LOS ANGELES -- Tim Floyd is changing the culture of recruiting in Los Angeles, traditionally a hotbed of prep basketball stars. Where UCLA used to keep a lot of the local talent and coaches like Roy Williams would poach elite west coast prospects to play at Kansas and North Carolina, a lot of the Southern California talent is looking at USC now. Demar Derozan, the top-ranked small forward in the 2008 class and a USC commit, is a good example.
LOS ANGELES -- After the scrimmage ended on the court, the real show started in the locker room when the subject of Daniel Hackett's broken jaw came up. Hackett reportedly suffered the injury during a pick-up game from an errant elbow thrown by Mayo, but rumors have circulated that the elbow was malicious.
"I haven't heard that," Mayo said. "I don't understand these rumors. What does Bill Walker have to do with an accidental elbow?"
LOS ANGELES -- The men's scrimmage looked about how you'd expect a Midnight Madness game to look -- somewhere between the Harlem Globetrotters and an And 1 mixed tape. There were a lot of ridiculous shots, uncontested dunks and not much defense.
LOS ANGELES -- The fans are about to get their first taste of the 2007 hoops team -- even if it is an intra-squad scrimmage. Let's hope it's more entertaining than the women's scrimmage, which evidently wasn't planned too well. The white team was heavily outmatched by a cardinal team that pulled out a 33-15 win in 10 minutes of play.
LOS ANGELES -- Master P just took the floor -- no doubt here in support of his son Percy "Lil Romeo" Miller who is slated to join the USC hoops team in 2008. USC, the home of celeb fans Snoop Dogg and Will Ferrell, has a new member in the celebrity support club.
LOS ANGELES -- As the Midnight Madness contest shenanigans continued, I was able to catch up with Jeremy Tyler, a 2010 power forward who looks like a Top 10 prospect in his class. And he sounds real high on USC. The Southern California native, who once lived in Los Angeles and now resides in San Diego, had a lot of good things to say about USC.
LOS ANGELES -- No, not that O.J. I don't think he's welcome at USC anymore. But after about an hour of giveaways, old-school NBA bloopers on the big screen and promotional contests, the fans got what they wanted when Head Coach Tim Floyd introduced his 2007 team freshly equipped with point guard extraordinaire O.J. Mayo and the rest of the top-ranked freshman class in the country.
LOS ANGELES -- So far, I'm calling lame on USC's Midnight Madness performance. We're about 20 minutes in, and they've thrown candy into the crowd, given away random seat prizes and now we're watching fans compete in a video game 3-point shooting contest on the scoreboard. Yes...thousands of people are watching people play video games on the big screen.
LOS ANGELES -- So is USC a basketball school now? After raining boos down on the L.A. Coliseum following the football team's shocking loss to Stanford last week, the Trojan faithful are surely ready for some good news.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The scrimmage is winding down, the highlights? Darrell Arthur for the Crimson squad looked absolutely dominate on both ends. Brady Morningstar and Sherron Collins were the bright spots for the Blue team, providing the offensive firepower. The Crimson prevailed, 44-34, over the Blue.
WASHINGTON -- John Thompson III introduced Jerry Rice to the crowd, instructing them to chant "Mr. Rice" instead of "Jerry Rice." Now JT III has Jerry Rice doing the Crank That by Soulja Boy dance.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- I think Cole Aldrich thinks he is Cole Trickle from "Days of Thunder," and instead of the mantra of rubbin's racin', he thinks its hard fouls in a scrimmage against your teammates is basketball. Sophomore gurad and local product Brady Morningstar for the Blue team has shown good moves driving to the lane, showing that he isn't just a three-point threat. Crimson is still up, leading by 12 at 37-25.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Darrell Arthur has just hit a three-pointer, too. I think this sophomore is really ready to step up and replace the loss of Julian Wright to the NBA. Frosh Cole Aldrich of the blue team looks like he is a little lost with the pace of the game -- welcome to D-1 Cole. Sophomore point guard/sparkplug Sherron Collins has just entered for the Blue squad.
It's a good thing since they're down by 15 with the Crimson leading, 29-14.
WASHINGTON -- Men just went through layup lines, which was basically a glorified dunk contest. A year ago at Midnight Madness, with his dad in the gym, Patrick Ewing Jr. tried some amazing dunks but ended up missing several of them. He certainly made up for it this year.
MEMPHIS -- We're all done from the FedEx Forum as the Tiger Dancers have once again taken the floor.
Some highlights form the scrimmage won 48-43 by the blue team. (Kellogg's bribe paid off):
Andre Allen to Doneal Mack on an alley-oop fast break. . . Three-point airball by Derrick Rose. . . Kemp to Dorsey alley-oop. . . Coast to Coast dunk by Jeff Robinson. . . Baseline slam by Dozier. . . Any number of Joey Dorsey dunks. . . 360 dunk on breakaway by Dozier. . . Steal and off the backboard dunk from Anderson to Robinson. . . Several smooth moves by CDR. . . Block by Hashim Bailey on Chance McGrady.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Darrell Arthur shows some tremendous range as the 6-foot-9 forward nails a 15-foot baseline jumper and the steals the ball down the court.
Sasha Kaun shows some impressive low post moves as the Crimson leads, 8-6 -- scratch that Darrell Arthur just blocked an easy lay up keeping it 8-4. Coming down on the other side Mario Chalmers punks freshman center Cole Aldrich of the Blue team by driving and one hand dunking over the 6-foot-10 freshman.
WASHINGTON -- J.T. III has called upon the seniors on the men's and women's team to lead the crowd in the "We Are Georgetown" cheer, but they aren't doing so hot. Can't quite get that solid pause between "We Are" and "Georgetown" that Thompson so desire.
Thompson says, "If Jon Wallace can't get this right, it's going to be a long year."
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Sophomore guard Sherron Collins, generously listed at 5-foot-11, attempted two dunks in warm-ups, nailing one and barely missing the other. Darrell Arthur has been channeling his inner Dominique Wilkins with windmill jams and between the leg dunks.
Just like in baseball where chicks dig the longball, I think they like a good tomahawk dunk, too.
MEMPHIS -- The dunk contest is coming up and not a minute too soon. Building has lost some energy. Or at least I have.
Each contestant, Jeff Robinson and Doneal Mack, had 30 seconds to do his best dunk. Robinson got in three, including two windmills. Mack tried a between the legs but failed and made just one of his dunks.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- I really think I need to go out and pick up a CD with all the music they play at these things, I think it would wake me up more than coffee in the morning.
The players are being introduced by class, as they run though the "Phog," well and actual fog. They have a fog machine going.
WASHINGTON -- I've never heard McDonough Gymnasium so loud.
Now the entire gym is chanting Jeff Green's mom as she unveils his jersey on the ball wall of McDonough. No. 22, just like best friend Tyler Crawford and his former coach, John Thompson III. Jeff's dad is in on the act too, but his mom is the star of the show. She is crying, I think. Her son's jersey now hangs with some pretty impressive names, like Ewing, Mourning, Mutombo and Iverson.
And now a Jeff Green's dad cheer. I don't think a school could love a player more than Georgetown does Jeff.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The most haunting and revered chant in all of college basketball is the Rock Chalk. Prior to the Jayhawks taking the floor for their scrimmage 19,000 people slowly chant "Rock, Chalk, JAYHAWK, KU" three times. It is a chant many teams have heard as they watch the clock slowly run out in a defeat to the Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse.
MEMPHIS -- A highlight video of the 2006-07 Tigers, set to this Hang Time blogger's all-time favorite song, "One Shining Moment" was shown before the house lights were brought back up.
I'm starting to feel a bit cheated that I don't get skits and spoofs the way our boy EMarkfield is being treated in Chapel Hill.
WASHINGTON -- The women's team is currently being introduced one-by-one, with each player getting a louder round of applause than the last. I'm up in the rafters, away from the rest of the students, and it is incredibly loud.
MEMPHIS -- Entering the arena to the Rocky theme, "Eye of the Tiger," and emerging from a fog-filled tunnel, the 2008-08 Tigers were introduced follwing a rousing ovation for the grey Adidas sweatsuit clad, John Calipari.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- With five minutes left in the scrimmage, former Tar Heel Melvin Scott rolled in, taking a seat on the bench. He looks like he's bulked up quite a bit since his playing days (which would be 2005). By that time, much of the original crowd was on its way out (Nice reverse traffic-beating, Melvin!). In the end, the Blue team -- which led the whole game -- blew their lead and the game ended in a 37-37 tie, and that does it for Late Night With Roy.
WASHINGTON -- Her son may be 3,000 miles away, but Jeff Green's mom is right at home.
Though she traded in No. 32 in Hoyas' blue and gray for No. 22 in Sonics' white, green, and gold, Jeff Green's mom, Felicia Akingube, is in attendance and received an even bigger ovation than Jerry Rice did. Something tells me the "Jeff Green's Mom" cheers will be back for their senior season, even if the man himself is not.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- No offense to the KU players, but they are not going to make it on American Idol, unless they're on the reject highlight reel. Freshman Connor Teahen, Tyrel Reed, Chase Buford and Cole Aldrich stumbled awkwardly through Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer." They were quickly upstaged by sophomores Brady Morningstar, Sherron Collins and Darrell Arthur that had surprisingly coordinated dance moves.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Would stare down the referee in an intrasquad scrimmage because he thinks he got fouled (he might have). Still, they don't call him Psycho T for nothing. In case you're wondering, it's the Blue leading, 16-13, and Danny Green has eight of those 16.
WASHINGTON -- As Groove Theory was about to begin its performance, the best wide receiver to ever have a daughter attend Georgetown made his second Midnight Madness appearance in three years.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Jerry Rice is in the house to see daughter Jacqui perform. Groove Theory, probably Georgetown's most well-liked dance group, turned in a pretty awesome performance, and Jerry looks as cool as he always has.
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- In keeping with an awards show theme the Men's players arrive to the red carpet in an array of luxury cars, such as Benzs, Corvettes, and Hummers. The seniors are the featured interviews, but were quickly upstaged by former player and fan favorite Michael Lee who after walking down the red carpet entered onto the court and sauntered down to the bench to sit with the coaching staff.
