HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION  

FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2001

Hot Recruiting Information available for previous months June 1998 July 1998 August 1998 September 1998 October 1998 November 1998 December 1998 January 1999 February 1999 March 1999 April 1999 May 1999 June 1999 July 1999 August 1999 September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000 February 2000 March 2000 April 2000 May 2000 June 2000 July 2000 August 2000 September 2000 October 2000 November 2000 December 2000 January 2001 February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001

Friday, November 30, 2001

The rest of today will be a travel day, as we hit the road to College Park, MD to attend tomorrow's Morgan Wootten Invitational at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.  This triple-header will tip-off tomorrow 3:30 PM with a game that features two of the top young players - 6'9 Soph Brian Johnson from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA and 6'10 Soph Roy Hibbert from Bethesda (Georgetown Preparatory) MD - in the Washington, DC area, as Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA meets Bethesda (Georgetown Preparatory) MD.  The 5:30 PM game features Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD versus Amityville (H.S.) NY.  Yes, that's  versus 6'8 Travis Garrison versus 6'8 Jason Fraser.  At 7:30 PM, it will be Marion (Tabor Academy) MA with 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA versus Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and this one could be ugly, because Oak Hill is loaded, as is evident by the fact that 6'8 Mario Boggan, 6'2 Chadd Moore, 6'2 Eric Wilkins, 6'1 Justin Gray, 6'5 Richard Joyce, 6'7 Antywane Robinson, and 6'7 Carmelo Anthony, who is the #1 ranked senior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, have all signed with high Division I schools and 6'11 Sani Ibrahim will follow in their footsteps, go to prep school, or declare hardship for the NBA Draft in the spring.  Oak Hill also has a chip on their shoulder right now, because they were snubbed in several of the pre-season polls.  Can you believe a team with this kind of talent isn't the #1 ranked team in the nation?  Instead, the USA Today and the National Prep Poll both ranked Los Angeles (Westchester) CA as the best team in the nation in their recent pre-season polls.  We will have all the highlights either late Saturday night or Sunday right here on the web site, but you can also listen to the play-by-play of each game by clicking on http://www.broadcastmonsters.com/ASX/morganwootten.asx.

It looks like Hampton head coach Steve Merfeld continues to stockpile players.  The latest is 6'10 Frank Russell from Fayetteville (Pine Forest) NC.  And this is important, because this mobile athletic big man moves the Pirates recruiting class, which was ranked #35 nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date, up to #24 on that list.  And, despite the fact they already have six players in their recruiting class, they still are in the hunt for another player to sign next spring.  If you will recall, 6'11 Bruce Brown from Richmond (Henrico) VA is sitting out this year as a Prop 48 casuality after sitting with Duquesne a year ago.  Also 6'9 Bakary Konate from Cincinnati State (JC) OH and 6'7 Rodney Hughes from Owens (JC) OH both are expected to graduate from junior college this fall and enroll at Hampton second semester.  This is important, because they won't count against the number of scholarships that Hampton has given in this recruiting class.  In other words, the team that upset Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March and beat North Carolina recently is also making extremely good use of their scholarships, as Russell, 6'3 Jeff Granger from Creedmore (Faith Christian) NC, and 6'7 Troy Washington from Denmark (Denmark-Olar) SC are the only three players in this recruiting class who will count towards the nine players Hampton can sign this year and next year.  We also have confirmed that Idaho has signed another player in 6'9 Yanifs Ducreay from Homestead (Berkshire) FL. "He's not going to make the immediate improvement, like Otis George did a year ago," says Berkshire head coach Rolando Dela Barraera.  "But Ducreay has only been playing basketball two years and he's 6'9, 270 lbs.  He also has a good build, but right now he's primarily a space-eater and a project.  However, down the road he could develop into a good player."  Obviously this type of size is hard to find, but this also is important, because Ducreay's commitment moves Idaho's recruiting class, which also includes 6'8 Brian Freeny from Gilbert (Mesquite) AZ, 6'2 Delvin Spruel from Baton Rouge (JC) LA, 6'2 Dwayne Williams from Kennedy-King (JC) IL, 6'8 Dave Radlovic from London (A.B. Lucas) ON, and 6'6 Keith Christmas from Gary (West Side) IN up from #28 up to #21 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Another program that has done well recruiting this fall and, as a result, has moved onto our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date is Marshall, which has signed 6'7 LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'9 Robert Patton from Cabel Midland (H.S.) WV, 6'9 Renardo Dixon from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, and 6'6 Robert Strickland (Chatham Hargrave Military) VA.  If you will recall, Carter is ranked #3 in state of Kentucky by the HOOP SCOOP, Patton is arguably the second best player in West Virginia, and Strickland and Dixon are ranked #32 and #38, respectively, on our list of the Top 5th Year & Prep School Players. 

Thursday, November 29, 2001

For the last 18 years I've been perfecting my radio skills as a frequent quest on numerous radio sports talk shows, but thanks to Sean O'Connor, the president of BroadcastMonsters.com, I am now in a position to have my own basketball recruiting show, which can be heard right here on this web site.  The show is called HOOP SCOOP On-Radio and you can hear it live every Monday and Thursday night, beginning on Monday, December 2nd, at 7:00 PM.  I reserve the right to change the format, but the plan is to begin each show discussing the business of the day (i.e. verbal commitments, trends, who's hot and who's not, and anything new that we've added to the web site).  Then, we will bring in several individual guests, take phone calls, and talk about whatever is of current interest in the basketball and recruiting world.  And finally we will conclude the show with a Round Table discussion, as we debate the hot topics of the day with several experts in the field.  If you want to call the show, you obviously will have to be listening to us live, but for your convenience we will archive each show for up to a month's time.  Obviously we want to start off with bang, so make sure you tell your friends to listen.  We also will be looking for advertisers to help sponsor the show and radio stations to pick up the show or either a live or delayed basis.  So if you like what hear, any help along these lines would be greatly appreciated.  Also in the very near future, I will be writing an article and providing player rankings and rankings of the top recruiting classes (similar to what I do for Basketball Times) to FoxSports.com.   However, all this will still be the tip of the iceberg when compared to what we put into the Members Section on a daily basis.

Earlier this week we mentioned that the word on the street is that 6'1 Jr Ayinde Ubaka from Oakland (H.S.) CA has made an early verbal commitment to UCLA.  However, upon further investigation it appears that he is strongly interested, but likely won't have the grades necessary to get into UCLA.  As a result, it looks like our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis was right on the money when he predicted the Bruins will instead offer 6'2 Jr Marcus Williams from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, who was ranked #45 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Speaking of UCLA, it looks like history is repeating itself for the third consecutive season.  Two years ago when the Bruins were struggling early (i.e. loss to Gonzaga, 59-43, on December 11, 1999), the natives were calling for UCLA head coach Steve Lavin's head and were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Rick Majerus as the new head coach in Westwood.  After last year's mediocre start, which included an early season loss to Cal State-Northridge, a similar scenario occurred after UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis initiated talks with Rick Pitino.  And after last week's loss to Ball State and last night's loss to Pepperdine, Missouri head coach Quin Synder is the new name a lot Bruins fans are talking about.  Remember, Synder, who both played and coached under Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, is one of the hottest young head coaches in the nation, as is evident by the fact that Missouri is ranked #3 in this week's Associated Press poll and #5 by the USA Today/ESPN.  However, we don't think Lavin will even have to use his lucky rabbit's foot to make a spectacular turnaround as the season progresses.  Remember, UCLA landed a great recruiting class a year ago and it's only a matter of time before Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, and Andre Patterson live up to exceptions.  Also, Dalis, who has already announced that he will retire next June, is a lame duck athletic director. 

On Monday we reported that 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #19 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, would have a press conference on Tuesday and announce for Villanova.  Well, the press conference was cancelled and rescheduled for this morning.  Apparently Fraser and those around him were pissed off at people like us who got wind of where he was going a day in advance and let the cat of the bag.  Thus, explains the comment he made to Newsday yesterday about Louisville head coach Rick Pitino.  "I started to realize more and more that Pitino can actually take me to the next level more than any other coach," said Fraser.  He also made it public yesterday that he had invited his good friend - 6'6 Tim Doyle from Oyster Bay (St. Dominic) NY, who committed to St. John's last summer - to his 8:00 AM press conference this morning.  Fraser was obviousy trying to add some suspense back into the announcement, but we didn't buy into it.  If you will recall, our Philadelphia/ Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey tipped us off Allen Rubin and I confirmed that Fraser was going to Villanova via a source of my own (where is our New York City editor Ron Naclerio when we need him?).  So I was willing to stand by our original story and ignore the smoke screen that Fraser was putting out yesterday.  This moves Villanova up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Remember, the Wildcats also have landed 6'1 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who is ranked #22 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, who is ranked #37 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'3 Randy Foye from Newark (East Side) NJ, who is ranked #49 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and, as a result, appear to be well on their way towards becoming one of the elite teams in college basketball for years to come.  As for Louisville, the Cardinals have struck out on both of their primary recruiting priorities - Fraser and 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN - this fall.  However, their recruiting class is still ranked #12 nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date after signing 6'10 Kendall Dartez from Vincennes (JC) IN, 6'7 Francisco Garcia from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'2 Taquan Dean from Neptune (H.S.) NJ.  If Pitino had been lucky enough to land Fraser or May, he would have had to find another scholarship (currently the Cardinal have 12 players on scholarship and there are two seniors in the program).  Our guess is that former Louisville player Felton Spencer would have been asked to pay the tuition for his little brother Mac Wilkinson, who is a role player for the Cardinals.  Louisville also only has two juniors in the program, which means they don't have many scholarships to give until the current sophomore class, which has four player, plus Dartez, graduates in two years.   In other words, quality is more than quantity right now for the Cardinals.

Wednesday, November 28, 2001

If we still had a Question of the Day, right at the top of the things I would ask is who you think has the most exciting basketball team in the city of Chicago.  The choices would be A) the Bulls; B) DePaul; C) Northwestern; D) Illinois-Chicago; E) Loyola-Chicago; or F) Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Actually I think it's no-brainer, because Proviso East has what might be the best backcourt in high school basketball, as well as our choice for Mr. Basketball in the state both this year in 5'11 Dee Brown and next year in 6'4 Jr Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL.  Speaking of Shannon Brown, Roy Schmidt, the editor and publisher of the Illinois Bulls-eye Report, really liked where we had Brown, who was ranked #4 nationally, on our list of the Top 125 Players in the Class of 2003, which was published exclusively in the Members Section yesterday. "When you combine Brown's athleticism, explosiveness, upper body strength, skills, competitiveness, and ability to beat you both inside and outside, you have the best 2-guard in the class," says Schmidt.  "And he doesn't appear to be the lock we thought he once was for University of Illinois.  Iowa now appears to be the co-favorite and schools like Michigan State, Louisville, Notre Dame, DePaul, and Marquette are also turning up the heat."  Schmidt also provides us with the latest recruiting scoop on several of the other top juniors in the state, like 6'6 Jr Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL, who is ranked #18 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'3 Jr Richard McBride from Springfield (Lanphier) IL, who is ranked #44 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Illinois is still the favorite for McBride, but Iowa, Missouri, Louisville, Seton Hall, and Michigan are also in the hunt.  Randle's list includes Illinois, Duke, Notre Dame, Iowa, Michigan State, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky.   Schmidt also tell us that DePaul leads for 6'5 Jr Florentino Valencia from Chicago (Crane) IL, but he may have to go the junior college or prep school route first.  The best kept secret in the state is 6'5 Jr Ben Rand from Rochelle (H.S.) IL, who wants to play in either the Big-10 or the Big East Conference.  Already Rand is drawing interest from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Notre Dame, Boston College, Ball State, and Northern Illinois, but that list will probably get longer before it gets shorter.  Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame, and Illinois are the top four for 6'3 Jr Colin Falls from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL and 6'2 Jr Jimmy Myles from Homewood (Christian) IL is attracting interest from Valparaiso, Southern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Indiana State, and Northern Illinois.

I hate to say I told you so, but one look at the standings and the statisticially leaders in the NBA tells us we were right on the money when we predicted last June that the Elton Brand-Tyson Chandler trade would turn out to be one of the worst trades in the history of the game.  Currently the Chicago Bulls are 1-12, have lost 10 straight, and are well on the way towards achieving a new level of the mediocrity that even the Chicago Cubs have found impossible to achieve over the years.   A quick look at last night's box score shows that Chandler and Eddy Curry, both of whom are drafted among the top four picks in the NBA Draft five months ago, hardly even played (they combined for 1-5 field goals, 3-4 free throws, and five points) in their 100-68 loss to the New Jersey Nets.  Chicago Bulls head coach Tim Floyd says he hasn't thrown these kids to the wolves, because he's trying to win games right now.  Obviously his plan isn't working, as the Bulls are already well on their way towards becoming one of the worst teams in the history of the game.  Instead, if that was their short term goal, they should have kept Brand, who currently is ranked #15 in the NBA in scoring averaging 22.3 ppg and 10th in rebounding averaging 10.4 rpg.  He also has done something that nobody else has seemed to be able to do and that's halp the Clippers win games.  Sure, the Clippers are still last in the Pacific Division of the NBA, but they're almost .500 with a 6-8 record.  Not only does Brand possess the talent, skills, and experience necessary to help you win right now, but he has something that Curry and Chandler don't appear to have.  We talking about that burning desire necessary to become a great player.  As a result, we question whether Curry or Chandler will ever be as good as Brand is right now.  But let's say we're wrong for a minute.  As a coach, Floyd doesn't have several years to wait for these guys (Brand and Chandler) to develop into good players.  Instead, Floyd is on the fast track to get fired and, as a result, hopefully move back to where he belongs (in the college game).   As for Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause, it's obvious he doesn't read the HOOP SCOOP.  If he did, he might actually know something about basketball.  

Ro Russell, the co-director of the Grass Roots Canada AAU team, finally has launched his web site and it can be found at http://www.grassroots.fan.ca.   Not only do we expect this to be our primary source for high school basketball in Canada, but it also an important reference for Canadian players who are playing in the United States.  And just like with American players, a lot of the top Canadians have already signed with four-year Division I schools.  To be exact, 11 of the top 23 seniors on Russell's list are gone.  The top five remaining are 6'9 J.R. Bailey from Colora (West Nottingham) MD, 6'5 Kevin Massiah from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'3 Tristin Martin from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'2 Kern Carter from Toronto (Henry Carr) ON, and 6'2 Jermaine Anderson from Toronto (Eastern School of Commerce) ON.   Another Canadian player who is still available is 6'2 Jabulah Murray from Toronto (Eastern School of Commerce) ON.  Yes, that's the guy who signed with St. Bonaventure a year ago, but didn't make it academically and, as a result, is currently sitting out as a partial qualifier.   That's the bad news.  The good news is that Murray is now academically eligible.  So now he's looking for a four-year school where he can enroll second semester.  The most likely candidate is Virginia Commonwealth.  As a matter of fact, Murray will make an official visit to VCU next week and a verbal commitment could be forthcoming soon after, if all goes well.  Russell also tells us that 6'8 Dave Radlovic from London (A.B. Lucas) ON has picked the University of Idaho over schools like Central Michigan and Western Carolina.   Radlovic is best described as an athletic combo forward, because he can rebound, post-up, and shoot the three.  He also is sleeper, because he didn't start playing for Russell's AAU team until late in the summer.  This is significant, because it moves Idaho's recruiting class into a tie at #26 nationally, along with Dayton.  If you will recall, Idaho got verbal commitments earlier this fall from 6'8 Brian Freeny from Gilbert Mesquite) AZ, 6'2 Delvin Spruel from Baton Rouge (JC) LA, 6'2 Dwayne Williams from Kennedy (JC) IL, and 6'6 Keith Christmas from Gary (West Side) IN. 

Tuesday, November 27, 2001

With only 10 of our top 100 seniors still unsigned and/or uncommitted and the basketball season upon us, now is a great time to start thinking about juniors.  So obviously our Pre-Season Ranking of the Top 125 Players in the Class of 2003 is perfectly timed.   And there are some surprises, like 6'8 Jr Luol Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ and 6'4 Jr Shannon Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL,  both of whom are ranked among our top five players nationally in the class.  We also probably have   6'3 Jr Mustafa Shakir from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, who is ranked #15, higher than most everybody else, but the value of his stock has skyrocketed during the last six months.  Others dramatically on the rise include 6'10 Jr Brian Butch from Appleton (West) WI at #31, 6'6 Jr David Fisher from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX at #47, 6'3 Jr Calvin Davis from Waterbury (Sacred Heart) CT at #48, 6'7 Jr Linas Kleiza from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD at #65, 6'10 Jr Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (H.S.) TX at #73, 6'1 Jr J.R. Reynolds from Roanoke (Catholic) VA at #77, 6'8 Jr Brandon Bass from Baton Rouge (Capital) LA at #81, and 6'4 Jr Armaud Dahi from Burlington (Life Christian) NJ at #97.  Currently only five players - 6'8 Jr Kenneth Harris from Hammond (Bishop Noll) IN to Valparaiso, 6'10 Jr Stefan Zimmerman from Orem (Mountain View) UT to Utah, 6'9 Jr Darian Townes from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) MD to Georgetown, 6'2 Jr Robert McIver from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) MD to Georgetown, and 6'7 Jr Phil Tomlinson from Burleson (H.S.) TX to Colorado State - ranked among our top 125 juniors nationally have already made early verbal commitments.  The class is top heavy (for a change) with inside players, as 10 of our top 17 juniors - 6'10 Jr Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA, 6'8 Jr Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS, 6'10 Jr Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'8 Jr Ndubi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'8 Jr Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, 6'9 Jr Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'10 Jr Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL, 6'11 Jr Darryl Watkins from Paterson (Catholic) NJ, and 6'8 Jr Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blairstown Academy) NJ - are either power forwards or centers.  And 6'7 Jr Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA also could be added to this list, because he is expected to grow several more inches and, as a result, may end playing a lot inside at the next level.  The weakest position at the top of the class is the point guard spot, even though that's the position where we list 6'7 Jr LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary's) OH, who is not only the consensus #1 ranked player in the class, but also the best player in the nation regardless of class.  Remember, what James does best is pass the basketball, which is why the Magic Johnson comparisons are in order.  In terms of depth, the deepest position in the class is the wing forward spot, as 30 players are ranked among our top 125 nationally.  Next is the point guard spot with 28 players, followed by the power forward spot with 26 players, the 2-guard spot with 21 players, and the center spot with 20 players.  Despite the fact the center position finished last among the five positions, this is especially noteworthy, because that's still a lot more than in recent years.  Currently the Class of 2002 has 14 centers ranked among our top 100 and the great Class of 2001 had only 16 centers in listed among the top 125.  And that included 6'10 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'11 Eddy Curry from Thornwood (South Holland) IL, 6'11 DeSagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'10 Tony Key from Compton (Centennial) CA, all of whom by-passed college and enter the NBA Draft last spring. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also has confirmed that 5'9 Armando Surratt from Oakland (Tech) CA has signed with Fresno State.  Surratt has jet-like speed and quickness, which means he should fit in nicely to Jerry Tarkanian's uptempo style of play.  But what makes this even especially interesting is the fact that Surratt is the high school teammate of 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA, who is ranked #6 nationally in the junior clas by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, we're not sure this connection will prove to be as important as the fact that Powe's best friend is 6'6 Marquis Kately from San Francisco (Riordan) CA when it comes time for Powe to make his college decision.  Speaking of Kately, we told you several weeks ago that he was a lock for the University of California, but that an official announcement would not be made until after 6'7 Kennedy Winston from Prichard (Blount) AL had decided one way or another on California or Alabama.  In other words, they didn't want to do anything that might scare off Winston, even though Kately is expected to go the prep school route next year and then enroll at California in the fall of 2003.  Well, Winston signed with the Golden Bears last week, so the fact that Kately has followed suit is no surprise.  Instead, what may surprise you is that California's recruiting class has moved up to #23 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Remember, Winston is ranked #31 nationally, 6'8 David Paris from Modesto (Christian) CA and Kately are both in the 101-150 range with the potential to move a lot higher, and 6'1 Richard Midgley from Modesto (Christian) CA is a legit top 200 senior nationally.  This also makes their recruiting class #1 in the Pacific-10 Conference just ahead of Arizona.  We also have confirmed that 6'8 Derek Quinneet from San Jose (Santa Teresa) CA has signed with Idaho State and we are getting reports that 6'1 Jr Ayinde Ubaka from Oakland (H.S.) CA has made an early commitment to UCLA.  However, our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis finds this hard to believe, because it is a well known fact that 6'2 Jr Marcus Williams from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA, who is ranked #45 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is already a near lock for the Bruins. 

We also have confirmed that 6'9 Tyler Lang from Franklin (H.S.) MA has signed with Hartford and 6'10 Derek Ahren from Palm Beach (JC) FL has made it official for Duquesne.  Lang, who is surprisingly athletic for a big white kid his size, has long arms, good skills, and the potential to grow several more inches.  Lang also is an excellent student just like his father, who at 6'11 played center at Harvard.  If Ahren's name is familar, it should be, because he was role player for the legendary Morgan Wootten at Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD several years ago.  However, he didn't get recruited at the level he wanted in high school, so he went the junior college route and, as a result, has landed a scholarship in the Atlantic-10.  We also hearing that another former DeMatha player - 7'4 Matt Slaninka - is going to transfer from Maryland, plus it looks like the rumors about 6'4 Maurice Young leaving Virginia are true.  Lamar has added another piece to their puzzle by landing 6'7 Ola Matti from Toronto (Eastern School of Commerce) ON.  We're talking about an athletic combo forward who does everything well (shoot, defend, rebound, etc.), but isn't great any particular area.  About 10 days ago we reported that the commitment by 6'7 Antonie Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, who is ranked #16 on the HOOP SCOOP's list of the top seniors nationally, wasn't as firm as we orginally thought to Texas A&M.  However, we have now confirmed that he did indeed sign a National Letter-of-Intent with the Aggies.  So has 6'8 Luis Clemente from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, who is ranked #19 on our list of the Top 5th Year & Prep School Players. As a result, Texas A&M's recruiting class is now tied for #40, along with Kansas, UNLV, UNC-Charlotte, and Georiga, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  We also have confirmed that Miami-FL has landed 6'5 Ismael N'Jaye from Homestead (Berkshire) FL and Southern Utah has signed 6'10 Lubor Olgouski from Homestead (Berkshire) FL.   If you will recall, N'Jaye originally committed to Kansas State, but that fell through when Miami-FL turned up the heat.  N'Jaye is one already one of the best defensive players in the nation, but, if his offensive game ever catches up with his defense, we are talking about somebody with an unlimited upside.  Olgouski is your prototypical European player with good mobility, excellent ball skills, and the ability to shot the three. 

Lavel Johnson, the Mississippi Editor for both the HOOP SCOOP and MidSouth-Hoops.Com, tells us that only three players in his state have signed and returned a National Letter-of-Intent to the school where they intend to enroll next fall.  He's talking about 6'7 Marcus Verner from Columbus (H.S.) MS, who signed with Southeastern Louisiana, 6'2 B.J. Spencer from Starkville (H.S.) MS, who signed with Birmingham Southern, and 6'5 Sammy Richardson from Utica (Hinds County) MS, who signed with Southern Mississippi.  No, that's not a misprint.  If you will recall, earlier this fall Richardson, who is now regarded as the state's best senior, verbally committed to Mississippi State.  However, he obviously has reneged.  Johnson also points out that 6'4 Jason Forte from Bay Springs (H.S.) MS has not yet signed with Boston College and, as a result, Southern Miss may be turning up the heat on this one as well.  Also still available and getting underrecruited (at least until North Carolina started showing recent interest) is 6'9 Byron Sanders from Gulfport (Harrison Central) MS.  Other than the Tar Heels, can you believe that the schools showing the most interest in Sanders are McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, and South Alabama?  Sure, the value of his stock has slipped dramatically in the last year, because he's soft and hasn't shown much improvement.   But, like they say, you can teach size, plus Sanders also has excellnet grades.   In other words, he's probably one of the better prospects with size still available nationally.  One of the other things we asked Johnson about when we talked with him earlier today was who he likes better 6'9 Jr Travis Outlaw from Starkville (H.S.) MS or 6'10 Jr Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS.   Johnson said Outlaw, but not by much.  Thus, explains why Outlaw is ranked #7 and Butler is ranked #8 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.   Mississippi State, LSU, Iowa State, Memphis, Indiana, Tulane, and Mississippi are among the schools involved with Outlaw.  Florida appears to be the early favorite for Butler, but Mississippi State, Michigan, LSU, Tulane, and Mississippi are also on his early list.  But the best player in the state regardless of class might already be 6'9 Soph Al Jefferson from Prentiss (H.S.) MS, who currently is ranked #4 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Johnson tells us that Jefferson has been putting up ridiculous numbers this year.  As a matter of fact, only once has Jefferson scored fewer than 30 points in a game so far this season.   However, Outlaw, Butler, and Jefferson aren't the only players in the state who will be ranked among the top 10 nationally in their respective classes.  Remember the name - 6'0 Frosh Monta Ellis from Jackson (Lanier) MS.  Already Ellis reminds Johnson of 6'1 Maurice Williams, who is now a freshman at the University of Alabama.  Actually Johnson thinks Ellis is better at the same stage and the fact that he had 20 and 21-point games in the tourmament last weekend in Huntsville, AL supports his belief.

Monday, November 26, 2001

It looks like it's not going to drag out until spring after all for 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #19 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  The press conference is scheduled for tomorrow and several sources, including our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, tell us that Fraser is going announce for Villanova.  This doesn't come as any major surprise, because we already thought Fraser would sign with the Wildcats, if a decision was forthcoming this fall.  Obviously this huge, because, if you exclude 6'9 DeAngelo Collins from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, who is expected to by-pass college and enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring, Fraser is the best unsigned player in the senior class nationally who is still available.  He also is the best rebounder and one of the best shot blockers in the senior class nationally, as well as the second best player in the New York City Metropolitan area behind 6'6 Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (No. Valley Regional) NJ and ahead of St. John's-bound 6'1 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'1 Allan Ray from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, and 6'3 Randy Foye from Newark (East Side) NY.   Speaking of Ray, Sumpter, and Foye, all of whom are ranked in the 21-50 range nationally, they too all have made it official for the Wildcats this fall.  As a result, Fraser's commitment to Villanova will move their recruiting class up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date behind Duke, Florida, and Michigan State.  In other words, Villanova head coach Jay Wright, who was the head coach at Hofstra for the last seven years, still owns New York City.  However, we also have to mention Villanova assistant coach Fred Hill, who was one of the big keys to solidifying Fraser for Villanova.  As a matter of fact, Fraser almost committed to Seton Hall last spring before Tommy Amaker left to take the Michigan job and the main reason why the Pirates were so strong was the strong rapport that Hill had already established with kid and everybody around him dating back to Fraser's sophomore year in high school.  So obviously when Wright, who also has known Fraser for years via his basketball camp, got the head coaching job at Villanova last spring, hired Hill, and retained Joe Jones from the previous staff, he assembled an unbeatable combination.  Obviously this solidifies Hill as one of the best recruiters in the nation.  Remember, Hill also was largely responsible for getting Ray and totally responsible for getting Foye, plus he was instrumental at Seton Hall in landing Eddie Griffin, Andre Barrett, Marcus Toney-El, John Allen et al. 

We also have confirmed that 6'6 Brandon Roy from Seattle (Garfield) WA has committed to the University of Washington.  Currently Roy, who was hurt when we saw him last summer, is ranked #76 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but that may be way too low, as several college coaches have recently told us that Roy might be the best prospect on the entire West Coast.  This comes on the heels of Washington's #20 ranked recruiting class from a year ago, which included 6'0 Charles Frederick from Boca Raton (Pope John Paul II) FL, 6'8 Mike Jensen from Kent (Kentwood) WA, 6'5 Erroll Knight from Seattle (Chief Sealth) WA, 6'10 Jeffrey Day from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'6 Josh Parnard from Tacoma (JC) WA, and 6'8 Anthony Washington from Seattle (Garfield) WA.  Washington, who didn't make it academically, also has re-signed with the Huskies, which have some of the best young talent in college basketball.  If you will recall, Frederick, who will join the team after the football season is over, was ranked #25 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, Jensen, who was ranked #86 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, Knight was ranked #93 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, plus they also had 6'7 Soph Doug Wrenn, who transferred a year ago from Connecticut, sitting out and 6'0 Soph Curtis Allen was one of the quickest guard in the league last year as a freshman.  In other words, head coach Bob Bender, who was on the bubble a year ago, could be well on his way towards making one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball in another year or two. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson talked with 6'8 Jr Ivan Harris from Springfield (South) OH and his family at the Ohio Roundball Prep Workout in Springboro (H.S.) OH over the weekend and has learned that an early verbal commitment will be forecoming from Harris on Wednesday, November 28th.  Harris' final two schools are Michigan State and Ohio State, but, if he doesn't pick the Buckeyes, we'd be really surprised.  And assuming this happens, Harris would be a perfect complement to all the good young players the Buckeyes already have brought into the program.   Remember, Ohio State had the 10th best recruiting class in the nation a year ago when they landed Brandon Fuss-Cheatham from Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA, 6'7 Matt Sylvester from Cincinnati (Moeller) OH, 6'7 Clark Williams from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA, and 6'9 Terrance Dials from Youngstown (Boardman) OH and this year their class, which includes 6'5 JaQuan Hart from Flint (Northern) MI, 6'3 Ricardo Billings from Detroit (Rogers) MI, and 6'9 Charles Bass from Crete (Crete-Monee) IL, is ranked #22 nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Getting Harris also means that the Buckeyes won't try and re-sign Williams, who failed to make it academically and, as a result, is now in prep school at Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, because, just like Williams, Harris is versatile enough to play both inside and outside.  Plus, Harris is a better player, as is evident by the fact that he is ranked among our top 40 juniors nationally, as well as #2 in the state by Johnson.  Although Michigan State is expected to miss out on getting Harris, they have gotten a talented, but unheralded guard in 6'2 Rashi Johnson from Mott (JC) MI, who picked the Spartans over Cincinnati and USC.  And Johnson could step right into the point guard spot next year, if Marcus Taylor decides to declare hardship for the NBA Draft after the current season.  However, the Spartans coaching staff is probably telling 6'0 Jr Brandon Cotton from Detroit (St. Martin DePorres) MI, who is a legitimate top 20 junior nationally, as well as the expected heir apparent to Taylor at point guard, that Johnson is a combo guard. 

Saturday, November 24, 2001, and Sunday, November 25, 2001

There are a number of outstanding events that will be held in December in the state of Kentucky, including The Inaugural "Blue Chip" Basketball Shootout at Bellarmine College in Louisville, KY on Friday, December 7th, the Marshall County Hoopfest in Benton, KY on December 7th-8th, the Adolph Rupp Classic in Lexington, KY on December 14th-15th, the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic at Fairdale, KY on December 18th-22nd, and the Kentucky Holiday Classic in Lexington, KY on December 26th-30th.  Let's start with the "Blue Chip" Basketball Shootout, which tips off at 4:30 PM with Louisville (Seneca) KY versus Radcliff (North Hardin) KY.  This is an important game, because North Hardin, which was ranked #3 in the state by the Louisville Courier-Journal in the pre-season basketball issue that was published on Thanksgiving Day and features 5'10 Quinton Smith and 6'6 Jr Andre Woodson, should provide Seneca's 6'8 Soph Robbie Simpson, who is the #2 ranked sophomore in the state by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'5 Larry Williams, who may be be one of the most underrated players in the state, with a tremendous challenge.   The 6:00 PM game will feature Brandenburg (Meade County) KY with 6'4 Jr Blake Powers versus Elizabeth (South Central) IN with 5'11 Craig Schoen and 6'9 Jr Aaron Vaught.  Then at 7:30 PM it will be Glasgow (H.S.) KY with 5'9 Brandon Stockton, who is the consensus #1 ranked senior in the state, as well as the heavy favorite to win Mr. Basketball this year, versus New Albany (H.S.) IN with 5'11 A.J Groves.  The final game of the evening matches up Louisville (Holy Cross) KY, which is coached by the legendary Stan Hardin, versus Russellville (H.S.) KY with 6'2 Maurice Hampton.   The highlight of the Marshall County Hoopfest will be the final game of the evening on Saturday night when Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA with 6'8 Mario Boggan, 6'11 Sani Ibrahim, 6'2 Chadd Moore, 6'2 Eric Wilkins, 6'1 Justin Gray, 6'5 Richard Joyce, 6'7 Antywane Robinson, 6'7 Carmelo Anthony, who is ranked as the #1 senior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, meets the pre-season #1 ranked team in state - Louisville (Male) KY, which features 6'3 Michael Bush, who is the best player in the state regardless of class by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'7 LaVar Carter.  Oak Hill will also face Chicago (Crane) IL, which features a number of the top juniors in Illinois, including 6'7 Jr Lorenzo Thompson, 6'5 Jr Florentino Valencia, 6'1 Jr Tremel Gilot, 5'7 Jr Carl Marshall, and 5'9 Jr Jamal Tidwell, in the final game of the evening on Friday night.  We also will get to see another good young team - Lexington (Catholic) KY, which was ranked #2 in the state by the Louiville Courier Journal, with 6'3 Soph Demetrius Green, 5'10 Jr Brian Smith, 5'7 Soph Robert White, and 6'4 Soph Harrison Morton versus Dixon (Webster County) KY, Mayfield (Grayson County) KY versus Winchester (Franklin County) TN, and Tamms (Egyptian) TN versus Murray (H.S.) KY on Friday night and Fulton City (H.S.) KY versus Martin (Westview) TN, Troy (Obion County) TN versus Metropolis (Massac County) IL, Benton (Marshall County) KY versus Bartlett (H.S.) TN, Glasgow versus Fulton (South Fulton) KY, and Paducah Tilghman versus Evansville (Mater Dei) IN.  The Adolph Rupp Classic will be held at Lexington Catholic High School on Friday with Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA versus Champlain (St. Lambert) ON with 6'9 Bernard Cote from Montreal (Champlain-St. Lambert) QU at 2:00 PM, Lexington (Catholic) KY versus Schenectady (H.S.) NY with 6'8 Rashawn Freeman, Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD with 6'8 Travis Garrison versus Georgetown (Scott County) KY at 7:30 PM, and Wabash Valley (JC) KY with 6'6 Antwain Barbour versus St. Catharine (JC) KY.  Then, on Saturday they will switch the site to Memorial Coliseum at the University of Kentucky, because they are expecting a huge crowd to see 5'9 Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY, Barbour, and Cote, all three of whom signed early with the Wildcats.  The schedule on Saturday starts with Schenectady (H.S.) KY versus Georgetown (Scott County) KY at 3:30 PM, followed by Richmond (Madison Central) KY with 6'4 Soph Shawn Ballard versus Glasgow with Stockton at 5:00 PM, Lexington (Catholic) KY versus Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD at 6:30 PM, Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA versus 6'8 Jr Tyler Ray from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY at 8:00 PM, and Montreal (Champlain St. Lambert) QU versus Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY at 9:30 PM.  The King of Bluegrass features four of the top teams from Louisville in Louisville (Male) KY, Louisville (Ballard) KY, Louisville (Seneca) KY, and Fairdale; eight teams from out in the state in Radcliff (North Hardin) KY, Ashland (Paul Blazer) KY, Paris (Bourbon County) KY, Corbin (H.S.) KY, Nicholasville (Jessamine County) KY, Frankfort (H.S.) KY,  Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, and Paducah (St. Mary) KY; and four teams from out of state in Knoxville (Austin) TN,   Pensacola (Woodham) FL, Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, and Barrington (St. Andrews) RI.   Especially noteworthy is the St. Andrews team, which is led by 6'7 Jr Demetrius Nichols and is well stocked with great young talent.  The Kentucky Holiday Classic doesn't have as much of a national flavor as it has had in the past, as only one out of state team - Ft. Lauderdale (Westminster) FL - will be competing in the 16-field.  The in-state teams are Lexington (Catholic) KY, Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY, Louisville (Seneca) KY, Paris (Bourbon County) KY, Danville (Boyle County) KY, Shelbyville (Shelby County) KY, Pineville (Bell County) KY, Lexington (Henry Clay) KY, Harrodsburg (Mercer County) KY, Russell (H.S.) KY, Paducah (St. Mary) KY, Maysville (Mason County) KY, Independence (Simon Kenton) KY, and Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY with 6'8 Jr Ross Neltner, who is the #2 ranked junior in the state by the HOOP SCOOP.

Friday, November 23, 2001

Jon Reidel, a sportwriter for the Albany Herald in Albany, GA, as well as the former editor of Reidel's Roundball Review and an alumnus of the University of Massachusetts, tells us that the Minutemen have landed 6'8 Rashawn Freeman from Schenectady (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #86 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  Freeman is an excellent rebounder, big time athlete, and a physical specimen, but he also showed he can play out on the perimeter last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp, where he finished ranked #35 in camp by the HOOP SCOOP.   He joins 6'0 Mike Lasme from Burlington (Life Center) NJ, who is ranked #69 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, 6'8 Stephen Briggs from Houston (Westside) TX, and 6'9 Alassane Kouyate from Walsh (Jesuit) OH in a recruiting class that now is tied at #30, along with Vanderbilt, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  This also is significant for the Atlantic-10 Conference, because this is by far and away the league as a whole as done during the fall signing period in recent years.  As a matter of fact, the Atlantic-10 now has four teams ranked among our top 43 recruiting classes, as Xavier checks in at #16, Dayton is #25, Massachusetts is #30, George Washington is #37, and Temple, which landed 7'0 Keith Butler from Philadelphia (Celestial Prep) PA, 6'6 Michael Blackshear from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA, and 6'7 Antywane Robinson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, just misses making the list. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson is reporting that 6'8 Aaron Spears from Chicago (Dunbar) IL, who is a legitimate top 250 senior nationally, has reneged on the Buckeyes.  Certainly that is good news for other schools looking to sign a big man with high major potential next spring.  However, the bad new is that Spears probably won't have grades and, as a result, will likely have to go the prep school or junior college route.  There is also is good news and bad news for the Buckeyes recruiting class.  The good new is their talent rating average per recruit increases from 5.0 points with four players to 5.7 points with three players.  The bad new is their recruiting class drops from #20 to #22 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  We also have confirmed that 6'6 Spencer Ford from Baton Rouge (Scotlandville) LA, who attended the adidas ABCD Camp last summer and was ranked #8 in Class of 2002 in the Alabama/Mississippi/Louisiana area last spring by the HOOP SCOOP, has signed with Louisiana-Lafayette.   Obviously this is a major steal for head coach Jessie Evans, but that doesn't even begin to come close to the coup that Evans pulled off this fall when 6'10 Mike Southall, who originally signed with Kentucky two years ago and Georgia Tech last fall, enrolled in school.  And it appears that Southall is playing extremely well, as is evident by the fact that he had eight blocked shots in this second game of the season versus Bradley.  Southall will get an even bigger test tomorrow when the Ragin' Cajuns play Mississippi State, but we don't look for all the pieces to fall together until Blane Harmon, who is out with a broken foot, returns, later in the season.  Speaking of this 6'2 senior point guard, he's the only key player who will graduate after this season, so our guess is that Louisiana-Lafayette is really still a year away from being one of the major sleepers in college basketball.

Thursday, November 22, 2001

Already this fall we've published our Iowa/Kansas/Missouri/Nebraska/Oklahoma Report, Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/ South Jersey Report, and Kentucky Report and now our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has put the fininshing touches on his Ohio Report.  Obviously the big story in Ohio this year is 6'7 LeBron James from Akron (St. Vincent-St. Mary) OH and in his article Johnson goes so far as to say that James is "the best talent I've ever seen in the state of Ohio."  And that's pretty high praise, because Johnson saw Clark Kellogg, who is one of the best high school players I've ever seen, score 51 points in the Division I State Finals in 1979 against Columbus (East) OH.  Johnson also provides us with six five-man all-state teams and his rankings, which can be found by clicking on Johnson Ranks 'Em:  The Top Prep Players In Ohio.  That list includes 122 seniors, 100 juniors, 90 sophomores, and 12 freshmen all ranked by class in numerical order.  We also are in the process of putting the finishing touches on the Florida Report by John Adkins, who is the director of the Tallahassee Wildcats AAU Program, and the Georgia Report by Linzy Davis, who is the director of the Georgia Elite AAU program, and we should be publishing these two reports sometime within the next week.  We also are still waiting on Wayne Simone's New England Report, Wes Grandstaff's Texas Report, Steve Bell's Michigan Report, and Dinos Trigonis' California Report.  However, time is running out, because we have to work on our 50-plus page Recruiting Wrap-up from the Fall Signing Period and start going to high school games, as the holiday tournament season quickly approaches. 

Wednesday, November 21, 2001

The KMOX Shootout in St. Louis, MO is always one of the premier events of the early season and this year's 21st Annual Shop 'N Save/KMOX Shootout promises to live up to its reputation.  The day begins with a girls game, followed by Chesterfield (Parkway Central) MO versus Ballwin (Parkway West) MO at 11:30 AM and Freesburg (H.S.) IL versus Creve Coeur (Whitfield) MO at 1:00 PM.  Although the 1:00 PM game isn't a must see from a national perspective, we are looking forward to get  another look at 6'8 Dan Oppland from Creve Coeur (Whitfield) MO, who is a borderline top 100 senior nationally.  If you will recall, Oppland was terrific when we saw him last spring and, as a result, we think this blue collar tough hardnosed kid who puts up prolific numbers from mid-range is an absolute steal for Valparaiso.  The first big game of the day will feature two Chicago area schools, as Gary (West Side) IN with Michigan-signee 6'11 Chris Hunter and 6'2 Brandon Cameron, who is bound for Penn State, meets Maywood (Proviso East) IL with Illinois-bound 5'11 Dee Brown, who is ranked #12 in the senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'3 Jr Shannon Brown, who will be ranked among the top five juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP when we update that list in early December.   The game at 4:15 PM will also be interesting because Chesterfield (Rockwood Marquette) MO features 6'5 Troy Slaten, who is the leading returning scorer in the St. Louis area, and Tulsa (Victory Christian) OK has 6'6 Kelenna Azubuike, who have averaged 38 ppg last season while playing against small classification competition.  If Slaten gets the better of this match-up, maybe Azubuike's father will re-think the plans for his son to by-pass college and go straight into the NBA Draft next spring.  The 5:45 PM will offer Duke-bound 6'10 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC a chance to redeem himself after a mediocre summer when they face Springfield (Lanphier) IL with 6'6 Andre Igudodala, who signed with Arkansas, and 6'3 Jr Richard McBride, who is the #3-ranked junior in Illinois behind Brown and 6'7 Jr Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL.  The best game of the day should be the 7:15 PM game between Dallas (Lincoln) TX and Midwest City (H.S.) OK.  That's 6'10 Chris Bosh, who is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, versus 6'9 Sheldon Williams, who is ranked #4 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, going head-to-head inside, while 6'1 Bryan Hopkins, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, versus 6'5 DeAngelo Alexander, who is ranked #55 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, battling for supremacy on the perimeter.  The final game of the evening at 8:45 PM will feature Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL with 6'9 Amare Stoudemire, who is widely regarded as the #1 senior in the nation, versus Columbia (Hickman) MO, which is one of the top three teams in Missouri. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'5 Alex Carmona from Troy (H.S.) OH, who is the #2-ranked senior in the state of Ohio and #79-ranked senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Dayton.  However, Carmona did not sign a National Letter-of-Intent, because the Flyers don't currently have a scholarship available.   With the addition of Carmona, their recruiting class moves up from #42 to #25 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date. If you will recall, Dayton already has gotten commitments earlier this fall from 6'6 Doug Scott from Reynoldsburg (H.S.) OH, 6'3 Logan White from Hunting Valley (University) OH, 6'4 Marques Bennett from Indianapolis (Brebeuf) IN, and 6'10 James Cripe from Cincinnati (Loveland) OH.  Speaking of our list of the top recruiting classes, the big winner this fall appears to be the Big-10 Conference, which has seven teams ranked among our top 20 recruiting classes nationally in #7 ranked Michigan, #9 ranked Michigan State, Illinois and Purdue (tied at #10), Indiana and Iowa (tied at #17), and Ohio State at #20.  In other words, over one-third of the top 20 classes nationally belong to teams in the Big-10.  Also on our list of the top 42 classes from the Big-10 is Wisconsin, which checks in at #34.  However, that's not necessarily good news for the Badgers, which landed two top 100 players in 6'4 Maurice Wade from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI and 6'7 Ray Nixon from Milwaukee (Dominician) WI and two others - 6'4 Alando Tucker from Lockport (Township) IL, and 6'9 Jason Chappell from Worcester (Academy) MA - in the 101-300 range.  In other words, all the schools, except for Minnesota, that are ranked ahead of Wisconsin did better recruiting this fall than the Badgers.  And Minnesota didn't need to have a huge recruiting class.  Remember, the Golden Gophers finished with the #15 ranked recruiting class last spring when they landed 6'11 Rick Rickert from Duluth (East) MN, 6'10 Jerry Holman from Minneapolis (JC) MN, 6'4 Maurice Hargrow from St. Paul (Highland Park) MN, 5'9 Aaron Robinson from Rockford (Guilford) IL, and 6'8 O'Neal Mims from Austin (Reagan) TX.  They also added two more good players this fall in 6'10 Alou Kane from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) VA and 6'7 Stanley Gaines from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL, plus they are the early favorite for 6'8 Jr Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who is one of the juniors in the nation.  Getting back to our list of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference, the Southeastern Conference is second with seven schools - Florida at #2, Tennessee at #3, Mississippi State at #22, Kentucky at #26, Vanderbilt at #30, Arkansas at #37, and Georgia at #38 - ranked among our Top 42 Recruiting Classes.  Next are the Atlantic Coast Conference with Duke at #1, North Carolina at #4, Maryland at #7, Georgia Tech at #14, and Wake Forest at #21; Big-12 Conference with Iowa State at #5, Nebraska at #15, Kansas State at #28, Missouri at #33, and Kansas at #38; Conference USA with Memphis at #5, Louisville at #12, Cincinnati at #28, and UNC-Charlotte at #38; Big East Conference with Syracuse at #12, Villanova at #17, Notre Dame at #24, and Connecticut at #32; Atlantic-10 with Xavier at #16, Dayton at #25, and George Washington #35; Pacific-10 with Arizona at #23, Southern California #26, and Oregon #42; Hampton with #31; Idaho #35; and UNLV at #38.  However, all this is still subject to change, because schools still have two weeks to turn in signed National Letters-of-Intent, which are dated no later than today. 

Wednesday, November 21, 2001

The KMOX Shootout in St. Louis, MO is always one of the premier events of the early season and this year's 21st Annual Shop 'N Save/KMOX Shootout promises to live up to its reputation.  The day begins with a girls game, followed by Chesterfield (Parkway Central) MO versus Ballwin (Parkway West) MO at 11:30 AM and Freesburg (H.S.) IL versus Creve Coeur (Whitfield) MO at 1:00 PM.  Although the 1:00 PM game isn't a must see from a national perspective, we are looking forward to get  another look at 6'8 Dan Oppland from Creve Coeur (Whitfield) MO, who is a borderline top 100 senior nationally.  If you will recall, Oppland was terrific when we saw him last spring and, as a result, we think this blue collar tough hardnosed kid who puts up prolific numbers from mid-range is an absolute steal for Valparaiso.  The first big game of the day will feature two Chicago area schools, as Gary (West Side) IN with Michigan-signee 6'11 Chris Hunter and 6'2 Brandon Cameron, who is bound for Penn State, meets Maywood (Proviso East) IL with Illinois-bound 5'11 Dee Brown, who is ranked #12 in the senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'3 Jr Shannon Brown, who will be ranked among the top five juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP when we update that list in early December.   The game at 4:15 PM will also be interesting because Chesterfield (Rockwood Marquette) MO features 6'5 Troy Slaten, who is the leading returning scorer in the St. Louis area, and Tulsa (Victory Christian) OK has 6'6 Kelenna Azubuike, who have averaged 38 ppg last season while playing against small classification competition.  If Slaten gets the better of this match-up, maybe Azubuike's father will re-think the plans for his son to by-pass college and go straight into the NBA Draft next spring.  The 5:45 PM will offer Duke-bound 6'10 Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC a chance to redeem himself after a mediocre summer when they face Springfield (Lanphier) IL with 6'6 Andre Igudodala, who signed with Arkansas, and 6'3 Jr Richard McBride, who is the #3-ranked junior in Illinois behind Brown and 6'7 Jr Brian Randle from Peoria (Notre Dame) IL.  The best game of the day should be the 7:15 PM game between Dallas (Lincoln) TX and Midwest City (H.S.) OK.  That's 6'10 Chris Bosh, who is ranked #5 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, versus 6'9 Sheldon Williams, who is ranked #4 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, going head-to-head inside, while 6'1 Bryan Hopkins, who is ranked #8 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, versus 6'5 DeAngelo Alexander, who is ranked #55 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, battling for supremacy on the perimeter.  The final game of the evening at 8:45 PM will feature Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL with 6'9 Amare Stoudemire, who is widely regarded as the #1 senior in the nation, versus Columbia (Hickman) MO, which is one of the top three teams in Missouri. 

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'5 Alex Carmona from Troy (H.S.) OH, who is the #2-ranked senior in the state of Ohio and #79-ranked senior class nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, has verbally committed to Dayton.  However, Carmona did not sign a National Letter-of-Intent, because the Flyers don't currently have a scholarship available.   With the addition of Carmona, their recruiting class moves up from #42 to #25 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date. If you will recall, Dayton already has gotten commitments earlier this fall from 6'6 Doug Scott from Reynoldsburg (H.S.) OH, 6'3 Logan White from Hunting Valley (University) OH, 6'4 Marques Bennett from Indianapolis (Brebeuf) IN, and 6'10 James Cripe from Cincinnati (Loveland) OH.  Speaking of our list of the top recruiting classes, the big winner this fall appears to be the Big-10 Conference, which has seven teams ranked among our top 20 recruiting classes nationally in #7 ranked Michigan, #9 ranked Michigan State, Illinois and Purdue (tied at #10), Indiana and Iowa (tied at #17), and Ohio State at #20.  In other words, over one-third of the top 20 classes nationally belong to teams in the Big-10.  Also on our list of the top 42 classes from the Big-10 is Wisconsin, which checks in at #34.  However, that's not necessarily good news for the Badgers, which landed two top 100 players in 6'4 Maurice Wade from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI and 6'7 Ray Nixon from Milwaukee (Dominician) WI and two others - 6'4 Alando Tucker from Lockport (Township) IL, and 6'9 Jason Chappell from Worcester (Academy) MA - in the 101-300 range.  In other words, all the schools, except for Minnesota, that are ranked ahead of Wisconsin did better recruiting this fall than the Badgers.  And Minnesota didn't need to have a huge recruiting class.  Remember, the Golden Gophers finished with the #15 ranked recruiting class last spring when they landed 6'11 Rick Rickert from Duluth (East) MN, 6'10 Jerry Holman from Minneapolis (JC) MN, 6'4 Maurice Hargrow from St. Paul (Highland Park) MN, 5'9 Aaron Robinson from Rockford (Guilford) IL, and 6'8 O'Neal Mims from Austin (Reagan) TX.  They also added two more good players this fall in 6'10 Alou Kane from Dyke (Blue Ridge School) VA and 6'7 Stanley Gaines from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL, plus they are the early favorite for 6'8 Jr Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who is one of the juniors in the nation.  Getting back to our list of the Top Recruiting Classes by Conference, the Southeastern Conference is second with seven schools - Florida at #2, Tennessee at #3, Mississippi State at #22, Kentucky at #26, Vanderbilt at #30, Arkansas at #37, and Georgia at #38 - ranked among our Top 42 Recruiting Classes.  Next are the Atlantic Coast Conference with Duke at #1, North Carolina at #4, Maryland at #7, Georgia Tech at #14, and Wake Forest at #21; Big-12 Conference with Iowa State at #5, Nebraska at #15, Kansas State at #28, Missouri at #33, and Kansas at #38; Conference USA with Memphis at #5, Louisville at #12, Cincinnati at #28, and UNC-Charlotte at #38; Big East Conference with Syracuse at #12, Villanova at #17, Notre Dame at #24, and Connecticut at #32; Atlantic-10 with Xavier at #16, Dayton at #25, and George Washington #35; Pacific-10 with Arizona at #23, Southern California #26, and Oregon #42; Hampton with #31; Idaho #35; and UNLV at #38.  However, all this is still subject to change, because schools still have two weeks to turn in signed National Letters-of-Intent, which are dated no later than today. 

Tuesday, November 20, 2001

The HOOP SCOOP has learned that Western Kentucky has gotten an absolute steal in 7'2 Michael Doe from Ft. Walton Beach (Choctawhatchee) FL.  The Doe commitment is especially interesting, because he should be the perfect replacement for Hilltoppers All-American Chris Marcus, who will graduate after this season.  Doe only weighs 185 lbs., so obviously he isn't as big and strong as Marcus, but he may end up making the same type of impact down the road.  Remember, Marcus, who is listed among the top 10 players nationally in our pre-season college rankings, is the big reason why Western Kentucky is one of the teams to watch in college basketball this season.  Getting back to Doe, we liked his mobility, shot blocking, and offensive skills when we saw him at the NBA Players Association Camp last summer in Washington, DC, but he did not rank him among our top 100 nationally.  However, down the road we may wish we had that to do over again, because Doe also has great hands, a nice shooting touch, and unlimited potential.   He also will have a future head coach in Dennis Felton, who already has proven track record when it comes to developing big guys.  Doe joins 6'4 Anthony Winchester from Austin (H.S.) IN and 6'7 Jamaal Brown from Spartanburg (H.S.) SC, both of whom signed with Western Kentucky a week ago, to give the Hilltoppers three excellent players in this recruiting class.  Winchester reminds us of a poor man's Randy Wittman, because he has a great understanding of the game, is an excellent 3-point shooter, and is a good ball handler and passer.  In other words, he can play either guard spot.  However, our guess is that he will play primarily at the 2-spot, where he will provide a great complement to 6'1 Patrick Sparks, who promises to be the next great player at WKU.  Brown is an athletic wing forward with good size and ability to score off the dribble.

It's finally over!  If you will recall, 6'7 Kennedy Winston from Prichard (Blount) AL verbally committed to the University of California over a month ago, but changed his mind after Alabama turned up the heat.   However, last night Winston signed with the Golden Bears.  Obviously this is huge, because Winston is ranked #31 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, which means he is the 4th highest ranked player who was still unsigned and/or uncommitted in the senior class nationally.  We're talking about a guy with big time athleticism, the ability to beat you both outside and slashing to the basket, and incredible natural talent.  In other words, we think Winston will provide head coach Ben Braun with be the perfect complement to Julian Sensley and Jamal Sampson to form what should be one of the best young front lines in college basketball a year from now.  It also makes up for the fact they lost out on 6'7 Derek Burditt from Marrero (West Jefferson) LA, who committed to California last spring, but later changed his mind and decided to stay closer to home by signing with Tulane.  But don't feel too bad to the Crimson Tide head coach Mark Gottfried, because it looks like they are in good shape on 6'5 Emmitt Thomas from Bevill State (JC) AL.  Not only is Thomas a great athlete slasher/athlete and an in-state kid, but he used to play for Mark Komara's Alabama Lasers AAU team, which featured Kentucky's Marvin Stone and Alabama's Rod Grizzard, Erwin Dudley, and Terrance Meade.  This is important, because landing Thomas would help re-establish that pipeline.   Remember, Komara, who now runs the Southeast Raptors AAU program, has some of the best young talent in the nation in 6'10 Jr Jackie Butler from McComb (H.S.) MS, 6'9 Soph Mike Williams from Camden (Wilcox Central) AL, 6'3 Jr Jason Swain from Huntsville (Grissom) AL, 6'4 Soph Glen Miles Birmingham (West West) AL, 6'3 Soph Casey Stafford from Hazel Green (H.S.) AL, 6'3 Soph Shea Shannon from Ardmore (H.S.) AL, and 6'8 Frosh Dusty Moore from Collinsville (H.S.) AL.  Alabama also has re-signed 6'9 Rodney Bias from Shelton State (JC) AL.  If you will recall, Bias signed with the Crimson Tide a year ago, but didn't make it academically and, as a result, is now in the process of finishing in junior college.  Bias is not ranked among Rick Ball's top 10 centers in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, because he's not playing this year.  However, Bias was listed #4 on Ball's list of the top junior college centers from the Class of 2001 who signed with four-year schools.

Greg Swaim of Greg Swaim.com tipped us off over the weekend about the possibility of 6'2 Nate Johnson from Penn Wood (JC) MO reneging on his verbal commitment to Oklahoma State.  Well, it looks like Swaim knew what he was talking about, because Herb Welling, who is the Nebraska Editor of the HOOP SCOOP and a long time coach at the Five-Star Basketball Camp, has confirmed that Johnson has signed with the University of Nebraska.  Apparently Johnson wanted to attend the same school as his girlfriend, Keasha Cannon, who plays for the Cornhuskers woman's team.  This is the icing on the cake to what already was a very good recruiting class.  If you will recall, the Cornhuskers got a verbal commitment from 6'9 Roy Enright from Omaha (Burke) NE soon after Barry Collier got the head coaching job a-year-and-a-half ago and last spring they got commitments from 6'9 Wes Wilkinson from Grand Island (H.S.) NE and 6'4 Jason Dourisseau from Omaha (Burke) NE.  So prior to today the Cornhuskers recruiting class was ranked #35 nationally, but now it moves all the way up to #15 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date with the addition of Johnson, who is ranked by Rick Ball as the #2 Shooting Guard in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook.  Certainly this is a loss for Oklahoma State, but Swaim reminds us of what happened two years ago when the Cowboys lost out on Immanuel McElroy, who, instead, signed with Cincinnati during the early signing period.  "They just went out and got somebody better," says Swaim.  The player he is talking about is 6'1 Maurice Baker.  Making the story even more nteresting is the fact that Baker totally outplayed McElroy when the Bearcats played the Cowboys last Friday night.  Johnson's commitment also is significant, because it means the Cornhuskers are keeping up with all the other up-and-coming programs, like Iowa State, Colorado, Kansas State, Baylor, and Texas Tech, all of whom have recruited extremely well a year ago and/or this fall, that will battle the perennial powers, like Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas, for supremacyfor years to come in what is quickly becoming college basketball's most powerful conference top-to-bottom.  And Texas A&M could also join that group, if 6'7 Antonie Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA solidifies his commitment to the Aggies.  Remember, last week we reported that the verbal commitment that Wright, who is ranked #16 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, might not be as solid as we originally thought.  

We also have confirmed that 6'1 Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC signed with North Carolina late last week and that 6'8 Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN signed with Tar Heels yesterday.  Suddenly this is important, because we've been hearing rumors to the contrary.  And these aren't the only warning signs that the natives are restless in Chapel Hill, NC.   Would you believe that we're hearing that Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown will replace Matt Doherty at North Carolina after the current season is over?  While this is a hell of rumor, we don't put much value into it for a number of reasons.  First, the administration at North Carolina is too conservative to make a coaching change this soon.  Remember, Doherty is only beginning his second season as the head coach of the Tar Heels.  Second, when Brown interviewed for the job a-year-and-a-half ago, they didn't go all out to get him, because they wanted somebody who would be there longer than four or five years.  Remember, Brown already is in his early 60's.  Third, Doherty and his staff have done a great job recruiting.  If you will recall, North Carolina's recruiting class, which features Felton, May, and 6'4 Rashad McCants from New Hampton (Prep) NH is ranked #4 nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date and it would move up to #2, if they land somebody like 6'10 Erazem Lorbeck from Slovenia.  Fourth, the Tar Heels are extremely young and inexperienced in the backcourt and at the wing spots and, as a result, they should get a lot better as the season progresses.  In other words, when we ranked North Carolina #20 pre-season, that was based on where we thought they would be in March and not in the middle of November. 

We still believe the race for 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is ranked #19 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is too close to call between Villanova and Louisville and, as a result, it may drag out until spring.  And, if that happens, don't be surprised if  St. John's also makes a late charge.  Our guess is the Red Storm took it for granted that Fraser was a lock, especially if they landed 6'1 Elijah Ingram from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, which they did earlier this fall.  However, Fraser's close friendship with 6'6 Curtis Sumpter from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, his pre-existing relationship with Villanova head coach Jay Wright, and the number of different people close to the kid who are pulling him in different directions have all helped to confuse the issue.  His mother originally was pushing North Carolina, but now the Tar Heels are out, she likes Louisville (she's a big Rick Pitino fan).  Fraser's uncle is also pushing Louisville, but his high school coach wants him to go to St. John's.  We don't know which way Gary Charles, who is Fraser's AAU coach on the Long Island Panthers, is leaning, but we do know that Zendon Hamilton, who played for Charles in the early 90's, went to St. John's.   Obviously that favors St. John's.  But Sumpter has played for Charles, along with Fraser, for the last several years.  Obviously that would favor Villanova.   Charles also is a big adidas guy, so that obviously should help Louisville, which became an adidas school when Pitino became the head coach last spring.  Charles did tell us yesterday that there is no need to be forced into making a decision until Fraser is absolutely sure what he wants to do.  Charles also told us that Illinois, Florida, Syracuse, St. John's, North Carolina, and Seton Hall are the schools showing the most interest in 6'8 Jr Charlie Villanueva from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ.   We also asked Charles about 4'9 Erving Walker from Brooklyn, NY, but, like nearly all of the basketball people from New York that we've talked with recently, he's never heard of him.  However, our we do know one person who has seen Walker, who currently is only in 6th grader, but who is putting up incredible numbers, play and he tells us that Walker is as good as Stephon Marbury and 6'1 Sebastian Telfair at the same stage.  Obviously that's saying an awful lot, not just due to the fact we had both Marbury and Telfair ranked as the #1 player in the nation in their class when they were at the same age, but because we're talking about potentially two of the all time great point guards in the history of the game.

Monday, November 19, 2001

The schedule is set for the Bank of America 2001 City of Palms Classic and Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, which is the pre-season #1-ranked high school team in the nation, according to the National Prep Poll, will be playing in the last game on the first night against St. Petersburg (Lakewood) FL at 9:55 PM.   Also tipping off earlier in the day on Tuesday, December 18th will be Marion (Tabor Academy) MA versus New Orleans (Abramson) LA at 4:00 PM, Oakland (Tech) CA versus Lehigh (Lehigh Acres) FL at 5:45 PM and Virginia Beach (Salem) VA versus Ft. Myers (Bishop Verot) FL at 8:10 PM.  In other words, 6'4 Hassan Adams from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, 6'9 Torin Francis from Marion (Tabor Academy) MA, 6'1 Johnny Gilchrist from Virginia Beach (Salem) VA, 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA, 6'7 Jr Trevor Ariza from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, and 6'8 Jr Warren Scott from New Orleans (Abramson) LA, all of whom are ranked among our top 50 nationally in their respective class, will be playing on the first day.  All of the players mentioned above, as well as 6'5 Rashad Anderson from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL and 6'9 Jr Chris Taft from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, will also seen action on the second day, Wednesday, December 19th, which begins with a consolation game at 2:00 PM between the loser of game #1 and the loser of game #3.  That will followed by Miami (Christian) FL versus Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY at 3:45 PM, the Los Angeles (Westchester) CA-St. Petersburg (Lakewood) FL winner versus the Oakland (Tech) CA versus Lehigh (Lehigh Acres) FL winner at 5: 30 PM, Bronx (All Hallows) NY versus Ft. Myers (Cypress Lake) FL at 7:40 PM, Lakeland (Kathleen) FL versus the Marion (Tabor Academy) MA-New Orleans (Abramson) LA winner at 10:00 PM, and St. Matthews (Calhoun County) SC versus Missouri City (Hightower) TX at 11:45 PM.  We plan to arrive on Thursday, December 20th, in time for the 12:30 PM game, which will be the first of three consolation games, featuring the loser of Game #4 versus the loser of Game #6.  That game will be followed by the loser of Game #8 versus the loser of Game #9 at 2:15 PM and the loser of Game #10 versus the loser of Game #9 at 4:00 PM.  If things go as expected, that will be St. Petersburg (Lakewood) FL versus Miami (Christian) FL at 12:30 PM,  Ft. Myers (Cypress Creek) FL versus Lakeland (Kathleen) FL at 2:15 PM, and St. Matthews (Calhoun County) SC versus Lehigh (Lehigh Acres) FL at 4:00 PM.  Those games will followed by three quarterfinals games and our guess is that it will be Virginia Beach versus Marion (Tabor Academy) MA at 6:00 PM, Bronx (All Hallows) NY versus 6'10 Shavlik Randolph and Raleigh (Broughton) NC, which gets a bye in the first round, at 8:05 PM, and Missouri City (Hightower) TX versus Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY at 10:30 PM.  There also will be six games on Friday, December 21st, and, if things go as expected, the consolation semi-finals match-ups will be St. Petersburg (Lakewood) FL versus Miami (Christian) FL at 12:00 PM and St. Matthews (Calhoun County) SC versus Lehigh (Lehigh Acres) FL at 1:45 PM, the 5th Place semi-finals match-ups will be Raleigh (Broughton) NC versus Oakland (Tech) CA at 3: 30 PM and Virginia Beach (Salem) VA versus Missouri City (Hightower) TX at 5:15 PM, and the semi-finals match-up will be Marion (Tabor Academy) MA versus Bronx (All Hallows) NY at 7:00 PM and Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY versus Los Angeles (Westchester) CA at 9:15 PM.  On Saturday, December 22nd, if everything goes as expected, it will be Miami (Christian) FL versus New Orleans (Abramson) LA in the Consolation Championship at 3: 45 PM, Oakland (Tech) CA versus Missouri City (Hightower) TX in the Fifth Place Championship at 5:45 PM, Bronx (All Hallows) NY versus Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY in the Third Place Game at 7:30 PM, and Marion (Tabor Academy) MA versus Los Angeles (Westchester) CA in the championship game at 9:15 PM.

We already had a suspicion that Rick Pitino's first season at the University of Louisville would be a lot better than most people expected, but after watching last night's 92-38 opening season win against South Alabama, I don't think there will be any rebuilding years for the Cardinals.    It was 8-0 when South Alabama head coach Bob Weltlich called his first time-out.  It was 12-0 at the first television time-out.  It was 19-3 when South Alabama finally scored with 11:56 left in the first half.  It was 47-15 at half-time and the subs were still playing like it was the last possession of tied overtime game when they were up by 60 points with a minute to play.  They also had 40 deflections at half-time, which, according to Pitino, is a record for a half.  They outscored their opponent by 22 points in the second half and the effort from start-to-finish was nothing short of spectacular.  Instead of comparing this team to Pitino's first team at Kentucky, I think they will end up being more like Pitino's second teams at both Providence and Kentucky.  If you will recall, Pitino took advantage of the implementation of the 3-point shot into college basketball and guided that Friars team, which featured Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks, to the NCAA Final Four in 1987.  Kentucky wasn't eligible to go to the NCAA Tournament due to probation in 1991, but with the addition of Jamal Mashburn, they won the Southeastern Conference Championship with a 14-4 record and were 22-6 overall.    This Louisville team doesn't have as much experience, they aren't as fundementally sound, and they don't shoot the ball as well as those teams, but they do play just as hard and they have more rtalent.  Remember, Reece Gaines and Luke Whitehead were both ranked among our top 50 nationally as seniors in high school.   Ellis Myles was a top 50 junior before he got lazy and out of shape.  Brandon Bender just missed making the McDonald's All-American Team.  Carlos Hurt not only made the McDonald's All-American Team, but was one of the better players in the game, finishing with 12 points and a number of assists.  Larry O'Bannon was ranked #120 nationally in our final rankings of the Class of 2001 last spring.  Erik Brown was the Freshman-of-the-Year at Morehead State before transferring to Louisville two years ago.  And, if the amount of improvement this team has made since Pitino arrived on campus last March means anything, they will get dramatically better as the season wares on.  In other words, Louisville has a legitimate chance win every    game, including at Kentucky, at Memphis, at Cincinnati, and at Indiana, they play in this season, which means 20 to 25 regular season and National Coach-of-the-Year honors for Pitino are not out of the question.  And unlike recent years (in 1998 Louisville went 12-20 and didn't make the tournament, in 1999 they lost to Creighton in the first round, in 2000 they lost Gonzaga in the first round, and in 2001 they went 12-19 and didn't make the tournament), this is not a team you want to play in the first or second round of the NCAA Tournament.  By now you probably think I'm totally nuts.   After all, South Alabama is a young inexperienced team and you shouldn't jump to conclusions after only one game.  But, then again, after watching Donovan get hot in the Providence-Seton Hall game at Madison Square Garden in early February in 1987, I was the guy telling everybody about the Pitino Factor.  As a matter of fact, I went so far as to predict that Providence would be a NCAA Final Four team in print a month-and-a-half before the fact.  If my crystal ball is right again, this could be the most exciting year ever for Conference USA.  Remember, we've also gone out on a limb and picked Memphis' Dajuan Wagner as our Pre-Season College Player-of-the-Year and you can never count out Cincinnati, especially when they have two incredible competitors like head coach Bobby Huggins and Steve Logan, who will be best player in the league behind Wagner.  

Saturday, November 17, 2001 and Sunday, November 18, 2001

Western Kentucky knocked off the University of Kentucky in Rupp Arena last Thursday night.  Hampton, even without one the their best players (Cleveland Davis), beat North Carolina by eight points at the Dean E. Smith Center on Friday night.  Also on Friday night Eastern Washington upside St. Joseph's.  And Arizona has already knocked off three teams - Maryland, Florida, and Texas - that were ranked ahead of them in the HOOP SCOOP's Pre-Season Top 30.  So what does it all mean?  Obviously different things for different teams.  Western Kentucky and Hampton appear to be ready to pick up where they left off a year ago and this early season success is a likely indication of things to come for Arizona and possibly Eastern Washington.  However, I don't get too excited about good teams losing during the middle of November.  All of the pre-season yearbooks (i.e Dick Vitale's ESPN Yearbook and the Blue Ribbon Yearbook) aren't even out yet, teams have had only about a month to practice, and recruiting isn't even wrapped up yet from the fall signing period, but some teams have already played three or four games, if you include exhibition games.  In other words, a lot of ugly basketball is being played right now and, as a result, I'm doing my best to stay focused on recruiting and get all of our college preview information published as soon as possible.  What ever happened to the good old days when college basketball season started after Thanksgiving?  We're still waiting on the two pre-season yearbooks mentioned above to hit the newstand, but we over the weekend we finished our Pre-season College Team Ranking Comparisons for 2001-2002 and NCAA Tournament Information (Past, Present, & Future) and have added this to the rest of our annual pre-season college basketball section, which also includes Career Coaching Records and Ranking by Number of Wins for All Division I Head Coaches, The Top Active and All Time Division I Head Coaches, Pre-Season Top 30 College Rankings, and Pre-Season All-American Teams.  We also aren't the only one to have gone out on a limb regarding Memphis' Dajuan Wagner, as Dick "Hoop" Weiss, who is widely regarded the #1 college basketball writer in American, has made his article about Wagner the complement to his pre-season top 25 rankings.  The article is appropriately called Eye on the Tiger; Expectations high for Memphis' Wagner and you can read it by clicking on College Basketball Preview:  Eye of the Tiger.  Weiss has the advantage of publishing his pre-season rankings 10 days after our rankings, but his are as good as anybody's:  1. Duke, 2. Kentucky, 3. Illinois, 4. UCLA, 5. Maryland, 6. Florida, 7. Arizona, 8. Memphis, Kansas, 10, St. Joseph's, 11. Missouri, 12. Virginia, 13. Iowa, 14. Oklahoma State, 15. Stanford, 16. Georgetown, 17. Alabama, 18. Western Kentucky, 19. Boston College, 20. Indiana, 21. Gonzaga, 22. Michigan State, 23. Cincinnati, 24. Temple, and 25.  Connecticut.  You also can get his expert analysis of each team by clicking on College Basketball Preview:  Dick Weiss' Top 25.

Friday, November 16, 2001

Earlier this week we had heard that 6'7 Antoine Wright from Groton (Lawrence Academy) MA, who is ranked #16 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, may renege on the commitment he had made earlier this fall to Texas A&M.  The word we get is that  Elvert Perry, who is the director of the Inland AAU program for which Wright players, was the one who influenced him to commit to Aggies.  However, it appears that Wright is a lot less sold on the idea of going to Texas A&M and, as a result, wants to look at other schools.  Well, it appears that this was a lot more than just rumor. "Wright is heading home for the Thanksgiving Holiday today," says  Lawrence Academy head coach Kevin Wiercinski.  "He plans to sit down and make a decision one way or another this weekend. So we should know something by the middle of next week."  If this happens, that could have a devastating effect on the rebuilding effort that head coach Melvin Watkins is in the middle of at Texas A&M.  Currently Watkins has a good nucleus of young players in the program to complement Bernard King, but a year from now King and Wright would give Texas A&M one of the best one-two punches at the wing spots in college basketball.  The other big story we're following is the recruitment of 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY, who is the second highest ranked unsigned players still available.  Last night North Carolina was eliminated, so now it is a three horse race and here's how we read it.  If Fraser signs this fall, we predict it be Villanova.   However, if Fraser signs in the spring, it helps St. John's and Louisville.   St. John's has been there the strongest and longest, but we understand that there is some friction between Fraser's mother and Red Storm head coach Mike Jarvis.  So the longer it goes, the more time the St. John's coaching staff has to smooth things out.  Rick Pitino obviously makes Louisville attractive, but the Cardinals were the late entry, so time is on their side.  We also have confirmed that Western Kentucky has signed 6'4 Anthony Winchester from Austin (H.S.) IN and 6'7 Jamaal Brown from Spartanburg (H.S.) SC, neither of whom are ranked among our top 100 nationally, but both of whom are skilled enough and talented enough to step in and make a major impact next year as freshmen.   So Hilltoppers head coach Dennis Felton, whose team pulled off a stunning upset at Rupp Arena last night against the University of Kentucky, has to be on top of the world right now.  

Hampton University has added its fifth recruit in 6'3 Jeff Granger from Creedmore (Faith Christian) NC.   We're talking about a great outside shooter who should provide the perfect complement to all the inside players that head coach Steve Merfeld and his staff landed earlier this fall.  If you will recall, the Pirates got commitments from 6'9 Bakary Konate from Cincinnati State (JC) OH, 6'7 Troy Washington from Denmark (Denmark-Olar) SC, and 6'8 Rodney Hughes from Owens (JC) MI, plus they have 6'11 Bruce Brown from Richmond (Henrico) VA, who originally signed with Duquesne at year ago, but who is sitting out as a Prop 48 casualty.  The addition of Granger, who is a 5th year player orginially from Newark, NJ, moves Hampton's recruiting class up to #29 nationally on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  In other words, Merfeld has done a great job of building on the success his team had last March.  Remember, Hampton pulled off one of the most stunning upsets ever in the NCAA Tournament eight months ago when the knocked off Iowa State in the first round.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis has confirmed that 6'2 Mike Mehanna from Glendora (H.S.) CA has picked Army over Pennsylvania, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Lehigh.   This is significant, because Mehanna, who plays for the same high school that has produced a long line of great outside shooters, including Casey Jacobsen, Tracy Murray, and Cameron Murray, is another excellent long range bomber.  He also was good enough to play in the Top 22 All-Star Game last summer at the Full Court press All-West Camp and will be ranked among the top 50 in California by Trigonis (he's been promising us an updated report for a month now).   Mehanna scored 1480 on the SAT, has a 4.0 gpa, and plays smart on the court, as is evident by the number of times he gets to the free throw line.  And this isn't the only player from the West Coast who we think may be heading to Army in the near future.   As a matter of fact, second-year Army assistant coach Mark Sembrowich has been recruiting the area harder than a lot of the local schools and, as a result, this could be a program to watch down the road. 

We also have confirmed that 6'0 Brandon Brooks from Indian Hills (JC) IA has committed to Southern California, although he still has some things to do academically in order to be able to player for the Trojans next year.  This moves USC's recruiting class into a tie at #24, along with Kentucky and Kansas State, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date.  Greg Swaim of GregSwaim.com is reporting that 6'5 DeAngelo Alexander from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, as expected, did make it official for Oklahoma earlier today.  Swaim also tells us that 6'4 Alex Carmona from Troy (H.S.) OH has decided to sign with Memphis (he never officially committed to the Tigers, but he was close to happening two month ago).  Instead, Carmona wants to stay close to home and, as a result, plans to sign with Cincinnati and Dayton.  Our guess is that it will be the Bearcats, if they offer him this weekend.  However, if they don't Dayton get a player who is ranked #79 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, almost by default.  And if this happens, the Flyers recruiting class would move up to #24 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date behind Notre Dame and ahead of Kentucky, Southern California, and Kansas State.   Swaim also tells us that 6'6 Kelenna Azubuike from Tulsa (Victory Christian) OK is still technically committed to Oklahoma, but doesn't expect him to ever play there.  Remember, his father thinks he's ready for the NBA right now and, as a result, ready or not, Azubuike will likely enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring.   Swaim also tells us that Azubuike's father has called several other schools to see if there was any interest.  However, it looks like the word is out.  The kid has a 4.0 gpa, but the father appears to be a royal pain in the ass.

Thursday, November 15, 2001

I've been debating for the last two weeks whether to pick Memphis' Dajuan Wagner as the HOOP SCOOP's Pre-season College Player-of-the-Year.  But it wasn't until today that I made the final decision.  Actually I've called our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman three times in the last week to specifically ask him whether he thought Tigers head coach John Calipari would turn Wagner loose this season.  Each time Rothman, who by nature tends to be very conservative, warned me off and, as a result, publishing our Pre-Season All-American Teams went on hold.  However, after Wagner went for 32 points last night against Old Dominion in Memphis' second regular season game, I no longer have any doubts.  As a matter of fact, the word out of Memphis is that Wagner hasn't even gotten into his rhythm yet.  How good is Wagner?  He clearly was the best high school player in the nation a year ago, which means he was a lot better than Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, and Eddy Curry, all of whom were drafted among the top picks in the NBA Draft last June.  His speed, quickness, athleticism, explosiveness, and ability to put up prolific numbers reminds us of Allen Iverson, who arguably right now is the most exciting, if not the best player in the professional game today.  But Wagner's court savvy, passing ability, strength, and ability to back you in and score whenever he wants reminds us of Oscar Robertson minus three inches.  We think Wagner could be the best 6'2-and-under player to ever play the game!   But all this is going to be a big surprise for all the so-called pre-season college experts and/or those who are too conservative to ever be on the cutting-edge the way we are.  Maybe they should have been listening a year ago when our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, who also is very conservative by nature, went on record saying that he would take Wagner over Duke's Jason Williams, who was the consensus #1 point guard in college basketball last season, as well as the consensus college player-of-the-year this year, in the NBA Draft.  Maybe they should have paid attention when Wagner scored 100 points in a game and re-wrote all the New Jersey scoring records a year ago.  Maybe they should have taken note when Wagner led Camden to the championship in New Jersey Tournament of Champions in March of 2000 and a top 10 ranking in the USA Today most of last season without a lot of help on his teammates.   Maybe they should have been in attendence at the NIKE All-American Camp when Wagner finished ranked among the top five players in camp by the HOOP SCOOP three consecutive years.  Maybe they should have paid attention when Wagner was the leading scorer with 25 points and a number of assists in the McDonald's All-American Game last March.  Also named to the HOOP SCOOP's First Team Pre-Season All-American Team were Williams, Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince, Missouri's Kareem Rush, and Boston College's Troy Bell.   Also receiving strong consideration for our first team were Illinois' Frank Williams, Stanford's Casey Jacobsen, and Western Kentucky's Chris Marcus.  However, we went with Bell, as our 5th player on the first team, because nobody was more valuable to his team a year ago than this prolific scoring point guard and he must be even better this year, if the Eagles are going to live up to their pre-season expectations.  Wagner also was named to our First Team All-Freshman Team, which also includes Michigan's State's Kelvin Torbert, Texas' Terrance Ford, N.C. State's Julius Hodge, and Florida's David Lee.   In other words, West Virginia's Jonathan Hargett, Seton Hall's John Allen, UCLA's Cedric Bozeman, and Louisville's Carlos Hurt didn't make it, which tells you just how good the freshman class is this year in college basketball.  In addition to our 10 five-man college All-American Teams and three five-man All Freshman Teams, we also provide you with a our First Team All Junior College Transfer Team, which includes Memphis' Chris Massie, UNLV's Marcus Banks, George Mason's Darren Tarver, Kansas State's Pervis Pasco, and Marcus Hatten of St. John's.  You can get all this by clicking on Pre-Season All-American Teams.  You also can get our Pre-Season Top 30 College Rankings, which were published a week ago, as well as our lists that track Career Coaching Records and Ranking by Number of Wins for All Division I Head Coaches and The Top Active and All Time Division I Head Coaches.

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin is reporting that 6'5 Zach Martin from Medford (Shawnee) NJ has committed to Harvard and 6'6 Mike Blackshear from Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA has become Temple's third recruit.  Martin, who is ranked #15 in the area by Rubin, rebounds well for his size, but he can also go out on the perimeter and shoot the three.  So obviously we think he's a major steal of Harvard.  Blackshear, who is ranked #6 in the area by Rubin, is an even bigger steal of the Owls.  He also will be the second person in his family to play for Temple head coach John Chaney (Blackshear's father played for Chaney on his Division II National Championship team at Cheney State).  Blackshear is best described as a player without a position, but it doesn't matter, because he might be the best rebounder in the senior class nationally behind 6'8 Jason Fraser from Amityville (H.S.) NY.  He also is a warrior who plays every possession like it might be his last and, as a result, Rubin, who appears to have an obvious bias against undersized power forwards (i.e. 6'5 David Holmes when he was one of the leading scorers and rebounders at the adidas ABCD Camp several years ago, but was unranked at his position when Rubin was in charge of doing the rankings), is one of Blackshear's biggest fans.  As a matter of fact, Rubin thinks Blackshear is a top 100 senior nationally and, as a result, you can bet he'll be listed on our top 100 list next time we update our national rankings.  Blackshear joins 7'0 Keith Butler from Philadelphia (Celestial Prep) PA, who verbally committed to the Owls last week, and 6'7 Antywane Robinson from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who picked the Owls earlier this fall, to give Temple a good three-man recruiting class.  We are still waiting to see what is going to happen with 6'7 Kennedy Winston from Prichard (Blount) AL.  If you will recall, the Birmingham News reported yesterday morning that Winston had committed to Alabama, but nobody has seen or heard from him in the last few days.  Our guess is that this is a similar situation to that of Cedric Henderson in the mid-80s when he verbally committed to Louisville, but then was missing in action for several days and mysteriously ended up signing with Georgia.  If our hunch is right, the big winner would be the University of California, which is the school he originally committed to in the first place early this fall.  Speaking of the Golden Bears, Rob Matera of All Star Sports thinks California also is close to getting 6'6 Marquis Kately from San Francisco (Riordan) CA.   However, they don't want to let the cat of the bag until Winston signs, because they don't want to do anything that might scare Winston off.   However, it shouldn't matter, because Kately is not expected to make it academically and, as a result, prep school is in his future.  Instead, Kately is expected to enroll at the University of California in the fall of 2003 possibly along with one of his best friends - 6'8 Jr Leon Powe from Oakland (Tech) CA.  And if that happens, that would be a major coup because Powe is ranked as a consensus top five junior nationally.  Matera also tells us that 6'3 Scott Rice from Hagerstown (North) MD has committed to Elon College and 6'3 Michael Beers from Broadalbin (Broadalbin-Perth) NY has elected to stay close to home and attend Siena.  We also are still trying to confirm whether 6'0 Brandon Brooks from Indian Hills (JC) IA has or has not verbally committed to Southern California.  We reported it was close to happening two days ago.  Mike Sullivan of RivalsHoops.com reported that it had happened yesterday.  However, now several Southern California web sites are reporting today that it hasn't happened yet.  Stay tuned!

Wednesday, November 14, 2001

Rob Harrington of PrepStars.com was the first person we talked with today who could confirm that 6'5 Rashad Anderson from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, who is ranked #27 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made it official for the University of Connecticut.  It also was reported that 6'0 Brandon Brooks from Indian Hills (JC) IA has signed with Southern Cal and this morning in the Birmingham News that 6'7 Kennedy Winston from Prichard (Blount) AL has made it official for the University of Alabama.   However, we have not added his name to our list of Early Commitments, because it appears that Winston is hiding out and being pushed by