Posted on Sun, May. 04, 2008

UK NOTEBOOK

Mixed views on young recruit

NCAA NOT BOTHERED BY UNBINDING EARLY COMMITMENTS

By Jerry Tipton

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Jerry Tipton

Not many recruiting analysts have seen eighth-grader Michael Avery play. One analyst who has, Clark Francis of the HoopScoop recruiting service, was astounded that Kentucky offered Avery a scholarship.

"I'm not sure he's a high Division I player," Francis said. "Him committing to Kentucky as an eighth-grader is absolutely ridiculous."

Before we go any further, here are two caveats:

• No one, including Francis and University of Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie, can say with certainty how good Avery will be in 2012 and beyond.

• Francis, a courageously opinionated analyst, has a mixed record in his projections. He correctly questioned whether in-state high school celebrity J.P. Blevins would make a major impact as a Kentucky player. But (and this is a Shaquille O'Neal-sized but) he also called the overhyped Chris Burgess a combination of Larry Bird and Bill Walton.

Having watched Avery play "many times," Francis was, as always, confident in his assessment of the commitment.

"He's not good enough to even think about taking a commitment from Kentucky," Francis said.

Avery, who turned 15 in March, is older than the average eighth-grader. He repeated the seventh grade. This adds to Francis' concerns about Avery as a future star for Kentucky.

"So he does not have as much upside as if he were a 'true' eighth-grader," said Francis, who added that "it's less than 50/50 he ever shows up at Kentucky.

"It's a strange situation. It's like, what are you doing? It's like, that's ridiculous."

If that opinion ruffles your feathers, then you'll want to hear from Malume Moye. He coached Avery the past two seasons for Ascension Lutheran Middle School in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Moye, whose son, A.J. Moye, was a productive player for Indiana, gushed about Avery.

"He can play on the D-1 level right now because of his shooting ability," the elder Moye said.

Moye likened Avery shooting off a curl move to Rip Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons.

"Michael can outshoot anybody on UCLA's team right now," the middle school coach said before adding, "That's not a mouthful. It's just a fact. Josh Shipp. You name any of them."

Moye noted Avery's passion for the game, competitive spirit and coachability. The player can dunk with two hands or shoot from 25 feet "with ease." Moye conceded that Avery will need to improve his quickness.

"The only thing that could hurt Michael is the wrong coach," Moye said. "A coach married to his ego and a system."

NCAA stays neutral

There's precedence for a college coach offering a scholarship to a player who had yet to enter high school.

Most notably, Ryan Boatwright, a speedy 5-10 point guard from Illinois, had yet to pick a high school when he accepted Tim Floyd's scholarship offer at Southern Cal. By contrast, Patrick Simon was a relative greybeard at 14 when he committed to Washington State as a high school freshman in February 2007.

When Boatwright committed, Fox Sports quoted the player's father, Mike, as saying of the Southern Cal Trojans, "They were the first one to show interest in Ryan. A lot of people have said Ryan isn't that good, but he went to USC's camp and played well."

This prompted Fox Sports to note, "First one to show interest in Ryan? Go figure. Puberty hasn't even shown interest in Ryan yet. At this rate, it's not long before a kid in elementary school has planned his future."

Fox Sports called for the NCAA to abolish such commitments.

"If the NBA can have the Age Limit Rule (which is a good thing), it's time the NCAA prohibit coaches from coming into contact with prep basketball players until at least their first high school game," Fox Sports opined. "Can we agree on this?"

Apparently, we cannot.

NCAA spokesperson Stacey Osburn noted that college coaches cannot actively recruit until a prospect starts the ninth grade. But if a younger prospect or his family contacts the school, a scholarship can be offered. Since such a commitment is non-binding, the NCAA sees no problem.

"You can't be of that age and sign a binding contract," Osburn said. "(The prospects) have to be ready to enter college."

But a commitment like the one made by Avery and Kentucky does not carry any obligation for the player or the school.

"It's not uncommon to commit, then sign with another school," Osburn said.

For instance, Taylor King committed to UCLA before beginning ninth grade. Then he signed with Duke. Now, after his freshman year with the Blue Devils, he's transferred to Villanova.

'Shooting The Pistol'

Danny Brown, a student photographer and reporter at LSU when Pete Maravich played for the Tigers, has chronicled those memorable days in a new book, Shooting The Pistol. (By the way, U.S. Customs held up the distribution of the book because the title heightened suspicion in this age of terrorism.)

It's a collection of black-and-white photographs of arguably the most colorful player in the history of college basketball.

"He was a phenomenal passer," recalled Mike Pratt, a UK standout of the period and now color commentator on UK radio broadcasts. "Bigger, faster and quicker than (Bob) Cousy with all the same stuff."

Pratt saw Maravich as a player ahead of his time in terms of creativity and showmanship.

"So far ahead of his time, it's staggering," Pratt said. "If you weren't careful, you could get caught up in just watching the guy. Then not-good things would happen."

Coincidentally, more than one photograph in Brown's book shows Pratt watching Maravich going up for a shot. "That's OK," Pratt said. "I wasn't the only one."

Of course, Brown's job called for him to train an eye on Maravich. Brown stored his photographs and began a career as a photographer after college. His assignments included four Apollo moon missions.

"Nothing does it justice," Brown said of the launches, which he photographed from three miles away. "It's not a roar. It sounds like somebody inside a 30-pound drum pounding it with a hammer."

A self-described "history nut," Brown knew he was photographing history when he shot the moon missions. That same sensation did not come to him as he took photos of Maravich, who became college basketball's all-time scoring leader.

"I thought he was a very good basketball player," Brown said. "I don't think we realized he'd pass into legend."

Ford motors

Ex-UK player Travis Ford hit the ground running as the new Oklahoma State coach. Less than a week on the job, he slapped an indefinite suspension on senior-to-be Terrel Harris for violating team rules.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State's deep-pocketed booster, T. Boone Pickens, saluted Ford as a historically good hire.

"It will go down in history that Burns Hargis and Travis Ford will be the two best hires we've made in the last 50 years," Pickens said in reference to the new school president and basketball coach.

That sounded like a slap at several basketball coaches hired in that span, including Eddie Sutton, Sean Sutton and Leonard Hamilton.

Pickens, the founder of the Dallas-based energy investment fund BP Capital, has given more than $250 million to Oklahoma State in recent years. Oklahoma State renamed its football stadium in his honor.

Pickens said he spoke with Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder (a longtime friend) as Holder searched for a coach to replace Sean Sutton, who resigned under pressure on April 1 after two seasons as the Cowboys' head coach.

But the billionaire booster said he had minimal impact on the hire of Ford.

"Don't ever have the idea that I'm trying to run the athletic department," Pickens told the Tulsa World. "I've got a full-time job."

OSU denied the reports of an offer to Kansas Coach Bill Self that included a $6 million signing bonus and annual salary of $3.5 million.

Ford has agreed to a contract that will pay him $1.3 million annually for seven years, which would make him the highest-paid coach of any sport in Oklahoma State's history.

Old Spice

The 2008 Old Spice Classic announced its field. The teams playing in the Orlando-based event are Georgetown, Gonzaga, Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Siena, Tennessee and Wichita State.

Tournament games will be played Nov. 27, 28 and 30.

Keep an eye on Siena. The Saints return all five starters from a team that went 23-11 and upset Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Four!

The Kentucky Derby served as a way for UK Coach Billy Gillispie to enjoy the company of some of his fellow coaches.

On Thursday, Gillispie played golf at Valhalla with Kansas Coach Bill Self, Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler and St. John's Coach Norm Roberts.

House broken?

Although well intended, the NCAA's Clearing House isn't perfect in its decisions on athletes' academic standing. For instance, take one-time UK prospect Beas Hamga. He committed to UNLV, but had to sit out this past season. The Clearing House questioned his transcript, which included schooling in his native Cameroon. As a compromise, the Clearing House ruled that UNLV could give Hamga financial aid. He could be on the team, but not travel or compete in games.

Then Hamga proved his academic worth. He was among the UNLV athletes recognized for achieving a grade-point average of 3.0 or better in the fall semester.

Happy birthday

To former UK player Jim Dinwiddie. He turned 60 on Thursday.

As a concession to age, Dinwiddie plays only half-court basketball these days. Otherwise, he said he feels fine at 60.

Dinwiddie grew up in Leitchfield, where he returned after college to begin a law practice. As a player over five years in the late 1960s and early 1970s (he played on the freshman team and then redshirted one season), his UK teams won 118 of 136 games. Yet ...

"We never felt successful because we never won the whole thing," he said.

After completing his eligibility, Dinwiddie attended law school while also helping the program as a recruiter. The heart of the 1978 national championship team (Jack Givens, James Lee, Rick Robey and Mike Phillips) join the program at that time. But Dinwiddie noted the one that got away: big man Kent Benson of New Castle, Ind.

"He told us he wanted to come to Kentucky," Dinwiddie said. "But if he crossed the river, he'd feel like a traitor."

In the cutthroat world of college athletics, Dinwiddie's recruitment serves as a quaint reminder of a long-gone era where, Vince Lombardi aside, winning was not everything. His high school coach, Bobby Bland, had been a starter and captain for Vanderbilt. Bland, who was also a distant relative, knew Dinwiddie was considering Vandy as well as UK, Navy and Western Kentucky.

"He told me, 'I'd be pleased if you went to Vanderbilt, but I expect you to go to Kentucky,' " Dinwiddie recalled.

A week after Dinwiddie signed with UK, Vandy announced the hiring of Bland as an assistant coach. Bland had not strongarmed the player to join him in Nashville.

"I always had an appreciation for him," Dinwiddie said of Bland, who subsequently died of kidney failure before the age of 30. "He was one of those coaches you play for instead of despite of."

News researcher Lu-Ann Farrar contributed to this article.

Jerry Tipton covers UK basketball for the Herald-Leader. This article contains his opinions and observations. He can be reached at jtipton@herald-leader.com.