Sunday, October 31, 1999
COLLEGE BASKETBALL INSIDER
UC's Taflinger may have to sit year
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Question: When does one day equal a year? Answer: When the NCAA does the math.
Yes, that organization's cumbersome rulebook has claimed another victim, although Chris Taflinger trusts it will be temporary.
He is a 6-foot-2 guard from Lima Central Catholic who joined the Cincinnati Bearcats as a walk-on last week. As of now, though, he is permitted only to practice with the team because the NCAA considers him a transfer.
Taflinger averaged 17 points as a high school senior and was recruited by Ohio Northern, which competes in the NCAA's Division III. He went through preseason conditioning last fall but could not shake the feeling as practice approached that he just wasn't interested in playing.
“I told the coach, and he told me to at least come to the first practice,” Taflinger said. He went through that one day and never went back.
The NCAA figures that day counts for a whole season, thus Taflinger is considered an athletic transfer, which means he has to put a year in residence at UC before he can compete.
“The whole basis for the law is for players who transfer D-One to D-One,” Taflinger said. “If they really consider appeals, I think I should be the exception to the rule.”
Even if he doesn't win, Taflinger plans to spend the season adding depth to UC's practices. What he really wanted all along, he said, was to walk-on to a major program.
He chose to attend UC because of its program in mechanical engineering technology and several friends who also were transferring in.
“The level of competition is so much greater, and the atmosphere. It's what I wanted to do,” Taflinger said. “I don't think anyone took me seriously when I said I was going to do this.”
FRESH LESSON: For its 40-minute scrimmage Saturday morning, veterans Steve Logan, Kenyon Martin and Pete Mickeal were on one side and freshmen Kenny Satterfield and DerMarr Johnson were on the other. The difference in experience showed.
“The freshmen are still freshmen, aren't they?” coach Bob Huggins said.
Mickeal was dominant, showing off his renovated shooting touch with five 3-pointers that helped lead to 26 points. Martin scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Logan generated 15 points and 12 assists.
Johnson made one 3-pointer — from 28 feet — and scored 11 points for the losing side.
“We don't guard and we don't screen,” Huggins said. ... “We've got a long way to go. It's early.”
COOKED: Perhaps the greatest surprise of the fall recruiting season came when North Carolina pulled its offer to point guard Omar Cook of New York's Christ The King High, a player who'd been a Tar Heels target since his sophomore season.
Cook was getting ready to publicly commit to the Heels, and he likely would have inherited the starting position that will be vacated when Ed Cota completes his career this season. But coach Bill Guthridge accepted a commitment from 6-2 Adam Boone of Minnetonka, Minn., who had been a target for Kentucky and Duke.
It didn't hurt that the Blue Devils wanted Boone, but his personality and academic ability — Boone is a straight-A student who wants to attend medical school — won over Guthridge. Most analysts regard Boone as the fourth- or fifth-best point guard in his class.
That could put UK back in the chase for Cook, who is an exceptional playmaker and leader, al though not a great shooter. St. John's and Miami are other possibilities.
GOING SOUTHALL: The Wildcats' first commitment of the fall turned out to be 6-10 post player Michael Southall of West Salem, Wis.
Southall is not considered one of the nation's elite prospects. The PrepStars recruiting service has him rated in its top 200. But he is considered to be skilled and several Big Ten schools pursued him, including Northwestern and Wisconsin. He will give UK another big body with Jamaal Magloire finishing his career this season and Michael Bradley having transferred last spring.
Southall's commitment caused 6-9 power forward Rolando Howell of Hopkins, S.C., to question UK's interest in him. However, that concern has been calmed.
AROUND THE NATION: llinois point guard Frankie Williams, considered a key to the Illini's recovery from last year's losing season, missed several days of practice and a scrimmage last week over concern he is not fulfilling all his academic obligations. Williams hustled throughout the week to try to make up lost ground and is expected to return to the team.
• Spectators at Memphis' early practices have been impressed by the solid play of junior college recruit Shannon Forman, a 6-6 small forward whom the Tigers hope will improve their defense and rebounding. Forman has been consistently making mid-range jumpshots, which could be a plus for a team that has no proven long-range shooters.
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