Greg McClinton, ACC Basketball Target

Here’s some video of ACC target Greg McClinton (SG/SF, 6’6″, 2013), a high-flying player who has offers from Virginia Tech, Miami and Xavier, and is also considering Wake Forest. Watch what he does at the 1:10 mark. Wow.

Tobias Harris Q & A

Special thanks to C.J. Watson of GrassRootsBallin’ and Premo Hoops recruiting for providing this interview with ACC target Tobias Harris (PF, 6’7″, 2010)

Tobias Harris Q&A
Contibuted By: C.J. Watson
Premo Hoops Recruiting

PHR: What schools have offered you a scholarship?
TH: Arizona, Baylor, UConn, Florida State, Indiana, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Miami, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse, Texas, Virginia, Wake Forest, WVU, Xavier, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Notre Dame, Providence, USC and Georgetown.

PHR: What schools do you have on your list?
TH: I have a top 11 as of right now but this list could definitely change. Louisville, Marquette, UConn, Maryland, Virginia, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Georgetown, WVU and USC.

PHR: What are some of the deciding factors for you when picking a school?
TH: The coaching staff and academics along with me feeling comfortable with the area.

PHR: Can you talk a little bit about the recent school visits you have taken and things you liked about each one?
TH: I went to Louisville and really liked the program they have and coach Pitino is a great guy. They play in a tough conference so that is a plus also. Maryland, Virginia and Georgetown were all great schools with great coaching staffs and atmosphere as well.

PHR: How was your summer on the AAU circuit?
TH: My summer went well I thought I played well at the events and really impressed many people.

PHR: How was your experience at the RBK All-American camp?
TH: The RBK camp was probably one of my best experiences this summer. I thought I played really well in a camp where everyone is an elite player.

PHR: What parts of your game did you focus on improving the most this summer?
TH: My defense and speed.

PHR: What do you feel are the strengths to your game?
TH: My versatility and shooting along with finding ways to score.

PHR: What do you feel are the weakest parts in your game?
TH: I don’t call out a true weakness; I just call it something to improve on the most which is my defense which I am working on.

PHR: What were some of the deciding factors on you transferring to a new high school?
TH: I wanted to play better competition and to be pushed to the limit.

PHR: What goals have you set for your junior season?
TH: I want to win a state championship.

PHR: Who are the biggest role models in your life?
TH: My father and George Gervin.

PHR: If you’re not playing ball what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
TH: As weird as it sounds I love to sleep it’s like a hobby for me.

John Wall – Not Going to Kentucky?

The Raliegh News & Observer has an article about John Wall’s recent visit to NC State, and when asked the question that top recruits hear ad nauseum, ‘what’s your list of schools’, one school was noticeably absent :Kentucky. However, Wall said he enjoyed his visit to the Pack, but also mentioned a new name, Miami, as a possibility:

Wall said Sunday that Miami was pushing for a visit and that he was not sure he’d keep Kansas on his list after it took a commitment from 6-foot-2 Elijah Johnson of Las Vegas.

“I’m not sure where I am with Kansas right now,” he said.

Wall is considering N.C. State, Oregon, Baylor and Memphis, along with possibly either Miami or Kansas.

Matt Vogrich close to committing?

Matt Vogrich (SG,6’3″,2009), who has offers from Wake Forest and Miami, apparently has a short list of Michigan, Notre Dame and Stanford, according to the Illinois Prep Bullseye:

Vogrich, meanwhile, is completing an official visit to Michigan this weekend and will choose soon between them, Notre Dame or Stanford.

Looks like the ACC is on the outside looking in for Vogrich, who admittedly has focused his interest elsewhere.

Harrison Barnes

Harrison Barnes (SF, 6’6″, 2010), who has interest from…well, everybody in the world of basketball recruiting, will be visiting Late Night at Kansas, along with ACC target Dominic Cheek (SG, 6’5″, 2009). Barnes also reportedly has an official visit at Duke lined up.

Durand Scott Basketball Recruiting Update

Durand Scott (SG/SF, 6’5″, 2009), a player who you might have seen recently playing in Rucker Park has a list of eight schools, including some ACC colleges.

Alex recently interviewed Scott, who confirmed his list of eight, including a ‘mystery’ school:

“UCLA, Tennessee, UConn, Memphis, Virginia, Miami, . . . Xavier [and] . . . [Pause] I can’t remember the last one . . .”

Shortly after this interview, Scott cut his list to five, eliminating Virginia and Xavier, but keeping Pitt (which Alex correctly guessed as the mystery school).

So, Scott’s current list still includes Miami.

More on Derrick Favors

I also wanted to follow up on a story we recently shared about Derrick Favors (PF, 6’9″, 2009), where the Atlanta Journal-Consitution reported that Favors was listing six schools. Favors was not actually quoted as saying that he had eliminated anyone, but it is important to note that Connecticut was also listed. Many services have UConn as completely out of it, so for now it seems like a bit more mystery.

ACC Basketball Recruiting Roundup, Volume 3

So, a lull in the action for the ACC over the past couple of weeks as several other conferences got some commitments, and now we’re right back into the fray.

Dominic Cheek at Rucker

Here’s some highlight video from Rucker Park of Dominic Cheek; the ragged basketball of this game isn’t something to brag about, but enjoy the clip:

Josh Smith gets interest from UNC

Duke has been recruiting big man Josh Smith(PF/C, 6’9″, 2010) for some time, battling west coast programs UCLA, Washington and Arizona, and some think UCLA is the current team to beat. Smith has a long list of potential colleges, including all of the aforementioned programs plus Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Gonzaga, Syracuse,Texas, UConn and Tennessee.

Well, add UNC to that list, according to Scout:

At this point, UNC’s interest seems to be in the beginning stages and the Tar Heels are just starting to form a relationship with the talented big man.

In a time where so many players of his height who come out of high school wanting to play the small forward spot, 2010’s Josh Smith is all big man, a shot blocker, presence and lane scorer, although in limited action I’ve seen him play mostly below the rim, getting timing rebounds and garbage buckets. Fans should not confuse him with the former high school phenom of the same height and same name who now resides in the NBA as a human catapult, although as a pure big man it will be interesting to see how the new high school phenom (Josh Smith 2.0?) develops.

Brandon Knight

A player who looked surprisingly good in a bad game at Rucker Park was Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010), AAU teammate of Kenny Boynton(PG/SG, 6’2″ ,2009) and fellow Duke target. Alex has an interview with Mr. Knight, where he talks about his playing time for Team Breakdown, and where he reveals that he has offers from Wake Forest and Miami (scoop!):

NB: Who do you already have offers from?
BK: [There are] a [few] schools, I’m not sure, I’m thinking of Wake Forest, Miami, . . . Syracuse maybe. . . . That’s a [few]. I’m not sure; I don’t really talk to them like that. My dad really does the talking for me.

Brandon also talks about the possibility of going to college with Boynton.

Scott, Harris make visits to U of L

Durand Scott (SG,6’4″, 2009) and Tobias Harris (PF,6’8″, 2010) continue to make the rounds on their recruiting visits, with both visiting during the Louisville – Kentucky football game

As always, if you’re a college basketball fan who can’t get enough of this stuff, sign up for the email list.

Michael Snaer is Still Looking; Robinson Trims List

Maybe you heard that Michael Snaer (SG/SF, 6’5″, 2009) was about to make a decision to play for Missouri. Or maybe you heard that he was about to choose Florida State. You probably also heard that UCLA was out of it.

None of it is apparently accurate:

There have been rumors in the past week that Snaer had already reached a decision. One had him headed to Missouri, where he’s attended the Tigers’ Elite Camp the past two seasons and where AAU coach with Inland Reebok, Elvert “Kool-Aid” Perry, has a long-standing relationship with associate head coach Melvin Watkins. Another had Snaer heading to Florida State.

“He’s emphatically denied both of those,” Showalter said. “They just got started somewhere, and I don’t even think it was anything that he said to anybody. I think somebody just got it going.”

Note that Snaer is going to visit UCLA to talk with Ben Howland as well.

Thomas Robinson down to five

Thomas Robinson (PF, 6’8″, 2009) has cut his list to five and the only ACC school still being considered is Miami, along with Memphis, USC, Kansas and Texas. Robinson does have an offer from the Hurricanes.

The Obligatory John Wall Update

NBADraft.net has an interview with John Wall (PG, 6’4″, 2009), everybody’s top choice to be one-and-done in 2010. The interview is lenghthy, does not mention the current thinking that he’s a Baylor lock, but does offer this tidbit which gave me a chuckle:

Q: OK, you’re playing a 3-on-3 tournament at Rucker Park and you can take any two teammates to run with you. Who are you running with?

A: Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant. Nobody would beat us.

Heck, if I had Iverson and Bryant, I think I could play anyone, too. I can pass and set screens as well as anyone.

Derrick Favors to trim list

Derrick Favors (PF, 6’9″, 2009) has said recently that he probably won’t select a school until next spring, with recent reports having at least fifteen schools in the running for the top big man’s services.

However, it now is likely that many of those schools won’t have to wait that long, as Favors is expected to trim his list to six by August 11.

Favors is a five-star player whose likely destination is the NBA, in the not-too-distant future, and one of three ACC targets in the state of Georgia that could wind up at Georgia Tech. With Noel Johnson(SG/SF, 6’6″, 2009) and Mfon Udofia(PG, 6’2″, 2009) also considering Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jacket fans are holding their breath to see if they bring in a phenomenal 2009 class to join already-committed Brian Oliver (SF, 6’6″, 2009).

Lute Olsen chimes in on Brandon Jennings

Lute Olsen, not one to remain silent while the entire basketball media froths into hyper analysis over his former recruit Brandon Jennings, who has decided to try his luck and play in Europe for a year, has chimed in, per the L.A. Times:

“It’s a situation now that if someone’s a ‘one-and-done,’ we’re not going to pursue them anymore, no way,”

“Jerryd [Bayless, who left after one year at Arizona and was a lottery pick in this year’s draft] said all along he wanted to stay here two years, but then you get the agents working on the kids and parents all year. You might have the kid in your controlled environment for some time, but when [outsiders are] on the parents, you have no idea what’s going on.”

Lute might not have completely stated the real issue, but his meaning is pretty clear. There are a lot of people, besides the players themselves, who will benefit financially if they can convince the NBA to remove the one-year rule or convince the players to leave early. Every time someone comes out for or against the rule, we should step back and see who is making the statements and what benefit they may get from their position. Agents, promoters and the like who latch on to some of the players will benefit enormously if they can get rid of the rule. The NBA feels it will make more money if it keeps the rule and possibly extends it. College basketball fans want players to stay in for four years, often blasting players who leave early. A good coach must do what’s right for his players, but that doesn’t mean all coaches want their players to leave early.

We must take all statement with a “grain of salt”. The situation is different for different players, in different years, for different teams.

Michael Snaer’s List of Schools

Scout.com is reporting that Michael Snaer (6’4″, SG/SF, 2009) has several schools on his current list, including Stanford, Marquette, Florida State, Missouri, UNLV, USC, UCLA,Washington, Kansas, Arizona and Cal.

Snaer, a west coast kid, reportedly has offers from ACC schools Miami and Florida State.

Emmanuel Negedu’s visit to Indiana

Doug Wilson and Chris Korman have a fantastic update on Emmanuel Negedu (6’7″, PF, 2008 ) and his visit to Indiana:

So the Indiana visit, I’ve been told, is much more of a fact-finding visit for Negedu. You’ve heard kids talk about the “feeling” they get about a school, and that’s what so many of them are hoping to find when they step on campus. So coaches do whatever they can to create the feeling: they show off the banners, they drive through the campus on golf carts, they hang a jersey with the prospect’s number in the middle stall of the locker room.

More Bad News for Maryland Terrapins

Recently Gary Williams lost troubled recruit Tyree Evans, and now it appears he’s losing another. Gus Glichrist (6’9″, PF, 2008 ) has asked for a release from his LOI with the Terps.

Video: Michael Snaer

I haven’t mentioned Michael Snaer ( 6’4″, SG, 2009 ), even though he reportedly has an offer from the Miami Hurricanes, simply because he hasn’t seemed to be leaning toward the U. But that doesn’t mean the Hurricanes aren’t recruiting him. Snaer is a nice guard with good size and often uses it to get to the rim. Although I don’t think overproduced highlight reels are much value in evaluating a player, here are some of his nice moves:

Snaer currently says he has no favorite, but he’s a west coast kid so of course the schools in his region are pressing him.

Mason Plumlee

Mason Plumlee got a lot of exposure this past weekend all over the state of North Carolina for three reasons:

1. He plays high school basketball in North Carolina
2. He signed to play for Duke
3. He was playing in Camaron Indoor Stadium this weekend.

So, naturally, he has become one of the more talked about players with stories like this one.

One of the knocks on Plumlee is his strength, which he acknowledges:

“Playing post defense, I know that’s going to be expected no matter where I go, but especially at Duke,” Plumlee said. “All the other stuff will come. I just need to get in the weight room and get stronger.”

Nike Memorial Day Classic Recap

Grassroots has a recap on the Nike Memorial Day Classic, including players of interest to the ACC such as Doron Lamb and Kendall Marshall.