| 1996 | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May |
The two freshmen signees, Tang Hamilton and Marckell Patterson are attending both sessions of summer school at their own expense. All the returning players will be attending the second session of summer school, along with the two freshmen. For those of you who are wondering about Trey Moore; he will be eligible. My source said he has really worked hard in summer school. Congrats Trey!
06/28/97 - According to a source of mine, former Syracuse great and present day New York Knick John Wallace said Todd Myles is a great player. Wallace saw Todd at the Syracuse summer camp and he was impressed.
BTW, if all goes well, Todd will be attending Miss State the second session of summer school. He will be working in the weight room to build up his strength, which is not quite up to SEC standards.
06/23/97 - Bet you guys didn't know that MSU signee Tang Hamilton has a wingspan of a player that is 6-11. In fact, his wingspan is longer than Quentin Smith's. I have also heard that Tang wears a size 16 shoe and Quentin a 17. You think they may still be growing?
Reliable sources say Tang is so good he could play point guard, two guard or small forward. The guy has a lot of potential and he is a class individual as well as a tremendous athlete.
06/22/97 - The strong rumor is Miss State will not recruit Michael DeGruy because he is not going to graduate from Juco.
06/18/97 - Just wanted all of you to know the next issue of MISSISSIPPI HOOPS' comes out in two to three weeks. Kevin told me it would have a complete recruiting analysis of all of the SEC schools, his Top 10 recruiting classes nationally and a complete list of where every Mississippi high school kid signed. Plus, as always, his very informative Skuttle-Butt section. He also told me his preseason issue will be coming out in about a month. Guys, if you haven't read one of Kevin's preseason issues, you are really missing out. In it he lists all the top seniors and underclassmen in Mississippi. He will also have an interview with the number one player in Mississippi, skywalker-deluxe Ontario Harper. If you want to get it in the mail, you better hurry up and subscribe to MISSISSIPPI HOOPS.
Here's a taste of what he says about Miss. State's recruiting class. MSU's class is number one in the SEC and tenth nationally. Is this based solely on what Kevin thinks? No. What Kevin did was call each SEC coach and ask them how they would rate each school. Every coach he talked to said MSU had the number one class in the SEC. Look for a complete review of each school in his upcoming issue, at least for all of you that subscribe to his publication. I can't post everything he says now can I?
06/18/97 - Just wanted you to know, Kevin Henderson said MSU signee Michael Gholar will be attending either Pearl River CC or Meridian CC.
06/17/97 - According to a source of mine, MSU is going to be recruiting 6-9 Justin Hankins of Elkins, Arkansas. Justin is ranked the 50th best player in the country. The other schools that are showing interest are Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU.
06/17/97 - MISSISSIPPI HOOPS' Kevin Henderson told me last night he talked to Ontario Harper two days ago and Ontario told him, although it is too early in the recruiting process to say which school he likes the best, he wants to stay in the SEC and he likes Ole Miss, Miss State, Alabama and LSU at this point. Ontario told Kevin North Carolina is his favorite school (childhood favorite) but they have not shown any interest. We now have the facts according to Ontario himself. BTW, Kevin told me Ontario is a good kid and excellent student. Look for more player info. from Kevin on my page the rest of the week. Too late (past midnight) to post anything else.
06/15/97 - Here's NashDawg's insights about MSU's signees in the All-Star basketball game yesterday:
NashDawg - I had a great time at the All Star game in Florence today. I watched the game with Gene & Mary Ann. The Rev, and I also got to chat with Blake Thompson or " StateDawg." All these folks I meet at games make me proud to be a Bulldog.
Before I give my description of these players I must note that these types of athletic events closely resemble those crash-up derbies....only without cars. Sometimes it's difficult to read a players ability so you can only speculate on potential. There, now on with the review.
Tyrus Boswell ( Mt. Brook, Al ) - I was really exited to get an opportunity to see this...can't say kid....monster play. I saw him before the game in the parking lot and I gotta tell you he is HUGE. In warm-ups he was knocking down a high percentage of his 3's. Early in the game he got an inside feed and thought he had a guarded lay-up, when he saw everyone was cringing away he adjusted and slammed it in. From that point on the guards for the Alabama team just wigged out and took control of the game, Tyrus got a little frustrated and the coach pulled him for a loooong time. In the second half he had a nice drop step move and finished with a one hand slam over Tang & a few of his own teammates. He hit a 12 foot jumper and had a sweet reverse lay-up where he made a great adjustment in mid air. The coach pulled him again and he gave the coach a dirty...no, nasty look. The fans around me ( myself included ) got all over the coaches case and he put Tyrus back in for a while longer. Tyrus is a manchild. He has great moves, a pretty shot, and an aggressive approach that fits his appearance very well. He could also put the ball on the floor. The way players were thrashing wildly about, crowding the lane, etc. he was limited in what he could do on the offensive end for the 25 minutes he played. He had two nasty block shots that reminded me of Dampier. One smacked a banner that covered the railing at the end of the court and high above. He was the Dunk Champion, too.
Marckell Patterson (Eupora) - What impressed me about Marckell was the way he handled the ball. He played point at first and had some very good dribble moves. He scored his first points on a pull up jumper in the lane. Later in the game he got to the foul line a great bit, probably more than any of his teammates. He also wasn't as painfully thin as I had anticipated. I'd say Marckell is about like Derrick Jones. He's a better ball handler but he never really shot much (unselfish in an All Star game ???) His folks sat near us with a whole flock of Marckell fans, they were fine people.
Tang Hamilton (Lanier) - The best for last. When I first saw Tang I thought he is waaaayyyy too skinny, then he picked up the basketball. This guy is a dream machine. At first he didn't seem really involved in the game, the Bama stars guarded him well knowing he was the #1 player in Mississippi.
Tang will not be a forward at Mississippi State, period. He is a BIG guard, after walking up to him I'd say he's a solid 6-8. He handles the ball SOOOOOO well and shot very, very well from NBA range. Several times he handled the ball on the fast break and did a swell job. He also played point well showing a variety of head fakes at the top of the key while dribbling the ball all over the place.
I really, really, really, really liked the way this kid plays. He's not a back you down, post you up kind of big guard. He's a shoot over , go around you type player. I couldn't believe how well he shot and the range he displayed. He also had three nice slams, one following up a Mangum missed layup. I totally underestimated this player. Remember, he is a guard not a forward.
Gene - One thing NashDawg did not mention about Tang is he was the go-to guy in the latter part of the game. He wanted the ball when his team was trying to come back from a deficit. I can envision him being the type of player, who, if the game is on the line, will want to shoot the last shot. He appears to have a lot of confidence in his shot. He is skinny as NashDawg said and he needs to add a lot of muscle to his frame to play well in the SEC. Given time, he can become a very, very good SEC player. I have to believe he can play small forward in the SEC with added bulk. I almost forgot, Tang was voted the MVP for the Mississippi team. I believe he scored somewhere in the mid-20's.
Tyrus Boswell is a legitimate 6-7 or 6-8 power forward. His defense is ahead of his offense, but he has a lot of potential offensively. This guy has a chance to be a dominating player in the SEC. Going to a prep school will only make him better by allowing him to refine his offensive skills and add more muscle to his already powerful body. I now see why Kevin Henderson of MISSISSIPPI HOOPS was raving about this kid long before all the other recruiting gurus jumped on the bandwagon and started putting Tyrus on their Top-50 lists.
BTW, Alabama won the game.
06/12/97 - Here's the latest on Clinton High School basketball star Ontario Harper. Ontario, supposedly, will chose between North Carolina and Miss State. According to my source, Ontario has received letters from every major Division-I basketball program in the country.
I wasn't able to get my email through to my source, so I'll say it here. Thanks! Your info. is very much appreciated. I'll continue emailing you with the hope that I will eventually get through to you.
06/10/97 - Thanks to NashDawg for emailing this info to me:
Basketball Times
Trail Talk National Recruiting Page
By Mike Sheridan and Dan Wetzel
Top 10 classes
1) Duke
2) Fresno State
3) UCLA
4) UNLV
5) Iowa State
6) Illinois
7) Mississippi State
8) UNC Charlotte
9) Texas
10) UNC
Bulldogs signed two of the south's best combo forwards in Boswell and Hamilton. They are extremely talented and have major upsides. They added two other major JUCO talents in Roberts and White to go with early signee Myles. This trio will add backcourt depth and inside firepower. 'Dogs just keep on rolling.
06/03/97 - The Memphis all-star basketball game scheduled for this weekend has been postponed. I'm not sure of the new date. I will let you know when I know.
06/01/97 - Here is some more information on the Memphis all-star basketball game I mentioned to you earlier. Keith Easterwood is a representative of adidas, the sponsor of the game. The adidas event consists of two games, one at 6:00 p.m. and the other at 8:00 p.m. The first is a game between two AAU teams consisting primarily of high school juniors from the Memphis area including highly recruited Paris London of Hamilton High School. The 8:00 p.m. game will feature Indiana signee Kirk Haston, Austin Peay signee Trent Hassell, Colorado signees Elijah Lawrence, Darri Llewellyn and Ernest Renfroe and others on one team against another team consisting of, among others, Mississippi State signees Tyrus Boswell, Marckell Patterson and Tang Hamilton, Ole Miss signees Jacova Jenkins and Jason Flanigan, Arkansas signees Jason Jennings and Brandon Davis and two highly regarded players from Flint, Michigan, Nick Stapleton (a Colorado signee) and Carlos Gill. There will be a five dollar admission charge. The game will be played at Shelby State CC.