2006 Class Rankings at USA Today

Rob Harrington over at the multicolor (fishwrap), lists his Top 10 classes of 2006, and the Top 100 players

According to his listing, the top remaining players are Devon Jefferson (NBA eligible I believe), Darrel Arthur (from Texas), Lance Thomas and PG Eugene Harvey (prepping together in NJ), and Huggins-favorite 7-2 Jason Bennett.

Meanwhile the "Thad Five" should really be called the "Thad Six" as the football walk-on is also considered a Top-100 basketball player.

Huggins recruiting better without a job?

Judging from the list of possible signees, Bob Huggings seems to be doing a better job at recruiting without a job than he did when he had a job that last few years.

Look at the names being mentioned for 2007: OJ Mayo, Billy Walker, Herb Pope!

Another question is where and whether Huggins accepts (or is offered) a job in 2006. Would the blue chip recruits follow him to a mid-major school or a small-market school?

Some of the schools with coaches on the hot seat are still recovering from PR nightmares (Snyder and violations at Missouri, Bob Knight and Indiana), so they will probably not touch Huggins.

But some of the other schools may be more desperate, for example, Seton Hall, and Arizona State. Take Arizona State as an example. While Coach Evans is running a solid and clean program, he has not delivered the results on the court which makes some fans and boosters unhappy. Three years of Ike Diogu and only one NCAA win/appearance to show for. Arizona State plays in a major market (Phoenix) with the possibility of games at the America West Arena (Suns home court). This would also make it easier for big time recruits to follow Huggins there. But will the university be brave enough to pull the trigger? The "headaches" from the point-shaving scandal are almost forgotten by the general public, so would/could/should they "gamble" on Huggie-Bear? (Well, bear no more).

While the 2006-07 coaching carousel is not expected to be dramatic, it only takes one major move to start a major spin - remember 2003-04? Besides that, the NBA is always looking for new coaches...


CBS Sportsline and a local Cincinatti blog are discussing this very topic.

Bruce Webber finally gets one

After losing out on a number of top level local recruits, Bruce Webber managed to get one. Eric Gordon of 2007. Finally the magical 2004-05 run is paying top-level dividends. Will this lead to more big time signings for Bruce Webber or was this a one-hit wonder?

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/5118286

Kevin Love visiting UCLA

During the NMState-UCLA game ESPN analyst Fran Frachila mentioned that Oregonian super-big Kevin Love (class of 2007) was visiting UCLA. He would be a huge get for the Bruins who badly need big bigs. Ben Howland is stuck with the two Lavin 7-footers *cough* busts *cough*, which partially prevented other big bigs from signing with UCLA. Alfred Aboya of 2005 may be a good start, but he is dealing with an injury right now. Howland was chasing a lot of bigs but couldn't get them to sign. They have a good start in 2006 with James Keefe but they need more since the two 7-footers are graduating!

Latest news

Seton Hall gets a big big-man in 2007 Orlando Allen

Collegesports.com publishes their early 2006 class rankings. NC is at #1, Ohio State at #2. Oden is huge but NC got arguably the top three players at their respective position - a rare feat.

UTEP signs up a new frontcourt of unheralded players

Shane Clark will join Villanova in the Spring semester. This should help some if Sumpter is not able to make a comeback.

Tyrone Armstrong puts the "fall" in West-phal. His sole recruit who committed years ago now decommits! A couple of days later however he signed another player (Blake Wallace)

Texas A&M gets de-Flowered as their 2005 recruit (Gary Flowers) signs with Oklahoma State for 2006.

And OJ Mayo commits to .....

Signing Period!

The signing period has began! A new trend is emerging - signing up a whole team in the same class. First it was the Ohio State dream team headlined by Greg Oden. Then it was the North Carolina team headlined by Brandan Wright. Now it looks like Oklahoma, UConn and Texas have a 5+ man team, while Syracuse is one player away from completing a team with its 2007 (!) class.

The biggest news was the non-news of Greg Oden signing with Ohio State.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Arizona would get Jerryd Bayless since Texas got DJ Augustin just 48 hours before Bayless was set to announce.

While the ACC, Pac 10, Big 12 and Big East are getting the star recruits, the SEC and Big 11 are struggling. Don't get me wrong they have gotten some really good players, but where are the star recruits - given that a lot of them come from SEC cities/states? At this rate Bruce Pearl is gonna have the best recruiting class in the SEC and ironically most of them are from anywhere but SEC country.

Calhoun does it again!

Not shy about these things, Calhoun renegs on his offer to one recruit, while at the same time grabs a top 100 PG (Doug Wiggins) who had previously announced for St Johns. I'm sure this was done within the rules, but it also leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths. Can't blame the player for wanting to play PG minutes at one of the top programs in the country. Marcus Williams may be NBA bound by the end of the season, since the monster class of 2006 won't be NBA-eligible until 2007...

The One Year Dream

Carmello was the first, Marvin Williams was the second. This may be the path (or dream) for future generations of elite players. Play one year in college, win the championship, and then swim to a Top 5 draft position. Not bad eh?

Greg Oden maybe heading in that direction, although he may be serious about being ...serious about staying in college until he graduates. He started a new trend: take some of your very talented friends along. OJ Mayo may follow suit in 2007 with Billy Walker and the forward from their team.

Return of the Roi (Roy): Duke vs Carolina

It was a big surprise to a lot of people that Brandan Wright chose NC over Duke and others, even though Duke and others may have needed him more.

But is this really a surprise? Roy Williams returns to Carolina, plays run and fun and gun, and wins a national championship. Oh and Marvin Williams ends up a Top 3 draft pick without even starting a game. On the other hand Coach K had to play ugly to compensate for lack of depth and Duke-level talent. So if you are a high energy recruit where do you want to go play?

It is not a coincidence that Coach K has already emphasized in preseason interviews that Duke is returning to Duke basketball style of play - a lot more fun for the players than grinding it out.

Thaddeus Young sweepstakes

One of the top players of 2006 is expected to make his announcement on Monday, probably between Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia Tech. Memphis was apparently eliminated. Needless to say it would be a huge get for the winner, not just for the one year he will likely play in college, but also for PR purposes.

Georgia Tech may be a good candidate because of the development of Chris Bosh and having a top 10 PG coming in in Javaris Critterton.

Recruiting Resources: HoopScoopOnline.com

A great resource for recruiting news, rankings and analysis is Hoop Scoop. The free content is great, but if you want your daily fix, you need to get a membership. Along with the website they have weekly two hour internet radio show (see previous blog post).

One of the great things HoopScoop does is separating 5th year players from the rest of the class. In the next few months - with the new NBA draft rules in effect - I am expecting to see a distinction as to whether a player qualifies for the NBA draft (if his class graduated one or more years ago). The 5th year player list is a good starting point. Incidentally the free section of HoopScoop features the best 10 players of 2006, 2006-5th year players, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Another free feature is the Top 10 recruiting classes of 2006 using HoopScoop's extensive rating system. While Ohio State is the sentimental choice for best class (because of Greg Oden), North Carolina has actually amassed the most talent. If you feel strongly about this, HoopScoop has a poll on this very topic: NC -vs- Ohion State 2006 recruiting class.

Recruiting on Radio and TV

TV: If you have access to Fox College Sports or the regional FSNs via satellite, check your local listings for "Signing Day", a show that focuses on recruiting, mainly in the south east (ACC, SEC). They have both basketball and football editions, so keep that in mind.

Internet Radio: A two-hour weekly show hosted by Hoop Scoop Online, featuring Clark Francis covers a variety of topics in the universe of recruiting. Archives of the show are available as well.

Coming Soon!

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