By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Steve Logan is keeping his fingers crossed that he'll get a second chance with the Golden State Warriors after wasting what could have been his rookie year in the NBA by not signing a contract last season.

"Things are looking pretty good for me," Logan said. "I'm in pretty decent shape now."

Logan, a former University of Cincinnati All-American, was drafted last year by the Warriors with the first pick of the second round, but he never signed with them.

He was the subject of a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer last week. In the story, he says he didn't sign with the Warriors because his agent at the time - Shedrick Howard - demanded a guaranteed contract, and the Warriors refused to grant it.

The former UC point guard also suffered from a chronic foot injury he said hindered his play last summer. Now he wears an insert that has eliminated the pain in his arch.

He has severed ties with two previous agents and now is represented by Aaron Goodwin, who also represents LeBron James.

Logan was invited to play on the Warriors' summer league team this year but averaged only 5.3 points in seven games and shot just 31.7 percent (13-of-41) from the field.

"I'm still talking to (the Warriors) about Steve," Goodwin said. "He played well in the summer league. I'm just trying to contractually make it a good situation for him."

Goodwin said Logan, who has battled weight problems in the past, has improved his conditioning "but still has a ways to go. I take him to be an upbeat young man who's willing to work hard and do what it takes to be in the league."

The Warriors recently signed Speedy Claxton to replace last season's starting point guard, Gilbert Arenas. They selected Derrick Zimmerman out of Mississippi State in the second round of this year's draft.

RATING THE RECRUITS: The real test of a recruiting class comes from the players' performance, but for those who like to project, UC's class of five incoming recruits has been rated among the top 10 in the country by several recruiting services.

Van Coleman of Hoopmasters.com rates the Bearcats' class No. 8. Coleman calls center Robert Whaley "the No. 1 junior-college prospect in the country" with "all the tools to dominate in and around the basket."

Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop rates UC's class 16th but offers the caveat that his rankings do not include forward James White, a transfer from Florida.

"It is editorial policy of the Hoop Scoop not to count transfers when ranking a recruiting class," Francis wrote. "But if we did, Cincinnati's recruiting class would be ranked No. 2."

PrepStars ranks UC's class seventh behind Louisiana State, Kansas, Michigan State, Michigan, Florida State and Connecticut.

Xavier's class was ranked No. 69 by Hoop Scoop. Coleman listed the Musketeers' class among the Best of the Rest.

TOURNAMENT SCRAMBLE: It will be several weeks before Chris Spencer of Cincinnati-based World Wide Basketball will have an idea which teams will compete in the four tournaments he hopes to conduct this season in light of last week's court ruling that forbids the NCAA from limiting the number of times a team can play in them.

"We're trying to look at moving some games, if teams are willing," Spencer said. "It'll take a week or two weeks to get through this fog.

"I guess there would be a lot of opportunities for Cincinnati. I'm looking to run three tournaments in Las Vegas this coming season. That's an option for them. Hopefully, we can get them."

CHESLEY ON THE NCAA: Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley, one of the lawyers who tried the case for World Wide Basketball, delighted in the victory against the NCAA.

Chesley is a former chairman of UC's board of trustees and remembers the commotion caused by the prospect of a visit from an NCAA representative.

"I didn't see this kind of carrying on when the president came to town," Chesley said.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com