The new master of package deals at it again?

[Russ Smith]

http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=6935

I'm amazed I beat Gee to this considering it's on his hiphop site.

USC has apparently signed Lil Romeo for a 2008 basketball scholarship, oh yea and his good friend Demar Derozan who's a top 50 prospect(skywalker).

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Dont forget about me. I'll be there soon.

Signed,

Ron Artes... I mean Renardo Sidney

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

In all fairness, Lil Romeo can play although he's supposedly more a mid-major prospect than a Pac-10 player. Tim Floyd is really reaching here, but it's not too surprising with all the other nonsense he has pulled since arriving in Troy. Sucks for ASU, but the rumor is offering Romeo got you Derozan and Renardo Sidney and Sendek deserves props for not biting.

What I like about this is it increases Arizona's odds of landing Brandon Jennings.

 

[Russ Smith]

In all fairness, Lil Romeo can play although he's supposedly more a mid-major prospect than a Pac-10 player. Tim Floyd is really reaching here, but it's not too surprising with all the other nonsense he has pulled since arriving in Troy. Sucks for ASU, but the rumor is offering Romeo got you Derozan and Renardo Sidney and Sendek deserves props for not biting.

What I like about this is it increases Arizona's odds of landing Brandon Jennings.

USC also got a guard named Johnson from Stoneridge. As with all recruits from Stoneridge nobody is sure what year he is, officially he's an 08 recruit, but USC says he may be eligible for the 07 class. They also have Diarra from Stoneridge for 07 and Taj Gibson played at Stoneridge before going to Calvary when Stoneridge fired the coach for academic fraud.

Romeo IS an actual player, he's the starting PG at Beverly Hills HS, he's been at several camps largely because his father has a lot of pull(Master P) and he got him in. I remember reading about him at camps last year and they said he might be a D1 prospect but looked more like a D2 player.

Sidney will be interesting but I too have read that signing these 2 put USC in a good spot with Sidney. They're also reportedly doing really well with Greg Monroe a big from Louisiana.

And USChoops has had a rumor for a week that they might get another bigtime recruit for 07, Mayo is recruiting someone nobody says who but speculation is on either Patterson(unlikely) or Aaron Pogue.

With Nick Young announcing next week with an agent, they would have a scholarship. Pruitt is also announcing, but without an agent. they are holding their breath on Taj Gibson who has reportedly been making inquiries about testing the waters too.

We'll see if Bow Wow is next, remember he was pretty good in that Like Mike movie.

 

[Gee!]

We'll see if Bow Wow is next, remember he was pretty good in that Like Mike movie.

Doubt it.. Bow Wow gonna be 21 soon..

 

[Russ Smith]

Doubt it.. Bow Wow gonna be 21 soon..

that's nothing USC had a freshman on the team this year named Taj Gibson who was 21.5 by the time the NCAA tourney started.

But I was joking about Bow Wow.

I loved the press release calling Romeo an all american point guard, turns out he wasn't even named first team all league in the highschool league Beverly Hills HS plays in.

 

[nathan]

Doubt it.. Bow Wow gonna be 21 soon..

I saw him play in the NBA celebrity all star game. Frankie Muniz is a better prospect.

 

[Russ Smith]

I guess the big dispute on this story now is that official press releases from Master P's company said Romeo has a scholarship, and they signed little brother Vercy too.

Guys who cover USC for newspapers are all writing that Romeo is expected to walkon, and nobody knows anything about Vercy.

I guess this shouldn't surprise me since I know a bit about master P's background. he was a decent ballplayer who used to hang out at UCLA for the pickup games, trying to make the NBA. He was an aspiring rapper and several ex Bruins who played at those games convinced him he was pursuing the wrong career, they pooled together and helped him finance his rap career. I know Reggie Miller(no relation) was one of those guys. A few years later Master P was telling people how he'd had a full ride to Houston to play basketball but he got hurt, it turned out to be a complete fabrication he'd played briefly at some JUCO in Northern California but nobody at Houston had any idea who Percy Miller was. He eventually conceded he'd fudged a bit on his bio.

And now apparently he's fudging on his son's because he is apparently the only one who believes his son got a scholarship.

Also the rumor persists that USC is about to get patrick Patterson.

 

[Gee!]

I guess this shouldn't surprise me since I know a bit about master P's background. he was a decent ballplayer who used to hang out at UCLA for the pickup games, trying to make the NBA. He was an aspiring rapper and several ex Bruins who played at those games convinced him he was pursuing the wrong career, they pooled together and helped him finance his rap career.

First of all.. Master P, from New Orleans, got his money to rap from a relative who died and left him money.. He started a record shop up in Northern California with that money.. From the money he made there, he started his own indendent record label called "No Limit Records".. And the rest is history..

 

[Russ Smith]

First of all.. Master P, from New Orleans, got his money to rap from a relative who died and left him money.. He started a record shop up in Northern California with that money.. From the money he made there, he started his own indendent record label called "No Limit Records".. And the rest is history..

that's from his "official bio" which he has been shown to have fudged. I don't doubt he did inherit some money, his bio says 10K, but what really got him going in rap was a bunch of guys he'd played pickup with on the UCLA campus pooled together money to finance him. He used to bring his tapes with him and play them for the guys and they kept telling him you need to pursue rap. If you read his bio on wikipedia or answers.com it will have the line about his scholarship to the U of Houston, he completely made that up. It's been debunked several times because when he was trying to make NBA teams, people kept finding contradictions in his stories and eventually stories came out quoting people at Houston saying they'd never offered him a scholarship.

I tried to find one of the old articles on google but couldn't but I know it happened because I've heard Reggie Miller tell the story about how players pooled together money to help Master P jumpstart his career.

He's had a pretty long interaction with basketball, years ago he got a kid named Lester Earl in trouble with the NCAA by signing him to a contract to be his agent while Earl was still playing in college.

To this day he still plays pickup games at the Wooden Center although that might change now his son is going to USC.

 

[bko32]

U$C is not going to sign Renard Sidney. Guaranteed.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

U$C is not going to sign Renard Sidney. Guaranteed.

What other major program is going to take a chance on him and give him the opportunity to win as well?

 

[Russ Smith]

I'd just like to say I'm disappointed nobody acknowledged the very clever wording in my title.

Master of Package deals.... Master P.

Come on that took seconds for me to come up with that.



The Sidney connection is that this summer Sidney, DeRozan and Romeo will all be on the same AAU team, not the P Miller allstars but some new team coached by.... Sidney's dad.

 

[bko32]

What other major program is going to take a chance on him and give him the opportunity to win as well?

How about UCLA? Scholarship offer is out there. It's up to Sidney whether he wants to take it or not.

Also, most major programs are going to take a chance on Sidney. He's a great kid, only thing of concern might be his dad.

I understand the connection, but trust me, unless certain things change at $C, Sidney won't be going there.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

How about UCLA? Scholarship offer is out there. It's up to Sidney whether he wants to take it or not.

Also, most major programs are going to take a chance on Sidney. He's a great kid, only thing of concern might be his dad.

I understand the connection, but trust me, unless certain things change at $C, Sidney won't be going there.

Believe me, UCLA isnt going to accept a guy like Sidney. Let me rephrase that. Ben Howland isnt going to accept Sidney. Also, he does not have an offer from UCLA and I seriously doubt he receives one anytime soon.

Most major programs are going to keep away from Sidney, just as they did OJ Mayo.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Most programs aren't going to take on a kid whose Dad has undeservedly been on a shoe company's payroll since middle school. You might as well hang a big sign outside campus asking the NCAA to investigate your athletic department. If UCLA really has offered him, I'd be willing to guess there are some strings to the scholarship.

 

[bko32]

Believe me, UCLA isnt going to accept a guy like Sidney. Let me rephrase that. Ben Howland isnt going to accept Sidney. Also, he does not have an offer from UCLA and I seriously doubt he receives one anytime soon.

Most major programs are going to keep away from Sidney, just as they did OJ Mayo.

Ben Howland isn't going to accept Sidney, so why did he attend some of Artesia's games this past season? Outside of Harden and Malik Story, there's no one else on the Artesia team worth scouting. Russ can vouch for me in that UCLA is very interested in Sidney. There is an offer on the table, not officially, cause that would be against NCAA rules, but it's there.

 

[bko32]

Most programs aren't going to take on a kid whose Dad has undeservedly been on a shoe company's payroll since middle school. You might as well hang a big sign outside campus asking the NCAA to investigate your athletic department. If UCLA really has offered him, I'd be willing to guess there are some strings to the scholarship.

Since Sidney was only a sophomore this past season, schools were not allowed to contact him directly. If a school such as UCLA wanted to attend an Artesia game to see Sidney, they had to say that they were scouting an upperclassmen in order to not violate NCAA rules. But everyone knows that when Howland went to Artesia games this past year, it was to watch Sidney.

Sidney has received lots of mail and attention from many, many schools, big and small. As soon as his junior year begins, he get even more attention. There is a very good likelihood that one of Artesia's games next year will be televised on ESPN.

 

[Russ Smith]

Ben Howland isn't going to accept Sidney, so why did he attend some of Artesia's games this past season? Outside of Harden and Malik Story, there's no one else on the Artesia team worth scouting. Russ can vouch for me in that UCLA is very interested in Sidney. There is an offer on the table, not officially, cause that would be against NCAA rules, but it's there.

Greg Hicks of BRO says UCLA is monitoring Sidney but hasn't offered.I have no idea if they have or not beyond what Greg says. He's usually connected on offers but Sidney is clearly an unusual situation.

He scares me his dad is clearly scary, this is the same kid who's said more than once he prefers AAU to HS ball because he doesn't really care about HS.
I think he's being led around by his dad who's looking for an offer.

What I read on BRO is that if UCLA offers it will be we like you, we want you, but nobody is going to break any rules to get you. If that works for you welcome aboard, if not, welcome to USC.... err find another program.

But I have no inside information on Sidney.

 

[bko32]

He scares me his dad is clearly scary, this is the same kid who's said more than once he prefers AAU to HS ball because he doesn't really care about HS.
I think he's being led around by his dad who's looking for an offer.

His stance on HS basketball has changed a little now that he's actually played a year of HS basketball. I think he still prefers AAU but now that he's won a state championship he's excited about having the opportunity to defend it.

I'm not saying his dad isn't a scary situation, because it clearly is, however, I'd think that if there was a clear violation, Artesia would be under investigation. But since it's not, is it possible that the media is making this a bigger deal than it really is??

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI back to the original story, the LA times is now saying DeRozan has NOT signed with USC.

Tony Thomas, Compton boys' basketball coach, said Monday his team's standout junior guard, DeMar DeRozan, remains undecided concerning his college choice despite reports over the weekend that he had committed to USC.

 

[abomb]

I'd just like to say I'm disappointed nobody acknowledged the very clever wording in my title.

Master of Package deals.... Master P.

Come on that took seconds for me to come up with that.

I got it Russ. It made me say uhhhhhhhhh.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

Ben Howland isn't going to accept Sidney, so why did he attend some of Artesia's games this past season? Outside of Harden and Malik Story, there's no one else on the Artesia team worth scouting. Russ can vouch for me in that UCLA is very interested in Sidney. There is an offer on the table, not officially, cause that would be against NCAA rules, but it's there.

I am sure Howland was there to check him out, it doesnt mean he is going to offer him a scholarship. Also, it is not against NCAA rules to offer a scholarship to a sophomore. A kid cant commit to a program without a scholarship offer, so how does a freshman, ala Nic Wise 4 years ago, commit to UA without a scholarship offer? There are plaenty of sophomores with scholarship offers, Sidney isnt one of them.

 

[bko32]

I am sure Howland was there to check him out, it doesnt mean he is going to offer him a scholarship. Also, it is not against NCAA rules to offer a scholarship to a sophomore. A kid cant commit to a program without a scholarship offer, so how does a freshman, ala Nic Wise 4 years ago, commit to UA without a scholarship offer? There are plaenty of sophomores with scholarship offers, Sidney isnt one of them.

Anybody can VERBALLY commit to any school that they want. Verbal commitments mean squat. That is how players like Nick Wise and Taylor King commit so early in their high school careers. They simply say "yea, I'm planning on attending Grand Canyon University".

Letters of intent are what binds players to schools. Players can't sign LOIs until they have a scholarship offer. But players can verbally commit and change their minds as often as they want until they sign an LOI.

BTW, since you say that there are plenty of sophomores with scholarship offers, can you fill me in on who those sophomores are?

 

[bko32]

Ben Howland isnt going to accept Sidney. Also, he does not have an offer from UCLA and I seriously doubt he receives one anytime soon.

Most major programs are going to keep away from Sidney, just as they did OJ Mayo.

Now in this thread, you state that Howland isn't going to accept Sidney and that most programs are going to keep away from Sidney.

But in another thread, you concede that Howland probably attended Sidney's hs games to watch him.

So if Howland isn't going to accept Sidney, why would he even bother watch a kid that he has no intention of accepting??? Also, why isn't a major program like UCLA staying away from Sidney??