With all eyes focused on Championship Week, Joe Lunardi, and the impending March Madness, recruiting has taken something of a backseat in the general roundball consciousness. Well, we may want to redirect our gazes (even if only briefly) to the world of blue chip recruits, AAU tournaments, and Sonny Vaccaro-type peddlers of fortune. Developments with the potential to shake the college basketball landscape are taking place in southwestern Tennessee.
On November 18, Xavier Henry, a 6-6 210-pounder rated as the third best player in the 2009 high school class and the nation's top two-guard, signed on as just the latest of John Calipari's high-profile, highly-skilled recruits. In doing so, Henry follows in the footsteps of Dajuan Wagner, Derrick Rose, and most recently, Tyreke Evans. One-and-dones (or probable one-and-dones) who selected the friendly confines of Conference-USA and Calipari's free-wheeling, improvisational dribble-drive offense to showcase their lucrative talents during a mandatory pit stop on their way to the Promised Land.
Yesterday, DeMarcus Cousins, a 6-9 250-pound native of Mobile, Alabama, decided that he would also spend a year in Memphis. Cousins is considered the second best player in class of 2009 and is widely regarded as the best power forward and post player in the country. So, if you're keeping count, that means Calipari has wrapped up two of the top three recruits from this year's graduating class. Cousins originally said he would attend UAB. However, after UAB refused Cousins' request for an escape clause that would allow Cousins to get out of his letter of intent if head coach Mike Davis should leave or be fired, he reopened his recruiting.
The final piece of the puzzle is Raleigh Word of God Christian Academy point guard John Wall. Wall, the number one player in all of high school basketball is still weighing his college options, and Memphis is on his short list. Rumor has it that Wall will reveal his intentions at the McDonald's All-American game.
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