← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
State of the 2026 CBB Recruiting Class + Peach Jam Recap - RISERS & Fallers, JJ Andrews named MVP
01:10:33
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- [00:00]
Gary Parish
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- [01:01]
Matt Norlander
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- [02:07]
Adam Finkelstein
Okay, let's talk about clothes that feel just right. You know those pants, you wear them once and suddenly they're your go to for everything. That's Travis Matthew and this episode is presented by Travis Matthew apparel designed for confidence and comfort, not no matter where the day takes you Travis Matthew has so many instant classics, tees, shoes, outerwear, pants and a customer favorite, the quarter zips. I have to speak up on the jeans. I have a pair. They're the most comfortable jeans I've ever worn in my life. They are stretchy, soft, durable, can wear them out with my wife, can wear them to cover a basketball game, can wear them around the house. Excellent, excellent pair of jeans. Highly, highly recommend. So a big thanks to Travis Matthew for creating apparel that keeps up with everything my day throws at me. This apparel is designed for confidence, comfort, really, no matter where the day takes you. So go ahead, treat yourself right now. Visit travism.com that's Matthew with one T. New customers get 20% off their first purchase and rewards members. Free shipping and returns are all yours. Don't miss out. Travismathu.com welcome to the podcast. I'm Matt Norlander, joined on this Tuesday morning. Yes, GP is not starting to show. That is Adam Finkelstein and he's hopping on the show because we are going to do a recap of all things Peach Jam July recruiting. GP and I did pre tape an episode yesterday that's going to run Thursday, the top five stories since 2000. So if you've been following that series, keep an eye on that. That's going to hit the feed in just a couple of days. But we did need to recap and, and obviously Finkelstein's the best guy to bring on the show. We've done a few of these pods in the past. Happy to have him on. We're going to get into some prospects certainly names to know if you're following. If you're listening to a July college basketball podcast, chances are you're going to know a number of these prospect names. But we'll give a little more intel on Fink's side in Peach Jam in Adidas. You know, those tournaments have now all wrapped up. Coaches can no longer go on the road to evaluate players in game settings. That part of the, of the calendar has passed us by. But good morning, Fink. Before we get there, how you doing? How, how were your travels? You have been, I mean, you're now just coming, coming, easing back down because between May, June and July with all the NBA draft stuff and then we segue into, you know, the June scholastic live period. And then July obviously is, it's a whole bunch of big stuff. You look no worse for the wear, my man.
- [04:42]
Unknown
Yeah, no, I, I'm, I'm One of those sickos is that that term has been coined that. That I actually like being in the gym 15 hours a day and watching, you know, watching all those games. So I had fun. Yeah, I just. Just got in, like, late, I guess you would call it early Monday morning, technically. But, yeah, it was a lot of fun.
- [05:01]
Adam Finkelstein
Yeah, you saw, you saw GP we never crossed paths at. At Adidas or at Nike. I was expecting to see you, but I know you're. You're, you know, bouncing all around there. You did some good work with NBA TV with my guy, John Fanta, by the way, keep an eye out for Fanta. He may or may not be appearing on this podcast soon. Hint, hint. We'll keep an eye that and. And obviously Terrence Oglesby, Kristen Peak, you all did a. You all did a great job there. Let's. Let's dive. Let's dive right in. All right, I want to go big picture on this class of 2026. You know, Tyrone Stokes is the number one player. We'll get to him eventually. But I had a sense for this, you know, two months ago. But then really, Adam, in the past three, four weeks, and particularly like going on the road and talking to, you know, NBA scouts can go to these events now. So they send a variety of. NBA team, send a variety of folks to. To the gyms, and they're all over and they're doing this. So talking to those people and talking to college coaches, I really got a sense in their opinion of just how weak this class is. And I wrote I had a Peach or I had a July recap story that went up last week that essentially said, in, like, the past 15 or so years, this class is regarded as maybe one of the three weakest. But that's just the feedback I got from others. Maybe you think higher, maybe you think even worse for as long as you've been doing this. Where does the class of 2026 rank? You know, at this stage of its development? These players have another, you know, nine months, eight months before they. Before their high school careers are over. Where does it rank? And after you give me why it ranks, where it ranks. Thoughts or reasons why it is where it is.
- [06:39]
Unknown
It reminds me very much of the 2023 class, which was a down class, to be honest. And this one, there's no denying that this is a down class, especially compared to, you know, the. The Last 2 in 2025 and 2024, when we had, you know, Cooper Flag and AJ Debonza and Cameron Boozer, Darren Peterson there is no, there is no player in this class who combines the dominance right now with the long term upside, at least, at least with a degree to which you want to bet on. And then behind that, Stokes is the one who has the same caliber of talent as those guys. But beyond that, there's really no other name in the same ballpark. And then it's kind of this either or conversation about are they immediate impact players like someone like Jordan Smith, someone who's going to come out and help you win right now, but has questions about how he translates long term or, or is he a long term prospect who doesn't have the immediate impact, Someone like for example, Christian Collins, who you're seeing on your screen. So it is, it is not viewed as a good class, Matt. And I don't say that necessarily to be critical, but just to give an accurate representation of the market because there are ramifications not just on recruiting and college coaches, but also for the NBA. In fact, later today we're going to publish something about this, just, just about the, the forecasting that is necessary both from the NBA side when it comes to projecting and valuing future assets. In this case, it would be for the. Let me make sure I get this right. For the 2027 NBA Draft. Those first picks are, are not going to be especially coveted this year. And that's what we saw with the 2023 class that became the 2024 NBA Draft. And then there's ramifications for the college coaches and how they approach roster construction because these kids aren't thinking like, hey, I'm in a bad class. They're thinking, hey, I'm a top 10 prospect and I know what comes with that from an nil valuation from a NBA draft projection standpoint. So those are all dynamics that have to be managed by the greater basketball landscape now both recruiting and NBA draft. And I'm happy to get into either one of those to whatever extent we'll peel into both.
- [08:56]
Adam Finkelstein
As a refresher, if you're listening and you hear, I think referencing that 23 class, here was the top 10 that year. Ron Holland. This is the 247 rankings here. Ron Holland was number one. Isaiah Collier was number two. Justin Edwards was number three. Cody Williams was four, Aaron Bradshaw was five, D.J. wagner was six, Modest Boogelis was seven, Jacoby Walter was eight, Stefan Castle was nine. And then Mackenzie Mbaco was 10. So obviously there's familiar names in there, but in terms of players that had the capability to be one and done types and then enter into the NBA or even college. I mean objectively speaking it's, it's, it's Castle one. And then I guess if you, I mean I'm not dialed into, to the Bulls left and right here the way I was when, when Jordan was playing. I know Bouzelis has done well for himself, but you've got a number of players there that are top 10, five star players that are still comfortably, comfortably college players and not yet ready to, to make the jump to the NBA. I want to circle back to what you said. Let's go to the college end first. What are the implications for the fact that 2026 just doesn't have a really, you know, it has a, it has a weak class. And, and whether that affects the blue bloods, you know, the top tier teams in the sport. What are the, what, how, how does that affect the upper echelon, the recruiting trends? And, and when you have a down year, what, what does that mean for the next, you know, the ensuing 1, 2, 3 years of college basketball, broadly speaking?
- [10:26]
Unknown
Well, let's start just with the short term in the immediate future. I don't know that the blue blood programs who like to attempt to build national championship contenders through one and done freshmen, I'm not sure that is applicable in this class. Like for example last year Duke got to a final four and was arguably the favorite to win the national championship. Starting three freshmen, you will not see that next year in college basketball. Even I'll go a step further. I don't think you will necessarily see teams trying to build that way. I think you're going to see many more teams who say, okay, maybe we'll take one of these guys, meaning the top 10 prospects, maybe two. But after that it just doesn't make sense to allocate as much of it. I'm going to use a term that's being used in college coaching circles, salary cap to this many freshmen. Because if we're spending all our money here, we're not going to be able to get the players who are going to really be able to drive winning. Like I said, there's really two buckets in this class right now. There's players who can help you win right now. There's Jordan Smith, Caleb Holt and guys like that. Those guys can help you win. But then there's, then there's some holes in their NBA prospectus long term. Then you have other guys who are prospects. You have Christian Collins, you have Tajiriza, you have Cameron Williams. But those guys may not have the immediate productivity of a typical top 10 prospect. And so their ability to help you win right away is in is debatable. So I think from a, from a roster construction standpoint, and I've talked to a number of programs about this, you're looking at one of really three things you're really going to emphasize player retention coming out of this upcoming 2025, 26 season. I would. I think Duke has been the example of that under John Shire. Getting Tyrese Proctor to come back for three, three seasons, people forget he went in with one and done expectations. Getting Kyle Filipowski to come back for a second season, even when he was arguably the best freshman in the country in his first year there. So I think player retention is going to be a big factor and I also think the strength of the 2026 NBA Draft will play into that. Because this incoming freshman class is so good, next year's draft is going to be so good. And so when you have a guy on the fringe, you're going to be able to convince him to say, hey, there's not a whole lot coming in the following year's draft. You're going to have a much better opportunity. Why don't you stay and run it back one more year? That's going to be really important. The Transfer Portal I've already had blue blood programs tell me they know they are going to need to get immediate impact players in the transfer portal next spring because they just don't exist to the extent that they typically do in this high school class. And then I do think you will see this international trend which is obviously skyrocketed this offseason. I think you will see it continue so long as the money stays where it's at. That's a whole nother discussion.
- [13:28]
Adam Finkelstein
I wrote about that yesterday. We'll get to that in a few here.
- [13:31]
Unknown
But I think you're going to see those three things get emphasized even more amidst a class where where that that roster construction plan of saying hey let me get three one and dones and it'll take us to the final four. I don't think that exists in this year's class. Let me also say this. I think there are smart programs from high school who recruiting high school who are actually prioritizing guys in the 30s over guys in the top 10. Why is that? They're not going to come in with the same one and done expectations. They're not going to come in with the same nil demands. They're going to be multi year players and add that element of continuity that is so hard to find in this era. So that's another kind of counterintuitive aspect of recruiting in this class where you see programs, without naming any in particular programs who've won national championships recently, who are punting to a certain extent on the top 10 prospects and saying, hey, give me two or three guys in the 30s and the 40s so I can have for a few years and I'll build my program that way.
- [14:32]
Adam Finkelstein
And you got to hope that if you do that and you're getting a guy, 33 and a guy that's 42, that they're going to be level headed enough to understand that year one, their impact will probably be, I don't want to necessarily say minimal, but they're not going to be seen as a guy, as a player who's, you know, top three, top four on a roster, generally speaking. And then once a year, two, that's your time and year three, maybe that's the year that you're actually really popping and, and can go off to the, the NBA. Before we get to the NBA side of it, I did want to just circle back if you have an answer. If you don't, we can keep it moving. But you know, the 23 class being down, you can attribute to covet and everything affected with that, that, that, that makes sense on some sort of level that doesn't really apply anymore. We're, we're. Now these, these high school players are going to graduate in 2026. They entered, you know, they entered into their, their gr. Their growth period when they developed his talents, you know, when we had basically come out of the tail end of the pandemic. If you want to say that starts around, you know, seventh, eighth grade when you really start to understand what kind of player you can become even as a young, young player. Well, that's still the tail end of COVID So I don't think that that stands to reason anymore. These things just have ebbs and flows, Adam. I mean, is there any reason why particularly surrounded by such really, really strong classes, this one just seems abnormally weak.
- [15:46]
Unknown
Yeah, I, I don't, yeah, I don't even necessarily blame 2023 on Covid. I, I just think there are ebbs and flows with this and if you extend the, you know, kind of the, the, the view and, and you'll, you'll see different classes over the course of the years. I would have to go back to get you the specific ones. But this happens. You know, there are good classes, there are bad classes. It's why the NBA Is forecasting so much emphasis, not necessarily into like the specific players in a class when they're years out, but the collective strength. When I talk to GMs, they're not trying to pinpoint Cooper Flag's evaluation when he's a freshman in college, when he's a freshman in high school. They are trying to get a sense, though, of how strong that perspective class is and the potential for it to evolve with various reclassifications. That's a theme that we expect to continue. AJ debonza, Cooper Flagg, those guys ended up in different classes than they began in. We do think we do expect that trend to continue. So you have to be able to identify the amount of collective talent, get their birthdays and figure out what class ultimately what draft they're going to be eligible to be in and forecast the group collectively. Not necessarily pinpoint the evaluation. But to the heart of your question, I do think there are ebbs and flows in this. I don't necessarily blame. I may be wrong, but I don't really blame 2023 on Covid. In fact, Jason Crow, who's another player I think we're going to talk about later, committed to Missouri. He told me that he thought Covid was the point where his game, where his game jumped off because he had that much more time to be in the gym with his dad. Now, I know you were talking about COVID as it related to the 2023 class, but to me, I'm not sure what the correlation is there. And I think this is just a down class because it happens sometimes.
- [17:32]
Adam Finkelstein
I agree with you. Sometimes we search for answers on certain trends that just if they're there, they're really, really, really hard to decipher. And sometimes there just isn't an answer. I think that's the case here. Again, I'm gonna go radio host here. We're talking with Adam Finkelstein. He is the director of scouting for 247 sports. As good as anyone as you will find, truly in the space and connected at all three levels of basketball. Let's go to the NBA level here. And what we're talking about with the class of 26 NBA franchises, they look at the, you know, they're, they're in the gym, they're seeing these players. And just to, to paraphrase what I heard from a few guys, it's just, you know, it's kind of dire right now, which doesn't mean that by the time we get to the 27 draft, you know, we won't be excited about the guys projected to go in the top five or six for wherever they are in their lives or whatever year of college they're coming out of, they'll still be that element. But you know, the NBA people that build their livelihoods around this, like they, they get a general sense, again, broadly speaking, of what a talent group is in a given class. So what are the implications? You mentioned that one implication is this upcoming next year's draft, the 26th draft. You're probably going to see a, a glut when it comes to teams and coveting those, those draft picks and all of that. And that's understandable. But with, with 27, what are NBA franchises bracing for? And, and what, what does that mean in terms of will we see guys in, in college? Maybe if they're on the fence. Like let's say there's a guy think let's say there's a guy like next, let's get to next April. And he is projected like 25th. Okay. In that range. He knows he won't be a top 20 pick, but he's pretty confident he's not slipping in the second round. Do we think there's a scenario in which a player like that might actually say I'm going to wait one more year because if this class is not.
- [19:18]
Unknown
Good, I think there's a scenario, I think there's a precedent. I think we already saw it this year. I think Jax A. Londonborg, Boogie Flint and Tahad Patford, I think all of those guys kind have said, you know what, I'm not going to roll the dice on this because I've got millions guaranteed by coming back to college basketball. So that is an important variable. The, the earning potential of college basketball. And I, as I alluded to, I recognize that that variable is a whole nother conversation in and of itself. But assuming that there is still that earning potential in college basketball, I do think the incentive will be for fringe first rounders to return to college basketball a year from now to basically follow the same trend, the same precedent that we saw this year of saying, you know what, when I've got all this guaranteed money to come back to a level I'm already familiar with. I'm going to take that money versus risking being on an unguaranteed two way contract, which is an unguaranteed roughly $600,000. I mean Matt, you know the market as well, if not better as I do. $600,000 in college basketball right now is, is not that much for these, you know, power five.
- [20:24]
Adam Finkelstein
I reported in my Story based on my conversations over the past few months and frankly I checked in with an agent or two. If you were to average out the average high major transfer in 2025, if you are a high major starter, on average you probably made 600,000 this year. But if you are a top or top tier player, 600,000 isn't beginning to scrape what kind of money you could be making for this cycle this year.
- [20:47]
Unknown
I mean there was a very clear the market very clearly favored college basketball. For anyone who was projected between 25 and 45 in the draft, you were very simply going to make more money by going to college basketball unless everything hit exactly right. And I do think that's why those three players I mentioned as well as others went back to play college in years when previously they wouldn't have done. So I think that trend will continue next year and I think the opportunity Tyron Stokes has even spoken about this, not necessarily publicly, but behind the scenes there was a lot of speculation about whether he could go to college basketball next year. And one of the talking points has been like, hey, he understands that from a talent perspective he is head and shoulders ahead of the best in this current recruiting class and then by extension in that 2027 NBA draft. So if you can get paid to kind of wait it out and get to that 27 draft, that is a very feasible and maybe even logical strategy. Now from the NBA perspective, if you are in a front office at that level, it does two things. Number one, it devalues the assets that you have in that draft. Okay. Just like it did for 2024. And remember, yeah, Ron Holland, Isaiah Collier, those guys, Cody Williams, Modest Bouzelis, those guys all ended up being first round picks. But the first two picks went international prospects. And even in both of those cases in Zachary Recesse and Alex Sar, neither one was necessarily considered an all star caliber prospect. And I think the NBA rookie returns have verified that projection. So I think the 27 draft is going to look similar. That's why the assets in that draft are going to be devalued. I think the forward thinking NBA franchises, this is not a secret. This is not something they've learned this summer. So ideally they're already trying to reallocate those assets to to either earlier years in 26 or later years. As I said, I think the good front offices will project years ahead. And so there are implications for both player and front office from an NBA perspective that I think have have begun to play out before this, even if it's just now becoming A talking point in more mainstream media.
- [23:02]
Adam Finkelstein
We've got five of the top 50 players right now that have committed in the, in the class of 2026. You got a 2, 4, 7. You look at the rankings, five of the top 50 as of July 22 have committed. Why is the number so low?
- [23:15]
Unknown
Well, a couple of reasons, and I do think that my expectation is that by the time we get to the early signing period that the numbers will level out and it'll be more similar to what we've seen in years past. But the two biggest reasons are the uncertainty about the money. I think that's, that's a very big factor is schools are reluctant to make financial offers when they're not entirely sure what their budget or spending constraints are going to look like in the spring of 2026. And I think the other thing is, just like I alluded to, the collective strength or lack thereof, especially at the very top of the class, creates a disconnect between What a top 10 prospect and projected by extension one and done prospect thinks he deserves or has thinks his valuation is on the nil market versus what teams equate that to, relative to their ability to impact winning. So there's a certain price point that a top 10 prospect and that price point, to be clear, has grown with each passing year because this is still a relatively new phenomenon. But a top 10 prospect who's perceived as, by extension as a one and done guy thinks he deserves a certain amount of money on the nil market. I think these college programs, many of them are recognizing that there's not going to be the same rate of immediate return in just that projected one season. And so they're not willing to offer that same dollar amount. I think that is a big factor as well. You combine that with, with the uncertainty about just how many dollars are available, and I think that that is probably the, the root of the delay. I think the other thing you're seeing is a lot of these kids now taking advantage of opportunities to take virtually unlimited amounts of official visits. The amount of kids who've reported like they've cut their list to 8 or 10 or 12 and they're going to take all these visits. I was like, you know, great. I'm thrilled you think it's going to happen that way, but it won't because once the dominoes start, start falling, those schools are going to cancel your visits. So that stuff's all going to happen in the fall. I do think, as I said, when we get to the early signing period, you'll see a more typical number of players signed. And hopefully I think these schools are thinking that the market kind of the market better defines itself for what these players are expecting and what these schools are expecting to have in their total budget in the spring of 26.
- [25:39]
Adam Finkelstein
We're gonna I want to get into this, the market part of it, and I want to run down a number of players just that Fink saw that stood out to him. A few that popped to me as well. But let's first, let's take a break and we come back after. I'm going to talk about what I wrote on Monday, the ever changing landscape, the financial uncertainty that is now looming in college basketball. We'll get to that. But first, a quick word from our partners. So when I was out, so I went out and saw the Adidas Three Stripe Select Championships down in Rock Hill. And then I saw Nikel and the weekend before the Peach Jam started in earnest. And I talked to a variety of coaches, published a big story on Monday at CBSSports.com on your CBS Sports Apple. We'll be sure to link it in the YouTube video here below or if you're listening on the audio version, it'll be at the top of the description there. And basically what I wrote and why I wrote it is when I was on the road, the College Sports Commission, which now just as a quick reminder, because I understand, like the off season, like fans, some of this stuff just goes, you're not even paying attention. As a reminder, effective now, the NCAA is no longer in charge of monitoring and governing everything related to nil. The College Sports Commission, the CSC is now that entity. Why is that the case? Because the house case settlement, those were part of the terms of it. This is what the power conferences wanted. And when I was on the road, the CSC put out guidance, but also like a, like a courteous reminder, hey, just so you know, this is what's now allowable for nil. And collectives for the most part, like this stuff isn't going to go. This isn't going to stand like collectives as they have been are not going to be a thing anymore. Obviously, this has huge impacts on the way that programs and coaches and play. They're all recruiting right now with high school players and with portal guys eventually. So the story dives into the essence of is the reality that we're living in right now going to be what is actually going to happen here? Because the schools, as terms of the settlement, the schools cannot sue the ncaa, the, the College Sports Commission deloitte this is part of the deal they have signed. All these schools that have opted in the house settlement, they have also by nature of opting in, they cannot sue. Who can sue are the players on an individual basis. And so a lot of coaches that I spoke with and as this, this stuff came out literally when I was on the road. So it made for easy fodder and really good conversation from a variety of coaches. And there's obviously a ton of cynicism. A lot of coaches just don't know what's going to be the reality when we get to the portal next April. And, and, and we talk, we talk about, okay, these high school players and, and they're waiting on making commitment and a top 10 player. How much value do they have? Well, the reality is that from an above board standpoint, the money that's going to be available in next year's cycle is, I mean, if it goes the way that is laid out right now, will be drastically less. Drat. Hundreds and hundreds of millions of less across all of college basketball and college football. If you're putting all that together, as one relatively high profile coach put it to me, do you prepare like it's going to be the way that they're saying or do you prepare like it's going to be the way that it's always been and what, you know, the way that it's been the past few years there no one really quite knows. There's going to be some real creative accounting. I had a couple of anecdotes, think that I'm not going to share on the pod. And I didn't put in the story.
- [28:50]
Unknown
Because frankly, yeah, I've got some good ones too.
- [28:52]
Adam Finkelstein
If you want to, if you can't, if you want to, that's fine. There's a couple that were tossed out to me where I was like, I still don't understand how this quote unquote loophole or workaround would actually function. I need to vet some of these out before I toss them on the pot. But make no mistake, there are coaches who have heard from agents who are trying to find any way possible to ensure that. Everyone acknowledges that the average salary, if you want to call it that, or the payment for a player next season in college basketball that is going to drop. There's just no doubt about it. We hit the high water mark in this year's cycle for the 25, 26 season, essentially the 2025 transfer portal cycle. This was the high water mark. You have schools that are well north of 10 million no shortage of them. We're not going to see that. But the question is, will, when it gets time to, to build out a roster, to add portal players, and you mentioned all the guys that could see value going in next year. What's, what's the market going to be? Are we going to see a 10 drop? Are we going to see a 20 drop? Some coaches believe we will see a 50 drop in the average price of a player. Maybe that's naivete. We'll wait and see on that. Other coaches think, no way in hell, man. No way is, is sport wide. Are we going to see a situation where this many players have made this much money. All of these people, you know, it's a very connected universe. Word gets around. People know how much they make and there is going to be desperation that sets in. You know, the SEC schools that are under $3 million in revenue sharing and aren't necessarily going to be able to land a player that has immediate, immense, obvious nil signing capability where they can get some sort of mainstream marketing deal that nets them another million dollars. Like, are these, are these SEC schools really going to find themselves strapped to a situation where they're trying to build out a roster for less than $3 million? The most SC schools are under 3 million. I was told back a couple months ago at the SEC meetings there was real discussion about making sure that all SEC schools were at the exact same level. That obviously didn't play out. Kentucky is far ahead of the rest of, of the rest of the league there. I think Arkansas is relatively well positioned as well. Be sure to read the story. There's a ton in there. I talked to Daniel, who's an agent who has no shy feelings about a lot of this stuff and, and really went after it. But I want to hear, you know, what you heard in regard to this because this is Dominican. This is dominating the sport right now. Coaches do not know what, what's, what's allowable, what's real. Is this stuff going to stand up to legal challenges? Are we going to look up in mid January fink and suddenly the plan that was on the table in July is no longer there. Because everyone wants stability and this is an attempt to bring stability. But while you're doing that, you were also trying to restrict the earning capacity of these players and it's, it's obviously a bit of a mess. But as I wrote, I think this is as uncertain of a time as we've ever had and that uncertainty is stirring a lot of insecurity in college basketball.
- [31:47]
Unknown
Well, the reality is there were payments long before there were nil. And that's, that's the thing people don't want to see talk about. And so my expectation is that there will be payments beyond whatever is allowable and whether that is in legal contracts that fall under the parameters of that third party group. Like I had one school say, I mean, what, what is the, is it $600? Is that the limit?
- [32:12]
Adam Finkelstein
Yes. So as it stands right now, if you want an nil contract, then it's 600 or more. It has to go through Deloitte and it's nil Go clearinghouse. Skirting that is breaking the rules and then subject to, here's another thing, like what's the punishment, people? There's still not clarity on okay, if you break the rules, are there tiers to this? What, what does that mean? How long would it take? But yeah, $600 is the threshold. I had one coach, real quick think I had one coach. This is how cynical they can be on this. One coach said, you're telling me that I can't set up through, through business partners or whatever some way to make sure that every single day someone's pushing a button and we're playing a paying a player $599 and it doesn't have to be a high end player, but if it's the fifth best player on my roster, that's going to be $120,000 at the end of the year. Whatever. They did the math on it. I said, dude, I don't know. But the fact you're even thinking about a way of maybe trying to make that happen and do that speaks to how truly, truly insane we are already, let alone where we're going to be over the next year.
- [33:09]
Unknown
Well, that's exactly the scenario I was going to say. I've had multiple coaches already tell me like, those are the rules. Fine, we'll automate $599 payments every. I mean you said every day. I've heard every hour. So we get the point where we, these, these rosters or these players and these agents are now accustomed to being. Because once you have so much money in the market, it's, it's really hard to remove that money because these are willing actors right now who are donating this money. It's not as if like these collectives are drying up and we're seeing less money being invested by these third parties. It's actually the opposite. Organically the market is growing and now there's this external factor that's trying to limit it. And you have all of these parties that are trying to invest money and there's so many legal loopholes by which they are still going to be able to do it. And there's also this world of college basketball that has a long history of being able to funnel money where they need it to go in ways that are somewhat outside the rules. Like, I just have a hard time believing, number one, that there's SEC schools that are going to accept being outspent in basketball by big E schools. I don't think that's sustainable whatsoever. And then that these schools are just going to say, okay, 3 million is my budget, no problem. And then agents like the one you mentioned are going to say, oh, okay, my, my, you know, my commissions are being cut in half, no problem. Like you have all these actors who are aligned in trying to get more money back into the market. So I have a really hard time believing that it's going to stay out one way or another. But to your point, no one knows for sure. My suspicion is whether it is through legislation or whether it is through old fashioned creative recruiting, there's going to be money in the market one way or the other.
- [34:55]
Adam Finkelstein
Yeah, and creative accounting as well. I am, I'm genuinely, truly intrigued to see there will be workarounds and, and a couple, two coaches to me mentioned, hey, the one good thing here is like we're, we're behind football. Like football is going to do all this stuff first, theoretically. And so we're going to learn some lessons from those guys over the next four to five months. But I'm, I'm very interested to learn how this stuff is drummed up to, to try and make this happen. I mean, I've heard, you know, I've heard some schemes tied to like insurance policies taken out on players and how that would actually function. I don't even know in terms of how they would get paid in the risk assessment and all, rest assured.
- [35:37]
Unknown
Let me just add, add this to you. Like we've had this conversation about what is the job of a gm. Well, I'll tell you what, the job of a GM right now, it's figuring out creative ways to get your players compensated. If the NCAA or the government or whoever comes in and puts a cap on what you think you're able to do, it's these not going to get into the history in the sport, but there are plenty of people who figured it out in the past and if now or there are legal ways or loopholes in order to do the same thing. You hit that 599 button every hour on the hour and these guys are going to get their money.
- [36:11]
Adam Finkelstein
I've got a Big 12 coach literally calling me right now. And I would assume it's about the story because I, you know, wrote this story. I got as expected, like I got some, some really good feedback because this is on the minds like obsessed is too strong of a word. But I'm just telling you, this is, this is the topic that is dominating the thinking in coaching offices across the country right now. They just, they don't know what's going to be allowable. And as a function of the job, they're always, they're constantly just looking around like, okay, who's getting the edge on us? What do we not know? What do I need to know? Who do I need to talk to? Because you cannot tell me. And I did some of the math here. I did a store on the story when I wrote about all the $10 million teams back in April. I'd estimated the number. So this is going to be off the top of my head, but let's say like college basketball for this year's cycle, let's say it's got, I think I did was like more than 400 million, you know, promised in nil payments. This is all, this is the entire sport for this season alone. You can't tell me that a sport that has that much injected into it is suddenly going to roll back to, you know, what total of like 70, 80 million. It's just, it's just too drastic. There will be workarounds. I'm, I'm very again interested participants.
- [37:22]
Unknown
No one's being coerced to, to invest that much.
- [37:25]
Adam Finkelstein
Correct. That. And that's, and that's the, that's the huge philosophical issue this is what has, you know, people in the sport at loggerheads is that you've got so many people willing to give these players money, but then you've got the ads and the coaches who on one hand are also facilitating it, but they're also so sick of having to turn, turn the rosters over every year. And then as I've mentioned on the podcast before, I do not fault whatsoever the average college fan. I had to go to my kids a birthday party for one of my kids friends on Friday night and I had to and I. This question came up again. The guy loves UConn. Just so tired of the changeover. It's just like it's one. The average fan gets so fatigued by the current climate of college sports it's rational to want to see more stability come. The only way you're going to get that is with collective bargaining. That's, you know, that's way, way, way down the road.
- [38:22]
Unknown
The Yukon fan and not anybody else, they've got more. I know almost anyone.
- [38:27]
Adam Finkelstein
Correct. Even, even taking that into account. But you, you see this out there and yeah, it's just, man, it's going to be, I think it's going to be super interesting to see how this, how this develops over the next year and to see what football does, who gets caught again. One of my biggest questions is like, what's the punishment? I talked with Izzo. He said to me it's more, it's not even the Deloitte thing. I want to know what are we doing with enforcement? Like, are we going to enforce these rules? That means more to me than if I have to submit an nil deal for one of my players for $300,000. So this is a story that is really just developing and the guidance that was put out about how collectives won't, aren't going to be a thing anymore. Stay tuned. There's going to be a lot of updates on this in football and college basketball over the next six to 12 months. And we could have some real, real fireworks and some really creative stories about how, how deals are struck. Let's keep it moving here. And I want to talk about the players we'll stick to. Mostly 20, 26, 27 is considered a better class. If you feel particularly high or want to note on a couple of 27 players that you saw, by all means. But we've got more than a year to talk about these guys. 2026 wise. Let's just go to the headliner first. Tyron Stokes. He's the number one player in the class. We've seen him. He's been well known for, you know, three cycles at this point. I was told that Louisville, Kentucky, Kansas should be the expectation he lands at one of those three. But then I guess Arkansas and usc, you know, visits still might be scheduled there for anyone. That's kind of like Tyron Stokes. I think I've heard the name. Quick rundown on his game and where his recruitment stands. What do you think of the quick dossier?
- [40:01]
Unknown
He. He's far and away the most naturally talented prospect in the class. He's the only one that from a sheer talent perspective is in that same conversation with some of the players we've seen in recent years with flag DeBonts, a boozer Peterson, from a talent Perspective. He is not on their level from a consistency or reliability standpoint. And even at that, he's far and away the best prospect in the class. 6 foot 7, powerful build, explosive athlete, great hands, really a jumbo playmaker who's built like a four man, yet can operate and initiate offense like a lead guard. So, you know, he's a highlight reel waiting to happen. He's the kind of guy you walk into the gym, you see us, and it doesn't take me or any other scouting expert to say, oh, he's the guy. Everybody can see it. The disconnect in his game right now is the shooting and just the reliability, the consistency that drive winning, that is the part that is not there and that is the difference right now between him and those aforementioned players from some of the other classes who both had the same outward talent, but we're also able to impact winning at a consistent level.
- [41:08]
Adam Finkelstein
Yeah, there was one game, I had this in my notebook last week where I was standing next to a coach and Stokes, I think his team actually might have lost the game, I think, but he had it just. I mean, there was like a seven, eight minute spurt where it was just a joke and he goes, it's like the big kid came to the playground is just like wrecking all the little kids like there. And this has been something that's been consistent, no doubt. I'm not even sure this is a criticism. What's interesting with Stokes, with me is I don't think I've ever seen him like hit fifth gear. Like he's, he's able to dominate and, and maybe it's just his style. Some players just have that kind of style where they don't need to be exhibiting, you know, the utmost speed, agility, strength, you know, on every single play, every single time down the floor here. But his dominance despite, you know, like a, a clear, like, like just in terms of a battery. Like when you. I remember watching Cooper flag play on the circuit and versus Stokes. Just not the same, that's all. So I don't know Jordan Smith. Let's bring him up real quick. I saw him play. There was a gaming at Team Durant and, and Team Takeover. Awesome, awesome, fun game. Jordan Smith is. There's a couple of these players every year that, where I go, I get eyes on them and I'm like, how is this guy not going to be a dude immediately in college basketball? Very infectious, infectious energy on the court. And in some way, like when you tell me he, like right now he's number two at 24 7, I'm like, okay, in some ways I can see it, but if you told me he was like the 8th ranked player, I'd still believe you as well. Maybe that speaks to the class overall, but I did very much enjoy watching him play basketball. Give us the scouting report and if you have any sort of insight intel on schools that are involved in him and whatever, we're here to hear it.
- [42:59]
Unknown
Jordan impacts winning like no other player in the class. He's 6 foot 2, he's long, he's powerful, he's an elite defender, elite rebounder. Now, what separates him from most players who are ranked at this spot is he doesn't have the glaring upside. And what I mean by that is for a 6 foot 2 guard, he's, he's comboish. He's certainly not a true point guard. Although he's trying to be developed with the ball in his hands. He's not a great shooter. So there are these, you know, pretty glaring red flags that NBA scouts have compared to like the cookie cutter elite prospects in the class. But from a competitive standpoint, from an intangible standpoint, this guy just wins. And he's got the mentality that I, and most people who know him really well are willing to bank on, even while recognizing that, yeah, we wish he was more of a true lead guard. Yeah, we wish he shot more of a natural ball. But this is someone you don't want to bet against. And I would take that. I mean, I didn't put him at number two because I think he's a better shooter than everyone else. I put him at number two because I'm betting on someone who is this hyper competitive and hyper driven to figure it out. As the years go on. There's only so long you can be, you know, the most reliable guy before you start to say, okay, you know, maybe this is just going to continue. And again, it has to do with the class. There's no one, there's no one else who can match his productivity and has more glaring upside in the backcourt. So that's why he's number two from a recruiting perspective, he's been linked to places like Georgetown early on. I think that's fizzled a little bit. Indiana now certainly some of the blue bloods. And Duke is believed to be a very real suitor as well.
- [44:47]
Adam Finkelstein
Okay, Arkansas, I think, also is. Yep, a lot of those kind of schools. I'm gonna run. Let's run through the top five and then we can do your Peach jam recap. Number three at 247 is Brandon McCoy. What do the folks need to know?
- [45:00]
Unknown
Brandon McCoy is someone who was at one time challenging Stokes to be the number one prospect in the class. He was viewed as a big lead guard in the making and really a two way player. Won multiple gold medals. Now with USA Basketball stands out with his athleticism and his defense in particular. Now he took off the spring, so we went from the USA Basketball minicamp at the Final Four up until the USA Basketball 19 and under trials in June with really not having seen him play. He didn't play the first three sessions of vybl. He came back and he was quite frankly rusty. The skill set in particular almost seemed to have regressed a little bit. So he chose to return to EYBL for the Peach Jam. Trying to prove something really. And I think this skill set is still a work in progress. But his defense, his physicality, his power, his athleticism, those things are all very clear in terms of sheer production. He's right up there. But he is really trended away from being a point guard and the shooting is again, you know, a concern. So there are some, some very real uncertainties in his future. But I still think he's one of the best players in the class and he's gotten stronger and he's, he's also like Smith, an elite defender who I think there's optimism he can come in and impact the college program next year. NBA scouts are going to want to see if he can evolve into more of a lead guard and get more consistent with his shooting.
- [46:24]
Adam Finkelstein
His 247 page doesn't have any schools listed at warm at this point. I don't know if he's put out a list. Do we have any kind of sense of the schools? Is he another player where it's, you know, going to be Duke, Kentucky, Arkansas?
- [46:34]
Unknown
Yeah, he put out a list of I think seven or eight last last week but he was non committal and said like no one's leading. And then behind the scenes some of those schools were kind of saying like yeah, we're really not even recruiting him. So you know, I can't tell you. John Shire was, was visibly at his games along with some of the other blue bloods. But he has been, he has been. There's, there's no, there is no clear intel there in terms of visits set up or you know, there's a list of seven or eight. But as I said, I think that list in reality is much smaller and no visits or, you know, it's not trending towards any favorites at this point.
- [47:10]
Adam Finkelstein
Okay, number four, teammate of McCoys Christian Collins, six eight, six eight wing. Give us the scouting report on him.
- [47:19]
Unknown
So he's an upside guy, right? He's, he's 6 foot 8, he's a high level athlete, he's super fluid, he covers the court and yet there are EYBL games where he doesn't score double figures. And so he was one of those players last, last week I said, you know, everybody get this pretty regularly each, each year someone will come in and say, you're telling me he's the fourth best prospect in the class. And actually I think this was douster. I said, the Dowster is like, you want to Bet He's a first round pick in 13 months or two years, whatever the case may be. So he's just got that glaring upside and yet the productivity is not yet there. He had a breakout junior season, he had a harder time turning that potential into production in the Eyblade. But when it comes to long term tools, he has a long list of them and they're pretty glaring with the size, the athleticism, the mobility, the hands, the defensive upside, the rebounding. And offensively, while it's a work in progress, it's not as if he has bad touch or bad hands or anything like that. So there's, there's a lot of optimism about what he could be long term. He's just not there yet.
- [48:21]
Adam Finkelstein
Kentucky and USC have been linked to him. Anyone else that you've heard that we should maybe keep an eye on that's recruiting him heavily?
- [48:27]
Unknown
No, I think that's another one. Like all of these guys, there's, there's more questions than there are answers right now. You know, there's a reason, there's a reason why a lot of these guys aren't saying, hey, these are the three schools I'm visiting. Like even some of the reporting, there's room for others to get involved.
- [48:42]
Adam Finkelstein
Yep. I think that ties back to what we talked about 15 minutes ago where there's just still so much to figure out in terms of, let's be honest, these players, their parents, they're, they know or they've heard what top five top 10 level players have gotten to come and be freshmen in the past couple of years. And that money situation just isn't nearly as clear right now as it was for a player 12 months ago. And I think that's also affecting why a lot of these recruitments have a little bit more hate to them. Let's go one more player in the top five it is number five. It's a, it's a commitment that you did for us on CBS Sports HQ while at Peach Jam. It's Jason Crow Jr. He's going to go play at Missouri. I really enjoyed watching him play. He was teammates on the circuit with Tyron Stokes. Awesome bucket getter and, and just, I mean, come on now, this is, this is a mammoth get for the Missouri program. The biggest recruit to, to go to that school since Michael Porter Jr. Dennis Gates has got himself one hell of a player. I disagree. And tell me that I'm stupid if I'm, if you do, if you do disagree, I actually think that Crow does have the capability, at least the skill set to be the kind of guy that as a freshman walks into college basketball, is a top 10 scorer in the entire sport in his likely one and done year in Mizzou.
- [49:52]
Unknown
Yeah, he's the best scoring guard in this class. Now we're talking about someone who's less than 400 points away from being the all time leading scorer in California high school basketball history. He averaged 35 points per game as a, as a freshman when I believe he was 14 years old. He just turned 17 the other day on his commitment day, in fact. I mean when you've got a hundred of your closest friends and family singing you happy birthday on CBS Sports hq, there's a reason why the kid was trying to hide that he was tearing up a little bit. It was a really cool special moment. Prolific score, but not like as big, strong, long as you typically associate with a prospect of this ranking. Like doesn't have the physical profile you would expect. What he does have is the skill set in the basketball instincts. That's the part that I can't emphasize enough. So he shoots it with ridiculous range. He's got an innate understanding of how to create space for his pull up. He's got a floater game. He can play pick and roll. He's just not going to win, you know, he's not going to win any track and field competition. So I think to your point, Dennis Gates has got a guy who's going to be able to come in and play both on and off the ball. I wrote about this. He's used to having the ball in his hands. He's going to have to adjust and get a little less volume than he's accustomed to because to be clear, he plays with extreme volume right now. So Gates is the coach who always prioritizes efficiency. He's going to have to learn that physically he's going to have to get stronger. But he's also going to be protected a little bit on the defensive end of the floor at Missouri with some of the guys that still have eligibility and they hope to bring back not players who have high steal rates, who have size, who have physicality. So the hope is that he can be insulated a little bit on that end of the floor and simultaneously make gains because. Because he won't have to do so much on every single possession offensively. But the bottom line is this guy scores it as consistently as anyone in the country, and the belief is that he will be able to do the same at Missouri maybe as well as, if not better than any other freshman in the country next year.
- [51:57]
Adam Finkelstein
My thanks to Jason Crow for giving us some good content on CBS Sports HQ. And also just another commitment. You know, him and J.J. andrews, who's going to play for Cal at Arkansas. They're the only two players in the top 24 at 247 sports rankings for the class of 26 that have committed so far. So we only had one until, you know, three days ago. So it's nice to see that as well. Let's do, let's do a little, you know, quick tour through here. Let's Peach jam other way. Otherwise, think takeaways. You know, the team that by the way won the championship event, notes on them. Any other prospects that you saw down there in North Augusta. Spare no words. The floor is yours. As many or as few players you want to vamp on specifically on the Nike circuit, take it away.
- [52:34]
Unknown
So I think that you have to shout out the team that wins it, right? Brad Bill Elite won the whole thing. J.J. andrews was their marquee player. But there were a number of guys who were kind of on that that high major fringe who played their way onto that level. Jameson White, the son of former Georgetown big man Jahidi White, certainly one of them. They also have. They also have a player, Pearson, who's committed to Marquette Next currently in 2026. There's a lot of reclass rumors about whether he will go there right away. I think the other that reclass subject is the one I'd probably like to finish on because we're expecting a couple of players to head to college right away. Pearson to Marquette being the first. Najee Hines, who led Renz to the Finals is the other one who is being speculated about. It would not surprise me if news of it.
- [53:23]
Adam Finkelstein
Someone told me about one of these players. Now I'm forgetting someone told me that they were playing on the circuit and I'm Planking man. It might have been at Adidas. Someone told me there was. They were watching someone playing then he's going to play in college later this year. I just can't remember.
- [53:33]
Unknown
I think there's a number of players who could fall under that. That description.
- [53:38]
Adam Finkelstein
Maybe that's code. And they just told. I was watching. What the. I'm blanking here. I'm sorry buddy. I'm definitely was watching a player with a coach. I think it was at Adidas though. And, and they were telling me that they were. They were coming to college later this year. But anyway, keep it going.
- [53:51]
Unknown
Well, Heinz has even been reported that he's still, he's still contemplating going to 2025. Okay. And I think we will have a definitive answer on that presumably in the next 24 hours. Now I've been told something might have even been signed yesterday. It just hasn't been released yet. Seton Hall I think is the favorite right at the moment. Shaheen Holloway was there all weekend long. He would be the highest rated recruit to commit to the Pirates. Under Holloway led the Rens all the way to the Peach Jam finals, led the EYBL in block shots and also aver 9.8 rebounds per game. So it's the type of big man that could really be a program changer if he does in fact end up with the Pirates. And then on the reclassification front, we've also got to mention currently the number one ranked prospect in the class of 2027, Baba Ulatunde, who is. And so if that were to happen, it puts him in a position where okay, he gets to college basketball a year earlier, he gets to, you know, the nil market a year earlier and all that, you know, all that goes with that. Again, that is a precedent we've seen in the last couple of years with Cooper flag and AJ DeBonsa. Even Jaden Quaint so went a year before he was even one and done eligible. So that's going to be a storyline to watch as the summer goes on as well. We're talking about 6 foot 10 jumbo wing who's still very lean and growing into his body but has some glaring long term upside.
- [55:25]
Adam Finkelstein
Okay, real quick, let's flashback to Adidas. It's been more than a week since its championship event wrapped up. What did you see there? A couple of players on that circuit specifically led by Caleb Holt who's number six at 247 Sports.
- [55:37]
Unknown
Well, if you will allow me this brief 10 second pivot in terms of. Let's just shout out the hospitality. I think we did that last year on this show.
- [55:47]
Adam Finkelstein
This is, we can, we can just real quick the Adidas situation. Most, most people watching, listening are gonna say it's just they have the perfect venue for, for July summer recruiting. And the hospitality is elite and very much appreciated to everyone that runs everything at Adidas. No doubt about it.
- [56:03]
Unknown
Yeah. So game elite won the program. Caleb Holt is I, I think the Adidas version of what Jordan Smith is to eybl. He's the player that if you need someone who can help drive winning right away, Caleb Holt is your guy. They were Both on the USA Basketball U19 team that won a gold medal. Physically, physically they are mature, they're powerful college ready bodies. They understand what it means to impact winning on both ends of the floor. They defend. And so I think Caleb Holt is, you know, right now he's just outside of the top five. But with the gains he's shown in his shooting in the last couple of months going to certainly make a case to get in that top five. His game elite squad won the championship over there at 3SSB and it was right, believe so. I will tell you that it is not a one man show over there though. They got a number of different players who are, you know, trending up and Colton Landrup being the second one. He's a, he's a prospect kind of this former football player, big, strong, multi positional guy who is putting himself in position to challenge for like that. You know the thing about post summer is if you can get yourself into that top 25ish range, you are perceived to have a shot at the McDonald's territory. So I think he's playing his way into that category of being in contention. So they were the team to know at Adidas and Caleb Holt is a top 10 prospect in the class and has a chance to be a top five.
- [57:31]
Adam Finkelstein
A couple of guys I saw that stood out to me. Taylor, Kenny, he was a little bit hurt but man do I love his potential as a college basketball player. Just an awesome handle, really quick first step, really enjoyed him. Although when I saw him play against Darren Rippey Jr. Who's another guard actually, you know, broadly we've got, you've got Darren Rippy Jr. At 17 on the list based on what I heard after I left Adidas. And even when I saw him, he seemed like he was good enough where he actually might justify making a jump into the top 15. But you do the rankings, not me. Maybe I'm off base on that, but it seemed like from a guard standpoint, he's on the short list of guys that might have benefited their reputation as much as anyone else over the past couple of weeks.
- [58:14]
Unknown
Yeah, I, I think that. So Adidas has two of the best lead guards in the class in Kenny and Rippy, and they matched them up in a showcase game. I think you were even there for that game. Yes, from what I understand, Rippy got the best of him. What I will tell you from watching later, later in the week is Kenny was not healthy. And for those people who haven't seen Kenny in any other setting but this past month, you were not seeing the full version of him. I think he's the best. Well, with the possible exception of Crow, in terms of like a playmaking lead guard, I think Kenny is as good as it gets. Rippy is, I think, the best on ball defender of the lead guards. He's an explosive athlete, especially for someone who's just a tad undersized. He's made huge strides with his shooting. Still working to prove he is a pure point guard. That was the element of his game that in a USA Basketball setting, he tried out for that 19 team, as did Kenny. Neither one of them made the final cut, but I think a lot of it had to do. Like with okay at this high level. Can Rippy run a team and can Kenny be as good of a distributor as he is a scorer? Those are some of the questions. But those, those two are some of the very best lead guards on the Adidas circuit. I would also say that I think Adidas has the best true big man in the country, which is Arifon Dion. He played with Iowa United and with Iowa Prep during the high school season. This guy's just a monster inside 6 foot 11. I'm not sure how much they say he weighs, but let me just say he's immovable inside and he's got terrific hands and some inside out skill. Just an absolute monster in the most complimentary way possible. So he is another prospect to know from the Adidas circuit and in that national 2026 class.
- [59:56]
Adam Finkelstein
He's also one of the most vocal high school players I've seen in the past 10 years. I mean, he was constantly talking smack and like supporting his teammates just almost every, Almost every time down the floor. Definitely. I would say that granted he's still.
- [60:11]
Unknown
Young Joel Embiid type. I'm not saying he's that type of player, but he's got that personality.
- [60:17]
Adam Finkelstein
Yeah, for sure. If. And he's. It looks like his conditioning is getting there. If he can get conditioned at the Division 1 level by the time he enters college, he can be a real factor, real force. He's 15th at 24 7. Nike and Adidas aren't the only circuits. Just anyone and shout out to Travis Brann and Merrick Bossi Deshaun, London. A lot of folks at 247 that do really good work. So either hearing from them or players you've seen up close and personal. Anyone on Under Armour circuit, Puma circuit, otherwise just names that, that people should at least have a passing awareness of here in the middle of the summer.
- [60:51]
Unknown
Yeah, no doubt. I, I think for Under Armour, you know, Chris Washington is currently the highest level guy. He's a big jumbo high level athlete wing. But they've had some real stock risers over there. In fact, that's something we've, we've written on. Joe Filon is someone who actually played in the UA Rise who's kind of think of like a poor man's version of a Thompson brother in terms of like a wiry athlete who can defend and handle the ball. To be clear, I'm not saying he's as good as the Thompsons. I'm just trying to create a vision of the archetype. So he's someone to certainly keep an eye on. Julius Jaden Hodge, excuse me, another really good player from the Under Armour Association. Just a power wing. He's going to Mon Verde and then Puma has made themselves a very real factor with the Pro16 circuit on this. In the grassroots landscape. I think they had, you know, they had a ton of college coach traffic this, this year. Brandon Jenkins from our staff spent all of last week there, did a terrific job covering that circuit. They've got guys like Tony Bryant, who right now is number 12 in the national rankings. And I'll also say they had highly ranked guys last year too. Alex Costanza, another top 25 prospect, was on the Puma circuit as well. So that was really, I think it became glaring this year that there's not just three circuits anymore, there's, there's four. So it was, it really took some work for these, these coaches to cover everything. In fact, you alluded to that NBA TV broadcast we had Tom Izzo on and he said he's like, it was, it was almost ironic because people are asking whether or not he's slowing down. And he had done three different circuits in three days. And prior to that he was out in Vegas at the NBA Summer League to, to support Jace Richardson. And you could kind of see like the bags under his eyes. But I was like, coach, you don't look like you're slowing down. He's like, I'll tell you, I'm not Adam. You know, so it was. But that's just the way of the world these days, right? And in the first week, it was great because everything was kind of in the southeast corner of the country where everything was, you know, drivable for people like you and me. And if you got one of those private planes, it was real easy. It was a little more spread. Well, it was a lot more spread out in the second week with Peach Jam being in North Augusta, South Carolina, Adidas being Adidas being out in California, Under Armour in Chicago, and I think was. I want to say Iowa or something like that. So it was. It was quite spread out in that second week.
- [63:09]
Adam Finkelstein
Yeah, no, that's why I went the first week. It was just, I want to go to multiple events and. And Adidas and Nike being only two hours separated makes that supremely doable. Fly into Charlotte, get it done, and there we have it. Well, I appreciate you hopping on, buddy. This was a good general primer in the midst of. In the midst of July vacation. I appreciate all the work that you do. You can continue to read Adam's work and Bossy's work and Branham and the comp and the crew's work over at 247 Sports, in addition to. They get their bylines on CBSSports.com as well. So appreciate you. We will link up soon enough. But I'm gonna do a little thing on Memphis. But you're not. I'm not making you stick around for that so you can enjoy. You enjoy the rest of your Tuesday tweets.
- [63:49]
Unknown
Thanks for having me, bud.
- [63:51]
Adam Finkelstein
All right, later, bud. Appreciate you. All right, that's. Adam Finkelstein does absolutely tremendous work for us on the draft, on recruiting, just all sorts of stuff. It's amazing to have him on the team and so appreciate him hopping on here. I will wrap really quick, but I have to. What's. Actually, it's ironic. I'm going to talk Memphis real gp. You know, we actually really debated trying to squeeze in a pot. I was like, you're going on vacation. Okay, get it done. He's got his vacation. Then I got one coming up after that. You know what? Don't worry about it. But I can't not mention it after the news we've had in the past 24 hours on Memphis. Memphis is having a bad run here in this off season. So first P.J. hagerty one of the best transfers in the country last season. He leaves the team and winds up leaving and taking less money to play elsewhere next season. Okay. Over at K State. Then last week we had the situation where they were put on probation and given a money fine and 1% of the budget was taken out for academic fraud with two players that were assisted by a, by a former softball player. So they avoided serious punishments. But still, you know, busted for academic fraud. Not good. Nolan Smith was an assistant on staff. Congrats to him. He's now the coach at Tennessee State. But they lose someone on staff yet again. There's been a ton of turnover on Penny Hardaway staff. Real bad news. Sincere Parker, who played for Will Wade at McNeese last year. It came out on over the weekend, I guess it was. He was arrested on an assault charge, aggravated assault, domestic violence. His standing with the, with the program remains to be seen. It's yeah really ugly situation there. And so there's. You've got all of that. And then on Monday, first reporting by Yahoo. Sports and then I was able to confirm and Brandon Marcelo, who's also on our team was able to confirm that Memphis had been pursuing, trying to get into the Big 12 for a while here. And then earlier that my sources told me that earlier this month Memphis submitted a formal proposal to the big 12 presidents. And in that proposal was, you know, the promise of sponsorships and financial backing of at least $200 million to try and join the Big 12 as quickly as possible. And then even within that it would allow an out clause essentially for the Big 12 to boot Memphis at the start of the next decade if the league wasn't satisfied. There has never like remember the SMU deal and how many hundreds of millions it was giving up to go into the acc, give up the media rights for a number of years. That was unprecedented and that worked. So Memphis looked around and said we're going to one up that and try and get into the Big 12. And then I was told like Big 12 presidents looked at it. It did. It would. I'll read you the exact text from my source here. Hold on. The exact wording was. See there was a lack of interest once the final proposal was sent. The discussions were relatively quick and interest was not there at all. The Big 12 doesn't want to expand at this point. Remember we had the Yukon stuff the past couple of off season cycles and that was real pushback on there. We just got the house case settlement like it's just starting now. We just had 1816 team leagues come into existence in the past couple of years. So I'm told that for the most part presidents 80s in the Big 12, they want to just stick at 16 for a little bit here. Can we just see what kind of environment and what kind of landscape we're going to be existing in before we go and add another school to our conference, which is entirely, entirely reasonable and by the way the right decision there. So for Memphis, it's one thing after another after another. This has not been a good off season frankly. Memphis can't, it can't not have something going on. There's never not a crisis of some sort. There's no school like this. And I, I think on some level it's probably really gnawing at GP that he's not like he's on vacation. Even his Memphis based show, he's not talking about this. All this broke after, after he was done taping there yesterday. But Big 12 is not going to be taking Memphis. Then there was the, the hilarious bit you can see if you're watching on YouTube or later on, later on Monday, Memphis posted proud member of the American Conference hashtag Go Tigers, go. American Conference built to rise. It was rather public that they're trying to get the hell out of this league. By the way, the American Conference also had an update on Monday. It's no longer the American Athletic Conference, it's just the Americans. So the AAC acronym that's gone. Tough scene for the Tigers. Just, you hate to see it, what their future is. I don't know. They can't get out of their own way in the damn present. There's always something with Memphis, man. Gary Parrish, what the hell's up with your alma mater? Just can't, can't get good news. It's one thing after another after another. But yeah, that was the, that was the news bit from, from Monday. So I didn't want to get out of the show without at least acknowledging that. I, I think knock on wood, I just with the way that the conferences are set up right now, you know, I don't think the Big east is looking to get beyond 11 as is. We should have, should have. You know, let's hope a good five, six year run. Five or six years. Is that too much to ask of stability with our power conferences and just see what we're going to be moving forward. So, so there you go. I appreciate everyone joining here on a Tuesday. My thanks again to Adam Finkelstein again. There will be another episode coming later this week. The top five stories in men's college basketball over the past 25 years. See if you can, see if you can guess what five they are and what order. I think the five are probably guessable, but you'll enjoy that. It's, we've already taped it. It's Gary Parrish and I. And of course he starts the episode by bringing up the damn Bob Knight thing again. Don't worry, it's going to be on the written portion. I'll have a story up on.com later this week. So we'll have that as well. My thanks to, to our producer Debo who does does a wonderful job. He has been subbing in. He's been subbing in for nada for the past week and I've not has been on vacation. He comes back. I think he comes back today actually. So he'll be in the fold moving forward. And Debo, you're. You're the best man and we appreciate you so much. And then we've got summer shoot arounds coming starting next week and we'll have a. We've taped a PSA to drop into the feed later on on details on that. There will be auctions, three bonus episodes this year. So if your school is not in the schedule of teams that we're going to talk about, you're going to be able to bid in August. And the three winning bids, three bonus episodes on your school. It can be the smallest mid major or it can be a blue blood. That's not on the list. So keep an eye out for that. Otherwise, that's it. I appreciate you joining the show. We'll talk to you later this week. Shoot arounds are coming around soon. And thanks so much for joining the Eye on College Basketball podcast.
- [71:00]
Unknown
The summer is heating up with Marvel Studios. The Fantastic Four.
- [71:05]
Adam Finkelstein
Line them up, Johnny.
- [71:08]
Unknown
This Friday, time to save the planet.
- [71:10]
Adam Finkelstein
What's the plan? Trust me. I hate the. That's a bad plan. Come on. Terrible. That's a stupid plan.
- [71:16]
Unknown
Prepare for Fantastic.
- [71:18]
Adam Finkelstein
We will face this together as a family.
- [71:22]
Unknown
Marvel Studios The Fantastic Four first steps only theaters Friday Rai. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Get tickets now. Now streaming on Paramount Plus. It's an all new season of adventures. We have to stop this invasion.
- [71:36]
Adam Finkelstein
Get into this.
- [71:37]
Unknown
This crew is a team.
- [71:39]
Matt Norlander
We are going to find our way out of this.
- [71:40]
Unknown
Star Trek Strange New worlds. New season. Now streaming on Paramount plus get ready to laugh until it hurts.
- [71:49]
Adam Finkelstein
You're going to love this.
- [71:51]
Unknown
Novocain is now streaming on Paramount Plus.
- [71:54]
Adam Finkelstein
I've got this condition I don't feel pain. You're a superhero. Yeah.
- [71:58]
Unknown
It's an adrenaline rush of fun.
- [72:00]
Adam Finkelstein
This is the best.
- [72:01]
Unknown
And a bloody good time.
- [72:04]
Got the best part.
- [72:05]
It's the first great action comedy of the year.
- [72:08]
Adam Finkelstein
Let the magic happen. That's good. Looking forward to it.
- [72:11]
Unknown
Novocain. Rated R. Now streaming on Paramount plus. Now streaming on Paramount plus.
- [72:17]
Adam Finkelstein
The suspect is trying to evade us. You're walking into the unknown. We had somebody out there starting fires for the heck of it.
- [72:24]
Unknown
It's dark, there's no road signs.
- [72:26]
Adam Finkelstein
We need the help of Air1.
- [72:27]
Unknown
When there's chaos below, he's bailing home for it.
- [72:31]
Adam Finkelstein
This individual did not want to be caught. They go high, the helicopter sees you. He never realized we were above watching him the whole time.
- [72:41]
Unknown
An all new season of Chopper Cops. Now streaming on Paramount plus.