Ted Kapita, a four-star center and intriguing prospect, committed to Arkansas on Thursday. The big man from Africa is ranked No. 43 in the class of 2015 but has a high upside and has slowly been improving his skill level at Huntington (WV) Prep. Kapita already has a professional body. With long arms and a chiseled frame, the 18-year old does not look like your normal high schooler. He can run the floor and throw down highlight reel dunks that will no doubt draw some “ooohs” and “aaaahs” from the Razorbacks’ faithful next year. His coordination and overall skill set are still trying to catch up to his body, though. He’s a strong rebounder in the paint but sometimes thinks too long before reacting. Kapita played with Pan Africa this past summer at the Nike Global Challenge, and in his first game in front of a plethora of NBA scouts, he put up a monstrous stat line with 36 points and 16 rebounds. Unfortunately he struggled to do much of anything the next game out. At Arkansas, Kapita will join four-star guard Jimmy Whitt, who is a smooth jump shooter. The pair will look to turn their inside/outside potential into consistent production in the SEC.

Tall and Talented: Ted Kapita is headed to play for Arkansas.

2. Oregon Lands High Scoring Tyler Dorsey

Dana Altman’s Oregon teams routinely rank among the nation’s top 100 teams in adjusted tempo. This means that the Ducks like to get up and down the court, and they recently got the perfect recruit for their style of play in four-star guard Tyler Dorsey (No. 34 – 2015). The 6’4” guard from Southern California who chose Oregon over Kansas and a host of Pac-12 suitors will look to step in and fill the shoes of Joseph Young right off the bat. Young is currently averaging 18.7 points per game and will end his Oregon career as the team’s leading scorer for the second year in a row, so it’s a good thing that Dorsey can put the ball in the bucket. A year ago Dorsey was ranked in the top 10, but after committing to Arizona early, things quickly started to go south. A disappointing spring AAU season led to rumors about the firmness of that commitment, and sure enough, Dorsey decided to look elsewhere when five-star shooting guard Alonzo Trier (No. 16 – 2015) committed to the Wildcats over the summer. In addition to looking for a new school, the rising senior was also looking to repair his reputation in the national rankings. Now at a new school this year (Maranatha (CA)), Dorsey has routinely scored 40 or more points in games, including a 48-point effort against USC-bound Benny Boatwright. After a brief dip in production and consistency, the explosive Dorsey is again scoring at will and will look to continue his productive ways in Eugene. Read the rest of this entry »

Seven Sweet Scoops is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you seven notes from the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul, dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.

The National Prep Showcase held each year at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven is the signature event to kick off the high school season. With a variety of prep schools competing against each other a variety of college coaches were seen in the stands from low major schools from the east coast to high major programs from the west coast. A lot happened during and after the three day tournament, so let’s catch up with the seven sweet scoops of the week.

1. Kobie Eubanks Excels And then De-commits

In the spring of 2014, four-star shooting guard Kobie Eubanks chose Baylor over schools such as Pittsburgh, Florida State, and Minnesota, but failed to qualify academically. He subsequently ended up at Elev-8 Prep School in Delray Beach and after two standout performances last weekend he decided to re-open his commitment. What does this mean? With only four of the top 35 shooting guards still available in the class of 2015, Eubanks just became a hot commodity. Numerous schools reached out to Eubanks expressing interest including Louisville, Virginia, Maryland, Iowa State, Michigan, Providence, UConn, and more. The 6’5” strongly built guard scored 37 points in a Saturday performance which included high arcing shots from the perimeter and strong drives to the basket. Baylor’s loss will soon be another team’s blessing.

2. Anyone Interested In A 6’7” Scorer?

Throughout the National Prep Showcase, observers were impressed with Jeremy Harris and the consensus was that Coastal Carolina got themselves a steal.

Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout the preseason, the Big 12 microsite will preview each of the league’s 10 teams, from worst to first. Today: Baylor.

Baylor Bears

We’re seven months removed from the 2013-14 season ending and I still feel as if Baylor underachieved. The Bears had a lot of the qualities that normally consist of a Final Four-type team: NBA talent, experience, rebounding, good-enough defense. They were brilliant in non-league action, started 2-8 in conference play, went on a late run, and finished with a loss to Wisconsin during the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Most are unsure of what to expect from Baylor this time around — the Bears were picked sixth in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, marking the second time in the last seven seasons that the Bears have been picked to finish outside of the Big 12’s top four. Scott Drew’s team was picked 10th in 2009-10 and eventually found itself in the Elite Eight. But now, three of the Bears’ top scorers are gone and a slew of young players will take over in an, gulp, odd-numbered NCAA Tournament year.

Scott Drew goes into the 2014-15 season with the task of replacing three starters. (USA Today Sports Images)

Strengths: The Bears lost Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson yet the bigs they’ll have available still appear worthy of opponents’ game-planning. Let’s start with junior Rico Gathers, who managed to average the same number of points as rebounds (6.4) off the bench. It’d be silly to expect anything other than the 6’8″, 280-pound Gathers be a bully down low by giving him starter’s minutes. Perhaps the biggest question mark lies with redshirt freshman forward Jonathan Motley. Motley has bulked up with 15 pounds of muscle and will be counted on as the defensive enforcer that Austin and Jefferson have been over the past two seasons. On the wing, having Royce O’Neale grab a guaranteed five rebounds at 6’6″ isn’t too shabby either. It also helps to have a senior point guard like Kenny Chery returning in a deep point guard league like the Big 12. Read the rest of this entry »