Michigan State went all in on the Jabari Parker sweepstakes, and after Parker announced yesterday that he would choose Duke over the Spartans, MSU coach Tom Izzo is left with quite the bind in the 2013 recruiting class. The Spartans have no commitments in the Class of 2013, mainly because they were banking on reeling in Parker, who could have been a program-changing recruit. Considering all the talent MSU has coming back next year — stars Gary Harris, Branden Dawsen and Keith Appling — on a very young team, and considering what Parker would have added to the equation, MSU would have been a sure-fire National Championship contender heading into the 2013-14 season. This team is still going to be very good, and Parker likely would have been a “one-and-done,” but that team could have been special and opened up more recruiting opportunities with future classes.

Parker Chose Duke Over Michigan State and Others Yesterday

It’s not that Izzo cannot recruit five-stars — as MLive pointed out, he has already recruited five stars such as Zach Randolph, Kelvin Tolbert, Paul Davis and Shannon Brown — but Parker is in a league above those players. A recent injury has hurt his stock a little bit, but before that he was widely considered the best player in the country. Of course, star ratings are  not guarantees; there will always be recruiting busts and players who cannot break the barrier between good and great. However, anyone who has seen Parker play can attest that he has the potential to be one of the best in the game as a freshman.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Michigan State fans who, for three years, have been getting their hopes up about Jabari Parker coming to East Lansing had them dashed on Thursday afternoon when the five-star recruit chose Duke over Michigan State. Tom Izzo hasn’t put this much effort into a single recruit in years, and the Spartans don’t have any other incoming players lined up for next year’s class. So what’s next for the program? (And, no, Graham Couch isn’t talking football.) The Lansing State Journal columnist says the circumstances aren’t program-crippling, especially since this year’s team is set to lose only Derrick Nix to graduation (assuming Branden Dawson and Gary Harris stay in school). What they really need is an outside shooter (paging Russell Byrd) to round out next year’s group, which Couch says still has aspirations of competing for a national title.
2. With expansion bringing the number of Big Ten teams to 14 — and possibly two more in the future — the Big Ten Geeks at BTN.com are wondering if the annual Big Ten Tournament should still include all of the conference’s teams, or if there should be a cutoff. Josh Reed says no, citing the Big East as an example of a conference that has found ways to moderate the size of the tournament despite being a larger conference. Mike Portscheller says yes, with the reason that the conference tournaments give all teams around the country one last final shot at the Big Dance, a big part of what makes March so special. What do you say? Yes or no?
3. For weeks, we’ve been wondering what to make of Ohio State after they played just one competitive opponent up until this point (Duke, to which they lost). But on Saturday, we’ll get a showdown we’ve been waiting weeks (maybe even months) for — a rematch of last year’s Final Four game against Kansas. A few storylines that stand out are whether Kansas can limit Deshaun Thomas the way it did in March, and if Ohio State has enough other weapons to respond if that’s the case. Jeff Withey will surely provide a tremendous presence in the post for the Jayhawks, while whomever Kansas puts on Aaron Craft on the perimeter should make for another great individual match-up. Be sure to tune in for this one Saturday.
4. As Ben Jones writes, for the last half-decade or so, Penn State basketball has had its go-to player. From Talor Battle to Jamelle Cornley to Geary Claxton, those guys have put the team on their back when needed. This year, that player was supposed to be Tim Frazier. When he went down with a season-ending injury, the Nittany Lions didn’t really have a place to turn, and it’s showed in the results so far this season. But as frustrating as this year has been for Penn State fans, it could reap rewards next time around. Without Frazier, Jones says, the Nittany Lions have been forced to learn team basketball. And with the return of their star next year, the addition of four freshman and Pittsburgh transfer John Johnson, the hard luck could pay off 12 months from now.
5. Purdue took some time out of its season to spread a little holiday cheer around West Lafayette this week, as Matt Painter’s crew, along with help from the Lafayette Family Services, took 15 families on a shopping trip at Meijer for the holidays. Each family received three $100 Meijer gift cards with the money coming from the players’ holiday per diems, the Purdue men’s basketball FastBreakers booster group, and Meijer. “It’s absolutely phenomenal that they incorporate this and give the kids a chance to get toys when they really need them in this difficult time with the way the economy is,” Francesville resident Carmen Crawford said. “For us, it’s a blessing. It’s magnificent.”

1. Jabari Parker’s commitment was the lead story in college basketball yesterday, and to the chagrin of almost everyone, the Chicago product chose to attend Duke. He had narrowed down his choices to five schools before his announcement, with Florida serving as the SEC’s only representative. Any program would benefit greatly by adding a talent like Parker, but the Gators will still have one of the nation’s best incoming classes. Billy Donovan will bring in Chris Walker and Kasey Hill, both consensus top 10 recruits, in addition to South Carolina transfer Damontre Harris and Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith. Of all the spurned schools on Parker’s final list, Florida is probably in the best position going forward.
2. Tennessee has gotten back on track with wins over Wichita State and Presbyterian, but after a miserable start to the season, Volunteer fans are still counting the days until they see Jeronne Maymon back on the floor. Unfortunately, it may be a while. Maymon’s rehabilitation from knee surgery hasn’t gone as smoothly as the Vols had hoped. The ambitious diagnosis had the senior forward returning to action as early as this month, but as Maymon continues to limp around Tennessee’s training facility, the possibility of a medical redshirt has been explored. “He’s open to everything,” coach Cuonzo Martin said. “One thing about Jeronne, he’s a coachable guy. He wants to do what’s best for the team. If that means coming back (for a redshirt season), he’ll come back. We’re trying to figure out what’s best for Jeronne Maymon first and foremost, then our team.” Coming back for only a few games surely isn’t the smart move, but in a season filled with high expectations in Knoxville, getting Maymon back on the court is absolutely essential in Tennessee’s efforts to meet those goals.
3. Texas A&M has had an especially unremarkable season. Outside of a slight upset of Washington State on a neutral court (maybe?), the Aggies have beaten every inferior team and lost in both games against superior competition. This is progress, however, for second-year coach Billy Kennedy, who struggled mightily in his first season, posting a 4-14 record in the Big 12. He’ll hope that the SEC schedule is kinder as he enters a new conference, and he may be in luck. The middle of the SEC is weak, and A&M has the talent to take advantage. Senior Elston Turner has improved on his shooting percentages, and at 16.1 points per game, he’s the type of player who can make a difference as the Aggies take on the SEC’s many mediocre teams.
4. In the wake of the Michael Dixon situation, off-the-court news hasn’t been especially kind to Missouri this season. That changed on Thursday, however, as the Tigers revealed that the basketball team had achieved their highest collective GPA (over a 3.0) in over a decade. “I’m so proud of our guys and their efforts in the classroom,” coach Frank Haith said. “We demand a lot from them throughout the year and they delivered in a big way, which deserves recognition.” Tigers’ leading scorer Laurence Bowers is one of the stars in the classroom as well. The senior forward has already finished his undergraduate degree, and is a semester away from a master’s in Health Education and Promotion.
5. “Going Big”, the ESPN Films documentary about former Kentucky great, Sam Bowie, premiered on ESPNU last night. Every basketball fan knows the basics of Bowie’s tale, but director Tom Friend utilizes an unfamiliar perspective to tell his story: the perspective of Sam Bowie. It’s impossible to ignore the Michael Jordan factor with this subject, but any true connection between Jordan’s success and Bowie’s struggles with injury are the product of a fabricated narrative (a compelling one, to be fair). For the former Kentucky center, getting over the Jordan comparisons was tough, but the support of the Lexington community made it possible. “I always knew when the [NBA] season was over that I was immediately going to go back to Kentucky, because that was a safe haven for me to get away from the Michael Jordans, from the critics,” Bowie said. “And that’s a beautiful thing, because when you’re getting beat up like I was getting beat up, you run for cover. And my cover was getting back to Lexington.”

1. Chicago Tribune: Apparently some marginal prospect quietly and unobtrusively decided to accept a basketball scholarship to a little known college yesterday. Just kidding. Jabari Parker is going to Duke because he liked the school and thought Michigan State wasn’t a great fit with Branden Dawson already filling the role that Parker expects to play. It’s a huge get for Duke as Parker was the clear number one prospect in the Class of 2013 before Andrew Wiggins decided to reclassify.
2. State of the U: He’s not Jabari Parker, but Miami landed a nice verbal commitment for the season after next in four-star shooting guard Adonys Henriquez. Head coach Jim Larranaga and his staff have been busy trying to prepare the Hurricanes program for the departure of its veteran core. Since Henriquez is in the high school Class of 2014, he won’t be able to provide immediate help next season, but it is good to see that the recruiting work of Miami is bearing some fruit.
3. Washington Post: If you are undecided in terms of a potential career, I’d like to recommend becoming an assistant coach for the Maryland Terrapins. Apparently assistant Dalonte Hill is due a $25,000 bonus if Maryland makes the NCAA Tournament, while Bino Ranson and Scott Spinelli only receive $16,667 in bonus pay if the team goes dancing. Hill makes $307,440 in guaranteed pay, while Spinelli makes only $207,440. Ranson gets $182,400 with an extra $25,000 for media work. Sure the hours are long, the travel is crazy, and there is little to any semblance of job security, but when you make that much as an assistant, it doesn’t seem like such a bad trade-off.
4. Yahoo! Sports: North Carolina is not very good at basketball this year and people are talking about it after the Tar Heels were embarrassed against Texas on Wednesday night. The reasons why North Carolina is losing aren’t complicated: bad defense, wildly inconsistent offense, and a seeming inability to compete with the top rebounders in college basketball. If there is any solace in these problems, it’s the simple fact that these are fairly common issues for a team that is relying heavily on inexperienced big men. These things happen while power forwards and centers figure out how to be effective on the collegiate level. The good news is that most of these players will almost certainly get better with experience and time. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, with conference play mere weeks away, the team really doesn’t really have that much time to jump-start this season.
5. Wilmington Star News: The Bob Cousy Award watch list was announced this week and it includes seven ACC players. The fairly comprehensive list has 80 names, but it will be cut down to 20 by New Year’s Day. Of the seven, Erick Green and Lorenzo Brown are probably playing at the highest level, but Quinn Cook and Pe’Shon Howard are very talented distributors on good teams (a factor that probably plays a bigger role than most would care to admit). Shane Larkin is in a similar situation to Howard, but both probably need superlative performances to make the cut.  Freshman Montay Brandon of Florida State is unlikely to make the next round since there are at least two other players on his own team who are probably better point guards than him (Devon Bookert and Ian Miller have higher assist percentages and offensive efficiency scores). Dexter Strickland is unlikely to be listed as one of the nation’s top 20 point guards, mostly because he plays at the point guard position for fewer than 10 minutes a game, spending the bulk of his time at shooting guard.

Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Chad Lykins, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to discussing the recruitments of the top uncommitted players in the country. We also encourage you to check out his contributions dedicated solely to Duke Basketball at Duke Hoop Blog. You can also follow Chad at his Twitter account @CLykinsBlog for up-to-date breaking 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.

Note: ESPN Recruiting used for all player rankings

Duke and Michigan State Await Jabari Parker’s Decision

With every second, minute and hour that passes, so does the ever-growing anticipation regarding the impending collegiate decision from Jabari Parker. In a press conference that will be held on Thursday afternoon at Simeon Career Academy (Illinois) and televised on ESPNU at 4:00 PM ET, the nation’s No. 2 overall ranked player will decide between BYU, Duke, Florida, Michigan State and Stanford.

Through three games, Jabari Parker is averaging 5.0 points and 4.7 rebounds while still recovering from a summer injury

As Parker continues to weigh every option imaginable with each program, four of the five schools listed have set out to make their final efforts in securing the 6’8″ small forward. Florida conducted an in-home visit on Monday night, followed by Duke on Tuesday and Michigan State will be front and center at the Parker household on Wednesday. He also heard from BYU earlier this week. While Parker insists that each school is still in the mix, virtually everyone with a beating pulse will tell you that it’s either Duke or Michigan State at the end. Both schools have been actively pursuing Parker since he was a freshman in high school and have made him their top priority from the class of 2013 ever since.

Depending on what you’ve read or heard throughout the week, both sides feel extremely confident with their position in this recruitment. The Parker family has done an outstanding job at not showing any favoritism toward any one school and has been extremely tight-lipped leading up to Thursday’s announcement. Information indicating who has surged ahead of one another is purely speculation between school insiders and basketball analysts. Although chances are high that Parker has already decided on a school, this recruitment is still considered a toss-up between the Blue Devils and Spartans until the final words are spoken from the young man himself.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Iowa freshman shooting guard Mike Gesell recognized that he needed to be more aggressive in coming games and, after a 23-point career-best performance this weekend against in-state rival Northern Iowa, it paid off when he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. “I knew I had to be aggressive,” Gesell said. “I didn’t shoot as well the last few games, and I knew this whole week I had to stay positive about it and just keep attacking. Personally I know I’m a good shooter. I have confidence in my own game. I just had to stay aggressive.” Gesell is one of three freshman starters for the Hawkeyes, and the trio have proven thus far that they can adjust to the rigors of the college game. Now, the Big Ten season looms. But if Fran McCaffery gets this kind of production out of Gesell on a regular basis, Iowa may be able to surprise some people.
2. The Big Ten certainly has its fair share of talented, seasoned coaches but this columnist from the Albany Herald says Minnesota‘s Tubby Smith‘s “demeanor and coaching style, along with an intense work ethic, have brought him success everywhere he has landed.” Loran Smith goes on to say that Tubby Smith was underappreciated at Kentucky despite not leading the team back to a Final Four after winning a national title with mostly Rick Pitino’s players. The Gophers are one of the hottest teams in the country in the early part of the season and a Big Ten title contender. Does that solidify their coach’s greatness?
3. There’s no question about it: Jabari Parker is a game-changer. On the floor, he’s a once-in-a-generation type of recruit who can turn a team from a good squad into a great one. Off the floor, he’s been billed as the type of kid every coach and fan wants to have for their program, and his signing at any of the prospective universities could pay dividends for future recruiting and more. Michigan State is one of those schools, considered by some to be a finalist alongside Duke, with plenty riding on Parker’s upcoming announcement. But Tom Izzo says he “feels great about everything” with Parker potentially making or breaking the Spartans’ recruiting class this year. “It’s a big week, but in recruiting, sometimes you have regrets,” Izzo said Monday, according to MLive.com. “I have no regrets about what we’ve done in recruiting this year. I decided to do it a certain way, and we’ve done it that way. We didn’t sign anybody early. So I actually feel great about everything.”
4. It’s hard to imagine things going much better for Illinois at this point. Under new coach John Groce, the Illini are undefeated and won the prestigious Maui Invitational earlier this year to move into a Top 10 ranking for the first time since 2006. Ethan Asofsky writes that from the moment Groce stepped onto campus, he’s done things “his way” and it’s paying off in spades. He’s bringing in a talented recruiting class next year even after getting a late start and missing out on Jabari Parker. And he’s implemented a new system that highlights Brandon Paul, who has long been a All-Big Ten caliber player mired in inconsistency. Things are going to get tougher on Illinois from here on out, but at this point, Groce has delivered everything fans could have wanted — and maybe even more.
5. After dealing with soreness from playing 1,227 minutes during his freshman season, Michigan’s Trey Burke‘s feeling much better this year. This all comes despite the fact that he’s actually played more to this point than he did last year — 371 minutes this year versus 360 last year — but he credits his offseason regimen for getting into better condition. “Last year I thought I was just sore after every game and that was the norm,” Burke said. “Once it got to March, it got serious. My body started feeling it even more. But this year, I’ve definitely noticed a difference.” With a stronger Burke leading the Wolverines this season, the only people who will be sore are fans of opposing Big Ten schools after Michigan’s point guard carves up his defender.

Seven Sweet Scoops is the newest and hottest column by Chad Lykins, the RTC recruiting analyst. Every Friday he will discuss the seven top stories from the week in the wide world of recruiting, involving offers, which prospect visited where, recent updates regarding school lists, and more chatter from the recruiting scene. You can also check out more of his work at RTC with his weekly column “Who’s Got Next?”, as well as his work dedicated solely to Duke Basketball at Duke Hoop Blog. You can also follow Chad at his Twitter account @CLykinsBlog for up-to-date breaking news from the high school and college hoops scene.

Note: ESPN Recruiting used for all player rankings.

1. Jabari Parker Sets Decision Date

The nation’s No. 2 overall ranked senior, Jabari Parker, has finally set a date for his highly anticipated collegiate decision that has been delayed for the past few months. A product of Simeon Career Academy (Illinois), the 6’8” small forward will announce one of BYU, Duke, Florida, Michigan State or Stanford on Thursday, December 20. Where most see five schools listed, the forthcoming decision will likely come down to just two in the end. Throughout his entire recruitment it has been Duke and Michigan State jockeying for the lead position, a trend that will most likely continue up until Thursday afternoon according to his father Sonny Parker. “He hasn’t told me where,” Sonny Parker told USA Today. “I didn’t ask him. It’s kind of hard to say. He’s liked all the schools we’ve visited. He’s hard to read sometimes. He keeps things to himself, so I don’t put any pressure on him. I think it will probably be between Duke and Michigan State. That’s what I’m thinking.” While Parker enters the homestretch of the recruiting process, he is also recovering from a summer injury that has required a good amount of rehabilitation. Out since July, Parker made a surprise return to the court on December 1 in a season-opening victory for Simeon at the Chicago Elite Classic. In 11 limited minutes, Parker contributed six points, four rebounds and two assists while looking out of shape with an extra number of pounds added to his frame. Since then, Parker has shed at least 10 pounds and is slowly getting back to the player that has gained national recognition as one of the best high school basketball players in the country. On December 20, one school will be gaining a monumental piece to their basketball program. The question remains: Will it be Duke or Michigan State?

Jabari Parker will announce December 20 for Duke or Michigan State

2. Andrew Wiggins To Take Three Visits After Senior Season

Coming off a recent visit to Florida State last week, Andrew Wiggins has decided that he is going to take a break from the recruiting process until after his senior season. Once the season is finished in March, Wiggins plans to take three more official visits to Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. Ohio State and Syracuse are in the mix for his fifth and final official visit that may or may not happen. Although Wiggins has shut down his recruitment as far as visits go, that has not stopped coaches from visiting him. Kentucky head coach John Calipari was on hand to watch Wiggins at the Marshall County Hoopfest in Benton, Kentucky, two weeks ago and will be in attendance at the Boyd County Roundball Classic in Ashland, Kentucky, this weekend. Ohio State head coach Thad Matta watched him this past weekend, while North Carolina head coach Roy Williams made the trip to Spring Valley, West Virginia, on Wednesday to watch the 6’7” sensation. Wiggins is currently averaging 21.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game for No. 1 Huntington Prep (10-0) on the season.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Tomahawk Nation: Michael Rogner kills this article on Florida State’s Okaro White. He delves into the advanced stats (namely true shooting percentage) and draws his conclusions based on watching the games. This is the way all stats should be used. Regardless, White is one of Florida State’s best scorers; he just needs to shoot more. Right now, he’s shooting nearly 50% from three over the last year, he’s effective on the block, and he’s great in the high post. He absolutely needs to take charge of this offense. Assuming his efficiency scales up well, White may be the key to the most efficient offense Leonard Hamilton has had in Tallahassee (an honor currently held by the 2006-07 team starring Al Thornton and Toney Douglas). Read this.
2. Tar Heel Blog: North Carolina has started three players at the five this season. None average 20 minutes a game, but freshmen Brice Johnson and Joel James seem to so far be getting the edge over Desmond Hubert. Johnson is an offensive star, but his slight frame could be a fatal flaw come conference play. James has the body of an elite five, but he has a lot of work to become more than a rebounder and physical presence. Long story short, look for Hubert’s minutes to continue their downward trajectory and for Johnson and James to keep sharing most available minutes for Roy Williams’ squad.
3. Baltimore Sun: In the news surprising no one category, I present this article: “Maryland sharing the ball better this season.” Seriously though, the Terrapins are averaging eight more assists a game this year, taking them from the worst team in the ACC to one of the best teams in the country in terms of distributing the basketball. The obvious differences between this year and last year are the loss of Terrell Stoglin (a literal black hole) and the improvement of Alex Len. Add a healthy Pe’Shon Howard and new freshman Seth Allen… and there’s your improvement.
4. Hampton Roads Daily Press: Virginia looks good. They’re surprisingly strong on offense and the freshmen have adapted to Tony Bennett’s defensive schemes well. Unfortunately, Jontel Evans re-injured his foot in the game against Tennessee last Wednesday. Unlike last year when the Cavaliers lost two players in December to transfer, Bennett should have a deeper roster when Evans returns for conference play. Evans’ injury may be a blessing in disguise, as the team has had to learn to score without its point guard on the floor.
5. SBNation: Jabari Parker, the consensus second-best player in the class of 2013, will announce his college decision next Thursday. According to recruitniks and his dad, Duke and Michigan State remain the clear frontrunners. Parker is a 6’8″ and athletic scoring machine. If he does choose Duke, the Blue Devils may be the team to beat next season. Tentatively, they’d start Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, Rodney Hood, Parker and Marshall Plumlee with Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson coming off the bench. That’s a really long, athletic team with four great scoring options.

1. In this week’s edition of his Power Rankings, Luke Winn takes a look at his usual intriguing statistics including the one thing Mason Plumlee has improved this season and why Russ Smith might be better at forcing turnovers than Aaron Craft. As we always do we recommend that you view all of these stats with a grain of salt and see if they are compatible with what you see on the court. We can certainly agree on the Plumlee statistic, but at this point in the year, the sample size is still small and it might take some more time for us to completely buy in to the Smith versus Craft analysis.
2. How much does it cost to make sure a program isn’t violating NCAA rules? Ohio State hopes that $1.1 million per year is enough because that is the amount that they are reportedly spending to try to prevent any further sanctions against it. On the surface, that sum of money and the 14 full-time staff members it pays for seems like a sizable investment (and it is to some degree), but given the number of student-athletes they have to keep an eye on and the amount of money the school spends on athletics ($122.3 million) the figure does not seem quite as big of an investment. Still we applaud schools for what is most likely a Sisyphean struggle.
3. By now we are all sick of conference realignment and the ridiculous announcements that every school and conference make, but this lengthy piece by The Washington Post on what happened behind the scenes with Maryland‘s move to the Big Ten is still an interesting read. The piece, which gives you a feel of the events leading up to the decision to leave the ACC, is billed as a look at “money versus tradition”, which is what all of these decisions are about and as you should have noticed by now the former almost always wins out.
4. We are just one week away from the recruiting buzz dying down just a little bit more as Jabari Parker will reportedly announce his college choice on December 20. The senior, who was the top recruit in this year’s class until Andrew Wiggins reclassified, is expected to decide between BYU, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, and Stanford. According to Parker’s father, “it will probably be between Duke and Michigan State” as he also notes he does not have any inside information. Of course, those are the two schools with the most basketball-rich tradition on Parker’s short list, but we are not sure if that is what he values.
5. Parker might have the biggest impact of any freshman in this year’s recruiting class, but nobody will have an impact quicker than Solomon Poole as the guard, who was supposed to be part of the class of 2013 graduated from school early and enrolled at Georgia Tech over the weekend. Although Poole may elect to redshirt, there is some talk that he could play as early as this coming Monday. Solomon could then play alongside his brother Stacey, who transferred from Kentucky and becomes eligible next week.

1. The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Tom Crean. As the Hoosiers lose sophomore forward Austin Etheringon to a season ending injury, they gain back two of their incoming freshmen – Hanner Perea and Peter Jurkin – back from suspensions to add depth to the roster. Both of the forwards will be eligible to play on Saturday against Butler. Crean said that he would “ease the players” into his lineup but they should add some additional depth to the frontcourt. The addition of the forwards will also allow Cody Zeller (27.6 MPG) to get some rest during some of the lighter competition at home. Perea seems to have recovered from his foot injury over the summer and has been practicing with the team during the suspension.
2. Former Michigan State coaching legend Jud Heathcote will not participate in this weekend’s reunion game festivities at the Jenison Field House. Heathcote was supposed to coach alongside Spartans football coach Mike Dantonio, basketball legend Magic Johnson, and former coach Gus Ganakas, but he had to cancel because he slipped on the ice and fell on the pavement over the weekend. He has a replaced hip which will prevent him from traveling due to the incident and the MSU athletic department has not announced his replacement for the game yet. The former coaching legend was in East Lansing from 1976-95 and ended up with a 336-221 record to go alongside his 1979 national title. Tom Izzo was an assistant on his coaching staff upon his retirement and Heathcote strongly urged the school to name Izzo as his replacement.
3. Minnesota’s backup point guard, Maverick Ahanmisi, has earned his playing time this season under Tubby Smith. Last season, there was speculation that he might transfer out of the program, but with all of the rumors put aside, he has provided valuable minutes to the Gophers. He has averaged 4.9 PPG in just 11.1 MPG to back up Andre Hollins as the primary ball-handler in the Gophers’ half-court sets. Smith has been very impressed with his defensive effort and his composure on the court. The junior guard may not average more than 15 MPG this season because of the depth on the roster but his 52% shooting from the field has been extremely efficient and lets Smith rotate in guards frequently to keep them fresh on the defensive end.
4. We are over a month into the season and Ohio State head coach Thad Matta is still challenging his team to step up its intensity. Matta discussed Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson as the Buckeyes prepare for their upcoming match-up against Savannah State. Thompson was described as the “ultimate team guy” by his head coach, and Matta wishes that he was a bit more “selfish” on the offensive end — Thompson has been averaging 7.1 PPG and 4.7 RPG at the small forward position so far. Scott, on the other hand, has dished out 4.7 dimes per game in just 19.6 MPG as a backup to Aaron Craft. The sophomore guard said that he is “seeing the court a lot better” this season and provides a good spark off the bench. Matta has depth at the guard position this year, but believes that his players can raise their production another notch, and that’s a good problem to have for a top 10 team.
5. There is no such thing as too much news about the high school phenom Jabari Parker. The Chicago native is going for his fourth prep state title and has recovered quickly from a foot injury over the summer. ESPN’s Scoop Jackson talks about Parker’s toughness and maturity as he prepares for his senior season. Parker is still pondering over his decision about which college to attend between Florida, Duke, Michigan State and BYU, and when asked about his important decision, Parker said, “the pressure doesn’t affect me.” The forward supposedly added 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason which has drawn some comparisons to former Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger rather than a “more athletic Tim Duncan,” but Parker is so talented that he will form his own identity and shed any comparisons aside once he steps foot on a college campus.