Noel Johnson Commits to ACC; NBA Draft Notes

Last summer we tracked Noel Johnson (6’6″, SF, 2009) as an ACC recruit, but despite looking at several ACC schools, Johnson ultimately committed to Tim Floyd and USC. However, Tim Floyd was found to be guilty of recruiting violations and is now no longer the head coach of the Trojans.

Johnson decided to withdraw his commitment from USC and now has decided on Clemson, giving Oliver Purnell some talent on the wing to help replace K.C. Rivers and Terrence Ogelsby.

Sean May, Raymond Felton & J.J. Redick

A quick note on some former ACC stars, if you watched the NBA Finals a few days ago you know that J.J. Redick has played well but seems to be underutilized by the Magic. However, it is apparent that he’s going to stay in the NBA for now, and I expect the Magic to try and trade JJ and Rafer Alston during the draft.

Meanwhile, two former UNC stars from the Tar Heels’ 2005 national championship team are seeing their careers continue in different directions. The Charlotte Bobcats have decided not to make a qualifying offer to Sean May, which would make him a restricted free agent. At the same time, Charlotte has made a qualifying offer to Raymond Felton. A qualifying offer is just a starting point, which means that the player can look at other teams but the Charlotte has the first right to match the offer in order to keep the player.

I’m not surprised with Felton, one of the few bright spots for the Bobcats and one of the more underrated starting point guards in the NBA. The Bobcats have never been a serious playoff contender and thus, no one on the Bobcats gets much publicity, not even Gerald Wallace or Emeka Okafor.

With Sean May, it’s all about injury. He’s been injured or dealing with chronic pain for nearly his entire stint in the pros. In three seasons he’s been unable to play even one season’s worth of games. The reality is that the Bobcats still might sign Sean, but the team can’t keep money tied up at the PF spot when they are so thin there. I believe that the move not to offer May is a sign that they want to see what they can get in the draft.

NBA Draft

Ah, the NBA draft. One of the most annoying things about the NBA is how much they promote personalities over teams, and it often starts right here on draft day. This year the perennial losing L.A. Clippers are sitting on the number one draft pick, and everyone expects them to take Blake Griffin, a monster PF who should be an impact player. I like Griffin’s game, which involves basically leaping from the half court line and dunking on anyone who gets in his path. The only concern I would have is that when UNC thumped his Oklahoma Sooners in the NCAA tournament, he seemed to have a hard time handling the double team and doesn’t seem to have much mid range game. Still, the NBA is about man-to-man and he is an athletic freak.

I see a lot of mock drafts picking UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet as the number 2 pick, and I’ve got to say I see that as a huge mistake. I’d take Ricky Rubio, Brandon Jennings, James Johnson or Stephen Curry over Thabeet. I think Thabeet is the most overrated player in this year’s draft.

Most underrated player going into the draft? Possibly Tyler Hansbrough. It’s fashionable to hate Hansbrough and claim he’ll be a joke in the pros. Throw all the college awards out the window, because they mean nothing to the NBA, but in Hansbrough, I see a better version of Glenn “Big Baby” Davis or Corliss Williamson. He has developed a better shot than either of those players but he will need to be more of a rebounder in the pros. Charlotte worked out Hansbrough, Gerald Henderson, Steph Curry, K.C. Rivers and Ben McCauley over the past couple of weeks. Charlotte’s roster move with Sean May could make room for Hansbrough at the 13th pick. Most drafts have Tyler going late first round, but it’s probably going to depend on the Bobcats. There aren’t many PF players to pick from this year, and the ‘Cats will have to decide if they want to take the best player available (which could be Brandon Jennings) or draft for need.

Noel Johnson Update

According to most sources, Noel Johnson (SF, 6’7″, 2009) is down to three:Louisville, Georgia Tech and USC. However, at least one source now claims that Louisville is no longer recruiting Johnson. Is this foreshadowing for Georgia Tech fans?

A few weeks ago it looked as if Johnson was the most likely to finish off the recruiting class however Louisville has quit recruiting Johnson after a few tough outings in a row.

It seems more likely, if true that U of L is no longer pursuing Johnson, that Johnson has either made his decision or the story is inaccurate. It’s highly unlikely that Louisville would watch Johnson enough to decide to recruit him,then eventually offer him a scholarship, and then suddenly after a couple of bad games retract the offer. Just a hunch, but we’ll see what happens.

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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.

ACC Basketball Recruiting Roundup, July 4th, 2008

Happy Independence Day to everyone!

Just a few days after we posted that Austin Rivers (PG, 6’3″, 2011) listed UNC but really liked Florida, he pulled the trigger and has committed to the Gators.

In the same story, Nolan Dennis(SG/SF, 6’5″, 2009) is reportedly headed to Memphis. At one time UNC was heavily involved in the recruitment of Dennis, but it seems likely that once UNC signed Leslie McDonald (PG/SG, 6’4″, 2009), Dennis would go elsewhere.

Noel Johnson and Georgia Tech

Scout.com is reporting that Noel Johnson has visited Georgia Tech recently, telling GoJackets.com’s Shane Connell:

“It was great because we like Paul Hewitt as a coach anyway, but the school, the organizers, the way that they run things is a plus. They stress a lot of academic work, which is what we are looking for.”

Mason Plumlee and the U-18 team

Duke signee Mason Plumlee (PF, 6’11”, 2009) has made the cut of fourteen finalists for the U-18 USA Basketball roster.

Sean Mosley, good news for Terp fans

Finally, a bit of good news for Terp faithful: Sean Mosley( SG, 6’4″, 2008 Commit), has gotten clearance to attend Maryland, although there are things still up the air about Steve Goins.

Lance Stephenson, not born ready

So back to the U-18 trials, it turns out that Lance Stephenson apparently dented the persona that he’s the next phenom, according to this scathing story from Seth Davis. He reports that Stephenson not only played poorly – very poorly – but that he was a horrible teammate:

Even worse, after every mistake he acted like it was someone else’s fault. He barked at his teammates. He whined to the refs. He rolled his eyes and slapped his thighs. He shook his head and muttered to himself.

Davis also goes on to point out that even though Stephenson is being hyped as the next NBA sure thing, he is not:

It’s a safe bet nobody would say those things about Stephenson if he were from, say, Phoenix instead of New York. At any rate, Stephenson demonstrated quite clearly at the Team USA trials that he is none of those things — not yet, anyway.

It’s a very juicy article, but it raises a key point about the NBA and the one-year-rule. Just a few days ago we heard from Lance’s dad that if there was no rule, his son would jump straight to the league. Well, here is where the rule comes into play: if Lance is really ready for the NBA, he should have no problem proving it when he plays in the 2009-2010 season in the NCAA. But as a rising high school senior, apparently any talk of that is premature.

Michael Snaer: Playing time is a factor

Michael Snaer (SG/SF, 6’5″, 2009), has been on the radar for some ACC teams but is ‘less visible’ to those of us on the east coast since he’s a California kid. And UCLA has been after Snaer, which is a pretty daunting recruiting challenge for any ACC school. However, Snaer says in this interview that playing time at UCLA is a concern:

“Yeah, it is, just with the guys they have coming in ahead of me.”

Snaer goes on to mention that Virginia Tech has expressed interest in his game, and that a lot of new schools are getting involved in his recruitment, but no mention of Miami or FSU.

Noel Johnson plans USC, U of L visits

Noel Johnson plans to visit Louisville and USC this fall, according to this story from NBE Basketball. However, he also still mentions interest from ACC schools Wake Forest and Georgia Tech.

ACC Basketball Recruiting Roundup, 6/30/2008

Dexter Strickland

Dexter Strickland(SG, 6’3″, 2009), who has committed to UNC, has a pulled hamstring and sat out the Steve Nash skills camp.

Dante Taylor

Kansas has gotten interested in Dante Taylor (PF, 6’8″, 2009), a Maryland target. Maryland has already offered.

Noel Johnson

Noel Johnson (SG/SF,6’6″,2009), a player who has an offer from North Carolina, attended the Vince Carter Skills Academy last week. Johnson seems to be leaning toward Louisville.