The info I found on this and other recruiting news from hoopscooponline.com:
Monday, June 16, 2003 - Our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson tells us that 6'4 Jr Albert Weber from Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC, who is one of the best 3-point shooters in the junior class nationally, has made a verbal commitment to the University of Alabama, which means the Crimson Tide is loading up on perimeter players in next year's recruiting class.
If you will recall, Alabama already has landed 6'7 John Felix from Bevill State (JC) AL, who is expected to be one of the top five junior college players in the nation next year, and 6'2 Jr Ronald Steele from Birmingham (John Carroll) AL, who is one of the top point guards in the South, and, as a result, the Crimson Tide's recruiting class currently is ranked #3 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004.
And we think it's only a matter of time before Alabama also lands 6'4 Jr Glenn Miles from Birmingham (West End) AL, which would move their recruiting class up to #2 on our list of the Top Recruiting Classes To-Date for the Class of 2004, unless Arkansas, which currently has the #2-ranked class, gets 6'1 Jr Jason Horton from Cedar Hill (H.S.) TX.
Speaking of Horton, who is ranked #8 nationally in the junior class by the HOOP SCOOP, .he made an official visit over the weekend to Fayetteville, AR and we believe the Razorbacks are one of the top three schools on his list, along with Missouri and Florida. And the race for top the top recruiting class in the Southeastern Conference next year may continue to be almost too close to call for some time, because Arkansas also is going to be tough to beat for 6'7 Jr Marcus Monk from Lapento (East Poinsette) AR and 6'8 Taj Gray from Redland (JC) OK and Alabama should not be counted out for either 6'9 Jr Walter Sharpe from Birmingham (Parker) AL or 6'9 Jr. D.J. White from Tuscaloosa (Hillcrest) AL.
If it's up to White, it's already a done deal for Indiana, as is evident by the fact that he was telling his teammates in Europe last week that the Hoosiers are going to be really good when he arrives on campus a year from now. However, Alabama still has a shot to turn the tide if Mark Gottfried and his staff can sell White's parents on the importance of staying close to home and seeing their son play all the time. But, even if they aren't able to pull of the upset and get White, the Alabama program still should in great shape for years to come, as the current recruiting class has plenty of size with 6'10 Akini Adkins from Tallahassee (Leon) FL, 6'9 Jemario Davidson from Stone Mountain (Redan) GA, and 6'10 Shawn Taylor from Perry (H.S.) GA and the final piece to the puzzle will like be 6'8 Soph Richard Hendrix from Athens (H.S.) AL, who is ranked #8 in the Class of 2005 by the HOOP SCOOP.
As a matter of fact, Hendrix has two older sisters who graduated from Alabama and his father, who also is his high school coach, has been taking Hendrix to Alabama games since he was a little kid. And the strong ties to the school don't stop there, as Hendrix's aunt (his father's sister) was one of the first black students ever to attend and graduate from the school.
We also have confirmed that 6'7 Andre Patterson is transferring from UCLA to Fresno State and that Tim Doyle is transferring from St. John's to Northwestern, which is a major coup of the Wildcats. And another major coup would be if the Wildcats could get 6'3 Jr Matt Sargeant from Huntington Beach (Oceanview) CA. Right now Northwestern appears to be the school to beat for this athletic white who can shoot the lights out and gets better every time we see him, but Stanford, Princeton, UC-Santa Barbara, and Colorado also must be mentioned.
We also think Northwestern would be a perfect fit for 6'3 Soph Bobby Frasur from Chicago (Brother Rice) IL, 6'7 Soph Mike Davis from Chicago (Gordon Tech) IL, 6'1 Soph Bryan Mullins from Downers Grove (H.S.) IL, and 6'3 Soph Sead Odfic from Skokie (Niles West) IL, who are the nucleus of that loaded Illinois Wolves 16-under team that won their age group in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions three weeks ago.
As a matter of fact, the Illinois Wolves are so well coached and fundamentally sound that they remind us of the teams that Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody helped recruit and won with over the years at Princeton. We also are waiting to see what 6'9 Jr Matt Terwilliger from Troy (H.S.) OH, who is ranked #2 in the state by our Ohio Editor Chris Johnson, is going to do.
Actually we thought an official annoucement would be forthcoming late last week, but apparently there is some division in the family with regards to where Terwilliger should go. Terwilliger is leaning towards Cincinnati, but his parents are pushing Ohio State. So it should come as no surprise that the family decided to put some distance between themselves and the recruiting process by going on vacation for a week. Perhaps a decision will be forthcoming when they get back later this week, but hopefully they won't be pressured into doing something prematurely. After all, where you go to college often is one of the most important decisions of your life.
