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

Kennedy Meeks Chooses UNC Over Georgetown

Two schools consistently stood out above the rest for West Charlotte High (North Carolina) center Kennedy Meeks. Appropriately, both schools have had a long and successful history in landing and producing top big men. With his recruitment winding down, Georgetown and North Carolina were in a neck-and-neck battle that left most national recruiting pundits undecided. On Friday, Meeks made it official as he will remain in his home state and play for the Tar Heels and head coach Roy Williams.

Charlotte native Kennedy Meeks picked UNC over Georgetown

“I talk to Roy Williams almost every other day. He understands the recruiting process and gives me good advice about college and about being a great player,” Meeks said of his decision. “Coach Williams said he liked my tenacity, my desire to play the game, my rebounding and outless passing.” Ranked as the No. 20 overall prospect and No. 2 center in the class of 2013, the 6’9″, 275-lb. big man is expected to contribute right away during his freshman season. Due to his size, Meeks is a true center that impacts the game significantly down low. With an extremely wide frame, he has a soft touch around the rim and is able to rebound at an extremely high rate by carving out space. One of his better traits is his passing. Whether it’s his superior outlet passing skills or if it’s out of the low-post, he exhibits excellent vision for a big man. There is no question regarding his talent and skill, but his conditioning has been a constant issue in the past. With North Carolina’s up-tempo style of play, it is extremely necessary for him to arrive at Chapel Hill in the best playing shape of his young life. Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Spewak is an RTC correspondent. He filed this following San Diego State’s 60-44 victory over Missouri State in Springfield on Saturday.

Trotting up and down the floor like he owned the place, Jamaal Franklin’s mouth just kept moving. “I guess that’s what they do out on the West Coast,” Missouri State guard Anthony Downing said. Sometimes, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year would flash a wry smile at nobody in particular. Other times, he’d stare blankly at the first row of fans at JQH Arena, where hecklers hollered at him and accused him of playing like a “thug” after referees called him for a flagrant foul on Keith Pickens.

Jamaal Franklin Impressed at Missouri State (Christopher Hanewinckel/US Presswire)

By the time San Diego State put the finishing touches on a 60-44 victory over Missouri State on Saturday, all 7,272 fans at the “Q” booed Franklin every time he touched the ball. “West Coast snobs!” said one woman behind press row. The others exited the building silently — with vengeance, of course. They can hate Jamaal Franklin all they want in Springfield, but it won’t change the box score. Twenty-two points. Twelve rebounds. Three blocks. Three steals. All part of another victory for his 25^th-ranked Aztecs. “It was an eye-opening experience,” Bears’ coach Paul Lusk said. But for anybody who has seen Franklin play before, it wasn’t eye-opening in the least. Like the rest of his team, which missed its first 10 three-point attempts and shot 32 percent from the field, the versatile 6’5’’ wing wasn’t perfect. He turned the ball over seven times, misfired on six of seven three-point attempts and never exactly found his stroke offensively. Yet Franklin still managed to tally a double-double and turn in a stellar defensive performance.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. We could lead off with so many things here following ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon, but we will just refer you to our After the Buzzer post on the day’s events. Special events like games on naval ships may generate more buzz with the media and general public, but we will take games being played at crazy hours in front of rabid college students over games that are cancelled because of condensation. Of course, this will lead to the inevitable question about whether we should start the season with this Marathon. As easy it would be to say we should I think it would be a little bit too much to expect teams to come out and play well in their first game of the season (exhibitions don’t count) and the current format allows for a somewhat soft opening that gives us better quality games even if teams aren’t quite playing their absolute best.
2. If you are waiting on Jabari Parker to sign a letter of intent you could be waiting a while as his mother has come out saying that he will probably commit some time next month and then sign a letter of intent in the spring.  The news shouldn’t come as a surprise for those who have followed Parker’s drawn-out recruitment and his list — BYU, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, and Stanford — is not a change, but we still do not understand why a player of Parker’s caliber would even bother signing a letter of intent when he can force a school’s hand by just committing to play for them without locking himself in. Few players are in a position of power — when they are they should use it.
3. The list of ineligible freshman continues to grow as San Diego State freshman Winston Shepard has been suspended for three games for “inadvertently violating an NCAA rule.” Nobody at the school is willing to comment on the issue as they appeal to the NCAA, but it appears that the issue at the center of the suspension is an automobile loan that was co-signed by a family he met while attending Findlay Prep although no money was provided to Shepard and he returned the car within four days. Given the pace with which the NCAA can move, we doubt that Shepard’s suspension will overturned by the time his suspension is complete.
4. Speaking of the NCAA and suspensions, the family of Shabazz Muhammad issued a response to the NCAA after it had declared Muhammad ineligible. Essentially they criticize the NCAA for issuing a press release, which they claim the NCAA said it would not do, and that they cooperated with the NCAA despite what their press release said. For their part the NCAA issued another press release saying they were standing behind what they previously stated. Confused yet? Meanwhile UCLA continues to wait for the NCAA to release all of its information before filing an appeal to get Muhammad reinstated. The way this is going we are beginning to think an extended European vacation might in Shabazz’s future (although he did look pained on the UCLA bench in its one-point win over UC Irvine last night).
5. Yesterday on the Big 12 Morning Five we mentioned Joel Embiid‘s imminent college commitment and the 7-footer followed through as he announced that he will play for Kansas. Many of you probably are not familiar with Embiid as he is not included in many recruiting rankings, but he reportedly has only been playing basketball for 18 months and according to ESPN’s Dave Telep will likely become a top 20 player when the rankings are updated. Basically, he has “upside” (and “project”) written all over him. Embiid may not be able to contribute right away for the Jayhawks, but with his size, athleticism, and learning curve he should eventually become a valuable player in Lawrence during his time there.

College basketball tipped off Friday and as the weekend drew to a close, all but two Big East teams have played and only two of them lost. From Connecticut’s shocking win over Michigan State to South Florida’s disastrous debut against Central Florida, Big East fans who weren’t able to get to their televisions this weekend missed a lot of good action. Rather than recap each game individually or only focus on some of the games, we figured the best way to get the uninformed up to speed was with a broad look at some of the best and worst from conference programs this weekend.

The Good

UConn’s Surprising Victory in Germany Represented a Big East Highlight of the Weekend

• Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie’s debut. The first year coach couldn’t have scripted a better start to his career than his team’s gritty 66-62 win over No. 14 Michigan State in Germany. Not only did the rookie head coach beat a legend in Tom Izzo, but his team played with passion and determination, especially considering they don’t have a postseason to look forward to. The good Shabazz Napier (25 points and zero turnovers) showed up for the Huskies and the defense held the Spartans to just 37.5 percent from the field for the game. Ollie isn’t going to earn a long-term contract after one game, but if he can get his team to play that hard all season, he may win over the decision-makers in Storrs.
• Jack Cooley’s first game as Notre Dame’s offensive focal point. The team effort wasn’t great and if it wasn’t for the all-around performance of Cooley (19 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks) the Fighting Irish may have lost their season opener to Evansville. The obvious elephant in the room is that the Aces didn’t have anyone in their frontcourt remotely capable of dealing with Cooley’s size and strength, and that will definitely not be the case every week. But Cooley was ruthlessly efficient, active defensively and on the glass, and smart with the ball in the post. The Fighting Irish will need to be better on the perimeter if they want to meet expectations this season, but it is always nice to have an anchor in the post if they need it. Read the rest of this entry »

Brendon Mulvihill is the head curator for @SportsGawker and an RTC contributor. You can find him @themulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

The college basketball season is finally here! This season Set Your DVR (ed. note: sadly, nobody has TiVos anymore) will be a twice-weekly column outlining the must-see games for the upcoming week and weekend.  This column will lay out the key factors in each game to focus on and how those factors could affect the outcome. It’s a military-themed weekend of hoops with three games taking place on aircraft carriers and one game taking place at a military base located across the Atlantic Ocean.  Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Game of the Weekend

#16 San Diego State vs. #5 Syracuse – 4:00 PM EST, 11/11/12 on FSN HD (*****)

Jim Boeheim takes the Orange to the USS Midway to take on San Diego State

• The USS Midway provides the backdrop for an exciting opener between Syracuse and San Diego State. SDSU returns four starters including Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Jamaal Franklin as well as Chase Tapley, James Rahon, and Xavier Thomas. Keep a close eye on the match-up between the Aztec guards and Syracuse point guard Brandon Triche. Triche is taking over for Scoop Jardine and faces a tough test against this crew. Steve Fisher’s squad will have to improve in two areas if they are going to start beating top-tier programs like Syracuse – shooting and offensive rebounding. The Aztecs grabbed only 30.8% of their offensive rebound opportunities last season, so if they are only going to hit 33% of their three-point attempts and 49.8% of their two-point attempts like they did in 2011-12, it’s going to be difficult to beat the best teams in the country. Watch to see if transfers Dwayne Polee II and J.J. O’Brien can help the Aztecs grab more of those missed shots.
• After losing four starters to graduation and the NBA Draft, Syracuse is in a much different place than SDSU. Jim Boeheim’s ability to fill the talent void will be a key factor in determining if this Orange team can beat an experienced Aztec team. The ‘Cuse returns two significant contributors from last year’s team – C.J. Fair and Triche. Both players need to improve their sub-50% eFG in order to prevent the team from taking a step backwards.  The key to the Orange’s success in this game and in the future, however, may be 6’8” senior forward James Southerland. In a somewhat limited role last year, Southerland put up some impressive shooting numbers from inside the arc. Keep a close eye on Southerland’s ability to take advantage of his size inside the three-point line. Syracuse will also be able to throw additional size at the Aztecs with 6’9” sophomore Rakeem Christmas, 6’10” junior Baye Keita, and 6’7” 275 lb. wide-body freshman, DaJuan Coleman. Read the rest of this entry »

And so it begins. The time of year where we hear familiar voices on the television, faces on the floor, and our teams finally playing games that count in the standings. It is a beautiful time, indeed. With the games commencing in mere hours, we officially unveil RTC’s Preseason Top 25. In the future, you can expect our poll to come out every Monday morning. Along with the rankings will be the usual quick ‘n dirty analysis that takes a deeper dive into how the teams shake out #1-#25. To see how we did last year, check out our 2011-12 preseason poll—some right on the money (North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State), and others not so much (Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M). The QnD after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

While Big East basketball is always a spectacle, this conference season has even more added juice with the impending departures of Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and (eventually) Notre Dame.  However, before we get to conference games, the Big East is involved in some really intriguing non-conference games this season. Big East teams will be playing all over the United States, Germany, and on a few aircraft carriers. Let’s take a look at the best that the Big East has to offer in the non-conference slate this season.

Syracuse and San Diego State tip off the season on the deck of the USS Midway this Sunday (AP)

25. Pittsburgh v. Oakland, November 17, 7 PM

The Panthers have a rather light non-conference slate this season, but don’t expect them to look past the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland has a history of playing tough schedules, and won’t be intimidated by the Zoo. Oakland is coming off of a bit of a down year in 2011-12 when they finished 20-16 (11-7), but made the NCAA Tournament in both 2009-10, when they were knocked out in the first round by Pittsburgh, and 2010-11.

24. DePaul @ Auburn, November 30, 9 PM

Look for DePaul to try to do the conference proud when they head down to take on the Auburn Tigers as part of the SEC-Big East Challenge. This DePaul squad should be better than it has been in years past, returning dynamic forward Cleveland Melvin and dangerous guard Brandon Young.  Auburn is coming off of a poor 15-16 season, and could be ripe for a big non-conference road win for the Blue Demons.

23. Rutgers v. Iona, Madison Square Garden, December 8, 9:30 PM

One of these New York metropolitan-area teams is coming off of a great season that ended in a heartbreaking NCAA tournament loss to BYU. The other is continually striving to build its program, and aspires to have such success.  It almost seems backwards that Iona is the more accomplished team at the moment, but isn’t that what makes college basketball so great? A big performance by the Scarlet Knights at the Garden could go a long way in setting the tone for a run at a tournament berth in the Big East.

22. St. John’s v. Detroit, November 13, 2 PM

The Johnnies tip off their season against a very dangerous Detroit squad led by superstar Ray McCallum. St. John’s has a number of impressive young players themselves, and head coach Steve Lavin will return to the sideline after battling cancer last season. While many look forward to what should be a fun match-up between McCallum and D’Angelo Harrison, the St. John’s star was recently benched in the team’s final exhibition for disciplinary reasons. If Lavin continues to have issues with his top guard, it could prove very problematic for the Red Storm next week.

Read the rest of this entry »

Brian Otskey is a contributor for Rush the Court. Let him know what you think at @botskey on Twitter.

Part Three of the countdown includes conference rivalries and some intriguing non-conference matchups. Check out the previous editions of 68 Must-See Games here: #68-52, #51-35. (h/t to Zach Hayes for his assistance in building this list.)

34. February 23: Missouri at Kentucky (9:00 PM, ESPN) – Both teams have a roster full of newcomers but expect each to be on top of their games come late February when this game is played. Now a member of the SEC, Missouri will immediately be one of the favorites to win the regular season championship. Of course, it will have to get by Kentucky to do that. Winning at Rupp Arena has never been accomplished by any opponent in the John Calipari era. Missouri just might have to do that in order to bring the SEC crown to Columbia.

33. January 19: Kansas at Texas (2:00 PM, CBS) – The second of a tough three game Big 12 stretch for Kansas comes in Austin where the young Longhorns will try to knock off the old guard of the conference. Despite their personnel losses, the national runner-up will be ready to go again this year. That’s the Bill Self way. A tough early season road test is ideal for a team like Kansas to see how well the returning players have progressed and meshed with the talented newcomers.

They also meet: February 16 in Lawrence.

Jeff Withey & Myck Kabongo Will Do Battle for Big 12 Supremacy (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

32. December 29: UNLV at North Carolina (2:00 PM, ESPN2) – The Rebels knocked off top-ranked North Carolina very early last season in Vegas, setting the stage for a 26-win season and elevating the program’s status. To get back to the glory days of the Jerry Tarkanian era, however, UNLV has to advance deep into the NCAA Tournament, something it did not do last season. To be in a better position to do that, your seed has to be pretty good. If UNLV wants a top three seed in the Big Dance, it has to win games like these on the road against good teams.

31. January 26: North Carolina at NC State (7:00 PM, ESPN) – A big home game for NC State comes six games into the ACC season, a time when the title race will start to take shape. If NC State is to win the ACC for the first time since 1989 as the coaches have projected, it has to do well against Duke, Florida State and North Carolina, all of whom NC State plays twice. When one of those teams comes to your building, you have to take care of business.

They also meet: February 23 in Chapel Hill.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. After a surprising run to the NCAA Tournament last season, South Florida and coach Stan Heath earned some respect from the league this season when the Big East coaches ranked the Bulls eighth in their annual preseason poll. But if they want to continue to earn that respect, they will need to play a lot better this season then they did Monday against Division II Eckerd College. The Bulls won, 74-65, but that is far too close for comfort for an exhibition game and they were outrebounded by their opponent, 42-34. Raw rebounding statistics aren’t always the most telling statistic, but the Bulls are far too athletic and strong up front to be losing that battle to an inferior opponent anyway. It is worth noting that sophomore guard Anthony Collins was limited in the scrimmage because of a tendon issue. If I was Heath, I’d hope that Collins is going to stay healthy all season, because if he can’t, last season might prove to be a fluke after all.
2. Lost amidst all the destruction and tragedy that was caused by Hurricane Sandy last week is the fact that the storm affected Big East college basketball programs and players as well. And while the minor issues basketball teams deal with should be secondary to the real victims of this tragedy, it is worth pointing out that Sandy didn’t exactly make things easy on the college basketball coaches operating in the Tri-State area. Two of those coaches, Kevin Willard of Seton Hall and Mike Rice of Rutgers, coach and live in New Jersey, where the storm hit very hard. Rice, who lives in Monmouth County, got the worst of it, and after initially taunting the storm on Twitter, he and his family quickly evacuated before his house flooded. Willard only lost power (and apparently water for a little while) for multiple days, which isn’t exactly fun either, but now both coaches are back at work. We are as amazed and astonished that these two men barely missed a beat after a historic storm as we are glad that both coaches and their families are now safe and sound. Our best wishes go out to everyone affected by this terrible natural disaster.
3. The weather forecast for San Diego on Friday afternoon predicts a high probability of wind and rain, spoiling plans for Syracuse and San Diego State to play on board the USS Midway. But rather than move the game indoors as initially rumored, the schools and event organizers just moved the game back to Sunday afternoon so that the “Battle of the Midway” is still scheduled to take place. This wins the award for most banal news of the day, but players still get a fun experience, military members on the aircraft carrier get to enjoy themselves, and fans at home get a good match-up between ranked teams — so let’s just all be glad the game will still be played.
4. We’ve got plenty of love for the good work of Mike Waters at the Syracuse Post-Standard. We also have plenty of love for Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. These guys are two of the best Big East beat writers on the job and so since we gave Fittipaldo some love on Monday by recommending his favorite Pitt basketball memories as the team prepares to leave the conference, it is only right that we show Waters the same love by recommending his read on the five top moments in Big East conference history as his team prepares to leave the conference. From the six-overtime thriller in the Big East Tournament to the 1985 NCAA Final Four, Waters gives some excellent moments all their due respect in a fun read. You will hear a lot more from these two guys all season long.
5. I have been waiting all preseason for the inevitable “Jack Cooley ready to emerge as a leader for Notre Dame” story and it finally came, like an early Christmas gift, on Monday. First of all, great lede from reporter Mark Lazerus, as you gotta love a well-executed pun. Second, Cooley made this story inevitable by being so easy to root for. He emerged as a true interior stud in conference play last season and is a preseason first team all-conference selection this year. He also became a more vocal leader, improved his work ethic, and is now poised to lead the Fighting Irish to another excellent season. He still doesn’t look like a tremendous athlete, and he probably isn’t going to throw down any thunderous dunks anytime soon, but he is going to be a very effective player for Mike Brey’s team this season.

1. The NCAA came down hard on one of this year’s national title favorites and it probably isn’t the one that you expected. Yesterday, the NCAA announced that it was suspending two of Indiana‘s top incoming freshmen — Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin — for nine games each because they received benefits in high school from a man the NCAA deemed an Indiana booster. Pretty simple case, right? Not exactly, since the booster obtained his status by giving Indiana $185 over 20 years ago. As you can imagine, quite a few people are up in arms over this including at least one notable Kentucky fan who has been known to use the #iulol Twitter hashtag on more than one occasion, but who now is willing to wield a pitchfork alongside his Indiana brothers. For what it is worth, Indiana will appeal the ruling and perhaps the suspensions could be reduced but there’s no telling what to expect with such a strange case.
2. According to a report from The Los Angeles Times, UCLA may be getting a special opening night surprise on Friday with the possible return of Shabazz Muhammad from a right shoulder strain and a temporary reprieve from the NCAA’s investigation into his family’s financial dealings. The recovery from the right shoulder strain should not need any explanation (when he is healthy, he is ready to come back), but the NCAA issue is a little more tricky as the rules allow a player to practice and play with a team for 45 days while the NCAA goes through its investigation. Muhammad started working out with the Bruins approximately a month ago so he would have about two more weeks to play with the team before his window runs out. While this is a possibility we don’t think it would be wise for the UCLA coaching staff to introduce a player who they know may not be eligible for some early season games given the chance that he may not be playing with them again for quite a while.
3. Apparently the weather in San Diego isn’t perfect all the time as a chance of rain has led the the promoters of the Battle of Midway to postpone the game between Syracuse and San Diego State from Friday night to Sunday. While the decision to move the event back two days was made to keep the event outdoors rather than forcing it into a more mundane indoor environment, it will likely create a variety of issues for individuals who were travelling to the game and for the networks intending to broadcast the game. Early reports indicate that a variety of cable networks will still show the game, but likely to a much smaller audience (competing against the NFL). Given the events of the past few weeks we have become accustomed to sporting events getting postponed due to inclement weather, just usually not a basketball game to the risk of a shower.
4. We usually don’t comment on injuries to players who averaged 1.6 points and 0.8 rebounds per game last year, but most players are not named Shawn Kemp Jr.  either (passing on the easy paternity jokes). The Washington sophomore forward was expected to have a greatly expanded role this season, but a torn right patella tendon is expected to keep him out for the next six to eight weeks. That timetable should allow him to return for most of Pac-12 play, but until then the Huskies will have to rely on several other players whom Kemp was expected to split minutes with this season. If Kemp returns and becomes an offensive force down low for the Huskies it could be a big boost for a team that lacks much of a consistent inside offensive presence.
5. George Mason suspended a pair of sophomores — Erik Copes and Vaughn Gray — for three games each because of “student-athlete conduct violations.” Losing a pair of players who averaged a combined 7.1 points per game last season for a few games is not a significant setback, but it could cost the Patriots later in the season from an RPI perspective as the duo will miss games against Virginia, Bucknell, and Mercer. The latter two games should be relatively comfortable wins even without the extra depth that Copes and Gray provide, but the season opener against in-state rival Virginia is another story, and if the Patriots lose the game and wind up on the bubble on Selection Sunday it may be a game that their fans look back on ruefully.