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ROUNDUP: CARDINALS, GATORS, TIGERS GET COMMITMENTS

By Rob Harrington
robharrington@prepstars.com
July 5, 2002

On Saturday morning the PrepStars.com armada takes off for the nation's finest summer camps, and Brandon Jenkins just beat the deadline for July mania, making a commitment to Louisville at the dawn of the evaluation period.

Jenkins, a 6-2 PG/WG at Detroit (MI) Southeastern, chose the Cardinals over co-favorite Pittsburgh and interest from Texas, N.C. State, Missouri, Providence and others. He ranks as one of the nation's top 100 players, and some sources believe that he's actually better than that.

Neither Jenkins nor his Michigan Hurricanes teammates had a great weekend at the prestigious Tournament of Champions in May, but overall he played well at major pre-July events. He's a good playmaker who has improved his scoring tools over the past year.

Most importantly for the Cardinals, Jenkins will shore up a position long-term that was expected to be handled by departed prep All-American Carlos Hurt.

RICHARD PICKS FLORIDA

Like Jenkins' commitment to Louisville, Florida rising senior Chris Richard's pledge to Billy Donovan's Gators also comes as no surprise. Richard, a 6-8 BF from Lakeland (FL) Kathleen, chose Florida over finalists Alabama, Miami and Auburn. Florida State, North Carolina, Indiana and others also were in the mix earlier in his recruitment.

Richard is one of the most athletic big men in the Class of 2003. He's very fast in the open floor and dunks emphatically on the break. He's also strong and brings an unselfish approach to the game. He needs to improve the skill areas of his game to reach his potential at Florida.

TIGERS LAND HUDSON

Another Floridian to make an early commitment was Jimmy Hudson. Hudson, a 6-3 WG/PG from Eustis (FL) High and teammate of top-100 big man Wesley Green, chose Clemson over interset from South Florida, West Virginia, Tulane, Miami and others.

Hudson is a premier three-point shooter. He averaged 14 points per game as a junior and nailed 47 percent of his threes. He also showed excellent decision-making, committing just 13 turnovers in 28 games.

MORE ON ITI

Don’t believe everything you’ve heard about Iti. He’s 19 years old (birthday is on Feb. 28, 1983) and not 21. He never did commit to USC as a previous rumor suggested. He’s not a lock to go straight to the NBA. And he’s not a problem child, either.

Iti is a major talent and the 6-11, 230-pound rising senior, who isn’t quite sure if he’ll play his final year of prep at Winchendon (Mass.), could be a huge coup for Bobby Lutz and the rest of the Charlotte staff.

``I’m very happy that I made the decision," Iti said from his Connecticut home. "I wanted to play in Conference-USA and I liked the city of Charlotte a lot. It’s also a good opportunity for me to play right away."

``The whole staff at Charlotte really made me feel at home," Iti added.

Iti came to the United States from Australia four years ago and was briefly living with family in Florida before he moved to Villa Park High in California. Iti enrolled at Winchendon last season and is still debating whether to return next year.

``It was a struggle for me last year," said Iti, who didn’t get a ton of time on the court from coach Mike Byrnes. "I would have liked to have played more. I was ready to play. What he did was his choice not to let me play. It was very frustrating."

``Hopefully, I’ll go back there," he added. "I have to see how I can pay the tuition."

Iti is athletic and can be an intimidating force in the middle, especially on the defensive end. He just needs to work on refining his offense, but he was clearly the second-best big man at the recent NBA Camp according to most observers, behind rising junior Al Jefferson.

``Right now I am just going to concentrate on school and going to college," Iti said, dispelling the NBA rumors. "I want to take my team to the Final Four. That’s one of my biggest dreams."

That dream could have been even more of a reality if the 49ers could somehow land Thayer Academy (Mass.) shooting guard Mike Jones, but he recently got back from a visit to Maryland and is nearly a lock to choose the Terps over Charlotte and Boston College.

However, Iti will give Charlotte one of the top 35 recruits in the Class of 2003 ­ and a possible McDonald’s All-American.

Iti said his grades have risen substantially since he enrolled at Winchendon and that he plans to take the test next semester.

COACHING, TRANSFER NEWS

Kentucky has hired Scott Rigot from Hawaii to replace Mike Sutton on its coaching staff. Interesting angle: If, and it's a big if, because he hasn't proven it against big-time competition, rising junior guard Derrick Low is as good as purported (he was state player of the year over teammate and top-200 rising senior Bobby Nash), then it'll be interesting to see if the Wildcats have an edge in his recruitment. Low will be at the Nike All-American camp. ... Florida transfer wing Orien Greene is headed to Louisiana-Lafayette. UL-L couldn't ask for much better than a Greene, a top-40 player out of high school who had planned to visit Missouri and Clemson prior to making his decision for the Rajin' Cajuns. Interestingly, UL-L was in the driver's seat for Von Wafer prior to his national explosion at the Kingwood Classic in April. Well, Greene may not be Wafer, but he's still a big score. ... Imari Sawyer is out at DePaul. Sawyer, a sophomore PG who was part of Pat Kennedy's touted recruiting class from the Class of 2000, was academically ineligible during the latter portion of last season. It appeared for some time that his days in Chicago were numbered under new coach Dave Leitao.