Thursday, April 13, 2000
Tristate basketball recruiting roundup
Miami stocked; UC, UK still working
BY Mike DeCourcy
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There weren't many college coaches who saw less action on the first day of the spring signing period for basketball recruits than Miami's Charlie Coles. And this was a good thing.
The RedHawks got all their recruiting work done during the fall signing period, and it turned out as well as they could have hoped.
Small forward Julius Johnson averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds and was named Ohio's player of the year by the Gatorade Circle of Champions. Forward Eugene Seals of Saginaw High finished second behind McDonald's All-American Marcus Taylor in the voting for Michigan's Mr. Basketball. Chester Mason, a 6-foot-3 guard from Cleveland South, averaged a triple-double (25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) and shared Ohio's Mr. Basketball award with Clemson recruit Tony Stockman.
“We're very satisfied with what we got in November,” Coles said Wednesday. “All three of our guys had great years.”
At other area schools, there still was recruiting to be done:
• The Cincinnati Bearcats received a signed letter of intent from 6-8 forward Rod Flowers of Butler High in Huntsville. He was Alabama's Class 6A player of the year. Flowers averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds. “Rod is a big, strong guy with great hands,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “He is as good a high school rebounder as I have seen in the last five or six years.”
Jamaal Davis, a 6-8 power forward from Barton County Community College in Kansas, planned to sign his letter of intent Wednesday and overnight it to his mother for her signature.
Davis is expected to visit the UC campus this weekend, as is 6-4 guard Imman uel McElroy of Tyler (Texas) Community College. McElroy is being recruited as a replacement for shooting guard DerMarr Johnson, who entered the NBA draft.
• Kentucky is waiting to hear from its primary target, 6-9 small forward Darius Rice, a McDonald's All-American from Jackson, Miss. He is considered an outstanding deep shooter, although recruiting analysts question his toughness.
The Wildcats will get a visit April 20 from Princeton High's Erik Daniels, a versatile 6-6 guard who was considered the top prospect in the Cincinnati area. Daniels' father, David, said Erik also will visit Michigan April 17. He has been to Temple and Clemson and will choose among the four schools after returning from UK.
UK also is pursuing 6-7 John Grice of Shelby State C.C. in Memphis, 6-1 guard Jannero Pargo of Neosho (Kan.) C.C. and 6-3 shooting guard Gerald Fitch of Westside High in Macon, Ga.
• Ohio State is one of the final two schools being considered by 6-10 Darius Manciel of Detroit's Pershing High. The Buckeyes must beat TCU.
Coles is pleased to have been able to focus Miami's spring recruiting efforts toward the junior class. In Ohio, it's one of the deepest groups of players in several seasons.
But signing the state's top two players in any season is a coup for Miami, given its recent history of producing basketball talent. Two of the starters on Michigan State's national championship team were Ohio products: big men A.J. Granger and Andre Hutson.
Pulling in Johnson and Mason from Cleveland showed Miami has built a strong reputation throughout the state as a result of its success with All-American Wally Szczerbiak. The RedHawks reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 1999 with Szczerbiak averaging 30 points in three tournament games.
“It definitely helped us,” Coles said. “Sometimes when a mid-major school goes into the tournament, it won't translate into that, but with the publicity we got ... It was phenomenal.”
Miami will go into next season with six new players. The RedHawks will have 6-3 guard Doug Davis, who was the backup to All-American Mateen Cleaves on Michigan State's 1999 Final Four team; Larry Drake, an athletic wing player from Grove City who was not eligible as a freshman; and 6-8 forward Alex Shorts of San Jacinto (Texas) J.C., who also was on campus this year but did not play.
They'll join Seals, Mason and Johnson in perhaps the most significant infusion of basketball talent Miami has enjoyed since Oxford turned into “Wally World.”
“Julius (Johnson) has made some nice improvements and he's really been working hard,” Coles said. “With Eugene (Seals), anytime I see somebody from Michigan, they say, "You got a steal there.' Going into the season, Chester (mason) wasn't considered in a class with the other guys. We're glad we signed him early. Boy, he came on.”
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