OJ Mayo un-suspended for high profile game

Touted 2007 prospect OJ Mayo was un-suspended (not the official term) for tonight's high profile game against Artesia of California which features a few top ranked D1 recruits as well. There are also allegations of OJ Mayo "making contact" with a zebra...

Big West Coast game this Saturday on FSN/FCS!

There's a big game in SoCal this Saturday February 3, 2007. Kevin Love and his school Lake Oswego of Oregon will be help in cutting down the ribbons (maybe the nets too!) as the guest of honor as Mater Dei unveils their brand new modern-era basketball facility in SoCal. The game will be televised on some FSNs (regional pickup of the game) and nationally on Fox College Sports. Check local listings for details. With Kevin Love committed to UCLA, this is a perfect match-up for all parties involved, and especially UCLA Bruin fans. I do not know the exact tip-off time of the game. It will air live on FSN in SoCal for sure, not sure which other regional FSNs will pick it up. Nationally, the first airing of the game will be on Fox College Sports at 830pm Pacific on Saturday (live or tape-delayed I'm not sure). It will also repeat on Monday and a few more times later in the week on FoxCollegeSports. Check with your local cable/satellite provider for exact airdates/times. Fox College Sports is usually found in sports packages on cable/satellite systems. On satellite there is also a sports package that includes all regional FSN games, so you should be able to watch the game that way...

RecruitingWars blog Top 10 of 2007!

And here it is the first ever Top 10 out of this blog. My method is not scientific so keep that in mind :-)

As with any list, I think it is important to state what exactly you are rating. My rating is a weighted combination of 1) what a player has achieved so far 2) how good a player is perceived to be right now 3) how good they can be by the end of their freshman year 4) how good they can be by the end of their senior year (four years from now). Talent evaluation with regards to NBA-level success is given a lower weight.

And here is the top 10....

1. OJ Mayo. I know a lot of the experts have dropped Mayo from being #1, but he is the most versatile of the high profile players, and versatility matters.

2. Patrick Patterson. This is propably a surprise to most, but as we have seen in the past a player who plays every possession has a better chance of success.

3. Kevin Love. Size matters.

4. Derrick Rose. A tall versatile point guard with a bright future

5. Michael Beasley. Talented athletic forward...

6. Eric Gordon, (at the risk of sounding like Dennis Miller) the Helen of Troy of the Big 10.

7. Kyle Singler, despite being a Dookie...

8. Anthony Randolph

9. Jerryd Bayless

10. Donte Green



Overrated
* Taylor King. No need to explain...
* Nolan Smith. Funny how a player's stock rises after they commit to a major program and then they get McDonalds, Parade and other honors...


Underrated
* Dallas Lauderdale
* Chace Stanback
* AJ Stewart
* Corey Stokes


Not Included in the Top 10
* Billy Walker has already played college basketball so he is not included. If he was, he would be in the top 10 for sure.
* Devon Jefferson, he is a post-post-post-graduate, so he is not included.


Bonus Section! Post-graduate Top 3
1. Devon Jefferson
2. high-energy Alex Tyus
3. Seth Greenberg-bound Jeff Allen


Bonus Section! Next big-time star out of New York
1. Lance Stephenson of Lincoln


Bonus Section! Best Embryo, Class of 2025
1. Michael Jordan future son (if he has one this year)

NBA fans: League Pass Free Preview this week!

For the NBA fans reading this, the NBA League Pass cable/satellite package is available for a free preview this week. Check your cable/satellite systems for details or NBATV.com

TV Watch: Interesting games coming up!

As always check local listings. All times listed here are PACIFIC. Add +3 for Eastern, and please adjust for other time zones... My listings are only as good as the published tv listings. If they make any changes, I have no way of knowing...

Saturday, January 27, a double-header on ESPNU!. St Johns of DC vs Mount St Joseph of MD, followed by storied DeMatha vs Towson of MD (no Kevin Durant this year). Tip off at 4pm and 6pm, with a double-header repeat starting at 430am, and repeating twice on Monday. Comcast please add ESPNU now!

1pm, Sunday January 28, 2007, "Crotty Classic: Canarsie vs. St. Dominic", from the Hofstra campus, on regional FSNs and Fox College Sports (FCS). Repeats on FCS on Tuesday Jan 30 at 9am and 630pm and Sunday Febr 4, 830pm on FCS. This is an MSG (tv channel) program. Features TJ Carey (Harvard commit), Roland Davis (College of Charleston - Bobby Cremins commit), Nathaniel Lester (Hofstra).

9am, Monday January 29, 2007, repeat, Wisconsin hoops: Verona at Randolph, FoxCollegeSports

4pm, Thursday Februar 1st, 2007, Loyola Academy of Wilmette, Illinois at North Central, Indiana on ESPN2. Repeats a few times after that on ESPNU.

Debut of the 2007 season of Seth Davis Generation Next on CSTV. It will also repeat after original broadcast. Check local listings or CSTV.com for exact airtimes.

5pm, Monday February 5, regional FSNs and Fox College Sports, Lake Oswego vs Mater Dei, yes, UCLA-bound Kevin Love faces SoCal powerhouse Mater Dei.


As always check local listings. All times listed here are PACIFIC. Add +3 for Eastern, and please adjust for other time zones...

If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.

OJ Mayo Mania?

OJ Mayo mania is sweeping the nation? Clearly, not Beatle-mania, but there is an elaborate fan site with a clever name, and basketball video highlights, http://www.ojmayonnaise.com/, and then there is a USA Today chat (chat transcript), and then there are the games on the ESPN family of networks, and features in print magazines, on the net, and on TV, such as Dime Magazine and an ESPN Briefing Room. Briefing Room? Someone at ESPN has delusions of "CNN Situation Room grandeur". They'd better hire Wolf Blitzer and morph Jay Bilas into Jack Cafferty (the only one tall enough for that role?). Anyway, back to basketball...

Well, my decidedly unscientific Top 10 of the Class of 2007, which I am going to post this week, will have OJ Mayo as the #1 prospect of that class, despite the fact that a number of experts have gone with other players as the #1 of the class. The reason: None of the other prospects have the versatility and potential star power of OJ Mayo...

Recruiting update from CSTV

Recruiting update from CSTV:

A Raivio from the state of WA commits to a WCC team (but not the Zags). Is he related to Derek Raivio of the Zags?

Walker's brother rescinds his 2008 verbal to Pitino

Minnessota and Molinari lose one to a transfer, while Avery Jukes decides to transfer to a hot mid-major program. And we have an academic transfer too, as an Ivy Leaguer transfers to Stanford.

Pitt gets its second 2008 Top 100 player, this time from the storied Saint Anthony's of Joisey.

For all the details please visit the CSTV website...

Sports Stars of Tomorrow feature...

This week's Sports Stars of Tomorrow featured their first Top 20, and features on Solon's Dallas Lauderdale and Winter Park's Nick Calathes. They are going to Ohio State and Florida respectively. They also had a flashback feature on Illinois's Deron Williams. For more details, visit their website.

Tonight on TV: Oak Hill Academy at Simeon of Illinois

6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern, Game of the Day!, High School Hoops, as some of the Top 100 2007 and beyond talents play on ESPN tonight: Oak Hill Academy at Simeon of Chicago. Derrick Rose of Simeon is considered by some the best HS player in the class of 2007 and he is headed to Memphis and John Calipari. Announcers: Dave Revsine and Doug Gottlieb.

Repeating tomorrow (Friday January 19) at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern is a game that features the Holiday brothers of Campbell Hall of California. This is a repeat of one of the six games of the Timberwolves Shootout, with Hopkins of Minnessota facing the Holidays.

Next high school game on Fox College Sports is from Connecticut, Saint Josephs vs Harding. At this point I do not know if any major D1 prospects are playing as the TV listings typically to mention that type of information

Next high school game on ESPN/ESPN2 is February 1st.

Latest CSTV Recruiting updates

Latest updates from CSTV:

Dave Odom adds a 3rd high profile transfer for 2007-2008. This time it is a Syracuse disgruntlee

Jamie Dixon defends his turf as he gets a Top 100 2008 guard from Chester, PA

Tall point-guard-wannabe Kevin Galloway transfers out of USC. Destination: Unknown. He is from Sacramento.

Andre White leads a long list of low profile transfers.

For all the details, please visit the CSTV website

HoopHall Classic rerun on CSTV today!

The Hoop Hall Classic, a triple-header of high school and preps basketball will repeat on CSTV twice, the first triple-header starts at 9am, and the second one starts at midnight. Times are Pacific. Add +3 for Eastern time.

Evaluations: Two is not always better than one.

Two is not always better than one. A couple of teammate pairs in high-school have failed to live up to their very high expectations in college. Remember Joe Crawford and Malik Hairston of Detroit Rennaissance? They were rated very high, but it's only now in their Junior year that they are starting to live up to their hype/potential. The same thing may be happening to Philly teammates Wayne Ellington (rated best HS shooting guard in 2006), and Gerald Henderson. Both are doing okay, but they are not living up to their high rating. Perhaps having two really good players together on the wing makes them look a lot better than they actually are? Something for all the basketball analyst to ...analyze

Sports Stars of Tomorrow Features!

Derrick Rose is featured in this week's episode of Sports Stars of Tomorrow.

Make sure you catch next's week's episode where they will unvailed their first 2007 Top 25 (teams) and look at some of the top prep players.

For more details, check their website

Seth Davis Generation Next debuts February 1st

CSTV's Basketball Recruiting Show, Seth Davis Generation Next will make its 2007 debut on February 1, 2007 on CSTV, with multiple replays. Check local listings or this blog for details as we get closer to the air date/time :-)

Spalding Hoop Hall Classic on CSTV LIVE right now!

The first game is currently in overtime. Three games in this year's HoopHall Classic (vs 5 last year). Some of the top 2007 and beyond prospects and recruits are playing including Michael Beasley, Austin Freeman, Antonio Jardine, Rick Jackson, Kevin Braswell, Jerai Grant, Donte Greene, and two of the super-loaded prep schools in The Patterson School and Notre Dame Prep (Michael Beasley).

The expert recruiting analyst during the broadcasts is Van Coleman of CSTV and HoopMasters.com, along with Steve Lappas (Lapas?) and CSTV multi-tasker Greg Amsinger. So you actually get expert recruiting commentary during the game, which is a big plus...

Seth Davis is in studio during the half-time shows and providing in-between coverage.

If you miss any of the games, all three will repeat starting at 10pm PT/1am ET tonight, and they will also repeat 2-3 more times on Tuesday and later on. Check local listings and/or ask your cable/satellite provider for CSTV...

Hoop Hall Classic, MLK Weekend on CSTV!

CSTV will host the HoopHall classic triple-header on Sunday, January 14, 2007, featuring six of the country's top high school and prep programs. The games will air live, and repeat 2-3 more times later on. CSTV listings are subject to change, so check local listings before the games to be sure you catch them...

All times are pacific:

230pm: Neumann Maria Goretti etc etc vs storied DeMatha

4pm: Towson vs St Benedicts

6pm: Notre Dame Prep (including Huggins-bound Michael Beasley) vs Patterson, two of the most loaded prep schools in the country. If they played in the NCAAs this season, they could have qualified for the NIT, maybe even gotten an NCAA bid.

Mark your calendars: Oak Hill Academy vs Simeon of Chicago

Mark your calendars: Thursday January 18, 2007, at 6pm pacific (9pm ET), ESPN will host a high school game featuring some of the top level prospects and recruits in the country: The Oak Hill Academy express will play Derrick Rose's team, Simeon of Chicago. Derrick Rose has committed to Memphis, while Oak Hill features its usual assortment of Top 100 talent, such as Dookie-bound Nolan Smith (come on Nolan, see the light and change your mind!), Brandon Jennings (2008, USC), Alex Legion (Meeeeecheeegan), Julian Vaughn (Florida State would love to have him this year), and highly sought after 2008 forward Trey Thompkins, along with 2009 Terrance Boyd. Michael Beasley was at OaK Hill last year, but this year he is at Notre Dame Prep.

Catching up with the latest news...

OJ Mayo was featured in the SportsCenter Top 10 plays, as he had a game on ESPNU last Saturday.

More transfers leaving their schools or making decisions: Marc Egerson (Georgetown), Mike Jones (Syracuse), Jim Ledsome (Nebraska), Aaron Holmes (Florida State), Verice Cloyd (Alabama), Blake Wilson (Princeton), Mike Gerrity (Pepperdine), Abdul Herrera (Cincy), JP Prince (Arizona), Harvey Perry (Washington), Brett Hoerner (San Diego State). Read the CSTV/Bill Hodges column to find their new destinations...

Another Kansas player is headed to the Pacific Northwest. Read the CSTV/Bill Hodges column to find out who...

Something good for Bruce Webber: A recruit changes his mind and committs to Illinois instead (no, not Eric Gordon)

NC State needs players badly, for next season as well, so I'm sure Sidney Lowe was happy to pick up this Bruce Pearl transfer. Read the CSTv/Bill Hodges story to find out who...

Final Four player Sammy Hernandez returns to Florida (Atlantic) after one year at George, MASON!

Last but not least, Billy Donovan has picked up a Top 100 guard for 2008. And he is not Magic!

Comprehensive day-by-day updates at CSTV and Bill Hodges.

T-Mobile Highlights on Comcast On Demand

For those with Comcast digital cable, they are offering highlights of day 1 and day 2 of the inaugural 2006 T-Mobile Invitational, taking place at the Hec in Seattle a few days ago. Check older posts in this blog for more details on the tourney.

To find it on the Comcast On-Demand system, go to Sports&Fitness, then Versus, and then Re-Play. It is free to watch. Versus is a Comcast-owned channel.

I do not know if it is available in other non-Comcast systems...

OTL Sunday: Home schooling and sports

Sunday's edition of Outside the Lines deals with the issue of home schooling and participation in sports. A preview at the OTL website.

Kevin Love on TV on Saturday, January 6, 2007

*** all times pacific; add +3 for eastern ***

High school games
A triple header on Fox College Sports and regional FSNs from Minnessoooota:

10am: St Margaret (MN) vs Taft (CA)

12pm: Hopkins (MN) vs Campbell Hall (CA)

2pm: Lake Hall (MN) vs Lake Oswego (Oregon). Kevin Love is playing!. For those not familiar, Kevin Love is one of the top 5 players of the 2007 class and he is heading to UCLA.

*** all times pacific; add +3 for eastern ***