The News-Gazette.com Weblog

Basketblog

Klee's Corner - Moody satellite camp edition

Posted by: Paul Klee

Sunday, June 15, 2008 10:39 AM

Klee's Corner, a full page of Illini basketball coverage, publishes every Sunday in the News-Gazette. The rest of the Corner can be found at http://www.news-gazette.com/sportsfacts/.

***

WHAT THEY SAID
"Luther Jr. and Jerrance Jr. -- the Illinois backcourt in 2026!" - Luther Head, whose first son was born June 3, on Jerrance Howard, whose wife Jessica is expecting

WHAT I'M HEARING
- Shortly after DERRICK ROSE left Simeon, coach ROBERT SMITH said he was the best player to come out of Chicago. "Ever," Smith said at the time. So it's no surprise Smith believes Rose should be the Bulls' choice with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. "It's a no-brainer to pick him," Smith said.

- "What he's going to do for the NBA is going to change the game even more," Smith said of Rose. "Those guys -- CHRIS PAUL, STEVE NASH, DERON WILLIAMS -- they're not as athletic as he is. So that part of the game he is definitely going to change."

- Former Illinois forward RODNEY ALEXANDER has Oklahoma City University on a short list of potential destinations. If he transfers to the NAIA program, the senior-to-be would be eligible to play next season. Alexander played two seasons at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., before spending last season at Illinois.

- Illinois is uncertain where BRIAN CARLWELL is headed, though there has been mutual interest between Carlwell and Howard and New Orleans. San Diego State also recently contacted the UI in regards to Carlwell.

- Sophomore BILL COLE, who's recovering from a knee injury, and senior TRENT MEACHAM, who underwent ankle surgery in April, have been cleared to return to the court. Cole and Meacham played in pickup games at the team's practice facility last week.

- The duties of a Chicago-area AAU coach are never complete. At the Illinois team camp, multiple AAU coaches struck up conversations with the family members of several highly regarded recruits, attempting to sway the players toward their traveling teams.

- SHAUN PRUITT'S agent said Pruitt's second private workout would be with the Indiana Pacers. Agent MIKE NAIDITCH said Pruitt worked out with the Sonics, alongside Georgetown center ROY HIBBERT.

WHAT I'M READING
And then there was one. KYLE TABER, a former walk-on, is Indiana's only remaining returning scholarship player after JORDAN CRAWFORD decided to transfer.
Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel

ESPN college basketball analyst JAY BILAS said he can't recall a mass exodus from an NCAA Division I program like the one Indiana has experienced.
Indianapolis Star

Five years after leading Syracuse University to the 2003 NCAA championship, Carmelo Anthony will return to play in the Carrier Dome next fall. Anthony will lead his Denver Nuggets in an NBA preseason game against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 17 at the Carrier Dome.
The (Syracuse) Post-Standard

WHAT I'M THINKING
- I'm thinking the amount of hyperbole layered on college prospects is usually out of whack. That isn't the case with 2010 recruit Crandall Head. If anything, not enough is written or said about his potential.

- Crandall is a frightening talent. He's built like a prototypical shooting guard, about 2 inches taller than his brother Luther, with long arms and the same type of athleticism. That much was on display last week while he played in pickup games with Luther, DEE BROWN and eight of the current Illinois players. I thought Crandall, 16, was the most difficult matchup outside Jamar Smith and the two pros.

- There was a maturity about Crandall's game that wasn't there during the high school season, illustrating how he seems to excel against better competition. "He's old enough where he can compete now," Luther said.

- On one possession, Crandall was isolated on the left wing and scored an improbable jumper. On another possession, he used what could develop into his trademark move: a crossover dribble and step-back jumper. The 16-year-old remains a streaky scorer, and when he's on, it's hard to imagine a national recruiting class with 10 better prospects.

- Most important, he has the type of love for the game shared by his brother. Crandall badly wanted to compete in the Illinois team camp last week, enough so that he inquired about suiting up for Whitney Young. "I did want to play. But it probably would have started a lot of (speculation)" on where he will attend high school next season, Crandall said, and he had not yet made that decision.

- That Crandall was effective against older players reminded me of a conversation with LYNDA PAUL, the mother of UI recruit BRANDON PAUL, at the Shootout at the Hall last December. Mrs. Paul, a seasoned coach who runs her own AAU program, watched Crandall score 34 points and figured he was a senior. She requested a game program for confirmation that, in fact, he was only a sophomore.

WHAT'S HAPPENING
(With Dee, Deron and Luther)
- DEE BROWN has secured a spot on a pair of NBA summer league rosters. Brown said he will play for teams representing the Detroit Pistons and Seattle SuperSonics. The summer leagues take place in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in July.

- After a season in Turkey, Brown clearly has his sights set on making an NBA roster. "That's all I'm thinking about, all I'm focused on," he said. "I'm going to stick it out, see what happens. I feel confident in what I can do, that I'll be playing ball for a living."

- On Jan. 29, LUTHER HEAD scored 20 points and sparked one of the NBA season's great storylines. It was the first of 22 straight wins for the Houston Rockets, the second-longest streak in league history.

- Head fell out of the rotation in the playoffs, averaging about 9 minutes after averaging 19 minutes during the regular season. Statistically, it was the most difficult of Head's three seasons. "You never know. I could wake up tomorrow and be traded," he said of his future with the Rockets. "Anything can happen."

- The 22-game winning streak was Houston's seasonal highlight. "I enjoyed it (the season). Obviously I didn't play as much as I wanted to," Head said. "But it was a great run. Some of the things we did with this team, it was crazy."

- Of all the Illini from the 2004-05 team, Luther Head has stayed especially close with the Illinois staff. He speaks often with BRUCE WEBER and WAYNE McCLAIN, and a visit to the basketball offices last week resembled a family reunion.

- Luther and CRANDALL HEAD were in town from Sunday through Thursday, Luther's third trip to C-U in the past year. "It's (because of) everything they've done for me. Without Illinois I wouldn't be where I'm at," Luther said of his frequent visits. "I could say I did it on my own and I'm a proud person. But I wouldn't be here. I feel like I owe them. Just because of what he's (Weber) done for me, how he stood by my side in tough times. He made me feel comfortable. The things they did for me, no one else did."

- As a benefit for his foundation, Point of Hope, DERON WILLIAMS will host a charity dinner at the Palmer House in Chicago on Sept. 12. Former Illini who will attend include Brown, Head, BRIAN COOK, MARCUS LIBERTY, MARCUS LIBERTY and KENDALL GILL. Individual tickets are available for $500, with three levels of sponsorship also available. Tickets for the dinner and information on Point of Hope can be found at http://www.deronwilliams.net.

WHAT'S ON TAP
Monday: NBA draft withdrawal deadline for early entrants.
Monday-Saturday: NBA Players Top 100 High School Baskteball Camp at the University of Virginia. Illini recruit Brandon Paul is one of the prospects invited to attend.
June 26: NBA draft.
July 6-15: Summer evaluation period for coaches watching prospects.
July 22-31: Summer evaluation period for coaches watching prospects.

WHAT I'M HEARING
(From the Illinois satellite camp in Chicago)
- Today is the first day college coaches can contact high school prospects entering their junior year. That includes UI recruit JEREME RICHMOND, who played for Waukegan at the satellite camp, and the family anticipates inquiries from coaches looking to gauge the strength of the commitment. The Richmonds approached the UI staff to get help preparing a plan on how to respond to curious coaches and confirm their Illinois commitment.

- BRUCE WEBER and JERRANCE HOWARD spent much of the Moody camp interacting with Richmond and his inner circle, similar to the UI team camp last weekend.

- There's a significant coaching figure firmly in support of the Illini -- and it's a relationship that wasn't there in the past. Westchester St. Josephs coach GENE PINGATORE said Friday that, for the first time in about 30 years, St. Joe's and the Illinois staff have a positive and consistent rapport.

- "Bruce is the first guy to come by even when we don't have kids (that Illinois is recruiting)," said Pingatore, who is entering his 40th year at St. Joe's. That Pingatore was a longtime BOB KNIGHT supporter -- and Weber was a longtime Purdue assistant -- makes for an intriguing scenario.

- DEMETRI McCAMEY, whose main recruiter was former UI assistant TRACY WEBSTER, is the first player from St. Joe's to be on scholarship at Illinois, a startling fact considering the school's tradition. "I think Demetri can play in the NBA," Pingatore said. "And so does he. If he can harness that in the right way, he can get there."

- Another Big Ten program has drawn the ire of the St. Joe's coach. Pingatore is upset with the way Iowa handled former St. Joe's standout TONY FREEMAN, who transferred to SIU after last season. "I'll never send another kid there again," Pingatore said.

- Competing without point guard DeANDRE McCAMEY, Pingatore coached St. Joe's to the satellite camp championship game. DeAndre, the younger brother of the UI's DEMETRI McCAMEY, underwent knee surgery Friday but said he will "definitely be back for the high school season."

- St. Joe's was led by the scoring of Diamond Taylor, a Wisconsin recruit who excelled Saturday. "I'm hoping we can be the best backcourt in the state," DeAndre said.

- Led by rising senior Chris Colvin, who made a case as the most impressive player in the field, Whitney Young beat St. Joe's for the Moody tournament title Saturday. "When I took over this job almost three years ago, they allowed us to participate," Young coach Ty Slaughter said. "We will always come back to Illinois' camp; it's the best competition and it's right here."

- To avoid the playing-time issues that slowed Young last season, Slaughter said he'll trim the varsity roster from 15 to 10 players next season. Slaughter said the coaches are still deciding whether sophomore Sam Thompson, who has a scholarship offer from Illinois, will play with the sophomore or varsity team next season.

- Of the 6-foot-6 Thompson, who did not play at Moody due to a chest injury, Slaughter said, "You look at all those guys in the 2011 class, from the standpoint of skills and upside, and we believe he's going to be the best."

- Thompson said he's grown up a North Carolina fan and lists the son of former Illini guard Stephen Bardo as a close friend. "I haven't even thought about colleges too much," Thompson said of his recruitment.

- Simeon rising senior JEREMY JONES, a 6-2 guard, was a standout Saturday. "I think he's one of the five best players here," coach ROBERT SMITH said. Illinois State, which signed former Simeon guard Kenyon Smith in November, has shown considerable interest in Jones, Smith said.

- UI recruiting target CHASSON RANDLE took a visit to Purdue last week, AAU coach MIKE MULLINS confirmed. "He's the best freshman we've ever had," Mullins said of Randle, a rising sophomore at Rock Island.

- Weber said the satellite camp will continue into the future. "The kids love to play. It's a very competitive event. I think they take a lot of pride in always being a part of it," he said. "I think it's always been one of the highlights of the summer for us. It's a chance for us to come to the city to intermingle with the coaches and the people involved with basketball in Chicago."

THE LIST
A handful of coaches are sweating out the NBA draft withdrawal deadline. Non-seniors have until 4 p.m. Monday to provide a written statement to the NBA offices to take their name out of the draft and return to college. Five early entrants whose decision will affect college basketball's balance of power in 2008-09:
1. Mario Chalmers, Kansas - Looks like he'll stay in draft, a blow to the defending champs
2. Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga - Chicago product an All-American candidate on Zags roster capable of Final Four
3. Ryan Anderson, California - By withdrawing from draft, he's Pac 10's preseason Player of the Year
4. Wayne Ellington, North Carolina - Regardless of decision, Tar Heels are candidates for preseason No. 1
5. Robert Dozier, Memphis - National runner-ups are our Final Four darkhorse in 2009 - provided he returns

THE NUMBER
17.9 - Points per game in the Turkish Basketball League last season for Warren Carter, who has a private workout scheduled with the Dallas Mavericks next week

Klee
pklee@news-gazette.com