Chris Babb Scored 32 Last Night

SUMG · January 16, 2008

This is from the DmNews blog, written by Damon Sayles:

It's a luxury for a boys basketball team to have a 6-5 all-everything player, someone who can dribble, shoot, pass, rebound, coach, run the scoreboard, sell candy ... you get the idea.

Arlington Oakridge has that player, Chris Babb, and he delivered in a 52-39 win against Cistercian on Tuesday. Babb scored 32 points in the win but showed just how dominant he can be with a strong fourth-quarter showing. He scored 16 points in the final quarter and helped Oakridge turn a four-point advantage into a double-digit victory.

Babb is getting looks from several schools - Baylor, Iota State, North Texas, Bradley and Hawaii to name a few. Following Tuesday's game, he said he went on an unofficial visit to Baylor on Monday and is expecting to make a decision at the end of the season.

(I'm guessing that Damon meant Iowa State...I pasted it....the way he wrote it).

greenminer · January 17, 2008

'w' and 't' are not next to each other on the qwerty.

Lets hope he's not pledging.

MeanGreen61 · January 17, 2008

Vito Blog

Hoops recruiting tidbit

There was an interesting note on UNT basketball recruiting in today's Dallas Morning News, one that a few people noticed and is certainly worth talking about:

The Mean Green appears to be making some headway in the battle to sign Chris Babb of Arlington Oakridge. The 6-5 shooting guard told Damon Sayles that he is hearing from UNT, Baylor, Iowa State, Bradley and Hawaii, among others.

Babb did not mention UNT when talking about potential destinations earlier this year. Texashoops.com rates Babb the 10th-best prospect in the state in the Class of 2008.

Landing a player of Babb's stature would be huge for the Mean Green. Tristan Thompson, who is playing for the Mean Green this year, and George Odufuwa, who is sitting out after transferring from Arizona State, were both top-20 players in the state as seniors. To get a top-10 player directly from high school would be a landmark victory for UNT and Jones. Thompson transferred to UNT from a prep school.

UNT's strategy the last couple of years has been to get in on some good players and wait until late in the recruiting process when their offers from other schools fall through unless there is a player the Mean Green's staff really likes who is ready to commit early. Arlington Grace Prep center Ben Knox fell into that category. Knox was a little unusual in that sense. Most college prospects think they are going to play for Texas or Oklahoma at this point.

Babb might be good enough to pick whatever school he wants. Just remember, everyone thought Josh White was headed to LSU at this time last year.

There was mass panic in UNT land a few weeks before signing day a year ago when the Mean Green appeared as if it would fail to take advantage of its NCAA Tournament appearance in recruiting. Then Jones made a late run and picked up perhaps his best recruiting class. White and Thompson are just two of several players making an impact this season from that class that also included Adam McCoy, Dez Willingham and Kedrick Hogans.

Jones will pull another rabbit or two out of his hat before signing day. You never know, Babb might be the next.

Feel free to weigh in on the blog with your thoughts on Babb and the idea of waiting until late in the recruiting process to pick up players in basketball. It's kind of ironic when you think about it. Head football coach Todd Dodge appears to be improving the football team's talent level by recruiting earlier, while Jones pulled in perhaps the best class of his tenure at UNT by waiting to pick up his recruits until later in the process.