Kendrick to Memphis

How does this happen?

Do the great schools have superior coaching and tradition; the poor ones, playing time to offer; and the rest, pretty girls and money?

I guess we have to add Memphis to the list of teams that can swoop into Georgia and pick off our state's top basketball recruits.

The thing that concerns me is that Memphis has a first-year coach. To my knowledge, Josh Pastner has no previous head coaching experience, and would not seem to have a particular draw to Memphis, other than the fact that he says he will continue to run Calipari's dribble-drive offense.

One would think that Memphis would have been devastated after Coach Calipari left and took with him all of the high-level recruits from the Memphis 2009 class. Not so. I doubt they will be a top twenty team this year, but the future is definitely bright. Memphis has the #2-rated basketball recruiting class for 2010. Somehow they have successfully bagged the country's #8, #11 and #12-ranked players.

Memphis Stars in Basketball Recruiting

It was curious to me that Kendrick, who hadn't shared much about his recruitment, other than the fact that he would likely wait until the spring to commit, announced his decision for Memphis just a short while after the early signing period began. I'd be tempted to link Pastner to Calipari's previous questionable recruiting methods, but that would be pure speculation, unfair to Pastner, and it certainly does not answer the question on why other schools also are more attractive to Georgia recruits.

Well, I had hoped that UGA's days of missing out on key recruits from the state of Georgia would have ended quickly with the Mark Fox hiring. We can end it at some point, but it certainly will not be in the immediate future.

I don't think it would be helpful to the process to list the guys going elsewhere, but suffice it to say that there are 7 guys in the Rivals 150 from the state of Georgia, at least 3 others who were in Georgia but played at a prep school or another school out of state, and 2 or 3 more that we had a real good shot at getting based on relationships-- and we didn't get any of them.

What to do? Don't panic. Kendrick and a couple of the others would have helped, but Fox is not in an emergency situation.

If the 2009 and 2010 classes haven't gotten any of the coveted in-state recruits, Fox and his staff need to rebound by bagging some of the 2010 out-of-state guys. Signing those players will not strengthen our relationship with in-state high school and AAU coaches, but let's bring in the players we can. Add a slasher and a shooter to Cady Lalanne, mix them in with the current roster and we should be in decent shape.

And there are still lots of good 2010 players available. There's time for a surprise or two, or we can take a chance on a prep school guy or a Juco, or even find a late bloomer.

Further, we can always save the scholarships and work hard on future classes. Maybe some of the 2011 or even 2012 guys will commit early and give us a boost. In the meantime, let's go to war with Howard Thompkins, Travis Leslie, Dustin Ware and Jeremy Price, and see how the year turns out.

Recruiting the ATL

Good article from the AJC. Dominique and Jarvis Hayes are quoted, as are Jalen Kendrick and Coach Hugh Durham.

It will take Coach Fox a while. He got Vincent Williams on board for 2009, and Gerald Robinson and Cady Lalanne for 2010.

But will the best players in the Atlanta area come to Athens?

Fox will have to see just what it takes to handle the Atlanta AAU scene. Since the NCAA is working to get new rules enacted, the relationships with AAU coaches should be cleaner. There shouldn't be as many issues with the perception of improper dealing, and all this should benefit Coach Fox as he seeks to develop ties within the basketball community.

The biggest issue is the Win and Loss record for Fox in his first year. If Fox can field a competitive and even winning team this fall and winter, then prospects will start to want to come to UGA.

Basketball Recruiting

Lalanne to Dawgs

Good news!

Cady Lalanne has announced that he will sign with Coach Fox and the Dawgs.

The goal for Fox has to be to take the nucleus that he currently has and fit in the right pieces. If he can compress the schedule and make 2009 a successful year on the floor, and 2010 a superior recruiting year (Lalanne, Gerald Robinson, Shawn Kemp and Jalen Kendrick), then he will have the momentum he needs to make 2011 a great recruiting year.

Congrats to Coach Fox, staff and the team.

Jalen Kendrick Keeping UGA in Mind

Wish Kendrick could have said something more positive.

It's kind of like junior high. You feel like someone is your best friend, but they consider you one of the many people that they hang out with. I guess that's the way of the world for a top-flight recruit with schools around the country seeking him out.

It'll take some doing for UGA to get a commitment. Nonetheless, Fox and staff have time to close the deal.

Kendrick

More on Kendrick

from Meyer's Mailbag.

I know that Mark Fox has been out watching Jelan Kendrick. The problem is that so is every other coach in America, including elite recruiters like Calipari, Billy Donovan, etc.

Good review from Rivals. Do you think UGA has a chance to get Kendrick's commitment?

ESPN on Jalen Kendrick

How will Mark Fox and crew do in recruiting? Seems to me that Georgia needs at least one more big man and one do-everything player.

Kendrick would fit the bill for the latter category. He can handle the ball, shoot and defend well enough. Georgia will have guys who can play the point (Ware, Williams, Robinson). We need at least one big-time "maker."

Kendrick

Trae Golden and Jalen Kendrick

I'm realistic about priorities and the schedule. So I'm not entirely surprised that Mark Fox has not gotten around to calling Trae Golden and Jalen Kendrick yet. It seems logical that the new staff is fully engaged trying to get a back-up point guard for 2009.

I'm also logical about priorities. High on the list for new coach Mark Fox has to be getting a great class for 2010. And the great news is that Trae Golden and Jalen Kendrick are waiting to be called. The Red and Black gauged the interest of two of the top in-state players for 2010. Both Golden and Kendrick are feeling positive about UGA.

Let's call them today and get our class for 2010 set.

Derrick Favors, Jalen Kendrick, and others.

Justin Young gives an overview of some of the early season basketball action in Georgia.

Derrick Favors has given the standard all-around dominant performance. I appreciate his humility. Would love for Georgia to have Favors and Thompkins trade back and forth on the high-low game. We'll see.

Jalen Kendrick gets some of Justin's attention. Kendrick's shooting on the evening was probably not up to his standards, but you have to like a 6' 6" guy who can actually play the point guard position.

Manny Atkins had a great game recently. He'll fit in nicely at Virginia Tech. Tech already has Dorenzo Hudson, a guy that UGA offered, and Terrell Bell, a forward that I know we considered (may or may not have offered, I don't remember). Bell didn't score in today's game against Wisconsin. Dorenzo Hudson scored 8 points on 3 of 5 shooting. Hudson looked to have a lot of potential in that game, but he just is not getting too many shots.

Justin's High School Recaps

ESPN Top 60 for 2010

ESPN has released their list of the top 60 high school basketball players for 2010.

A few athletes from Georgia were named, including Jalen Kendrick, Jordan McRae, and Trae Golden.

UGA recruit, Jason Morris, is on the list as well.

ESPN