Two items from Chris Murray

Chris Murray has located a Luke Babbitt video on his experience to date in Portland -- go here.

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We have often asked: does college football feed basketball?

PTW still believes a prospect's choosing ultimately comes down to many other more important factors but gridiron success is something most basketball coaches at the same address will gladly accept. But then there are the football schools and programs that overshadow their college hoops counterparts.

Nevada's David Carter says the Wolf Pack's winning and ranking is helping his program via increased access. Chris Murray has that covered and more here. Plus, look for the situation that Carter has no 2011 schollies to offer to change. Odds are that someone wi;l be upset by his role or playing time and decide to depart, what with so many newcomers on board in Reno.

We're calling it WAC Thursday

Shawn Harrison leads us off with more on the WAC tête-à-tête in Dallas. Yikes, as if the remaining WAC members needed another burden -- this one negative recruiting.

Teddy Feinberg provides more, including some doubt about Seattle.

The UH coaches are indicating a transfer to the Big West Conference would suit them just fine. The travel expenses budgets -- at least for those besides football -- agree.

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Nick Jezierny has additional information on BSU's newest basketball verbals.

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The Indiana Pacer coaching staff has formed a mutual admiration society with Magnum Rolle, ex-Louisiana Tech star and now an NBA rookie. So much so that Rolle was offered a three year contract. But thinking ahead, Rolle decided a two-year one was sufficient:

"He's so athletic," O'Brien said. "He is extremely quick to the offensive glass. Because offensively he's always a threat from 17 feet away, a lot of the offensive rebounds he gets are away from the basket. It's hard to put a body on somebody that quick."

Go here (and scroll down).

Hadziomerovic hits Seton Hall and NYC

Igor Hadziomerovic, mentioned in conjunction with Boise State recruiting, is liking the Big Apple. Seton Hall apparently makes sure its recruits get to see beyond South Orange, NJ.

Igor tweeted an hour ago:

"just came back from nike town new york! Bought some tight shoes and socks bbooiii! Had a great time visiting Seton Hall!"

Here is some YouTube video on the young man.

A Texas big has his favorites

A Texas big in the prep ranks -- 6-foot-9 Forrest Robinson -- has an offer from LA TECH as well as many other schools but Ruston doesn't appear to be among the leaders. Go here (a Rivals sub is required).

Three more items for you

Americanbulldog posted at the Scout Fresno State Save Mart Center basketball message board (whew) that Kevin Foster, a transfer from George Mason, tripped to the San Joaquin on 9/24.

1insider then posted that Foster is the brother of former Bulldog Alex Blair.

Here's a March 2010 piece on his plan to transfer from George Mason after his initial playing season (he redshirted the previous one). 

His George Mason bio offered this: also recruited by Tulane, Marshall, Missouri, Fresno State, Miami and South Florida.

But what makes all this even more curious is his May 2010 signing with Central Florida, a community college. Foster is from Florida and supposedly wanted to play closer to home. He is listed as 6-foot-8, 220 on the CF official roster.

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agfan2 also posted that on the Scout Utah State basketball forum that the Aggies will be hosting a prospect from Faulkner State, a junior college in Alabama.

USU78 then surmised that it is a 6-foot-8, 245 big who is the lead subject in this game article where he posted a triple double. There's also a photo of him.

Dustin Clements was a first team, all league selection based on his play last season. He averaged 10 points and 8 boards a game in 2009-2010.

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Chris Murray has an item on Armon Johnson not selling himself short even as a rookie -- go here.

More on Anthony Jones (maybe)

We're still not sure which Anthony Jones committed to Idaho but our highly-paid crack research team at PTW has uncovered this on one Anthony Jones:

There is an AJ who played club team ball with the Memphis Trotters and high schooled at Raleigh-Egypt in Memphis.

Here's one description: "Enormous potential with the ability to score at a high level and feed his teammates with his passing from the point guard position. Potential to be the best wing in the city."

He is also the son of former Los Angles Laker Anthony Jones Sr. who attended Oral Roberts.

We're going to have to make some calls.

We are shocked

So where are the New Mexico State fans?

Yes, it is the basketball off-season but how can the non-appearance of Troy Gillenwater in the forecast of Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook's All-WAC team go absolutely unchallenged?

To refresh memories, here are the chosen five:

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

F-Tai Wesley, SR, Utah State
F-Wendell McKines, SR, New Mexico State
C-Greg Smith, SO, Fresno State
G-Olu Ashaolu, JR, Louisiana Tech
G-Adrian Oliver, SR, San Jose State

Is there some sort of collective football hangover hovering over Las Cruces?

Kraig Williams a-Twitterin'

Kraig Williams has a litany of tweets (no, that's not a disease and not to be confused with a of bevy of twits) on Commish Karl Benson's presser today -- go here for the latest on WAC expansion.

The Idaho Statesman on the Thompson verbal

Brian Murphy/Idaho Statesman has more on the Michael Thompson verbal to BSU here.

Boise has a fruitful weekend

Leon Rice landed three 2011 commits (so far) from his recruiting-palooza this weekend. Rivals' Eric Bossi is reporting that backcourters Michael Thompson (Las Vegas) and Derrick Marks (iIlinois) have given verbals to become Broncos. Go here (Rivals sub is required).Thompson is described as a combo guard and Marks as a shooter. Here is an ESPN evaluation of Thompson. Here is a Chicago Sun Times feature on Marks' commitment.

Additionally, 6-foot-8 Darrious Hamilton, out of Texas, has also given the nod to BSU. Bossi has that story here (again, a Rivals sub is need). Here's one description of Hamilton.

Idaho lands a Texas JC player

Texas Hoop's Blue Zertuche (gotta love that name) is reporting that Paris Junior College wing Anthony Jones has given a verbal to Idaho. He's 6-foot-4 and chose the Vandals over Troy, Murray State, North Texas and Arkansas State. Go here (and a Rivals sub is required).

Our initial research indicates he didn't play there last season. 

More Tuesday WAC recruiting information

PTW just found a mother lode of WAC recruiting information at the Wisconsin Sports site. Here we go and all of these are from reporter Mark Miller:

Martin Breunig, an athletic 6-foot-9 wing player from Germany, was the most impressive of the 12 players who competed on Monday.

Richert said Green Bay, Maine and San Francisco have offered scholarships to the sharpshooting Breunig with many others, including Bradley, Hawaii, Milwaukee, Rhode Island and Wichita State, are also showing strong interest.

“Martin is beyond what I thought,” Richert said. “He’s a high-major Division I kid. He is just so skilled and can do so many things with the basketball in his hands.

“He is athletic, he can shoot it, he can pass and he can dribble. He’s not a banger at 6-9, but he is a guy who can play the pick-and-pop game as well as make free throws.”

The full article can be found here. 

and

From the same article came this:

Peoria Manual graduate Lawrence Alexander also played well in the drills and later in the scrimmages.

Alexander averaged 15 points and three assists per game as a senior at Manual and has the look of a true team leader.

“We are converting Lawrence to a point guard this year and it is going pretty well,” said Richert, who noted Boise State, Cleveland State, Green Bay, Hawaii, Milwaukee and Wichita State are expressing interest in Lawrence.

and

From another article, came these mentions:

Recruiting interest in Jameel McKay of Milwaukee Pulaski and Trinson White of Milwaukee Riverside has not wavered since the talented duo opted to leave Southern Carolina Prep School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and return home to Milwaukee a few weeks ago.
 
In fact, recruiting interest in the 6-foot-7 McKay and the 6-5 White has picked up of late, according to Charles Jordan, the executive director of the TP Elite travel program that includes both players.
 
McKay is a player with tremendous upside as he continues to grow into his long, athletic frame. He has received NCAA Division I scholarship offers from both Cal Poly and Nevada as well as strong interest from a number of Division I programs in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

and

New Mexico State, West Virginia watch Lomomba in open-gym workout
 
New Mexico State head coach Marvin Menzies and an assistant coach from West Virginia traveled to Madison recently to watch Madison Memorial’s Junior Lomomba take part in an open-gym workout.
 
Lomomba (6-5) has scholarship offers from both New Mexico State and West Virginia, along with offers from Baylor, Cincinnati, Indiana State, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, Tennessee and Xavier.
 
Lomomba is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in Wisconsin in the WisSports.net Player Rankings for the class of 2012.

and

Senior D.J. Mlachnik of Delafield St. John’s Military Academy is working out today for coaches from Army.
 
A 6-1 combination guard who played his first two years of high school basketball at Muskego, Mlachnik averaged 11.4 points per game for St. John’s Military last season. He earned second-team all-conference honors in the Central Division of the Midwest Classic Conference while helping the Lancers to a 14-7 record.
 
Boise State, Hartford and Samford have also expressed interest in Mlachnik along with Division II Minnesota-Crookston and St. Michael’s of Colchester, Vermont.
 
Mlachnik, who also excels as a quarterback on the football team and as a pitcher on the baseball team, said Wednesday he plans to wait until the spring before making a decision on where he’ll play college basketball.

Greg Smith picked for All-WAC team

From Stephen Trembley, Assistant Director, Communications at Fresno State:

Smith Selected Preseason All-WAC by Blue Ribbon Yearbook
September. 27, 2010

The Fresno State men's basketball team is picked to finish fifth in the Western Athletic Conference by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and sophomore center Greg Smith was named to the annual national magazine's preseason All-WAC team.

The `Dogs, under the leadership of head coach Steve Cleveland, finished fifth in the 2009-10 WAC standings and competed in the 2010 WAC Tournament Quarterfinals. The progress marked a four-place improvement from the 2008-09 campaign.

Cleveland, a native of Fresno, Calif., is entering his sixth season at the helm of his hometown team.

Smith, a center and local product out of Fresno's Edison High School, powered the low post for the Bulldog men's basketball team as a starter in every game last season and averaged 12 points and six rebounds per game. He was honored by the WAC head coaches as the second WAC Freshman of the Year in program history, a member of the WAC's All-Newcomer Team and earned a spot on CollegeInsider.com's Freshman All-America team.

In 16 conference games, Smith averaged 11.4 points per contest and 5.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.1 percent from the field.

Smith ranked 12th nationally in field goal percentage and tied teammate Paul George, who was drafted No. 10 overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2010 NBA Draft, with a team-high four double-doubles.

BLUE RIBBON 2010 WAC FORECAST

1. Utah State
2. New Mexico State
3. Nevada
4. San Jose State
5. Fresno State
6. Hawai'i
7. Louisiana Tech
8. Boise State
9. Idaho

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

F-Tai Wesley, SR, Utah State
F-Wendell McKines, SR, New Mexico State
C-Greg Smith, SO, Fresno State
G-Olu Ashaolu, JR, Louisiana Tech
G-Adrian Oliver, SR, San Jose State

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Adrian Oliver, SR, San Jose State

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Deonte Burton, FR, Nevada

Tuesday's WAC news

 A 2012 in-state product has said yes to Coach Leon Rice and Boise State. Rachel Roberts and Nick Jezierny have the scoop here.

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Jason Groves reports on the Dallas WAC get-together and the various presenters -- go here.

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6-foot-7 Texas prepster Jarion Barry is hitting Marquette and Oregon but has an offer from Fresno State and Blue Zerttuche's latest story on him at TexasHoops included this quote:

"Fresno State says that they want me to be a point. If that is the case, I really have to get better at my ball handling at that spot. I do feel that I am suited for playing the three or the two. I like to get it and go and push the ball."

What the odds are of him becoming a Bulldog is anyone's guess.

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mxcoach started the thread at the SCOUT Boise State basketball message board and Rafter17 filled it out -- all about an international recruiting target by the name of Igor Hadziomerovic, a 6-foot-4 lefty combo guard. Here's one link, here's another from May indicating European interest in the young man and here is his Twitter account. On Sunday, he posted this: "College visits tomorrow!! Pumped to go!"

Karl Benson speaks

The Idaho Statesman's Brian Murphy has Commish Karl Benson talking about tomorrow's get-together in big D -- go here.

Karim York to the West Coast Conference

Mentioned in the past as a recruiting interest of Boise State (the Broncos offered at some point), 6-foot-8, 175 pound, Texas prepster Karim York has gave a verbal to Santa Clara on Sunday. So it seems quite unlikely York was part of the bunch of recruits on the BSU campus this weekend.

Monday's WAC basketball news and notes

KVNUChicken has posted at the Scout Utah State site basketball basketball forum that a certain Antelope Valley College frontcourter is coming to Logan for a visit. If the chicken is wrong (and we have no reason to doubt Mr/Ms/Miss fowl), we're going to tell the Colonel where to locate him/her.

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At the Blue Aggies basketball forum, seldomseensmith has the goods on the newly chosen home of a Utah State prospect of interest.

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Ferd Lewis fills us in on the WAC expansion meeting that is beginning tomorrow. PTW still believes a basketball - focused announcement will be coming sooner than later.

We don't ask for a lot...

We don't ask for a lot so here is one simple request to the tweeters, posters, bloggers, reporters and so on in the basketball recruiting world:

Please vow to never again type the words "(so-and-so) enjoyed his recruiting visit"

Really? Wow, stop the interwebs, I'm posting this is ALL CAPS!

After a visit, has a prospect EVAH come out and said "The steak at my dinner could be better described as gristle and bone although there was plenty of it, my hotel room was infested with bed bugs, the basketball team's locker room had an indescribable smell, the cheerleaders looked closer to 40 than 20* and the head coach kept calling me by someone else's name..."

Now, that would be news.

* via the Seinfeldian chorus: not that there is anything wrong with that, having personally passed that marker many moons ago

No caption needed

talk about a pot o' gold at the end...

We can't quite figure out our caption for this post

PTW has mixed feelings on this one. Is the above a brilliant strategic marketing move or is the cat out of the so-called bag at this point and the focus can only be on future prevention? Relating this situation to the WAC,  it's sort of like the WAC losing Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada when only the first departure was expected. The $5,000,000 family control device, if you will, didn't work because a couple of parties furtively removed it.

It's a recruiting weekend

It's been pretty much a given but an article this weekend confirm that southern California frotncourter Damiene Cain is deciding among three schools: Boston College, San Diego State and Colorado.

Hawaii made a run at him and offered but Cain has decided to either head south, way back east or go Rocky Mountain high.

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MiniStew is reporting at the Utah State Scout basketball message board that one Josh Monroy, all 7-foot-2 of him, was in for a visit to Logan recently. He's a 2011 prospect and a likely redshirt candidate with whatever college coach and program he chooses. Mooney is out of South Dakota. We don't know what to make of his high school squad's 2-18 record last season but we are also unsure how many games Mooney played in 2009-2010..

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From seldomseensmith, per Jay Drew's Salt Lake City Tribune prep blog, USU is doing an in-home with 6-foot-8 in-stater David Collette. Go here.

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Per the Rivals Texas basketball site, San Jose State has received a verbal from 6-foot-7 Stephon Smith, a Lone Statr State basketballer doing a prep season at a school in New Jersey. Damon Sayles has an article here, (a Rivals sub is required).

Saturday's world of the WAC

So who are the five basketball recruits attending the Boise State football game? Derrick Marks is certainly one and he has to be at the top of Leon Rice's wish list, according to his description.

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PTW thinks it's a given that Seattle and Denver are shoo-ins as non-basketball -- er, make that non- football playing, tip o' the hat to the commenter below -- additions to the WAC and what's not to like about that?

It's two large television markets although Seattle plays fourth fiddle in the state behind Washington, WSU and Gonzaga. Coach Cam Dollar had an inexplicably solid team last season and his recruiting prowess is formidable. He picks off players departing from Lorenzo Romar's program, plus the Northwest, particularly the Emerald City, is producing D-1 prospects every year.

Coach Joe Scott has Denver on the rise too. Overall coverage of Colorado and Colorado State will always supersede that of DenverU but, like Seattle, Denver has a bigtime newspaper willing to make sure the homies aren't forgotten.

So let's hear that formal announcement soon.

Leon Rice has a handful of prospects coming in

Nick Jezierny tweeted this: "Big weekend for Boise State hoops. Coach Leon Rice has five recruits visiting and he's got six open scholarships for next season."

Is it a basketball recruiting factor if-but-generally-when BSU football pulverizes another opponent? Is the fan support or enthusiasm experienced by a prospect more important?

The WAC is hitting Westwind Prep hard

From Gary Trousdale, the director of basketball at Westwind Prep, at his Twitter account: "Pacific, Rhode Island, Portland, Mercyhurst, & New Mexico St in the house Wednesday. Fresno St, Cleveland St. & James Madison last night!"

A Magnum Rolle mention

From Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star:

"The Indiana Pacers will have another body to compete for the vacant starting power forward spot when training camp starts next week. Forward Tyler Hansbrough was given a doctor's clearance to take part in contact drills Thursday after dealing with vertigo for nearly nine months. Hansbrough, the Pacers' 2009 first-round pick, had been limited to non-contact drills since early July. Hansbrough was originally injured in a game at Boston in December. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 29 games last season. 'It's probably one of the toughest things I've ever had to go through,' Hansbrough said earlier this week. Hansbrough will compete with Josh McRoberts, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones and possibly Magnum Rolle for the starting power forward spot, which became available when veteran Troy Murphy was traded to New Jersey last month."

Friday's WAC news and notes

Jim Rayburn has a blog post up on a southern California 'big' who will be BYU-bound, over Utah State as well as others. Will it really be the 2014-2015 season before he gets to SLC? That's one heckuva LDS mission.

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Brian McInnis offers a load of UH basketball notes including that recruit Dom Brumfield is being slowed by injury in his attempt to get on the court for practice.

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Bob Nash's Japan squad fell in the exhibition opener to a team coached by former NBA mentor Bob Hill -- go here.

Are we guilty of robbing the cradle?

PTW first saw a video of this young man and witnessed intriguing skills for someone so young. But we were more interested in who he was and what his family situation was like -- the story behind the story. Hopefully, those subjects were presented in the following article we recently penned:

NorCalPreps.com
September 23, 2010

Why can't the measure of our lives, even at any early age, exceed a single, simplified label? And what is it about the success of others that generates envy and animosity? Evolution notwithstanding, the need to compartmentalize remains a standard human definer while also too often does the want to witness the failure of others. Yes, 11-year-old Damon Harge Jr. is certainly a basketball phenom but also a grounded and sensitive youngster whose success engenders a minority inexplicably desiring to see him come up short.

A middle schooler at Modesto Christian School, Harge is relatively unknown. Yes, there was a recent six-minute video on him and some visits to various hoops camps but that's the extent of the media infiltration to date. Since nature abhors a vacuum, a sadly not unexpected tide of innuendo has since risen about yet "another robo-player" along with this being a redux of the "Bred To Be A Superstar" orchestration that produced Todd Marinovich.

Wrong.

Go here for the remainder.

As for tape on the youngster, go here and here. 

Hawaii will be part of ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon

UH to play in ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon 
Star-Advertiser staff 
September 23, 2010

Late-night basketball will return this season for the University of Hawaii, which will participate in ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

UH's game against Central Michigan on Nov. 15 will tip off at 11 p.m. Hawaii time.

"It's fun, a little different atmosphere," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "Looking forward to it. (Near the) start of the season, it'll be an exciting time and I don't know how many people will be up at 11, but I hope enough to come and scream us on..."

Go here for the remainder.

Remember Aaron Haynes at Boise State?

It's faint in our memory bank -- like PTW's bank account, it's shrinking -- but we do recall Aaron Haynes in a Boise State uniform. The Valley Sports Pulse site interviewed Haynes in October 2009 and we just stumbled across it -- go here.

Here is Haynes' own site and also that of his blog.

Derrick Marks will visit Boise

Antonio Curro at ny2lasports has tweeted:

2011 G Derrick Marks of Plainfield Central (IL) will take an official to Boise State this weekend and Colorado State the weekend of Oct 2nd.

Per Cavan Walsh on September 17 @ Chicago Hoops, Northeastern has offered and Marks visited there, plus tripping to Southern Illinois last weekend. Here's him quoting Marks: "Boise State and Western Michigan are also in the same situation. They both said I'll get a lot of playing time as a freshman and it'll be my team to lead." Colorado State did an in-home visit with Marks yesterday.

Here's Joe Henricksen, of the Chicago Sun-Times, writing about Marks last July: 

"Derrick Marks a hot commodity

Now that he is on the market again after an early commitment to Albany and a recent de-commitment, there is no doubt no player from Illinois will see his stock rise more this July than Plainfield Central's Derrick Marks. He remains a coveted mid-major/mid-major plus prospect with his open court game and strength. He is going to get to the basket and he's going to finish, especially in transition. He remains a combo guard who must show he can knock down perimeter shots consistently and run a team efficiently. But the Hoops Report has always been a fan of Marks, the No. 16 rated player in the Class of 2011."

From Gary Trousdale

We just received this from Gary Trousdale, the basketball program director at Westwind Prep:

 6-10 Keanau Post – Westwind Prep
Gary Trousdale
September 22, 2010

MM+ - HM – Keanau Post – 6-10 – P – Westwind Prep – 2012

Big bodied post with decent feet and hands. Can run the floor and has improved with weight loss. Can knock down 15footer. Back to basket is strength. Needs upper body power to finish in traffic.  Passionate about game. Coachable. Tremendous upside and has H Majors interested.ONLY A 2012!.  Which makes very attractive. Landed at WPI via Victoria, BC (Canada). Washington State and Utah State hyperactive for verbal. Keanau will draw major interest this season.

Wednesday's WAC items

TJ Taylor, a 5-foot-9 northern California point and of interest to Boise State at one point, has given a verbal to UC Santa Barbara -- go here. We just counted nine Bay Area players on the Gaucho roster -- having that beach next to campus sure doesn't hurt.

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seldomseensmith at the Blue Aggies site has uncovered yet another 'big' who has a Utah State offer -- go here. Just asking: is "Matrix" the young man's middle name?

From the Flagrant Fouls site, come this September 3, 2010 item:

Q - Is there a sleeper right now you have low in your rankings that could emerge as a high major player?- Marc, Syracuse

A - Westwind Prep in Arizona has 6 Canadians on their roster, one of which is a transfer out of British Columbia named Keanau Post. At 6-10, 270 he's certainly got the size to make an impact at the high major level. He's also got good hands, back to the basket moves, and the ability to rebound his area.  If he improves his conditioning and motor, he could certainly make a serious push.

Here's a photo of Post. On the official Westwind Prep roster, he is listed as a 2012 prospect.

Melvin Grussing strikes again

Melvin Grussing is really back into it full swing as the season approaches and he offers more at his Antelope Valley College (AVC) site. Utah State Assistant Coach Tarvish Felton hit the AVC gym, soon after Stew Morrill visited, and here are the details.

A Boise State recruiting target?

Here's a note from an August 10 column we stumbled across:

"Another CdM player garnering attention is Danny Cheek, a first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection. Schachter said the University of Portland is recruiting the 6-3 guard hard.

“He wants to go there,” [Corona del Mar Coach Ryan] Schachter said of Cheek, who led the Sea Kings in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game last season as a junior. “He really likes Portland, but he wants to take an official visit. That could be the best fit, but he’s going to look and see what other schools are interested. There’s interest from UC [Santa Barbara], [Northern Arizona University], Boise State and Northern Colorado.”

Here's a January, 2010 column on the young man.

Here's a March, 2010 brief evaluation from southern California basketball maven Dinos Trigonis.

The world of the WAC on Tuesday

Fresno State receives a mention for having offered southern California backcourter Cesar Guerrero (as one of many schools) but it appears Western Kentucky, Oklahoma and UNLV are the frontruinners -- at least at the moment.  Go here and a Rivals sub is required. But it never hurts to be an offerer as situations change and bouncebacks also do occur.

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Sportsbow, who chronicles UH recruiting better than anyone else, is reporting (go here) that Santa Monica CC (CA) forward DeShawn Stephens has offers from Hawaii and Utah State. Look for that number -- just from the other WAC members -- to increase. It's well documented that Stephens visited Utah State but does anyone know about him as yet touching down in Hawaii?

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Former Nevada basketballer Garry Hill-Thomas has departed from coaching high school hoops and will now scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Go here.

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Brian Murphy reports that Texas State and UT San Antonio are confirmed for making presentations to the WAC membership committee a week from now.

In the same vein, Andy Katz writes that Denver will also be present.

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For purely selfish (and obvious) reasons, PTW hopes one of the WAC coaches reaches out to Erie Community College forward God's Gift Achiuwa, a native of Nigeria. He is also quite the talent, having averaged 13 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game during his freshman campaign. .

A Utah State mention with a Utah recruit

Chad Groth recently posted this at a message board on a Rivals site -- but here is another site much more accessible with the same information. It's based on a July 9 camp:

"Blake Wilkinson 6-7 SF Viewmont (UT) 2011

Very skilled wing player & Solid Low to mid level D1 prospect. Denver, Utah State, Penn and Kent St are the leaders." 

Monday, Monday, so good too me, Monday morning, it was all I hoped it would be

So there were a number -- some involving so-called big time prepsters -- of verbal commits to schools/basketball programs over the weekend but nary a WAC-involved announcement. Hopefully, word will leak out soon as we know Utah State hosted some talents. What is going to break first?"

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From the Not Unexpected Department: Chris Murray brought an item to the attention of readers -- Luke Babbitt being named the best shooter of the NBA newcomers. Go here. Put another feather to hat of WAC hoops.

A piar of northern California players commit

Sheldon (Sacramento) High teammates Darius Nelson and Ramon Eaton will be playing their final season together in 2010-2011. Nelson just committed to UTEP and Eaton to Pepperdine.

Here is a very frank ESPN evaluation of Nelson.

Here's the same for Eaton.

Fresno fans were anticipating landing, or at least the possibility of such a event, of Nelson and there was talk (and some print) about the duo wishing to play together in college.

Lindy's 2008-2009 forecast

We thought we had published this earlier but a cursory looks indicates no, so here goes:

PTW came across a Lindy's 2008-2009 college basketball magazine so we thumbed through to the WAC section and located these items:

* Predicted Finish

1. Nevada
2. New Mexico State
3. San Jose State
4. Utah State
5. Louisiana tech
6. Fresno State
7. Boise State
8. Hawaii
9. Idaho

The actual order come March 2009:

1. Utah State (that Carroll chap WAS replaceable)
2. Nevada
3. Boise State
4. New Meixco State
5. Idaho
6. Louisiana Tech
7. San Jose State
8. Hawaii
9. Fresno State

Mark Fox and the Wolf Pack received the 'best recruiting' nod based on landing Luke Babbitt, Joey Shaw and Mark McLaughlin.

Of the player additions that season, Babbitt was projected as the 'newcomer who will have the most impact' and the best rebounder' while McLaughlin was labeled the best jumpshooter. The 'best playmaker-passer' was deigned to be Deremy Geiger described thusly: "the Aggies have a player to build around in Geiger."

Troy Gillenwater (is it now His Troyness or just The Gillenwater?) won the 'will take you by surprise' category.

The '#1 signing coup' was Roderick Fleming by Hawaii.

Overall, here were the player picks across the league:

* Player of the Year - Herb Pope

* Top Shooter - Jonathan Gibson

* Top Rebounder - Gary Wilkinson

* Top Defender - Justin g Graham

* Top Playmaker - Anthony Thomas

* Most Versatile - Tai Wesley

* Top NBA Prospect - Herb Pope

* Most Entertaining - Armon Johnson

A new assistant at Idaho

Gaylen Woods was kind enough to pass along the news of a basketball hire at Idaho:

TIM MURPHY JOINS VANDAL MEN'S BASKETBALL
Head coach Don Verlin and the University of Idaho men's basketball program welcomed Tim Murphy to the staff on Thursday as an assistant coach. Murphy joins the Vandal staff with 26 years of NCAA basketball coaching experience. He was most recently an assistant with Cal Poly from 2001-09.

"My relationship with Tim goes back several years to his days at UC Irvine," Verlin said. "He brings a wealth of experience at this level to our program."

In addition to his eight seasons at Cal Poly, Murphy also served as associate head coach at St. Mary's for four seasons from 1997-2001. He also worked three years at Cal State San Bernardino, eight years at UC Irvine over two separate occasions, one year at Pacific Lutheran and two seasons at Colorado State. Murphy's responsibility at many of his stops was post player development, as well as recruiting and scouting. He coached six athletes that went on to NBA careers and 12 more who played professionally overseas. Verlin says he's excited about the abilities Murphy brings to those areas.

"I'm excited to add someone who has knowledge and experience he has in developing big men and who has built strong relationships with coaches and players on the West coast," Verlin said. "I am confident that Tim and his family will be a perfect fit for our staff, players and Vandal Nation."

Murphy is a 1983 graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in Speech Communication. He and his wife, Sheri, have two daughters, Taylor (12) and Ashley (10).

New Mexico State in Arizona checking out talent

TJ Parry, an assistant coach at Westwind Prep in Phoenix, tweets that New Mexico State was in the house to catch a practice:

"UC-Irvine & New Mexico St. in attendance at WPI practice today...Rhode Island, Murray St., Washington State, USC, and LaSalle last night."

A Da Shaun Gomez update

Melvin Grussing offers his take on the freshman point foir Antelope Valley College this season -- a transfer from New Mexico State:

Da Shaun Gomez, 6-foot-2, 180, freshman point guard is the team’s floor general. Four things stand out about Gomez; 1. His intense desire to win; 2. His knowledge of the game; 3. His unbelievable passing; 4. His unselfishness.Gomez will be leading a D-1 team at the point one day but, I am glad that he will be leading the Marauders this year.

Make sure you visit Melvin's site daily.

A pair of WAC Saturday items

Rivals is reporting that Louisiana Tech has offered 6-foot-3 backcourter Alex Carr, a shooting guard out of Birmingham, Alabama. In-state Samford. located in Birmingham, has also offered. Carr's photo courtesy of al.com.

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Jason Groves sees the Aggies finishing at a remarkable 25-6 in the upcoming season -- go here for the details.

Tony Jones comes through

Tony Jones @ Aggieville comes through double barrel today. First, he has an item about a visit this weekend from Santa Monica CC forward DeShawn Stephens -- go here -- and then he posted information about a future Aggie, Marcel Davis, here.

Six degrees of New Mexico State

Yes, we're probably riffing off, at least tangentially, from "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" here but stay with us.

Remember Londale Theus, who was on the New Mexico State basketball squad a while back --he is a cousin to Reggie Theus -- until transferring elsewhere. He now works as a comedian and actor while attending Long Beach State.

What's especially striking is that his entire family utilizes a vegetarian diet and he did so while an Aggie.

Go here to read more.

Friday's WAC hoops world

Grapevine (Texas) High's Daniel Green has popped up on the Save Mart Center basketball message board (Scout Bark Board) but it isn't appearing to be a Fresno State love match for the 6-foot-8 prepster. Rivals' Jerry Meyers is reporting that no Bulldog offer is on the table -- 10 schools have -- and a visit to Tulsa is forthcoming.

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Gary Trousdale, the basketball director at Westwind Prep -- a prep school home to a major talent collection this season -- tweeted this the other day:

"USC, Washington State, LaSalle, Rhode Island, Murray State, Utah State, Pepperdine confirmed for scrimmage tonight. Among a few others..."

Stew Morrill was at Antelope Valley College the other day, checking out the prospects at that southern California community college.

A Kerry Rupp chat

Kerry Rupp did an on-line chat yesterday and the Q-and-A has been transcribed -- go here.

At the Blue Aggies message board, tripler has posted about a Texas junior college frontcourter visiting Logan this weekend. seldomseensmith replies with some information about the prospect.

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Texas prep Anthony Walker has Fresno State and Boise State coming by to take a look -- this according to Blue Zertuche of Texas Hoops (a Rivals sub is required). Here is Max Ivany of Texas Basketball Inc.speaking of Walker after a game in June: "2011 P 6-foot-9 Anthony Walker of San Antonio Johnson was a load down low. He has a great body, and is skilled around the goal."

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6-foot-6 Texas wing Jalen Jones has both Fresno State and Boise State pitching woo. Armen Williams, the publisher of Rivals' Pony Pride  (SMU is all over the young man) has these quotes from Jones in his latest feature:

"Fresno State: "I sat down with the assistant and the head and they're looking for me to come in and be a big time player for their organization. I bonded with them and they're recruiting me pretty hard. They came on me pretty late but I feel that they have my best interest."

Boise State: "They came in later in my recruiting too but every opportunity they're allowed to call me, they do it and both coaches take turns talking to me. It's a new coaching staff and they're looking for me to come in and do some big things."

Coach Jon Wyers on some socal junior college prospects

Jon Wyers lives, breathes and thankfully is willing to write about basketball. Now the assistant athletic director and head basketball coach at Villanova Prep in southern California, here is his present bio:

Coach Wyers begins his second year as Varsity Head Coach and Assistant Athletic Director at Villanova Prep.  Over the summer he was hired full time by Villanova Prep as the Director of Summer Programs and Web Development.  In his first season Wyers led Villanova Prep to their first playoff appearance since the 2006-07 season, instilling a new culture of Wildcats Work Hard.  The Wildcats finished with a 8-17 Overall Record and 3-7 Record in the Frontier League placing in 5th.  They lost in the playoffs in the first round to eventual Division 5A Southern Section State Champions Besant Hill.  Under Wyers the Wildcats improved in almost every statistical per game category: points scored (plus 2), points against (minus 4), scoring differential (plus 6), field goal percentage (plus 4), 3pt percentage (plus 6), assists (plus 2), blocks (plus 3), and steals (plus 6).  Having a full Spring offseason to implement a weight training, plyometric, and skill development program the Wildcats look to do even better in year two under Wyers.

 Wyers brought six years of collegiate coaching experience with him to Villanova. He has coached at San Diego Mesa College for one year (2002-03), Hancock College for three years (2004-2007), and Ventura College for two years (2007-2009).

Jon is one of our go-to guys for junior college and high school hoops in southern California and he recently came through once again for PTW. He has had to cut back his viewing time and travels due to increased responsibilities at Villanova Prep but he gratefully offers his takes on a number of southern California junior college prospects in the following. These are players who, in some cases, are currently being looked at by WAC coaches or will be viewed at some point this season.

* Kyisean Reed 6-foot-7, 190 forward, Antelope Valley College

He redshirted last year and is a talented and athletic combo forward. He can hit the mid-range jump shot and drive from the perimeter. He could play as a three man, but is probably better suited as a faceup four because he is more of a straight-line driver and doesn't pass very well. Doesn't play great team defense but can block shots and play passing lanes with his athleticism and length although he tends to gamble. Good rebounder. More of a decently skilled athlete that gets by on natural talent. Definite D-1 talent.

* George McGrew 6-foot-8, 225, forward, Antelope Valley College (haven't seen a lot of him)

He also redshirted last year. Seemed to be a very strong and athletic traditional post who is a banger. He can muscle his way and score around the basket and is a good rebounder. Seems to be a very hard working blue collar type player. Haven't seen enough of him to know if he is a D-1 talent.

Go to Melvin Grussing's AVC site to follow Reed and McGrew.

* James Ennis 6-foot-7, 190, forward, Ventura College

Transferred from Oxnard. He is very versatile and athletic player who can play any position on the floor. Has great length which allows him to block shots and play the passing lanes. He can grab the rebound and take it coast to coast so he can be utilized as a point forward. Does a nice job creating for teammates and sometimes defers too much as he can take over the game whenever he wants to. But tends to force things so he is not a very efficient player. Definite D-1 talent.

* Kaymain Pruitt 6-foot-7, 215 forward, Mt. San Jacinto (not as familiar with him -- just saw him briefly)

Seemed to be a face up four man who could get to the basket, rebound, and block shots. Very efficient player.  Was a little slow on defensive rotations. Haven't seen enough of him to determine if he is D-1 talent.

* Antonio Biglow 6-foot-0, 165, guard, Mt. San Antonio

Was probably the best guard I saw in the state last year. He is a great scoring point guard who will also create for his teammates. Extremely quick player with a first step that allows him to get to the rim whenever he wants. He also has the ability to hit the midrange pull up jumper and three-point shot consistently, making him very hard to guard since he can score at all three levels. Very active defender. Definite D-1 talent.

* Deshawn Stephens 6-foot-8, 205, forward, Santa Monica (not as familiar with him - just saw him briefly)

Is a wiry pogo stick athlete who gets off the floor in a hurry. Elite athleticsm. Is a combo forward, but better as a face up four-man. His hops allow him to get rebounds and block shots well. Haven't seen enough of him to determine if he is a D-1 prospect.

* Wendell Faines 6-foot-9 235, forward Saddleback

Strictly a low post player. He is more of a high energy guy who rotates very well in team defense. He has great timing on blocking shots and rebounds very well. Very active. His offensive skills are raw but you can see he is developing some post moves and is developing good footwork. I do not think he is a D-1 prospect but is more of a D2/NAIA guy.

We thank Coach Wyers for his contributions and wish his squad well in the upcoming season.

It's Idaho's turn

Take it as a given that each WAC team (as well as many others) will roll into the Antelope Valley College gym during the next six months. Melvin Grussing reports that Idaho recently touched down -- go here for that report.

He's still there

Just did a quick check on Mark McLaughlin, the ex-Washington Stater, Nevada Wolf Packer and Baylor Bear and he is on the 2010-2011 Seattle University roster. Here's hoping his traveling days are over and he wears a Redhawk jersey for the remainder of his college playing days.

Call me, don't be afraid, you can call me...

Apparently, it a matter of degree when dialing up potential signees:

Calls can be costly, but it's not all black and white
Gary Parrish
September. 13, 2010

Kelvin Sampson famously lost the Indiana job because of them, Jim Calhoun's staff at Connecticut suffered casualties because of them and now Tennessee basketball is the subject of an NCAA investigation that has uncovered an untold amount of them, too. Impermissible phone calls are all the rage in this era of college basketball, but why?

That's the question I attempted to answer after Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton held a press conference Friday to announce that his men's basketball program has received an NCAA letter of inquiry thanks, at least in part, to impermissible calls. I reached out to 10 coaches from eight different conferences and offered complete anonymity in exchange for total honesty.
    
My first question was simple: Have you made impermissible calls?

"Yes," answered the first coach on my list. "Any coach who tells you he hasn't is lying. We've all done it. You don't need to interview coaches to get that answer."

Turns out, that's true. All 10 coaches I spoke with acknowledged making impermissible phone calls. Some said they had done it a few times, others often. But nobody claimed innocence, and every one of them said they didn't know anybody who could. The only debate was whether the illegal calls are more often a sign of confusion or intentional cheating. One coach said the number of them typically tells the story...

Go here for the remainder.

Hunting for the Quayles

 Jared Quayle photo courtesy of USU

Do not pass this entry along to Dick Cheney. Or was that pheasants -- maybe Democrats? -- he was hunting instead when he peppered a member of his shooting party with pellets while birdhunting.

Anyway, the Quayles are ensconced in Belgium and their lives, on the basketball court and off, can be followed at this site.

Definitely check out the waffle photo from the August 22 post. Isn't this also the country or regional area where fries are served with mayonnaise?

We're back

Yeah, someone is singing "how can we miss you if you won't go away..." (h/t to Dan Hicks) as we lost all connectivity yesterday at 2 p.m. but a newly installed modem has us back on-line.

So what did we miss?

The WAC went all legal (as expected) on Fresno State and Nevada. Bryant Jon-Anteola/Fresno Bee covers this move, as does Dan Hinxman/Reno Gazette-Journal and here's what is being asked from the announced departees:

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff prays for relief as follows:

1. For a declaration from this Court that the effective date of the withdrawal of Nevada from the WAC is June 30, 2012, in accordance with the bylaws.

2.For a declaration from this Court that the effective date of the withdrawal of Fresno from the WAC is June 30, 2012, in accordance with the bylaws.

3.For an injunction against all the Defendants prohibiting them from scheduling any athletic contests which will interfere with the scheduling of conference games between Fresno and Nevada with the remaining WAC Members through the 2011-2012 athletic seasons.

4.For such other and further relief as to the Court may seem just and proper.

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Tony Jones checks in of USU basketball doings especially at the defensive end-- go here.

Monday and the world of the WAC

According to Anthony Ray at the Rivals ArizonaPreps site, 2011 Arizona backcourter Jordan Baker has given a verbal to Pepperdine. Fresno State, Hawaii and Utah State were in the mix at some point as well as the Bulldogs having offered. Go here (and a Rivals sub is required).

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We are close to nailing down a couple of other items s0o we might be back later with a couple of additions.

Another worthwhile humor spot

This worked for us:

An update on the Nash family

Ed Odeven of The Japan Times offers a lengthy feature on what the father and son (and mother, too) Nash contingent is up to and PTW hopes all turns out well for this classy bunch of people -- go here.

Two Sunday items for you

Westwind Prep in Phoenix is absolutely loaded with both 2011 talents and also players doing a prep season. We don't know how Coach Bobby Bossman is going to everyone satisfied -- such is the level of recruits at his disposal.

Now, 6-foot-9 Khalil Brown has joined the party -- go here and a Rivals sub is required -- and Fresno State, among others, has already offered. He's a multi-positional player with tremendous upside and just the type of talent Steve Cleveland and Fresno State will need for the move to the Mountain West Conference.

Here's a dated -- October 2008 -- ESPN evaluation: "Brown does not have the game of a post player, though he has the height of an interior prospect. He has the ability to play on the perimeter and hit jump shots in the mid-range portion of the court, though he can occasionally hit the 3-pointer. He has a quick enough first step and handles the ball well enough to drive past defenders when he faces the basket in the mid-post area. When he does get in the paint, he can finish with either hand, though he seems more comfortable with his right hand. Brown needs to get significantly stronger and exhibit a higher level of effort for extended periods of time."

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Stew Morrill made a trip to California recently and one place he hit was the Antelope Valley College gym. Go here and read Melvin Grussing's report. By the way, Melvin operates THE BEST fan community college site around and AVC hoops is lucky to have his support.

The WAC basketball world on Saturday

Fresno State is to get a fall visit from Sacramento's Darius Nelson. Adam Gorney of Rivals has that detail and more here (a Rivals sub is required).

Here is an ESPN evaluation of Nelson.

Here is a YouTube highlight video.

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Damien Cain is visting Boston College this weekend. Hawaii has previously been mentioned as also in the running but it seems BC is the leader, at least according to a compilation of items on the 'net.

Here is a fairly current evaluation.

Here's a July 2009 ESPN evaluation:

Damien Cain (6-6, 215)
2011, North Hollywood, Calif./ Harvard-Westlake

Although Cain is an undersized 5-man, he has definitely progressed since the regular season. He uses his strong frame, long arms, and savvy to score over taller bigs hit a couple of nice turn around jump shots on 6-9 John Ryan. His feel is tremendous and he is a very astute passer out of the post. In addition, he nailed a spot-up 3-point jump shot and his stroke looked pretty smooth. Overall, he competes each and every time out and is an advanced player for his age.

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Marvin Menzies matches Stew Morrill

Is the pre-season turning into he who has the most players wins? Stew Morrill adds a freshman and now Jason Groves reports that Coach Marvin Menzies is adding another talent, to be determined for this or the following season. Go here

Here's an October 2008 article on 5-foot-10 Renaldo Walters.

Here's a 2009 article on when the young man committed to Norfolk State.

Fresno State's non-conference games

Steve Cleveland has lined up some very solid opponents as part of Fresno State's 2010-2011 non-conference schedule.

BYU in Provo, hosting Washington State, roading it at Utah and a much-improved Colorado State are all top quality games and that doesn't even include matchups with UC Santa Barbara, San Diego, Pepperdine and Pacific.

Hey, that's it so far for today.

Utah State adds a basketballer

It looks like Stew Morrill landed a last minute player -- one Leon Cooper, a backcourter originally out of the Bahamas.

BGAggieBlue started a thread at the SCOUT Utah State site basketball forum and usufan1 located the identifying information. Others have now chipped in with details.

Cooper is 6-foot, athletic but in need of weight/strength and but not necessarily pegged as a point or a two guard -- although his size says the former. He played this past season at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas, was enrolled at a school in Texas prior to that and has been in the U.S. for three years.

Here's a 2010 article indicating recruiting interest from TCU, Oral Roberts and Louisiana Tech in Cooper. Elsewhere, we found Wichita State also had interest but the Shockers' coaching staff supposedly decided someone with greater experience was needed on the roster

It also looks like Cooper displayed baseball talent as a pitcher and infielder while still in the Bahamas.

Anyone know if the plan is for him to redshirt athletically?

If so, he would join 6-foot-3 Antonio Bumpus, 6-foot-5 Norvell Pelle and 6-foot-4 Steven Thornton in various forms of 'shirting -- if PTW has its facts correct.

Andy Katz, Doug Gottlieb and a little WAC love

Andy Katz and Doug Gottlieb offer the WAC -- actually, make that mostly Utah State -- some hugs and kisses in a recent column (and do read the entire piece):

Teams to watch

Utah State: The Aggies are the class of the WAC once again and are led by a senior crew that is looking for its fourth straight regular-season title. Utah State will get plenty attention early with games against Utah, BYU and Georgetown. Once conference season begins, look for Tai Wesley and the Ags to fend off New Mexico State for the WAC title.

and

Nonconference games to watch

Utah State at Georgetown, Dec. 4: USU coach Stew Morrill had been stubbornly against going on the road without a return against a power-six conference team. He finally took the plunge and should benefit -- win or lose -- from this venture to D.C. This will be as much of a test for the Hoyas as it will be for the Aggies, who must show well on the East Coast to create some believers come March. This game won't affect Utah State's winning the WAC but certainly could help with seeding or at-large selection (if needed).

and

Five coaches who don't get enough love

Stew Morrill, Utah State: There is reason for concern, as conference realignment left USU stuck in what is now a six-team WAC for 2012. But as long as Morrill is coaching the Aggies, there is hope. He is a lock for 20-plus wins and a postseason berth every season, and he's made seven NCAA tourney appearances since 2000. This towering presence runs a myriad of sets and constantly keeps opposing coaches up late. Morrill won at Montana and Colorado State and continues to cruise in Logan.

and

Five mid-major conference races to watch

WAC

You might not have noticed, but the WAC was one of the country's best non-major conferences in 2009-10. The reason? A star-dominated Nevada team featuring Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson, a brilliant offensive conference champ in Utah State, a pair of 20-win teams in New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech, and a handful of mid-level teams with the ability to beat any of the big boys on any given night.

Johnson and Babbitt left Nevada for the NBA, but the WAC should still be worth the watch. Utah State is the clear favorite yet again: The Aggies return almost every major contributor -- Tai Wesley, Nate Bendall, Pooh Williams, Tyler Newbold -- from a team that ranked No. 18 in the nation in offensive efficiency last season. But that group, for all its talent, will be challenged by an experienced, senior-dominated New Mexico State team that played some of the better offense in the country itself last season. The Aggies also feature one of the country's best offensive rebounders in 7-foot center Hamidu Rahman. Then there's efficient junior Troy Gillenwater (who should get a much higher percentage of his team's minutes in 2010-11) and 6-6 senior Wendell McKines, all significant contributors in last year's 22-win campaign.

Nor is the WAC strictly a two-team race. Even without its two NBA-caliber stars, Nevada will be displeased with anything below a third-place finish, and upstarts like Boise State, Fresno State and San Jose State all feature a smattering of likely all-conference selections.

So, yes, the WAC can play. In 2009-10, the only better "mid-major" conferences, in so far as that term is appropriate, were the Mountain West, Conference USA and Atlantic 10. Don't expect a dropoff in 2010-11. Instead, expect a competitive race to unseat Utah State.

It's a WAC Thursday

Yesterday was a looooong day for many reasons but it's not still Wednesday. Sorry for the confusion as PTW has changed the headline to indicate the correct 24 hours and not Groundhog Day.

Spartygus, who posts at the SCOUT SJSU Insider basketball message board, has quite an interesting piece of information up today.

"The New WAC

Just heard from a very reliable source that the WAC will expand to 12 members with two divisions and a mix of some non-football schools...UC Davis and Cal Poly were rejected from WAC consideration, hence their move to The Big Sky...This should be announced soon....Sorry, I don't have the names of the 6 schools to be added....I would speculate that two of the non-football schools would be Seattle U and Denver U..."

In a similar vein, Ferd Lewis has a column today about Montana being a bellwether for the WAC -- go here.

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Don't expect to see your basketball head coach around campus all that much as the September contact period opens up today. It runs through October 5.

From the NCAA, during a contact period a college coach may have in-person contact with a recruit and/or parents on or off the college's campus. The coach may also watch a recruit play or visit a high school. A recruit may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone a recruit during this period.

La'Shard Anderson sentenced

With a tip o' the hat to Sam Wasson (BleedCrimson), having a "disorderly house" was not really the problem, putting hands on a police officer after disobeying an order was -- now La'Shard Anderson can put his tête-à-tête with the Boise P.D. behind him. Patrick Orr has the details.

Does Bill Sproat have a cop costume?

A Luke Babbitt interview

At the Silver and Blue site Sports Forum message board, RenoGuy has posted a link to an interview with Luke Babbitt. It took more than a moment for PTW to realize the lead photo was Babbitt as he now has 'in-between' hair, that being not a buzzcut nor free flowing locks.

Some UH recruiting items

Jonathan Davis, a 6-foot-7 southern California prepster, has cast his lot with George Washington. He will sign in November. Davis had multiple offers, including Hawaii. An article on his choice of college can be found here (a Rivals sub is required).

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Hawaii retains interest in 6-foot-9 Ronnie Stevens, another southern California senior, but Gib Arnold has yet to offer. At present, five other schools have extended offers to Stevens but the details of a trip to Hawaii are being worked out. A current article on Davis can be found here (a Rivals sub is required).

Here is an article on Stevens after his play this summer although the laundry list of suitors at the end of it is more for show than accuracy.

Here is a minute long YouTube video of Stevens.

Leon Rice generating Boise State media interest

ESPN's Andy Katz says that Coach Leon Rice will work to parlay the Boise State football success and national media coverage into a few good hoops recruits. Katz also writes about the newly announced Georgetown - Utah State matchup. Go here.

Collegehoops.net previews Louisiana Tech

It's beginning to be that time of the year and Joel Welser at the Collegehoops site is offering a Louisiana Tech hoops preview along with the prediction of another 20-win season. He lists a clouple of players no longer on the current roster but that's bound to happen when doing more than 100 previews. Go here.

Scratch UC Davis and Cal Poly off the wish list

If you thought the UC Davis and Cal Poly gridiron squads and possibly more might be making the jump to the WAC, think again. In an announcement today, the football teams of both schools are now heading with the Big Sky Conference, moving from the Great West Conference. Basketball and most, if not all, of the other school sponsored sports will retain Big West Conference affiliation.

Here's one official announcement, this one from the Big West Conference.

Here's the official announcement from the Big Sky Conference.

The post-holiday WAC report for Tuesday

AW Prince at the Silver and Blue site provides an informative look at the recent off-the-field doings in the WAC -- we loved his lead paragraph. So will it or won't it be "Karl, I'll take the MWC for $5 million"? Go here for the read.

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The Louisiana Tech schedule certainly has an 800-pound gorilla early on as the Aggies travel to Texas on November 10 to tangle with the Longhorns. Go here for the full schedule.

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According to one of Texas' better prospects, an official to Fresno State should be scheduled fairly soon. 6-foot-6 Jalen Jones is fleshing out his five visit allotment and the Bulldogs are in the inner circle. Damon Sayles at the Rivals TexasHoops.com site has the details and a sub is required.

After an April tourney, DFW Basketball News had this description of Jones: "Strong wing prospect with great athletic ability. Scored basketball continously off the dribble. Very good offensive rebounder, played games with a lot of energy and desire."

From the Dallas Showtyme site comes this: "I get bombarded with calls all the time from players/parents/coaches about kids all the time. About 6 months ago Erven “Big E” Davis told me about Jalen Jones from Mansfield Timberview. At the time the 6’5 wing was playing as an undersized post for his high school squad. Jones is the epitome of why grassroots basketball is so important. If a college coach was to watch Jones play in high school, one would assume that his talents were limited to the paint, after last week’s performance at the GASO, and this weekend’s Top 20 All-Star game performance at the Pangos All-American Camp, Jones established himself as a talented wing prospect.

Jones doing his thing out in the LBC didn’t come as a surprise, but the text message we received at 11:17 a.m. local time from Eric Bossi (Rivals.com) quickly confirmed that Jones was taking his game to another level.  “Glenn, who is this Jalen Jones kid!” In the last 24 hours we have field calls from schools in the Big 12, Big East, and Pac-10 wanting to know more about the rising the 2011 standout. Not to bad for a kid that’s “back for the first time”.

An article on Leon Rice and BSU hoops

David Fox of Rivals offers a full-length feature on Boise State Coach Leon Rice -- go here (it appears a subscription is not required). The pressure is on for a the Broncos to quickly turn it around and become a constant competitor and some new building blocks -- which weren't available to Greg Graham -- have or are being added to aid that desired  rise.

Kraig Williams is filling the void

Kraig Williams tweeted earlier today that Norvell Arnold will be late to the Aggie rodeo.

He's a junior college transfer and here is his USU bio. The plan supposedly was for him to redshirt in the upcoming season anyway so this shouldn't have much, if any, effect.

Here is a Deseret News article all about Arnold and how others backed away from him due to the likelihood he was going to need more time to earn his AA.

Another USU junior college backcourt recruit, Antonio Bumpus, will redshirt this season

Sunday's World of the WAC

AW Prince at Silver and Blue Sports offers up a little more video on freshman backcourter Deontè Burton -- go here. Burton looks like a human highlight film.

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Former Wolf Packer JaVale McGee hosted a party in Hollywood last night (we fully understand that our invite must have gotten lost in the mail). Go here to check out the doings.

JaVale, is Simon Cowell doing the judging at the gate?

Jonathan Davis visiting D.C.

Per Jack Pollon,.6-foot-7 southern Californian prepster Jonathan Davis is on a visit this weekend to George Washington. Hawaii has been mentioned as a suitor and is listed on Rivals as having offered along with GW, Pacific, Utah, UTEP and Southern Methodist.

But keep in mind that circumstances change daily and weekly and any offers issued at one point can be later null and void -- but this information won't be listed until someone does a Rivals update on Davis and asks him who is now pursuing him.

Here's a YouTube video of some Davis highlights.

We'll take the challenge of swimming against the tide on a day of football.

It isn't the Georgetown of Patrick Ewing but the Hoyas are still plenty formidable as Stew Morrill has scheduled an early December game in our nation's capitol versus John Thompson's III and his squad, which is fairly young and minus star center Greg Monroe who is now in the NBA.

Lose and the game will have gone as expected but win and the national press will definitely take notice.

But GT does have freshman forward Moses Abraham whose play is expected to reach biblical proportions.

Plus, it will be fun to see which 'system' triumphs.

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Here's an interesting feature on high schoolers rated with two stars or less who have blossomed into excellent college players.This reminds us somewhat of Jared Quayle who was star-less coming out of high school but he developed his body and his game in two seasons at a junior college and, after a superb run at Utah State, is now playing for pay overseas. A better example is Ramon Sessions as he wasn't all that heralded in the prep ranks -- although it was his iffy eligibility status that forced him to sign late -- and look at what he has accomplished.

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Back with more if we can stumble across such.

A perfect hoops photo

We have just the photo for when trying to describe a catch-and-shot prospect whose quickness is, um, lacking. 

Friday's WAC basketball items

It seems that only Coach Rice and his staff are out there recruiting (that's obviously not true but is the impression given the WAC items we come across) and here's another one:

Per Dutch Perryman at the Rivals Arizona Varsity site, 6-foot-3 high school junior Tim Derksen has three current offers, including one from Boise State. He is the son of a basketball coach.

Here's a 2012 ESPN evaluation of the young man: "Derksen is a basketball player in every sense of the word. The slick lefty plays at a great pace at both ends of the floor and rarely makes bad decisions. He is a high-level passer in transition and rarely over handles the ball. He moves well without the ball and he always has his head up. He can knock down the 3-point shot and his release is quick. His teammate Larry Lewis (Southern Cal commit) gets most of the notoriety, but it wouldn't surprise me if Derksen turns out to be a better college player due to his savvy, approach, and skill set."

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Former Fresno Stater Brandon Webster has landed with a basketball team in El Salvador. Max Ivany has the details here. We still haven't been able to locate where his cousin, former San Jose Stater C.J. Webster, is playing.

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Back with more if we come across some additional news.

May be old news...

Maybe we have previously posted this or someone else has located the information but Jeff Goodman's latest transfer list has former Louisiana Tech backcourter Yonas Berhe as matriculating at Minot State in North Dakota.

We knew that Mychal Ladd had affiliated himself with Washington State but didn't realize he will be a walk-on (at least for this coming season). Ladd will be reunited with point Reggie Moore -- both were teammates at Rainer Beach High in Seattle. Moore originally committed to Fresno State but decided to go elsewhere.

We still be unable to locate a new home Kofi Mensa, who had been connected to New Mexico State as a commit  He was at Mountain State Academy in West Virginia last season.

Still trying to understand it

Here's what we still can't figure out regarding New Mexico State's roster. It involves a couple of the players currently in limbo.

Jason Groves recently offered his list of scholarship players here:

1. Gordo Castillo  
2. Wendell McKines 
3. Troy Gillenwater 
4. Hamidu Rahman 
5. Hernst Laroche 
6. Abdoulaye N'doye 
7. Bandja Sy 
8. Tyrone Watson 
9. BJ West 
10. Christian Kabongo 
11. Tshilidzi Nephawe 
12. Renaldo Dixon 

Will not practice with team but will be on campus and set to join team in 2011:

Remi Barry
Daniel Mullings 

So if Barry is cleared by the NCAA, he would be the 13th player -- the maximum -- on scholarship. That leaves Mullings without the financial support of a scholarship. If Mullings is cleared first, then Barry is the one in that situation. If neither is cleared, both seemingly face financial hardship.

Our supposition is based on the tuition costs incurred by out-of-state and foreign students here in California .

Plus, who is paying for their tuition and living costs at the moment, whether it be at NMSU (Las Cruces) or one of its outposts, so to speak? That's even if they are enrolled in a minimum number of units so as to limit costs.

Does the state of New Mexico offer some sort of break for out-of-staters or foreign students?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Filling the gap

Kraig Williams, reacting to the loss of Jared Eborn's Utah State coverage, has created a new site for USU sports -- go here. Kraig also offers a Twitter account. What will be interesting is the depth of the Deseret News future Aggie coverage and the bonafides of who assumes the role.

On the light side this a.m. so call this the WAC diet plate

Not much to report so far today but here's what we have:

6-foot-2 Jordan Baker, a 2011 Arizona prep backcourter, has an offer from Fresno State (among others) and interest from Boise State and Utah State (among others). This per Anthony Ray at Arizona Preps (a Rivals sub is required).

Here is a July 28 reports that says Boise State has actually offered.

Here is a truncated ESPN evaluation from May 2010:

Baker is an athletic scoring guard, who does the majority of his scoring off the dribble or through opportunities he has created for himself. He has a variety of dribble moves with his right, including in and out crossovers and between the legs dribble moves...

More WAC musical meanderings

Commish Karl Benson has another tune he's singing today, cue up Bono and the boys:

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you...

...I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone...

...But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

More on LA TECH's roster

Some names are missing and the posters at the Bulldogs Barks and Bytes basketball message board have offered some answers.

Jamison Sterns, 5-foot-11 and 210 out of the Texas prep ranks, was a heralded signee and one message indicates he is in Ruston but paying his own way this season.

Another indicates Holton Hunsaker, a returnee from the KDS mission he took after high school, is at Utah Valley State where his father is the head coach.

Plus, walk-on Anson Bartlett is missing -- he had a solid season in 2009-2010 especially for a player of his status..