Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (8/14)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

Howland is putting the necessary pieces in place to keep the Bruins in the national title hunt. Actually, you could just say the necessary piece. That's how much impact Kevin Love, the premier big man in the class of 2007, will have when he arrives in Southern California. Love ended a huge recruiting battle by committing to the Bruins over North Carolina last month. Rivals.com 8/8

Rivals Top 100: Houston Episcopal center DeAndre Jordan moved from No. 33 to No. 8 after playing more consistently and harder over the last year. Going toe-to-toe with center Kevin Love, who is No. 7 in the latest rankings, during the ABCD camp was a testament to his development and maturation. Rivals.com 8/8

Scout Top 100: There’s little doubt that at the very top of the Class of 2007 are some outstanding talents. Frankly, we considered three players for our slot and they were Eric Gordon, Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo. A case could easily be made for each one, while at the same time, there’s a something or someone holding each back... Love was the best player from the best team who won the most games and in our opinion will be the top collegiate post player of the group. To stave off guys like Donte Greene and Mike Beasley long term (and we mean when it comes time to play for pay) he would have to dedicate himself to conditioning at a high level. We spoke to many college coaches who felt he was the best player this summer. Scout.com 8/10

Recruits

The Bears have one more scholarship available for the 2007-08 season, and they reportedly are hot after center Clint Chapman of Canby, Ore. Chapman is ranked No. 75 by scout.com. Contra Costa Times 8/8

Kyle Singler told Portland’s Oregonian he would visit Duke and Arizona in September and follow with a visit to Kansas University, likely for Late Night in the Phog on Oct. 13. He already has made unofficial visits to UCLA and Washington, his other finalists, and will not make official visits to those campuses. Lawrence Journal-World 8/9

Anthony Randolph, a 6-10 senior forward from Dallas’ Woodrow Wilson High, has yet to pare his list of schools. It has been speculated KU, Texas, Memphis and Duke may lead Baylor, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, SMU, Illinois and others. “Anthony is still wide open. He isn’t favoring one or two schools over any other. There are no teams to beat right now,” Randolph’s uncle, Ladell Hill, Jr., told Rivals.com. Randolph is rated No. 16 nationally. Lawrence Journal-World 8/9

The 6-5 185 James Harden had many reasons to attend Arizona State. His grandparents already live here in Metropolitan Phoenix and his mother has been planning for months to join them. Couple that with the hiring of his former Artesia high school coach Scott Pera, as the Director of Operations for Sun Devil basketball, and the signing of good friend and former Artesia teammate Derek Glasser, and Harden had more than enough incentive to commit to ASU. Sports Washington 8/10

James Harden, a swingman from Southern California who is ranked among the top recruits in the nation, said Wednesday that he plans to sign a basketball letter of intent with Arizona State."For me, it's just the best decision," said Harden, who will be a senior at Artesia High School in Lakewood, Calif. The commitment was expected after new Sun Devils coach Herb Sendek hired Harden's high school coach, Scott Pera, to be ASU's director of basketball operations. Arizona Republic 8/10

With Harden, Pera and Glasser already in Tempe, other future Artesia recruiting targets could head there as well, although junior-to-be Malik Story has already committed to USC. It'll be interesting to see if sophomore-to-be Renardo Sidney, the 6-9 big man from Mississippi who is going to play for Artesia this coming season, has the Valley of the Sun in his thoughts. CalHiSports 8/10

Tyrone Shelley, who had a 76-point game last season and averaged 26.9 per game en route to earning second team all-state honors, chose Pepperdine despite also considering Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas, Washington and UConn.The reason a mid-major like the Waves got him were the players already headed there. Two other Crawford players that already had committed to Pepperdine recently were 5-9 guard Tyler Tucker and 6-8 center Malcolm Thomas. CalHiSports 8/10

The Soldiers' star is Drew Gordon, a 6-9 forward who was the youngest player invited to try out for the U-18 USA Basketball team and was among the last cuts. He was also an all-star at the ABCD Camp in early July. "Drew is not Pangos," Fillmore says. "The best schools would take him right now and he's only a junior." Gordon showed why after winning the opening tip. He sprinted down court and in one motion corralled a missed shot and slammed it home to thunderous applause. Six seconds into the game and he had already brought the crowd at Green Valley High to its feet. Sports Illustrated 8/11

Brandon Jennings, a guard from Compton, Calif., who will be a junior at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, was in attendance. Wearing UConn shorts, he walked on the court before the game and met former Huskies. He also met many of this year's freshmen, players who could one day be his teammates. Jennings said he won't make a commitment until halfway through his senior year, but asked if he was sending a message by wearing UConn shorts, he said: "I think so."Jennings is following the same path as fellow L.A.-area native Marcus Williams, attending Oak Hill this fall."I don't try to push him toward one school, but all I can tell him is how great UConn was for me," Williams said. "But he's going to do what he's going to do."Jennings flew in for the game with Williams' father, Kelly, his AAU coach. He also is considering Villanova and said he likely is no longer considering Arizona, once his top choice. Hartford Courant 8/13

Renardo Sidney, considered by some as the nation's best player in the high school class of 2009, visited a UK game last season. As a freshman, he played for a private school in Mississippi. He's now moved to California with the intention of finding better competition. Lexington-Herald Leader 8/13

(BruinBasketballReport.com)

(photo credit: Scout.com)