People who follow recruiting are usually interested in who their school can get into their program next year. Others just want to know about the top players, whether they are seniors, juniors, or, what have you. Some just want to know the "flavor of the month," whoever seems to be the most hyped at the time.

Being aware of these needs, we try to use this space as much as possible for those type of prospects. But occasionally, we think it is interesting to throw the spotlight on talented players who may be toiling in obscurity, as far as the recruiting public is concerned.

And that is where we are headed today. And, it usually doesn't get more obscure for the recruiting fan than junior college basketball, and in particular, Coconut Creek, Fla. -- where a team that was 2-28 a year ago has been turned around by first year head coach Bob Starkman.

Starkman has Broward Community College on a fresh onion roll, going 17-9 and 5-3 in conference. Starkman, who had turned around the women's program at Broward, is doing the same for the men, with some assistance from a freshman from California -- 6-foot-8, 215-pound swingman Nate Daniels, who was a first-year redshirt at Fresno State last year.

Daniels, a native of San Diego, is leading the entire country in scoring, averaging 30.6 points a game. He is also averaging six rebounds and two assists per game.

"Nate didn't play at all last season," said Starkman. "He just practiced at Fresno State, so there was some rust there. But the last seven games, he's been ridiculous for us. As of last week, Nate was averaging over 40 in conference.

"The things he does on the floor are pretty mind-boggling," continued Starkman. "He's at another level. We're talking about a 6-8 off guard with crazy scoring ability. He's shooting over 38 percent from 3-point range and he's shooting a lot of them, and we're talking about someone who is shooting 70 percent for 2-point field goals."

Though he's just a freshman and will have another season of eligibility for Starkman, Daniels still has to get his Associate of Arts degree (AA) next year to be eligible to play at the next level. The NCAA's 4-2-4 rule requires a player who transfers from a 4-year school to a 2-year community college to get his AA degree before being eligible to play at another Division I school.

But DI schools are starting to take notice. And it's not hard to see why when Daniels has already gone for over 50 points twice, and been over 40 on three different occasions.

He's a good athlete with excellent scoring skills. Daniels can shoot it from deep, but he's even more dangerous slashing to the bucket. And he finishes plays, while averaging about three facials per game.

Miami (Fla.), Florida International, Texas Tech, Pittsburgh, Duquesne, Oklahoma and Southern Cal have already shown considerable interest and begun the recruiting process. Expect that list of schools to grow considerably in the next six months.

Too Many Volunteers?
Looking into the not too distant future, 5-9 junior (class of 2003) point guard Dez Willingham (DeSoto H.S./DeSoto, Texas) recently gave Tennessee a verbal commitment. Willingham is considered one of the better point guards in the Class of 2003. And, prior to Willingham's verbal, Tennessee received a verbal commitment from 6-4 junior Dane Bradshaw (White Station H.S./Memphis, Tenn.).

Of course, this is good news for Tennessee fans, but also of note is that there was apparently a little controversy involved.

Messages left by us to DeSoto High School for Willingham's coach have not yet been returned, but supposedly, Bradshaw and Willingham were each told that Tennessee would take whomever committed first. Since the two players play different positions, that doesn't make much sense to us, as far as being something that any of the Tennessee coaches would have said.

Then, after Willingham committed, Bradshaw's mother allegedly was upset. She allegedly was under the impression that her son was coming to Tennessee to play the point.

Still following? At that point, there was a rumor that Willingham was going to back away from his verbal commitment. However, apparently, things have been worked out and both player's verbal commitments are currently in good standing.

Looking at the players at his position coming in one class ahead of him, Bradshaw will likely be a solid role player for the Vols. Willingham will be expected to pick up the torch and be the future at the point. In the event we receive any further clarification from any of the parties involved, we will update the situation.

Haddan Still Hot Out West
On the west coast, 6-1 Patrick Haddan (Woodbridge H.S./Irvine, Calif.) has been on the sidelines recently with an ankle sprain (he should return to action this week), but that hasn't seen his recruitment tail off.

Haddan, who is extremely quick and fast, just blows by opponents and excels on the defense end with his tight man-to-man defense. He's a full qualifier who has long been treasured by the Ivies (Penn and Princeton are on him hard), and he's had his share of mid-major programs (Cal Poly, Portland, San Francisco and Long Beach State) who have shown interest.

Haddan, who is averaging 16 points, five assists and three steals, has recently received interest from Texas A&M and Hawaii. Southern Cal has talked to him about walking on (with a possibility of a scholarship after his freshman year), while Auburn and South Carolina have been in contact with him throughout the school year.