Latest on Dorian Finney-Smith

[THEultimateWARRIOR]

UConn would take anyone with a pulse that actually played HS ball. If Oklahoma has room, that'll likely be his first choice. If they don't have room, who knows where he ends up? Pretty sure Louisville would have to run someone else off to take him (though it's been done there before). From what I've read of Clark, my guess is he'll go somewhere that doesn't have to force an opening. I could be wrong, but I really don't think forcing his way in would jive with the way he and his mother have conducted themselves. They seem classier and possessed of more integrity than that.

He has connections with UCONN. Louisville seems to be in on almost every transfer so they must have room. I heard tonight that MU is recruiting him.

[THEultimateWARRIOR]

And back on topic about finney smith it would be a big advantage for MU if Florida and Louisville would land the transfers they are going after in turn opening up the door for MU to snatch Finney Smith. I believe we will fill the scholarship with a transfer.

[THEultimateWARRIOR]

As stated above now that Florida landed Demontre Harris it opens the door for MU to land Finney Smith. My guess is Buzz will make a strong push once the dead period is over.

[TedBaxter]

It wouldn't surprise anyone if Davante Gardner and/or Jamal Ferguson were pursuing Finney-Smith from the Virginia side.

[brewcity77]

With Aki gone, I think most are guessing we will be out of the running for DFS. Saw on Twitter that he's visiting Louisville this weekend. Montrezl Harrell will also be there this weekend. Wouldn't surprise me if they were vying for the same scholarship.

http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/05/29/finney-smith-to-visit-louisville/

[Dawson Rental]

How many open scholarships does Florida have?

1 open one.

Damontre Harris is now a Gator, so is DFS off their list?

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports had the following to say.

"The addition of Harris won't change Florida's recruiting focus for the Class of 2013, which begins with talented in-state product Chris Walker, a 6-foot-8 power forward considered to be one of the top 10 high school seniors-to-be in the nation. Walker reportedly is still considering Kansas, Florida, Ohio State and Kentucky, among others.

What will be interesting to see is whether Florida continues its pursuit of Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith or former Hokies signee Montrezl Harrell.

The Gators were in the running for both before Harris made his choice. Now both might be more likely to look elsewhere since Florida added a player at their position."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/florida-finally-gets-big-man-south-carolina-transfer-141907284.html

Here's an update from the Florida rivals site, dated May 28th.

- Despite receiving a transfer commitment from 2010 four-star prospect power forward Damontre Harris (formerly of South Carolina) over the weekend, Florida will continue pursuing Virginia Tech forward transfer Dorian Finney-Smith, a source close to the team told me on Saturday. Finney-Smith's mother told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv on Sunday that her son will choose between UF, Iowa State, Louisville, Marquette and Texas but has yet to schedule four of his five potential visits. Though the Gators' scholarship allotment was technically filled when Harris made his decision, UF would most definitely find a way to bring Finney-Smith in should he chose Florida when all is said and done.

So, Ohio State seems to have been a fleeting deal.

[Dawson Rental]

Speaking of Montrezl Harrell, guess where he was this weekend?

In Louisville with DFS!

Louisville’s big recruiting weekend

Louisville is coming off of a season where they won the Big East tournament and made a run all the way to the Final Four. They are heading into a season where they will be a consensus top three team when the official preseason polls are released.

In other words, there probably aren’t three programs that will have a better 2012 calender year.

Which is why this weekend is so important for the future of the Cardinal program: Louisville will have enough talent visiting their campus to reach the 2015 Final Four.

It starts with a pair of Virginia Tech defectors. Montrezl Harrell, a top 100 big man in the class of 2012 and a former Tech signee, will be visiting Louisville (who many believe is his favorite) along with Dorian Finney-Smith, a transfer that left Tech when Seth Greenberg was fired. Finney-Smith would have to sit out a year before becoming eligible.

Also on campus will be a pair of top 30 prospects from the class of 2013. JaJuan Johnson is a shooting guard from Memphis that has seen his stock skyrocket after the spring evaluation period, which was aided by the fact that he has grown two inches to 6-foot-5 since last summer. Johnson is the nephew of Louis Williams of the 76ers. Jordan Mickey, an athletic comb0-forward and a five-star recruit, may be the most highly-regarded prospect that will be in Louisville this weekend.

Joining them will be 6-foot-7 wings Kates Beita-Diop and Malek Harris, both members of the class of 2014 from Illinois.

The saying “strike while the iron is hot” is fitting in the recruiting world. When your program is on the upswing, it is important to not only get talented recruits onto your campus, but to convince them to come to your school. That’s the best way to prevent your program from being on a downswing.

Pitino is halfway there this weekend.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/31/louisvilles-big-recruiting-weekend/

p.s. Last I checked Louisville had 13 scholarship players and two walk-ons, one of whom was all-state in Kentucky 2011.  That's after they cut Jared Swopshire loose to make room for their incoming recruit.  How Pitino does it, I don't know.

[LAZER]

Harrel committed to Louisville per Telep

[ecompt]

Slick Rick will do what Syracuse does: find academic scholarships for two or three guys so he can dress 16 players. SU dressed 18 players for the MU game last winter.

[GGGG]

Well if Rick can do it and get away with it within the NCAA rules, I don't have a problem with it.

[Dawson Rental]

Well if Rick can do it and get away with it within the NCAA rules, I don't have a problem with MU doing it.

Fixed!

[brewcity77]

Harrel committed to Louisville per Telep

If UF and UL are both full, that's certainly good for us, I'd think. He still has the ISU visit, hopefully Buzz gets him on campus.

[Dawson Rental]

If UF and UL are both full, that's certainly good for us, I'd think. He still has the ISU visit, hopefully Buzz gets him on campus.

And then Trent Lockett can explain why he choose MU over Iowa State!

[Dawson Rental]

Well if Rick can do it and get away with it within the NCAA rules, I don't have a problem with it.

It'll be a challenge this time with Montrezl Harrell now committing per Eamonn Brennan at ESPN.

"Harrell's commitment isn't 100 percent good news: It does create a scholarship logjam for the Cardinals, which will require some -- ahem -- creative reshuffling by Pitino similar to last summer, when a new batch of recruits forced Pitino to ask Kyle Kuric, Chris Smith and Elisha Justice to give up their scholarships and play as preferred walk-ons instead. Last summer's moves were made more elegant by Kuric's (whose father is a surgeon) and Smith's (whose older brother is well-paid New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith) dual willingness to pay for school. The process of finding an open scholarship for Harrell may be slightly messier."

It sounds like adding Dorian on top of Harrell would be a very big stretch for Louisville at this point which I have to think helps MU's cause.

[cheebs09]

I bet Pitino adopts a player.

[Dawson Rental]

More from Rob Dauster at NBC sports.

"But that’s not where the discussion seems to be placed following Harrell’s commitment.

Instead, it centers around Louisville’s scholarship situation.

You see, Harrell becomes the Cards 14th scholarship player, and as anyone that follows college hoops can tell you, you are only allowed to give out 13 scholarships. So where did the available scholarship come from? That, we don’t know and may never find out. Did Pitino find out that Rozier won’t get eligible? Will Stephen Van Treese, whose family can afford to play for a year of college, become a walk-on? Will Raheem Buckles take a medical redshirt? Is Russ Smith actually JR and Chris Smith’s long lost brother?

What we do know is that Pitino has perfected the art of roster manipulation. Prior to last season, he got Chris Smith, Kyle Kuric and Elisha Justice to pay their own way for school. He ran off George Goode prior to last season. He did the same with Jared Swopshire this season.

You may not be a fan of the way Pitino is running the program, but you have to admit: it’s working."

[Dawson Rental]

Florida Rivals reaction to the Harrell news.

"Instead of visiting Florida and seeing what the Gators had to offer, four-star power forward Montrezl Harrell - a four-star 2012 recruit who had decommitted from Virginia Tech and was still looking for a home - committed to Louisville on Monday after visiting the school over the weekend. Despite the fact that Florida does not currently have an available scholarship, the Gators were in pursuit of Harrell to join their four-member 2012 class. UF has already acquired one transfer in former four-star PF Damontre Harris since National Signing Day came and went and is likely done adding players for the time being though former four-star forward Dorian Finney-Smith remains undecided his transfer destination after playing for Virginia Tech last season."

The way this reads it sounds like Florida was more interested in Harrell than DFS, in spite of DFS's much higher ranking out of HS.  I guess having a guy sit for a year is tough for some places to stomach.

[Dr. Blackheart]

If UF and UL are both full, that's certainly good for us, I'd think. He still has the ISU visit, hopefully Buzz gets him on campus.

I think DFS has Iowa State later this week and then MU after.  With ISU a likely landing place for Uhtoff unless Iowa returns the Brust lawsuit favor on Becky, MU is the only leader left with a schollie, no?  Where does Tejas sit right now?

[Dawson Rental]

I think DFS has Iowa State later this week and then MU after.  With ISU a likely landing place for Uhtoff unless Iowa returns the Brust lawsuit favor on Becky, MU is the only leader left with a schollie, no?  Where does Tejas sit right now?

They should still have a schollie.  ESPN has them still in on two HS seniors.  When HS seniors are still around in June, eligibility issues often lurk, tho.

[THEultimateWARRIOR]

I think DFS has Iowa State later this week and then MU after.  With ISU a likely landing place for Uhtoff unless Iowa returns the Brust lawsuit favor on Becky, MU is the only leader left with a schollie, no?  Where does Tejas sit right now?

Have you heard that he is visiting MU after? That would be great to get him on campus where he has to make his decision fresh off of a MU visit.

[THEultimateWARRIOR]

Zags blog said he will visit ISU later this week then possibly Georgetown. Did you really hear MU could be next?

[bamamarquettefan]

Montrezl Harrell might not be the only player to give a pledge to the Louisville basketball program this week. Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith arrived on campus yesterday afternoon for a visit and will leave tomorrow morning. The 6-7 forward has very much enjoyed his time here in the Derby City over the past two days. Nothing has been officially reported just yet, but a source close to the program says “It’s a done deal.” It sounds like Finney-Smith’s situation is very similar to Montrezl Harrell, who left Louisville as an uncommitted prospect, only to make it official the next day. Finney-Smith had initially planned to make a visit to Iowa State from June 7-9. There has been nothing reported that he will cancel that visit, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he makes a decision before June 7. Louisville and Iowa State had been rumored to be the early leaders from Finney-Smith, but there have been some reports throughout the day that it wil...

[Dawson Rental]

Give Louisville basketball a boy and get back a man.

In a few short years your son will go from being a recruit with a sense of entitlement to a scared senior who will pay his own way or find himself another school to play for.

Okay, if Pitino finds a way to get two more players to pay their own way at Louisville or cuts players loose in June without damaging his ability to still get recruits then I am officially jealous.

[GGGG]

https://twitter.com/EvanDanielsFOX/status/210425800594427904

TA DA!!!!

[MuMark]

http://louisville.scout.com/2/1192629.html