The Mc Donalds All American List for 2006 was announced a few days ago on SportsCenter.
They are at the top of the list here, but the link will move later on. http://interact.cstv.com/recruiting/
The touted 2006 class is almost here! Greg Oden of course being the main star of this class. Lance Thomas and Darrel Arthuer are the only undecided players.
Of the 24 players, here is the conference breakdown:
ACC: 7 (Carolana 3, Duke 2, Ga Tech 2, nobody else)
Big 12: 5 (Texas 2, Kansas 1, Baylor 1, nobody else)
Pac 10: 5 (Stanford 2, UCLA 1, Arizona 1, Washington 1, nobody else)
Big 10: 3 (Ohio State all 3, nobody else!)
Big East: 2 (Georgetown 1, Lousiville 1, nobody else from the Huge East!)
Undecided: 2
More details and analysis along with links coming in the next few days.
Monday, February 27, 2006
McDonalds All American List for 2006
The Arms Race in the Pac10 (for big men)
2006 is going to be a ...big year in the Pac10. Stanford gets the Collins twins back? Nope! But they get a new set of twins, the Lopez twins, and these guys are for real! Not to be outdone, Washington gets a super-talent in Spencer Hawes. Big is in! The rest of the teams have to adjust. UCLA has tried hard and ended up with James Keefe (a burger selection) and a euro-center. More pressure on the other Pac10 teams to get big men - mobile and athletic big men if they want to match up to the Lopez twins and Spencer Hawes!
Sad state of affairs of get-rich-quick Prep "Schools"
This story is linked through at Yocohoops.com
The dark secrets of Prep Schools. Not a surprise, but this is something that needs to be fixed! A sad state of affairs indeed!
Who needs the 2006 class?
Ohio State and Carolina have two of the most highly touted ever classes lined-up for 2006. Most people left them for dead this year. But WAIT!, the 2005-06 teams are not bad at all! Look at what Thad Matta and Old Roy have done this year! Amazing!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Great PR for USC: Davon Jefferson commits to Tim Floyd
Highly touted 2006 class Davon Jefferson (formerly of the 2005 class) has pledged to USC and Tim Floyd. He signed with UNLV in 2005 but did not make it last year. Will he make it academically?
I do not know the particulars, but he may qualify for the NBA Draft if he meets the new age requirement (19) and he is one year removed from his graduating class. I do not know where he stands on either. But if he fulfills both requirements, in a year without high school players, he may climb up the draft.
This news item is more of a PR victory for USC rather than an actual get, since Jefferson may not make it academically or bolt for the NBA if eligible. But the news of this commitment gives Tim Floyd more "street cred" among future recruits and AAU/HS coaches, especially when Ben Howland/UCLA are struggling to get their target bigs.
FSN Signing Day has switched to hoops!
For those with access to regional FSNs, or Fox College Sports, FSN's recruiting show "Countdown to Signing Day" has switched from football to basketball. It features super-guru Dave Telep and coach Bobby Cremins. As always, check local listings for air times.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Catching up with the latest recruiting news
Monday, February 13, 2006
The Sebastian Telfair story
The Sebastian Telfair NBA draft story, the hype, the drama, the recruiting - it was chronicled in a documentary that became a critically acclaimed movie. And now ESPN has bought the rights and plans to show it on Selection Sunday (March 12). It is also playing now in some movie theatres.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Brand new Basketball Recruiting show on CSTV!
CSTV continues to come up with new and interesting programming.
Earlier in the year they started a football recruiting program called "Generation Next".
This week they are debuting a basketball recruiting version of the same show called "Seth Davis Generation Next". Seth Davis is the host but don't worry, he is not the recruiting expert. The recruiting experts are Dave Telep and Tom Kochowlski (spelling?), two of the leading experts and seasoned veterans in the field of recruiting. Kudos to CSTV for this undertaking!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Top 100 Unsigned 2006 class - according to Scout.com
According to Scout.com (formerly Insiders), these are the Top 100 players in the 2006 class:
Also according to scout.com among top unsigned JC players are some noteable transfers and signees, including big James Davis (Minnessota), Shawn Taylor (Alabama), Lucas Stein (Indiana). The top unsigned JC player is PF Stuard Baldonado
For more details, visit Scout.com
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Recruiting mistakes coming back to haunt teams during the season
The following coaches made the same mistake: Not Enough Guards!
In an era where the big men are very rare, these coaches have plenty of big men but not enough guards. Given how easy it is go sign servicable guards when you are a big time program/coach, these coaches have simply failed.
Matt Gottfried/Alabama: They have an impressive frontline of Chuck Davis, J. Davisdson and Richard Hendrix. But what happened to the guards? Two of their 0405 freshman were gone by the summer. Touted JC transfer Rayvone did not make it academically, but I believe this was not an unknown for the staff. So the season starts and they have just one (!!!!!) guard in Ron Steele and a few versatile 2/3s. This is unacceptable. You don't have to be a genius to figure out that this team should have gone out and picked up at least two guards (unsigned, JCs, prep schools, transfers, international). This mistake is probably causing Alabama the troubles they are having on the court.
Ben Braun/Cal: May be he was smoking the good stuff at Berkeley. An impressive frontline of Powe, Hardin, Benson and J. Wilkes. But look at the guards! Ubaka and Midgeley and x-walkon Martin Smith. Omar Wilkes was a spring transfer. Kately sort of left and then sort of came back. That's it. Then they scrambled to get a european guard that became eligible in the spring, in such a situation a player needs a lot of time to adjust before he can be productive. So all Ben Braun had to do is get two more guards. Serviceable guards. I'm not talking super-star guards. Serviceable guards of size. The mid-major conferences are loaded with those. They are easy to get. Why?
Tubby Smith/Kentucky: Rondo plays bigger but the rest of their guards are tiny. Crawford is a 2-3 who plays 3. Granted Azebuike left for financial reasons but had he stayed around he could have played his way into the first round since this year's draft will have very few Prep players. Not getting at least one servicable guard of size was bad. The only other guard they signed, Adam Williams, is a 5-5 guy. 5 years, 5 career points that matter. For a program like Kentucky, that is a walk-on, not a scholarship. The team is loaded with 7-footers, three of them that rarely play anymore and Randolph Morris. But Tubby Smith has been proven right in not wanting to deal with McDonalds prima-donnas. After so much pressure from the Big Blue nation he went out last year and brought in a highly touted class. What does he get in return? Randolph Morris FAXes his way to the NBA draft, totally ignoring the Kentucky program, and then causing a big hassle in trying to get re-instated. Joe Crawford bolts out during last season for lack of PT and Tubby has to play Dr Phil to get it all squared up.
Skip Prosser/Wake Forest: The mistake was made last year. Skip knew that Downey was graduating but he did not sign a replacement. This has come back to haunt WF this season as neither Gray nor the two freshmen are ready to run the point in the competitive ACC. If Skip signed a replacement for Downey last year, he would have had an experienced sophomore now, which could have solved the ballhandling/PG issues by now. Downey's contribution to WF was under-appreciated as the spotlight was shining on Paul and big Eric Williams.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Is OJ Mayo the next LeBron James?
To those not familiar with basketball, the words "OJ Mayo" would be puzzling. Why would anyone use Orange Juice and Mayo in the same sentence? I'm not a chef but orange juice and mayo probably don't taste good together. That doesn't make sense.
But it makes a lot of sense in the world of basketball. OJ Mayo is the name of a player. Not just any player. He is the next big thing. Possibly the next LeBron James hype-wise. He is considered by many to be that good.
And other things equal, he will play at least one year in college somewhere, starting with the 2007-08 season. Where? That is the big question. One possibility is for a package deal with his HS/AAU teammates. And what a deal that would be! That's what I call a blockbuster program maker package deal. One of his teammates is Billy Walker, one of the Top 10 if not Top 5 players of 2007.
And to make things even more intriguing the players seem to have a relationship with the currently unemployed Bob Huggins, frozen at 399. One set of rumors has Huggins riding the coaching carousel back to West Virginia, and those two recruits mentioned above have links to West Virginia. They could all end up there. But again, these are rumors.
Basketball Recruiting Sites and Links
Fans Only/CSTV
Hoop Scoop Online
Rivals.com
PrepStars.com
Hoopmasters
Scout.com (formerly Insiders)
PrepSpotlight.com
Most of the sites mentioned above provide some free content, but the premium features of their website are for subscribers only. They usually offer monthly or annual subscription plans.
This list will grow organically. If you have any sites you recommend please let me know or add them with a comment.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Two 2008 (!!!) recruits give verbal commitments!
These two did not wait. They have given their verbal commitment already, 6'0" Pierre Jordan to Clemson and 6'6" T. Pryor to Pitt. Details at:
http://interact.cstv.com/recruiting/
In the word games department:
For those not familiar with recruiting, players can give their verbal commitment at any time, but a verbal commintment (or pledge) is not binding and a player can change his mind at any point. They can formally sign (a letter of intent) only during designated signing periods (specific days in April and November). Signing a letter of intent is binding.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Recruits in Action: Magic 32 tourney rerun on CSTV
CSTV will be replaying the five games of the Magic 32 HoopHall classic that took place during the MLK Weekend in January. Check local listings and the CSTV website for air times. A lot of superstar caliber talent was showcased, including Kevin Durant (TX), Taylor King (Duke) and many many more. Schools featured include Oak Hill, Patterson, Arlington Day, Rice, Montrose Christian, St Neumman Gorretti, and South Kent.
Meanwhile in the next few days, the High Definition TV channel (INHD) will be replaying three touted HS games from last year: Greg Oden's Lawrence North hosting Arlington Day, Thornton at Hoemwood-Flossmoor featuring Julian Wright (now at Kansas), and South Gw at Lanier along with the 2005 Reebok Big Time tourney. As always, check local listings.
Available Top 100 recruits (2006 class - Fans Only/CSTV ranking)
According to the Fans Only (CSTV) Top 100 rankings, the following Top 100 players (2006 class) has not pledged yet:
Now I am not sure how many of the reclassified prospects would qualify for the NBA. As long as they and their class graduated last year, and they meet the age minimum they would be eligible for the NBA draft.
I'm sure as we get closer to the 2006 NBA Draft, the websites that cover the draft will come up with a list of prep prospects that would be eligible for the NBA draft.
