HOT RECRUITING INFORMATION FOR MARCH 2000

Friday, March 31, 2000

Sometime it's funny how things work out.   If Derek Thomas, who is one of the bright young assistant coaches in the nation, had remained at St. Louis, instead of moving to the University of   Minnesota last August, 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, who ranks as the #2 high school player in the nation, probably wouldn't have gone to St. John's.  Instead, he likely  would have stayed home and gone to St. Louis.   And if Thomas had gone to the University of Illinois last fall, instead of today, that would have put the Fighting Illini in the driver's seat for Miles.  Today Thomas was named as the new assistant coach at Illinois as the replacement for Robert McCullum, who recently got the head coaching job at Western Michigan.  Moving into Thomas' position at Minnesota is Arthur Prevost, who is currently the director of basketball operations at Minnesota and formerly the associate women's coach at Texas Christian.  

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting today that new Memphis head coach John Calipari is planning on hiring Milt Wagner, the father of 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who ranks as the #1 player in the nation today regardless of class of the HOOP SCOOP.  According to the unnamed source, "One possible hangup is that Wagner, who played at Camden, then starred at the University of Louisville before going on to the NBA, lacks a college degree.  But that is being worked out, the source said.  Wagner, who recently retired from basketball after playing for more than a decade in Europe, is 21 credits short of his degree."

Quinnapiac has gotten a steal in 6'3 Kason Mims from Alford (Academy) CT and Marquette has an early commitment from 6'5 Kevin Menard from New Lenox (Lincoln Way) IL.  Michigan State is the heavy favorite for 6'4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, who ranks among the top five juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, but Cincinnati and Ohio State also are a lot stronger than most people realize.  As a matter of fact, Torbert and Ohio State's point guard of the future Brent Darby are extremely close friends. 

Thursday, March 30, 2000

The McDonalds All American Game last night at the FleetCenter in Boston, MA reaffirmed what we already knew about the senior class with one major exception - 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN.   Randolph, who earned game MVP honors while leading the West Squad to a 146-120 victory, was just as impressive as he was a week ago when we saw him lead the Marion Giants to the class 4-state championship in Indiana.  However this time he did it against many of the top players in the nation.  Get Randolph the ball 10 feet from the basket and he's almost unstoppable with his drop step, quickness and soft touch, which he has a knack for getting off over the top of taller opponents.  Randolph also proved to be especially agile in transition, but the big difference between this spring and last summer is the fact that Randolph doesn't ware out as the game progresses.   As a matter of fact, he gets stronger, as was evident last night when he made key shot after key shot down the stretch.  We also were impressed with the outside shooting of 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who nailed four 3-pointers in the first half, en route to a 24 point effort.   Rice, who was the MVP for the losing team, was probably the player who drew the most attention in the game, because he is only one of four players in the game, along with 6'8 Garner Meads from Salt Lake City (Brighton) UT, 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, and 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, who are still unsigned/uncommitted.  Right now it looks like Kentucky is the leader, Memphis is close second, and Mississippi State is  a distant third.  However, it wouldn't surprise us if that all changed again by next week.  Remember, this is the guy who gave the University of Kentucky a silent verbal commitment last fall, but we're still waiting for something to materialize.  Rice also deserves special recognition, because he's one of at least four of the 24 players in the game who are outstanding students, as well as excellent basketball players.  Rice has a 3.9 gpa, Meads has a 4.0 gpa, 5'9 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY is Valedictorian of his class, and 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA picked Duke both for basketball and academics.  Getting back to the game, the leading scorer with 25 points was 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA.   Stevenson was also one of the leaders in highlight film-like dunks, but the outside shot wasn't going down as he hit only 1-5 from beyond the arc.  However, the most athletic moves and dunks of the night were reserved for 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (Lincoln) IL, who still might edge out 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA for HOOP SCOOP National Player-of-the-Year honors.  Speaking of Griffin, he finished with 19 points and was 2-2 from beyond the arc, but we've seen him play better.  We've also seen the New York trio of point guards - Barrett, 6'1 Omar Cook from Middle Village (Christ the King) NY, and 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY - all play better, but maybe that had something to do with who they were matched up against - Duhon and 6'3 Marcus Taylor from Lansing (Waverly) MI.  Duhon and Taylor combined for 24 points, but even more important, they were a big reason why their team won by 24 points and why the game was much better than it was the last two years (at least in the first half).   Which is just another reason why we include Brown and Taylor among our top five nationally.   And now you also know why we don't include 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL,who finished with 15 points, among our top five nationally.  Wallace is a phenomenal athlete, but he's not a great basketball player.  Not yet anyway!  Most the 20 points that 6'8 Andre Brown from Chicago (Leo) IL scored were off garbage, but he was one of the most efficient players in the game.  The biggest disappointment in the game might have been 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, who scored 10 points, but never managed to get into the flow of the game.  The fans booed 7'6 Neil Fingleton from Worcester (Holy Name) MA, but in fairness to him, he does have a lot of potential.   He also has a long way to go, which is why we don't have him ranked among our top 100 nationally.

One of the big topics of conversation at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, IN is that Houston head coach Clyde Drexler, who had a two year 20-38 record at the helm of the Cougars, resigned today.  The word we're getting is that associate head coach Reid Gettys is the early favorite for the job, but if Gettys isn't name almost immediately, his chances will diminish greatly. Remember, when Drexler got the job, everybody thought they'd use his name to recruit and groom Gettys for the job.  Well, the recruiting has worked out well, as the Houston has recruited extremely well the last two years during the Drexler regime, but winning games has been another story.  

Another hot topic of conversation at the NCAA Final Four is the continuing controversy surrounding the allegations involving Indiana University head coach Bob Knight.  Today's Indianapolis Star is reporting that Knight "angrily ordered Indiana University's athletics director away from the team locker room after a recent loss, and a resulting shouting match became so confrontational that a friend stepped in to separate them."  The front page story by John Strauss and Richard D. Walton also says "the incident between Knight and Athletics Director Clarence Doninger after IU's loss last month to Ohio State ended without violence.  But Doninger considered it serious enough to report it to top university administrators....Dr. Brad Bomba, Sr. a team doctor and longtime Knight friend said in an interview that he got between Doninger and Knight to defuse the situation...The incident was unusual, even by Knight standards:   a public tirade against a top university official instead of the players and referees who have been his targets before.  The case also is significant because the outburst was directed at Knight's immediate boss...Doninger complained to an university vice president about the hallaway incident.  But the school decided no further action was necessary."  Alone this is no big deal, but it does help establish a pattern of behavior.  Remember, Neil Reed has accused Knight of trying to choke him several years ago while he was a player at Indiana University. 

We also have received word that the Chinese government has refused to give 7'6 Yao Ming from Shanghai, China an exit visa and, as a result, he won't be allowed to play in the NIKE Hoop Summit this weekend Indianapolis, IN.  It may be too late to get a replacement, unless they take the advice of our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, who reminds us that 6'4 Romaine Guessagba-Sato from the Central African Republic via Dayton (Christian) OH is less than two hours away by car.  Guessagba-Sato is often compared to former Ohio high school legend Dwight Anderson, but he actually reminds Johnson more of Jerome Harmon and just like the former playground legend from Gary, IN, Guessagba-Sato is such a high-flying athlete that he's the favorite to win any dunking contest he enters.  Johnson also tells us that two other players - 6'10 Adam Robinson and 6'7 Brody Deren - have asked for their releases at Northwestern.  If you will recall, yesterday we confirmed that two other Northwestern players - Steve Lepore and and David Neumann - are transferring from Northwestern.  However, all doesn't appear to be lost yet for Northwestern head coach Kevin O'Neill, because we're now getting reports that 6'4 Ed McCants from Marion (Catholic) OH, who we told you about yesterday, has committed to the Wildcats.  However, right now this is unconfirmed.  

Yesterday we reprinted quotes from a New York Post article earlier in the week, as well as the reaction by Bret Bearup, who is a financial manager for professional athletes, with regards to allegations regarding his involvement with St. John's point guard Erick Barkley.  Well, this all ties together with an article today in the New York Times.  "A professional sports agent who figures prominently in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's investigation of St. John's basketball program appears to have broken the law in two states by repeatedly contacting prominent college players without registering as an agent in those states or alerting the athletes' universities about the conversations," said Joe Drape and Judy Battista. "Telephone records and diary entries belonging to the agent, Andy Miller, show that he had numerous phone conversations with Mike Miller, the star guard for the University of Florida, which on Saturday will play in the Final Four of the national college basketball tournament. The records also show repeated calls to Tony Harris of the University of Tennessee. Both states have strict laws governing agents, including a requirement that they register with the state and that they notify the university when contacting an athlete. In Florida, violating these provisions can be considered a felony; in Tennessee, it is a misdemeanor. Miller is not registered in either state."  The article also says "Miller's phone records and diaries, which were reviewed by The Times, are evidence in a lawsuit filed against him by Eric Fleisher, Miller's former employer at Assist Sports Management.  Fleisher accuses Miller of stealing his clients and is seeking $30 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Miller; Wilhelmina Models Inc., with whom Miller is associated; two other businesses; and 10 former clients."  Obviously this explains some of the comments made yesterday by Bearup, whose relationship with Barkley was also a part of the New York Times article.  If you will recall, Bearup arranged for a $50,000 line of credit for Barkley, who signed with Bearup's company Pro Trust last weekend.   To get quotes from the New York Post article two day ago and to read what Bearup had to say yesterday, click on March 2000.

Wednesday, March 29, 2000

An article yesterday in the New York Post by Lenn Robbins about former St. John's point guard Erick Barkley receiving $50,000 in up-front money from Bret Bearup, who is the President of Pro Trust, has really pissed Bearup off.  "Bearup was steered to Barkley by sports agent Andy Miller, two sources said," said Robbins.   "Calls to Bearup were returned late last night and later attempts by The Post to reach him were unsuccessful.  Miller did not return calls.  But one of the sources confirmed the $50,000 amount and the second told The Post that there is a listing in Miller's December diary which reads, 'Barkley-Bearup.'  It is not known when Bearup gave Barkley the money. Of course, if Barkley received any money from Bearup prior to his Saturday announcement to forego his final two years of eligibility, it would be an NCAA violation.  The second source said that telephone records show about 30 calls per month between Bearup and Miller. The source said that Bearup steers players to Miller, who reimburses Bearup for his investment, plus a cut of Miller's take, should he sign Barkley."  While we regard most professional sports agents to be among the lowest forms of life, as well as the route of many of the problems facing college basketball today, it is important to point out two things about Bearup.  First, he's not an agent.  Instead, he's a financial manager whose clients include numerous professional athletes and celebrities.  Second, he's one of the best people in the business and most people who know him or have dealt with him either personally or professionally seem to agree.  Bearup is a straight up guy and when he tells you something, you can almost always take it to the bank.  Which is why I have printed Bearup's response to Robbins' article in the New York Post.  "I have been following the Erick Barkley situation with interest recently, since Erick was recommended to my firm by his new agent, Andy Miller, and choose to sign with us over the weekend.  I have known Miller for years and share multiple clients with him, as I do many other agents.  One of the first services my firm performs when we take on new clients is to arrange a line of credit from a banking institution for the client for living expenses, etc., that the client will incur over the ensuing 8 months (his first NBA paycheck will come November 15th).  The NY Post, as shoddy a newspaper as you will ever see, printed today that I "gave" Barkley $50,000...and wondered when I gave it to him.  Ironically, Barkley has yet to make his initial draw on his credit line.  I explained this to the Post last night at about 9:30.....but you don't see anything from me in the story.  The Post further uses "unnamed sources" that allege that I "steer" players to Andy Miller, who allegedly reimburses me for my expenses and gives me a cut of his fee.   This is an ABSOLUTE, BALD-FACED LIE.  I told the Post this last night.  They did not print it....and what better source than I?  Yet, this yellow, bush-league newspaper can smear my reputation using unnamed 'sources.'  Words cannot express how angry I am at this newspaper.  Miller is in litigation with his former partner, Eric Fleischer.  Fleischer and his attorney have been leaking discovery materials to the press and have been, in my opinion, the "unnamed sources."  Fleischer is trying to hurt Andy Miller (his former protege) and anyone who is Millers' friend.  Fleischer is angry with me for remaining on friendly terms with Miller.....and didn't like it when I informed him that he doesn't get to choose my friends.  Some friend Fleischer turned out to be....no wonder NBA GMs detest him."

It looks like the storm has already started and it is about to intensify.  Last weekend St. John's point guard Erick Barkley made it official announcing his intention to enter his name into the NBA draft this spring.    Today Cincinnati's DerMarr Johnson followed suit and we think a number of others, including Texas' Chris Mihm, Minnesota's Joel Pryzbilla, Arizona's Loren Woods, Florida's Mike Miller, will likely soon add their names to the list.  Also look for two of the premier junior college players in the nation - 6'7 Corey Hightower and 6'11 Ernest Brown, both of whom have stopped going to class and, as a result, have dropped out of Indian Hills (JC) IA - to add their names to the list.  Cincinnati's Kenny Satterfield and Florida's Donnell Harvey are also possibilities for the NBA draft.  The two most likely high school players to bypass college and go directly to the league are 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL and 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, but we're also hearing that 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC and 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA are looking in that direction.   Maryland's Terrance Morris and LSU's Stromile Swift are both talking about returning for another year of college.  However, in Swift's case, sources in the know think he'll change his mind.  While this year's draft should be better than last year's draft, it still doesn't have a single player who should be a guaranteed superstar someday in the league.  But next year, if 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 7'0 Jr Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, and 6'11 Eddy Curry from Thornwood (South Holland) IL all decide to bypass college and go straight to the league, there might be three players who fall into this category.  As a matter of fact, if I were an NBA general manager and I had the #1, #2, and #3 picks in the 2001 draft and I had enough job security that I wouldn't have to worry about winning for a year or two, I would think long and hard about taking Wagner, Chandler, and Curry one-two-three. 

Now that Cincinnati's DerMarr Johnson has entered his name into the NBA draft, the Cincinnati coaching staff is scrambling looking for an immediate replacement.  At the top of their list are 6'4 Immanuel McElroy from Tyler (JC) TX and 6'6 Monte Cummings from Southeastern (JC) IA.  Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson is confirming that Steve Lepore and and David Neumann are both transferring from Northwestern, but Wildcats head coach Kevin O'Neill also may be on the verge of stealing one.   Johnson tells us that Northwestern appears to be the leader over Ohio State and Old Dominion for 6'4 Ed McCants from Marion (Catholic) OH, who was ranked #19 in the state when we published Johnson most recent Ohio rankings several months ago.   However, McCants will likely move into Johnson's top 10 in Ohio this spring.   McCants has averaged over 30 ppg this season, but he is still relatively unknown nationally, because he broke his knee cap at the Ohio Roundball Prep Scrimmage a year and a half ago.  As a result, he missed his entire junior season, as well as all of last summer.  However, while this phenomenal athlete was going through the rehabilitation process, he was also working on his outside shooting.  Thus, explains how he's become a deadly outside shooter.

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson also tells us that New Mexico is losing 6'9 R.T. Guinn and 6'9 Rafael Berumen, both of whom were signed by the previous regime a year ago.  This leaves the Lobos scrambling to find several more quality junior college big men this spring who can provide the quick fix.   However, for the long term, head coach Fran Fraschilla already has his eye on 7'0 Jr Chris Jackson from Los Alamos (H.S.) NM.   As a matter of fact, Fraschilla found time between N.I.T. games several weeks ago to watch Jackson in the state tournament.  Everybody seems to think Jackson will be the best player to come out of New Mexico since Taymon Domzalski, but we also have heard that he may be the best player that state has ever produced.  New Mexico is high on his list, but it isn't a lock, as Stanford and Utah are also already in the hunt.  He's been attending Utah's basketball camp for years and he was at Stanford making an unofficial visit during the Stanford-UCLA game in early March.

Tuesday, March 28, 2000

Genespage.com, which is the an unofficial web site for Mississippi State, has several sources who think the Bulldogs are close to getting a commitment from 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who ranks #12 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.    However, we have made a number of calls today and we can't find anybody else who can confirm it.  Right now the University of Kentucky appears to be the favorite and the University of Memphis is also a major player now that John Calipari is the new head coach.  However, in the end we too think Mississippi State will still be tough to beat. When in doubt always go with the local team, which is exactly what we're doing here.  And if Rice, along with 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) MS, who signed with the Bulldogs last fall, and 6'4 Timmy Bowers from Gulfport (Harrison Central) MS, who verbally committed to Mississippi State over the weekend, does end up at Mississippi State, it would give the Bulldogs another top 20 recruiting class.  Remember, a year ago we had Mississippi State's recruiting class ranked among the top five nationally, but 6'11 Jonathan Bender from Picayune (H.S.) MS, 6'5 Ontario Harper from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'7 Jamario Moon from Rockford (Coosa Central) AL and 6'8 Jason Jackson from Vicksburg (St. Aloysius) MS all failed to materialize this year.  Bender went pro, Harper is sitting out still trying to make it academically, and Moon and Jackson are both in junior college.  However, the word we're getting is that won't happen with any of the Bulldogs current recruits.  As a matter of fact, Austin is a lot closer to making it academically than most people realize and he's the big key, because he'll provide an added presence inside to a team that will return everybody next year, except Todd Myles.  Bowers, who was named the Mississippi Player-of-the-Year on Sunday, adds outside shooting and can play either guard spot.  Rice would just be the icing on the cake, because he has a 4.0 gpa, is a big time athlete, and is an outstanding 3-point shooter.  So if everything fall into place, don't be surprised if Mississippi State is one of the most improved teams in college basketball next year.

New Mexico has a commitment from 6'7 Dion Broom from Yavapai (JC) AZ and this is exactly what the Lobos were looking for - a big body inside.  Broom, who has a mammoth frame, originally signed with the University of Arizona and ironically is following in the footsteps of another former Wildcat.  Remember, New Mexico head coach Fran Fraschilla also has Ruben Douglas, who tranferred from Arizona to New Mexico after Gilbert Arenas beat him out at the 2-guard spot, sitting out this year.  We also have confirmed that Rutgers has gotten a commitment from 6'7 Will Campbell from Chipola (JC) FL, who was the second leading rebounder (14 rpg) in the junior college ranks, and last week the Scarlet Knights got 6'2 Mike Sherrod from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY.  Both are excellent gets, because Campbell will provide immediate help inside on the boards and Sherrod should provide the perfect complement in the backcourt to Rutgers point guard Todd Billet, because he can play either guard spot.   We also are hearing that Cincinnati, Georgia, Louisville, Kansas, and Iowa are top five for 6'6 Monte Cummings, who burst onto the scene this year in his first year of junior college and helped Southeastern (JC) IA win the National Junior College Championship a week ago.  Apparently Cummings, who was born in North Carolina and grew up in Quincy, FL, went straight from high school into the army four years ago, which explains why nobody knew about until recently.  Arkansas and Kentucky appear to be the two finalists for 6'1 Jannero Pargo from Neosho County (JC) KS.

It appears to be the standard operating procedure for Indiana University whenever a former basketball player makes any   accusations about Bob Knight or the program.  Get everybody on the same page so that the player can be branded as a bad kid. A malcontent.  A troublemaker.  The party line is "good riddance.  We're better off without him."  So now that University of Iowa head coach Steve Alford has publicly denied former Indiana University basketball player Ricky Calloway's claim that he saw coach Bob Knight punch Alford, while he was a player at Indiana, the question becomes what happens next?  Calloways' accusations are extremely serious and he is an extremely credible source.  Remember, like Reed, Calloway stuck it out for three years, but then decided he couldn't take it anymore and transferred.  However, unlike Reed, Calloway has kept his month shut for a dozen years and is now a successful businessman in Houston.  He's also always had a reputation for being a class act and has maintained a good relationship with a number of former Indiana players over the years.   Was Calloway lying and why would he lie about something so serious after so long?   And what about the other former Indiana player who Calloway mentioned in the article by Michael Murphy in Sunday's Houston Chronicle.  "'Coach knew the guys he could hit or really get into and those he couldn't,' said Calloway.  'Darryl was a big guy, but Coach knew what type of personality Darryl had.  He (Knight) was mad at him, and Darryl was sitting in his chair, and he (Knight) just came up and slapped him, and it was hard.  Then he realized what he did and said, "Go ahead and hit me back."  Yeah, he realized what he did was all wrong, so he knew he had to try and correct it by telling Darryl to hit him back.  But Darryl hit him real soft, and I remember when he got back to the dorm we were like, "Man, you should have hit him hard.  You've been here four years, and he's been kicking your butt the whole time, and you just tap him?"  But (Knight) knew Darryl wasn't going to hit him back.'"  We have always had a lot of respect for Alford and his statement alone should be enough to get Knight off the hook.  But what happens if Thomas or one of the other players who were in the program at the time comes out and says that it did happen?  That Knight did punch Alford and he was there.   Or what happens if a former assistant coach or another former player comes out with something equally devastating? 

Monday, March 27, 2000

Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin has confirmed that 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ had a press conference this afternoon and, as expected, did make it official for the University of Memphis.  If you will recall, Barclay was at Memphis over the weekend on his official visit and several times all but confirmed his intent to sign with the Tigers this spring.  Barclay is a borderline top 100 senior nationally, so he should help Memphis in his own right.  However, Barclay's commitment to Memphis also makes new head coach John Calipari the heavy favorite for 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ.   As a matter of fact, Wagner reiterated today at the news conference that all along he would attend the same college as Barclay.   He also mentioned the fact that Calipari has coached in the NBA and said "it's always been our dream (Barclay and Wagner) to play in the League someday."    So the big question now appears to be whether Wagner will actually play a year or two at Memphis or go directly into the NBA draft in the spring of 2001?  If the former happens, we think Memphis could be well on its way towards their first NCAA Final Four appearance since 1985.  If the latter happens, we think Wagner should be the #1 pick in the NBA draft.  Rubin also is reporting that Boston College has gotten a commitment from 6'7 Andrew Bryant from Denison (H.S.) TX, who currently ranks among the top 15 seniors in Texas, but who could turn out to be an absolute steal for the Eagles.  "Bryant can play either inside or outside," says Wes Grandstaff, the new Texas Editor for the HOOP SCOOP.  "Right now he's more of power player, because he's good on the boards and physically strong enough to bang inside.  But at the next level, he'll be a three, because he's so athletic and shoots it so well out on the perimeter.  All he needs is consistency."  This past season Bryant averaged 24.0 ppg and 11.0 rpg and is expected to play in the Capital Classic, according to Rubin. 

Several weeks ago we mentioned that 6'0 Dinno Daniels from Tyler (JC) TX, who ranks as one of the top five junior college point guards in the nation, had committed to Miami-FL.  However, we told you that we didn't think that commitment would hope up, adding that we liked the University of Rhode Island's chances.  Well, now we look pretty smart, because over the weekend Daniels picked Rhode Island over Miami-FL and Florida State.  And this is huge, because the Rams are in major need of a quality point guard who can step in and run the show immediately.   Daniels should provide the perfect complement in this recruiting class to 6'9 Andre Scott from Limestone (Washington College) TN and 6'5 Delonte Holland from Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) MD, both of whom signed with Rhode Island last fall and who rank among our top 100 nationally.  Daniels, who averaged 10.0 ppg two years ago at the University of Memphis, will step in and run the show and, as a result, 6'1 Howard Smith from Winchendon (School) MA, who signed with Rhode Island in the fall, but who is already in the program, will continue to be groomed for the point guard position down the road.  Rhode Island also is in the final two for both 6'8 Marcellus Wright from Garden City (JC) KS and 6'11 Melik Yavasner from Hill (JC) TX and if that happens Rhode Island's recruiting class would move into the top 10 nationally this spring.  Wright has narrowed his list to Rhode Island and Minnesota.  Yavasner just eliminated Mississippi State, Memphis, and Kansas State.    So he will likely pick either Baylor or Rhode Island.  And it would be truly ironic if Rhode Island assistant coach Mike Wilson beat out Baylor for one of the top junior college big men in the nation, because he was at Baylor just a year ago.  However, the current Bears regime didn't retain him, despite the fact Wilson was personally responsible for signing their best player a year ago in Terry Black.  While at Baylor, Wilson also landed Tevis Stukes, who was second team all-conference this year, as well as Baylor's leading scorer, and 6'3 Wendall Greenleaf, who was their six man and one of the top freshmen in the league.   As a matter of fact, Wilson is quickly establishing himself as one of the best recruiters in the nation, because Baylor wasn't the only place where he left the program with better talent than when he arrived.  Remember, when Wilson was at UNC-Wilmington three year ago, the Seahawks brought in the 29th ranked recruiting class in the nation, which is phenomenal for a school at that level.   

Don't be surprised if University of    Tulsa head coach Bill Self, who has been rumored for nearly every big time job that's become available this spring, stays put.  There is a lot of money in Tulsa, as is evident by the fact that the Tulsa World is reporting today that Self has already been offered a contract worth $800,000.  However, our sources tell us that when it's all said and done, Self will get even more than the current figure.    Another reason why Self may stay put it because cupboard is still full.   If you will recall, Eric Coley, Brandon Kurtz, and Tony Heard are seniors, but everybody else in the program will be back next year, except maybe Self's assistant coaches Billy Gillispie, John Phillips, and Norman Roberts, all of whom should all be hot items right now.  And if Self does move, history may not repeat itself.    Remember in the past, during the last 20 years Tulsa has always hired an already established head coach or a top assistant from one of the premier programs in the nation.   Nolan Richardson was a head coach in the junior college ranks, J.D. Barnett was formerly the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth, Tubby Smith was an assistant coach at Kentucky, Steve Robinson was an assistant coach Kansas, and Self was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State and then the head coach at Oral Roberts before moving to Tulsa.   However, this time we think Tulsa would be smart to hire from within.  The only problem would be which one, because Gillispie, Phillips, and Roberts are all extremely qualified. 

Mississippi State has gotten a commitment from 6'4 Timmy Bowers from Gulfport (Harrison Central) MS, who ranks #3 in the senior class in the state of Mississippi by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also believe that Mississippi State is still the school you have to beat for 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, but the word on the street is that we shouldn't put too much stock into the fact that Rice didn't visit Memphis last weekend.   Apparently the Tigers are still very high on his list.  Remember, Rice and 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ were roommates last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp in Indianapolis, IN.  Memphis also appears to be making a major push for a number of the other players as well - the latest two being 6'7 Johnny Selvie from Southeastern (JC) IA, who a week ago led his team to the National Junior College Championship, and 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, who ranks among the top five juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.     Probably won't happen, but with the best case scenerio, in two years Memphis could start 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ at point guard, 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA at 2-guard, Rice at the 3-spot, Selvie at power forward, and Curry inside.  Plus, if they have players like Barclay, 6'5 Lou Wright from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, and 6'2 Scooter McFadgon from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN coming off the bench, it would be scary how good Memphis could be if everything fell into place.   And with new head coach John Calipari now at the helm, don't bet against it!

Iowa now appears to be the leader for two of the top junior point guards in America in 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN and 6'4 Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL.   Right now it looks like a three horse race for Thomas among Iowa, Notre Dame, and Duke and two horse race for Pierce between Iowa and Illinois.   We'd be surprised if the Hawkeyes didn't land either Thomas or Pierce, but they won't get them both, because they only have one scholarship left for a point guard.   Speaking of the top juniors in Indiana, the top five schools for 6'5 Jr Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN are Indiana, Louisville, Iowa, Notre Dame, Purdue and 6'7 Jr Sean Kline from Huntington (North) IN likes Notre Dame, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan State.  The early list for 6'7 Jr Andre Patterson from Fort Wayne (Concordia) IN, who has grown two inches in the last six months and now ranks as one of the top five juniors in the state of Indiana by Jim Kasberg, includes Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, and Iowa. 

Sunday, March 26, 2000

When the Class 4-championship game between Bloomington (North) IN and Marion (H.S.) IN was on the line last night at the new Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN, it was 6'8 Zach Randolph from Marion (H.S.) IN, who stepped up and made almost every big shot down the stretch.   Randolph, who scored 28 points and took home tournament MVP honors last night, also placed himself in a position where he should be Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana, unless, of course, politics enters in the equation.  While Randolph's numbers are better than the other leading candidate - 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN, Randolph has two strikes against him.  Remember, Randolph was suspended last season and had to serve a month in a juvenile center after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property, which will lead a lot of people to conclude that Randolph is a bad kid.  Actually nothing could be further from the truth!  As a matter of fact, Randolph is one of the nicest kids you'll ever meet.  Randolph, who signed with Michigan State last fall, also didn 't sign with the in-state school.  In contrast, Jeffries signed early with Indiana, is an excellent student, and a terrific kid.  However, last night Jeffries, who missed nine of his first 10 shots, only scored two points in the first three quarters and finished with only 10 points for game.  Instead, the two guys who stepped for Bloomington North were 6'0 Jr Kelvin Boatner, who scored was 5-5 from beyond the arc en route to 15 points, and 6'8 Soph Sean May, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half.  As a matter of fact, May and Jeffries were both held scoreless in the third quarter , which allowed Marion to overcame a 28-23 halftime deficit en route to a 62-56 victory.  Indianapolis (Brebeuf) IN beat Gary (Andrean) IN, 72-56, in the Class 3-Championship, but the game really wasn't that close.  By far the most dominant player in the game was Brebeuf's 6'5 Michael Bennett, who was extremely active inside as he finished with 6 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, four steals and hit 12-14 field goals.  He edged out 6'4 Shane Power, who led Andrean with 27 points and 12 rebounds, for game MVP honors.  Topeka (Westview) IN beat Winchester (H.S.) IN, 59-53, to take home the Class-2 championship and Lafayette (Central Catholic) IN beat Dugger (Union) IN, 82-70, in the Class-1 championship.  Especially noteworthy was the performance of 6'0 Brody Boyd, who has led the state in scoring each of the last three years and is the third all-time career leading scoring the state's history.   Boyd finished with 35 points.

The Houston Chronicle has published an article today by Michael Murphy that is especially damaging to Indiana University head coach Bob Knight regarding recent attempts to discredit former Indiana University point guard Neil Reed.  "Calloway, who started as a sophomor on IU's 1987 national championship team, tells tales much like Reed's," says Murphy.  "And seeing Reed vilified for his comments prompted Calloway, who transferred to Kansas for his senior year, to break a 12-year silence on the suject.  'Oh yeah, I've seen things (physical abuse) like that myself,' said Calloway, who runs a swimming-pool construction company in Houston.  'He (Reed) didn't deserve to have all that stuff heaped on him.  Everybody says he's lyng about all the abuse at Indiana, but he's not...  I didn't see Neil Reed get choked, but I can be 95% sure it happened because I've seen it happen (to other players).  I saw a lot of things happen.  And with him (Knight), if you're going to keep getting away with things like that, why would you change?'"  Even more devastating are the quotes about Knight hitting Alford.  "'We all felt sorry for Steve,' Calloway said.  'After practice one day he (Knight) was mad.  And Alford used to take a lot for other people because he (Knight) would tell Alford that everything that went wrong was his fault because he didn't get on us enough....We were all standing in a circle on day, and he (Knight) just turned around and punched Steve right in the stomach, and for a minute and a half Steve couldn't breathe.  I was shocked.  I wasn't really surprised he hit someone, but I never expected him to hit Steve, his golden child.  But Steve put up with a lot.  He really had to put up with a lot.   Steve won't admit that happened, but he won't lie about it, either.  He just doesn't answer the questioin.  He gets evasive when you ask him about it.'"   The article also says that Calloway has no vendetta against Knight, but he thinks it is important to speak out.  "'The thing is that if a professor at Indiana did the things he (Knight) does, he'd get fired,' said Calloway.  'In a minute.  If a parent did the abusive things he does, they'd take the kid away.  Or if a spouse did stuff like that, hitting his wife, then he has to go.  No questions asked.   But with him (Knight), everybody's telling a lie.  Everybody just has to be lying.  He's going to go too far one day, and he's going to hurt a kid.  Or a kid is going to hurt him.  It'll be like (former Ohio State football coach) Woody Hayes, where he loses control and smacks a kid in public, right on national TV.   Then everybody will know what's been going on all these years.  But it'll be too late by then.'"

Saturday, March 25, 2000

All week we've telling you that the University of Memphis is on the verge of getting a commitment from 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is a legitimate borderline top 100 senior nationally, but even more important, may be the key to getting 6'2 Jr DaJuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ  As a matter of fact, while on his official visit to Memphis yesterday, Barclay confirmed this himself in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. "I'm not ready to give you an official verbal, but I'm coming," said Barclay.  "It's looking really good for Memphis."  And when asked about the possibility of a Barclay-Wagner package, Barclay said, "Ya, that's right.  We plan to attend the same college together."  If Barclay does indeed pick Memphis and Wagner follows in his footsteps, we believe that will also push the Tigers into the lead for 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  If you will recall, Carruth wants to play with a great point guard in college and he has been extremely close friends with Wagner and Barclay ever since they played on the same team that went to the NIKE World Championships in Douai, France last spring.  However, we still think Louisville has a legitimate shot at Carruth, but the key would be whether they get 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX.  Right now Hurt's top three are Louisville, Arizona, and Houston, but if Hurt and/or Wagner don't go to Louisville, the Cardinals will have no shot at Carruth.  Getting back to Memphis, the Tigers signed 6'5 Lou Wright and 6'2 Scooter McFadgon, both from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, so the question becomes whether Carruth thinks he can step in and beat those two players out immediately.  Our Mid-South Jim Rothman tells us that new Memphis head coach John Calipari is also pushing hard for 6'7 Cameron Stephens from Vincennes (JC) IN, but must beat out UNC-Charlotte and Ball State, which are considered the leaders. 

The New York Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, and the New York Times are all reporting that St. John's point guard Erick Barkley is mad at St. John's and, as a result, is having a meeting today and will likely go pro.  However, we have others sources who tell us all the New York dailies are incorrect.  "There is no meeting scheduled for today and the statements about how Barclay feels about St. John's are not coming from his mouth, says our source."  Apparently this is a payback by a well known street agent who has an ax to grind.  But this is in direct contrast to what we read today in the New York Post.  "The sources said that Barkley has been playing agents and/or their representatives against one another and that he has received numerous improper benefits, including cash, dates with models, introductions to NBA stars and financial dealings with rap stars, such as J-Zee," said Lenn Robbins in today's New York Post.  "A source familiar with the NCAA's investigation of St. John's said the governing body of intercollegiate sports was aware of these alleged improprieties and information continues to be gathered. The source said that a long and acrimonious investigation of St. John's is probable. Barkley could not be reached for comment, although a source told The Post he could hold a meeting today at the Boys Club in Brooklyn to discuss his NBA plans with family and close friends. He is expected to inform St. John's coach Mike Jarvis of his plans this evening."   Separating what is fact and fiction right now is next impossible, but Joe Drape confirms in the New York Times today that a decision about Barclay's pro status will likely be made immediately. "'Barkley spoke yesterday to the Rev. James Maher, the team chaplain,' said Jarvis.   'He has done everything I have asked him to and I am coming back to New York tomorrow and I hope to know by tomorrow.  The only thing I told him was to have a good night's sleep.  I'm trying to give him as much time as I can.  I really believe he's going to go, but I want to give him an opportunity to do the things he has to do.'"

Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY beat New York (Rice) NY four times this year and won the New York Catholic League Championship last weekend, but that doesn't make the Ravens the best team in the state, much less the Bronx.  That's right!   Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that last night Bronx (John F. Kennedy) NY knocked off St. Raymond's in the semi-finals of the New York State Championship.  St. Raymond's was up 37-26 late in the first half, but Kennedy outscored the Ravens 14-3 to tie the game at the end of the third quarter.  It was almost too close to call the rest of the way, but Kennedy survived, 52-49, when 6'5 Jr Juluis Hodge missed the 3-pointer that would have tied the game at the buzzer.  A big key in the game was the fact that Hodge, who is widely regarded as the #1 junior in New York City, hit only 5-18 field goals, and 6'5 Peter Mulligan, who recently was named the New York City Player-of-the-Year, was only 4-14 from the floor.  Hodge had 13 points, Mulligan had 11 points, and 6'3 Jr Chris McRae had 14 points.  The only player in double digits for Kennedy was 6'5 Willie Shaw, who finished with 12 points.  Today Kennedy will play Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY for the New York State Championship.

Friday, March 24, 2000

Our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman tells us that recruiting efforts for 6'7 Jim Grice from Shelby State (JC) TN have intensified.  Memphis, Mississippi, and Arkansas State have been there all along, but after Grice finished fourth in scoring at the National Junior College Tournament last week, including 41 point effort in the consolation championship game, Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith and Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson both have called to see if they can still get involved.    Orginially from Memphis (Central) TN, Grice was apart of the great Class of '97, which produced Tennessee's Tony Harris, Wake Forest's Robert O'Kelley, Illinois Cory Bradford, Memphis Marcus Moody, UNLV's Kenny Dye, and Life University's Jimmie Hunter.    Speaking of Hunter, he recently led Life to NAIA National Championship and was named MVP in the tournament, as well as NAIA National Player-of-the-Year.   Rothman also tells us that 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS has cancelled his unofficial visit to Memphis this weekend.  This came after University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith was in Jackson, MS on Tuesday to see Rice.   And this is important to mention, because a lot of Kentucky fans are telling us that the Wildcats are the heavy favorite.  However, we thought it was done last September.  If you will recall, at the time we reported that Rice told the Kentucky coaching staff that he would sign with Kentucky in the fall, but it never became official.   Moral to the story, when in doubt, the local school wins more often than not.   Mississippi State is also very tough to beat in their own backyard.  Plus, Rice's father has to go to the hospital several times a week for kidney dialysis treatment, which makes traveling very difficult for his parents.   We still think if you just leave it up to the kid, we agree, Kentucky will be very tough to beat, but Mississippi State and Kentucky could eventually negate one another and Memphis could still become the compromise choice.  Although Rice won't be in Memphis this weekend, 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ is supposed be on campus today and, as a result, it wouldn't surprise us if verbal commitment is forthcoming very shortly. 

Thursday, March 23, 2000

This comes as no surprise, because we thought he was the leading candidate to begin with, but we understand that University of Connecticut Karl Hobbs will be offered the Hartford job tomorrow.   However, there appears to be some doubt about whether he will take it.  The word is that he has reservations about taking the job, because he may be able to get a better job, like Siena, if Paul Hewitt moves to someplace like St. John's, or Oregon State, which also now appears to be a possibility.  If Hobbs doesn't take the job, Massachusetts assistant coach Geoff Arnold and St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clark are also high on the list and either would be an excellent choice.  We are hearing that Rhode Island assistant coach Jeff Jones is still the leading candidate for the American University job, although he also is being mentioned for the Eastern Kentucky job.  However, we're hearing that the leading candidate to replace Scott Perry at Eastern Kentucky is Western Kentucky assistant coach Pete Herrmann.  As expected, Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY head coach Bob Leckie, Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ head coach Kevin Boyle, and Bayside (Cardozo) NY head coach Ron Naclerio are all involved with the St. Peter's job.  But now there is a new name in the mix, as Rutgers assistant coach Danny Hurley also now has a legitimate shot.   And this makes perfect sense, because Hurley's father, Bob Hurley, Sr., who is the head coach at Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ, for many years has been widely regarded as the premier high school in the nation.

Our Philadelphia Area Editor Allen Rubin talked with the stepfather of 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ last night and he tells us that our suspicions about all the rumors this week regarding a possible commitment by Barclay to Memphis were correct.  That's correct!  As of now, Barclay is still available, but it looks like he'll be their's to lose, especially if the visit to Memphis goes well this weekend.  But a verbal commitment may take longer than we originally anticipated, because now there is talk about Barclay taking some more visits to placed like Louisville, Georgia Tech, and California.   We also found it interesting that today the Louisville Courier-Journal had the quote we ran yesterday from the Philadelphia Daily News, as well as additional comments from the Camden coach Glen Jackson and Wagner's father Milt Wagner.  "Jackson said he thinks Wagner will 'definitely' follow Barclay to college," says Brian Bennett. "But Milt Wagner said that's not necessarily the case.  'It's something where, if it the right situation, he would like to do that - but it's not a guarantee,' the elder Wagner said yesterday.  'That's just a kid speaking out.'"  The problem is that neither the father nor the coach have all  that much influence on the decision.   Remember, Milt has played professionally the last 10 years in France and, as a result, has not been a major part of the equation until this year.  Jackson, who is only in his second year as the coach at Camden, is still learning the ropes and, as a result, the former Camden coach Clarence Turner probably still has more influence than Jackson.  If Turner has anything to say about, that likely favors Louisville.   The same can be said about Milt.  But new Memphis head coach John Calipari has developed a close relationship with Wagner's advisor William Wesley and right now it appears that he is pushing Memphis.  However, the person who will likely have the most influence is Lisa Moore, who is Wagner's mother.  She also is the one who took Barclay into her home and has raised him since he was in junior high school.  As a result, Barclay is like a second son to her.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000

Yesterday reported that 6'7 Jackie Rogers from Barton County (JC) KS had committed to the University of Massachusetts, but it looks like that's not the only program to which he has made a verbal commitment.  It appears that he also has committed to Xavier, Louisville, and St. Bonaventure and we also expect him to make a commitment to Rhode Island when he visits there this weekend.  In other words, Rogers is one of those guys who can't seem to say no and, as a result, tells every school what they want to hear.  And apparently Rhode Island is the only school that is still actively recruiting Rogers, as we've gotten confirmation from two different sources that Louisville head coach Denny Crum was at Barton County yesterday afternoon to see Rogers.  However, while Crum is actively going hard after junior college front-court players, it looks like 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ and 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ are slipping away to Memphis.  And once again new head coach John Calipari was in the gym last night when Camden beat West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 50-46, in the championship game of New Jersey's Tournament of Champions.   Wagner shot 11-21 from the floor and scored 27 points, while Barclay chipped in with 12 points and 14 rebounds.  We continue to get all kinds of reports about Barclay making a commitment to Memphis both last night after the game and today, but we still can't confirm it.  As a matter of fact, we don't think anything official has happened yet.  Also a lot of people seem to down play the significance of getting Barclay, but that's hard to do if you have seen the story by Ted Silary in the Philadelphia Daily News this morning.  "Barclay lives with Wagner and both have said repeatedly that whatever college Barclay picks this year will get an added bonus next year in Wagner," says Silary.  "'That's both of us saying that, Barclay said.  'It's not me trying to convince Juanny.  Or him trying to convince me.'  Seated near Milt Wagner was John Calipari, the former Massachuetts coach and Sixers assistant who recently took over at Memphis.   This weekend, Barclay will make his first official visit.  Destination:   Memphis.  Should we read anything into that?  'You can,' Barclay said smiling.  'If he picks Memphis, that's where I'll be too,' Dajuan said.  'Believe that.  Any school.  You get him, you're getting me.'"

It looks like former Indiana University assistant coach Ron Felling was absolutely right when he was talking to Bowling Green head coach Dan Dakich in a telephone conversation on December 1st, which ironically was Felling's last day on the job.  Felling told Dakich that Coach (Knight) needed to ease up on the team.  Apparently the night before Bob Knight had come down especially hard on his players, despite the fact they'd played well and beaten Notre Dame.  And Felling went on to predict that the players wouldn't respond well later in the season if Knight didn't eventually start reinforcing the team with something positive to balance out all the negative.   It's too bad Knight wasn't listening to the conversation, because that could have been one of the major reasons why the Hoosiers started off so strong, but ended up so bad.   Remember, they lost five of their last seven games beating Michigan State and Purdue, but losing to Pepperdine, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Illinois twice.  And this has been consistent with the way Indiana has finished in recent years, as they have been beaten four of the last six years in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.   And this year's loss to Pepperdine also marks the second consecutive NCAA Tournament game that Indiana has lost by at least 20 points.  Last year, St. John's eliminated the Hoosiers 86-61 in the second round, which was IU's worst tournament loss ever.  However, that's not the most shocking statistic in terms of the new level of mediocrity that Indiana has achieved during the last five years.  Did you know that Indiana is only 1-27 during that time on the road against teams in the Big 10 teams that had won 50% or more of their games?  And as long as we're talking about Indiana University, we would be falling down on the stick if we didn't make the alleged Knight choking incident of former Indiana player Neil Reed our Question of the Day.  What is really amazing to us is that over 60% of the people who have responded so far believe Knight.  While we don't have any real evidence either way, our take is that it would be inconsistent with the behavior that Knight has become infamous for during his nearly 30 seasons at Indiana, if he didn't choke Reed.  This is a guy who has done things just as bad, like head-butt, kick, elbow, push, and screem at assistant coaches and players, while on national television.  Knight is also the guy who threw a chair at a referee, punched a cop in Puerto Rico, and has started more minor incidents over the years than I can begin to remember.  So why wouldn't Knight try and choke a player in a closed practice?   Even more amazing is the fact that anybody who knows Reed buys the way he's been portrayed over the last several years.  The party line is that he's a malcontent who was soft and wouldn't sacrifice for the good of the team.  But I remember a guy who was a tremendous competitor who even played part of one season in cast?  As a matter of fact, Knight was probably soft compared to Reed's father Terry Reed, who was such a demanding coach that he put his kid through hell from the time he could walk and talk.  So if  anybody was ready to deal with Knight's mind games, tough demeanor, and abuse, it was probably Reed.  But Knight's not the one who should be taking all the heat on this one.  It's just like when you have a kid who is four or five years old and misbehaves.  If you don't say anything and/or punish the kid, he'll think what he's doing is acceptable behavior.  And that's exactly what Indiana fans and the administration have done for almost 30 years with Knight, who knows he can get away with just about anything short of murder or pulling a Woody Hayes.   So whether you like Knight or dislike Knight, you have to at least respect the fact that he's smart enough to have learned how to beat the system and, as a result, is accountable to almost nobody.

Tuesday, March 21, 2000

We told you several times in the last two weeks that 6'7 Jackie Rogers from Barton County (JC) KS would likely sign with the University of Massachusetts this spring and, as a result, that was one of the many reasons why we thought Minutemen head coach James "Bruiser" Flint would be back next year.  Well, it looks like we're two for two, because Sunday Flint had a productive meeting with the athletic director Bob Marcum and the school chancellor David Scott, whereby, it was decided that the program was heading in the right direction.  Then, yesterday Rogers verbally committed to Massachusetts.   However, this is not good news for the University of Louisville.  If you will recall, on Saturday, we told you that Rogers was one of the few players that knew was high on the Cardinals' priority list.  And he may not the only one who is on the verge of going elsewhere.  This is still unconfirmed, but it looks like the University of Memphis either already has a commitment or is on the verge of getting a commitment from 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ.   However, the word we get is that he doesn't want to make it official until his season is over, which will be tonight, and he visits Memphis this weekend.  If this were to happen, we can't emphasis enough how devastating this could be to the University of Louisville.  Remember, for years everybody has assumed that Wagner would follow in his father's footsteps and go to Louisville.  Then, Calipari walks in and in less than two weeks on the job has Barclay all wrapped up.  All this becomes critical if you realize how much of an influence this will have on the recruitment of 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ.  Not only are Wagner and Barclay best friends, but they also have lived in the same house for the last several years and are like brothers.  And Barclay has emerged into a player who is good enough to take in his own right.  As a matter of fact, there aren't five unsigned power forwards or centers still available in high school who are still available, which is why he's on the fringe of making our top 100 nationally.  A Barclay commitment to Memphis also could be a major blow to Mississippi State, because Barclay and 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS got to be good friends last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp, where they were roommates.  Remember, we've already reported that Rice also is scheduled to visit Memphis this weekend, along with Barclay.  Getting back to Louisville for a minute, we are hearing that the Cardinals are in great shape on 6'7 Johnny Selvie from Southeastern (JC) IA, who had 77 points and 41 rebounds in four games in the National Junior College tournament last week.  As a matter of fact, Louisville head coach was in the gym Saturday night when Southeastern Junior College won the national championship.  Tournament MVP honors went to 6'6 Aaron McGhee, who led Vincennes (JC) IN to a 5th place finish, but a lot of people thought Selvie should have gotten the award.   Selvie, who scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the championship, was complemented by 6'6 Monte Cummings from Southeastern (JC) IA, who also apparently is being recruited by Louisville.  However, we're also hearing that both McGhee and Cummings may be part of a package with their junior college coach to Kansas State, which recently hired Jim Woolridge as their new head coach.  Woolridge has already hired Southwest Texas head coach Mike Miller and Charles Baker, who was the head coach at Shorter (JC) AR, but to our knowledge has yet to fill the remaining spot on his staff.

One of the best rumors of the entire spring is Lute Olson retiring at Arizona, but sources in the know tell us that it simply isn't going to happen.   Not have the reports about his wife's health been blown out of proportion, but he's just having too much fun and making too much to quit.  Plus, he doesn't have any other hobbies, which is evident by the fact that Olson is always one of the most head coaches on the recruiting trail and why he always so knowledgeable about players.  As a result, it looks like Tulsa head coach Bill Self is heading to Nebraska, instead of Oklahoma.  We continue to hear Siena head coach Paul Hewitt and Hofstra head coach Jay Wright mentioned as the leading candidates for St. John's, if Mike Jarvis takes a job in the NBA.   Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD did win the championship at the Alhambra Catholic Tournament in Cumberland, MD over the weekend, but the legendary Morgon Wootten hasn't retired yet.  However, Wootten was quoted in  Sunday's Washington Post saying that he will take a few months, think about it, and make a decision.   Plus, his son, Joey Wootten, the head coach Falls Church (Bishop O'Connell) VA continues to tell recruits that his father won't be back next year. The list of candidates for the Oregon State job includes Colorado State head coach Ritchie McKay, Cal State-Northridge head coach Bobby Braswell, Arizona assistant coach Jay John, San Francisco head coach Phil Mathews, Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Donnie Newmann, and Boston Celtics assistant coach Lester Conner.  It's now official, new Memphis head coach John Calipari has hired Wyoming assistant coach Steve Roccaforte and Massachusetts assistant coach Tony Barbee.   It's also official for the University of Kentucky.  No, head coach Tubby Smith hasn't taken a coaching job yet.  Instead, it has been announced that associate athletic director Larry Ivy will become the athletic director on July 1st.  So here we go again with the possibility that Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino could eventually return to Kentucky.  And if you don't believe that Pitino will get at least first right of refusal for the job if it ever opens, it might be important to remind you that Pitino and Ivy are extremely close friends. 

Do you know what happened when University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith returned to Lexington, KY after the NCAA loss to Syracuse on Saturday to watch his youngest son play in the state championship game?  More than a few people booed when they announced Brian Smith's name during the awards ceremony after the title game.  We aren't talking about booing the head coach at a Division I school or even one of his players.  Instead, we're talking about a 14-year-old freshman who has nothing to do with what has turned into a very difficult situation.    Smith also has had to take abuse from callers on his radio-talk show, as well as a lot of heat in the local media.  And it's too bad, because Smith is widely recognized as one of the top coaches in the game today.  As a matter of fact, his teams overachieved dramatically his last two years at Tulsa, his only  two years ago Georgia, and his first year at Kentucky when he won the NCAA Championship.  Last year the Wildcats did about what they were supposed to do by advancing to the NCAA Final Eight.     Sure, Saul gets a lot of more time at Kentucky than he ever did when he played for the Atlanta Celtics in AAU ball four years ago, but fathers who are head coaches are almost always blind when it comes to their own sons as players.  This won't be the first or the last time that fans feel like their team has underachieved in this type of situation.  Whether he knows it or not, Tubby is just acting like a father first and a coach second, which is perfectly normal!  Right now Smith says that he doesn't have any plans to go anywhere, but if Kentucky fans don't start showing a little more class, it might become a lot easier for Smith to say yes to the big bucks that the Atlanta Hawks and/or a lot of other NBA teams might decide to throw his way this spring.

Our New York Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that San Diego State now appears to be the leader for 5'8 Kenneth Brunner from Southern Idaho (JC) ID, but it looks like his teammate 6'1 William Parker, who is a playground legend from New York City, has flunked out at Southern Idaho and, as a result, won't be recruitable this spring.  Did you know that 6'1 Brody Boyd from Dugger (Union) IN, who signed early with the University of Iowa, has passed Billy Shepperd and Rick Mount and is now third on the all-time Indiana scoring list?   Boyd, who has scored over 30 ppg three consecutive seasons, was the leading scorer in the state of Indiana each of the last three seasons.  Speaking of high school basketball in the state of Indiana, our Indiana Editor Jim Kasberg has done it again   "In fact, this year's senior class could produce two McDonald's All-American's in 6'10 Jared Jeffries (Committed to Indiana) and Marion's 6'8 center Zach Randolph (committed to Michigan State), both of whom are ranked among the nation's top 10 seniors," said Kasberg last October.  "Don't be surprised if these two long-time rivals lead their respective teams to the 4-A championship game next spring at the breathtaking new Conseco Fieldhouse."   However, that's not why Kasberg looks like such a genius.  It's just that nobody seemed to want to listen.  That's right!  Nobody but Kasberg had Bloomington (North) IN ranked as the #1 team in the state until recently.  However, now it's obvious, because they're the only unbeaten team in left in the tournament.   Bloomington North and Marion will play this weekend for the Class 4-A Indiana State Championship.

Monday, March 20, 2000

We do not have this confirmed, but our Georgia editor Linzy Davis has a reliable source who is telling him that new Memphis head coach John Calipari has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ.  However, our Northeast Editor Dave Schultz thinks the rumor is premature.   But he's not saying it won't happen.  Schultz also tells us that he's heard Louisville has been eliminated and that the only two schools remaining on Barclay's list are Temple and Memphis.  Wagner is still being mentioned with Louisville, but they appear to be fading fast.  "Everybody was talking about Calipari," says Schultz.   "But nobody was talking about Louisville." All this is very important, because 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is the best high school player since Kevin Garnett and potentially one of the great players to ever play the game, has always said that he plans to attend the same college with Barclay.  It's also critical to Louisville, because Wagner's father Milt Wagner helped the Cardinals win the national championship in 1986.  "In the 30 years I've been following high school basketball, I have never seen a player with the cult-like following that Wagner has," says Schultz.  "You'd have to see it in person to believe it.  Every time Wagner plays it's a major event." Yesterday's Camden game was scheduled for noon, but they were lining up to get in before 9:00 AM and they didn't even sell any tickets at the door.  $6 tickets were going for $50 in the parking lot before the game and the executive director of the NJSIAA Boyd Sands said that the demand for tickets was among the highest he can ever remember.  Schultz tells us that yesterday there were so many rumors that it's hard to know what to believe and not believe.  The rumor about Wagner and Barclay both transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA next year, if Camden wins the Tournament of Champions tomorrow night, can't be right, because Oak Hill doesn't take 5th year players.  Instead, if Barclay doesn't make it, he would have to go to a prep school like Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT or Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME.  We also think the rumor about Calipari hiring Milt Wagner as an assistant coach is suspect, because he doesn't have a college degree.  And the story appears to be far from over.  Despite the fact that Chicago (Westinghouse) IL lost over the weekend and, as a result, #5 ranked Seton Hall Prep will move up to #4 in this week's USA Today Rankings, everybody is picking Camden to beat Seton Hall Prep tomorrow night.   "It will be an absolute zoo," says Schultz.  "The Rutgers Athletic Center will be like rocking like you've never seen."  However, that may only be minor in terms of the stir that Calipari would cause in college basketball if the commitment from Barclay materializes, because Wagner won't be far behind.  While it may not be fair to compare anybody to Michael Jordan, Wagner certainly shows signs of creating the same type of interest and having the same type of following.  He's capable of scoring anytime he wants.  The game is just so easy for him.  And probably most important of all, Wagner rarely disappoints.  That's right!  Just like Jordan, at every turn he seems to be able to deal with the incredible hype and pressure.

The championship of the always tough New York Catholic League was decided yesterday and Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY beat  New York (Rice) NY, which returned three of their best players, including 5'9 Andre Barrett and 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from a team that won the New York State Championship and was as good as any in the nation a year ago, for the fourth time this season.  And that alone should be enough to get St. Raymond's head coach Gary DeCesare some major consideration for National High School Coach-of-the-Year honors, as well as a lot of attention from big time head coaches this spring when they pick their coaching staffs.  Has new Memphis head coach John Calipari finalized his staff yet?  Remember, DeCesare has all the New York and adidas ties.  Plus, several of his past players - Dana Dingle and Charlton Clarke - played for Calipari when he was at the University of Massachusetts.  DeCesare has been telling us since last summer that the #1 junior in New York City was 6'5 Jr Julius Hodge and we finally agree with him, especially after his performance yesterday in Rice's 61-56 victory to win the city championship.  "Julius carried us on his back," said DeCesare.  Hodge not only won Tournament MVP honors, but he also scored 21 of his 27 points when the game was on the line in the second half.   

We reported last week that 6'10 Jr Marcus Gantt has been suspended from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA for getting into a fight with 6'9 Eddie Griffin, who ranks as the #1 high school senior in America, but we have yet to hear if either player will be permanently expelled.  But with Gantt it may not matter, because Dave Schultz is telling us that it appears that Gantt will likely end up at either Burlington (Life Center) NJ or Camden (H.S.) NJ.   "And the smart money is on Camden," says Schultz.  "He' be the perfect replacement for Arthur Barclay."  While the rumor about Barclay going to Memphis and 6'8 Josef Szendrei from Northeastern (JC) CO picking the University of Oklahoma over the weekend is not good news for Louisville fans, a number of people have been nice enough to email us some additional names that Louisville may have a shot at signing this spring.   The two new names with the best chance of giving the Cardinals the quick fix they need are 6'8 Randy Holbrook from Los Angeles City (JC) CA and 6'11 Melih Yavsaner from Hill (JC) TX, both of whom rank among the consensus top 30 junior college players in the nation.  Hill was even listed as the #2 big man in the junior college ranks by Rick Ball before the season in the Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook.   Another intriguing player for the Louisville might have been 6'10 Ardo Ampalu from Estonia, but he signed with Marshall last fall.  Also being mentioned is 6'10 Pape Badiane from Glassboro (Faith Christian) NJ, but the word we get is that Louisville will not accept his commitment, because he's just not good enough to step in and help anytime soon.  Neither is 6'9 Daouda Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, but his younger brother - 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse, also from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL - is one of the best juniors in the nation.  So maybe they're thinking about a possible package.  We had heard 6'9 Modibo Diarra from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) MA mentioned with Louisville last fall, but when we talked with his prep school a month ago, Louisville was not mentioned.  And of course we've heard 6'9 Derek Huff and 6'3 Aaron Knight, both at St. Catharine (JC) KY.  Another name being tossed around is 6'8 Vance Lawhorn from Dixie (JC) UT, but we're not sure he's good enough.     

Several months ago we reported that rumor about Arizona head coach Lute Olson calling it quits after this season and being replaced by University of Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson. Well, we're hearing it again stronger than ever, as Olson's wife, who had health problems for several years, has taken a turn for the worse.  If indeed Olson does retire and Sampson takes over at Arizona, suddenly Tulsa head coach Bill Self might be in line for the Oklahoma job, instead of the Nebraska job.  We also are hearing Michigan State assistant coach Stan Heath being mentioned as the leading candidate for the Eastern Michigan job.  The word is that he's a 1988 graduate of the school.  We're also hearing University of Cincinnati Mick Cronin, University of California assistant coach Scott Beaton, DePaul assistant coach Larry Harrison, former USC head coach and current Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Charlie Parker, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee assistant coach Bo Ryan, but the perfect choice would be Ohio State assistant coach Paul Biancardi, who one of the best and brightest assistant coaches in the nation, and, as a result, one of the next guys ready to become a head coach in the business.  So is another guy on Jim O'Brien's staff.  Did you know that Ohio State associate head coach Rick Boyages finished second when Shakey Rodriguez got the Florida International job five years ago?  So when Rodriguez got the ax last week, a lot of people in the know have told us that Boyages would be a natural for the job.

We've already reported that University of Memphis head coach John Calipari is making a strong push for 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who ranks #12 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, we haven't told you that Alabama is also now in the mix.  Wouldn't it be ironic if Rice, who we've always thought would end up at Mississippi State, signed instead with the Crimson Tide?  What a payback that would be!  Remember, 6'9 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL committed to Alabama last August, but then changed his mind and signed with Mississippi State on the first day of the fall signing period.   We also are getting reports from college coaches who were at Linzy Davis' Southeast Top 100 Workout on Saturday that 6'8 Jason Gilchrist from McCormick (H.S.) SC was not as good as originally advertised.  "He isn't good enough to help us," said one ACC assistant coach we talked with today.   Speaking of not being good enough to play in the ACC, did you know that Florida State has gotten a commitment from 6'0 Ryan Lowery from Fork Union (Military) VA, who promises to be a role player at best for the Seminoles?  Have you ever heard of 6'10 Frosh Jarrod Boswell from Lakeside (El Capitan) CA?   Neither had we until yesterday when our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson told us that the word out of San Diego is that we might be talking about the next Bill Walton.  Well, we've already heard that once when Chris Burgess was a sophomore, but Boswell is just a freshman right now, so we'll have plenty of time to debate that in the future.  Another outstanding freshman that Patrick Jira of the Recruiting Beat told us about yesterday is 5'11 Frosh T.J. Bannister from Jacksonville, FL. Apparently Bannister made a splash earlier in the month in the Florida State High School Tournament. "He's like Wesley Stokes with a jumpshot" says Jira.  "And he's better than 6'5 Soph Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL, who for a while was ranked as the #1 freshman in the nation, at this time a year ago.  So write him down as a top 10 freshman in the nation!"

Sunday, March 19, 2000

It looks like rumors about University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith heading to Atlanta just won't die, as Terence Moore in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has renewed the possibility that Smith is in line for Georgia Tech .  "The plot thickens in the search for Bobby Cremins' successor at Georgia Tech, and the final chapter is evolving into a doozy." says Moore.  "Maybe, just maybe, the Yellow Jackets will make the cow jump over the moon by hiring a former Bulldog who is a current Wildcat.  Tubby Smith to Tech?  Oooooh.  Could happen. In fact, if you believe the buzz (not to be confused with Tech mascot Buzz) around the South Regional, the Jackets already have asked Smith to become their new basketball coach, with a wink and a nod from the man himself.   This is for sure:  If the buzz involving Smith and Tech isn't true, Tech athletics director Dave Braine should change that in a hurry.  Like now.  Smith has plenty of time to talk to Braine, since Syracuse eliminated Kentucky on Saturday in the second round of the Midwest Regional."  While this is consistent with things we've been hearing for weeks, we don't put a lot of stock into the Georgia Tech rumors, because Smith would have to take a major salary cut to take the job.    However, that wouldn't be the case if Smith, who is reported to make in the neighborhood of $1.2 million per year, instead took the Atlanta Hawks job.  Remember, we heard a $16 million figure a week ago and have heard unconfirmed reports about Smith reaching an informal agreement with the Hawks.  That's $3.2 million a year for five years or $2.3 million for seven years and either way he wouldn't have to listen to people complain about his son's playing time.

Earlier today 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner, who finished with 27 points, while taking only 18 shots, went coast-to-coast to score the game winning basket to give Camden (H.S.) NJ a two point win over Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ in the semi-finals of the New Jersey Tournament of Championships.   The win sets up a meeting in the championship on Tuesday night between Camden and West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, which beat Linden (H.S.) NJ, 46-45, in the other semi-final game this afternoon.  Among those who were in the gym to see Wagner was, you guessed it, new Memphis head coach John Calipari, who was seen sitting right in the center of the Camden cheering section.  As a matter of fact, you couldn't miss him, because he was the only white guy in the section.  Speaking of Calipari, it looks like he's the hottest thing in college basketball today.  That's right!  Players appear to be coming out of the woodwork with interest in Memphis and one of the big selling points appears to be Calipari's recent experience in the NBA.  The latest being 6'11 Jr David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN, who ranks among the top 10 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP. 

It looks like somebody has finally stepped up to become the undisputed #1 ranked senior in the state of Kentucky.  That's what happened over the weekend in the Kentucky High School State Tournament when 6'5 Antwain Barber from Elizabethtown (H.S.) KY scored 42 points in the semi-finals against Russellville (H.S.) KY and 31 points in the championship against Lexington (Catholic) KY.  "There is no question he's now the best player in the state," says Larry Kihnley, the Kentucky Editor of the HOOP SCOOP.   "He has no weaknesses in his game.  He has incredible athleticism who can run, jump, shoot the three, defend,   rebound, and handle.  The only thing that might be holding him back are grades."  Right now it looks like Barber will likely have to go the junior college route, but Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith was in the house Saturday night for the championship game between Elizabethtown and Lexington (Catholic) KY and we know that Louisville has interest as well.   Kihnley also thinks Barber might be the biggest sleeper in the nation and based on his own rankings, he's probably right.  As a matter of fact, Kihnley was ranked no higher than #39 in the state when Kihnley last updated his rankings last fall.  Reinforcing this even more was the fact that we saw Elizabethtown in January and we didn't even think Barber was even the best player on his team.  Instead, we liked 6'1 Chris Williams and 6'6 Nathan Sexton both better.   But not anymore, as Barbour combined with Williams to score 42 of Elizabethtown's 54 points in the second half againt Lexington (Catholic) KY en route to a 79-69 victory in the title game.  Even more impressive was the fact that they came back from a 13 point halftime deficit, as they outscored Catholic 54 to 31 in the final two quarters.  Elizabethtown also pulled off a major upset when they sent Russellville home with a one point loss in the semi-finals.   Barbour, Sexton, and Williams were named to the all-tournament team, along with 6'10 Jr Tony Key from Russellville (H.S.) KY, 6'6 Will Harris from Lexington (Catholic) KY, 6'5 Matt Heissenbuttel from Lexington (Catholic) KY, 6'5 Scott Hundley from Georgetown (Scott County) KY, 5'10 Casey Alsop from Georgetown (Scott County) KY, 6'3 Jr Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, 5'5 Deshawn Bowman from Louisville (Iroquois) KY, 6'1 Michael Morris from Russellville (H.S.) KY, Teco Dickerson from Russellville (H.S.) KY, 6'4 Jr Anthony Johnson from Louisville (Iroquois) KY, Tommy McKenzie from Paintsville (Johnson Central) KY, and 6'2 Jr Patrick Sparks from Greenville (Muhlenberg North) KY.

Saturday, March 18, 2000

Two weeks ago we told you that we thought the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic, which will be played at the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, NC on Monday, April 10th, on ESPN would have better than the McDonald's All American Game.  If you will recall, the game rosters included 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME,  6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA, 5'8 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, 6'10 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'2 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 6'9 Alton Ford from Houston (Milby) TX, 6'8 Andre Brown from Chicago (Leo) IL, 6'6 Bernard Robinson from New Hampton (Prep) NH, 6'5 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'9 Abdul Diame from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Chris Wilcox from Raleigh (Enloe) NC, 6'2 Brian Morrison from Redmond (Lake Washington) WA,  6'3 Scooter Sherrill from Mt Ulla (West Rowan) NC, 6'9 Brian Boddicker from Duncanville (H.S.) TX, 6'8 Michael Bell from Raleigh (Enloe) NC, and 7'5 Neil Fingleton from Worcester (Holy Name) MA.  However, Sonny Vaccaro tells us that Fingleton won't be able to play in the game, so he has added 6'9 Jason Parker from Fork Union (Military Academy) VA, who would rank among our top five nationally, if we included prep school players with our senior rankings.  Without Parker the two games were fairly close in terms of overall talent, but with this late addition, it's not even close!

After Louisville's opening round NCAA loss to Gonzaga Thursday night, head coach Denny Crum said on this post game show that the Cardinals are on the verge of landing three or four excellent junior college players, which would help make up the best group of players they've signed in a long time.   We know that 6'7 Jackie Rogers from Barton County (JC) KS, 6'7 Johnny Selvie from Southeastern  (JC) IA, and 6'8 Josef Szendrei from Northeastern (JC) CO have all been in for official visits and we know they recently have been to see 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ.  But after that, we've been having trouble even finding names.  We have heard 6'4 Immanuel McElroy from Tyler (JC) TX, 6'7 Reggie Evans from Coffeyville (JC) KS, 6'3 Eddie Starks from Miami (Northwest Christian) FL, 6'8 Jamal Davis from Barton County (JC) KS, and 6'9 Terry Licorish from Toronto (Westhill) ON mentioned.  However, Evans and Davis both recently made verbal commitments to Iowa and Cincinnati and McElroy is believed to be a near lock for Oklahoma State, although new Memphis head coach John Calipari is making a strong push.  Starks is still available, but Rutgers and UNLV will be tough to beat, if he by some chance makes it academically this spring.  We also are hearing that Licorish needs another year of high school and the word on the street is that Massachuetts is the leader for Rogers.  Last, but not least, Barclay will likely make an official visit to Memphis next week.  While Crum's rhetoric sounds great, we are extremely skeptical for two reasons.  First, the party line for years has been that things are on the verge of turning around.  But, so far we have not been  impressed.  Second, we're hard pressed to even name more than three or four players that Louisville currently has a realistic shot at signing this spring.  Maybe we're missing something!   Maybe we need better sources!  Maybe you can even help us.  If you know of somebody that Louisville is involved with who wasn't mentioned above, feel free to email us clark@hoopscooponline.com.  Certainly we don't want to kick the program when it's down.  However, without a proven player in the program returning who is over 6'7, this spring will be second the most important recruiting period in the history of Louisville basketball.  The most important will be next fall, which is when we'll find out if the Cardinals are able to land 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who is the best high school player right now since Kevin Garnett.  Also high on their list are 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, whose grandmother lives in Louisville and whose mother went to Louisville (Male) KY during the Darrell Griffith and Bobby Turner era and 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who plans to be part of the Barclay-Wagner package.  And that's the key!  If Calipari lands Barclay this spring, it suddenly would become extremely difficult for Louisville to get Wagner and Carruth.  However, if Louisville turns up the heat on Barclay and gets a commitment in the near future, Carruth would probably follow suit this spring.  All this becomes even more important when one remembers that Wagner, Barclay, Carruth, and Hurt will all be playing for the United States team, which will be heavily favored to win the NIKE World Amateur Basketball Championship in Douai, France in early June.  Talk about a potential recruiting advantage!   Carruth and Barclay, who lives with Wagner, his mother, and stepfather and is Wagner's best friend, both obviously would have plenty of opportunity to convince Wagner and Hurt go to Louisville.  And so would the coach of the United States team Linzy Davis, who also is Carruth's AAU coach and mentor.  Really it couldn't be set up any better for Louisville, but Calipari is an aggressive enough recruiter to change all that in a hurry.  As a matter of fact, we know Calipari has seen Camden play at least three times in last month and he has already tremendous in-roads.  And so is Leonard Hamilton, if he were to get the Georgia Tech job.  Remember, former head coach Bobby Cremins did a great job recruiting Barclay and, as a result, laid a great foundation for Georgia Tech.  Plus, Carruth is originally from the Atlanta area and he really likes Hamilton.  Right now we make no predictions, but we do guarantee three things.  First, it's crunch time for Louisville.  If Crum doesn't get the Wagner & Company package to fall his way, he may not be able to end his Hall of Fame career on his own terms.  Second, however it falls, the next six months are going to be extremely interesting.   

Friday, March 17, 2000

We continue to hear that Dayton head coach Oliver Purnell is the leading candidate for the Georgia Tech job, but a very reliable source in Atlanta is telling us that it is still Seton Hall head coach Tommy Amaker's job to turn down.  Apparently he's still the first choice by a mile, but the feeling is that he will remain at Seton Hall, where he can take advantage of their #2 ranked recruiting class that includes two of our top five ranked players nationally in 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA and 5'8 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY.  So if Amaker turns the job down, he have to assume that it's a two horse race between Purnell and Miami-FL head coach Leonard Hamilton.  While Purnell has down a terrific job at Dayton, in our mind hiring Hamilton would be a no-brainer, because that would instantly make the Yellowjackets one of the leaders, along with Louisville and Memphis, for 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ, and 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.   Remember, Carruth is originally from the Atlanta area and he's continuously talked about going to the same college with Wagner and Barclay.  Previously we also had been mentioning Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson as one of the leading candidates for the job, but apparently Georgia Tech isn't interested in paying what it would take to buy him out of his contract at the University of Oklahoma. 

Once again we are getting reports that the legendary Morgan Wootten, who is the winningest high school coach of all-time, will retire if he wins the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament tomorrow.   And our source is getting this second hand from Wootten's son, Joey Wootten, who is the head coach at Falls Church (Archbishop O'Connell) VA.  This may be a recruiting ploy, but we have to take it seriously, because he's told several local television reporters recently that he's on the 18th hole of the back nine.  Tonight DeMatha plays Philadelphia (St. John Neumann) PA and then they would have to beat the winner of tonight's game between Severn (Archbishop Spalding) MD and Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA in order for tomorrow's championship game award ceremony to turn into a Wootten retirement party.  Speaking of Roman Catholic, they will be playing without 6'9 Eddie Griffin, who was recently suspended for fighting with his teammate 6'9 Jr Marcus Gantt.  And that may not be the end of it, because the school has a no tolerance policy for fighting and Griffin could be expelled from school permanently.  If that happens, we've heard he will enroll in a prep school this spring in order to graduate on time, which leads us to believe that he plans to go to Seton Hall and not follow in the footsteps of a number of the top high school players in recent years by going directly to the NBA. 

In the New York Post today Peter Vecsey is reporting that Lenny Wilkens is definitely out after the season with the Atlanta Hawks.  "Fortunately for everyone concerned, management has no plans to humiliate him with 19 games left on the schedule," says Vecsey.  " Nor does it plan to fire him either now, or at season's end, as I've speculated a number of times.  Or suspend him, as Rider demands. The way I understand it, the two sides have agreed to make a settlement (if they haven't already) on the remaining two years ($10 million) of his contract. In other words, the Hawks are going to buy out Wilkens and import a young coach to coach the young player Lenny resisted playing for much of the season.  As long as the commissioner doesn't perceive ownership of the CBA a conflict of interest, my NBC partner Isiah Thomas must be considered the leading candidate." But that's not what we're hearing.  As a matter of fact, we have heard unconfirmed reports that University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith and the Atlanta Hawks have a deal in principle.  "They apparently reached it on Tuesday night," says the source.  However, not everybody believes the rumors about Tubby going to the Hawks.  Somebody last night even said that Smith won't leave for at least another year, because he doesn't want to leave his son (Saul Smith) high and dry during his senior year.  But he did exactly that when he left his oldest son (G.G. Smith) three years ago at the University of   Georgia.  And all this brings us back once again to who Kentucky will hire if Smith leaves for the pros - Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino or Florida head coach Billy Donovan?  Our theory is that it will be Donovan if happens before athletic director C. M Newton retires, which may actually happend sooner than expected, because his wife apparently has health problems, or Pitino once associate athletic Larry Ivy moves into the top position. 

Thursday, March 16, 2000

Despite North Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge’s recent announcement that he will return next year, we have a reliable source who tells us that the Guthridge will indeed retire this spring. If that happens, the door would be open for the Tar Heels to hire Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown, who for years had been the heir apparent to replace Dean Smith. However, Brown fell out of grace when he hired Danny Manning’s father, Ed Manning, in 1983 and, as a result, beat out the Tar Heels for the player who would eventually lead Kansas to the NCAA Championship in 1988. And if the Tar Heels hired Brown, it would be just as big as if Pitino returned to Kentucky or Calipari going to Memphis. As a matter of fact, we think Brown is the best coach in basketball at any level. He’s a tremendous teacher and there is no doubt that he’s a good recruiter when he sets his mind to it. And the cupboard isn’t exactly empty at North Carolina to begin with.   So if Brown returned to college basketball, it would be very difficult to keep North Carolina out of the NCAA Final Four for very long.  And making the entire matter even more intriguing, if Brown were to get the Tar Heels to the title game, he would become the first coach in history to coach three different schools in the NCAA Championship game.  However, that’s only part of the story. Apparently Brown, who is 59 year old, would be hired to fill the job only until current Notre Dame head coach and former North Carolina All-American Matt Doherty is ready to step in and run the show. Which might only be two or three years. All this sounds great, but one has to wonder what ever happened to Kansas head coach Roy Williams, who was supposed to be the chosen successor when Guthridge decides he’s had enough?

Word on the street is that 6'5 David Holmes from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed early with Manhattan, won't meet the necessary requirements to be eligible next year and, as a result, will have to go the prep school route.   However, we talked with Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith today and he does not confirm the rumor.  Smith tells us that Holmes has yet to get either the necessary score on the test or pass necessary classes to become eligible, but he adds that Holmes does still have a chance to make it.  "It's really up to him," says Smith.  "How hard does he want to work?"

Our new Mississippi Editor Lavel Johnson tells us that 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS roomed with and became friends last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp with 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ and, as a result, we should add Rice's name to the possible package to Memphis that would include Barclay, 6'2 Jr DaJuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ and 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA.  Johnson also tells us that Calipari will be in the Rice's home tomorrow making an official visit and our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman adds that Calipari trying to get an unofficial visit from Rice a week from now, which just happens to be the same time when the Barlcay is tentatively supposed to make an official visit to Memphis.   Calipari is also trying to salvage what was done by the previous regime with 6'4 Immanuel McElroy from Tyler (JC) TX, who made an early commitment to the Tigers last spring, but did not sign in the fall.  Right now it looks like Oklahoma State may be tough to beat..  We also are hearing that Sean Miller and Mick Cronin, both had been contacted by Calipari, but have decided to remain at N.C. State and Cincinnati.  Instead, it looks like Calipari will hire Tony Barbee, who played for Calipari at Massachusetts and is now an assistant coach for the Minutemen, and Steve Roccaforte, who is an assistant at Wyoming and is regarded as one of the bright young guys in the business.  And the third assistant may be current Arkansas State assistant coach Tony Madlock, who was seen yesterday with Calipari at the Tennessee High School State Tournament in Murfreesboro, TN.  If you will recall, Madlock played at Memphis (Melrose) TN in the late 80's and was the starting point guard at Memphis State when Penny Hardaway was a freshman during the 1991-92 season.   Johnson also tells us that Memphis is on the list of 5'10 James Thomas from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who is one of the top unsigned point guards in the nation.  And this makes even more sense when one remembers that Thomas and Rice are high school teammates.  So we could be talking about yet another possible package.  Johnson thinks Thomas is currently getting underrecruited, athough Miami-FL, Texas, LSU, and Louisiana Tech have been showing varying degrees of interest.   And as long as we're talking about the top unsigned players in the state of Mississippi, 6'4 Timothy Bowers from Gulfort (Harrison Central) MS is also still available.  Johnson tells us that Bowers has already visited San Diego State and Alabama and Mississippi State have been calling, but this might be one somebody could slip in and steal.  

One of the toughest jobs in the nation is Air Force and you have to wonder what they were thinking when they fired head coach Reggie Minton earlier this week after 15 years on the job.  If you will recall, this year the Falcons knocked off both Wyoming and Brigham Young, plus they also almost upset Utah.  We are now hearing that Tulsa head coach Bill Self is the leading candiate to replace Danny Nee at Nebraska and it looks like Hartford may be close to hiring University of Connecticut assistant Karl Hobbs.   Utah assistant coach Donnie Daniels appears to be in line for Fullerton State and Metropolitan State head coach Mike Dunlop looks like the likely choice to replace Charles Bradley at Loyola-Marymount.   Western Michigan has hired University of Illinois assistant coach Robert McCullum and the word is that the American University job may go to Gregg Marshall, who has done a great job at Winthrop, as is evident by the fact that he's guided the Eagles to an 18-8 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.  We have heard a lot about the possibility of St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis taking a job in the NBA, but nobody seems to be talking yet about who might be Jarvis' replacement.  How about Jay Wright, who has done an amazing job building Hofstra into one of the mid-major powers in the East during the last six years?   Or Siena head coach Mike Jarvis, who was one of the finalists for the job two years ago; St. Bonaventure head coach Jim Baron, who is hot after today's double overtime loss to Kentucky; former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins; who is a New York guy and is currently looking for a job; or Bobby Gonzalez, who has done a terrific job in his first season at Manhattan this year?   As a matter of fact, that's our Question of the Day.  Who would be the leading candidate for the St. John's job, if Jarvis gets fed up with the NCAA and opts out for the NBA?

Wednesday, March 15, 2000

This is the last chance for anybody interested in subcribing or renewing their subscription to the Members Section.  The price increase that we announced three weeks ago will take effect beginning on Friday, March 17th.  Which means you have today and tomorrow to take advantage of the old prices, which are $12 per month, $30 for three months, $60 for six months, $100 per year, and $375 for a lifetime subscription.  The new prices, which will take effect beginning on Friday, will be $25 per month, $65 for three months, $125 for six months, and $250 per year.  Liftetime subscription will no longer be offered.  If your subscription is coming due anytime in the near future or you were planning on subscribing to follow all of the coaching rumors, spring all-star games and AAU Tournaments, and spring signing period, now is the perfect time to subscribe to the Members Section. To subscribe or renew your subscription, call (502) 493-0043.

A lot of Kentucky fans are telling us that they think the Wildcats are in great shape with 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS, who ranks #12 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  However, we're hearing that new Memphis head coach John Calipari is making such a strong push for Rice that it now looks like a three horse race among Mississippi State, Memphis, and Kentucky.   But in the end, we still think Mississippi State will be very tough to beat.   Several college coaches who are in are Hutchinson, KS for the National Junior College Tournament have informed us that 7'0 Ernest Brown, who is widely regarded as the #1 junior college player in the nation, is no longer at Indian Hills (JC) IA.  Apparently he has dropped out of school, which means he will not attend Iowa State next fall.  Instead, he has returned home to New York City and plans to enter his name into the NBA draft this spring.  This is especially interesting, because Brown finished a close second to Texas's Chris Mihm in our Question of the Day recently when we asked who should be the first player 6'10 or bigger taken in the NBA draft this spring.  The other candidates were Arizona's Loren Woods, Minnesota's Joel Pryzbilla, and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy. 

Our Michigan Editor Steve Bell tells us that the University of Michigan appears to be a near lock to get 6'1 Maurice Searight from Orchard Lake (St. Mary's) MI, who ranks #5 in the state and among the top 125 seniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  While Searight's first love appears to be basketball, which is why he will sign a scholarship to play that sport in college, his best sport is football.  This was especially evident last fall when he was one of the top five football players in state of Michigan, as well as the second best athlete in the entire state behind Charles Rogers from Sagianw (H.S.) MI.  As a matter, fact we think Searight, who is both a wide receiver and defensive back on the gridiron, could be a superstar someday in the NFL.  And he's not the only player who may fall right into Brian Ellerbe's lap this spring.  Bell also tells us that 6'3 Jermaine Gonzales, who was the quarterback at Orchard Lake (St. Mary's) MI and currently ranks #27 in the state by the HOOP SCOOP, plans to follow in the path of Searight and walk-on the basketball team at the University of Michigan next fall. 

The Long Beach Press-Telegram is reporting that the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the ABC Unified School District have launched separate investigations into the Lakewood (Artesia) CA basketball program in response to a special report in Tuesday's newspaper.  That story reported that two of Artesia three foreign players - 6'8 Jr Jack Martinez   of the Dominican Republic and 6'3 Soph Jon Stefansson of Iceland - hold student visas with false information.  "Martinez and Stefansson's student visas state they attend Mater Dei High, a private school in Santa Ana," says Billy Witz and Steve Irvine, staff writers for the Press-Telegram.   "But Mater Dei Principal Patrick Murphy said that neither student has ever attended the school and the person who signed the visa application on Mater Dei's behalf is not an employee of the school and is not registered with the INS as someone who is authorized to sign the forms, known as I-20s.  Martinez said he listed Mater Dei on his I-20 because he could not obtain a student visa to attend Artesia, which, like most public schools, does not process I-20 forms.  Stefansson could not be reached for comment, but his father, Stefan Eggertsson said in a telephone interview from Iceland that he thought all of the information on his son's I-20 was correct."  Later in the article Witz and Irvine also claim that Martinez is in his 5th year of high school. "According to a school transcript from the Dominican Republic, Martinez, who led Artesia to the CIF-SS II-A title this season, started the ninth grade in 1995-96, which means that this is his 10th semester of high school.   CIF rules state that a student has eight semesters in which to complete his athletic eligibility once he enters the ninth grade of any school.   Martinez disputes that transcript."

Tuesday, March 14, 2000

As predicted some time ago, Nebraska head coach Danny Nee and Oregon State head coach Eddie Payne are both officialy gone.  We continue to hear N.C. State head Herb Sendek's name mentioned with for the Nebraska job and this begins to make sense when one considers two things.  First, the school chancellor Dr. Mary Ann Fox recently called the football coach into her office and fired him.  Second, Sendek has recruited well at N.C. State, but he has yet to get the Wolfpack into the NCAA Tournament during his four year reign.   Another name we hear strong for the Nebraska job is UAB head coach Murry Bartow.   Remember, it's tough to beat Alabama and Auburn year in and year out for the top kids in the state and Bartow's father, Gene Bartow, still has a lot of power.  We don't currently have any candidates for the Oregon State job, but do you think they're  smart enough to hire University of Kentucky assistant coach George Felton?  When Felton was an assistant at Oregon State,  he landed a recruiting class that included Corey Benjamin and was ranked #13 in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.  Plus, Felton has proved he can coach and he's not afraid to hire quality people, as was evident when he won 20 games his last season at South Carolina and had a staff that included Payne, Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith, New Mexico assistant coach Joe Dooley, and Hawaii assistant coach Scott Rigot. 

We continue to hear Appalachian State head coach Buzz Peterson and Miami-FL head coach Leonard Hamilton mentioned for the Georgia Tech job, but right now the leading candidate looks like Dayton head coach Oliver Purnell.  And if that happens, current Dayton assistant Ron Jirsa and University of Cincinnati assistant coach Mick Cronin would be naturals of the Dayton job.  Jirsa was the head coach at the University of Georgia for two years before joining the Flyers staff a year ago.  Cronin is only 28 years old, but his father, Harold Cronin, is one top scouts for the Atlanta Braves and is a coaching legend in the state of Ohio, as is evident by the fact that he has over 400 wins as a high school in the greater Cincinnati area.  As a result, Cronin been around game all his life.  This explains why he was able to walk into a program with problems four years ago and help turn the Bearcats into the #1 ranked team in the nation. When you consider that Cronin was the director of the Roundball Classic All-Star Game in 1994, coached for years and has strong ties with the people who run the adidas ABCD Camp and Five-Star Camp, and was 57-3 as the jayvee coach at Cincinnati (Woodward) OH, it becomes obvious that Cronin is the ideal head coach - not yet 30 years old with over 20 years experience.  We also have confirmed that Atlanta (Pace) GA head coach Marcus Perez will be hired later this week as an assistant coach at the University of Missouri.  Not only is he a long time friend of Tigers head coach Quin Snyder, but he also has two of the top young players in Atlanta.  That's right!  6'7 Frosh Corey Gibbs from Atlanta (Pace) GA is the #2 ranked freshman in the state of Georgia and 5'7 Soph Herman Favors from Atlanta (Pace) GA is already one of the best point guards in the state.

Monday, March 13, 2000

As expected, 6'9 Andrew Zahn from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA did commit to Arizona late last week.  Zahn isn't a great athlete and he lacks footspeed and quickness, but he is one of the most skilled players in the class.  So he is a good recruit for the Wildcats, who are in the need of bodies next year.  But down the road we look for him to be a role player, because Arizona will likely recruit right over him.  A lot of people thought 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA would end up at Southern California, but now it looks like a two horse race between Connecticut and Iowa State.  Utah has gotten a commitment from 6'3 Travis Spivey from Salt Lake (JC) UT and he should provide the perfect complement to 6'10 Chris Burgess, who transferred to Utah from Duke last spring and is currently sitting out this year.  Add 6'9 Britton Johnsen, 6'9 Jon Carlisle, and 6'5 Trace Caton, all of whom played a lot two years ago when Utah lost to Kentucky in the NCAA Championship game, but have been on missions the last two years, to the equation and Utah should be one of the most improved teams in college basketball next year. 

"He's unbelievable," says Lou Grimsley, who is the head coach at Newark (Shabazz) NJ.  "I mean some of the stuff he does should be declared illegal.  He's one of the best I've ever seen.  No doubt!"  Those were some of the comments offered by the losing coach about 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner after Camden (H.S.) NJ beat Newark (Shabazz) NJ, 93-68, en route to the New Jersey Group 3 State Championship yesterday.   Wagner scored 47 points.  He hit 15-29 field goals, including several 30-footers and a number of alley-oop dunks, and was also perfect from the foul line hitting 14-14 free throws.  And what's scary is that's a normal night for Wagner, who is well on his way towards becoming the all-time leading scorer in New Jersey high school history, despite the fact that he only played in 17 games last year due to the fact that his team was suspended from playing in non-conference games and post season play and he missed the first month of the current season this year with injuries.  Remember, he scored 80 points in a game against Pennsauken (Tech) NJ in early February.  Last week Lakewood (H.S.) NJ tried to guard Wagner straight up man-to-man and he had 43 points.  "I didn't realize he is that good," said the Lakewood coach after the game.  In another recent game Wagner scored 36 points and shot 15-33 from the field, but the newspaper headline read, "Wagner has Off Night."   There is no question in our mind that Wagner is the #1 player in the nation regardless of class and apparently a lot of fans agree, because everytime Wagner plays, it's a sellout.  Evidence of this came when there were only 3,000 people in attendance yesterday afternoon at the New Jersey State Finals at Rutgers University.  But last night when Camden played Shabazz in the first game of the evening session, they had to add 20 minutes onto the clock just to give the crowd, which was estimated between 8,000 and 9000, more time to get into the arena.  "That's a least 5,000 people who were there to see Wagner," says Dave Schultz of the HOOP SCOOP.  And with Camden's win yesterday, Wagner & Company will face Florence (H.S.) NJ, which was the small school champion, on Thursday night in the first round of New Jersey's Tournament of Champions in Elizabeth, NJ. "It should be a massacre," says Schultz.  "I've heard that people are even making bets on whether Wagner will outscore the entire Florence team."  But even more important, a Camden win will set up the game next Sunday against Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ, which has the potential to be one of the great matchups in a long time.  "It's supposed to be at Fairleigh Dickinson University," says Schultz.  "But with the amount of interest it may draw, they could almost move it to Madison Square Garden.  It's that big a game!"

Speaking of 6'2 Jr DaJuan Wagner and his buddy 6'7 Arthur Barclay, both from Camden (H.S.) NJ, as previously predicted, it   now looks like new Memphis head coach John Calipari is going to be a serious player in their recruitment.  And just the other day, Wagner confirmed publicly once again that he wants to go to college wherever Barclay goes.  And Wagner isn't the only one who is waiting to see what Barclay does.  If you recall, Barclay, Wagner, and 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA all got to be good friends when they played for the United States team in the World Amateur Basketball Championship in Douai, France last June.  Also interesting is the fact that the coach of that team was Linzy Davis, who also is Carruth's AAU coach, as well as one of the three people, along with Carruth and his parents, who will decide where Carruth goes to college.  And did you know that Davis' wife is from Memphis and that would be an excuse for the Davis' to go home every time Memphis plays?  So suddenly the Barclay, Wagner, & Carruth package to Memphis becomes even stronger than ever.   And the key is Barclay, because the other two will likely follow suit.  While Memphis appears to be the flavor of the day, Louisville still appears to be the school you have to beat for Carruth, because the 2-guard spot is totally wide open.  Remember, Carruth wants to play with a scoring point guard, like Wagner or 6'2 Jr Carlos Hurt from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX, whose grandmother lives in Louisville and mother went to Louisville (Male) KY back during the Darrell Griffith-Bobby Turner era.  But that's not the case at Memphis, which signed a pair of wing players in 6'3 Scooter McFadgon and 6'5 Lou Wright, both from Memphis (Raleigh-Egypt) TN, last fall.  However, it all could change again if Miami-FL head coach Leonard Hamilton gets the Georgia Tech job.  Carruth has already said he'd love to return to Atlanta and play for Hamilton....

Numerous state tournaments and the NCAA will all be in full swing this weekend, but we're tempted to drop in on Linzy Davis' Southeast Top 100 Workout at Georgia State University on Saturday, March 18th, between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM, because it will be absolutely loaded.  Davis tells us that the list of players who will be in attendance includes 6'3 Jr Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'11 Jr DeSagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'6 Jr Josh Pace from Griffin (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Jr Josh Powell from Riverdale (H.S.) GA, 6'9 Jr Richard Sadler from Mt. Airy ((Habersham Central) GA, 6'9 Jr Walter Stith from Atlanta (Washington) GA, 6'9 Soph Byron Mullens from Atlanta (Washington) GA, 6'3 Jr Gerald Fitch from Macon (Westside) GA, 6'8 Jr Nehemiah Ingram from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA, 6'9 Jr Larry Turner from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA, 6'5 Gerald Riley from Milledgeville (Baldwin) GA, 6'5 Soph Antonio Lawrence from Jackson (H.S.) FL, 6'8 Jr Barry Jordan from Jacksonville (Country Day) FL, and 6'8 Jason Gilchrist from McCormick (H.S.) SC.  We mention Gilchrist last, because Davis thinks he might be the biggest sleeper in America nationally in the senior class.   Apparently Clemson is one of the only schools that knows about this big time athlete who has tremendous natural talent and incredible potential.  But if word gets out this spring, there is no telling who might jump in and steal him in the end.

Sunday, March 12, 2000

Many of the post season conference tournaments were filled with major upsets, but we have to look long and hard to find many upsets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  We do look for Missouri to knock off North Carolina, Fresno State to beat Wisconsin, and St. Louis to upset Utah, but in each case we're talking about a #9 seeded team beating the #8 seeded team.  That leaves Seton Hall, which is a #7 seed, to beat Oregon, which is a #10 seed; Arkansas, which is a #11 seed, to beat Miami-FL, which is a #6 seed; Gonzaga, which is a #10 seed, to beat Louisville, which is a #7 seed; and Dayton, which is a #11 seed, to knock off Purdue, which is a #6 seed.   But that's it!  We went with the favorite in 25 of the 32 first round games and it doesn't get much better in the second round, as the only upsets we're predicting are Connecticut over Tennessee, Kentucky over Syracuse, UCLA over Maryland.    Some of the potential matchups that really get us excited are Cincinnati and Ohio State meeting in the South Regional Semi-Finals, Michigan State and Kentucky in a rematch from a year ago in the Midwest Regional Semi-Finals, Temple and Duke in another rematch from a year ago in the East Regional Championship, and Temple and Cincinnati in the Final Four.  That's right!   We think Cincinnati will get to the Final Four even without Kenyon Martin, but we don't think they could beat the Owls even with Martin.  Rounding out our Final Four are Michigan State and Arizona and what is really ironic is that those are the four teams we ranked #1 (Arizona), #2 (Cincinnati), #3 (Michigan State), and #4 (Temple) pre-season.  We also look for history to repeat itself, unless 7'0 Loren Woods is less than 100%.   Remember, Arizona won the national championship in Indianapolis, IN three years ago when they beat Kentucky in the title game.  However, without a healthy Woods, the Wildcats can't beat Temple.   And if that happens, it would be a storybook ending to an incredible career for Owls head coach John Chaney.  You can get all of our predictions by clicking on HOOP SCOOP's NCAA Tournament picks. We aren't going to argue about North Carolina being in the tournament, because the Tar Heels are one of the storied teams in the history of the game and they are going to win close calls.  However, you can't take North Carolina and leave Virginia sitting at home.  Not only is that a no-brainer, but it might be grounds for firing everybody on the selection committee, which brings us to our Question of the Day. What grade would you give the selection committee for their efforts in seeding the tournament this year?  I also don't agree with all the experts about the West being the easiest regional.  Instead, I think the South Regional is the weakest and that's where I'm looking for several major upsets from the defending national championship.  That's right! Connecticut, which is seeded #5, will likey face Tennessee in the second round and Stanford in the regional semi-finals, both of which have not lived up to their billing at the end of the year.    And how did Tulsa get no higher than a #7 seed?  Are they trying to get the Bearcats knocked off before the big Ohio State-Cincinnati matchup can be played?   All interesting food for thought.  Tell us what you think by emailing us me at clark@hoopscooponline.com.

Saturday, March 11, 2000

It looks like Donnie Wilkie, the tournament director for the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL has done it again.  That's right!  Louisville (Male) KY upset the defending state champion, Louisville (Ballard) KY, 66-64, in overtime last night in the semi-finals of the 7th Region last night at Fern Creek High School.  Ballard had gone up 64-60 early in the extra period, but Male outscored Ballard 6-0 the rest of the way, despite a number of missed opportunities by Ballard, including when 6'6 Cedric Knight missed two free throws with 10 seconds left in the overtime and Ballard trailing 66-65.  The leading scorer for Ballard was 6'1 Jr Adam Chiles with 17 points, but 6'8 Mac Wilkinson and 6'9 Brandon Bender both chipped in with 13 points, 6'0 Spencer Graeter had 11 points, and Knight finished with nine points.  One of the big differences in the game was turnovers (13 for Male versus 23 for Ballard), but Male just seemed to want it more.  Also Ballard, which earlier in the year wore teams out with their depth, used only six players and looked tired at the end.  Getting back to why Wilkie looks like a genius, Male's top four players -   6'4 Jr Larry O'Bannon with 21 points, 6'1 Frosh Michael Bush with 14 points, 5'11 Soph Johnnie Mathis with 11 points, and 6'7 Soph LeVar Carter with seven points - are all underclassmen and they all will be playing the City of Palms Classic next December.  And the way it looks like now, they may be good enough to follow in the footsteps of Georgetown (Scott County) KY and Louisville (Ballard) KY, both of which predominately with underclassmen won the Kentucky State Tournament the last two years.  Both clubs also came back nine months later to win the City of Palms Classic, but failed to repeat as state champions when most of their top players were seniors.  Also interesting is the fact that another one of the stunning upsets that we've ever seen involved these same two teams - Ballard and Male - 24 years ago, also at Fern Creek High School.  That was when Ballard with Jeff Lamp, Lee Recker, and Jerry Eaves eliminated Male with Darrell Griffith and Bobby Turner.  Griffith and Turner were both seniors and they were the overwhelming favorite, because Male had finished as the state runnerup to Louisville (Central) KY in 1974 and gone on to win the state in 1975, as well as the L.I.T. in 1976.   However, Ballard, sent them home.  Ballard would go on and win the state championship when Lamp and Recker were seniors and Eaves was a junior a year later, but that was the season Edmonton County won the state championship in Kentucky.  And so thus marked the end of the dominance of Louisville (Central) KY, Louisville (Male) KY, and Louisville (Shawnee) KY, which failed to win the Kentucky state championship only once between 1969 and 1975.  All this is important, because this was the end of an era!   It was an era that produced legends like Griffith, Turner, Wesley Cox, Larry Harrelson, and Bill Bunton at Male; Rudy Macklin, Tom Payne, Wayne Golden, and Ronnie Daniels at Shawnee; and Ron King, Otto Petty, Flenoil Crook, and Robert Miller at Central.  When the court ordered busing went into effect in 1976, seniors were exempt from busing.  So Griffith and Turner were allowed to stay at Male.  Shawnee also had a great one in Macklin and Ballard was loaded with talented underclassmen.   Unfortunately, it has never been the same since!  As a matter of fact, I remember Central head coach Bob Graves telling me in 1977 that there were over 30 players, who would have been at Central, if it hadn't been for busing, starting for other teams in around the city and county.  Busing killed the community support for the schools and no longer is it like war for good players just to make the team.

Friday, March 10, 2000

The big topic on everybody's mind today is the shocking injury to the consensus national college player-of-the-year Kenyon Martin, who broke his right leg against St. Louis in the first round the Conference USA Tournament yesterday.  And all I've heard on television since Martin went down and the Bearcats lost to St. Louis is how Cincinnati should no longer be a #1 seed when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced Sunday, despite the fact that they were the #1 ranked team in the nation before yesterday.  Well, as usual, I'm not sure I agree with the so-called experts and neither do half of the people who so far have responded to our Question of the Day from yesterday.  Maybe it's due to all the upsets that have occured in the last week.  After losses to UCLA and Arizona, Stanford is no longer a #1 seed.    Ohio State lost their #1 seed when the got knocked off by Penn State today and Tennessee no has shot thanks to South Carolina's stunning upset this afternoon.     So that leaves Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, Temple, and Iowa State as potential number #1 seeds, if you exclude Cincinnati.    As John Wooden has always said, "if you never face adversity, you never improve."   Obviously Cincinnati has a lot of adversity to overcome in the next week, but that's what separates the good teams from the great teams.    Earlier this year people had been talking about Cincinnati being a great team.   Well, now is their opportunity to prove it.  The Bearcats still have three sure fire bonafide pros in their lineup with DerMarr Johnson, Kenny Satterfield, and Pete Mickeal.  The also have an excellent point guard coming off the bench in Steve Logan and their starting power forward Jermaine Tate is one of the most underrated players in the nation. plus they've got two big guys in the program backing up Martin in Donald Little and B.J. Grove who would start for just about any other team in the league.  If Cincinnati doesn't get the #1 ranking they've earned all season, why play the regular season?  What happens if Cincinnati goes deep into the tournament and pulls of some major upsets against quality teams.  And do you really think Michigan State, Duke, Arizona, Temple, and/or Iowa State are any more talented than Cincinnati without Martin?  That's why coaches like Bobby Huggins make the big bucks.  A week is a long time to turn things around and overcome major adversity.  Remember, Cincinnati has been a team that has almost always done better with their backs against the wall versus when they were the traditional favorite.  If the Bearcats are going to fall flat on their face, let them do and keep the so-called experts out of it.  Up until yesterday they definitely have earned it. 

We told you yesterday that we thought Vanderbilt was the heavy favorite for 5'11 Russell Lakey from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, who ranks #18 in Southern California by the HOOP SCOOP and is one of the best point guards still available nationally.  Well, write it down!  Lakey, who is also an outstanding student, picked the Commodores today over Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Pepperdine, and Georgetown.  Rider, Boston University, Niagara, and Marist have all offered 6'4 Royal Ivey from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ, but Michigan State has inquired and Providence and Rutgers are interested.  Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, who coached Ivey previously at Bayside (Cardozo) NY before he went the prep school route this year, thinks Ivey could be a major steal.  And even important, getting Ivey, who is close friends with 6'9 Frosh Mike Deng from Blairstown (Blair Academy) NJ could payoff in a big way down the road.  In case you were wondering, Deng is the younger brother of the University of Connecticut's Ajou Ajou Deng and he already is one of the best players in his class nationally.  "Whoever gets Ivey could also be in the driver's seat to Deng down the road," says Naclerio.  So with all this in mind, we expect interest in Ivey to dramatically pick up this spring.

The only coaching change that occured today was the resignation of Tom Asbury at Kansas State, which was expected.  We also are hearing St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis' name being mentioned with four different jobs in the NBA.  They are the New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons, and the Boston Celtics.  However, for now it looks like Rick Pitino plans to stay in Boston for at least another year, but that could change as soon as tomorrow.   Remember, Pitino's biggest weakness is that he is very impulsive.  It also looks like former University of Massachusetts head coach John Calipari isn't taking Pitino's advice, because Calipari will officially accept the Memphis job today.  It's also still a possibility that University of Massachusetts head coach James "Bruiser" Flint could be heading to Memphis as Calipari's top assistant, but we don't look for that to happen, because Massachusetts now appears to be the favorite for several top ranked players who are still available, including 6'7 Jackie Rogers from Barton County (JC) KS and 6'9 Terrance Johnson from Philadelphia (Lutheran) PA.   However, Johnson will likely have to go the prep school route for another year, because he's missed so much school this year due to personal problems and, as a result, is so far behind academically.  Still getting commitments from Rogers, who ranks as one of the top 20 junior college players in the nation, and Johnson, who ranks among our top 30 high school seniors, would be big, because it would assure Flint of having one of the best one-two punches at the forward spots in college basketball year after next. 

Thursday, March 9, 2000

It looks like 6'9 Jr Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY has finally made a verbal commitment.  No we're not talking about for college.  Instead, we're talking about what club team he's going to play with this summer.  Apparently he's going to play for the Capital Players again in several tournaments this spring, but from Memorial Day on he plans to play for Darren Matsubara's Fresno EBO-EA Sports AAU team.  As a matter of fact, Matsubara was in Louisville, KY yesterday to watch Bender in the regional quarter-finals and he tells us that he is confident that Bender will be playing for him this summer. "He's verbally committed," says Matsubara.  "He gave me his word."   This is important, because this should lock Bender into once again attending the adidas ABCD Camp this summer.  However, the same can't be said for 6'9 Jr Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL, who was ranked as the #2 center at the adidas camp last summer, but who plans to jump ship and, instead, attend NIKE this summer.   Speaking of recruiting in the state of Alabama, did you know that Joel "Coach Midnight" Hopkins has persuaded three of the better juniors in the state to transfer to Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC right in the middle of the school year?  We're talking about 6'7 Jr Marco Killingsworth from Montgomery (Sidney Lanier) AL, 6'3 Jr Jeremy Law from York (Sumpter County) AL, and 6'7 Jr Darrell Thomas from Greensboro (H.S.) AL.  All three are already in Durham, NC and we fulling expend them to follow Hopkins to Durham (Emmanuel Christian) NC when he changes jobs this summer. 

We continue to hear different names for the Georgia Tech job - Siena head coach Paul Hewitt and St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis being two of the latest.  However, inside sources now are telling us that it is a done deal for Dayton head coach Oliver Purnell.   And this could have implications for Dayton assistant coach Ron Jirsa, who likely will either get the Flyers head coaching job or return to Georgia with Purnell.   If you will recall, about a year ago at this time Jirsa was getting fired by the University of Georgia.  We also thought former University of Massachusetts head coach John Calipari was a lock for the Memphis job, but you might want to stop the presses on that one.  According an article today in the Nashville Tennessean, "Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith denies he would have any interest in becoming the next coach of the Atlanta Hawks if current coach Lenny Wilkens is bumped upstairs at the end of the season.  But talk persists that Smith could land a contract worth $16 million to coach the NBA team and that he would be willing to talk after the season."  This is no surprise to us, because we've been talking about the possibility of Smith taking a pro job since last December and the Hawks job specifically since January.  But this does!  Also from the Tennessean, "Word around press row here is that Calipari, close to making an agreement to coach Memphis, has been contracted by Boston Celtics Coach Rick Pitino, who preceded Smith at Kentucky, and told not to take the Memphis offer because he would be in line for the Kentucky job."

Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that Iowa State has offered 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA.   So that means his list has expanded to four, as Connecticut, Oregon State, and USC are also still in the hunt.  We look for 6'9 Andrew Zahn from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA to pick Arizona over UCLA, Southern California, and Oregon State within the next few days and Vanderbilt now appears to be the heavy favorite for 5'11 Russell Lakey from North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA, who currently ranks #18 in the senior class in Southern California by the HOOP SCOOP.   UCLA is expected to have the sleeper that we first told you about last fall on campus this weekend for an unofficial visit.  We're talking about 6'8 Andreaus Block from Wurmlingan, Germany via Fresno (Central) CA.  If you will recall, 6'6 Travis Hanour from Laguna Beach (H.S.) CA recently committed to USC, but now it looks like he's reneged.  This weekend he plans to make an official visit to Arizona and next month he plans to visit Utah.  Hanour, who averaged 25.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg, and 5.4 apg this season, was one of the biggest sleepers to emerge on the West Coast this winter. 

Our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that Rutgers is the leader for 6'2 Mike Sherrod from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, who is ranked #14 in New York City by the HOOP SCOOP.  Naclerio also tells us that St. Peter's head coach Rodger Blind was fired earlier today.   While this would be a tough job for most college assistants, it's a natural for several of the area high school coaches, like Bob Leckie at Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, Kevin Boyle at Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NY, Gary DeCesare at Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and Naclerio.  Remember, Naclerio won the city championship a year ago and year in and year out his teams are always near the top of the New York Public League.  However, we think Leckie and Boyle have the inside track.  As a matter of fact both attended St Peter's.  Leckie may have the best connections to get the job, but Boyle would obviously be the best recruiter.  Remember, he has worked camps all over the world and, as a result, has numerous international contacts to go right along with his extensive NIKE resume.  As a matter of fact, Boyle had 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner and 6'7 Arthur Barclay both on his team each of the last two summers at the NIKE All-American Camp and you can bet that one of the first players he would recruit, if he gets the St. Peter's job, is Barclay. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2000

The coaching merry-go-round continues as Eastern Kentucky head coach Scott Perry and Tennessee State head coach Frankie Allen both resigned yesterday.  Although we don't have an early list for either job, we suspect that University of Kentucky assistant coach Shawn Finney, who is one of the bright young assistants in the business, would be the perfect fit for Eastern Kentucky.  So would Happy Osborne, who has built Georgetown College into perennial power, and University of Florida assistant coach John Pelphrey.  University of Michigan assistant coach Curtis Townsend, who also has a great future, would be a natural at Tennessee State.  However, the perfect might be former Memphis State head coach Larry Finch, who would love to get back into coaching.  Did you know that Jim Smith, who is the athletic director at Tennessee State, used to be assistant athletic director at Memphis and, as a result, is extremely close friends with Finch?

The final five for 6'1 Maurice Baker from Dixie (JC) UT, who might be the best available combo guard in the nation, are Oklahoma State, Utah, UNLV, St. Louis, and Mississippi State.  However, St. Louis might have inside track because he's originally from Madison (H.S.) IL.  Baker was unstoppable last Saturday night in the Region 18 Championship game when he scored 40 points against 5'9 Kenny Brunner.  However, the best player in the junior college ranks in the Scenic West Athletic Conference, which annually is one of the toughest junior college conference in the nation, is 6'2 Travis Spivey.   Right now Utah appears to be the leader, but Oregon is also high on his list.   If you will recall, we reported that Murray State got a commitment from Ronnie Griffin from Tallahassee (JC) FL right after the early signing period was over last fall.   However, we're not sure if that will hold up, because Temple, Oklahoma, South Florida and Minnesota are recruiting him hard.  Pepperdine, Nevada, New Mexico, Long Beach State, and Portland are in the hunt for 6'7 Vance Lawhorn from Dixie (JC) UT.

Our buddy John Rhodes, who is the Executive Director of the Beach Ball Classic, takes a team to Europe every two years to play in the Albert Schweitzer Basketball Tournament, which is the largest Junior Tournament in the world with teams from 16 nations participating.  These games are against the best players each country has to offer with a birth date 1982 or later. The United States team will include 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 5'8 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, 6'9 Soph Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, 6'1 Jr Ben Gordon from Mt. Vernon (H.S.) NY, 6'11 Jared Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD, 6'5 Maurice Young from Forestville (Bishop McNamara) MD, 6'3 Jr Billy Edelin from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 6'9 Jr Jordan Collins from Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD, 5'9 Alvin Green from Myrtle Beach (Socastee) SC, and 6'5 Peter Milligan from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY. While most of the names on Rhodes' team are already household names, most people outside of North Carolina don't know how good Randolph is just yet.  Not only is Randolph extremely versatile and very talented, but he has a great bloodline, as his grandfather is former N.C. State great Ronnie Shavlik.  Randolph, who is a legitimate top five sophomore nationally, promises to the next great player to come out of the state of North Carolina and it wouldn't surprise us at all if someday he has his jersey hanging in the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, NC right next to his grandfather's.  That's right!   Shavlik is already that good and many feel that it's foregone conclusion that he will sign with N.C. State when the time comes two years from now.   

Tuesday, March 7, 2000

Kobe Bryant, Patrick Ewing, Kevin Garnett, Anfernee Hardaway, Tracy McGrady, Stephon Marbury, Alonzo Morning, Shaquille O'Neal, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Antoine Walker and Chris Weber are among long list the superstars who have participated in the Roundball Classic over the last 35 years.  In recent years the game has been held in Auburn Hills, MI under the name Magic's Roundball Classic and now it is moving to Raleigh, NC and will be called the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic.   However, the game's finest moment came in 1977 when it was the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic in Pittsburgh, PA.  That was when Eugene Banks outplayed the more highly touted Albert King and was given the MVP trophy after the game.  Instead of simply accepting the award, Banks did something that is now apart of basketball folklore, as he presented the trophy to the hometown hero Sam Clancy, who had had the game of his life.  With tears in his eyes, Clancy accepted the award, went to each of the four sides of the arena, and took a bow.  The crowd went nuts and, as a result, for years the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic was one of the biggest sporting events annually in Pittsburgh.  This year's game will debut at the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, NC, which is the new home of N.C. State's basketball program.  The game will be played on Monday, April 10th, on ESPN and all proceeds will donated to the Jimmy V. Foundation.  The East All-Stars will include 6'9 Eddie Griffin from Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA, 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 5'8 Andre Barrett from New York (Rice) NY, 6'5 DeShawn Stevenson from Fresno (Washington Union) CA, 6'1 Taliek Brown from Astoria (St. John's Prep) NY, 6'8 Andre Brown from Chicago (Leo) IL, 6'6 Bernard Robinson from New Hampton (Prep) NH, 6'5 Marcus Toney-El from East Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ, 6'2 Brian Morrison from Redmond (Lake Washington) WA, 7'5 Neil Fingleton from Worcester (Holy Name) MA, and 6'9 Brian Boddicker from Duncanville (H.S.) TX.   The West All-Stars will feature 6'1 Chris Duhon from Slidell (Salmen) LA, 6'7 Gerald Wallace from Childersburg (H.S.) AL, 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC, 6'10 Mario Austin from York (Sumpter County) AL, 6'2 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 6'9 Alton Ford from Houston (Milby) TX, 6'9 Abdul Diame from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'9 Chris Wilcox from Raleigh (Enloe) NC, 6'3 Scooter Sherrill from Mt Ulla (West Rowan) NC, and 6'8 Michael Bell from Raleigh (Enloe) NC.  While it will be almost impossible to top what Banks did in 1977, you can bet that the ACC folks will warm up to the game in a hurry, because both rosters are absolutely loaded.  As a matter of fact, thanks to the inclusion of several outstanding prep school players (Butler and Robinson), at least one player from Oak Hill (Diame) and fewer political picks, it looks like Vaccaro will have even more talent than the prestigious McDonald's All American Game. 

We continue to hear that 6'7 Jr James White from Kensington (Newport Prep) MD and 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ both may be bound for Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, but right now we can't find anybody who will confirm it.  As a matter of fact, White can't go to Oak Hill next year, because he will be a 5th year player.  We talked with White's high school coach Chris Chaney several days ago and he says he'd be surprised if White goes anywhere else next year, despite the fact that White missed several   games recently for personal reasons.  We also talked to Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith several days ago and he tells us that nobody has contacted him about Wagner.  And that would be consistent with the way Smith does business.   Remember, he doesn't have to recruit, because more than enough players are always looking for the type of positive situation that Oak Hill provides.  Speaking of Wagner, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that Wagner had 43 points against Lakewood (H.S.) NJ earlier today and guess who was in the gym?   That's right!  Soon-to-be-named Memphis head coach John Calipari, who is expected to offer Wagner's teammate 6'7 Arthur Barclay soon after he takes the job.  Barclay complemented Wagner with 24 points and 19 rebounds.   However, Calipari isn't the only one who appears to be making a push for Barclay.   Right again!  Louisville assistant coach Pat Rafferty saw Camden last Friday night.  Also showing interest in Barclay are Temple, La Salle, St. Joseph's, and Virginia. 

We hear that the University of Kentucky offered 6'9 Jr Brandon Brender from Louisville (Ballard) KY and 6'5 Jr Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY when they made unofficial visits to the Florida game on Saturday and that the Wildcats have followed up on that today by offering 6'7 Erik Daniels from Cincinnati (Princeton) OH.  Maybe we're reading too much into this, but we find it especially interesting that head coach Tubby Smith was in Jackson, MS last night at the state tournament watching 6'9 Darius Rice from Jackson (Lanier) MS and then back home this morning offering Daniels.  Does that mean the Wildcats are in trouble with Rice?  We think Daniels would be a good role player for Kentucky, but Carrier is a reach.  As a matter of fact, we think Carrier should take the offer right now, because it might not be on the table if he doesn't measure up against the top competition in the summer.   Remember J.R. Van Hoose!   Carrier's father is Darel Carrier, who played professionally in the early 1970's with the Kentucky Colonels, and just like his father, Josh is a phenomenal outside shooter.  However, there are a lot of other questions like quickness, footspeed, ball handling, and strength.  

Monday, March 6, 2000

Two month ago we told you that 6'8 Jamal Davis from Barton County (JC) KS was almost done for the University of Cincinnati, but it appeared that he wanted to wait until spring before making it official in order to take some visits.  Well, our sources say it isn't happening.  Write him down for Cincinnati!  And while you're doing that, you can take 6'5 Jerome Harper from Columbia (Keenan) SC off Cincinnati's list for good.  Originally we thought Harper might still end up at Cincinnati in a year after going the prep school route.   But now it looks like his only two options are the NBA and junior college and the final decision may depend entirely upon how well he does in the McDonald's All American Game and the adidas Roundball Classic in the spring.  We also are getting unconfirmed reports that the University of Connecticut has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'4 Robert Swain from East Pointe (Tri-Cities) GA.   We heard a month ago that Swain had verbally committed to SMU, but apparently he changed his mind.  As a matter of fact, it comes as no surprise, because we know that Connecticut assistant coach Karl Hobbs thought Swain was one of the best kept secrets in the class nationally.  We also look for the Huskies to get 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton Centennial) CA and they're involved with 6'9 Liberto Tetimadingar from Worcester (Academy) MA.  And these may be Hobbs' last recruits for the Huskies.  That's right!  We think Hobbs, who is widely recognized as one of the best recruiters in the nation, is the leading candidate for the Hartford job that came open over the weekend when Paul Brazeau resigned after an eight seasons.   Also on the early list for the Hartford job are Brown University head coach Glenn Miller, Central Connecticut assistant coach Steve Pikiell, Connecticut assistant coach Tom Moore, and Virginia assistant coach Tommy Herrion.  

Also over the weekend the Wichita State job opened when head coach Randy Smithson resigned after four seasons and, as predicted, head coach Art Perry was fired at American University.  And today both Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan opened with the firing of Milton Barnes and Bob Donewald.  Believe it or not we're hearing that former University of Michigan head Steve Fisher may be the leading candidate for the Eastern Michigan after only one year at San Diego State.  However, if Eastern Michigan decides to want to go after one of the hot young assistant coaches in the business, an obvious choice would be University of Cincinnati assistant coach Mick Cronin, who has been largely responsible for helping Bobby Huggins put the pieces together for the #1 ranked Bearcats.   It is not official yet, but it looks like University of Nebraska head coach Danny Nee has learned of his fate and the latest name that we're hearing for the job is Herb Sendek, who has yet to live up to expectations at N.C. State, but who is regarded as one of the brightest young head coaches in the business. 

Obviously, with the NCAA Tournament just around the corner and all the post season conference tournaments upon us, it is time to start figuring out who will be in the NCAA Tournament.  Already assured spots in the field are the Southern Conference winner Appalachian State (22-8), the Ivy League winner Pennsylvania (20-7), the Trans American Athletic Conference winner Samford (21-10), Ohio Valley Conference winner Southeast Missouri State (23-6), and the Big South winner Winthrop (21-8).  So far so good, because all five of the just mentioned teams finished right at  or near the top of their league.  We also went through all the major conferences and determined which teams we thought were locks to make the tournament.  The Big East with  Syracuse (24-4), St. John's (21-7), Connecticut (21-8), Miami-FL (20-9),and Seton Hall (19-8); the Big-10 with Michigan State (23-7), Ohio State (22-5), Purdue (21-8), Indiana (20-7), and Illinois (19-8); the Big-12 with Iowa State (26-4), Oklahoma (24-5) Oklahoma State (23-5), Texas (22-7), and Kansas (21-8); and the Southeastern Conference with LSU (25-4), Tennessee (24-5), Florida (23-6), Kentucky (22-8), Auburn (21-8) all should be assured of at least five teams each.  The Atlantic Coast Conference with Duke (24-4), Maryland (22-8), Virginia (19-10), and North Carolina (18-12); Conference USA with Cincinnati (28-2), Tulane (19-9) Louisville (19-10), and DePaul (19-10); and the Pacific-10 with Stanford (25-2), Arizona (24-6), Oregon (21-7), and UCLA (17-11) should get four teams apiece in the tournament.  The Western Athletic with Tulsa (27-3), SMU (21-7), Fresno State (21-9) should have three teams and the Atlantic-10 with Temple (23-5) and Dayton (21-7); the Big West with Utah State (25-5) and Long Beach State (23-4); the Mountain West with Utah (21-7) and UNLV (20-7); and the West Coast Conference with Pepperdine (23-7) and Gonzaga (22-8) all should get two teams apiece into the tournament.  Next we determined that the American East, Big Sky, Colonial Athletic Association, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Continent, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Midwestern Collegiate, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Patriot League, Southland, Southwestern Athletic, and Sun Belt all would get only one team that has yet to be determined in the their post season conference tournaments.  That brings the total to 62 teams that we think are assured of making the tournament today.  Obviously teams can still play themselves into a spot and vice versa, but right now we only have two spots left to fill in our 64-team field.  Among the teams that currently are on the bubble are the loser of Delaware (23-6) versus Hofstra (22-6) in the American East Conference Championship; St Bonaventure (19-8) and Xavier (18-10) in the Atlantic-10; Villanova (18-11) in the Big East; Wisconsin (15-13) in the Big-10; Missouri (17-10) in the Big-12; Arizona State (17-11) in the Pacific-10; and Vanderbilt (18-9) in the Southeastern Conference.  That's nine teams to fill two spots.   

Saturday, March 4, 2000, and Sunday, March 5, 2000

We have confirmed that the University of Iowa has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'8 Reggie Evans from Coffeyville (JC) IA, who is the consensus #1 ranked power forward in the junior college ranks.   This is absolutely huge, because Evans moves the Hawkeyes recruiting class into the #2 position nationally in recruiting ahead of Seton Hall and behind St. John's.  And they may not be done yet, because head coach Steve Alford has the Hawkeyes in what appears to be a two way battle with Ohio State for 6'10 Darius Manciel from Detroit (Pershing) MI.  Getting Manciel wouldn't be enough to move Iowa into the #1 spot head of St. John's, but Luke Recker would.  Remember, Recker transferred from Arizona to Iowa several months ago, but he doesn't count with the current class, because it is the editorial policy of the HOOP SCOOP not to include transfers.  However, the class does include 6'8 Glen Worley from Iowa City (West) IA, 6'11 Jared Reiner from Tripp (Tripp-Delmont) SD, 5'10 Brody Boyd from Dugger (Union) IN, 6'6 Courtney Scott from Lansing (Waverly) MI, and 6'9 Sean Sonderlieter from Des Moines (Christian) IA.  But that's not all, if you will recall, Alford also got a very early commitment last spring from 6'3 Soph Jeff Horner from Mason City (H.S.) IA, who is ranked as one of the top 10 sophomores in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP.  And they also could be on the verge of stealing one of the top juniors from the state of Indiana.  That's right!   Both 6'1 Jr Chris Thomas from Indianapolis (Pike) IN and 6'7 Jr Sean Kline from Huntington (North) IN have Iowa high on their list and both plan to take unofficial visits to Iowa in the near future.  As a result, it is easy to see why we think no coach in America has done a better job in the last year than Alford when it comes to recruiting.  Which explains why we continue to hear Alford's name mentioned with every big time job that might come available, including Indiana.  As a matter of fact, over 50% of the people responding to our Question of the Day recently regarding who will be the next head coach at Indiana voted for Alford.  However, sources close to Alford tell us that Iowa will be his last job, because he loves it there and he's at a program where he can dominant the sport.  And it appears that he's well on his way.  

We continue to hear rumors about North Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge retiring after the season, but sources close to the Tar Heels program tell us that it is entirely up to him.  A lot of people think Guthridge is gone, but just as many think he will stay around another year, because he has 6'9 Jason Parker from Fork Union (Military) VA on the horizon and, as a result, the Tar Heels promise to be better next season.  So don't get too excited about Roy Williams coming to North Carolina just yet.   However, we do believe it will be Williams' job to turn down when the time comes and right now might not be a bad time, because apparently their is some tension at Kansas after what many feel has been a subpar season.  However, if the job does open, we hear that Milwaukee Bucks head coach George Karl has been pushing hard to position himself as one of the leading candidates.  Obviously Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown would love to return to North Carolina and Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino has even been mentioned.  However, our guess is that Brown is too old and Pitino has no North Carolina ties.  The longer Guthridge hangs around, the better the chance for Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty, who has impressed everybody with the job he's done in his first season at Notre Dame.  South Carolina head coach  Eddie Fogler and current Tar Heels assistant coach Phil Ford both might have been candidates, but they've fallen on tough times within the last year.  Another name that is being tossed around is Appalachian State head coach Buzz Peterson, but we think it would be tough to go from Appalachian State straight to North Carolina, despite the fact that Peterson and Michael Jordan were college roommates for three years and today remain good friends.  Speaking of Peterson and Jordan, did you know that Peterson was ranked as the #1 high school senior in North Carolina in the Class of 1981?  Forget about finding the next Jordan.   Most of the so-called experts in the state at the time apparently couldn't find the first one, despite the fact Jordan scored 30 points in the McDonald's All American Game and was the co-MVP at the Five-Star Basketball Camp the previous summer.  However, one guy who did figure it out was Brick Oettinger of the Recruiter's Handbook.   At the time Oettinger thought Jordan was the best wing guard prospect he'd ever seen and he tells us that to this day he yet to see another one as good. 

Friday, March 3, 2000

We continue to hear rumors about University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith taking the Atlanta Hawks job, if it opens this spring.  But now we're hearing that he also may be in line for the Georgia Tech job.  As a matter of fact, we're hearing that it is his job to turn down.   That's right!  It could happen, despite the fact the he'd have to take a salary cut.  Apparently his wife was much happier during Smith's two-year stint at the University of Georgia and all the heat they've taken this year about their son's playing time has taken it's toll.  Another one of the top coaches in college basketball who might be ready to make a move is St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis.   If the NCAA isn't trying to send a message to Jarvis, they should be.  Imagine calling the school an hour before a game and advising them to hold Erick Barkley out of the game.  We've heard Jarvis' name mentioned with the New Jersey Nets and the Washington Wizards, but we also think he would be a natural for the Boston Celtics job, if Rick Pitino leaves at the end of this season.  Our sources tell us that it is looking more and more like Pitino wants to return to the college game, instead of moving onto another pro job or the television booth.  So once again, will the Kentucky job be open?  In otherwords, keep a close eye on Tubby.  Getting back to Jarvis, if he leaves, we're hearing St. John's may hire Siena head coach Paul Hewitt, who was a finalist for the job two years ago.  And talk about saving your job, how about the turnaround UCLA made last night against the University of California.  Did you know that the Bruins were 19 points down in the first half against the Bears, but came back to win by 21 points.  That's a 40 point swing and even more important, a big momentum builder heading into their game at Stanford tomorrow.   And even if the Bruins don't pull off the upset against the #1 ranked Cardinal, they still likely will beat Washington and Washington State at home next week, which will give UCLA five wins in their last six regular games.  More important, that should get   UCLA into the NCAA Tournament and give head coach Steve Lavin job security for at least another season.

As we mentioned earlier this week, former University of Massachusetts head coach John Calipari will likely take over at Memphis as soon as the Tigers get beat in the Conference USA Tournament next week.   And don't be surprised when Calipari hires N.C. State assistant coach Sean Miller.  Remember, Calipari recruited Miller to Pittsburgh in the early 80's when Calipari was an assistant at Pitt under Paul Evans.  But the real connection is the fact that the Miller's (Sean, his father John Miller, and his brother Arch Miller, who currently is a player at N.C. State) and Calipari are from the same family.  As we understand it, John Miller, who is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Jots, is Calipari's uncle and the kids, Sean and Arch, are his cousins.  And if James "Bruiser" Flint doesn't survive at Massachusetts, he too could be heading to Memphis.  Remember, Bruiser was an assistant under Calipari during the glory years at UMass.  However, we don't look for that to happen, because we think Flint will get another year in his present position.   But the real question is whether Calipari will immediately go hard after 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who currently is being recruited by Connecticut, Temple, St. Joseph's, and La Salle.  Remember, Calipari has been seen at several Camden games this year and, as we pointed out three weeks ago, he was probably scouting for the Philadelphia 76ers.  But even more important, he was also getting an early recruiting jump for when he takes a college job this spring.  Also remember, that the key to getting 6'2 Jr Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, who ranks as the #1 junior in the nation by the HOOP SCOOP, appears to be getting Barclay. At least that's what Wagner tells us every time we talk to him.  Many think Wagner will probably go directly from high school to the NBA next year, but let's say Barclay goes to Memphis and Wagner signs with Tigers next fall.  It would be a major disaster for the University of Louisville, which for years has been considered a near lock for Wagner.   Remember, Wagner's father, Milt Wagner, led the Cardinals to the 1986 NCAA Championship and, as a result, the younger Wagner has always been a big Louisville fan.  As a matter of fact, his eyes always light up when he talks about Louisville and he wears his father's NCAA Championship ring with a lot of pride.   Wagner going to another school would be bad enough for Cardinal fans, but if Calipari walked in and offered Barclay a scholarship and, as a result, got Wagner to follow, it would be like adding insult to injury for two big reasons.  First, over the last 30 years, Louisville's biggest rival other than Kentucky has been Memphis.   The fans have always hated one another, but back in the early 80's, Dana Kirk, who is a former Louisville assistant under Denny Crum in the 70's, added even more full to the fire.  Second, up until now, Louisville has shown little, if any, interest in Barclay.  In otherwords, if Wagner by some chance signed with Memphis next fall, it would be career suicide for Crum and, if you don't believe it, just ask any Louisville who is at least semi-knowledgeable.  Crum may have been able to survive numerous seasons mediocrity by past Louisville standards, but losing Wagner to Memphis would be more than most Louisville fans could stand.    However, let's say Louisville suddenly jumps into the hunt for Barclay and gets a commitment in the near future.  If that happened, they'd probably also get an early commitment from 6'3 Jr Rashard Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA this spring and Wagner would probably follow suit sometime in the summer or fall.   Remember, Wagner will likely sign and/or commit to somebody later this year, but then weigh his NBA options in the spring of 2001.  Obviously, Louisville wants to land one the seemingly numerous good big men in the junior class nationally.  So having two players like Carruth and Wagner already in the fold would be a huge in terms convincing one of those coveted big guys to follow suit.  As a result, Wagner might be the most important player Crum has recruited since he was John Wooden's right hand man at UCLA 30 years ago when he got Bill Walton.  And what's really scary, if Wagner live up to the hype, he might someday be just as good!

The word on the street is that the University of Florida has gotten a commitment from 6'8 Bonell Colas from Miami (North Miami) FL, who ranks among the top 150 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.   However, sources very close to the Florida program do not confirm this.  They think it will likely happen, but as of yet, they are still awaiting official word.   Colas also has taken official visits to Louisville and St. Joseph's and is still considering St. Joseph's and La Salle.  Pepperdine appears to be close to getting 6'2 Micah McKinney and 6'5 Sherman Gay, both of whom have had excellent seasons for Compton (Dominguez) CA.  Connecticut, Oregon State, and Southern California appear to be the top three for 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA.  Notre Dame is making a push for 6'2 Quentin Hollis from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA.  Ohio State, Boston University, and Florida State are showing interest in 5'10 Michael Stringer from Smryna (Campbell) GA and 6'1 Tobias Shelton from Macon (Southwest) GA is being recruited by Pittsburgh.  Miami-FL got a commitment recently from 6'1 Dinno Daniels from Tyler (JC) TX, but we hear that it will not hold up.  Instead, it looks like Daniels will end up at Rhode Island. 

Thursday, March 2, 2000

It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that former University of Massachusetts head coach John Calipari will get the Memphis job, but don't look for it to happen until the Tigers are eliminated from the Conference USA Tournament next week.  Obviously, this is out of respect for the job that interim head coach Johnny Jones, who currently is 13-15 with a four game winning streak, has done this year.   Obviously one the first players Calipari will go after is 6'4 Immanuel McElroy from Tyler (JC) TX, who ranks among the top five junior college players in the nation.  Remember, he committed to Memphis last spring as a freshman in the junior college ranks, but did not sign in the fall, despite the fact that Fred Rike, who is currently on the staff at Memphis, place him there when he was the head coach at Tyler (JC) TX.  However, we think Oklahoma State is the leader over Memphis,  Miami-FL, and Cincinnati, because Kyle Keller, who coached McElroy one year at Tyler, is now an assistant at Oklahoma State.   Getting back to Memphis, you can bet one first things Calipari will do is try and lock up 6'2 Jr Ernest Shelton from Memphis (White Station) TN, because establishing early that he can get the top players in his backyard will be important.  However, Shelton, who already reportedly has qualified, is also getting early interest from Tennessee, Cincinnati, Arkansas, Duke, and Vanderbilt.  But Calipari may have to wait several years to get his Marcus Camby in the person of 6'8 Gerald Houston from Memphis (East) TN, who currently is only an 8th grader.  "This Scottie Pippen look alike promises to be the next great player to come out Memphis says," Jim Rothman, the Mid-South Editor of the HOOP SCOOP.  

The 4th Annual Dada All-Star Classic presented by Nabisco, which will be held on Saturday, April 15th at the Pyramid at Long Beach State University, is always one the top spring all-star games.  The final list is not complete, but Phil Gatton, who is the media coordinator for the game, has given us an exclusive sneak preview of the rosters.  The West All-Stars will be led by McDonald's All American 6'8 Travon Bryant from Long Beach (Jordan) CA, 6'0 Brandon Brooks from Portland (Jefferson) CA, 6'9 Andrew Zahn from Redondo Beach (Redondo Union) CA, 6'10 Patrick Dennehy from Mountain View (St. Francis) CA, 6'7 Ellis Myles from Compton (Centennial) CA, 6'3 Jameel Pugh from Sacramento (Grant) CA, 5'10 Wesley Stokes from Long Beach (Poly) CA, 6'8 Robert Turner from Anaheim (Western) CA, 6'6 Keith Brooks from Compton (Compton) CA, 6'6 Teyo Johnson from San Diego (Mira Mesa) CA, 6'3 Alfred Williams from Bakersfield (H.S.) CA, and 6'4 Tommy Johnson from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA. The U.S. Team will feature 6'8 Jason Parker from Fork Union (Military) VA, 6'1 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) MI, 6'9 Arthur Johnson from Detroit (Pershing) MI, 6'8 T.J. Cummings from Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor) IL, 6'8 Kyle Cuffe from New York (Rice) NY, 6'7 Arthur Barclay from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 5'6 Avery Queen from Troy (Redemption) NY, 6'6 Rickey Paulding from Detroit (Renaissance) MI, 6'4 Desmon Farmer from Flint (Northwestern) MI, and 7'0 Josh Moore from Oakdale (St. Thomas) CT.  Also expected to participate are 6'6 Caron Butler from Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME, 6'5 Orien Greene from Gainesville (H.S.) FL, 6'7 Nick Anderson from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA, and 6'4 Matt Lottich from Winnetka (New Trier) IL.

I got an email recently questioning our credibility, because we didn't think Indiana University would be that good before the season began. So I want to defend our track record with regards to college basketball. I will match our pre-season top five college teams, which included in order Arizona, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Temple, and Florida, against any of the pre-season basketball polls or basketball magazines. As a matter of fact, nobody else had Arizona ranked in the top five nationally and despite more than their fair share of injuries, the Wildcats are still ranked #3 in the latest polls. Cincinnati is right where we picked them at #2 and Michigan State, Temple, and Florida currently are ranked #6, #7, and #8 in the latest USA Today/ESPN poll. We also had Stanford at #10 and Duke at #13 ranked about as high as anybody, plus every team currently ranked among the top dozen nationally by USA Today/ESPN was ranked among our pre-season top 25 with one exception - Indiana.  However, we did go against the popular consensus and predict that 6'10 Jared Jeffries from Bloomington (North) IN would pick the Hoosiers over Duke and we broke story about George Leach not making it academically and, as a result, being academically ineligible this year.  Now let's talk about our credibility from a year ago. Remember, we offered our predications on our web site regarding the NCAA Tournament within an hour after the pairings were announced. Temple in the final eight and Ohio State in the final four were the two I decided to go out on limb on and, although we picked it perfectly, at the time that was crystal ball stuff. And if you want to go back a few years, we had Seton Hall ranked #10 before the 1988-89 season, based on the fact that Pirates had the 10th best talent rating in our exclusive talent rankings among college teams. I like to point that out, because Seton Hall played Michigan for the NCAA Championship that year. However, most of the so-called experts continued to talk about what a Cinderalla story Seton Hall was because they didn't have that much talent. While the Pirates didn't have any McDonald's All American's on their roster, they did have about 10 guys who were the equivalent of top 100 when they came out of high school, prep school, or junior college. Some of my other favorites include predicting Providence in the NCAA Final Four in print in mid-February during the 1986-87 season, telling everybody that Rick Pitino would be the next coach at Kentucky in January and February of the 1988-89 season, and having Stephon Marbury ranked as the #1 6th grader in the nation.  But the best call of all might be Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin, who is widely regarded as the leading candidate for National College Player-of-the-Year honors. I was recently told that Mike Kunstadt, who for years has been widely regarded as the most respected evaluator of talent in the state of Texas had Martin ranked #38 in the state on his final list of the year and most of the other experts missed on Martin as well. However, we had Martin ranked #16 nationally at the end of his senior year and we might have been the only one with Martin on our ballot when we voted for the McDonald's All American Game. So obviously the Indiana fan who was questioning our credibility has no clue what he's talking about. He probably swears by Bob Knight, spends the majority of his time reading all the rival web sites, and doesn't subscribe to the Members Section of the HOOP SCOOP. They say ignorance is no excuse, but in this case, in order to not look like we're anti-Indiana, we'll have to make an exception.

Wednesday, March 1, 2000

Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson talked to several of the recruits who were on campus for official and unofficial visits at the Ohio State-Illinois game in Columbus, OH on Sunday and has several interesting items to pass along.  Johnson tells us that the Buckeyes appear to be in great shape on 6'10 Darius Manciel from Detroit (Pershing) MI, who has had a great senior season and, as a result, should get top 100 consideration based on his improvement and tremendous potential.  Manciel also made official visits to Texas Christian and Iowa last fall and appears to have interest in schools like Kansas State, West Virginia, and Fresno State.  Ohio State, Cincinnati, Dayton, Xavier appear to be the early favorites from 6'7 Jr Matt Sylvester from Cincinnati (Moeller) OH, who ranks among the top five juniors in the state by Johnson.  Even more interesting is the fact that Sylvester plans to play for the Cincinnati AAU team and attend the NIKE All-American Camp this summer.  Speaking of Cincinnati AAU, nobody in the nation does more with less talent than head coach Mike Price, who could have his best team ever with Sylvester, 6'8 Jr Mike Waleskowski from Kettering (Alter) OH and perhaps even 6'5 Jr Keith Jackson from Cincinnati (Purcell Marion) OH, who is currently being recruited by all the top club teams in Ohio.   Johnson also tells us that 6'7 Erik Daniels from Cincinnati (Princeton) OH had a great visit to Temple over the weekend, but no commitment was forthcoming.  As a result, Daniels is still open and will visit Kentucky and Clemson in the near future.  Xavier is also still showing interest, but Tennessee and Georgetown both have backed off.  Ohio State is waiting, but may make a move if they think Michael Redd is going to declare hardship for the NBA draft this spring. 

We continue to hear the rumor that the Atlanta Hawks may make a coaching change at the end of the season and if that happens, it appears that University of Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith is the leading candidate for the job.  And this would make perfect sense, because Smith has Georgia ties dating back to when he was the head coach at the University of Georgia for two seasons before taking the Kentucky job and he has a NCAA Championship on his resume.   The fact that he is black also helps, but so does the fact that he's like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and, as a result, has moved beyond the prejudices and hangups that some people in our society have not yet overcome.  This becomes especially evident by the fact that he recruits white players and black players equal well and is extremely well liked by people from all walks of life.  As a matter of fact, I yet to meet anybody who doesn't like Smith as a human being.  He's also a players' coach, which also would make him very attractive to any NBA team that may have coaching openings this spring.  The fact that he'd be guaranteed to make several million dollars a year and not have to listen to people bitch about his son's playing time next year almost make it a no-brainer.  So let's assume that Smith is heading to the NBA this spring.  The popular consensus is that the next coach at Kentucky would be Florida head coach Billy Donovan, who, like Smith was an assistant coach at Kentucky during the Pitino era.  And if Florida, which currently is ranked #8 nationally, goes to Kentucky and knocks off the Wildcats on Saturday, as expected, and then advances all the way to the NCAA Final Four, you could almost etch it in stone, as long as it happens before June 1st.  That's very important, because that's when C.M. Newton retires as athletic director at Kentucky.  If Newton is still the athletic director, the chances of his hiring Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino again are probably slim and none.  However, if associate athletic Larry Ivy moves into the top job, which will likely happen by the middle of June, Pitino would at least get first right of refusal.  Remember, Ivy and Pitino are very close friends.   A lot of people think Pitino's ego would never let him return to Kentucky, but that's exactly why he would return in a New York-minute.  Where else can he go where he'd be treated like a god.  If he came back to coach at the University of Kentucky again and the Wildcats made several more trips to the NCAA Final Four, he might even be as big as Secretariat or the Kentucky Derby itself.

The word on the street is that American University head coach Art Perry will likely get fired as soon as the Colonial Conference Tournament Championship is decided next week.  The early favorites to replace Perry are Rhode Island head coach Jeff Jones, St. John's assistant Mike Jarvis, Jr, and Catholic University head coach Mike Lonergan.   Thanks to his previous head coaching experience at Virginia, Jones may appear to be the favorite for the job.  But not so fast!  Jones' name also is being mentioned with a number of other jobs that might open, including Western Kentucky, which would make a lot more sense.  Remember, Jones is from Owensboro, KY and the word is that he would like to return to that part of the country.  Jarvis' father's connections in DC certainly will help get him in the door, but he has no head coaching experience and his youthful age will likely make it difficult when it comes time for American University to pull the trigger.  So the logicial choice has to be Lonergan, who currently is 22-4 this season at Catholic University and already has a strong recruiting base established in the Washington, DC area.  The fact that his teams have been to the NCAA Men's Division III Tournament five of the last eight years, as well as the sweet 16 the last two years, are also in his favor.

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