Big 12 Recruiting for the Hardwood

There was lots of news yesterday for Big 12 schools with the start of the football signing period. We at RivalsHoops.com have some basketball information for those schools, highly regarded for their excellence on the gridiron.

But, that use meaning for the "football school" appelation doesn't apply anymore to these programs. Entering last night's games, the Big 12 sits in third place in Jerry Palm's College RPI database. This conference is another example where "football school" does not carry any negative connotation for the basketball program.

A couple notes on this list, which includes links to each player profile and to the school's press release, if an NLI was signed.

Of those who committed prior to the basketball early signing period, all signed except for a couple juco players, point guard Tim Barnes from Southeastern Illinois C.C. who committed to Iowa State and Robert Tomaszek, a power forward from Eastern Wyoming College who reportedly is headed to Texas Tech.

As Russ Blake has reported many times before, the norm for junior college transfers is to sign following their sophomore season. Some juco coaches have a policy that stipulates just that for their players.

On the news front, Colorado had announced the signing of one player we didn't have in the database. After a quick check on the net, appears we aren't alone here.

Glean (or Glenn) Eddy, a small forward who prepped at National Christian Academy (MD) last season and who is completing his scholastic experience at Fork Union Military Academy (VA), signed with the Buffaloes though it was a little confusing earlier over at the official school website. There were two press releases posted one day apart with different information. That's been corrected now. (FYI - the headline still has a typo which should be corrected shortly according to the Colorado Hoops SID).

A couple decisions were made after the signing period. The biggest, of course, was big man Kevin Bookout's choice of the Sooners over the Cowboys in what ended up a two-school battle for the home-state star. That could be a moot point depending on what happens following Bookout's senior baseball season. If he's drafted by a major league team, he might just head to the world of baseball. Course if the team is either Montreal or Minnesota, it's less certain a situation with MLB's continued intention to "contract" the game. And if there's a work stoppage..... Anyway, June could be a very interesting time for the Sooners.

The other announcement came last month when juco point guard Brandon Brooks chose Iowa State on one day and on the next was team-less following his dismissal from the basketball team at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. For those less familiar with junior colleges in Iowa than Mr. Blake (my hand is raised), that town is the fictional home of M*A*S*H's Radar O'Reilly!

For a good news story, you have reserve point guard Marcus Hayes at Kansas State who started the year as a freshman walk-on. He was awarded a scholarship starting next season.

And in the never-ending search for what I didn't know, take a look at Nate Johnson who's headed to Nebraska. He played high school in Kansas City, Kansas, and is attending a junior college in Kansas City, Missouri; another set of twin cities. (Geography teachers and folks in the midwest - chuckling is probably mandatory.)

Finally, please feel free to point out any errors in this list. I have three sets of eyeglasses but the data still gets confusing. Feel free to email me at drcnry@aol.com. Thanks.

And now the list:

BIG 12 CONFERENCE

Recruiting Report

February 2, 2002

* = New information for database

# = Committed after early signing period

^ = Marcus Hayes is currently a non-scholarship freshman on Kansas State's varsity team