Recruiting - Hoops Camp Update

Story about college coaches being a spectator at these events. They cannot make contact with players, but they can be seen:

To ensure that they are seen by the players, the coaches are dressed in shirts that bear the school's name. Some of the faces, such as Phil Martelli of Saint Joseph's, John Calipari of Memphis and Texas Tech's Bob Knight, are easily recognizable.

"You're here to show your face, so if the kid looks up he'll see that big logo on your shirt," Georgia Tech assistant Willie Reese said.

Some players are used to the attention:

All the attention has hardly fazed Southwest Atlanta Christian junior guard Javaris Crittenton.

"I've been in these type situations since I was in the seventh grade," said Crittenton, who played under the national spotlight this season with teammate Dwight Howard. "There are a lot of players that want to be in this type of situation."

Now on to GT issues. It looks like Kevin Rogers and CJ Miles are still looking at being a package deal. This CBSSportsline story discusses their future.

Package deals happen in college basketball, but not like this. Not like Calvin Miles and Kevin Rogers, two sublime players from Dallas who have decided they want to play together in college -- and are considering a handful of schools such as North Carolina, Kansas, Arizona and Connecticut.

Miles and Rogers are atypical in that both have a chance to be a McDonald's All-American from the class of 2005. Miles is a 6-foot-5 wing, Rogers a 6-8 power forward. They hit it off three months ago at a pickup game at First Baptist Church in Dallas, and have been inseparable ever since.

"I'll hang out at his house or he'll hang out at my house," Rogers says. "I consider his dad like my dad, but mostly we play basketball together."

Kevin Rogers and Calvin Miles have been inseparable recently.(Provided to SportsLine)
They are insistent that they will play together in college, which would be great news for the school that lands them -- and a double dose of bad news for the ones that miss out. According to Rogers, their list also includes Georgia Tech, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Baylor.

Usually a package deal features one great player and his sidekick from high school. That's what happened when Memphis' John Calipari landed Kendrick Perkins (who entered the NBA Draft out of high school), and when Georgia Tech's Bobby Cremins landed Clarence Moore.

But two great players? Wanting to play in tandem?

"These schools say we can make it happen," Rogers said. "It's really like a need for us. We're connected to each other so well. That first day we clicked."

Now more on some players that have GT on their list:

Word on the street is that the three best available big men at the Nike Camp -- Tyler Hansbrough, Richard Hendrix and Eric Boateng -- already know where they're going. Word is, Hansbrough is going to North Carolina, Hendrix to Alabama and Boateng to Duke. We'll see ...

Of the rising high school seniors who entered this week's camps in most analysts' Top 100, Lee Bynum probably was the most underrated. Bynum, a center from Plainsboro, N.J., has played well after registering eye-popping numbers at the camp weigh-in: 6-11, 280 pounds with a 7-3 wingspan ...

Mario Chalmers is a guy that Coach Hewitt offered but chose Kansas instead - story here. Why did he chose Kansas? Well, this comment would lead you to believe J.Jack being around might limit early PT:

Chalmers, 18, committed to Kansas, but said he seriously considered Arizona and Georgia Tech. "It was a hard decision, but I think Kansas is the best opportunity for me," he said. "Bill Self is a good coach and they have a family atmosphere there."

The same could be said about Tech, Arizona and many places. So, it came down to the chance to be a major contributor now.

More on the camps, including some of the college players who act as counselors, even some of our own at the NIKE camp:

Illinois' backcourt of Dee Brown and Williams are here. As are Georgia Tech's Will Bynum and Jarrett Jack, Arizona's Hassan Adams and Channing Frye, Kansas' Wayne Simien, Kentucky's Chuck Hayes and Gonzaga's Ronny Turiaf, among others.

Here's a website covering some recruiting news, but take it with a grain of salt - he makes a lot of mistakes. Mentions GT in the running for Kovotney Barber, Lance Thomas, Theo Davis, Sean McCurdy, Jamal Boykin.

Here's more on the Adidas camp and the spectacle of the whole thing........ For pictures, click here.