Frankie Hughes Becomes First Louisville Commit Since Scandal Broke
Frankie Hughes, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from
Frankie Hughes, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from
De'Ron Davis, a 6-foot-9 power forward from
NBA GMS projected former Duke center Jahlil Okafor as the NBA Rookie of the Year and named former Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns the most likely to be the best player from the 2015 draft class five years from now.
Miami’s Justise Winslow of Duke was also named the biggest steal of the NBA Draft with 31 percent of the vote.
The results are from the annual NBA GM survey done by NBA.com.
Anthony Davis, another former Kentucky big man, received an overwhelming 86.2 percent of the votes from general managers for player they would want to start a franchise with today. Additionally, San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard was tabbed the league’s top defender (27.6 percent) while San Antonio’s three-time NBA Coach of the Year Gregg Popovich received 93.1 percent of the votes for the league’s best coach.
The GMS also predict the Cleveland Cavaliers (53.6 percent of the vote) will capture their first ever NBA title.
Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Rick Pitino says Andre McGee needs to come forward and “tell the truth” about the sex scandal that has ensnared Louisville in national headlines.
“I don’t know if any of this is true or not,” Pitino told ESPN’s Dana O’Neil by phone Tuesday. “There’s only one person who knows the truth, and he needs to come out and tell the truth to his teammates, to the University of Louisville, to his fans and to his coaches that have taught him to do the right thing for years and allowed him to be part of something special here.
“He’s the only one with any answers. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. … Everything else is absurd. I don’t care about the legal issues. If he’s done something wrong, he has to own up to it and do his penance.”
Meantime, Louisville AD Tom Jurich says the scandal won’t trigger a Pitino resignation.
Crisshawn Clark, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Cañada College in San Mateo, Calif., committed to Pittsburgh on Monday, he announced on Twitter.
A native of Ohio, Clark also had offers from Nevada, St. Mary’s and Oregon, among others.
“Crisshawn chose Pitt because he really felt at home with Coach [Jamie] Dixon, the staff and players,” his coach, Mike Reynoso, told SNY.tv. “He felt he would have a great opportunity to be successful at Pitt, and play in the best basketball conference in America — the ACC.”
Elijah Pemberton, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound combo guard from Chesire (Conn.) Academy, committed to Hofstra on Monday.
A onetime William & Mary commit, Pemberton also considered Northeastern, St. Bonaventure, William & Mary and East Carolina.
“Hofstra just felt right to me,” Pemberton, a Yonkers, N.Y., native who now lives in Middletown, Conn., said by text. “The whole coaching staff was genuine and I felt the sincerity from them. What I’m going to bring to the table is another level of athleticism and feel for the game as well as a strong ball handler. I can’t wait to be a Pride!!”
North Carolina may be out of the Harry Giles Sweepstakes, but maybe their fans can take consolation in the upcoming visit of Rawle Alkins, the No. 3-ranked shooting guard in the Class of 2016 according to 247Sports.com.
The 6-foot-5 Alkins announced on Twitter that he will visit North Carolina on Friday. It will be his second visit to campus after he and his mother stopped by in September.
Since transferring to Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God from Christ the King in Queens, both North Carolina and N.C. State have stepped up their recruitment of Alkins, who has cut his list to eight schools: Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, N.C. State, North Carolina, UNLV and St. John’s.
