Let me get this straight: The inexorable march of slime that is college basketball recruiting has reached such depths that a pair of high school stars now are making it known the school that hires Bob Huggins, reportedly Kansas State, gets them as a bonus.
That’s right, O.J. Mayo, a junior who twice has been named Mr. Basketball in Ohio, told the Associated Press that he and high school teammate Bill Walker just might follow Huggins.
“That could be a possibility,” Mayo said. “At the same time, we don’t want to go to a raw program. … It could be a great thing to happen. At the same time, we have to see where he ends up, what the school’s fan base is like, see what the fans think about him and make sure everything is great.”
Where will it end?
Will the next LeBron James make an offer along the lines of “Change the name of your school to Nike Institute and I’ll come play a year for you before taking my shoe contract to the NBA?”
If Huggins were so inclined, he could pay Mayo, the nation’s top-ranked junior, out of his own pocket to follow him to Kansas State, which reportedly has hired Huggins. He wouldn’t, of course, because to do so would be to break NCAA rules (I’m not winking, there’s a bug in my eye), but Huggins could afford to if he so desired. Remember, Huggins accepted a $3 million buyout from Cincinnati.
A successful recruiter and terrific coach, Huggins in many ways is the modern-day Jerry Tarkanian. He rewards players for their going all out defensively by giving them offensive freedom. His recruiting methods and the academic performance of most of his players forever keep NCAA investigators snooping around his program. He lasted 16 years at Cincinnati.
Already, Jason Bennett, a 7-foot-1 senior from Arlington Country Day High in Florida, reportedly is set to follow Huggins to K-State.
Cincinnati North College Hill teammates Mayo, a wing, and Walker, a power forward, also could follow Huggins to Manhattan. If Huggins shows them the Manhattan with the skyscrapers and Broadway shows and tells them they’ll love Manhattan, well, that wouldn’t make him the first college coach to stretch the truth.
Legend has it Al McGuire, while coaching at Belmont Abbey, was asked at the bar one night by an assistant coach from a big-time program, “How in the world did you get those two kids to go from the Bronx to Belmont Abbey when we were all recruiting them? What reason did they give for going there?”
Replied McGuire: “They said they liked the campus.”
Retorted the assistant: “I’ve been to your campus. It’s nothing compared to ours.”
Said McGuire: “I didn’t show them our campus. I showed them Chapel Hill.”
Under Huggins, the Wildcats will be tougher to beat and easier to hate. Isn’t that what rivalries are all about?
Elsewhere on the KU rivalry front, Missouri hasn’t hired a replacement for Quin Snyder yet. UAB’s Mike Anderson and Creighton’s Dana Altman, also a potential candidate for the Iowa job should it open up with Steve Alford going to Indiana, could upgrade the program. As for Wichita State’s Mark Turgeon, unless Iowa comes calling, which it very well could, look for Turgeon to stay put.
