COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : New York Prep Stars Are Staying Close to Home

As always with recruiting news, the following should be taken with several grains of sodium. . .

According to talent scout Bob Gibbons, editor and publisher of All Star Sports publications, St. John’s moved into the recruiting class top 10 with the recent signings of New York prep stars Felipe Lopez and Zendon Hamilton.

Lopez, a shooting guard, has received the most hype, but none of it will matter if the Redmen don’t find a point guard to get him the ball. The same goes for Hamilton, a 6-11 center.

Meanwhile, point guard Jelani Gardner from St. John Bosco is supposedly leaning toward Arkansas. Gibbons said Gardner’s parents recently flew to the Fayetteville campus at their own expense and met with Razorback Coach Nolan Richardson. This isn’t great news for UCLA or Cal, which both want Gardner. Cal Coach Todd Bozeman is dangling a starting job, now that Jason Kidd is leaving for the NBA.

The Razorbacks also might get 6-8 forward Jerod Ward of Clinton, Miss. Ward’s fifth and final campus visit will be to Arkansas on April 15.

“If Arkansas landed those two kids,” Gibbons said, “it would not be a Fab Five, but it sure would be a Magnificent Two.”

Other Gibbons items:

--UCLA and Duke are pursuing Brandon Jessie, a 6-6 small forward at Ventura College. The son of former Ram Ron Jessie, Brandon is friendly with Blue Devil center Cherokee Parks. Also interesting is that Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski never has taken a junior college player.

--Gardner originally was leaning toward UCLA, but now, who knows?

“All the (Jim) Harrick bashing. . .with those West Coast kids there’s some prima donnas,” Gibbons said. “That’s the problem Harrick has. Those guys are so jaded by they time they get there.”

However it shakes out, Gibbons gives high marks to the recruiting classes assembled by Indiana, Duke, UCLA, Virginia, Boston College and St. John’s, among others.

DO THEY STAY OR DO THEY GO? Four of the five players on the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. first team are underclassmen. One of the players, Kidd, already has decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility for the NBA. The other three--junior center Clifford Rozier of Louisville, junior forward Glenn Robinson of Purdue and junior forward Donyell Marshall of Connecticut--have yet to declare their intentions.

Whatever happens, the four underclassmen have one thing in common: forgettable final games of the season.

In Cal’s second-round upset loss to Wisconsin Green Bay, Kidd scored 12 points, but it took 17 shots (one of seven from the three-point line) to do it. He had 11 rebounds and seven assists, but committed six turnovers, too.

In Louisville’s Sweet 16 loss to Arizona, Rozier made only one of four shots, scored five points and collected seven rebounds in 36 minutes.

In Purdue’s regional final defeat to Duke, Robinson, the player of the year, scored a season-low 13 points (six of 22 from the field, 0 for 6 from the three-point line), but added 13 rebounds.

In Connecticut’s regional semifinal loss to Florida, Marshall could do no better than 16 points (five of 13 from the field, 0 for five on three-pointers) in 44 minutes of playing time. With the score tied and only 3.4 seconds remaining in regulation, Marshall also missed two free throws.

DO THEY STAY OR DO THEY GO?--PART II

You also can add Michigan junior guard Jalen Rose to the list of star players who struggled in their final game of the tournament. Rose finished with only 13 points on five-of-19 shooting in the Wolverines’ regional final loss to Arkansas. Included in the misses were two game-tying shots--one a layup, one a three-pointer--in the last 4:52.

In fact, beginning with a March 6 home loss to Purdue, Rose scored under his season average of 20.6 in six of the final seven games (13, 20, 13, 17, 16, 13).

Cal junior forward Lamond Murray, also projected to go fairly high in the draft, ended his season with a 19-point, 11-rebound effort against Wisconsin Green Bay. But Murray, who has scheduled an April 11 news conference to announce his decision, was six of 21 from the field, 0 for 7 from the three-point line.

Two players who might have helped themselves: Yinka Dare, the George Washington sophomore center who has since declared himself eligible for the draft, and Michigan junior center Juwan Howard, who has yet to decide whether to leave Ann Arbor.

In George Washington’s loss to Connecticut, Dare had 19 points (nine of 15 from the field), 12 rebounds and one block. Still, Dare’s departure prompted Colonial Coach Mike Jarvis to say that the Nigerian center wasn’t ready yet for the jump to the pros.

Prediction: Dare, who has played only three seasons of organized basketball, will be a lottery pick. His upside (7-1, 265 pounds, improved skills, defensive intimidator) outweighs his lack of experience.

Howard is lottery material, if he chooses to skip his senior season. He scored 30 points against Arkansas, making 11 of 17 shots, and had 13 rebounds.

Beginning with the March 6 Purdue game, Howard scored 27, 21, 32, 28, 34, 24 and 30 points. Even with his team eliminated, Howard would have to head a list of tournament MVP candidates, along with Duke’s Grant Hill, Florida’s Craig Brown and the Arizona tag team of Khalid Reeves and Damon Stoudamire.

Michigan officials said Rose and Howard haven’t indicated whether they will take advantage of a new NCAA rule that allows players to have their eligibility restored up to 30 days after the draft.

DIGGING FROM THE RUINS

As expected, Marquette’s Kevin O’Neill was hired to revive a Tennessee program that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1989 and hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1983, when it beat-- ta-da --Marquette.

Two days after taking the job, O’Neill, 37, had received 226 phone messages. If you can’t play, don’t expect a return call anytime soon.

“My first priority is getting in touch with maybe some possible recruits,” he said. “Then I need to put together my staff. Some of my guys are coming, some of them don’t want to come. Then I want to get a handle on things here, especially with my players.”

Good luck. The Volunteers (5-22) suffered through their worst season in 32 years. In his five years at Tennessee, Wade Houston was 65-90, which is one of the reasons why the school’s women’s team was outdrawing the men.

Still, when O’Neill called his former boss at Arizona, Lute Olson, the Wildcat coach told him not to think twice about taking the job.

“I guess the only time I wavered was when I was sitting down to tell Tony Miller (Marquette’s junior point guard) that I was leaving,” O’Neill said.

And now?

“Milwaukee’s a memory, Knoxville the future,” he said.

O’Neill never had seen the Tennessee campus until Marquette played in the Southeast Regional at 24,535-seat Thompson-Boling Arena. Volunteer fans must have loved it when O’Neill’s Warriors upset Kentucky earlier in the tournament and then played Duke tough in the regional semifinal.

Tennessee is no easy reconstruction project. O’Neill signed a five-year, $1.2-million deal, which also allows for additional income via shoe endorsements and summer basketball camps. Considering the state of things, five years sounds about right.

Despite an 86-62 record at Marquette and two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, O’Neill, who sometimes didn’t get along with the Milwaukee locals, said he has adopted one new rule.

“I’m going to learn to keep my mouth shut on certain occasions and not say stupid things like I’ve done in the past,” he said.

Thus, no promises of a quick fix in a conference that includes Arkansas’ Richardson, Kentucky’s Rick Pitino, Florida’s Lon Kruger, South Carolina’s Eddie Fogler, Louisiana State’s Dale Brown and Georgia’s Hugh Durham. Of that group, only Fogler hasn’t led a team to a Final Four appearance.

THE REST

One of Duke’s biggest (and also smallest) fans might be sitting on the Florida bench Saturday. Kevin Kruger, 10-year-old son of Florida Coach Lon Kruger, is a Blue Devil fanatic. For Christmas, Florida sports information department officials arranged for Duke to send little Kruger an official Blue Devil sweatshirt. And when Duke played Florida State at Tallahassee earlier in the season, Kevin attended the game--the tickets courtesy of the Blue Devils. No word yet on Kevin’s NCAA semifinal allegiances. . .Just when you want to admire the Arizona team for a job well done in the tournament, Arizona’s Olson opens his mouth. Rather than savor the moment of reaching the Final Four, Olson felt he needed to stick it to his program’s critics. By doing so, he took the attention from where it belonged--the surprising Wildcats--and moved it toward him and his personal catfight with assorted media types. Not only was it unfair to his team, it was unnecessary. The Final Four appearance was enough to quiet the critics (ourselves included). The postgame rantings by Olson accomplished nothing. ... On Marquette’s short list to succeed O’Neill: Duke assistant Tommy Amaker. Another Duke assistant, Mike Brey, is one of the leading candidates for the Auburn opening. Cliff Ellis, who “resigned” at Clemson, is also one of the finalists. . .New Southeastern Conference ties aside, O’Neill said his heart says to pick Arizona in the Final Four. “I really wish I wouldn’t have gotten in the SEC right now,” said O’Neill, whose conference features two Final Four teams, favored Arkansas and underdog Florida. “I want to see Arizona win.”. . .O’Neill, whose Marquette team played both Duke and Arizona this season, isn’t entirely alone in his pro-Wildcat stance. Boston College Coach Jim O’Brien was asked to compare Arizona’s backcourt of Stoudamire and Reeves to Florida’s wonderful guards, Brown and Dan Cross. “Boy, you know Arizona’s backcourt. . .those guys are pretty darn good. I think these two (Florida) kids are two of the more underrated kids, but those two guys from Arizona are terrific.” Arizona beat Boston College by five points in December. . .UCLA’s Harrick, appearing on an InterSport Final Four preview show, picked Arizona to beat Duke for the championship. He also said he had heard that Purdue’s Robinson could receive a multi-year NBA contract worth possibly $100 million if he came out. . .Also appearing on the show was LSU’s Brown, a close friend of John Wooden, and outspoken Harrick critic Bill Walton. As a surprised Harrick looked on, Brown turned toward the camera and said, “Bill Walton, if you’re watching tonight, will you get off Jim Harrick’s back?”

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Rec. 1. Arkansas 29-3 2. Duke 27-5 3. Arizona 29-5 4. Florida 29-7 5. Michigan 24-8 6. Missouri 28-4 7. Purdue 29-5 8. Boston College 23-11 9. Kansas 27-8 10. Connecticut 29-5