Too often we lead off this space with bad news so it is a pleasure to write about Austin Hatch again and this time for a positive story. You may remember Hatch, a talented high school player who was involved in two plane crashes separated by eight years that took the lives of his entire immediate family. Hatch, who had been a Michigan commit before the incident, ended up staying on his Michigan commitment and after extensive rehab made it onto the court for an exhibition game for the Wolverines hitting a free throw for the first point of his college career. We are not sure how much Hatch will play for the Wolverines during his time in Ann Arbor, but just the fact that he was able to make it back to the court is inspiring in itself.
Nebraska got some good news recently as senior forward Leslee Smith is ahead of schedule in his recovery from tearing his left ACL and is expected to be ready to return by mid-January. Smith averaged 5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds last season and his return would add a lot to a Cornhusker team that could be competitive at the top of what should be a very good Big 12 Conference this season. The news for New Mexico was not as promising as junior college transfer Jordan Goodman is now expected to be out longer than originally anticipated as he recovers from several nagging injuries and is not expected to be back until December. Although the Lobos have plenty of quality in the backcourt, Goodman could be essential in the frontcourt in what should be a transition season for the Lobos.
Today is the first day of the early signing period for high school basketball recruits. While it doesn’t generate the hoopla of the regular period–particularly for football–it is still fairly significant as many top prospects sign binding letters of commitments to institutions. The two biggest names who are expected to commit later this week are Skal Labissiere (#4 overall–looking at Baylor, Georgetown, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina, and Tennessee) and Isaiah Briscoe (#9 overall–looking at Connecticut, Kentucky and St. John’s). You may remember Labissiere as the heavily touted recruit who recently announced that he was going to “attend” a prep school that did not exist yet for his senior year. It is unclear if either will sign, for their sakes, we hope they don’t since it binds the recruit to the school, which means that the recruit cannot back out even if everything about the school changes.Personally, we would like to see these letters of intent disappear and simply allow a player to verbally commit, which would allow that player more flexibility if (and when) a coach moves.
Last week, we linked an article from Ken Pomeroy that showed that the AP Preseason Poll did have some predictive value. This week, he has a slightly more broad-based analysis of various predictive models. While the overall analysis is not that complete it does show that the four prediction models that are most often referenced are fairly accurate. In terms of determining which is the most accurate that will be difficult as it will probably require several years of data and we would assume that most of these systems update their algorithms every year so a long-term analysis might not be as useful.
By now, you have probably read a column or seen a Twitter debate about whether this Kentucky team could beat a NBA team. This year the annual ridiculous debate was started by Chris Briggs, the coach of Georgetown College (that’s College not University and not the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University), after Kentucky beat his NAIA team 121-52. After the game, Briggs said Kentucky “could have beaten some NBA teams tonight” and later added that “if they play like they did tonight, they’re an NBA playoff team.” Every year we hear this debate and we reflexively dismiss it as ridiculous although we could envision a scenario where the Philadelphia 76ers could be trying to score on their own basket. However, now that we have a NAIA coach talking after a game where his good, but not great NAIA team got blown out we might have to reassess things.
Seven Sweet Scoops is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you seven notes from the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul, dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
Where will Okafor and Jones be playing together next year?
The much anticipated weekend has arrived for Coach K and Duke. The top-ranked center and point guard in the class of 2014 are taking their official visits to Durham, North Carolina, today. Package deals in college basketball are often talked about but rarely come to fruition, especially one involving such star power. Jahlil Okafor, a 6’11” center out of Chicago, is the top ranked player in the country, and his buddy Tyus Jones, a 6’1” point guard out of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is the fourth-ranked player in the country. Both seniors have indicated that they will attend college together and have whittled their list of potential suitors down to three. Last week Kansas played host to the duo, but this week Duke gets to take its crack at selling the duo on moving east. With Okafor’s size and strength he is almost unguardable in the low post and would provide Duke with its best low post presence since the Carlos Boozer days. Jones would provide Duke with its best point guard since Jason Williams and he has long been discussed as the overall best point guard in high school basketball dating back to his sophomore year. Along with these two players, five-star small forward Justise Winslow (#9 overall, #3 SF) from the class of 2014 will also make the trip. His recruitment was discussed last week. All in all, it’s a huge weekend in Durham.
2. Cliff Alexander Makes His Last Official Visit
Cliff Alexander, a five-star power forward from Chicago, is staying in-state this weekend and making the two-hour drive south down to Champaign for his last official visit to Illinois. Alexander is a 6’8” manchild who is currently the No. 5 prospect in the class of 2014 and eerily reminiscent of L.A. Clipper DeAndre Jordan. Over the past few weeks Alexander and his family have taken in the sights and sounds of Midnight Madness at Memphis and Kansas. A decision is expected in November with Illinois, DePaul, Arizona, Kansas, Memphis, and Michigan State all receiving interest. Expect John Groce and the Illinois coaching staff to pull out all the stops this weekend for Alexander. While the Illini already have a strong recruiting class in 2014 with four-star power forward LeRon Black (#46 overall, #9 PF) and four-star point guard Quentin Snider (#31 overall, #7 PG) committed, Alexander would be the crown jewel. He can run the floor, block shots and dunks everything around the basket. His offensive skills outside the paint are rapidly improving and he put himself in the conversation for the number one player in the country. Not only would Groce get a player with future NBA talent, he would also lay claim to Illinois becoming a major player for all that Chicago talent.
