1. On Thursday, multiple outlets reported that ACC All-Freshman forward Dorian Finney-Smith would leave Virginia Tech for Florida. Finney-Smith averaged 6.3 points and 7 rebounds for the Hokie, but left after Seth Greenberg was fired. Finney-Smith will be eligible to play for the Gators beginning in 2013-14.
2. As Missouri winds down its countdown to joining the SEC, a story broke this week surrounding Levi Coolley’s involvement with the team. Coolley “who had previously flown on the team plane and received complimentary tickets from players was arrested by the FBI at the Tigers’ hotel in Omaha, Neb.” as the Tigers were about the Norfolk State in the NCAA Tournament. Following the arrest, Missouri launched an internal investigation and “found Coolley had no improper influence on players and did not give players gifts in exchange for the complimentary tickets.”
3. Former Kentucky star Terrence Jones passed on turning pro a season ago citing a desire to win a national title. However, in a Monday story in the Louisville Courier-Journal, Wildcats coach John Calipari  said Jones “had a second motive: to refine both his game and attitude, improving his NBA draft position in the process.” Based on how Jones capped his sophomore season, he looks to have to secured his spot in the lottery, possibly as high as seventh.
4. As more non-conference games get finalized, Tennessee and Xavier announced the start of a home-and-home  series that will begin in Knoxville in December. For the Musketeers, this game represents their second against an SEC foe this upcoming season. They will face Vanderbilt in a return contest following last year’s overtime contest played in Nashville.
5. With the NBA Draft less than two weeks away, there exists the real possibility that the SEC could have players selected 1-2-3 with Anthony Davis as the presumed top pick followed by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Bradley Beal going to Charlotte and Washington in some order. No league has even boasted the top two picks since 1999 when Elton Brand (Duke) and Steve Francis (Maryland) out of the ACC topped the draft. The ACC was also the last league to have the top three picks of any one draft. In 1986, Brad Daugherty (UNC) went No. 1 to Cleveland; Boston selected Maryland’s Len Bias followed by NC State’s Chris Washburn going to Golden State.

At this point, it’s impossible to argue for anybody other than John Calipari as the top recruiter in college basketball. Since Coach Cal joined the Big Blue Nation as Kentucky‘s head coach in 2009, he’s brought in the top recruiting class to Lexington every single season. Next year and depending on whom you ask, the Wildcats once again rank as the #1 or #2 class (behind UCLA). So how does he do it — what makes Calipari such a dominant figure in the recruiting game? It helps to coach at one of the premier hoops schools in the country, but it’s also the specific tactics that Calipari uses which helps make him the single best recruiter in the country. Instead of relaxing to enjoy his first National Championship this summer, Calipari will coach the Dominican Republic national team as it attempts to qualify for the July Summer Olympics in London, which in the process also gives him a chance to scout and recruit a top US prospect with Dominican lineage for the class of 2015 (Karl Towns). “We sit down and just say, `How can we keep separating,'” says Calipari, and he simply never stops working on more creative ways to push the envelope as a recruiter.

Coach Cal has the entire Big Blue Nation smiling with his recent success both on and off the court (AP Photo)

Coaching a potential Olympic team isn’t the only busy endeavor of Cal’s summer plans. He’ll also host the John Calipari Fantasy Basketball Experience in Rupp Arena that will allow participants to practice and play on the Wildcats’ home floor during several sessions – all for the convenient cost of $7,500. Proceeds go to his personal charity, the Calipari Family Foundation, which ‘invests in policies and programs that make a positive, measurable impact on communities across the country.’ How many other coaches at top schools are willing and able to devote this much planning and effort for off-court community causes? It’s all part of the grand scheme to keep distinguishing himself as the most dedicated recruiting figure in the country.

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1. March 16, 2012 was already known as a horrible day for Missouri with its shocking loss to Norfolk State, but things could get  worse for the program based on another event that happened that day: the arrest of Levi Coolley, a big-time booster who was arrested that day on cocaine and marijuana distribution charges. The school has launched an internal investigation into how close Coolley was with the team, but at the very least he was on multiple team flights and received complimentary tickets from Missouri players. Now it is very early in the investigation, but that seems very suspicious. Flying on the team plane can easily be explained as boosters are allowed to purchase open seats on team flights, but the complimentary tickets is a little more interesting. It could just be that the players had extra tickets and gave them to some random booster who happens to be implicating in a FBI investigation into drug distribution. Or it could be something more. In the post-Nevin Shapiro era where many prominent writers and analysts were quick to jump all over Miami and Donna Shalala it should not be too long before they are all over Missouri and its administrators.
2. Most college coaches love to have seniors on the team because of the leadership and the wisdom they can impart on younger players. Unfortunately, they can still do some really dumb things themselves. Case in point: Temple rising senior Khalif Wyatt, who was arrested over the weekend for soliciting an undercover cop as a prostitute. To make matters worse Wyatt, who was named to Second Team All-Atlantic 10 last season after finishing fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.1 points per game, was reportedly celebrating his 21st birthday this weekend and was caught in a prostitution sting in Atlantic City that led to 27 arrests. Wyatt was been charged with soliciting a prostitute and resisting arrest (running from the cops) and assuming this is his first offense he will most likely not receive much more than a slap on the wrist. What is waiting for him back at Temple could be another story.
3. Looking for a Kentucky story line that is going to get completely overblown (or probably already is thanks to the calm rational residents of Lexington)? Larry Vaught has it for you thanks to an anonymous NBA scout who says that John Calipari‘s system hides the flaws of many of his players. While we do agree with the scout on some points (like how having Anthony Davis on your team makes you look better) many of them are kind of pointless including the primary premise that the system hides some of the players’ weaknesses since that is what a system is supposed to do–highlight strengths and minimize weaknesses. And for what it is worth the quality of NBA scouts can be highly variable. Some that we have talked to seem pretty knowledgeable while others are just there to collect a paycheck including our personal favorite who spent most of a game on New Year’s Eve texting his friends while complaining to us about how much bottle service would cost in New York City that night.
4. When schools and conferences make decisions they say they always do so in the best interest of the students/athletes and without any major conflicts of interest. The Big East may have a hard time convincing people of that with their decision to hire the search firm, which the current acting commissioner used to be involved in as a partner, to find the next commissioner. To be fair, the firm does appear to be a well-known one that has a solid reputation and a long history, but decisions like these will raise more than a few eyebrows. It is quite possible that the firm will do a good job at a reasonable cost, but without transparency this only adds to the questions surrounding college athletics.
5. Over the past week, we have featured a series of posts highlighting the top players from the past season including ones who were positive surprises. Rob Dauster is taking a look at the other side of the spectrum by analyzing the most disappointing players from last season. Many of the names on here will be familiar to you as players that have been ripped by their fan bases, but a few of the names–particularly the last two–are ones that may not have been on your radar. The nice thing for all 11 of these players is that they will be back next season when they can atone for their play this season.

Starting at the end of this week, men’s basketball will become the guinea pig of a new NCAA rule that allows college coaches unlimited contact via phone calls and text messages to recruits who have finished their sophomore year of high school. While this may not seem like huge news, the altered rule actually represents a massive change from current NCAA guidelines that prohibit coaches from texting players and allow just one call per month to a recruit. Instead of one monthly nerve-racking phone conversation, high school kids can now get more comfortable with coaching staffs through open dialogue, and that’s a good thing. But by the same token, coaches are now given free rein to unleash their manipulative recruiting pitches without restriction, a privilege that some might feel compelled to abuse. There is a thin line between showing persistence and being a nuisance so coaches must show caution with how they adapt to the new freedoms.

Top prospects can expect to hear from Coach Cal a lot more often now (UKAthletics.com)

The new rule change offers yet another way for coaching staffs to try to get a leg up on their competition. Rutgers head coach Mike Rice said that “kids are going to get sick of the recruiting process quicker now, to be honest with you,” offering the idea that overwhelming kids with texts and calls is sometimes to a recruiter’s detriment. Recruiting has always been an area where some coaches excel over others, but now their communication skills will be put to the test on an everyday basis. There is no doubt that school administrators will check in often with their hired guns and push them to have constant contact with top recruits to gauge their level of interest.

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1. After all the publicity (most of it unwanted in Wisconsin and Bo Ryan‘s case), Jared Uthoff is going to stay in the Big Ten after all, officially transferring from Wisconsin to Iowa. Uthoff told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he’s joining the Hawkeyes even though Ryan restricted Iowa from contacting him. Uthoff will have to pay his own way next year at Iowa and will also have to sit out the 2012-13 season because of transfer rules.
2. Michigan State lost a key piece when Branden Dawson went down with a torn ACL toward the end of last season, but it looks like he is on his way back to making it for the 2012-13 campaign. The sophomore-to-be is doing well in his rehab, from what Tom Izzo told The Lansing State Journal, with an expected return in September if not sooner.
3. It looks like we won’t soon have a repeat of arguably the best game of the year last season. Indiana and Kentucky still can’t come to terms for a meeting next season — whether a home-and-home or at a neutral site — and it’s turned into a bickering session between coaches and athletic directors. Said Kentucky coach John Calipari when asked about it most recently: “Like I told Tommy (Crean), ‘Tommy, move on. It’s done. We’re good. I’m good, you’re good. You have your schedule, we have our schedule.’ “
4. New Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague is making Tubby Smith one of his first orders of business. Teague, who has not even officially taken office yet, is already thinking about a contract extension for the Golden Gophers’ coach, who has two years left in a seven-year contract that pays him $1.75 million annually. “I think we’re pretty far down the road on that and I’ve felt good about that, getting him solidified there and completing that process,” Teague told The Star Tribune. “It’s not done yet, but hopefully it’s something that will be done very soon.”
5. Indiana‘s Cody Zeller could have been a lottery pick if he had opted for the NBA Draft after last season, and he could very well be a lottery pick if he leaves now after his sophomore campaign. The Bleacher Report thinks Zeller could very easily regret his decision to return to school, but the Indianapolis Star‘s Terry Hutchens disagrees.

1. Are you looking to be coached by John Calipari, the man who helped develop #1 picks Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Anthony Davis? If you have $7,500, you may be in luck because that is the price that to attend Calipari’s fantasy basketball camp. Of course, if you have a Citi credit card, it is “only” $6,000 thanks to a $1,500 discount. The camp (or “Experience”) is held at Rupp Arena from September 13-16 and is limited to 80 individuals. There are also a couple of variations including one that gives you more access to Calipari and his staff as well as another option where you get to act as an assistant coach. As some people have noted, this is a relative bargain compared to the $10,000 it costs to attend a similar camp with Mike Krzyzewski.
2. There are always a lot of names thrown around when coaching jobs open up, but one name that we have never heard mentioned and is intriguing at least for the name recognition it would bring a program is Christian Laettner. The former Duke star, who last we heard was dealing with ongoing legal issues, worked last season as an assistant coach for an NBDL, but is looking to move to the NBA or potentially the right Division I program. With Laettner’s name and pedigree it would not be surprising to see him on a college sideline, but it is interesting that they did not include a single quote from a former player or coach talking about his ability to coach. This could just be an oversight by the writer or it could be something more.
3. Yesterday, we brought you Drew Cannon’s attempt to re-rank the top 100 recruits in the class of 2011. He followed that up by looking outside of the top 100 recruits to see which players made very big moves as freshmen last year. Most of you probably are not that familiar with some of the guys on this list as even though they outperformed what was expected of them coming into the season the expectations were pretty low so they may not have even registered on your radar. Like we said yesterday, have fun with these recruiting rankings, but remember that a lot can change in a year particularly with the change in environment as many of these guys move away from home for the first time.
4. If you are trying to transfer to a new school it is generally a good idea to avoid generating any controversy in order to avoid scaring off other teams. Apparently this was not a lesson that Donte Morales while he was at UNC-Wilmington. The rising junior, who is attempting to transfer, was arrested on felony drug charges yesterday morning. Morales averaged 7.2 points per game last year and can probably contribute somewhere, but charges like one for intent to sell marijuana will not have coaches beating down his door to get him to come to their campus. The details on the case are still sparse, but there is a decent chance that Morales may be sitting out at least part of his one year waiting period in prison.
5. Father-son combinations are not unusual in college basketball as you saw in the recent transfer case of Central Michigan, but they usually involve two highly accomplished individuals. The latest situation, which may occur at Kansas, appears to be a little more lopsided as Tyler Self, the son of head coach Bill Self, has decided to walk-on at Kansas to play for his father. Tyler, who averaged 3.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per game for his 7-14 high school team last season, recently told his parents of his plan and although the article does not come out and say it explicitly we would expect to see him on the roster next season unless Bill wants to sleep on the couch.

1. After Butler announced that it would be heading to the Atlantic 10 for the 2013-14 season one month ago most observers put the Bulldogs in the back of their mind when it came to conference realignment. That decision appears to have been premature as Butler announced yesterday that it was heading to the Atlantic 10 immediately. The move, which is widely believed to have been made in reaction to the likely decision by the Horizon League to ban the school from its postseason tournament as a response to the school’s prior announcement that it was leaving the conference, makes what is already one of the premier conferences in the country even better. For years, fans of Atlantic 10 basketball have scoffed at some writers referring to the conference as a mid-major. After this move, we should probably start rating them along with the BCS conferences as they would probably rate fairly highly on that scale even if they probably lack the premier team that their counterparts will have next season.
2. Florida may have found an eventual replacement for Patric Young in the form of South Carolina transfer Damontre Harris. Ok, so that may be an exaggeration based on the 6.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game Harris put up as a sophomore, but Harris could help the Gators out on the inside when Young and Erik Murphy leave Gainesville. Harris, who should be eligible for the 2013-14 season and would have two more years of eligibility left, could be part of a plan for rebuilding the interior for the Gators that is focused on adding Chris Walker, a top-10 recruit in the class of 2013 who hails from Florida.
3. College basketball players can find a lot of strange ways to injure themselves whether it is working out, playing another sport, or being involved in a car accident. Rarely are they involved in an event like what Chad Renfro experienced while visiting his parents. The junior from Barry University was surfing near Jacksonville, Florida last week when he noticed a sharp pain in his leg and quickly realized that he had been bitten by shark. Renfro was able to make it back to shore and was sent to a local hospital where he received treatment including 85 stitches. Renfro appears to be in good spirits though and should not miss any time during the upcoming season.
4. Say what you want about John Calipari, but he knows how to get his point across. Yesterday, we included a link to a piece by Mike DeCourcy offering advice for five players on how to improve their games this summer. In a post on his personal site, Calipari offers advice to Kyle Wiltjer and in doing so also finds a way to turn the advice for his rising sophomore into a propaganda piece. According to the site, the letter is the same for every returning player on the team although we doubt he thinks of Sam Malone as a potential sixth man unless he is talking about the sixth man figuratively. For us the key point is Calipari using his website to give us all a peak inside his program while casually mentioning the program’s accomplishments in case any of us were unaware of those accomplishments.
5. The Mayor just got a pay raise in Iowa as Iowa State announced that it had signed Fred Hoiberg to an eight-year extension that increases his annual salary from $800,000 per year to $1.5 million per year. That might seem like a pretty hefty pay raise and it is, but Hoiberg has had a pretty impressive run recently including being the reigning Big 12 co-Coach of the Year. In just two years, Hoiberg took a team that had posted a sub-.500 record three straight years and led them to a 23-11 record and a NCAA Tournament victory before losing to eventual national champion Kentucky. Some of that performance can be attributed to serendipity in the form of Royce White, who was able to overcome his personal demons to terrorize Big 12 defenses. Hoiberg will have his work cut out trying to find another player of White’s caliber willing to come to Ames, but he will have a little more time to do so now.

It’s that quiet time for the ACC, but a number of folks are making noise even in the dead of late spring.

1. IMG Academy: In an interview given last week, Kendall Marshall revealed that he had also fractured his elbow at the same time that he suffered his season-ending scaphoid injury. There was no way that Marshall was going to play any more games for North Carolina after the injury, but it makes the Marshall’s-injury-is-fake crowd seem even more insane and conspiratorial.
2. Sports Illustrated: Virginia Tech has landed an intriguing transfer in UNC Wilmington freshman Adam Smith. The rising sophomore will be forced to sit out a year, of course, but he could provide some real scoring punch for the Hokies.  After all, despite being a 5’11” freshman, Smith wasn’t shy during his time in Wilmington, taking a team high 30.1% of the shots when he was on the floor.  Smith is the first player that new coach James Johnson has landed, a solid get, if not an absolute blockbuster.
3. Washington Post: In slightly weirder transfer news, former starting Albany guard Logan Aronhalt will be joining the Maryland Terrapins, great news for a team whose backcourt seemed thin since the departure of Terrell Stoglin. The weird part about the news is that Aronhalt was part of an Albany team that actually played against Maryland last season at the Comcast Center. Aronhalt’s mention of appreciating the fine facilities there as a contributing factor in his decision to transfer will likely give some coaches pause come scheduling time. Still, the veteran guard looks to contribute immediately to the young team in College Park; already equipped with his undergraduate degree, he’ll be taking advantage of the graduate school exception for transfers to play this coming season.
4.  Herald-Sun: Kentucky coach John Calipari recently made waves with his announcement about his vision for Kentucky’s non-conference schedule. Buried under a lot of overdone outrage about his insistence on playing mostly if not only neutral site non-conference games, ACC fans got the welcome news that Calipari remains committed to the renewal of the series with North Carolina and has been working to get a series going with Duke. Considering that Duke and Kentucky are two of the best non-conference rivals in all of college basketball, it’s hard not to applaud a regular squaring-off of blue bloods.
5. Fayetteville Observer: North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried caught a really big fish but ended up in the water. This is not a metaphor, but everyone keep this anecdote in mind in case it feels like one as next season progresses with some of the biggest recruits in the country all showing up on campus in Raleigh.

Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. 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 who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. 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.

Lead Story: Georgetown Reels In Top-50 Junior Wing

Domingo Is A Great Pick-up For Head Coach John Thompson III And Georgetown.

Domingo A Big Pick-up For the Hoyas. Georgetown has been working hard on local guys in the Class of 2013 such as point guard Rysheed Jordan, shooting guard Davon Reed and center BeeJay Anya, but the Hoyas went to the opposite end of the country to pick up their first commitment in the junior class as small forward Stephen Domingo, a California native, made a verbal to head coach John Thompson III. Domingo is actually the second California wing to commit to Georgetown as Hollis Thompson a Los Angeles native. Domingo also has ties to the nation’s capital since his grandparents are D.C. residents and his mom is a District native. Domingo is a great pick-up for the Hoyas since he is a great shooter with terrific range and a smooth stroke. He can knock it down off the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations and has great height and length. Georgetown is also chasing after point guard Tyler Ennis, small forward Nick King and power forward Jermaine Lawrence in the Class of 2013 although they may be out of the race for top-100 small forward Josh Hart now.

What They’re Saying

Junior Juwan Parker on where each school stands in his recruitment: “I’m considering three schools right now: Memphis, Georgia and Stanford. I would rank them in that order.”

Memphis Leads For Junior Standout Juwan Parker. (Daryl Paunil/National Recruiting Spotlight)

Junior Stanford Robinson on why he committed to the Hoosiers: “[Indiana head] coach [Tom] Crean, we connected very, very quickly. We shared a lot of laughs, he presented his plan of where he sees me fitting in and how I could play a part in it.

Junior Stephen Domingo on choosing Georgetown: “It was really the relationship I developed with coach [John Thompson III] and the way they promote the versatility of their wings. They rely on their wings a lot and they use their wings in a way I can be productive offensively and defensively.” Read the rest of this entry »

1. The biggest splash this week in the SEC again came from the defending champion Kentucky Wildcats and its scheduling choices. First, some group of stuffy faculty members chastised John Calipari’s decision to move toward more neutral site games. So what does Calipari do? He announced that UK has added Baylor to its schedule in a Rupp Arena game in 2012-13, but the Cats will travel to play the Bears in Cowboys Stadium in 2013-14. Now that’s an “experience.” But it’s not about playing Baylor. This move, as is seemingly everything Calipari does, is a strategic move to advance his program. First, four members of the 2013 high school class play in Texas, and all four are considering Kentucky. This is in part a recruiting move to gain an edge on his competitors. But first and foremost, Cowboys Stadium just happens to also be the host site for the 2014 Final Four. Calipari wants a practice run in the venue where his Cats hope to cut down the nets again in two years. That’s what scheduling huge neutral site games are all about — giving his squad a simulation of the biggest stage possible to prepare them for when the time comes.
2. While Kentucky is adding Baylor to its schedule, another SEC school is calling off its match-up with the Bears. Mississippi State and Baylor have agreed to cancel the two remaining games on their contract. New Bulldogs coach Rick Ray realizes he has a rebuilding year ahead of him. “We play in the toughest tournament known to mankind out at Maui and then we come back from that and our next game is Baylor,” Ray said. “We open up our season at Troy. Our schedule — if I had my say so, we wouldn’t have that type of a schedule. So, that’s a concern.” Mississippi State was set to host Baylor this season in Starkville, but would have been required to travel to Waco in 2013 to return the favor. The decision to cancel was mutual.
3. Yahoo Sports published a list of the top newcomers gracing the SEC with their presence next season, and a couple of Kentucky Wildcats were joined by a new member of the Missouri Tigers at the top of the list. Shouldn’t all of Missouri’s team be up for inclusion? Regardless, senior center Alex Oriakhi, a transfer from Connecticut, joins Kentucky freshmen Alex Poythress and Nerlens Noel as the players most likely to make an impact next season. From the article: “Noel is a defensive difference-maker. While he lacks bulk, he is athletic and already has advanced shot-blocking skills. His offense is raw, but his defense and rebounding make up for that.” Hey, that sounds familiar. Here’s what the site said last year at this time about Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis: “His shot-blocking and rebounding ability make him a game-changer defensively. His offensive skill set is good and continues to improve.” Not a bad person to be compared to at this stage in his career.
4. Arkansas added juco forward Coty Clarke to its roster earlier this week. Clarke averaged 14.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game with Birmingham (AL) Lawson State Community College last season. Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson is excited about the addition. “Coty is excited about being a Razorback and that excites me,” Anderson said. “He is an athletic forward who can impact on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively. Coty has a blue collar mentality which is needed on this team. He is an excellent fit for the ‘Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball.’” Depth is an important issue for this year’s Arkansas team, as injuries impacted how far Anderson could go down the bench last year.
5. Our very own Rush the Court profiled a couple of former SEC players in our NBA Draft Profiles. Vanderbilt senior Festus Ezeli is viewed as a late first round pick in the mold of current Houston Rockets center Samuel Dalembert. RTC compared him to the big man, saying, “Ezeli has a similar skill set as a defense-first center with ideal size who can protect the rim. Dalembert, though, transitioned from a raw prospect to a 10-year NBA veteran who has averaged 8.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in a strong career thanks to the ability to adapt to the speed of the NBA game.” Kentucky senior Darius Miller is hoping to get picked up in the second round and RTC says he has at least has the look of an NBA player. “While his three-point percentage dropped from the blistering 44.3% he shot as a junior to a merely good 37.6% as a senior, he’s shown NBA range and a willingness to step into the right shot when needed. Throw in the fact that at 6’8” and 235 pounds he’s got the frame to handle the big boys at the next level, and Miller looks the part of an NBA wing.” Good luck to both of the seniors as well as the rest of the SEC athletes hoping to be selected.