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Knight, Pitino make quick impact
Updated: Wednesday April 25, 2001 4:01 PM
After the first two weeks of the spring national signing period (April 11-May 15), the colleges that appear to have benefited the most are Texas Tech and Louisville. It certainly isn't mere coincidence that both the Red Raiders and Cardinals have new head coaches with huge national reputations, although neither Bob Knight in his latter years at Indiana nor Rick Pitino the past couple of seasons with the Boston Celtics were particularly successful. Once hired by Texas Tech, Knight focused his attention upon the junior colleges in hopes of finding a "quick fix." The results were outstanding, as the Red Raiders signed a full complement of five recruits, all from the juco ranks, and all highly regarded by most scouts. First, Knight personally greeted high-scoring (27 points per game) 5-foot-10 1/2 Panola (Texas) JC sophomore point guard Will Chavis at the airport when the quickster from Philadelphia flew in to visit Lubbock, and a commitment followed within 48 hours. Next, the Red Raiders got the nod from a pair of frontcourt men of Eastern European descent. Ermal Kuqo, a 6-10, 270-pound Albanian center who spent his sophomore season at Seminole State (Okla.) JC, turned down overtures from Illinois, Kansas State, Charlotte, George Washington and others in order to play for Knight. Note that while Kuqo, an academic qualifier who signed the previous year with Tulsa but remained in junior college when Golden Hurricane coach Bill Self left for Illinois, is ranked among the top 50 juco sophomores by most scouting services. One coach in his conference considers him to be highly overrated. Also ultimately picking Texas Tech as his collegiate destination was 6-8, 225-pound small forward/power forward Pawel Storozynski, a sharp-shooting native of Poland who posted big numbers this past season at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. You may recall that Storozynski actually gave South Carolina a verbal commitment late in the season but then looked elsewhere when Eddie Fogler stepped down as the Gamecocks' head coach. Pawel chose the Red Raiders over Illinois, Kansas State, LSU, Baylor, Tennessee and Oregon. Most recently, Knight has corralled two more juco sophs, 6-6 small forward Kasib Powell of Butler County (Kan.) Community College and 6-8 power forward Billy Pharis of Westark (Ark.) JC. Combined with the other three signees, this gives Texas Tech arguably the best spring recruiting class in the nation, albeit not as good overall as Florida's fall threesome of prep top 10s (assuming Kwame Brown and James White don't wind up entering this year's NBA Draft). Speaking of quality, Pitino has snared a pair of local prospects who were among the best prep seniors not to sign last November, when 87 of our preseason top 100 players in the Class of 2001inked letters of intent. Deciding to stay at home were 6-10, 245-pound center/power forward Brandon Bender (No. 60) of 32-2 Louisville Ballard and 6-5 small forward/wing guard Larry O'Bannon (No. 97) of Louisville Male. Each possesses big-time potential. Remember that the Cardinals signed three players -- 6-1 hometown point guard Carlos Hurt (No. 13 and a McDonald's All-American), 6-5 1/2 Indiana swingman Dennis Coutee (No. 199) and 6-4 Alabama JC sophomore wing guard Leroy Davis -- last fall, and they also landed 6-5 Georgia two-sport athlete Greg Tinch (No. 51) on a football scholarship. Not surprisingly, Pitino is building Louisville back into a national power about as quickly as it can be done. Note that 6-9 Canadian power forward/center Terry Licorish (No. 117), who played this past season at Durham (N.C.) Mount Zion Christian Academy and verbally committed last fall to Louisville, will not be at Louisville this season. Fans of the Cardinals also hoped that Pitino could lure 6-9, 245-pound near-super Ousmane Cisse (No. 3), a native of Mali who has attended high schools in Montgomery, Ala. the past three years. Cisse's brother Daouda is currently finishing his freshman year at Louisville, but it looks as if Ousmane (along with Don Jackson, his guardian) has decided that he'll enter the NBA Draft this year. At least, that's what a recent press release issued by Jackson indicates. Among others who have recruited well thus far this spring are Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, LSU and Connecticut. The Hokies have added these three recruits: 6-7, 285-pound sophomore power forward/center Terry Taylor, who averaged 16.5 points and 9.8 rebounds while leading Allegany (MD) JC to the finals of the National Junior College Tournament in Hutchinson (Kans.); 6-7 1/2 combo forward Harding "Na Na" Ngueyep of Middleburg (Va.) Notre Dame and Cameroon; and 5-11 Hagerstown (Md.) JC sophomore point guard Eric Branham. Both Taylor (who turned down West Virginia and many others) and Branham should provide lots of immediate help. The Sooners lassoed a fine pair of junior college backcourt men in 6-4 sophomore wing guard Jason Detrick of Southwest Missouri Community College and 6-1 sophomore point guard Quannas White of Midland (Texas) JC. Detrick, a first-team juco All-America who prepped in Newport News (Va.), averaged over 23 points per game, plus 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals. He's noted as a 3-point marksman. LSU signed three juco frontcourt men last fall and has gained 6-5 Grambling (La.) High WG/SF Antonio Hudson (No. 169) and 6-2 1/2 Irwinton (Ga.) PG/WG Xavier Whipple this spring. Hudson opted for the Bengal Tigers over Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Louisiana Tech, Grambling and others. Signing football national letters of intent with LSU in February were two other talented hoopsters, 6-5 combo forward Marcus Spears (No. 74) of Baton Rouge (La.) Southern Lab and 6-5 Shreveport (La.) Christian Life swingman Michael Clayton. Connecticut, in need of a quality big man, recently outdueled Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech for 6-9, 230-pound center/power forward Emeka Okafor (No. 105) of Bellaire (Texas) High. Georgia Tech, N.C. State, New Mexico and Rice were also involved with the promising Nigerian.
Regional notesSignings of the past week, announced transfers and the current finalists for a half-dozen prep seniors who signed (or verbally committed) last fall but have been granted releases after a change in coaches:EAST
SOUTH
MIDWEST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
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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