SI
7/4
Striking subplots
Five story lines to watch in the upcoming season
Posted: Tuesday July 4, 2006 10:51AM;
Updated: Tuesday July 4, 2006 1:42PM
<!--endclickprintexclude--> By Ben Sylvan, Special to SI.com,
SchoolSports.com
Greg Oden has graduated, making way for the 2006-07 basketball season to shape up as the year of
O.J. Mayo. But there are plenty more players and story lines to follow this season, so here's your source for all things hoop.
O.J.'s Future
Where to begin with this one? The North College Hill (Cincinnati) guard's life has more drama than an episode of
The O.C. The most interesting subplot surrounding Mayo this year is what he'll do after high school. Kansas State and USC are considered the front-runners to land him, but there are rumblings that he'll challenge the NBA age minimum. Even if NBA commissioner
David Stern doesn't back down, Mayo could be offered lucrative endorsement deals, giving him millions of reasons to skip college and spend a year in the NBDL or in a European pro league before going to the NBA.
New Power
Kansas State hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1996, but that could soon change thanks to the hiring of
Bob Huggins. Ever since Huggins was named head coach in March, loads of the nation's top recruits have been linked to the Wildcats. In fact, there's a decent chance that three of the top five recruits from the class of 2007 (Mayo,
Bill Walker and
Michael Beasley) and top 10 recruit
Herb Pope of Aliquippa, Pa., could end up at K-State. If that's the case, the Wildcats would have their sights set on something much larger than just making the NCAA tournament in 2008.
Who's No. 1?
Last year we penciled in Lawrence North (Indianapolis) as the preseason No. 1 team and called it a day. With Oden and
Mike Conley dominating inside and out, Lawrence North's reign at the top was never threatened. This year's field, however, is much more wide open. The return of Mayo and Walker could make Ohio's North College Hill the preseason favorite, but traditional powers Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) are always a factor. Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) returns the heart of its 2005- 06 team and could make a run as well.
Michael Jordan's Air Apparents
This winter ESPN will broadcast a game between North Central (Indianapolis) and Loyola Academy (Wilmette, Ill.). North Central's
Eric Gordon will be the game's highest-ranked baller, but Loyola will be the main attraction because its two best players, senior
Jeffrey Jordan and sophomore
Marcus Jordan, are the sons of the man himself. Loyola tried to shield MJ's boys from the national media for a while, but their talent has become too tough to hide. Jeffrey is a fringe top 50 recruit who's being pursued by Illinois and Oklahoma State, while Marcus projects to be even better. Cue the media storm.
Year 2 of the NBA Age Minimum
In Year 1 of the age minimum, traditional football school Ohio State became the trendy college of choice for top hoops recruits. With Kansas State emerging as a destination school in Year 2, nontraditional hoops schools appear to be the big winners from the NBA's age minimum. Despite not making the NCAA tournament last year, Dayton, Rutgers and Clemson have already taken advantage of the deeper player pool, landing top 50 recruits from the class of 2007. And with the recruiting season just getting started, expect to see more nontraditional schools land big recruits. Of course, this could all change if a few '07 studs challenge the NBA's rule.