Rating Recruiting Classes vs Newcomers

One of the common practices among recruiting gurus is that they are rating and analyzing incoming recruiting classes, but very few people take a more holistic approach and rate all the new players that will be joining a team for the next season. To illustrate this, here are the types of new players joining teams:

Freshmen

Junior college transfers

Division 1 transfers

Redshirts (medical or developmental or for any other reason)

Prop 48 and other academic non-qualifiers

Most recruiting analysts only look at the first two groups of players when analyzing a class. Well what's the difference between a junior college transfer and a d1 transfer? Neither one played for the team last year. Same for redshirts and prop 48 and freshmen.

I understand that from a purely recruiting perspective they look at the first two groups because they are covering available recruits for each class. But when you analyze the incoming talent of a team to evaluate their chances for the next season, you can't ignore the other groups!!!

Then of course comes the confusing question of where to put the transfers. Do you include them in the year they made the transfer or the year they will be eligible to play?

Shopping spree: College t-shirts for $7 at Amazon today only!

The t-shirts of these 35 popular colleges in intercollegiate athletics (okay, mainly basketball and football) are on sale today only at Amazon for $7 per t-shirt. These 100% cotton short sleeve Soffe t-shirts qualify for free shipping if your total is $25 or more.

New players for Iowa and Southern Illinois

CSTV's Hodge Repor(t) informs us that Steve Alfordless Iowa has picked up a 2009 in-state big man, while defense 1st and defense 2nd Southern Illinois has picked up a guard.

As reported yesterday, Greg Monroe is down to five teams. Unfortunately one of them is Duke, and Coach K can cloud the minds of recruits and their parents using his Darth Vader skills. I think Monroe would do fine if he goes to any of the other four colleges in his list. But not Duke!!!

The Final Five are revealed!

No, I'm not talking about Battlestar Galactica, but the final five teams in Greg Monroe's list. CSTV's Hodge Report has the list of five. This is not a surpring list, as it has some of the usual and expected suspects.

Meanwhile, more updates from the Hodge Report: Iowa State adds a ...mann, Andy Adam Kennedy adds a big guard at Ole Miss, Boise States goes juco, and Centenary, William and Mary, and Weber State add one each.

Shopping: NCAA branded wind jackets $12 today

Today only, at Amazon, windjackets from Campus Yard, from twenty five of the most popular (in terms of sports) colleges are on sale for $12 each. You can get free S&H if your order is $25 or more. Hint: If you are under $25, you can buy a gift certificate and send it to yourself :) Here are the 25 major NCAA colleges participating in this promotion. Remember this is only good today (Saturday).

Super prep Shaun Livingston featured on today's Outside the Lines!

Today's episode of Outside the Lines (OTL) features former super prep star Shaun Livingston and his injury train. ESPN's OTL page.

If you want to find out what stories OTL will be featuring each day, be sure to sign up for their email list. Here is a short description of the Livingston Centerpiece from the OTL email:

A routine landing gone awry on a breakaway lay-up dropped Shaun Livingston to the floor in obvious pain. Last year, on February 26, the Clippers guard, and fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, suffered tears to every major ligament in his left knee, including a torn lateral meniscus and patella dislocation just days after setting a career high 14 assists. Due to various injuries, Livingston has yet to play a full NBA season. Despite rehabbing five days a week, Livingston will likely miss at least the first half of this season but he remains optimistic about his return. Today on Outside the Lines, another look at Livingston's recovery as he moves forward in his rehab after a devastating knee injury.

Coach Dracula Ratface blows smoke and nets the Polish Dunker!

Sad news for Oleg Czyz as he will probably Josh Mc Roberts (a verb) his college career collecting Cameron Crazy Dust on the bench at Duke. He committed to Duke according to CSTV's Hodge Report. I'm sure Coach Ratface K used his Polish heritage as a way to lure him in. Well Oleg, I hope you keep in touch with the other colleges on your list, because you are going to be looking for a place to transfer in a couple of years. Did you call Jamal Boykin before commiting to Duke? Do you wanna be the next Martynas Pocius? How about Eric Boetang, and dozens more!

But they don't listen, do they? Well, enjoy the Coach K Experience in the bowels of the Cameron Open Door stadium :-)

Meanwhile the Lord of the Rings (aka Billy the Diva Kid Donovan) grabbed a top 20 forward from the 2008 class. And his new recruit can deliver a knock out punch (at least in ...name)

Burst of new commitments!

CSTV's Hodge Repor(t) is your free source for recruiting info and player profiles and team databases! Check their website for all the details!

High Profile downgrades: Players from Division 1 going to D2, D3 or NAIA, usually to get more PT: Eight D1 players, including Bob Knight's Justin Wilkerson and the Johnnies Avery Patterson.

BCS teams adding players: Oklahoma (a big big man), Vandy, DePaul, Washington State, and Providence.

Mid-major teams adding players: Hofstra (juco), Missouri State of the Valley of Darkness, Austin Peay, Princeton, Wisconsin Brett Favre campus, Miami of Ohio, Eastern Illinois (two), Montana, SFA (two), Denver, Lehigh, Ashville.

In other news, A Sea of Blue has an update on Rotnei Clarke and Kentucky.

Meanwhile Goodman's blog talks of Dion Waters, a Syracuse commit. He also has an update on Isiah Thomas (the prospect, not the Hoosier/Piston), and an update from superscout Dave Telep on Greg Monroe pruning his list.

Also from Goodman, Pitino is in the mix for a recently decommitted forward (Terrance Jennings). Goodman also informs us that a who's who of coaches may be treking to observe 6'9" 2009 Erik Murphy.

Dick Hoops Weiss opens the envelope and the winner is Virginia. Winner of the Sylven Landesburg sweepstakes beating out Georgia Tech and the Johnnies.

Weiss also talks about the next big thing out of NYC, Lance Stephenson, who is expected to unofficially visit Indiana during Midnight Madness. Memo to Lance: Your assists will be low when you play total slugfest with Kelvin Sampson. Others showing active interest according to Weiss, Carolana and PitinoVille... Also from Weiss: A tough NYC guard visiting Hofstra, along with many more updates! Be sure to visit and bookmark!

More recruiting updates this time from Cracked Sidewalks, a Marquette blog.

Landersberg's commitment are among the topics at ZagsBlog. Also Lance Stepheson visiting Gozno Hall (Seton Hall), and lots more!

WildCats Thunder talks UK Recruiting.

Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline urges Greg Monroe to pick a side.

New news from CSTV's Hodge Report

The Hodge Report at CSTV has new players listed for Penn State (they beat better teams for him), Steve Alford's Iowa, Tulsa (if the coach does well, he will be gone, if not, hello Philips again), Albany, Manhattan, New Orleans, TCU, Central Florida, Tulane, Northern Colorado, Furman, Lipscomb (a comb for your lips, what is this, Cavemen?)

But the biggest buzz at the moment appears to be Roy Williams trying to seal a top 10 guard duo from New Jersey from the class of 2009. It's hard to say no to Ole Roy if he projects them as a Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants or even as a Tywon Lawson and Wayne Ellington guard duo. Compare and contrast that with dirty Dookies Greg Paulass and nose-bleed Gerald Henderson :)

Recruiting Site: Check out the Ballers All Star Report!

The Ballers All Star Report is a jam-packed website and email newsletter with grassroots and recruiting level coverage. And best of all it is FREE!

And if you are really a hardcore hoops fan, you can now watch some of the most exciting and high profile AAU/summer games in the comfort of your own home by buying the DVDs of those games, which include play by play and analysis featuring Mr Pete Edwards.

You can also watch games as webcasts. Registered users can watch a number of webcasts of games for FREE! We like free!

Also be sure to check out their newsletter online. The latest issue talks about Demarcus Cousins, Scott Machado, Cierra Bravard, the new faces in the Colonial Athletic Association, and a lot more. Also if you are near Long Island and want to write about hoops, they are looking for writers.

And on top of that they provide a schedule of their upcoming webcasts, such as the Hoops Group Jam Fest, is8, and the 2007 Gauchos Roundball Classic Championship.

They also have message boards and polls for those interested in interactive website features.

This concludes our mini tour of the Ballers All Star Repor(t)!

The John Riek sweepstakes, NBA vs College

Thad Matta is chasing ...craters.

According to this DeCourcy story, UNC may be in trouble because Felton talked to prospect Iman Shumpert after a pick-up game. DeCourcy points out the silliness of it all as Sean May and Marvin Williams were allowed to talk to him because they are still enrolled in college, slowly working towards completing their degree. Felton is not enrolled, thus the much-ado-about-nothing situation.

Jeff Goodman scouts the 7-footer John Riek who may pull a fast one on recruiting afficianados by going to the NBA Draft via the Prep school route. We knew this would happen, and it was only a matter of time before some high profile recruit did this. Frankly I am a bit surprised it hadn't happened sooner. Granted, it is by not means guaranteed that John Riek will go for the NBA draft anyways. Goodman also talks about Terrence Jennings and the hand of Thuggins in his Gary ejection, and he kudos Tubby Smith for getting an Iverson.

Recruits are now operating like electronics companies. Sylven Landesburg has announced that he will announce his decision on September 27. He is down to three teams but you have to visit Goodman's blog to find out which three!

New news at the Hodge Report where we learn that Portland State (not to be confused with U of Portland) gets a 6'11" center. Is Portland a state? Well, not in this universe! High Point and Wagner add new players while Clemson, Colorado and Tulane lose players to transfers. One man's loss is another man's gain, so UCF, UMES (I think) and a JuCo have gained.

La Salle's new commit is discussed at CHH (College Hoops Heaven).

Zags blog discusses Quintrell Thomas's visit to Gary Williamsville. Zags blog also says that Ole Roy has offered two 2009 Jersey guards. Also updates from the world of high school hoops.

A detailed look at the current status of Kentucky's Recruiting at the Wildcats Thunder Blog.

The title can be confusing "Will Hill to Florida", but according to Dick Hoops Weiss it is so. No, the hill is not going to go to Florida, but a player named Will Hill :) Also more recruiting updates from the NY/NJ area from Weiss. More from Dick on Landerburg and more!.

The new slick willy blog format is live!

I am trying a more slick willy format since it is a good match for the style and content of this blog! The conversion is complete! If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions please feel free to make then! This was the big conversion, more refinements will take place in the next few days...

Improvements and additions with the new format:

Added Labels (Tags) in the middle of the right column

Ability to instantly add polls (see the Best Recruiter multi-choice poll that was just added)

Cleaned up the look and removed overflowing pictures

Blog Archives now show all the posts made in the current month

Links were divided into two categories, strict recruiting and general college hoops links

Contact Information is now easier to find (middle of right column)

Added a Newsreel catching baskeball recruiting news (well, whatever Google picks up, I have no control)

All the stuff at the bottom of the screen have moved to the bottom of the right column to make it easier to read

Blog reformatting about to begin!

This blog will be converted to the new blogger format in the next few minutes! Please pardon our dust while we update! Expect some turbulance while the upgrade is in progress. Just earlier today I finished converting the NCAA Hoops Today blog, so this one should be much faster to do!

Catching up with the latest commitments

We have a lot of ground to cover since our previous updates. As always, CSTV's Hodge Report is the best source of free recruiting information on the internet!

Drama
It must be the name, another Jennings, this one committed to Maryland has now re-opened this recruitment.

Commitments
This was a good week for Ole Roy, he managed to outdo both Duke and Georgetown by beating those teams for the early verbal of a top10 2010 guard... Tubby Smith pulled a stunner, he signed Iverson! Well okay that was an exaggeration, not Allen Iverson, just a player whose name happens to be Iverson... While it's the Oregon coach Ernie Kent with the mid-west connections, it was Jay John at Oregon State who got this Chicago guard... Bob McKillop leverages his international connections to get the younger brother of a recent Saint Louis center. He's tall too... Rhode, still reeling from the Jim Harrick era, added two player for the 2007-2008 season. Hey, if you have scholarship slots open, use them! No Big Baby, no Tyrus Thomas but that didn't stop Brady from signing more top 100 players... Houston, we don't have a problem, just another JuCo! Turn it around, Tom, turn it around, Conference USA is getting tougher this year... The Bears of Berkeley grab a 2008 guard.

Also adding new players in BCS Land: Indiana, Iowa State, and Virginia Tech

More mid-majors adding new players: Vermont, Western Kentucky, Lafayette, Bowling Green, NAU, Austin Peay, Denver, and corrosively-coached SMU.

Transfers
Three D1 players are moving to Barton County Community College, and a couple more are "downgrading" to a lower level division.

The Colbert Repor(t) meets the Recruiting Repor(t)

Lots of updates from CSTV's Hodge Report, your free source of recruiting news, player profiles, and recruiting databases by team and by year!

BCS teams
The Auburn Tigers grab one in 2008 and one in 2009. Is Jeff Lebo the next Buzz Petersno, Eddie Fogler, Neil Daugherty or Kevin Stallings? (ouch!). The Cal Bears travel to the Oregon woods to snatch a 2008 commit.

non-BCS teams
Tarkarian is not back at Fresno State but the funk returns! It pays to be North! Both Northern Arizona and Northern Illinois got a new commit each. LaSalle defends their home turf in 2009 by getting the next Bill Raftery? :) Eastern Michigan raids Illinois for a verbal. Majerusless Utah goes to Wichita (White Stripes not included). Wyoming gets a 2009. No Lefty at Georgia State so i can't use the "left field" pun for their new recruit. Also adding new players: Jim Rome's alma mater, Penn, and Los Alford Lobos.

Transfering out!
Happy BCS trails to Bobby Maze, Joe Harden, Mike Smith, and Ricky Torres. Also losing players are Jon Stewart, FDU, Delaware and Southern Utah. But Ball State wins this segment as they lose two players due to the quasi-Orwellian term "off court issues".

To get all the details and the player profiles visit CSTV's Hodge Repor(t)

2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament games on DVD!

Meanwhile, Goodman's blog talks about the Marquette coaches chasing Iman Shumpert. College Hoops Heaven discusses Martelli's latest 2008 verbal.

Also at College Hoops Haven a closer look at 7-footer Charles Okwandu, a player that could make some waves both on the recruiting trail and on the floor when he gets to college. CHH sets the record straight on some of the mythinformation on the internets. And yes, he has not committed to a university yet! Dick Hoops Weiss also comments on Okwandu while giving an assist to CHH/Bulletin for the story.

Greg Monroe gets more pub, this time from DeCourcy who thinks his decision to become a small forward was not not ill-advised :-)

New players for Purdue, New Mexico, Martelli, Bob Knight, Clemson, etc

The Hodge Report at CSTV informs us of new recruits at New Mexico (Tubby Smith's loss), Clemson, Georgia going Euro, Purdue getting a 2009, Bob Knight goes big, LSU is trying to find the next Tyrus Thomas, Mike Anderson's 40 minutes of "fun' are an easier sell to recruits than Quin Snyder's messy head (inside and out) [ouch!].

Also adding players Beilein's two guard offense at Appalachian State Michigan, Steve Cleveland's Fresno State goes cherry picking, the entertaining Phil Martelli gets a forward and Austin Peay gets one too.

All the details are at the Hodge Report @ CSTV for free.

Catching up with the latest recruiting news

Catch up with all the latest, along with free player profiles and lists of commits per university at CSTV's Hodge Report. Forgive my silly puns below but here we go:

New Commitments
Who says no one likes slugfest? Because if no one did, how did Kelvin Sampson get a top 100 2009 forward at Indiana? Who says Texas A&M can only recruit in Texas? They picked up a top 100 player from Florida as a recommit from 2009 to 2008. Steve Alford grabs a top 100 2008 guard from Texas. The Bob Knight possie is taking over the Southwest! Staying in Texas, Drew continues to pick up talented recruits at Baylor. Jon Stewart's daily show gives him an unfair recruiting advantage as he secures a 2008 forward from nearby Illinois.

Rice adds some ...mayo to the mix. ODU picks up a guard in the ...nick of time. Central Michigan makes a ...grand signing (actually two). Also adding new players: Wichita State, Bradley, UNC Wilmington, USF (two), Cal Poly StL-Obisbo, UTSA, Denver, and Cornel.

Decommitments
Hey it's the Morris twins again! They decommited from the Calipari Tigers for the 2nd time. Will the Joe Biden of college coaches go after them for the 3rd time or move on to other recruits?

Transfers

A disgruntled NYC guard goes from Nebraska to Louisianna Tech. Thanks Karl Malone for the new gym!

A former Skip Prosser recruit leaves for UMass. This was a bit of a surprise! Family reasons were the reason given. Also at UMass an Auburn non-qualifier walks on.

A Colorado player goes to Northern Illinois.

Another player leaves troubled Duquesne. this one for Wright State

A handful of players are "downgrading" - eg going from D1 to D2, D3 or NAIA (D1 or D2).

Having had enough of the Suttons scowling, grinding and whining like its the end of the world (presumably) a forward transfers out ot Louisiana Tech. This is the 2nd high profile transfer added to the WAC school and should make their 2008-2009 team a top tier team in the conference and very likely for post-season play.

For all the details, visit CSTV's Hodge Report.

Update on Weekly TV Listings feature

Mainly because there is very little on TV I decided to merge the TV listings and post them only at NCAA Hoops Today. With so few recruiting related shows on TV this post was really an overkill. But be sure to visit NCAA Hoops Today every week for the latest college basketball TV listings. The listings actually are longer than a week, but since programming changes often, check every week :-) This concludes this blog update.

2008 Darius Miller commits to Kentucky basketball

Wildcats Thunder informs us that Darius Miller has committed to Kentucky and Billy Clyde Gillispie. Miller is a top 50 forward and will enroll in college in 2008 (2008-2009 season). Also at Wildcats Thunder they have a basketball video of Darius Miller

New updates from CSTV's Hodge Report: San Francisco gets two new players and they are eligible right away. A traveled Creighton player goes to Division 2. Weber State grabs a forward from ...the apple tree. Visit their website for free player profiles and all the details.

New players for Purdue, Boston Collage, Bucknell and ...Jon Stewart

New news from CSTV's Hodge Repor(t): In the latest recruiting battle in the state of Indiana, Matt Painter edges out Kelvin "500 calls" Sampson and Mike "I'm not Digger" Brey for a touted 2009 recruit... Skinner shows once again that he can recruit nationally, this time he gets two from the Rocky Mountains... Another one of Drew Gordon's hs teammates has picked up a college, this time in the Patriot League. And he has one of the top 50 coolest names in hoops... Meanwhile Jon Stewart, famous for the recruitment of Stephen Colbert, gets a 2009 big man from the state of Ohio ;-) For all the details and free player profiles check the CSTV Hodge Report

New news from Dick Hoops Weiss with updates from the New York City scene, tough Gouchos (AAU team) guard Chris Fouch reveals his top teams, and more. Also Weiss talks about the Xavierian transfers situation

Steve Alford's loss will become someone else's gain?

New news from CSTV's Hodge Report! Drew Gordon's high profile teammate decides on a school and it's nearby. Steve Alford is crying because a touted forward was denied admission (who will enter the sweepstakes now?) And Illinois State gets an in-state guard.

Pitino commit Lamont Jones is changing high schools for family reasons according to Dick Hoops Weiss. Despite the Sebastian Telfair saga, Pitino has not backed away from NYC guards. Well it helps that the NBA rule was changed too.

Calipari finds an Angel, Vermont finds its Mojo

The latest news from the Hodge Report on CSTV inform us that Calipari has an Angel, the rebuilding Miami (of Florida) gets a Top 50 player, two formerly NCAA-spotlight mid-majors get BCS transfers (Vermont and Saint Mary's of C'lifornia), and IPFW adds two D1 transfers. Vermont may have lost Tom Brennan but they have found their... mojo. Want more silly puns? Check this blog regularly :)

Goodman's latest blog has a couple of recruiting interest stories in the Random Notes segment where he talks of Leonard Washington trying to become eligible for December 2007 (it looks Billy Walker's high profile arrival at Huggins State last year is opening the door for more December arrivals).

Sept 3 to Sept 15 weekly tv guide

All times pacific, add +3 for eastern and adjust otherwise for your time zones!

No recruiting-interest basketball games will be shown in this time period (eg no repeats of all-star games or high-school basketball games)

Future Phenoms, a 30 minute show, narrated by Pat Summerall, (also goes by other names, such as Sports Stars of Tomorrow) airs on Fox College Sports, thur sept 6, Sat sept 8, tue sept 11, thur sept 13, fri sept 14, and sat sept 15. Check with local listings for exact airtimes as the listings for this are a bit sketchy. This covers all sports, but it has regular basketball features. Some of the players featured on this show were Greg Oden, Kevin Love, Dallas Lauderdale, Jeff Robinson, Nick Calathes and more.

The College Basketball related TV schedule including game repeats, documentaries, basketball movies and more can be found at NCAA Hoops Today

All times pacific, add +3 for eastern and adjust otherwise for your time zones!

Almost every 2007 NCAA men's college basketball tournament game on dvd


Webcasts

Upcoming webcasts of games at HSBNetwork.tv. Including Rumble in the Bronx, Reebok All American Camp and All Star game, iS8 (Nike), GymRat challenge, NY Metro AAU, and many more


Internet Radio

Every Sunday night from 10pm to midnight eastern time (7pm to 9pm pacific) HoopScoop on Radio airs at HoopScoopOnline powered by AllInBroadcasting.com. The show airs live But you can also listen to it later on and also listen to archived shows. This is free of charge, no subscription required.

The Big Ten Network goes live on August 30, 2007 with Big 10 college football action! Details at the BigTenNetwork website

Weekend update (two transfers find new homes and more)

2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament games on DVD!

The latest Hodge Report discusses a couple of transfers from Oregon State and Duquesne finding new homes. Check their website for details. Teams adding new commits: Winthrop (2), Montana, Indiana State (not the next Larry Bird?), Morehead State, McNeese and A&M Prairie View. Also according to TexasHoops.com six players who were headed to Division 1 have been diverted to JuCo. This includes TCU, Majerus (St Louis) and Nebraska (former USC commit). In cases like these it's usually academics although sometimes coaches use this technique to free up scholarships for next season or to "drop" a player.

Five star forward Angel Garcia has made up his mind, but only Rivals premium members can find out where he is going to be playing :-(

NCAA Hoops updates at NCAA Hops Today