POSTERIZED: Andre 3000

UConn freshman Andre Drummond is a physical specimen. He's a future lottery pick with freak athleticism and uncanny agility for a guy his size.

He still has a lot to work on, but his dunking ability is not one of them.

Against Syracuse on Thursday, he caught a Shabazz Napier miss and threw it down with unnecessary force and power.



He's a freak, plain and simple. The TV angles don't do this dunk proper justice. This was one of the most ferocious tip-dunks I have ever seen.

Ever.

But was it as good as these?

C.J. Leslie, North Carolina State vs. Boston College, 3/8
Rondey Williams, Minnesota vs. Nebraska, 3/3
Isaiah Sykes, Central Florida vs. Memphis, 2/28
Brandon Mitchell, Arkansas vs. Ole Miss, 2/28
John Henson, North Carolina vs. Virginia, 2/25
C.J. Aiken, St. Joseph's vs. Temple, 2/25
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt, 2/25
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. UConn, 2/25
Weekend Recap, 2/18
Tony Wroten Jr./Aziz N'Diaye, Washington vs. Arizona, 2/18
Chris Czerapowicz, Davidson vs. Wichita State, 2/18
Darius Miller, Kentucky vs. Ole Miss, 2/18
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. Ohio State, 2/16
Darrion Pellom, Hampton vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore 2/15 (DotY Candidate)
Trency Jackson, Northwest Florida vs. Chipola, 2/15
Kwame Alexander, Cal St. San Bernadino, 2/12
Tahj Tate, Delaware State vs. Coppin State, 2/11
Weekend Recap, 2/10 - 2/12
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Louisiana Tech, 2/9
Joshea Singleton, Bucknell vs. Colgate, 2/8
Kelsey Barlow, Purdue vs. Ohio State, 2/7
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State, 2/7
Roscoe Smith, UConn vs. Louisville, 2/7
Weekend Recap, 2/2 - 2/5
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State vs. TCU, 2/4
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse vs. St. John's, 2/4
Kwame Alexander, Cal State-San Bernardino vs. Cal State-Dominguez Hills (D-II), 2/3
Bradley Beal, Florida vs. South Carolina, 2/2
Doug Anderson, Detroit vs. Valparaiso, 2/2
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Oklahoma, 2/1
Markel Brown, Oklahoma state vs. Texas Tech, 1/31
Royce White, Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 1/31
Savalace Townsend, Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Grambling State, 1/28 (DotY Candidate)
Weekend Recap, 1/25 - 1/29
Tony Wroten Jr., Washington vs. Arizona State, 1/26 (DotY Candidate)
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Dayton, 1/25
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25 (DotY Candidate)
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

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POSTERIZED: This is why people think Andre Drummond will be a star

I'm on record as calling Andre Drummond a pterodactyl.

Why?

Because when he elevates towards the rim, it looks like he is flying. Literally. In this video, he takes off of two feet from about eight feet away from the rim - in traffic! -- and dunks on CW Post, a D-II school on Long Island:



Ironically, this is the same team that Moe Harkless, our first POSTERIZER of the 2011-2012 season, dunked on.

(h/t The UConn Blog)

But was it as good as these?

Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26
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UPDATED: Eligibility issues for Andre Drummond, multiple high school prospects

A number of top basketball players around the country may have to deal with some amateurism questions as Stack.com, the website for a magazine geared towards athletic training, posted a number of videos using the players to promote a new basketball shoe from ADIDAS.

The kids involved -- Providence commit Kris Dunn, Baylor commit Isaiah Austin, Texas commit Javan Felix, and Kentucky commit Archie Goodwin from the Class of 2012; Elijah Brown from the Class of 2013; and the teams from St. Xavier and Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati. You can find all the videos here. (UPDATE: It looks like the videos have been taken down. If anyone has a link to the video, PLEASE send it our way. Contactbiah at gmail dot com.)

As you can imagine, this may be an issue for high school kids. They aren't supposed to be endorsing products. And while we can argue all day about whether or not its fair that these kids are unable to capitalize off of their notoriety and basketball ability, the fact of the matter is that the current rules strictly forbid it. It's essentially the opposite of amateurism. (So is the NCAA, but that's a different post for a different day.)

But the biggest issue deals with the biggest player involved -- UConn freshman Andre Drummond. One of the videos featured him and Dunn. The Norwich Bulletin pulled a couple of quotes before the videos were pulled:

In the video, Dunn, while holding a shoe, says, “I like to run up and down the court and with these shoes I’d probably run faster, make better decisions out there. If you get more speed, you can see things quicker.”

Drummond looks into the camera and says, “I want them.”

This is NCAA Bylaw 12.5.1.3 in full, which deals with a high school player who was involved in an advertisement or a promotion:

If an individual accepts remuneration for or permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise or promote the sale or use of a commercial product or service prior to enrollment in a member institution, continued remuneration for the use of the individual's name or picture (under the same or similar circumstances) after enrollment is permitted without jeopardizing his or her eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics only if all of the following conditions apply:

(a) The individual's involvement in this type of activity was initiated prior to his or her enrollment in a member institution;

(b) The individual became involved in such activities for reasons independent of athletics ability;

(c) No reference is made in these activities to the individual's name or involvement in intercollegiate athletics;

(d) The individual does not endorse the commercial product; and

(e) The individual's remuneration under such circumstances is at a rate commensurate with the individual's skills and experience as a model or performer and is not based in any way upon the individual's athletics ability or reputation.

Not a single one of the player's listed above qualifies beyond the first condition. But for the kids still in high school, the fact that the videos have been scrubbed from the web should limit NCAA issues as long as they weren't paid.

Drummond will face more serious questions, however, since he is currently enrolled at UConn. Bylaw 12.5.2.1 specifically states that a player is immediately ineligible if he "Accepts any remuneration for or permits the use of his name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind." According to the article from the Norwich Bulletin, it doesn't matter whether or not the video was posted prior to Drummond's enrollment at UConn. The fact that it was still in circulation when he finally did enroll means that he is ineligible and will have to apply for reinstatement.

Stay tuned. We'll update this as we get more information.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: UConn has commented on the matter.

"UConn was made aware of the video in question late this afternoon and has reviewed it," the school said in a statement. "Our compliance staff is comfortable that the video was made in advance of Andre’s enrollment at UConn. Our next step is to simply follow up with the website on which it is posted and ask that it be removed, which we have already done."

Gavin Keefe of the New London Day spoke with UConn's SID Kyle Muncy about the video.

"Obviously, every case is treated on a case by case basis," Muncy told Keefe. "It wouldn't be exaggerating to say we dealt with this identical situation eight to 10 times last year and never had any athlete lose eligibility. ... We will inform the NCAA what the issue was and they’ll review it. We anticipate everything will be fine ... There's not any concern." Continue reading...

Why Andre Drummond counts against UConn's scholarship total but Michael Bradley doesn't

Late last night, we posted a column on how the only person that has been -- or will be -- negatively effected by the NCAA's scholarship reductions at UConn is Michael Bradley.

Long story short, UConn is at their maximum allotment of scholarship players because, thanks to the Nate Miles sanctions and two scholarships lost due to their low APR, they are only allowed 10 this year. But Andre Drummond, who is going to be a lottery pick whenever he decides to head to the NBA Draft, wants to go to UConn, so in order for the Huskies to make room for him, they need a player currently on scholarship to no longer be on scholarship.

That player has to be Michael Bradley because, according to the NCAA rulebook, he wasn't technically a recruited player. Drummond was. So was everyone else on the UConn roster. And if you are technically a recruited player, than you count against the scholarship limit regardless of whether or not you are on scholarship. That's why Drummond can't simply pay his own way.

The question that I got asked, however, was what makes you technically a recruited player? And with a hat-tip to the ByLawBlog's John Infante, I give you Rule 15.02.8:

For purposes of Bylaw 15, a recruited student-athlete is a student-athlete who, as a prospective student-athlete: (Adopted: 1/15/11 effective 8/1/11)

(a) Was provided an official visit to the institution's campus;

(b) Had an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with a member of the institution's coaching staff (including a coach's arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete's parents, relatives or legal guardians); or

(c) Was issued a National Letter of Intent or a written offer of athletically related financial aid by the institution for a regular academic term.

This is where it gets tricky.

Drummond was recruited by UConn, meaning that he is going to count towards their scholarship limit regardless of whether or not he is actually on scholarship. Bradley, however, was also "recruited" to UConn. He took an official visit and actually signed a letter of intent.

But there is a way around that thanks to Rule 15.5.1.2.1, which states that "a student-athlete who was recruited ... and whose only source of institutional financial aid is academic aid based solely on the recipient's academic record at the certifying institution, awarded independently of athletics interests and in amounts consistent with the pattern of all such awards made by the institution, may compete without counting in the institution's financial aid team limits, provided he or she has completed at least one academic year of full-time enrollment at the certifying institution and has achieved a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.000 (on a 4.000 scale) at the certifying institution."

So there you go.

Since Bradley has complete one academic year at UConn, if he is carrying a GPA above a 3.0 he can get an exception that says that the financial aid he receives won't count against UConn's scholarship total. And given the fact that Bradley spent most of his teenage years in a group home, if he truly does have a 3.0, I don't think it will be difficult for UConn to find a way to get the cost of his education covered.

Jim Calhoun just took the NCAA's cookies.
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The only person hurt by the NCAA's sanction against UConn? Michael Bradley

(Ed. Note: While I was finishing up this column, Dan Wolken of The Daily decided to go off on the NCAA Managing Director of Digital Communications, Ronnie Ramos. Poor timing on our part, but I strongly urge you to go back and read through Wolken's tweets. It got ugly.)

For UConn fans, it will be tough to top what has happened in the last six months.

A surprise run to the Big East title. An even more surprising run to the national title. The emergence of Jeremy Lamb as a star-in-the-making. The late-addition of Deandre Daniels. The even-later addition of Andre Drummond. I'm not sure anyone should be happy about a man losing his job, but if Jeff Hathaway getting forced out ensures Jim Calhoun's return, well, then you can throw that one on the list as well.


For the players on the back-end of the UConn roster, the situation is quite a bit different.

You see, the way the NCAA works is that an athletic scholarship is good for a year. They are given out on July 1st, and once a player has received his scholarship, it cannot be taken away until July 1st of the next year. UConn currently has 10 players on scholarship, but since they were docked three scholarships for this season -- one for the violations committed when recruiting Nate Miles and two for their low APR -- the Huskies are currently at their maximum in terms of scholarship players.

In other words, the Huskies cannot add another scholarship player unless one of their players currently on scholarship "voluntarily" decides give up theirs and become a walk-on. Since Drummond was recruited by the Huskies, he cannot count as a walk-on player. Even if he were to pay his own way at the school, he will count against UConn's scholarship total. And given their current APR score, UConn also cannot afford to do what teams in this situation usually do and run off a player, forcing him to transfer. That will drop their APR even further.

The result is that UConn now finds themselves in the difficult position of having to "ask" either Niels Giffey or Enosch Wolf to give up their scholarship and return to Germany to play professionally or "asking" redshirt freshman Michael Bradley, a Tennessee native, to give up his scholarship, apply for loans and financial aid packages, and pay his own way for at least one season. According to NCAA bylaws, Bradley wasn't technically recruited by the Huskies, meaning that he will not count against their scholarship numbers should he pay his own way to school.

As of yesterday, no decision had yet been made.

(As an aside, its fitting that UConn AD Jeff Hathaway was forced to resign earlier this month. Could it be that he stood in the way of Calhoun's efforts to get Drummond into school? Is that why it took so long for Drummond to actually make the decision to attend UConn? He had to wait until Calhoun got the OK from his bosses that they could try and pull this scheme off?)

Personally, I don't have as big of a problem with running players off as others do. I've written about it extensively on two different occasions -- here and here -- so I won't elaborate too much in this space, but essentially what has happened is that whoever gives up their scholarship will have gotten cut. It sucks, I've been there. And I certainly don't envy being the player in that situation. But this is also big-time college basketball. As it is with every level of sport beyond your hometown's CYO leagues, if you aren't good enough to make the team, you get cut.

But the Bradley situation is slightly different. He's not being run-off the team. He's not being "asked" to transfer to a different school where he'll be put back on scholarship. He's being "asked" by the staff at UConn to either accept the fact that he no longer as a scholarship or be the person standing in the way of Andre Drummond joining the Huskies.

And all this is happening days before the start of the fall semester.

That is a terrible position for UConn to put a kid and that kid's family in.


Assuming that Bradley "volunteers" to give up his scholarship, there is one of two ways that this plays out. Either he is forced to pay some or all of the $42,594 it would cost a student from Tennessee to attend UConn, or the financial aid Bradley receives is going to force another student that needs that money to attend UConn to be forced to go to elsewhere. $42,594 is not a small amount of money, especially for a kid that spent the majority of his teenage years in a group home.

Nick Fasulo of Searching For Billy Edelin asks a very good question -- how is this acceptable? How is this allowed to happen?

Frankly, its because the NCAA is utterly toothless.

If Bradley is forced to go off scholarship, most of the anger is probably going to be directed at Calhoun, his staff and the UConn administration that allowed it to happen. And it should. I'm not trying to deflect that anger. If their staff doesn't find some way for Bradley to attend the school for free (and if you click the link above, he should theoretically qualify for complete financial aid), than I fail to see how Calhoun can go into a living room and tell a family that he has their son's best interests in mind and have them believe it.

And I fail to see how anyone in the state of Connecticut can support this move.

But think about this: the entire reason that UConn is in this situation is that they were caught redhanded using a certified agent to recruit a player to their school -- a player that lasted a month before he was kicked out for violating a restraining order in 16 minutes -- and because their program has an embarrassingly low APR score. But instead of actually being punished, UConn won the 2010 national title and landed one of the best recruits in the country.

And (I'm bolding this because the emphasis shouldn't be lost on you) the result of those scholarship reductions for poor academic performance is that a player that grew up in a group home, precisely the kind of kid that an athletic scholarship should be used on, is being taken off scholarship to make room for a one-and-done lottery pick.

That's fucking pathetic. Its pathetic that UConn would pull this stunt, but its even worse that the NCAA -- whose first concern is that these "student"-athletes get an education -- can and will allow it to happen.

The only person that the NCAA's sanctions against UConn actually negatively affected was the kid that truly needed the scholarship in the first place. That literally goes against everything that the NCAA stands for in the first place.

Think about that the next time the NCAA lauds amateurism and promotes their "student"-athletes while cashing eight and nine figure checks.

What makes this even more mind-blowing is that there is a good chance that Bradley will qualify for a very large chunk, if not complete, financial aid from the University. I mean, hell, we're talking about a kid that grew up in a group home! What more does the financial aid office need to see? And if that is the case, than Calhoun can kick his feet up and laugh. He can laugh at the fact that he was able to thumb his nose at the NCAA, keep a poor kid from paying anything while playing basketball at UConn and bringing in Drummond despite having no scholarships available.

One of these days, it will be nice to see the NCAA's enforcement staff actually be able to, you know, enforce stuff.
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Andre Drummond reverses course, heads to UConn

In one fell swoop, Andre Drummond was able to not only render our 2012 Consensus Recruiting Rankings obsolete just 10 hours into their existence, he also managed to force UConn into the conversation with Kentucky and North Carolina as the nation's favorite to win the 2012 national title.

Just two weeks after officially announcing that he would be heading to Wilbraham and Monson for another year of prep school, Drummond shocked everyone -- and I mean everyone -- when he sent the following tweet:


The sheer nature of the announcement is what made this such a big deal.

The saga was over. The story was dead. Drummond wasn't ever going to set foot on a college court. And out of the blue, at 7:30 pm on a Friday night that saw most of the eastern seaboard bracing for Hurricane Irene, Drummond is headed to play for Jim Calhoun. Why? One theory involves Kris Dunn, Drummond's AAU teammate. The plan was to attend Wilbraham and Monson together next season, but Dunn -- who committed to Providence yesterday -- opted to return to New London for his senior season.

Before I get into what this means for the Huskies, there are a couple of things to think about. For starters, it will be interesting to see when, exactly, Drummond is actually able to take the court. He has finished all the requirements to be able to enroll at UConn, but he still has to send the paperwork off to the NCAA's clearinghouse. That process could take a while.

The other issue has to do with UConn's scholarship situation -- they don't have any available. They are already dealing with a reduction of three scholarships thanks to the Nate Miles investigation, and Deandre Daniels took the last available spot earlier this summer. Most expect Drummond to have to walk-on.

With Drummond in the fold, UConn now looks like a legitimate threat to repeat as national champions. He'll be joined on the frontline by Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith and Deandre Daniels with Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb and Ryan Boatright holding down the back court. Where last year's club was Kemba-centric, the 2011-2012 Huskies will look quite a bit like the Jim Calhoun teams of the aughts -- a ton of size, even more length and athleticism, and enough perimeter shooting and playmaking to keep from being a one-dimensional basketball team.

(As an aside, has anyone in the country had a better six month stretch than Jim Calhoun? He shocked the world by winning eleven straight games to cut down the nets at both the Big East Tournament and the Final Four, he got Jeremy Lamb to return to school for his sophomore season, he forced out athletic director Jeff Hathaway and now he brings in Andre Drummond on the heels of signing Deandre Daniels. This was a program that had some [admittedly stupid] people questioning whether or not they could recover from the investigation into Nate Miles. Now they are the reigning champs and a favorite to repeat next season despite losing Kemba Walker. Unbelievable.)

At the end of the day, the bottom-line is that Drummond made the correct decision. Not solely to attend UConn, but to head to college in general.

The knock on Drummond is that he's not a competitor, that he gives inconsistent effort far too often. If there is anyone in the country that will run a lack of intensity and focus out of a player, its Jim Calhoun. If Drummond isn't giving his all, he'll be riding the bench.

And don't forget the added bonus of becoming a national name next season. With a loaded in 2012, Drummond is going to want to have a profile. Not only will it make him a more intriguing recruit -- NBA folks will get a chance to see him perform against the best competition in the country, and he'll be able to build a following that will increase the money he can demand from sponsors.

Clearly, Drummond reads B.I.A.H.


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Mitch McGary will be eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft, but why isn't he getting to message board treatment that Andre Drummond is?

Before Texas A&M and the SEC decided to hold the world of collegiate athletics hostage with the second installment of expansionocalyspe's "now-we're-leaving, no-you're-not, yes-we-are" melodrama, my twitter feed was dominated by talk about Andre Drummond.

Don't know who he is?

Well, that was exactly my point. Drummond, who will in all likelihood be the No. 2 player in the country when we can update our Consensus Recruiting Rankings, opted to head to a second year of prep school in 2011-2012 instead of enrolling in college. Either way, he will be eligible for -- and almost assuredly enter -- the 2012 NBA Draft (assuming the new CBA doesn't change early-entry rules), but by heading to college Drummond would be able to build a following and a profile that would be more appealing to sponsors.

So, yes, I disagreed with his decision. If it were me, I would have gone the college route. But its his life, I don't judge him for the decision he made.

But that doesn't mean that other folks felt the same way. Take a look at what some moron name Ron Howell had to say about Drummond's decision:


(I pulled that image from Drummond's twitter feed, for what its worth.)

Safe to say, that comment wasn't unique on the internet slums known as message boards.

Which brings me to Mitch McGary. McGary is the No. 3 recruit in the country according to CBSSports, ESPN, and Scout, the only three rankings to have been released post-July. But, like Drummond, for NBA Draft purposes, McGary's high school class is 2011. That means that, like Drummond, McGary will be eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft.

"At this time, we're not going to close the door on any opportunity," his AAU coach, Wayne Brum, told Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com. "That is such a moving target. If you go in the draft and you're wrong, then you lose your NCAA eligibility. It's a very, very tricky and delicate situation. We can't rule it out, but I know it's a very delicate situation."

So where is the backlash for his to attend prep school?

Why isn't McGary suffering from the same kind of internet criticism that Drummond did?

The easy answer is the skin color of the two players. Drummond is black and McGary is white. (And if we're going to open that door, are we allowed to wonder why everyone is comparing McGary to Tyler Hansbrough?)

Maybe I'm just being naive on the state of race relations in this country, but I think there is more to it than that.

For starters, Drummond is a much better long term prospect that McGary. One recruiting analyst told me that Drummond would have been the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2011 had he gone to school this year, which should tell you not only how good Shabazz Muhammad is as a prospect, but also should make you wonder just how good Kentucky's 2011 recruiting class can be. The biggest reason for that difference is age. McGary is a year and two months older than Drummond. He's a month older than Tobias Harris, who went in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. 14 months is a very, very long time when a prospect is that age.

The other issue is that Drummond has long been considered one of the best players in his class. For those that follow recruiting closely, Andre Drummond has been a known quantity for years. McGary has been considered a high-major prospect for a long time, but prior to this spring, the teams chasing him were of the Purdue, Marquette, and Indiana ilk. Right now, he has ever school in the country on him. In fact, it wasn't until Monday of this week that I had even heard that entering college this season -- and being eligible for the 2012 Draft out of prep school -- was even an option.

As Jay-Z says, "along with celebrity comes bout seventy shots to your frame".



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UPDATE: Andre Drummond to make a decision today, will marketability factor in?

UPDATE: Drummond has made his decision. Adam Finkelstein (we told you!) broke the news this afternoon that Drummond will be heading to Wilbraham and Monson for another year of prep school. He also got a top five from Drummond -- UConn, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, and West Virginia -- but rest assured that Drummond will not be spending any time on a college campus.

I still believe what is written below. Let's go ahead and say that we think Drummond made a bad decision.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Andre Drummond saga will, in all likelihood, end today.

Andy Katz confirmed an earlier report that Drummond will be making a decision at some point today. What that decision is, however, no one seems to know. Adam Zagoria is reporting that Drummond's plan is to return to St. Thomas More. Jeff Borzello tweeted that he believes Drummond will either end up paying his own way at UConn or head to Wilbraham and Monson, another prep school in the Northeast. (Its a virtual certainty that Adam Finkelstein will be the first to know the answer, so follow him on twitter if you are into that breaking news stuff.)


As Mike DeCourcy wrote in a column on Monday, college would probably be the best decision for Drummond. On the one hand, it would give Drummond a year's experience presumably (most expect him to go to UConn if he goes to college) playing under Jim Calhoun for the reigning national champs in college basketball's premiere conference. He certainly won't get worse, and there is little doubt that he will improve more than spending another year dunking on over-matched high school kids. DeCourcy also makes the point that Drummond's biggest red flag is inconsistent effort and that he is "too casual about competition." Surprising people by choosing to go to college is a good way to start erasing those doubts.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything DeCourcy says in that article, but I doubt his arguments will be convincing if presented to Drummond.

I have one that will be -- he can make more money by going to college.

I'm not referring to the money he will get in his rookie contract. Regardless of the kind of season that he has if he goes to college, Drummond is going to be drafted on his potential, which will put him somewhere in the top ten.

No, I'm talking about endorsement money. If Drummond goes pro straight from prep school, he isn't going to have a national profile. With the exception of the people that closely follow high school hoops and recruiting -- which is a minute segment of the population -- he'll be a mystery. Hell, Drummond isn't even the most high-profile player in the Class of 2012. That honor goes to the No. 1 player in the country, a high-flying and high-scoring lefty wing out in Vegas with a memorable name, Shabazz Muhammad.

For argument's sake, lets say Drummond goes to UConn. He'll be joining a team already expected to be in or around the top ten in the country, he'll help Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb form one of the most dangerous front lines in the country, and he'll make the Huskies a favorite to reach a third Final Four in four years.

People will talk about him. Fans will go out to see him play. He has a much better chance of becoming a household name by spending a year playing on ESPN and having highlights shown on Sportscenter.

That's how he'll get bigger endorsement money, by marketing himself.

Would that be enough to get him to head to college for a year?



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UPDATE: The latest on Andre Drummond: Report saying he will go to St. Thomas More disputed

UPDATE: NBADraft.net is reporting that Drummond will make his college decision on August 10th.

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There is no story in high school basketball this month more intriguing than the saga of Andre Drummond.

If you don't know who that is, you will soon enough. A 6'11", 285 lb center, Drummond is the best big man in a class loaded with big men, currently sitting behind only Shabazz Muhammad in our 2012 Consensus Recruiting Rankings.

But what makes Drummond so intriguing is that he doesn't necessarily have to be a member of the Class of 2012. He finished his high school requirements at St. Thomas More HS in CT, meaning that he would be eligible to enroll in college and play basketball this fall. There isn't a school in the country that would turn Drummond away.


Adam Zagoria caught up with Drummond by phone at the Adidas Nations event out in Los Angeles. According to Drummond, "the plan" is to return to St. Thomas More in the fall and that he "most likely" will not be in college in the fall.

Seems clearcut, doesn't it?

Well, maybe not.

The most connected man in college hoops -- Jeff Goodman -- disagreed with it, tweeting "I'm still not buying into the the report that Andre Drummond will return to St. Thomas More" and following that up an hour later with "In fact, I know I'm definitely NOT buying the report that Andre Drummond is headed back to St. Thomas More. Not happening."

Goodman's protoge, Jeff Borzello, chimed in later, saying "I've heard two things lately: that [Drummond will] go to Wilbraham & Monson, or that he'll pay his way to UConn and play this fall."

If Borzello and Goodman are both currently in the dark as to Drummond's plans, then I think its safe to say that everyone is.

Or that Drummond has yet to make up his mind, which may, in fact, be the most likely scenario. If he doesn't know what he's going to do in the fall, then how can a reporter know? Its no secret how difficult it is for an 18 year old to make a decision.

Either way, its extremely unlikely that Drummond's name won't be called by David Stern in the 2012 draft, which means that if Drummond makes the decision to return to the prep school ranks, we probably won't ever see him on a college campus.



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Andre Drummond won't be going to college in the fall

Perhaps the most interesting story line of this July's live recruiting period is the saga of Andre Drummond.

For those that don't know, Drummond is the No. 2 player in our consensus recruiting rankings. He's currently in the class of 2012, but since he has already spent four years in high school, he is eligible to enroll in college in the fall. At 6'11" with a frame that makes him look like an NBA power forward, Drummond would have been an impact player if he had been played college ball this past season.

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant caught up with Drummond this week, and it appears as if the drama has ended. When asked if he will enroll in school in the fall, Drummond said "No way that happens."

It looks like that may be the end of that.


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