The Minnesota men have received a verbal from Rockford (IL) junior point guard
Aaron Robinson. The 5'9 speedster is a scorer and a playmaker, listed among the
top point prospects in the state of Illinois. Minnesota also recently freed up
one scholarship for the Class of 2000 when Kevin Nathaniel decided to give up
basketball. But don't expect it to be used right away. The staff plans to
take a look at the team needs at the end of the season and go after a player
in the spring.
Connie Murdock, a 6'2 junior forward for the Boiler women, has asked for and
received a release from her scholarship to pursue basketball at another school.
Citing a need to fulfill her basketball goals elsewhere, she will have one year
of eligibility remaining at a new school. "It is not easy to lose anyone from
your program, but we want Connie to be happy," Curry said. "We wish her the best
of luck as she pursues her options and continues her career."
The Purdue men will look to the junior college ranks to help fill one of two
remaining scholarships for the Class of 2000. While Purdue will not know whether
Cam Stephens will choose to return to the Boilers until the spring, backup plans
include an impressive center from Westark, Arkansas. Russ Blake of JUCO Junction
recently spoke to Westark CC assistant Ryan Casalman to find out Purdue is looking
at 7'0 265-pound center Charles Ludwig. Ludwig can join a Division I program after
this season, but will have three years of eligibility remaining due to redshirting
a year at Westark. Also following the progress of Ludwig are Texas, Fordham,
Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
While over at the JUCO Junction site, check out the articles on former Boiler Jamaal
Davis, and former Indiana All-Star Eric Bush.
A month ago on this page we took a look at some of the Street & Smith all-americans
for the men. Now, let's run down the list for the women. Included in the
list are any known Purdue recruits or prospects, plus any players from the state
of Indiana.
A lot of verbal commitments to catch up on involving Purdue prospects, other
Big Ten schools and the local high school scene...
The Purdue women continue to chase Lubbock (TX) guard Erica Valek and Copperas
Cove (TX) guard/forward Shereka Wright for the early signing period, but seem
to be slipping with Iowa's Anne O'Neil. While the coaching staff seemed confident
Purdue was still in the race with Illinois after Anne's official visit October 15th,
indications are that her decision may come down to Illinois and Iowa State. In
other women's recruiting news, 5'8 senior point guard Dawn McCulloch from Long
Beach (CA) has verballed to Rutgers, while Shreveport's (LA) Alana Beard has
chosen Duke.
A raw recruit with abundant potential, 7'1 center Peter Ritzema, has made it
official for Cleveland State. The Boilers couldn't help but notice Ritzema,
since he spent time at Purdue camps this summer. However, interest from Purdue
in Ritzema was light.
Purdue and Indiana managed to keep two of the top three power players at home
this year. Chesterton's Brett Buscher has been committed to Purdue for over
a year now, while Marion's Zach Randolph chose Michigan State this fall. The
third player, Bloomington North's 6'10 Jared Jeffries, committed to Indiana
today during a morning press conference.
A player who played with Jeffries on Bloomington Red this summer, 6'7 Corey
Seegers of Columbus North HS (IN) has chosen Morehead University.
The Illinois men have picked up a verbal from 7'0 center Nick Smith of Valrico,
Florida. Smith is rated as the 88th best senior prospect according to the
consensus rankings of four recruiting services in Sporting News. The Smith
verbal comes on the heels of the state of Illinois' top power forward, 6'9
Andre Brown's verbal to DePaul. Brown averaged 18 points, 12 rebounds and
three blocked shots last season, and has been an honor roll student.
A prospect Indiana coach Bob Knight took some looks at has verballed to
Indiana...Indiana State, that is. Barry Welsh, a 5'11 guard from Abington (IL),
committed to Indiana State. The Sycamores also received a verbal commitment
from Elgin HS (IL) senior wing guard Marcus Howard.
Ball State adds another guard to go along with their 6'5 point guard. Indianapolis
Brebeuf's 6'3 wing guard Micheal Bennett has verballed after considering Akron,
Massachusetts and Drake. Bennett averaged 14.2 points and 6.0 assists as a junior.
Women's prospect Dawn McCulloch visited Rutgers this weekend. Read more about
the visit from the New Jersey Star Ledger.
The Minnesota women have received another verbal commitment from an instate
Minnesota player. Bloomington Jefferson High's 6'0 forward Megan Kane verbally
committed to the Lady Gophers. She joins fellow Minnesotan Angel Leon, a 6'3 center
from Saint Francis School, who verballed earlier.
The men's program had a handful of prospects unofficially visit Saturday for the
Penn State football game. Players who have made frequent visits include Tyler
Best and Austin Parkinson. One of the state's top forwards also visited campus
and watched almost the entire men's practice. Huntington North's Sean Kline,
a 6'7 all-state forward who attended the Nike Camp this summer, visited with
family. Also in attendance was 6'2 Pierre Pierce from Westmont, IL. Pierce
is a high scorer from either the point or the two-guard position, averaging
22 points as a sophomore. Watch for him on Larry Butler's Illinois Warriors
squad next summer. Potential basketball walkons visiting unofficially for
football this weekend include Peru's Brandon Jones and Monrovia's John
Standeford. Standeford has already committed to football, while Jones currently
has Purdue close to the top of his wish list. Movement in the Jones recruitment
is expected at anytime. Also rumored to be taking an unofficial for basketball
is 6'6 junior forward Roger Powell Jr. of Joliet, IL. Powell also is an
Illinois Warrior AAU players, and recently visited the University of Illinois
along with Pierce. Also scheduled to be on campus is Indianapolis Pike freshman
forward Parnell Smith. The 6'4 forward is the younger brother of current Boilermaker
forward Rodney Smith.
New rankings over at the FastBreak Recruiting site have a few Purdue prospects
listed. Among the list of the top 50 "midwest" seniors, Brett Buscher comes in
at #26 and Brandon Mouton is at #36. I have the midwest above in parenthesis
because I don't know of anyone who considers Texas and Louisiana part of the
midwest.
Over on the MidWestHoops site, a listing of the nation's top 50 sophomores has
three Indiana kids and an Illinois prospect. Chicago Providence-St. Mel's
Stanley Gaines comes in at #16, followed by the three Indiana kids...Ben Davis'
Greg Stone at #22, Bloomington's Sean May at #26 and Lafayette's Tyler Best at
#39.
For the past several seasons, Brad Jewell has kept track of the predictions some
of the major preseason magazines have made about the Big Ten race. On the Big Ten
Preview page, you can keep track of how your favorite preseason magazine
has predicted the Big Ten finish, plus see how well they have done each of the
last four seasons. While the Sporting News currently holds the MrHoops "Nostradamus"
award for consistent picking, here is how the magazines finished in predicting
just the 1998-99 season.
1999 PREVIEW MAGAZINES FINAL RANKING
==========================================
1. Mr Hoops 2.36/Team
2. Street and Smith's 2.55/Team
3. Athlon College Basketball 2.91/Team
4. Gold & Black 3.09/Team
5. Dick Vitale 3.09/Team
6. The Sporting News 3.09/Team
7. Basketball News 3.09/Team
8. Preview Sports 3.27/Team
9. Slam 5-INC-1.67/Team
10. Sport 5-INC-1.67/Team
Street & Smith's predictions were the best among magazines last year, and
have recently released their 2000 season preview. Their rankings will
appear soon on our Big Ten Preview page, but we also
wanted to mention which prospects made their All-American teams. Included in the
list are any Purdue recruits or prospects, plus any players from the state
of Indiana.
Senior Men:
Zach Randolph, All-American Second team (Top5 - Top10)
Jared Jeffries, All-American Second team (Top5 - Top10)
Brett Buscher, All American High Honorable Mention (Top21 - Top162)
Myron Hodge, All American High Honorable Mention (Top21 - Top162)
Brandon Mouton, All American High Honorable Mention (Top21 - Top162)
Austin Parkinson, All American High Honorable Mention (Top21 - Top162)
Shane Power, All American High Honorable Mention (Top21 - Top162)
Brody Boyd, All American Honorable Mention (Top163 - Top344)
Nolan Butterfras, All American Honorable Mention (Top163 - Top344)
John Hamilton, All American Honorable Mention (Top163 - Top344)
CJ Hill, All American Honorable Mention (Top163 - Top344)
Andre Owens, All American Honorable Mention (Top163 - Top344)
Peter Ritzema, All American Honorable Mention (Top163 - Top344)
Underclassmen Men:
Tyler Best, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Dennis Coutee, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Stanley Gaines, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Sean Kline, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Sean May, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Aaron Patterson, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Chris Thomas, All American High Honorable Mention (Top1 - Top112)
Junior College Men:
Eric Batchelor, All-American Second team (Top5 - Top10)
Jamaal Davis, All-American Second team (Top5 - Top10)
Last night we posted some information on a Hammond Times report that
the brother of Arvydas Sabonis would play for Chesterton this year. After
several emails saying the Times article was in error, I called Chesterton AD
Mel Bair today about the report. He said he had no idea where the Times got
their information, but it was untrue. They do have a foreign kid that might go
out for basketball this fall, but he is not named Sabonis. The kid is 6'5,
but there is no guarantee he will even make the varsity squad. The kid's last name is
Stepania, which develops another rumor that he might be related to Seattle
Supersonics center Vladimir Stepania, but AD Bair had no idea if the kid has
any relation in the NBA.
One of the prospects who hasn't been mentioned in quite a while in connection with
Purdue is Iciss Tillis, a 6'3 center from Tulsa, has two visits remaining. She will
be taking both visits with 5'11 Chino California guard Diana Taurasi. Both will
officially visit UCLA by the end of the month, then follow with a visit during
the weekend of UCONN's first exhibition game on November 6th.
Literally hundreds of letters get sent out each year by the Purdue staff
introducing themselves to prospective student athletes, and hundreds more get
"seen" by the staff at various events. So, when a player is said to have
impressed the Purdue staff at summer events, we don't necessarily call him
being recruited by Purdue. Hundreds of kids can fall into that category.
However, here's a name to keep an eye on. Terry Licorish, a 6'9 forward
from West Hill Collegiate outside of Toronto Canada is one of those names
to file away for possible future reference. According to this article in the
Toronto Star, he has some academic issues to resolve, but appears to
have a good handle on impressing his coaches athletically. Another player we know
received a letter from Coach Keady is Indianapolis' Chris Hill. Hill, a
6'1 2-guard for Lawrence North HS, attended the Nike Camp in July and is
reportedly an "A" student.
Another top prospect has the Purdue women in her top five. Dayton (OH) Christian's
6'1 Alvine Mendeng, a senior forward originally from Cameroon, has taken unofficial
trips to both Purdue and Indiana. Others on her final list are Kentucky, Alabama
and Colorado. Mendeng is rated at #23 by the All-Star Girls Report.
Jason Carter was denied another year of eligibility by the IHSAA two weeks ago,
and we've been waiting for word on where he would land since that time. According
to Russ Blake over at his new site Juco Junction, Carter has enrolled at Barton
County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. If this turns out to be correct
(Russ' source if Barton head coach Ryan Wolf), then forget about any rumored
ISHAA appeal. Barton CC will be an interesting team to follow this season as it
has become a who's who of Indiana basketball. Not only will Carter be seeing action,
but three other former Indiana high school kids will be on the roster. Eric Bush,
an all-state point guard from Anderson, transferred from Illinois State. Former
East Chicago forward Carlton Baker is also on the roster, along with Purdue transfer
Jamaal Davis. Davis is already getting early hype as one of the top big
men in the juco ranks.
As Austin Parkinson awaits a home visit from Keady, another Indiana
point guard awaits a call from the IHSAA about his immediate future...whether
of not he can play high school basketball for the upcoming season. The IHSAA
was scheduled to vote on overturning their eligibility ruling on Horace Mann's
Jason Carter on Wednesday via conference call. As of this update, nothing yet
has been heard regarding the result of that conference call. We'll update
when we get the word. Another case that should be determined any day now is
the eligibility of sophomore Russell Trudeau, who recently transferred to
Lafayette Central Catholic. If the IHSAA determines the move to CC was
primarily for athletic reasons, they can deny eligibility. That would only
allow Trudeau to play on the junior varsity level. If the IHSAA determines
the move was not made for athletic reasons, then Trudeau would be eligible to
play varsity immediately. Russell Trudeau is the son of former Boilermaker
Doug Trudeau. As of Tuesday, the Central Catholic athletic department had not
received word on Trudeau's eligibility.
Being hounded by the NCAA hasn't stopped Michigan from getting verbals from two
top guards in the Class of 2000. Washington DC's 6'6 Bernard Robinson, verballed
to the Wolverines earlier this week, followed only days later by 5'7 point guard
Avery Queen. Both players are considered to be top 50 prospects. Speaking of
Michigan, Fort Wayne junior forward Andre Patterson, was spotted two weekends ago
at the Michigan/Notre Dame football game.
UPDATE: In an email today from Kevin Garrity, he denied making a commitment to
Monmouth and says he is still open with Purdue on his short list. "Purdue
University is still at the top of the short list of schools I am
considering," wrote Garrity. He plans on hosting Gene Keady on September
9th, following up with a campus visit on the 11th and 12th. As in the case
of the Zach Randolph rumors, everything should be taken as "rumored" on
the internet until someone actually talks to the prospect.
Zach Randolph made it official today, committing to Michigan State University.
Randolph claimed MSU had recruited him the longest, and his close friendships
with Marcus Taylor and some of the current Spartans made his decision easy. It
is still unknown whether he will be eligible to play next year for MSU, or will
be a Prop48 candidate.
The normal updates for the site have taken a backseat to a redesigning
project that has taken most of the past week to complete. The newest version
of the Boiler Basketball Recruiting site (I think we are up to Version 4.0
now) will debut on Wednesday. A little different format, and a much different
look. More profiles, better colors and soon to be more writers. You can get
a first look come early Wednesday morning.
Two major news events to report on briefly before we dive back into the
redesign. First, Zach Randolph will make it official Tuesday at 10:30am when he
holds a press conference to announce his choice. The frontrunner is still
Michigan State, but he recently told the Marion Chronicle Tribune that he will
choose between Michigan State, UMASS and Miami (FL). Then he went on to talk
about Michigan State and how the headlines will read "ZeeBo to Michigan State".
What makes it even more likely was the commitment today from friend Marcus
Taylor to Michigan State. Second, several internet reports claim 6'10 New Jersey
center Kevin Garrity has given a verbal commitment to Monmouth. Despite the claims
of many sources, we never accepted the claims that Garrity was committed to
Purdue, stating he was still open and looking around. More details coming after
the upgrade Wednesday.
The Purdue Exponent ended all the speculation about Gary McQuay possibly
returning to the team this season. While fans have frequently seen Gary on
campus this summer, sending most to wonder if he might return to the team,
Gary officially transferred to Florida Atlantic to finish out his college
basketball career. In the article, Gary still gushed about the program and
his time at Purdue.
According to Bob Gibbons, 6'9 big forward Brian Boddicker has committed to
Texas. And it's been a couple of weeks since the latest "Randolph to Michigan
State" rumor, and today it comes from Hoop Scoop. Hoop Scoop is reporting
Zach Randolph has verbally committed to the Spartans, citing Indiana AAU coach
Reggie Tisdale as the source. However, Rob Matera of All-Star Report claims
to have spoken to Randolph this afternoon, and Randolph again denied any
commitment to Michigan State. I really expect Zach's announcement to come
in the form of a press conference, so until that happens we will continue to
hear people predict what seems to be the inevitable.
Another prospect mentioning Purdue, who we have yet to hear of any interest
in return from the Purdue side of the equation, has committed elsewhere. 5'10
lead guard Jameer Nelson picked St. Joe's over Temple, UMASS and Providence.
As this Russ Blake article points out, all finalists were within three hours
of his parents. A two-guard prospect also not seeing any hint of attention
from the Purdue side is 6'3 Demetrious Smith, who like Nelson, once threw
Purdue's name around but hasn't mentioned the Boilers since the spring. We
just want to point out that it is easy for a prospect to mention a school,
but hard to get the school to actually pay attention to him.
Jason Carter, a 5'10 point guard who played for Gary Mann last season, has
been given another year of eligibility from the IHSAA. The IHSAA ruled that
the time Jason spent away from high school and basketball to take care of his
ailing father, Howard Carter, will be returned to him in another year of
basketball eligibility. Howard Carter was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
and has been bedridden since 1991. After Jason's mother and brother moved
to South Bend, his oldest brother moved to Indianapolis, and his sister also
left, it was only Jason and his father. Jason stopped going to school in
the midst of his sophomore year, finally returning last year after his father
was moved to Georgia. Hoping to improve his chances at gaining another year
of eligibility, Carter skipped most of the summer exposure and honor camps
(including the Indiana All-Star series and the Nike All-American Camp) in
favor of summer school. What stood in his way was IHSAA Rule 17, mandating
athletes run out of eligibility after eight consecutive semesters. But this
week the IHSAA considered Carter's sacrifices and ruled 8-0 to allow him
another year of eligibility. IHSAA officials admitted the case may have been
decided differently if Jason would have played much organized basketball or
competed in athletic camps this summer. It is still unknown if Jason will
transfer to an Indianapolis school, something that has been rumored the
entire summer, but a least the Gary Post newspaper expects him back at Mann
this year. Even though Carter hasn't been playing much, his stock continues
to rise. Hoosierland Report has him ranked as the third best player in the
state of Indiana, sandwiched among nationally ranked prospects Brett Buscher,
Jared Jeffries and Zach Randolph. MidWestHoops has him as their #35 prospect
in the midwest behind Buscher, Jeffries and Randolph, just ahead of Indiana
recruit Andre Owens. Other recruiting services outside the midwest have yet
to really see him, but Carter is carrying enough buzz at the moment to make
him one of the "most wanted to see" prospects in the nation. Now, if we can
only find out where to see him this fall. Carter has listed Purdue, UMass,
Notre Dame, Fresno State, Wyoming, Northeastern, Bowling Green, Drake and
Wright State. But that list is now likely to increase and include a few more
Division I majors.
In area women's news - Notre Dame has received a commitment from 5'9 shooting
guard Jeneka Joyce from Washburn Rural HS in Kansas. Joyce chose the Irish
over Duke, Stanford and Kansas. Joyce averaged 22 points per game last
season as a junior on the Class 6A state championship team, and also averaged
4.3 on a 4.0 scale in the classroom.
Top rated 6'4 senior center SeSe Helm from Bowling Green, KY will stay at home
and play for the University of Kentucky. Curry and staff still look good with a
host of other top recruits, including the nation's top point guard prospect
Anne O'Neil, who will visit Purdue along with instate wing prospect Shalicia
Hurns and 5'10 scorer Alana Beard of Louisiana. The visits are scheduled to
coincide with Purdue's Mackey Magic midnight practice, which will no doubt
dedicate a lot of time to the celebration of the 1999 National Champions.
Beard is ranked #37 by Beth Della Valle over at Fast Break, and appears on
Purdue's wish list as a result of Curry's contact while at Louisiana Tech.
Tech still remains a solid threat to sign Beard, along with Tennessee,
Kentucky and others. Tennessee has yet to offer.
Gene Keady in his latest article for CNNSI, again said the program has five
verbal commitments, stating "whether the players will honor these verbal
commitments remains to be seen." A focus of the assistants this summer was
being visible. following the recruits Keady has indicated around. As of this
point, the only known commitment has come from Brett Buscher, who has stated
he has every intention to honor his choice of Purdue. Although the article
is dated August 16th, it is unknown if it was written before Caron Butler
chose UCONN. He, along with New Jersey center Kevin Garrity, have been talked
up by many publications at one time or another as being locks for Purdue, and
it is still a question whether the staff also considered (still considers in
Garrity's case) them among the remaining mystery four. One area to closely
watch will be who schedules official visits with Purdue in September, and
who gets home visits from the coaches. As Heartland Hoops reported today,
one recruit planning on visiting Purdue is Andrean all-stater Shane Power.
Power plans to visit Iowa State on September 12th (who he recently unofficially
visited) and Purdue on the 24th, with a possible visit to Southern California
on the 17th. Others in the mix for possible visits are Miami of Ohio and
Alabama. Heartland Hoops plans on doing an internet chat with Power next
Monday night at 8pm (Lafayette time).
Also over on the Heartland Hoops site is an update on 6'6 Louisiana prospect
Nick Anderson, who was at one time mentioning Purdue. The news on Anderson isn't
as good, as his newest list includes Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Houston
and Texas A&M (the final two have set up official visits already with Anderson).
The Purdue men's basketball team could see walkon help via the football team
if a few more multi-sport Indiana prospects sign with the Boiler football
program. Already verballed is 6'4 wide receiver/wing guard John Standeford of
Monrovia HS, who is not only an all-state football player, but was also named
to the Junior All-Star team and ranked as a top underclassman by the Indiana
Basketball Coaches Association. The 175-pound rising senior averaged 21.8 points
and 8 rebounds on the basketball court last year. Standeford hit for 30 points
in the IHSAA tournament this past year against Paoli, and also scored 30 the
previous year in the tournament against Western Boone. Purdue football is also
looking at 6'4 Fort Wayne Luers forward Jovan Witherspoon and 6'1 all-state
running back Brandon Jones of Peru. Indications are that Jones may choose the
basketball route in college.
A familiar name popped up among the finalists in this past weekend's Gus
Macker 3-point shooting championship. Kristof Kendrick, son of Purdue
assistant Frank Kendrick, made it to the finals of the contest by hitting
11 from the perimeter. However, Kristof ended up in third place, only
hitting for 4 in the finals. Kristof's team, the Rough Ridas (also featuring
Ali Saeed, Scott Stitsworth and Joe Munguia), placed first in the 14-under
and 15-under bracket. Kendrick is a 6'3 forward who will be a freshman at
Lafayette Central Catholic this upcoming season, possibly teaming up with
two other players with Purdue basketball ties. 6'7 sophomore Tyler Best,
brother of Purdue walkon Travis Best, is already at CC. A player rumored to
be moving into the area, after his family recently sold their house in Kentland,
is 6'3 guard Russell Trudeau, who averaged 17 points last year as a freshman
at South Newton HS. Doug Trudeau, Russell's father, was a tri-captain for
the Boilers in 1966. Back in early July, Doug said it was "50-50" Russell
could end up at Central Catholic. Both Best and Trudeau played for the
same Spiece AAU team, coached by Tyler's father Ron Best.
I will be taking a much needed vacation over the next week, so the recruiting
site will not be updated until after August 15th when I return. Any major
recruiting news will be covered by James over on the PurdueBuzz site, a
site that will soon be joining us here on MrHoops to further round out our
Purdue coverage. Have a good week!
To help temper the withdrawal, a fan has sent in this scouting report on
2001 forward Andre Patterson from Fort Wayne Concordia..."We play him each
year and I've watched him play in a couple summer leagues. He is a very good
athlete. He needs to add a some weight, but when you play at Concordia you
have to lift weights or you don't play. I had never seen him shoot outside
of 12-15 feet until tonight, but he was draining threes while he was warming
up. I wasn't sure that he had the skills to play small forward or the big
guard, but I'm becoming more and more convinced. He did seem to have pretty
good form. I have never seen him shoot outside in a game, but that is only
because his team didn't need him to. He can handle the ball well. Next year
will be a real test for him because all other teams will be focusing on him.
He won't have Demetrius Files to take the pressure off of him. You should
be able to tell a lot by how he performs. He said that he really likes
Purdue."
The Purdue men have caught the eyes of a few more center recruits. While
6'11 Kevin Garrity still has Purdue at the top of his list and 6'9 big
forward Brian Boddicker is still on the market (although favoring Texas),
here are a few more center prospects in the Class of 2000 mentioning Purdue...
Nolan Butterfras, 6'9 228lbs, Cypress Creek HS, TX -- This Nike Camp invitee
from Houston showed enough this past spring at the Spiece tournament at Purdue
to make the All-Tournament team. Butterfras has an impressive 9'01 reach and
has a 6'11 wingspan measurement from fingertip to fingertip. As a junior, he
averaged 14 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist. His career scoring high is 27.
Butterfras may be looking to stay at home at either Texas A&M or Houston, but
is also considering Iowa and Purdue.
Albert Hacker, 6'10 220lbs, Nashville Goodpasture, TN -- Another rising center
prospect getting a lot of attention at the moment. In his first year at
Goodpasture, after transferring from Brentwood Academy, he averaged 10.5
points and 8 rebounds on a loaded high school team that also featured two
players with solid Division I talent. The Cougars posted a 24-7 record
and made it to the Tennessee Division II final game, where they lost 51-42.
Hackers strongest game of the tournament was a 27 point outburst, and was named
to the Tennessee Division II first team as a junior by the Associated Press.
Hacker lists Purdue, Louisville, Vanderbilt and others. From the scarce
scouting reports I've seen, he seems to be solid defensively. A prospect to
keep an eye on.
Peter Ritzema, 7'2 275lbs, Clarkston, MI -- A lot of buzz about this prospect
right now. While reports on the Insider's Report call him a "project at the
high Division I level", rankings on ESPN put him as the 8th best center recruit
in the Class of 2000, and the #43 prospect at any position. Ritzema has had
a busy summer playing for The Family AAU program, attending the Nike Peach Jam
and Super Showcase tournaments, the NBA Players Association Camp, and has also
attended a Gene Keady camp at Purdue. Insider's Report says although he
possesses a "super attitude and always gives maximum effort", but also
scouts him as being slow-footed and in need of conditioning. Insider's
Report mentions Dayton, Xavier, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Notre Dame,
Marquette, Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Miami of Ohio,
Valparaiso and Pennsylvania as all being involved, while the Penn State site
lists Xavier, Purdue and Penn State. His junior season was injury plagued,
so good numbers from last year are unavailable.
Tifany Young's parents have set up a scholarship fund in the memory of
Tiffany. They have asked that anyone wishing to send flowers instead
donate to the scholarship fund. Donations can be sent to the Tiffany Young
Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 263, Hillsboro, AL 35643.
Purdue senior guard Tiffany Young was killed Saturday evening in a car
accident in Gary Indiana. The driver of the car that struck the car Young
was riding in had a blood alcohol level of .30. More details about the
accident can be found on Purdue's official website.
Our prayers go out to Tiffany's family and everyone else involved in the
accident. I'll try to track down where the families would like cards and
letters sent, and will post the information hopefully by late Monday.
Now for a look at a few more point guards with Purdue on their lists. While
Northwestern point guard Austin Parkinson still looks like Purdue's priority
at the position, many other point prospects in the Class of 2000 are
currently, or have recently mentioned the Boilers.
Brandon Childress, 5'9 170lbs, Chanel HS, OH -- A two sport star in both
football (wide receiver/defensive end) and basketball, this sturdy cage point
guard would be a threat to go on a football scholarship and walk-on with a
basketball team. According to Insider's Report as of 6/21, Childress is listing Indiana,
Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Clemson, Maryland,
North Carolina, Notre Dame, UCLA, Southern Cal, Cincinnati, Georgia and
Tennessee. Purdue was listed as being interested in his basketball skills.
Childress averaged 20 points, four boards and six assists as a junior.
Jerricho Cotchery, 6'2 185lbs, Birmingham Philips, AL -- Another two sport
star on the gridiron and basketball, Cotchery is another wide receiver who
may be sharper on the field than on the court. He has some big names
interested in his football skills, but also has Purdue listed among a list
of twenty schools. Mike Sullivan of Insider's Report calls him "a guard who
drives to the hoop strong and hard, often drawing fouls, Cotchery has an
unorthodox shot release on his jumper...while he is good at basketball,
football might be his meal ticket to professional sports." Cotchery is
gaining plenty of hoops experience this summer playing for the Alabama Ice
AAU program. He is academically qualified.
Tyrone McMath, 5'10 175lbs, Arthur Hill HS, MI -- Purdue has reportedly sent
this quick point guard prospect letters, but has questionmarks academically.
Bruce Weber and Southern Illinois are also following his progress, along with
Toledo, Ohio University, Nebraska, Rutgers, SMU and others. McMath averaged
12 points and 10 assists on a loaded high school team that also featured the
MSU bound all-american Jason Richardson. Arthur Hill went all the way to the
Class A final game in Michigan last year. McMath generally gets more respect
on the AAU cicuit than he does inside the state of Michigan, and we wonder
why he didn't make an all-state team last year.
Jason Carter, 5'10 150lbs, Gary Mann HS, IN -- The kid with the biggest
reputation among the group of point guard prospects listing Purdue at the
moment. AAU coaches who have seen him claim he is a guard who can take a
program to the next level, but has avoided big summer camps including Nike
keeping people wondering if the hype is true. Insider's Report's Mike
Sullivan has seen him, and has this to say "an athletic lefty guard with
speed and strong hands who constantly looks to penetrate..he has the
strength to rip the ball away from opposing guards and can rise for
slams/finish acrobatically." Carter is currently in basketball limbo as
he applies to the IHSAA for another year of eligibility due to voluntarily
dropping out of school to take care of his ailing father two years ago.
Carter was back in school last year at Mann, but the IHSAA says he has
exhausted his eligibility in basketball. Carter awaits a ruling from the
IHSAA on his eligibility, and has been rumored to be considering transferring
to an Indianapolis school such as Cathedral or Pike. Prep school is also an
option is his eligibility is turned down. Carter averaged 18 points, 7
rebounds and 9 assists as a junior (academically, a senior according to the
IHSAA) at Mann last year, and turned down several Indiana all-star
invitations hoping another year of eligibility would be awarded. Due to his
academic limbo, he is hearing offers from prep schools, junior colleges and
high Division I schools. Some of the colleges interested include UMass,
Purdue, Notre Dame, Fresno State, Wyoming, Northeastern, Bowling Green,
Drake and Wright State.
Terry Collins, 6'1 185lbs, Fort Wayne Snider HS, IN -- A kid we have heard
Purdue has been watching for years, so we at least wanted to mention him.
You occassionally see Collins rated as high as the top 100 nationally,
but academic questions have hurt his stock. Said to be on track now, Collins
recently gave a list to Insider's Report of Ball State, Northwestern, Weber
State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, and Bowling Green. He is still
wide open. Collins averaged 19.6 points, 3.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.2
assists in a scoring role for Snider as a junior, shooting .378 from the
floor, .308 from the perimeter and .642 from the line. Collins was the
leading junior scorer in the Summit Athletic Conference, second in all
classes to only senior all-star guard Vernard Hollins. While we still wait
to hear about serious interest from Purdue, his improving academic
situation could boost his stock.
I have recently updated the "Recruiting Links" page, getting rid of some old
links and adding a few new ones. If you know of a good site that should be
listed on the page, send me a note at bcrichards@hotmail.com and I will add
it. Keep in mind that only free sites are listed, and they must have specific
recruiting sections.
We'll start catching up on a few prospects with Purdue on their list at the
point guard position. These rising seniors have been mentioned in connection
with by one source or another....
Demetrius Smith, 6'3 190lbs, Callaway HS, GA -- This superb athlete is probably
the highest rated point guard known to be considering Purdue. Insider's Report
lists him as the 8th best player at his position, averaging 23 points and 6
assists as a junior. Back at the end of June, Smith gave a wide open list that
included Purdue. Since then, Smith has identified 11 schools as the frontrunners
(Auburn, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Louisville,
Kentucky, NC State, Tennessee and Texas), with Purdue still being mentioned as a
consideration. Smith was an ABCD Camp invitee.
Jameer Nelson, 5'11 175lbs, Chester HS, PA -- Nelson averaged 15 points, 6 assists,
6 boards and 5 steals as a junior. Purdue has been considered by Nelson, but a
report by Insider's Report just today gave a new list for Nelson that included
only Massachusetts, St. Joe's, Temple, Penn State, Texas, Virginia, Providence,
Seton Hall, Southern Cal, and Memphis.
More names coming, including five more point prospects in the Class of 2000
alone.
Former Purdue assistant Bruce Weber continues to recruit well at Southern
Illinois. Weber just recently received a verbal from 6'0 scorer Mo Niakate
from Springfield, IL. Niakate, a french import, averaged 27 points per game
as a junior. Bob Gibbons recently rated him very highly at the Steamboat
Tournament in Tennessee.
John Boyd was named the new head coach at Gary West High school last night.
Boyd has high hopes for the future of Westside basketball.
Russ Blake of the Insider's Report sends us his impressions of center Kevin
Garrity, who currently has Purdue at the top of his list..."One thing he's
got is size -- he's a legit 6'9+, 245-250 pounds. He passes the look test all
right, but the play test leaves you feeling a bit more ambiguous. I've never
seen Kevin dominate AAU games, even though he typically towers over and
outweighs his counterparts by quite a bit. His offensive skills are just OK,
and he is not going to dazzle you with any athleticism or above the rim play.
In essence, he's a clog the middle type center with decent mobility. I could
see him wind up in the WWF before the NBA, unless of course he improves
significantly in his senior year and college. Garrity will actually be a fifth
year senior this fall, and as a result, he is leaving Wardlaw Hartridge (where
he has no eligibility left) to attend the Hun School in Princeton."
Over the course of the next two weeks, we will be catching up on prospects who
have been mentioned by other sites as being interested in Purdue. At this point
it is hard to measure the extent of mutual interest, but we will at least
let you know who is listing Purdue.
Several schools have made good use of the July evaluation period and
convinced a few former Purdue prospects to make verbal commitments.
Louisville Assumption's 6'2 forward Jenni Benningfield has verbally
committed to Vanderbilt. Mason High's 6'1 Michelle Munoz, teammate of
Purdue's most recent recruit Beth Jones, has given an early verbal to
Tennessee. Although not as tall as we had earlier been led to believe,
Munoz will be able to bang in the post at Tennessee and be successful.
She is so strong, and can catch and shoot from anywhere on the floor
out to the perimeter. Ohio State has not only landed another Purdue
prospect, but also a former Purdue coach. 6'3 203-pound Emily Haynam from
Westerville South High in Ohio committed to Ohio State a couple of weeks
ago. Haynam is an impressive prospect that pivots well, and has a nice
perimeter stroke (although we didn't see too many fall for her). We were
also surprised to see former Boiler assistant Seth Kushkin working the
Nike Camp wearing Ohio State garb. Ohio State could be headed for a
stellar class if they can go on to sign either 5'11 Diana Taurasi or
6'2 Ebony Hoffman, rated #2 and #3 respectively in the Class of 2000
by Fast Break. The good news for Purdue is that the #1 and #4 prospects
on that same list are still available and interested in the Boilers.
5'11 Anne O'Neil, who holds the top rating, played on the same team
as Boiler recruit Lindsey Hicks at the Nike Camp. O'Neil lives up to her
reputation of being a great 1-on-1 player. Playing a mixture of roles at
the camp, from primary ballhandler to a slashing forward, O'Neil has great
instincts and the poise to run her offense under the tightest defense. What
impressed us the most was her ability to push the ball and the offense,
whether it be in the open court on the break or in a halfcourt set. Probably
the most talented point guard we saw last week had to be the 4th rated player,
5'8 Cherise Graham from Archbishop High in Pennsylvania. Her ballhandling
stood out from her peers and is an exciting player to watch work on the floor.
Graham currently lists Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue
and Tennessee.
We're watching with interest the upcoming replacement of Ike Brown at Gary West
High, who retired after the end of the 98-99 season to devote more time to golf
and gardening. Brown leaves Gary Westside after 21 years, averaging 14 victories
per season for the Cougars. Kenny Lowe was named to Brown's all-time starting
five team as a guard, a list that also included Larry Demic at center who went
on to start in the NBA for the New York Knicks. The recent connection to Purdue
is obvious, since both McQuay brothers and incoming freshman Kenny Lowe were all
Westside graduates. And the recruiting at Westside does not look to be over, as
Purdue is showing early interest in rising sophomore Brandon Cameron, a 6'0
guard with a knack for defense. Cameron is generally considered among the top
few players in the class of 2002 and should see plenty of time on the floor
with the recent graduation of Westside's deeply talented senior class. But the
question remains who will be the new head coach at Gary West? The frontrunner at
the moment seems to be assistant coach John Boyd, but actions this summer by the
school board makes us wonder if a coach will ever be named. Back at the end of
June, Boyd was on the Gary Community School Board's agenda to be named the new
head coach, but was deleted from the agenda during the meeting. On July 13,
Boyd was again to be placed on the agenda, but was again deleted. The next
meeting is scheduled for July 27. According to The Times of Northwest Indiana,
the two top candidates for the job are Boyd and former Horace Mann assistant
Melvin Yancey. Others rumored to be on the list include West assistant Murray
Richards (another one of Brown's all-time starters) and Gary Wirt's Omar
Vazquez.
According to this report from Heartland Hoops, Andrean High's Shane Power
has said Purdue has offered him a scholarship. Along with Purdue, Southern
California and Iowa State have all offered Shane, with Indiana State, Ball
State, Valparaiso, Ohio and South Florida also being considered. The 6'5
tweener has the strength to go inside, but also has excellent ballhandling
skills to play the off-guard. Power was a member of the Indiana Junior
All-Star team, and plays along side Brett Buscher on the SYF AAU team
currently in Florida for the AAU Nationals. Power averaged 24.4 points as
a junior at 3A Andrean High, 21.7 points as a sophomore and 16.7 points as
a freshman.
It has been confirmed that Matt Lottich has verballed to Stanford.
We received an email this weekend from the Nike Peach Jam festival stating
Matt Lottich has committed to Stanford. At this time we can't confirm the
rumor, but he has had Stanford near the top of his list.
Purdue has announced former Boiler and Ray Eddy "Mr. Hustle" four-time
winner Todd Foster will be leaving his assistant coaching position at
Valparaiso University and will join the Boilermaker staff. The position
became available after assistant Frank Kendrick took a job at the Purdue
Memorial Union. While it is still up in the air whether Frank will return
to the staff at a future date, rumors suggest he has moved on for good.
Purdue prospects will still see assistant Jim Thrash out on the recruiting
trail, but he will now be joined by assistant Jay Price who was bumped up
into Frank's recruiting position. Price has been praised by Keady in the
past for his excellent ability to scout opponents and recognize the
individual skills and weaknesses of players. Those skills should translate
well into evaluating future Boilermakers. Welcome back Todd, and
congratualtions to Jay Price in his new position!
One of the more interesting aspects of the Nike Camp is the accurate
measurements of all the players in attendance. Players are measured
in their bare feet, and height, weight, wingspan and reach are all
recorded. The following are the measurements of some of the prospects
of interest to Purdue. I will be updating the stats under their player
profiles later.
Ht Wt Reach Wingspan
Brett Buscher 6'07 229 8'05 6'10
Caron Butler 6'05 230 8'04 6'11
Brian Carter 6'10 190 8'10 6'11
John Hamilton 6'03 173 7'10 6'04
Sean Kline 6'06 203 8'03 6'08
Robbie Owens 6'05 180 8'05 6'08
Austin Parkinson 6'00 177 7'07 6'00
Zach Randolph 6'09 270 8'08 6'11
Chris Thomas 6'00 164 7'08 6'01
James Thues 5'10 160 7'06 6'01
The big news of the week for the Purdue men has Frank Kendrick stepping aside to
take a new position in the Purdue Memorial Union. The move, initiated by
Kendrick with the approval of the athletic department, will allow the
controversy surrounding his appeal to be distanced from the team next
season. Once Kendrick's appeal to the NCAA is finished, he may choose to
rejoin the coaching staff. In the interim, Keady will be interviewing
coaching candidates and hopes to have a replacement by the end of July.
Third assistant Jay Price will be taking over off-campus recruiting duties
for Kendrick until a replacement can be found. Because the coaching
position may be temporary due to the possibility Kendrick may rejoin the
team, it could affect the placement of a new coach on staff. One candidate
mentioned has been former player Todd Foster, but it is unknown if he
would leave his current assistant coaching position to take what may be
a temporary position at Purdue. Other candidates rumored to be on the
list include Walter Jordan, Mack Gadis, Andre Patterson Sr. (not the
former IU star) and Cuonzo Martin. Martin has expressed interest in
the position, and will likely accept if asked. The decision of Kendrick
to step aside doesn't seem to be having an effect on the Boiler recruits.
The last two women's recruits have come from the state of Ohio, and
now that trend continues as the women's team received their second
commitment for the class of 2000. Shooting guard Beth Jones from Mason
High in Ohio has verbally committed to Curry and staff. The 5'9 Jones
is a deadly shooter from the perimeter who averaged 11 points on the
nation's top high school program last season. The addition of Jones
could also help land another prospect from Mason High. Rising junior
Michelle Munoz, the 6'0 daughter of Bengals Hall of Fame tackle Anthony
Munoz, is rated as one of the best center prospects in the nation.
The Illini women have picked up a center recruit. Brenda Blackburn, a
6'6 rising senior center from Ardmore Oklahoma has verballed to Teresa
Grentz's program.
After spending most of the time over the last week at the Nike Camp in
Indianapolis, updates on the players in attendance will filter out over the
next few days. There will also be some reports on recruits not on Purdue's
list posted on the new SportsMidwest site, and links to those articles will
be posted here. Next weekend, we will be at the Nike Women's All-American
Camp and will have some scouting reports on some of the Boiler women
prospects, including Anne O'Neil who is scheduled to be in attendance.
Ohio State hit the July evaluation period running with two commitments this
weekend. Providence transfer Sean Connolly again committed to Jim O'Brien
and will play for the Buckeyes after sitting out the 1999-2000 season due
to NCAA transfer rules. I say "again" committed because Connelly orginally
was supposed to be a part of O'Brien's Boston College team. After Boston
College refused to let two other recruits in his class enroll at the
university, O'Brien left the university and Connelly also left and signed
with Providence's Pete Gillan...who then left to take over at Virginia.
Connelly asked to leave Providence at the end of the season, and will now
be reunited with O'Brien and Scoonie Penn, a former AAU teammate. Connelly
is a 6'5 guard who averaged 11 points per game at Providence, shooting
38-percent from the perimeter. Another AAU teammate of Connelly's and Penn's
was 6'10 Micheal Bradley, who left Boston College and went to Kentucky.
Bradley transferred from Kentucky at the end of this season, but chose
Villanova over Ohio State. Ohio State hasn't had much luck recruiting
other 6'10 centers this year, but they finally landed one. Their
first two 6'10 center candidates from Ohio, Robertas Javtokas of Akron
St. Vincent/St. Mary and 6'10 Arno Ampalu of Wellston, both chose other
programs. But the Buckeyes did land another homegrown big man in 6'10
Matt Marinchick from Hudson, Ohio. Marinchick chose Ohio State over
Tennessee, and is generally rated among the nation's top 30 rising
senior centers.
The state's third leading scorer during the 98-99 season is coming to
Purdue and hopes to walk on the basketball team this fall. Evansville Day's
Jeremy Willis is a 6'0 guard who set the city scoring record this year
with 1,899 points and a 27.8 per game average. Willis broke the Evansville
city scoring record previously held by former Boiler star Bob Ford, who went
on to land at #19 among Purdue's all-time scorers in only three years of
play. The city record stood for 31 years before Willis broke it midway through
his season. Willis chose Purdue for the academics, but has a dream of also
playing Division I ball. A National Honor Society student that carries a
3.6 GPA, Willis plans to become a pharmacist at Purdue. Class 1A Evansville
Day had its best record in school history during the 98-99 season, going
19-4. Tryouts for walkon positions on the men's team will be held this fall.
Many known Purdue prospects are coming forward to say the NCAA's decision
this week will not affect their decisions to come to Purdue. Here are
some encouraging quotes from a recent Journal and Courier article, where
Jeff Washburn tracked down some of the prospects to see what they were
thinking...
Brett Buscher..."Nothing has changed - I'm still very happy to be going
to Purdue."
John Hamilton Sr..."These infractions have no bearing on John at all."
Zach Randolph..."I like the coaches. As far as I'm concerned, everything
is the same."
Austin Parkinson..."It's really important to me that if I go to Purdue
that Coach Kendrick is there."
Bruce Parkinson went on to express his admiration for the Purdue staff.
He also said that the sign of a great program is the kids you recruit.
If anything should be learned from this situation, it is that kids that
do not care to buy into the system, and expect the system to buy them,
should never grace Keady Court again. Bruce mentioned Lowe and Buscher
as being two of the greatest kids Purdue could hope to sign. I want to
extend it further. Since the class of Stephens and Davis fristrated
Keady into saying he needed to sign more quality kids, he has gone
out and signed Maynard Lewis, Rodney Smith, John Allison, Adam Wetzel,
Joe Marshall and Kenny Lowe. All high quality kids who shy away from
trouble and know what it means to be a student-athlete. While many
critics are calling for Keady to change his recruiting in the wake of
the NCAA decision, it is obvious Keady changed two years ago and will
continue to sign quality kids regardless of external pressure.
Purdue plans to appeal the Wednesday ruling by the NCAA that will impose
penalties for two alleged recruiting violations that occurred over three
years ago. Of the 16 violations the NCAA examined, which could have
resulted in over 100 violations of NCAA rules, the NCAA found only two
that they could justify as legitimate, according to their assumptions.
The NCAA claims Purdue set up a bank loan to help former player Luther
Clay pay off his prep school bill, insisting assistant coach Frank
Kendrick set up the deal and Bank One banker Bill Powers did not expect
the loan to be repaid. A loan that Bank One itself has identified as
normal, turning over documentation to the NCAA showing similar loans
were made to a variety of Purdue students. A loan, despite the assumption
of Clay it was a free loan, that the bank demanded payment on from Clay
on several occassions leading up to his decision to transfer. A loan
Frank Kendrick passed a series of lie detector tests that cleared him of
any involvement. A loan that has resulted in both Bill Powers and Frank
Kendrick retaining legal counsel and possibly filing suit against the
NCAA or Clay himself. A loan that at one time was reviewed by the NCAA and
found to be legitimate.
Violation two, from the NCAA's view, claims a Purdue booster, Gene McFadden,
helped Porter Roberts' mother move to Indianapolis and stay rent free in
an apartment owned by McFadden. Purdue pointed out that McFadden was not a
Purdue booster, just the boyfriend of Cuonzo Martin's mother who agreed
to help Mrs. Roberts escape an abusive relationship in Tennessee and
move to Indianapolis. Gene McFadden responded by identifying himself as
a Michigan State alum and booster, and said he held no real affinity for
Purdue. The NCAA claims Frank Kendrick also set up this move, but newspaper
reports have identified the move was the idea of Porter himself, who was
introduced to McFadden by Cuonzo Martin. Even the idea the move was free
has been refuted. Mrs. Roberts performed housecleaning for McFadden in
exchange for the free apartment he furnished for her. The NCAA also claims
that when Mrs. Roberts rode to Lafayette to Purdue games with McFadden
and Martin, she was being given an illegal benefit because of her son
being on the Purdue team.
Purdue plans to appeal the NCAA decision, but knowing how stubborn they
have been in the past, they aren't likely to change anything. For
information on the Purdue response to the NCAA, check out this link to
the official Purdue site. All penalties handed down by the NCAA are
put on hold until the appeals process is completed, which could take
many months.
Now for the penalties affecting recruiting. We will handle them one by
one and try to explain the relevance of each to Purdue's ability to
successfully recruit.
Penalty One - Purdue's Frank Kendrick is not allowed to recruit off
the Purdue campus for one year. This is maybe the worst of the imposed
penalties, but considering it is just one year, it could have been
much worse. The NCAA would like to get rid of Kendrick and was embarrassed
when everyone from Purdue President Steven Beering on down stood by
him. Other programs under NCAA scrutiny have cut loose coaches, and
have received lesser penalties than Purdue did for keeping a member
of the Purdue family. While Frank is one of the most energetic and
charming people one could hope to meet, he will still be on the Purdue
campus when prospects come to visit. And since he is visible with
many of the younger kids, a year off won't be so bad. He is already
well-known by most of the recruits who will make a decision the year
he will be spending time on campus. In his place, assistant coach Jay
Price will likely take over his off-campus recruiting duties.
Penalty Two - Purdue loses one scholarship for the seasons of 2000-2001
and 2001-2002. This, again, isn't as bad as it looks. Purdue has
an incredible amount of scholarships to offer the high school class
of 2000, a total of six. Since Purdue wasn't planning on using all six
that year, it will not be an issue for that class. However, the class
of 2001 may have only one scholarship available. Considering Indiana
will have five legitimate top 100 players in that class, the effects
might be felt in this class. All in all, losing a scholarship can be a
recruiting advantage in signing a big class of up to five players at
once. Not only will the lack of the extra body increase their playing
time (a major selling point to players today), the existence of only
one scholarship the following class guarantees only one position will
be recruited the following year. This will serve as a guarantee of
more playing time in the player's second year on the team. Some have
made the argument that the loss of a scholarship will not punish
Purdue, but rather punish a kid who wants to get a college education.
While it will prevent them from coming to Purdue, if they are good
enough to come to Purdue in the first place they will easily be
scooped up by another college and given the chance to get a college
education. However, the kids it really hurts are the walk-ons, like
Travis Best, who frequently are awarded unused scholarships. In Travis'
favor, he already gets a discounted tuition due to his mother being
a Purdue employee.
Penalty Three - Purdue is limited to only four official visits for the
1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. While colleges are allowed 12 visits
from potential prospects, here's why a limit of four will not hurt
Purdue at all. Over the past four years, which includes a class in
which Purdue signed five players, Purdue has used an average of 5.25
visits per year. In reality, Purdue is only losing a fraction over
one visit per year. While the staff might use a lot more visits to
sign a class of five, four of the five players in the class of 2000
most likely to join the Boilers are Indiana residents and will not
need to be flown in at the expense of Purdue. They also have already
visited Purdue unofficially in the past. There is advantages to
recruiting on your home turf. You tend not to need many official
visits. The following class will only have one scholarship, so
four officials will be plenty and will not have an effect on that
class either. The 4 visit limit might hurt if the staff got into
a last minute battle to fill a certain position, but if Keady believes
he already has five kids verballed for the class of 2000, that worry
may may be moot.
So, even if the NCAA penalties survive the appeal, they really have
a very minor influence on recruiting. What the prospects will have to
deal with is the negative recruiting from other schools. But the
players and prospects are smart enough to know that this is not a
reflection on them as people or players. If Glenn Robinson can excel
at Purdue while opponents scream "stupid" and chant "Prop48" every
time he comes down the floor, why should players and prospects take
criticism to heart for something Luther Clay did?
Bruce Weber and staff have hit Indiana and picked up Indiana All-Star
Jermaine Dearman from Warren Central High in Indianapolis. The 6'8
post player is very athletic, moves well, and can spin easily around most
post players using his quickness. He also knows how to finish. Not strong,
but tenacious. Definitely a player who should spend all summer shooting
freethrows. For more info on Weber's recruit, check out this Indy Star
article.
Bloomington Red AAU, featuring Purdue prospect Austin Parkinson, won the
Indiana state AAU championship this weekend, defeating SYF Players AAU,
featuring Brett Buscher, 97-67. Spiece South took third by defeating
Bloomington Blaze.
While Zach Randolph dominates at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado,
a couple of other players mentioning Purdue are also performing well. Below
are some stats for Class of 2000 prospects Nick Anderson and Kevin Garrity
through all games at the festival...
Nick Anderson FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
Game 1 4 10 0 2 0 4 3 5 8 5 8 0 1 1 1 16
Game 2 6 12 0 0 1 2 2 6 8 1 13 1 0 1 0 19
Game 3 10 11 0 0 1 1 5 8 13 4 21 3 1 1 0 31
Game 4 11 19 0 1 1 2 7 3 10 4 23 1 0 1 0 26
Game 5 5 9 0 1 1 2 2 6 8 3 11 1 2 4 0 27
Kevin Garrity FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
Game 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 18
Game 2 2 5 0 0 2 2 2 3 5 4 6 1 0 0 0 23
Game 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 4 3 7 4 4 1 2 0 0 19
Game 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 4 0 1 1 0 16
Game 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 9
Down under the June 20th update, we mentioned a persistent rumor that
Purdue was close to getting a verbal commitment from a big man from a
New Jersey prep school. That player was identified today as 6'11 250lb
center Kevin Garrity from Wardlaw-Hartridge Prep in North Brunswick, NJ.
Although he has Purdue currently as his top pick, he has yet to drop out
of the recruiting race and will continue to look at other schools. Garrity
is currently at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado with the USA
Basketball Development League and will be playing games this weekend. For
updates on the festival, check out the USA Basketball website. A profile
on Garrity is in the works, and we will attempt to give you information
on how his visits to other school go this summer and fall. Garrity is rated
at #28 by Insiders Report and is among the top centers in the country.
His junior season numbers were 14 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks for
Wardlaw-Hartridge Prep. According to the list Garrity gave Insiders
Report, Purdue now tops a list that also includes Duquesne, Fordham,
Notre Dame, Rutgers, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, LaSalle, Xavier,
Penn State, Delaware and East Carolina. We know he has taken an official
visit to Rutgers, but has yet to visit Purdue.
Kristy Curry anxiously awaits the upcoming July evaluation period that
begins June 26th and will continue until August 4th. As the above linked
article also states, she will have some instate competition on the road
from former Boiler Jennifer Jacoby, who has been elevated to a recruiting
assistant position at Indiana.
One of the things we overheard at the Junior All-Star game on Wednesday
was the interest of Purdue in Fort Wayne Concordia's Andre Patterson.
According to a source at the game, Purdue has offered the 6'6 rising junior
center and he may be interested in making an early commitment. Patterson
helped Concordia tie for the Summit Athletic Conference regular season
championship this past year averaging 14.3 points, 10.4 boards and
4 blocks per game. Andre was given the "best defender" award at last
summer's Five Star Developmental Camp for then rising sophomores. It was
the same camp Chris Thomas took home the "Most Outstanding Player" and
"Best Playmaker" awards. Patterson visited Mackey for a game last January.
People started to whisper two weeks ago. At a Crawfordsville alumni function,
Gene Keady said he had five verbal commitments from the rising senior
class. The following week, word came from Monticello that he said it again.
Then this week at a Chicago alumni function, he said a little more. Keady
said Purdue has three signees (Lowe, Wetzel, and Marshall) and five verbals,
including a center. The only known verbal commitment for the Class of 2000
is Brett Buscher, leaving four unknown players out there who have reportedly
told the staff they will come to Purdue. But questions remain about who
Keady might consider a verbal commitment for the next recruiting class. Is
Coach including Cameron Stephens, who is spending time at Vincennes Junior
College next year and will be available to rejoin the Boilers for the 2000-2001
season? Is he also including Travis Best, an invited walk-on who will be
eligible for the 2000-2001 season? Do the coaches still believe Caron Butler
has verballed to Purdue when both he and his coach claim he is still looking
at schools and the NBA? Have the remaining four verbally committed prospects
been offered scholarships from the coaches, or are they just players who have
said they will commit if Purdue offers them? All questions that make the issue
so interesting. John Hamilton comes up as the most likely to have told the
coaches he will accept a scholarship offer, but has yet to publicly announce
his decision. The second player mentioned the most is Austin Parkinson.
However, Bruce Parkinson on Wednesday said Austin has not yet verballed to
any school and is still looking around. The third candidate is Butler, but
it is obvious he is in no hurry to formally commit to any school as long as
their might be a question of going to the NBA after next season. Then there
are the rumors. One rumor that has been around since late in the season has
a big man from a New Jersey prep school close to verballing to Purdue.
Sources claim the staff is not referring to Caron Butler, who will likely be
a wing player and doesn't attend school in the state of New Jersey. On thing
is for sure. Just when we think we know a lot about what is going on
recruiting-wise, something comes up like this that shows us we still have a
lot of digging to do.
With 15 scholarships to give, a walk-on with the women's program has a very
good chance of getting a scholarship on a year-to-year basis since rarely
are all 15 scholarships used. Danielle Bird has benefitted the past two
seasons from excess scholarships, and will again be on scholarship for the
1999-2000 season. Two additional seniors started their Purdue careers as
walk-ons, Amy Shaffer and Shayla Potter. Shaffer will be on scholarship
next season, but will not be participating due to a student teaching
assignment that will keep her busy off the court. Shayla Potter will not
be on scholarship, deciding instead to enter Purdue's ROTC program on
a full-time basis. The only other walk-on currently listed on the Boiler
roster is junior Beth Lapaich, who at this moment is still being listed
as a walk-on. The scholarship page has been updated to reflect the
changes in the status of the players.
Bloomington Red defeated Spiece South today at the Abbey AC tournament in
Cleveland, according to this Insider's Report article. Jared Jeffries led Red
with 15 points. Ben Davis HS combo guard CJ Hill led Spiece with 21 points.
CJ Hill was my top sleeper from the Purdue Spiece tournament in May. He is an
aggressive player capable of turning around the momentum of a game. More on
the Cleveland tournament will come later this week as we talk to the coaches
of Bloomington Red and Spiece South. We will try to get more info on the
other players who weren't lucky enough to be the leading scorers for their
teams and get mentioned in tournament reports. The most annoying aspect of the
AAU season is the lack of statistics. Very, very few AAU tournaments take
any statistics other than scoring. That is a main reason why the scoring
point guards raise their rankings over the summer, while passing point guards
tend to go unmentioned.
SYF Players 17-under AAU, which features Purdue recruit Brett Buscher, won last
weekend's Jerry Watson tournament in Columbus, OH. Although Brett was named
MVP by a couple of scouting services, here are the all-tournament teams and
MVP according to the tournament committee, including four Indiana high school
players including Buscher, 5'11 junior point guard Steve Drabyn (LaPorte),
6'2 junior 2-guard Corey Stokes (East Chicago) and 6'2 junior 2-guard Michael
Miller (South Bend Clay).
The Indiana state AAU tournament for rising sophomore boys will be held at the
Indianapolis Sports Center on June 11-13 and 19-20. The draw for the tournament
has been made, and the pool assignments can be accessed by following this link
to Jim Reamer's Indiana Select AAU page.
Two more rising senior guards to keep an eye on in the state of Michigan are
6'0 combo guard James Thues from Detroit King HS and 6'2 point guard Maurice
Searight from Orchard Lake St. Mary's. Thues is still looking around, but recently
told the Insider's Report he had Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Purdue, Cincinnati,
DePaul, St. Louis, Tulane, Louisville, and Illinois as strong considerations. Thues
is strong defensively and can handle as well as drive with the ball. Identified early
as one of the nation's top prospects, Thues was dealt a major blow his junior year
when his brother Jerome was the victim of a shooting at a gas station in Detroit.
Jerome survived the shooting and is currently undergoing rehabilitation to be able to
walk again. James was named all-Michigan honorable mention by the Detroit Free Press,
but is one of the top players in Michigan. After shaking off the incident with his
brother, James came back to lead King HS to the PSL championship wearing his brother's
birthday on his shoes. Prep Spotlight recently ranked James as the country's 10th best
junior prospect. Thues plays on the same AAU team, The Family, with 6'2 point guard
Maurice Searight, making up one of the top rising senior backcourts in AAU this summer.
At the Bluegrass Festival in Kentucky this past weekend, The Family had a first round
66-56 victory over a Florida team. Thues finished with 15 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds
while Searight added 14 points and 7 assists. Searight is ranked as the nation's #6
prospect by Prep Spotlight, and at #10 by Hoop Scoop. The second team all-Michigan
player had an early list this spring that included Texas, Duke, Michigan, Nebraska,
Purdue, Syracuse, Penn State, and Marquette...a list that will certainly grow by the
end of the summer. Searight's strongest game is basketball, where he is an athletic floor
leader and can take anyone off the dribble, but also plays football. Both players
have said they plan on narrowing their lists by the end of the summer.
Russ Blake from the Insider's Report emailed me this week to say Purdue
is being looked at by two sport star Charles Spencer of Poughkeepsie, NY.
The 6'5 280-pound rising senior post player/tight end/linebacker will
probably be taking a football scholarship in college, but also averaged
16 points and 16 rebounds last season on the basketball court. Russ says
some of the schools pursuing Spencer at this point are Connecticut, Fordham,
Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh,
Providence, Purdue, Rhode Island, Rutgers, St John's, Syracuse, UMass,
Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. His summer plans include attending
a Syracuse football camp and playing with the Albany City Rocks AAU program.
A situation to follow closely over the next year will be the eligibility
of 5'10 Horace Mann senior (eligibility-wise) Jason Carter. Carter is a
name that popped up for me after a 30 point second half performance last
year against Indianapolis Pike and all-state guard Chris Thomas. Carter is
applying for another year of athletic eligibility with the IHSAA, and is
expected to win due to extenuating circumstances. Those circumstances are
mapped out in an outstanding article in the Times by Matt Youmans. Carter
will likely transfer to an Indianapolis school if his eligibility is granted
by the IHSAA this summer. Although not very big, Carter has a reputation
of being the best point guard in the state, and will get major attention
next year if he wins the appeal. Skill-wise, Carter is the type of talent
that can help take a program to the next level. If you get a chance, take
time to read the article linked above.
Cameron Stephens has signed with Vincennes University. Cam could return
to Purdue for the 2000-2001 season after one year at the juco level. He
would have two seasons of eligibility remaining, unless he could complete
his degree requirements in that time which would allow him a 5th year
of eligibility.
A player Purdue checked out for most of his high school career has chosen
to attend prep school instead of going to college. 6'8 Gary West forward
Vincent Hart has been released from his letter of intent by Saint Louis,
and will instead spend a year at Maine Central Institute. Rumors began
circulating early this spring that Hart was not pleased with his choice of
colleges, especially after Saint Louis suffered a mid-season coaching
change. During the time Purdue was looking at Hart, the team was overloaded
at forward and the coaches had Ricky Wright as their #1 option. Wright
ended up passing on Purdue due to that glut of forwards, three of which
are no longer with the team. Whether Purdue will recruit Hart at MCI
remains to be seen. Hart reportedly intentionally failed his senior year
at Gary West to avoid graduating, gaining a release from Saint Louis.
The person who orchestrated his delivery to MCI has been mentioned on this
site many times before in connection with Region-based prospects, James Dye.
Dye helped East Chicago Central's Bobby Smith and Marcus Jefferson get
out of the Region and into prep schools, to the dismay of their high school
coach. Now Dye has become the target of retiring head coach Ike Brown at
Gary West, a man Brown claims convinced Hart to blow off high school and
attend prep school. "He was told the badder his grades were the better
chance he'd have of getting in (the prep school)," Brown told the Times.
Hart has indicated he still would like to go to Saint Louis after MCI,
if they want him in a year.
Speaking of MCI, former head coach Max Good has landed a spot as an
assistant coach at UNLV. Good decided to move on after MCI had the decision
to make cuts in the basketball program. It is unknown if the number of
scholarships granted to postgraduate players will decrease, but it has
been indicated that an attempt will be made to shorten the season.
Indiana University received a verbal from Indianapolis Perry Meridian
rising senior guard Andre Owens this week. Owens can play either guard
position, but might be better suited at point. Owens plays for former
Boiler Mark Barnhizer at Perry Meridian, who saw Purdue show some
interest in Owens late this spring. He was expected to attend either
Indiana or Northwestern, but also had an interest in Purdue, Bowling Green,
Indiana State, and a host of other Big Ten programs. Owens will spend
the rest of the summer touring with the Bloomington Red AAU squad.
Former Louisville guard Travis Best is headed for Purdue, according to
Travis' father Ron Best. "Travis will help Purdue," said Best, who helps
coach the Spiece Pistols AAU squad. "He is a good student and he will be
one of the strongest on the team." Travis is a work out nut and is a true
point guard. Ron Best also tells me the family has moved to Lafayette.
Best will be the team's second walk on guard along with senior Chad Kerkhof.
The family already has a son in town going to school, 6'8 rising sophomore
forward Tyler Best, who attends Lafayette Catholic High. Purdue is showing
early interest in Tyler, as well as a handful of other kids in the Class of
2002 we will be telling you about through the summer. More information on
both Best kids coming a little later.
After taking a weekend visit, Mississippi State sophomore guard Joe Marshall
has decided to transfer to Purdue. The 6'2 combo guard will sit out the
1999-2000 season and have two years of eligibility remaining. More details to
come in his player profile, now being constructed.
Cameron Stephens is looking at junior colleges. The Indy Star reports Stephens
visited Vincennes University last week. If Stephens goes to junior college,
he could be eligible to play at a Division I college again in the 2000-2001
season and would have one year of eligibility remaining. We will be re-activating
the profiles of Jamaal Davis and Cameron Stephens this fall and will update their
seasons in junior college. Although neither may choose to attend Purdue again, we
will keep an eye on them as we would any other junior college player that has
interest in Purdue.
California juco Mike Garrett has signed with UNLV. What might be a more
anticipated signing in the works for UNLV is the addition of Maine Central
Institute head coach Max Good to the coaching staff. Good is considering
offers for a host of programs including UNLV and Rhode Island.
Iowa has received a verbal from one of the top forwards in the junior
class. Glen Worley, a 6'8 all-state forward from Iowa City West, announced
he will be signing with Iowa in the fall. Worley cited his closeness to
the members of Tom Davis' staff remaining on new coach Steve Alford's
staff, and was impressed by Alford's vision. Worley averaged 22.3 points and
10.8 rebounds per game as a junior. He is academically qualified, and
projected as a small forward in college.
The Insider's Report has found another Louisiana player with Purdue on his
list. Southern Lab (Baton Rouge) Nick Anderson has UConn, Purdue, Dayton,
Texas, Villanova, Arizona, UCLA, DePaul, Houston, Memphis, Southern
Mississippi and Youngstown State on his list. The 6-6 212-pound small
forward averaged 22 points, 11 boards and 4 assists last season as a
junior. Anderson was one selected to be on the 1998 USA Men's Development
Festival South Team, and averaged 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds shooting
47-percent from the floor and 50-percent from the perimeter. Among the 45
future and current high school all-american on the 4 USA teams, Anderson
finished second in rebounds per game and fourth in blocked shots, all
while playing mostly as a wing guard. Anderson is rated at #34 among juniors
by USA TODAY.
Nathan Popp and Ryan Hogan have both landed with new programs. Ryan Hogan
has signed with Iowa, while Popp chose UNC-Greensboro over Dayton. The
two remaining prospects looking at Purdue, Michael Caballero and Mike
Garrett are longshots at this point. Both do not look likely to qualify,
and with the recent losses of Stephens and Gary McQuay to grades, you have
to wonder if Keady would continue to chase academic casualties to fill
a last minute spot at guard.
Some Iowa recruiting news to catch up on...6'5 winger Joey Range has
decided to transfer to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, and move
sparked by comments from head coach Steve Alford this week that Range
would not be academically eligible to play for the Hawkeyes in the fall.
Range could possibly be eligible again to play Division I in the 2000-2001
season, but will have to do some intensive summer coursework to make it.
While losing one player to a Kansas community college, Iowa has recently
picked up another Kansas community college player. Barton County CC 6'7
forward Joe Fermino will join the Hawkeyes next season and have two years
of eligibility remaining. Fermino played one season at Monmouth College
out of high school, then transferred to Barton CC stating he wasn't
happy at Monmouth. Fermino averaged 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds at Barton,
and had similar numbers when he played at Monmouth. Fermino will join
another Iowa juco signee on the club next year, 6'6 forward Rob Griffin
of Southeastern Community College. Southeastern CC head coach Joe O'Brien
was hoping for an even trade, telling the Hawk Eye that Range could fill
the team's new void at small forward left by Griffin. Iowa also recently
received a verbal commitment from Iowa high school freshman Jeff Horner,
a 6'2 point guard who averaged 19 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists last
season. Iowa is also rumored to be close to getting Kentucky transfer
Ryan Hogan.
It appears Cameron Stephens would have to sit out through at least the fall
semester, but could regain eligibility at another school and rejoin the team
in January 2000. A possible choice would be to attend Indiana-Purdue Fort
Wayne while he spends time at home this summer, but no announcement has
been made if he even desires to return to college in any form. The coaching
staff will not make an announcement until the fall, so the information
will have to come from Cam. The scholarship page will be updated over the
weekend to better illustrate the impact on the classes.
Purdue is showing interest in one of two recent transfers that Purdue once
recruited in high school. The one Purdue does not have interest in is
7'2 Tennessee transfer Nathan Popp. Popp is down to Dayton and UNC-Greensboro.
Mentioned a few days ago was Ryan Hogan, who lists Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan
State, Purdue, and Marquette. The Indianapolis Star is reporting Purdue
is interested and has asked Kentucky for permission to speak to Hogan.
A visitor to this site has indicated Keady has been making phone calls to
try to find out where Hogan is to set up a time to talk to him. The coaches
have attempted to contact Hogan directly, but are limited to one phone call
per week to a specific recruit and have yet to get a call back from Hogan.
It is apparent that Keady is very interested in bringing Hogan to Purdue.
The Star also reported today that wayward son Jamaal Davis, who left Purdue
because of grades in December, will be transferring to another junior college.
Davis had originally planned to play at Barton County CC in Kansas, but
will instead follow Barton County coach Ryan Cross to Chipola JC in Florida.
Times writer John O'Malley learned yesterday that Purdue will lose two
mens players to academic ineligibility. It had been long speculated Gary
McQuay was in academic trouble, but most are surprised to learn Cameron
Stephens will likely also be ruled ineligible. Keady told the Times
yesterday "Gary won't be back". We will be updating this story as it
develops. Grades were officially released today, and it is still to be
determined how long Stephens would have to sit due to grades.
Michigan received a signature yesterday from the nation's #1 prospect
according to scout Bob Gibbons, 6'7 wing forward Lavell Blanchard from
Ann Arbor, Michigan. Blanchard had been toying with California, Georgetown,
Penn State and Virginia before choosing to stay home. Blanchard averaged
27 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks for the Class A state champs as a
senior, and was named th Gatorade Player of the Year.
Ohio State will be without the help of two players next season, sophomore
forward Jon Sanderson and 7'3 incoming recruit Aleksandar Radojevic. Sanderson,
who started every regular season game for the Buckeyes last year, will transfer
citing playing time and development issues. Radojevic, a promising center who
played last season for Barton County CC, was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. The
NCAA claims Radojevic played with a Yugoslavian professional team and was paid
$13,000 for his appearances in four games.
The Purdue women continue to host some of the top midwest players on campus
this spring. The most recent visitor today was 6'2 Westerville South junior
forward Emily Haynam, a USA TODAY pre-season all-USA honorable mention for
the state of Ohio and top 100 prospect.
Rumors are circulating that recent 6'3 Kentucky transfer Ryan Hogan is looking
at Purdue as a possible destination. Bill Hodge who writes a column for
Fans Only, has Hogan looking at Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue,
and Marquette. Purdue had an in-home visit with Hogan back in the fall of
1996 right before he verballed to Kentucky. Originally from Deerfield Illinois,
Hogan will have two years of eligibility remaining with a new program.
Former Indiana All-State first teamer Lamont Roland, after a brief stop
at Barton Junior College, has signed with Louisiana State University. The
6'3 combo guard finished the 98-99 season ranked as the 5th best scorer
in Division I (juco), averaging 24.5 and 3.2 steals per game. When Roland
was looking at colleges in high school, most scouts thought he was no
better than a mid-level Division I recruit. Two short years later, he is
a junior college all-american being courted by major Division I schools.
Sort of reminds us of South Bend's Lee Nailon, who also took the juco
route to becoming an all-american. What is of immediate interest to
Purdue with the Roland situation is how it may affect LSU's chances of
signing Derrick Zimmerman.
Following the Bloomington Red game on Saturday night at the Spiece
tournament, Mike, Dallas and I were talking on the sidelines with Insider's
Report's Russ Blake. Also sitting with us were East St. Louis star Darius
Miles and Zach Randolph. If you have ever wondered how Russ gets all the
schools kids are considering, it is because he asks them to circle schools
they are interested in on a pre-printed sheet. After circling the schools
a player is interested in, he then asks them to place stars by the schools
they have the most interest in. Miles circled approximately 30 to 40
schools on his sheet, while Randolph had close to 10 circled. When the
two players went back to indicate strong interest, Miles did not have Purdue
among that group, but Randolph did. On a side note, in a recent Chicago
Sun article, Purdue was not listed among what the newspaper identified as
Miles' final six schools. Miles has been a name rumored to be on Purdue's
wish list for two years now. However, I have yet to see much serious
interest in return from Miles. He is a player to keep an eye on.
Miles will likely be a late signee next year because he has a steep,
uphill climb toward being eligible to play as a freshman, and a lot can
happen in a year. We will be adding Miles to the site, but at this
point he has to be considered a longshot.
An all-state football player from Bedford, Ohio may be of interest to both
Purdue basketball and football this summer. According to the Insider's
Report, 5'9 basketball point guard and football wide receiver Brandon
Childress will attend football camps this summer at Purdue and Georgia.
He is also getting looks from the basketball program. He has 4.35 speed
and is being looked at by Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Nebraska,
Notre Dame, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, Penn State, Clemson, Maryland
and North Carolina.
If anyone is interested in coming to the Spiece tournament and making some
spending money this weekend, here's an opportunity for you to watch
basketball and make $5 at the same time. I've spoken with Spiece organizer
Bill Hensley and he is in need of scorekeepers and timekeepers for games this
weekend. Here's a listing of current openings available...
Lafayette Harrison High (spots available all day and evening Saturday)
West Lafayette High (Saturday 11:00am - 2:00pm and 7:00pm - 11:30 pm slots)
Purdue campus sites IAF and Co-Rec (Saturday and Sunday mornings starting at 8:00am)
If you are interested in donating some time and making a little money,
contact locally Jimmy Eloff at (765)742-2584. Up to 20 people or more are
needed to fill all the open spots during the weekend (May 1-2). For more
details contact Jimmy. If you have trouble getting through, call toll-free
1-800-201-4559 (PIN# 1048) and ask for Mr. Davis. Spiece pays its helpers
$5 a game, with games running every 1 1/2 hours.
WLFI-TV is reporting that a Purdue prospect who has been waiting to sign
with Purdue has decided to look elsewhere after being told to wait until
May. 5'10 point guard Adrian McCulloch from Southern Idaho JC had expressed
a will to sign with Purdue, but a scholarship was not offered. While many
are speculating that McCulloch was second on the list for Purdue's last
remaining scholarship, there is a suggestion he was actually third. Waiting
until May would probably put him in line to grab Gary McQuay's scholarship
if, and only if, Gary failed to remain academically qualified by Keady
standards. Purdue coaches have received many compliments in the past from
parents and coaches for being open about a prospect's chances of being
offered a scholarship, most recently Gavin Groninger's coach and Bernard
King's father. McCullough simply didn't want to wait that long for an
answer.
We are proud to again cover the Spiece Run 'N Slam tournament being held
on the campus of Purdue and in the surrounding community on April 30 - May 2.
The tournament scouting page can be found using this link, plus will be
linked off of the Purdue and Indiana recruiting site main pages. The
page is a joint venture by Brad Jewell (MrHoops site), Mike Pegram (IU Hoops
Recruiting), Dallas Wilson, and myself. In the week approaching the tournament,
we will be providing some information to make your stay a little better, and
give you a preview of some of the weekend's action. As of today, new additions
to the scouting page include fresh general tournament info, a listing of all
the teams and their pool assignments, tournament format and rules, tournament
seeding information, directions to Lafayette and the Purdue campus, and a
listing of some of the hotels in the area (you will need to call early to get
a hotel as many will be booked). New info and articles will be coming daily
from now until weeks after the tournament has concluded, so you might want to
bookmark the scouting page and check in frequently. As always the scouting
page will feature reports from various sources, and will welcome any help
from those planning to attend the event. Come on up to Lafayette and tell us
what you see. For more information, contact either Mike Pegram or myself.
Our email addresses are listed at the bottom of the tournament scouting page.
Is it a good decision to commit to a program during your freshman year of high
school, avoiding the distractions of the recruiting process, or is it the
basketball equivalent of robbing the cradle? In what is said to be the earliest
commitment in memory, a 6'2 freshman point guard will verbal within the next
couple of days to Iowa. Mason City's Jeff Horner is rumored to have already
given Iowa a verbal after a recent unofficial visit, according to current
Iowa point guard Dean Oliver (who is not supposed to comment on an unsigned
prospect according to NCAA regulations). The comments came from a Daily Iowan
article that has Horner holding a press conference this Saturday at 9:00am to
decide between Iowa and Iowa State. Horner averaged 19 points and seven
assists as a freshman starter.
New Lady Boiler head coach Kristy Curry had her first official day on the job
this past Monday, and the first order of business was to send letters out
introducing herself to Purdue prospects. NCAA regulations prevent a coach from
recruiting for a new school until their first official day on the job.
The University of Illinois has filled the scholarship left open by the transfer
of Rich Beyers this winter. 6'3 Elgin High senior Sean Harrington has signed
with Kruger's Illini. Harrington chose Illinois over DePaul and Illinois State.
The combo guard averaged 24 points, six assists and four rebounds, and is a
straight "A" student. This is in academic contrast to fall signee Jerrance
Howard, who has yet to qualify academically for freshman eligibility.
Benton Central basketball and baseball standout Jeremy Budreau will sign today
with Goshen College and play both sports. The 6'3 senior averaged 15 points
a game.
The Valparaiso women have a verbal from a junior prospect, 5'11 North Newton
guard Kristi Koselke. Koselke averaged 18.5 points as a junior and 14.5 points
her sophomore year.
UPDATE! - Mark Ambrogi of the Indy Star has a new article
up with quotes from Keady on Wetzel, which must mean Wetzel has already
signed his letter of intent. The article talks about Wetzel's desire to look
at other options, a decision that led him to Purdue.
WLFI reported Thursday that Adam Wetzel will announce on Friday. Wetzel will meet
with his coach at Keokuk High to announce his decision. Also on the news this
evening was footage of Wetzel. Although game highlights are deceiving, it
does appear Wetzel is quick around the basket and fairly athletic.
The Fort Wayne area player of the year, 6'3 Vernard Hollins, has signed with
Wright State. Hollins averaged 24.4 points last year for 21-4 Fort Wayne North and
is a strong candidate for the 1999 Indiana All-Star team to be announced
this weekend. Hollins chose Wright State over Notre Dame, Ball State,
Morehead State and Northern Illinois. Wright State also looks to add another
Indiana player to the roster by the end of the signing period. Former East
Chicago winger Marcus Jefferson is considering Wright State, with
Wisconsin making a late push.
The Big Ten has lost two sophomores and one freshman to transfer this week.
Indiana's Luke Recker, Wisconsin's Maurice Sessoms and Michigan State's Doug
Davis will take their games elsewhere. The Davis transfer could affect Purdue's
recruiting of Caron Butler. With Davis gone, Michigan State may make
a strong push for Ann Arbor's 6'7 LaVell Blanchard. Michigan is currently
hoping to sign Blanchard. If Michigan misses on Blanchard, we could see Michigan
get heavily involved with Caron Butler next year.
Former Purdue player and assistant Kevin Stallings, who last week was named
the new head coach at Vanderbilt, has landed his first recruit. And he's a
good one. Scott County Kentucky guard Rick Jones announced he will sign
a letter of intent to play for Stallings on Friday, following the announcement
of the Kentucky Mr. Basketball award. Jones is one of the favorites to win.
Jones was also looking at Kentucky and Illinois.
Men...6'9 center Adam Wetzel has scheduled a news conference for this
afternoon, when he is expected to announce he has signed with Purdue.
The women have scheduled an official visit with juco guard Shinika Parks.
Parks is currently on an official visit to UNLV, and just returned from
the University of Florida. The California native is also considering
Louisiana Tech. Parks told the University of Florida campus paper "I
really liked (the Florida staff). We clicked very well. We sat down and
had a good heart to heart before I left. I think I would fit in well."
Florida is also recruiting another guard, National JUCO Player-of-the-Year
runner-up Karlita Washington, which might affect Florida's chances of
signing Parks. Florida is also looking at Kilgore JC's Shona Rucker.
Rumors have Purdue's other juco target Tawanda Barnes signing with K-State.
Early this morning rumors started to come in about a 6'9 Iowa senior who had
decided to officially visit Purdue. As the day went along, the kid was
identified as 6'9 250-pound Keokuk High center Adam Wetzel. Wetzel had
already given Dayton a verbal committment, but decided to check out Purdue
before he makes anything official. Early this morning, the Dayton Daily
News broke the story and fans began hearing the news on Dayton radio
staions. Purdue made contact late last week and set up the official visit
which will be today and Wednesday. This past Monday, Wetzel informed Dayton
coach Oliver Purnell he was going to take a look at Purdue. Wetzel has been
looked at by many Big 12 and Big 10 schools over his career, but only received
solid early offers from Dayton, Northeastern and Northern Iowa. As it is in
the late signing period, some big name schools came knocking when their
recruiting options began to narrow, one reason why Wetzel did not immediately
sign a national letter of intent for Dayton last week when the signing period
began. It is not surprising that Purdue would start digging for a wide-body
after juco center Julius Hicks verballed to Oregon and 6'11 Andy Slocum had
narrowed his choices to eliminate Purdue. Slocum verballed to Texas A&M
today. Wetzel averaged 13.4 points, 7 boards and 3.5 blocked shots for the
25-2 Keokuk Chiefs. Keokuk made their second straight trip to the state
championship this year, finishing second in the tournament and second in the
state Associated Press poll. Keokuk head coach Dave Hall was an assistant
at Ball State under Majerus and also coached at Illinois State. An AAU coach
I know from Iowa had this to say this evening about Wetzel..."He's the kind
of player you need to make a serious championship run. He does all the dirty
work. I was most impressed this year with his athletic ability. You don't
think a 250 pound kid can get up and down the court like he can. His wingspan
helps him defend well and he's a solid rebounder. A team like you have with
a good combination of forwards plays to his strengths. He has the potential
to really develop, but is already a solid role player. Coachable from what
I've heard." It is possible Wetzel could end up honoring his Dayton verbal,
which happened just a week ago, but the mutual interest between Wetzel and
Purdue is encouraging news.
Beth Della Valle from Fast Break emailed me yesterday to let us
know she has an early look at the top girl prospects for the Class of 2000.
Anne O'Neil comes in as the #2 prospect and Ohio's Lindsey Hicks is rated
24th. It's interesting to note that there could be a package deal in the
works with #16 6'3 center SeSe Helm (Bowling Green, KY) and #26 6'2 forward
Jenni Benningfield (Louisville, KY). Both have Purdue on their list. Another
player considering Purdue is 5'8 guard Cherise Graham (Radnor, PA) at #27.
Graham lists Connecticut, Purdue, Penn State, Michigan, Colorado and
Tennessee. It will also be interesting to see if any of the players Coach
Curry looked at while at LA Tech will pop up on Purdue's list. Other
players on the top 40 list considering Louisiana Tech worth keeping an eye
on are #3 Ebony Felder (6'2 forward from Jackson, MS), #12 Dawn McCullough
(5'9 shooting forward from Long Beach, CA), #17 Shereka Wright (5'10 2-guard
from Copperas Cove, TX), and #25 Alana Beard (5'9 wing player from
Shreveport, LA).
The Indiana Boys All-Star team is scheduled to be announced on April 18th.
Assistant Frank Kendrick was seen making the rounds this past weekend to
a couple of AAU practices. He was spotted in Bloomington for the first
practices of the Bloomington Red organization, and later seen at the
Indianapolis Indoor Sports Complex scouting all the Spiece teams. Michigan
State showed up and paid a lot of attention to Zach Randolph, contrary to
the rumor they had backed off him.
The Boiler men look to sign one, maybe two players in the spring period.
The priority with the first scholarship is a big man, and the coaches
have been scouting the junior colleges for most of the spring. However,
none of the known players Purdue is looking at are likely to sign. But
no one knew about Tony Mayfield when he signed two years ago either. Coach
Thrash said in an Indy Star article today that the coaches would also like
to sign another guard "that can shoot the ball, handle the ball and do all
the things you need to compete in the Big Ten." Keady has said they are
not only looking for a big kid, but also one that is a wide-body. If any
scholarships are remaining after the spring signing period, walk-on Chad
Kerkoff will likely be rewarded for his outstanding role on the Purdue
bench this year.
New women's coach Kristy Curry has her eye on another junior college guard
to help replace the loss of two senior all-american guards. Tyler CC point
guard Tawanda Barnes has already visited the Purdue campus, and the staff
looks to host Trinity Valley Texas JC combo guard Shinika Parks soon.
Parks averaged 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the JUCO
national champs this year. Sparks will visit Florida this weekend.
In state news, 6'4 Benton Central senior Greg Anderson has signed with
one of the NAIA's power programs, Bethel College. Bethel won the NAIA
national championship in 1997 and 1998, and losing in overtime in the finals
in 1999.Anderson averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds this season, and
plans to also run track at Bethel.
New Boiler coach Kristy Curry said yesterday it is possible the Boilers
could sign a junior college player during the upcoming spring signing
period.
The Ball State women have named Iowa State assistant Brenda Frese Oldfield
as their new head coach. She played collegiately at Arizona, and later coached
on the junior college level and in the MAC before going to Iowa State. Another
Indiana women's coaching position should be filled soon at Butler. According to
the Indianapolis Star, a list of four candidates includes Butler assistant Teri
Moren, Ohio State assistant Eileen Feeney, Iowa State assistant Katie Abrahamson
and former Wichita State head coach Linda Hargrove.
Midwest Hoops has a ranking out for the top 40 midwest junior recruits.
Some interesting evaluations on some of the Indiana kids. Brody Boyd at #40
and John Hamilton not even listed?
Louisiana Tech assistant coach Kristy Curry has been announced as the new
coach of the Purdue womens program. Rumors that the recruiting coaches currently
at Purdue, Pam Stackhouse and Kerry Cremeans, would be a part of the new coaching
staff also turned out to be correct. However, third assistant Seth Kushkin who's
responsibilities include game preparation and opponent scouting, will be replaced
by Kelly Curry.
Coaching news...Louisiana Tech assistant coach Kristy Sims Curry has emerged as the
leading candidate to replace Carolyn Peck as the head coach of the Purdue women.
Kristy Curry has been at LA Tech for three years and was interviewed by Purdue
Thursday. An announcement could come as soon as today as Curry has been offered
the job. One interesting point is her husband, Kelly Curry, is also an assistant
coach on the LA Tech bench. A source close to one of the juniors Purdue is
scouting has told us she has been told the current assistant coaches at Purdue
"will be around next year". If Curry is named head coach at Purdue, will room
have to be made on the bench for her husband?
More coaching news...It has been rumored for quite a while that former Boiler
player and assistant, now the head coach at Illinois State, Kevin Stallings will
be the frontrunner to replace Gene Keady when he chooses to hang up his clipboard.
Stallings has just been named the new head coach at Vanderbilt, signed to a
5 year contract that will reportedly pay him in the range of $500,000 per year.
During the negotiations, the subject of Stallings taking the Purdue position
down the road was discussed, but there are no indications yet of an escape clause
written into his contract. Vanderbilt is in the same division of the SEC as
Kentucky, Tennessee (a school Stallings turned down a coaching position), South
Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Success in that type of competitive atmosphere
will further define Stallings as an excellent Xs and Os man.
Our sympathy goes out to the family of former Purdue prospect John Stewart,
who passed away during Lawrence North's Regional game last Friday. Stewart
suffered heart failure due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition
that leads to an enlargement of the heart muscle. A recent study at St. Vincent
Hospital indicated 60 athletes out of a sample 3,000 in central Indiana had
the disease. The Indianapolis Star has had a series of articles on the death
of John Stewart and the condition itself. They are a must read for parents
and athletes.
Two more big men and a junior college point guard have Purdue on their lists.
Closest to home is 6'10 Brian Carter of Southgate Aquinas HS, MI. The Michigan
Class of 2000 is loaded with talent with three 6'10 center candidates looking
at Big Ten schools. The talented shot blocker is averaging 14 points, 12 rebounds
and three blocks per game. Carter is considering Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan
State, Northwestern, Penn State, Detroit and Toledo.
Another big man with Purdue on his list is 6'9 215-pound power forward Micheal
Benton from Covington (Newton County), GA. Benton is looked at as a sleeper in
the senior class, averaging 24 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. He can
almost be considered wide open at this point, but has mentioned the following
schools...Purdue, Winthrop, Georgia, Providence, Georgia Southern, South
Carolina, Syracuse and Clemson. USC has scouted him and Clemson has called and
asked for film. According to the Clemson recruiting site TigerNet, his coach
says he has offers from College of Charleston, Penn State, Tennessee Tech,
Marshall and UTEP.
Purdue is also active with 6'2 195-pound Mike Garrett of Fresno City College,
California. This sophomore junior college player is rated the sixth best JUCO
point guard by The Sporting News. Garrett is averaging 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds
and four assists per game, while shooting .445 from the field, .364 percent from
the perimeter and .705 from the line. Texas and Clemson are also in the race.
I had an opportunity to speak recently with Marion High's 6'5 junior forward
Matt Backs. Backs will be playing this summer for Pat Mullin's Spiece South
squad, a team coming off a 1998 AAU national championship year. Mullin's team
is small but they play together, which has drawn the attention of some colleges.
Matt has been hearing from Ball State, Michigan State, Butler, Harvard, Nebraska,
Oregon State and Bowling Green. "I'm just looking for a place where I'll be
happy," said Backs. "Somewhere I can get a good education." Closeness to home
isn't a real consideration, as he has considered taking his 3.5 GPA and taking a
look at Navy. Matt's only been on one unofficial that he considers real, that
being to Ball State. He has also attended a football game at Michigan State and
a basketball game at Indiana, both attended with Marion's Zach Randolph. He
hopes to have a college chosen by the end of the summer.
Most of you have already heard the rumors, now confirmed, that Marion junior
center Zach Randolph has been charged with 2 counts of receiving stolen property
(guns) in Marion. The reason this little blurb is in the news section, and not
included under his player profile, is because this site has a mission of helping
kids, not hurting them. But the news is worth mentioning, since it can drastically
effect the recruitment of Randolph. So, Randolph's profile will only be updated
to reflect his suspension from the Marion High basketball team, with no other
details. I would like to add that Zach Randolph is a very personable kid, who
will greatly benefit from getting out of his surroundings into a college
atmosphere. People around Randolph might consider a year of prep school far away
from Marion for his senior year, not only for the change in scenery but also to
help improve his academic situation. We will update if the charges are dropped,
but otherwise, move on from here with no further mention.
The Indianapolis Star has an update on their site on Andy Slocum and Derrick
Zimmerman. Encouraging news on both. However, Slocum has since chosen Southern
California as the recipient of his final paid official visit. It's actually
the second time he has visited the USC campus.
Purdue is among seven programs being looked at by 6'9 JUCO forward Julius
Hicks from West Valley JC in Saratoga, CA. Providence may be in the lead
according to Insiders Report, but others who might get a visit include
Washington, Virginia, Purdue, Xavier of Ohio, Santa Clara, and Penn State.
Hicks will wait to take a couple of visits after his season is over early
this summer. Michigan may also be showing interest. FansOnly has Hicks
as one of six top center prospects from the JUCO ranks. The top three on
his list may be Providence, Washington and Santa Clara.
We mentioned 6'11 Andy Slocum a week ago being interested in Purdue, a kid who
will likely play both basketball and baseball in college. Another two sport
prospect looking at Purdue is 6'4 junior shooting guard Matt Lottich from New
Trier HS, IL. A three sport star in high school, he will likely consider both
basketball and baseball in college. Lottich is a Top 100 type player, described
as a sophomore by Mark Tupper (Decatur Herald-Review) as "a 6-4 or 6-5 guard
with a heady game, hard-nosed attitude and solid skills." As a sophomore he was
considered better than Illinois junior recruit Brett Melton. At the moment it
might be hard to name a Big Ten or Pac Ten school Lottich isn't considering,
but those two conferences dominate his early list of schools.
Insider's Report continues to uncover kids with Purdue on their lists. A new
name from the JUCO ranks is Antonio Jackson, a 6'5 190-pound winger from Butler
County, KS. He has close to 20 schools on his list at the moment and is getting
more attention. In the picture are Kansas, Kansas State, Southern Cal, Auburn,
Purdue, Connecticut, Louisville, Mississippi, Iowa State, Oklahoma State,
Minnesota, South Florida, TCU, Alabama, and Mississippi State. Jackson is
averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game this season. He impressed Russ
Blake of the Insider's Report, and Russ knows what he is talking about. On a side
note, you often hear stories of scouts and recruiters being arrogant SOBs. I had
the opportunity to meet Russ Blake last summer and found he definitely does not
fit that description. A great guy...and their site is free too!
One of the more frequent questions that come to me concerning this page is
why there is a section on the men's and women's pages for "unlikely" prospects.
That section is used primarily for two reasons. We will continue to follow the
progress of prospects until they verbal to another school, unofficially taking
themselves out of the recruiting race. A player will fall into the "unlikely"
catagory when he removes Purdue fron his list, but still continues to look at
other programs. A current example of our second reason involves 6'2 JUCO
prospect Trent Whiting of Snow JC, Utah. According to Recruiting USA, Whiting
has been offered, and accepted, a scholarship offer from Utah. However, Utah
head coach Rick Majerus has told Whiting to take some visits to other programs
to make sure Utah was the place for him. So, although back on the market
making visits, Whiting has pretty much made up his mind where he wants to go.
Now for more on Whiting. Considered to be one of the top prospects in JUCO,
this 180-pound sophomore is a deadly combo guard. He has a reported
41 inch and shoots 55-percent from the perimeter. Add to that an average of
19 points per game, 60-percent from the field and 84-percent from the line.
Schools in the hunt include the favorite Utah, along with Purdue, San Jose
State, Iowa State and Utah State. The 21-year-old is in his sophomore year
of JUCO after just returning from a 2 year mission.
In other site news, look for the "Coach Speak" page to dissappear soon. I seldom
use it anymore, and will incorporate any future recruiting-based comments from
the coaches on this news page.
We're currently in the process of digging up some information on a host of new
prospects that have listed Purdue among their choices. If you have any
information, scouting reports, or stats on any of these players, forward it on
to me. Here's some new names...
Russ Blake and company at Insider's Report have a few new names looking at
Purdue. Derrick Zimmerman, a 6-2 combo guard from Woosman HS in Monroe, LA, is
looking at Villanova, Iowa, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, TCU, Auburn, Arizona State,
Utah, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Clemson, Southern California, Minnesota,
Mississippi, and Texas A&M and Purdue. The kid is very athletic, averaging
32.3 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists per game. From the same state, 6'10
230-pound center Andy Slocum is also looking at Purdue, plus Texas, Villanova,
Northwestern, Alabama, Southern California, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Utah.
Slocum is averaging close to 20 points per game. Further south is 6'5 wing
guard Andre Corbitt from Tampa Bay Tech, FL. Although still adding to his
list, Andre does like Purdue, Tennessee, Coastal Carolina, Temple, South
Florida and Central Florida. Averaging 25 points, 9 rebounds, and close to
four assists per game. Purdue is also reportedly showing interest in 6'6
forward Miguel Caballero from LaSalle Academy in New York City. On the court
his numbers are impressive (17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 assists and
three steals), but in the classroom he will need a lot of dedication to
qualify. Other schools in the hunt are Seton Hall, Fordham, Massachusetts,
Clemson, Georgia Tech, Rhode Island, Miami of Florida, Providence, UAB, South
Carolina, Boston University, Hofstra, Northeastern, Fairfield, Iona, Niagara,
FDU, and LIU.
Stay tuned for two more names coming this weekend.
6'8 forward Martin Brothers from Indy Arlington has told the Insider's Report
he looks to be headed to Vincennes next year. Ball State and Bruce Weber's
Southern Illinois had been on his list. Brothers may ring some bells because
he has gotten quite a few mentions on this site before. Not only was he a
part of the Spiece North squad last summer that featured Parkinson, Lowe and
Wright, but he has also been seen at Purdue games in the past.
Early word points to a couple of power AAU teams in the state of Indiana to
watch for next summer. Already likely to join Bob Pryor's Bloomington Red
squad are Jared Jeffries, Cory Seegers, Sean Kline, Chris Thomas, Brody
Boyd, Austin Parkinson, Andre Owens and John Hamilton. But don't hand the state
title to them just yet. Pat Mullin's Spiece South squad comes off a national
championship summer and adds 6'9 Zach Randolph, 6'7 Traver Griffin, 6'4 Braden
Bushman and 6'3 Drew Conner. Other players rumored to be finalizing
their summer AAU plans include Brett Buscher and Chris Loveless (Indy Metros),
Dennis Coutee and Kyle Hankins (Bloomington Red Sophomores), Tyler Clevenger
(Indy Bulls) and Tyler Best (Spiece Pistols Freshmen).
Mike Pegram spotted Frank Kendrick last Friday night at the Bloomington North
vs Bloomington South game decked out in Purdue wear. It has been rumored that
Purdue has been looking at North's 6'10 Jared Jeffries, but may have come away
from the game with a good impression of 6'3 South sophomore Kyle Hankins who
had a game-high 24 points.
Purdue is trying to get the last official visit from 6'11 West Monroe HS, LA senior
Andy Slocumb, along with a handful of other programs. The two sport star will
likely play baseball as well as basketball, and is reportedly good enough to
go high in the Major League draft. In the running for this big man are
UNLV, Cal, Rhode Island, Missouri, Utah, Alabama, Auburn and Miami. Kansas
has also taken hard looks at him. According to West Coast Hoops, Slocumb
is "a big kid with good hands and superior mobility for a 6-11 kid, with
the kind of frame which could add muscle and bulk pretty rapidly." We'll
keep an ear out for who will get the final visit.
Citing a need for more playing time, sophomore Jamaal Davis returned to campus
in January only to pack his bags and head off to Barton County Junior
College in Kansas. Davis was planning to finish out the spring semester at
Purdue, as comments in this Indy Star article indicate, but later decided an
immediate transfer might be the way to go. Davis' departure adds another open
scholarship for the upcoming 1999-2000 recruiting class, and the coaches are
already working on options to replace the all-state forward. Most of us have
followed the somewhat rollercoaster ride that has been Jamaal's life over the
past few years, and we sincerely wish Jamaal the best of luck.
It has been about a month since this site has been updated. What I thought
would be a simple modem upgrade has resulted in the entire contents of my
hard drive being purged, and all new software loaded. After playing around
with and getting the new software reformatted, I'm now in a position to
start updating the site again. In the future, if problems arise where the
site goes for an extended amount of time without being updated, check out
the MrHoops forum linked off my main page. I will make sure Brad lets
everyone know what's going on, with an expected date for new updates.
As news organizations move their stories to an archive, some of the links listed above may become inactive
OldGoldFreePress.com is organized & maintained by a group of college sports reporters with the help of Purdue sports fans everywhere. OldGoldFreePress.com is an independent and unofficial Purdue (+ Big Ten Conference/NCAA) sports news site that is not affiliated with Purdue University, the Big Ten Conference, the NCAA and/or any university athletic program.
![[Tiffany Young]](http://www.fansonly.com/photos/schools/pur/sport/w-baskbl/98roster/p-young.jpg)
Purdue senior guard Tiffany Young was killed Saturday evening in a car
accident in Gary Indiana. The driver of the car that struck the car Young
was riding in had a blood alcohol level of .30. More details about the
accident can be found on Purdue's 
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