Jasper asks for release from Kentucky

First there were rumors. Then it was confirmed that Derrick Jasper was toying with the idea of leaving the Kentucky basketball program. The consensus was that he wanted to be close to home (California). Now he has officially asked to be released, so it seems certain that Kentucky will be without his services in the future. Jasper is a very good athlete and defender and Kentucky will miss him for depth if nothing else.

Jasper is the third Wildcat to transfer since the 2007-2008 season began. Freshmen Alex Legion and Morakinyo Williams are also leaving the team.

Recruiting may not be finished

UPDATE: Arizona has granted Negedu and unconditional release, so he is free to sign with another school and be eligible for the 08-09 season. Now we just have to wait and see what he decides.

Reportedly Emmanuel Negedu, an undersized forward with freakish athleticism, has asked Arizona coach Lute Olsen to be released from his LOI. Tennessee and Coach Pearl were involved in his recruitment before he committed to Arizona and it appears that they will be a player again if Negedu is able to obtain his release.

Negedu is a 6′6″/6′7″ (depending on who you ask) forward with amazing hops and the ability to finish strongly around the basket. Comparisons have been drawn to Duke Crews coming out of high school, but the word is he’s a little bit smoother with better ball skills, meaning he would probably be able to play the 3 or 4 instead of being an undersized 5. He’s a fierce rebounder and does most of his scoring in the paint.

The spring signing period ends Wednesday, so I suspect we’ll know what is happening with Negedu by that time. Stay tuned.

Duke and Ramar will leave in good standing

There has been some concern among Vol fans that in addition to hurting Tennessee on the hardwood, the departure of Ramar Smith and Duke Crews would hurt us in the NCAA’s APR, a measurement of academic progress for student athletes in each sport. This was especially a concern since academics had been mentioned as a cause for their dismissal/transfer.

According to Bruce, we shouldn’t be worried about this. The choice was his, and both players will leave UT in good academic standing:

“There’s a perception that I had to dismiss Ramar and Duke,” Pearl said. “That’s not accurate. There was nothing mandated for anything academic or anything with drug testing that mandated my not having those guys back. This was my choice. These guys are leaving us academically eligible.”

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/SPORTS0601/80515119

The rest of the article talks about potential changes to the APR and the way the NCAA views transfers. I happen to agree with Bruce that transfers happen for many reasons, a lot of them positive for the kids and the schools. We should be careful how we view them.

On the one-and-dones, the saga with O.J. Mayo at USC is showing us that the new rule is going to mean trouble. The potential for agent manipulation, $1,000 handshakes, and the like will be higher than ever. This has largely been seen as a good change, allowing us all to watch the Odens, Beasleys, and Roses of the world before they get to the NBA, but we are starting to see the dark side. I’d prefer two years, minimum, perhaps with an option to go pro straight out of high school reintroduced.

2008-2009 Vol roster is set; summer schedule

With Bobby Maze signing on as UT’s 5th and final incoming recruit for 2008, the roster is set for next year (barring any unforseen Ramar/Duke type announcements). Here is the depth chart as I see it:

PG: Bobby Maze (Jr), Daniel West (Fr)

SG: Scotty Hopson (Fr), Cameron Tatum (So*), Josh Tabb (Jr)

SF: J.P. Prince (Jr), Renaldo Woolridge (Fr)

PF: Tyler Smith (Jr), Ryan Childress (Sr)

C: Wayne Chism (Jr), Brian Williams (So), Phillip Jurick (Fr)

* possible medical redshirt would make Tatum a RFr

Note that there’s a lot of flexibility in this depth chart; with the right lineups you could see Hopson, Tatum, or Tabb playing the 3-spot, J.P. Prince playing the 1, and Chism or Woolridge playing the 4. With Duke Crews we could speculate Tyler seeing time at the 3, but without him I don’t see that happening, at least not for significant minutes.

If the rotation is settled to 10 players, I think Jurick and Woolridge are the odd-men out as it stands now; if it is cut to 9 Josh Tabb may not see many minutes.

I now have a goal for the summer, and present you a schedule that I plan to stick to, providing at least a post a week between now and football season for your offseason basketball fix:

June: player previews for Ryan Childress, Wayne Chism, Josh Tabb, and J.P. Prince

July: player previews for Tyler Smith, Bobby Maze, Brian Williams, and Cameron Tatum

August: player previews for Phillip Jurick, Scotty Hopson, Renaldo Woolridge, and Daniel West

Hopefully that will give me time to incorporate impressions from the Rocky Top League into the previews for the new guys, since we have not seen them play at the college level yet.

Once September rolls around, many of us will be in full football mode . . . but that doesn’t mean the work stops around here. I’m going to crank up team and season previews to get us primed and ready for the 2008-2009 season, which will tip off in early November.

Stay tuned, guys. Another exciting season of BruceBall is a mere 6 months away.

Bobby Maze to be a Vol

On the heels of some really bad news in the form of a dismissal/transfer announcement for Ramar Smith and Duke Crews, we learned that Bobby Maze, a JUCO All-American point guard, was back in the recruiting picture for UT. According to a Govolsxtra report, Maze has now given a verbal commitment to UT and Coach Pearl.

http://govolsxtra.com/news/2008/may/07/bobby-maze-says-hes-coming-ut/

Since we are already in the signing period, I would expect this to become official pretty quickly and for Maze to ink with the Vols soon.

For what it’s worth, a Terp fan was kind enough to link this article on Maze. Sounds like a good kid to me.

Holy crap! Chris Lofton had testicular cancer

and played the 2007-2008 season after offseason surgery and radiation treatments. He lost 15 lbs and had his last treatment in June, just before he went to the Pan-Am tryouts and was cut. He was too weak to play like himself.

He didn’t want anyone to know and refused to let his teammates down by not playing. What an unbelievable young man.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3376961

EDIT (5/2): Kentucky blogger A Sea of Blue has a phenomenal post on Lofton’s story. A very classy tribute from a heated rival.

Rumor mill is turning and churning

Specifically, there is word out that Ramar Smith has been dismissed from the team. Jimmy Hyams says it is not true and that he heard this from an assistant coach, and Volquest is backing that up. But other sources are insisting that this is false information and that Ramar will indeed not be on the team next season.

In a related rumor, UT is said to have offered JUCO PG Bobby Maze, a very talented player that started for Oklahoma as a freshman but was dismissed and went to JC to get his act together. The Vols had been in deep in his recruitment but backed off and signed Daniel West instead. If this rumor is true, it seems likely to me that the Ramar rumor is true too.

I guess we will know soon. What a crazy time of year, folks.