| | Chris Duhon has been working on his list of questions for a week. He's
not going to let any of the coaches off the hook. He wants answers, and anyone
who hedges may be pushed to the bottom of the list.
Thursday marks the first day college coaches can make home visits.
Louisiana State is the first one scheduled to visit Duhon's Slidell, La., home in the hopes of
landing one of the top two point guards (and top-five overall players) in the nation.
|  | | Mike Krzyzewski hopes to lure Chris Duhon to Durham. |
Kentucky is next, coming on Sept. 11. Duke will follow two days later, followed
the next day by Texas and then Notre Dame comes calling on the 16th. Georgia, which Duhon says is battling with the Irish for his fifth official campus visit, will close
out the house calls Sept. 20.
All of the schools have their speeches down and have their own specific
sales pitches. But Duhon, like most players around the country this week,
doesn't plan on getting blinded by the smoke.
"I'm expecting a little pressure from each college," Duhon said. "I
want to hear how they're going to take care of me on the basketball court as
well as in academics. I want to hear will I play there because I don't want
to be on the bench. I don't want to be crying for playing time and then
leaving in a year. I want to go someplace where I'm going to stay all four
years. That's what they'll have to sell me."
Duhon's commitment to four years is a shocker, considering the flood of
early entries in the past two seasons.
"If you're good enough, the NBA can wait," Duhon said. "College
basketball is the best. I don't like the NBA. If you're a great one-on-one
player in the NBA you can succeed. College basketball is more of a team
effort and that's the style I want to play."
Duhon's group of decision-makers lining up on the couch will be his mother
Vivian Harper, Salmen High coach Jay Carlin, and possibly, eight-year old
brother Thomas.
Duhon is expecting all head coaches to waltz through his door. If any of
the six send only an assistant, they can forget it. Duhon wants a father
figure, someone he can trust. He's already eliminated the fast-talkers by not
inviting them into his home.
"I have a gut feeling that these guys are telling the truth," Duhon
said. "When coaches were calling, you could tell who was blowing smoke and
who wasn't, so it made it easier to narrow it down."
But Duhon is still in awe of the coaches coming over for snacks, or
perhaps, a meal on their dining room table usually reserved for Thanksgiving.
"It's amazing to see guys coming into your house, asking you to play in
your program," Duhon said. "I'll never get to the point where that's not
amazing to see a Mike Krzyzewski coming to my house."
Duhon will return the favor when he goes to Duke on Sept. 24-25. He'll make
official campus visits to LSU on Oct. 9-10, Kentucky on Oct. 15-16 (Midnight
Madness), Texas on Oct. 23-24 and then either Notre Dame or Georgia.
But before that stage, the 17-year old Duhon has to grill the coaches
with questions like, 'If something happened and I got hurt, would the college
still take care of me or would they throw me aside?' and 'Can I still get my degree
there?'
Although Cal isn't on Duhon's short list, Golden Bears coach Ben Braun knows the value of promoting his school during a home visit.
However, before he and his staff even go into a home -- and they'll be in eight to 10
this fall -- they know if the recruit fits their program.
"We're looking for the right match," Braun said. "You always have to
be realistic and get the right feel. Some players don't want to leave home.
You know when you've got a good fit."
If Braun were to receive a question about guaranteeing playing time, he'd
deflect it by challenging the player.
"We get that a lot where other schools will tell a kid that we've got a
guard already but we play with two guards," Braun said. "The question is
how good do you want to be? We want the best player on the floor every day.
Most don't mind competing. Some players want to hear you're going to play a
lot and be the only guy we're recruiting. If you tell a player that, you're
in danger of painting a picture of it not being competitive. It's not
realistic even if it's what a player wants to hear."
Conference USA expansion
TCU wants out if asked. SMU is reviewing the numbers. Conference USA is
trying to convince its basketball members that it makes sense. And the WAC is
running scared that it will soon devolve into the second coming of the Big West.
That's just a synopsis of a week on the inside of the latest potential shift in conference alignments.
Conference USA commissioner Mike Slive is trying to make it work with his
members, but he's finding resistance. The reasons are obvious: TCU and SMU
don't deliver the type of revenue numbers expected for being in the Dallas-Fort Worth market and the television money actually would be less if it's divided in both high-profile sports. A 14-team Conference USA means less rivalries. Each team would play 12 games within its division and four outside (either four singles or two sets of home-and-home series).
So what happens when, say, Southern Mississippi has to play Cincinnati twice and Tulane gets Marquette as its crossover team? That's hardly fair. Just ask Colorado State, which had to play Utah in crossover games the first year in the WAC and lost a chance at competing for the 1995-96 title, or even a postseason berth.
TCU and SMU can't even sell an annual home game against Cincinnati as part of joining Conference USA. The Bearcats might not make it there for years because of scheduling problems and crossover games. SMU coach Mike Dement can't sell Conference USA when he goes into home visits this week. He has to sell the WAC -- he might touch briefly about being
lured by Conference USA, but he can't focus on it.
If talk turned to a conference tournament, none of the coaches could
guarantee a place in it. Having all 14 teams in a tournament won't happen. They'll
probably have only 12, which leaves the coaches of the the bottom two teams on the verge of
losing their jobs.
If SMU and TCU do leave, the WAC wants them out next year, forcing them
to go independent rather than be a lame duck. That would kill SMU's chances
for the postseason, and the Mustangs will have their best team under Dement. TCU would be hurt just as badly.
The wildest comment during the week was Conference USA going to 16,
adding Rice and Tulsa, too. That won't happen. The WAC proved 16 is too many. Not to be left in the cold again, the WAC had an impromptu teleconference with its athletics directors and presidents to discuss the matter. If TCU and SMU do leave, the WAC will likely add Boise State and could add four of five other candidates -- New Mexico State, Utah State, North Texas, Idaho, Louisiana Tech -- to go to a 12-team league with two six-team divisions. If that occurs, the Big West would be left with only California teams and would either stay alone with six members, merge with the Big Sky or try and do the same with the West Coast Conference.
It's a mess any way it's divided.
Weekly chatter
UTEP's hire of Oklahoma assistant Jason Rabedeaux Friday shouldn't come as a surprise. UTEP athletic director Bob Stull was the football coach under Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione when both were at Missouri. Stull took a liking to Rabedeaux early in the process, but made a tough call over Kentucky assistant Shawn Finney and UCLA assistant Jim Saia.
Stull was determined to land a top assistant from a name program and
wanted a clean break from anyone associated with Don Haskins. Hiring
Rabedeaux accomplishes that feat.
Rabedeaux, 34, should have a relatively easy transition to head coach. The Miners have four of five starters back but lost their best player in Sharif Fajardo. They have NIT ability and point guard Eggie McRae and small forward Brandon Wolfram are two of the most underrated players in the WAC. However, Rabedeaux will have to milk his Oklahoma connections with the potential of seven scholarships open for this recruiting period.
Rabedeaux should keep G. Ray Johnson and Luster Goodwin, two assistants who have been as loyal to UTEP as they have been to Haskins. They are signed through this season at the school
in some capacity. Most coaches like to hire their own staffs and that might
be the case in the spring, but Rabedeaux could go this season with Johnson and
Goodwin to get through the transition period with a veteran team.
"It's a no-brainer for him to take the job," Oklahoma coach Kelvin
Sampson said of his 11-year assistant who was with him at Washington State
and Oklahoma. "Look at Mark Few at Gonzaga and Quin Snyder at Missouri.
These are younger guys getting it done. Jason will too."
The NCAA shouldn't hesitate to slam Michigan like it did Cal if
the allegations are true that banned booster Ed Martin gave former Wolverine
Albert White $37,000 during his one year in the program and $50,000 to former
Wolverine Louis Bullock during his four-year career. While Cal's was
different because it involved head coach Todd Bozeman, the total disregard for the
rules by Martin and the program needs to be examined. The boosters must know
that they can't get away with that kind of behavior.
While it's not fair to punish the current players, a message still needs to be sent if it's true.
The NCAA has an interesting plate of problems with traditional good guys
Michigan and Notre Dame football in trouble. If it wants to lose its
image of giving special treatment, this is the time to crack down and show
its muscle.
Toledo filled Marquette's opening in its two-day tournament Dec.
3-4. It's amazing that the Rockets had two openings this late but something
fell through, allowing them to get in the field with Appalachian State and
Western Michigan.
The Rainbow Classic finally got its pairings down. Gonzaga matches up with Ohio University and Wake Forest faces Oregon in one bracket;
Hawaii plays Bradley and Colorado takes on Villanova in the other. The tournament is scheduled for Dec. 27-30 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
Meanwhile, the early report out of Gonzaga has Richie Frahm in
the best shape in his life -- he has virtually no body fat. Frahm, who showcased his deadly shooting eye during the NCAA Tournament, will likely move to the two-guard and play next to preseason all-American candidate Matt Santangelo. Casey
Cavalry, who had the tip-in to beat Florida in the Sweet 16, has bulked up and will be tough to keep out of the paint. However, he's just as effective along the perimeter, where he can nail the 3-pointer.
Don't sweat Oregon's acceptance of 6-10 BYU center Mark
Michaelis as a transfer last week. Michaelis is a project and averaged only
2.0 points and 2 rebounds a game.
Duquesne desperately needs 6-11 Villanova transfer Simon
Ogunlesi and one-time 6-5 Loyola (Md.) recruit Jamal Hunter on the court. But
the school jumped too early by allowing them back on the practice court after
they were indicted on federal charges in an alleged credit card fraud case.
Their case hasn't been heard yet.
The sad case of Demetrius Drew continues to get worse. Drew, 26, was arrested on felony charges of marijuana possession at an on-campus
apartment at Division II Southern Indiana. Drew last played at
Division II Central Missouri State in '95 and averaged 14 points and 7.5
rebounds. Drew originally signed at New Mexico but the Cheyenne, Wyo., player never became eligible and has struggled for years since leaving high school.
UCLA got an oral commitment from Mater Dei High (Los Angeles)
point guard Cedric Bozeman. Here's the catch: he's only a junior. The 6-4
guard missed most of his first two years with injuries. When Bozeman is
eligible as a freshman, point guards Earl Watson and Ryan Bailey will be
gone. It could signify the end of point-guard recruiting for the Bruins this
fall, even though Bozeman won't sign until November 2000. Bozeman is expected
to be ranked as one of the top five point guards when he's a senior in 2001.
Andy Katz of the Fresno Bee is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. The Weekly Word on college basketball will be updated on Thursdays throughout the offseason.
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