Derozan and Romeo to sign with USC on Monday

[Russ Smith]

This stuff just never gets old. Master P put out a press release announcing that his son and Demar Derozan will sign with USC at a joint press conference on Monday. Very clearly stated in the release that Romeo is getting a FULL ride. Now the rumor is that he gets 1 year and then Floyd will re-evaluate and my guess is he'll give up his ride and Floyd will announce what a selfless kid he is for doing it, but who knows.

Earlier in the week the LA Times and others were reporting that Derozan might not sign with SC in the early signing period starting rumors he was re-considering, so I guess Master P must have convinced him which makes you wonder was Derozan pressuring Floyd into giving Romeo a scholarship or something else?

In the press release it says Romeo is a top 15 rated PG nationally per hoopersonly.com. A quick check reveals this is a website that has a magazine that has now put out 5 issues. The first issue has Romeo and Demar on the cover, next issue Demar, next issue Romeo, next issue Romeo again, last issue Demar! I swear I'm not making this up. The guys on my favorite UCLA board are trying to confirm but it appears Master P owns hoopersonly.com so he just put out a press release saying his son is ranked top 15 nationally(at PG) by... himself.



I say it again the kid doesn't need the extra pressure and hype just let the kid try and play basketball and stop all the nonsense.

 

[nathan]

If you go to that site he's listed as #15 for top basketball players in 2008 (not just PG).

 

[Gee!]

I say it again the kid doesn't need the extra pressure and hype just let the kid try and play basketball and stop all the nonsense.

Romeo doesnt have pressure from what I read.. The kid has millions already.. Has a recording career and bought a potatoe chip company recently.. He's a lot like his dad trying to do everything all at once..

 

[Russ Smith]

Romeo doesnt have pressure from what I read.. The kid has millions already.. Has a recording career and bought a potatoe chip company recently.. He's a lot like his dad trying to do everything all at once..

True, but when he gets to college and doesn't play the way his father is claiming he can, I think it's going to put pressure on him?

FYI a UCLA fan looked up the domain registration for that site, registerd in July of 07, the company that registered it has the exact same address and phone number as Master P's record company so it absolutely is owned by him.

I don't fault the kid for wanting to succeed or the dad for wanting it for him but you can't buy credibility in a sport.

USC fans are actually mad about this because it now appears that the reason Derozan told the LA Times on Tuesday he might not sign with SC early was that he was pressuring them to give Romeo a scholarship.

 

[Russ Smith]

http://www.tmz.com/2007/11/19/wherefore-art-lil-romeo-on-a-hoop-scholarship-at-usc/

TMZ chimes in on it.

 

[Russ Smith]

And it just gets funnier. AP picked up the story yesterday but said "one scouting service" rated Miller a top 15 player.

When the LA Times reported it they mentioned that he had zero scholarship offers per his coach beyond USC. Interestingly in the same story Miller said that he and Derozan separately wrote down their list of favorite schools and USC made both kids top 2. They were stunned and decided then to go to USC together. Note, Derozan's top 2 was made up of teams that had actually recruited him and offered him a scholarship, Miller's was presumably made up of schools whose uniforms he liked since the coach already admitted he had no other scholarship offers until USC!

Now I guess AP ran a comment on the story that said attempts to contact the scouting service to verify Miller's ratings met with "technical difficulty". Why? Because once everyone figured out who actually owned the site, Master P, they closed the site down so that when you try to go to it, you get a site down for technical difficulties message. I can only assume they're trying to hide the connection?

 

[Russ Smith]

and now I no longer feel sorry for Romeo.

http://www.pe.com/sports/college/usc/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_usc_hoops_20.35e6fdd.html

With neither Scout.com nor Rivals.com ranking him among the nation's top 40 senior point guards, Miller said he knew there would be questions about his game.

"They doubted Jesus," Miller said, noting that in games when opposing fans got on him the most, "I shot the ball better."


Apparently he has his dad's knack of self hype.