Archives

GILBERT, Ariz. – What was I able to cull from watching 15 Arizona Preps Fall Showcase games in the Premier Courts facility over a Saturday-Sunday stretch of a little more than 28 hours?

For one, there are several Arizona prep seniors that have the ability to make major impacts a year from now on the college programs they’re expected to sign national letters of intent with early next month.

For another, there were a handful of other in-state seniors that haven’t yet received the kind of regional and national recruiting attention they’re deserving of.

[Click to continue reading]

GILBERT, Ariz. – Ten games and just about as many hours later, I stumbled out of the Premier Courts facility, and into my rental car, and drove the three miles into Mesa to check into my hotel room, bleary-eyed, Saturday night.

My quest to see the Anthony Ray/Arizona Magic-fronted Arizona Preps Fall Showcase meant I was up at 4 a.m. for a 7 o’clock flight out of John Wayne Airport in south Orange County, so you’ll understand if I don’t catch all of my typos.

[Click to continue reading]

The high school basketball weekend . . . a preview:
• I’ll be at the Arizona Premier Basketball Academy in Gilbert for the 13th annual Arizona Preps Fall Showcase Saturday and Sunday. Be sure to check in regularly on BurlisonOnBasketball.com for updates. Many of the state’s best players are expected to participate.
• The HAX (in the Los Angeles suburb of Harbor City) will play host to the Phiten Super-16 Tournament, which begins Saturday at 2 p.m. and wraps up with the championship game at 2:30 Sunday afternoon.

[Click to continue reading]

And the Oct.  28 winner is . . . the UCLA Bruins.

The Bruins received 14 of 38 first-place votes from the media for Men’s Basketball Media Day in L.A. to finish with 421 points.

Cal (13 first-place votes) was second at 405, followed by Arizona (11) at 404, Washington at 355, Oregon at 282, Stanford at 255, USC at 194, Oregon State at 188, Arizona State at 148, Colorado and Washington State at 119 and Utah at 74.

My picks were Cal (in my mind, an easy choice), Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, USC, Oregon State, Colorado, Arizona State, Washington State and Utah.

[Click to continue reading]

Reactions to the Thursday decisions by the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors that will impact the college basketball scene:

• Conferences will have the option on voting to add $2,000 “spending money” to an athlete’s annual scholarship package.

It’s hard to find fault helping athletes navigate the “true cost of attendance” while attending class and playing sports – assuming a healthy portion of that 2K does not go to, say, iPhones, tattoo parlors or down payments on sweet rides.

But it does serve to create an even wider gap between the “haves” (aka, BCS members) and the (relative) “half-nots” (athletic departments from conferences not wading knee-deep in BCS and mega-media rights contracts cash) that can’t afford the $2,000 bump all male and female scholarship athletes would get.

[Click to continue reading]