It’s a great time of the year. Prep school visits are winding down and college teams have started practice, signs that the season isn’t far away. Also, college schedules are finally coming out, with a few more game times to be determined due to television.
Before getting back to some of the final prep school visits, here are some quick hitters from around college basketball.
- The tripleheader announced at the Boston Garden on Thursday is long overdue. The Big 5 Classic in Philadelphia used to be a hit for a lot of reasons, and it was symbolic of how Philadelphia is the best big city for college basketball. Boston has long been one with the potential to match it, but has always been too much of a pro sports town (mainly the Red Sox and Patriots). The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic simply made too much sense, as it will have a great cross-town rivalry (Boston University vs. Northeastern), Boston College vs. UMass in a rivalry that has had great life since the teams resumed playing in the late 1990s, and a great matchup of academic schools in Harvard vs. Holy Cross. Northeastern head coach Bill Coen summed it all up perfectly.
“This event is good for basketball in Massachusetts, it’s good for our programs, and it’s good for our fans,” said Coen. “Many of us have wanted to see an event like this for quite some time, and it’s exciting to see it finally come together.” - One has to wonder if a day of reckoning may be ahead for the National Letter of Intent in light of two recent stories. The first is that of Isaac Hamilton, who has enrolled at UCLA after signing at UTEP but wanting to be close to home. The second is that of Devonte Graham, who signed at Appalachian State last year before asking to be released, and now being unable to talk to schools who may be interested in recruiting him because he graduated and has not been released. Both cases are different, but what transpires with them may go a long way in the direction the NCAA goes with this.
In Graham’s case, some may find it odd that he is in prep school but still subject to the National Letter of Intent he signed. The reason is that he graduated and has his diploma. Had he simply not finished up, which he didn’t want to do so he could walk with his friends on the big day, the letter would be null and void. - It certainly was not welcome news to learn that San Diego State assistant Mark Fisher, the son of head coach Steve Fisher, was diagnosed with ALS. It’s an awful disease that no one has survived, and I’ve seen how it has affected longtime BC SID Dick Kelley. Like Kelley, Fisher is young – at 34 years old, he’s younger than I am – and has so much of his life ahead of him. It’s one more reason to hope a cure can be found for it one day.
- Following the top point guards in the class of 2014 has been interesting, to say the least. As one after another has committed, the schools that missed have then scrambled to go after their next target, as Kentucky did with Tyler Ulis and Michigan State more recently did with Lourawls Nairn. Fans of both programs will be happy with both for four years, even if they’re not McDonald’s All-Americans, as Ulis can be an absolute pest on the ball defensively and Nairn is a solid and quick floor leader.
- Ulis’ travel teammate, Paul White, is a very nice pickup for Georgetown. He’s one of those players you really appreciate if you know the game, as he impacts the game in a lot of ways and can pick up where Nate Lubick leaves off after this season. He could be better than Lubick, but the ultimate take-away is that he’s a great fit and will do a lot to help the Hoyas win games.
- Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com reported recently that some teams recruiting recent Texas A&M commit Alex Robinson were negatively recruiting against the Aggies using the fact that A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is battling Parkinson’s disease. That has to be about as low as one can go. It’s one thing to recruit against a team whose coach may be up there in age and ask the question of how much longer he will be there (and even that’s questionable), but this crosses another line. One wonders if Kennedy will never look at coaches from the schools known to be finalists for Robinson the same way again.
