For years, Bob Gibbons monopolized coverage of men’s college basketball recruiting.
Then came …. drumroll please … the Internet.
Now, as a new millennium dawns, no Kansas basketball “recruitnik” dares go without Internet access.
Gibbons’ recruiting updates are available daily on the World Wide web, along with reports from a plethora of others who cover recruiting, including the new guru, Mike Sullivan of Insider’s Report, plus … Mark Mayamura, David Benezra, Tracy Pierson, Marc Maggard, Russ Blake, Dave Telep, Brick Oettinger, Greg Swaim, Clark Francis, Van Coleman, Frank Burlison, Greg Hicks, Jeremy Tiers, Vince Baldwin, Warren Wilkins, Tom Konchalski, Dave Glenn, Rob Harrington and Todd Townsend to name a few.
Each of these writers has worked to unearth a batch of players who say they are interested in Kansas as the July evaluation period nears.
The Jayhawks will have six scholarships to give during the 2000-2001 school year. One recruit is already in the fold.
Wayne Simien, 6-foot-8 of Leavenworth High, announced for KU in April.
Here’s a list of some other high school seniors-to-be, who according to the experts, have KU on their lists.
Josh Childress, 6-5, Lakewood, Calif.: Childress, who made unofficial visits to Kansas and Arizona last school year, will tour Stanford’s campus in July. Duke, North Carolina and UCLA also are on the slender shooting guard’s list of schools. Childress, who averaged 22 points for Mayfair High a year ago, has qualified academically and is not talking about an immediate jump to the NBA.
Dennis Latimore, 6-9, Halstead: Latimore, who made an unofficial visit to KU’s campus last season, has an A-list of KU, Arizona and UCLA. Wide-open, he’s also considering USC, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Iowa State, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas State, Stanford, Syracuse and Texas. Latimore is playing for a California AAU team this summer.
Aaron Miles, 6-0, Portland, Ore.: Miles, who has been spotted wearing KU gear at various tourneys, also likes Arizona, Duke, UCLA and Stanford. Others on his list: Oregon, Oregon State, USC and Washington. Miles, who will attend Nike camp in July at Indianapolis, averaged 14 points and seven assists a year ago. KU coach Roy Williams was on hand for two of Miles’ games.
David Lee, 6-9, St. Louis: Lee, who has been compared to Raef LaFrentz, has already made unofficial visits to KU, St. Louis, Illinois, Indiana, Florida and Missouri, and also will travel this summer to Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky. Duke reportedly has made Lee its No. 1 priority.
Jamal Sampson, 6-11, Santa Ana, Calif.: The Mater Dei High big man reportedly likes North Carolina … a lot. Also, UConn, KU, Virginia and Stanford. Arizona has already received a commitment from big man Channing Frye, likely eliminating the Wildcats.
He’s also listed UCLA, Duke, Kentucky and Syracuse in the past.
Cedric Bozeman, 6-5, Santa Ana, Calif.: A prep teammate of Sampson, Bozeman gave a verbal commitment to UCLA last season. He still may be a future Bruin, yet has reopened his recruiting to include Arizona, KU, Florida, Syracuse, Duke and Kentucky.
Daniel Ewing, 6-5, Sugarland, Texas: Ewing says he’s considering Duke, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Kansas, Syracuse, Houston and Baylor. Sugarland Willowridge High coach John Eurey told High Major Hoops that KU is a strong possibility. Point guard Terrance Ford is a teammate of Ewing. It’s believed Texas has made Ford a top priority. The two, naturally, wouldn’t mind playing ball at the same university.
Chuck Hayes, 6-7, Modesto, Calif: Hayes, who plays both football and basketball, has listed KU, Kentucky, Arizona, UCLA, Stanford, UTEP, USC, Syracuse and San Diego State. He recently told Tracy Pierson of Pac West Hoops he’d likely just play basketball in college.
Jason Carter, 6-9, Las Vegas: KU, UCLA, Texas, Minnesota and Syracuse intrigue him. Originally from Minnesota, Carter has said he envisions playing college ball in the Midwest. UNLV has yet to appear on his lists of schools.
DeMarshay Johnson, 6-9, Oakland: KU, Arizona, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Miami of Florida, San Francisco and UCLA dot his list.
Dommanic Ingerson, 6-3, Santa Barbara, Calif.: Ingerson told Maggard of kentuckywildcats.net he has a list of Kentucky, UConn, Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, North Carolina, KU and Duke. Fresno State, Georgia Tech, Oregon and St. John’s also are on the list.
Rick Rickert, 6-10, Duluth, Minn: Minnesota, Michigan State and Iowa and Wisconsin could be logical landing points for the Minnesota big man. He’s also mentioned Duke, KU, Florida and UCLA.
Tyson Chandler, 7-1, Compton, Calif.: Most experts believe Chandler will skip college for the NBA. Chandler has KU, Arizona, UCLA, Kentucky, Michigan, Syracuse and Florida drooling. Chandler has made unofficial visits to Michigan, UCLA and Kentucky.
Eddy Curry, 6-11 of South Holland, Ind.: Curry is another big man with the NBA on the mind. His college list includes DePaul, UConn, Illinois, KU, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Memphis and North Carolina.
Colleges will recruit both Chandler and Curry at their own risk, with the NBA sure to swoop down and corral the talented duo.
Andre Patterson, 6-8, Los Angeles: Originally from Indiana, Patterson has Michigan, KU, Purdue and Duke on his list. He’ll be returning to his home state for Nike camp in July.
Chris Hernandez, 6-1, Clovis, Calif.: Pac West Hoops is high on Hernandez, who is considering UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, Purdue, Fresno State, USC, Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Utah.
Erik Bond, 6-7, Seattle: A good shooter, Bond told PacWest Hoops most of the Pac-10 schools are recruiting him. He also hopes to be recruited by KU and Duke.
Carlos Hurt, 6-2, Alief, Texas: Hurt, who has family in Louisville, likes Denny Crum’s Cardinals. Also Arizona, Texas A&M, Texas, Cincy, KU, Duke, Syracuse and Houston.
Jamaal Williams, 6-6, Corona, Calif: Utah, Kansas, UCLA, New Mexico, Cal, St. Louis, USC, Stanford, Duke, Villanova dot his list. He has told recruiters he’d like to stay close to home.
Alex Galloway, 6-6, San Francisco: Told PacWest Hoops he’s grown up following Kentucky and Kansas and also likes Utah, Xavier, Penn State and Miami.
Chad Bell, 6-11, Los Angeles: Arizona, KU and UCLA dotted his pre-summer list.
Jason Braxton, 6-2, Moreno Valley, Calif.: USC, UCLA, Tulane, Kansas and Villanova are on his mind entering evaluation season.
Jamar Howard, 6-6, Kansas City: Overland Park Miege product may be a top priority of UCLA. It’s unknown if the Jayhawks will recruit Howard heavily, or not.
Dijon Thompson, 6-6, Redondo Beach, Calif.: Cincinnati, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, KU and Kentucky join West coast contenders Arizona, Cal, USC and UCLA.
Mike Fey, 6-10, Olympia, Wash.: He says his list consists of UCLA, Syracuse, KU, Texas, Pepperdine, USC and Washington, telling PacWest Hoops he’d like to go away from home.
Najeeb Echols, 6-7, Chicago: Echols, who competes for the Illinois Gold summer team, likes DePaul, Illinois, Kansas, UCLA, California, Michigan State, Ohio State and Duke. Echols still considers himself “wide open” and prefers a fast-paced, open court game.
Apolinar Fernandez, 6-9, Artesia, Calif.: Missouri, UCLA, USC, UNLV and Alabama may be his main schools, according to Insider’s Report. He is from the Dominican Republic.
LeVar Seals, 6-4, Chicago: The Providence St. Mel player plays for the Illinois Fire AAU team and didn’t have a list earlier this summer.
Rory O’Neil, 6-10, Ridgecrest, Calif.: A stellar student, he says he’s considering Cal, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, KU and Kentucky.
Some other players that have told Insiders Report and Rivals network sites they like KU: Marco Killingsworth, 6-7, Montgomery, Ala.; Gavin Ludgood, 6-7, Clarksville, Ark.; Isaiah Fox, 6-9, Santa Monica, Calif.; Dennis Coutee, 6-5, Jeffersonville, Ind.; Fabrice M’Balla-Morgan, 6-6, Fresno, Calif.; Floyd North, 6-5, San Diego; Josh Carrier, 6-5, Bowling Green, Ky.; James White, 6-7, York, Pa.
