kurt1408

SoCalHoops College News Report

Brandon Kurtz. . . Will He Or Won't
He Sign With Tulsa?--(April 8,1998)

Both Midwest Basketball (Greg Swaim) and Michael Miller of West Coast Hoops are reporting that Brandon Kurtz (6'-10" SO C/PF Bakersfield CC) will sign with Tulsa, and not with any of the other schools that have been recruiting him, including UCLA, USC, Purdue or Oklahoma State.

Kurtz averaged 18.7 points and 11.6 rebounds for the Renegades, who went 32-4 and enjoyed their best season since 1978. He led Bakersfield College to the California Community College men's basketball championship game last month.

Kurtz has a press conference scheduled today at 4 p.m. today to announce his college choice.

A story in today's Bakersfield Californian also reports the headline that "Kurtz Expected to Sign With Tulsa".

But headlines can be deceiving. Read on.

Apparently the headline, and Swaim's report (or vice versa) has it's genesis in a report issued by a Tulsa television station. Whether they got the report from Swaim or Swaim got it from them is beside the point. The Californian reports that "station KJRH (Channel 2) and KOTV (Channel 6) in Tulsa reported late Tuesday that Kurtz was expected to sign with Tulsa."

But Kurtz was contacted by the Bakersfield California immediately about the statements coming from Tulsa, and refused to confirm (or deny) them.

``You've been misled," Kurtz said. "You'll find out at the press conference (today).''

Hmmm. Hold the presses. Guess we'll really have to wait and see.

Tulsa, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was 19-12 this season, snapping a streak of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Under then-coach Tubby Smith, who guided Kentucky to this year's NCAA championship, Golden Hurricane reached the Sweet 16 in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Tulsa returns a starting center and forward, but if Kurtz did sign with Tulsa, he would probably get lots of playing time, because generally the team lacks depth at the center and forward spots.

So will he sign with Tulsa, or won't he? Stay tuned.