A Big Freakin' Chart & Various Stuff (6/7/99)
First of all, here's a big chart of what we know so far about who is looking at
whom. Bear in mind that we don't know yet who is flirting with whom and who is
returning the attention, whether the schools are interested in the players or vice versa.
But you can get an idea of who is after whom so far.
Andre Barrett, who we had seen mention Duke in an article, apparently lost interest
after Duke signed Jason Williams. He's quoted in The Recruiters Handbook as saying
"that was a killer." Maybe he'll consider Seton Hall and Tommy Amaker.
We picked up a number of publications this evening and one, while discussing UNC's
pursuit of Luke Recker, pointed out that at the time of said pursuit they had a full load
of scholarships (and one footballer and one who has earned one of Bill Clinton's
favorite academic honors, a Morehead scholar!) and suggested, perhaps rightly, that UNC
would not run off a player and so the writer predicted a transfer. We have heard
that there may - and we emphasize may - be some desire to get Brooker to graduate with his
class and give up his fifth year.
Incidentally, speaking of UNC and transfers and positions and such, does it strike
anyone else as significant that UNC is not planning on Ron Curry being their point guard
of the future? He may continue to play, of course, but bringing in Omar Cook, when
Curry is a junior, suggests they aren't expecting much long term return on the gamble.
Neither is Cook, who has talked openly about starting at UNC. Apparently they
aren't discussing Curry's future with him, or if they are, they are telling him it's
limited. Based on his first year as a footballer, it's probably smart to stick with
the gridiron. Unlike Charlie Ward, who was a hoopster who also played football,
Curry has a football body and can also hoop. But the sports take very different
muscles and radically different training as demonstrated by his horrible shooting this
year. If he concentrated on hoops, we have no doubt - none - that he'd be the best
point guard in the ACC (we haven't seen the incoming freshman, however).
The Handbook also lists their Top 300, and while we won't list it all here, we'll list
a few:
1. Alton Ford, 6-10, TX, already committed to Houston
2. Darius Miles, 6-9, St Louis, likely NBA
3. DeShawn Stevenson, 6-5, wide open, lists Duke, UCLA, Kansas, UNC, Arizona,
among others.
4. Marcus Taylor, 6-3, Lansing, Big 10 bound
5. Jerome Harper, 6-5, SC, Cincy, NCSU, Fla, Clemson
6. Omar Cook, 6-1, NYC, seems UNC bound, also St. John's, UK, & Md
7. Jared Jeffries, 6-9 IN, lists Duke, MSU, IU, PU, UNC, and a lot of
Midwestern schools.
8. Eddie Griffin, 6-8, Philly Roman Catholic, lists UConn, UK, Duke, SH,
Md, UNC. Rumors are UNC has offered; we hear
it's not true.
9. Zach Randolph, 6-8, IN, lists MSU, AZ, PU, Cin, Tenn, IU, a million
others.
10. Scooter Sherrill, 6-3, NC, lists UNC, Wake, NCSU, UNCC, others
11. Taliek Brown, 6-1, NYC, SU, UK, SH, UNC, UMass, GT, UNM, Wake, others
12. Chris Duhon, 6-2, LA, Duk, UK, LSU, UCLA, UNC (he met with them while here),
others
13. Gerald Wallace, 6-6, now ranked #1 after Gibbons, SEC and NBA
14 Scott Hazelton, 6-8, MA, Duke is his first choice, also UConn, Md, UK, UNC,
others