"Hot" commodities late in the spring aren't always great

When you talk about recruiting battles, generally what comes to mind is two or more strong programs competing for the services of a five-star, guaranteed-to-be-a-baller, our-boosters-need-to-start-paying-him recruit. You know, something along the lines of this Terrence Jones soap opera, only slightly less sickening.

But it doesn't always happen that way.

Sometimes, late in the recruiting process (i.e. now, as we are less than a week from the end of the spring signing period) when there are marquee programs still trying to fill holes, kids that wouldn't otherwise be getting a sniff from Final Four contenders chock full of McDonald all-americans become "hot" commodities.

One example is Kadeem Jack, a 6'8" post player out of Rice High School, who we talked about earlier this week. Jack, who previously was going to head to South Kent for a prep year, is now drawing interest from schools like Kentucky and North Carolina, who are both thin up front for next season.

Three other players are in the same boat as Jack:

• Eloy Vargas: You may recognize this name. A former top 50 recruit, Vargas spent the 2008-2009 season with Florida, but he couldn't get off the bench for Billy Donovan's club transferred to Miami-Dade CC after the season. While obviously talented (you aren't a top 50 recruit without reason) and reportedly improved after his one year in Southern Florida, Vargas is getting heavily pursued by Kentucky, UNC, and Arizona, as well as Seattle (Seattle doesn't seem to fit, but he has a great relationship with Cameron Dollar).
  
• Kevin Noreen: Noreen is a slender 6'10" front court player from Minnesota who is the state's all-time leading scorer and rebounder after averaging 38.6 ppg and 16.5 rpg at a tiny charter school (read: against terrible competition). Noreen originally signed an LOI with Boston College, but he was released after Al Skinner was fired by the school. Noreen has received numerous offers since being released (the first of which came from Providence), but according to the Charlotte Observer, UNC has recently gotten involved.
• The same can be said for Marcus Thornton, a 6'7" forward from Atlanta who was released from his LOI when Oliver Purnell left for DePaul. Thornton is a bit of a tweener -- something like a Trevor Booker -- but is a higher rated prospect that Noreen. Thornton is looking to decide between Georgia Tech, Georgia, Texas, and Alabama, but like Noreen, UNC and Kentucky have both reportedly gotten involved as well.
  

A lot of schools are going to be interested in unsigned players like this late in the recruiting game, but don't expect Thornton, or Noreen, or Vargas to immediately become impact freshman. Clearly, they all are talented basketball players, otherwise teams like UNC and UK would not be showing any interest.

But just because you sign with a blueblood program doesn't mean you are destined to be a star at a blueblood program. Sometimes recruits are simply brought in to fill a hole in the lineup.