SCOOP OF THE DAY

FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2001

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Saturday, April 28, 2001, Sunday, April 29, 2001, and Monday, April 30, 2001 - It looked like Belmont Shore, which was the #3 seeded team in the playoffs from their pool, was on the verge of winning the championship at the Houston Kingwood Classic late yesterday afternoon in Houston, TX.  Belmont Shore was up three and they had the ball with only 20 seconds remaining in the game.  However, this was the same team that blew a 29-13 lead against the Houston Hoops on Friday night and once again their youth and lack of toughness became very apparent.  Instead, of getting the shot they needed to ice the game, they turned the ball over.  Then, 6'2 Jr Maurice Hampton from Russellville (H.S.) KY hit a 3-pointer for the Kentucky Stars to tie the game.     Belmont Shore failed to convert again and 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY missed a long three that would have won the game in regulation, if it had gone.   At that point it was 5:55 PM, the game was going into overtime, and the Kentucky Stars had a 6:40 PM flight to catch back to Louisville, KY.   So Bush took over the game.  Bush scored the first basket in overtime on a breakaway lay-up.  Next, he went in for an earth-shattering slam dunk that brought the house, as well as a time-out by Belmont Shore head coach Dinos Trigonis.    By the time they were finished the Kentucky Stars had gone on a 12-0 run en route to a 78-69 victory.  It doesn't get much more exciting than this and, yes, they did make their flight and, yes, this is the second consecutive championship the Kentucky Stars have won in eight days.  If you will recall, they also won the Kentucky Hoopstars Classic a week ago at Male High School in Louisville, KY.  Bush was the MVP of the tournament, but the leading scorer in the championship game was 6'4 Jr Kevin Reinhardt from Alexandria (Campbell County) KY with 15 points.  Also playing well was 6'0 Jr Chris Gaither from Leitchfield (Grayson County) KY, who hit four 3-pointers in a 12-point effort.  And playing well throughout the tournament for the Kentucky Stars were 6'6 Jr Donte Smith from Buckner (Oldham County) KY, 6'2 Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY, and 6'8 Soph Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highlands) KY.   But really once again the key to the Kentucky Stars was good chemistry, excellent coaching, and lots of depth (they go 11 deep).  The leading scorer for Belmont Shore was 6'4 Jr Hassan Adams from Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, who 23 points in the championship game.  However, the key to the team was 6'7 Jr Marcedes Lewis from Long Beach (Poly) CA, who is a better football player than he is a basketball player, but gave Belmont Shore the inside presence it needed to knock off the Southern California All-Stars and Team Texas in route to the championship game.   Speaking of Team Texas, one of the best performances we saw all weekend in the 17-Under Division was turned by 5'11 Jr Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, who was unstoppable going to the hole, very unselfish, and good defensively.   But that still didn't make up for the disappointing performance turned in 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, who is ranked #15 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.    We also were somewhat disappointed in the Houston Hoops' 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX, who is the #2 ranked in the sophomore class by the HOOP SCOOP.   Sure, Perkins had prolific numbers all weekend, including 27 points versus Belmont Shore on Friday night.  But, while he's gotten bigger and stronger since we saw him at this time a year ago, he has lost some of his speed, quickness, and athleticism.   So a Marvin Stone comparison might be in order right now.   However, Perkins' high school coach Andre Boutte, who is widely regarded as one of the top high school coaches in Texas, does a great job     developing and pushing his players and, as a result, we suspect Perkins will lighter on his feet when we see him this summer.  In other words, we still think the sky is the limit.  Unfortunately Perkins and 6'8 Soph Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, who is another one of the top sophomores in the nation, weren't matched up against one another in the Houston Hoops-Belmont Shore game on Friday night.  But it was probably better for Schaen, because he lacks the strength and toughness to get it done somebody inside against somebody as physically big as Perkins.      Schaen only scored six points and was in foul trouble part of the game, but he still does a lot of little things that don't show up in the box score      Others in the 17-Under Division who really impressed us were 6'9 Soph Nick Stigger from Memphis (Hillcrest) TN, 6'0 Soph Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA, 6'10 Soph Ndudi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX, 6'3 Jr Dwight Jones from Houston (Klein) TX, 6'7 Soph Cartier Martin from Houston (Nimitz) TX, 5'10 Jr Frank Utley from Houston (Aldine) TX, 6'6 Jr Tim Mayes from Houston (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'2 Jr Carl Hood from Houston (Madison) TX, 6'4 Jr Cedrick Hensley from Houston (Heritage Christian) TX, and 6'6 Jr Kersh Milson from Houston (Northshore) TX.  However, what really made this a great tournament were the all the outstanding players in the younger Divisions.  Let's start with the 14-Under, where the Dallas Mustangs manhandled most of the competition.  Remember the names - 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Pearl Anderson) TX and 6'0 Aaron Jackson from Dallas (Apollo) TX.   Eaton, who has to rank among the top five 8th graders in the nation, reminds us former UCLA All-American Baron Davis.     Eaton already has a great upper body, incredible quickness, excellent handling and passing skills, and is almost unstoppable when he goes the to basket.    Jackson, who is a legitimate top 20 8th grader nationally, is a lefty with long arms, great passing skills, and excellent 3-point shooting range.  They are complemented by 6'1 Austin Jackson from Dallas (McMad) TX, who is another outstanding athlete who makes a living off defense, transition and shooting the three, and 6'5 Ryan Boyd from Dallas (Hood) TX and 6'3 Arthur Webster from DeSoto (East) TX, both of whom are extremely active both in the open court and on the boards.  We saw the Dallas Mustangs play two games and they called off the dogs they were up 30-6 against H-town Hangtime and in pool play and 33-7 against the Kansas City Jr. Knights in the semi-finals.   However the second unit, which included 6'0 Omar Hassan from Dallas (Lake Travis) TX, 6'0 Booker Woodfox frm Lewisville, TX, 6'3 Demarcus Bass from Dallas (Young) TX, 5'9 Anthony Thomas from Arlington, TX, 6'3 Tim Jackson from Everman, TX, 6'2 Antwoine Hight from Dallas, TX, 6'0 Corey Hall from DeSota (East) TX, 6'1 Jacoby Tremble from DeSota (East) TX, 5'8 Steffon Wiley from Dallas (Atwell) TX, never let up and the Mustangs scored won by 40-plus points in both games.    Especially noteworthy are Hassan, Woodfox, and Bass.  Hassan is a prolific scorer, which was especially evident when he came off the bench to score 23 points versus H-town Hangtime.  Woodfox is a great passer, excellent defender, and terrific in transition.  Bass has long arms and excellent quickness, which makes him especially effective inside.  Apparently this team dominated at the national level in their age group a year ago and we'd be surprised if this trend doesn't continue.   This is a great team!  However, the best player in the 14-Under Division is 6'8 Kendrick Johnson from Morton (H.S.) TX, who lived up to his #1 billing in the 8th grade class and is comparable to 6'10 Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozne) TX in many ways.  Johnson already is an incredible physical specimen with great hands, good shot blocking ability, and  the ability to score inside.   Ironically, Morton, TX is near Lubbock, TX, which recently hired former Indiana University head coach Bob Knight, and he might be good enough to step in and start for the Red Raiders right now.    However, it appears the new regime will still have to beat out Duke and North Carolina for Johnson, because those are the two schools he mentioned when we asked him about his favorite schools.  Team Texas also featured two other talented athletic big guys in 6'4 Vincent Williams from Dallas (D.H. Hanley) TX and 6'4 Chris Evans from Dallas (Young) TX, a sharpshooting wing guard in 5'10 Tyron Nedd from Conroe (Oak Ridge) TX, and 5'10 Antoni Hanson from Dallas (Dunbar) TX and 5'7 Justin Charlton from Barnett, TX, who shared the point guard duties.  Team Texas lost to the Dallas Mustangs in the championship game, but beat an excellent Houston Hoops team in the semi-finals.  And the big difference in the game was the inability of 6'6 Fendi Onobun from Houston (O'Donnell) TX, who also has to rank among the top 10 8th graders nationally, to score inside on Johnson.  However, once Onobun develops a mid-range jumper and better post moves, the sky is the limit!  He's so quick, explosive, athletic, and naturally talented, plus he plays hard is an excellent rebounder, and is a great kid.  Another one of the elite 8th graders in the nation has to be 5'10 David Devezin from Houston (First Colony) TX.  At first Devezin reminded us of 5'10 Terrance Ford, but the more we watched him, the more we realized he is like Allen Iverson.  This incredible quick point guard, who can either beat you going to the basket or with his outside shot, is usually out of control and he doesn't play much defense.  In other words, he's capable of winning the game for either team.  The Houston Hoops 14-Under Team also featured 6'4 Carter Tynes from Houston (Beck) TX, 6'0 Aldic Reynolds from Houston (Teague) TX, 6'4 Lawrence Jones from Houston (Arnold) TX, and 6'6 Wes Christensen from Houston (Creekwood) TX.   Tynes is a skilled white kid with excellent mobility and athleticism who can play inside or outside.  However, he'll need to get stronger down the road.  Reynolds makes his living complementing Denezin at the 2-spot in transition.  Jones is an athletic power forward who is scores around the basket and is good on the boards.   Christensen is extremely slow, but he does have surprising mobility for somebody so big and so young.  We're talking about a physical specimen who will likely grow to 7'2 or 7'3.  The Kansas City Jr. Knights were somewhat disappointing and one of the reasons was their star player - 6'3 Xavier Breakfield from Independence, KS - lacks the killer instinct.  Sure, he has talent and athleticism, but he appeared to be content to let 6'1 D.J. Hord from Raytown, MO, who is an aggressive athlete and warrior on the boards, do all the dirty work inside.  Breakfield is multi-dimensional enough to play outside, but he didn't do much on the perimeter either.   Instead, we liked 6'2 Marcus Frye from Kansas City (Pembroke) MO, because he does a little bit of everything, including handle the ball, play defense, and rebound, except shoot the outside shot.  Right now Frye is probably a legitimate top 50 8th grader, but if and when he develops a shooters mentality, the sky's the limit.   We also have to mention 5'4 Charles Bush from the H-town Hangtime Team, because shot the lights out against the Kansas City Jr. Knights, and the Chatman twins - 6'0 Desmon and 6'0 Dasmon from Conroe (Lynn Lucas) TX - from the Pressure Team.    Dasmon is the better of the two, but they both are extremely athletic and very versatile.  And of course there was the TUAC team, which featured 6'0 Nick Smith from Houston (Campbell) TX and 6'0 Nick Chestnut from Houston (Campbell) TX.  Smith is the better of the two, because he is a better ball handler and passer, but both are lethal outside shooters and excellent in transition.    Now let's move to the 10-Under Division, where we made it a point to watch the Inland Stars.  The last time the Inland Stars were this good at so young an age, they had 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'5 Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, and 6'11 Jamal Sampson from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA.  But this team promises o be better.   As a matter of fact, Joe Keller has come out of retirement to coach this group.  Their best player is 5'8 Demetrius Walker from Live Oak, CA.  Sure some Tyson Chandler-comparisons are in order, but just like we told our buddy Pat Barrett, who is Chandler's mentor and club team coach, Walker plays a lot harder.   Also, Walker's father is 6'8 and his mother is 6'1.   So his potential for growth is scary.  But right now we're talking about an outstanding athlete who is very fluid and almost impossible to stop inside at this level.   He's complemented up front by 5'8 Joseph Burton from Monte Vista, CA and 5'10 Chris McFalls from Rancho Hills, CA and in the backcourt by 5'2 Dejuan Copeland from San Diego, CA, 5'2 Pe'Shon Howard from Mayfield, CA, and 6'2 Andrew Bock from Fitzgerald, TX.   Unfortunately we only got to see this team for about a quarter, because we had to go the 15-Under Championship game where the Westside All-Stars beat Team Texas, 90-82.   Both teams rank among the very elite nationally in their age group, but when the Westside All-Stars started to pull away, it was all over, as they have more depth and better guards.  The guards include 6'2 Frosh Rodney Foster from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX, 5'11 Frosh Charlie Jones from Houston (Cinco Ranch) TX, 5'10 Frosh Sean Morris from Houston (Cinco Ranch) TX.   Foster is the best of the three, because he can shoot, run the team, and makes big plays at crunch time.  Jones is a great passer and he does a lot the little things that go unnoticed in the box  score.  Morris, who is the son of former NBA star Chris Morris, is really more of a 2-guard, because he's an excellent 3-point shooter.   However, he's limited somewhat by his lack of size.  But the star on this team is 6'5 Frosh Dion Dowell from Texas City (H.S.) TX, who is a legitimate top 10 freshman nationally.     Dowell is a great rebounder inside, but he also can shoot the three, pass, and handle like a perimeter player.  But it's his explosive moves to the basket and incredible dunking ability that gets your attention real fast.   He's complemented by inside by 6'2 Frosh Myles Guidry from Alief (Alief-Elsik) TX and 6'5 Frosh Matthew Wheaton from Houston (Mayde Creek) TX.     Wheaton physically and athletically reminds you Dowell, but he doesn't play as hard and he doesn't have any perimeter skills.  However, the best athlete of the bunch is Guidry, who combines an aggressive work ethic, great nose for the ball, and world-class leaping ability.  Team Texas also goes to war with three incredible athletes up front in 6'6 Frosh Rell Porter from Pittsburgh (H.S.) TX, 6'7 Frosh Kevin Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, and 6'6 Frosh Ryan Johnson from Dallas (Carter) TX.  Johnson, who had 17 points in the championship game, is physically bigger and stronger than Porter and Langford.  So he is the one who does the dirty work inside.  Porter is a great talent, but he needs to develop physically or improve his perimeter skills.  Langford, who has a tremendous wing span and is very active around the basket, is more multi-dimensional, which leads us to believe he has even more potential than his older brother, 6'4 Frosh Keith Langford from Crowley (North Crowley) TX, who signed with Kansas last fall.     We also liked 6'2 Frosh George Youngblood from Dallas (Highland Park) TX, who is a skilled white kid, and 6'3 Frosh Lindy Holmes from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX, who is a slasher/athlete.  However, 5'10 Frosh Evan Risher from Crowley (North Crowley) TX and 5'8 Frosh Ed Robinson from Dallas (South Oak Cliff) TX weren't big enough or talented enough to match-up against the talented guard trio for the Westside All-Stars.  Also impressing us in the 15-Under Division on the Shreveport/Bossier Select team was 6'0 Frosh Michael Lewis from Pineview (H.S.) LA.  Not only does this point guard with long arms and a good first step have good ball handling and passing skills, but he is an excellent athlete and a good rebounder for his size.  We didn't see much of the 16-Under Division, but we did like several players from the Shreveport/Bossier Select team, including 6'0 Soph Jay Jackson from Monroe (Ouachita) LA and 6'7 Soph Paul Millsap from Grambling (H.S) LA and three players - 6'6 Soph Ryan Griffin from San Antonio (Reagan) TX, 6'6 Soph Brian Robinson from San Antonio (Holmes) TX, and 6'2 Soph Brandon York from San Antonio (Reagan) TX - from the San Antonio GATA team.  In the game we saw Jackson had 23 points, but we were even more impressed with his defense, passing, and ability to make things happen in transition.     In other words, we're talking about a major sleeper to watch for this summer.    Millsap needs strength, but we like his ability to go to the basket and shot blocking ability.  Griffin is a blue collar warrior with long arms and the ability to play either inside or outside.  York is an athletic white kid with great passing skills, but  we'd like him better if he'd shown a shooter's mentality.   Robinson is active and athletic inside, but he needs to get bigger and stronger.   We also had planned on seeing John Eurey's loaded Houston Superstar's team in the 16-Under age bracket, but they lost before we got a chance.   We also heard that 6'8 Soph Mohamed Abukar from San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) CA was sensational in the 16-Under Division, but, unfornuately, we couldn't be everywhere at once.  We did briefly get to see 5'9 Nick Wise from Houston (Beck) TX in the 13-Under Division and in one possession he missed a 3-point shot, stole the ball, and hit a teammates with a behind the back pass.  Needless to say we weren't disappointed, as this guy can   already really play!  A special thanks to tournament director Hal Pastner for his hospitality and Brandon, who drove me from gym to gym, for making this an easy event to cover. 

Friday, April 27, 2001 - We told you a week ago that the Houston Kingwood Classic this weekend in Houston, TX promises to be the one of the best events of the entire spring.    However, we didn't get a chance to more than scratch the surface when talking about all the outstanding talent that will be in attendence at this event, which tips off tonight at 6:30 PM.  Having already arrived and, thanks to the organization of tournament Hal Pastner, with a program in hand we already have a pretty good idea who to watch.  The Host Houston Hoops will showcase 6'4 Jr Cedrick Hensley from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX.  If you will recall, he's the player who scored 100 points in a game earlier this year.  While Hensley provides the outside fire power, 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozne) TX, who is ranked as the #2 sophomore in America by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'8 Soph Ndubi Ebi from Houston (Westbury Christian) TX make it tough to come inside on the hoops.  The Houston Junior Hardballers will feature 6'10 Jr Elijah Miller from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, 6'6 Jr Tim Mayes from Cleveland (Heritage Christian) TX, and 6'9 Soph Nick Stiggers from Memphis (Hillcrest) TN, who is the #2 ranked sophomore in Tennessee according to our Mid-South Editor Jim Rothman.   The Georgia Stars arrive with 6'4 Jr Derrick Broony from Woodland (H.S.) GA, 6'5 Jr Quentin Moses form Athens (Cedar Shoals) GA, 6'8 Jr Chris Ellis from Marietta (HS.) GA, and 6'4 Jr Wayne Arnold from Lilburn (Berkmar) GA.   The Houston  Lynx will feature 6'2 Jr Kevin Smith from Humble (H.S.) TX and the Southern California All-Stars have 6'7 Jr Bobby Jones from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'5 Jr Darius Sanders from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'6 Jr Nate Carter from San Diego (Horizon) CA, and 6'0 Soph Rayshawn Reed from Inglewood (H.S.) CA.   Belmont Shore features 6'8 Soph Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Soph Wesley Washington from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'7 Jr Jamaal Walls from Los Angeles (Crenshaw) CA  6'8 Soph Trevor Ariza Los Angeles (Westchester) CA, and 6'1 Jr Patrick Hadden from Irvine (Woodbridge) CA.   The Kentucky Stars are a well rounded team, but 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'7 Jr LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, and 6'5 Jr Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY have to mentioned.   Team Texas has 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX and 5'11 Jr Bryan Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX.   However, those are just the players we know about.   I'm sure we're add a number of new names to this list as the weekend progresses.   We also have to mentioned the 14-Under Division once again, because it looks like a national championship could be on the linem because the The Houston Hoops, Team Texas, and the Kansas City Junior Knights all appear to have a shot at upsetting the powerful Dallas Mustangs, which are the #1 seed.  The Dallas Mustangs are led by two of the premier 8th graders in the nation in 6'0 Byron Eaton from Dallas (Pearl Anderson) TX and 6'1 Austin Jackson, who together put on a ferocious full-court press backed by 6'5 Ryan Boyd from Dallas (McMad) TX.  We already told you about Team Texas' 6'8 Kendrick Morton from Lubbock (Morton) TX, who we've been touting as the #1 8th grader in the nation, but the Houston Hoops have 6'6 Fendi Onobun from Houston (O'Donnell Middle School) TX, who promises to be the next great one out of Houston and also is being mentioned as one of the leading candidates as the #1 8th grader in America.   The Houston Hoops 14-Under Team also is led by 5'10 David Devezin from Houston (The First Colony Middle School) TX.    The sleeper in the 14's is the Kansas City Junior Knights, but 6'3 Xavier Breakfield from Independence (H.S.) KS, who has been ranked among the top 10 8th graders in the nation by several scouting services, and 6'1 D.J. Hord from Raytown (H.S.) MO, who also has big time talent and potential, makes them worth mentioning as well.  We also plan to check out 5'9 Nick Wise from Houston (Beck) TX in the 13-Under Division and the Inland Stars in the 10-Under Division might be worth a look as well, because this top rated team includes tremendous size with 5'10 Chris McFalls from Rancho Hills, CA, 5'8 Joseph Burton from Monte Vista, CA, 5'8 Demetrius Walker from Live Oak, CA, and 5'5 Rome Draper from East Heritage, CA.  Burton and Walker all both in the 5th grade, but McFalls and Draper all only 4th graders.   Check out all the brackets at http://www.cbball.com and click on the Houston Kingwood Classic. 

Thursday, April 26, 2001 - Our New York Editor Ron Naclerio tells us that St. John's has scored big by beating DePaul and Iowa State for 6'2 Marcus Hatten from Tallahassee (JC) FL, who is regarded by many as the best 2-guard in the junior college ranks.  Hopefully this will be enough to get Red Storm point guard Omar Cook to change his mind and not enter his name into the NBA draft in June.     If that should happen, head coach Mike Jarvis would have one of the premier guard tandems in college basketball next season.  Naclerio also tells us that Connecticut 2-guard Marcus Cox is transferring to Massachusetts and 6'8 Chris Sandy from Westark (JC) AR has signed with Fresno State.     Speaking of Fresno State, don't be surprised if 6'1 Adrian Walton from Bronx (Regional) NY doesn't end up playing for the Jerry Tarkanian.    Actually it would be a perfect it, because Walton is terrific in an uptempo setting and he needs a coach who can steer him in the right direction.  Greg Swaim of GregSwaim.com is reporting that Oklahoma has signed 6'5 Ebe Ere from Barton County (JC) OK and our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that Tulane has finally locked up 6'4 Ben Bowling from Hazard (Perry County Central) KY.  The Green Wave will also have 6'5 Jr Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, who is ranked as the #2 junior nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, on campus this weekend for an unofficial visit.  Sure, we still believe St. John's is the school you have to beat for Cooke, if he doesn't by-pass college and go straight to the NBA, but this will mark the third time Cooke has been in New Orleans making an unofficial visit to Tulane.    Johnson also has stumbled upon two commitments that Arizona State got over a week ago.  We're talking about 6'8 Chris Osborne from Compon (JC) CA and 6'2 Curtis Millage from Southwest (JC) CA, but apparently all of our West Coast people were asleep at the switch on this one.    William & Mary has gotten an early commitment from 6'5 Jr Taylor Mokris from Charlotte (Providence Day) NC and Murray State has signed 6'8 James Singleton from Pearl River (JC) MS. 

Wednesday, April 25, 2001 - The University of Nebraska has gotten it's third early verbal commitment from 6'9 Jr Wes Wilkinson from Grand Island (H.S.) NE and this is very important, because it allows Barry Collier and his coaching staff to start concentrating on recruiting players exclusively in the sophomore class.  Not only does this give them a huge advantage as they continue to build the Cornhuskers program, but it enables them to get a major head start on the future (remember how much the recruiting process has been speeded it in recent years).  It also is important, because they are doing with players from right in their own backyard.   If you will recall, the Cornhuskers already have early verbal commitments from 6'9 Jr Roy Enright from Omaha (Burke) NE and 6'5 Jr Jason Dourisseau from Omaha (Burke) NE.  This comes on the heels of the class, which includes 6'2 Brennon Clemmons from Olney (JC) IL, 6'11 Dan Heimos from Waterloo (Gibault) IL, 6'3 Jake Muhlheison from Lincoln (Southeast) NE, and 6'5 Corey Sims from St. Louis (Normandy) MO, that Nebraska brought in last fall.  In other words, Collier is building it the same way he did at Butler.  However, in his next recruiting class (the Class of 2003), he will need to find several more players like Enright and Wilkinson, who can take the program to another level, which is no easy task when you consider that teams like Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are all in their conference.  Currently we know they are already targeting 5'11 Soph Evvon Turner from Omaha (Millard South) NE and 5'11 Soph Tyron Canby from Lincoln (H.S.) NE, but you can bet that list will get longer before it gets shorter.     Speaking of early verbal commitments, we also are waiting to see what happens with 5'9 Jr Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (H.S.) KY, who is ranked #92 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  Stockton's final three schools are Kentucky, Auburn, and Butler, all which he has already visited unofficially.    Our guess is that Auburn will get 6'1 Jr Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, who ranks among the top 10 juniors nationally.   So we'd be surprised if Stockton picked the Tigers and we just don't see Butler beating the University of Kentucky for a kid in their backyard, especially this early.   So write it down!  Stockton, who average 29.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.0 apg, 3.3 spg, and hit 100-263 from beyond the arc last season, is going to pick Kentucky. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 - We recently talked about how the recruiting process has been speeded up dramatically in recent years and provided evidence when we told you that 10 of the HOOP SCOOP's top 50 juniors have already made early verbal commitments.  Even further evidence is provided when you take a quick look at our revised list of the top 15 juniors nationally, which includes in order 6'9 Jr Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL, 6'6 Jr Leonard Cooke from Old Tappan (H.S.) NJ, 6'9 Jr Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, 6'2 Jr Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, 6'9 Jr Sani Ibrahim from Winchendon (School) MA, 6'1 Jr Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC, 6'5 Jr Antonio Lawrence from Jacksonville (Jackson) FL, 6'2 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'7 Jr Evan Burns from Los Angeles (Fairfax) CA, 6'1 Jr Chadd Moore from Huntsville (Lee) AL, 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, 6'9 Jr Sheldon Williams from Midwest City (H.S.) OK, 6'8 Jr Sean May from Bloomington (North) IN, 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, and 6'3 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX.     Stoudemire is already verbally committed to Memphis.  Cook appears to be near lock for St. John's.  Duke is believed to be the leader for Randolph, but North Carolina and N.C. State are going to make it a war.   So Florida or Stanford could sneak in the back door as the compromise choice.   The Blue Devils are also right there with Roberson, but our guess is that he will stay home.   Remember, new Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker is a tremendous recruiter and so is Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo.  But the icing on the cake should be that Roberson’s best friend is 6’4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, who signed with the Spartans last fall.  Ibrahim appears to be wide open, but he also may have trouble getting eligible academically in college, plus players from the Atlanta Celtics AAU program (i.e. Dion Glover, Jumaine Jones, and Donnell Harvey) have history of going into the NBA draft prematurely.  So he may not have much choice other than to declare for the NBA draft a year from now.  Felton verbally committed to North Carolina in late March.    The last list we had on Lawrence was in December, but at the time he mentioned Florida, Miami-FL, Kentucky, Cincinnati, St. John's, Texas Christian, and South Florida.   Duke is the heavy favorite for Dockery, but Cincinnati and Illinois are still in the hunt. Burns likes UCLA, Arizona, and Duke.   Moore is believed to be a near lock for Auburn.   Redick is already done for Duke.  Duke, North Carolina, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are the favorites for Williams.   May's list includes Ohio State, Michigan State, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Indiana, but Texas Tech may also make a late push.    McNamara committed to Syracuse several weeks ago.  Texas is the heavy favorite for Wright, but Louisville, UCLA, Tennessee, Maryland, and Notre Dame.

Monday, April 23, 2001 - We found an article by Jerry Tipton in yesterday's Lexington Herald-Leader about Mike Bradley especially interesting.  Did you know that Bradley has had three different coaches leave on him?   The first was Jim O'Brien at Boston College.  Remember, Bradley made an early verbal commitment to the Eagles, but, before he ever got a chance to sign with Boston College in the fall before his senior year, O'Brien had had a falling out with the administration and ended up taking the Ohio State job the next spring.  So Bradley signed with Kentucky, because he wanted to play for Rick Pitino.      However, Pitino left for the Boston Celtics less than a month after he signed.  Bradley stuck it out at Kentucky for two years, but then transferred to Villanova.   He then had to sit out a year, but this past season Bradley was one of the best players in the Big East Conference.  He averaged 20.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and led the nation in field goal percentage with 69.2%.  So now Bradley has declared hardship for the NBA draft, but, if he doesn't sign with an agent, could still return to play for another new head coach, Jay Wright, who recently replaced Lappas at Villanova.  All this important, because the single biggest reason why most recruits pick a school is the head coach.  However, with a turnover rate of over 40 Division I head coaching jobs a year, statistically the chances of the head coach being at a school four-and-a-half years and, often five-and-a-half years, if the player takes a red-shirt year, doesn't make it academically, or transfers, from the time most players sign in the fall, is in the 70% range.  I'm not naive enough to think the NCAA will change the rule that prevents players from transferring and being eligible to play at another school, but I do think they should consider allowing the player to follow the head coach, if he leaves to go to another school, without any sort of penalty.  What's fair for the coach should also be fair for the player.  In other words, this is a perfect illustration of why we think NCAA rules are so hypocritical.

Sunday, April 22, 2001 - One of the premier events of the entire spring promises to be the Kingwood Classic in Houston, TX, which will tip-off beginning at 6:30 PM on Friday, April 27th at 11 different facilities in the Kingwood/Humble area.  There are 120 boys teams entered and the 17-Under Division is absolutely loaded, as is evident by the list of teams, which includes the Southern California All-Stars, Houston Hoops, Team Texas, Georgia Stars, Belmont Shore, Shreveport/Bosier Select, Kentucky All-Stars, Houston Select, Junior Hardballers, Northwest Houston Raptors, San Antonio Tornados, Texas Tornados, Southwest Arkansas Hornets, KYBA Select, Galveston Hornets, Dallas Dirty Dozen, Houston Jaguars, Cy Creek Cougars, Houston Lynx, Southeast Texas All-Stars, Texas Warriors, Houston Gold, Midland Hawkeyes, and San Antonio Platimum.    The Southern California All-Stars are the top-seeded team, but they may have a tough time even winning their pool, as they will have to first get past Team Texas and the Kentucky All-Stars, which also are two of the top teams in the tournament.  Team Texas features a tremendous guard duo in 6'2 Jr Bracy Wright from The Colony (H.S.) TX, 5'11 Jr Byron Hopkins from Dallas (Lincoln) TX, plus 6'3 Jr Josh Washington from Lubbock (Monterey) TX promises to be one of the top sleepers in the tournament.  Kentucky features a balanced attack that includes 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'7 Jr LaVar Carter from Louisville (Male) KY, 6'8 Soph Ross Neltner from Ft. Thomas (Highland) KY, 6'5 Jr Orlandus Hill from Paducah (Tilghman) KY, 6'6 Jr Donte Smith from Buckner (Oldham County) KY, and 6'2 Jr Preston LeMaster from Paris (Bourban County) KY.  There should be a number of excellent match-ups, but the one we're really looking forward to will be when the Houston Hoops and Belmont Shore square off at 9:15 PM on Friday night in Gym #2 at Kingwood's 9th Grade campus.  This battle between 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozen) TX and 6'8 Soph Harrison Schaen from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, both of whom rank among our top five sophomores nationally, will be for bragging rights, as well as an advantage in the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM on Saturday evening.    However, the younger Divisions, especially the 14-Under Division, which includes four national powerhouse teams - the Dallas Mustangs, Team Texas, Houston Hoops, and the Kansas City Junior Knights - will also be worth some of our time.     As a matter of fact, this will be our first opportunity to see 6'8 Kendrick Johnson from Lubbuck, TX, who not only reminds those who have already seen him of a younger version of Kendrick Perkins, but might just be the best 8th grader in the nation.   The championship game for the 17-Under Division is scheduled for 5: 15 PM on Sunday afternoon at Kingwood High School's 9th Grader Campus.  The championship game for the 16-Under Division will tip-off at 3:45 PM on Sunday at Humble High School at 3:45 PM.   Also, at 3:45 PM on Sunday will be the championships for the 15-Under Division at Creekwood Middle School, the 14-Under Divison at Kingwood College, the 13-Under Division at Riverwood Middle School, the 12-Under Division at Humble 9th Grade, 11-Under Division at Timberwood High School, and the 10-Under Division at Humble Middle School.  For more information on the tournament call 1-800-499-6692 or look on the internet at http://www.cbball.com.

Saturday, April 21, 2001 - Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin has already reported that 6'5 John Allen from Coatesville (H.S.) PA, who is ranked #10 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, will not try and get out of his National Letter-of-Intent, which he signed last fall with Seton Hall.     However, this is not the case for 7'0 Chris Charles from Milford (Academy) CT, who committed to the Pirates after the conclusion of the fall signing period and, as a result, never signed a National Letter-of-Intent.  As a result, Charles is free to go to any school of his choosing.   Sure, Seton Hall is still on the list, but so are Michigan, Villanova, and Massachusetts. So obviously the new regime was hedging their bets when they took 7'0 Alex Gambino from Brookville (Long Island Lutheran) NY earlier this week.  Our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis tells us that Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo appears to be in great on 6'5 Cory Starks from Fitchburg (Notre Dame) CA and 6'4 Cody Pearson from Sherman Oaks (Notre Dame) CA.  Actually Starks appears to be a near lock for the Mustangs, while Pearson's final three are Pepperdine, Long Beach State, and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.   It also looks like new Portland head coach Michael Holton is on the verge of landing his first recruit - 6'2 Ryan Reyes from Lakewood (Artesia) CA.

Friday, April 20, 2001 - We still think it is Richmond head coach John Beilein's job to turn down, but yesterday the hot name for the Wake Forest job was former Washington Wizard head coach Leonard Hamilton.  And today the list was getting longer, as Seton Hall head coach P.J. Carlesimo, Missouri head coach Quin Snyder, and Phoenix Suns assistant coach Frank Johnson, who played at Wake Forest, all are now being mentioned as possibilities for the Demon Deacons.     We also believe that N.C. State assistant coach Sean Miller is a near lock for the Robert Morris job.  A month ago we reported a rumor about George Washington head coach Tom Penders possibly being in trouble at George Washington.   But then we retracted it, because we thought our source was wrong.    However, now it unfortunately looks like we might have been a lot closer to being accurate than we originally thought.  Sam Albano of Redmen.com thinks Penders is out.     "Penders' isn't going to get fired for a 14-18 season," says Albano.   "He's also not going to get the ax, because some players ran up a $1400 telephone bill on an assistant coach's phone card.  But he may get fired over the Attila Cosby deal.  And it may happen as soon as today."    And if that happens, St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clark, former Washington Wizards head coach Leonard Hamilton, and Duke assistant coach Johnny Dawkins are among the names we're hearing as possible candidates for the job.  Also being reported by the Washington Post today is the fact that 6'8 Danny Miller is transferring from the University of Maryland to Notre Dame.   Apparently Miller is unhappy with the amount of playing time he received last season after getting beat out by Byron Mouton at the wing forward spot.   One of the primary reasons why Miller picked Notre Dame is the previous association his family has had with Irish head coach Mike Brey, who coached Miller's older brother (Greg Miller) at Delaware. 

Thursday, April 19, 2001 - For the second straight day I have been surprised by developments that have occurred right in my own backyard.  Yesterday I was actually shocked when I read in the Louisville Courier-Journal that Mick Cronin was the guy new University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was going to hire as his right hand man.  Sure, Cronin is regarded as one of the bright young guys in the business and I have known him well since his days as an assistant coach at Cincinnati (Woodward) OH.   But I thought Pitino was going hire someone with whom he had a strong preexisting relationship.  And today I was equally surprised when I found out that Pitino had offered a scholarship to 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY.   O'Bannon is a local kid with excellent grades and he has a toughness and competitiveness that currently is lacking in the program.  He also promises to be the best athlete in the program and appears to be the entree' that will help the Cardinals seal the deal with 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY, who is expected to sign with the Cardinals tomorrow, and get 6'3 Soph Michael Bush from Louisville (Male) KY, who promises to be both the next great football player and basketball player in the state of Kentucky.  However, Bush doesn't shoot the ball well enough off the dribble nor does he have the perimeter skills necessary to be ranked higher than in the 75-125 range nationally.  If O'Bannon was willing to walk-on or take an academic scholarship, he would have been a great recruit.  But with the year-old  five-and-three rule, whereby, a school can only sign eight players (five players one year and only three the next) over a two-year period, Pitino needs to be very careful in terms of how many players he takes in this recruiting class.  The problem is that last fall Louisville signed three players - 6'2 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY, 6'5 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, and 6'5 LeRoy Davis from Southern Union (JC) AL.  Sure, there is speculation that Coutee and Davis won't make it academically, but, if they do make it, Louisville doesn't have any more scholarships to offer this year and only three next year.     And that includes any transfers they might stubble upon this spring (transfers count the year after they enroll against the total of eight players over two years).   So, unless Coutee and Davis both don't make it academically, it is our editorial position that taking O'Bannon right now was a premature decision.  However, this won't be the first time we've disagreed with a recruiting decision that Pitino has made (i.e. Carlos Toomer and Aminu Timberlake when Pitino was at Kentucky).  Only time will tell whether we're right, but the key is the five-and-three rule, not the number of players you can have on scholarship in the program.     As a matter of fact, our guess is that Pitino will run off several players and, as a result, the 13-player scholarship limit will not be a factor in the foreseeable future.   However, the five-and-three rule could be a major problem, because it does not allow Louisville much margin for error.

Wednesday, April 18, 2001 - Last week it appeared to be a done deal, but then Ralph Willard decided to remain at Holy Cross.  So new University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino went back to the drawing board and, as a result, may have struck gold.     No, he didn't convince one of his guys, like Willard, N.C. State head coach Herb Sendek, Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, or Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford, to make what would have been perceived to be a step down and become the #1 assistant at Louisville.  Instead, the HOOP SCOOP has learned that Pitino will hire Cincinnati assistant coach Mick Cronin as the associate head coach tomorrow at 10:00 AM.  This is huge, because Cronin, who at age 29, is widely regarded as the top up-and-coming young coach in the business.    As a matter of fact, Cincinnati head coach Bobby Huggins has told us many times that Cronin is by far and away the best assistant coach he's ever had.    And making the story even more intriguing is the fact that Cronin is not one of Pitino's guys, which means he must have done a great   job recruiting Pitino during the five or six days since Willard turned the job down.  Pitino also is expected to officially name the rest of his staff tomorrow.   However, we reported three weeks ago that Pitino would retain Vince Taylor in the other on-the-road recruiting position, move Scott Davenport, who was the assistant coach in a non-recruiting position, into the administrative spot, and hire Kevin Willard into the #3 spot on the staff, which was Davenport's old spot.  While this is huge for Louisville, it does put Huggins in a tough spot, because the Bearcats are one player away from making another run at the NCAA Final Four next year.  We're talking about 7'0 Moustapha Diange from Trinity Valley (JC) TX, who is widely regarded as the best junior college big man in the nation.   Diange, whose top four schools are Cincinnati, Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Texas Christian, already is pretty far along in the recruiting process, but you can bet the Cronin will get Louisville added to the list.     Remember, Louisville needs all the help inside they can get, especially if 6'9 Brandon Bender from Louisville (Ballard) KY doesn't pick the Cardinals at his scheduled press conference on Friday, April 20th.  As for Cincinnati, don't be surprised if Huggins hires another one of the top assistant coaches in the game, like Auburn assistant coach Mike Wilson, or another one of the bright young go-getters in the game, like Arizona graduate assistant coach Josh Pastner.  Remember, Pastner, who was the head coach of the Houston Hoops AAU team the last five years, has the connections necessary to be involved with most of the top young players in Houston, including 6'10 Soph Kendrick Perkins from Beaumont (Ozone Park) TX, who is ranked by the HOOP SCOOP as the #2 sophomore in the nation and plays for Pastner's father's AAU program.  However, our guess is Delaware assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer has the inside track.  Not only is he one of the bright young assistants in the business, but he also has had head coaching experience with the Los Angeles Rockfish.   Plus, he's got a great relationship with J.O. Stright, who is the general manager of the Pittsburgh Jots.  And that could prove to be pivotal when Huggins makes the call, because Huggins and Stright formed a close relationship when they went to school together at West Virginia.  And this wouldn't be the first time that this connection has been important.  If you will recall, Danny Fortsen, who is like a son to Stright (Fortsen lived with Stright during his last two years of high school), picked the Bearcats over Massachusetts and Pittsburgh as a high school senior at Pittsburgh (Shaler) PA in 1994.  However, Huggins had better move fast, because we also are getting reports about new St. Bonaventure head coach Jan van Breda Kolff    making a move to hire Oppenheimer.  Speaking of St. Bonaventure, Darryl Sharp's name is also being mentioned as a possibility for  van Breda Kolff's staff.   If you recall, Sharp, who was the director of basketball operations at the University of Louisville, is one of the primary reasons why Louisville had done a much better job of laying the foundation early with players the last two years.  Sharp also was the main reason why Reece Gaines signed with Cardinals. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - One of the things that has too stop or it is going to totally destroy the game at every level is the mass exodus of college and high school players going prematurely every year to the NBA.  Michigan State has already lost its two best players - Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph - and Arizona stands to lose its entire starting line-up, if Michael Wright, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas, and Jason Gardner keep their names in the draft.   Fortunately Duke's Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer both plan to return next year and, as a result, the Blue Devils will have a chance to not only become the first team to repeat since 1991 and 1992, which when Mike Krzyzewski won his two NCAA Championships, but also achieve greatness.    Speaking of the top teams in college basketball next year, can you believe that a number of people have already come out with their ranking the top teams?  I usually like to wait and see who is going and who is staying in terms of the NBA draft, plus I like to see if there are any last minutes recruiting surprises.   However, if Stanford's Casey Jacobsen doesn't go hardship, The Cardinal should be a lock as our #2-ranked team behind Duke.  And we also like Kentucky, if Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans both return, and Florida, if Gators head coach Billy Donovan plays 6'8 David Lee St. Louis (Chaminade) MO at power forward.  Remember, last week we had quotes about 6'7 James White from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA possibily transferring before he ever arrives, because Lee has been promised that he'll get to play wing forward in Donovan's system.  However, in our opinion that's totally ridiculous!  Lee is the quintessential power forward in college basketball and he doesn't have the perimeter skills and outside shooting range to play that far away from the basket.  However, this is not the point we want to make.  Instead, we want to deal with the trickle down effect that players going early into the NBA is having on the recruiting process.    Everything has been speeded up in recent years, as the name of the game now appears to be recruit over your best players before they ever leave.   Duke appears to be the best at this, as is evident by the fact they may be on the verge of landing the best point guard in the senior class nationally three out of four years.   If you will recall, Jason Williams was the best point guard in the nation two years ago, 6'1 Chris Duhon was the #1 ranked point guard at year ago, and currently they are the heavy favorite for 6'1 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, who was rumored to have committed to the Blue Devils last week, although it didn't happen (at least not yet).  They key is to get potential recruits on campus early when they are sophomores and juniors and then get them commitment prior to when recruiting really gets intense during summer camp time and the fall recruiting season.  This was especially evident a year ago when 25% of the players who were ranked among our top 100 nationally had already verbally committed before the beginning of the summer evaluation period, which begins on July 8th.  It also is evident right now, because 10 players - 6'9 Jr Amare Stoudemire from Orlando (Cypress Creek) FL to Memphis, 6'1 Jr Raymond Felton from Latta (H.S.) SC to North Carolina, 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA to Duke, 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA to Syracuse, 6'6 Jr Lester Abram from Pontiac (Northern) MI to Michigan, 6'3 Jr Jeff Horner from Mason City (H.S.) IA to Iowa,    6'10 Jr Paul Davis from Rochester (H.S.) M to Michigan State, 6'9 Jr Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL to Duke, 6'2 Jr Mario Moore from Nashville (Antioch) TN to Vanderbilt, and 6'9 Jr Roy Enright from Omaha (Burke) NE to Nebraska - are already off the board.   Especially interesting is the fact that eight of the 10 players mentioned above have picked a school either in their back yard or within a neighboring state.  Also going to play for big name coaches and/or high profile programs appears to be a prerequisite for anybody committing this early. 

Monday, April 16, 2001 - Adam Gorney, a journalism student at Penn State and a contributor to the HOOP SCOOP, has the latest scoop on Jon Crispin,   who announced today that he is transferring from Penn State.   There is no word yet on where he's going, but this is devastating news for the Nittany Lions, because Crispin's older brother - Joe Crispin has graduated, along with two other starters from this season's NCAA Sweet 16 team.  We also have confirmed that Alabama assistant coach Johnny Jones has been named the new head coach at North Texas and former NBA star and coach Paul Westphal will be named the head coach at Pepperdine tomorrow.   It also appears that 6'5 Cedric Bozeman from Santa Ana (Mater) CA has passed the SAT on his most recent attempt and, as a result, will be eligible to play as a freshman next year at UCLA.  Our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us that UNC-Greensboro has signed 6'5 Josh Gross from Columbia (Long Reach) MD and William & Mary has landed 6'10 Nate Loehrke from Mattawan (H.S.) MI.  Rubin also has an early list for both 6'4 Jr Rashid Al-Kaleem from Charlestown (H.S.) MA and 6'0 Antonio Chatman from Charlestown (H.S.) MA.  Al-Kaleem, who is expected to explode onto the national scene this summer when everybody sees him at the summer camps, is already attracting serious interest from Boston College, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio State, Richmond, St. Joseph's, and Temple.  Chatman is getting attention from St. Joseph's, Massachusetts, Northeastern, Boston University, Providence, and Boston College.   

Sunday, April 15, 2001 - The two finalists for the Siena job are New York Knicks assistant coach Steve Clifford and St. Joseph's assistant coach Matt Brady and the three finaliss for Wake Forest appear to be be UNC-Wilmington head coach Jerry Wainwright, Richmond head coach John Beilein, and UNC-Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz.  Wainright may have the inside track, because he previously was at Wake Forest as an assistant coach.     However, our choice would be Lutz, because we think whoever gets the Wake Forest job will have to be able to recruit like crazy and Lutz recruits harder and better than most assistants.   And if Lutz, who also is an excellent bench coach, does get the Wake Forest job, we hear that the leading candidate to take over at Charlotte is Missouri assistant coach Lane Odom.  Apparently the athletic director at Charlotte and Odom are extremely close dating back to when Odom was previously on the coaching staff of the 49ers.   Also, ironically, Odom is the son of former Demon Deacons head coach Dave Odom, who would be the guy that Lutz would be replacing, if he gets the job at Wake Forest.  Also strongly in the hunt for Wake Forest was  head coach Bob Bender, but he dropped out when his Huskies athletic director Barbara Hedges threatened to withdraw her support.  If you will recall, she has taken a lot of heat for not getting rid of Bender after two consecutive 10-wins seasons.   But the cupboard isn't exactly empty now Washington.  Remember, the Huskies are the verge of landing one of the top recruiting classes in the nation this spring.   If you will recall, Washington's recruiting class, which included 6'8 Mike Jensen from Kent (Kentwood) WA, 6'5 Erroll Knight from Seattle (Chief Sealth) WA, 6'10 Jeffrey Day from Seattle (Prep) WA, 6'6 Josh Parnard from Tacoma (JC) WA, 6'7Josh Williams from Yakima (H.S.) WA, and 6'8 Anthony Washington from Seattle (Garfield) WA, was ranked #22 last fall and since the conclusion of the fall signing period, they also have added 6'0 Charles Frederick from Boca Raton (Pope John Paul II) FL.  Frederick is ranked #26 nationally in the senior class by the HOOP SCOOP, but he's an even better football player.  So the National Letter-of-Intent he signed was for football. However, Bender does have to show major improvement next season and, if he doesn't Saint Louis head coach Lorenzo Romar astill ppears to be the heavy favorite for the Washington job.    And if Romar gets the Washington job, Missouri assistant coach  Tony Harvey, who is widely regarded as the one of the best recruiters in the nation - thanks primarily to his strong connections into the state of Michigan, obviously will be one of the first guys mentioned to take over at Saint Louis. 

Saturday, April 14, 2001 - It comes as no surprise that 6'7 Vytas Danelius from Indianapolis (Park Tudor) IN, who is ranked #72 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, is re-thinking the verbal commitment he made during the winter to Wake Forest.      Sure, he may still sign with the Demon Deacans, but a lot may depend upon who is named to replace Dave Odom as the head coach.  We also have confirmed that UAB has gotten a verbal commitment from 6'8 Cedric Davis from Sinclair (JC) OH, 6'0 Devin Montgomery from Moore Park (JC) CA is going to Pepperdine, and Murray State has landed 6'1 Rashard Harris from Atlanta Metro (JC) GA.  Harris averaged 19.6 ppg, 4.3 apg, and 3.7 rpg, but even more important, he is expected to provide the experience that the Racers need in the backcourt.     Liberty has landed 6'6 Torin Beeler from Huntington Beach (Ocean View) CA and 6'10 Jason Sarchet from Indian Hills (JC) IA.    The signing of Beeler is especially significant, because he is ranked #38 in California's loaded senior class by the HOOP SCOOP.  We also understand Beeler was ranked as one of the top 20 players last summer at the adidas ABCD Camp in Teaneck, NJ by the HOOP SCOOP.  In other words, Beeler is an absolute steal for a school at this level.  We've also confirmed that 6'3 Brandon Hawkins is transferring from Iowa State to San Jose State, but he won't count with their recruiting class.  However, we still look for San Jose State's recruiting class to make a major jump in our rankings this spring, because the word on the street is they are on the verge of getting one of the top junior college players in the nation.     We also have confirmed that 6'10 Brian Helquist from Florida (JC) FL and 6'8 Robert Johnson from Santa Rosa (JC) CA both have signed the University of Oregon and that 7'0 Moustapha Diagne from Trinity Valley (JC) TX, who is a prime target for the Bearcats, is visiting Cincinnati this weekend. 

Friday, April 13, 2001 - Georgia Tech has reneged on 6'10 Mike Southall from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who signed with the Yellow Jackets last fall, but got arrested again last week in Wisconsin.   So it comes as no surprise that Georgia Tech is making a push with 6'9 Emeka Okafor from Houston (Bellaire) TX, whose top two schools are Arkansas and Connecticut, and 7'0 DeSagana Diop from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, who is expected to be in Atlanta, GA on an official visit this weekend.  However, we believe Diop will follow in the footsteps of 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA and 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, who already announced that they will by-pass college and enter their names into the NBA draft.  Speaking of making the jump to the NBA, we are also getting reports that 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL is on the verge of   making that announcement and it may happen almost immediately.   We also are waiting to see what happens with 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA and 6'7 James White from Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA, both of whom signed with the Univerisity of Florida last fall. "Florida recruit Kwame Brown appears to be leaning toward entering the NBA draft and said Wednesday that he believes fellow McDonald's All-American James White will not attend the University of Florida if he doesn't," said Joe Schad in article yesterday in the Orlando Sentinel. "Brown said White 'might be having second opinions' because of talk that the 6'7 swing forward might be moved to the power forward slot for the Gators so fellow recruit David Lee could play small forward.    'It didn't go over too well,' said Brown.   'I'm not saying he'd go pro, I just don't think he'd to the University of Florida.'"  I don't know what's more ridiculous - White not going to Florida, because he's worried about whether he's going to have to compete with Lee for playing time or Lee playing primarily the 3-spot in college.   What makes Lee a top 10 high school senior are his killer instinct inside, quickness around the basket, and ability to score from 12-feet and in.    Sure, he will need to get bigger and stronger to do the same thing in the NBA, but right now he's the quintessential college basketball power forward and the big reason why we think Florida head coach Billy Donovan will make another serious run at the NCAA Final Four next March.  But we'll change our mind in a great big hurry about Florida's NCAA Final Four chances next year, if you convince us that Lee's primary position will be wing forward.  We do think Lee has the potential over time to develop into a good 3-pointer shooter and better perimeter player, but not right now.    In other words, Lee ought to be the one thinking about transferring, if he thinks he going to play the 3-spot at Florida next year.  Not only is he not good enough to beat out White at this position, but it would this be a serious setback in terms of Lee's immediate impact in college, as well as diminish the Gators chances of going deep in the NCAA Tournament next year. 

Thursday, April 12, 2001 - There are a lot of reasons why the majority of players who declare hardship early for the NBA draft in college or decide to by-pass college altogether and go directly into the NBA right out of high school are making a major mistake.  Sure, the incredible amount of money that is available to the top players and the professional agents and the sleezy hangers-on, who are successfully getting their hooks into kids at an early age, is a huge part of the problem.   However, there is plenty of blame to go around.  There is the NCAA, which appears to be more concerned about perpetuating their own power and maintaining their own image than actually solving the tough problems that plaque college athletics today.   And, of course, there are the shoe companies, AAU coaches, and the media.   Obviously NIKE and adidas are in competition to find the next Michael Jordan.  I have a lot of respect for most AAU coaches, because they're involved with the game for the right reasons.  However, when they have a great player who has a chance to go straight to the league and make a lot of money, it is often hard to offer good advice, especially when they are about to get a piece of the pie.  We too are part of the problem, because we identify players way too early and often rank them based too much on size, athleticism, and potential, instead of letting them first earn it.    However, the biggest part of the problem is that a majority of the players don't have a clue what to do with the incredible amount of money, notoriety, and instantaneous success that comes with playing at the highest level.  On the court, all too often, they don't have that burning desire necessary to achieve greatness.   Instead, they got onto the fast track at an early age, because they were the biggest, strongest, and/or the most athletic.   And as a result, they have had everything handed to them every step of the way.   So they have no idea how to deal with the adversity and/or the disappointment that comes when the going gets really tough.   Unforunately they were reading their press clippings and counting their money when most of the rest of us were getting the basic foundation in college that we needed to be successful in life.   That was the first time we were really out on our own.   Sure, we furthered our education.  But just as important, we developed the discipline and skills, made some mistakes, and grew into the people we are today.   Unfortunately many of the players in the NBA today missed these important formative years and, as a result, will suffer the consequences the rest of their lives.  Sure, they got the big contract and lived the good life for a while, but more often than not, they will be broke when their professional career is over.  It all goes back to the basic foundation that someplace along the way many professional athletes have missed.   Not only is this a sad commentary on the game, but it's too bad for our society, because, whether we like it or not, these guys are role models.  All this is especially important, because a lot of the players who have already put their name into the NBA draft should think long and hard about whether they are making the right decision.   Earlier today we talked with Chris Monter, the Editor and Publisher of MonterDraftNews.com, who in our mind is the foremost expert on the NBA draft, and he's given us his thoughts on where each of the college underclassmen and high school players who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft will actually get picked in the draft on June 27th.     Let's start with the guys who we expect to get taken in the lottery.    The two high school players - 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA and 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL - are both believed to be locks for the top 10, based more on their size, athleticism, and potential than their dominance at the high school level.  Monter likes Seton Hall's Eddie Griffin in the top five and thinks Michigan State's Jason Richardson and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy could also be among the top 10.   However, he thinks Richardson should go back another year and work on his outside shooting and Murphy should return so he can re-write all the Notre Dame scoring records and make a strong run at National College Player-of-the-Year honors.   Michigan State's Zach Randolph also probably falls into this category, because he too could make a strong run at National College Player-of-the-Year with another year under his belt.   In the mid-first round range are Villanova's Mike Bradley and UNC-Charlotte's Rodney White.   DePaul's Steve Hunter will likely go in the late first round, mainly because he's very athletic for a 7-footer. This also is the right range for Arizona's Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright.   N.C. State's Damien Wilkins will also probably get drafted in the late first round based on his name.  However, that's too high in our opinion.   Temple's Kevin Lyde and Arizona's Jason Gardner will both go in the second round.  Pepperdine's Brandon Armstrong might also have a shot at the bottom of the second round and DePaul's Bobby Simmons, who is expect to announce today that he plans to enter the draft, probably won't get drafted.  Neither will 6'10 Tony Key from Compton (Centennial) CA.

Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - Today is the first day that high school seniors can sign a National Letter-of-Intent during the spring signing period, but the big news of the day is that Rivals.com went out of business yesterday.  While this is good news for paid web sites, such as our own, it is not good news for you, because competition in a free market place makes everybody do their job that much better.   It also ensures that you will have a variety of ways to look at things, which is essential for you to sort out various facts and ideas and come to your own conclusions.   The demise of Rivals is also too bad, because we think they have made tremendous strides during the last year under the direction of Dave Telep, who is widely regarded as one of the bright young stars in the business.  However, at some point you have to become fiscally accountable and, while Rivals was taking over most of the recruiting web sites on the internet during the last several years, people like us had to dig in and make sure we survived.  As a result, we raised our prices dramatically several times and changed the target of our audience from fans to college coaches.  In other words, the dramatic downturn in the dot.com market hasn't had that much of an effect on us.    Actually it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, because, after 18 years of consistently struggling to balance the budget, we might now make some money in the business.  And if that happens, instead of downsizing, we should be in a position to expand.  Sure, more people are going to have to start paying for information, but it really wasn't free in the first place.  Remember, advertisers, who were hoping people would buy their products, were indirectly paying for all these web sites.   While that was the trend for a while, the pendulum has swung back the other way and now a lot people are going to have to make a choice.  They can either do without much of the information that they've become accustomed to getting for free or they're going to have to start paying some of the freight and, as a result, they will find out just how much they've been missing by not previously subscribing to paid sections, like the Members Section of the HOOP SCOOP Online.  Moral to the story, this is a very important time for us.  We have a chance to increase our market share dramatically!  And we need your help.  Word of mouth is a great vehicle for advertising.  So make it a point to tell your friends what you think of the Scoop of the Day and encourage them to subscribe.  Also, don't hesitate to encourage other web sites that you frequent to establish links to the HOOP SCOOP Online.    Your continued support is appreciated!

Tuesday, April 10, 2001 - We also are anxiously waiting to see who new head coch Rick Pitino will hire into the two open coaching positions at the University of Louisville and the smart money appears to be on Willard.  Yes, we're talking about both of them.  Kevin Willard, who currently is the film guy for the Boston Celtics, will move into the third assistant coaching position, and Ralph Willard, who currently is the head coach at Holy Cross, is expected to move into the top spot.  Actually, Kevin Willard has been done for weeks, but he won't officially move into the position until after the Boston Celtics season is over.      However, the scenario involving Ralph Willard isn't a done deal just yet.   We all know that Pitino has a tendancy to change mind at the last minute, plus there is always the possibility that Willard may turn it down.  But it does make sense, because the athletic director at Holy Cross won't let Willard interview for other head coaching jobs.  So taking an assistant coaching job at Louisville, which would probably pay him more than he's currently making with the Crusaders, would help solve that problem.  If you will recall, Willard, who is one of Pitino's best friends, helped Pitino lay the foundation at Kentucky for one year as an assistant coach before moving onto become the head coach at Western Kentucky.  We also continue to hear the rumor about 6'10 Marvin Stone transferring from the University of Kentucky to the University of Louisville, but we don't believe it.  First, we're not even sure that Stone wants out at Kentucky.  And if he does, Indiana would make a lot more sense.  If you will recall, IU head coach Mike Davis is originally from Alabama and, as a result, had the Hoosiers on Stone's list when he was originally being recruited in high school.  Speaking of transfers, it looks like 6'1 Todd Billet is transferring from Rutgers and we expect him to pick Virginia by tomorrow.  This will give the Cavaliers not one, but two outstanding point guards to go to war with in the ACC.  Remember, Majestic Mapp was a redshirt this past season.  So Mapp will have three years of eligibility remaining.     Billet will have to sit out next year, but then he will have two years to play.   Not only do we think they complement one another extremely well (Billet shoots it well enough to play a lot at the 2-spot), but experienced guard play like this can take you a long way in NCAA Tournament in March. 

Monday, April 9, 2001 - Can you believe that 6'10 Tony Key, who has attended high school at Russellville (H.S.) KY, Durham (Emmanuel Christian) NC, and Compton (Centennial) CA in the last year-and-a-half, is planning on entering his name into the NBA draft this spring?  Forget about being drafted in the first or second round of the draft, this guy isn't even ready to be a good college player at a high major program.  I'm sure that a lot of people are also surprised  that Tulsa assistant coach John Phillips has gotten the head coaching job with the Golden Hurricane.  Apparently Tulsa wanted somebody who would likely remain in place for awhile and not use the job as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, like Nolan Richardson, who went from Tulsa to Arkansas 16 year ago, Tubby Smith, who went from Tulsa to Georgia in the spring of 1995 and two years later to Kentucky when he replaced Rick Pitino, Steve Robinson, who went from Tulsa to Florida State in 1997, Bill Self, who went to Tulsa to Illinois last spring, and Buzz Peterson, who in only one year took Tulsa to the NIT Championship, but now is gone to Tennessee.  We originally knew Phillips as Kevin Pritchard's high school coach, but more recently he was the only holdover from the Self's days at Tulsa.  So obviously loyalty is important.  Pritchard is also a pretty good coach, as was evident by the fact that we thought he should have been considered strongly for the head coaching job a year ago when Self left.  It comes as no surprise that Pepperdine head coach Jan van Breda Kolff  has gotten the St. Bonaventure job and that McNeese State head coach Ron Everhart has gotten the Northeastern job.  We haven't heard anything about who will replace van Breda Kolff at Pepperdine, but how about UCLA assistant coach Jim Saia?      Remember, Pepperdine has a history of hiring UCLA assistants, like Tony Fuller, who is now an assistant at Stanford, and Lorenzo Romar, who is now the head coach at St. Louis.  And don't be surprised if Everhart retains assistant coach Frank Martin, whose recruiting ties to Miami, FL will likely be pivotal in building the Huskies program into a powerhouse in the America East.     If you will recall, Martin landed two of his former players - 6'9 Sylbrin Robinson from Odessa (JC) TX and 6'6 Cornelius Wright from Odessa (JC) TX - from Miami (Senior) FL last fall and the word on the street is that Marcus Barnes, who also played for Martin at Miami (Senior) FL, is going to transfer from Miami-FL to Northeastern this spring.  It also looks like McNeese State knows who it's going after to replace Everhart.  The first choice is former University of Memphis head coach Tic Price, but if he turns it down, you can bet that Auburn assistant coach Mike Wilson will take the job.  If you will recall, Wilson an assistant coach at McNeese State in 1995 and he is widely regarded as one of the best in the country. 

Sunday, April 8, 2001 - Yesterday it was a team effort as Team Chicago beat Team New York, 104-93, to win the Wendy's All-Star Shootout at DePaul University in Chicago, IL.     As a matter of fact, six different players were considered for MVP honors from the Chicago Team.  Our vote went to 6'1 Will Bynum from Chicago (Crane) IL, who showed up after the game started and entered the game late in the first half.   That's when he did most of his damage, as his team jumped out to a 52-46 halftime lead.  Another good pick would have been 6'8 Kelly Whitney from Chicago (Marshall) IL, who was his team's leading scorer with 15 points and tied as his team's leading rebounder with seven boards.  Whitney also put to rest any doubts about whether he will help fill the inside void next season at the University of Michigan, which is where he signed last fall.  As a result, he will get top 100 nationally consideration by the HOOP SCOOP when we finalize our rankings this spring.     The best player for either team in the second half was 6'4 Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL, who was especially impressive with his ability to get his shot off the dribble and ability to find the open man.  However, Pierce was missing in action in the first half - maybe it took him a while to get going after flying from Louisville, KY to Chicago, IL earlier in the day.  Remember, both Pierce and Bynum played in the Kentucky Derby Classic the previous evening.  The best playmaker in the game was 6'3 Luther Head from Chicago (Manley) IL, who had six assists, 10 points, and the dunk of the day.  Also in double digits were Illinois-bound 6'6 Roger Powell from Joliet (Township) IL, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Marquette-bound 6'5 Ronald Howard from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, who scored 14 points and hit 6-9 field goals.     That's six players who scored between 10-15 points and it doesn't get much more balanced than that, unless you add 5'10 Jason Straight from Chicago (Dunbar) IL, who had eight points and four assists; 6'6 Marcellus Sommerville from Peoria (Central) IL,who had seven points; and 6'6 Kevin Menard from Lincoln Way (H.S.) IL, who had seven point and four rebounds.   However, there was one player - 6'3 Levar Seals from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL - who was missing in action for Team Chicago, as he scored only three points and was 1-6 from the field.  Part of the problem was that he never got on track with his high-flying transition game.  Instead, he seemed to be contend to try and convince us he's something that he's not (a 3-point shooter) as he went 0-4 from beyond the arc.  The New York team was stronger inside with 6'7 Kenny Adeleke from Brooklyn (Paul Robeson) NY, who 26 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks, 6'7 Wendell Gibson from Briarwood (Archbishop Molloy) NY, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds; 6'10 Simplice Njoya from Dobbs Ferry (The Master School) NY, who had eight points and eight rebounds; and 6'7 Rashad Bell from Fresh Meadows (St. Francis) NY, who had 11 points and seven rebounds.  As a result, 6'4 Chris McRae from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, who only had seven points and five rebounds, had to play more out on the perimeter, where Team New York had match-up problems to begin with, as 5'10 Darryl Hill from Bayside (Cardozo) NY, 5'10 Teddy Mumford from Brooklyn (Bishop Loughlin) NY, and 5'5 Tyquawn Goode from Brooklyn (Grady) NY were clearly outclassed by Bynum, Pierce, Straight, Head, Howard, and Sommerville.

Saturday, April 7, 2001 - If 7'0 Tyson Chandler from Compton (Dominguez) CA, 6'11 Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL, 6'11 Kwame Brown from Brunswick (Glynn Academy) GA, 7'0 DeSagana Diop from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, and 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL don't all by-pass college and go directly into the NBA draft this spring, I will be really surprised.  As a result, the casual observer will obviously conclude that this is the "year of the big man."   However, what has made this the best class since the great Class of  '95, which featured Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Ron Mercer, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Vince Carter, et al., is the incredible talent at the two guard spot with guys, like 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'4 Kelvin Torbert from Flint (Northwestern) MI, and 6'6 Julius Hodge from Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, and the unselfishness of the point guards, like 5'10 Terrance Ford from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, 6'1 Aaron Miles from Portland (Jefferson) OR, and 6'1 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY.   This was very evident in both the McDonald's All-American Game 10 days ago and the Kentucky Derby Classic All-Star Game at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY last night.  Sure, there wasn't much defense played and, as a result, both teams had a field day scoring mostly off layups and wide open 3-pointers.  The halftime score was 94-90, but both teams only scored 79 points apiece in the second half, as the Purple Team beat the White Team, 173-169.  However, the real story of the game was the 64 assists.  In an all-star game that's amazing.  And leading the way was Hurt, who scored 20 points and dished out 14 assists en route to MVP honors for the losing White Team.  In other words, Hurt, who had a terrible winter, because he tried to do too much for his high school team, was willing to step back and make his teammates better, while at the same time keeping the defense honest and using his athleticism and quickness to get to the hole.  Also, impressing us with their unselfishness and passing ability were 6'1 Aaron Miles from Portland (Jefferson) OR with nine assists, 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ with eight assists, 6'4 Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA with five assists, and 6'4 Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL with five assists.  Wagner also had 25 points en route to MVP honors for the winning White Team.  However, it was a quiet 25 and eight for Wagner, who, like Hurt, once and for all has eliminated any doubt about his great passing ability and willingness to sacrifice for the good of his team when he's got great players around him.  Also playing extremely well were the two players from California - 6'6 Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA and 6'5 Cedric Bozeman from Santa (Ana Mater) CA - who combined to hit 23-27 field goals.  Childress, who finished with 26 point, also had 10 rebounds and was red hot in the finals of the 3-point shooting contest, as he hit 18 3-pointers to win the championship.  Bozeman, who tied Childress for high game scoring honors with 26 points, also had six steals, five rebounds, and two assists.  Also ranked among our top five players based on performance in the game, along with Wagner, Hurt, Childress, and Bozeman, was 6'8 David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) MO.  Lee had 21 points, nine rebounds, and showed a toughness that is lacking from many of the so-called "great big men" in the senior class.  Lee also won the dunking contest and impressed everybody with his surprising quickness and great moves around the basket.  Also putting up excellent numbers were 6'6 Chuck Hayes from Modesto (Christian) CA with 23 points, 6'11 David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN with 21 points and 10 rebounds, 6'9 Jawad Williams from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH with 20 points and six rebounds, and 6'5 Karl Hollingsworth from Jonesboro (Mt. Zion) GA with 23 points and seven rebounds.  We also were impressed by Hollingsworth's versatility and ability to draw fouls, but were disappointed in his unwillingness to pass the basketball.  However, maybe he felt like he had something to prove (currently he doesn't rank among our top 100 nationally, but probably should).  The best player in the first half was 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who scored 19 points before the intermission.  However, Carruth never seemed to get into the flow in the second half and, as a result, didn't score a point in the final 24 minutes.  Also showing they can at least keep you honest from beyond the arc were two of the local favorites - 6'1 Adam Chiles from Louisville (Ballard) KY with 15 points, including 3-4 3-pointers, and 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY with 10 points, including 2-4 3-pointers.  If you will recall, Chiles recently committed to Kentucky, but O'Bannon is one of the few quality players in the senior class who is still available.  6'8 Hakim Warrick from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, was one of the best rebounders in the game and 6'5 Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY did what he does best as he knocked down 3-4 3-pointers en route to nine points.  Perhaps the biggest surprise in the game was 7'1 Craig Forth from East Greenbush (Columbia) NY.  He's not very athletic and still needs to get bigger and stronger, but Forth was very fluid when he got the ball inside, as he hit 6-7 field goals and had 12 points, seven rebounds, and five blocked shots.  Also showing flashes were 6'9 Terry Licorish from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC with 10 points and five rebounds and the alternate, 6'1 Will Bynum from Chicago (Crane) IL, who scored seven points in only 11 minutes.  That leaves 6'5 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, who had seven points and six rebounds.    

Friday, April 6, 2001 - Mike Waters of the Syracuse Newspapers called this morning to tip us off about 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, who has made an early commitment to Syracuse University.     McNamara is ranked #14 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP and he will provide the perfect complement to 6'3 Billy Edelin from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, who signed with the Orangemen last fall, in what is potentially Jim Boeheim's best backcourt ever!  McNamara reminds us of Bobby Hurley, although Hurley was tougher and McNamara shoots it better at the same stage.  Down the road will look for both Edelin and McNamara to be interchangeable together in Syracuse's backcourt, because Edelin has the ball handling and passing skills necessary to play point guard, which he is expected to do next year, and McNamara is an excellent 3-point shooter.   This comes on the heels of Syracuse's recruiting class last fall's, which finished ranked #12 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.   In addition to Edelin, that class also included 7'1 Craig Forth from East Greenbush (Columbia) NY, 6'8 Hakim Warrick from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'6 Josh Pace from Griffin (H.S.) GA, and 6'10 Mark Konecny from Waterbury (Holy Cross) CT.  Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins deserves a lot of the credit for landing McNamara, but getting this done so early is indicative of the way both Hopkins and Syracuse's other young aggressive recruiter Troy Weaver get after it.    As a matter of fact, we firmly believe that Hopkins and Weaver are on the fast track to become big time Division I head coaches and getting McNamara done so early illustrates this fact perfectly.   This also is huge, because it takes other big time schools, like Duke, Florida, and Notre Dame, out of the running for McNamara.

Thursday, April 5, 2001 - It happened about this time year ago with the Wheelchair Classic in New York City, whereby, several dozen college coaches arrived only to find out that the event hadn't been sanctioned by the NCAA.  So all the time, effort, and expense to get there was for naught.  And the same thing could happen tomorrow at the Kentucky Derby Classic at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY.  That's right!    According to the NCAA's Web Site and two different people we talked with today at the NCAA, tomorrow night's game, which is scheduled to tipoff at 7:45 PM is not a sanctioned NCAA event and, as a result, college coaches are not allowed to attend.    By no means does this mean that the Kentucky Derby Festival Committee has done anything wrong or that this is not a first class event.  Instead, it means they didn't file the necessary paperwork with the NCAA and it appears to be too late now.   As a matter of fact, the deadline to apply to get sanctioned was over a month ago.   How could this happen?  Well, the last several years the Derby Classic has been held during the dead period and, as a result, coach coaches couldn't attend anyway.   So it wasn't an issue.  Our guess is that the person who took care of this before is no longer with the Kentucky Derby Festival or that it just slipped through the cracks.  Unfortunately we're talking about one more example of where somebody's (the NCAA) red tape is more important than the people it adversely effects.  However, that doesn't mean we're not anticipating a great game.   Let's take a quick look at the rosters.  The Purple Team will include 6'2 Dajuan Wagner from Camden (H.S.) NJ, 6'11 David Harrison from Brentwood (Academy) TN, 6'6 Josh Childress from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, 6'1 Aaron Miles from Portland (Jefferson) OR, 6'3 Rashaad Carruth from Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA, 6'4 Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge (Southern Lab) LA, 6'6 Chuck Hayes from Modesto (Christian) CA, 6'7 Hakim Warrick from Wynnewood (Friends Central) PA, 6'1 Adam Chiles from Lakewood (Mayfair) CA, and 6'5 Josh Carrier from Bowling Green (H.S.) KY.  The White Team will include 6'1 Carlos Hurt from Louisville (Moore) KY, 6'8 David Lee from St. Louis (Chaminade) MO, 6'6 Cedric Bozeman from Santa Mater (Dei) CA, 6'9 Terry Licorish from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, 6'9 Jawad Williams from Lakewood (St. Edward) OH, 6'4 Pierre Pierce from Westmont (H.S.) IL, 6'6 Dennis Coutee from Jeffersonville (H.S.) IN, 6'5 Karl Hollingsworth from Jonesboro (Mt. Zion) GA, 6'0 Will Bynum from Chicago (Crane Tech) IL, 6'5 Larry O'Bannon from Louisville (Male) KY, and 7'1 Craig Forth from East Greenbush (Columbia) NY.  Harrison, O'Bannon, and Licorish are the only players left unsigned.  However, Harrison appears to be on the verge of making a verbal commitment to the University of Colorado and Licorish still appears to be leaning towards Louisville.  As a matter of fact, we're getting unconfirmed reports about Licorish having made it academically.  So his visit to Louisville this weekend becomes an even more important recruiting tool for the new regime.  We're also hearing that O'Bannon may walk-on at Louisville.  Apparently he's such a good student that getting an academical scholarship for him is not a poroblem.  But that doesn't mean schools like UAB and Dayton aren't still working him hard.

Wednesday, April 4, 2001 - Well, it looks like the rumor about Maryland head coach Gary Williams possibly going to Rutgers was exactly that - a good rumor.  We also hear that Richmond head coach John Beilein and Florida assistant coach John Pelphrey have both taken their names out of the running to become the next head coach of the Scarlet Knight.  So now it looks like Kent State's Gary Waters, who is one of the hottest head coaches in the game after his team upset Indiana in the first round the NCAA Tournament a month ago, is now the leading candidate.  We also are hearing Seton Hall assistant coach Fred Hill, New Jersey Nets assistant coach Ed Jenkins, George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, and Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez being mentioned for the Rutgers job, but right now they all look like long shots.  We also have confirmed that Siena head coach Louis Orr has gotten the Seton Hall job, which suddenly makes it very interesting for the consecutive year to see who takes over at Siena.  The early list includes Virginia assistant coach Tommy Herrion, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, Providence assistant coach Steve DeMeo, St. Joseph's assistant coach Matt Brady, St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clarke, and Villanova assistant coach Joe Jones.  We also have confirmed that former University of Massachusetts head coach James "Bruiser" Flint has gotten the Drexel job, which means that Robert Morris head coach Danny Nee gets Duquesne.   This is especially interesting, because Flint was also one of the leading candidates for Duquesne. which means he took a lower level job.  However, the well isn't exactly dry at Drexel, plus Flint is a Philly guy, which is very important in terms of recruiting.  While two of the Philadelphia schools (Villanova getting Jay Wright and Drexel getting Flint) have made great hires, those making the hire at La Salle appear to be clueless.   As a matter of fact, our Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey Editor Allen Rubin tells us they're back to the drawing board now that Pennsylvania head coach Fran Dunphy turned them down.  Maybe they will turn their attention to Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon, who has done an outstanding job in recent years in Patriot League, or John Giannini, who impressed us as one of the bright young head coaches in the game when we met him at the NCAA Final Four over the weekend.  We also continue to hear St. John's assistant coach Kevin Clarke being mentioned, but a   source close to Clarke don't think he's interested.  Another possibility for La Salle may be former Old Dominion head coach Jeff Capel.  

Tuesday, April 3, 2001 - With Duke's impressive win against Arizona in the NCAA Championship game last night in Minneapolis, MN, Mike Krzyzewski clearly establishes himself as one of the top two coaches in the history of the game.  Sure, Adolph Rupp won four NCAA Championships at Kentucky and Bobby Knight won three NCAA Championships at Indiana, but Krzyzewski has been to the NCAA Final Four a total of nine times over the last 16 years and there appears to be no end in sight, especially if Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer both decide to return for another season.  Speaking of Williams declaring hardship for the NBA draft, Williams has made it clear that he plans to be back next year.  However, a lot of people, including our New York City Editor Ron Naclerio, don't think you can say no to the NBA, especially if you are going to be one of the top two or three players taken in the draft.    Unfortunately that's a big part of the problem.  If Williams goes onto the NBA, he can set himself up financially for life.  But if he stays at Duke, Williams also will probably be set financially for life.  Remember, a Duke education is worth a lot.  Not only will he be that much closer to getting a degree from one of the top schools in the nation, but he'll be an even better basketball player with another year of Krzyzewski's tutorage under his belt.  And we haven't even talked the fact that Williams might like college life, that he may want to win another NCAA Championship, or that he'd like to be the heavy favorite to take home National College-Player-of-the-Year honors next year.  So let's assume that Williams and Boozer both do return.   That would make the Blue Devils the heavy favorite to repeat again next year, because Michael Dunleavy, Chris Duhon, and Casey Sanders also return, plus they have Dahntay Jones, who transferred to Duke a year ago, waiting the in wings and 6'3 Daniel Ewing from Sugar Land (Willowridge) TX, who signed with the Blue Devils last fall, already signed, sealed, and delivered for next year.  Also, the Blue Devils appear to be back in the lead for 6'8 Ousmane Cisse from Montgomery (St. Jude) AL.   Apparently new Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and Cisse's legal guardian Don Jackson have had a falling out.  So Louisville, which was the favorite is no longer involved with Cisse.  However, we don't think will get him either, because we believe that Cisse will ultimately put his name into the NBA draft this spring.   Looking further down the road, Duke already has verbal commitments for next year from 6'4 Jr J.J. Redick from Roanoke (Cave Spring) VA, who is ranked #10 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, and 6'10 Jr Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL and they've among the favorites for 6'2 Jr Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, 6'9 Jr Sheldon Williams from Oklahoma City (Midwest City) OK, 6'2 Jr Gerry McNamara from Scranton (Bishop Hannan) PA, 6'2 Jr Anthony Roberson from Saginaw (H.S.) MI, and 6'10 Jr Shavlik Randolph from Raleigh (Broughton) NC, all of whom are ranked among the top 15 juniors nationally by the HOOP SCOOP.  In other words, Thompson, who is ranked #31 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, could turn out to be the lowest ranked player in what is potentially one of the best five man recruiting classes of all time. 

Monday, April 2, 2001 - I was amazed at the number of big time college coaches who were complaining Saturday night about how one-sided the officiating was in the second NCAA Semi-Final game between Duke and Maryland.  "It was the biggest homer job since Duke beat UNLV in the semi-finals in 1991," said one head college coach with Final Four coaching experience.  No, we're not taking anything away from Duke, which was down by as many as 22 points in the first half, but made the biggest turnaround in NCAA Final Four history to win by a comfortable 11-point margin.  But it does bother us when one team gets an unfair advantage over the other and this can be particularly important in a close game, like the one we are expecting in the NCAA Championship game between Duke and Arizona tonight.  We're talking about the two active head coaches with the most NCAA Final experience going head-to-head.  Remember, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been to the NCAA Final Four nine times in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, and 2001 and Arizona head coach Lute Olson has been here five times in 1980 at Iowa and in 1988, 1994, 1997, and 2001 with the Wildcats.     We're also talking about tremendous battles between Jason Williams and Jason Gardner at point guard and Michael Dunleavy and Shane Battier and Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson out on the perimeter.  However, we think the key to the game will be Carlos Boozer's physical presence inside and whether Arizona can utilitize Loren Woods offensively around the basket.   Like most everybody else, we would like to see Arizona win this one for Bobbi Olson.    Remember, she died of cancer on January 1st of this year.  However, after watching Duke on Saturday, we've come to the conclusion that this is a great basketball team.  So we have to give the edge to the Blue Devils and we'll also be watching Battier very carefully.  Sure, Battier is a great kid, but we never were convinced that he was best player in college basketball, at least not until Saturday.  Not only is he the heart-and-sole of the Duke team, but right now he is the leading candidate to take home Final Four MVP honors.  He also he has something that most NBA general managers should be looking for - four years of college and leadership both on and off the court.  The experience factor is especially important, because the trend now is for players, who stay four years in college and get drafted in the first round, to overachieve in the NBA.  As a result, we predict that Battier will solidify his position as the #1 pick in the NBA draft, if Duke wins and he comes up big and tonight.   Instead, we're hearing that Memphis head coach John Calipari is right at the top of the list for the South Carolina job. Apparently South Carolina has offered Calipari a contract that is worth $1.3 million per year and, as a result, Calipari has told the Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson that he wants Rick Pitino-like money. And if he doesn't get it, he's going to South Carolina.

Sunday, April 1, 2001 - Xavier head coach Skip Prosser didn't tip his hand one way or the other when we asked him if he was going to take the Seton Hall job yesterday at the NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis, MN.  However, a lot of other coaches and people in the business believe that it is a very real possibility.   And if does happen, wouldn't Siena head coach Lou Orr be perfect for the Xavier job? Remember, Orr was an assistant at Xavier during the Pete Gillen era.     Another name we're already hearing for Xavier is Cincinnati assistant coach Mick Cronin, but we'd be surprised if he Musketeers hire an assistant from their neighboring rival school.  That would be like the University of Louisville hiring Rick Pitino.  We also believe that Tulsa head coach Buzz Peterson is now the heavy favorite to get the Tennessee job.    As a matter of fact, Peterson was seen sitting next to interim Tennessee head coach Chris Ferguson at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse after the second semi-final game last night in Minneapolis, MN.    So obviously we believe Peterson will retain Ferguson when he gets the job.    Getting back to the Seton Hall job, if Prosser doesn't become the new head coach of the Pirates, Iona head coach Jeff Ruland appears to be the next one in line.  If you will recall, it was reported several weeks ago that Ruland had gotten a new eight-year contract with Gaels, but the word we're getting now is that he never signed on the dotted line.   Also still being mentioned for Seton Hall is Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez, but it appears that he has a much better shot at Rutgers.   Apparently Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy has smarted up and is going after some of the top young go-getters in the game, as Gonzalez, Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski, and Florida assistant coach John Pelphrey are all now being mentioned  We also have heard American University head coach Jeff Jones as a possibility for St. Bonaventure and the three finalists for Duquesne are former Massachusetts head coach James "Bruiser" Flint, Robert Morris head coach Danny Nee, and former Howard University head coach Butch Beard.  And how about Portland Trailblazers head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr, to the University of South Carolina? And that would be a perfect fit, because he's the high profile type guy they Gamecocks are looking for to replace Eddie Fogler, who was forced out two weeks ago, and restore the program to national prominence.

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