Rivals revales their top 30 recruiting classes of 2007

Rivals announces their top 30 recruiting classes of 2007... One minor problem with their rating: Billy Walker has already played for Kansas State, so please don't include him there! For the same reason, you do not include transfers or redshirts in recruiting classes. But I digress... Their #1 class belongs to a coach without a contract (extension). Huggins is linked to the #2 class, there's some mayo at #3, some oranges at #4 and a fox at #5. Read their story for all the details. Rivals did a great job with this ranking both on the content and the presentation!

Goodman's blog covers the Under 19 team trials, coached by the next John Beilein (DePaul's Jerry Wainwright), and assisted by GW's Karl Hobbs. The list of players ranges from rising-sophomores in college to 2008 prospects (rising hs seniors). Goodman's blog is now overtaking Andy Katz as a reliable source of daily scoop, especially since now Andy Katz has significantly limited his readership by having his "Daily Word" requiring an ESPN Insider pass for the full story.

Latest updates from the Hodge Report at CSTV: A 2007 Virginia Tech commit decides to attend prep school but Seth Greenberg gains a 2007 guard, Colorado State gets a 2008 guard, Tubby Smith loses a 2008 forward, while these teams gain new players: Drexel, UNC Wilmington, UC Riverside (I wrote about it a few days ago), Wyoming, and CS Northridge. Meanwhile, Calipari disciple Tony Barbee has a clearout at UTEP with four going out and six coming in.

I want to transfer too!

Transfers are the theme of the day in today's Hodge Report at CSTV. Transfers involving Creighton, Duquesne, and South Alabama.

Bookmark this! An updated transfer list maintained by Goodman's blog. This is the most comprehensive list of tranfers I have seen on the net!

Justin Young of Rivals has a story on Yahoo Sports on the Cactus Classic, which as you may expect from the name was played in Arizona. As usual this time of the year, with the changing of the guard, new players emerge, and new names jump to the spotlight (literally and figuratively). The 2008 class becomes the focus, with the 2009 becoming the #2.

Mr Rutgers delivers

New news at the Hodge Report at CSTV

Mr Rutgers (the new Rutgers coach) delivered on his reputation by getting one of the top 2008 players to stay in-state

Steve Cleveland makes a splash at Fresno State by getting a 2007 center.

A Wake Forest transfer lands at Colorado

Washington State grabs an Oregonian, teammate of a high profile 2007 recruit.

For more details, and free player profiles visit the Hodge Report at CSTV

Weekend update

New news form the Hodge Report at CSTV

Stanford and Washington State pick up 2008 commits

Colorado State gets a Purdue transfer (don't blame Gene Keady for this one)

The surpring Texas A&M Corpus Cristi (just like A&M College Station, they both lost their coaches this spring) added four new players

A Pac-10 transfer returns to the state of Texas

For the details and player profiles please visit their website

All you can eat Friday's!

Thanks to the UC Riverside board for the link! in their post discussing that O'Dea (Seattle area) forward Josh Scott may have committed to (signed LOI) UC Riverside.

Forward Chris Singleton is going to visit Kentucky according to A Sea of Blue

The Hodge Report at CSTV has more updates

The winner of the Howard Thompkins sweepstakes has been announced! The touted 2008 recruit has decided to stay in-state. Which school? Read to find out! (hint: not Paul Hewitt).

A number of D1 players are downgrading (transfering to a lower division) including players at Utah State, Eastern Washington, Maine, Elon, CS Northridge, and Oakland.

Carolina steals SoCal guard!

There is no doubt loads of talent in SoCal, but one can only wonder how the style of play of Ben Howland and Tim Floyd are affecting their chances of keeping the best SoCal prospects in town. Granted they can't keep them all, but UCLA had back-to-back Final Fours and USC got OJ Mayo and a shiny new arena with a downtown LA view... So who did Ole Roy get? He got the son of a former NBA player, Larry Drew Jr of 2008.


More from the Hodge Report on CSTV

Rolle won't be the next Tyrus Thomas. He is transferring out!

A Wake Forest forward transfers to an in-state mid-major

New players for Fresno State, BYU (2), South Alabama, Dusquene and Fresno State

Visit their website for details

Arizona steals SoCal star!

Every 2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament game on DVD!

Don't count out the Silver Fox just yet. Despite struggling the last few years while having superior talent, and despite negative recruiting and a head coach in his 70s, Arizona has continued to load up on premium talent. Not only did they get Jerryd Bayless in 2007, but now they got 2008 super-guard Brandon Jennings who recently decommitted from USC. This SoCal player moved to Oak Hill last year... More details at FoxSports and Goodman's blog

Not to be outdone, Rick Barnes and Texas goes international, as they search for the next TJ Ford. They pick up 6-1 point guard Dogus Balbay from Turkey via the Brewster Academy. Details at CollegeHoopsNet

A Sea of Blue has a post on the recruiting of JuCo forward Nemanja Calasan, who may visit Kentucky and Billy Gillispie... If the name sounds remotely familiar, it is because he had previously committed to the Majerusless Utah, but opted out after the head coaching change (Ray Giacoletti fired/left).

More news at the Hodge Report on CSTV

Transfers: One leaves Penn State for D2, another goes from Wichita State to Wyoming, and another goes from Idaho to Navy, which loses one to transfer to balance things out

For all the details, visit the Hodge Report on CSTV

Every 2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament game on DVD!

Super Tuesday

Three Pac-10 related updates at CSTV's Hodge Report. A UCLA forward transfers to Oklahoma, while Cal picks up at a 2008 guard. Meanwhile Purdue picks up a JuCo from Pac-10 country.

Season 2 of basketball-themed TV series White Shadow just $13.49 at Amazon (eligible for free shipping with orders $25+).

Season 1 available for $22




Over 1 million pre-orders have been placed on Amazon for the new Harry Potter book, book #7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Current price is $18 and eligible for free shipping with orders over $25. Pre-orders include a low price-guarantee.

Sad News Today

CSTV's Hodge Report has some sad news, a 2008 prospect from Florida, Dante Anderson has been killed in a car accident. He was an all-state player at the 5A level :-(

Weekend update

The commitments keep coming at CSTV's Hodge Report, including:

Wichita State gets an A-10 transfer

Temple gets a walk-on

Four mid-major D1 transfers go to a JuCo in Texas

More comings and goings for a few more mid-majors

Visit their website for details and player profiles (free, no subscription)

Thanks to BasketballForum.com for the link to an earlier J-Mychal Reese post. If you are not familiar with BasketballForum.com, you may remember them as BasketballBoards.net. They cover all things basketball with emphasis on the NBA, the NCAA of course, and the NBA Draft. And if you are into "dollars and sense", they have a forum dedicated to salaries and the collective bargaining argeement.

Shopping Segment!. Today only (Sunday), Amazon's daily deal item is the Bowflex Conquest Home Gym for the price of 130+ Ben and Jerry ice-cream pints (or $540). Currently they offer free shipping!

Recruit me now!

Hodge Report (CSTV) updates

Transfers are the name of the game. LSU is not v. good for this guard, so he returns to the pacific northwest...

Speaking of which, two bolt out of Oregon State (Is Jay John fired yet?), while Georgia State (no Lefty, but with a former SEC coach) loads up on three SEC transfers...

Speaking of the SEC, an SEC transfer ends up at LaSalle, which also picks up a 7-footer (what are they feeding the kids these days, everyone is getting a seven footer!)

Meanwhile Hawaii with a new head coach is looking like a reality TV show, with four players getting voted in, and two players getting voted out!

New players for Rhode Island (3), Colorado State (2) and Denver

Three leave Colorado (you guessed it, they have a new head coach), while UTEP and Wyoming lose a player to transfer as well.

For all the details and player profiles, visit the Hodge Report (CSTV)

A Sea of Blue discusses a Yahoo Sports story that Tubby Smith is going to bring in to the Minnesota TimberGophers a super-recruiter as an assistant.

Dick Hoops Weiss has updates on Cardozo, Pattrick Patterson, Gonzo getting Mike Davis and Majerus getting a big man... If you are a regular listener of HoopScoop Radio, the name Cardozo may sound familiar - the head coach there is Clark Francis's sidekick, Ron Neclario "The Teach".

Media Wars!

FireBilly.com looks at the media wars, as they scrambled to be the first ones to break the news of Patrick Patterson's commitment.

Patrick Patterson related stories and the impact of his commitment to Kentucky at A Sea of Blue

The latest commitments from CSTV's Hodge Report

What are they feeding the kids these days? Clemson and Evansville join the 7-footer club as they get a 2008 Romanian and 2007 midwesterner.

Another 7-footer, Jason Bennett (a big Huggins fan and presumably very disappointed by his ejection from Manhattan, Kansas) is transferring out. Will he follow Huggins at West Virginia or will he return to the state Florida? Another Floridian, Bennett's HS teammate, transfers out of a Florida school to another Florida school (confused?), while an Iowa State guard goes JuCo.

Others getting new players: Turnaround Tom, Gonzo, Detroit, and a few more mid-majors.

For all the details and player profiles, visit CSTV's Hodge Report (free, no subscription)

Pattrick Patterson commits!

Kentucky has just won the Patrick Patterson sweepstakes, beating favorite back-to-back national champion Florida and distard third Coach Dracula-K.

Wall to wall coverage on the Patrick Patterson commitment at A Sea of Blue, and FireBilly.com

Mike de Courcy chimes in

FoxSports story

ESPN story

Goodman's blog commentary


More recruiting news at the Hodge Report

Beilein beats Syracuse, Boeheim and Hopkins for a 7-footer 2008 center from near ...Syracuse. Beilein is the Michigan coach now by the way.

Others gaining new players: Nevada, Colorado, Montana and a handful of Texan mid-majors.

On the JuCo front, the College of Southern Idaho picks up three D1 transfers, including two highly recruited west-coasters.

For player profiles and details visit the Hodge Report on CSTV.

Super Tuesday

A recap of the Jai Lucas to Florida story at FoxSports

A Sea of Blue recaps Billy Gillispie's recruiting up to now. So does FireBilly.com

Goodman's blog makes a case for Renaldo Sidney being the best player in his class

Latest from CSTV's Hodge Report

Majerus gets a 2008 big man

Arkansas gets two, including a forward of interest to a number of teams.

Transfers joining Fresno State (now becoming Transfer State), Colorado State, Eastern Washington

New commits for a number of colleges including a 7-footer at Wichita State, a center at Rhode Island, Valpo, Manhattan, Marshall, and Tubby Smith's Minnessota

Jai Decision Day!

Jai Lucas Breaking News: Jai Lucas picks Florida according to ESPN .com. Story also flashing at the bottom of the screen on ESPN News.

Rivals coverage: Rivals. Rivals front page. Stories require subscription.

This perhaps paves the way for a Patrick Patterson Florida decision as well. Given the back to back national championships, it's very hard to beat Billy Donovan on this.

Scout.com has a new story on this, also for subscribers only!

Reaction to this news at KentuckySportsRadio.com, CatsFan blog at LCJ, at LCJ, and Kentucky.com

Today Jai Lucas will announce his decision, and given the rumors of a package deal with Patrick Patterson (decision on Wednesday), he may spoil the party! Lucas's decision will be made at 3:30pm ET (so it can air live on ESPN News's The Hot List?)

Expect extensive coverage of the Lucas/Patterson saga at A Sea of Blue. Some rumors at Rivals point to Lucas at Florida and 7-footer Beas "goodbye Alford" Hamga to UNLV.

More coverage at FireBilly.com

Goodman's blog also thinks a Florida choice is likely

Meanwhile on the actual commitments front, the Hodge Report at CSTV is having a Northeast-news-filled-day with a talented Vermont freshman transferring to a New England school, while StJohns, Albany, Delaware and St Francis/NYU getting new commits. Visit their website for all the details.

Rivals recruiting mailbag by Jerry Meyer.
On the 2008 class front, Scout.com has a story at FoxSports on the movers and shakers of the 2008 class. Article written by Dave Telep, Greg Hicks and Mike Sullivan. Included is a player coached by HoopScoopOnline's Clark Francis's sidekick Ron Neclario at Cardozo in Noo Yok. Read all about it!

Speaking of HoopScoop, Clark Francis updated his weekly freebie segment. Clark, please feel free to mix in a paragraph break! His freebie story includes coverage on Drew Gordon, other west coast recruits, jucos and much more.

The commitments are rolling in!

A Sea of Blue has a story on recruiting, overly aggressive fans, and online networking websites

Lots of updates at CSTV's Hodge Report:

New players for St Johns, Eustachy, Bonnies, Northwestern (2), Florida State and Colorado State

One 2008 player changes his mind about Virginia Tech

At least a dozen mid-majors get new players as well

Visit the Hodge Report for all the details

Friday updates

We have another mid-major commitment day today! At least half a dozen mid-majors have gained new players today according to The Hodge Report at CSTV

A Sea of Blue has a round-up on the latest news and rumors on the upcoming decision of Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas.

TV Reminder!. On Sunday May 13, CBS will air the one hour documentary College Basketball's Greatest Shooters at 11am PT. This was pre-empted by a live tennis game in March... Same day at 3pm PT, ABC will air the EA Sports All American Show featuring basketball among the other sports... These are obviously not a live events, so I do not know what times they will air in other timezones. Check local listings!


Shopping Segment. Today only, at Amazon, you can get your favorite MLB teams t-shirts (100% cotton) for just $10 each! The special price is only good for today (Friday) as it is the Amazon Deal of the Day.

Thursday News

Goodman's Blog looks at the 2007-2008 incoming players at Arizona State, including Puke transfer Eric Boetang... Goodman also reports that a high profile forward is transferring out of Mississippi State and wants to go to the University of ...Bill Raftery.

A Sea of Blue has a couple of updates on the unresolved Lucas-Patterson saga, as well as a link to five 2008 players spotlighted by Rivals.

FireBilly.com has the actual date and time (to the minute) Lucas and Patterson are going to officially announce their intentions... Unless of course they simply announce that they will announce their decision even later on!... This begs the question: Is someone following them with a camera for a documentary like the Sebastian Telfair one? Perhaps that's why they haven't decided yet, they need more footage for the extended edition of the DVD :)
Latest from CSTV's Hodge Report

Ohio State keeps it in the family as they pledge a 2010 player (freshman) with recent Buckeyes connections

The juco parade continues at Eastern Washington (Will Rodney Stuckey return?), Wichita State and Elon

DePaul gets a 2008 guard, but this one is from a lot closer than Croatia

Mid-week report

Goodman's blog has a quick update on Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas. They are expected to announce on Monday and a package deal is a possibility according to Goodman. This is good news for Florida and Kentucky since they are on both players lists. Not good news for Duke and Oklahoma State because they are not...

My outsider speculation? The weight of two back-to-back national championships at Florida is hard to beat, but don't count out Billy Gillispie. He could use the Florida success to his advantage: "you can be the next Taurean Green/Al Holford here at UK and write your own chapter in history instead of being in the shadow of Noah/Horford/Brewer/Green". Prediction: Florida 55% Kentucky 45%. I think Oklahoma State is there out of respect from the Lucas'es for the Suttons (and it helps Oklahoma State's recruiting just by being mentioned)... As far as Duke, I think it's pretty obvious why Patrick Patterson shouldn't go there.


Latest Hodge Report (CSTV)

Two players bolt out of Utah (and you can't blame Majerus for these ones!)

If DePaul cannot go to Croatia, bring the Croatian to DePaul. DePaul is one of my sleeper teams for next year! Jerry Weinwright is the next John Beilein imho!

LSU releases one from their LOI

USC gains two (they are losing Nick Young to the NBA after all)

Not to be outdone, Kansas State gets three (two jucos and one prepster). Take that USC! Bob Huggins did a great.... OOOPS! He is no longer there!

Mid-majors get new blood: Valpo, Smurf Turf State (Boise State), Canisius, and a few more

A round-up of some of the latest happenings at A Sea of Blue, including discussion of the Rivals Top 150 of 2008 at the Wildcat Maniacs boards, with emphasis on players on Kentucky's radar... A number of top 2008 players are still available. Basketball coaches, text them while you can!

Gary Parrish looks at recruiting and message boards. The reader comments are interesting as well.

Tuesday commits and more

According to the latest from CSTV's Hodge Report, a number of teams loaded up on JuCo transfers. While it's no surprise that a hatful of mid-majors got JC players, and it's no surprise Ole Miss got one as well, it may come as a surprise to see these two teams with a JuCo transfer: Syracuse got a euro-forward while Penn State almost got Skylar from Heroes (almost)... Check the Hodge Report for details and player profiles.

Don't forget to watch or record the "EA Sports All Americans show" on Sunday on ABC (check local listings for airtimes). It will feature some of the top prep basketball players (along with football, baseball, etc).

Also if you missed the King James Classic final, check your local FSN or Fox College Sports for repeat broadcasts.

FireBilly.com talks about Kentucky offering Tyler Zeller. (Yes, he is the younger brother of Domer Luke Zeller, and there's another Zeller in the pipeline, currently under 6'5")

The braintrust at Scout.com has an update on the recruiting landscape, with comments from Dave Telep, Greg Hicks (west coast) and Mike Sullivan (east coast)... Among the players mentioned are Al-Farouq Aminu, James Rahon, Jerime Anderson, Reeves Nelson, Andrew Gabriel and a few more. Read the Scout.com story for all the details!

Jeff Goodman's blog talks about UCLA surprising some people by beating three other Pac-10 schools for Drew Gordon...

Two back to back Final Fours (even without a chance of winning the title) seems to be finally turning the recruiting tide for Ben Howland - at least for now :-)

Big Decision Monday

Touted NoCal recruit Drew Gordon made the right choice: he did not chose Duke! He must be reading my blog! He instead decided to stay in-state and go to UCLA over Washington, Cal and Puke (oops Duke). Drew Gordon's CSTV profile

A Sea of Blue talks about Jai Lucas and his list now down to just three. Sorry Suttons, but it's really Kentucky vs Florida. Oklahoma State is included as a courtesy :)

Latest updates from the Hodge Report at CSTV

New players for Oklahoma, Seton Hall, San Diego, and a few mid-majors

A lot of transfering down in the last few days, going to lower rated conferences or lower NCAA divisions. Typically coaches "encourage" a good portion of those types of transfers.

Weekend update

Latest Hodge Report from CSTV

Lots of transfers, partially a side-effect of the coaching carousel. Teams with players transfering out (sounds like coaches's choice in some of these cases): Utah, Texas Tech, New Mexico, Minnessota, Albany

Arizona adds some ...lavender to its 2008 class

Check their website for details and player profiles

Unofficial Mid-major commitments day

Latest from the Hodge Report

Eastern Washington gets two from the same family

Other mid-majors gaining new players: Tulsa, UTEP, Manhattan, Fordham and a few more

A seven footer becomes available as he is released from his LoI (letter of Intent) at Northern Illinois.

Updates on some of the players of interest to Kentucky at A Sea of Blue, including a rumor that ties in with the HBO's hyped 24x7 fight of DeLaHoya v Mayweather.


Dictionary Segment - Proposed new word

Since the Cold War is long over, can we now reclaim the word "commies" and use it as a shortcut for "commitments" in college athletics (basketball, football, etc)?

Thursday Shooting Report

Strategy Session

Finally the NCAA makes a smart move! According ot this AP story at FoxSports.com, the NCAA Rules Committee (not Ways and Means Cmte?) passed a measure to move the three point line back one foot, to 20 and 9, from 19 and 9. The Oversight cmte has to approve this on May 25 before it moves on. The other option would be to move it to the international line (20 and 6), but that would just make too much sense :) The NBA three ranges from 22 to 23 and 9 depending on location, location, location... This would affect all three divisions of men's college hoops, but not women's hoops or prep hoops... If it passes, this would take effect in the 2008-2009 season.

Does this affect recruiting? You bet! Long range shooters will now be at a higher premium. Both coaching and recruiting strategies will have to change to accomodate this. Some coaches has been stockpiling shooters either as the 13th scholarship or as high profile walk-ons (eg Pitino), but if this passes, you will probably see more scholarships for pure shooters.

Rick Majerus gets his first recruit at Saint Utah (ooops Saint Louis). He got a 6'7" Juco (foxsports story), Barry Eberhardt of Coffeyville College (Kansas)

According to the Hodge Report at CSTV the following teams added new players: Wichita State, Louisiana Tech, Saint Louis (see above), VMI and a couple of other mid-majors.

Updates on one of the best available centers at A Sea of Blue, 7-footer Beas Hamga (former Iowa-Alford commit), and you might be surprised at how soon he may be able to play. Read all about it!... Also the in-state fallout from the (non)recruitment of Steffffpppphhhhon Pettigrew... Also a dairy poster says that Sanchez may be committing to Arkansas.


TV Schedule

Mark your calendars! Two college basketball rated one hour shows will air on Sunday May 13 on CBS and ABC. CBS will air the postponed "Greatest College Basketball Shooters" documentary, while ABC will air the "EA Sports All American Show" featuring the best high-school talent in football, basketball, baseball, soccer, golf. Check local listings for airtimes as local affiliates may shift them around.

Also if you miss the 2nd annual King James Shooting Stars Classic final, you can catch the repeat on Fox College Sports on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. The game feature the Georgia All Stars versus the D1 Greyhounds. Super Scout Dave Telep is a guest analyst during the broadcast.

Also on Tuesdays at 430pm PT/730pm ET, Fox College Sports will be rerunning the six-part series "Pistol Pete Diaries", covering the life and career of Pistol Pete Maravich. The first four episodes are in studio with author Mark Kriegel of "Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich", while the last two feature black and white footage from Pistol Pete's games... More books and features on Pistol Pete Maravich can be found in an older post here

Mid-week update

Hodge Report updates at CSTV.com

New players for a number of mid-majors.

Incoming Transfers: Niagara gets two Big East guards (nice!), Houston gets an SEC transfer.

Incoming JuCos: Steve Alford gets a big man from a ...movie (!)

Outgoing Transfers: St Bonaventure (2). Memo to the Atlantic-10: The Bonies need to join the NEC/MEAC :)

Visit their website for details, player profiles, free, no registration


Freebies segment at HoopScoopOnline

Here are some of the items available at the "freebies" (visitors) segment of HoopScoopOnline:

Top 11 classes of 2007 (and the Big 12 has four of those!)... Did it take an extra 500 calls for the coach at #1 to assemble this class?

Top 10 player rankings of various classes, and broken down by sub-category (seniors vs post-graduates)

One freebie daily post per week. The daily posts are famous for tiny fonts and discretionary use of paragraph breaks.

Don't forget you can listen to Clark's weekly two hour recruiting radio show every Sunday night right from your computer. You can also listen to previous (archived) shows for free!

Tuesday Update

Latest from the Hodge Report on CSTV

A Kentucky prospect stays in-state but which school?

Others gaining new players: Washington State, Utah State and Southern


King James Shooting Star Classic Final Reruns Tape delayed nation-wide TV Schedule. The final game will air nationally tape-delayed on Fox College Sports in a two hour timeslot. The airtimes as of right now are the following. (Please keep in mind the Fox College Sports schedule can change without notice, so double-check if you are going to be taping it!). A recap of the final can be found at Rivals.com. This link contains spoilers as it reveals the winner of the game! You have been spoiler-warned :) Dave Telep of Scout.com made a guest analyst appearance during the broadcast with updates and analysis on the latest news in the world of college basketball recruiting.

Saturday May 5, 10pm PT/1am ET, Fox College Sports

Sunday May 6, 11pm PT/2am ET, Fox College Sports

Monday May 7, 7pm PT/10pm ET, Fox College Sports

The games will also repeat on some regional FSNs. Check local listings for air times of those!