false rumors

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Recruiting News, Stuff, Rumors & Half-Truths:
Our Totally Bogus Predictions--(Sept. 26, 2002)

Recruiting "news" is really mostly rumor, innuendo and gossip. Everyone's got a source, and everyone knows someone who knows someone. Coaches can't comment under NCAA rules, and kids, well, kids will say things which (gasp) turn out not to be true. There have been some wild rumors lately, lots of innuendo, gossip, speculation and a bunch of downright wrong stories about kids and their recruiting....So we're going to debunk all of the nonsense, right here and now. And in doing so, we're going to make some predictions (with a wink and a nod to our friend Michael A. Miller).....Just remember that as you read the stuff below none of it is true. Not one of the things we're predicting will come to pass. It's all made up. Really.

We want to be clear: This stuff will NOT HAPPEN. We have no basis in reality for any of what follows. It's all a joke. We don't have a clue. Not happening, no way, no how.

We just want to be wrong before anyone else. So we're going to give you our totally fabricated, completely bogus predictions.

Again, this stuff is not true.

1. Omar Wilkes (6'-3" Sr. G) from Loyola HS, who is reported to be considering three schools (UCLA, Cal and Kansas) will commit to UCLA next week at a press conference to be held at Loyola HS.

2. David Padgett (6'-11" Sr. PF/C) from Reno HS, who is down to considering three schools, Kansas, UNC and Arizona, will flirt with Cal this week, but will sign with UNC, much to the chagrin of all Arizona and Kansas fans. Cal fans will get over it, because they've already got....well, we're not sure who they really have in the class of 2003....

3. Wesley Washington (6'-3" Sr. G) from Mater Dei, who verbally committed to Cal this past spring, will waver on his commitment to Cal this next week, but will reconfirm his commitment after Omar Wilkes announces next week that he's going to sign with UCLA.

4. Ekene Ibekewe, after hosting Kansas Coach Roy Williams this past Tuesday in his home, will sign with USC, because Henry Bibby always gets his man....

5. Trevor Ariza (6'-8" Sr. F), from Westchester HS, who is taking a visit Georgia this weekend, and has already visited UNLV and Indiana, will also take a visit to Florida, and then UCLA will make a push for him with his last visit. Ariza will commit to UCLA.

6. Harrison Schaen (6'-9" Sr. F) from Mater Dei, who visited Penn and Princeton on official visits this past weekend, will briefly consider Yale, but will ultimately enroll at Princeton.

7. Longtime adidas grassroots basketball consultant Sonny Vaccaro, who is rumored to be in negotiations with Reebok, will re-up with adidas, which can ill-afford to lose the entire youth and college hoops market to Nike's real No. 2 basketball shoe competitor, Reebok. All of the adidas-sponsored teams will continue to be sponsored by adidas, as will the Las Vegas Big-Time Tournament, and Sonny's ABCD Camp, and none of them will ever wear Reeboks, because the warmups are just too damn ugly. The shoes are kinda cool though....

8. Marcus Dove (6'-7" Sr. PF) from Long Beach Millikan, who is down to considering Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona State, will commit to Arizona State.

9. D.J. Strawberry (6'-4" Sr. G) from Mater Dei, will sign with Maryland.

10. Travon Free (6'-7" Sr. F) from Compton Dominguez, who verbally committed this week to Long Beach State, will in fact sign with the 49'ers next month.

11. Jason Gilzene (6'-6" Sr. F) from Fairfax, who committed to Sacramento State, will not reconsider his commitment and will sign with the Hornets next month also.

12. Sean Phaler (6'-9" Sr. F) from Villa Park, who eliminated Oregon (or vice versa) from consideration, is now down to three schools, UCLA, Indiana and Washington, and he will commit to..... ah, who knows?.....

13. Mater Dei (as a team) which is currently ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, is scheduled to play Le Bron James' St. Vincent-St. Mary's HS from Akron, OH, at the 9th Annual Dream Classic event put on by Dinos Trigonis on January 4, 2003 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in the headliner game. Mater Dei will win by a final score of 73-68. Wesley Washington will defend LaBron and hold him to 12 points. After the game, LeBron James will announce, definitively and for the last time, that he's entering the NBA draft, thereby foregoing college. He will later change his mind before formally entering the draft, and will sign with Duke, because, after all, where else would the best player in America attend college?

14. Evan Burns will be declared eligible for this season at San Diego State. The Aztecs will handily take the Mountain West title, and will make a run to the NCAA Elite 8.

We could go on and on....but remember, NONE OF THIS WILL HAPPEN. We're making it all up. Really. It's a total fiction, a fabrication, and all of our sources are completely bogus.

Have a nice day.