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Early-signing period has arrived
Updated: Wednesday November 08, 2000 11:46 AM
As we've noted previously, a very high percentage of the premier high school senior hoopsters have already made their collegiate decisions and intend to sign binding national letters of intent during the upcoming (Nov. 8-15) early-signing period. In fact, at this writing a total of 80 of our national top-100 prospects in the class of 2001 have announced apparently firm verbal commitments, several others are expected to reach collegiate decisions during the next few days, and two more have "committed" but then reconsidered and decommitted. The most recent to back off announced commitments are 6-1 1/2 Louisville (Ky.) Moore lefty point guard Carlos Hurt (ranked No. 13 nationally among the seniors) and 6-5 Albany (Ga.) Westover small forward/wing guard Greg Tinch (No. 51). Hurt, who moved this summer from the Houston area, had committed to Louisville; he now says he wants to take some campus visits during the basketball season (perhaps to Cincinnati, Texas and/or Houston?) and thus will not sign until spring, although the Cardinals are still at the top of his list. Tinch, a sensational leaper who had declared for Seton Hall, claims he'll choose either the Pirates or Colorado and would like to play collegiately with 6-11, 240-pound Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy center David Harrison (No. 14). Interestingly, Harrison's brother D.J. is a 6-7 junior forward at Colorado, and the Buffaloes are among Harrison's favorites, along with hometown Vanderbilt (where his father is football defensive line coach), North Carolina and Duke. Gators lead with three top-10 recruitsWhile all the fall recruiting results are not in yet, it's clear to us at this point that the best November crop will belong to Florida, since the Gators have commitments from three of the nation's top 10 high school senior prospects. Among the others who have fared particularly well are North Carolina (with a trio of top-35 prospects), Arizona (five recruits from the top 70), UCLA (three from the top 40, another from the top 100, plus a quality transfer), Missouri (three of the top 50), and N.C. State and Georgia Tech, each with four of the top 90 seniors. Additionally, Kansas and California have gained the nod from two top-40 prepsters apiece. Stanford, Kentucky and Michigan all have landed a threesome ranked within the top 100, while the best prep senior to have verbally committed (6-2 PG/WG Dajuan Wagner of Camden, N.J., High) will attend Memphis. In other words, a lot of colleges have recruited quite effectively this fall, and others no doubt will have followed suit when all the results are in. Listed below, in alphabetical order, are 30 Division I universities that have recruited especially impressively to date this fall. The biggest surprise, in terms of reputation, is Florida International. Verbal commitments (in order of individual national rankings) are listed for each school. 30 top fall recruiting cropsAlabama: 6-1 1/2 Jackson (Miss.) Murrah PG Maurice Williams (No. 19); 6-3 Memphis White Station WG Earnest Shelton (No. 95), over Wake Forest, Tennessee and Tulane. Arizona: 6-11 Duluth (Minn.) East PF/C Rick Rickert (No. 20), over Minnesota and Duke; 6-8 Halstead (Kan.) High PF Dennis Latimore (No. 42); 6-2 Lake Oswego (Ore.) High WG/PG Salim Stoudamire (No. 46); 6-11 Phoenix St. Mary's C Channing Frye (No. 56); 5-10 Chicago Crane Tech PG Will Bynum (No. 67), over Georgia Tech. California: 6-8 1/2 Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More PF Julian Sensley (No. 12); 6-11 Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei C Jamal Sampson (No. 36), over St. Louis, Kansas, Virginia, UCLA and Connecticut; 6-7 Seattle Prep SF/WG Erik Bond (No. 164), over Washington, Oregon and Gonzaga. Clemson: 6-5 Biloxi (Miss.) High WG/PG/SF Chey Christie (No. 55); 6-9 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy PF/C Sherrod Ford (No. 168); 6-6 Richland (N.J.) St. Augustine PF/SF Olu Babalola (top 300). Colorado: 6-9 Las Vegas Bishop Gorman C/PF Jason Carter (No. 108); 6-9 Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School PF Jaime Lloreda (No. 149). Note: 6-4 Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School WG Joshua Chambers (top 300) has backed off an early commitment to Colorado but still could wind up in Boulder. DePaul: 6-6 1/2 Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School SF/PF Quemont Greer (No. 48), over Charlotte; 6-4 Chicago Providence St. Mel WG/PG LaVar Seals (No. 86); 6-8 Schoolcraft (Mich.) CC PF Sam Hoskins (top-75 JC soph); 6-8 Brooklyn Paul Robeson PF Kenny Adeleke (top 300); 6-5 Fond Du Lac (Wis.) Goodrich WG/SF Drake Diener (top 300). Florida: 6-11 Brunswick (Ga.) Glynn Academy PF/C Kwame Brown (No. 7); 6-9 St. Louis Chaminade PF/SF David Lee (No. 9); 6-7 1/2 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy SF James White (No. 10). Florida International: 6-9 Collingswood (N.J.) Faith Christian PF/SF Taurance Johnson (No. 39); 6-2 1/2 Miami Christian PG/WG Carlos Morban (No. 120); 6-7 Miami Northwest Christian SF/PF Rafael Luis (No. 137); 6-8 Miami Christian PF Johan Rivera (No. 171). Georgetown: 6-8 Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian PF/SF Harvey Thomas (No. 28); 6-2 Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian PG/WG Tony Bethel (No. 106); 6-7 Napoleanville (La.) Assumption SF Darrel Owens (top 300); 6-2 1/2 Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian WG/PG Drew Hall (top 300). Georgia Tech: 6-8 Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas PF/C Ed Nelson (No. 29); 6-6 1/2 Atlanta Mohammed SF/PF Is'mail Muhammad (No. 43); 6-5 Madison (Ga.) Morgan County WG/SF Barry Elder (No. 73); 6-10 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy C Michael Southall (No. 87), over Wake Forest and Pittsburgh; 6-7 Birmingham (Ala.) Woodlawn SF Anthony Vasser (No. 109). Iowa: 6-3 Westmont (Ill.) High WG/PG Pierre Pierce (No. 41); 6-6 Peoria (Ill.) Central SF Marcellus Sommerville (No. 81); 6-11 Euless (Texas) Trinity C Erek Hansen (No. 193). Kansas: 6-1 Portland (Ore.) Jefferson PG Aaron Miles (No. 15), over Arizona and UCLA; 6-8 1/2 Leavenworth (Kan.) High PF Wayne Simien (No. 17); 6-4 Crowley (Texas) North Crowley SG Keith Langford (No. 145); 6-3 Portland (Ore.) Jefferson WG Michael Lee (top 300). Kentucky: 6-3 Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy WG Rashaad Carruth (No. 21); 6-6 1/2 Modesto (Calif.) Christian SF/PF Chuck Hayes (No. 68); 6-5 Bowling Green (Ky.) High WG/SF Josh Carrier (No. 91). Louisiana State: 6-9 Lee (Texas) JC PF/C Shawnson Johnson (top-50 JC soph); 6-8 Kilgore (Texas) JC SF/PF Thomas Davis (top-75 JC soph); 6-7 Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) CC PF/SF Kedrick Brown (top-75 JC soph). Memphis: 6-2 Camden (N.J.) High PG/WG Dajuan Wagner (No. 2); 6-8 Oxnard (Calif.) JC PF Chris Massie (top-75 JC soph); 6-4 College Park (Ga.) North Clayton WG Anthony Rice (No. 99); 6-9 Huntsville (Ala.) Lee PF/C Duane Erwin (No. 112), over Auburn, UAB and Georgia Tech. Michigan: 6-4 Santa Barbara (Calif.) High WG/PG Dommanic Ingerson (No. 23); 6-6 Flint (Mich.) Northern WG/SF JaQuan Hart (No. 55), over Iowa, Purdue and Wisconsin; 6-8 Chicago Marshall PF Kelly Whitney (No. 93); 6-7 Detroit Martin Luther King SF Chuck Bailey (top 300). Michigan State: 6-4 Flint (Mich.) Northwestern WG Kelvin Torbert (No. 4), over Cincinnati and Connecticut; 6-6 Minneapolis De La Salle SF Alan Anderson (No. 58); 6-3 Indianapolis Lawrence North WG/PG Chris Hill (No. 136). Missouri: 6-10 Benton Harbor (Mich.) High C/PF Robert Whaley (No. 27); 6-6 Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School SF/WG Duane John (No. 37); 6-6 Chicago Morgan Park SF Najeeb Echols (No. 50); 6-10 Benton Harbor (Mich.) High PF/C Jeff Ferguson (No. 125). Note: 6-8 Pittsfield (Maine) Maine Central Institute PF/SF Travon Bryant (formerly No. 21), a 2000 McDonald's All-American as a senior at Long Beach (Calif.) Jordan, has qualified recently on the SAT and will enroll at Missouri in January. North Carolina: 6-8 Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward's SF/PF Jawad Williams (No. 18); 6-2 Baltimore Southern PG/WG Melvin Scott (No. 26); 6-6 West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman WG/SF Jackie Manuel (No. 34). N.C. State: 6-6 Bronx St. Raymond's WG/PG/SF Julius Hodge (No. 5), over Syracuse, Maryland and Florida; 6-7 1/2 Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian SF/PF Levi Watkins (No. 64); 6-9 Riverdale (Ga.) High PF Josh Powell (No. 70); 6-10 Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic C/PF Jordan Collins (No. 90). Ohio State: 6-0 Beaver Falls (Pa.) Blackhawk PG Brandon Fuss-Cheatham (No. 69); 6-7 1/2 Cincinnati Moeller SF Matt Sylvester (No. 79); 6-9 Youngstown (Ohio) Boardman PF/C Terrence Dials (No. 134). Seton Hall: 6-6 Coatesville (Pa.) High SF/WG John Allen (No. 35); 6-2 Hillsdale (N.J.) Pascack Valley WG John Blackgrove (top 300). Note: 6-5 Albany (Ga.) Westover SF/WG Greg Tinch (No. 51), formerly committed, now is deciding between Seton Hall and Colorado. Southern California: 6-2 Torrance (Calif.) Bishop Montgomery WG/PG Errick Craven (No. 71); 6-11 Ridgecrest (Calif.) Burroughs C/PF Rory O'Neil (No. 94); 6-2 Torrance (Calif.) Bishop Montgomery WG/PG Derrick Craven (No. 192). Note: 6-7 Southern Idaho JC SF Jerry Dupree (top-75 JC soph) gave the Trojans a commitment this fall that reportedly may not be solid. Stanford: 6-6 Lakewood (Calif.) Mayfair WG/SF Josh Childress (No. 25); 6-9 1/2 Fairfax (Va.) Pope Paul VI C Rob Little (No. 65); 6-2 Fresno (Calif.) Clovis West PG Chris Hernandez (No. 76). Syracuse: 7-0 East Greenbush (N.Y.) Columbia C Craig Forth (No. 88); 6-9 Philadelphia Friends Central SF/PF Hakim Warrick (No. 118), over Providence; 6-6 Griffin (Ga.) High SF Josh Pace (No. 119); 6-10 Waterbury (Conn.) Holy Cross PF/C Mark Konecny (No. 130). Texas: 6-0 Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge PG Terrance (T.J.) Ford (No. 22); 6-10 Redwater (Texas) High C Chris Wright (No. 155). UCLA: 6-7 Los Angeles Washington Prep SF Andre Patterson (No. 24); 6-6 Redondo Beach (Calif.) Redondo Union SF/WG Dijon Thompson (No. 31); 6-5 1/2 Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei PG/WG Cedric Bozeman (No. 40); 6-11 Olympia (Wash.) Capital C Michael Fey (No. 96). Note: 6-6 SF Spencer Gloger is sitting out this season as a transfer from Princeton, where he averaged 12 ppg last year as a freshman. Utah: 6-4 Hialeah (Fla.) Champagnat Catholic WG Martin Osimani (No. 66); 7-0 Los Alamos (N.M.) High C Chris Jackson (No. 133), over Stanford, Purdue and New Mexico; 6-4 1/2 San Diego St. Augustine WG/SF Eric Osmundson (No. 196). Virginia: 6-8 Newport News (Va.) Warwick PF/C Elton Brown (No. 33), over Temple and Florida State; 6-2 1/2 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy PG/WG Keith Jenifer (No. 113); 6-8 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy PF Jason Clark (No. 114); 6-3 Dyke (Va.) Blue Ridge School WG/PG Jermaine Harper (No. 115). West Virginia: 6-0 Fort Washington (Md.) National Christian Academy PG Jonathan Hargett (No. 11), over Tennessee, LSU, Arizona and Georgia Tech; 6-7 Richmond (Va.) Meadowbrook SF/WG Tyrone Sally (No. 152); 6-4 North Bridgton (Maine) Bridgton Academy WG Drew Schifino (No. 161); 6-2 Berlin (Pa.) Brothers Valley WG Travis Eisentrout (unranked). Regional notesThe focus will remain on verbal commitments (unmentioned above) made during the two weeks since our last contribution. EAST Temple: 6-4 Houston Klein Forest WG/PG Nile Murry (unranked), over Houston and Tulsa. St. Bonaventure: 6-8 Baltimore St. Joseph's PF Kevin Mickens (unranked), over George Washington, Buffalo, Towson, Marist and Virginia Commonwealth. St. Joseph's: 6-5 Horsham (Pa.) Hatboro-Horsham SF Pat Carroll (unranked), over Duquesne. Boston University: 6-9 Stratford (Conn.) Bunnell C/PF Matt Czaplinski (unranked). Albany: 6-7 San Rafael (Calif.) High SF Dustin Brown (unranked). Colgate: 6-5 New York (N.Y.) Poly Prep WG Keith Williams (unranked), over Canisius, Stony Brook and Lafayette. Brown: 6-7 Hinsdale (Ill.) Central PF G.J. King (unranked), over Rider, Army, Lafayette and Youngstown State; and 6-0 Potomac (Md.) The Heights PG Jason Forte (unranked), over St. Francis (N.Y.) and Hartford. Navy: 6-7 Seattle O'Dea PF Adam Hudson (unranked); and 6-5 Agoura (Calif.) High SF Adam Allegro (unranked). SOUTH Georgia: 6-2 Mullins (S.C.) High PG Jarod Gerald (top 300), over interest from College of Charleston, South Carolina and others. South Florida: 5-10 Warrensville Heights (Ohio) High PG Brian Swift (top 300), over Akron and others. Davidson: 6-4 1/2 St. Louis DeSmet Jesuit WG/PG Eric Blancett (unranked), over Princeton and Yale. Morehead State: 6-2 Bloomington (Ind.) South WG/PG Kyle Hankins (top 300), over Valparaiso. UNC Greensboro: 6-4 Sellersville (Pa.) Faith Christian WG/SF Danny Hargrove (unranked). Louisville: 6-4 Southern Union (Ala.) JC WG Leroy Davis (top-100 JC soph), over Alabama and Alabama-Birmingham. Louisiana Tech: 6-4 Chipola (Fla.) JC WG/SF Lavelle Felton (top-75 JC soph), over Illinois State, Kansas State, Auburn and New Mexico State. MIDWEST Purdue: 6-8 Aurora (Colo.) Smoky Hill SF/PF Matt Carroll (top 300), over Vanderbilt and Utah; and 6-5 Tyler (Texas) JC SF/WG Darmetreis Kilgore (top-25 JC soph), over Cincinnati, Illinois and UNLV. Wisconsin: 6-3 Milwaukee John Marshall PG/WG Latrell Fleming (No. 179), over Marquette, Tulane and Tennessee. Colorado State: 6-6 Temple (Texas) High PF/SF Matt Williams (top 300), over Rice, TCU, SMU and Nebraska; and 6-8 North Dakota JC PF Quantone Smith (top-100 JC soph). Miami (Ohio): 6-11 Oak Harbor (Ohio) High C Nate Vander Sluis (unranked), over St. Bonaventure and Pittsburgh. Illinois State: 6-4 Lincoln (Ill.) Community High WG Gregg Alexander (unranked), over Evansville and Western Illinois. Western Michigan: 6-0 Detroit Mackenzie PG Rick Willis (unranked). Montana State: 6-5 Eagen (Minn.) High WG/SF Luke Anderson (unranked), who backed off an early commitment to Minnesota, by mutual agreement. St. Louis: 6-9 Iowa Western CC C Kenny Brown (top-50 JC soph), over interest from Long Beach State, N.C. State, New Mexico, Nebraska, Iowa, Iowa State and Kansas State. SOUTHWEST Rice: 6-4 Schenectady (N.Y.) High WG Jason McKreith (unranked), over interest from Pennsylvania, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Rhode Island and others. Texas Tech: 6-9 Westark (Ark.) CC PF Jamal Holden (top-75 juco soph), over Arkansas, LSU, Kansas State and others. WEST UC-Irvine: 6-3 Torrance (Calif.) Bishop Montgomery PG DeVaughn Peace (unranked); and 6-5 Denver East WG Ross Schraeder (unranked). San Francisco: 6-3 Vacaville (Calif.) Wood WG Mike Chambers (unranked), over UCSB and St. Mary's. UC-Santa Barbara: 6-10 Astoria (Ore.) High C Scott Rainey (unranked). Nevada: 6-6 Upland (Calif.) High SF Kirk Snyder (unranked). Brick Oettinger is talent evaluator for the Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook and recruiting columnist for the ACC Area Sports Journal. For more information on either publication, call 1-800-447-7667.
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