Saturday's WAC report

It's Saturday so what city is Brady Heslip in today? Will Brady, burned seriously by BC, sign a letter-of-intent or a financial agreement?

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Brian McInnis has the report on Benjy Taylor coming aboard Gib Arnold's staff, plus who the third UH assistant will be. Taylor will finally have a chance to enjoy some winter weather.

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Chris Murray has another story on Luke Babbitt and the draft. Luke, may the force be with you.

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Eastern Arizona College backcourter Mike James has decided on his college choice...and it's a surprising one. LA TECH, among many others, had offered. Go here for Anthony Ray's report  (a Rivals sub is required). This is a case of a very talented young man not ending up at the level his talent indicated so there is definitely more to this story. Who has the 411 here?

A junior college backcourter being looked at by Fresno State/offered by LA TECH

The competing entities for Eastern Arizona College scorer Mike James look fairly ominous for the Bulldogs plural but you never know what is really going on in the minds of recruiting targets.

Anthony Ray at ArizonaPreps.com has an update (a Rivals sub is required) on James' recruitment and Steve Cleveland is listed as in pursuit as well as Louisiana Tech having offered, along with ACC, SEC and MVC coaches and other lower level programs involved.

James led his league in scoring at just under 26 points per game. He shot 42% overall, 78% from the foul line and 33% from long distance. He was suspended for two games this season -- not sure why -- and placement on the second-team all-league squad which also has a story behind it of which we don't know enough about to even speculate.

Our complete guess: James doesn't end up in the WAC but at a higher level, which may or may not work out for him considering he has just two years of eligibility remaining. Here's hoping he chooses his next destination wisely.

Here is his home page.

Here is James' Twitter account.

Watch for Mike James

Here's a guy who should be on the radar of EVERY WAC coach -- not just Louisana Tech's Kerry Rupp and Nevada's David Carter:

Anthony Ray
ArizonaPreps.com Recruiting Analyst
January 3, 2010

The Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) hasn't been the same since the emergence of Eastern Arizona's 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore guard Mike James just a year ago.

Eastern Arizona's 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Mike James ranks among the nation's top scorers with an amazing 28.3 ppg scoring average.

A native of Portland, Oregon, where he attended Grant High School, James is tearing up the conference this season with a league-leading 28.3 points per/game scoring average...

Go here for the remainder (a Rivals sub is required).

A few more WAC hoop links

Matt James/Fresno Bee asks 'where's the magic?'

If you can't say anything good, blog
Matt James
Fresno Bee
December 2, 2009

I'm sitting here, still a little numbed by Fresno State's performance Tuesday night. It wasn't just the way the Bulldogs lost (missed easy shots, bad interior defense, bad exterior defense, conservative effort at best), and it wasn't just the amount they lost by (12), and it wasn't just the number of missed free throws (14), and it wasn't just that they were playing at home (they were). It was all of those things and more.

I'm still a little stunned and I've seen some really, really bad Fresno State basketball during the last four seasons. It's not like this was Duke getting run out of Cameron Indoor by Fairfield. This is a team without many expectations, and they were still stunningly bad...

Go here for the remainder.

We have no desire to play the role of Little Mary Sunshine (we're Irish and therefore allergic to the sun) but it's a marathon here, not a sprint. There is still plenty of time to gel, to turn matters around and the Bulldogs are a young team. It just seems too early to say there is no hope as the talent and potential are there for Fresno State to finish in the upper division in the WAC. Granted, not all the pieces are present at this moment but enough to be respectable.

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Sam Wasson's BleedCrimson.net has some great phjotos of the Aggie game against UTEP here.

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Travis Mason-Bushman/Vandal Nation has an extensive preview of tonight's Idaho game against Cal State Northridge. Let's hope the WAC can win this one against the Big West.