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Billy the Kid stands alone Florida's Donovan clearly the nation's top recruiter
There's no doubt about it. Florida's Billy Donovan is pound-for-pound the best recruiter in America. With more than a month to go before the start of the fall signing period, Donovan has already locked up verbal commitments from three of the nation's top high school seniors. That marks the third consecutive year that he's put together what is arguably the nation's best recruiting class at a school known mainly for football. Donovan outfoxed Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke for St. Louis forward David Lee and Maryland swingman James White, both of whom will be McDonald's All-Americas. And in forward Kwame Brown, Donovan has a phenom who would be a lottery pick if he entered the NBA Draft. Brown, however, appears intent on going to college for at least a year, all the more reason to believe that the Gators' surprise run to the national championship game last spring was no fluke.
New boss, new rules at UKForward Jules Camara's decision to remain at Kentucky stemmed from assurances he received from university officials that they were going to change the school's policy regarding athletes who are convicted of drunk driving.The rule, implemented two years ago by former athletic director C.M. Newton, mandates that any player who is convicted automatically loses not only his eligibility but also his scholarship money for one full year. Swingman Desmond Allison became the first high-profile casualty of the rule last spring and, as a result, he transferred out. Within days of Camara's arrest for DUI early this month his high school coach was barraged with calls from schools seeking the player's services. But Kentucky's new A.D. Larry Ivy has since publicly stated his desire to allow convicted athletes to keep their grant money while they sit out. If the change is implemented by second semester as Ivy hopes, Camara will remain on scholarship even if he's convicted. His trial begins October 10.
Has Crum's time come?With Dean Smith, John Thompson and now Bob Knight out of college basketball for the time being, the when-will-he-go guessing game turns to 63-year-old Denny Crum, who is entering his 30th season as head coach at Louisville. The Cardinals have not been back to the Final Four and have made just one Final Eight appearance since Crum's second national championship in 1986. Fueling the speculation about Crum's status is the fact that Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich is childhood chums with up-and-coming Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy. But Crum doesn't sound like a man who is preparing to ride quietly into the sunset. He still has two years left on his contract and he is in the midst of putting together his second straight quality recruiting class. "I still enjoy what I'm doing," Crum told me. "I plan on staying as long as the school wants me to be here." Sports Illustrated writer-reporter Seth Davis covers the college basketball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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