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.

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.

The Patrick Patterson saga continues!

First of all, let me point out to all the fans finding this blog through the "Patrick Patterson to Pacific" Google search: Patrick Patterson (PP) did not commit to Pacific. It was a clever April Fool's day joke by the Pacific newspaper that managed to tie it in with the Billy Donovan/Kentucky rumors to make the story more believable. So again, Patrick Patterson did not commit to Pacific on April 1st, it was an April Fools day joke :-) So with that out of the way, here is wall to wall coverage on PP:

Lots of links at the Wildcat Maniacs board . And thanks for the link back here B2DB :-)

FireBilly.com looks at text messaging and recruiting, along with the available recruits that Kentucky is looking into such as Alex Legion, Jai Lucas, and more.

Wildcat Fan report shows that Billy Gillespie really has a plan for you (you = the recruit) and he can prove it! They also have updates on Alex Legion and Michael Sanchez.

A jam-packed article on Kentucky at Kentucky.com, including coverage of Big Brother pondering what to do with regards to text messaging and recruiting.

Jeff Goodman at Scout.com has a story on PP and his potential impact on the six programs that are recruiting him.

My opinion: PP, whatever you do, DO NOT GO TO DUKE!. The Dirty Rat will ruin your career, he will drain the life force out of you and steal 20 years out of your life expectancy, and turn you into another former Dookie zombie! Anywhere but Duke please!

Patrick Patterson in-studio on ESPN News

Patrick Patterson (PP) was featured in an in-studio interview on ESPN News's Hot List, as a preview of the upcoming Jordan Brand All-American Classic (this Saturday, 6pmPT/9pmET on ESPN2). His quotes are in "quotes".

Why the wait to make the decision? "I wanna be 100% sure".

The teams he is currently considering: "Duke, Florida, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky"

Factors in deciding: playing time, the players there, the rosters, relationship with the coaching staff and players.

He took "about 8 visits total", "3-4 phone calls every day".

"I don't know Bob Huggins that well, but we are starting to build a relationship", "he's gonna come to my house".

On the 19yo rule affecting a potential jump to NBA from high school he said "for me, no", but OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley in his opinion could have gone right away.

The ESPN host (Josh Elliott) encouraged him a couple of times to announce his college choice live on the air ("look at camera 2"), but PP declined each time...

On OJ Mayo: "I was shocked, I thought he was gonna go to Kansas State with Walker, Beasley and Huggins", "I don't know much" [about his decision to go to USC], "he is down to earth", and he defended OJ Mayo against "the haters".

On Eric Gordon: "phenomenal player"