Getting Smith great ... but SEC schools recruit well

As unforgiving as SEC competition is on the court in January and February, it necessarily follows that the same as true in recruiting.

If you're keeping a scoreboard for the Class of 2005, you already realize the teams the Vols have to beat on the 94 feet between the white lines are doing quite well in the commitment department.

I take recruiting rankings with a grain of salt, but they at least provide a ballpark estimate of a prospect's potential. So, here goes.

TheInsidersHoops.com, one of several prominent recruiting services, ranks Georgia commitment Louis Williams No. 1 recruit in the nation and Mississippi State-bound Monta Ellis at No. 2.

At RivalsHoops.com, which rates prospects from one to five stars, Williams and Ellis are fivestar players. So are guard Mike Mercer, also headed to Georgia, and forward Tasmin Mitchell, who picked LSU over Kentucky.

Rivals issues only 25 five-star rankings. In addition to the quartet already in the SEC fold, three others could end up at conference schools: Richard Hendrix at Alabama; Jamont Gordon at UT; J.P. Prince at Vanderbilt or Florida.

Four-star guys aren't too shabby. Smith is a four-star guy at Rivals. Bob Gibbons likes him even more than that.

At Mississippi State, Ellis recently picked up a pair of fourstar classmates in the Delk twins, Richard and Reginald, of Jackson, Tenn. Other four-star commitments in the league are guard Derwin Kitchen at Florida, forward Magnum Rolle at LSU and guard Alonzo Gee at Alabama.

Switching from stars to inches, LSU has commitments from four players ranging from 6-7 to 6-10. Ole Miss likewise has four new big men coming in, including 6-8 Xavier Webb of West Carroll High School in Atwood, Tenn., and 6-9, 275-pound Marquis Young of Chicago.

The only SEC school without a commitment is Kentucky, which may offer only two scholarships. The lead candidate for one is Korvotney Barber, the forward from Manchester, Ga. UT visited Barber this week and hopes resists the Big Blue lure long enough to take his Oct. 2 visit.

There is one other four-star prospect from Tennessee left on the market. Lawrence Kinnard of Raleigh-Egypt lists Auburn and Ole Miss as possibilities.

The in-state crop is deep this year. Charles Little, one of Aaron Green's players at Cleveland High School, recently committed to Bob Kesling's beloved Dayton Flyers. Memphis forward Calvin Williams wasn't highly ranked but Colorado grabbed him.

Ex(emptions): Tennessee's Maui Invitational field (North Carolina, Louisville, Texas, Stanford, etc.) is the toughest of any exempt event. Five other league teams will be taking advantage of the exempt route to get extra games.

Alabama goes to a decent Great Alaska Shootout with Utah, Oklahoma and Minnesota. Auburn is in a not-so-great San Juan Shootout. Arkansas goes to the Virgin Islands for a watered-down Paradise Jam. Vanderbilt rolls the dice in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Mississippi State, in an unusual twist, will host a segment of the Coaches vs. Cancer event in Birmingham, Ala. The Bulldogs can't do the honors in Starkville because of NCAA issues with the Mississippi state flag's confederate heritage.

Incidentally, the Bulldogs still haven't released their 2004-05 schedule.

Ex(hibitions): The new NCAA rules on exhibition games open the door for small college programs (Division II-III and NAIA) to get their 15 minutes of fame. The Vols scheduled Tusculum and Carson-Newman. Lee University of Cleveland, Tenn., will play at Auburn.

The best chance of an upset might be Kentucky Wesleyan at Georgia. The Bulldogs return only one starter, while Kentucky Wesleyan is Division II's all-time wins leader and holds eight NCAA championships. The Owensboro, Ky., school will also play exhibitions at Louisville and Kentucky.

Vanderbilt's exhibitions are Alabama-Huntsville and the Mexican University of Panamericana. Florida plays Eckerd and Florida Southern.

In a regular-season match, Alabama will travel to Montgomery to give Alabama State a home game. Georgia will play the second of a four-year pact with Western Kentucky, a condition of Dennis Felton's severance deal when he left the Hilltoppers to take over at Georgia.

The Other Draft: Jackie Butler didn't make the NBA draft but he was picked in the fourth round of the CBA draft this week by Sioux Falls. Small consolation.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.