What happened? Rick didn't pull any rabbits out of his hat. If you were a high school senior stud G, why wouldn't you want to go play with the Texas bigmen? They are going to be tough down low. I know they signed J'covan but will he actually be on the team. (on a side note: what happened in 1990 that made all those mammas decide to just put a 'J' in front of their kids name? J'Covan, Jrue J'Mison) http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10833047/rss 1. UCLA Best recruit: Jrue Holiday (Rivals.com's No. 2 prospect) The Bruins have signed papers from four Top 50 prospects, including future pro Jrue Holiday. That alone was probably good enough to secure the top spot. But UCLA clinched the honor when J'Mison Morgan got his release from LSU and committed to UCLA last week to give Ben Howland a five-player class that when grouped with Darren Collison (and perhaps Josh Shipp and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute) seems good enough to lead the Bruins to their fourth straight Final Four. 2. Ohio State Best recruit: B.J. Mullens (Rivals.com's No. 1 prospect) The Buckeyes trend of luring NBA-level big men has continued thanks to B.J. Mullens. He's one of two top 25 prospects Thad Matta landed, and his ability to grab the ball and dunk it in a way Kosta Koufos never embraced will be a welcomed addition to OSU. 3. Wake Forest Best recruit: Al-Farouq Aminu (rated No. 7 by Rivals.com) It's honorable that all three Wake Forest recruits stuck with their commitments even after the untimely death of Skip Prosser because they didn't have to, you know? A different kind of kid might've used the tragedy as an excuse to look elsewhere. But Al-Farouq Aminu, Ty Walker and Tony Woods all signed as planned, meaning Dino Gaudio has three top 20 prospects set to enroll. 4. Memphis Tyreke Evans (Getty Images) Best recruit: Tyreke Evans (Rivals.com's No. 6 prospect) The Morris twins decommitted early and Ebanks chose West Virginia at the last minute. Still, the Tigers managed to sign a splendid class, which is a testament to just how many elite prospects the Memphis staff developed relationships with. Tyreke Evans is an NBA talent, the kind of one-and-done player who could fill the scoring role vacated by Chris Douglas-Roberts. Three other top 100 prospects are expected to join him on campus, among them fellow late signee Wesley Witherspoon. 5. Louisville Best recruit: Samardo Samuels (Rivals.com's No. 9 prospect) Rick Pitino has another stellar class, just like always. Throwing Samardo Samuels into the lineup with Terrence Williams and Earl Clark will make the Cardinals a legitimate national title contender. Terrence Jennings, a top 20 prospect, will add depth in the frontcourt and give Pitino several solid options while searching for a lineup that works. 6. Kansas Best recruit: Marcus Morris (Rivals.com's No. 29 prospect) The Jayhawks needed a big class because of expected personnel losses, and they secured one by any standard. Like Florida's class, this collection of prospects is light on one-and-done players but high in terms of quality contributors. There are four signees ranked between 29 and 77, and Mario Little might be the best junior-college player in the country. 7. Florida Best recruit: Eloy Vargas (Rivals.com's No. 26 prospect) Billy Donovan signed another great class even if there isn't an obvious star in the bunch. Of course, that shouldn't worry Donovan too much. Who among us thought Al Horford and/or Joakim Noah would be stars coming out of high school? (Note: Horford was rated two spots behind Sasha Kaun and Noah was rated two spots behind Lorenzo Mata). 8. Georgetown Greg Monroe (Getty Images) Best recruit: Greg Monroe (Rivals.com's No. 8 prospect) All four Georgetown signees are top 85 players, including Greg Monroe -- a 6-foot-10 forward from Louisiana who chose the Hoyas over LSU and Duke. He's not a traditional big man in the mold of Roy Hibbert or Alonzo Mourning. But Monroe likely will develop into a great player, though there are questions about whether he's consistent enough to be a star immediately. 9. Connecticut Best recruit: Ater Majok (Rivals.com's No. 13 prospect) Kemba Walker is the best-known of the UConn recruits given his McDonald's All-American status. But Ater Majok might be the better NBA prospect considering he's a 6-foot-10 forward capable of playing away from the basket, and the presence of Hasheem Thabeet will ensure Majok will be given that opportunity. 10. North Carolina Best recruit: Ed Davis (Rivals.com's No. 15 prospect) No recruiting list is complete without the Tar Heels, who will forever be a dominant entity in terms of securing prospects. This year was no different with UNC signing three top 75 players who should help Roy Williams carry the No. 1 ranking in most preseason polls.
I think they got some super athletic guard from South Texas but that's about it. They aren't losing a lot...well, DJ was their best player, but aren't losing a bunch of starters or players who get a lot of minutes or anything.
UCLA BABY!! we may luck out and get stephenson from UNC as well on a transfer. Morgan, Anderson, Gordon, Lee and Holiday. Despite losing Love and Westbrook (possibly Luc, Josh and Alfred too) thats an awesome class coming in. I figure Holiday and Morgan to be one and done guys though. But Howland has some commits on some top ranked high school juniors already. Hopefully this year they can break through and win it all, been really close. Major issue was the lack of speed and athleticism which is all what this new freshman class brings with Senior Darren Collison helping run the show? OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH BABY!
I think we only had 2 scholarships available. One went to J'Covan Brown, and then we tried to get a few other top prospects (Evans, Witherspoon, Ebanks) but struck out. Depending on what Abrams does, that may open up another. Don't forget Dogus Balbay will be healthy, so there's another newcomer. We'll also hopefully have a healthy Matt Hill, so there's a couple new rotation players that didn't play last year on top of hopeful improvements by Pittman, Gary Johnson, Wangmene, et. al. DJ will still be a big loss, though. Next year is the big year for Texas recruiting. We're supposedly in the mix for a bunch of the top prospects (see: here ). Jordan Hamilton is said to be a Texas lean, and we're supposedly very high on Kenny Boynton's list as well. Additionally, we've got a verbal from Tristan Thompson in the class of 2010, and ESPN ranks him top 5 in that class. Hopefully next year ends up similar to this year's football recruiting. We had a down year by Texas standards with this incoming freshman class, but have gone on a rampage recruiting wise for 2009.
Try being a Pitt fan. Try winning and being just as good as teams like Texas and others every year despite never getting any McDonald's All-Americans or big named recruits. And you're complaining about one year of not getting a top ten recruit?
