Recruiting Updates

[mweb]

Rutgers, that would be interesting. Why not Seton Hall? That's in Jersey and is traditionally a better program. I've actually always kind of liked the Hall.

[Nuclear Dish]

Kevin Coble, 6'8" (#34 SF) #149/NR

Committed to Northwestern. Coble is a bright guy who was also considering Princeton, Yale, and Stanford.

Luke Harangody, 6'7" (#18 SF) #80/#52

Committed to Notre Dame over Purdue. Had also listed Indiana, Northwestern, and Ohio State in his final 5.

Spencer Hawes, 6'11" (#2 C) #4/#6

Eliminated Kansas from contention. Has yet to receive offer from Dook, and probably will not since Dook has commitment from Brian Zoubek. That leaves 7 schools in the running for the big man from Seattle: Arizona, UConn, UNC, Stanford, UCLA, and Washington.

Lance Thomas, 6'8" (#7 SF) #22/#19

Finally got an offer from UNC. Has now trimmed his list from 19 schools to 9. Those who made the cut: Arizona, UConn, Dook, Florida, Louisville, UNC, Rutgers, Villanova, and WF. Among those who were eliminated: Maryland, Kansas, GT, and Syracuse.

Paul Harris, 6'4" (#3 SG) #15/#13

Will announce this week between Syracuse and Pitt. He is really torn, and he hates to disappoint either. Geography says Syracuse (he's from Niagara Falls), but I have a gut feeling he might surprise people.

[Nuclear Dish]

Spencer Hawes, 6'11" (#2 C) #4/#6

Hawes announced further cuts to his list, bringing the number down to his final 5. He officially cut Arizona and Dook, leaving UConn, Stanford, UNC, UCLA, and Washington.

Robert Garrison, 6'1" (NR PG) NR/NR

Garrison was a 3-star PG in the class of '05, but he didn't get the kind of offers that he wanted, so he enrolled in prep school for 2005-2006. He has since received an offer from UConn, which he jumped on as soon as he got it. The other offers had come from Boston U., Duquesne, Dayton, and Richmond. Maybe UConn knows something all the other major programs don't.

[Nuclear Dish]

2 big prep tournaments wrapped up yesterday in Las Vegas: The Main Event and the adidas Super64. For the first time, the champions of each tournament faced each other on national television.

The star of stars was Spencer Hawes (see above), who scored 35, had 13 rebounds and 5 blocks in the final in a losing cause. His Friends of Hoop Seattle team was beaten by EBO of LA, featuring the Lopez twins (Brook and Robin), who were joined by fellow D-I recruits Derrick Jasper and Quincy Pondexter.

The Lopez boys will be going to Stanford, and Hawes was quoted after he game as saying that he wouldn't mind playing with them. He also appears to be looking at academics as much as basketball in his decision, which bodes very well for Stanford. He is also not afraid to travel, as was initially thought.

Again, the leaders right now appear to be (in order):

1. Stanford

2. UNC

3. Washington

4. UCLA

5. UConn

Hawes has said that he would like to decide in November, and that he will visit all 5 schools before making his choice.

Jasper, who was named MVP of the Super64 tournament, has listed his final five as Cal, UConn, Gonzaga, USC, and Washington. Pondexter is more or less down to Arizona and Washington.

In the Main Event final, Seattle knocked out the DC Blue Devils which starred Kevin Durant (Texas) and Tywon Lawson (UNC). Durant played terribly, showing a hesitation to drive the lane against Hawes. Lawson was better, but was never able to get the team to play cohesively.

In the Super64 final, EBO took out Philly MJC, which starred Reggie Redding (Villanova).

[Nuclear Dish]

Earl Clark, 6'9" (#6 SF) #17/#16

Narrowed his list to 2 schools, Louisville and Villanova. This ends the speculation of him joining others to rejuvenate the Rutgers program.

Raymar Morgan, 6'7" (#22 SF) #85/#33

Eliminated Arizona and Syracuse from contention. At the moment, Michigan State and Ohio State lead Michigan, and a little further back is UConn.

Davon Jefferson, 6'7" CLASS OF 2005 (#11 SF) #39/#27

Jefferson had signed a National Letter of Intent to play at UNLV this coming season, but he has since re-opened his recruitment process. I believe he either didn't qualify and is going to prep school, or he was able to gain his release. In any case, he's got 6 school son his list, including UNLV, which is still a legitimate possibility. The others are Kansas, Louisville, Oklahoma St., UCLA, and USC.

[Nuclear Dish]

Trevon Hughes, 6'2" (#9 PG) #57/#53

Committed to Wisconsin over Iowa. Had also received an offer from Marquette.

Brandis Raley, 6'2" (NR PG) NR/NR

Committed to South Carolina. Others who had shown interest (without offering yet) were WF, ND, and E. Carolina.

Kevin Love, 6'8" C (CLASS OF 2007) (Scout #3 prospect)

Has listed Arizona, Carolina, and UCLA as his top 3, commenting that those schools are making the hardest push for him. He is thought to also have interest in Dook, with lesser interest in Kansas, UConn, Washington, Oregon (his homestate school) and Kentucky. With Mike Beasley already commiting to Charlotte, Love is one of the top 2 prospects available for 2007, along with OJ Mayo.

[Nuclear Dish]

Deon Thompson, 6'8" (NR PF) NR/NR

Thompson has been shooting up the charts in terms of interest. He has been outstanding at all the camps, and he's making a lot of waves, despite not being ranked by either Rivals or Scout. He's a 4-star with Scout (as their #22 C), but my guess is he'll make their next Top 100 list. And Rivals has him as a 3-star, but he'll probably be a 4-star in their next ranking. As for interest in him, he just received an offer from UNC and he scheduled an official visit there. He's probably just behind Hawes, Wright, Stephenson, and Crews in their pursuit of big men, and they would like to get 2 of those 5. Also offering all of a sudden are Kentucky, UConn, WF, and Washington. Prior to the last few weeks, his best offers had been UCLA, Arizona St. and Gonzaga.

Thaddeus Young, 6'8" (#2 SF) #3/#3

With Oden and Durant gone, Young is the top catch remaining on the board. He has officially trimmed his list to 7 schools, one of which is a big surprise. The list is: Arkansas, Dook, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Memphis, UNC, Tennessee. The surprise? Dook, who has shown him very little interest because they've been concentrating on Wright and Thomas. The leader right now is thought to be Memphis, which is his hometown. Among those cut from his list: Kansas and Illinois.

Stefan Welsh, 6'3" (#30 SG) #111/#84

Welsh has visited Xavier, but he just received an offer from Arkansas that now has the Hogs leading. He is also interested in pretty much every ACC school except MD, Miami, and Dook, but he's received no ACC offers yet. Looks like it could be a race between Arkansas and the first ACC school to offer him, even if it's Clemson.

[Nuclear Dish]

Jerome Burney, 6'9" (NR PF) NR/NR

(see above) Will de-commit from Miami (FL). PF from Georgia did not show real interest in other schools originally, although he had mentioned Alabama, Clemson, GT, NC St. and S. Carolina. No reason given for de-committing, and no speculation on who he will show interest in this time around.

[Nuclear Dish]

It's been a long time since I posted any updates here, so bear with me on this long list. I'll start with the 2005 guys.

Brandon Rush, 6'6" (#2 SF) #13/#15 CLASS OF 2005

Rush had declared for the NBA draft, but smartly didn't sign an agent, as he went undrafted. He is now choosing what school to attend this year, and he is certainly taking his time. He has visited Illinois and Oklahoma, and is now visiting Kansas. He is also interested in Louisville ad Oklahoma St. Rush is the younger brother of Kareem Rush of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Chris Matthews, 6'4" (NR SG) NR/NR CLASS OF 2005

Matthews had signed with James madison, but failed to qualify. he went to prep school, and finally qualified, and just now chose Washington State over UMass for the coming year.

I'll do the 2006 guys in a separate post...

[Nuclear Dish]

Dennis Horner, 6'7" (#22 SF) #91/#84

Horner already visited NC State, and he will now visit West Virginia and Notre Dame. WVU leads even before the visit. He recently eliminated VT from contention.

Zach Peacock, 6'7" (NR PF) NR/NR

Down to GT and FLA. Cut all otehrs from his list, including Cincinnati, Purdue, and Maryland.

Adrion Graves, 6'4" (NR SG) NR/#72

Cincinnati leads Dayton and Xavier, with Pitt, Seton Hall, and West Virginia farther back in the pack.

DeShawn Sims, 6'7" (#12 SF) #39/#26

Chose Michigan over UConn, Florida, Illinois, Miami (FL), Michigan St., and Syracuse.

Darrell Arthur, 6'9" (#4 PF) #19/#12

Down to 6 schools: Baylor, SMU, UNC, Kansas, Indiana, and Illinois. Arthur is visiting Indiana this weekend, and he has set the date for his Kansas visit as well. He intends to visit Illinois and UNC this fall (he is more familiar with Baylor and SMU, as they are close to his Dallas home). He cut Arizona, UConn, Oklahoma, Texas, and UCLA from his list. Arthur is rumored to be a possible qualifying problem, which usually scares off schools like Kansas and UNC, so either it's not as big a problem as some have insinuated, or he's just worth the risk. Was thought to be headed to NBA before age limit, so maybe that's where the qualifying rumors come from.

Wayne Chism, 6'8" (#10 PF) #42/#62

Committed to Tennessee over Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Mississippi St.

Will Walker, 5'11" (#11 PG) #65/#78

Down to DePaul and Michigan. Dropped NC State, Ohio St., Marquette, and Cal from his list.

Raymar Morgan, 6'7" (#15 SF) #48/#28

Down to 4. Michigan State is the leader over UConn, Michigan, and Ohio St.

Ramar Smith, 6'1" (#6 SG) #30/#30

Committed to UConn over Arkansas and Michigan St. However, he's now decided to transfer to a prep school for his senior season, possibly because he needs help qualifying.

Stefan Welsh, 6'3" (NR SF) NR/#98

Committed to Arkansas over Virginia and Clemson.

Obi Muonelo, 6'4" (#3 SG) #18/#32

Kanasas leads Oklahoma State in a fierce battle. Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas are still alive, but far back.

Jerome Randle, 5'8" (NR PG) NR/#85

Tulsa leads Cal, Dayton, and DePaul for this mighty mite.

Armon Bassett, 6'1" (#21 PG) 103/NR

Committed to Missouri in something of a surprise. Had previously announced that he wanted to play for Illinois, but he grew tired of waiting for an offer, so he took the first good one that came along, which was Mizzou.

DeSean Butler, 6'7" (#29 SF) #125/NR

Down to Vest Virginia and DePaul, cutting Georgetown and St. Joe's among others from his list.

Dwight Lewis, 6'5" (#35 SG) #132/NR

De-committed from Kansas. This is a real killer for KU, who has already lost commitment CJ Henry to the MLB draft (Yankees first round). Has offers from Baylor, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Texas A&m, and other schools showing interest are Florida, and USC. Kansas isn't out of it yet, but this leaves them with no one signed so far. They are going to really need either Muonelo, Arthur (see above for both), or Hawes to sign with them, as right now, they are getting shut out completely.

Delroy James, 6'7" (NR SF) NR/NR

Chose Rhode Island over St. John's.

Chase Budinger, 6'7" (#4 SF) #10/#11

Budinger's stock keeps rising as he plays well in AAU tournaments. He is expected to choose Arizona over UCLA and USC, and could announce soon.

Jonathan Mandeldove, 6'11" (#12 C) #92/NR

Mandeldove is one of the few true centers in the class, which has helped his stock. He had committed to Virginia Commonwealth last season, only to fail to qualify. He prepped, and is now qualified and receiving better interest, although no official offers yet. He seems to be down to Pitt and WF, with UConn running a strong third.

[Nuclear Dish]

Deon Thompson, 6'8" (#18 PF) #69/#22

Has offers from at least 7 schools: Arizona State, UConn, Gonzaga, Kentucky, UNC, UCLA, and WF. He has lined up 4 official visits out of the 5 that are allowed (in order that he's taking them): Gonzaga, UConn, UNC, Kentucky. The question is who will be the 5th, since there is little chance of him committing to a school without seeing the campus. The thinking is that perhaps he is already familiar with UCLA (from living nearby), and he is definitely higher on WF than ASU.

Derrick Caracter, 6'8" (#5 PF) #25/#13

Expected to announce Louisville over primarily Memphis, but also Rutgers, St. John's, Villanova, and Virginia.

Earl Clark, 6'9" (#6 SF) #15/#21

(see above) Noo closer to a decision between Louisville and Villanova, although he does expect to visit Louisville this month.

Malcolm Grant, 6'1" (NR PG) NR/NR

Committed to Seton Hall. Others who showed some interest include Syracuse, St. John's and Villanova.

Derrick Jasper, 6'5" (#5 PG) #35/#69

(see above) Washington and UConn appear to lead slightly over Gonzaga, Cal and USC. He is expected to visit all 5 before deciding.

[Nuclear Dish]

Brandan Wright, 6'9" (#2 PF) #5/#5

Appears to have a final 5 that he will visit, although everyone is relatively sure he's only considering 3 seriously. The five are UNC, Dook, Kentucky, Louisville, and Vanderbilt. The first 3 are the ones he is most serious about. He seems to have eliminated Kansas, GT, Tennessee, and WF unofficially by not scheduling visits to them.

Mitchell Carter, 6'11" (NR C) NR/NR

Committed to South Carolina over Iowa.

Sherron Collins, 5'11" (#4 PG) #31/#9

Has 5 schools he is seriously considering, but he has now announced that he will play football, a decision that could significantly affect his basketball recruitment. The five on his list are Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Iowa, and Kansas.

Shamari Spears, 6'5" (NR SF) NR/NR

Committed to Boston College over St. John's, Villanova, and VT (GT and Clemson had also offered, but weren't finalists).

Chase Budinger, 6'7" (#4 SF) #10/#11

Officially committed to Arizona over UCLA and USC, as expected (see above).

[Nuclear Dish]

OK, lot's of stuff today. First, I'll take care of 2005, then 2006, then 2007.

Anthony Ivory, 6'10" (NR PF) NR/NR CLASS OF 2004

To call Ivory wide-bodied is actually an understatement. He was originally listed at 290 lbs. when he was a senior who committed to Providence in 2004. Unfortunately, he failed to qualify and prepped for a year. Now he has bulked up to 340 pounds! And in his extra year of studies, he has decided to go to Temple over Providence, and will matriculate this fall. Other considerations included Clemson, Morgan St. and Delaware St.

[Nuclear Dish]

Now the 2006 stuff...

Will Walker, 5'11" (#11 PG) #65/#78

Has set visits to Michigan and DePaul, his two finalists.

Matt Hill, 6'10" (#19 PF) #78/#74

Has set visits to Utah, Texas, and Purdue. He may still decide to visit two others, with Gonzaga the most likely candidate, but Nebraska and Creighton are also possible. This guy is a white boy with a serious 'fro! (see attachment)

Tom Herzog, 6'11" (#8 C) #53/#52

Set visits to Michigan State and Notre Dame. Could still visit Illinois, GT, or Michigan. Seemed to have eliminated Michigan from serious contention until DeShawn Sims committed there, and now is re-considering them.

Patrick Christopher, 6'3" (#9 SG) #38/#64

Set a visit to Texas. Also interested in California, Washington, and Kentucky (but hasn't gotten an offer from Kentucky or Washington yet).

[Nuclear Dish]

And finally, the 2007 stuff. FYI, Rivals just came out with their 2007 top 100 rankings, but they haven't made it available to non-paying customers yet. mweb, do you have a membership? Can you send me some info?

Anyway, the rankings given here are Scout's rankings, not the typical Rivals ones.

Herb Pope, 6'8" (#3 PF) #9 CLASS OF 2007

De-committed from Pitt. Could now be interested in Cincinnati now that Huggins is gone. Also will consider Dook, UNC, Ohio St., Xavier, and maybe even Maryland (he attended Montrose Christian as a freshman, but is now based in Jacksonville, FL and attending school in Pennsylvania).

Cole Aldrich, 6'10" (#1 C) #8 CLASS OF 2007

Big man from Bloomington, MN has cut his list down to 3 school: UNC, Kansas, and Minnesota.

Durrell Summers, 6'3" (#3 SG) #13 CLASS OF 2007

Has a list of 5 schools, with hometown Michigan and Michigan State leading Syracuse and UNC. Oregon is somehow also a conideration.

Nolan Smith, 6'2" (#5 SG) #16 CLASS OF 2007

The son of all-time Louisville great Derek Smith is down to 4-5 schools. As expected, Louisville is the clear leader. UNC and Syracuse follow, with Dook and Charlotte trailing. Smith is expected to have another growth spurt, as evidenced by his size 18 feet.