Most high school seniors don't create much fuss when they decide where to attend college. Of course, most seniors don't get the chance to play major college basketball.
Those who do generate a serious buzz with their collegiate choices. And today begins a monthlong stretch filled with those decisions - the spring signing period.
UK is expected celebrate with one player signing on the dotted line. Wayne Tuner, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, Mass., should sign his national letter of intent today, his coach, Tom Manning said yesterday.
For some of the nation's top prospects, like Turner, signing day is a mere formality. Many of them, like point guard Stephon Marbury (Georgia Tech), Derek Hood (Arkansas) and Albert White (Michigan) have been orally committed to their respective universities for months.
Others, such as Oak Hill Academy's Ron Mercer, Randell Jackson of Winchendon, Mass., and Kevin Garnett from Chicago's Farragut High, still are up in the air and ready to make a few college coaches very happy.
For UK coach Rick Pitino, signing month finally will give him a glimpse of next season's roster. The Wildcats are in the running for both Mercer and Jackson, and they should have a couple of prospects signed shortly.
Oliver Simmons, a 6-8 power forward from Nashville, is the only player to have signed with UK to this point. Simmons, who has qualified academically to play as a freshman, signed his national letter of intent in the fall.
Since then, UK has received oral commitments from Turner and Nazr Mohammed, a 6-10, 280-pound center from Kenwood Academy in Chicago.
Manning said yesterday that if Turner doesn't sign today, he almost certainly will ink within the next two or three days. Mohammed's coach, Harry Davis, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Turner, whom most recruiting analysts consider the nation's No. 2 point guard behind Marbury, has not yet qualified to play as a freshman.
The point guard took the SAT on April 1, the day before the McDonald's All-America game, Manning said. Turner is awaiting those results, and Manning said that if Turner was unsuccessful on this try, he's confident his star player will get the necessary score in one of his remaining tries.
"I'm pretty confident," Manning said. "I talked to a (reporter) earlier today who said, `All the coaches say their kid is close,' but in Wayne's case, I really am confident that he'll get it."
Manning also is confident that Turner will fit in quite nicely on the UK roster. Though Turner is known as a scorer, his focus will shift once he arrives in Lexington, Manning predicted.
"What Wayne Turner does best is pass," Manning said. "When he's playing with people who can catch the ball, he can be a spectacular point guard, and that's what I think he's going to be at Kentucky, because they have those guys who can catch it and put it in the hole."
Turner had gained a reputation among some coaches as something of a ball-hog. Maine Central Institute coach Max Good said that in his team's three meetings with Turner, the Country Day star didn't pass "until he got too tired to shoot."
But Manning said Turner took it upon himself to elevate his game against MCI, a team that features "probably eight Division I players" to his team's one.
"Against MCI, Wayne had to not only be our point guard, but also be our number one scoring option," Manning said. "For us to compete, he had to get 40 or 50 or 62 points or whatever he would get. He's not going to be looking to do a lot of that at Kentucky."
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