Two interesting articles at ESPN.com!

Pat Forde on the impact of the new NBA Draft rule on the college game, on recruits and recruiting, and on colleges (and coaches). (129 comments)

Andy Katz compares the rosters of the Final Four teams with the recruiting rankings of their players back when they entered college.

Coming soon: Roundball Classic and NIKE Hoops Summit

Coming soon: Roundball Classic and NIKE Hoops Summit!

I am not exactly sure when they will debut on TV, but I will post an update as soon as I find out. The Nike Hoop Summit will air on FSN and Fox College Sports, while Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic will air on CSTV. Both will repeat a few times after the original air date, so don't worry if you miss it. More details after the Final Four is over...

Latest from CSTV and Bill Hodges

The Bill Hodges Repor(t) (free, no membership) has the latest commits and decommits, which includes a number of JuCos (JC players) finding homes for 2007-2008, and a 2008 guard at a high profile Jersey high school staying in the area. Also former McDonalds All-American Nate Minnoy has found a new home. Visit the Bill Hodges report for all the details...

Meanwhile I will be having increased recruiting coverage in this blog once the NCAA Tourney is over. If you have any ideas or suggestions on stories and things to keep track off, please send me an email or leave a comment :-)

If I had to pick one player from the McDonalds roster...

If I was building a team and had to pick exactly one player from the McDonalds all american roster, my first choice would be... Patrick Patterson because he was so effective and efficient. His dunks may not be spectacular but he delivers and whoever gets him they are going to get a valuable component that could lead to championships...

My second choice would be Derrick Rose, can't argue with a true point guard taller than 6-feet...

Now this doesn't necessarily mean I think those two will be the best players in the NBA out of the 2007 class. Certainly OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley have star power. Kevin Love maybe effective at UCLA (which explains why he went there), but he needs a lot of work before he becomes an NBA player.

Incidentally the November 2006 issue of "Slam" magazine is a high-school basketball special issue with Kevin Love and Kyle Singler on the front cover. It's available on Amazon for $5, and eligible for free shipping with orders over $25. Also eligible for the 4-for-3 promotion.

Top JuCo prospects by Vance Coleman

Vance Coleman of CSTV looks at some of the best JC (JuCo) players at the NJCAA Nationals. A total of around 35 players are presented by Vance, with a short paragraph describing the player and the teams interested in him. Some of them are committed, but some are still available (coaches are you reading this???)

Lots of games on TV!

Lots of games on TV, including state championships and the McDonalds all star game. More detailed TV listings at NCAA Hoops Today Week of March Madness TV listings.

Mc Donalds All American Game this Wednesday March 28, 2007!

If your favorite team(s) are out of the NCAA tourney, you are not alone. All but four teams are left standing. But here's to the upcoming season, which for some teams starts with the McDonalds all-star game.

The men's (boys) game will be on ESPN, at 5pm PT/8pm ET on Wednesday March 28, 2007. Also one hour earlier (4pmPT/7pmET) an edited version of the slam dunk and three-point contest, aka the Jam Fest. The game will be played at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. (

You bet the topic of the Kentucky coaching vacancy will come up during the broadcast, especially since the two uncommitted players (Patrick Patterson, and Jai Lucas) were involved with Tubby Smith and Kentucky.

If you miss the live airing, you can watch a repeat at 10am on Thursday, also on ESPN. ESPNU will probably repeat it a few more times. I am boycotting ESPNU listings until ESPN and Comcast come to an agreement and carry ESPNU. Apparently according to posts in message boards, ESPN wants ESPNU to be made available to all digital cable subscribers, while Comcast wants to put ESPNU in the Sports Tier (which costs an additional $5 per month). Since we are dealing with multi-billion dollar companies, this sounds like a petty dispute that should have been resolved already!


More details, including discussions on who and why was left out, and who was undeservedly included at this post

Kentucky's Recruiting Carousel

Yahoo Sports has two stories on the recruiting domino effects of the coaching change at Kentucky.

Rivals story on Patrick Patterson

Kentucky Kernel story

They include comments and non-comments by the HS coaches of some of the involved signed and unsigned recruits including Patrick Patterson, Jai Lucas, AJ Stewart and Draymond Green.

A review of HoopScoopOnline freebies

HoopScoopOnline has a freebies section (visitors) as well as a lot more in-depth coverage for subscribers. Subscriptions are available per month, quarter, half-year or full-year.

In the freebies section you will find these goodies:

Archives of the two-hour weekly recruiting show HoopScoop on Radio, which internet-broadcasts live every Sunday at 10pmET/7pmPT.

Top 10 classes of 2007. You'll be surprised by some of the teams in the Top 10.

Select daily posts from the Members section

Top 10 Seniors, and Post-Graduate players in the 2007 class (USC has two of the top four!)

Top 10 players in the following classes: 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011

Top 10 players at select summer camps

Coaching Changes, incoming freshmen and ...graduate school research

Coaching Changes, incoming freshmen and ...graduate school research
An incoming freshman commits to a university, not to a specific coach, but one of the main reasons a player choses a specific university is the coach. Some people think that a player should not be allowed to go elsewhere regardless of coaching changes. I disagree. Here is an example that may explain the situation a little better: "Steve wants to do his graduate research work on the sleeping habbits of elephants. Steve is very impressed with the research work of Dr Mary Tide at Auburn. Steve applies and enrolls at Auburn. While Steve is enrolled at Auburn, the main reason he went to Auburn was because he wanted to do his research work with Dr Mary Tide. If for some reason Dr Mary Tide decides to leave the university for another job, or is fired, or retires, then Steve is left in an awkward situation with regards to his graduate research project. While "college basketball" is not a "graduate research project", think of it along those lines, and then you'll see why players (at least incoming freshmen) should be allowed to leave when a coach leaves...

Morgan Wootten players of the year

The 2007 Morgan Wootten players of the year are..... *drumroll*:

Maya Moore, going to UConn and Geno Auriemma

Kevin Love, going to UCLA and Ben Howland

Late Signing Period April 11 through May 16, 2007

Reminder: The Late Signing Period is from April 11 through May 16, 2007

New news from CSTV's Hodge Repor(t)

Wake Forest gets a touted recruit who once commited to Florida (despite WF struggling for the last two seasons)

UAB and Charlotte get JuCos

new commits for UMass and Richmond

2008 commit for Xavier

To find out who the players are and more details, visit CSTV's Hodge Repor(t)

OJ Mayo, the New York Times and Tim Floyd

OJ Mayo Mania

A recent NY Times story chronicles the recruiting of OJ Mayo, which surprised some people as OJ Mayo refused to give Tim Floyd his cellphone number.

However, Tim Floyd gave his version of the story today as he appeared (via telephone) on ESPN2's Cold Pizza. Floyd set the record straight (or gave his own spin) on the situation as he stressed that Mayo is a very mature person ("he is like a 35yo"), and Floyd explained the cellphone to "financial reasons". Floyd also said/claimed that he now has Mayo's cellphone number but does not call him frequently. Floyd pointed out that Mayo does not need the usual "babysitting" that most recruits are accustomed to. ("Babysitting" is continuing to show "love" to recruits after they commit. If a coach stops going to their games, calling, texting or writing, the recruits get insecure). Floyd also confirmed that OJ Mayo recruited himself to USC and came to him with a game plan. Floyd also chastised Wilborn of PTI for criticizing OJ Mayo's behavior based on the NY Times story.

So what really happened? The truth is out there and probably somewhere in between...

Malik Story transfers to Oak Hill Academy

The LA Times reports that USC bound Malik Story (2008 class) will transfer to Oak Hill from (Lakewood) Artesia of SoCal. As you may recall another SoCal is there, Brandon Jennings, 2008 class, who also committed to USC.

CBS buys MaxPreps.com (also owns CSTV)

CBS Sports has expanded its empire by buying MaxPreps.com MaxPreps will become part of CSTV (purchased by CBS about a year ago or so).

California State Finals on Saturday March 24, 2007

The games for Division 1 and Division 2 basketball will be shown live on Fox College Sports Pacific and regional FSNs.

Broadband schedule at KBCSports.com

The Division I title will be decided between Fairfax and McClymonds

The Division II (2) title will be decided between Mater Dei and Archibiship Mitty (2008 Top 10 player Drew Gordon)

The Division III (3) title will be decided between Artesia and Bishop O'Dowd

The Division IV (4) title will be decided between Campbell Hall and Cardinal Newman

The Division V (5) title will be decided between View Park and Bronson

More details:

CIFState.org

LA Times

Also mentioned in the LA Times is that USC bound Malik Story (2008 class) will transfer to Oak Hill. As you may recall another SoCal is there (Brandon Jennings, 2008 class, USC)

Lute Olson on Arizona Recruiting

As part of his end of season press conference Lute Olson made some in-depth comments about his 2007-2008 recruits and beyond. He is only allowed to comment on committed players, so he was speaking rather vaguely beyond 2007...

Latest from CSTV and the Hodge Report

Latest from CSTV and the Hodge Report

UTEP gets a big man

A recruit wants out after a recent Coaching Carousel coaching change

Mid-majors gets some players including Hofstra, Bradley, VCU,, SMU, and Richmond

Herb Sendek gets a 2008, while Baylor gets a 2007 JuCo

A recruit is still interested in Iowa

Visit their website to find out all the details

2008's Tyreke Evans featured on Sports Stars of Tomorrow

This week's edition of Sports Stars of Tomorrow has a feature on one of the top players of the class of 2008, Tyreke Evans... Check local listings or their website for more details.

State Tourneys on Fox College Sports and regional FSNs!

You can catch some of the biggest stars of the 2007 and 2008 class as regional FSNs broadcast high-school state and regional tourneys and finals. A lot of these games will be shown nationally on Fox College Sports, most of them not live, but tape-delayed in a two-hour time slot. Check local listings for more details, but some of the states shown are: Florida (all classes), Texas (5A), California (2-3 games), Michigan, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Missouri and Oregon. Also look for repeats of the Lake Oswego (Kevin Love, UCLA-bound) at Mater Dei game (Wear twins, Arizona-bound 7-footer Jacobsen).

As far as all-star games, the following games are typically shown on TV:

McDonalds All American game along with the dunk and three-pointer contest

The Nike Hoop Summit, FSN and Fox College Sports. The best USA players vs a "select" team of international prepstars. "Select" is the PC/amateur word for "all-star" :-)

Roundball Classic, CSTV

Jordan Classic, ESPNU and ESPN2

Increased Recruiting Coverage once March Madness is over

Look for increased Recruiting Coverage once March Madness is over. In the meantime, it's March Madness time!

This week on Sports Stars of Tomorrow

This week's edition of Sports Stars of Tomorrow features these players:

Antonio "Scoop" Jardine and Rick Jackson, heading to Syracuse in 2007-2008

What happened to FSN's Countdown to Signing Day?

What happened to FSN's Countdown to Signing Day? It used to be shown on Fox College Sports. Granted Bobby Cremins is now busy being a head coach. But has it been cancelled? Or is it simply not carried on FCS? Anyone knows? Please let me know :-)

Recruiting Pitfalls: Two high-profile wings on the same team!

As we have seen earlier with Joe Crawford and Malik Hairston, and this year with Wayne Ellington and Gerald Dirty-Dookie Henderson, two talented high-profile wing players on the same high-school team appear to be much better than what they are individually. Not to say that they are not good/great players, it's just that recruiting/rating-wise they were considered to be better than what they have delivered so far... So the lesson learned?: Be cautious not to overrate high-profile wing players on the same high school team...

Catch up with the latest commits from CSTV and Bill Hodges

Taking a break from March Madness with Recruiting Madness? While it is relatively quiet recruiting wise because of conference tourneys and March Madness, there are still commitments and decommitments taking place. Catch up with the latest on CSTV and the Bill Hodges Repor(t). No signup and no subscription fees. The most high profile of the last few days is a touted 2008 recruit going (where else) to Ohio State and a guard switching Pac-10 schools.

Nike Hoop Summit rosters announced!

Great analysis of the 2007 Nike Hoop Summit rosters at Draft Express by Jonathan Givony with a focus on NBA Draft implications by the international players.

The Nike Hoops summit does not count as an all-star game with regards to NCAA eligibility, so some of the best players in the 2007 class have been selected including Kevin Love, OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose, and Patrick Patterson. For all the details check the story at DraftExpress.

The 2007 Roundball Classic

The 2007 Roundball classic, a work of the Godfather of summer hoops (Sonny Vaccaro), will take place on Tuesday April 3rd 2007 (day after the NCAA final). It usually airs on CSTV. I do not know yet whether CSTV plans to air it live or tape-delayed.

West rosters

East rosters

HOWEVER this includes some swing players, as they are also included in the McDonalds All American game and the Jordan Classic. As you may recall, NCAA regulations prohibit a player from participating in more than two all-star games if they want to retain their eligibility. McDonalds is the most high profile of those games (on ESPN baby!) so players chose to either go to Jordan or Roundball, but not both (unless they plan to turn pro).

List of swing players

OJ Mayo

Kevin Love

I do not know if they made any official announcements as to which game they'll actually play in

The Nike Hoops Summit does not count as an all-star game because it is a USA Basketball event, although it is really an all-star game. So the best players of each class usually go to the McDonalds game, the Nike Hoop Summit and either the Jordan or the Roundball classic.

I will have a more detailed break down of the all-star games and recruiting in general after the March Madness madness cools off...

Recruiting DVDs for your collection: Seinfeld one day sale!

The Seinfeld DVD collection (Seasons 1 through 7) is on sale today only in Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day for $99 with free shipping. It comes out to $15.50 per season! A must for Sienfeld fans! This is a one-day only deal (Tuesday)

This week on Sports Stars of Tomorrow

This week on Sports Stars of Tomorrow, features on:

Austin Freeman, going to Georgetown

Dallas Lauderdale (nephew of NBAer Priest), Ohio State

Brandon Jennings (a SoCal currently at Oak Hill) verbally committed to USC (2008 class)

John Roberson (going to Texas Tech)

Chase Budinger (currently at Arizona)

Check local TV listings for airtimes...

Must see TV: Mater Dei vs Artesia on Fox College Sports

Today, 5pm pacific time, SoCal High school hoops: Mater Dei vs Artesia, Fox College Sports, with Marques Johnson. Must see TV! as a number of touted recruits including the Wear twins, Taylor King, James Harden, and many more are playing. This is a repeat, not a live game.

TV Review: Generation Next, Episode V

Episode Review

Recruiting expert guests: Van Coleman and Tom Konchalski. Grade: Good!

A short debate on who should be the mythical #1 high-school basketball team, and the obligatory revisiting of the "Is Oak Hill a high-school" issue. Grade: Good!

A recap of the recent commitments. Grade: Good!

A review of the 2007 Big East commitments. This covered all 16 teams, with coverage of quite a few of them. This was an improvement of last week's ACC segment, even though it is 16-team conference. Grade: Good and bonus points for the more in-depth coverage

A recap of the McDonalds All American team selections and the Orwellian "off the court issues" when the cmte decides not to select an otherwise deserving player. Grade: Good!

Guest interview: Jay Wright of Villanava. Fans of the four-guard offense of the 2005-2007 season will be thrilled to find out that Jay Wright will be bringing it back next year with Corey Fisher, Malcolm Grant and Corey Stokes. (Assuming Scottie Reynolds stays put)

Short video feature on Nolan Smith

Personal segment: Seth appeared excited about all the Dookies selected for the McDonalds team, and he thinks Kyle Singler is the #1 of the 2007 class

Overall Rating: This was the best episode of the season!

Show details

The show's webpage is at CSTV and it includes recruiting coverage from Van Coleman and Bill Hodges.

For airtimes of Seth Davis Generation Next, check my daily college basketball tv listings at Ncaa Hoops Today or CSTV's TV schedule page

TV: New Seth Davis Generation Next episode today!

New Seth Davis Generation Next episode today on CSTV. This is episode #5.

Airtimes (all times pacific, add +3 for eastern)

Thursday: 430pm, 630pm, 9pm, 1230am

Friday: 8pm, 11pm

Saturday: 1130am

For more details and for updated TV listings check cstv.com

Also tonite, at 5pm pacific there is a Kevin Love game on Fox College Sports: A repeat of the game featuring Lake Oswego at Mater Dei, Fox College Sports. UCLA bound K-Love visited SoCal with his hs team to cut the ribbons on Mater Dei's long awaited new facility. I don't want to spoil the result, but it made UCLA fans happy. Ben Howland was caught by the cameras watching the game from a prime location (they call it "baby-sitting" in the recruiting world).