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Big Ten good, not great
Posted: Tuesday December 26, 2000 5:15 PM
This week, we'll continue to examine the results of the November 8-15 national signing period by focusing upon the Big Ten Conference, which finished fifth in our overall conference recruiting rankings. You may recall that the ACC, Pac-10, SEC and Conference USA were the top four, with the Big East and Big 12 schools immediately following the Big Ten in fall recruiting success.
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| Fall 2000 Big Ten Recruits |
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| 1. 6-4 Mich. WG Kelvin Torbert (Michigan State) |
| 2. 6-11 Minn. PF/C Rick Rickert (Minnesota) |
| 3. 6-4 Cal. WG/PG Dommanic Ingerson (Michigan) |
| 4. 6-5 Tex. JC SF/WG Darmetreis Kilgore (Purdue) |
| 5. 6-3 Ill. WG/PG Pierre Pierce (Iowa) |
| 6. 6-5 Mich. WG/SF JaQuan Hart (Michiga) |
| 7. 6-6 Minn. SF Alan Anderson (Michigan State) |
| 8. 6-6 Ill. SF Roger Powell (Illinois) |
| 9. 6-0 Pa. PG Brandon Fuss-Cheatham (Ohio State) |
| 10. 6-10 1/2 Minn. JC PF/C Jerry Holman (Minnesota) |
| 11. 6-7 Ohio SF Matt Sylvester (Ohio State) |
| 12. 6-6 Ill. SF Marcellus Sommerville (Iowa) |
| 13. 6-7 1/2 Ill. PF Kelly Whitney (Michigan) |
| 14. 6-3 Ill. WG/PG Luther Head (Illinois) |
| 15. 6-9 Ohio PF/C Terrence Dials (Ohio State) |
| 16. 6-2 1/2 Ind. WG/PG Chris Hill (Michigan State) |
| 17. 6-7 1/2 Ind. SF/PF Sean Kline (Indiana) |
| 18. 6-1 La. PG Donald Perry (Indiana) |
| 19. 6-3 Wis. PG/WG Latrell Fleming (Wisconsin) |
| 20. 6-11 Tex. C Erek Hansen (Iowa) |
| 21. 6-7 Pa. SF Daren Tielsch (Penn State) |
| 22. 6-8 Colo. SF/PF Matt Carroll (Purdue) |
| 23. 6-4 Minn. WG/SF Maurice Hargrow (Minnesota) |
| 24. 6-4 Ill. WG Neil Plank (Wisconsin) |
| 25. 6-7 Mich. SF Chuck Bailey (Michigan) |
| 26. 6-9 N.C. PF/C Jason McDougald (Penn State) |
| 27. 6-10 Ida. C Kevin Fellows (Penn State) |
| 28. 6-2 Ind. WG/PG Brandon McKinght (Purdue) |
| 29. 6-8 Tex. SF/PF O'Neal Mims (Minnesota) |
| 30. 6-11 Germany PF/C Jan Jagla (Penn State) |
| 31. 5-8 Ill. PG Aaron Robinson (Minnesota) | |
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In the Big Ten, there were no truly great recruiting classes this fall, although Michigan State (with a crop ranked No. 10 nationally), Michigan (No. 14), Iowa (No. 21), Minnesota (top 35) and Ohio State (top 40) all corralled high-quality aggregations. Not far behind are Purdue (top 50), Illinois (top 55), Penn State (top 65), Indiana (top 65) and Wisconsin (top 75). In fact, only Northwestern, with no fall signees after coach Kevin O'Neill's sudden resignation and replacement by Princeton's Bill Carmody, fared poorly.
In sum, the 11 Big Ten teams landed three of the nation's top 25 high school seniors, another from the top 50, seven more from the top 100, and a grand total of 18 recruits currently ranked among the top 200 prep prospects. Additionally, one top-25 caliber junior college sophomore and one from the top 75 were inked by Big Ten members in November.
Individually, the most promising Big Ten fall signees are Michigan State's Kelvin Torbert, a 6-4 Flint (Mich.) Northwestern wing guard ranked No. 4 nationally; Minnesota's 6-11 in-stater Rick Rickert (ranked No. 20), whose game reminds us of Christian Laettner's at the same age; Michigan's talented but temperamental 6-4 combo guard Dommanic Ingerson (No. 23) from California; and Purdue's 6-5 swingman Darmetreis Kilgore, a Texas junior college ace who drills 3-pointers.
Torbert, incidentally, scored 50 points in an early-season game, but he struggled (six points and eight rebounds) last week as Northwestern lost 57-46 to hometown rival Northern High, whose 6-5 senior WG/SF JaQuan Hart (No. 55), a Michigan-bound lefthander with a similar style to former Wolverine star Jalen Rose, accumulated 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Below is a look at the fall recruiting classes of each Big Ten school, along with a brief comment.
By the way, our emphasis next week will be upon major prep holiday tournaments, and we'll personally attend two of the more prominent ones. In particular, the focus will be upon the 20th annual Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach (S.C.), the loaded Slam Dunk to the Beach Holiday Invitational in Lewes (Del.), the National Prep Classic in Torrey Pines (Calif.), and the Glaxo Wellcome Holiday Classic in Raleigh (N.C.).
A week later, we'll return to our ongoing analysis of the fall recruiting results, with the topic being the Big East schools.
| FALL 2000 BIG TEN RECRUITING |
1. MICHIGAN STATE (No. 10 class nationally)
6-4 Flint (Mich.) Northwestern WG Kelvin Torbert (No. 4); 6-6 Minneapolis (Minn.) De La Salle SF Alan Anderson (No. 58); and 6-2 1/2 Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence North WG/PG Chris Hill (No. 138). |
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If Tom Izzo can keep current super freshmen Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor around another season or two, the addition of potential super Torbert, athletic Anderson (Jason Richardson's future successor), sharpshooting Hill (another Charlie Bell?) and perhaps a frontcourtman or two in the spring ensures that the Spartans will remain serious contenders each year for the NCAA title.
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2. MICHIGAN (No. 14)
6-4 Santa Barbara (Cal.) High WG/PG Dommanic Ingerson (No. 23); 6-5 Flint (Mich.) Northern WG/SF JaQuan Hart (No. 55); 6-7 1/2 Chicago John Marshall PF Kelly Whitney (No. 93); and 6-7 Detroit (Mich.) Martin Luther King SF Chuck Bailey (top 300). |
| The heat is on coach Brian Ellerbe to rapidly improve his program. Ingerson, Hart and Whitney are very good prospects, and one more player can be signed in the spring, but will this be enough to save Ellerbe's job after the potential debacle of the current season? |
3. IOWA (No. 21)
6-3 Westmont (Ill.) High WG/PG Pierre Pierce (No. 41); 6-6 Peoria (Ill.) Central SF Marcellus Sommerville (No. 80); and 6-11 Euless (Texas) Trinity C Erek Hansen (No. 195).
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| Versatile one-on-one operator Pierce and Sommerville (a deadly three-point shooter) can help immediately, hence the already talented Hawkeyes will be legitimate national top-10 contenders in 2001-02 if current junior PF Reggie Evans and/or junior wing Luke Recker don't enter the NBA Draft next spring. |
4. MINNESOTA (No. 35)
6-11 Duluth (Minn.) East PF/C Rick Rickert (No. 20); 6-10 1/2 Minneapolis Tech (Minn.) Junior College PF/C Jerry Holman (top 75 JC soph); 6-4 St. Paul (Minn.) Highland Park WG/SF Maurice Hargrow (top 250); 6-8 Austin (Texas) Reagan SF/PF O'Neal Mims (top 350); and 5-8 Rockford (Ill.) Guilford PG Aaron Robinson (top 500).
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| Getting skilled blue-chipper Rickert to change his mind after "committing" to Arizona salvaged the recruiting year for coach Dan Monson, whose other signees are unexceptional by Big Ten standards. |
5. OHIO STATE (top 40)
6-0 Beaver Falls (Pa.) Blackhawk PG Brandon Fuss-Cheatham (No. 69); 6-7 Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller SF Matt Sylvester (No. 78); and 6-9 Youngstown (Ohio) Boardman PF/C Terrence Dials (No. 137).
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| While no superstars were secured, coach Jim O'Brien is gaining three good prospects, led by heady southpaw point guard Fuss-Cheatham, and all were lined up by the fourth of July!
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6. PURDUE (top 50)
6-5 Tyler (Texas) Junior College SF/WG Darmetreis Kilgore (top 25 JC soph); 6-8 Aurora (Colo.) Smoky Hill SF/PF Matt Carroll (top 250); and 6-2 South Bend (Ind.) LaSalle WG/PG Brandon McKnight (top 350).
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| Gene Keady used all three available scholarships in the fall, with juco Kilgore (a native Indianan) being the key signee and a potential All-Big Ten performer. |
7. ILLINOIS (top 55)
6-6 Joliet (Ill.) Township SF Roger Powell (No. 63); and 6-3 Chicago (Ill.) Manley WG/PG Luther Head (No. 102). |
| Two promising in-staters are in the fold, along with walk-on Nonso Azubuike, a transfer from Oral Roberts whose 6-5 brother Kelenna is among the nation's top 50 high school juniors. One scholarship remains available for possible spring use. |
8. PENN STATE (top 65)
6-7 McKees Rock (Pa.) Montour SF Daren Tielsch (top 250); 6-9 Winston-Salem (N.C.) R.J. Reynolds PF/C Jason McDougald (top 300); 6-10 Meridian (Ida.) High C Kevin Fellows (top 300); and 6-11 Berlin (Germany) PF/C Jan Jagla (top 400).
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| Coach Jerry Dunn focused on adding frontcourt help, with possibly underrated rebounder/rejector McDougald being the most athletic and agile but thin Jagla (who spent a year in Ohio as a foreign exchange student) conceivably looming as a pleasant surprise. |
9. INDIANA (top 65)
6-7 1/2 Huntington (Ind.) North SF/PF Sean Kline (No. 164); and 6-1 Tallulah (La.) McCall PG Donald Perry (No. 171).
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| While disappointed to lose touted 6-8 1/2 juco forward Kei Madison at the last minute to Alabama, interim coach Mike Davis< did well to land aggressive Kline and quickster Perry after Bob Knight's firing.
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10. WISCONSIN (top 75)
6-3 Milwaukee John Marshall PG/WG Latrell Fleming (No. 182); and 6-4 Mount Zion (Ill.) High WG Neil Plank (top 300).
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| Coach Dick Bennett didn't resign until after the fall signing period had ended, and both floor general Fleming and three-point marksman Plank are pretty good recruits. Note that three unused scholarships could be given in the spring. |
11. NORTHWESTERN
No fall recruits. |
| At least Carmody, who decided to hold off offering a grant to verbally committed 6-10 Mattawan (Mich.) Consolidated C Nate Loehrke (top 300), has some decent (albeit not great) young talent to work with plus a scholarship or perhaps two that could be used in the spring, but the rebuilding job is truly major. |
Regional Notes
This week we'll select the best high school senior shot-blocker in each of the five geographic regions, along with the runners-up.
EAST
The nod goes to 6-11 Dobbs Ferry (N.Y.) The Masters School C Simplice Njoya (No. 123), a UNLV signee, native African and transfer from Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School. Next are 7-0 Chris Charles (No. 149) and unsigned 6-10 Deng Gai (No. 68), who are both playing for Milford (Conn.) Milford Academy. Charles has verbally committed to Seton Hall.
SOUTH
The clear cut choice is unsigned 6-9 Mali native Ousmane Cisse (No. 3) of Montgomery (Ala.) St. Jude, followed by 6-11 Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy C David Harrison (No. 14, unsigned), 6-10 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy C Michael Southall (No. 87, Georgia Tech), and 6-11 Milledgeville (Ga.) Baldwin C Larry Turner (No. 53, Georgia).
MIDWEST
We've tentatively decided upon 6-8 Denver (Colo.) George Washington PF Patrick Simpson (No. 106), a quick leaper who's headed to Southern Methodist, though super 6-11 South Holland (Ill.) Thornwood C Eddy Curry (No. 1, DePaul or the NBA) possesses by far the biggest reputation.
SOUTHWEST
The edge goes to unsigned 6-9 Nigerian C/PF Emeka Okafor (No. 105) of Bellaire (Texas) High near Houston, with the runners-up including 6-11 Phoenix St. Mary's C Channing Frye (No. 56, Arizona), 6-8 1/2 Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge PF/C Curtis Walker (top 300, unsigned) and 6-10 Redwater (Texas) High C Chris Wright (No. 157, Texas).
WEST
The premier rejector in the native (along with Cisse) is unsigned 7-1 1/2 Compton (Calif.) Dominguez C Tyson Chandler (No. 6), who may well enter the 2001 NBA Draft. Others of note in this region are 6-11 Olympia (Wash.) Capital C Michael Fey (No. 96, UCLA) and 6-11 Los Angeles Westchester C Chad Bell (No. 161, New Mexico).
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