Making The Cut

Itawamba Community College's Anthony Brock has led the Indians to a sterling 24-2 record while putting up very impressive statistics. While his feats have attracted a lot of attention from recruiters around the country, Brock recently narrowed his focus to just nine schools. The University of South Alabama is one of them.

Brock has received offers from more than 20 college basketball programs but he recently cut his list down to nine schools. They are: Wichita State, Evansville, SMU, Louisiana-Lafayette, UTEP, Lamar, Western Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock and South Alabama. According the Coach Marty Cooper, when the Indians' season ends Brock will narrow the list down to three and then visit those schools.

While the competition for Brock's services have heated up, South Alabama should be right in the mix. They've been on Brock longer than some of the other schools and Coach Cooper has noted previously that the Jags have done a good job in their pursuit of the talented point guard.

Also working to USA's favor would be the composition of their returning team in 2008-2009. Coming off of this very special season, the Jags will be returning their entire frontline of Brandon Davis (10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds), DeAndre Coleman (7.6 points, 8.0 rebounds)and Ronald Douglas (6.4 points, 4.7 rebounds), not to mention 6'9" Philip Tabet, his twin brother Charles (who is redshirting this year) and the rapidly improving and versatile Daniel Hayles. In the backcourt he would team up with Dominic Tilford (13.6 points, 40% on three's) to form a dynamic, if undersized, tandem. Add guards DeAndrae Ross, a sophomore-to-be, incoming freshman Demarius Jordan, junior college point guard Tyrell Timpson, 2007 academic casualty Jamar Moore, and junior college swingman LaShun Watson and the Jags could easily be right back in the hunt for another NCAA berth.

Like many of the other teams, USA is seeking the floor leader it needs to make a championship run. Brock, averaging 18.6 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.7 steals per game, is obviously just such a player. In a few months, his decision may swing the fate of several programs for the 2008-2009 season.