Oklahoma

Kentucky’s John Calipari Can Pull Off Amazing Recruiting Hat Trick

Words. Aron Phillips

It’s safe to say that in one year, John Calipari has turned Kentucky into NBA U. With five players slated to go in the first 20 picks of this year’s NBA Draft, and commitments last week from top-five players in the Class of 2010 (Brandon Knight) and Class of 2011 (Michael Gilchrist) - not to mention All-American senior Doron Lamb - you’d think Coach Cal would take a day off. Think again. While there are still some outstanding players who might commit to the Wildcats for next year, Calipari is focusing his attention on the Class of 2012. MORE >

Terrence Jones will decide this spring

Words. Jason Jordan

Jefferson (Portland, Ore.) forward Terrence Jones isn’t just holding out on picking a college because he doesn’t know where he wants to go. That’s only part of it. The other reason is because he wants his teammates to get the exposure they’ll need to land scholarships.

“It’s only right,” said Jones, ranked No. 31 in the HSH national top 50. “Coaches may like what they see while they’re coming to look at me. We all help each other out like that.” MORE >

Top Five Unsigned Seniors

Words. Jason Jordan

Will they sign during the Early Signing Period (which runs through Nov. 18) or keep us in suspense another five months and sign in the spring? Here’s a look at the top five unsigned seniors and what they will likely do.

1. Harrison Barnes (Ames High, Iowa), 6-6, SF We can all recite the schools on Barnes’ list by now — North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Iowa State, UCLA and Oklahoma — but come Friday we won’t have to. Barnes, HighSchoolHoop’s top prospect, will announce his decision live on ESPNU at 4 p.m. EST. “Everybody’s making a big deal about me announcing on Friday the 13th,” said Barnes. “It’s crazy to me… I don’t get into all of that spooky stuff.” MORE >

The Harrison Barnes Diary: Official visit to UCLA

Words. Harrison Barnes

While navigating through the hectic recruiting process, HighSchoolHoop’s top-rated player, Ames High (IA) swingman Harrison Barnes, agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First was North Carolina, followed by Oklahoma, Kansas and Duke. Now Barnes reflects on his last official visit to UCLA last weekend…

First, I would like to say that the UCLA trip was outstanding! When I visited there unofficially this summer, I got a chance to tour the athletic facilities, meet with academic advisors and attend a class, so we didn’t focus on that for this trip. MORE >

The Harrison Barnes Diary: Official visit to Oklahoma

Words. Harrison Barnes

As he navigates through the hectic recruiting process, HighSchoolHoop’s top-rated player, Ames High (IA) swingman Harrison Barnes has agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First was North Carolina; now Barnes shares his experiences from his official visit to Oklahoma the weekend of Oct. 3…

I thought that, overall, the visit went extremely well. When we first got there it was really late because our flights got delayed. My family and I, Doron Lamb and Coach (Jeff) Capel and his staff all flew in to Oklahoma City. We got in at about midnight and we didn’t get situated and get to sleep in Norman, Okla., until about 2 a.m. MORE >

Harrison Barnes Officially Cuts His List to Six Schools

Words. Jason Jordan

Ames High (IA) star Harrison Barnes, HighSchoolHoop’s top-rated player, confirmed to us that he has trimmed his list of schools from 12 to just six.

Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, UCLA and Iowa State all made the cut, while Florida, Stanford, Minnesota, Kentucky, Southern Cal and TCU all got the boot. MORE >