Reports are indicating Matt Kiefer has verballed to Purdue. We like to be a little more
cautious than most sites when reporting commitments, and will officially move Kiefer to the
commitment column after the rumor has been verified. Kevin Garrity was widely reported by
many Purdue and recruiting sites to have verballed to Monmouth in August of 1999, but a day
later Garrity sent us an email stating he had not verballed to Monmouth. So, we will wait to
put Kiefer in a Purdue uniform when we can actually get some more reliable information.
June 24, 2001
The Indiana All-Star team protected the home court on Saturday by defeating the Kentucky
All-Stars 107-91. Brandon McKnight finished with nine points, four rebounds, four assists
and one turnover, while David Teague had 14 points, one rebound, two assists and three steals.
Another article from the Journal and Courier, this one on Brandon McKnight. McKnight discusses
the positive effect fellow South Bend natives Jaraan Cornell and Darmetreis Kilgore have had on
his commitment to Purdue, and knows he will have to fill a role with the Boilers next season
due to an abundance of upperclassmen scorers. Also included is a link to a South Bend
Tribune article on McKnight and tonight's All-Star game in Indianapolis.
Purdue is showing interest Blue Star's No. 6 player in the Class of 2002, Erin Grant.
The 5'8 point guard from Arlington Mansfield (TX) is considering Purdue, Duke, Georgia,
Texas Tech and Stanford. You might remember Mansfield as the team that defeated Shereka Wright's
Copperas Cove team in the Texas Class 5A Region I championship game. Grant led Mansfield to a
36-1 record and their third state championship. In her three years on varsity, Mansfield has
compiled a 110-3 record. As a junior, Grant averaged 11.8 points and 8.1 assists. Grant
averaged 10.9 points and 7.0 assists as a sophomore, and 8.2 points and 5.8 assists as freshman.
Some articles of interest on Grant...
In recruiting news, Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood, the rising freshman sensation at last year's Nike
All-American Camp, has given an early verbal to Tennessee. Purdue's name came up in connection
with her, but the 5'9 point guard from Lynwood California is pulling out of the recruiting
race early. She will just be a sophomore this coming year. Rumored is the commitment of
Tye'sha Fluker also to Tennessee this weekend. Fluker is a 6'5 post player with an excellent
perimeter shot from Pasedena (CA). Fluker is rumored to have told the Tennessee staff not to
recruit over her as she will make an official announcement this summer. Both
Wiley-Gatewood and Fluker were on the Tennessee campus on Sunday for the Tennessee Elite
Camp.
A new article in the Journal and Courier talks about Cuonzo Martin's role in getting Purdue
in the mix with some of the nation's elite players and helping to upgrade Purdue's athleticism
through recruiting.
There have been three updates recently from Prep Stars on Tyler Best (July 21 update),
Stanley Gaines (July 19 update) and Chris Hunter (July 18 update). Best says he is still wide
open, but is interested in Purdue, Florida, Miami, Cincinnati, Indiana State and Ball State.
Gaines says Purdue and Seton Hall have offered him, with Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan,
and UConn among his favorites at the moment. Gaines also mentions he'd like to see more schools
get involved, particularly Florida and North Carolina. Hunter says he hasn't been extended
any scholarship offers, but won't look to narrow his list until July. He still sees himself as
playing the three or four positions in college.
Gary Westside coach John Boyd states Chris Hunter will make an unofficial visit to Michigan
this weekend, and might be considering a package deal with Brandon Cameron. However, only two
schools seem to appear on both players' lists. Boyd mentions Hunter involved with Purdue,
North Carolina, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Michigan State, while Cameron is
interested in Penn State, Marquette, Louisville, Princeton, and Michigan.
Matt Dennison spoke to Kristof Kendrick, who will be attending the NBA Players
Association Camp June 24-28. Kristof mentioned interest in Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State,
Notre Dame, Illinois, Ball State, Kentucky, Michigan, Seton Hall and Ohio State.
Roy and Harv have updates on two Purdue targets, Stanley Gaines from Providence-St. Mel
(IL) and Joe Chapman from Bloom Township (IL). Gaines lists his two leaders as Marquette and
Purdue, with Seton Hall, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa State, and Florida still in contact. Chapman
is a 6'4 wing forward/guard who can play inside and out. He is listing Marquette, Michigan
State, Illinois State, Purdue, Illinois, and Bradley, despite some other published reports
claiming Purdue has been eliminated recently. Both Gaines and Chapman will be attending the
Adidas Camp in Teaneck (NJ).
Six-foot-two shooting guard Robert Hite has a list of eight schools, but is still open. He has
visited Purdue, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Xavier, and also has interest in Michigan
State, Louisville, and Seton Hall.
Another update on Delco Rowley, with no new information. Still working on his game, still wants
to stay close to home, and still interested in Iowa, Iowa State, Purdue, Notre Dame, Ohio State,
Indiana State, and Ball State.
Melvin Buckley has narrowed his list to include Michigan State, Illinois, Arizona, Stanford,
Purdue and Marquette, and hopes to get an offer from Michigan State this weekend. Notre Dame and
Wisconsin have been dropped from his list.
There were two nice articles written before the weekend on Brandon McKnight as a member of the
Indiana All-Star team. The Tribune article won't be around for long.
The Indy Warriors AAU program has won the 2001 Indiana State AAU Tournament by defeating the
Spiece Pistols in the semis and Team Indiana in the finals.
It may have been thought the 2001 Junior All-Star team was stronger than the 2001 Senior
All-Star team, but the seniors put that theory to rest on Wednesday with a 129-88 blowout of
the juniors in Bloomington.
Purdue has made the top four for Tyler JC big forward Chris Booker, but has some strong company
with Kansas, Illinois and DePaul also in the hunt. Tyler head coach Chris Crutchfield said
the Boilers were showing plenty of interest, adding "Purdue wants to add some more athleticism
to their front line."
Russ has another article on 6'5 small forward Jeff Halbert from White Bear Lake (MN)
who says Purdue has shown interest. Halbert averaged 22 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists
per game as a junior and is already qualified.
The Wolverine spoke with a couple of Indiana power forwards recently, Delco Rowley and
Matt Kiefer. Kiefer names a list of five schools getting the most of his attention at the moment,
including the Boilers, Michigan, Notre Dame, Kansas, and Iowa. Rowley says Xavier, Iowa, and
Purdue are the three schools showing the most interest in him at the moment.
Melvin Buckley's visit to MSU was postponed, moved out to June 20th. Stanford is the newest
school on a list that includes Michigan State, Arizona, Illinois and Marquette.
An update on Ricardo Billings, who sports a 3.0 GPA. Billings mentions Xavier, Michigan,
Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wake Forest, Boston College and Marquette.
Now that the school year is over in most districts and last year's freshmen are now sophomores,
we can start talking about another rising class of talent. One player we've been hearing about
for over a year now getting attention from the staff is Narbonne HS (CA) point guard Camille
Lenoir. The 5'6 playmaker put up an impressive 7.9 points and 5.2 assists for Narbonne, the
2001 mythical high school national champion. Those numbers by themselves might not be a
very good indicator of talent, especially when compared to other freshmen who come out and
score in the twenties their first year. However, Lenoir plays on a team described by her coach
as having 11 legitimate Division I players on the roster, including five names that have
shown up on elite player lists. Lenoir was also named the MVP of the Brea-Olinda tournament.
USA Today, which handed the mythical national championship to Narbonne for the second
straight year, said Lenoir emerged as the leader of the team over the course of her first season.
2001 swingman Derrick Byars of Memphis Ridgeway (TN) doesn't mention Purdue among a list given
to Russ Blake. Included on the list are Clemson, Maryland, Miami, Louisville, Memphis,
Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Yet another list from Brown Deer HS (WI) forward Steve Novak, and unlike the one we saw just
a few days ago, this one mentions Purdue and Wisconsin along with Illinois, North Carolina,
Southern Cal, and Florida. Novak mentioned these are the schools getting the most attention
from him at the moment. He'll major in business.
Class of 2001 ?? center Gillian Goring has announced a transfer to Waterloo West HS from the
school she led to a 25-2 record last season, Germantown Academy. The move is an attempt to
get her qualified for college with the class of 2001. The concern has been her academic
progress would require another two years of secondary schooling before she could gain
eligibility. The move to Waterloo West is designed to avoid that by placing her in an
environment strong in academics. Waterloo West has had recent success in grooming high school
centers, preparing former 6-foot-4 Iowa Miss Basketball Nina Smith for Division I. While
her game is still developing and will also get extensive attention at Waterloo West, the
completion of her academic core load will be a priority.
Last week with the announcement Ramon Diaz of Wabash was heading to Purdue as a walkon candidate,
we posted an article on foreign athletes that mentioned Diaz. It was Part Six in a series of
articles on foreign players. It was mentioned by a site regular that the other articles in
the series were good reading also. So, here are some of the articles from the series on
foreign athletes. They do help to get a little better view of why the IHSAA seemed to take a
harsh stance on the eligibility of Diaz and other foreign players in Indiana such as Miguel
Bierdiel of Andrean.
More evaluations from the Nike Memorial Day Tournament. This time, Roy and Harv Schmidt
give their impressions of Chris Hunter, Deuce Miller, Ricardo Billings, Melvin
Buckley, Delco Rowley and Brian Randle.
And here's more evaluations from the same tournament from Van Coleman of Future Stars. Mentioned
here of interest are Chris Hunter, Delco Rowley, Lavar Carter, Brian Randle, Melvin Buckley,
Derrick Byars and Ricardo Billings.
James Augustine (pictured at the top of this page) was one of the better performers at the
Purdue Elite Camp this weekend, showing he can hit from the perimeter with some consistency.
But he is a power forward who can go inside or out, and help out a team considerably in
rebounding. Dave Telep has an update on his recruitment, and Augustine continues to
list Purdue near the top of his list with Illinois, Marquette and Iowa. He is also being pursued
by Iowa State, Wake Forest, Xavier, Wyoming, Indiana State, Northern Illinois and Ball State.
An update on Steve Novak does not mention Purdue, but even more puzzling is the fact Wisconsin
is not mentioned either. Wisconsin has been very much in the hunt for Novak, and he recently
visited Madison. I'd consider this a partial list and not an indication of all the players
involved with Novak.
Melvin Buckley will soon take an unofficial visit to Michigan State, and if offered will
probably accept. He still mentions most of the Big Ten, Marquette, Wake Forest, Virginia
and Arizona, with Purdue and Marquette with the only offers on the table so far.
Purdue is still on the list for 6'3 Rogers Academy scoring guard Ricardo Billings. He
mentions eight schools showing interest including Xavier, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State,
Purdue, Wake Forest, Boston College and Marquette. He has a 3.0 GPA with the SAT soon to come.
According to Tobie Smith, former Purdue prospect Kelly Whitney who verballed to
Michigan last fall, will attend prep school and reopen his recruitment. Purdue was in the hunt
for Whitney in the end along with Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, and Alabama, with Indiana State,
Siena, Bradley and St. Joseph's having offers on the table. Purdue had not offered when Whitney
verballed to Michigan, preferring to continue to monitor his academic situation.
A couple of reports from the Purdue Elite Camp. We have gathered a list of all the campers, plus
a report from the afternoon sessions on Saturday. Action starts again on Sunday at 9:00am
with a series of tournament-type games.
Purdue's first Elite Camp brings 100 players to campus this weekend, a large percentage of
those players being recruiting targets of the staff. The camp is open to the public, and the
staff wants fans to attend and watch these 8 through 12 grade high Division I potential
players mix it up around Mackey.
PrepStars has player evaluations from the Bloomington Nike Tournament, including comments
on Greg Brown, Ricardo Billings, Chris Hunter, Derrick Byars, Delco Rowley, Brandon Cameron
and Melvin Buckley. Billings is now favoring Ohio State, and Brown has Wisconsin at the top
of his list. Byars is a new name, a 6'7 190-pound wing player from Memphis Ridgeway (TN). He's
a solid student, and pegged as the top junior in the Memphis area, if not the state of Tennessee.
Byars was named to the Tennessee Class AA all-tournament team this year and was named an
honorable mention all-american by USA Today. Byars is rated #54 by Basketball Phenoms
and #57 by Basketball Census. Byars is listing Memphis, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Arkansas, USC,
Clemson, and Kentucky. He has already visited Arkansas and Vanderbilt, and has had glowing
comments about Kevin Stallings' Vandy program.
Bob Gibbons breaks down the forwards and centers and evaluates their play at last
weekend's Tournament of Champions. Mentioned are Marcus White and Stanley Gaines.
Purdue will have some frontline help for the 2001-02 season in the form of a 6'8 walkon. Ramon
Diaz, who will turn 18-years-old on July 22nd, will attempt to be one of Gene Keady's walkon
players next season. Diaz attended Wabash High in Wabash, IN this past year after moving to the
states from Puerto Rico. In hopes to better his English language skills to prepare him for
a course of study in engineering at Purdue, Diaz also hoped to qualify for instate tuition
by being a resident of the state prior to collegiate enrollment. In Puerto Rico, Diaz was
called an "exceptional student both academically and athletically, especially in basketball
and volleyball" according to IHSAA court documents. The reason the IHSAA became involved was
due to a question of his athletic eligibility. The IHSAA eventually ruled Diaz could not play
varsity sports for Wabash, which relegated him to the junior varsity squad for the 2000-01
season. The former honor student in Puerto Rico has struggled in his new English environment,
but is said to be a hard worker academically. Attempts taking the SAT without any language
help have so far been "disappointing". Assuming Diaz can gain admission to Purdue academically,
Keady would get a boost from having another big body on the bench. Below are two articles. The
first is a copy of the petition brought before the IHSAA to appeal his denial of eligibility
(in PDF format), and the second is an article on the influence of Giddel Padilla in bringing
basketball players to the U.S. to improve their chances of landing a college athletic
scholarship.
Purdue will be holding an Elite Camp on June 2-3, bringing 80 players with Division I potential
to Purdue for a day and a half of intense basketball instruction, teamwork and competitive
games. The camp is for grades 8-12 (players must have finished their eighth grade year), and
will host a lengthy list of Purdue prospects including Tyler Best, Russell Trudeau, Matt Kiefer,
Robert Vaden, Antwan Alexander and Delco Rowley. Purdue fans are encouraged to attend the
camp All-Star Game held at 9:30pm on June 2nd in Mackey Arena.
Some scouting reports from the Gibbons Tournament of Champions, including James Augustine,
Stanley Gaines and Marcus White.
The Spiece Pistols won the senior division of the Spiece Memorial Day Tournament on Sunday by
defeating the Michigan Mustangs. In the semis, Spiece defeated Warrick County, arguably Indiana's
top senior team to date. Warrick County's Matt Kiefer finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds.
For the Pistols, Kevin Cates had 21 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, while Tyler Best added
eight points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Standing back-to-back, Kiefer looks to have about
an inch and a half on Tyler Best. Kevin Cates is an intriguing player. He continues to have
great games on the boards, and is surprisingly agile for his size.
May 28, 2001
More coverage of the Nike Memorial Day Tournament in Bloomington...
Mike Pegram is down at the Nike Memorial Day Tournament in Bloomington, and has some
first day reports. Also included are reports from other sources...
A trio of updates from Russ Blake confirms interest in Purdue from Melvin Buckley and
Greg Brown, and verifies Purdue is off the list of Rick Cornett.
Thornwood's 2002 wing forward Melvin Buckley tells Russ Blake both Purdue and Marquette
have offered scholarships, but Michigan State might have the early edge. Additional schools
under consideration are Michigan, Wisconsin, Boston College, Virginia, Notre Dame and Arizona.
Buckley is also academically qualified with a 3.7 GPA and an ACT score of 23.
Off-guard Greg Brown, a 6'2 190-pound shooter from Milwaukee Vincent (WI), has Iowa, Michigan
State, and Wisconsin leading Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan, Cincinnati and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Unlike Buckley, Brown is in need of some help to academically qualify. His GPA is low at 2.0,
and he has yet to take the SAT or ACT.
After hearing lists that have not included Purdue from his parents and his coach, Rick Cornett
confirmed he will choose from a list of 13 that includes Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio State, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Arizona, Southern Cal, Stanford
and Marquette.
Last weekend in Saint Louis, the Saint Louis Eagles AAU program sponsored a tournament that
brought in some quality AAU programs. New player evaluations are up on the All-Star
Report site, including reports on Brandon Cameron, Greg Brown, Chris Hunter, Justin Johnson,
and class of 2003 forward Brian Randle. Rumors have Randle favoring Illinois at this point.
Don't ask me what a "high mid to lower high major" is. Your guess is as good as mine on that
one.
Darmetreis Kilgore has been named a second team All-American by the National Junior College
Athletic Association (NJCAA).
Dave Telep is back with a new site and a few words about Matt Kiefer. Kiefer lists
Purdue, Michigan, Notre Dame, Marquette, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana, with Purdue the only school
to offer a scholarship so far.
Wisconsin has Steve Novak at the top of their recruiting wish list, and the new coaching staff
is determined to keep the state's prize recruit home for his college career.
Tobie Smith has some updates on a few Purdue targets. When Brian Ellerbe was shown the
door at Michigan in March, 6'6 wing prospect Lester Abram decommitted and reopened his
recruitment. Purdue was mentioned along with a handful of other Big Ten schools. Smith recently
spoke to Abram and believes he will recommit to Michigan in the near future. Smith also spoke
with the high school coach of Ricky Cornett, and got an 11 school list similar to the one given
by his father last week. Purdue is no longer mentioned. And lastly, Smith spoke with Gary West
head coach John Boyd and got a list for Chris Hunter that includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Purdue, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, and Missouri. Boyd said Hunter will take visits in
June, and should be ready to announce his decision in late July or August.
Tobie Smith also had a handful of updates we missed last week, including juniors Chris
Grimm, Stan Gaines and Ricardo Billings. Purdue was popping up on the 6'10 Grimm's list, but it
now looks like Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Illinois, and Ohio State are the
main players. Ohio State is also hinted as being the favorite for Billings, a 6'4 shooting guard
from Detroit Rogers. And Purdue is still listed by Providence-St. Mel (IL) forward Stan Gaines,
along with Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Seton Hall, and Marquette.
Merrillville High 2002 forward Justin Johnson still lists Purdue, as well as Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan State, Georgetown, Arizona, Cincinnati, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Johnson is listed
as having a 2.5 GPA and has yet to take the SAT or ACT.
The sites have been chosen for the all-star scrimmages against the 2001 Indiana Junior and Senior
All-Star teams. The first game featuring the core and south junior teams will be played on June
13 in Assembly Hall on Bloomington's Indiana campus. The second scrimmage, featuring the core and
north junior teams will be played at Lawrence North High in Indianapolis on June 20. Tickets
for the exhibition events are $5 at both sites and will be available through the box offices
at Bloomington South (sponsor high school for the south game) and Lawrence North. For team and
coaching information, follow the links below...
We were wondering if the Journal and Courier was going to have all-area teams this year. Better
late than never, the J&C released their small school all-area boys team last week and placed
Tyler Best and Russell Trudeau on the all-area first team. Kristof Kendrick was named honorable
mention all-area by the group of local boys coaches polled.
Junior prospect Ann Strother, 6'1 150-pound wing guard from Highlands Ranch (CO), has accepted
an invitation to tryout for the USA Basketball Women's Junior World Championship Team. Trials
will be held June 15-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Twelve players
from the thirty invited will be chosen following the trials to be a part of the 2001 USA
Women's Junior World Championship Team.
MAY 20, 2001
Three names mentioning Purdue appear on USA Today's list of top girls underclassmen, one
from each of the 2002, 2003, and 2004 classes. Barrington (IL) guard Lindsay Richards is listed
as one of the eight top junior players, while Beech Grove (IN) wing Katie Gearlds is strengthening
her reputation as one of the top players in the class of 2003. Keep and eye on a class of 2004
player Purdue is also all over, Naperville Central's (IL) 6'3 Candace Parker.
Roy and Harv Schmidt have more Spiece player evaluations up on the Bob Gibbons site, this time
for small forwards, wing players and guards. Evaluations are here for Matt Kiefer, Steve Novak,
Russell Trudeau, Seth Colclasure and Dedrick Finn. Purdue is said to be interested in Finn as a
shooting guard, which is contrary to Finn's wish to play the point.
Purdue has the 7th best recruiting class in the conference according to a new article on ESPN by
the Recruiting USA crew. Not much analysis besides naming most school's top recruit, but
Darmetreis Kilgore gets a mention.
Purdue, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Missouri, Notre Dame, Ohio State,
Southern California and Utah are among the many interested in 6'9 forward Steve Novak from
Brown Deer (WI). Purdue, Marquette, Michigan State and Wisconsin have already extended
scholarship offers. Florida could become a bigger player if they decide what they want to do
with their big forward and wing scholarships. There is talk Donovan might give a
scholarship to 6'3 shooter Daniel Horton, then go big at power forward with 6'10 Chris Bosh
from Dallas. Both Bosh and Horton have mentioned Florida leads. With the recently verballed
6'6 shooter Matt Walsh joining the Gators, plus the possible addition of shooter Horton,
Florida would not have much room for Novak at small forward. Wisconsin is also very involved
and has been for quite some time. Novak averaged 22.2 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks,
shooting 90-percent from the stripe and 43-percent from the perimeter for a 14-8 team as a
junior. Novak is touring with the Wisconsin All-Stars AAU program this summer, and will
again attend the ABCD Camp in New Jersey.
Although a lengthy list of high school big men from the class of 2002 fills Keady's recruiting
board, the staff is also looking at junior college talent. A couple of weeks ago we heard of
6'9 Tyler JC big forward Chris Booker. Add to the list 6'10, 205-pound big forward Jackson
Vroman of Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. Vroman led Snow in scoring and rebounding during his
freshman season, averaging 10.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in only 13 minutes per game on a very
balanced Snow team. Vroman shot 54-percent (132-243) from the field and 64-percent (82-129)
from the line, missing all six perimeter attempts last season. He will have no problem
academically qualifying if his first year grades are an indication. Vroman was one of a
couple dozen athletes at Snow to be honored academically for maintaining at least a 3.5 gpa.
The second team all-SWAC Region 18 honoree is getting attention from Purdue, Gonzaga, Utah
State and newcomer Iowa State according to Russ Blake. Jackson's father played collegiate
ball for both John Wooden at UCLA and Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV.
Some big man scouting reports have been posted over on the Bob Gibbons site. Players mentioned
of immediate interest to Purdue fans are Tyler Best, Kevin Cates and Marcus White. Good reports
on Best and White, and White has the same schools listed that we heard at Spiece including Purdue.
However we disagree a slight bit with the report on Kevin Cates being limited by a bandaged knee.
It didn't seem to bother him as much as reported, and we saw a lot of him over the weekend. If
Cates' knee was indeed a limiting factor, then his tournament average of 11 rebounds per game
should have suffered to a greater extent. He also ran very well and jumped amazingly well for a
6'9 skinny center. He got a tech called on him on Sunday for swinging in the rim off a fastbreak
dunk. Impressive springs.
Some new pre-summer rankings for the top 100 players in the junior class from Brick Oettinger
have been published. Five players on the list, according to Oettinger, are listing Purdue...
No. 11 Sean May from Bloomington North (IN), No. 40 Chris Hunter from Gary West (IN), No. 42 Rob
Hite of Winton Woods (OH), No. 74 Ricky Cornett of Homewood Christian (IL) and No. 76 Tyler Best
of Lafayette Central Catholic (IN). Others making the list that we have heard mention Purdue
recently include No. 29 Lester Abram from Pontiac Northern (MI), No. 45 Ricardo Billings of
Detroit Rogers (MI), No. 64 Marcus White of Chicago Whitney Young (IL), No. 75 Greg Brown of
Milwaukee Vincent (WI), No. 87 Justin Johnson of Merrillville (IN) and No. 97 Stanley Gaines of
Providence St. Mel (IL).
A complete set of games statistics for Spiece Pistols has been added to the Spiece tournament
page. Over the five games of the tournament, the following potential Purdue targets had the
following averages...Tyler Best (14.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 5.4 apg), Russell Trudeau (15.4 ppg,
4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg), Kevin Cates (7.6 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.8 apg) and Seth Colclasure (11.0 ppg,
4.0 rpg, 2.2 apg).
Center Vilma Grismanauskaite of Weatherford College has announced she will attend the University
of North Texas.
May 8, 2001
The Spiece Run 'N Slam Tournament Coverage page has been updated. Included in the first update
are complete scores from pool and tournament play, links to summaries around the web, the
all-tournament teams, and over 100 photos taken over the weekend. Special thanks go out to the
Spiece organization for throwing another great tournament, stats man Dale Knott and his lovely
assistants, Mike Pegram and Jud Burton, all the coaches and scouts we talked to over the
weekend. More summaries will be coming over the next week, as well as game and player
statistics.
Some new player rankings for the Class of 2002 have been added to the "Rankings" page. Dave
Telep breaks down the top 50 in the class, and the top players by position.
Darmetreis Kilgore's Tyler JC teammate 6'8 Bobbye Hill was once seen to list Purdue, but has
chosen to attend Austin Peay. A freshman forward currently at Tyler, 6'9 Chris Booker, is now
showing interest in Purdue along with Kansas and Illinois. Booker averaged 9.3 points and 9.3
rebounds (252 in 28 games) while shooting 50-percent from the field, 42-percent from the
perimeter (17-41) and 79-percent from the line. Booker was named honorable mention
all-Region XIV conference as a freshman. Booker attended Diamond Hill-Jarvis High in Fort Worth,
TX where he was the area player of the year as a senior. He originally signed with Houston
in high school, hoping to play for former NBA star Clyde Drexler. Drexler later left, and Booker
went the junior college route. TCU and some Big 12 schools recruited Booker out of high school
when he was generally considered a sleeper. He didn't play summer ball until the summer between
his junior and senior seasons. As a senior he averaged 23.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 7.6 blocks
and 4.4 assists. Booker's junior stats were 16.6 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and four
assists. The most notable quote from Booker was one he made during his senior season in high
school when asked about the NBA..."There are other ways to make a million dollars. I am not
going to college to play pro basketball." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
A list of the top players by position in the Class of 2002 is up at ESPN, written by
Recruiting USA's Mark Mayemura. Chris Hunter was rated as a top center and power
forward. Providence-St. Mel's Stanley Gaines was named a top small forward.
Speaking of Recruiting USA, they are reporting California big man Nick Vander Laan
has chosen to transfer to Virginia.
The Michigan-based AAU team "The Family" won the championship at the Jerry Watson All-Ohio
Great Eight tournament this past weekend. Two players mentioning Purdue were named co-MVPs
-- Ricardo Billings and Lester Abrams -- and Thornwood (IL) wing Melvin Buckley made the
all-tournament team. While The Family isn't scheduled to attend this weekend's Spiece
Run 'N Slam tournament in Fort Wayne, Buckley will be playing for the Illinois Warriors
who will be in attendance. The Warriors' first game will be at 10:00pm Friday in the Spiece
Fieldhouse on Court 8. If you attend that game, you might want to cruise over to Court 1
during the game to check out prospect Matt Kiefer, who will be playing for Warrick County
AAU.
A note on the coverage of the Spiece tournament this weekend. Mike Pegram and I, along
with any other fans who would like to join us, will be attending the entire weekend. I expect
to start adding articles and scouting reports at the beginning of next week, but watch the
MrHoops forum for updates during the weekend. Anyone interested in meeting up with us should
drop either myself or Mike an email before the end of Thursday. I think most of the first
night of the tournament will be spent in the Spiece Fieldhouse watching senior the senior
teams.
Beginning next summer, high school programs will become more involved in summer basketball.
The IHSAA has voted to do away with most restrictions on summer play, including eliminating
limits on the number of players from a high school team that are allowed to play on the same
summer basketball team, and allowing high school coaches to coach their players during the
summer. Currently, the IHSAA allows a maximum of three players from the same high school team
to play on the same summer squad. Now it is possible to see high school teams remaining intact
throughout the summer camp circuit. High school coaches may place demands upon players to
stay with their team for the summer and work on their high school position, when summer AAU
competition may allow them to work on their future collegiate position. It also remains to
be seen if high school team will be able to afford the expenses of competing in the summer
circuit. Is corporate sponsorship of high school summer teams in Indiana far behind?
APRIL 30, 2001
Midwest Hoops has released their list of the top 25 juniors in the midwest. Purdue has
been heard to be involved with...No.5 Lester Abrams (6'6 Pontiac, MI), No.8 Rick Cornett (6'8
Homewood, IL), No.10 J.R. Morris (6'5 Milwaukee, WI), No.11 Ricardo Billings (6'4 Detroit, MI),
No.13 Chris Hunter (6'10 Gary, IN), No.18 Matt Kiefer (6'8 Evansville, IN), No.21 Melvin
Buckley (6'7 Thornwood, IL), No.22 Robert Hite (6'1 Cincinnati, OH) and No.24 Greg Brown (6'1
Milwaukee, WI).
Incoming recruit Matt Carroll scored 11 points in a Colorado All-Star game featuring the top
20 players in the state of Colorado. Carroll's Blue team won the game 98-96. University of
Minnesota prospect Rodney Billips, brother of the Timberwolves Chauncey Billups, had 13 and
the game-winning shot. Carroll averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.1 steals
and 1.5 blocks as a senior.
Vilma Grismanauskaite of Weatherford College has been honored by her program. Grismanauskaite was
named the "Super Gold" winner in women's basketball. A Super Gold award is given to an athlete
in each sport for those who display the best attitudes and work habits on and off the field. From
the Weatherford Democrat, women's head coach and athletic director Bob McKinney said,"Her
attitude and just her presence, the way she presents herself, on and off the court are things
that are really important. Maybe she wasn't outspoken or vocal, but she was a really kind of
quiet leader. She leads by the way that she does things."
The Fort Wayne News Sentinel has an article on the recruiting efforts of Purdue and
Indiana. Keady told Pete DiPrimio, "Big guards are a priority, but more important, big
rebounders are." Among the usual suspects of David Teague, Seth Colclasure, Matt Kiefer, and
Sylvester Mayes, the article also mentioned class of 2002 guard Derrick Graham of South Bend
Washington, high school teammate of Darmetreis Kilgore.
Derrick Graham was also named as a Purdue target in this South Bend Tribune article last
weekend. The article has some glowing comments about Keady's trip last week to see Darmetreis
Kilgore in Texas. The "pleasantly surprised" Keady said, "I think Darmetreis can have an
instant impact on the program because he's quick and he can shoot."
Another one of Vilma Grismanauskaite's teammates has signed Division I. Six-foot-three sophomore
forward Melissa Fairley has signed with the University of Texas-Arlington.
Purdue recruit Ashley Mays will be playing for a new high school coach next season. Rodger
Kirkpatrick has been named the new girls basketball coach at Warren Central. Kirkpatrick
comes from South Bend Adams who finished 17-6 last year and made it to regionals in the
IHSAA tournament. This will be Ashley's third coach during her career at Warren Central.
Ivan Kartelo has announced he will transfer to Purdue next season and be eligible to play
for the 2002-03 season. Kartelo will assume the scholarship recently abandoned by Adam
Wetzel. With Kartelo and Garrity both at 6'11 and 250-pounds, the staff has put itself in
excellent position to chase some top big forwards in the class of 2002, forwards that
may have been concerned they may have had to play with their backs to the basket. This
has to make Purdue more attractive to at least Chris Hunter, Matt Kiefer and Tyler Best,
three big forwards not yet strong enough to play under the basket in the Big Ten. It is
also very good news for a very hard working and out of position Brett Buscher. Kartelo's
announcement will calm some of the negative recruiting other programs have been using against
Purdue with these big forwards for the lack of size and depth in the post.
The eighth annual Spiece Run 'N Slam AAU tournament will be held the weekend of May 4th in
Fort Wayne at the new Spiece Fieldhouse. Although the tournament has moved from the Purdue
campus to Fort Wayne, we will be covering ever hour of the tournament again this year. Check
the tournament coverage page frequently for information on the tournament. We may try to
organize a get-together in the Fort Wayne area the weekend of the tournament, and we'll
keep everyone posted on when that might happen. Already up on the tournament coverage page is
a tournament preview article, links to the pools and schedules, information on accomodations
and directions to the Fieldhouse. A permanent link to the tournament coverage page has been
added above under "MRHOOPS EXCLUSIVES".
Sophomore post Adam Wetzel will leave Purdue at the end of the semester to pursue basketball
opportunities closer to his home of Keokuk, Iowa. After sitting out the fall semester for
academic reasons, Wetzel returned in January to average 3.2 points and 3.4 rebounds. Wetzel's
decision frees up a scholarship to offer Notre Dame transfer Ivan Kartelo, who completed
an official visit to Purdue this weekend. Kartelo received a release from his scholarship at
Notre Dame due to a lack of playing time, and would have to sit out one year before being
eligible to join the Boilers in 2002-03. Kartelo will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Purdue is the second visit of three, the first being to Northwestern and the third possibly
being set up for North Carolina. Kartelo hopes to make a decision by May 14th, but many
expect it much sooner. According to this report from the South Bend Tribune, Kartelo had
nothing but great things to say about his visit to Purdue. Kartelo also mentioned he may not
take a visit to North Carolina after all, as he doesn't see much playing time developing there.
Ok, so we don't have to be beaten over the head to see the trend here. And if the trend holds
true to course, it could mean good things in the recruitment of Weatherford Junior College post
player Vilma Grismanauskaite. The list of potential junior college post players has been
recently reduced by two. Palm Beach CC center Crispina Correia and Miami-Dade post Trish
Patterson have chosen to accept scholarships elsewhere. However, both players will be joining
current junior college teammates at their new programs. Correia, along with PBCC teammate
Kerdu Arbet, both signed with the Auburn Tigers this past Monday. Trish Patterson has signed
to play for the University of Florida, joining her teammate Courtney Cooper who signed with
the Gators on April 11th. Purdue hopes to have a similar package deal when Vilma Grismanauskaite
visits campus today. Grismanauskaite's teammate Mandy Davis announced three weeks ago she
would sign with the Boilers.
More on the junior college signings of Correia and Patterson, plus an update on junior point
guard Lindsay Richards of Barrington, IL. Richards unofficially visited for the Tiffany Young
Charity Game last Saturday, and is rated the top point guard in the nation in the junior class.
All Star Girls Report ranks Richards as the 9th best overall prospect in the class of 2002.
Richards lists Purdue, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Boston College and Notre Dame, wants to
stay close to home, and hopes to make an early summer decision.
After the Boo Williams AAU tournament last week, Virginia notified Tyler Best they are now
focusing on him. Odds are still likely he will remain close to Indiana. The Spiece Pistols
AAU squad, featuring a host of interesting prospects including Tyler Best, Russell Trudeau,
Kevin Cates and Seth Colclasure, will be playing this weekend in the 16-team Hoops Star
Classic AAu tournament in Louisville, KY. The Pistols will be playing without Seth
Colclasure and James Banks this weekend. Bloomington Red, featuring Chris Hunter, Anthony
Winchester and Brandon Cameron among others, will also be at the tournament.
APRIL 16, 2001
The 2001 Indiana All-Star team has been announced, and two future Boilers have made the squad...
In another article on Indiana All-Star Kyle Hankins, Hankins had a comment about fellow all-star
Brandon McKnight. "McKnight is going to Purdue. He's tough," Hankins said.
A Hoosier-centric article on Indiana's pursuit of Gary West junior big man Chris Hunter. Reading
the quotes from Hunter, it is obvious he is playing it cool so far.
Purdue's Travis Best has decided to transfer to a Division II or III school where he can
play as a senior. He had hopes to be able to grab some playing time at Purdue, but got caught
amongst an unusually talented corp of guards, including several young guards the staff felt
needed more time on the floor. Travis Best leaves Purdue on a good note, caring a great deal
for the staff and his teammates. He just wanted to play more in his final year of collegiate
eligibility. As for his brother Tyler Best, a current Purdue target in the class of 2002,
he still remains interested in Purdue. The staff has communicated to Tyler that a scholarship
offer is still on the table. Purdue remains very impressed with Tyler's mix of talents,
especially his vision and passing out of the post. One question Tyler has to answer is if he
wants to play down low in college. Purdue needs a rebounder, low post scorer and someone who
can step out and pick. If Tyler sees himself playing that role, Purdue will continue to be a
strong consideration regardless of Travis' decision to transfer. In this respect, Travis'
decision to transfer will have little influence on Tyler's view of Purdue. We will miss
Travis Best and we hope he is able to find a program he can make a mark with as his
college career approaches an end.
An article on Matt Kiefer, who has been named the Evansville Courier 2001 Player of the Year.
In talking to the head coach at Mandy Davis' junior college, the guys at the Journal and
Courier have found out Purdue is also showing interest in teammate Vilma Grismanauskaite.
Grismanauskaite, originally from Lithuania, is a 6'5 center more apt to hit double-figures
in rebounds rather than scoring. She's also a great shotblocker. Her increased aggressiveness
this season for the Lady Coyotes has been a plus defensively, helping Weatherford JC to a
frugal 57.8 points per game allowed whcih ranks second in the conference, but she does tend
to land in foul trouble frequently.
The Louisville Courier-Journal has released their 2001 Indiana all-state teams. Sophomore
Katie Gearlds and junior Missy Taylor were named second team all-state, junior Sharika Webb
made the third team, and Purdue-bound Carol Duncan and Ashley Mays both made the honorable
mention list.
A nice Q&A with Gene Keady in the Journal and Courier on Sunday. Several recruiting questions
were asked by Washburn, and Coach openly discussed the issues. Keady touched on topics
from the unfairness of the NCAA's treatment of Cameron Stephens, to Purdue backing off
Marion prospect Zach Randolph due to pressure placed upon the staff as a result of Randolph's
legal woes in high school.
Brandon McKnight finished second in the voting for the 2001 Indiana Mr. Basketball title.
Indianapolis Pike guard Chris Thomas took the title, with Indiana-bound forward Sean Kline
coming in third. McKnight was also named to the Louisville Courier-Journal Indiana
all-state first team.
The Purdue staff was in attendance for the Boo Williams Invitational AAU tournament in Hampton,
VA checking out Brian Randle, who is playing for the St. Louis Eagles AAU squad. Randle is a
6'7, 190-pound athlete in the class of 2003, who is getting major early attention. He averaged
15 points and over seven rebounds per game as a sophomore. He has good hands on defense in
both steals and blocking shots. He averaged 10.5 points and five boards as a freshman. He's
versatile enough to play any position facing the basket in high school, but will be a
prospect at the wing in college. Scouts are saying his main weaknesses are only age and
inexperience. Randle is ranked anywhere from a top ten to a top 50 player in his class, and
is a priority recruit for some programs already as a sophomore.
When Brian Ellerbe was forced from Michigan, 6'4 junior off-guard Lester Abrams decided to
back out of his verbal commitment to the Wolverines. Playing this past weekend for The
Family AAU at Boo Williams, Abrams gave Dave Telep a new list that includes Purdue,
Illinois, Stanford, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Michigan and Michigan State. The Family lost
the championship to the Charlotte Royals 78-49, but landed two players on the All-Tournament
team in Abrams and 6'4 junior swingman Ricardo Billings. Billings also lists Purdue along with
most of the Big 10, plus Marquette, Iowa State and Xavier. Both players are considered at
least top 40 talent in the junior class. According to recent comments by Abrams' high school
coach, Michigan is still a strong consideration for Abrams. Billings, however, is still
actively shopping around and his stock is rising.
Darmetreis Kilgore has popped up on some of the NJCAA statistical leader boards in his final
season. Kilgore's 187 rebounds, or 6.448 per game average, ranks 42nd among Division I
players. And his 21.414 points per game average is ranked as the 12th best in Division I.
APRIL 7, 2001
Purdue has received a verbal from Indianapolis Pike senior guard David Teague, who will spend
next season polishing his skills at Bridgton Academy Prep School before joining the Boilermakers
in 2002-03. Teague averaged 15.7 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Class 4A state champs Pike High,
shooting 40-plus percent from the perimeter. Bridgton Academy will give Teague and excellent
opportunity to hone his skills. Bridgton plays in the Class A division of the New England Prep
School league, a league consisting of national prep powers Winchendon School, St. Thomas
More and Maine Central Institute. Bridgton finished 26-6 this past season, losing to St.
Thomas More in overtime in the championship game of the NEPSAC tournament.
NOTE: The following article on David Teague also includes a recruiting update on Matt Kiefer.
The scholarship grid has been updated to reflect the verbal commitment of David Teague. With
Teague's verbal, the Boilers have nine of thirteen scholarships taken for the 2002-03 season.
This scenario still considers Andrew Ford and Willie Deane as walk-ons. If both remain walk-ons
for Coach Keady, the Boilers would have four more scholarships to offer that year. But Willie
Deane is likely to be on scholarship before the 2002-03 season, potentially reducing the number
to three.
Emily Heikes has been named the Suburban Chicago Star's Player of the Year. As the article
points out, Heikes has set the following individual records during her career...most points
scored in a game (32 against Hillcrest), most points scored in a season (381), most field
goals in a season (155), most rebounds in a game (26 against Rich East), most rebounds in
a season (283) and most rebounds in a career (751), most blocked shots in a career (83),
most steals in a season (94), most steals in a career (200), most career free throws made
(184), most blocked shots in a game (5) and most blocked shots in a season (39).
The rosters for the 2001 Junior All-Star teams have been announced. Many Purdue targets are
named to the junior teams that will prepare the Senior All-Stars this summer.
Here's an article that mentions prospect Parnell Smith and current Boiler Rodney Smith are the
23rd pair of siblings to win Indiana boys basketball titles.
The player profile for Mandy Davis is now up. Davis, a junior college sophomore who will be
joining the Boilers for the 2001-02 season, and Illinois senior Emily Heikes are the only
two incoming players next season. So far...
In an article sent to us from the Hammond Times which can be accessed at the following link
today only, Ricky Wright spoke about his situation at Villanova and his possible transfer.
The telling comment from Ricky was a response to the question if he was going to transfer.
"I think I'm gonna stick it out here and see what my other teammates do. But it's not
100 percent definite." Reporter Al Hamnick asked if Purdue would be his top option, and Ricky
replied he did not know. Ricky also was said to be a lifelong Purdue fan, and added he did not
want to be part of a rebuilding process at Villanova and not have a shot at playing for a
national championship. Hamnick builds on the article's angle that Wright's entire career has
been full of turnover. From East Chicago teams where he played for two coaches and suffered
everything form player defections to teammate ineligibility, to his current Villanova
situation where multiple player are now contemplating jumping ship. Checking with the Villanova
athletic department, Wright still has yet to ask for a release from his scholarship.
An article in the New York Daily News today suggested Purdue might be in good shape to get
a transfer from Villanova. Former Villanova head coach Steve Lappas resigned last Saturday,
only to be seen accepting a new coaching position at UMASS two days later. One player thinking
of a change in program is Ricky Wright, the 6'7 forward originally from East Chicago who
chose Villanova over Purdue two years ago. Wright is a sophomore, and would have two years
of eligibility remaining after sitting out a year per NCAA rules. "There is speculation
starting junior forward Ricky Wright may transfer to Purdue," the Daily News stated today. As
of yet, no confirmation has been released from Villanova on a request by Wright to be released
from his scholarship. Until that happens, a transfer is mere speculation. In the meantime, here
are some links to help get reacquainted with Ricky Wright, including our recruiting profile
from years ago, his season stats at Villanova, his player profile from Villanova, and the
entire article that started all the talk today. Coincidentally, today is Ricky's birthday.
Bellmont's Seth Colclasure has been named the area Player of the Year by the Fort Wayne News
Sentinel. Colclasure finished his junior year with 706 points and a state-leading 29.4
average, averaged 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.2 steals, and shot a national record
97.6 percent from the free throw line.
Several Purdue targets is the junior class are mentioned in this article on Ball State
recruiting. The article has Purdue in contact with 6'9 center Kevin Cates of Marion (IN), 6'10
center John Morningstar of Elkhart Concord (IN), 6'9 forward Tyler Best of Lafayette Central
Catholic (IN) and 6'2 Seth Colclasure of Bellmont (IN). Cates has been offered by Ball State,
Butler and Bowling Green, but hasn't yet been extended an offer from Purdue. One of the areas
of concern in recruiting Cates is his poor free throw shooting, currently below .500 at
46-percent. Morningstar is getting luke warm interest from a host of schools including
Purdue, but has only received a scholarship offer from Ball State. Lafayette Central
Catholic head coach Chad Dunwoody states Tyler Best only has two offers so far, one from
Purdue and one from Wright State.
Purdue's interest in senior David Teague of Indianapolis Pike may continue if he chooses to go
to prep school next season, rather than accept a scholarship offer from Bowling Green or
Central Michigan. Teague helped Pike to another 4A IHSAA state championship on Saturday with
16 points, six rebounds, two assists and four steals. He is averaging 15.3 points this season,
only his second season on varsity.
Despite 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting by Matt Kiefer, Mater Dei lost to Muncie South in the
Class 3A state championship game, 81-78 in overtime. Kiefer also hit 3 of 5 free throws and
grabbed eight boards. Mater Dei finishes the season 26-2.
Two of Purdue most recent verbal commitments will be busy this summer with the Junior All-Star
team. The team will also showcase a few other Purdue targets in the Indiana junior class.
Brandon McKnight and Brandon Jones have been selected to attend the Hoosier Basketball
Magazine Top 40 workout at Pike High School in Indianapolis on April 1st. The workout,
divided into two sessions, is used as a way to scout seniors for the upcoming Indiana
All-Star games this summer. Forty seniors and ten alternates will compete from 1:00pm
until 5:30pm, with players from northern and southern Indiana playing the first two hours
and players from central Indiana competing the final two hours. If you are in the Indianapolis
area and would like to check out two future Boilermakers, be there at 1:00pm. The event is
open to the public with admission costing $5.
More honors for McKnight. He can now add Northern Indiana Conference Player of the Year and
the South Bend Tribune Metro Player of the Year to his list of accomplishments. McKnight
ended his high school career setting the career scoring record for LaSalle at 1,444 points. Also
named to the all-Metro squad were junior Derrick Graham of Washington and sophomore Sylvester
Mayes of Clay. McKnight (28.6 ppg), Graham (25.0 ppg) and Mayes (24.9 ppg) finished 1-2-3
among the top South Bend area scoring leaders.
Tyler Clevenger, a 6'3 junior shooting guard from Winchester HS (IN), recently said Ohio
State, Xavier, Purdue, and Butler are the schools still showing strong interest in him.
MARCH 24, 2001
Purdue is showing interest in one of the top junior guards in the state of Michigan. Anthony
Hamo, a 6'2 190-pound two-guard from Flint Powers HS (MI), is getting attention from Purdue,
Providence, Boston College, Eastern Michigan, Oakland, Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Notre
Dame and Northwestern. Hamo is the best perimeter in the state according to Prep Spotlight
Magazine averaging 39.5 percent from the arc, and also holds his school record for most
points scored in a game (40).
Here is an article on Thornwood (IL) forward Melvin Buckley. Buckley supposedly had a hip
injury that dramatically affected his play in the Illinois state finals last weekend. Which
explains why he showed little to be impressed with for the game. Schaumburg upset Thornwood
66-54 in the state finals. A player Buckley spent some time defending, ended up having a career
night with 21 points and 10 assists. The outside shooting touch we've been hearing about was
not on display during the game. Buckley did hit a couple threes, the best one coming off
the dribble, but he also banged a perimeter attempt off the side of the backboard on a shot from
the baseline. A hip problem would definitely explain the lack of movement and quickness on
defense we saw. We'll get some more looks at him this summer.
Junior prospects Ricky Cornett (6'8, Homewood Christian, IL) and Melvin Buckley (6'7 Thornwood,
IL) have been named all-state special mention players by the Chicago Tribune.
MARCH 23, 2001
The name Nick Vander Laan sound familiar? Purdue spent quite a bit of time recruiting the 6'10
center back in the summer of 1998 when rated as a top 100 high school center and the tenth-best
center in the country by PrepStars. Vander Laan ended up signing with California, part
of a three player class all from the same summer AAU team, the LA Rockfish. Now a sophomore,
Vander Laan has announced he will transfer from Cal, citing "personal reasons". Those
personal reasons are likely playing time issues, considering Cal teammate Soloman Hughes and
his younger brother have been getting more playing time at center. Cal also has an elite
high school senior coming in named Jamal Sampson, who like the Hughes brothers and Vander Laan,
is also 6'10. Vander Laan averaged 26.4 points, 16.1 rebounds as a top prep junior when he
caught Purdue's eye. He averaged 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds as a 21-game sophomore starter
for Cal this past season. Vander Laan has not formulated a new list of schools, but Purdue
was among his final choices back in 1998 along with Notre Dame, Utah, Arizona, UNLV and
Stanford. All of those schools received either official or unofficial visits from Vander
Laan a few years ago. We were first alerted to Purdue's interest in Vander Laan by West
Coast Hoops' Mike Miller, who wrote the following email comment to us in July of
1998..."[Purdue] wants him for his wacky mind, and not just for his body. I think they
need someone to calm Brian Cardinal down...or just to make him look calmed down by
comparison." Vander Laan has officially been released from his Cal scholarship, so he
will have two years of eligibility remaining. NCAA transfer rules will require him to sit
out for the 2001-2002 season.
Bellmont junior guard Seth Colclasure is being recognized for setting the single season national
free throw shooting record for the 2000-01 season. Colclasure is 167 of 171 this year with a
percentage of .976. His career percentage from the line stands at .944, or 376 of 398. The
national record for career free throw percentage is .921, set last year by another Indiana
native, Steve Drabyn of LaPorte.
MARCH 19, 2001
I just returned from vacation in St. Louis to find a lot of movement in women's recruiting
over the past few days. We got the tip last week that it was likely Carol Duncan would choose
to commit this weekend, which is what happened. The 6'2 junior forward from NorthWood HS (IN)
chose Purdue over Indiana and Valparaiso. Duncan now joins fellow junior Ashley Mays of Warren
Central as the first two junior commitments. What caught everyone by surprise was the commitment
this weekend of a junior college guard, 5'7 Mandy Davis of Weatherford JC (TX). Davis averaged
15 points per game this season, and considered no other school. Also visiting for the Friday
game were a pair of junior college post players, both foreign players now playing in the
Florida junior college system. Crispina Correia, a 6'4 209-pound center from Palm Beach CC,
originally hails from Cabo Verde, South Africa. Trish Patterson, a 6'2 post player currently
enrolled at Miami-Dade CC, is orginally from Toronto, Ontario. Once I get unpacked and
resettled, I'll update the scholarship page and dig up some more info on these new players.
Senior JaQuan Hart, who announced for Michigan last fall, is having second thoughts about
Ann Arbor after the recent firing of head coach Brian Ellerbe. The following link seems to
suggest a current assistant coach is the key to him remaining a Wolverine.
The Tyler Junior College Apaches ended the 2000-2001 season on Saturday with a 97-83 loss to
Trinity Valley in the Region 14 tournament. The Apaches were in need of some consistency and
immediate improvement on rebounding against a team that beat them 88-79 a week ago. More
importantly, Tyler needed to find a way to replace the scoring punch of Darmetreis Kilgore,
who did not start due to a case of the flu. For a while it looked like Tyler would be able to
build and maintain a decent lead, but two crucial runs by TVC put TVC in the position to pull
away near the end of the game. TVC made 18 of 23 free throws in the second half, and
outrebounded Tyler 35-29. TVC was led by Jerome Holman with 32 points, including huge threes
when TVC needed a score. Tyler was led by Kilgore, managing 21 points fighting the flu. Tyler
finishes the season 14-17. Darmetreis Kilgore was named to the Region 14 all-conference first
team, and finished as the No. 2 scorer in the conference.
MARCH 13, 2001
No. 5 Bellmont built a double-digit lead at the half and maintained it from the final two
quarters to win the Blackford sectional championship over No. 13 Maconaquah, 72-61. Tied up
at 13 at the end of the first, Bellmont was up by 13 at the end of the second quarter. Bellmont
got shots from every player, inside and outside, despite a dramatic size disadvantage.
Maconaquah boasts a trio of big men in 6'7 Mike Otto, 6'7 Buddy Richardson and 6'8 Corey
Burns. On the other hand, Bellmont has just one player over 6'2. Bellmont's gameplan was
simple -- spread the floor and create gaps in the paint, and pass until a man is open. They did
this by placing 6'2 Seth Colclasure at the high post and sliding the low post out to the baseline
wing. It helps when your center, 6'4 Sam Conrad, can hit from the perimeter. Bellmont conceded
the offensive rebound, but focused on taking good shots to decrease the number of rebounds
available. Maconaquah could have had a great night feeding the post, but didn't execute well
in getting their big men the ball. Maconaquah did suffer from a handful of shots in the paint
that were close to halfway down before popping back out of the rim. Seth Colclasure finished
with 33 points and was very effective in distributing the ball from the high post, and slashing
to the basket when playing out on the wing. He's also has a great baseline move. Colclasure was
also very effective in driving around his man on the perimeter, then pulling up for the 15
footer before Maconaquah's big men could come out to defend the shot. After building the lead
at halftime, Bellmont ate some clock by stalling for most of the final two minutes of the
third quarter and for most of the final four minutes of the game. Maconaquah chose to double
and triple the Bellmont ballhandler with pressure instead of fouling, something they had to
do against a team of very good shooters from the charity stripe. Bellmont handled the
pressure, and won the game by 11. No. 5 Bellmont (20-3) moves on to face No. 2 Muncie South
(19-3) at Bellmont on Wednesday.
MARCH 12, 2001
Spurred by a school-record 47-point outburst Feb. 27, Bellmont’s Seth Colclasure regained
the state scoring lead from Brandon McKnight of South Bend LaSalle who held the lead for
one short week after chasing the title the entire year. Colclasure hit 19 of 28
field shots with five three-pointers as Bellmont defeated Fort Wayne Northrop 77-60. The
junior guard came back with 22 points March 2 as the Braves (17-3) defeated Fort Wayne
South Side 66-56. In his final regular-season outing on Feb. 27, McKnight scored 19 points
and became the school’s season (581) and career (1,381) scoring leader as South Bend LaSalle
(12-8) rallied to top South Bend St. Joseph’s 56-49. As of March 3, Colclasure's scoring
average stood at 29.5 points per game, compared to McKnight's 29.0.
Brandon McKnight's high school career came to an end on Saturday as Penn defeated LaSalle
61-52 in the sectional finals. McKnight led LaSalle (14-9) with 29 points. McKnight scored
28 Friday night in LaSalle's 51-45 victory over Adams, and 25 in last Wednesday's sectional
opener against Mishawaka.
Matt Kiefer had 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in a 72-59 sectional championship
victory over Heritage Hills. Mater Dei (23-1) next plays in the regional championship game
against Jasper (13-10) at Jasper.
Highlands Ranch has won back-to-back Class 5A state titles, following a 53-44 victory against
Doherty on Saturday night. Ms. Basketball Ann Strother finished with 15 points, eight rebounds,
five steals and four assists in the championship game. Strother was also named to the 5A
all-tournament team.
Sharika Webb and her Cathedral Irish took the Indiana Class 3A state championship, beating
No. 7 Plymouth 54-39 in Conseco Fieldhouse. Webb scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Cathedral finished the season 29-1.
Highlands Ranch (22-1) advanced to the Colorado Class 5A semifinals with a 75-40 win over Heritage on
Wednesday. The semifinal games will be held tonight, and the championship game on Saturday.
Highlands Ranch has defeated their four opponents in the state tournament this season by an
average of 35 points, but have yet to face anyone seeded higher than 16th. Friday's opponent,
No. 4 seed Fort Collins, has a mixed history against Highlands Ranch. Fort Collins has been the
only team to defeat the Falcons this year. Fort Collins also beat Highlands Ranch in the regular
season last year, but lost to Highlands Ranch in the 5A state final game last year. The winner
Friday will move on to face either No. 2 seed Doherty or No. 3 seed Horizon Saturday.
Another center from the class of 2002 is showing interest in Purdue. Chris Grimm, a 6'10
220-pound center ranked as a top 100 player by Hoop Scoop, is interested in several
midwestern high majors including Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and Marquette.
The Big Ten schools are said to lead. Grimm has made unofficial visits to Ohio State and
Michigan State. After a quiet sophomore season where he was used sparingly by Brighton HS (MI),
Grimm immediately put himself in the mind of recruiters by putting in a strong performance
at the beginning of this season at the Tip-Off Classic. Grimm hit 14 of 16 field goals and 11
of 14 free throws, had six offensive and 11 defensive rebounds, smacked away four shots, and
ended the game with 39 points. Over the entire junior season Grimm is averaging a more modest
20 points and 12 rebounds.
MARCH 5, 2001
Homewood Christian Academy's Rick Cornett has been named to the all-Chicago team as a junior by
the Chicago Sun-Times. Homewood Christian won the Illinois Christian Schools tournament
and finished with a record of 30-1. Cornett averaged 21 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks per
game.
Emily Heikes has been named an all-area selection by the Chicago Daily Southtown. Heikes
led Stagg to their first conference title since 1978, averaging 14.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per
game.
FEBRUARY 25, 2001
A look at which prospects are still alive in their respective state tournaments, and which ones
are now looking ahead to summer basketball...
Emily Heikes (Stagg, IL) - Season over. No. 8 Mother McAuley (28-3) cruised to a 59-44 victory
over No. 19 Stagg (21-7) in the Oak Lawn sectional semis. Heikes was held to 12 points but
still led Stagg in scoring.
Gillian Goring (Germantown Academy, PA) - Season over. Germantown Academy (24-2, 6-0) won the
Inter-Academic championship by defeating Notre Dame (19-7, 6-1), 59-38. Goring led GA with
15 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Goring was named all-league first team.
Carol Duncan (NorthWood, IN) - Season over. NorthWood (19-4) fell for the fourth consecutive
time to Wawasee, this time a season-ending loss in the sectional championship game, 65-59. Carol
Duncan finished with 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Duncan finished the season averaging
17.3 points per game.
Missy Taylor (Connersville, IN) - Season over. In the first game of the Southport semistate,
Connersville cruised past Castle 69-47. Taylor had a game-high 21 points in the win. The win
put Connersville in the finals against Class 4A No. 3 Ben Davis. Despite 22 points and five
boards from Taylor, Ben Davis expanded a five point lead at halftime into a 58-45 final
victory. Connersville finished the season 19-5.
Ann Strother (Highlands Ranch, CO) - Next game: 2/27 vs. Aravada. The defending state champions
easily disposed of winless Westminster 70-24 in the first round of the Colorado 5A tournament.
Strother led all scorers with 23 points. Notre Dame signee Katy Flecky added 10. Strother
boosted her season average to 20.0 points per game.
Ashley Mays (Warren Central, IN) - Season over. Warren Central went down in the first
round of sectional play to Lawrence North, 76-56, despite a game-high 30 points from junior
Ashley Mays. Warren Central finished the season 4-16.
Candis Jackson (Chicago Whitney Young, IL) - Season over. Hope, the No. 19 team in Illinois
(Associated Press) defeated Whitney Young 68-46 in the quarterfinals of the
Chicago Public League playoffs.
Lindsay Richards (Barrington, IL) - Season over. Barrington 25-11) made a run at No. 3
Stevenson in the sectional championship, but came up just short, losing 45-39. Richards
cut the lead to two on a three-pointer with 48 seconds remaining, but Stevenson went on
to win it at the line. Richards had 10 points for the game. Named to the 20 player
postseason all-state team by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Sharika Webb (Indianapolis Cathedral, IN) - Next game: 3/03 vs. Plymouth (22-5). Cathedral
advanced to the 3A state final game for the third year in a row by defeating No. 3 Franklin
County 47-45. Sharika Webb led all scorers with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Cathedral's
record stands at 28-1.
Katie Gearlds (Beech Grove, IN) - Season over. Beech Grove was bounced in the first round of
sectional play by Class 3A No. 1 Cathedral. Gearlds finished her season rated as the
Indianapolis area top scorer, and No. 2 in the state behind Wawasee's Shanna Zolman. She
averaged 27.3 points per game this season. Beech Grove finished the season 13-8.
Blair Hardiek (Effingham, IL) - Season over. At the Mt. Zion sectional, No. 12 seed Rantoul
defeated No. 5 seed Effingham 57-44.
FEBRUARY 24, 2001
Matt Kiefer scored a quiet 10 points in very limited play for Mater Dei against Rivet.
On this Senior Night, Mater Dei coach Roger Sills started five seniors, and played them
for significant minutes throughout the game. Even senior basketball manager Chris Stratman
got the opportunity to start and play in Mater Dei's final home game.
Sharika Webb went 3-of-7 from the perimeter for 21 points and three steals in Cathedral's
52-36 regional matchup against Franklin. Indianapolis Cathedral moves on to Jasper on Saturday
at 11:45am to play Jasper (19-5). The winner gets the Franklin County (23-0) vs. Lebanon (15-9)
winner at 8:15pm.
The lineup for the Southport semistate is set, and Connersville (19-4) will play Castle (22-3)
in the 11:45am game. The winner gets the Terre Haute South (22-1) vs. Ben Davis (24-2) winner
in the semistate championship game at 8:15pm. Missy Taylor scored 14 points and grabbed a
game-high 11 rebounds in the regional championship game against North Central.
Coach Keady was spotted at Thursday's Gary West Side vs. Gary Mann game. West Side clinched
a share of the Nortwestern Conference title in the 66-53 victory. Brandon Cameron scored 12
points and dished out seven assists, while Chris Hunter finished with nine points and five
rebounds.
FEBRUARY 22, 2001
The coaching staff is showing interest in 6'6 junior wing guard Melvin Buckley from Thornwood
(IL). Buckley transferred from Marian Catholic between his sophomore and junior year,
bringing an immediate perimeter threat to a team already blessed in the post. Buckley
was getting a reputation as a top sophomore in the state of Illinois, which brought
about a meeting between the coaches and his parents about his future with the team.
When the Buckley family found out the future plan for his son at Marian Catholic was
post play, they went looking elsewhere. They didn't get far. Buckley lived across
the street from Thornwood. Buckley lead No. 1 Thornwood (24-1) on Monday with 21
points in a 70-57 win over Rich East. Buckley sank five three-point baskets,
taking advantage of Rich East's double-teaming of center Eddy Curry in the post.
The all-around threat averaged 14.5 points, nine rebounds and three assists as a
sophomore at Marian. Those numbers, along with a growing reputation as a perimeter
shooter in summer basketball, were good enough to be named a top 150 player by
former Prep Stars scout Dave Telep. Buckley is highly athletic, but needs to get
stronger to improve his finishing around the basket. While at Marian Catholic,
Notre Dame, Northwestern and Michigan State began paying attention. Since then,
Illinois, Purdue, North Carolina, Marquette, and Arizona have all made the list.
FEBRUARY 21, 2001
Last week, Purdue signee Brandon McKnight trailed the state scoring leader Seth Colclasure by
one-tenth of one point of his scoring average. This week, McKnight remains in second place, now
by only one-one hundredth of a point. The averages of both players are still on the rise, up
almost a point since last week. Colclasure currently sits with an average of 29.25, while
McKnight comes in at 29.24 points per contest. Other players of interest listed by the IHSAA ...
No. 13 Anthony Winchester (24.0), No. 15 Sylvester Mayes (23.8), No. 18 Chris Thomas (23.4),
Tyler Clevenger (22.5) and Brandon Jones (22.5) tied at No. 24, and No. 26 Marques Bennett
(22.2).
Emily Heikes' high school career has come to an end. No. 8 Mother McAuley (28-3) cruised
to a 59-44 victory over No. 19 Stagg (21-7) in the Oak Lawn sectional semis. Heikes
was held to 12 points but still led Stagg in scoring.
NorthWood fell for the fourth consecutive time to Wawasee, this time a season-ending loss
in the sectional championship game, 65-59. Carol Duncan finished with 17 points and a
game-high 16 rebounds.
Connersville plays tonight for a chance to advance to the Southport semistate this Saturday.
Their opponent, North Central (11-11), gets the advantage of playing the regional final game
on their home court. Connersville has already beaten North Central once this season, an 11
point loss back in late December. Taylor comes into the game averaging 22.1 points, fresh off
a 34 point outburst in the sectional final last Saturday.
Highlands Ranch (18-1) began this season ranked No. 1, and finished the regular season
clinching the No. 1 seed in the Colorado Class 5A tournament. Highlands Ranch opens the
tournament on Friday against 0-19 Westminster. Through the end of the regular season,
Ann Strother is averaging 19.8 points per game.
FEBRUARY 20, 2001
Louisville senior power forward Brian Thornton has verballed to Vanderbilt after a weekend
visit, according to his high school coach.
I had a chance to talk with Denise McClanahan, 16-under AAU coach for the Indiana Finest
program. McClanahan has both Sharika Webb and Katie Gearlds on her summer squad, so she was the
perfect person to give us some scouting on the two players.
Just last week it was Sharika Webb's Cathedral squad bouncing Katie Gearlds' Beech Grove
from the 2001 IHSAA tournament. On Sunday, both players were in attendance to see the
Purdue women win another Big Ten Basketball Championship. Gearlds has become a fixture at
Purdue home games, rated as the top player in the Indiana sophomore class and rated as
Full Court Press's No. 18 player in the Class of 2003. Gearlds finished the regular
season rated as the Indianapolis area top scorer, and No. 2 in the state behind Wawasee's
Shanna Zolman. Before the tournament, Gearlds was averaging 26.7 points with a season high
of 42, on .538 shooting from the floor, .864 from the line and .420 from the perimeter.
Gearlds is also averaging 9.2 rebounds, 6.2 steals, 6.7 assists and 3.2 blocks per game.
With the loss to Cathedral last week, Beech Grove finished the season 13-8. Webb, on a more
loaded team, is averaging 15.4 points and 4.4 steals. Cathedral is still alive in the
IHSAA tournament, winning the Sectional 25 championship at Beech Grove behind a game-high
21 points from Webb. Cathedral, the defending state 3A champion, moves on to a Wednesday
matchup with Franklin (15-7). Both Webb and Gearlds played for the 15-under Indiana Finest
AAU program last summer, finishing 5th in the nation. Webb was named the team's most
outstanding performer for the summer of 2000, while Gearlds won the award in 1999.
Louisville senior power forward Brian Thornton is visiting Kevin Stallings' Vanderbilt program
this weekend, to be followed next weekend by a visit to N.C. State.
Rossville gave Central Catholic their third loss of the season and second in a row, convincingly
beating them 80-64. Rossville was determined to send multiple defenders at Tyler Best to shut
him down, and it was successful. Best finished with 6 points. Russell Trudeau had another
outstanding offensive game with 23 points.
One-tenth of one point. That is the margin between the scoring averages of the state's No. 1
and No. 2 scorers. Battling it out are Bellmont junior Seth Colclasure and Purdue-bound
senior Brandon McKnight. A 79-point weekend by McKnight helped to close the gap between the
two leaders, but both are slowly separating themselves from the rest of the state. There now
exists just under a three point gap between McKnight and the state's No. 3 scorer, Cris Brunson
of Evansville Reitz.
Kristy Curry attended Tuesday's first round sectional matchup between Cathedral and Beech Grove
to check out two of the best guards in the junior and sophomore classes. Cathedral bounced
Beech Grove from the IHSAA tournment 74-60. Cathedral's Sharika Webb led her team with 25
points, hitting 5-of-11 shots from the perimeter. Katie Gearlds led all scorers with 33 points,
only one coming from long range. She made only one of eight shots from the perimeter, but
was a perfect 16-of-16 from the free throw line. Gearlds also added nine rebounds and
five assists.
What's the saying about revenge? It's best served cold? For the past two seasons Maria HS has
beaten Stagg in the regional championship game of the IHSA tournament. This season's matchup
came in the regional semis on Tuesday, and Stagg slowly dispatched with Maria before blowing out
to a final 69-31 victory. Heikes, one-half of a dominating inside duo also consisting of forward
Heather King, scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Stagg outrebounded Maria 33-11. Next
up for Stagg, a regional championship game tonight against nemesis Sandburg. Stagg is 2-1 against
Sandburg this season with Sandburg holding the advantage in tournament games. Sandburg is the
Class AA regional's third seed. Stagg is seeded sixth.
Purdue is looking at junior point guard Candis Jackson of Chicago Whitney Young. The nationally
ranked 5'8 playmaker is also getting serious attention from Iowa and Marquette with more schools
coming into the picture. Jackson is averaging 24.7 points, six rebounds, six steals and eight
assists for Whitney Young (9-13). She scored 22 points in a 107-61 win over Juarez in the
first round of the Chicago Public League playoffs. Whitney Young also competed in the 2001
Nike Tournament of Champions in Chicago in December. While Whitney Young could only manage
14th in the Blue Division, Candis was named to the Blue Division All-Tournament team. All-Star
Girls Report has Jackson as the nation's 25th-best junior player.
Purdue was in attendance to see Louisville Manual's 6'8 senior center Brian Thornton on
Tuesday, along with coaches from Vanderbilt, Tennessee and NC State. There is mutual interest
between Purdue and Thornton, but it remains to be seen if a scholarship can open or a
year at prep school. Pegged in the preseason as being on the bubble for the Kentucky senior
all-star team, Thornton is becoming a hotly recruited player. In a preseason poll of high
school coaches by the Louisville Courier-Journal, Thornton was listed as the state's
12th-best player. His 25 point and 20 rebound effort Tuesday shows why his stock is rising.
Helping his improvement has been his growth spurt, and getting used to playing with his
back to the basket instead of as a guard. Thornton began his high school career at 6'1
and 240-pounds. He's still a 240-pounder, but has grown to 6'8. This brings to mind
comparisons to Brad Miller, who went through a similar growth spurt and managed to keep
his vision to become a great passing big man. Thornton averaged 15 points as a junior,
ranked as the 11th-best in field goal accuracy at 63.5-percent. As a senior through 22
games, Thornton is averaging 21.7 points (477), 13.0 rebounds (287), and continues to
tweak his shooting percentage from the field (.650). Below is a link to a game report
from Tuesday, and a scouting report from the summer of 1999.
A new name to consider in the class of 2003. Sylvester Mayes, a 6'2 shooting guard from South
Bend Clay (IN), is rated as Indiana's top sophomore shooting guard according to rankings by
OnCourt Indiana. Mayes is already getting interest from the Big Ten, and has listed
Purdue as one of his top choices so far. Notre Dame and Tennessee are also in play. Mayes is
the top scorer in the sophomore class, averaging 23.8 points and 3.9 assists while shooting
41-percent from the perimeter. Mayes led Clay (9-8) with 28 points and eight rebounds in a
loss Friday night to South Bend LaSalle. LaSalle was led by Purdue signee Brandon McKnight's
38 points. South Bend Clay is the same program that has sent both Lee Nailon to the NBA
and Jaraan Cornell on to the CBA within the past decade. Current head coach Joe Huppenthal, who
took over the helm after the graduation of Jaraan Cornell in 1996, was a Purdue basketball
manager under Gene Keady from 1983-86.
Junior prospect Anthony Winchester scored 39 points in a loss to Corydon, 73-60. Corydon decided
to focus the defense on everyone but Winchester, allowing only three other Austin players to
score in the game.
Matt Kiefer scored a season-high 32 points and added 14 rebounds in a 81-69 win over Evansville
Reitz. Kiefer shot a near perfect 12 of 13 from the field and eight of nine from the line.
Mater Dei's record improves to 16-1.
Purdue has a head start on 2003 point guard Blair Hardiek, a 5'6 sophomore point guard from
Effingham (IL) who visited Purdue last Sunday for the Michigan game. It wasn't her first
visit to Purdue. She has been to many Purdue games, and has attended a Purdue basketball
camp in each of the past four years. Hardiek is a big reason for the success of the Effingham
Flaming Hearts, who just clinched the Apollo Conference. Her freshman year, Effingham
improved from a 5-19 record in 1998 to a winning record of 14-10. Her freshman year she
averaged 20.5 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists per game, plus led the
team in blocked shots. She has also attended camps at Ball State and Illinois.
FEBRUARY 7, 2001
Another story placing Gene Keady in the gym scouting 6'8 Rick Cornett of Homewood Christian (IL).
The newest state scoring rankings have been released by the IHSAA. Brandon McKnight remains at
No. 3 with an average of 27.0 points per game. But he now has the distinction of being the only
senior among the top five scorers in the state. Last week's No. 2, Purdue football signee
Brandon Jones, fell six spots to No. 8, leaving four juniors and McKnight in the top five.
Bellmont's Seth Colclasure remains the top scorer in the state with a 27.7 per game average.
Matt Carroll nailed a three with a little over a minute remaining to tie Cherry Creek at 54-54.
Carroll would add a freethrow to boost it to 55, but couldn't stop Cherry Creek from
taking the game at the end. Carroll finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds and three blocks in the
loss. A loss that was Smoky Hill's first loss in the past ten games.
NorthWood moved to 16-3 on Carol Duncan's double-double, dropping South Bend LaSalle 61-43.
Duncan had 26 points and 13 rebounds.
Purdue lone 2000-2001 recruit so far had a taste of high school success this past weekend.
Stagg HS clinched their first SICA West league championship since 1978 in a 47-42 win over
Andrew. Heikes led Stagg with 17 points.
FEBRUARY 6, 2001
Four top high school players unofficially visited for the Michigan game in Mackey on Sunday.
As expected, Missy Taylor (2002, 6'2, Connersville, IN) visited, joined by Katie Gearlds (2003,
6'0, Beech Grove, IN) making her third unofficial visit to Purdue. Two new prospects from
Illinois, Lindsay Richards (2002, 5'8, Barrington, IL) and Blair Hardiek (2003, 5'6, Effingham,
IL), also visited. Richards and Hardiek have been added to the prospects page ...
Interest both ways when it comes to 6'4 junior guard Marques Bennett from Indianapolis Brebeuf.
Bennett was spotted with his parents behind the Purdue bench for the Wisconsin game last month.
His older brother currently is at Ball State. Bennett is rated the top point guard prospect in
the Indiana junior class. He and Gary Westside's Brandon Cameron are also two of the best
defenders in the state at guard. Bennett can play both guard positions, but is attractive as a
6'4 point prospect. Look to see him also be recruited as a shooter and perimeter defender.
Bennett is averaging 22.0 points and 4.6 steals for Brebeuf this season, and averaged 9.0 points,
6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists as a sophomore.
FEBRUARY 4, 2001
Little doubt remains that Brandon Mcknight is a playmaker. Not including his 27 point, 10 rebound,
nine assist, six steals and one turnover performance against Gary Mann on Friday, McKnight
currently ranks as the state's third best scorer. He's averaging 27.3 points and 7.8 assists
through 12 games this season.
Player to watch...Blake Grider. A great article on a Purdue legacy who wants nothing more than
to be some part of the Purdue program. A 6'1 senior guard for Maroa-Forsyth (IL), Grider
has been in the Purdue family for a while. His parents are both Purdue graduates, and he
has two brothers currently attending Purdue. And he's not a bad basketball player, averaging
26.3 points and and 6.6 rebounds for his high school team. Read more at the following link...
A potential future walk-on to keep an eye on? Sandburg (IL) 6'2 senior center Lauren Valenta
will be a student at Purdue next fall, and currently plans to give up basketball for academics.
In the classroom, the National Honor Society member boasts a 4.3 GPA. On the court, she
is one of the better post players around Chicago. Averaging eight points, five rebounds
and two blocks per game for Sandburg, she played well against Emily Heikes in two meetings
this season. Valenta and Heikes played on the same summer team last year. A name to keep
in the back of our minds.
FEBRUARY 2, 2001
The Stagg Chargers (16-6, 8-0) clinched at least a tie of the SICA West Championship Wednesday
with a 62-35 win over Joliet Township. Emily Heikes had 12 points and eight rebounds in the
win.
Darmetreis Kilgore is rated by Brick Oettinger as the third best junior college prospect
in the article linked below. Of additional interest in the article, Kilgore's teammate Bobbye
Hill, a 6'9 sophomore center, is listing Purdue. We did a quick sweep of the players on the Tyler
JC team last summer to see if anyone else on the squad was considering Purdue along with
Kilgore. At that time, Bobbye Hill was listing mostly mid-majors like Florida International,
East Carolina, Stephen F. Austin and Virginia Tech. Now, according to the Oettinger article,
Hill is listing Southern Mississippi, Virginia Tech and Purdue. Another junior college
sophomore on Oettinger's list is Barton County's 6'7 forward Eric Washington, who lists
Purdue, Houston, UAB, Providence, Iowa and Michigan. Washington has recently stated Purdue
is a clear leader, but it is not known if he will be qualified at the end of this year.
Some lists have him as a freshman eligibility-wise. If he does wait to come out until the
2001-2002 season, Purdue would have a scholarship to offer. However, it does not look
likely Purdue will add anyone to the current incoming class of Carroll, Kilgore and McKnight.
Some updated stats for Darmetreis Kilgore through 16 games...20.1 points (.413 FG, .690 FT,
.362 3PT), 6.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.6 steals per game.
A scouting report from forum member CoBo on Matt Carroll's performance last Tuesday against
Boulder. Smoky Hill beat Boulder 66-45. Carroll had game-highs in points (18) and rebounds (17).
Illinois is putting the pressure on Homewood Christian's Rick Cornett. The Chicago Sun-Times
reports Duke has not called Cornett since receiving a verbal from Providence's Michael
Thompson. Illinois coach Bill Self took his staff and entire team to see Cornett play, then
invited the Homewood Christian team to Assembly Hall to watch the Illini prepare for Penn State.
According to Taylor Bell, Cornett currently favors Illinois, Purdue, Iowa, Marquette,
Wisconsin, USC and Valparaiso.
Despite Carol Duncan's 23 points and 13 rebounds, both game-high marks, Angola defeated NorthWood
57-47. Duncan was 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from the line. Duncan contines to lead the
Northern Lakes region with 11.1 rebounds per game.
Junior prospect Ann Strother scored 21 points in a 75-24 beating of Ponderosa. Strother produced
seven field goals, one three-pointer, and four free throws. Linked below is an article on
Strother's knee injury last season, and injury first wrongly diagnosed as a pulled calf muscle.
Sharika Webb, a 5-7 all-state junior guard from Class 3A No. 1 Indianapolis Cathedral, led the
Irish with 23 points on Friday and surpassed the 1,000 point career mark. She is the first
player at Cathedral to hit the 1,000 point mark as a junior. Webb averages 15.5 points per game
for the 17-1 Irish.
Sitting behind the men's bench for the Minnesota game were Indianapolis Cathedral freshmen
Desmond Gadis and Robert Vaden.
A breakout game Friday night by Gary West's Chris Hunter. Hunter hit for 31 points as the
Cougars beat host East Chicago 68-58. Hunter was the only West Side (11-3) player in double
figures. The closest teammate was Brandon Cameron with nine.
An update on Illinois sophomore Brian Randle. The 6'6 Peoria Notre Dame (IL) forward is
averaging 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds, shooting over 70-percent from the field. Randle had
nine points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in a 58-50 win against Woodruff Friday.
Tyler Junior College lost to Baytown Lee 80-71 at home Saturday. Baton Rouge (LA) 6'0 freshman
point Will Watson led TJC with 19 points, including a three-quarter court bomb at the buzzer.
Averaging 20 points per game entering the game, Darmetreis Kilgore was held to 12 points,
eight coming from the free throw line.
JANUARY 27, 2001
Due to a number of requests by fans of the women's team for their own forum, we have added
a "Ms Hoops" women's forum for discussion of women's sports and issues. The forum will also
be a posting board for links related to women's basketball. A link on the lefthand sidebar
will take you there!
Purdue has extended a scholarship offer to 6'9 power forward Ricky Cornett of Homewood Christian
Academy (IL). The 240-pound junior is a high major prospect, potentially a top ten type player.
There are two updates on Cornett and his recruitment at the following links...
The player profile is now up for junior prospect Missy Taylor. You can always look at the
list of prospects and their profiles on the right sidebar of this page under "PROSPECTS FUTURE".
Purdue will be receiving an unofficial visit on 2/4 from one of the top players in the Indiana
junior class. Missy Taylor, a 6'2 forward with guard skills, was originally going to be on
campus for this Sunday's Wisconsin game, but due to a schedule conflict had to reschedule.
Already receiving a ton of mail, email, and phone calls through her high school coach, Taylor
is a hotly recruited player. Some of the schools in constant contact are Purdue, Stanford,
Iowa State, Indiana and Georgia. This will be her second unofficial visit to Purdue. Her
first was taken with her father in December. She has also visited unofficially two other
schools -- Indiana and Notre Dame. Taylor has been invited to this summer's Nike All-American
Camp in Indianapolis (which we will again be scouting). Position may be a factor in her
recruitment. Both Stanford and Indiana are recruiting her as a guard, while Purdue has
indicated she would play at forward, most likely on the wing. Taylor is currently 18th in the
state in scoring with a 22.3 average, and also averages close to 11 rebounds, three assists
and three steals a game. Lots more coming later in her player profile, including a huge
list of awards and accomplishments and her high school schedule in case fans wish to catch
Connersville High in action.
JANUARY 22, 2001
Emily Heikes led Stagg (14-5, 6-0) with 21 points and 12 rebounds in a 50-48 win over Sandburg.
This was the third meeting this season between Stagg and Sandburg, with Stagg winning both
SICA West games and Sandburg bouncing Stagg in the Hillcrest Tournament. On a related note,
Heikes was named honorable mention all-tournament for the recently completed Ameritech
Shootout in Chicago.
JANUARY 19, 2001
After missing the first five games of the season, Brandon Jones is again making an assault on
the state scoring leader chart. Jones finished as the state's No. 17 scorer last season with a
24.2 average. This season Jones is averaging 23.3 points, which should rank him in the top
twenty when the new numbers are released next week. Tonight will be a big test for the high
scoring Peru Tigers, who lead the area in team offense (71.7 ppg). Peru hosts Class 3A No. 2
Maconaquah. Jones is coming off a 29 point performance against Pioneer on Tuesday.
In the latest IHSAA state scoring leader list, Brandon McKnight has moved into third place with
his 27.7 average. Through 10 games, McKnight is just six points from being the state leader, and
a 34 point output tonight would be enough to overtake the leader. Other scorers of interest...
No. 2 Seth Colclasure (28.0), No. 6 Tyler Clevenger (25.1) and No. 9 Anthony Winchester (24.6).
Anne McLaren of the Exponent recently talked to assistant coach Kelly Curry
about immediate recruiting concerns. A true center is high on the wish list, plus the program
might sign backups at the forward or guard positions if available. The JUCO ranks are a strong
possibility to fill these spots. Since the transfer of Cherrise Graham, it makes a lot of
sense to bring in a junior college point guard to fill in behind Erika Valek for two years.
That would allow the coaching staff to offer a current high school sophomore point guard
playing time as a backup the first year, and the starting spot the second.
Kristy Curry went to Chicago to catch Emily Heikes in the 11th annual Ameritech Shootout.
Stagg defeated Maine West 46-36. Heikes ruled inside, finishing with 18 points and 12
rebounds for the Chargers (13-5).
JANUARY 16, 2001
A few prospects were spotted at the Purdue blowout of Northwestern. Sophomore Katie Gearlds of
Beech Grove HS (IN) was the one recognized right away. In today's J&C, Mike
Carmin identified two more. Ann Strother, a 6'1 forward from Highland Ranch (CO), and
Carol Duncan, a 6'2 center/forward from NorthWood (IN). I saw Strother, but never made the
connection and hardly believed it was her when told. I've just seen the intense, sweaty,
"Katie Douglas" type player on the court. In street clothes in the stands -- what a difference.
Duncan is a new name, one we haven't been watching. Here's an update on Strother, with
updates on Duncan and Gearlds coming in the next couple of days.
Strother is rated as as the No. 2 player in the class of 2002 by Blue Star, behind
6'7 center Gillian Goring. We scouted her at last summer's Nike Camp, and had this impression...
"Ann's play reminded me very much of Katie Douglas. She was slight in build with arms and
legs the size of toothpicks, but was every where on the court. She got numerous steals and
loose balls, rebounded very well, and could also knock down the 3. She is an excellent ball
handler and crisp passer. Sometimes a little too hard with the passes. Her constant cutting
and weaving makes her a load to defend because it is just a matter of time before she will
get open. Sometimes has a little hop before she takes off, which will draw some travelling
calls. With some time in the weight room she should be an impact player in college. Nasty
looking knee brace on her left knee, but it didn't seem to slow her down a bit." That knee
brace kept her out for most of her sophomore season, the result of an ACL tear. Strother is
averaging 21.1 points per game for Colorado Class 5A No. 2 Highlands Ranch (9-1), and scored 20
in a 61-43 win Friday over Arapahoe. Highlands Ranch is currently rated No. 22 in the nation
by USA Today, and possesses a second Division I prospect along side of Strother. Notre
Dame-bound senior forward Katy Flecky will be an influence on her decision. Strother travelled
Monday to see the Connecticut/Notre Dame game. Her sister has been accepted to Valparaiso. Strother
was the MVP of the championship game at the US Junior Nationals in Washington DC this past
July, where she led the Colorado Hoopsters to the title. The Street & Smith, WBCA
and Blue Star all-american has a large list of schools, including Purdue, Notre Dame,
Tennessee, Colorado, Stanford, and a host of others. (Note: We are going with a spelling of
her last name as "Strother", as it is spelled in her hometown newspapers, her Nike Camp bio,
and her high school roster. This is contrary to how USA Today and some other media outlets
are spelling the name.)
JANUARY 15, 2001
Mike Pegram caught the SIAC final game featuring Evansville Mater Dei and prospect Matt Kiefer.
Some scouting provided, plus some video footage.
Smoky Hill defeated 5A No. 3 Mullen on Thursday, moving their league record to 2-0 and overall
record to 3-4. Smoky Hill is 3-1 against in-state teams. Carroll again suffered from foul
trouble and finished with seven points before fouling out.
USA Today has an article on Germantown Academy's 6'7 center Gillian Goring. Her entire
family is huge, and maybe the men's program should start recruiting her brothers too.
Evansville Mater Dei (9-0) advances to the finals of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference
tournament. Matt Kiefer, a 6'9 junior center, scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds in
a 73-67 victory over Reitz. Mater Dei plays for the title tonight.
With Gene Keady in the stands scouting, Central Catholic beat Benton Central on a Kristof
Kendrick banked runner at the buzzer. Russell Trudeau, wearing an ankle brace after a severe
ankle sprain in the third quarter, led CC with 18 points. Trudeau hit a game-tying three
with 30 seconds remaining before Kendrick later won it at the buzzer.
Pike continued to adavnce in the Marion County Tournament by defeating Lawrence Central 93-47.
Sophomore Parnell Smith scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds for Pike (12-0). Pike
advances to the semis Friday night against 4A No. 7 Lawrence North.
South Bend LaSalle held on to beat St. Joseph's 70-65. McKnight scored 26 points, was a perfect
8-of-8 from the line, and added eight rebounds. Through LaSalle's nine games, McKnight is
averaging 27.8 points per game. That ranks him tied for third in the state of Indiana among
scoring leaders, just 0.2 points off the leaders. The state is currently lead by Ty Crone
(1A Eminence) and Brandon Gabbard (3A South Dearborn), both tied at the top with a 28.0 average.
Tied with Mcknight for third is junior shooter Seth Colclasure (3A Bellmont). Other players
of interest among the top 20 scorers as of January 6th...Chris Thomas (5th, 4A Pike, 26.2),
Anthony Winchester (8th, 2A Austin, 25.2), and Tyler Clevenger (11th, 2A Winchester, 24.6).
Indianapolis Pike rolled over defending Marion County Tournament champ Warren Central, 84-66,
in the opening round of this year's tournament. It's scary to think how much better this team
could be if they only had some size in the post. Parnell Smith, at 6'5, starts in the post for
the Red Devils, and was undersized by four inches against Will Caudle of Warren Central. Smith's
role on his high school team illustrates what value summer basketball can be to a college-bound
player. While necessity puts him with his back to the basket in high school, summer basketball
with Pat Mullin's Spiece squad allows him to work more as a forward. Like summer basketball
or not, there isn't much value in college for a 6'5 center. Unless you are 252-pounds and
named Charles Barkley.
The Tyler JC Apaches (6-9) won their second straight game Saturday, led by Darmetreis Kilgore's
20 points. Kilgore hit 2-of-3 free throws, but it was a team collective effort from the
stripe that helped build a comfortable lead through the second half. Tyler was down 13 points
at one point in the first half, then went on a 14-3 run at the end of the half to come within
two points of Lee College. Full court defensive pressure and a lack of depth took a severe
toll on Lee College. Tyler defeated Lee 90-75, hitting 18-of-21 free throws as a team. Darmetreis
Kilgore is now averaging 21 points and seven rebounds per game this season for the Apaches.
A 20-point effort from Emily Heikes helped Stagg (11-4, 4-0) defeat Andrew 50-45 in overtime.
Heikes got two quick fouls early in the third quarter and sat until late in the fourth. She
fouled out of the game with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.
JANUARY 6, 2001
Brandon McKnight surpasses the 1,000 point career mark on Friday! McKnight helped LaSalle (3-5, 1-1 NIC)
snap a five-game losing streak on Friday. LaSalle defeated South Bend Adams 69-58. LaSalle
spent a lot of time over the Christmas break working on three things...rebounding,
enthusiam and ball handling. LaSalle ended up with one more turnover than Adams, and one
more rebound. But the enthusiam was the largest improvement, especially with the play of
6'2 Adam Schwelnus. McKnight scored 26 points, all from within the three-point line,
and now has a career scoring mark of 1,012 points. LaSalle also got 14 points from Schwelnus
and a 10 rebound performance from Brandon Dixon. McKnight now has an average of 28.1 points
per game on the season.
Tyler JC returns to the floor tonight against Lee (Baytown) College (TX) outside Houston.
There will be a live webcast of the game, including a pre-game, at the following link. The
pre-game begins at 8:15pm (Indiana time).
NOTE: There has been a change in the game coordinates. The signal is now broadcast on the
link below, which has been corrected.
This past week was rough on Indiana high school teams ranked No.1 in their respective
class team rankings. The only team to hang on to its No.1 rank was 4A Indianapolis Pike,
featuring prospect Parnell Smith. In Class 3A, No.1 Maconaquah lost two games last week
and fell out of first. They were replaced by Evansville Mater Dei, featuring prospect
Matt Kiefer. Mater Dei is now 5-0 after an 84-67 victory over South Spencer on Tuesday.
Kiefer led Mater Dei with 18 points. This is the first time Mater Dei has received a
No.1 ranking. Two other teams featuring Purdue prospects dropped games, and subsequently
out of their No.1 spots. Class 2A Winchesterdropped to No.2 after a Saturday loss to
Richmond, and Class 1A Central Catholic also dropped to second following a loss last week to
Carroll (Allen).
Lincoln Way's (IL) 6'9 forward James Augustine continues to advance his game.
In the Round Table Holiday Tournament, where Lincoln Way (11-1) took the championship,
Augustine averaged 15.3 points over the four-game tournament. He hit for nine
points, nine rebounds and five blocks in the championship game.
JANUARY 4, 2001
What a night for Kenneth Lowe to lead Purdue with 19 points in their 20 point win over Michigan.
Sitting behind the bench and having a good time were Lowe's high school teammates Chris Hunter
and Brandon Cameron. Also behind the bench was Indianapolis Pike's 6'5 sophomore forward
Parnell Smith.
On the subject of unofficial visits, 6'3 junior guard Anthony Winchester of
Austin HS (IN) visited for the UCLA game. Winchester is another high scorer, currently ranking
as the 13th best scorers in the state with a 25.4 average. As a sophomore, Winchester averaged
27.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He is showing interest in Purdue, Ball State, Indiana
State, Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky. Weber State has offered Winchester a scholarship. Winchester
was named to the underclassman all-state team by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association
as a sophomore, and was also named a preseason honorable mention all-state by USA Today.
JANUARY 3, 2001
Central Catholic defeated Rossville 65-51 in Hinkle Fieldhouse in the fifth place game of the
Super Hoops Tournament. Despite committing 28 turnovers, CC rode Trudeau's 19 points and Best's
13 points and 11 rebounds. Now 10-1 on the season, CC takes a little over a week off before
playing again on the 12th against Benton Central.
Junior combo guard Tyler Clevenger is still getting some mail from Purdue, as recently as
Christmas. The 6'4 175-pound shooter from Winchester High (IN) is considering Purdue along
with Ohio State, Iowa, Iowa state, Butler and Valparaiso. Clevenger is averaging 28.4 points
per game through seven games, and is currently tied with Brandon McKnight as the sixth-best
scorer in the state of Indiana. An unofficial visit to Purdue is in the works. Winchester
was the IHSAA Class 2A tournament runner-up last year, with the help of Clevenger's 17 point
and eight rebound average per game.
JANUARY 2, 2001
A few articles from the Journal and Courier on Central Catholic, who lost their first game
of the season during the Super Hoops Tournament. The first link talks about the two opening
games of the tournament, where CC defeated Mishawaka Marian then lost to Carroll to snap their
21-game winning streak. Tyler Best had 24 points and 11 rebounds in game one, and 17 points and
nine rebounds in game two. Russell Trudeau lead all scorers in game two with 25. On Friday,
CC defeated Jennings County 77-64. The big news was the 1,000 point milestone reached by
Russell Trudeau. He ended the day with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and a career scoring total
of 1,005 points. How does a 6'4ish shooter with little hops get 10 rebounds? It wasn't a fluke.
He's been doing it all year, and is one of the best rebounding guards in the state.
A new year, and a new prospect to keep an eye on. We don't think it is a coincidence we have
been hearing about more Illinois players popping up on the recruiting lists of the Purdue
staff. Sources confirm the staff has been more aggressive and the confidence is running high.
The newest name we are hearing is 6'6 180-pound forward Brian Randle of Peoria Notre Dame (IL).
A member of the class of 2003 but already getting interest from Purdue, Illinois, Duke and
North Carolina. He is averaging 15 points and over seven rebounds per game, plus exhibits good
hands on defense in both steals and blocking shots. He averaged 10.5 points and five boards as a
freshman. He's versatile enough to play any position facing the basket in high school, but will
be a prospect at the wing in college. Scouts are saying his main weaknesses are only age
and experience. Randle is ranked anywhere from a top ten to a top 50 player in his class, and
is a priority recruit for some programs already as a sophomore.
To see the 2000 stories go here -->
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.
JUNE 30, 2001![[BACK IN TIME]](../../../hoopsrecruiting/icons/go.gif){kind=icon}
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