SoCalHoops Recruiting News

More Tito Maddox Speculation--(Nov. 25, 1998)

Once again we were at the Sports Arena to watch USC's second home game against Long Beach State, and you gotta love it, because sitting right there in the first row behind the Trojan bench was. . . . drumroll . . . Tito Maddox (6'-4" Sr. PG/SG), along with a couple of his coaches from Compton, Jim Miles and longtime assistant Will Thomas, and Ellis Myles (6'-4" Jr. SF).

We talked briefly to Tito again after the game, and also spoke with his coaches.  They were all aware of the rumors circulating about Tito's recruiting status, and they again confirmed what Tito told us last week,   which is that Tito is apparently wide-open right now, and is still considering UConn, Michigan, ASU, and while they didn't directly say so, we've got to believe that if a scholarship makes itself available at USC that Tito would strongly consider it, especially considering that he'd get the opportunity to play with another former Compton player, Jeff Trepagnier (6'-4" So SG), and the two of them would be just an unbelievably talented combination of leaping, flying and running ability.  And while we know that USC has no scholarships left to give unless someone doesn't return,   we'd be willing to bet that if one does turn up for next year, Bibby will jump at the chance to sign Tito.

And apparently our little conversation last week with Tito has started a flurry of reports, including just this last week with Clark Francis' column in USA Today, where he took the Tito Maddox story to a new height:

Arizona State's recruiting class was ranked No. 7, but now it looks like their commitment from 6-4 Tito Maddox from Compton (HS) Calif., who ranks No. 52 nationally by the HOOP SCOOP, is far from firm.

He told the coaching staff at Arizona State that he's coming and has also confirmed this fact with a number of sports writers, but more recently he's been saying that Michigan, Connecticut, Arizona State and perhaps even USC are all still on his list.

Not only does that drop Arizona State's class dramatically, but USC has already used both of their scholarships this year. However, we're hearing that Maddox really likes the Trojans. So if a scholarship opens up between now and the spring, don't be surprised if that's where Maddox ends up.

As a matter of fact, somebody from Southern California Hoops, [actually Clark, it's SoCalHoops, all one word :-) ] which is one of our competitors, confirmed all this when they saw Maddox earlier this week at a USC game.

If that weren't crazy enough, we're also hearing rumors about the possibility of a package with Maddox and 6-8 Jason Kapono from Lakewood (Artesia) Calif. both picking USC in the spring.

Apparently they're close friends, and if the Trojans can find a couple of scholarships and Maddox picks USC, that might be enough to get Kapono to follow suit. But as it stands now, Kapono, who ranks as the No. 1 wing forward by the HOOP SCOOP, isn't even considering USC. Instead, we think he will likely pick UNLV, Utah or Missouri.

We don't know where Clark heard the Jason Kapono rumor, but we know that Jason did have a home visit with USC back in mid-September right after the Long Beach Fall Hoops Classic (right after Utah and just before a home visit with UCLA), and our sources tell us that Jason eliminated the Trojans from consideration a while back, but then it's never over till it's over, right? 

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