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Next Year’s Unique Top Recruit Will Announce His College Decision in November

Posted by EJacoby on June 18th, 2012

Jabari Parker has been in the news a lot lately, much more so than some other recent top recruits. The consensus #1 player in the 2013 high school class was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May, in which the magazine dubbed him “the best high school basketball player since LeBron James.” Stories about the 17-year-old have been flooding in ever since, many detailing his devout Mormon faith and whether or not he’ll serve as a missionary when he turns 19 as many LDS members do. He was interviewed recently on Good Morning America and is also the featured star for USA Basketball’s U-17 team, which will compete in the World Championships later this month. But the biggest news of all broke on Sunday, when Parker said that he’ll announce his college decision this November, long before the spring signing period begins. The rising senior from Chicago wants “to do it for me because I want to get it over with before the season starts.” But perhaps he’s also doing it for his father and former NBA forward, Sonny Parker, who recently said, “I think Jabari is the first high school player who has experienced this social media stuff,” and that he’ll limit Jabari’s media availability this summer to let him live like a regular kid. Parker has 14 schools on his list and appears a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, so he’ll presumably have the hard part of recruiting out of the way before his senior season begins.

Top recruit Jabari Parker is unique as a player and a person (AP Photo)

Parker has ‘narrowed’ his college list down to the following 14 schools: BYU, Connecticut, DePaul, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Missouri, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Washington. It’s anyone’s guess who the top candidates are now, though we’d expect that BYU, Illinois, Northwestern, and DePaul made the cut mainly for show to support his local and religious ties. Recruiting analysts report that he has great relationships with coaches Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Tom Izzo at Michigan State, though Parker himself spoke about his ties to DePaul (his best friend is a walk-on there), Illinois (with its new head coach, John Groce), and Kentucky (hearing from fellow Chicagoan Derrick Rose about John Calipari). He plans on cutting the list down to eight over the summer.

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ACC Weekly Five: 06.18.12 Edition

Posted by KCarpenter on June 18th, 2012

  1. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: In January, when Georgia Tech ended up as the landing place for former Kentucky player Stacey Poole, it was a nice get for the beleaguered Yellow Jackets, but not a game-changer. However, taking on Stacey has paid dividends in the form of a younger brother, Solomon Poole. Stacey’s little brother is a five-star point guard for the Class of 2013 and he is headed to join his older brother in Atlanta. Solomon admits that his brother’s presence was a major factor in his decision to attend Georgia Tech, and I doubt if Brian Gregory could be much happier with this turn of events.
  2. Duke Basketball Report: Though conference schedules have yet to be officially released, tidbits about the schedule have been making their ways into various reports. The good folks at DBR have taken it upon themselves to round up the reports (which are focused on Virginia, Virginia Tech, Boston College, and North Carolina). You can also see the match-ups for Florida State on the school’s athletic department website. Though it’s probably a little early to make assessments about the difficulty of a given schedule, it looks like the Tar Heels may have a rough season ahead.
  3. Durham Herald-Sun: Speaking of rough seasons for North Carolina, the troubles of  2010 and 2011 are still haunting the team, albeit in a fairly minor way. North Carolina’s streak of six years of APR Public Recognition Awards for the men’s basketball team has ended and it’s all UCLA’s fault or something like that. The APR is a simple measure of the academic status of a given collegiate athletic program. Though North Carolina has typically fared pretty well by this measure, transfers count against the school’s retention rate, and the defections of David Wear, Travis Wear, and Larry Drew to UCLA, in addition to the dismissal of Will Graves means that UNC has one really ugly looking APR season on it’s record. While complete APR scores are slated for a Wednesday release,  it bears mentioning that Duke paced the ACC with the most awards, including one for the men’s basketball team.
  4. Kansas City Star: Missouri will continue it’s reign as a landing spot for ACC coaches who enjoyed success and then moved on. Former Miami and current Missouri head coach Frank Haith has hired Dave Leitao as an assistant. Leitao, before a stint leading the Maine Red Claws of the NBDL, was of course the head coach at Virginia and the ACC Coach of the Year in 2007.  It’s a good hire for Missouri and a nice move for a guy who is good enough to be a college head coach just about anywhere.
  5. Washington Post: The situation of recently appointed Virginia Tech coach James Jones is as interesting as it is difficult . Former head coach Seth Greenberg left behind a legacy of confusion and accusations that seemed to undermine the program at every turn, nearly undoing all the building that Greenberg had accomplished during his tenure. This profile takes some time getting to know the ACC’s newest head coach and exploring the major task he faces in rebuilding a  basketball program that took some major blows in Greenberg’s wake.

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RTC NBA Draft Profiles: Marquis Teague

Posted by EJacoby on June 15th, 2012

The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Marquis Teague

School: Kentucky

Height/Weight: 6’2” / 180 lbs.

NBA Position: Point Guard

Projected Draft Range: Mid- to Late First Round

Marquis Teague excels at getting to the rim with his elite speed (AP Photo/J. Crisp)

Overview: Marquis Teague struggled with his decision-making for some of his freshman season, but he came on strong during the latter stage of the year to lead Kentucky to a National Championship as the team’s steady point guard. His greatest attribute is his blazing speed with the ball and an overall impressive set of physical tools for a point guard. The Wildcats really had no backup at the point, so Teague led UK in minutes played (32.6 MPG) while admirably handling the many responsibilities given to him on a team with several stars. Though turnovers were his biggest issue (2.7 TO per game), he also averaged 4.8 APG and made obvious improvements throughout the season in terms of his decisions. He had five or more turnovers in five of his first 25 games, but not once in any of his final (and more important) 15. Teague was really the Wildcats’ fifth offensive option on the floor, though he still contributed a solid 10.0 PPG through an array of drives and jumpers. He thrives in the open floor and also does well in isolation situations, which he displayed in the National Title game against Kansas by getting to the basket for several layups in the half court. His shot is a work in progress, proven by his shooting percentages — 41.2% from the field, 32.5% from three, and 71.4% from the line. He wasn’t a game-changing defender as a rookie and only averaged 0.9 steals, but his physical traits suggest he should become a solid perimeter defender. Though very raw in many aspects, Teague appears to be in a dead heat with Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten as the second point guard to come off the board on draft night.

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NBA Finals Features Plenty of College Stars

Posted by EJacoby on June 12th, 2012

The 2012 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat begins tonight in a dream matchup of star-studded teams that is sure to draw huge viewer ratings. The major media narrative of the series centers around the two superstars — LeBron James and Kevin Durant — and all basketball fans should enjoy watching them battle at the highest level. But digging deeper, diehard college hoops supporters are in for a real treat as each team features veteran players that were once stars at the collegiate level for Final Four-bound squads. Thought the Fab Five was a distant memory? Juwan Howard, former Michigan star from 1992-94 and current Miami reserve forward, thinks otherwise. Before the current John Calipari era, Kentucky’s last run of glory came in the late 90s, during which Nazr Mohammed was on the star-studded 1996 championship team before playing a much bigger role on the 1998 championship team. Fans surely remember Mario Chalmers‘ performance during the 2008 National Title game as well, featuring arguably the biggest shot in recent NCAA history. Chalmers is Miami’s starting point guard who will have to knock down some more big shots in order for the Heat to win. There are plenty of other players in this championship series that will bring college fanatics down memory lane.

Nick Collison and Cole Aldrich were stars for Kansas before being drafted by Oklahoma City (C. Landsberger, The Oklahoman)

The rosters of the Heat and Thunder combine to feature 12 (!) different players that once played in a Final Four during their college careers. Oklahoma City’s Final Four attendees include Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison (twice), Daequan Cook, Royal Ivey, Russell Westbrook (twice), and Mohammed (three times). Miami, meanwhile, features Shane Battier (twice), Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Howard (twice), and Chalmers. These 12 players combined for five National Titles. Miller and Haslem were teammates at Florida for the 2000 Gators team that lost in the Championship Game to Michigan State. And this list doesn’t even include Durant, who won the National Player of the Year award in his only season at Texas (2007). Battier was also a NPOY winner at Duke during his accomplished college career. March Madness fans probably remember Derek Fisher, Eric Maynor, and Norris Cole, too, each of whom led small schools to the NCAA Tournament through leading point guard roles. Now they are all valuable reserves for potential NBA champions, though Maynor has missed this season with an ACL tear in his knee.

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Morning Five: 06.12.12 Edition

Posted by nvr1983 on June 12th, 2012

  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.

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Will Coaches Abuse New “Unlimited Recruiting Calls” Rule?

Posted by EJacoby on June 11th, 2012

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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Big Ten Weekly Five: 06.07.12 Edition

Posted by jnowak on June 7th, 2012

  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.

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Morning Five: 06.06.12 Edition

Posted by nvr1983 on June 6th, 2012

  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.

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RTC NBA Draft Profiles: Doron Lamb

Posted by KDoyle on June 5th, 2012

The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Doron Lamb

School: Kentucky

Height/Weight: 6’4” / 210 lbs.

NBA Position: Guard

Projected Draft Range: Late First Round

Lamb Routinely Hit Big Threes Throughout His UK Career

Overview: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, and Darius Miller — it is easy to see why Lamb may be slightly overlooked entering the NBA Draft. Not overlooked by the experts and general managers, mind you, but a tad overlooked by the fans. Just how much individual attention can be given to a roster where at least five players project as first round selections? Doron Lamb proved to be Kentucky’s most reliable outside threat throughout last season averaging nearly 14 points and shooting a scorching 46.6% from beyond the arc. Despite having a good handle and being a smart decision-maker with the basketball, Lamb is a natural two guard at the next level, and would complement any established point guard very nicely. Surrounded by a roster full of future NBA players, Lamb was forced to simply become another piece in the offense rather than the focal point; at about 340 other schools in America, Lamb would have taken on the role of “go-to scorer.” As such, Lamb will have a more natural transition to the next level as he already is accustomed to playing within himself and the flow of the offense.

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Handicapping Next Season’s SEC/Big East Challenge Matchups

Posted by EJacoby on June 4th, 2012

The Big East sent more teams (nine) to last year’s NCAA Tournament than any other conference, while the SEC compiled the best winning percentage (.769) during the Big Dance. The two leagues are squaring off next season in the second annual SEC/Big East Challenge, whose matchups were announced on Friday. With plenty to offer in the form of juggernaut teams and program traditions, the idea of this event should provide great intrigue to the non-conference season, something the Big Ten and ACC have done in their cross-conference challenge for the past 14 years. Next year’s slate doesn’t look nearly as enticing as some were hoping for — UConn, Louisville, and Missouri aren’t participating, while Syracuse is in but wants out – and our SEC microsite broke down the lack of headline games on the schedule. Nonetheless, we can’t overlook this event that allows for top conference teams to play true road games against other power leagues. Last season, Georgetown played at Alabama in one of the most entertaining games of the entire non-conference slate, and that game didn’t garner much publicity at all. The Big East came away victorious, 8-4, in last year’s event. Here’s what the 2012 SEC/Big East Challenge presents us.

Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish Like Their Chances Against the National Champs Next Year (AP Photo)

Youth vs. Experience, Kentucky at Notre Dame (Nov. 29) – Notre Dame returns all five starters from last season; Kentucky returns none. But both teams have high hopes next year, as the Fighting Irish bring back the entire core from a team that went 13-5 in the Big East while the National Champion Wildcats showcase the nation’s number two recruiting class of SEC-ready stars. Both programs have decorated pasts with loyal fanbases; each team is ranked in the RTC preseason Top 25. What’s not to love about this matchup? A Kentucky-Syracuse game would have garnered more hype, but this matchup could produce a better game. Who wins out, the young guns or the vets? We should get a great read on the new crop of UK freshmen in this their first real road test.

Seeking Sweet Revenge, Marquette at Florida (Nov. 29) – These two teams squared off in last year’s Sweet Sixteen, when the Gators ended the Golden Eagles’ season and Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom’s careers. Buzz Williams’ boys are looking for revenge in Gainesville, though both teams will look a lot different from last season. Florida loses its own pair of stars (Erving Walker, Bradley Beal) but Kenny Boynton and Patric Young are back to form one of the nation’s most threatening inside-out duos. Each team must call on a host of young players that showed promise last year but have to step into more prominent roles in 2012-’13. There’s plenty of intrigue in this one, though Florida is the strong favorite at home.

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