provide an incredible physical presence at center; Odzic will provide the great 3-point shooter that every team needs off the bench, and Gueye and Freeman will provide tremendous depth inside.  We also have confirmed that 6'9 Arminus Urbutis from Montverde (Academy) FL has verbally committed to Hofstra, which means that Pride now have six players already in the fold in this year's and next year's recruiting classes.  Remember, they got a pair of early verbal commitments during the summer from 5'11 Jr Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY and 6'2 Jr Sal Patricio from Lake Suzy (Florida Prep) FL and more recently they have landed 6'0 Greg Johnson from Plymouth (Holderness) NH, 6'9 Greg Washington from Central Islip (H.S.) NY, and 6'8 Chris Gadley from Amherst (Central) NY.  Urbutis is a wide-bodied power forward who can also step out on the perimeter and keep you honest with his mid-range shot, so he should be an excellent complement inside to Gadley, who is a physical specimen, and Washington, who is a long lean shot blocking center.  And the chemistry also should be great at the guards spots both before and after 6'3 Soph Loren Stokes and 6'2 Soph Carlos Rivera both graduate two-and-a-half year from now, because Johnson is a pure point guard, Patricio is a great 3-point shooter, and Morris is a combo guard who reportedly has taken his game to another level at the IS8 Fall League this fall.  However, this should not come as a major surprise.   Remember, our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, who also is the head coach at Bayside (Cardozo) NY, has a long history of developing players (i.e. Duane Causwell, Rafer Alston, Royal Ivy, Brian Woodward, Duane Woodward, Daryll Hill, Ryan Williams, and Charles Cranford) who have gone onto be even better at a higher level than they were in high school.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that 5'8 DeAndre Adams from Powder Springs (South Cobb) GA has verbally committed to Winthrop and this too looks like an excellent catch, because this jet quick point guard with excellent ball handling and passing skills thrives in transition and is a terrific defender.   Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that the word on the street is that 5'10 Paul Gause from Pittsgrove (Arthur Schalick) NJ, who is ranked #181 nationally in the senior class and #5, behind 6'6 Ryan Ayers from Ft. Washington (Germantown Academy) PA, 6'9 Kent Tribbett from Chester (H.S.) PA, 6'2 Anthony Farmer from Richland (St. Augustine) NJ, 6'3 Devon McClendon from Chester (H.S.) PA, in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Area, is close to making a verbal commitment to James Madison.  So when and if this happens, the Dukes will have not one, but two players in this recruiting class who both are a major steal and have the the ball handling and passing skills necessary to point guard at the next level.  If you will recall, earlier this fall James Madison also received a verbal commitment from 6'6 Colby Santos from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA.

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

When 6'5 Jerrell Jamison from Wabash Valley (JC) IL verbally committed to Charlotte two weeks ago, we told you that his teammate - 6'8 Antwon Coleman from Wabash Valley (JC) IL - probably wouldn't be too far behind.  And now it looks we were right on the money, because Big Apple Sports, which is one of our best sources of information about junior college players, is reporting that Coleman has picked the 49ers.  Obviously this is huge for Charlotte, because Coleman is the #3-ranked center in the junior college ranks and, as a result, it appears that he is ideally suited to step in and complement 6'8 Jr Curtis Withers and 7'0 Soph Martin Iti, who, along with 6'5 Sr Eddie Basden and 6'8 Jr E.J. Drayton, already make up one of the better front lines in college basketball.  The verbal commitment by Coleman moves Charlotte's recruiting class, which also already includes Jamison and 6'5 Mitch Mullis from Thomasville (East Davidson) NC, into a tie at #48, along with Georgetown, Stanford, and Florida State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even more important, the addition of Coleman should ensure that Charlotte is immediately one of the best teams in the league when they join the Atlantic-10 Conference next year.  We also have confirmed that 6'1 Booker Woodfox from Lewisville (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #169 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Louisiana-Lafayette and we think this is a major steal.  Sure, Woodfox doesn't have the size necessary to be a big time 2-guard and he does not make good enough decisions nor foes he have good enough ball handling skills to be a pure point guard.   However, Woodfox is an excellent athlete, a terrific talent, and a prolific scorer, which means he should be able walk in next year and provide the perfect replacement for 6'4 Sr Orien Greene, who this year should be one of the best players in the Sun Belt Conference.  It also appears that Howard University has landed 6'11 Kemanie Samuels from Seminole (JC) FL and 6'6 Chris Evans from Ft. Worth (Dunbar) TX, which means their recruiting class moves into a tie at #124, along with American University, Holy Cross, Bucknell, Columbia, Austin Peay, Radford, UNC-Wilmington, Pacific, UT-San Antonio, and Akron, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that 6'8 Matthew Dotson from Centerville (Hickman County) TN has verbally committed to Tennessee, 6'7 Khalil Hartwell from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA has verbally committed to Chattanooga, 6'2 Corey Pfleger from Dickson (County) TN has verbally committed to Rice, 6'3 Matt Esteep from Chattanooga (Hargrave Military) VA has verbally committed to Wofford, and 6'6 Donnell Mayben from Covington (H.S.) TN has verbally committed to Tennessee Tech.  And, according to Whitehead, Mayben, who is a world-class athlete with an incredible upside, could turn out to be a major steal of the Golden Eagles once he gets bigger and stronger and develops under Mike Sutton's tutorage.  But Dotson picking the Volunteers is kind of strange, because, at best he promises to be a good role player, as is evident by the fact that he is ranked #419 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and also was being recruited by schools like William & Mary, Tennessee Tech, and Yale.  However, this still moves Tennessee's recruiting class into a tie at #59 along with Richmond, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  If you will recall, 6'6 Tyler Smith from Pulaski (Giles County) TN picked the Volunteers earlier this fall and we also expect 6'4 Jamont Gordon from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA to follow in his footsteps.  But Whitehead warns us that this might not happen until the spring, despite the fact that Gordon was in Knoxville, TN on an unofficial visit over the weekend.  So when and if this happens, Tennessee's recruiting class will move up into a tie at #25, along with DePaul and Wake Forest, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  And even more important is the fact that the Volunteers have locked up the two best seniors in the state.  Remember, Gordon transferred from Nashville (Glencliff) TN to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA last summer and, as a result, was the #2-ranked senior in the state on our last Tennessee Report, which was published in June.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Coastal Carolina has landed 6'8 Marcus White from Brandywine (Gywnn Park) MD, which is interesting for several reasons.  First, Chanticleers assistant coach Jamie Kachmarik, who gets most of the credit for getting this one done, obviously was able to take advantage of his boss' strong Washington, DC area ties.  Second, White just turned 17-years-old a month ago, may grow some more, and has a big upside.  Johnson also tells us that 6'7 Josh Dollard from Pickens (Prince Avenue Prep) SC has reaffirmed his verbal commitment to Auburn (we didn't know that he'd reneged) and that Marquette, Miami-FL, and South Carolina are the early favorites for 6'11 Ranard Robinson from Fullerton (JC) CA, who is one of the top junior college freshman in the nation.  However, the most interesting item that Johnson has to pass along is the fact that 6'10 Frosh B.J. Mullins from Canal Winchester (World Harvest Christian) OH has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and is expected to verbally commit to Ohio State.   Not only will this be one of the earliest verbal commitments ever, but it's also the first verbal commitment that we've tracked from anybody in the freshman class.  Mullins, who will be ranked as the #1 senior in the state's freshman class by Johnson and among our top 20 freshmen nationally when we update our ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2007, is a great catch for the Buckeyes for a number of reasons.   First, getting a player of this caliber illustrates just how strong the new regime already is in their own backyard.  Second, getting Mullins provides a great link to Mike Duncan and the Cleveland Basketball Club, which is one of the premier club team programs in the state.  Third, Mullins is a tenacious 6'10 athletic white kid who just keeps better and better, as is evident by the fact that he more than held his own against players two and three years older at the adidas Superstar All-American Camp in July and was the #18-ranked by Brian Clifton at the 14-Under National AAU Tournament in early August in Orlando, FL.  Fourth, Mullins isn't done growing, as is evident by the fact that he has grown three inches since last spring when Johnson had Mulllins ranked #5 in the class and listed him at 6'7.  Fifth, getting Mullins gives Ohio State even more momentum upon which to continue to build after landing 6'0 Sylvester Mayes from Redlands (JC) OK, who is the #2-ranked junior college player in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'10 Brayden Bell from Salt Lake City (Brighton) UT, who is ranked #107 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, earlier this fall. 

Monday, November 1, 2004

5'11 Soph Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, all of whom were mediocre at best on Satuday at the Second Annual Eddie Griffin Challenge in New Brunswick, NJ, redeemed themselves yesterday at the Apple versus Empire Showcase at John Jay College in New York City.  As a matter of fact, Fisher, who finished with 27 points and was the MVP for his team in the Underclassmen Game, put on the best individual performance of the entire day, as he shot the lights out from 3-point land and was unstoppable when he went the hole.  Fisher does need to continue to develop into more of pure point guard or grow at least a couple of more inches, but in terms of raw talent, athleticism, and the ability to flat out light up a scoreboard, he has to rank right up there among the top players nationally in his class, along with 6'5 Soph O.J.Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'5 Soph Bill Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, 6'6 Soph Michael Beasley from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, 6'7 Soph Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'2 Soph Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 6'1 Soph Edwin Rios from Miami (Senior) FL, 6'0 Soph Jerrad Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'2 Soph Nolan Smith from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, 6'6 Soph Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 5'10 Soph Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'4 Soph Alexander Legion from Birmingham (Detroit Country Day) MI, 6'8 Soph Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, 6'6 Soph Eric Wallace from Kernersville (Glenn) NC, and 6'8 Soph Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR.  Also playing well for Team Apple in the Underclassmen All-Star Game were 6'8 Jr Curtis Kelly from New York (Rice) NY with 21 points, 6'2 Jr Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY with 13 points,and 6'6 Jr Michael Glover from Brooklyn (Monroe) NY with 12 points.  However, they still came up short, as 6'5 Jr Paul Harris from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 6'3 Soph Melquan Bolding from Beacon (H.S.) NY, and 6'6 Jr Rob Thomas from South Kent (Prep) CT combined for 61 points to lead Team Empire to a 101-95 over Team Apple in the Underclassmen Game.  Harris was the leading scorer for Team Empire with 22 points, but he is a 4th Year Junior, Thomas already is an 18-year-old 5th Year Player, and most of the fans had never even heard of Bolding prior to yesterday.  Thus, explains why Bolding, who was named MVP for his team, was the flavor of the day, as displayed big time athleticism, great moves to the basket, and ability to create his own shot.  Team Empire also beat Team Apple, 82-77, in the Senior Game, thanks to a well balanced attack that included 18 points from 6'11 Andray Blatche from South Kent (Prep) CT, 16 points apiece from 6'6 Danny Green from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY and 6'5 Tyson Johnson from Manhasset (St. Mary's) NY, 10 points apiece from 6'3 Tiki Mayben from Troy (H.S.) NY and 6'0 Chris Lowe from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, and eight points from 6'9 John Garcia from Brentwood (H.S.) NY.   Blatche, who named the MVP for his team, was easily the best player in the game, as he and Mayben set the tone early by accounting for all but two of their team's first quarter points.  Goodridge blocked some shots, got some rebounds, and finished with eight points, but we're still wondering how he was named MVP for Team Apple over 6'4 Ricky Torres from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, and 6'4 Jessie Sapp from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, who finished with 14 points, 12 points, and 10 points, respectively.  We also were impressed by the improvement that 6'5 Chris Bethel from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY has made away from the basket and the hustle, soft touch, and mobility displayed by 6'8 Cameron Lewis from Exeter (Academy) NH.  And we were suprised by the fact that neither 5'10 Levance Fields from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY nor 6'5 Saiquon Stone from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, who combined for only three points, never got into the flow of the game.  However, the biggest disappointment came when we found out that 6'9 Theo Davis from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, who is the #1-ranked senior in New York City, and 5'11 Vic Morris from Bayside (Cardozo) NY both were missing in action, despite the fact that our New York City Editor and their high school coach Ron Naclerio was the coach of Team Apple in the Senior Game.  But what do you expect when you let the inmates run the asylum?  We also got a chance to ask Sapp and Fields about their recruiting after the game and what a sharp contrast, as Sapp says he's still wide open, as Georgetown, St. John's, Virginia, Clemson, Arkansas, DePaul, and Arizona all are still in the hunt, and Fields says he's down to two (St. John's and Pittsburgh).  Speaking of the Panthers, did you know they got a verbal commitment over the weekend from 6'8 Doyle Hudson from Roane (JC) TN?  We're talking about a long athletic shot blocking low post junior college player who averaged 14 ppg and 8 rpg a year ago and was the best inside player last summer on the Junior National Team from the Bahamas.  In other words, Hudson appears to be a major sleeper and, as a result, Pittsburgh's recruiting class moves into a tie at #14, along with Mississippi State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.  However, even more important, the Panthers now have a recruiting class that is a mirror image of last year's recruiting class, which included 6'5 John DeGroat from Northeastern (JC) CO, 6'3 Keith Benjamin from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, and 6'0 Ron Ramone from Bronx (All Hallows) NY, although this year they've loaded up with three quality inside players - 6'6 Sam Young from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA and 6'8 Tyrell Biggs from Ramsey (Don Bosco Prep) NJ, instead with three outstanding guards.  This also means that the Panthers are totally out of the picture for 6'9 Vernon Goodridge from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, who was thought to be down to two schools (Pittsburgh and Georgetown).  Normally we'd tell you that this means that Goodridge would be a lock for the Hoyas.  However, nothing about Goodridge's recruitment has been normal, as he's already expressed an interest (ready or not) in entering his name into the NBA Draft next spring.  And, it also wouldn't surprise us if Goodridge, who we thought was a done deal for Mississippi State in July, still picked the Bulldogs.  But let's assume that Goodridge does the expected and picks the Hoyas.  And let's also assume that 6'8 Alfred Aboya from Tilton (School) NH reaffirms the verbal commitment that he made to the previous regime at Georgetown.  Then, we'd be talking about a recruiting class, which also already includes 6'1 Josh Thornton from Wyoming Park (Caesar Rodney) DE, 6'5 Marc Egerson from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA, and 6'7 Octavious Spann from College Park (Banneker) GA, that will be ranked #12 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2005.