From ESPN

Jan. 23

Byron Moore Jr., ATH

Harbor City, CA

Narbonne High School

Scouts Grade: 82
ESPN150 Rank: 71
Position Rank: 4

Trojans have Byron no Moore

ESPNU 150 prospect Byron Moore of Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) has decommitted from the USC Trojans.

Moore is ranked No. 4 nationally among athletes and No. 71 prospect overall. Recruited as a safety, he now favors Notre Dame and LSU. Among his other offers are UCLA, California, Arizona State, Arizona, Minnesota and Colorado.

"Yeah, I went ahead and decommitted today," Moore told ESPN affillate WeAreUSC.Com. "I just felt USC wasn't the place I wanted to be and I want to look at some other options out of state. Right now it's pretty much Notre Dame and LSU, with Notre Dame in the lead. I'll probably take a trip down to LSU next week.

"I kind of feel like I want to go to school out of state, see something new on my own, go somewhere I will get a good education and have an opportunity to play early."

Just another example of the diminishing value of a commitment anymore. I was always raised that when you commit to something or someone, that means something. Even in high school I would have felt a sense of shame about de-committing. I understand making a mistake once, and changing your mind, because its a big decision. However, to back out of 2 commitments just plain shows a lack of respect for what it really means to commit.

At least he won't be playing against us on the SUC side in 2-4 years.

So someone mentioned Ryan Wright on this blog and I did the whole "Hey, what happened to him and lets do some digging."

I stumbled across this article about our 2005 recruiting class and it was a real interesting read. Instead of a "Where are they now?" it was more of a "Who did we think we were signing back then?"

Here's an insert of a quick run down of some of our fav Howland Hustlers:

Besides toughness, the class is pretty overall talented.  Wright and Aboya last summer were still raw in the post, but are probably as good as anyone on the current roster. In fact, either could very well be starting this season at the four spot.  While their offensive skills are still developing, they both are quick and quick footed. Mbah A Moute's skills have improved considerably, and he's very quick for a 6-7 small forward. He also handles the ball particularly well.  Roll is an excellent shooter and passer.  How many times have UCLA fans ever said about a recruit: "He's the type of kid that UCLA didn't recruit, that goes to another Pac-10 school, and then kicks the crap out of UCLA every time they play against him." That's Mike Roll.

Darren Collison, also, is probably one of the most under-rated point guards in the country. He's very, very quick, has a great court sense and is a very good passer. It's a huge coup that UCLA would be able to bring in Collison a year after they got <!--Default NodeId For Jordan Farmar is 1581347,2004-->Jordan Farmar. But Collison, being the smart young man that he is, realizes that Farmar could go pro early, while it's also very conceivable he'll get quite a bit of playing time right alongside Farmar, and the exposure he'd get at UCLA is superior to other schools.

Darren apparently, was indeed (and IS) a very smart young man. I think he hit the head on the nail, and the exposure he's getting now is ALL deserved.

If you're bored like I am, and can't wait till we play SUC on Sunday, take a read of the full article.

Apparently, BN isn't the only group of folks that recognize the potential of RW:

1. This season's best rookie guard will not be Mayo or Rose

Since everyone sees this rookie of the year race as a two-man chase between Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo, let me steal a page from Rob Neyer and present this comparison:

Player A: 37.3 min., 16.3 pts., 6.2 ast., 45.9 FG%, 13.58 PER
Player B: 36.4 min., 17.7 pts., 3.8 ast., 43.8 FG%, 14.03 PER
Player C: 33.1 min., 15.5 pts., 5.1 ast., 46.2 FG%, 16.23 PER

Player A is Rose in the month of December. Player B is Mayo in the month of December.

And Player C, who has more combined points and assists per minute than either Rose or Mayo, a better shooting percentage and a higher Player Efficiency Rating? That would be Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook in the month of December.

He's getting zero attention because he had a dreadful November and his team has won only five games. But Westbrook has been spectacular over the past month -- he shot 34.5 percent in November but 46.2 percent in December and hung 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds on the Knicks on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Rose and Mayo have cooled off from their hot starts.

Westbrook also is the youngest of the three, the best defender and the only one who had to change positions upon arriving in the NBA. All of which suggests he's only scratching the surface of his potential -- as does the fact that he has a higher turnover ratio than the other two, which, in a paradoxical twist of logic, is actually a good thing for a rookie. Historically, those with high turnover rates have had much higher rates of improvement in subsequent seasons. So 12 months from now, don't be surprised if we're calling Westbrook the top guard from this rookie class.

It's great to see how much his FG% is improving. More important than any stats though, I hope RW makes his team play better, because in the world of CBH and Coach Wooden, thats all that matters. Id take the tenacity of RW's defense over the scoring of OJ Payo anyday.