Whispers Okafor is this year’s best incoming freshman

BROOKLYN– I’ve never been a big fan of high school All Star games, other than the Nike Hoop Summit because i think they are nothing more than showcases of individual  talents and glorified layup drills. But if nothing else, the Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center reinforced my opinion that 6-11 center Jalil Okafor from Whitney Young in Chicago is the best prospect in the country and the leading candidate for first team All American when he plays for Duke next year. Okafor had 29 points and 6 rebounds as the East defeated the West, 158-141, in the marquee game of a triple header.

 

Cliff Alexander, a 6-8 forward from Curie High in Chicago, whose team defeated Young in triple OT in that city’s Public School championship before seven of its players were ruled ineligible, finished with 24 for the West.  Okafor, Alexander (Kansas) guard Emmanual Mudiay from  Dallas Prime Prep (SMU) and forward Stanley Johnson of Mater Dei, Calif. (Arizona), forward Kelly Oubre of Findlay Prep and forward Trey Lyles of Arsenal Tech in Indianapolis were best prospects we saw in post season. Guard James Blackmon, Jr. from Marion, Ind. HS (Indiana), who was a non-factor in Hoop Summit, looked like best shooter in this game.

 

Our favorite game, as usual, was the international game for elite 15 and 16 year old players. Ibrahima Fall Faye, a 6-9 forward with a huge wing span from Seeds Academy in Senegal, who had 10 points 8 rebounds (East); and guard Johvon Blair, a ninth grader from St. Edmund Campion School in Canada (West), were selected MVPs of the game although the player we found most intriguing was 6-11 Udoka Azubuike from Nigeria and Potters House Christian in Florida (East), who had 10 and 9 with 3 blocks. Azubuike is listed as a 1999, but looked older. We’ll see. But we wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually landed at Florida State. West won the game, which featured five players who were 6-9 or bigger, 74-71. 

 

The decision by James Young to enter the 2014 NBA Draft brings to 13 the number of Kentucky players who have been one-and-done under John Calipari, if you 6-10 Enes Kanter of Turkey, who signed by never played for the Cats because of amateurism problems.

 

Young will join 6-9 freshman freak of nature Jullus Randle, who should go in the Top 4, as probable first round picks.. 

 

It is hard to criticize any of Calipari’s players who choose to go this route, provided they are guaranteed first round picks.

 

Calipari has simply b been able to reload, having been in the national championship race for four of the last five seasons.

 

Strangely, there has been such an emphasis on one and dones in the Kentucky program that players who stay more than one year are often stigmatized as not meeting the standard. “Why is (staying more than) one year a failure?” the Kentucky coach asked Thursday morning in a news conference. “I’m even doing it in recruiting now. I’m going into homes and one of the things I’ve started saying is ‘You are not a failure if you come back two, three, four years. You’re not a failure.'”

 

Just last week, Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein announced  he would not enter the 2014 draft and would return to UK for his junior season. The 7-foot shot-blocker was being projected as a certain first-round pick. He joins Patrick Patterson and Terrence Jones as players who would have been certain first-round picks but came back for another college season anyway.”What’s wrong with Patrick Patterson?” Calipari said of the Toronto Raptors forward. “He’s going to get a big (NBA) contract, folks. What’s wrong with him? You know what he said? That ‘the best thing I did was go back to school and learn to play out on the floor. It changed my life.'”Cauley-Stein listed several reasons for delaying NBA riches for another year, Calipari said. “‘I’m in no hurry to leave. I love going to school,'” Calipari quoted Cauley-Stein as saying. “‘I’m going to be really close to my degree. I still have to grow as a player. And we left something on the table that I’d like to try to (finish).'”

 

Calipari said recently he’d gotten feedback from the NBA that one UK player who had expressed no interest in turning pro this season – I would guess freshman center Dakari Johnson – would go in the first round if he put his name in the draft.”I called him back in and said ‘You need to get with your mother and we need to talk about this,'” Calipari said. “‘You need to know what you are passing on by (potentially) coming back.'”

 

Kentucky freshmen guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison and sophomore forward Alex Poythress still have decisions to make about the NBA Draft. If they aren’t dead-lock first-round picks, it would be nice if they could stay at UK without being labeled as flops.”You can’t plan on coming to this university for one year and then you will get out,” Calipari said. “If it happens, Hallelujah, I’m happy for you. But it can’t be me just (saying) this: Staying in school more than one year is not a failure.”

 

Here’s a quick look at the early lottery in the NBA draft. Six of of Top 8 should be freshman one and dones– guard Andrew Wiggins and center Joel Embiid of Kansas, Randle, Aaron Gordon of Arizona, Jabari Parker of Duke and  Noah Vonleh of Indana. Guard Dante Exxum, a 19-year old phenom from Australia who just graded high school in November, has signed with an agent and is working out in Los Angeles also falls into the Top 5 category.

 

Speaking of the draft, NBA new commissioner Adam Silver apparently has support of owners to push draft age limit up from 19 and a year out of high school to 20 years old. Let’s see how the Players’ Association reacts to that. 

 

Nice to hear former UNLV Hall of Famer Jerry Tarkanian has been released from a Las Vegas hospital 10 days after suffering a heart attack.

 

Sophomore  shot blocker Chris Obekpa, who asked for a release from St. John’s in order to transfer, apparently has had second thoughts and will stay with Red Storm.

 

Frank Haith, who just took the Tulsa job, looks like he got out of Missourii just before the posse the Tigers lost Jordan Clarkston and Jabari Brown, who declared for the draft; and 6-9 Zak Price, a transfer from Louisville, was thrown off the team after being arrested twice in one day. Fan base has been angry, attendance is down. Carnage leaves who ever  takes this job with just one player who averaged 6 points per game. We’re guessing Tigers will take hard looks at former UCLA coach Ben Howland and Chris Mack of Xavier.

 

Tennesseee appears to be zeroing in on Mike White of Louisiana Tech as potential replacement for Cuonzo Martin,, who left for Cal. Martin didn’t waste any time picking up a key commit when 6-10 Kingsley Okorh from Windward Prep in Phoenix switched his committment from Tennessee to Cal in just one day.

 

Don’t let anyone tell you players sign with a school, not the coach. Buzz Williams, who left Marquette for Virginia Tech, has landed two of his former commits at that Big East school when guard Ahmed Hill and center Satchel Price committed to the ACC Hokies on their official visits.

 

The 6-foot-4 Hill from  Augusta, Ga. was one of the best unsigned prospects remaining after recently de committing from Marquette and being released from his NLI. The native of Augusta, Pierce, a 6-10 center from Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pa. gives the Hokies an immediate boost on the interior since they lost freshman center Trevor Thompson to transfer this off season.

 

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has promoted assistant Jeff Capel to associate head coach, replacing Steve Wojciechowski, who left for head coaching job at Marquette and made former player Jon Scheyer a full time assistant.

 

Kansas alum David Booth paid $4.3 million to purchase Dr. James Naismith’s official rules of basketball. Now the school will house it on display in the northeast corner of Allen Field House on campus.

 

Arizona State takes former Philly star Savon Goodman as a transfer from UNLV.

One last note: Basketball Times has selected Mike Flynn of Blue Star media as one of top power brokers in women’s basketball.