March 2011 Basketball Wiretap

Purvis Takes Louisville Off List Altogether

Aug 31, 2011 8:00 PM

Rodney Purvis has eliminated Louisville altogether from his list of school he's considering just a few months after he pulled his verbal commitment from the school.

Purvis is now considering Connecticut, Memphis, Missouri, N.C. Central, N.C. State, Ohio State, Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia.

Purvis is one of the top shooting guards in the country.

“Instead of rushing into another decision,” Purvis said. “I get to sit down and talk with the coaches more. Gain relationships with every coach on the staff. Just get a good feel for the campuses ... and see what fits my style of play the best.”

News and Observer

Tags: Rodney Purvis, Louisville Cardinals, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Who's Who Of Top High School Players To Attend Kentucky's Midnight Madness

Aug 31, 2011 1:21 PM

Big Blue Midnight Madness at Rupp Arena is always a big event, but this year's edition will receive visits from several of the top high school players in the country.

Shabazz Muhammad, DaJuan Coleman, Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, T.J. Warren, Willie Cauley, Chris Walker, Dakari Johnson and twins Aaron and Andrew Harrison will reportedly be in attendance. 

Those players are ranking No. 1 , 11, 13, 16, 22 and 28 in the class of 2012, and No. 4, 6 and 7 in the class of 2013 and No. 3 (Johnson) in the class of 2014.

Beyond The Arc

Tags: Shabazz Muhammad, DaJuan Coleman, Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, T.J. Warren, Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Kentucky Wildcats, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Ledo Cancels Providence Announcement Press Conference

Aug 31, 2011 11:21 AM

While Providence still appears to be the leader, Ricardo Ledo has canceled a press conference scheduled for Thursday where he was believed to be announced his decision to attend the school.

Ledo had apparently settled on giving new Providence coach Ed Cooley a verbal commitment after narrowing his school choices to the Friars, Syracuse, West Virginia, Kentucky and Connecticut. However, some advisors in his camp weren't ready to sign off on that decision.

"The worst thing is for him to rush into any decision," said his high school coach Ryan Hurd. "It's important for Ricky to get back to campus, get a grip on where his academics and recruitment all stands and look forward to an important year."

Providence Journal

Tags: Ricky Ledo, Providence Friars, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Pearl Turns Down D-League Offer, Takes Job With Marketing Firm

Aug 30, 2011 1:46 PM

Bruce Pearl has declined an offer to coach the Texas Legends of the D-League and instead will join the marketing firm H.T. Hackney Co. in Knoxville.

A news release by the company cited Pearl's marketing and economic background as a student at Boston College.

Peral received a three-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA's committee on infractions last week.

ESPN

Tags: Texas Legends, Tennessee Volunteers, NCAA, D-League, D-League Teams

Discuss
Kamari Murphy Commits To Oklahoma State

Aug 30, 2011 12:55 PM

Kamari Murphy has verbally committed to Oklahoma State, choosing the Big 12 school over Florida, Miami, Connecticut, Auburn and Louisville.

“He felt comfortable with the coaching staff and felt that he could come in and play right away and be a factor,” said Dana Dingle, Murphy’s AAU coach with the Long Island Lightning.

Murphy will spend a postgraduate year at IMG Academy.

The 6-foot-8 power forward out of Brooklyn is one of the top-50 recruits of the 2012 class at the position.

Adam Zagoria/ZagsBlog

Tags: Kamari Murphy, Miami (FL) Hurricanes, Oklahoma State Cowboys, UConn Huskies, Louisville Cardinals, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Bishop Gorman's Demetris Morant Commits To UNLV

Aug 30, 2011 11:14 AM

Demetris Morant, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Bishop Gorman, has verbally committed to UNLV.

"It's a great fit for me," Morant said Monday night. "I like the coaching staff, and their running style of play fits what I do. That's my strength, that and my athleticism and my defense. I'm still working on my offensive game, as well."

Morant said he chose the Rebels over San Diego State. He also was recruited by Arizona State, Memphis, Texas A&M and Nevada.

"Demetris had a lot of offers. He had quite a few options," Gorman coach Grant Rice said. "He's a real quiet kid, but he's starting to make some noise on the court. He's going to show a lot of people what he can do this year.

"He plays a lot bigger than 6-8 because he has a long wingspan and he jumps out of the gym. He will have a leadership role and be one of our top players."

Morant is teammates with Shabazz Muhammad, Rosco Allen and Ben Carter. He is the first of the group to commit to a college.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Tags: San Diego State Aztecs, UNLV Runnin' Rebels, Mountain West Conference, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Muhammad Would Consider Going Directly To NBA If Option Becomes Available

Aug 29, 2011 7:34 PM

Shabazz Muhammad would consider going directly from high school to the NBA if it were an option he had available to him.

“Right now, I’m just looking to college and having a great college experience, but I would look into that,” he said. “Just watching all those guys that came from high school [to the pros] … Kobe, Amar’e get to learn early. All those guys are successful in the league that came straight out of high school. I would love to be one of those guys.”

Marc J. Spears/Yahoo! Sports

Tags: Shabazz Muhammad, High School, NCAA, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
Muhammad Likes Calipari's History With Top Draft Picks

Aug 29, 2011 7:32 PM

Shabazz Muhammad is monitoring the NBA's collective bargaining agreement negotiations as it pertains to the age limit of players entering the draft.

There has been talk the owners may push for American born players to spend two seasons in college before entering the draft.

“If they pushed it to two years, it would be really disappointing for those guys who were in there for that one year and had a great year,” Muhammad told Yahoo! Sports. “Then they come back for that second year, have a bad year and their NBA draft stock drops. That’s a bad thing for them. I don’t think they should do that.

“They should let guys decide if they want to go or not. If a guy is ready, why go to college?”

Muhammad is the biggest prize of the Class of 2012 and is being recruited by Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, UCLA and UNLV.

John Calipari's history with getting players to the NBA will help Kentucky's chances.

“I don’t know who all I’m going to visit yet, but I’m going to be at UK’s Midnight Madness already – the rest I’m going to figure out,” Muhammad said. “I talk to John all the time about UK. Tyreke and I even talk to Derrick Rose all the time, too. I talk to them about Coach Cal and how he is. All these guys give me good information, and I’m just taking it all in like a sponge.

“You look at the guys of [Calipari’s] that have been drafted, [Nos.] 1, 2 and all over the board. Coach Cal is a great coach and he gets guys to where they want to be.”

Marc J. Spears/Yahoo! Sports

Tags: Shabazz Muhammad, Kentucky Wildcats, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Brandon Ashley Commits To Arizona

Aug 29, 2011 5:58 PM

Brandon Ashley has verbally committed to joining the University of Arizona for the 12-13 season.

Ashley is one of the top-10 recruits for the Class of 2012.

Oakland Soldiers coach Mark Olivier says the decision was made on Sunday.

"I think it was the flight back," Olivier said. "Brandon is a thinker; he's not the kind of guy who will make a decision quickly, he thinks about it. He was thinking about it on the plane ride and made the decision."

Ashley is considered the top recruit Sean Miller has landed while at Arizona.

Josh Gershon/Scout.com

Tags: Brandon Ashley, Arizona Wildcats, High School, High School Recruiting, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Maryland Adds 7-Foot-2 Ukranian Olexiy Len

Aug 29, 2011 2:08 PM

Maryland has added Olexiy Len for the 11-12 season.

Len is a 7-foot-2 Ukranian and will have three seasons of eligibility.

In the 2010 Under-18 European Championships, he averaged 16 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots per game.

InsideMDSports

Tags: Alex Len, Maryland Terrapins, NCAA, NCAA Recruiting

Discuss
Brandon Ashley Visits Arizona Unofficially

Jason Scheer/WildcatAuthority (via Twitter)

Brandon Davies Returns To BYU

Deseret News

Skylar Spencer Reduces List To SDSU, Washington

Inna Lazarev/Scout.com

Fisher Signs Four-Year Extension With San Diego State

Andy Katz/ESPN

Kuran Iverson Reduces List Of Schools To Six

Courier-Journal

Jordan Loveridge Commits To Utah

Deseret News

Report: Ricardo Ledo Picks Providence

GoLocalProv.com

Muhammad To Receive In-Home Visits From UCLA, Duke

Rivals

Drummond To Play For Connecticut During 11-12 Season

ESPN

Kris Dunn Picks Providence

Middletown Press

Sim Bhullar To Attend New Mexico State Immediately

Flagrant Fouls

Brandon Ashley Narrows Choices To Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon

Ryan Greene/Las Vegas Sun

Report: Pat Summitt Diagnosed With Dementia

Gregg Doyle/CBS Sports

Luke Walton To Become Memphis Tigers' Assistant Coach During Lockout

Chicago Tribune

James Robinson Commits To Pitt

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Kanter 'A Little Lost In Space' After Not Playing Games At Kentucky

Deseret News

Kyle Anderson Plans To Make Commitment In September

New York Post

Darrick Wood Commits To St. John's

New York Post

Devon Bookert Commits To Florida State

Jeff Goodman/CBS Sports

Georgetown Receives Friendly Visit From Chinese Team At Airport

New York Times