HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR SEPTEMBER 2006

Friday, September 29, 2006, & Saturday, September 30, 2006

In addition to providing us with the scoop yesterday about 7'0 Solomon Alabi from Montverde (Academy) FL verbally committing to Florida State, our Florida Editor Rick Staudt also caught me up with several other verbal commitments that have occurred in the state, including 6'0 Joey Rodriguez from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 6'5 Myk Brown from Gainesville (P.K. Yonge) FL, and 6'8 Larry Sanders from Port St. Lucie (H.S.) FL all to Virginia Commonwealth and 6'2 Derrio Green from Lynnhaven (Mosley) FL to Southeastern Louisiana.  Obviously those three verbal commitments to Virginia Commonwealth are important, because it looks like new Rams head coach Anthony Grant has done a great job of returning to his old stamping grounds and taking advantage of all of the contacts that he developed during his nine years as an assistant coach at the University of Florida.  If you will recall, Virginia Commonwealth also already has verbal commitments from 6'4 DeLuis Ramirez from Miami (Northwest Christian) FL via from Odessa (JC) TX and 6'6 Lance Kearse from Ft. Myers (H.S.) FL and, as a result, their recruiting class is now ranked #21 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  And that puts VCU in pretty fast company, as the list of schools ranked ahead of them includes Syracuse, Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, DePaul, Michigan State, Purdue, Texas A&M, Alabama, Maryland, Indiana, Oklahoma, Florida State, Duke, Michigan, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Texas, and Boston College and the list of schools ranked behind them includes Arizona State, UCLA, Villanova, Gonzaga, California, Washington, Kansas State, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Miami-FL, Illinois, Virginia Tech, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Wagner, Bradley, USC, Georgia, Wisconsin, Oregon State, Dayton, Pepperdine, Kansas, Iowa, Florida Atlantic, LSU, Baylor, Georgetown, Memphis, and St. John's.  However, none of this comes as a surprise to us, because Grant isn't the only one on his staff with strong ties to the Sunshine State.  Remember, VCU assistant coach Tony Pujol was the head coach at Miami (Northwest Christian) FL for nine years, VCU assistant Allen Edwards played high school basketball at Miami (Senior) FL, and VCU Director of Basketball Operations Brett Nelson played college basketball at the University of Florida.  And when you also factor VCU assistant coach John Brannen into the equation, it's clear that Grant has assembled one of the best young coaching staffs in the nation.  Getting back to Rodriguez, he's a jet quick point guard who forces tempo and makes things happen in transition.  He also played well enough this past summer at the adidas Superstar Camp to finish ranked #15 overall and #3 at the point guard position by the HOOP SCOOP, which explains why we think he is a legitimate top 100 senior nationally, despite the fact he's a streaky outside shooter and needs to continue to work on his decision making.  We also think Rodriguez is a winner and a tremendous competitor, which makes him the perfect complement to 6'5 Nick Calathes from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL and 6'8 Chandler Parsons from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL on what could very well be the best high school team in the state this year.  We also have confirmed that 6'6 Billy Allen from Hamilton (H.S.) OH has verbally committed to the University of Albany and we think this is a great catch for the Great Danes, because Allen is one of the best outside shooters in the nation, as his evident by the fact that he shot 40.9% (54-132) from beyond the arc as a high school junior a year ago.  Allen will be ranked in the 250-300 nationally when we publish our Ranking of the Top Players Nationally in the Class of 2007 and he's an excellent student, which explains why he also had schools like Stanford, Dayton, Miami-OH, Pennsylvania, Oakland, and Princeton on on his list.  We also have confirmed via our California Editor Alan Utter that the University of Washington has gotten an early verbal commitment from 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA.  We're talking about a strong athletic wing player with deep shooting range, excellent skills, and a great bloodline (his father, Elston Turner Sr, is an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings and played in the NBA for Dallas, Denver, and Chicago in the 80's).  Not only does this give the Huskies a great head start on the future, but it also puts Lorenzo Romar and his staff in the very enviable position, whereby, they can be very selective about what they do with their final two scholarships for the Class of 2008.  Did you also know that Washington is already one over the 13-scholarship limit for next year, as they currently have three juniors (Ryan Appleby, Tim Morris, and Joel Smith), four sophomores (Jon Brockman, Justin Dentmon, Zach Johnson, and Artem Wallace), and five freshmen (Spencer Hawes, Phil Nelson, Adrian Oliver, Quincy Pondexter, and Joe Wolfinger) already in the program and two recruits - 6'10 Matthew Bryan-Amaning from South Kent (Prep) WA and 5'11 Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (Curtis) WA - already in this year's recruiting class?

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Nobody is more thrilled than I am about the column by Andy Katz on ESPN.Com, which you can read by clicking onto Sources: Adidas out of summer camps; Nike next?  It's not that I have anything against either the adidas Superstar Camp or the NIKE All-American Camp or either of these two shoe companies, but attempting to cover the Reekok ABCD Camp, NIKE All-American Camp, and adidas Superstar Camp has been a next to impossible task, as they've gone head-to-head with one another simultaneously during each of the last three years.  Apparently the fact that adidas plans to get out of the camp business and NIKE may do like-wise is the result a "basketball summit meeting" on Tuesday in Indianapolis, IN that included representatives from the NCAA, NBA, USA Basketball, NABC, AAU High School, NIKE, and adidas.  However, the more important question is what does Sonny Vaccaro plan to do?  If you will recall, Vaccaro is the guy who bought the AFBE (Athletes For Better Education) Camp, which was the first superstar oriented camp, in 1984 and turned it into the NIKE ABCD All-American Camp.  Then, when Vaccaro got fired by NIKE in the early 90's, he retained the trademark and the rights to the ABCD Camp, which was sponsored by Converse when it was held in Irvine, CA in 1992 and Ispilanti, MI in 1993 and later was sponsored by adidas from 1994 until 2003 and was held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.  Three years ago Vacarro once again took his trademark and the rights to the ABCD Camp with him when he left adidas and went to Reebok, which is when the three shoe company mess began.  And ironically, Vaccaro, thanks at least in part to the efforts of Chris Rivers, who is one of the rising stars in the business, still came out on top each of the last three years in terms of who had the best camp.  As things stand now, everybody is waiting see what happens when adidas, which brought Reebok a year ago in a multi-billion dollar deal, and Reebok work out the details of their grassroots basketball organization.  Our guess is that Vaccaro and adidas will go separate ways, but, if by some chance Vaccaro does once again join the adidas family, you can bet that he's not going to give up his camp, unless they make it extremely worth while for him to do so.  Remember, Vaccaro derives a lot of his power from the trademarks that he has on the ABCD Camp, Big Time Tournament, and Roundball Classic, all of which give him the contacts and influence that he needs at the grassroots level.   It also will be interesting to see how Vaccaro's idea about a basketball academy materializes.  Obviously this would give Vaccaro even more clout, influence, and power with regards to the top high school players in the nation and, as a result, this once again would put him way ahead of the competition.  Our Florida Editor Rick Staudt tells us that 7'0 Solomon Alabi from Montverde (Academy) FL has verbally committed to Florida State and this is huge for the Seminoles for a number of reasons.  First, Alabi is not only ranked #25 in our ranking of the Top Players in the Senior Class Nationally, which we plan to publish next week, but he also has as much potential as anybody in the senior class nationally.  Second, landing Alabi shows that Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, who is one of the best recruiters in the history of the game, not only hasn't lost his touch, but has the strong pipeline that he needs into the Montverde Academy program, which is emerging into one of the top basketball factories in the nation, as well as the perfect place to stash international players.  Third, Alabi is the aircraft carrier that Florida State will need inside a year from now to complement all of the other good players - 6'3 Jr Jason Rich, 6'1 Jr Isaiah Swann, 6'2 Jr Ralph Mims, 6'1 Soph Toney Douglas, 6'9 Soph Uche Echefu, 6'8 Soph Cassaan Breeden, 6'0 Frosh Josue Soto, 6'5 Frosh Aaron Holmes - that they currently have in the program. Fourth, the addition of Alabi means that the Seminoles now have the perfect complement to 6'10 Julian Vaughn from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'6 Jordan DeMercy from Norcross (H.S.) GA in a recruiting class that is now ranked #12 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  We also have confirmed via our Washington, DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia Editor Dennis Marshall that 7'0 Mike Williams from Alexandria (Bishop Ireton) VA has verbally committed to the University of Kentucky.  And, while Williams is currently ranked #260 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and #24 in the Washington Metro area by DCMetroHoops.net, he does appear to be the next in a long line of 7-footers with a lot of potential that the Wildcats have signed in recent years.  The others were 7'0 Lukasz Obrzut, 7'3 Shagari Alleyne, and 7'2 Jared Carter, but really only time will tell if this is a good catch.  In other words, if the Wildcats also land players like 6'9 Patrick Patterson from Huntington (H.S.) WV, 5'9 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, 6'8 Marcus Morris from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, and 6'8 Markieff Morris from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA in this year's recruiting class, then Williams would be an excellent 5th player in this year's recruiting class.  However, if Williams ends up being one of the best players in their class, then we might be talking about a recruiting class that is more comparable to when the Wildcats landed 7'0 Lukasz Obrzut, 7'3 Shagari Alleyne, 6'6 Jr Bobby Perry, and 6'7 Jr Sheray Thomas four years ago.  We also were glad to see that Wildcats head coach Tubby Smith finally recently hired former Tulane head coach Shawn Finney into the Director of Basketball Operations spot at the University of Kentucky.  Not only do we expect Finney, who worked for Smith previously as an assistant coach at both Georgia and Kentucky, to be our #1-ranked guy in our Ranking of the Top People Who are in Administrative Position, Like Director of Basketball Operations, Administrative Assistant, or Video Coordinator the next time we update our Ranking of the Top Coaches, but we have to give him credit for being the most visible coach in the nation without a job this past summer.  We also are impressed with the fact that Michigan State got an early commitment earlier this week from 5'11 Jr Korie Lucious from Milwaukee (St. Pius X) WI, who is ranked #12 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Lucious does need to continue to improve his decision making and point guard skills, but he's so naturally talented and athletic that we're sure Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo will find a way to play 61 Kalin Lucas from Orchard Lake (St. Mary's) MI, 6'4 Durrell Summers from Redford (Covenant Christian) MI, 6'5 Chris Allen from Lawrenceville (Meadowcreek) GA all together two years from now.  Remember, having a plethora of guards worked pretty well for Spartans two years ago when they had Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown, Chris Hill, Alan Anderson, Kelvin Torbert, and Drew Neitzel and advanced to the NCAA Final Four.   While Lucious becomes the 11th Player, along with 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH to Ohio State, 6'11 Jr Beas Hamga from Decatur (Christian) IL to Iowa, 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA to USC, 6'4 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL to Marquette, 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA to Iowa, 6'11 Jr Andy Poling from Portland (Westview) OR to Gonzaga, 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN to Ohio State, 6'6 Jr Martez Walker from Montverde (Academy) FL to Louisville, 5'11 Jr Antoine Young from Bellevue (West) NE to Creighton, and 6'3 Jr Cordell Passley from Indianapolis (Pike) IN to Tennessee, in the Class of 2008 to have made an early verbal commitment, this still comes as no surprise due to the fact the Spartans have done a great job recruiting Lucious dating all the way back to when he was in 8th Grade.  It also looks like Oregon State stole another one earlier this week in 6'8 Omari Johnson from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA.  Not only is Johnson long, athletic, and oozing with potential, but he's also a terrific outside shooter, which makes him ideally suited to complement 6'10 Ijila Mulutinovic from Worcester (Academy) MA, who also recently verbally committed to the Beavers, and 6'1 Calvin Haynes from South Kent (Prep) CT, who originally signed with Oregon State a year ago, but now is spending a year in prep school.  We also were glad to hear from Rico Pickett's father, who tells us that his son fully intends to honor the verbal commitment that he recently made to the University of Alabama.  And this is huge for the Crimson Tide, because Pickett is a home grown kid and he is expected to be the heir apparent at point guard to 6'2 Jr Ronald Steele. 

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Earlier today we talked with Hal Pastner, who is the tournament director of the Academy National Invitational in Houston, TX, and he's just as excited as ever about this year's field, which will feature Norcross (H.S.) GA, Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, New York (Rice) NY, Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, Alief (Hastings) TX, Houston (Kingwood) TX, and Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA in the National Division and Houston (Aldine) TX, Houston (Bellaire) TX, Houston (Madison) TX, Houston (Yates) TX, Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, Houston (Klein Collins) TX, Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, and The Woodlands (Woodlands) TX in the Texas Division.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that the first three teams that we mentioned in the National Division are all legitimate contenders for this year's high school basketball national championship; the two New York teams have some great great guards and young players; the two Texas teams once again will be two of the top ranked teams in the state; and Rainier Beach is traditionally one of the best high school team's in the Pacific Northwest.  The list of the top players in the National Division will include 6'5 Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'1 Corey Fisher from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'3 Jr Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'8 Gani Lawal from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Jr Chris Braswell from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'8 Jr Al-Faroug Aminu from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 5'8 Malik Boothe from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 5'6 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'0 B.J. Holmes from Alief (Hastings) TX, 6'5 Jeff Robinson from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'4 Soph Durand Scott from New York (Rice) NY, 5'9 Soph Lamont Jones from New York (Rice) NY, 6'8 Jerari Grant from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'5 Mike Singletary from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 6'3 Larry Davis from Alief (Hastings) TX, 6'4 Tony Neysmith from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'6 Jordan DeMercy from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'4 Isiah Tate from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'5 Soph Paris Bennett from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'4 DeAngelo Jones from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 6'5 Jr Ryan Pearson from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'2 Soph Tariq Muhammed from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'4 Jr Kenny Tate from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'6 Emeke Iweke from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA, 5'8 Soph Anthony Baskerville from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'0 Jr Chris Iles from Alief (Hastings) TX, 6'0 Jeff Peterson from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'8 Jr Jordan Hernandez from New York (Rice) NY, 6'0 Soph Phillip Green from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'5 Andrew Gabriel from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'0 Soph Marcus Rouse from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'6 Jr Marquis Grant from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, 6'5 Trevin Harris from Houston (Kingwood) TX, 6'3 Jr Joe Nuss from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'5 Soph James Stukes from New York (Rice) NY.  The list of the top players in the Texas Division will include 6'7 Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, 5'8 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, 6'10 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX, 6'8 Isaiah Rusher from Houston (Aldine) TX, 5'11 Jr Demetri Goodson from Houston (Klein Collins) TX, 5'10 Soph Steve Rogers from Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, 6'3 Soph Joey Brooks from Houston (Strake Jesuit) TX, 6'10 Anthony Thompson from Houston (Klein Collins) TX, 5'10 Jr Brandon Williams from Houston (Aldine) TX, and 6'5 Soph Kevin Perry from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX.  We also think it's important to point out that 6'8 Isaiah Rusher has transferred from Houston (Bellaire) TX to Houston (Aldine) TX, which means that Aldine should have the best one-two inside punch in the state this coming season.  And what about the fact that all three of Pastner's tournaments that are scheduled for next April are already certified for NCAA Division I college coaches?  We're talking about the Las Vegas Eastern Classic, which will be held April 5th-8th in Las Vegas, NV, the Houston Kingwood Classic, which will held April 20th-22nd in Houston, TX, and the Las Vegas Spring Showcase, which will be held April 27th-29th in Las Vegas, NV.  Pastner also already has the Southern California All-Stars, which are expected to feature 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'9 Frosh Travis Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'9 Frosh David Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and the Houston Hoops, which are expected to feature 6'6 Jr Olu Ashaolu from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 6'0 Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, 6'10 Jr Anthony Jones from Houston (Yates) TX, and 6'7 Jr Corbin Ray from Katy (Taylor) TX, scheduled to appear in all three tournaments.  And, if that weren't enough Pastner also tells us that 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Huntington (H.S.) WV also could return once again to participate in the Houston Kingwood Classic, if he hasn't made his college decision by then.  Apparently the Houston Kingwood Classic is Mayo's favorite tournament in which to play and he's told Pastner that he'd like to come back one more time and win it all.  If you will recall, Mayo led the Miami Tropics to a semi-finals finish last April and the D-I Greyhounds to a semi-finals finish a year ago in April.  However, that's as far as he's been able to lead his team in this two-day marathon, which makes it arguably the most difficult tournament to win in the nation all year long.  For more information about the Academy National Invitational, Las Vegas Eastern Classic, Houston Kingwood Classic, Las Vegas Spring Showcase, and all of the other tournaments and events that Pastner runs throughout the entire year, click onto VisionSports.com.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A steady stream of verbal commitments have crossed my desk during the last several days, but the biggest story today involves not who is picking a school, but instead who is reneging on their college decision.  We're talking about 6'6 Eric Wallace from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who committed to Virginia last spring, but is now re-opening his recruitment, and 6'3 Rico Pickett from Decatur (H.S.) AL, who committed to Alabama last winter, but now appears to be re-opening his recruitment.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that in both cases, we thought Wallace and Pickett had made perfect choices the first time around.  Remember, Pickett was electing to stay home and attend the state school and Wallace, who has a 4.0 gpa, was heading to a great academic institution in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he probably didn't run the risk of getting recruited over.  The loss of Pickett drops Alabama's recruiting class, which still includes 6'3 Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA, 6'8 Justin Knox from Tuscaloosa (Central High East) AL, and 6'3 Dontrell Taylor from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA, into a tie at #23, along with California on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and it means they once again must find a replacement at point guard for 6'2 Jr Ronald Steele, who will graduate a-year-and-a-half from now.  The loss of Wallace drops Virginia's recruiting class, which still includes 6'4 Jeff Jones from Drexel Hill (Monsignor Bonner) PA and 6'1 Sam Zeglinski from Philadelphia (Penn Charter) PA, into a tie at #53, along with Virginia Commonwealth, Marquette, and Mississippi, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and it means they once again must find a replacement at wing forward for 6'7 Jr Adrian Joseph, who will graduate a-year-and-a-half from now.  Whether either or both of these players will keep the school to which they originally gave their word to on their future list and whether either or both of these schools will continue to recruit the player they once thought was all but signed, sealed, and delivered remains to be seen.  But, as these details become, available we'll keep you informed.  Our California Editor Alan Utter tells us that 6'1 Venoy Overton from Seattle (Franklin) WA has verbally committed to USC, which means the Trojans suddenly have not one, but two point guards who will ranked among our top 100 seniors nationally when we publish our List of the Top Players in the Class of 2007 in the near future.  And Overton, who is a quick aggressive point guard that is capable of putting up big numbers, should be the perfect complement to 6'1 Biko Paris from Cypress (Community Christian) TX, who also is capable of playing either guard spot and recently committed to the Trojans, and 6'5 Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA, who also was originally apart of this year's recruiting class, but graduated from high school early and now is expected to fill the point guard needs this year at Southern Cal.  In other words, the Trojans should have a number of players who will be capable of running show a year from now.  However, the icing on the cake will be if they also are able to land 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Huntington (H.S.) WV and 6'10 Mamadou Diarra from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA in this year's recruiting class and/or 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and/or 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA a year from now.  Moral to the story, it looks Tim Floyd and his staff have already proved that they are capable of targeting and having a legitimate chance to get more than their fair share of the top players in the nation.  Our New England Editor Adam Finkelstein provides us with the scoop with regards to 6'7 Terrell Williams from Northfield (Northfield-Mt. Hermon) MA verbally committing to La Salle and 6'8 Clive Weeden from Northfield (Northfield-Mt. Hermon) FL verbally committing to Dartmouth.  Weeden promises to be a good role player for the Big Green, as he dives for loose balls, hustles, rebounds, defends, and has range out to about 18-feet.  And, if that weren't enough, Weeden also has excellent athleticism and is multi-dimensional enough to be a pretty good wide receiver on the gridiron.  Williams is more of a power forward than a wing forward right now due to his size, athleticism, ability to get to the hole, and lack of outside shooting.  But we still think he's oozing with potential, as is evident by the fact that Williams and his twin brother - 6'7 Jerrell Williams from Northfield (Northfield-Mt. Hermon) MA - both were ranked among the top players in the nation in their class when they were younger.  But they've never developed and, as a result, are now diamonds in the rough who could make their college coach look like a genius if the light ever licks on and they develop more of a killer mentality.  Speaking of the other Williams, it wouldn't surprise us if he follows in his brother's footsteps to La Salle, but he's also getting looks from schools like Marquette and Providence, which makes this one interesting.  Kenny Gillion of Breakdown Magazine.com has confirmed that 6'2 Fred Brown from West Palm Beach (Dwyer) FL has verbally committed to Kansas State and we think this is interesting for several of reasons.  First, Brown is somewhat of a sleeper nationally, but he is a combo guard who thrives in transition, plays excellent defense, and has an inconsistent outside shot, which makes him a stereotypical Bobby Huggins type player.  Second, the addition of Brown keeps Kansas State's strong pipeline into the Miami area intact.  If you will recall, Kansas State assistant coach Frank Martin used to be the head coach at Miami (Senior) FL and his strong contacts in the state played a key role in helping the Wildcats land 6'2 Blake Young from Daytona Beach (JC) FL, 7'2 Jason Bennett from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, and 6'10 Luis Colon from Miami (Dr. Krop) FL last spring.  And Donnie Wilkie, who invites the teams for the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, thinks 6'6 Jamal Owens from Miami (Carol City) FL, who verbally committed to Florida Atlantic today, might be an even bigger sleeper.  Not only is Owens a big time slasher/athlete, but he also attracted interest from schools like Texas, Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Stetson, and SMU after they saw him in July.  However, in the end, it looks like Owens wanted to stay home, as he discouraged those schools from recruiting him and made his verbal commitment to the Owls right after making his official visit to the school.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that Chattanooga has landed 6'3 Brandon Dunson from Bloomington (Central Catholic) IL and 6'5 Rivellno "Mookie" Pierre from Riverside (JC) CA and Tennessee State has gotten 6'0 Gerald Robinson from Nashville (Martin Luther King) TN.  Obviously that last one is a major steal, because Robinson is arguably the second best senior in the state, as well as a legitimate top 150 senior nationally.  But this doesn't come as that much of a surprise, because Robinson's father is employed by the university and they live right down the street from the school.  We also have confirmed via Eric Jaklitsch, who is the coach of the New York Elite club team program and is an assistant coach at Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, that 6'6 Antonio Dimaria from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC has verbally committed to Kent State.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells that 6'7 Idris Hilliard from Princeton (The Hun School) NJ has verbally committed to St. Joseph's and we think this is a great catch for the Hawks, because he's a high energy guy who runs, jumps, provides great effort, gets to the rim, gets to the foul line, rebounds, and defends.

Saturday, September 23, 2006, Sunday, September 24, 2006, and Monday, September 25, 2006

It looks like we knew what we were talking about a week ago when we told you that the door is now open for 6'4 Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN to verbally commit to the University of Minnesota.  And Hoffarber, who picked the Golden Gophers earlier today, is an excellent catch, because he is one of the best 3-point shooters in the senior class nationally, as is evident by the fact he hit an incredible 58.8% from beyond the arc in July at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  However, even more important, landing Hoffarber, who is the #3-ranked player in the state behind Kansas-bound 7'0 Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN and Marquwtte-bound 6'8 Trevor Mbakwe from St. Paul (St. Bernard) MN, shows that the current regime can at least get some of the top players in the state to stay home the first time around.  If you will recall, 6'6 Isaiah Dahlman from Braham (H.S.) MN and 6'7 Corey Johnson from Duluth (East) MN, who were the top two ranked players in the state a year ago, also got away and players like 6'8 Kris Humphries from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who originally signed with Duke before playing one year with the Golden Gophers, 6'2 Lawrence McKenzie from Minneapolis (Patrick Henry) MN, who originally signed with Oklahoma and played one-year before transferring home, and 6'2 Adam Boone from Minnetonka (H.S.) MN, who originally signed with North Carolina and played for the Tar Heels for two years before transferring home, all got away the first time around in recent years.  Obviously all this could be important if Minnesota head coach Dan Monson and his staff are on the bubble at the end of the season.  Remember, this is one of the first schools that that comes to mind when people start speculating on what jobs are going to open next spring.  However, the same also was true two years ago when Minnesota finished 21-11 overall, 10-6 in the league, and was invited to the NCAA Tournament.  In other words, it's not over until the fat lady starts singing, but it will will interesting to see if Hoffarber actually signs during the Fall Signing Period or if he decides to wait and see what happens this spring before he looks himself in to a binding National Letter-of-Intent.  Speaking of the possibility that there will be a coaching change at the University of Minnesota at the end of the season, if there is one, the smart money appears to be on Detroit Pistons head coach Flip Sanders.  But, then again, a lot of people thought former UCLA head coach and current ESPN analyst Steve Lavin was a lock for the Minnesota job at this time two years ago.  We also appear to have known what we were talking about last week when we told you that 5'9 Soph Lamont Jones from New York (Rice) NY had made an early verbal commitment to the University of Louisville.  The official party line appears to be that this is something that probably will happen in the near future, but, as things stand right now, nothing official has happened yet.  However, both Jones and his mother have told one of our best sources in New York City that he is going to Louisville and, as a result, we stand by our original report.  Our California Editor Alan Utter tells us that 6'6 Justin Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA has verbally committed to the University of Washington and our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis thinks this could be a harbinger of things to come with regards to Holiday's younger brother - 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA, who is ranked #17 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is a prime recruiting target of schools like UCLA, North Carolina, USC, and Washington - picking a school.  Obviously this should give the Huskies a big advantage with regards to trying to package the two brothers, but Trigonis also thinks this really helps the Tar Heels.  "Allowing the older brother to go away to school shows a willingness on the part of the parents to relinquish some of their authority and allow their kids to grow up," says Trigonis.  And that is not necessary good news for either USC or UCLA, because North Carolina has always been the younger brother's favorite school.  We also think it's better late than never to talk about the fact 6'10 Josh Southern from Saginaw (H.S.) MI verbally committed to Boston College over a month ago.  Southern needs to get meaner and tougher inside, but we like his body, post moves, and ability to finish around the basket, which is why we think he is a borderline top 100 senior nationally.  However, even more important, Southern has a huge upside, which means he is the stereotypical player that Eagles head coach Al Skinner has made a living with in recent year.  We also think he is ideally suited to complement the other three players that Boston College already has in its current recruiting class, which is currently ranked #19 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and includes 6'6 Rakim Sanders from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI, 6'6 Corey Raji from Township of Washington (Westwood) NJ, and 6'8 Courtney Dunn from Dallas (Lake Highland) TX.  We also are impressed with the fact that Vermont has a verbal commitment from 6'8 Garrett Kissell from Barrington (St. Andrews) RI and Wagner has landed 6'11 Brian Szczepanski from Webster (H.S.) NY.  At 6'11, 260 pounds, Szczepanski is not only a physical presence inside, but he is good with his back to the basket, is a good rebounder, and runs the floor surprisingly well for his size.  But the real reason why Seahawks head coach Mike Deane and his staff are so excited is the fact that Szczepanski has the potential to develop into one of the best big men in the league in a year or two once he gets into shape and learns the system.  Szczepanski also is ideally suited to complement the other three players - 6'8 Christian Nielsen from Copenhagen, Denmark, 6'8 Clayfell Harris from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME and 6'7 Cliff Spiller from Absecon (Holy Spirit) NJ - who are already apart of Wagner's recruiting class, which is now ranked #34 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  And making the story even more interesting is the speculation about Szczepanski and Nielson turning out to be the two best players that Deane has landed during his three-and-a-half years at Wagner.  So it should come as no surprise that Wagner's recruiting class also is by far and away the best in the league, as well as the highest ranked recruiting class on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 among schools that are not in one the top conferences in the nation (ACC, Big East, Big-10, Big-12, SEC, Pacific-10, and Atlantic-10).  Kissell has both the size and skills to turn out to be an absolute steal for the Catamounts, but he needs to develop more of a killer mentality and improve his mobility and athleticism.  But, then again, if Kissell were a finished product, he'd be going to someplace like Providence or Boston College, instead of Vermont.  Or to look at it another way, Vermont head coach Mike Lonegran and his staff now have the two inside players that they need to replace 6'11 Sr Chris Holm and 6'8 Sr Martin Klimes, both of whom will graduate after this season.  If you will recall, Vermont also recently received a verbal commitment recently from 6'8 Evan Fjeld from Durham (Academy) NC.  We also have confirmed that 6'4 Jonathan VanHoose from Russell (H.S.) KY has verbally committed to Evansville.  And this in an interesting story, because Purple Aces' coaching staff had never heard of VanHoose before they saw him shoot the lights out and score 28 points against Indiana Elite at the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas, NV.  And, like they say, the rest is history.  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that 6'9 Ryan Rossiter from Staten Island (Monsignor Farrell) NY has picked Siena over Colgate, Quinnipiac, Towson State, Manhattan, and Buffalo and our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'5 Xavier Alexander from Oklahoma City (Midwest City) OK, who is the younger brother of DeAngelo Alexander, has verbally committed to George Washington.  Rubin also tells us that the younger Alexander is a strong athletic wing player who gets to the basket, has a nice mid-range jump shot, and rebounds well for his size.  In other words, the Colonials may have stolen another one. 

Friday, September 22, 2006

Several days ago LSU lost out to Vanderbilt in the race for 6'1 Keegan Bell from Hazel Green (H.S.) AL, but now it looks like the Tigers have more than up for this loss with the addition of 6'10 Desmond Hendrix from Wabash Valley (JC) IL.  Yes, this is the same guy that our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson told us in June had emerged as the early favorite to be ranked as the best junior college player in the nation during the 2006-2007 season and, as a result, Hendrix should be ideally suited to step in a year from now and help the Tigers replace 6'9 Jr Glen Davis, who likely will enter his name into the NBA Draft next spring, and complement 6'7 Soph Tasmin Mitchell, 6'10 Soph Magnum Rolle, and 6'11 Soph Chris Johnson on the front line.  We're talking about a 6'10, 260-pound physical specimen who is originally from Hickman, KY, but played his last two years of high school basketball at Chicago (Julian) IL, where he was ranked no higher than among the top 30 players in the state.  In other words, it looks like Hendrix is one of those late developers, as well as the next in a long line of  great inside players (i.e. Glen Davis, Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Bass, and Jaime Lloreda) that LSU head coach John Brady has had to go war with in recent years.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that St. Bonaventure has landed 6'3 Malcolm Eleby from Philadelphia (Franklin Learning Center) PA, 6'8 DuQuan Cook from Charlottesville (The Miller School) VA, and 6'8 Matt Morgan from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT.  And Rubin is especially excited about the addition of Eleby, who is ranked #237 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and #17 in the Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Area by Rubin.  We're talking about a pure point guard with size, strength, and the ability to both score and get everybody else involved.  Quite honestly, we've never heard of Morgan, but we remember Cook, who is now a 5th Year Player, from his days at Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ two years ago when he was a face-up four-man with good rebounding skills, a nice mid-range game, and good athleticism.  We also have confirmed that 6'1 Stephen Thomas from Indianapolis (Cathedral) IN has verbally committed to the University of Dayton.  And, once again, we think the Flyers have a major steal on their hands, because Thomas makes excellent decisions, has a picture perfect jump shot, and has the speed and quickness necessary to get to the basket and shut his man down defensively.  In other words, Thomas is ideally suited to step in a year from now and complement 6'2 Jr Brian Roberts and 6'0 Frosh London Warren in what promises to be one of quickest backcourts in the league.  The addition of Thomas, who teamed with Wake Forest-bound 6'2 Jeffrey Teague from Indianapolis (Pike) IN during the spring and summer to form one of most lethal backcourt combinations on the AAU circuit, also should give the Flyers three excellent players in this year's recruiting class, which is now tied at #36, along with Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pepperdine, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  If you will recall, the Flyers got a major steal when they landed 6'6 Chris Wright from Trotwood (Madison) OH last spring and 6'9 Devin Searcy from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI is a big time athlete with an incredible upside, if Dayton head coach Brian Gregory and his staff can find a way to light a fire under him.  This recruiting class also is currently ranked #2 in the league, behind Charlotte, but even more important is the fact that these are three players are the next in a long line of excellent players that the current regime has landed since taking over three-and-a-half year ago.  Remember, 6'2 Jr Brian Roberts, 6'7 Jr Norman Plummer, 6'6 Jr Jimmie Binnie, 6'5 Soph Charles Little, and 6'9 Soph Desmond Adedeji were all part of the rotation a year ago; 6'8 Jr Nick Stafford started in 12 games and played in 28 games two years ago; and 6'0 Frosh London Warren, 6'4 Frosh Marcus Johnson, 6'4 Jr Andres Sandoval, and 6'10 Frosh Kurt Huelsman are all good enough to make an immediate impact this time around.  So obviously the Flyers should be dramatically improved upon last year's 14-17 overall record and 6-10 conference this winter.  However, with only one senior in the entire program in 6'6 Sr Monty Scott, it's really the 2007-2008 season that should have Dayton fans excited, as the Flyers should have as much depth, experience, talent, and athleticism as any team in the league.  It also looks like we knew what we were talking about last night when we told you that DePaul was the leader for 6'9 Nayal Koshwal from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL, as he made it official for the Blue Demons earlier this evening.  Not only is Koshwal tentatively ranked #33 in our updated Ranking of the Top Seniors Nationally, which we hope to publish by the end of the month, but he's also one of the best rebounders and most ferocious inside players in the senior class nationally.  And getting Koshwal to stay home certainly doesn't hurt DePaul's chances in the sweepstakes for 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, who is the best point guard in the nation and the top recruiting priority for the Blue Demons.  However, for now DePaul fans will have to be content with a recruiting class that is tied at #5, along with Michigan State on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  Or to look at it another way, the Blue Demons' recruiting class is now tied at #2, along with Michigan State, when one looks at the highest talent rating average per recruit by schools with more than one player in their recruiting class. 

Thursday, September 21, 2006

We are still a number of days away from publishing our Post Summer Ranking of the Top Seniors Nationally (Class of 2007), but we do have our list of the top 100 players in the class pretty much finalized and, as things stand now, only 27 of our top 100-ranked seniors are still available.  And right at the top of the list is 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, who checks in at #3 on our list and has never officially reneged on the verbal commitment that he made almost a year ago to the University of Illinois.  However, Gordon plans to make his second unofficial visit in two weeks to Indiana University in Bloomington, IN this weekend for the Indiana-Connecticut football game and, as a result, we're no longer counting him with Indiana's recruiting class.  In other words, it's kind of like being a little bit pregnant.  Either you are verbally committed or you are not verbally committed and, if you're taking visits to other schools, we have to assume that Gordon is back on the board.  Also still on the board are 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Huntington (H.S.) WV, 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 6'9 James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, 6'8 Patrick Patterson from Huntington (H.S.) WV, 6'11 Anthony Randolph from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX, 6'0 Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, 6'0 Johnny Flynn from Niagara Falls (H.S.) NY, 5'8 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX, 6'2 Tyrell Reed from Burlington (H.S.) KS, 6'9 Nayal Koshwal from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL, 6'8 Marcus Morris from Philadelphia (Prep Charter) PA, 6'9 Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA, 6'6 Leonard Washington from Lake Charles (Washington Marion) LA, 6'10 Papa Dia from South Kent (Prep) CT, 7'1 Boubacar Sylla from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'8 DeJuan Blair from Pittsburgh (Schenley) PA, 6'4 Eshaunte Jones from Ft. Wayne (North Side) IN, 6'1 Venoy Overton from Seattle (Frankin) WA, 6'5 Tim Flowers from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 6'11 Teeng Akol from Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, 6'6 James Anderson from Junction City (H.S.) AR, 6'5 Dorenzo Hudson from Forest Hills (H.S.) NC, 6'7 Terrell Bell from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, 6'0 Jacob Pullen from Maywood (Proviso East) IL, and 6'0 Joey Rodriguez from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL.  Also off the board is 6'1 Keegan Bell from Hazel Green (H.S.) AL, who yesterday made it official for for Vanderbilt.  Not only is Bell ranked #76 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he should be a great catch for the Commodores, because he's a tough hardnosed competitor with the speed, quickness, ball handling skills, and ability to create his own shot necessary to draw Steve Nash comparisons.  So it looks like Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings has the perfect complement to all of the good young players in the program, like 6'3 Frosh Jermaine Bell, 6'7 Frosh JeJuan Brown, 6'10 Frosh Davis Nwankwo, and 6'4 Frosh George Drake, as well as the heir apparent to 5'11 Jr Alex Gordon, who will graduate after next, at point guard.  Also no longer on the board is 6'5 Darquavis Tucker from Saginaw (Arthur Hill) MI, who verbally committed to DePaul earlier tonight.  We're talking about a big time athlete/slasher who is ranked #47 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, if Tucker continues to work on his 3-point shooting, he has the talent, athleticism, and potential to perhaps someday play in the NBA.  This also is a big catch for the Blue Demons, because it shows that Jerry Wainwright and his staff can go into this neighboring state and compete with Michigan and Michigan State for the top players in their backyard.  As a matter of fact, a quick check of the top four seniors from the state shows that  Tucker is heading to DePaul, 6'5 Alexander Legion from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA is heading to Michigan, and 6'1 Kalin Lucas from Orchard Lake (St. Mary's) MI and 6'4 Durrell Summers from Redford (Covenant Christian) MI are both heading to Michigan State.  We also think it's important to point out that Tucker should fit in perfectly to Wainwright's system and that this isn't the first major coup the Blue Demons have pulled off this fall.  Did you also know that DePaul has a verbal commitment from 6'9 Majita Poscic from Highland (JC) IL, who promises to be one of the top junior college players in the nation?  Poscic is versatile enough to play both inside and outside, as is evident by the fact that he shot 40.2% from beyond the arc and has the strength and athleticism necessary to average eight rebounds per game last season.  And we don't think they're done yet, as the Blue Demons also are believed to be the favorite over Louisville and Tennessee for 6'9 Nayal Koshwal from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL and they are among the final five, along with Memphis, Kansas, Indiana, and UCLA, for 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL.  But, as things stand now, the addition of Tucker moves the Blue Demons' recruiting class into a tie at #18, along with Arizona State, UCLA, and Villanova, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  However, if they really hit the jackpot and get Koshwal, Rose, and another quality inside player, then we might be talking about the best recruiting class in the nation.  And at least some of the credit has to go to DePaul assistant coach Gary DeCesare, who not only did a great job recruiting both Koshwal and Poscic, but also is one of the best hardest working assistant coaches in the nation.  We also find it interesting that 5'7 Aaron Johnson from Chicago (Hubbard) IL recently made it official for UAB.  Obviously the connection here is Blazers assistant coach Tracy Dildy, who not only is originally from the Windy City, but also is second to none as a recruiter and evaluator of talent.  And, if you don't believe it, the only thing keeping Johnson, who makes great decisions and has the savvy and leadership qualities necessary to run a team at a high level, from being a top 100 senior is his lack of size.  So obviously UAB head coach Mike Davis is getting the point guard he'll need a year from now to step in and run show and complement all of the good players that he's landed since taking over the reigns of the program six months ago.  Remember, the Blazers landed an excellent recruiting class last spring that included 6'10 Frosh Jeremy Mayfield, 6'0 Soph Andre White, 6'9 Frosh Curtis Nickson, 6'4 Frosh Taurus Dortch, and 6'8 Frosh Howard Crawford; they have 6'5 Jr Robert Vaden, who followed Davis from Indiana, sitting out this season; and they also already had a verbal commitment from 6'7 Lavoris Weathers from Greenwood (H.S.) MS in this year's recruiting class. 

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that Stoneridge P&P beat Belmont Shore, 92-88, in the championship title game of the 14th Annual Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops Classic at Lynwood High School in Lynwood, CA, thanks to the inside scoring punch of tournament MVP 6'8 Jr Troy Guillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, who finished with 23 points and hit two huge baskets in the final two minutes of the game; the long range shooting of 6'11 Ibrahima Thomas from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, who hit five threes and scored 25 points, and the point guard play of 6'0 Angelo Johnson from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, who had 20 points and was virtually unstoppable at times.  Belmont Shore had a balanced attack in the finale with 6'5 James Harden from Lakewood (Artesia) CA pouring in a game high 26 points; 6'1 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA knocking down six threes and finishing with 22 points; 6'5 Jr Demar Derozan from Compton (H.S.) CA chipping in with 21 points; 6'7 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA accounting for 19 points, including three 3-pointers; and 6'1 Soph Darius Morris from Los Angeles (Windward) CA dishing out nine assists.  Stoneridge P&P's road to the title also included a hotly contested 79-78 overtime win in the semi-finals against Branch West-Team Reebok, which ranks among the most memorable games in the tournament's history.  After trailing most of the game, Stoneridge P&P not only rallied to force the overtime, but also survived a last second tip-in attempt by 7'0 Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, who finished with 19 points and was a member of the All-Tournament team, along with 6'8 Jr Troy Guillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'11 Ibrahima Thomas from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'0 Angelo Johnson from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'5 James Harden from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'7 Jr Renaldo Woolridge from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, 6'10 Mamadou Diarra from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'0 Lashard Anderson from San Diego (Serra) CA, and 6'7 Jason Henry from Decatur (Light of the World) GA.  Speaking of Henry, both Trigonis and Branch West-Team Reebok head coach Bob Gottlieb couldn't stop talking about this 6'6 athletic wing forward who is currently somewhat under the radar screen, but has the shooting, passing, and handling skills necessary to be ranked extremely high in our Ranking of the Top 5th Year Players for the Class of 2007.  Belmont Shore beat the San Diego All-Stars, 76-73, in the other semi-final game, but the best player in this game was 6'0 Lashard Anderson from San Diego (Serra) CA, who led the losers with 26 points.  Other players who played well enough to be named to the Honorable Mention All-Tournament team include 6'4 Charles Boozer from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'5 Jr James Brown from Downey (Warren) CA, 6'9 Austin Daye from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA, 6'1 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Jr Edgar Garibay from Compton (H.S.) CA, 6'6 James Hancock from San Diego (Mission Bay) CA, 6'2 Jr Kelly Kaigler from San Jose (Oak Grove) CA, 6'5 Frosh Tyler Lamb from Ontario (Colony) CA, 5'11 Bryan Louff from Santa Monica (H.S.) CA, 6'6 Kareem Maddox from Oak Park (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Jr Tyree McCrary from San Jose (Oak Grove) CA, 6'7 Soph Aaron Moore from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'1 Soph Darius Morris from Los Angeles (Windward) CA, 6'0 La'von Myers from Los Angeles (Jordan) CA, 6'4 Jr James Rahon from San Diego (Torrey Pines) CA, 6'6 Jr James Staniland from Ventura (H.S.) CA, 7'0 Bubacar Sylla from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'5 Soph Clay Thompson from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita) CA, 6'6 Mychal Thompson from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'3 Jr Jamal Trice from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'4 Quinton Watkins from Compton (Dominguez) CA, and 6'6 Zare Zagaryan from Glendale (Hoover) CA.  Trigonis also tells us that in addition to the 6th Annual Fullcourt Press All-Frosh/Soph Camp presented by Pangos that will be held on Saturday, October 28th, and Sunday, October 29th, at Lynwood High School in Lynwood, CA, he also is planning on running the inaugural Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp that will be held at Norcross High School in Norcross, GA on Saturday, October 14th, and Sunday, October 15th, and the Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp that will be held at the Sports of All Sorts Center in Indianapolis, IN on Saturday, October 21st-22nd.  Some of the top players that are expected to be in attendance at the Pangos All-South Frosh/Soph Camp include 6'9 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'9 Soph DeMarcus Cousins from Birmingham (Erwin) AL,  6'7 Soph Richard Howell from Lawrenceville (Central Gwinnett) GA, 6'7 Soph Noel Johnson from Lovejoy (H.S.) GA, 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'3 Soph Lorenzo Brown from Roswell (Centennial) GA, 6'3 Soph Roger Franklin from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'2 Soph Mfon Udofia from Stone Mountain (Miller Grove) GA, 6'7 Frosh Dakota Euton from Ashland (Rose Hill) KY, 5'7 Frosh Phil Taylor from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, and 6'6 Soph Jarrell Eddy from Concord (Cannon) NC and the big name player that Trigonis is using to get people to rally around his Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp is 6'9 Soph Stephan Van Treese from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN.  For more information about these and all of the other camps and tournaments that Trigonis runs, click onto www.fullctpress.net.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Our New England Editor Adam Finkelstein has been making the prep school rounds during the first week of the recruiting period and, after making stops at Northfield (Northfield-Mt Hermon) MA, South Kent (Prep) CT, Tilton (School) NH, New Hampton (Prep) NH, Winchendon (Prep) MA, Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, and Worcester (Academy) MA, he checks in with some interesting information about a number of top prospects who may be flying under the radar.  At the top of that list is 7'1 Tomasz Kwaitkowski from Lee (Academy) ME.  This post graduate comes to Lee from Poland and is described by first-year head coach Carl Parker as "a definite high major."  6'6 Jr Mathiang Mauot from Winchendon (School) MA has arrived from the Sudan and falls into the same category.  Mauot is a very tough and physically strong athletic 2-guard who has a good body and can score off the bounce or shoot it from behind the three-point line.  6'8 Mehmet Sahan from Tilton (School) NH is an extremely skilled four-man.  This lefty comes from Turkey and has a very good shot from behind the three-point line, is smooth going to the basket, and can also score a little bit on the block.  7'2 Kenechukwu Obi from South Kent (School) CT is originally from Nigeria and is physically huge but still very raw.  Finkelstein said he and the other coaches in the gym were wowed when Obi grabbed a rebound with one hand and threw a line drive baseball pass the full length of the court that hit the receiver in stride.  6'1 Jr Lonnie Hayes from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME is also creating a lot of buzz.  Finkelstein hasn't seen Hayes in person yet, but is told that he has a chance to be recruited at the highest level.  Finkelstein also updates us on 6'6 Tim Abromaitis from Farmington (HS) CT.  If you recall, Finkelstein first mentioned Abromaitis in the spring as a player who was flying under the radar.  Then, in the summer we reported that his recruiting was heating up after playing extremely well at the Harley Davidson Jam Fest in Morgantown, WV and then going for consecutive 40+ games at AAU Nationals in Orlando, FL.  Well, his stock has continued to rise this fall, as he has received an offer from Northwestern last week.  With his size, perimeter skills, and ability to stretch the defense with his shot, Abromaitis would be a terrific fit in the Wildcats' system.  However, academics may be the most important factor in Abromaitis' decision, which means the competition for his services comes from schools like William & Mary, Yale, Pennsylvania, and Princeton, instead of the schools in Conference USA, Metro Atlantic, Colonial Athletic Association, and America East, which he has already turned down.  We also have confirmed that 6'2 Andrew Biernert from Mineola (Chaminade) NY has picked Holy Cross over Davidson and he too appears to be a major steal, as this tough hardnosed point guard with surprising athleticism, the ability to create his shot off the dribble, great court vision, and the willingness to make those around him better is ranked #212 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also are impressed with the fact that 5'11 Brock Young from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, who is ranked #167 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made it official for East Carolina.  Not only is Young a pure point guard who knows how to run a team, but he also is well on his way towards becoming the all-time leading scorer in the history of his school, which is very impressive when one remembers that this also is the high school that produced 6'11 Shavlik Randolph.  We also have received word via our Georgia Editor Horace Neysmith about 6'6 Jordan DeMercy from Norcross (H.S.) GA picking Florida State.  DeMercy was ranked #352 when we last published our Ranking of the Top Players Nationally in the Class of 2007 on June 20th, but he will move up dramatically when we update these rankings later this month.  Remember, this is the guy who was ranked #37 overall and #10 at the wing forward spot at the NIKE All-American Camp by the HOOP SCOOP and he also has big time hops and athleticism, an incredible wing span, and a huge upside.  In other words, it looks like the Seminoles have stolen another one, as DeMercy should be the perfect front-court complement to 6'10 Julian Vaughn from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who picked the Seminoles last month, and 7'1 Solomon Alabi from Montverde (Academy) FL, whose final three are Florida State, Virginia, and Arizona.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'3 Rob Keefer from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA has verbally committed to Lehigh and 6'8 Evan Fjeld from Durham (Academy) NC has picked Vermont.  And Fjeld should be a perfect fit for the Catamounts, because he's a multi-skilled face-up four-man who can step out and shoot the three, score on the block, is an excellent passer, and has a good feel for the game.  Fjeld also is good enough to step in and help replace 6'11 Sr Chris Holm and 6'8 Sr Martin Klimes, who are expected to once again be Vermont's two best inside players this season.  Keefer is an excellent catch for the Mountain Hawks, because he can score in a variety of ways (knock down the three point shot, has a good mid-range game, and gets to the hole).  We also have confirmed that New Mexico has landed 6'3 Ty Abbott form Phoenix (Desert Vista) AZ and Wake Forest has gotten 6'2 Jeff Teague from Indianapolis (Pike) IN.  That last one is especially interesting, because three weeks ago we thought the Demon Deacons were close to getting 6'0 Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC.  However, now we're hearing that N.C. State, which is the school that Wright had originally committed to prior to the coaching change last spring, is back in the lead for Wright's services.  As for Teague, this savvy point guard came on like gangbusters this spring and summer, as is evident by the fact he was ranked #24 overall and #4 at the point guard position at the Reebok ABCD Camp by the HOOP SCOOP.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that Wake Forest plucked Teague, who has the jet-like speed and quickness, excellent decision-making, and scoring ability necessary to draw Chris Paul-like comparisons, right out of Indiana's backyard.  As a matter of fact, the Hoosiers were believed to be one of the favorites, along with Southern Illinois, Xavier, and Boston College, for Teague's services.  But, then again, maybe this is an indication of just how strong the Hoosiers are with 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL, who is the #1-ranked point guard in the senior class nationally and has a final five that includes Memphis, Indiana, UCLA, Kansas, and DePaul.  It also looks like Hampton has landed 6'11 Milade Lola-Charles from Laurel (H.S.) MD.  This long armed shot blocking athlete has only been playing organized basketball four years, but is just oozing with potential and, as a result, should be the perfect complement to 6'10 Olusaweyi Oseni from Danville (New Horizons) VA, 6'8  Matt Pilgrim from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) NH, 6'7 Mike Freeman from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH, 6'7 Theo Smalling from Tampa (Bloomingdale) FL, 6'2 Jon Ntoko from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, and 6'1 Vincent Simpson from Philadelphia (Cardinal Dougherty) PA, all of whom signed with the Pirates last spring, and 6'3 Chris Tolson from Laurel (H.S.) MD, who committed to the Pirates in July.  Obviously Hampton assistant coach Brian Merritt's strong Washington, DC area contacts are the connection here, as the Pirates are well on their way towards having one of the best front-lines in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for years to come. 

Monday, September 18, 2006

We also have confirmed a number of verbal commitments that have occurred over the weekend and right at the top of the list is 5'9 Soph Lamont Jones from New York (Rice) NY, who is ranked #40 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP, picking Louisville.  Jones is only 5'9 and needs to continue to improve his outside shooting, but we're also talking about the guy who scored 17 points in the Developmental League All-Star Game and was named the Best Playmaker for the Week three weeks ago at the Five-Star Basketball Camp.  Jones also is strong, physical, and athletic, which makes him very difficult to stop when he gets into the paint and attacks the basket.  Jones also has the speed, quickness, and toughness necessary to be a great defender, plus he's a winner and is the teammate of 6'4 Soph Durand Scott from New York (Rice) NY, who is ranked #15 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And this is important, because Jones and Scott have been the heart-and-sole of the New York Gauchos club team, which has been one of the most successful in the nation for a number of years now in their age group.  Jones also gives the Cardinals a great head start on the future, as he should be an excellent complement to the four players - 6'9 Derrick Caracter from Notre Dame (Fitchburg) MA, 6'2 Jerry Smith from Wauwatosa (East) WI, 6'3 Edgar Sosa from New York (Rice) NY, and 6'9 Earl Clark from Rahway (H.S.) NJ - they landed in last year's recruiting; 6'9 George Goode from Raytown (South) MO, who is already apart of this year's recruiting class; and 6'7 Jr Martez Walker from Montverde (Academy) FL, who made one of the earliest verbal commitments ever two years ago when he picked the Cardinals.  Another reason why Louisville fans should be excited is the fact that 6'5 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, who is ranked #2 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is one of their prime recruiting targets, was on campus over the weekend.  And you can bet that he was at Louisville-Miami-FL football game.  However, beating Villanova and North Carolina for Evans' services still may be easier said than done.  We also have confirmed that 6'2 Cameron Long from Woodbridge (Freedom) VA has verbally committed to George Mason and, like so many of the players who have signed with the Patriots in recent years, is somewhat under the radar screen.  Not only is Long a skilled point guard with great leadership qualities, the ability to the team, shoot the three, and lock you up defensively with his long arms and excellent athletic ability, but he's ideally suited to complement all of the other good young players that George Mason already has in the program.  Remember, the Patriots return two starters - 6'4 Jr Folarin Campbell and 6'7 Jr Will Thomas - from last year's NCAA Final Four team, plus 6'3 Soph John Vaughan, who red-shirted last year, but started the final 15 games of the 2004-05 season and was named to the Colonial Athletic Conference All-Rookie team two years ago, and 6'5 Soph Sammy Hernandez, who is a killer on the boards and force to be reckoned with inside, all back.  And, if that weren't enough, the Patriots also landed two of the top junior college players in the nation in 6'7 Darryl Monroe from Central Flordia (JC) FL and 6'0 Andre Smith from Cochise (JC) AZ and 6'6 Louis Birdsong from Baltimore (Mt. St. Joseph) MD, who also is good enough to walk in and make an immediate impact next season.  In other words, George Mason should be very good once again this season and, with Long and 6'4 Isaiah Tate from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD already in the fold in this year's recruiting class and only two seniors in the program, there is no telling how good the Patriots will be year after next.  The key to George Mason's landing Long obviously is the fact that his high school coach Ahmad Dorsett played for Patriots head coach Jim Larranaga at George Mason in the late 90's, but it's also obvious that Larranaga still has one of the best young coaching staffs in college basketball.  Or to look at it another way, .Larranaga, who also has a great reputation for hiring some of the best bright up-and-coming young guys in the business, hasn't last his touch with his current staff, which includes James Johnson, Scott Cherry, and Chris Caputo.  If you will recall, Mike Gillian, who became the head coach at Longwood College four years ago, Billy Courtney, who is left a year ago to become an assistant coach at Providence College and now holds a similar position at Virginia; and Derek Kellogg, who has been John Calipari's right hand man at Memphis for the last five years, played key roles in helping Larranaga build the program when he first arrived at George Mason nine-and-a-half years ago.  And going back even further, East Carolina head coach Ricky Stokes, Evansville head coach Steve Merfeld, and St. Bonaventure head coach Anthony Solomon and former Michigan head coach Brian Ellerbe and former Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo head coach Jeff Schneider also used to work for Larranaga back in his days at Bowling Green.  Our Texas Editor Tim Miller also tells us that 6'8 Courtney Dunn from Dallas (Lake Highland) TX has verbally committed to Boston College; 6'5 Mike Singletary from Houston (Kingwood) TX and 6'8 D'walyn Roberts from Duncanville (H.S.) TX have both verbally committed to Texas Tech; and 6'8 Daquon Montreal from Dallas (God's Academy) TX and 6'9 Linzy Robinson from Irving (God's Academy) TX both are on the verge of making it official for Texas Christian.  The verbal commitments by Singletary, who is ranked #105 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, and Roberts, who is ranked #111 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, are both very important for the Red Raiders for a number of reasons.   First, they're both in-state players, which means that Texas Tech is now showing that it has the ability to get its share of the top players in its backyard.  If you will recall, a week ago they also landed 5'11 John Roberson from Plano (H.S.) TX and, as a result, their recruiting class is now tied at #26, along with Miami-FL, Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Charlotte, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  Second, the addition of two more high school players in this year's recruiting class is important when it comes to building the long term foundation of the program.  Remember, Texas Tech landed a bunch of junior college players in last year's recruiting class, which was ranked #9 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2006 and included 6'1 Charlie Burgess from Howard (JC) TX, 7'0 Esmir Rizvic from Gulf Coast (JC) FL, 6'6 Rodgrick Craig from San Jose (JC) CA, 6'8 Jay Mitchell from Gulf Coast (JC) FL, 6'4 Darryl Ashford from Cypress Falls (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Decensae White from San Mateo (Serra) CA, 5'7 B.J. Valentine from Howard (JC) TX, and 6'9 Michael Goodwin from Rowlett (H.S.) TX.  Third, neither Singletary nor Roberts is a ridiculous athlete, but they are both are very skilled, which means they should complement one another extremely well, as well as fit perfectly into Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight's system.  Fourth, the addition of Singletary and Roberts is exactly what the doctor ordered, as they also should be extremely well stocked year after next with Burgess and Roberson in the backcourt and all of the good junior college inside players that they landed last spring.  Miller is also thinks Texas Christian has hit the jackpot, because Robinson is a long, athletic, and has the post moves necessary to walk in a year from now and make an immediate impact and Montreal is a taller version of 6'7 Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX.  We're talking about a high energy shot blocking/rebounder who is very aggressive going to the basket and, if he's half as good as Miller thinks he is, Montreal is easily one of the biggest sleepers in the nation.  We also have confirmed that 5'10 Rahmon Fletcher from Kansas City (Paseo) MO has verbally committed to Wisconsin-Green Bay, 6'10 Jon Leuer from Orono (H.S.) MN has verbally committed to Wisconsin, and 6'8 Josh Harrellson from St. Charles (H.S.) MO has picked Western Illinois.   Harrellson is not a big name player, but he is the big body that Leathernecks head coach Derek Thomas needs to complement the other two players - 6'2 Larry Dumas from Chicago Heights (Bloom Township) IL and 6'2 Ceola Clark from Gurnee (Warren) IL - that he already has in this year's recruiting class.  Leuer is ranked #160 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he's still a good catch for the Badgers, because he's 6'10, can step outside and keep you honest with his 3-point shooting, and is ideally suited to fit into Bo Ryan's structured system.  The commitment by Leuer also may open the door back up for 6'4 Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN to stay home.  Prior to this commitment we thought Leuer would go to Minnesota and that Hoffarber was a near lock for Notre Dame after his official visit to South Bend, IN a week ago.  However, now it looks like Minnesota, which has no seniors on its roster and only one scholarship available in this year's recruiting class, is turning up the heat on Hoffarber, who is arguably the best pure shooter in the nation.  Fletcher is small, but he's a steal for the Phoenix, because this jet-quick lefty point guard makes good decisions, runs the show, and is also capable of putting up prolific numbers.  The addition of Fletcher also should ensure that Wisconsin-Green Bay head coach Tod Kowalczyk and his staff have one of the best backcourts in the league for years to come.  Remember, they also already have a verbal commitment from 6'3 Bryquis Perine from Milwaukee (Vincent) WI and 6'2 Frosh Troy Cotton is the only freshman in the program.  And, if that weren't enough, the Phoenix's top three front-line players - 6'9 Soph Mike Schachtner, 6'7 Soph Ryan Tillema, and 6'5 Soph Terry Evans - all started at least 30 games last year when they were freshmen.  We probably speak for everybody in the basketball world when we say that our thoughts and prayers go out to the five Duquesne basketball players who were injured in the shooting at a dance at the Student Union in Pittsburgh, PA early Sunday morning.  At last report, Sam Ashaolu, who is a Toronto native and junior college transfer from Lake Region State (JC) ND, was the most seriously injured.  He was shot in the head and remains in critical condition at Mercy Hospital.  Stuard Baldonaldo, who is a Columbia native and junior college transfer from Miami-Dade (JC) FL, was shot in the elbow and shoulder and, although he too is still in the hospital, his condition has improved from critical to stable.  Kojo Mensah, who is originally from Brooklyn, NY and is a transfer from Siena, was hit in the right shoulder and the left forearm, but was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital this afternoon.  Shawn James, who is a originally from Brooklyn, NY and is a transfers from Northeastern, was shot in the foot and was treated and released from the hospital on Sunday morning.  Aaron Jackson, who was the starting point guard and averaged 6.8 ppg and 3.6 rpg as freshman for Duquesne last season, was also treated and released from the hospital on Sunday morning after having been shot in the hand. 

Saturday, September 16, 2006, & Sunday, September 17, 2006

It looks like I've really stirred things up good with my comments in this section on Thursday, September 14th, about UCLA not recruiting 6'1 Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  As a matter of fact, the following email is indicative of some of things I've been hearing.  "UCLA isn't recruiting Brandon Jennings because has made it clear he is a one and done player.  Your columns are very misleading on this issue.  The staff of course recognizes his talent but a one and done player at pg is a program killer.  That's why Arizona has back off as well.  As for USC, that would only be if his brother chose USC and then he wanted to play with his brother.  Jrue Holiday is very interested in UCLA.  UCLA was in the NCAA Title game, has 11 banners, won the Pac-10 last year and has signed Kevin Love.  I don't think that USC will be 'changing the landscape of hoops in Tinsletown' any time soon, even if they sign O.J. Mayo, as he is a one and done player anyway and he is no LeBron.  You seem to have an anti-UCLA bias.  Ben Howland is a great coach who recruits by putting the pieces together for long term success.  He prefers longer term commitments from kid than one year (Love may be an exception), but that's the real story on Jennings.  As for you, you write like it's a recruiting oversight by the staff."  Kenny Cohen, National Sales Manager.  No, actually my West Coast Editor Dinos Triginos and myself are in total agreement on this one.  As for Jennings, his mother told me on July 25th that she would love for her son to join Kevin Love at UCLA, except both she and Jennings himself think Love is a one-and-done player.  Instead, the truth be told, the real reason why the Bruins are not recruiting Jennings is the fact that they don't know what his academic situation is going to be in a year or two and they decided to not wait around for him when there are plenty of other good point guards in Southern California's loaded junior class (i.e. Larry Drew, Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee, and Jerime Anderson).  I also want to point out that all the trash that UCLA fans have talked about Jennings being a bad kid and a selfish player couldn't be further from the truth.  Not only does he present himself extremely well, but he's one of the hardest working kids you're going to find and the fact that he had 15 assists in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic and he shut down 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN in the second half of the championship game of the Reebok Big Time Tournament illustrates our point.  Another great fabrication is that comment about Arizona backing off Jennings.  And, on that one, I promise you that my source is better than yours.  As for Jennings being a one and done player, you may know more than I do, but I've never been told that by the kid, the mother, or any of the people around him.  I also have never been told by Love, his father, or any of the people around him that he's a one and done guy.  So obviously a lot of people are assuming a lot of things, which dangerous unless you're just hack journalist or rabid fan who could care less about the truth.  As for Holiday favoring USC over UCLA, that's my West Coast Editor's opinion based on the information that he had available to him at the time.  And, whether Trigonis is right or wrong about where Holiday goes to school, he's stood the test of time and his track record as the most knowledge person with regards to high school basketball and players on the West Coast clearly speaks for itself.  As for me being biased against the Bruins, UCLA has actually always been one of my more favorite teams dating back to 1973 when we stayed in the same hotel with the UCLA team and fans in St. Louis, MO.  If you will recall, that was the year UCLA won its 7th straight NCAA Championship and Bill Walton hit 21-22 field goals and scored 44 points in the title game.  I also have a button that a UCLA fan was nice enough to give me the next year in Greensboro, NC, which says "When You Care Enough To Send the Best" and has 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, and 73 around the side of the button.  And in the middle of the button, it says "UCLA" and "74" in great big letters.  The irony is that's one of two year's that UCLA didn't win it the during the 12 year-period spanning from 1964 to 1975.  As for Ben Howland and his coaching staff as UCLA, they're all first class people and have done a magnificent job.  But the same also can be said Tim Floyd and staff and what they are doing at USC.  And that rivalry and competition for players should ultimately make both programs that much better.  As for me, my mother and my brother live in Southern California and, as a result, I have averaged spending over a month a year in recent years seeing them and watching all of the top players play on the West Coast on numerous occasions.  And, if that weren't enough, my West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis and California Editor Alan Utter are two of the HOOP SCOOP's best people and, as a result, anybody who claims that we aren't second to none when it comes to players on the West Coast needs get his head out of the sand. 

Friday, September 15, 2006

We had Donnie Wilkie, who is the tournament director of the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL on our weekly radio show, which you can listen to by going to our archives at HOOP SCOOP On-Radio, last Sunday and, as a result, we already have all of the teams that will be in this year's tournament fresh on our mind.  And, as usual, Wilkie has outdone himself with regards to the incredible amount of talent that will be on hand when this year's event kicks off on Saturday, December 16th.  The list of teams in the 16-team tournament field includes Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, Aston (American Christian) PA, Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, Pittsburgh (Schenley) PA, Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, New Orleans (Helen Cox) LA, Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, Jackson (Liberty Tech) TN, Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, Decatur (Eisenhower) IL, Jeannette (H.S.) PA, Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, Pompono Beach (Ely) FL, Punta Gorda (Charlotte) FL, Ft. Myers (H.S.) FL, and Naples (Golden Gate) FL and you can bet that Wilkie will have those first two teams (Lincoln and American Christian) PA in the opposite side of the bracket due to the fact that New York State High School Association rules do not allow teams from their state to play teams that don't belong to a state association and, as a result, play for a state championship.  However, even if both teams should find themselves meeting on the final day in either the championship or the 3rd Place Game, it won't be a total disaster, because new American Christian head coach Tony Bergeron has already agreed that his team to will step down and play in either the 3rd Place or the 5th Place Game, if need be.  In other words, in theory a team could lose a game in the semi-finals and still end up winning the championship and it would really be ironic if that team turned out to be Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, which has a history of losing the semi-finals in this tournament in recent years.  Wilkie also has lined up a number of other in-state teams to play in the Sunshine Series, which is a series of individual games with local interest, and this year's field will include Miami (Dr. Krop) FL versus Ft. Myers (Bishop Verot) FL and Gainesville (P.K. Yonge) FL versus Port St. Lucie (H.S.) FL on Saturday, December 16th; Palmetto (H.S.) FL versus Panama City (Bay) FL on Monday, December 18th; Lakeland (Kathleen) FL against a team yet to be announced and Arcadia (De Soto) FL versus Tampa (Whartan) FL on Tuesday, December 19th.   However, what really gets us excited are the prospects of the some of the potential match-ups.  We're talking about Aston (American Christian) PA versus Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, which would feature two of our top five-ranked juniors in the nation in 6'5 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA and 6'10 Jr Greg Monroe; Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY versus Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, which would feature two of our top five-ranked sophomores in the nation in 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson and 6'3 Soph Kenny Boynton; and Aston (American Christian) PA versus Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, which would feature a top five-ranked senior combo guard against a top five-ranked junior combo guard in 6'3 Jerry Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ versus 6'5 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA.  And, if that weren't enough to get you excited, the City of Palms Classic also will feature four other players who also will be likely McDonald's All-American's in 6'7 Taylor King from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'5 Nick Calathes from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 6'9 Soph Travis Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'9 Soph David Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  Other players to keep an eye on in this tournament will include 6'4 Jr Ray Shipman from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6'7 DeJuan Blair from Pittsburgh (Schenley) PA, 6'8 Chandler Parsons from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 6'9 Brandon Walters from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'6 Jr Terrelle Pryor from Jeannette (H.S.) PA, 6'6 D.J. Kennedy from Pittsburgh (Schenley) PA, 6'8 A.J. Stewart from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'0 Jr Miguel Paul from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'10 Jr Keenan Ellis from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'0 Joey Rodriguez from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 6'3 Jr Khalif Staten from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'8 Jr Jeremy Robinson from Decatur (Eisenhower) IL, 6'10 Hamidu Rahman from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'0 Jr Josh Spivey from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'5 Jr Jay Wade from Panama City (Bay) FL, 6'6 Lance Kearse from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'3 Kamyron Brown from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 5'9 Jr Lewis Jackson from Decatur (Eisenhower) IL, 6'0 Javier Gonzalez from Miami (Dr. Krop) FL, 7'1 Alex Jacobson from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Jr Jamal Trice from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Devon Peterson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'5 Max Groebe from Miami (Dr. Krop) FL, 6'2 Virgil Philiston from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6'0 Gabriel Charlie from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 6'4 Soph Oscar Griffin from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'4 Soph Emari Bailey from Jacksonville (Arlington Country Day) FL, 5’11 Frosh Gary Franklin from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'6 Soph Andy Brown from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Maurice Foster from Gretna (Helen Cox) LA, 6'3 Jr Brett Chance from Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL, 6'3 Jawon Long from Jackson (Liberty Tech) TN, 6'7 Kevin Foster from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'5 Jr Terrance Santil from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 5'5 Soph Ray Taylor from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6'0 Will Powers from Gainesville (P.K. Yonge) FL, 6'2 Idell Bell from Lakeland (Kathleen) FL, 6'4 Myck Brown from Gainesville (P.K. Yonge) FL, 6'5 Devon Jones from Jackson (Liberty Tech) TN, 6'5 Soph Rekeem Buckles from Miami (Monsignor Pace) FL, 6'6 Jr Dagoberto Pena from Punta Gordo (Charlotte) FL, 6'6 Tim Snyder from Punta Gordo (Charlotte) FL, 6'4 Jr Chris Stevenson from Punta Gordo (Charlotte) FL, 6'2 Sheldon Shine from Arcadia (De Soto) FL, 6'1 Jr Shay Shine from Arcadia (De Soto) FL, 6'0 Frosh Darius Shine from Arcadia (De Soto) FL, 6'2 Jr J.D. Woods from Naples (Golden Gate) FL, 5'10 Jamaal Bryant from Pittsburgh (Schenley) PA, 6'6 Josh Sain from Jackson (Liberty Tech) TN, and 6'5 Soph Ettian Effenberg from Ft. Myers (Bishop Verot) FL. 

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us 6'9 Mike Howlett from New Hampton (Prep) NH has verbally committed to Lehigh and the work on the street is that this is a major steal for the Mountain Hawks.  We're talking about a guy who averaged 20.1 ppg and 17.0 rpg as a high school senior this past season at Danvers (St. Johns Prep) MA and has good post moves, excellent footwork, and the ability to step out and hit the 15-20-foot shot.  However, even more important is the fact that Howlett is probably the best player that Billy Taylor and his staff have landed during their four-and-half years at Lehigh.  Howlett also is exactly what they were looking for, as their top priority was to land quality inside player to complement for the four players - 6'0 Marquis Hall from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'6 Zahir Carrington from Philadelphia (Masterman) PA, 6'0 Matt Shamis from Northbrook (Glenbrook North) IL, and 6'5 Paul Beyer from Moline (H.S.) IL - that the Mountain Hawks landed a year ago.  And most of the credit on this one has to go to Lehigh assistant coach Bob Simmons, who is one of the hardest working and most astute up-and-coming young guys in the business.  Rubin also tells us that 6'2 Jimmer Fredette from Glen Falls (H.S.) NY has verbally committed to Brigham Young and 6'8 Jawaan Alston from Uniontown (Albert Gallatin) PA has verbally committed to Buffalo.  Alston needs strength, but he's still a good catch for the Bulls, because he's an athletic face-up four-man who scores and takes care of business on the boards.  Fredette, who apparently picked the Cougars over Siena, is an excellent 3-point shooter and, as a result, should be an excellent role player for the Cougars.  We also have confirmed that New Mexico State has landed a pair of verbal commitments from 6'4 Jahmar Young from Laurinburg (Institute) NC and 6'4 DeAngelo Jones from Seattle (Rainier Beach) WA.  The verbal commitment by Young is especially interesting, because he's a big time athlete and scoring machine who has drawn comparisons to players ranging from Juan Dixon to Ray Allen.  Young, who was one of the stars for the Cecil Kirk AAU program two years ago, is originally from Baltimore (DuBois) MD and attended prep school at Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, which means he's starting his 6th Year of high school this fall.  But that didn't stop New Mexico State assistant coach Chris Pompey, who not only is from the Washington, DC area, but also is one of the best recruiters in the business, from getting his man.  Young also should complement all of the transfers and recruits that Aggies head coach Reggie Theus and his staff have landed since the took over a-year-and-a-half ago.  If you will recall, 6'5 Jr Justin Hawkins sat out last season after transferring from Utah, 7'0 Jr Martin Iti sat out last season after transferring from Charlotte, 6'4 Jr Fred Peete sat out last season after transferring from Kansas State, 6'7 Jr Trei Steward sat out last season after transferring from Northern Colorado, 6'10 Hatila Passos from Dixie (JC) UT was one of the top junior college players in the nation last year, and 6'0 Jonathan Gibson from San Fernando (Calvary Christian) CA was one of the biggest sleepers in the 5th Year ranks a year ago.  In other words, Theus will add six new faces to a group that returns five of its top six players from a team that finished 16-14 overall and 10-6 in the Western Athletic Conference last year.  Our California Alan Utter tells us that we continue to get ripped on all the UCLA web sites, because 6'2 Jr Jerime Anderson from Anaheim (Canyon) CA verbally committed to UCLA last week.  However, I never said Anderson wouldn't end up going to UCLA.  I just said that he wasn't good enough to play at UCLA.  And I stand by the statement, as is evident by the fact that UCLA still appears to be in a position to recruit right over him, as they're still actively involved with 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA and 6'3 Jr Malcolm Lee from Riverside (J.W. North) CA.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that USC is suddenly #2 on the list, behind Connecticut and ahead of Arizona and Texas, of 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  If you will recall, Jennings is the #1-ranked junior in nation by the HOOP SCOOP, but somebody that UCLA appears to have had no interest in recruiting, despite the fact that he's a home grown kid and already is the next great point guard in high school basketball.  Or to look at it another way, if Jennings picks USC, it would be UCLA's worst nightmare, because then the Trojans would have clearly moved onto equal footing with the Bruins with regards to keeping the top local players at home.  But really this would just be the icing on the cake, as USC head coach Tim Floyd has already shown that he can keep the top players at home by landing 6'5 Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA and 6'5 Jr Malik Story from Lakewood (Artesia) CA and, according to our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis, the Trojans also appear to be in the driver's seat for 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA and 6'6 Justin Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA.  Speaking of the Holiday brothers, Trigonis also tells us that Justin has official visits scheduled for SMU, Washington, Arizona State, Texas Tech, and USC, but adds that it will likely "boil down to a two-horse race between the Huskies and the Trojans."  As for Jrue, "the biggest competition may not be UCLA, but his childhood favorite North Carolina whose coach Roy Williams was scheduled to pay a visit to Campbell Hall on Tuesday."  Also recently visiting USC on an unofficial visit was 6'5 Jr DeMar DeRozan from Compton (H.S.) CA.  So, if the Trojans get "Jennings, Jrue Holiday, DeRozan, and Story in the same recruiting class, people like Trigonis are already talking about how "it would be a monumental recruiting event and would dramatically change the basketball landscape and perception in Tinsletown."

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

It's two down and two to go now that we've published our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 500 Sophomores Nationally (Class of 2009).  If you will recall, we also published our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 600 Juniors Nationally (Class of 2008) on Friday, September 1st and within the next several weeks we also plan to publish our Post Summer Ranking of the Top Seniors Nationally (Class of 2007) and our Post Summer Ranking of the Top Freshmen Nationally (Class of 2010).  And I'm especially excited about the publication of our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 500 Sophomores Nationally (Class of 2009), because this class has all of the ingredients necessary to be one of the best classes in the 24-year period that I've been covering high school basketball and recruiting, right up there along with the Class of 1988 with Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, Billy Owens, Chris Jackson, Chris Mills, Malik Sealy, and Stanley Roberts, the Class of 1995 with Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Rob Mercer, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Robert Traylor, Vince Carter, and Paul Pierce, the Class of 2004 with Dwight Howard, Shaun Livingston, Josh Smith, Sebestian Telfair, Marvin Williams, Rudy Gay, and Al Jefferson, and perhaps the Class of 2006 with Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Brandan Wright, Chase Budinger, Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young, Darrell Arthur, and Derrick Caracter.  The Class of 2009 definitely has the star power necessary to be a great class with players like 6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'3 Soph Kenny Boynton from Pompano Beach (Ely) FL, 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'10 Soph DeMarcus Cousins from Birmingham (Erwin) AL, 6'10 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'7 Soph Karon Johnson from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, 6'0 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 6'9 Soph Stephan Van Trees from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD.  The Class of 2009 also tremendous depth, as there are at least 150 players in the class who we think you can make an argument for top 100 consideration nationally, and quality size, as it already features eight players -  6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'10 Soph DeMarcus Cousins from Birmingham (Erwin) AL, 6'10 Soph Derrick Favors from Atlanta (South Atlanta) GA, 6'9 Soph Stephan Van Trees from Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN, 6'9 Soph Travis Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Soph David Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Soph Gregory Echenique from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'11 Soph DaShonte Riley from Detroit (Cass Tech) MI - who are ranked among our top 30 players in the class and are 6'9 or bigger.  The Class of 2009 also features some outstanding points guards, like 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'0 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 6'4 Soph Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara (H.S.) CA, 5'11 Soph G.J. Vilarino from McKinney (H.S.) TX, 5'10 Soph Kendrick Robinson from San Antonio (Southwest) TX, 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, 6'0 Soph Peyton Silva from Seattle (Franklin) WA, and 6'2 Soph Marcus Jordan from Wilmette (Loyola Academy) IL.  Currently the highest ranked player in the class to have already made an early verbal commitment is 6'7 Soph Alex Oriakhi from Winchendon (School) MA, who picked the University of Connecticut a month ago.  However, we've also tracked another seven players - 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX to LSU, 6'7 Soph Jamal Coombs from Winchendon (School) MA to Connecticut, 6'8 Soph Kyle Hardrick from Lawton (Eisenhower) OK to Oklahoma, 6'8 Soph Brock Osweiller from Kalispell (Flathead) MT to Gonzaga, 5'10 Soph Cully Payne from Burlington (Central) IL to DePaul, 6'3 Soph Nick Witherill from Phoenix (Saquaro) AZ to Washington State, and 6'2 Soph Tajh Tate from Easley (H.S.) SC to Delaware State - who are already verbally committed to four-year college and universities a full 26 months in advance of when they can sign a binding National Letter-of-Intent.  We also think is interesting to point out this class is especially strong in place like California, Texas, New York, and New Jersey and, when you combine those last two states, one finds that they have a grand total of 16 players who ranked among our top 100 nationally, as 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'4 Soph Durand Scott from New York (Rice) NY, 6'9 Soph Gregory Echenique from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'6 Soph Mike Goodman from Syracuse (Christian Brothers) NY, 6'3 Soph Dominique Cheek from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, 6'0 Soph Tamir Jackson from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 5'9 Soph Lamont Jones from New York (Rice) NY, 6'1 Soph Oscar Graham from Bronx (All Hallows) NY, 6'5 Soph Paris Bennett from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, 6'3 Soph Keith Spellman from Brooklyn (Jefferson) NY, 6'3 Soph Leonard Hayes from Lawrenceville (Prep) NJ, 6'3 Soph Omar Lawrence from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, 6'8 Soph James Padgett from Brooklyn (Xaverian) NY, 6'5 Soph Kevin Parrom from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and 6'4 Soph Sherrod Wright from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY.  And California has 14 players - 6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney from Lakewood (Artesia) CA, 6'4 Soph Roberto Nelson from Santa Barbara (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Soph Travis Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'9 Soph David Wear from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'6 Soph Jerry Brown from San Francisco (Sacred Heart) CA, 6'7 Soph Jordan Hamilton from Los Angeles (Dorsey) CA, 6'7 Soph Joe Burton from Hemet (West Valley) CA, 6'4 Soph Rome Draper from Etiwanda (H.S.) CA, 6'7 Soph Aaron Moore from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'9 Soph Chris Cunningham from Diamond Bar (Diamond Ranch) CA, 6'1 Soph Xavier Thames from Sacramento (Pleasant Valley) CA, 6'3 Soph Justin Hawkins from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA, 6'8 Soph Brendan Lane from Rocklin (H.S.) CA, and 6'6 Soph Reeves Nelson from Modesto (Christian) CA - all by itself ranked among our top 100 sophomores nationally.  Texas also is good at the top, as 6'0 Soph Junior Cadougan from Humble (Christian Life) TX, 6'6 Soph Shawn Williams from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 5'11 Soph G.J. Vilarino from McKinney (H.S.) TX, 5'10 Soph Kendrick Robinson from San Antonio (Southwest) TX, 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, and 6'4 Soph Roger Franklin from Duncanville (H.S.) TX all are ranked among our top 33 sophomores nationally.  But the Lone Star state doesn't have the depth in this class that it has in other classes and the same can also be said about the entire Midwest, as this is an average year at best in places like Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan.  However, per capita this is an excellent year in states like Oklahoma with 6'6 Soph Xavier Henry from Oklahoma City (Putnam City) OK, 6'4 Soph Terrance Boyd from Norman (H.S.) OK, 6'9 Soph Daniel Orton from Oklahoma City (McGuiness) OK, and 6'8 Soph Kyle Hardrick from Lawton (Eisenhower) OK; Tennessee with  6'5 Soph Leslie McDonald from Memphis (Briarcrest) TN, 6'1 Soph Gentry Hines from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, 6'7 Soph Ferrakoln Hall from Memphis (University School) TN, and 5'9 Soph Taverus Jefferson from Nashville (Ensworth) TN; and Alabama with 6'10 Soph DeMarcus Cousins from Birmingham (Erwin) AL, 6'8 Soph Christian Watford from Trussville (Hewitt Trussville) AL, and 6'2 Soph Shawn Reed from Birmingham (Hoover) AL, as those three states alone account for 11 of our top 100-ranked sophomores.   To find out where all of these players are ranked, click onto Post Summer Ranking of the Top 500 Sophomores Nationally (Class of 2009).

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

One of the many things that separates the HOOP SCOOP apart from the competition is the fact that we are good at discovering and giving up-and-coming people a chance to get started in the business.  Obviously the current HOOP SCOOP staff, which includes our Georgia Editor Linzy Davis, New England Editor Adam Finkelstein, Ohio & International Editor Chris Johnson, Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson, Alabama Editor Mark Komara, Washington, DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia Editor Dennis Marshall, Texas Editor Tim Miller, New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, Georgia Editor Horace Neysmith, Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman, Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin, Canadian Editor Ro Russell, Florida Editor Rick Staudt, Middle School Editor Patrick Stanwood, West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis, California Editor Alan Utter, and Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead, is second to none.  However, the list of people who started with the HOOP SCOOP, but who have gone on to do other things in the business is also pretty impressive, as Steve Bell is the publisher of "The Bank," which is a Michigan based web site; Dave Benezra was the publisher of Recruiting USA; Norm Eavenson still works for Bob Gibbons and All-Star Sports; Adam Gorney has gone onto write for New York Newsday and Rivals.com; Wes Grandstaff, who used to be our Texas Editor and is still a good friend of the HOOP SCOOP, continues to run one of the top club team programs in the nation in Team Texas; Jim Kasberg is out of the business, but was the foremost authority on high school basketball in Indiana for about 15 years; Roy and Harv Schmidt now have the Illinois Bulls-eye Report; Greg Swaim now has his own radio show in Oklahoma; and Rich Watter wrote for Eastern Basketball for many years.  So it comes as no surprise that Dennis Marshall is about to take things to another level in the Washington, DC area with his new DCMetroHoops.net web site, which is patterned after the HOOP SCOOP Online with his player rankings and sections that includes Hot News, College Commitments, Summer Leagues, Power Rankings, Links of Interest, Player Interviews, and Coaches Interviews.  In other words, if Marshall, who is one of the premier basketball fans in the DC area, as well as the father of 6'0 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, isn't already the foremost authority on high school basketball in and around the nation's capital, he will be.  What we especially like about Marshall are his enthusiasm, knowledge of the game, and objectivity.  So obviously we want to encourage you to become one of the first people to go to his DCMetroHoops.net web site, which was officially launched yesterday.  Especially interesting for our purposes are his player rankings, which include the top players in each class.  And right the top of the list of players in the Class of 2007 is 6'8 Michael Beasley from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, which means Marshall plans to continue to track area players when they move to other places or go to the prep school route.  Obviously you can get the complete list of players in each class by clicking onto DCMetroHoops.net, but a quick look at Marshall's lists really illustrates just how good basketball is in the Washington, DC/Maryland/Northern Virginia area.  His list of the Top 15 Seniors includes 1) 6'8 Michael Beasley from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 2) 6'5 Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 3) 6'3 Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 4) 6'0 Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, 5) 6'8 John Flowers from Leonardtown (St. Mary's Ryken) MD, 6) 6'9 Julian Vaughn from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA; 7) 6'9 Gus Gilchrist from Hyattsville (Progressive Christian) MD, 8) 6'7 Darnell Dobson from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, 9) 5'11 Chris Tolson from Laurel (H.S.) MD, 10) 6'10 Vlad Moldoveanu from Washington (St. John's) DC, 11) 6'9 Shane Walker from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 12) 7'0 Anthony McClain from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD, 13) 6'2 Adrian Bowie from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 14) 6'8 Jerai Grant from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, and 15) 6'9 Calvin Mainor from Farifax (Paul VI) VA.  His list of the Top 10 Juniors includes 1) 6'8 Jr Chris Braswell from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 2) 6'8 Jr Roscoe Davis from Upper Marlboro (Wise) MD, 3) 6'2 Jr Jason Clark from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 4) 5'11 Jr James Stewart from Ft. Washington (Friendly) MD, 5) 6'5 Jr Cameron Johnson from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, 6) 6'2 Jr Jasper Williams from Hyattsville (Progressive Christian) MD, 7) 6'5 Jr Maurice Hubbard from Chantilly (Westfield) VA, 8) 6'2 Jr Garvey Young from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 9) 6'4 Jr Max Kenyi from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, and 10) 6'7 Jr Wilbur O'Neal from Ft. Washington (National Christian) MD.  His list of the Top Eight Sophomores includes 1) 6'6 Soph Terrell Vinson from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 2) 6'4 Soph Javorn Farrell from Alexandria (Bishop Ireton) VA, 3) 6'6 Soph Tristan Spurlock from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 4) 6'3 Soph Rodney McGruder from Washington (Archbishop Carroll) DC, 5) 6'8 Soph Isaiah Armwood from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6) 5'11 Soph Chad Wilson from Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD, 7) 6'2 Soph Trask Ivey from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, and 8) 6'2 Soph Elijah Gore from Potomac (Bullis School) MD.  His list of the Top Five Freshmen includes 1) 6'0 Frosh Kendall Marshall from Arlington (Bishop O'Connell) VA, 1) 5'9 Frosh Daryl Traynham from Upper Marlboro (Wise) MD, 3) 6'0 Frosh Markel Starks from North Bethesda (Georgetown Prep) MD, 4) 6'0 Frosh Tyler Thornton from Washington (Gonzaga) DC, and 5) 5'11 Frosh Elijah Matthews from Leonardtown (St. Mary's Ryken) MD. 

Saturday, September 9, 2006, Sunday, September 10, 2006, & Monday, September 11, 2006

Over the weekend Oregon State received a verbal commitment from 6'10 Ijila Mulutinovic from Worcester (Academy) MA via Belgrade, Serbia and this is very interesting for a number of reasons.  First, we're talking about a well-built extremely skilled offensive player who has a lot of similarities to 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR.  Obviously Mulutinovic isn't nearly as good as Singler, but offensively he's a legitimate wing forward who has good ball handling and passing skills for his size, can step out and shoot the three, and can also beat you with his mid-range game and ability to score inside.  Second, we were intrigued by Mulutinovic's long arms and potential a year ago when we saw him at the Reebok ABCD Camp and those who have seen him more recently tell us that Mulutinovic has dramatically improved since then.  In other words, we're talking about a borderline top 100 senior right now and the sky may be the limit, especially if Mulutinovic grows and another inch or two and gets bigger and stronger physically (he's 240 pounds, but has never lifted a weight in his life).  Third, Mulutinovic is ideally suited to step in and complement 6'10 Jr Sasa Cuic, and 6'9 Jr Kyle Jeffers a year from now on the front-line and eventually, along with 6'5 Frosh Seth Tarver and 6'3 Frosh Josh Tarver,  will be one of the key guys they build the program around.  Fourth, Mulutinovic appears the type of unheralded player that Beavers head coach Jay John and his staff have been very successful recruiting and then transforming into a key piece to the puzzle.  Fifth, the addition of Mulutinovic moves Oregon State's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'1 Calvin Haynes from South Kent (Prep) CT, into a tie at #41, along with Virginia Commonwealth, Marquette, Wisconsin, Mississippi State, and Dayton, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  Sixth, getting Mulutinovic will give the Beavers an important link not only internationally, but also into the prep school ranks, as they continue to live up to their reputation of being able to find the player who is under the radar screen, but can help you win at the big time college level.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that 6'2 Martavis Kee from Ft. Lauderdale (St. Thomas Aquinas) FL, who is ranked #228 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, has made it official for Temple.  And Rubin thinks this is a major steal for the Owls, because Kee is capable of playing either guard spot, as he can shoot the three, has a good mid-range game, and has the ball handling and passing skills and feel for the game necessary to run a team.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that Temple assistant coach Dave Duke, who is one of the hardest working guys and most astute evaluators of talent in the business, had already recruited a player from the same high school program a year ago when he was still at Pennsylvania and, as a result, all the ground work had already been laid for him to walk in and get this one done early.  Rubin also tells us that George Washington had landed 6'2 Miles Beatty from Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ and this is a good catch for the Colonials, because Beatty is one of the better 3-point shooters nationally in the senior class and he hails from one of the best high school programs in the nation.  The addition of Beatty also is important, because once again it looks like the Colonials have taken advantage of Associate Head Coach Roland Houston's strong Northeast ties.  Remember, Houston, who has a reputation for being one of the best big man coaches in the game today, is originally from Philadelphia (Martin Luther King) PA, attended college at the University of Rhode Island, and was an assistant coach at La Salle before joining the staff at GW several years ago.  We also find it interesting that Charlotte has landed 6'7 Gaby Ngoundjo from Little Rock (Christian) AR.  Not only does this native of Cameroon have a 7'3 wing span and is an excellent rebounder, but he should provide the toughness and upside that the 49ers are looking for to complement 6'7 An'Juan Wilderness from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC and 6'6 Kenyan Harmon from Lenoir (The Patterson School) NC in this year's recruiting class.  Or to look at it another way, UNCC is loading up with athletic forwards who can do a variety of different things.  And, if they really hit the jackpot and land 6'9 Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, then their recruiting class, which now is tied at #26, along with Miami-FL and Virginia Tech, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007, would not only be the best in the league, but it also would move up to #11 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.   Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that VMI has landed 7'0 Stephen Sargent from Fayetteville (Whitewater) NC, 6'7 Travis Mosley from Austin (Lake Travis) TX, 6'7 Quinn Brumfield from Austin (Anderson) TX, and 6'2 Christian Hunter from Bainbridge Township (Kenston) OH.  While none of these players are big name high profile players, Sargent is ranked #781 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and he's grown three inches in the last year to become 7-feet tall.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'9 Bryan Bouchie from Washington (H.S.) IN has verbally committed to Valparaiso and this should more than make up the fact that the Crusaders lost 6'8 Robbie Hummel from Valparaiso (H.S.) IN and 6'8 Scott Martin from Valparaiso (H.S.) IN to Purdue in July.  If you will recall, Bouchie, who is the son of former Indiana Mr. Basketball and Indiana University star Steve Bouchie, is ranked #181 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and, just like his father, is extremely skilled at the offensive end.  Our Texas Editor Tim Miller tells us that 5'11 John Roberson from Plano (H.S.) TX has verbally committed to Texas Tech and this is big for Red Raiders for a number of reasons.  First Roberson is ranked #64 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and #4 in the state by Miller, which means he's one of the best players that Bob Knight has landed during his five-and-a-half years at Texas Tech.  Second, Roberson has jet-like speed and quickness and his decision-making is dramatically improved, which means he should be able to step in right away next year and replace 6'1 Sr Jarrius Jackson, who will graduate next spring.  Third, Roberson is a winner, as is evident by the fact that he led Winter Park (Lake Howell) FL to two final four appearances when he was a freshman and sophomore in the Florida and Plano (H.S.) TX to a state championship six month ago in Texas.  Fourth, getting one of the top players in-state players is big for the Red Raiders, because, up until now, Knight has not had the same type of success of keeping the local folks at home that he did when he was at Indiana.  Fifth, Roberson should provide the perfect complement to all of the good players that Texas Tech landed in last year's recruiting class, which was ranked #9 in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2006 and included 6'1 Charlie Burgess from Howard (JC) TX, 7'0 Esmir Rizvic from Gulf Coast (JC) FL, 6'6 Rodgrick Craig from San Jose (JC) CA, 6'8 Jay Mitchell from Gulf Coast (JC) FL, 6'4 Darryl Ashford from Cypress Falls (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Decensae White from San Mateo (Serra) CA, 5'7 B.J. Valentine from Howard (JC) TX, and 6'9 Michael Goodwin from Rowlett (H.S.) TX.  We also find it interesting just how volatile a number of the top players have been this year with regards to where they are going to high school or prep school right up until the final hour.  The latest two being 6'9 Soph Renardo Sidney, who was supposed to have been going to Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, but at the last minute decided to remain at Lakewood (Artesia) CA, and 6'8 Michael Beasley, who was supposed to be going to Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, but now has ended up Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA. 

Friday, September 8, 2006

It looks like our Middle School Editor Patrick Stanwood was right on the money with regards to 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX being close to making a verbal commitment to LSU, as he made it official for the Tigers earlier today.  Mason-Griffin not only is following the footsteps of 5'10 Sr Tack Minor, who also played in the Houston Hoops club team program, but he's similar to Minor in a lot of ways.  We're talking about a well built, but undersized point guard with the excellent speed and quickness, good ball handling and passing skills, and prolific scoring ability from both inside and outside.  And, as an added bonus, Mason-Griffin also is a great kid and did a great job playing up and accepting his role this summer.  However, that's all the breaking news that we have on a slow Friday in early September.  So, instead, we'll turn our focus onto our End of the Summer Awards, which are just one more thing that separates the HOOP SCOOP from the rest of our competition.  We begin with our Player of the Summer Award, which goes to 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, who not only was our #1-ranked player at the adidas Superstar Camp, but also led his team to the championship of the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, SC and a runner-up finish at the Reebok Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.  So obviously Gordon crossed all of the shoe company lines and, in the process, put up prolific numbers, while, at the same time, not doing so at the expense of his teammates.  Our Runner-up Player of the Summer Award goes to 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, who not only was the leading scorer and the leading rebounder at the Reebok ABCD Camp, but also led the Southern Cal All-Stars to the championship of the Reebok Big Time Tournament and an undefeated season when he was in the line-up all spring and summer.  Love also was our #1-ranked player at the Reebok ABCD Camp and he gets both the award for Best Rebounder of the Summer and the Sportsmanship Award, as he's like a white Wes Unseld with his incredible rebounding and outlet passing ability and the fact that he's both a great kid and a tremendous student of the game.  Our #1-ranked player at the NIKE All-American Camp was 6'8 Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, who also wins our award for Best Individual Performance of the Summer for the way he dominated that camp from start to finish.  As a matter of fact, Green's performance at the NIKE All-American Camp was so spectacular that it will be remembered as one of the all-time great camp performances in the 24-years that we've been attending the superstar oriented shoe-company camps.  The Best Shot Blocker of the Summer was 7'1 Solomon Alabi from Montverde (Academy) FL and, he wins this award, despite the fact that he was missing in action for the rest of the summer after the NIKE All-American Camp due to the fact that he was playing for the Nigerian National Team.  The Best Playmaker of the Summer and the Best Prospect Award, which goes to the player with the most potential regardless of class and position, goes to 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  And what sealed the deal for him was the fact that he had an incredible 15 assists last weekend in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic, while playing against most of the top players in the nation.  The Best Dunker of the Summer has to be 6'6 Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH and the Best Athlete of the Summer is 6'6 Chris Wright from Trotwood (Trotwood-Madison) OH.  The Best 3-Point Shooter of the Summer was 6'5 Jr Rotnei Clarke from Claremore (Verdigris) OK and the Best Pure Shooter of the Summer was 6'4 Blake Hoffarber from Minnetonka (Hopkins) MN, who hit 58.8% from beyond the arc at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  The Top Gun Award, which goes to the player who is most likely to shoot it and least likely to give it back when you pass it to him, goes to 6'10 Anthony Randolph from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX.  The Most Improved Player and one of our favorite players in the class, along with Love, Jennings, and 6'3 Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, has to be 7'0 Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN.  In other words, all the hard work that Aldrich, who was slowed by an injury all spring, put in since we saw him at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on Memorial Day Weekend, where he was mediocre at best, has paid off big dividends for this power inside player who now once again has our vote for the McDonald's All-American Game.  The Biggest Flake of the Summer was 6'8 Herb Pope from Aliquippa (H.S.) PA.  Not only did Pope blow off attending the NIKE All-American Camp, but he also was sent home by his coaches after playing only one day at the 17-Under AAU Nationals.  The Slasher of the Summer, as well as one of the candidates for Player-of-the-Summer, was 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL.  The Best Defensive Player of the Summer was 5'8 Malik Boothe from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, which is just one of the many reasons why this undersized jet quick-like point guard is the player that everybody in New York City does not want to have to play against.  The Biggest Disappointment of the Summer was 6'6 Marshall Moses from Greensboro (Forest Hills) NC.  And this one wasn't even close, as Moses was ranked #60 nationally when we published our Pre-Summer Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2006 on June 20th, but was never even mentioned as a candidate for the list of the top players at his position at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  The Most Overrated Player of the Summer was 6’9 Frosh Jeremy Tyler from San Diego (Eastlake) CA.  Yes, that's the same guy who everybody was telling us the best freshman in the nation, but managed to score only four points in the quarterfinals and two points in the semi-finals of the 14-Under AAU Nationals.  The Sleeper of the Summer is 6'9 Eli Holman from Richmond (H.S.) CA, who prior to the start of the summer was ranked #234 nationally in the Class of 2006 by the HOOP SCOOP, but finished ranked #14 overall and #4 at the center position at the Reebok ABCD Camp.  The Surprise of the Summer was 6'8 Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC.  If you will recall, this is a player that we've been watching for years, but finally decided to wake up and play the way he did when we originally saw him lead his team to the 14-Under Nationals as a rising freshman four years ago.  The Team of the Summer was the Southern Cal All-Stars and the Coach of the Summer was Kimani Young, whose S. Carter Team knocked off the Orlando Dream Team, California Supreme, and Team TG Adidas en route to the championship of the 14-Under Nationals.  The Most Visible College Head Coach of the Summer was LSU head coach John Brady, who obviously is not content with only one NCAA Final Four appearance and, as a result, did a great job laying the groundwork for the future.  The Most Visible Assistant Coach of the Summer was Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner, who not only was out every day he could be this summer, but always is one of the hardest working guys in the business. 

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Bucknell has landed 6'10 Todd O'Brien from New Holland (Garden Spot) PA and 6'0 Darryl Shazier from Newport News (Menchville) VA and, in both cases, we think the Bison have a steal.  Shazier was the most consistent player the Boo Williams' 16-Under team during the spring and summer, as he impressed people with his speed and quickness, outside shooting, and leadership qualities.  O'Brien, who is ranked #215 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, is excellent in the high post, has a good mid-range game, runs the court well, and is a good rebounder.  The addition of Shazier and O'Brien also give Bucknell the best recruiting class to-date in the Patriot League, but, even more important, their addition should ensure that the Bison will be one the better teams in the Patriot League for years to come.  If you will recall, Bucknell has totally dominated the league the last two years with an incredible 24-4 conference record, but two of their top three players graduated last spring and four of their top six players will graduate after the current season, which means that O'Brien and Shazier will be called upon to walk in and replace 6'11 Sr Chris McNaughton at center and 6'0 Sr Abe Badmus at point guard a year from now.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson has confirmed that 6'9 Gary McGhee from Anderson (Highland) IN has verbally committed to the the University of Pittsburgh and 6'5 Jake Kelly from Carmel (H.S.) IN has verbally committed to the University of Iowa .  Kelly, who was ranked #12 at the 2-guard spot by the HOOP SCOOP at the adidas Superstar Camp, is still somewhat of a sleeper nationally.  However, once he gets bigger and stronger physically (currently he only weighs 170 lbs.), Kelly will probably end up being an excellent college player, as he is a great 3-point shooter, excellent ball handler and passer, and terrific dribbler.  As a matter of fact, we suspect that Hawkeyes associate coach Craig Neal, who himself was long lanky point guard in college at Georgia Tech, probably sees some of himself in Kelly, who, at 6'5, not only can play point guard, but has an excellent flair with the ball and might be too unselfish for his own good.  McGhee is currently ranked #107 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he is a physical specimen and, as a result, potentially could develop into the next Aaron Gray, if he works hard and becomes more aggressive inside.  The addition of McGhee moves Pittsburgh's recruiting class, which also already includes 6'3 Bradley Wanamaker from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA and 6'7 Darnell Dobson from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, up to #28 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  But, if the Panthers also get 6'0 Chris Wright from Washington (St. John's) DC, then we'd be talking about a recruiting class that would be ranked #11 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and suddenly the Panthers would have a little of everything in this year's recruiting class.  Johnson also reminds us that four players - 6'8 Jr Delvon Roe from Lakewood (St. Edwards) OH, 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates from Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 6'5 Jr William Buford from Toledo (Libbey) OH, and 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH - from the Buckeye State are ranked among our top 25 juniors nationally in our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 600 Juniors Nationally (Class of 2008) and he provides us with an update on their recruiting.  Mullens is already verbally committed to Ohio State and the Buckeyes also are believed to be the favorite over Michigan and Michigan State for Buford, who took an unofficial visit last weekend to Columbus, OH.  Our guess is that Cincinnati will be tough to beat for Gates, but Ohio State, Xavier, Michigan, Louisville, Indiana, and Florida are also still being mentioned.  Roe has already made visits to Michigan and Michigan State and he has visits scheduled to Ohio State and North Carolina in the near future, but his list also still includes schools like Louisville, Indiana, Miami-FL, Florida, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Illinois, and Kansas.  Our Middle School Editor Patrick Stanwood called today to tell us that he thinks LSU may be close to getting an extremely early verbal commitment from 5'10 Soph Tommy Mason-Griffin from Houston (Madison) TX, who is ranked #25 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.  And, if this happens, it's too bad that Griffin isn't a couple of years older, because he's good enough right now to step in and make an immediate impact.  Remember, Griffin was the ideal role player this past spring and summer for the Houston Hoops, as he complemented 5'8 Jai Lucas from Houston (Bellaire) TX in the backcourt with his ball handling and passing skills and more than keep defenses honest with his excellent 3-point shooting.  We also find the article by Gary Parrish quoting Sonny Vaccaro about the future of the shoe business and his relationship with the Pumps very interesting.  You can read it by clicking onto http://www.cbssportline.com/collegebasketball/story/9642507.  We also have confirmed that UCLA has gotten an early verbal commitment from 6'2 Jr Jerime Anderson from Anaheim (Canyon) CA, who is ranked #127 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP and is the pure point guard that the Bruins coveted in the Class of 2008.  Apparently Anderson, who is great in a system and has a knack for making those around him better, was the first of all the good point guard in Southern California loaded junior class to say yes to the Bruins.  So now the UCLA coaching staff can focus all of its attention on landing 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, who is their prime recruiting target in the senior class, and 6'8 Jr Drew Gordon from San Jose (Archbishop Mitty) CA, 6'8 Jr Luke Babbitt from Reno (Galena) NV, 6'3 Jr Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood (Campbell Hall) CA, 6'4 Jr Malcolm Lee from Riverside (J.W. North) CA, and 6'4 Jr Elston Turner from Roseville (H.S.) CA, who are now at the top of their list in the junior class.  In other words, they'd like to land an inside player and somebody who can play both guard spots with their final two scholarships for the Class of 2008. 

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

It's amazing how slow things are right now in terms of verbal commitments and from a recruiting standpoint, so now seems like the perfect time provide you with a sneak preview of our Ranking of the Top 5th Year Players for the Class of 2007, which by definition includes players who are in their 9th Semester or more of high school.  And, while this list provides a great reflection of what we currently know and have been able to track with regards to where players are supposed to end this fall, it also is likely to change dramatically as time goes on and we continue to add new players to the list.  As a matter of fact, Eric Jaklitsch, who is the coach of the New York Elite club team program and is an assistant coach at Centereach (Our Savior New American) NY, provided us with some great insight and corrections with regards to where certain players have surfaced right before we published this list earlier today.  And we'd also like to hear from you via email to hoopscooponline@msn.com, because, unlike our national lists for the top high school players, this is an ongoing list that will changed on an on-going basis and new information becomes available.  As for the our current list, 6'8 Michael Beasley from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA does not qualify for the list.  If you will recall, Beasley was an 8th Grader twice, then skipped his freshman year and was a sophomore at Riverdale Baptist) MD two years ago and was a junior at Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA this past season.  Instead, the #1-ranked player on the list is 6'6 Billy Walker from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH, who, if he were still a high school senior, would be ranked among the top nine players in the class, along with 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR, 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Huntington (H.S.) WV, 6'8 Michael Beasley from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN, 6'8 Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, 6'3 Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, and 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL.  And 6'8 Alex Tyus from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH was ranked #13 in our Pre-Summer Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2007 and 6'10 Mamadou Diarra from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA was ranked #25 in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2006, which means that three of the top four players on our list are good enough to be ranked among the top 25 seniors nationally, if we combined the two groups.  And, based on the way 6'8 Tracy Smith from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC played this past summer, he too would belong in this elite group.  We also find when we dig a little deeper that 6'7 Jeff Allen from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, 6'6 Jermaine Peterson from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'5 Zach Payton from Laurinburg (Institute) NC, 6'1 Malcolm Grant from Winchendon (School) MA, and 6'7 Darrington Hobson from Decatur (Christian) IL are good enough to be ranked in the 30-70 range nationally in the senior class and 6'4 P. Allen Stinnett from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) MA, 6'4 Thomas Manzano from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA, 6'6 Kenyan Harmon from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, 6'8 Kodi Augustus from Lee (Academy) ME, 6'5 Terrence Rodrick from Philadelphia (Rise Academy) PA, 6'6 Tirrell Baines from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, 6'5 Earl Pettis from Lenoir (Patterson School) NC, and 6'8 Justin Burrell from North Bridgton (Bridgton Academy) ME all would be the equivalent of a top 100 senior nationally.  In other words, once again the prep school ranks promise to be loaded, as already there are 17 players who will be worth four points or more when they commit to a four-year Division I college or university.  And just about everybody on this list will be worth three points on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  Our Ranking of the Top 5th Year Players for the Class of 2007 also should provide the perfect complement to our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 600 Juniors Nationally (Class of 2008), which was published on September 1st, and our Ranking of the Top Seniors Nationally (Class of 2007), Ranking of the Top Sophomores Nationally (Class of 2009), and Ranking of the Top Freshmen Nationally (Class of 2010), all of which will be published within the next month.  And, if that weren't enough, we also plan to publish updated rankings of the top 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders (Class of 2013, Class of 2012, and Class of 2011) later this fall, as well as keep track of all the verbal commitments and recruiting that is sure to take place between now and the beginning of the Fall Signing Period, which will begin on Wednesday, November 8th.  So obviously you will want to stay tuned! 

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Our Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia Editor Dennis Marshall tells us that 6'8 Jeri Grant from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD has verbally committed to Clemson and 6'3 Malcolm Delaney from Towson (Catholic) MD has verbally committed to Virginia Tech.  Delaney was somewhat of a disappointment when we saw him this spring and summer, but we still like his athleticism, upside, and versatility, as he has the ability to play either guard spot, thanks to his excellent feel for the game and long range 3-point shooting ability.  So this makes him ideally suited to step in and year from now and provide depth in the backcourt behind 6'0 Nigel Munson from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD and 6'3 Tyrone Appleton from Cincinnati (Harmony Christian) OH, who we suspect will take over at the guards spots when 6'3 Sr Zabian Dowdell and 6'3 Sr Jamont Gordon both graduate a year from now.  Speaking of the Hokies' 2006 recruiting class, 6'8 Lewis Witcher from Rocky Mount (Franklin County) VA also will enroll this fall.  However, they will have to wait until next year at this time to get 6'7 Jeff Allen, who is not at Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that with Allen now being included as part of Virginia Tech's 2007 recruiting class and Delaney and 6'9 Augustus Gilchrist also in thefold, their current recruiting class is now tied at #26, along with with Miami-FL, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  And making the story even more interesting is the fact that it also looks like Greensberg's original goal of recruiting strong in the Washington, DC/Maryland areas has paid big dividends, as Munson, Allen, and Gilchrist are all from the Washington, DC area and Delaney is from the Baltimore area.  The commitment by Grant is also interesting for a number of reasons.  First, Grant is a long lanky athletic with a huge upside, which is why he's ranked #92 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Second, Grant plays for the one of the best high school coaches in the nation in Mike Jones in one of the best programs in the nation in Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD.  And really this is the best place to judge Grant, because Jones knows how to take advantage of Grant's shot blocking and rebounding ability and hide his lack of strength and polish at the offensive end.  Third, if Grant were a race horse, they'd be able to sell him for a lot of money at Keeneland, because his father is former NBA star Harvey Grant.  Fourth, it looks like Grant is following in his father's footsteps.  If you will recall, the older Grant played his first two college season at Clemson before going the junior college route for a year and then spending his final two years in college at the University of Oklahoma.  Fifth, the addition of Grant gives the Tigers four good players in this year's recruiting class, which now is ranked #15 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007 and also includes 6'9 Laron Dendy from Bradenton (Pendleton School) Fl, 6'2 Terrence Oglesby from Cleveland (Bradley-Central) TN, and 6'2 Demontez Stitt from Matthews (Butler) NC.  Remember, Dendy is one of the best pure athletes in the senior class nationally, Oglesby is second to none as a 3-point shooter, and Stitt is one of the biggest sleepers to have emerged over the spring and summer.  Our Tennessee Correspondent Andre Whitehead tells us that 6'0 Maurice Miller from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN has verbally committed to Georgia Tech, which means the Yellow Jacks have landed an ideal complement to all of the good young guards, like 6'3 Soph Lewis Clinch and 6'5 Frosh Javaris Crittenton, that they already have in the program.  And the fact that Miller is a pure point guard and Crittenton is multi-dimensional enough and athletic enough to play three different positions should give Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt the luxury of being able to play all three of these players together a year from now.  And when you also add 6'8 Frosh Thaddeus Young, who was a consensus top 10-ranked high school player a year ago, and 6'8 Gani Lawal from Norcross (H.S.) GA, who is a legitimate top 20-ranked high school senior this year, into the equation, it's easy to see why we think Miller will be the glue that holds all of these players together, as Hewitt attempts to make another run at the NCAA Final Four in a year or two.  We also think it's important to point out that suddenly the Memphis area has become an excellent recruiting ground for Georgia Tech, as they also landed Young out of Memphis (Mitchell) TN a year ago.  Our California Alan Utter tells us that 6'11 Clinton Chapman from Camby (H.S.) OR has verbally committed to the University of Texas and this too is very interesting, because we're talking about one of the fastest rising players in the nation.  And, if you don't believe it, just check out where we had this guy ranked (#571) on June 20th, which was when we published our Pre-Summer Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2007.  However, he impressed us at the NBA Players Association Camp in late June and finished ranked among the top 20 in scoring with 20.0 ppg, top 15 in rebounding with 6.7 rpg, and top two in blocks with 3.7 bpg at the Reebok Big Time Tournament.  So it's easy to see why we think he belongs in the 40-70 range nationally and why the Longhorns would try and steal him away from all the Pacific-10 schools that have been recruiting him the longest and the hardest.  And Chapman isn't the only inside player that the Longhorns have in this year's recruiting class.  If you will recall, they also already have 6'7 Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX and 6'8 Alexis Wangmene from San Antonio (Central Catholic) TX in the fold and, as a result, their recruiting class is now tied at #16, along with Georgia Tech, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  We also think it is interesting to point out that the Longhorns did the same thing a year ago when they 6'10 Matt Hill from Lincoln (Southeast) TX, who was one of the biggest sleepers in the nation a year ago until he blew up at the Reebok Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.  Texas also landed 6'10 Dexter Pittman from Rosenberg (Terry) TX in last year's recruiting class, which means they have a plethora of good young inside players in the program.  They also have some great perimeter players and guards, as last year's recruiting class also included 6'10 Kevin Durant from Rockville (Montrose Christian) MD, 6'0 D.J. Augustine from Sugar Land (Hightower) TX, 6'8 Damion James from Nacogdoches (H.S.) TX, 6'2 Justin Mason from Amarillo (Pal Duro) TX, and 6'3 Harrison Smith from Houston (Jones) TX.  We've been hearing for some time now that 6'5 Daniel Hackett from Bellflower (St. John Bosco) CA would forego his senior year of high school and enroll early at USC in order to help solve their point guard problems for the upcoming season.  And now Utter is confirming it, along with the fact that 6'8 Taj Gibson from San Fernando (Calvary Christian) CA has been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse to play this coming season for the Trojans.  Obviously this is good news for USC, which didn't have anybody even resembling a point guard in the program before the arrival of Hackett, who will not count towards USC's 13-player scholarship limit, because his father is the strength coach for the Trojans and, as a result, the younger Hackett gets his tuition paid for for free.  However, the early arrival by Hackett also means that their recruiting class, which still includes 6'1 Biko Paris from Cypress (Community Christian) TX and 6'4 Quentin Watkins from Compton (Dominguez) CA, drops into a tie at #49, along with Northwestern, Seton Hall, Florida Atlantic, Massachusetts, and Iowa, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.

Monday, September 4, 2006

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio coached the Skip to My Lou Squad at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic on Friday evening at Rucker Park and here are some of his comments and observations about the players on his team and the players that he coached against.  Naclerio's favorite player was 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR due to his effervescence and love for everything he was involved with.  Not only is Love a great player, but he also is a tremendous student of the game, as was evident  by the fact that he knew all about the history of Rucker Park long before he got there.  "I'm also starting to see what all the fuss HOOP SCOOP Editor & Publisher Clark Francis is making about Brandon Jennings" said Naclerio.  The 6'1 point guard who will be attending Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA has blazing speed, quickness, jumping ability, and willingness to make his teammates better and that was a big reason why the game turned out so well.  Jennings also impressed Naclerio with his work ethic and dedication to the game, as he was the only player from either team to get up and put in a two-hour work-out the next morning at the New York Athletic Club.  Naclerio also was very impressed with 6'9 James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, who was the leading scorer in the game with 34 points.  Not only does Hickson have super toughness and aggressiveness, but, "when he gets the ball in the post, the defense is toast, as he has all the shake-and-bake and slim-and-slime moves necessary to be a high prolific scorer."  Another one of the better players on the Goat Squad was 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, who is ranked #3 nationally in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP, but doesn't have all the pressure and insanity that 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY, who is one of the two players in the class ranked ahead of him, has to put up with being in New York City.  In addition to being a very nice kid and super talent, Strickland lets the game to him and wasn't intimidated by playing against players several years older than him.  And, of course, there was 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, who "comes from a suburban area, but had a major urban New York City flair."  Naclerio adds, "Singler also has a great combination of outside shot, quickness to the rim, and personality, which should make him a joy for whatever college coach that is lucky enough to land him."  6'9 Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD was a major disappointment, as he grabbed only one rebound, had only two points in the second half, and seemed to be pressing more and more as the game went on as he wasn't performing at the level to which he is accustom.  The guy with the funny looking hair was 6'5 Chris Allen from Lawrenceville (Meadowcreek) GA, "but he's a great kid, great athlete, and great scorer, as he tries to dunk everything on his way to the hole and is a terrific outside shooter," says Naclerio.  Allen also showed an unselfishness, as he was credited with six assists, which ranked him second in the game only behind 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who finished with 15 assists.  5'6 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY started off slow, but was one of the few players in the game who did not appear to be effected by the eliminates, as all of points came from out on the perimeter.  Once again 6'5 Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ showed Naclerio a little bit of everything, but he hasn't put the complete package together yet.  6'9 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ flew in the morning of the game and played hard, but must add offensive post moves and, not just power, to his repertoire.  6'9 Rick Jackson from Philadelphia (Neumann-Goretti) PA is a hard working four/five who knows exactly what he is, as he scored and rebounded inside.  The best player on Naclerio's team was 6'8 Michael Beasley from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  "If I had to give him a nickname, I would call him the Total Package," says Naclerio.  "There's nothing he can't do.  Beasley has the ability to dribble the ball and take it where he wants perimeter, has an incredible mid-range game, and near the basket dunks like Shaquille O'Neal and rebounds Ben Wallace.  If he controls his own destiny, Beasley's a lottery pick."  Naclerio thought 6'11 Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN was by far the most pleasant kid on his team to coach.  "He played hard and he played smart, was willing to do the little things, and was the ultimate team player," says Naclerio.  "While on the bench, he did nothing but root his teammates on.  His 16 points, including several thunderous dunks and 10 rebounds, didn't hurt either.  6'3 Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ showed the ability to do whatever he wanted on the court.  "A true scoring machine, he's really more of 2-guard than a point guard," says Naclerio.  "His incredible hops and 42-inch vertical leap should make it easy for him to play the two in the NBA."  6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY was in the discussion for one of the four MVP possibilities.  And 15 points and several nifty passes was the reason his named was mentioned.  "Stephenson also ad-libs incredibly well when going the basket and is totally fearless," says Naclerio.  "If he works on his left hand, forget about it...."  6'3 Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA is a great kid who has team goals as his primary focus.  A better skilled, more athletic Sean Dockery is the way Naclerio describes him.  "What if?  What if?"  Naclerio is talking about 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, who, if he continues to grow, his handle continues to improve, his range and consistency keeps getting better, and his body fills out?  6'2 Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA kind of got lost in the 12-man shuffle, but to his credit did not complain about it.  And neither did 6'5 Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, who showed class and dignity by not rocking the boat and accepting his role.  "And he appeared to have a lot of fun doing it," says Naclerio.  6'7 Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX played hard, but appears to have leveled off and, as a result, has not lived up to what everybody thought he would be two or three years ago.  His overall basketball skills must improve.  Naclerio got to know and really like 6'5 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Chrisitan) PA, but considering the pre-game hype, he has to be considered a disappointment.  "Evans has a deadly killer crossover, but in this game took it too deep into the defense and into double-teams," says Naclerio.  "Not one of his better games, but I can see the sky can be his limit."  Naclerio's two least favorite players in the game were 6'11 DeAndre Jordan from Humble (Christian) TX and 6'10 Anthony Randolph from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX.   "God gave Jordan too many basketball gifts and some of them he has not opened yet," says Naclerio.  "Two tremendous blocks early in the game left me salivating,  Then his lack of intensity, lack of hustling back on defense, and cherry picking on offense, left me stupefied."  Naclerio thought Randolph had the worst body language of any player in the game.  "If he didn't get the ball or if he was on the bench, he showed the disease of me," says Naclerio.  "It's too bad, because the day before in practice he showed he could be incredible."

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Horace Neysmith tells us that 6'6 Zachary Graham from Lawrenceville (Peachtree) GA has verbally committed to Mississippi and 6'5 Tony Neysmith from Norcross (H.S.) GA has verbally committed to Oklahoma.  And, in both cases, these are important catches for a number of reasons.  First, they not only are two of the better players in the state, but Graham is ranked #81 and Neysmith is ranked #120 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Neysmith also is like a jack-of-all-trades, as he's capable of playing either guard spot, is an excellent defender, and has a good understanding of the game, which he may have at least partially inherited from his father, who not only is one of our Georgia Editors, but also is the head coach of the Georgia Elite club team program.  The addition of Neysmith moves Oklahoma's recruiting class, which also includes 6'8 Blake Griffin from Edmund (Oklahoma Christian) OK, 6'7 Chris Early from Huntington (H.S.) WV and 6'5 Cade Davis from Elk City (H.S.) OK, into a tie at #10, along with Alabama, on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007, plus it gives the Sooners an important link into the state of Georgia, which is one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the nation.  And the same can also be said about the Rebels getting Graham, who really doesn't have a true position, but is a big time athlete out of the same mold as former Louisville player Greg Tinch.  However, unlike Tinch, it appears that Graham's future will be on the hardwood and the fact that he's also a terrific student is just another added bonus for Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy, who, after taking the head coaching job in late March, landed 6'8 Kenny Williams from St. Petersburg (JC) FL, 6'8 Andy Ogide from Dallas (Paulding County) GA, 6'4 Rodney Jones form Alexandria (Peabody) LA, and 6'5 Eneil Polynice from Sarasota (Booker) FL in his first recruiting class last spring.  Speaking of Polynice, he actually signed with the Rebels in July, which was too late to include him in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2006.  But we had him ranked #144 in our Final Ranking of the Top Players in the Class of 2006 and we think he has an incredible upside, because he's a terrific athlete with a great natural feel for the game.  He also is a good ball handler and passer, an excellent 3-point shooter, and surprisingly good rebounder, which means he's versatile enough to play as many of four different positions.  And when you also remember that Williams was one of the top junior college players in the nation last year, it's clear that the Rebels are already well on their way towards turning things around in a hurry.  We have been hearing for months that 6'9 Theo Davis from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA has been planning on enrolling at Gonzaga this fall, but our Canadian Editor Ro Russell is now telling us it's official.  Not only has Davis been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse, but all the I's have been dotted and the T's have been crossed with regards to getting him admitted into school.  Obviously it's too late to include Davis with the Zags' 2006 recruiting class, but he will be eligible this season, along with 6'9 Abdullahi Kuso from Tallahassee (JC) FL, 6'5 Matt Bouldin from Highland Ranch (Thunder Ridge) CO, and 6'9 William Foster from Buckley (White River) WA, all of whom were apart of Gonzaga's recruiting class that finished tied at #99, along with UCLA, Boston College, and Wisconsin, in our Final Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2006.  Davis is best inside, where he uses his skills and athleticism to score around the basket, block shots, and rebound.  But Davis would prefer to play out on the perimeter, where he patterns himself after Lamar Odom.  So, with 6'9 Austin Daye from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA, 6'11 Robert Sacre from North Vancouver (H.S.) BC, and 6'4 Steve Gray from Port Hadlock (Bainbridge) WA already in the fold in the Class of 2007 and 6'10 Jr Andy Poling from Portland (Westview) OR already having made an early verbal commitment in the Class of 2008, it will be extremely interesting to see how they use Davis and whether he actually pans out.  Remember, this is a guy who has bounced around all over the place since leaving Bayside (Cardozo) NY in December of 2004 when he was a legitimate top 30-ranked senior nationally.  We also have confirmed that Indiana University has landed its third recruit in 6'10 Eli Holman from Richmond (H.S.) CA.  If you will recall, the Hoosiers already have 6'5 Jamarcus Ellis from Chipola (JC) CA and 6'8 Brandon McGee from Chicago (Crane) IL in the fold.  So, with the addition of Holman, their recruiting class moves up to #9 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2007.  We're talking about a guy who averaged a triple-double last season with 10 ppg, 15 ppg, and 10 bpg.  But, even more important, is the fact he the got it done against the top players in the nation this summer at the Reebok ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ, where he finished ranked #14 overall and #4 at the center position by the HOOP SCOOP.  Holman also is still growing and has a huge upside, which explains why we plan to rank him someplace in the 50-75 nationally when we update our ranking of the top players nationally in the Class of 2007 later this month.  We also have confirmed that 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN and 6'3 Derrick Rose from Chicago (Simeon) IL both made unofficial visits to Bloomington, IN over the weekend and, if the Hoosiers are able to put together the package and get both players, then Indiana would have the best recruiting class in the nation.  It also looks like Elon College has landed 7'0 Daniel Watts from Raleigh (Green Hope) NC.  You have to be happy anytime you landed a 7-footer at the mid-to-low Division I level, but Watts could turn out to a major steal, because he's young for his grade (he won't turn 17 until October) and showed excellent progress during the summer while playing with the Charlotte Royals AAU team.  So Watts will join 6'8 Adam Constantine from Raleigh (Enloe) NC, 6'9 Scott Grable from Fork Union (Military Academy) VA, 6'1 Devan Carter from Chatham (Hargrave Academy) VA, 6'3 Jonathan Ogolo from Vienna (James Madison) VA, and 6'6 T.J. Douglas from St. Albans (H.S.) WV, all of whom were apart of Elon's 2006 recruiting class and, as a result, are enrolling in school this fall, and 6'6 Monty Sanders, who is transferring from Richmond to Elon and will sat out the upcoming season before becoming eligible a year from now.  And, if that weren't enough, Elon College is fresh of it's best season since joining the Division I ranks eight years ago with a 10-4 conference record and 15-14 record.  In other words, it looks like Phoenix head coach Ernie Nester has the program heading in the right direction and now he is getting a 7-footer who will be able to block shots and disrupt things inside.

Saturday, September 2, 2006

The Basketball Gods must have been smiling at all of the people last night at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic, which was held on an outdoor court at the famous Rucker Park in New York City, because the rain held off just long enough for the final buzzer to sound and the awards to be presented.  And everybody was delighted, because this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games of the entire year.  A big reason why the game was such a smashing success was the fact that the players provided the flare and flash necessary to be successful at Rucker Park, but, at the same time, played a little bit of defense and didn't forget their teammates.  And right at the top of the list of the guys who did both was 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who finished with 12 points and 15 assists, including a number of incredible passes that left even the long time fans, who hang out at Rucker Park on a regular basis and thought they'd seen everything, pretty darn impressed.  But the most impressed person of all might have been Dick "Hoops" Weiss, who writes for the New York Daily News and is arguably the best basketball writer in America today.  "Jennings might be the best high school player in the nation today regardless of class," said Weiss.  And, when you factor in Jennings' incredible potential and upside, we'd have to agree.  Making the story even more interesting is the fact that after the game 6'3 Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who was the teammate of 6'0 Tywon Lawson last season and will be the teammate of Jennings this season at Oak Hill Academy, thinks Jennings might actually turn out to be even better than Lawson.  Obviously that's a heck of a statement when one remembers that Lawson finished ranked #3 nationally in our Final Rankings of the Top Players Nationally in the Class of 2006 and will arguably be the best point guard in college basketball next season.  And, with his jet-like speed and quickness and explosive first step, nobody could step Jennings from penetrating and dishing to the open man.  However, that didn't stop 6'3 Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix (St. Mary's) AZ, who is another player that we're higher on than most of our competition, from impressing everybody at the offensive end with both his ability to score and willingness to get his teammates involved, as he was named co-MVP, along with 6'8 Michael Beasley from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, for the Skip To My Lou Team.  Yes, according to Beasley's mother, he plans to enroll at Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA.  And, if Hargrave head coach Kevin Keats, can get Beasley to play as hard all the time as he did in this game, 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR and 6'5 O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati (North College Hill) OH may have another serious challenger for National Player-of-the-Year honors.  Beasley not only finished with 28 points, but he easily was the best player for his team, as he scored both inside and outside and dominated on the boards with nine rebounds.  6'11 DeAndre Jordan from Humble (Christian Life) TX finished with 11 points, but, even more important, he helped set the tone of the game early with a pair of blocks in the first minute of the game.  As for 6'11 Cole Aldrich from Bloomington (Jefferson) MN, he not only had 18 points, but arguably is the most improved player in the nation since we saw him at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on Memorial Day Weekend.  If you will recall, Aldrich had been sidelined for much of the spring with an injury and, as a result, is really now just getting back into the groove of where he was as a junior when he was one of the premier big men in the nation.  The leading scorer and the co-MVP, along with Jennings on the Goat Squad, was 6'9 James Hickson from Marietta (Wheeler) GA, who finished with 34 points and eight rebounds and impressed everybody with his quickness and ability to score around the basket.  Speaking of Hickson, he also told us that his list of schools still includes Florida, Georgetown, Tennessee, and N.C. State, but he did not confirm the rumor about his being close to making a verbal commitment to the Gators.  Everybody also was every impressed with the combination of skills and athleticism of 6'9 Kyle Singler from Medford (South Medford) OR, who scored 13 points and whose playground nickname is now "Singler Wireless."  And, of course, 6'9 Kevin Love from Lake Oswego (H.S.) OR was his usual self, as he scored most of his 13 points around the basket, got more than his share of rebounds, and made one outlet pass that has rank right up there among the best I've ever seen.  We also found the match-up between 6'3 Soph Dexter Strickland from Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ and 6'5 Soph Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn (Lincoln) NY extremely interesting.  Strickland finished with 12 points and Stephenson had 18 points, as both players proved to be very mature for their age and actually were two of the better players in the game.  We also were impressed with the athleticism, outside shooting, and ability to thrive in transition of 6'3 Chris Allen from Lawrenceville (Meadowcreek) GA, who finished with eight points and hit one of the only 3-pointers in the game.  The best outside shooter and the only guy to hit more than one 3-pointer in the game was 5'6 Jr Erving Walker from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, who finished with eights points.  We also thought 6'8 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT with 13 points, 6'10 Anthony Randolph from Dallas (Woodrow Wilson) TX with 12 points, 6'3 Nolan Smith from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA with 11 points, and 6'5 Corey Stokes from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ with 10 points all turned in more than solid performances, but we were somewhat disappointed with 6'9 Donte Green from Towson (Catholic) MD, who scored most of his 10 points early in the game.  Also on this list was 6'4 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA, but he did make some drives to the basket as he finished with six points.  Also chipping in with eight points was 6'9 Rick Jackson from Philadelphia (Neumann-Goretti) PA, five points was 6'3 Senario Hillman from Irwinton (Wilkinson County) GA, four points was 6'7 Gary Johnson from Houston (Aldine) TX, and two points was 6'5 Austin Freeman from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD.  We also have to mention 6'9 Jr Samardo Samuels from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, who not only scored 10 points and more than held his own against the top seniors in the nation, but was more aggressive and effective around the basket than we've ever seen be.   

Friday, September 1, 2006

We are finally ready to publish our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 600 Juniors Nationally and clearly the two best players nationally in the Class of 2008 are 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA and 6'4 Jr Tyreke Evans from Aston (American Christian) PA.  And Jennings gets the nod, because he not only has the jet-like speed and quickness, incredible ball handling and passing skills, and the ability to put up prolific numbers, but he also is a much better defensive player than we originally thought.  And, if you don't believe it, obviously you weren't paying attention during the second half of the championship game between the Southern Cal All-Stars and Mean Streets when Jennings switched over to guard 6'3 Eric Gordon from Indianapolis (North Central) IN.  Not only did Jennings shut Gordon down, but he changed the momentum and, as a result, that was the big difference in the game.  We also find it incredible some of the things that have been said about Jennings due apparently to the fact that UCLA is not currently recruiting him.  He's been repeatedly called a bad kid and a selfish player, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Instead, he's one of the most likeable and respectful kids in the class and on the court we think Kenny Anderson comparisons are in order.  And, when it's all said and done, we think Jennings will end up being even better than Anderson due to the fact that he has such a burning desire necessary to become a great player.  We also expect his decision making and academics to make a major leap once he arrives at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA, where he will play for the legendary Steve Smith, who is arguably one of the top five high school coaches in the game today.  Evans' game also is expected to make a major jump this winter, because Tony Bergeron, who is another one of the premier head coaches in high school basketball today, is making the move from Bronx (Wings) NY to Aston (American Christian) PA.  Evans has the ball handling and passing skills necessary to play the point guard, but he's also got the size, athleticism, and outside shooting necessary to be an incredible 2-guard.  But he really didn't get to show how good he was this summer due to the fact that he's been slowed by injuries and was hurt by the lack of chemistry on his club team.  So right now, we think it's a no-brainer that Jennings is the best player in the class, but for the last year-and-a-half we've gone back and forth on this one.  So stay tuned!  We also think it's interesting that the highest ranked player in the class who has already verbally committed is 7'0 Jr B.J. Mullens from Canal Winchester (World Harvest) OH, who is currently ranked #25 and is bound for Ohio State.  However, if we dig a a little deeper, we find that 10 players in the Class of 2008 who ranked among our top 100 nationally have already verbally committed to four-year Division I schools.  In addition to Mullens and Story, they are 6'11 Jr Beas Hamga from San Antonio (Cornerstone Christian) TX and 6'5 Jr Matt Gatens from Iowa City (H.S.) IA both to Iowa, 6'4 Jr Nick Williams from Mobile (LeFlore) AL to Marquette, 6'11 Jr Andy Poling from Portland (Westview) OR to Gonzaga, 6'3 Jr Walter Offutt from Indianapolis (Warren Central) IN to Ohio State, 6'6 Jr Martez Walker from Montverde (Academy) FL to Louisville, 5'11 Jr Antoine Young from Bellevue (West) NE to Creighton, and 6'3 Jr Cordell Passley from Indianapolis (Pike) IN to Tennessee.  The Class of 2008 also is really helped right now by the overwhelming number of players who have already reclassified, but who will go onto our 5th Year List a year from now when they reach their 9th Semester of high school.  This list includes 6'7 Jr Devin Ebanks from Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'9 Jr Matt Simpkins form Sacramento (Capital Christian) CA, 6'7 Jr Troy Guillenwater from Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'3 Jr Melquan Bolding from White Plains (Archbishop Stepanic) NY, 6'7 Jr Nate Miles from San Antonio (Cornerstone Christian) TX, 6'8 Jr Christian Morris from South Kent (Prep) CT, 6'0 Jr Dash Harris from Montverde (Academy) FL, 5'11 Jr Dwan McMillan from Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, 6'1 Jr Darius Gabriel from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'0 Jr Jeremiah Kelly from Chicago (Boys to Men) IL, 6'7 Jr Jeremy Thompson form Kings Mountain (Hope Christian) VA, 6'4 Jr Kim English from Randallstown (H.S.) MD, 6'0 Jr Josh Spivey from Aston (American Christian) PA, 6'6 Jr Marshall Moses from Greensboro (Forest Hill) NC, 6'5 Jr Brian Cohen from Jenkintown (Abington Friends) PA, 6'5 Jr Jelani Poston from Chicago (Simeon) IL, 6'2 Jr Anthony Nelson from Plainfield (H.S.) NJ, 6'1 Jr Max Hue from Pottstown (The Hun School) PA, and 6'2 Jr Dave Singleton from Pottstown (The Hun School) PA.  The list of players who have transferred schools also is almost of epidemic proportion, as 6'1 Jr Brandon Jennings is transferring from Compton (Dominguez) CA to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'8 Jr Howard Thompkins is transferring from Norcross (Wesleyan) GA to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'3 Jr J'covan Brown is transferring from Beaumont (Kelly) TX to Port Arthur (Memorial) TX, 6'8 Jr Devon Ebanks is transferring from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY to Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT, 6'9 Jr Yancy Gates is transferring from Cincinnati (Hughes) OH to Cincinnati (Withrow) OH, 6'7 Jr Troy Guillenwater is transferring from Los Angeles (Fremont) CA to Simi Valley (Stoneridge Prep) CA, 6'9 Jr Ed Davis is transferring from Mechanicsburg (Hoover) VA to Richmond (Benedictine) VA, 6'6 Jr Olu Ashaolu is transferring from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA to Humble (Christian Life) TX, 6'11 Jr Beas Hamga is transferring from San Antonio (Cornerstone Christian) TX to Decatur (Christian) IL, 6'6 Jr Vincent Rodgers is transferring from Stockbridge (Community Christian) GA to Covington (Newton) GA, 6'4 Jr Nasir Robinson is transferring from Aston (American Christian) PA to Chester (H.S.) PA, 6'0 Jr Dash Harris is transferring from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL to Montverde (Academy) FL, 6'10 Jr Eloy Vargas is transferring from Hollywood (Chaminade) FL to Ft. Lauderdale (American Heritage) FL, 6'6 Jr Martez Walker is transferring from Birmingham (Central Park Christian) AL to Montverde (Academy) FL, 5'11 Jr Dwan McMillan is transferring from Brooklyn (Boys & Girls) NY to Newark (St. Benedict's) NJ, and 6'2 Jr Oscar Bellfield is transferring from Woodland Hills (Taft) CA to Los Angeles (Westchester) CA.  And these are just the players on the list who are ranked among the top 100 nationally.  To find out where all of these players are ranked, click onto our Post Summer Ranking of the Top 600 Juniors Nationally.