Top recruits ink LOI's

The college basketball early signing period began Wednesday, Nov. 11 with heavy anticipation from the media, and the deep 2010 class surely has not disappointed. Check here for the complete list of updates, school by school, of who's going to play where next season. Here's some highlights, starting with you know who.

The Kansas Jayhawks finally inked Phoenix shooting guard Royce Woolridge, who had been verbally committed for two years. At 6-3, 175, Woolridge was rated the No. 94 prospect by ESPNU 100. He showed his versatility his junior season by averaging 28.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

The Iowa Hawkeyes signed a four-player class Wednesday that made head coach Todd Lickliter extremely happy in his press conference on Thursday. The only in-state player is SF Zach McCabe from Sioux City. The others are PF Cody Larson (Sioux Falls, SD), SG Ben Brust

(Mundlelein, IL) and SG Roy Marble, Jr. (Southfield, MI, right).

Baylor adds an Amare Stoudamire-prototype in Perry Jones (Duncanville, TX), the classes No. 3 overall player in the country. Scouts say that this highflying PF brings legitimate NBA potential to the Bears.

Michigan secured Miami native Tim Hardaway, Jr. The 6-5 forward is ranked No. 99 by ESPNU 100.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis nabbed the program's most heralded recruit in history by signing Taran Buie, the half-brother of current Nittany Lion star guard Talor Battle. The two will get to play together for one season in State College.

Photo from iahawkhoops.com.

Barnes to be a Tar Heel

Well, if you consider yourself a college basketball fan of any level, then you probably (hopefully) already know that Ames, IA native Harrison Barnes chose to take his game to Chapel Hill to play for head coach Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels. I tweeted about this yesterday--I still cannot wrap my head around the idea that a kid from Iowa was rated the #1 overall basketball prospect in the nation and will now be the next stud Tar Heel. I think it's a good fit for him and glad that he won't be a Blue Devil, that's for sure.

Barnes averaged 19.7 ppg and 8.8 rebounds on his way to becoming Iowa's Gatorade Player of the Year last season, and led the Little Cyclones to a 26-0 state championship campaign. Check out the video of his press conference from yesterday. Barnes obviously practiced his speech several times. He began it by thanking his family, the media and everyone who helped him get to where is is today. He spoke about choosing a school based on academics and athletics. He even wore a suit and tie. Does any other top player do these things? No, they just say their choice, put on a hat and smile. This kid is mature, legit and he's the real deal. Good luck son.

Harrison Barnes commitment near

The consensus #1 overall recruit in the nation for the class of 2010 is none other than Ames, Iowa's own Harrison Barnes. The 6-8, 209-pound small forward is rated a 98 by ESPN, with 99 being the highest possible score for a player. Barnes, a silky smooth scorer versatile enough to play four positions (check out this video displaying his offensive abilities), is the reigning Mr. Iowa Basketball heading into his senior season. It goes without saying that he is coveted by numerous top college programs. His short list is currently North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, Duke, UCLA and Iowa State (basically the same as my list of schools when I was a senior in high school). But after months of speculation, the wait is nearly over as Barnes is set to announce his decision this Friday, November 13 at 3 p.m. The live press conference will be televised by ESPNU.

Unfortunately, as much as I would like to see Barnes stay in the midwest, I don't see that happening. Let's be honest, him staying in his hometown to play for the Cyclones would be a SHOCKER, to say the least. As a Jayhawk, he could at least make a return to play in Ames once a season. However, I also don't see him signing with KU--the team is already too deep and talented at the wing positions for several years to come, especially after landing 2009's overall #1 recruit in swingman Xavier Henry. North Carolina and Duke seem to be the top choices he is wrestling with.

I haven't seen Barnes play in person recently, but I did see him play against Urbandale when he started as a freshman in high school. This was before he was "Harrison Barnes." No one knew who he was, but I could tell he was going to be a player. He was raw at the time, but it was obvious once he matured physically and became more comfortable with his skills he would be a big time prospect. I also refereed him the summer going into his sophomore year and I could tell he was moving along in that direction. He absolutely dominated last year, leading Ames High to the state championship.

SLAM Magazine has chosen Barnes to be this season's senior diary keeper where he pens a short section talking about life as a top recruit and going through his senior year in high school. The thing that makes this kid special though, is that he is just as dedicated in the classroom as he is on the court. He's smart and very mature for his age. Some analysts may talk about him being a "one-and-done" type of player, which he may have the potential to be, but I don't think he is even considering that. He wants to enjoy college and win a national title, which is why he is taking his time with his final decision. Whichever program he chooses, it should consider itself lucky. Who says Iowa doesn't produce quality ballers?

And because, really, no post is complete without a reference to Dick Vitale, here's one of his recent tweets having to do with this subject:

Do u think it is Maolox time at Kansas, Okla.,UCLA, NC, Duke , and Iowa STas they find out in 80 hours where Harrison Barnes will go?

Photo from highschoolhoop.com.

All-time college basketball rankings

Jeff Sagarin is a math whiz who thankfully is a sports fan as well. He has developed a formula that supposedly ends the debate over which is the best college basketball program in history (in which Iowa magically comes in at #10 with a little help from Dr. Tom Davis, at right). The formula calculates points for wins, NCAA tournament wins and national championships, along with a few other categories. He compiled a list of the top Division I teams, #1 through #330, along with a more detailed explanation of the rating system.

In an October 5 article on ESPNcom however, senior college basketball columnist Pat Forde does debate Sagarin's order of the list. Forde has several qualms in the weight given to some of the categories, for example not enough is given to national championships, he writes. In the article, he lists the top ten programs in his eyes.

Here are the Big Ten and Big 12 teams as ranked by Sagarin:

Big 12 Big Ten

3. Kansas 5. Indiana

18. Oklahoma State 6. Illinois

20. Oklahoma 8. Purdue

27. Kansas State 9. Ohio State

29. Missouri 10. Iowa

47. Texas 13. Michigan

51. Colorado 14. Minnesota

52. Iowa State 15. Michigan State

57. Nebraska 28. Wisconsin

89. Texas Tech 77. Northwestern

111. Texas A&M 82. Penn State

117. Baylor

Forde's Top Ten: UCLA, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Kansas, Duke, Louisville, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and Ohio State.

New Top 25 poll and videos

Here's a fresh video from ESPN with Mr. College Basketball-Dick Vitale. He talks about the first 2010 Men's Basketball ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll that is stacked with Big 10 and Big 12 teams. Kansas received 27 first place votes, Michigan State earned 3 and North Carolina slated 1 vote.

Vitale's Super Six teams: Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, Michigan State, Purdue and Duke.

The Jayhawks are his choice to win it all come March. He said they "have all the components" of a championship team: a great coach, experienced veterans, talented freshman. I agree with Vitale that the off-court issues from this summer will have little if no effect on KU's season.

Top 25 teams with ranking: Big 10 Big 12

Michigan State (2) Kansas (1)

Purdue (7) Texas (3)

Michigan (15) Oklahoma (16)

Ohio State (17)

Minnesota (18)

Others receiving votes, in order, are: Illinois, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas State and Texas A&M.

I think the poll just shows how much the voters understand the top-to-bottom strength in the Big 10 this year. The conference as a whole has developed into one of the top conferences in the nation. Some criticize the conference for its slow pace and lack of scoring, and rightfully so, but I would put its defense up there with the best in the country.

The Big East leads the way with six teams ranked in the poll (Villanova, West Va., UCONN, Georgetown, Louisville, Syracuse) while the ACC only has four (UNC, Duke, Ga. Tech, Clemson).

ESPN release

Follow Dick Vitale on Twitter here.

Here's another video from ESPN-an interview with head coach Bill Self about the high expectations the Jayhawks face this season.

Trip to KU

I apologize, I haven't had a new post in a while. But I have a good excuse for being busy-last weekend I took a road trip with my buddies Andy and JT to Kansas (the Sunflower State) to visit my younger sister at KU. It was my fourth trip to the Lawrence campus, and I went to my third Jayhawk football game. Going into the game, I had a 2-0 record but unfortunately Oklahoma got the best of the boys in blue last Saturday.

Anyway, I had the luck and privilege of meeting KU center Cole Aldrich. We ran into each other at the same tailgate party, and he had just gotten done with an early morning prac

tice and was chowing some food. Feeling like a stalker or something, I walked over to the 6-11, 245 junior to chat him up and tell him I was a big from Iowa. I mean, you're not not going to meet the Big 12 Co-Preseason Player of the Year when you randomly see him at a party, right?

The Bloomington, Minnesota native nearly crushed my hand when he shook it. I didn't want to bother him too much, so I kept it short. He said practice was going well, and that he was glad the football team was having such a good season. I also asked him if he knew much about the Iowa basketball team, but he said he usually follows the Gophers. I wished him luck and was on my way, but not before getting a picture with the big fella. Too bad he's sitting down because you can't tell how much he towers over me.

Last year, Aldrich averaged a double-double of 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds, while leading the Big 12 in blocks with 2.7 a game (12th nationally). He compiled 21 double-dou

bles in all in 2008-09, and even recorded a triple-double against Dayton in the NCAA Tournament with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.

Not that I'm complaining, but I wish KU guard Sherron Collins was with Aldrich. I

would've enjoyed meeting the other half of the preseason player of the year honor. The final unfortunate thing about the trip was that we were so busy with the football game and all, I never made it to Allen Fieldhouse. I've been inside it before, but no one that goes to Lawrence should ever leave without setting sights on this legendary facility. It's named in honor of 39-year head coach Forrest "Phog" Allen. It seats 16, 300 (4,000 reserved for students alone) and is the second largest arena in the Big 12 after Texas (16,775).

It was pretty crazy over the course of the weekend how many Iowa fans we met, or at least people that had heard of the university now that the Hawkeye football team is currently undefeated and ranked No. 7 in the country and No. 4 in the BCS standings. People would come up to us at the bars wanting to talk about Iowa. We even requested the Iowa fight song and the deejay played it while we screamed our lungs out to it. I'll never forget that.