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ACC leads conference recruiting race

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During the next several weeks, we will look carefully at the fall recruiting results within the major Division I conferences. As you may recall from our contribution last week, members of the seven "power conferences," as is usually the case, fared significantly better in their recruiting this fall than schools within all other Division I leagues.

FALL 2000 ACC RECRUITS 1. 6-5 N.Y. WG/SF/PG Julius Hodge (N.C. State) 2. 6-7 N.C. SF/WG Anthony Richardson (Florida State) 3. 6-8 Ohio SF/PF Jawad Williams (UNC) 4. 6-2 Md. PG/WG Melvin Scott (UNC) 5. 6-8 Fla. PF/C Ed Nelson (Georgia Tech) 6. 6-4 Texas WG Daniel Ewing (Duke) 7. 6-8 1/2 Va. PF/C Elton Brown (Virginia) 8. 6-6 Fla. WG/SF Jackie Manuel (UNC) 9. 6-6 1/2 Ga. SF/PF Is'mail Muhammad (Georgia Tech) 10. 6-9 Fla. PF/SF Jamal Levy (Wake Forest) 11. 6-5 Miss. WG/PG/SF Chey Christie (Clemson) 12. 6-8 Md. SF/PF Levi Watkins (N.C. State) 13. 6-9 Ga. PF Josh Powell (N.C. State) 14. 6-5 Ga. WG/SF Barry Elder (Georgia Tech) 15. 6-10 Va. C Michael Southall (Georgia Tech) 16. 6-10 Md. C/PF Jordan Collins (N.C. State) 17. 6-9 Md. JC C/PF Ryan Randle (Maryland) 18. 6-7 Ala. WG/SF/PG Anthony Vasser (Georgia Tech) 19. 6-3 Va. PG/WG Keith Jenifer (Virginia) 20. 6-8 Va. PF Jason Clark (Virginia) 21. 6-3 Va. WG/PG Jermaine Harper (Virginia) 22. 5-10 Va. PG Andre Collins (Maryland) 23. 6-9 Va. PF/C Sherrod Ford (Clemson) 24. 6-2 Va. PG/WG Taron Downey (Wake Forest) 25. 6-10 Fla. C/PF Steve Allen (Clemson) 26. 6-9 Ohio PF/C/SF Adam Waleskowski (Florida State) 27. 6-6 N.Y. WG/SF Mike Grinnon (Maryland) 28. 6-6 N.J. PF/SF Olu Babalola (Clemson)

Among those seven elite conferences, the ACC came out best overall, by a very narrow margin over the Pac-10. Following closely (in order) are the SEC, Conference USA, Big Ten, Big East and Big 12. Then there is a large gap to the Mountain West, Sun Belt and Atlantic-10, which wound up ranking eighth through 10th in conference recruiting success during the Nov. 8-15 fall national signing period.

Below we'll examine in-depth the fall recruiting of the nine ACC schools. Next week we'll look at the Pac-10, with the SEC the week after that, and so on for a total of eight installments. What is particularly impressive about the ACC's class is that every member -- all nine -- has signed at least one potential big-time prospect capable of providing significant immediate help. A big-timer is a prospect who possesses the ability to be a starter for two years (or more) on a national top-30 caliber team.

ACC schools have snared eight of our preseason national top 35 high school seniors, 10 of the top 50 and 16 of the top 90, which (in all three cases) is more than any other conference. Those eight top-35 caliber recruits are divided among six different teams, with North Carolina landing three of them and N.C. State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Duke and Virginia one apiece. Wake Forest inked one top-50 prepster, Clemson's best signee is currently No. 55 nationally, and Maryland has secured a top-75 junior college sophomore. Bearing in mind that the high school class of 2001 is one of the deepest and most talented in history (and clearly better than the past several years), it's obvious that the entire ACC has benefited from the fall signing period.

Overall, the November recruiting classes of North Carolina, N.C. State, Georgia Tech and Virginia all rank among the nation's top 16 crops, with Clemson not far behind, followed (in order) by Florida State, Maryland, Wake Forest and Duke. The Blue Devils and Demon Deacons each have two available scholarships that could be given during the spring signing period, and the Tar Heels, Wolfpack, Wahoos and Terrapins each have one. At this writing it appears as if Georgia Tech, Clemson and Florida State will have no unused scholarships to offer in the spring, although that could change because of transfers or early entry into the NBA draft.

Now let's briefly analyze the fall recruiting of each ACC team. Every signee will be listed, with a short comment summing up the results for each school. We've also listed in the table above all 28 ACC recruits in order of potential, based on our current individual rankings.

FALL 2000 ACC RECRUITING

1. NORTH CAROLINA (No. 4 class nationally) 6-8 Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward's SF/PF Jawad Williams (No. 18 nationally), 6-2 Baltimore Southern PG/WG Melvin Scott (No. 26), and 6-6 West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman WG/SF Jackie Manuel (No. 34).

Despite missing a pair of major recruiting targets (forwards James White and David Lee) to Florida and stunningly backing off blue-chip New York wing Julius Hodge (who wound up choosing rival N.C. State) after gaining Manuel's commitment, Matt Doherty's program is well-heeled, especially if it can corral a prime low-post player in the spring.

2. NORTH CAROLINA STATE (No. 7) 6-6 Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond's WG/SF/PG Julius Hodge (No. 5), 6-8 Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian SF/PF Levi Watkins (No. 64), 6-9 Riverdale (Ga.) High PF Josh Powell (No. 69), and 6-10 Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic C/PF Jordan Collins (No. 89), while 6-1 1/2 Chapel Hill (N.C.) High WG/PG Dovonte Edwards (top 300) will be a football signee who intends to play both sports.

Herb Sendek has shown (again) that he can recruit a truly elite prospect (Hodge), and the Pack also has done a solid job of filling its frontcourt needs, though still another big man is being sought for the spring.

3. GEORGIA TECH (No. 11) 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. 72), 6-10 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy C Michael Southall (No. 86), and 6-7 Birmingham (Ala.) Woodlawn WG/SF/PG Anthony Vasser (No. 107).

Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt will only have 11 players (instead of 13) on scholarship next year due to the new NCAA limit of five new signees in a year, but he has already proven that he will quickly rebuild this presently talent-short program through revitalized recruiting.

4. VIRGINIA (No. 16) 6-8 1/2 Newport News (Va.) Warwick PF/C Elton Brown (No. 33), 6-3 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy PG/WG Keith Jenifer (No. 113), 6-8 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy PF Jason Clark (No. 114), and 6-3 Dyke (Va.) Blue Ridge School WG/PG Jermaine Harper (No. 115).

Pete Gillen has now filled all of the gaps except center, and that hopefully will be rectified in the spring, although UNC and the NBA are providing lots of competition for the crucial target, 7-foot, 295-pound Senegalese DeSagana Diop (No. 8).

5. 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. 170), 6-10 Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard C/PF Steve Allen (No. 185), and 6-6 Richland (N.J.) St. Augustine PF/SF Ulu Babalola (top 300).

On paper, Larry Shyatt's staff has already exceeded the number of available scholarships while adding both size and athleticism, so look for attrition from the current roster.

6. FLORIDA STATE 6-7 Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road SF/WF Anthony Richardson (No. 16) and 6-9 Kettering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter PF/C/SF Adam Waleskowski (top 225).

Assuming that extremely talented Richardson qualifies academically and 6-3 WG/PG scorer J.D. Bracy (sitting out his freshman year as a partial qualifier) does well enough on the books to be able to play next season, Steve Robinson's Seminoles are gradually getting the quality of players necessary to contend for the top half of the league.

7. MARYLAND 6-9 Allegany (Md.) JC C/PF Ryan Randle (top 75 JC soph), 5-10 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy PG Andre Collins (No. 161), and 6-6 Oyster Bay (N.Y.) St. Dominic's WG/SF Mike Grinnon (top 275).

While Randle is a tough insider and Collins (who reportedly may not have signed) can provide quickness and depth at point guard, Gary Williams will need to recruit better than this next year in order for the Terps to remain a national top-20-caliber program.

8. WAKE FOREST 6-9 Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School PF/SF Jamal Levy (No. 47) and 6-2 Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy PG/WG Taron Downey (No. 177). Wake has received a very early verbal commitment from 6-5 Mt. Airy (N.C.) High SF/WG Richard Joyce, a top-100-caliber high school junior.

Dave Odom is particularly happy to have gotten the nod from Panamanian Junior National Team star Levy, and the Deacons will also have 6-5 former Northwestern SF/WG starter Steve Lepore (a three-point marksman) available next season as a transfer.

9. DUKE 6-4 Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge WG Daniel Ewing. The Blue Devils have gotten a very early verbal commitment from 6-4 Roanoke (Va.) Cave Spring WG J.J. Redick, a cerebral sharpshooter who is among the nation's top 20 prep juniors.

Mike Krzyzewski's always-loaded program hopes to add a quality frontcourt recruit this spring into the mix, which next season will also include big-time 6-5 junior SF/WG transfer Dahntay Jones, who led Rutgers in scoring a year ago with 16 points per game and is currently sitting out under NCAA rules.

Regional Notes

Identified below are our choices as the best two fall recruiting classes within each major geographic region. Note that ACC schools are omitted from the South's list, since they have already been mentioned.

EAST

1. Georgetown: 6-8 Md. PF/SF Harvey Thomas (No. 28), 6-2 Md. PG/WG Tony Bethel (No. 106), 6-7 La. SF Darrel Owens (top 225), and 6-2 1/2 Md. WG/PG Drew Hall (top 300).

2. West Virginia: 5-11 1/2 Md. PG Jonathan Hargett (No. 11), 6-7 Va. SF Tyrone Salley (No. 152), and 6-4 Maine WG Drew Schifino (No. 161).

Syracuse also has a strong class.

SOUTH

1. Florida: 6-11 Ga. PF/C Kwame Brown (No. 7), 6-9 Mo. PF/SF David Lee (No. 9), and 6-7 Va. SF James White (No. 10).

2. Memphis: 6-2 N.J. PG/WG Dajuan Wagner (No. 2), 6-8 Calif. JC PF Chris Massie (top 25 JC soph), 6-4 Ga. WG Anthony Rice (No. 98), and 6-9 Ala. PF/C Duane Erwin (No. 112).

North Carolina, N.C. State, Georgia Tech and Kentucky all have top-15-caliber classes.

MIDWEST

1. DePaul: 6-11 Ill. C Eddy Curry (No. 1), 6-6 1/2 Fla. SF/PF Quemont Greer (No. 48), 6-4 Ill. WG/PG LaVar Seals (No. 85), 6-8 Mich. JC PF Sam Hoskins (top 75 JC soph), 6-8 N.Y. PF Kenny Adeleke (top 225), and 6-5 Wis. WG Drake Diener (top 300).

2. Missouri: 6-10 Mich. C/PF Robert Whaley (No. 27), 6-6 Fla. SF/WG Duane John (No. 37), 6-6 Ill. SF/WG Najeeb Echols (No. 49), and 6-10 Mich. PF/C Jeff Ferguson (No. 125).

Kansas, Michigan State and Michigan also all have top-15-caliber recruiting classes.

SOUTHWEST

1. Arizona: 6-8 Kan. PF Dennis Latimore (No. 42), 6-2 Ore. WG/PG Salim Stoudamire (No. 46), 6-11 Ariz. C Channing Frye (No. 56), 5-10 Ill. PG Will Bynum (No. 66), and 6-9 Calif. C/PF Isaiah Fox (No. 110).

2. Texas: 5-11 1/2 Texas PG T.J. Ford (No. 22) and 6-10 Texas C Chris Wright (No. 155).

New Mexico also has a strong class.

WEST

1. UCLA: 6-7 Calif. SF Andre Patterson (No. 24), 6-6 Calif. SF/WG Dijon Thompson (No. 31), 6-5 1/2 Calif. PG/WG Cedric Bozeman (No. 40), 6-11 Wash. C Michael Fey (No. 95), and 6-6 Princeton sophomore SF transfer Spencer Gloger.

2. California: 6-8 1/2 Conn.. PF Julian Sensley (No. 12), 6-11 Calif. C Jamal Sampson (No. 36), and 6-7 Wash. SF Erik Bond (No. 164).

Stanford also has a top-15-caliber class.

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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