Best Coast Sports

By Donny Turnbaugh

There is no denying the Manti Te’o situation is one of the most absurd stories in sports history, and one that is far from being over. There are still so many unanswered questions that will either leave Te’o looking like the most narcissistic athlete around, the absolute dumbest person to ever be catfished, or some bizarre combination. Neither of those is good for him. While it may go down as the largest and most perplexing sports hoaxes of all time, it will never be the saddest.

No, the most pathetic hoax in sports history still belongs to one kid who just couldn’t face reality: Kevin Hart, the offensive lineman from Nevada who spurned Oregon to accept a scholarship from the Cal Golden Bears, despite never actually receiving a scholarship offer from any D-I school due to his 1.8 GPA and lack of athletic skill.

On signing day in 2008, Hart called a news conference in his school’s gymnasium with the entire student body, coaches, administrators, family, and the media to announce his college decision. It was the classic setup with an Oregon and Cal hat on the table and he awkwardly grabbed the Cal hat, claiming he would play for the Golden Bears and coach Jeff Tedford. It was heartwarming. He had a dream of playing Division I football and got his chance, becoming the first D-I player from Fernley High along the way.

“Coach [Jeff] Tedford and I talked a lot, and the fact that the head coach did most of the recruiting of me kind of gave me the real personal experience.”

Little did the public know, Hart was duping us all.

Well, he duped his community for a few hours, at least. A few hours is all it took for Cal to hear about its newest “recruit” and immediately call Fernley administrators to inform them that Tedford barely knew who the kid was and that the school certainly had not offered him a scholarship. Hart was making the whole thing up. The general public didn’t know about it until the whole embarrassing lie came crumbling down.

At one point he was being looked at by a few schools during his junior year, but his poor grades and actual on-field play made everyone back off and he slipped into obscurity. Hart wanted none of it so he just kept the ruse going, informing friends, family, and coaches that he was still being recruited. In the months leading up to his press conference he told the school newspaper that he had received offers from Oregon and Washington and was recruited by Nevada, Boise State, Oregon State, Illinois, and Oklahoma state

As with the Te’o story, building lies on top of lies usually ends in humiliation. After being completely painted into a corner about his lack of scholarship offers, Hart said he was duped by a recruiting agent and filed a false police report, but that was put to rest with a quick police probe and finally he came clean.

“I wanted to play D-I ball more than anything. When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I made up what I wanted to be reality.”

And that quote is what makes this so much sadder than the Te’o story. We are still a ways a way from knowing what actually happened with Manti, but no matter what it seems that others were involved somehow. It’s doubtful Manti made the whole thing up by himself, especially with more reports on Ronaiah Tuiasosopo coming to light. There is no arguing that it will be one of the most complex, disturbing, and elaborate sports hoaxes of our time, but it certainly won’t be the most pathetic. That still belongs to Hart.

Kevin Hart was the mastermind behind his entire hoax. There wasn’t a distant cousin or a shady family friend who duped him; he was just a bummed out kid who wanted so badly to play college football that he made up one of the most ridiculous schemes to fulfill his dream, only to have it crash down on him in a matter of hours. He told everyone he was recruited by a slew of FBS schools. He held a press conference. He got caught in the lie and then tried to lie his way out by claiming he was played by a recruiting agent. He falsified a police report. It was all a lie based on a false sense of reality.

Hart ended up attending/playing/coaching at Feather River College (a junior college) for four years before heading to D-II Missouri Western this season. How he can put on a college football jersey and show up every day is mindboggling after what he put himself through, because he will always be the kid who fronted the saddest hoax in sports.

By Donny Turnbaugh

It’s the offseason, which is super lame because now we have to wait DECADES before precious college football comes back, taking over our Saturdays with big plays that either make us dance with joy or curse the heavens because WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID, 18-YEAR OLD CORNERBACK WHO IS ACTUALLY DOING THINGS WHILE I SIT ON MY COUCH AND DRINK BOOZE AND YELL AT THE TV!

Speaking of which, because it is the offseason, I really had to sit down and ask myself the important questions: what will Washington State do this spring to help prepare them for a rigorous 2013 schedule? Can Mike MacIntrye help Colorado legitimize its move to the Pac-12? Which Pac-12 coach would be the most fun to drink with?

All important questions, and maybe someday I’ll get around to the first two. But for now, let’s answer the tough question that has been on all of our minds. There are 12 coaches in the league, and some of them seem like they would be a perfect companion to chat with over a beer (or seven), so here is my list of who I think would be the best and worst to do so with.

12. Todd Graham – Arizona State
He would order round after round while talking big game and kissing ass before hearing about Long Island Wednesday at the bar down the street and bailing unexpectedly, leaving you with a giant tab.

Never grab a drink with Todd Graham.

11. Lane Kiffin – USC
This would be the most annoying person in the league to grab a strawberry raz-ma-taz daiquiri with (because that’s the EXACT kind of thing he would order for you). You would most likely end up at a Senor Frogs where Kiffin would make up stories about himself, drink with reckless abandon, and then overreact about something you said while everyone was joking around and leave the tiki hut stamping his feet and badmouthing you on the internet under a false identity.

10. David Shaw – Stanford
Probably the most boring coach to drink with. Not bad, just dull. I can’t imagine this being anything but Shaw drinking white wine while reminiscing on his time with the University of San Diego Toreros before turning to his attention to politics.

9. Mike MacIntyre – Colorado
You would spend the night drinking one 40 of King Cobra because MacIntyre has to save his money to buy things like water and pens on his own dime because Colorado’s AD is horrible at his job and makes coaches pay for things like that.

XXX. Chip Kelly – Philadelphia Eagles
This would be exhausting. Things would start by pre-gaming at a dizzying pace before moving from bar to bar. While you’re pretty much toasted by the fourth establishment, Kelly is drinking his 13th Redbull vodka and moving on without waiting up for anyone else, still completely sober.

*Well, now that Chip Kelly left he is RADICATED from this list (except I’m too lazy to delete this section). Drinking with him in Philly would be a nightmare. Things would start well, with happy fans buying everyone drinks, but then it would turn horribly wrong when he spilled a half-empty cup of bottom-shelf vodka and water and those once-happy fans booed him out of the bar while screaming obscenities about him and his family. Philly fans don’t seem like that much fun to be around.

7. Jim Mora Jr. – UCLA
Drinking with Jim Mora Jr. would be all business. This is the guy you go on a pub crawl with, as long as there is a giant group of people so you can avoid one-on-ones with Jim. I’m sure before the group left there would be a briefing on which bars have what deals, when certain activities would happen, and who your buddy is so when you have a few too many IPAs you know who will be sending you home in a cab. Ohh, and don’t even think about drinking too much, because Jim Mora Jr. is NOT afraid to send you home in a cab so the rest of the group can have a good time.

The day would end with him meticulously ranking his favorite bars and reminding you how dangerously close you were to losing your pub crawl privileges.

Let the man plan it out and then stay the hell out of the way.

6.  Kyle Whittingham – Utah
Nothing wrong with a glass of milk and cookies.

5. Mike Riley – Oregon State
There are very few frills drinking with Mike Riley, but it would be a good time. You would have a few drinks, share a few laughs, and then fist pump for joy when you found out Riley was buying everyone food at the end of the night.

4. Sonny Dykes – Cal
The new guy seems like a wild card. Young, Texan, Mike Leach disciple. I get the feeling you would go into the evening thinking it was just going to be a night having a few drinks with the boys, but then it would turn to whiskey shots which would turn into more whiskey shots which would then turn into a morning where you wake up and wonder why there were so many whiskey shots but the photos on your phone make it seem like you had a good time. Welcome, Sonny!

3. Steve Sarkisian – Washington
This could possibly be the most entertaining of the group. How many Rainiers would it take before Sark started clowning on Lane Kiffin and getting up on the bar to yell WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF at complete strangers (mostly co-eds)? Seven. Seven is the answer.

2. Rich Rodriguez – Arizona
He’s from West Virginia. Those people drink a lot and have almost no handle on their liquor. It’s embarrassing. Remember, these are the folks who practice arson for no real reason.

Not a doubt in my mind Rich Rod would bring his flour sack full of (Michigan) money to buy bottle service and sing karaoke until the bartender asked him to leave and never return, where he would then proceed to take the party back to his place and down bathtub moonshine. FUN!

1. Mike Leach – Washington State
I don’t even think this is close. This has nothing to do with my homerism, it has everything to do with Leach being regarded as one of the most interesting people in football. There is no telling where the conversation would go. The time he peed on a dog to teach it about respect? Maritime law? Seinfeld? The possibilities are endless.

If you disagree, please complain to me on Twitter @DonnyOutWest or send your own list to DonnyOutWest@gmail.com.

Compete is the well know philosophy of third year Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Ironically, you cannot spell compete without a “T” and an “O”. Hawks made the biggest splash of the new season by bringing in one of the most decorative players of NFL past in Terrell Owens.

Rewinding back to 2010 was the last time Owens played at this level. In 14 games with the Bengals, T.O. had 72 catches for 983 yards and nine touchdowns. Due to the torn ligaments in his knee, the season was cut short. Being the competitor he is, Terrell played eight games for the Allen Wranglers in the Indoor Football League and was later released in May 2009.

Next stop for the T.O. Show is Seattle, WA. Late Sunday night rumors broke on Twitter that the Seahawks were hosting him for a private workout on Monday August 6. He was in fact trying out and left Coach Carroll and GM John Schneider very impressed, especially by running a sub 4.4 forty yard dash at 38 years old. The contract was signed a day later.

Many Seahawks fans have mixed emotions due to his troubled past and cancerous behavior in the locker room. This potentially will be one of the best acquisitions of the year due in part to Seattle filling a need. The young wide receiving core can learn a lot from T.O. from a regiment standpoint. Former teammates have praised him for being one of the hardest working individuals they have been around. Work ethic can be contagious. Unfortunately, those not named Sidney Rice and Doug Baldwin have not proven themselves, but Rice has been injury prone two out of his last three years.

Also this preseason, Braylon Edwards was signed. Expect a fierce competition throughout the end of camp/preseason and into the regular season. Other notables such as Golden Tate, Ben Obomanu, and Ricardo Lockette may find themselves on the outside looking in. However Golden Tate’s early camp reviews are refreshing. Without much progress in the first two years of ballin’ he was building a reputation toward that awful B word (bust).

It is about to time to keep a close eye on who will step up the most. Luckily each receiver brings something different to the table. Rice, Edwards, and Owens are all very good possession WR’s. Tate, T.O. and Lockette have big play ability. Doug Baldwin is the main man in the slot who will sit in the zones and work the middle of the field. Newly named quarterback Matt Flynn will have a lot of shiny new toys to play with.

Even though the offense is going to be run through running back Marshawn Lynch, the pass is going to open up holes in the running game and make a drastic improvement in Red zone offense. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will salivate at the opportunity to involve his All Pro tight ends Kellen Winslow and Zach Miller with the cast of receivers and a beast of a running back. With already a top 10 defense, Seattle may be a surprise team coming out of the NFC. Terrell said it best “Get your popcorn ready.”

First Press Conference as a Seattle Seahawk

With the______pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the _______ select Tony Wroten Jr. out of the University of Washington. The man has been dreaming of this moment since arriving on the scene as an 8^th grader in inner city Seattle. Like his teammate Terrence Ross, Tone is going to forgo the rest of his collegiate eligibly and enter the NBA Draft. Unfortunately, the lasting memory fans will have of him is at the free throw against Oregon State and missing four consecutive free throws with a chance to tie or win the game.

There has been rumbling about his decision since the teams collapse in the Pac 12 Tournament and NIT. Many different prolific basketball sources think he should have came back to school due in part to different holes in his game. Chad Ford’s mock draft predicts Tony to be a late first round to early second round pick. I think he made a good decision to leave. Being placed in the right situation, you may see him flourish. Wroten has an NBA type body standing at 6’5 206 lbs. Most point guards in the league are shorter in height and smaller in stature. The quickness factor is the biggest attribute, like the saying goes “fast don’t lie.” Luckily he knows how to use his speed to his advantage. On defense he posses’ quickness to keep his defender in front of him and the anticipation to jump passing lanes and steal the ball. On Offense most defenders have a difficult time keeping up with him in the open floor, but everyone knows he is going left. Aside from shooting the focus needs to be on dribbling and finishing with his right hand, the off hand.

The comparison to a freshman Gary Payton is unreal. The finishing stat lines at the end of their first season are almost identical. In field goal percentage (GP: 45.9%, TW: 44.3%), steals (GP: 1.9 spg, TW: 1.9), rebounds (GP: 4.0 rpg, TW: 5.0 rpg), and turnovers (GP: 3.1 topg, TW: 3.8 topg).

Tony Wroten can be the biggest steal of the draft. Raw talent and quickness as well as basketball IQ make him an easy first round pick. If only he could shoot. If a jumper is developed and the erratic play slows down, you will be looking at one of the best guards in the game. Like mentioned above, a young Gary Payton had somewhat of a loose handle and struggled from the field. Those are things that you can correct with good coaching. Like Wroten, he had the intangibles and the work ethic, which lead to becoming a superstar and an All NBA defender.

It is going to take a lot of work for Tone to change the mind of scouts. Besides countless hours dribbling and shooting in the gym, I expect him to reach out to some of his Home Team friends Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford to help with shooting. If reaching out to them isn’t on his mind, it would not be a bad idea, especially with shooting being the strong suit of both players. The ball is tipped, the clock is running down, let’s see what Wroten can do before the draft buzzer sounds.

Insert Lin pun here: Is this for real?  I don’t mean the on-court play of Jeremy Lin – which has been Lincredible all in its own – but the media attention surrounding the new Knicks star.  Not that it isn’t deserved, because it is, but just the craziness of the whole situation is, well, crazy.  The second-year player went from being cut by the Warriors to almost being axed by New York before injuries allowed him to step into the lineup and assert his dominance over the Lakers on national television and hit a game-winning three against the Raptors a few days later.  His numbers are scary-good while his play has mesmerized media from around the world.  He has become the King of NY and finally can move from his brother’s couch to his own apartment in the Trump Towers.  How does the Harvard graduate make it into this column?  Before he became a sensation on the national stage, he was a standout player at Palo Alto High School and helped lead the team to a Division II state title while being named first-team All-State and player of the year in his region.  Scouts ignored him and the Ivy League was the only route to play basketball – not a bad gig, if you ask me.  Mostly, we wanted to get in on the Linsanity and while major colleges and NBA teams ignored him, we want to give notoriety to the Northern California native on his recent success.  Sorry for all of the Lin-themed puns, it will never happen again on this page.

Our thoughts are with Tony Gwynn: In a more serious note, Tony Gwynn had a successful 14-hour surgery to remove a malignant tumor from inside his right cheek.  The Hall of Famer was known for always dipping during his 20-year career and has been fighting cancer-related issues for some time now.  18 months ago he was going through cancer treatments and radiation that took a toll on his body and did not seem to stop the issues.  The surgery today had a team of doctors performing a nerve-graft procedure that replaced a facial nerve with one off Gwynn’s shoulder.  After the surgery, there appeared to be no complications and he should be back to coaching the San Diego State Aztecs in a month.

College baseball gets underway: College baseball is upon us and Baseball America – my go-to for CBB rankings – released its pre-season top-25 and it has a west coast flare.  Stanford comes in ranked second in the nation while Arizona takes the fifth spot despite being unranked in the final 2011 standings.  UCLA and its stellar pitching staff is ranked 14th and Pac-12 counterparts Arizona State and Oregon State are given the nod at 17th and 23rd, respectively.  Consistent powerhouse Cal State Fullerton rounds out the top-25 after finishing 14th last year with a 41-17 record.  Surprisingly, UC Irvine and Cal did not make the Baseball America top-25 but both teams should get into the mix at some point this year.  Stay tuned for more college baseball updates! (Hey, west coast college basketball is down so we are looking towards the diamond for relief).

The Mountain West is good. Very good: The UNLV-SDSU game lived up to the hype on Saturday and the Rebels got revenge by beating the Aztecs 65-63.  UNLV lost earlier in the year 69-67 but after this weekend things are all tied up at the top of the Mountain West standings between SDSU and New Mexico, who happen to meet tonight with the winner sitting in the driver’s seat for the conference championships.  But don’t count out UNLV yet, because they are just a game behind.  What does this all mean?  Most likely that there will be some great basketball played to determine the conference champ.  Or there will be some very confusing tie-breaking scenarios.  Let’s hope for a good conference tournament.

The Dodgers are almost free: Finally.  The ridiculous debacle that is the McCourt ownership is almost at an end.  Bidders for the Dodgers will meet with the MLB ownership committee in the upcoming weeks to go over proposals and financial details.  It’s just another step needed for the sale of the team to be completed and by April 30, this should all be taken care of.

Photo: CSNNW

Bryant climbs the ladder: Kobe Bryant moved into fifth place on the all-time scoring list after hitting a jumper against the 76ers with 5:07 remaining in the first half on Monday night.  The 16-year veteran finished the night with 28 points to reach 28,601 for his career and now resides behind Wilt Chamberlain by 2,818.  The most noted part about his performance was that he surpassed former teammate and off-and-on nemesis Shaquille O’Neal, who took the high road and gave Bryant the credit he deserves for reaching such a milestone.

At the age of 33, the question now becomes, will he be able to continue the climb and move past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points to become the NBA’s scoring champion?  Bryant has been averaging close to 2,000 points these past few seasons but with the shortened year it may be a hard number to reach.  Despite that, he could reach the top in the next five years or so – let’s get the over under and 5.65 seasons because he has to slow down a little, right?  Regardless, Bryant jumping from high school to the NBA gives him an advantage and when talking about two or three years, it goes a long way for this accomplishment.

I’m taking the push on that bet, by the way.

The Far East comes West: After spending part of this season playing basketball in China due to the lockout, seasoned veteran Kenyon Martin is heading to Lob City to give the Clippers’ frontcourt some depth and senior leadership.  A lot of teams were after K-Mart’s services but he thought that Los Angeles was the right fit and gave him a chance to win while seeing some playing time on the court.

So what does Martin bring to the table?  Well, for one thing, he becomes the third-best big man on the team behind Blake Griffin and promising young center DeAndre Jordan, and will take pressure off those guys when rest is needed.  During his past few years in Denver he was putting up a little over 10 points a game and grabbing anywhere between six and 10 rebounds a night, but last season the numbers dropped and his time in China wasn’t mind-blowing considering he was playing against less-than-stellar talent.  The 34-year old won’t be dominating in the paint like he used to but he will still make an impact and is a step up from Reggie Evans and now ex-Clipper Solomon Jones.

Last thing to note from the Staples Center is that Martin’s former Denver teammate J.R. Smith could be joining the roster now that Chauncey Billups is injured – most likely for the year.

The Almost All West Coast All-Star Game: The 2012 NBA All-Star game rosters were announced a few days ago and four of the five Western Conference starters call Staples Center home.  Kobe Bryant is making his 14th appearance and is joined by teammate Andrew Bynum who is going for the first time.  The Clippers are sending Blake Griffin and Chris Paul to Orlando for the festivities while Kevin Durant is the odd-man out – yet still unbelievable talented and spent one year in the Pacific Northwest so we’ll include him in this area.  The game may be played in Florida, but the West Coast is going to make a serious impact.

What in the AP Top-25 is going on?: Listen, there is no beating around the bush so I’ll just say it: West Coast college basketball has been atrocious down this season.  The good news is that there are three teams in the AP Top-25 this week but the kick is that none of them play in the Conference of Champions (Pacific-12).  San Diego State, UNLV and St. Mary’s are rated 13, 14 and 16, respectively, and are a combined 63-9 with five of those losses coming against teams who were ranked in the top-25.  That loss total will reach 10 this weekend when the SDSU Aztecs head to Vegas to take on the Rebels in what should be a great matchup to determine which school will take the Mountain West regular season crown.  Not to be outdone, St. Mary’s heads north to Spokane on Thursday to try to get the sweep of rival Gonzaga after beating the then-ranked Bulldogs 83-62 earlier this season.

Pac-12 just got even better: The big news out of the Pac-12 offices is that Commissioner Larry Scott will have his contract extended through 2016 after the conference’s board of directors unanimously voted to keep him around.  For those who don’t know, Scott has already become one of the most successful conference commissioners in history after just two years on the job.  In that time he was able to expand the conference to 12 teams – gaining two HUGE markets in doing so – which has created a chance for a conference championship game that brings in some serious dough.  If that isn’t enough for you, he has also been able to secure a 12-year, $3 billion dollar television deal that will feature a Pac-12 Network with six regional networks and will give fans from around the country the chance to watch every single football and men’s basketball game.  Aside from those things, he has changed the culture of the conference and has made it a truly elite and a desirable place for people to be.  I get the feeling this won’t be the last time we write, “Larry Scott gets a contract extension.”

Generic Super Bowl reference: The final football game of the year took place this past weekend and unfortunately for Best Coasters, it featured two teams who couldn’t represent the east coast any more, squaring off in Indiana.  Indeed, it was an entertaining game, but the victorious Giants featured almost nobody from the western part of this country.  Here is to hoping next year’s big game has a more West Coast flavor!

The words “basketball in Seattle” holds a negative connotation to it, being something that is not talked about. Fans still remain bitter at the loss of our Super Sonics whom were stolen by businessman Clayton Bennett and moved the Oklahoma City in 2008. A major reason for the move ended up being the treacherous arena situation. Key Arena was not deemed as having the proper amenities in order to house an NBA franchise, according to David Stern. This is the same individual that said the Key Arena is a place that other franchises should model their buildings towards, but this was coming after its renovation in 1995.

There may be some light at the end on the tunnel in terms of brining a team back. Rumors have been stemming of a team coming back and a new arena getting built. Once the smoke cleared, nothing was in progression. A hedge fund owner out of San Francisco purchased a piece of land in the SODO District, just south of the Safeco Field garage. Quietly there have been talks between government officials and the league about a team returning once the construction of the new arena is complete. The announcement for the arena plan will come in April.

Not only is the NBA being targeted, but the NHL as well. League owned Phoenix Coyotes are in a financial bind and looking for ownership to keep them in the Valley of the Sun.  However, Seattle would be a great destination with a new state of the art building and the formation of a natural rivalry three hours north in Vancouver. As far as the NBA goes, the two franchises being targeted are the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Hornets. The Kings would be the favorite from a fan standpoint. What is not to like about all their young talent. New Orleans will have a great base to build around with their two first round picks they will receive this year.  Either way it will be great to have an NBA franchise back in the town.

Joshua Garnett (Stanford) and Zach Banner (USC) – Photo by Hauck

National Letter of Intent day is almost over and boy, it was a good one for the west coast – some teams, anyway.  It’s a day when fans that have played more EA Sports NCAA than actual football come together to watch 17 and 18-year old kids make crazy decisions in front of large crowds before faxing in their letter of intent.  An unusual ritual?  Absolutely.  An important one?  Even more so.  This is how programs build and where the two-star player becomes a stud and a four-star never steps foot on campus and makes the “experts” look foolish in three-years time.  Never the less, we have to give credit where credit is due and tear down some teams who didn’t show up this recruiting season.

We’ll be going over all the west coast teams in the next few days/weeks, but we begin by going through the Pac-12.  This is just our initial standings because more student-athletes will sign in the upcoming days.  Until then, here are our current standings:

1. Stanford – This team hit an absolute homerun and really shot up the boards after getting some unexpected players.  They grabbed a top-five guard, center and two top-ten tackles.  Guard Joshua Garnett and tackle Kyle Murphy are five-star players who will be able to anchor the line for a long time.  They grabbed a lot of big boys on the offensive side, but running back Barry Sanders Jr. – yes, that Barry Sanders – will have the chance to do some great things on the farm.  Defensively, the front-seven gets even better with four-star players Noor Davis (OLB) and Aziz Shittu (DT) joining the Cardinal.  Safety Alex Carter pairs up with Zach Hoffpauir to create a solid tandem.  Georgia native Jordan Watkins is our pick for gem of the class and will dominate at the defensive end spot.

2. USC – Despite sanctions that limited the Trojans to 15 scholarships – the NCAA allotment is 25 – USC had a truly impressive day.  Seven signees are ranked in the ESPNU 150.  I’ll let that settle in for a minute… Now that you’re back and realizing that USC is just doing what it always does, let’s admire the linebacking corps which includes Jabari Ruffin and Scott Starr.  Both players will have the chance to keep the trend going of outstanding linebackers in LA.  Matt Barkley will have some new toys with receiver Nelson Agholor and arguably the best tight end in the nation Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick.  The future QB will get good blocking from Jordan Simmons and Max Tuerk.  To top it off, USC got one of the best JC players in the nation in Gerald Bowman.  The ten scholarships could hurt depth in the future but for now it seems to be strong across the board.

3. Oregon – The Ducks get a slight edge over UCLA because they loaded up at almost every position.  One-time Cal recruit Arik Armstead switched to Oregon and will star on the defensive line alongside defensive ends DeForest Buckner and Alex Balducci.  The offense grabbed a lot of people and running back Byron Marshall will jump right into the mix of the offense with LaMichael James jumping to the League.  QB Jake Rodrigues fits the Oregon mold very well and will be the future.

4. UCLA – The Bruins may finally find some consistently at the quarterback spot after picking up super-athlete Devin Fuller and a more traditional T.J. Millweard.  They have some competition in front of them on the depth chart but Jim Mora Jr. did an excellent job getting both men in.  I’ve been extremely hard on UCLA in the past and didn’t think highly of the Mora coaching selection, but he did an outstanding job in a short amount of time.  The defensive signees are the most impressive and linebackers Aaron Porter and Jeremy Castro will fit in nicely in the program.  The secondary got some help but the concern is how much was done on the offensive line.  Not to say there isn’t a diamond in the rough here, but if you’ve seen a UCLA game in the past, you know they need to shore up the line quickly.

5. Washington – U-Dub’s hire of Tosh Lupoi has already paid dividends and the Huskies got some great players, highlighted by five-star safety Shaq Thompson.  Cornerbacks Brandon Beaver and Cleveland Wallace will have a chance to step in and make some plays early to create a dynamic secondary.  The story of the day for the ‘Dawks are the signings of quarterbacks Jeff Lindquist and Cyler Miles.  Both are four-star players and both are going to create a quarterback buzz in the upcoming years and maybe one can be just like Jake Locker – note: this isn’t a good thing, Locker was highly overrated and this writer can provide plenty of stats and situations to prove it.  There are a lot of three-star players after that which could create some good depth.

6. Colorado – The Buffs get the nod because they got a lot of student-athletes in and many of them will be able to step in immediately to help the program get back on track.  The secondary was atrocious last year and the addition of four cornerbacks goes a long way.  Yuri Wright is the stud of the group and he arrived late after some completely inappropriate Tweets scared off many of his original schools of interest.  I guarantee in the War Room coaches were saying he had too much baggage but then saw the tape of last year and said, “who cares, sign him.”  Shane Dillon is a tall quarterback who needs to put some meat on his bones before stepping into the spotlight but he can make an impact in the offense.

7. Utah – JC running back Kelvin York is going to be the next John White and fans should be ecstatic.  Utah can get the best out of RBs and York seems to fit the mold of what they do in those parts.  The offensive line improved at the tackle and center spot.  QB Travis Wilson has some serious size but needs to get stronger and get some more arm power.  The Utes signed four defensive ends and three undersized but fast linebackers.

8. Cal – They end up at eight, but it was a nightmare of a day for the Golden Bears.  They signed some big names and recruits but lost a lot of players and only ended up with 16, only four of which are on defense.  Football revolves around the QB and Cal ran away with the best one in the Pac-12 after Zach Kline sent in his NLI.  Lucky for him, receivers Bryce Treggs, Kenny Lawler, Chris Harper, and Darius Powe are all heading to the Bay Area.  It wouldn’t be surprising if they were one of the more dangerous passing teams in the nation in two or three seasons.  The offense filled out on offensive line but failed to get a promising running back.  The defense signed two four-star players: linebacker Michael Barton and corner Cedric Dozier.  Aside from that: nothing.

9. Arizona State – Todd Graham had a tough task at hand after coming in with a lot of criticism, but he pulled together a decent class with two running backs who will shine in his offense.  D.J. Foster is the future and is the gem of this class.  He has size, speed, character and the intelligence to play at a high level.  JC transfer Marion Grice will be able to step in and put up numbers fast.  Another team that loaded up on linebackers, signing three high school kids and two JC players.  Overall, this class was better than I expected in Graham’s short recruiting period.  The Sun Devils have four young QBs on the roster, but Graham failing to sign one of his own is bad news.

10. Oregon State – This team lucked out that the best guard in the country, Isaac Seumalo, happened to play at Corvallis High.  The offense had a much better day than the defense with the addition of big offensive lineman, two tight ends, some speedy receivers and quarterback Brent Vanderveen.  The defense did not do enough so hopefully there is a diamond in the rough for this team.

11. Washington State – As far as a recruiting class in Pullman goes, this one was pretty good.  Add in the fact Mike Leach had limited time and didn’t get his staff into place until a few weeks ago and it looks even better.  Receiver was the focal point for the offense and this speaks well to the air-raid attack Leach runs off his cocktail napkin.  Gabriel Marks, Alex Jackson and Robert Lewis – who will most likely switch from RB to WR – will give new QB Austin Apodaca some help in the future.  Leach has a history of turning three-star receivers into stars.  Defensively, this class was linebacker heavy which is good based on how awful the run defense has been the past few years.

12. Arizona – The surprising thing out of Tucscon is the how Rich Rod failed to bring in some offensive firepower.  Granted, he had a short period of time to hit the trail, but this class could be called a wash on that side of the ball.  The defense had some decent signees, focusing on the front seven with highly-touted linebacker Dakota Conwell highlighting the class.  They may have recruited a few more people than Wazzu, but they don’t necessarily bring as much to the table.  Look for an offensive overhaul next season and for Rich Rod to get this program turned around.

The dunk heard around the world. Staples Center has displayed an array of highlights in a pivotal game for the Clippers to show how well they contend with the best in the West against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately if you live on the Least Coast, you may not see the play until tomorrow, since it would have been after midnight. High riser Blake Griffin absolutely posterized Kendrick Perkins by elevating over him and throwing it down emphatically. Perkins remained in disbelief, as were everyone else viewing from afar. Buzz has spread through the internet and on Twitter. Many current players have tweeted about the play being the best dunk they have ever seen. If you do not believe them, see for yourself. Lob City will knock off OKC 112-100.

For those who do not know Washington guard Tony Wroten Jr., he is a hungry, flashy player who has all the tools to become the next big thing to come out of the basketball rich city of Seattle. Tone, as his teammates call him is the second leading scorer in the Pac 12 conference at 16.8 points per game. The two time Pac 12 Player of the Week led his Huskies to a victory over Arizona State with 22 points and an emphatic dunk that shook the Wells Fargo Arena. The dunk was the Top Play on SportsCenter. When he is at his best, he can compete with any player in the country.