That didn't take long

Nevada Coach Mark Fox has landed a 'big' but it's for next season, not this one coming up. Jed Tai, Mr. Basketball in Oregon, Washington and definitely other points elsewhere, has the scoop.

Jed Tai
WashingtonPreps.com
September 17, 2008

The original plan was to take two more official visits. But in the world of recruiting, plans can change in a hurry and that's exactly what's happened with Steven Bjornstad. The lanky 6-foot-10, 195-pound post from Columbia River High School decided that one trip was enough for him to make an educated decision on his future, so instead of travelling he'll be staying at home in Vancouver the rest of the fall.

"I just called Santa Clara to cancel my visit because I've given Nevada a verbal," Bjornstad said. "I went on my visit there and I just got good vibes. I had a couple of in-home visits and they came back to see me after their home visit, and that told me that Nevada was the place..."

Go here for the remainder -- it requires a Rivals subscription..

Chris Murray offers more on Steven Bjornstad

Chris Murray "fleshes out" Wolf Pack recruiting target Steven Bjornstad in today's newspaper. Utah State and Boise State are also pursuing the youngster but there's no mention about visits to Logan or Boise in this article:

Basketball latecomer has 'tremendous upside'
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
September 17, 2008

When Steven Bjornstad first stepped on to the Columbia River High School campus in Vancouver, Wash., he was a golfer trapped in a basketball player's body.

Three years later, he is a three-star basketball recruit choosing from a dozen scholarship offers.

One of the programs in that mix is the University of Nevada, which Bjornstad visited earlier this month -- the first of at least three official campus visits the 6-foot-10, 220-pound power forward intends to take before committing..."

Go here for the remainder.

Boise State gets a junior college commit

We don't recall Greg Graham and his staff recruiting in New York before (although Reggie Larry was from New Jersey before two seasons at the College of Southern Idaho). A junior college backcourter has cast his verbal lot with the Broncos, saying Boise's getting to the Big Dance impressed him.

BSU men get first hoops commit of '08-09
Nick Jezierny
The Idaho Statesman
September 17, 2008

Guard from the Bronx said the Broncos' trip to Big Dance influenced his decision.

Last year's NCAA Tournament berth already is paying dividends for the Boise State men's basketball program.

The Broncos received their first oral commitment for the 2008-09 recruiting period, landing Westley Perryman from Monroe College in Bronx, N.Y.

The 6-foot-2 combo guard averaged 15.3 points and 4.4 rebounds as a freshman last season. He was the co-player of the year in the Mustangs' league and a third-team junior college All-American.

"The fact that they went to the tournament last year was a big deal to me," said Perryman, who is from Boston.

Perryman, who led Monroe in scoring, rebounding and steals, was recruited by George Mason, Houston, Northeastern, Central Florida, Manhattan, Central Connecticut and Stony Brook, he said..."

Go here for the remainder.

Nevada, Idaho target chooses Long Beach State

We actually prefer not to use the type of headline we just typed because it implies something that may not have much validity. It's true that Nevada is looking for 'bigs' but it's unsure how much the following kid was a current target for Coach Mark Fox and his staff. The same for Don Verlin up at Idaho. But the kid's coach says Nevada and Idaho were interested although there is no mention of actual offers.

From the Long Beach Press Telegram:

"...Long Beach State's program got a commitment Sunday night from 6-foot-9, 240-pound Mira Costa College sophomore Lin Chang, the player's coach, Patrick Conahan, said Monday afternoon.

Chang, who is originally from Beijing and attended high school in Vancouver, British Columbia as a senior, averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and was a first-team, all-Pacific Coast Conference selection as a freshman.

According to Conahan, Chang was also heavily recruited by Idaho, Nevada, UC Riverside and Weber State "and we got numerous phone calls about him from other schools, as well" before he committed to coach Dan Monson's 49ers while wrapping up a visit to Long Beach Sunday..."

Jay Drew with his USU recruiting updates

Maybe because he's out in the western part of the U.S. but Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune doesn't get the props for his basketball recruiting coverage that some of the big names in the eastern section of this country enjoy. But he's right up there in our book and he's back again with the scoop on the latest for Stew Morrill and the Aggies:

First, West Jordan High's Rayes Gallegos, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, decided to sign on with Doc Sadler and Nebraska. Well, it's a verbal actually.

Then Brandon Davies gets some space:

Jay Drew
Prep Sports
The recruiting trail
September 15, 2008

Basketball: Provo's Davies enjoys Utah State visit

Here's a little bit of good news for Utah State fans: their team's horrible showing on the football field Saturday night didn't turn off their coveted basketball recruit.

Provo High's Brandon Davies, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound power forward who is a four-star recruit according to Scout.com, said Monday night that he visited Utah State over the weekend, and liked what he saw, "except for their football team, which is not good at all..."

Go here for the remainder (it's the link to Drew's recruiting column which unfortunately doesn't allow linking to each particular article.

Our guess (and take it for what it's worth) is that Davies goes with BYU.

Marcelus Kemp gets a nice gig

There aren't many better places to play outside of the U.S. than Italy. Gelato, museums, history galore, scrumptious food, ambiance that can't be beat, did we mention gelato? Now Marcelus Kemp is going to be immersed in La Dolce Vita.

Marcelus Kemp will play basketball in Italy
Chris Murray
Reno Gazette-Journal
September 16, 2008

Marcelus Kemp's potential road to the NBA will begin in Italy.

The former Wolf Pack shooting guard has signed a contract with Basket Livorno and just completed training camp at the team's headquarters in Livorno, Italy (on the Western edge of the Tuscany)...

Go here for the remainder.

Jason Groves features the new Aggies

Jason Groves -- as usual -- is on top of NMSU men's basketball and has a feature today on three 'newcomers' to the team. It is football season but basketball is soon to be happening.

Three newcomers look to make impact
Jason Groves
Las Cruces Sun-News
9/16/2008

LAS CRUCES — Troy Gillenwater doesn't want to give anything away.

Not yet.

Gillenwater, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward from Boston, Mass., is one of three newcomers who will join the New Mexico State University men's basketball this season.

Gillenwater, along with center Hamidu Rahman and small forward Robert Lumpkins, will be on the court when the Aggies open practice Oct. 17.

"I think that sitting out last year was the best thing for me," said Gillenwater, who signed with NMSU last summer. "I didn't want to sit out at first, but sitting out and watching the team last year, I got to see what I needed to do academically and on the basketball court. It went by quick and it's time to play..."

Go here for the remainder.

McKinley Boston interviewed

We have certainly had our disagreements with and, yes, taken a few shots at New Mexico State University AD McKinley Boston over the months this blog has been active so in striving to be fair, here are two recent interviews the Las Cruces Sun-News conducted with him.

Follow the links to read both halves of the interview:

First half

Second half

A 'big' checking out Moscow

Recruiting talent is always Job One for any basketball coach but bringing in size is also a critical component because a quintet of five 6-3 players just isn't going to cut it despite the collective level of ability.

Getting 'bigs' to check out Moscow has always been a problem for Idaho's basketball coaches but especially ones who can shoot, rebound and defend.

With that in mind, Joe Kammerer, 6-9 and 240, out of the Oregon prep ranks, is visiting Idaho. Montana has also offered and he will be in the Big Sky State on September 26. Santa Clara is also interested but there are no current visitation plans. UC Irvine, Weber State and Northern Colorado also have offered.

In an August article, Kammerer spoke highly of Irvine and Portland State, with no mention of Idaho.

Here's ESPN's take:

Joe Kammerer
Hometown: Eugene, OR
North Eugene H.S. (OR)
Position rank: Power Forward # 72
Ht: 6'8" Wt: 250

May, 2008: One of the more promising sleepers on the west coast is Kammerer. He has a Division I frame already and quite the unique skill set. He needs to continue to improve his post skills and fundamentals, but he has a soft touch out to 17 feet.

A Utah State recruiting target has visited Nevada

The list of schools isn't lengthy here and possibly not complete but there's no mention of Utah State in this post about Washington big 6-10 195 Steven Bjornstad. Stew Morrill has offered (so has Idaho) but Mark Fox/Nevada already got an official last week:

Jed Tai
WashingtonPreps.com
September 11, 2008

An injury hampered Steven Bjornstad the second half of the summer, but the state's top post player for the Class of 2009 still has some top college options. The rising senior from Columbia River High School in Vancouver is in the midst of his official visits, the first of which he just recently took...

He hit Nevada last weekend and these schools are next:

..."I'm going to Santa Clara on the 20th and St. Mary's on the 27th," Bjornstad said...

Go here for the complete article -- a Rivals subscription is required.

A young'un enters the basketball blogging world

Jakob Kagel has been on this earth just 15 years but he has a plan and his College Basketball 24/7 blog is just the beginning.

Jakob recently featured his 'sleepers' for 2008-2009 and LA TECH was included. Here's what he wrote (although the D.J. Wright portion is incorrect):

"Louisiana Tech-The Bulldogs are on the path back to the "glory days" of Karl Malone, P.J. Brown and even maybe the days of Paul Milsap (even though they were not the best) and what better way to do it than hiring the great himself, the mail man as part of your staff. The Bulldogs won only 6 games last year but the outlook is very positive for the team that finished last is the WAC behind even lowly San Jose St. and scored only 31 points in a early season contest win Texas Tech. The reason that the"Techsters" can do in this year, is the addition of 5 impact newcomers and the return of lead guard Kyle Gibson (16.5 ppg). The new players that could all see significant playing time are Kenneth Cooper(transfer Oklahoma St.), Magnum Rolle (LSU), Jamel White (Nebraska), Olu Ashalu (RS Freshman Rivals 150), and D.J. Wright (RS Freshman Rivals 150). There is no telling how well all of these transfers, and newcomers will be able to play together, but just consider that New Mexico St., under Reggie Theus had a similar turn around when in 05-06 they won only 15 games, and the following year the won the WAC tournament and got a berth in the NCAA tournament. All in all on a team that has 11 new comers overall Kerry Rupp had better make them gel fast because the Bulldogs have a Dec. 28 meeting with UCLA.
Prediction: NIT"

Adam Zagoria with a Herb Pope summary

Adam Zagoria, along with Dick Weiss, covers east coast hoops extremely well. Here he has a article on Herb Pope. It doesn't necessarily contain anything that will be new to NMSU fans -- it's more a summary and probably meant for Seton Hall-ites.

Patient Gonzalez waits for transfers
Seton Hall's coach hopes newcomers create turnaround
Adam Zagoria
SNY.tv
9/11/2008

...A long journey from Alquippa: Herb Pope is only 19, yet he has already experienced more in his short lifetime than many people ever will.

Raised in Alquippa, a tough urban area outside of Pittsburgh, Pope was abandoned early on by his parents, both of whom have coped with drug problems, and he and his siblings moved from one foster home to another.

"He comes from a dysfunctional family," his father, Herbert Pope Sr., told The New York Times in 2007. "He basically raised himself. It's amazing. He's got a hell of a story to tell."

Herbert Pope has been in and out of prison for drugs and stealing and Herb's mother, Juanita Raines, also has a history of arrests related to trespassing, theft and writing bad checks. Seton Hall would not make Pope available for comment, but his story has been well chronicled.

"They just abandoned me," Pope told The Times, referring to his parents. "I don't got no grudge against them. Hopefully, they come around to doing right for themselves..."

Go here for the remainder.

Reggie Moore heading to New Hampshire

We we're told some time ago that there was no way Steve Cleveland was going to release top point guard recruit Reggie Moore from his letter-of-intent. The request came very late and without any accompanying justification such as an altered family situation or the like.

There's been a method of confirmation concerning this as Moore, out of Seattle, is now headed for a year at a prep school

Jim Basright's Husky Digest has the latest: "Husky Digest sources have confirmed with Rainier Beach guard Reggie Moore that he will be attending Brewster Prep in Wolfeboro, NH..." Go here for the remainder.

*** By the way, the part about Washington's hands-off approach, per Moore, is just blather. Make sure you don't seat the Fresno and Washington basketball coaching staffs anywhere near each other at any future banquets or seminars.

More on Utah State recruiting

The Aggies coaching staff sure seems to be spending a lot of time and attention in the Lone Star State.

6-8 195 Mesquite (TX) forward Cory Remekun is the latest Texan target. Utah State has offered but there's been no official visit. There's a long list of suitors and Remekun offers gracious words about Colorado State.

Here's the link if you have a Rivals subscription.

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6-9 190 Aaron Thompson, also out of Texas, has been offered by Army and Utah State but has taken no official visits as yet. He doesn't sound too keen on joining the military and not yet sold on the Aggies. Again, here's the link if you have a Rivals subscription.

A little more on the NMSU - Herb Pope divorce

According to ESPN's Andy Katz, Coach Marvin Menzies and AD McKinley Boston apparently believe that Seton Hall did some wooing of Herb Pope prior to any official release.

We say, 'welcome to the real world of college basketball Misters Menzies and Boston, as if you actually needed that introduction.' Your crocodile tears just don't cut it.

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Over at the Sporting News, Mike DeCourcey, chimes in that the so-called 'transfer rule' allowing a player to move to a new school and play right away due to personal hardship is too open to abuse. Here's the link.

But there's no word on whether DeCourcey also feels coaches should have to sit out a year when leaving one job for another, "stability to their sport' (you'll have to read the article) notwithstanding.

Coaches always want greater and greater control over everything yet very, very few -- praise to those who walk their talk -- will turn down a more lucrative or prestigious opportunity, promises to their players be damned.

There is a great deal of reform needed in college basketball, plenty to go around, but it ultimately is a business and all decisions should be viewed through such a prism.