9/28/09

Full Package Exposure League, Reynolds commits to Rice, other updates...


Illinois high school basketball fans have several great outlets to follow hoops on the web. The good Mongrel has linked Chicagohoops, Illinoisprepbullseye, Midstate Hoops, the Hoops Report blog (Hendrickson), and lots of stuff from the Sun-Times and elsewhere. However, Illinoishsbasketball.com has been coming up with some great interview clips and cranking out quality content. This recap from the Full Package Exposure League is jammed full of great stuff. http://illinoishsbasketball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1018&Itemid=130 Some of the many updates include...

* Brian Fabrizius had an extremely impressive performance. I've received a couple of emails asking about his recruiting progress and searched without coming up with much. I sent out some inquiries but haven't heard anything and the good Mongrel isn't exactly quick to call kids for questions about their recruiting without being all but invited to do so. Sorry readers, I know most of the kids like the attention but I'm not a real media member so it isn't the good Mongrel's bag in this current incarnation... However, this article catches us up with Fabrizius and mentions he's seven feet tall, runs the floor well, shoots "like a wing", and has great shot blocking instincts and is twenty pounds from being a sure fire high major kid. I still don't know who is involved but it sounds like he doesn't have many offers and is a senior so hopefully he has a good year. There are some impressive clips in their link as well. Photo on the right is from the previously linked article.
* The "Emphatic Egyptian" Abdul Nader is profiled, he has Oregon State's attention and they seem to think he's got some big time potential.
* Marin Kukoc had some big games and gets profiled really well also. He'll be a senior for Highland Park HS and should be one to watch.
* Levonte Dority, Keith Carter, and many others are profiled in depth. Its a good read!


Winchester, Kentucky big man Vinnie Zollo was rumored recently to have committed to Notre Dame. This NBE blog report confirms he had a great visit with Notre Dame but claims he has not committed and is still "wide open". http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/09/28/class-of-2011-intro-vinny-zollo/ The thorough Mongrel has seen Zollo a few times and he's a really impressive player. He gives full effort all the time, is a good passer for a big kid, and seems to be pretty solid on offense with decent range. I think he's probably 6'7 instead of the 6'8 or 6'9 you see listed, so a couple of inches could really help him because though he is a decent athlete he doesn't have the lateral game on either side of the ball to be a "3" in college. He still has two years left of high school, it will be fun to see how good this talented and likable kid can be if he keeps working at it.

Jody Demling is reporting that another former UK commitment, senior Dakota Euton is close to committing between Eastern Kentucky and Akron. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/09/dakotah-euton-to-pick-school.html

6'5 Chicago Whitney Young wing forward JR Reynolds has committed to play for Rice. Conference USA is loaded with talented coaches who are quietly compiling some quality recruits the last two or three years. Memphis won't be alone at the top for long in the not quite humble enough opinion of the Mongrel. Chicagohoops has the goods on Reynolds. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/reynoldsrice.html

9/26/09

Guyn recruitment heats up, Kamieniecki winding down, other updates...


Mongrel favorite Ge'Lawn Guyn (pictured here from an Examiner.com article) has decommitted from Charlotte and has heard from Northwestern, Indiana, Georgia Tech, and Mississippi State already. The article also mentions Chane Behanan has a new offer from Oklahoma State and Daryl Hicks visited Behanan's former school of choice University of Cincinnati this weekend. Here's the link... http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9504-Louisville-High-School-Sports-Examiner~y2009m9d26-News-and-Notes

Devontes Smith-Rivera is visiting Purdue this weekend.

Jake Kitchell has committed to Indiana State, he also had an offer from Oregon State and had been one of the most productive kids in Indiana in his class as well as a standout on the SYF Players AAU team this summer.

According to Jeff Goodman, one of the country's top seniors has cut his list to seven. Tobias Harris has included Kentucky and Louisville in his final seven and will do officials at both schools.

Wisconsin landed Port Washington shooting guard John Gasser. It'll be interesting to see how his college career works out compared to Vander Blue who withdrew his commitment from Wisconsin this spring. Blue is a much higher ranked prospect but he is not more productive than Gasser who had an enormous summer. As usual, the good Mongrel will predict that Bo knows best.

Brandon Kearney is visiting Kentucky this weekend along with fellow Detroit star Percy Gibson. Marc Maggard has a nice breakdown of each in this blog entry. http://www.truebluekentucky.com/index.php/basketball/926-guest-basketball/1990-two-qmystery-visitorsq-will-be-at-uk-today.html

Rick Bolus has been releasing his scouting reports the last several days.
* According to Bolus, the top twelve seniors in Indiana are Deshawn Thomas, Jordan Manual, Xavier Jones, Russell Byrd, Terone Johnson, Travis Carrol, Donnie Hale, Jesse Berry, Eric Fromm, Jake Kitchell, Khristian Smith, and Kennis White.
* According to Bolus the top twelve underclassmen in Indiana are Marquis Teague, Matt Carlino, Ryan Taylor, Jeremiah Davis, Michael Chandler, Cody Zeller, Justin Gant, Dee Davis, Rafael Davis, Kendal Griffin, Evan Blackmon, and PJ Boutte.
* Bolus says the top twelve seniors in Kentucky are Curtis Washington, Ricardo Johnson, Elijah Pittman, Chad Jackson, Ge'lawn Guyn, Donovan Gibbs, Elijah Justice, Josh Sewell, Aaron Watts, Dakota Euton, Matt St John, and Jomari Bradshaw.
* Bolus says the best underclassmen in Kentucky are Chane Behanan, George Fant, Jaylen Beckham, Vinnie Zollo, Remy Abel, Desmond Dorsey, Robbie Stenzel, Trey Williams, Jordan Shanklin, Josh Stroud, and Josh Forrest.

Several Ohio updates from Ohio/National Preps Scouting Service on their twitter account http://twitter.com/ONPSS. If you follow Ohio hoops you have to check this guy out, he's always cranking out non-stop hoops lore from Ohio and around the country. Here's a sample from the last few days only.
* Clarkston, Michigan forward Matt Kamieniecki is deciding between Ball St and Western Michigan this weekend.
* Peebles, Ohio junior Blake Justice is a 6'2 guard received an offer from Akron after a Wednesday visit. Akron also offered 6'7 sophomore Eric Troug from Kenton, Ohio.
* Ranks top 10 unsigned Ohio kids as 1) Adriean Payne, 2) Nick Kellog, 3) Garon Johnson, 4) Allen Payne, 5) Antone Hutchins, 6) Kennis White (South Bend, IN transfer), 7) Nick Harney, 8) Storm Sanders, 9) Angelo Gonzalez, 10) Kevin Gray
* Will Sheeley from Florida is visiting Northwestern this weekend.
* Strongville, OH junior Aaron White is a 6'7 forward who visited Butler this weekend. Butler, West Virginia, and Penn State visited last week among other schools.
* Akron St V/St M junior Jakar Sampson, Alpharetta, GA junior Shannon Scott, Indianapolis Broad Ripple sophomore Ron Patterson, and Indianapolis sophomore Jeremy Hollowell, and Merrillville, IN sophomore Dejuan Marrero are visiting Ohio State this weekend for the Illini game.
* Dayton, OH senior Adriean Payne is on an official visit to UK this weekend.
* Cincinnati, OH senior Allen Payne is visiting VCU this weekend.
* Dayton, Oakland, and Kansas State all visited Grand Ledge HS to see Jon Horford Friday.
* Westerville, OH junior Traevon Jackson has offers from Miami, Akron, Cleveland State, and Ohio.
* Trey Burke is a junior from Northland, OH with offers from Butler, Ohio, Miami, and James Madison.
* Dublin, OH sophomore Kyle Molock has offers from Akron, Florida International, Georgia State, Ohio, and St Joes.
* 6'2 senior shooting guard and South Bend transplant Kennis White has offers from Drake, Bradley, and Indiana State.
* 6'4 senior Matt Vest from Dayton, OH committed to Wright State last week.

Las Vegas senior Moses Morgan committed to Depaul last week. Morgan is a high scoring 6'5 wing guard who considered Indiana, Utah, Oklahoma, and UNLV among others. http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2009/09/depaul_lands_a_good_one.html

Chicago Foreman point guard Levonte Dority hosted visits from New Mexico's Steve Alford and South Florida's Stan Heath last week. He is expected to choose between those two programs and Baylor soon. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/dorityusf.html

Dority's Foreman teammate Eddie Denard committed to UI-Chicago. http://ilprepbullseye.com/page30.html Denard is a 6'5 wing.

Illinois Prep Bullseye has several updates in this link http://ilprepbullseye.com/page43.html , including...
* Justin Threloff is visiting Western Michigan this weekend and is expected to decide between WMU, Drake, Illinois State, and Northern Illinois after the visit.
* Levonte Dority and former UNLV and Valpo center Beas Hamga are taking official visits to New Mexico this weekend.
* Jarod Oldham is visiting Southern Methodist this weekend and has offers from SMU, Bradley, Indiana State, Eastern Illinois, and Buffalo.
* Kourtney Darby visited Bradley this weekend.
* Jacob Williams has offers from Bradley, Xavier, Southern Illinois, and Loyola.
* Chason Randle is visiting Iowa State again this weekend. I continue to hear the Cyclones and Purdue are strongest here but Ohio State made a huge impression and is closing fast.

9/14/09

Visit Updates.

Justin Gant is a 6'8 forward from Terre Haute North who the good Mongrel is really high on. Gant has range, has a little bit of a handle, and really is comfortable battling underneath. He plays with Plumlee and Zeller for Indiana Elite Orange in the summers, so he gets overshadowed sometimes but Gant is a solid high major prospect in his own right. He was at Michigan for the big victory over Notre Dame on the gridiron this weekend. Gant is setting up a visit to Wisconsin as well. http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2009/09/gant-visits-mic.html

Notre Dame and Indiana just received commitments from Dematha, Maryland stars last week but both are working hard to add an even better player from the same school to their 2011 class. Over the weekend Quinn Cook was one of the many stars at Ohio State's close loss to USC. Cook says he and Bradley Beal were getting pressured by OSU's 2010 kids to commit but he didn't give in. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/09/14/qa-with-quinn-cook-on-osu-visit-recruiting/

Medina, Ohio sophomore Ken Kaminski has received offers from Michigan State and Indiana per seperate twitters from ONPSS and Highmajorscoop.

Alex Foster is one of the biggest names in the 2013 class. The 6'7 power forward from Chicago just received an offer from Matt Painter at Purdue. Foster is one of the few kids in the country special enough to have multiple high major offers as Illinois and Purdue have offered him before he ever plays a game in high school. Ohio State and Indiana have also recruited him heavily this summer.
http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/afoster1.html


Rock Island point guard Chason Randle is fresh off his visit to Ohio State on a big football weekend. He appears to be ready to schedule a couple of more big football weekend visits. Randle will be at Purdue for the Notre Dame football game and plans on visiting Illinois for their home game against Michigan. I'm still hearing Purdue is in good shape with Randle. Here's a link on Randle's recruitment. http://ilprepbullseye.com/page40.html


Jody Demling has an update on some weekend visits for Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/09/weekend-visits-update.html Nothing new in there, the upcoming UK visit next weekend from Brandon Knight and Stacey Poole will be huge for the Wildcats. Knight is hosting Duke today for an in-home.

The poor confused Mongrel has been trying to keep up with the stunning amount of transfers happening across the country. Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana especially have had so many transfers the last few months that I still don't know who is where. This excellent LA Times article makes us feel a little better since now we know everyone is in the same boat. Transfers are a touchy issue. You want to be in it for the kids, so its annoying to hear coaches whine about it when they play the same game and pilch each others players whenever they have a chance. Of course those coaches then all say its all about the kids. Parents should be able to do what is best for their kids, and kids who move shouldn't be subject to sitting out a year to protect the bureaucratic interest of state high school athletics boards. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sondheimer15-2009sep15,0,141588,full.column

9/10/09

More commitments!


The recruiting period is heating up quickly with in-home visits. Covington Holmes senior Ricardo Johnson was the MVP of the Sweet 16 in Kentucky and has committed to former Buckeye assistant John Groce and his Ohio program. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/09/swete-16-mvp-makes-his-pick.html The photo on the right shows him from a Courier Journal photo (believe from Demling's blog).

Champaign Centennial had the luxury of seeing two of its stars commit to outstanding mid-major programs. Senior guard Rayvonte Rice has committed to Drake. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/rayvontedrake.html Meanwhile Eastern Kentucky has secured a commitment from Jeff Johnson, a 6'8 forward who has excellent footwork and is solid shooting the ball, I got to see him this summer for the Peoria Irish 17U squad and he was really impressive. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/johnsoneku.html

Kentucky head coach John Calipari did in-home visits with Doron Lamb, Kyrie Irving, and Tobias Harris in just one busy day this week doing in-home visits. This Zagsblog article has updates on several of Calipari's targets including Doron Lamb who they visited with tonight. The article also mentions Indiana coach Tom Crean was at Mountain State Academy to see Turkish star Enes Katner and Obij Ajet, a seven foot sophomore prospect who played with Indiana Elite Team Indiana this summer. http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/09/10/contact-period-opens-amid-recruiting-frenzy/ Ajet is an outstanding shot blocker but is very skinny which currently limits his effectiveness against some players who play with some strength underneath. But he's a wonderful athlete with unbelievable reach and he also has a very nice jump shot out to 18 feet.

Chane Behannan and George Fant did unofficials with WKU this week. http://nationalhoopsreport.blogspot.com/2009/09/fastbreak-friday-sept-11.html

Chicago Foreman star point guard Levonte Dority has cut his list to three schools. Baylor, New Mexico, and South Florida are all still in the running for the high scoring point. He was considering Marquette, Indiana, and several other schools before cutting down his list. http://ilprepbullseye.com/page9.html

As the above link to nationalhoopsreport.blogspot.com indicates, Thad Matta is hosting quite a collection of talent this weekend for the USC football game at the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes will host their top ranked 2010 recruiting class along with 2011 stars Quinn Cook, Bradley Beal, Cody Zeller, Chason Randle, Amir Williams, and several other key recruits along with star alums Greg Oden and Mike Conley. http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/09/11/quinn-cook-on-ohio-state-visit-this-weekend/

Indiana State appears close to landing a commitment from Jake Kitchell. The link has Kitchell saying he played "ok" this summer. Its a very poignant comment imo. This is a kid who led the state of Indiana in blocked shots and put up huge numbers in scoring and rebounding. Sure a 2A schedule can give a good player a chance to pad his stats but the kid wasn't just productive he was phenomenally productive. So when I first had a chance to see him this summer I expected to see the kind of skill that is required to put up such incredible numbers but he was playing with the SYF Players. They were absolutely loaded with stars such as Jesse Berry, Xavier Jones, and bigs like Dominique Ferguson, Enique Mason, and Kitchell. Kitchell was solid on the boards, played solid defense, and was among the most vocal leaders on the floor I'd seen for a big man on the summer circuit. But he didn't try to shoot much either time I got a chance to see him. He would get a rebound, and try to initiate offense on the break, communicate well with his teammates and play unselfishly. These were not qualities I expected to see out of a kid who was among the state leaders in points, rebounds, and blocked shots. If that skill is there which you have to almost assume when a kid puts up numbers, then he could be a special player with his unselfishness and leadership. I wish I'd seen enough of him to weigh in on how productive he can be against good competition, but he's got everything else and has been so productive its tempting to give him the benefit of the doubt. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090911/SPORTS0615/909110356

The above link to the outstanding Indy Star article also has updates on Bowman Academy's sophomore sensation Dujuan Marrero as well as his less heralded senior teammate Tyrae Robinson. Marrero has offers from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue, and Valparaiso. He's a 6'5 rebounding and defensive machine with a non stop motor and worth the price of admission himself. Robinson is a 6'1 guard with offers from Ball State and Dane Fife's IPFW program. Christopher Bond is a 6'4 forward for Bowman with an offer from SIU Edwardsville.

The Indy Star article also mentioned Pike senior Khristian Smith wants to decide before his senior season. So far he has offers from Drake, Evansville, Morehead State, Indiana State, and Ron Hunter's IUPUI program. Smith has the size and athleticism of a high major prospect, and he is a versatile player who looks the part of a big time player for a mid-major program imo. He played very well leading Pike to a team camp victory at Purdue this summer without the help of Marquis Teague. He also looked very good in summer play alongside Teague, Deshawn Thomas, and company. He has several wonderful college options now which may be the best fit for him, but he's the type of athlete and talent that you find among the seniors who have breakout seasons and get high major attention in the spring if he chose to ride out the process and pursue that option. Smith will be visiting Eastern Illinois this weekend.

MILive.com has another great update courtesy of Stephen Bell. Bell has some good stuff on Kalamazoo Central's 6'6 forward Darius Norman. Bell says Norman was making big plays last year but might be ready to be consistent this year. http://blog.mlive.com/highschoolbasketball/

Shiningstarsports.com has updates on many of their players. Tregg Setty and Jordan Gilbert of Mason County hosted Wright State, Vanderbilt, and Miami at an open gym. http://shiningstarsports.blogspot.com/2009/09/recruiting-update-gilbert-and-setty.html

9/9/09

Zach Price, Karl Madison, Cole Darling off the boards, more updates.



Rick Pitino appears to be on the cusp of landing one of his best recruiting classes in years with the 2011 class. Indianapolis Lawrence North stars Michael Chandler and Ryan Taylor are quite a recruiting class by themselves, but this week Pitino added another big kid in the class when Lakewood St Edwards big man Zach Price committed to Louisville on his third visit http://highmajorscoop.com/2009/09/pitino-finds-the-price-he-likes/. St Edwards has been on quite a roll producing big men recently with Price joining recent Big Ten power forwards Delvin Roe and Tom Pritchard as products from the school. In Louisville's recruiting class, Taylor is more of a small forward (I got to see how much progress he was making at that at the USSSA Nationals in July), Chandler is a true center with skills that should put him in the McDonalds All American game if he has the fire to take over games, and Zach Price is slated to be more of a power forward. Pitino is expected to have an excellent chance to add Marquis Teague at point, Wayne Blackshear at shooting guard, and perhaps even Mike Shaw at small forward in the coming days.

Springfield Laphier's Karl Madison has committed to play for Drake University. According to Brian Stinnete Drake is visiting Champaign Central's Rayvonte Rice on the first day of the contact period. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/brianstinnette603.html Madison is seen in his St Louis Eagles uniform in this scout.com photo.

Brad Brownell has landed one of the top players from the state of Michigan to add to his class of 2010. Holt HS's Cole Darling has pulled the trigger for the Wright State Raiders. http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/school?schoolId=2750&page=briefingroom&season=2010&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fschool%3fschoolId%3d2750%26page%3dbriefingroom%26season%3d2010


According to the above Chicagohoops link, Eastern Illinois is hosting some important visitors in the coming days as well. Jared Oldham, Ben Brackney, and jucos Lazeric Jones and Al Rapier are expected to have visits with Eastern Illinois staff. The article also mentions Chicago Hales Franciscan senior Patrick Miller had a good visit to Tennessee State this last weekend.

Macari Brooks was on campus at Louisville over the weekend and has updated his recruiting list. He says Louisville, Depaul, Xavier, and Southern Illinois are among the many schools involved. http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/macaribrooks2.html

Hoosierhoopsreport.com has an outstanding update on some underclassmen in Indiana expecting important visitors now that the contact period is opening. The article discusses the thin pickings left in Indiana's 2010 class after the massive prep school defections throughout the state and puts a focus on some D1 prospects from the younger classes that might benefit from the exposure of having big crowds there looking at higher profile teammates. http://hoosierhoopsreport.com/2009/09/08/let-the-visits-begin/

Ray MacCallum Jr has a top seven which includes his dad's squad Detroit. http://blog.northstarbball.com/2009/09/09/justin-coleman-tarik-black-and-ray-mccallum-on-where-they-stand.aspx Ray Jr is a treat to watch, he's a very heady player with good athleticism and skill. He'll be a star wherever he goes. The link also updates Justin Coleman's recruiting. He is still listing Xavier, Marquette, Florida, UConn, Arkansas, and Virginia as his top six schools.



Jody Demling has an update on who Kentucky and Louisville plan on doing in-home visits with from the senior class. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/2009/09/in-home-visits-on-tap.html


Dematha (MD) shooting guard Victor Oladipo has joined Indiana's 2010 recruiting class. Sportspress has him ranked #58
in the class and rivals and Gibbons have him ranked around 135. http://www.insidethehall.com/2009/09/07/victor-oladipo-joins-indianas-2010-class/

Late update, just got off Twitter and Dematha's high school coach is saying Jerian Grant has committed to Notre Dame also! Grant is going to play for another Dematha alumn in Coach Brey.

Shiningstarsports.com has a new feature up on Tregg Setty. He is receiving interest from Xavier, Virginia, Old Miss, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Wright State, Tennessee, and others including an offer from Southern Illinois.
http://www.shiningstarsports.blogspot.com/

Lots of rumors have been swirling recently about Kentucky facing another hit with the NCAA, although I haven't heard anything that is huge on the surface at least. UK blogger Marc maggard weighs in defending Bilel Batley from what Maggard calls "unfair" rumors about his dismisal. The mature Mongrel does not want to start sharing whispers when they are potentially harmful to people (you'll find the rare rumor mongering I participate in is pretty neutral or positive stuff), but I'll throw this defense by Maggard out there for now until more becomes known. Batley followed Kelvin Sampson from OU and was at OU during Sampson's phone scandal part one, then was at Indiana with Sampson for a year prior to phone scandal part two, then went to Memphis under Calipari for the Derek Rose saga, and had followed Cal to UK until recently at least. http://www.truebluekentucky.com/index.php/basketball/926-guest-basketball/1910-bilal-bately-and-unfair-assumptions.html








9/5/09

Visit updates and School Lists in the Calm Before the Storm


6'5 Nequa Valley star Dwayne Evans is one of the more sought after kids in the Chicago area in the 2010 class. According to the Hoops Report (Sun Times Hendrickson blog) he is very high on Drake, St Louis, and Northwestern with Illinois State and Toledo staying involed as well. http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/ 6'10 Dekalb center Jordan Threloff enjoyed a recent visit to Drake as well. Hendrickson believes Illinois State is also strong with the big man and lists Western Michigan, Western Kentucky, Loyola, and Northern Illinois as the likely schools to watch for Threloff.

6'5 Demath (MD) senior Victor Oladipo seems to be favoring Indiana and Notre Dame. He visited Indiana this weekend and had some nice things to say about Indiana and said he could verbal at any time but appears a good bet to make the USC vs Notre Dame game later this month to visit with former Dematha coach Mike Brey. http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=4355 Indiana sits well with top 5 ranked Kyrie Irving so they might only have one grant available to use on either Oladipo or two other wings expected to visit in the next couple of weeks Stacey Poole and Moses Morgan. With Poole's recruitment appearing to favor Kentucky, look for Indiana to have a good chance to secure a commitment either from Oladipo sometime this week or Morgan sometime next week when he visits.

Poole is visiting Indiana and Kentucky the weekend of the 18/19 of September. He is talking like UK is his favorite in recent interviews but has listed several schools as favorites in the last month and Kentucky is also doing in-home visits with a few other elite 2010 big wings such as Tobias Harris, Cameron Clark, and Doron Lamb. Kentucky appears to have quite a few rides to use in 2010, but could be facing a shortage of big kids next year if Patterson and Cousins leave as expected. It is unclear if Kentucky will pursue Poole or if Poole will be scared away if Kentucky lands one of those other outstanding prospects in the next couple of weeks. It is nearly inconceivable that UK will pursue less than 2 big kids and 2 point/combo guards in this class looking at the kids they will likely lose after this season and the kids who seem enthralled with UK right now. They are still the talk of the college basketball world with Calipari and seemingly every point guard who watched Derek Rose on TV has Cal on speed dial, its hard to expect them to get less than two big time points in the 2010 class.

All summer long schools chase the recruits around the country but once official visits begin and kids start committing in September the recruiting landscape can shift suddenly and dramatically as kids who planned on doing five visits realize the school they were leaning to is probably going to get one of their buddies instead next week and might be out of rides for the foreseeable future at their position. Its a big game of dominoes and several kids will choose the school we all knew they would but a few will wait too long and see their favorite school move on someone else.

Rick Pitino called a press conference last week and announced that his sex scandal will not keep Louisville from being a destination for top ten kids. Boy he appears to be right. After losing some momentum the last few months with several commitments flaking out for Europe and other reasons Louisville is hosting a who's who of elite recruits this weekend including Marquis Teague, Mike Shaw, Wayne Blackshear, Rod Odom, Macari Brooks, Zach Price, and others. http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html

Michigan State is visiting Jayvaughn Pinkston this month. Cincinnati is hosting Devon Collier for a visit. Pinkston and Collier are both 6'8 forwards from New Jersey who appear on several top 150 lists. Hoopsreport.com has updates on several recruits of note including Oladipo, Terrence Jones, and others. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/hoopsnews/ontheroad2

Another Hoopsreport article of note includes an update on Indiana, Ohios State, and Louisville target Adonis Thomas. Louisville and Indiana also have both offered Angel Nunez, and they update the recruitment of Indianapolis superstar sophomore Jeremy Hollowell who already has offers from Ohio State, Cincinnati, Iowa, Tennessee, Xavier, and Illinois along with strong interest from Indiana and Purdue. That is quite an offer list for someone in the 2012 class that the national scouts seem to be just discovering. He outplayed top ten ranked Wisconsin superstar JP Tokoto head to head in a couple of championship games and has a silky smooth shot, great length, and is dripping with upside. The picture above of Hollowell is a little blurry (which of course means its one I took instead of one I linked from another article) and shows Hollowell from the USSSA Nationals in Ft Wayne where his Spiece Indy Stars club played well in the 16U division. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/hoopsnews/thursdaybuzzerbeaters1

While we're doing our rounds with Hoopsreport.com, don't overlook this article on Stevie Taylor. He's got offers from Akron, Ball State, Ohio, and a few other mid-majors and will be switching to All-Ohio Red next year. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/hoopsnews/stevietaylormakesdecisiontoswapprogramsforfamilyaswellashisgame


High Major Scoop is twittering that Penn State hosted Ohio stars Trey Burke and Aaron White this weekend.

9/3/09

September Visits, Commitments, Updates...


The summer is winding down, the pig skin is being dusted off, and bikinis are still in fashion. That's right folks, September is in full force. Recruiting visits are happening all over the country, and most of the time schools try to get their top priorities on campus first so expect commitments to pick up a little starting next week. Last week one of the best uncommitted players in Ohio pulled the trigger for Xavier. Griffin McKenzie had his list down to four schools and found his future home in his own back yard. The Cincinnati star is all of 6'9 and has good reach. I haven't seen much of him since May when he was still kicking the rust off from a long recovery from a back injury so I don't have a real good feel for how good he is. When I saw him he appeared a bit mechanical but showed a nice outside shot. He had strong interest from Ohio State, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and several other high major programs.


Meanwhile a pair of Baltimore area stars are visiting high major campuses near you. 2010 star guard Jerrian Grant is visiting Mike Brey and Notre Dame this weekend, and 6'4 athlete supreme Victor Oladipo is on Indiana's campus. Its thought that Notre Dame will also have an excellent shot at both players as Oladipo has a visit scheduled for Notre Dame as well. Indiana and Notre Dame are also both expecting visits from Alabama's Ralston Turner this fall, another fine wing in the 2010 class.


The good Mongrel has been puting off a series of posts in response to emails on who is the best player in each state not to show up on the national top 100 lists and Kentucky is one of the primary culprits. 2010 stars Ricardo Johnson, Josh Sewell, and Ge'lawn Guyn are all outstanding players that in the opinion of the impressed Mongrel would be nice additions for any program in the country. Guyn ended up at Charlotte and Sewell with the Miami Redhawks but Johnson is out doing visits right now. Johnson is an outstanding athlete and has good size and strength for a guard as well. He's about 6'4 and can really defend. Johnson's first really strong offer came from Jim Les' Bradley program who has been on him from the beginning and he mentions some of the appeals of Bradley in this player bio put out by Hoopsreport.com. http://www.hoopsreport.com/news/playerdiaries/ricardosdiary


According to the Louisville Courier Journal reporter Jody Demling, Aaron Thomas has picked up an offer from Indiana. Thomas is a 6'4 wing in the 2011 class from Cincinnati who drew a lot of high major attention for the Queen City Prophets in July. Demling's blog is linked on the side-bar.


Another Indiana prospect is heading to prep school. Its an epidemic which is wiping out the state's talent base in 2010. Dominique Fergeson and Justin Martin are getting all the attention, and for good reason they are outstanding high major star prospects. But Indianapolis Northwest's Ronald Ross will be joining Martin at Mountain State Academy. http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/2009/09/ross-to-prep-sc.html Ross has an offer from Ohio. In addition to the three Indianapolis stars, Enique Mason and Xavier Jones from the SYF Players organization will be leaving the state for prep school. Jones is a very well known prospect from Gary who has offers to several strong mid-majors and some high majors as well. Mason might be a name people aren't as familiar with but that won't be the case too long. Right now he's probably projected as a lower D1 player, but the kid is very strong and coordinated and at 6'10 you just don't see many bodies out there like his. If you got to see Maurice Walker this summer from Team Breakdown (Canada) Mason looks like he's on track to be that kind of player. He needs to get a little more aggressive but he works hard on defense, uses his body against his opponent, has good hands, and can get the ball in the hoop when he tries and he has the size you can't teach. Walker is also in the 2010 class but I'm pretty sure he's 2-3 years older than Mason iirc. Big guys have the famous light that comes on and Mason is a kid who can go from nowhere to somewhere pretty quick if that happens, he's got all the parts lined up waiting for the big game to happen. I hope the move to Ohio treats him well.


Chicago area shooting forward Duje Dukan has an offer from Miami to add to his collection. Check out this free story on his visit to see the Redhawks campus. http://miamiohio.scout.com/2/894589.html Dukan is a 6'8 forward with a smooth shooting stroke and has other offers from Oregon State, New Mexico, and several mid-major programs.


Kentucky is going to host 6'8 Portland, Oregon forward Terrance Jones on September 22nd according to Zagsblog.com. http://www.zagsblog.net/


The absent-minded Mongrel missed this update on Central Michigan recruiting this year by MILive.com. http://blog.mlive.com/highschoolbasketball/ In addition to Coach Zeigler's son Trey, Central Michigan is in the running for Cole Darling, Colin Voss, Devin Long, Nate VanArendonk, and Maurice Jones.


2011 Muncie, Indiana star Jeremiah Davis is hearing from the locals how badly they want to see him wearing an Indiana uniform. Check out this interview from the Bloomington Herald Times on Davis. http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=4325 When Davis first came to the good Mongrel's attention he was getting high major offers from the best programs in the country as an 8th and soon to be 9th grader. Much like fellow 2011 point guard star Marquis Teague, his teams have not performed as well as you'd hope for such an outstanding talent and smart kid at point to produce. Davis had a habit of taking too many shots and despite having all the right tools and being a good kid, he started out with a bit of a reputation for a free lancer. This summer he switched AAU teams and really handled the point well in July and regained the attention of some national scouts and more high major programs. Its unclear where he'll end up imo, I'm not real convinced the Indiana hype is going to pan out. Schools with huge fan bases like Indiana or Kentucky tend to drum up unrealistic expectations which include landing every recruit who talks them up, but many kids like to talk them up just to get their names out there. We'll see though, if Davis continues to mature on the court he's got the overall game and athleticism to continue his track to McDonald's All American status so he'd be a good get for any program who can keep him focused on running the team. Davis is pictured above from an IDS photo. I've seen him several times and love his ability on both sides of the ball, it'll be fun to see how good he can be if he keeps playing team ball.