Inside College Basketball

Gators' Great Dane  

In an off-season that left some schools reeling, Florida was the big winner, thanks to an import of major import

By Seth Davis

Last Friday night, at the annual Midnight Madness festivities marking the moment teams are permitted to start practice, Iowa coach Steve Alford hosted Game Night for fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The program included games of three-on-three, a three-point shooting contest, a hot-dog-eating contest and an appearance by Flex, the Rubber Boy. Alas, the fun ended at midnight, when Alford's team took the floor with just eight scholarship players, including one who was a walk-on last year. The Hawkeyes' roster was depleted during a nightmarish off-season in which six players transferred, quit or fell prey to academic woes. The heaviest blow came on Oct. 1, when starting point guard Pierre Pierce was suspended indefinitely following third-degree sexual-assault charges. (Pierce has pleaded innocent.)

Nelson (above) should be complemented by shooting star Drejer. Bill Frakes

Such are the vagaries of the stretch between March Madness and Midnight Madness, when victories are measured not in games but in personnel changes and recruits' commitments. Iowa was the biggest loser of the off-season. Here's how some other programs fared.

Winner: Florida Senior guard Brett Nelson's decision not to enter the NBA draft last spring guaranteed the Gators stellar backcourt play. They got another boost in July when 6'9" guard-forward Christian Drejer, a 19-year-old who was the Danish League player of the year last season with SISU of Copenhagen, accepted coach Billy Donovan's offer to play in Gainesville. The addition of Drejer will make Florida a Final Four contender.

Loser: Kentucky Junior forward Jason Parker was dropped from the team in August for an unspecified violation of athletic department policy, and last month 6'1" junior Cliff Hawkins, the team's only experienced point guard, was declared academically ineligible for the fall semester. What's more, coach Tubby Smith has yet to secure even an oral commitment from any blue-chip high school senior.

Winner: Arizona Coach Lute Olson had a gift dropped into his lap in May when 6'6" freshman forward Andre Iguodala signed with the Wildcats three weeks after Arkansas released him from a letter of intent. On Sept. 16 the NCAA declared touted 6'3" freshman guard Chris Rodgers academically eligible, and in the last two weeks Olson received commitments from two elite prospects: 6'9" Ndubi Ebi, a forward from Houston, and Mustafa Shakur, a 6'3" playmaking whiz from Philadelphia.

Loser: UCLA The Bruins took two major hits last month when their prized recruit, 6'8" forward Evan Burns, failed to qualify academically (he enrolled at San Diego State), and 6'7" sophomore forward Andre Patterson had to leave school because he hadn't accrued enough credits. Patterson enrolled at Santa Monica College and hopes to rejoin the Bruins in late December.

Winner: LSU Coach John Brady is assembling a watershed recruiting class. Furthermore, his program has finally emerged from the probation and scholarship limits meted out because of violations committed during the 1996 recruitment of forward Lester Earl. (Brady came on board in '97-98.) For the first time since his inaugural season in Baton Rouge, Brady will coach a full complement of 13 scholarship players, including four returning starters.

Issue date: October 21, 2002

For more Inside College Basketball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, October 16. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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