2011-2012 NCAA Basketball Thread

[danman31]

A player like that will clean up in the MAC.

That was my original point. It's a good get for them.

[Heads22]

Iowa State is playing at Michigan next winter. Wolverines will come to Hilton in 2013.

[whitesoxfan101]

Northern Illinois got Niles North star Abdel Nader to commit. I saw Nader play a few times and even talked to him once. He's a tall and extremely athletic player that looked like Lebron in the NBA against these high schoolers. He was bigger, stronger, faster and could jump higher. He's not going to dominate as a freshman, but he took Niles North to a sectional final. I think that says enough about how big of a coup this guy is for NIU.

 

Coach Montgomery is doing some really good things in recruiting. We'll see how it translates on the floor. Nader sounds like a bit of a risk, but for a program in the position NIU has been for a long time, the risk is more than worth it for a talent like Nader. The word I have is he will qualify. Among others, Dre Henley from De La Salle also signed this spring, and I've heard a lot of good things about him.

Edited May 28, 2011 by whitesoxfan101

[RockRaines]

Thanks BTN, I miss watching college Evan Turner.

[Brian]

The kid hasn't played a game at the college level yet and I hope Austin Rivers gets knocked down.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

DeAndre Daniels commits to UConn. With him, Lamb, Napier, Roscoe Smith and Boatright also coming in that's some serious firepower.

 

Not to mention they are all Fr/So (Oriakhi as a Jr only upperclassman). Then you take into account that they are the presumptive favorite for Andre Drummond next year and also the favorite for Omar Calhoun and a finalist for Mitch McGary...wow, could be a couple more really good years up in Storrs.

Edited June 8, 2011 by ChiSox_Sonix

[Palehosefan]

The kid hasn't played a game at the college level yet and I hope Austin Rivers gets knocked down.

 

You don't enjoy kids that give themselves the nickname "Subzero" because his "moves freeze the defense"?

 

I haven't hated a Duke kid this much since Redick left campus.

[southsider2k5]

DeAndre Daniels commits to UConn. With him, Lamb, Napier, Roscoe Smith and Boatright also coming in that's some serious firepower.

 

Not to mention they are all Fr/So (Oriakhi as a Jr only upperclassman). Then you take into account that they are the presumptive favorite for Andre Drummond next year and also the favorite for Omar Calhoun and a finalist for Mitch McGary...wow, could be a couple more really good years up in Storrs.

 

I though McGary was a go for IU?

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I though McGary was a go for IU?

 

Took an unoffical to UConn last week and was offered a scholarship with an option to take it for this year or next. Apparently he liked the school, he tweeted something before taking it down.

 

Link

 

 

ESPN basketball analyst Adam Finkelstein checks in today on his recruiting blog with highly-touted Brewster Academy big man Mitch McGary, who recently ignited some spark in the recruiting world when he took an unofficial visit to UConn last month and received a scholarship offer to take either this fall or next.

 

The offer isn't unlike the one the Huskies gave to Shabazz Napier, who ended up enrolling in Storrs in 2010 rather than this upcoming fall, and transferred out of Lawrence Academy back to his hometown Charlestown High to get his diploma. Nonetheless McGary -- who repeated his junior year upon transferring into the Wolfeboro, N.H. campus last fall -- is staying firm in the Class of 2012.

 

Finkelstein also notes on the impact that McGary's recruitment could have on Jim Calhoun's future. He writes:

 

 

"Coach [Wayne] Brumm (SYF Players) said his phone was blowing up," McGary recalled. "I said my bad. I'm definitely staying in the Class of 2012."

 

Because of the media blitz caused by the early offer, what was lost in the shuffle was the fact that McGary had a very good visit to the defending national champions.

 

"It was good," he said. "I like coach [Jim] Calhoun a lot."

 

But like Omar Calhoun (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) before him, and plenty of other Husky recruits along the way, McGary says that Calhoun's future will be a key factor in UConn's chances of landing a commitment from him.

 

"He says he's going to be around but who knows," McGary said.

 

McGary isn't the only blue chip big man the Huskies are involved with in the Class of 2012. They are also presumed to be one of the leaders for Andre Drummond (Middletown, Conn./St. Thomas More), the top ranked prospect in the ESPNU 100, and the potential for a Drummond/McGary frontline may be just enough to keep Calhoun in Storrs for a few more years.

 

"A lot of people talk about it," McGary said of the possibility of him and Drummond playing side by side. "But I've never talked to him like that. I don't know him that well."

 

[southsider2k5]

Took an unoffical to UConn last week and was offered a scholarship with an option to take it for this year or next. Apparently he liked the school, he tweeted something before taking it down.

 

Link

 

Damn. I am hoping for IU. If someone can get in his head about his work ethic, he is going to be a lottery pick. He is the most complete HS big man I have ever seen, including seeing Zach Randolph and a few other Mr Basketballs in IN over the years.

[He_Gawn]

Damn. I am hoping for IU. If someone can get in his head about his work ethic, he is going to be a lottery pick. He is the most complete HS big man I have ever seen, including seeing Zach Randolph and a few other Mr Basketballs in IN over the years.

McGary would have been a lock for IU had he qualified for 2011. The 2012 class is already #1 in the country and Crean has set his sights on Gary Harris for the final slot. I'd love to have both, but the scholarship situation isn't going to let it happen. McGary has been a beast this summer, but he's also over a year older than all the kids he's playing. The sky is the limit for Harris, and he's also one of the youngest kids in 2012. As for UCONN, they just lost two scholarships because of failing grades from the APR. Not sure where the hell they are getting these scholarships.

 

The Indiana North South all star game exhibition between Srs. and Jrs. continues tonight at Kokomo. The amount of talent in that game rivals any large AAU tournament you'll see this summer. The amount of talent in this state through 2014 is staggering. Zeller, Teague, and Dawson lit it up for the seniors Monday, winning 117-113. Zeller led the way with 27 pts and 19 rbds, Teague had around 25 and 8 assists I believe.

Edited June 8, 2011 by He_Gawn

[ChiSox_Sonix]

McGary would have been a lock for IU had he qualified for 2011. The 2012 class is already #1 in the country and Crean has set his sights on Gary Harris for the final slot. I'd love to have both, but the scholarship situation isn't going to let it happen. McGary has been a beast this summer, but he's also over a year older than all the kids he's playing. The sky is the limit for Harris, and he's also one of the youngest kids in 2012. As for UCONN, they just lost two scholarships because of failing grades from the APR. Not sure where the hell they are getting these scholarships.

 

They lost 2 for grades, 1 for self imposed sanctions. They graduated 3 guys and had one transfer (Coombs McDaniel) so they had two to play with this year. They are now at the limit with Daniels but will gain two back next year. Jeremy Lamb will probably leave and odds are one of their bench guys will transfer (no seniors and Oriakhi is only junior). So they'll have two-four to give out next year. One is reserved for Drummond and Calhoun probably has another. So that would leave them with one or two more potentially. They offered McGary before Daniels so that's where that came from.

[He_Gawn]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. McGary was at Maryland yesterday and seems to have taken a liking to them.

[whitesoxfan99]

McGary would have been a lock for IU had he qualified for 2011. The 2012 class is already #1 in the country and Crean has set his sights on Gary Harris for the final slot. I'd love to have both, but the scholarship situation isn't going to let it happen. McGary has been a beast this summer, but he's also over a year older than all the kids he's playing. The sky is the limit for Harris, and he's also one of the youngest kids in 2012. As for UCONN, they just lost two scholarships because of failing grades from the APR. Not sure where the hell they are getting these scholarships.

 

The Indiana North South all star game exhibition between Srs. and Jrs. continues tonight at Kokomo. The amount of talent in that game rivals any large AAU tournament you'll see this summer. The amount of talent in this state through 2014 is staggering. Zeller, Teague, and Dawson lit it up for the seniors Monday, winning 117-113. Zeller led the way with 27 pts and 19 rbds, Teague had around 25 and 8 assists I believe.

 

IU's class is very good but it won't stay #1 and there has to be a pretty big question whether Perea will even be eligible to play college basketball based on the illegal benefits he has received during HS. That whole Indiana Elite program is incredibly shady at best.

Edited June 8, 2011 by whitesoxfan99

[He_Gawn]

LOL, this is why you should do some research before commenting on something you know nothing about. ESPN did a horses*** job on that article. Scott Drew and Baylor put them up to it because IU reported them for that crap they tried to pull on Perea (threatened to have him deported if he went anywhere but Baylor). Here's a good summary from the PURDUE moderator.

 

In time, I think whatever bad publicity IU may have taken from the story will fade away, though there will undoubtedly be some scrutiny that follows around Hanner Perea's situation.

 

Really, though, I think ESPN spent five months and came up with very little, maybe some smoke but no apparent fire. To people in the state who follow AAU and recruiting, there was very little new anything there. It might seem more scandalous or whatever the term would be to outsiders.

 

I don't know if there's anything to find, but if there's a smoking gun somewhere, ESPN either missed it or couldn't access the information that would have led to it. In short, five months produced very little, so I don't think Indiana is going to have a whole lot to worry about beside the initial dubious press and some questions about Perea, none of which would seem severe enough to jeopardize his ability to play for the Hoosiers.

 

I think ESPN really bungled some things as well, such as referring constantly to the fact that X number of Indiana Elite kids have committed to Indiana.

 

That was a convenient stat to fall back on, but completely lacked context. You have to look at every case individually. I'm pretty sure Bloomington native and IU legacy Jordan Hulls didn't choose Indiana because of inappropriate influence being wielded by his summer coaches. Cody Zeller sure as hell didn't. Ferrell, Patterson and Hollowell went through a significant portion of their recruiting processes while playing for other AAU programs. Collin Hartman committed to Indiana, then left his Indiana Elite team. You just can't lump everybody together.

 

If ESPN was trying to paint a grey-area picture in lieu of any real substantive findings, it missed obvious stuff. How many college programs can have their operations guy actually traveling with an AAU team full of kids being recruited by the school he works for? That's not illegal, but an advantage Indiana has had because of the family connection. College coaches can't go to AAU tournaments in the spring, but because of the family tie, Drew Adams could, with some restrictions, of course. How much of an advantage that really is, I have no idea, but it can't hurt and it put a set of eyes at events where a school can otherwise have none.

 

Again, not illegal in any way, shape or form, just the product of an NCAA loophole since closed.

 

The suggestion, though, that IU got recruits - besides the A-Hope kids - because of Adams being on staff can't be substantiated. In fact, when he was hired, the Indiana Elite player IU seemed to be the hottest after was D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who moved on from considering the Hoosiers long ago.

 

There's so much of this to talk about, but in short, I just think ESPN came up with next to nothing and just went with what it had. Who am I to judge another reporter, though? I obviously don't know the ins and outs of all that went on behind the scenes.

 

What I do know is that it was egregiously irresponsible, inappropriate and unfortunate for both the reporter and Tom Crean to throw out random accusations toward other schools for "shoveling dirt," without any sort of corroborative evidence.

 

Now, this has been a long, bloody battle between IU and Baylor behind the scenes over Perea. There's at least a history there to cite.

 

That's about as unbias as you can get, considering this guy hates IU. Also, Mark Adams is Perea's legal guardian in the United States, so taking away those "illegal benefits" (which would be an IPOD shuffle hand-me-down from 2004, and a $400 laptop shared with another AHOPE player) would be like your parents taking away your Christmas presents from 2006 for no apparant reason at all.

 

This is last summers news and basically a Baylor smear campaign. Mark Adams went on record right after the article was posted saying how he cleared everything with the NCAA beforehand and they told him nothing illegal was done. As for IU getting in trouble? Fat chance, they are the ONLY program in the country that has a compliance department dedicated only to basketball. (Thanks Sampson)

 

As for IU having the #1 class in the end, you're probably right. If Gary Harris is added, they are #1 and it isn't even close.

Edited June 8, 2011 by He_Gawn

[He_Gawn]

Also, if the Indiana elite were funneling players to IU, why does Purdue, Butler, and Michigan have more players from that program than IU. Hell, why does Illinois have an IE player that Indiana recruited? Matt Painter and Brad Stevens played for IE for crying out loud. Do you really think Mark Adams funneled Cody Zeller to IU? The Zellers have been through the recruiting process with 3 boys, you think one man that coached Tyler Zeller for one summer has the power to sway the family to choose IU? Laughable. The only players Mark Adams even knew before they committed to IU was Perea and Jurkin.

 

The reason IU is getting good players? Crean spending all his time in this state making relationships and landing Cody Zeller. It's pretty easy to sell winning championships at a traditional program in your home state, playing with your best friends.

Edited June 8, 2011 by He_Gawn

[whitesoxfan101]

It's pretty easy to sell winning championships at a traditional program in your home state, playing with your best friends.

 

Not that easy to sell when your program hasn't won a National Title since years before the kids they're recruiting were born, and your coach has a grand total of one Conference Title and one NCAA Tournament that lasted past the first weekend.

Edited June 8, 2011 by whitesoxfan101

[Balta1701]

Not that easy to sell when your program hasn't won a title since years before the kids they're recruiting were born, and your coach has a grand total of one Conference Title and one NCAA Tournament that lasted past the first weekend.

And it's pretty hard to do more than that in your first 4 years when you start with a loss of a scholarship, 3 years of recruiting sanctions, and a roster consisting of 1 sophomore and a walkon.

[He_Gawn]

Not that easy to sell when your program hasn't won a National Title since years before the kids they're recruiting were born, and your coach has a grand total of one Conference Title and one NCAA Tournament that lasted past the first weekend.

 

Actually it is. You see, the brand Indiana University has in this state from a basketball standpoint is unmatched. Kids still grow up dreaming to play for Indiana, you wouldn't know that if you're not from here. It's a very easy selling point when the program has a rich tradition. These kids we're getting aren't dumb, poor, kids. These are kids who's parents are doctors, lawyers, and business owners. They're sold on IU and Crean. He's never had this much incoming talent before. If he doesn't do anything with it, you know Brad Stevens will.

 

[southsider2k5]

Actually it is. You see, the brand Indiana University has in this state from a basketball standpoint is unmatched. Kids still grow up dreaming to play for Indiana, you wouldn't know that if you're not from here. It's a very easy selling point when the program has a rich tradition. These kids we're getting aren't dumb, poor, kids. These are kids who's parents are doctors, lawyers, and business owners. They're sold on IU and Crean. He's never had this much incoming talent before. If he doesn't do anything with it, you know Brad Stevens will.

 

Exactly. It is one of those things that the legend is always going to be greater than the final results.

[He_Gawn]

And it's pretty hard to do more than that in your first 4 years when you start with a loss of a scholarship, 3 years of recruiting sanctions, and a roster consisting of 1 sophomore and a walkon.

 

 

Lets not use logic here.

 

Actually though, it was 2 walk-ons that were left. Taber and Finklemeyer.

[Balta1701]

Lets not use logic here.

 

Actually though, it was 2 walk-ons that were left. Taber and Finklemeyer.

LOL, so in my google searching I missed a walkon. Oops.

 

(Seriously, I could have swore I found a roster list showing 1 walkon and 1 sophomore/scholarship guy).

[He_Gawn]

LOL, so in my google searching I missed a walkon. Oops.

 

(Seriously, I could have swore I found a roster list showing 1 walkon and 1 sophomore/scholarship guy).

 

I think Taber actually earned a scholarship because they had an extra that final year of Sampson, so that's probably it. He was a walk-on to start though.

 

Regardless, it was the biggest turnover in NCAA history, matching the Evansville team that passed away in a plane crash in the 70's I believe.

Edited June 8, 2011 by He_Gawn

[whitesoxfan99]

Lets not use logic here.

 

Actually though, it was 2 walk-ons that were left. Taber and Finklemeyer.

 

Speaking of using logic, you are really going to take the position that there is nothing shady about an AAU coach becoming the legal guardian to a basektball player and providing that kid with benefits and it just so happens that the kid in question picks a school where said AAU coach's son was currently working and where said AAU coach has connections.

Edited June 8, 2011 by whitesoxfan99

[Balta1701]

I think Taber actually earned a scholarship because they had an extra that final year of Sampson, so that's probably it. He was a walk-on to start though.

 

Regardless, it was the biggest turnover in NCAA history, matching the Evansville team that passed away in a plane crash in the 70's I believe.

That would explain it, when I got the roster there was def. one guy listed as a walkon and one guy listed as a sophomore. So yeah, not the most auspicious starting point.

 

From that Hell it would have taken any non-corrupt coach years to come back.