| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
The season's over, but that doesn't mean the Word's Answer Man is taking any time off. If you want to send a question to the Word, click here and check back each week to see if your question was answered.
What's up with Jerry DeGregorio at Rhode Island? Will he last
another season as head coach? I heard he needed to bring in a great
recruiting class to keep his job.
-- Barry Brassil, Providence, R.I.
DeGregorio is well-liked at the school and in the state. He lost both
assistant coaches and needs to put together a staff that includes a top
recruiter and a tactician. The Rams have talent, albeit a lot of raw
athletic talent. They need to show individual improvement. If the Rams can
get better at basketball and not just signing players, then DeGregorio has a
chance to stay at Rhode Island. A lot of Ram fans want him to succeed but he
needs to show improvement. He was put in a no-win situation by replacing Jim
Harrick after back-to-back NCAA appearances (including an Elite Eight
showing).
Rumor around the Syracuse area is that Tony Bland is thinking of
transferring. Is it true that some of the big-name schools from California
have interest in him, or is this all hype?
-- Joe Flaminio, Syracuse, N.Y.
Bland has already received a release from Syracuse. If he follows through
with a transfer, he'll likely end up at San Diego State. USC, UCLA and
Arizona State were all involved in trying to land him but something has gone
awry with each school, forcing him to look outside the Pac-10.
We feel like that Auburn's recruiting class and the
transfer of superstar-to-be Adam Harrington will keep Auburn a top-10 club,
even though four starters have graduated (or will by this summer). Do you
agree? When you experts rate recruiting classes, do you consider the
foreign and junior college players coming in? Auburn recently signed 21-year-old 7-foot
center Marin Bota from Croatia who should provide immediate help down low.
-- Jim Saunders, Auburn, Ala.
You forgot another coup -- Auburn hired away Michael Wilson from Rhode
Island. Wilson is known to be a deft recruiter and should help Cliff Ellis
keep up the talent at Auburn. The Tigers should be a contender in the SEC
West next season with a younger look. Harrington needs to be the go-to scorer on
the perimeter and Bota will have to fill in for Mamadou N'Diaye in the post.
I was surprised to see that Jason Kapono made himself eligible for
the draft. Why did he? Does he have any shot at going in the first round?
Do you think that he will pull himself out of the draft and regain his
eligibility?
-- Peter McEntee, Sacramento, Calif.
He should. Kapono isn't a lock for the first round. If he doesn't pull
himself out of the draft, he'll make a major mistake. He can't defend at the
NBA level and needs help to get off his shot. The NBA isn't a wide-open
game. Halfcourt basketball rules the game and Kapono would struggle to find
an opening for his jumper.
Is Tubby Smith going to play his son at point guard or give
some else with more skills a chance? I think that is the
slot that will make or break Kentucky.
The plan is to stick with his son. Saul Smith has one more season left and Tubby hasn't shied
away from sticking with his son. You're right, though -- if Saul Smith has a good
year, the Wildcats have a chance to upset Tennessee and Florida in the SEC
East.
Andy, two questions for you. First, why is the Great Eight tournament not being held next season?
And second, now that Marcus Jefferson plans to transfer to Iowa State, will his suspension from Providence have any impact on his fall eligibility with the Cyclones?
The Great Eight tournament had a double exemption last season. Schools that
played in the Great Eight could also play in another exempted
tournaments (which were three-game events). That double exemption has been taken away by the NCAA. Big-time schools don't want to play a neutral site game in the Great Eight when
they can go to a holiday tournament and get three games or schedule a
guaranteed home game for a larger gate. As for your other question, don't worry about Jefferson next
fall because he has to sit out a year per NCAA transfer rules.
Hey Andy, I realize that Mateen Cleaves will probably be taken as
the first point guard in the draft. His game isn't much different than that of
fellow true point guard Ed Cota. Neither is a big scorer, while they are both great
passers and floor generals. So what's the big difference between them?
-- Brent Anthony, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Cota's inconsistencies at the point have hurt his draft status. Scouts don't think he's as strong a leader as Cleaves nor as consistent a scorer. Cota has slipped from the beginning of the season to the point that he's a likely mid-to-late second round pick.
I heard recently that Notre Dame just received a verbal commitment from a
"big-time" Indiana high school basketball player. Is there truth to this
and do you know who this person might be?
-- Sean Nolan, Knoxville, Tenn.
His name is Chris Thomas. The Irish are also in the running for Sean Kline.
Kline is choosing between Notre Dame and Indiana. Thomas and Kline are the
top two candidate for Mr. Basketball 2001 in Indiana.
Marquette has two very good recruits (Dwayne Wade and Terry
Sanders) who do not have qualifying test scores. If they don't pass, what
are their options? What usually happens in these situations? If they come as non-qualifiers, do they
lose a year of eligibility? Also, what are your thoughts on Tom Crean?
-- John Desing, Milwaukee
According to Crean, Wade and Sanders will eventually make it academically.
Crean doesn't expect either to bolt on him. Crean is a class coach who will
work as hard as anyone in the country. Expect Marquette to be competing for
the top of Conference USA within the next two years.
What is your advice for the path to follow if we have the same
career interest as you?
--Ryan Bartow, Oshkosh, Wis.
Work hard. Seriously. This wasn't easy. It took 10 years to get to this
point and I'm still working at trying to hone my craft. Keep making
contacts, work on your writing and find a niche that you're comfortable
doing. And, even when you may get discouraged, don't give up or settle for
something that you don't want.
You have not mentioned Lamont Long of New Mexico in your mock draft. New
Mexico was in a transition year and did not have a good year. Lamont Long
did not get the recognition he deserved. Could he be a surprise in this
year's draft?
-- Frank Padilla, Albuquerque, N.M.
Long didn't stand out at the Phoenix draft camp. He has to do more to stand
out in Chicago to be drafted higher in the second round. Long may have been
a first-round pick had he left after last season. But his stock fell during
his senior season. There's a chance that he won't get drafted at all. He needs to play with more purpose and hunger in Chicago to lock up a second-round slot.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Word on college basketball runs Thursdays throughout the off season. | |
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