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According to Rivals, Eaton still lists us in his top 6, but says Louisville and Cincinnati are his top 2 right now. He also lists OSU, GA Tech and K-State. The article mentioned nothing about football and I have heard that he is going to play basketball in college.

As long as we're still in the running, I have faith in Coach Tubbs! I hear some pretty studly HS players are contacting him, even before he's made contact with them. That, I would think, bodes extremely well for our hoops recruiting future.

Have no doubt that Tubbs will attract very good players to SMU. And he will reel in a few true blue chippers along the way too. But its not easy to get the blue chips. Besides the programs after Eaton, Gary Flowers is already being chased hard by Illinois I hear. And CJ Miles already has an offer from Roy Williams and North Carolina and is waiting on an offer from Duke. There is no doubt that Dallas is becoming a consistent hotbed for hoops. Needless to say I am still convinced that J Tubbs was by far the best fit for this situation.

Insiders quotes Eaton as saying he's done with football, that he won't even play his senior season, which I found surprising. Think he'll stick to that?

Apparently he lists SMU as a "second tier" choice, and we're one of two schools that's offered him. So far.

....his Coach at Lincoln gave him an ultimatum so he that's why he's decided not to play HS Football -you know he probably made the right decision for College but is he going to have trouble in the NBA at his height? In football he would likely be moved to another position so who knows if he could make the transition and become a pro prospect. My instinct is that he is a better BB player than FB but heck he's a National Top 100 in some services in both. Pretty incredible.

Stallion wrote:....his Coach at Lincoln gave him an ultimatum so he that's why he's decided not to play HS Football -you know he probably made the right decision for College but is he going to have trouble in the NBA at his height? In football he would likely be moved to another position so who knows if he could make the transition and become a pro prospect. My instinct is that he is a better BB player than FB but heck he's a National Top 100 in some services in both. Pretty incredible.

Who can give an ultimatum to a player who is Top 100 in both football and basketball? Some colleges don't that, much less high schools. I'd give my coach an ultimatum that I'll transfer if I can't play both. See what he says when his start player threatens that.

You may have misunderstood, the ultimatum came from his Football coach. Thats why he's not playing anymore.

My guess is that the performance of Eaton's gridiron replacement will govern how firmly the football coach sticks to that mandate. If his replacement falters, the football coach might find himself eager to soften his stance.

Prof X wrote:You may have misunderstood, the ultimatum came from his Football coach. Thats why he's not playing anymore.

That's really odd since he wouldn't miss any part of the football season. I guess the summer hoops conflicted with summer football workouts. I'm still amazed that a high school coach could tell any player that. That's rediculous. If major D-I programs like FSU and UNC can let players like Charlie Ward and Julius Peppers play both, I think Lincoln High School should be able to manage. Sounds like a coach on a power trip.

Rivals says that Flowers doesn't have us on his list at the moment.
Hope Coach Tubbs can change that!

Spoke w/ coach and he said Eaton is being pursued heavily, but Flowers doesn't have the grades to get in or, more importantly, to stay. SMU is not pursing Flowers.

His odds of making the NFL are much greater if he's just as highly regarded in that sport - simply because there are 5x more many players in the NFL and the NBA draft will be about 50% foreign players by the time he graduates from college (assuming he stays 4 yrs).

cheesepony wrote:Spoke w/ coach and he said Eaton is being pursued heavily, but Flowers doesn't have the grades to get in or, more importantly, to stay. SMU is not pursing Flowers.

I hate to hear that, we need bodies like Flowers, he has the kind of strength we have lacked. I had wondered why his list was so short. I think Illinois is pursuing him though and the Big 10 has some strict academic reqs.

Well, if we're not recruiting Flowers, I sure hope Coach Tubbs can zero in on one of the other marquee players in Dallas -- a big marquee player -- and get him instead. There's more and more talk going around about the great impression Coach Tubbs is having with all his DISD coaching cronies and their players, and landing a big, talented local kid would be huge for the program.

OK, that might be the most obvious statement I've ever written on here. Oh well -- glad I could shed a little light!