J'Covan Is In The J'Clearinghouse

So, does this mean that Hill and possibly Varez will be sent packing if Brown gets to school and James stays?

There are other possibilities beyond those two.

You also have:
 
Chapman
Balbay
Wangmene (I hope not)
 
You’d also see Gary Johnson’s minutes squeezed significantly, but I doubt that he’s remotely a candidate.

Given Hill’s injury history, isn’t is also possible that it’s coincidentally discovered he can’t play basketball anymore?

So how exactly does this work? Do the coaches help the superfluous players find scholarships at other schools?

I know that every program has to do this kind of scholarship juggling, but it makes me kind of uncomfortable. I am probably in the minority.

What do you mean “anymore”?

Don’t forget Smith. Two of those leaving wouldn’t be a shock.

From what SLX has said, Smith isn’t going anywhere unless he wants to because he’s a really good student.

It’s a good problem to have, but I don’t disagree with misterloki…it sucks to tell someone to take a hike.

It doesn’t necessarily happen in the way you’re envisioning. These kids were all gigantic high school stars. They believe that they are tremendous basketball players.
 
If a coach takes them into their office and talks frankly to them about their expected playing time, the kids make the choice themselves.
 
A lot of kids would rather start at Nevada or Oregon State than play two minutes a game at Texas.

what exactly is the scholarship situation? do we have to find 2 spots if james comes back (and one if he doesn’t)?

Scipio- I am sure the situation you describe is the norm. I have certainly never heard anything about Barnes and the way he runs his program that suggests otherwise.

ed:
 
We need to free up 2 ‘ships if Damon stays and J’Covan gets cleared.

Hill and Ward are not going to be back. But this was before Duke game. I imagine that may have changed the dynamics a little with one player.

Right. I’m curious to see how it plays out.

Damion is coming back as of today. For those claiming Barnes is nudging him to leave couldn’t be more off. It’s quite the opposite, and the sales pitch is about draft improvement and championships.

Could Harrison Smith go off scholly and become a student/asst coach type??

Meaning he’s done playing for UT, but we still help him finish school.

J’Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton will get in a fist fight at some point. Book it.

“A lot of kids would rather start at Nevada or Oregon State than play two minutes a game at Texas.”

Or, say… I don’t know, Creighton?

“J’Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton will get in a fist fight at some point. Book it.”

Let’s just hope it’s in practice and not in the Sweet Sixteen.

And yeah, give me $5 on the kid from Compton.

Compton?!!!!!Shiiiiiiiiiitttttt-what about Watts???Or norf philly?thisPusseys cleen bitch come serv it!!

If anyone gets in a fight, it will be Avery Bradley and J’Covan. Bradley is more of the fighting type than Hamilton, and IMO, it’s quickly going to become Bradley’s locker room. He’s a Rick Barnes’ kid all the way.

BTW, we all know Compton’s reputation. However, you’d be making a mistake to underestimate how hard the streets are in Port Arthur. There’s a reason why so many of the kids coming out of there have a chip on their shoulder. Stephen Jackson comes immediately to mind. I’d argue it’s as tough an environment as anything in Dallas or Houston.

The head to head court battles between Bradley and Brown will be epic…if they don’t kill each other in the meantime. Bradley is on another level, but Brown is a heck of a talent himself. If they can get over whatever conflicts that might ensue, they’re going to improve each other’s game tremendously, IMO. They’re both gym rats to the nth degree.

I will say that the bigger hurdle for J’Covan will be dealing with a structured environment, and playing on a team where he’s not the most talented player. That’s going to be one heck of an adjustment, and the jury’s out whether J’Covan is up to it or not.

But give the kid credit. He has dealt with some of the most unbelievable pressure to get to this point - all because he wanted to play for Texas so much, he wasn’t willing to cave in to play for his second choice. You guys will never know how much that kid has gone through. Because of that alone I’m hopeful things will turn out well for him. I’m just glad it looks like he’ll actually get a shot, depending on the clearinghouse. People on the staff have looked at the transcripts, and they feel like everything is in order, so we’ll see.

Trips Right, has anyone been saying Barnes is “nudging him to leave”? Because I haven’t seen that anywhere. I have no doubt Barnes is saying everything he can to keep James another year.

What’s interesting to me is that Barnes has always insisted before on not using next season’s possible outcomes as an incentive to return to school. There’s no doubt in my mind James can be a HUGE ingredient to a national championship team, but it surprises me that Barnes would go that route.

Put yourself in James position and then you will understand….you will understand.

I will be pissed if Ward leaves.

SLX – I know you’ve always been in Brown’s corner – and it looks likes there is a legit chance this kid finally makes it in – but I have to wonder if you really should take that chance as a program with a kid who has the potential to disrupt your locker room and team chemistry. With so much talent on the horizon he’s not the need he was (and this last season was his best shot – IMO – at cementing himself in the rotation). I realize Barnes seems to have a soft spot for the kid, as well as a lot invested, but I have to wonder if it’s a prudent move.

How talented is Brown? It seems like ages ago that we recruited him.

Is he a future NBA player? Is it a fair trade if picking him up means we lose Ward? Who in recent college basketball history would you guys compare him with? If he makes it in, how much PT do you see for him next year?

I would take Avery in a TKO in the 11th round. JB is a tough kid that will have to control his emotions, but with Master Blaster and Terry and the environment at UT I am confident that JB will do well. He must stay on top of his Academic work, this I think will be his hardest task to ccomplete.
I do believe that SLX has nailed it when he says that this locker room will be Averys’, but let me tell you Jordan does not step aside for anyone, usually he is talking stuff to the person in his face but he does not back off !
Avery is on a different level and Jordan may be even a little better then Avery not by much, he is a impact player. Damn if we ever get to November we could start Jordan, Avery, Pitt,James and or JBrown /Dog/ Lucas/Ward (hope we do not loose him).Gives me a chubby thinking about this team.
This may get the fans off their butts standing and yelling for this team.
Some body tell me where I have to arrange rooms and meetings forMarch 2010….
I wonder what Mason is going to do for PT as a Senior? RB usually sticks with his Seniors …..

JB is very,very good,good enough to play for the knicks right now, he is a Vinny Johnson with a better handle , explosive on the off. side, with excellent range.
Did anyone catch Avery today, he was great but the one I was imprssed with was Tristan Thompson, this kid is going to be a tough match up when he adds 10-15 lbs to his frame and he runs better then Chappy. He even looks better then when he was at ST.Bens and Hurley.

Model, if RB felt like cutting him loose, he easily could have justified it with the freshmen he has this year. I didn’t expect them to take him on, but smarter people disagreed.

Hill will have only one year to offer Creighton, but this year they had a kid for one year, so maybe that will work out.

“I realize Barnes seems to have a soft spot for the kid, as well as a lot invested, but I have to wonder if it’s a prudent move.”

Black Scholes, I don’t know if Barnes knows if it’s prudent or not. I sure as heck don’t. I don’t think they’ve stuck with Brown to this point because of his basketball skills. Don’t get me wrong. They WOULDN’T have if he wasn’t a terrific basketball player, but he’s not the kind of guy that’s going to transform a program like Texas, either.

They’ve stuck with him because they feel like he’s coming from a bad situation, and that maybe they can help him. Plus, they know he’s stuck by Texas all this time when it was the hard thing to do. I have no idea if it’s going to work out or not, but the nice thing about J’Covan is, if it’s not going to work out, it’s not going to work out very quickly.

Good point, SL. It also would seem like J’Covan would be on campus for a while, if he can make it.

Do his four years of eligibility start once he arrives, or did he use one while waiting to go through the J’Clearinghouse?

No. The eligibility clock doesn’t start ticking until a player enrolls in school. That’s why Aaron Ross was able to play for 4 years.

While watching LaMarcus drop 35 and 18 on the Thunder last night at the Ford Center, and seeing how he and KD were chumming around before and after, I cried a little, thinking what might have been. It occurs to me that keeping these stars around for more than one year is really important.

Avery is destroying it in the Findlay game today. Tristan is looking pretty damn good too. Several other of the younger players are interested in us as well.

I wonder what has prompted this recent surge in recruiting?

Justin Anderson, the freshman from Montrose,has impressed me as well. Said to be a Texas, Villanova, UVA battle.

“I wonder what has prompted this recent surge in recruiting?”

Seriously? Or are you being facetious?

Well I assume KD and others making noise in college basketball and the NBA is the obvious answer.

It just seems like we have been putting people in the league for a while (albeit less talented players compared to KD, DJ, and LA) and our level of winning hasn’t improved dramatically since the beginning of the decade (feels like a ‘good’ season for us is a sweet 16). Which makes it harder for me to see why those two reasons would cause this launch in recruiting.

If this was just one class of studs I would understand, but it appears we have three consecutive top 10 recruiting classes lined up.

I guess I just didn’t expect KD, DJ, and others creating this big of a windfall for us so quickly – especially with the national prep school kids who have every program in the country coming after them.

Basketball recruiting in general seems to be much more perplexing to me than in FB.

The winning percentage is up a little, and they’ve tacked on a few wins… 129 in the last five years of the decade compared to 122 in the first five (which includes the FF season).

Next year’s team is going to have the depth that the 2003 and 2004 teams had, with arguably better players.

Am I the only one who enjoyed seeing a team we played (Michigan State) beat UConn out of the tourney? Go ’Nova.

Callkevin,

I thought it was great. Wish I could have heard Bill Rafferty doing the play by play as UConn unraveled down the stretch.

What I thought was interesting was Calhoun’s comments about the ongoing investigation. It would seem that if the calls were truly made then the precedent has been set. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time the NCAA hasn’t applied the same punishment for the same crime.

A few things on J’Covan.

1) I met him when he was a freshman in HS and he was a very polite yes sir/no sir kid.

2) I saw him play, and he is a very natural ball handler and finisher with both hands. He has excellent body control in the lane. He is not a natural point guard, but he was a good passer and decision maker.

3) Any kid that can make it out of Port Arthur and the situation that J’Covan has been in, is a kid that you should be rooting for.

4) He has had some anger management issues on the floor, but in the time that he was at my old high school as a freshman, those issues weren’t a problem in the classroom or with his peers.

5) I agree with SLX, that his biggest hurdle may be adjusting to the rigour of study and practice at a major university.

6) The clearinghouse may take a very long look at his transcripts, so this is by no means over.

I’m certainly pulling for J’Covan. Sure the kid might get a little pissed off at times, but at least he gives a damn about winning.

It would be nice if J’Covan wound up playing PG for us next year. The insane talent of:

PG: J’Covan Brown
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Jordan Hamilton
PF: Damion James (hopefully)
C: Dexter Pittman

With the absurd depth that would be behind that lineup (essentially 3 deep at every position, though you can only have 13 schollies), it could be our deepest and most talented team ever…can’t wait for next year!

J’Covan at UT might be official soon, OB reports.

RE: And yeah, give me $5 on the kid from Compton.

I take it you’ve never spent much time in Port Arthur…