Check out my story on McDonald in Thursday's Tribune.

In other recruiting news, look out for Las Vegas product Kashif Watson as a Lobos target. The brother of former Tennessee standout C.J. Watson has roamed the prep school and junior college circuit in recent years because of grades, but somebody in the UNM program told me the Lobos have a good chance at landing the talented shooting guard. A West Coast recruiting scout told me Watson, who played for Indian Hills (Iowa) Junior College, has major upside with great athletic and scoring ability. He would be a 2008 signee after playing another year of JC ball.

Really, there shouldn't be a surprised pair of eyes reading the news of Chris Walker's hiring as the new assistant coach. We've known this since June. Check out my story here.

This is the right move on many levels. Here's why:

1) He'll bring at least one or two top-shelf players with him from Houston. And I think he means it. He's got deep, three-year relationships with guys like Phillip McDonald, Will Brown and others.
2) He's got 12 years of assistant-coaching experience at reputable stops like Villanova and UMass
3) Coaching the T-Mac All-Stars gives you super connections in Texas. With Ryan Miller working on California and Alford and Neal flexing their NBA muscle, this should be a productive staff.
4) He's 37 and single -- that means work, work, work. He'll take plenty of red-eye flights next summer.

Here are some news tidbits I heard about today.
1) Four of the five recruits from the 2007-08 incoming classes have been cleared to play next season, including 6-10 JC center Monquel Pegues, who had to pass 15 summer credit hours. UNM is waiting on Darrington Hobson, but I'm hearing he has passed his classes and must hear back from a clearing house.
2) Will Brown has verbally committed to the Lobos, but he's waiting to make it official, possibly until November.
3) UNM is expending a lot of its recruiting energy on T-Mac guard Phillip McDonald and South Dakota's Colton Iverson.

Chris Babb is waffling like Billy Donovan. Isaiah Rusher is orally committed, but that seems about as solidified as Tim Floyd only recruiting 17-year-olds. There's the Chris Walker-Houston connection for the T-Mac All-Stars. I keep hearing how hot Alford is on Oklahoma sharpshooter Rotnei Clarke (probably reminds Alford of Alford, which would be a positive for UNM).

If the Lobos are able to sign up to five guys come November, whom would you predict to fill out that list? Here's mine. I'm just going off what I've gathered through reporting on this stuff the last six weeks, so who knows.

1) Isaiah Rusher (6-foot-9, T-Mac...He'll get his grades fixed in time, or so they say).
2) Phillip McDonald (6--5, T-Mac...He's why Babb might be waffling...hmmm).
3) Reggie Jackson (6-2, Colorado product...This is a player many UNM fans are forgetting about).
4) Will Brown (6-9, T-Mac...He seems confused right now, but he and Rusher are boys).
5) Colton Iverson (6-10, South Dakota...This is another Ryan Miller get. Iverson will deflect the attention of the big schools to stay loyal to the guy who recruited him first).

Strong possibility: Rio Rancho's Marcus Williams. Why not take a chance on this dynamic 5-10 point guard. He's a playmaker. Period.

So thanks for your interest this past year as I embark on something new, a move to Orlando, Fla., my home town, to work for The Orlando Sentinel. What's the cliche, you can't enjoy the end result unless you embrace the journey? That comes to mind when I reflect on my three years in Albuquerque, a stint that started with a 1,700-mile drive cross country in a yellow Ford truck. Albuquerque will always be a major chapter in my journey.

My last day is Aug. 10, so I have a little less than a month to report on Lobos hoops and beyond. So I'll try to break that O.J.-Mayo-transferring-to-New-Mexico story before I go (just kidding).

"I hate to use the words Kenny Thomas, but (Isaiah Rusher) could be a dominant player for the Lobos."
--Chris Walker, coach of the T-Mac All-Stars (AAU)

You guys liked Kenny's game, didn't you? He did pretty well here, I think. Obviously it's premature to say a high schooler will become UNM's all-time leading rebounder and second scorer, but Walker is saying the tools are there for Rusher, UNM's latest oral commitment, to be a force in the Mountain West Conference.
Check out my story on Rusher.
This guy could be an academic concern, but if he pulls his grades up in prep school this year, the Lobos are getting a steal. I've heard he was a top-50 recruit in the class of 2007 before he had to reclassify academically.
Here's a 6-foot-9, 240-pound beast who loves to rebound, play defense and block shots. And his muscles are even bigger than mine (I know, that's crazy).
More T-Mac players could follow. Top-100 guys Phillip McDonald, Will Brown and J'Covan Brown have UNM in their top four.

Here is a story of a player whose potential we will never fully know unless he's lighting it up for a Division I school in a couple of years. Don't be surprised if that happens. The talented Kanyinda was dealt a tough card from day one here. He hardly got off the bench last season, but when he did, he averaged 18.8 points per 40 minutes (1.5 ppg in 3.2 mpg). Ritchie McKay gave Kanyinda a scholarship at the last minute, the same scholarship he was scheduled to lose come August. Considering Steve Alford will have some big guns entering Loboland soon enough, I could have pictured the hype of the program and the large number of Alford-recruited freshmen and sophomores camouflaging Kanyinda's talents.

The kid can play, but I think he's lost his confidence over the last six months. The best move for Kanyinda is to regroup, tear it up in JC ball and start new with a D-I school in the 2008-09 season.

My question is, how do you not retain a former Sandia High School homecoming king and Tribune high school boys basketball Athlete of the Year? This is The Tribune we're talking about, here.

Though UNM's poor Academic Progress Rate drastically needs fixing for the program's stability, it really isn't too chronic of a problem from a penalty standpoint. A team is expected to take its hit at once, though you have a two-year window to take it -- basically one year or the other. I've been told the penalty for each team is 10 percent of your scholarship amount, and since UNM men's hoops has 13 per year, the penalty is 1.3 scholarships removed. Luckily for UNM, that gets rounded down to 1 for some reason. If the team had 15 schollies, it would round up to 2. Not 100 percent on this, but that's what I'm hearing from a UNM official who has studied this. So, you're looking at one missing scholarship after the 2007-08 season for one year.

In that case, the Lobos can still recruit like they normally would and then, worst-case scenario, determine how to take a scholarship away from a current player who's willing. Consider the Lobos should have five scholarship recruits from the class of 2007, anywhere from three to five from the 2008 class, then current scholarship players Daniel Faris, Roman Martinez and Chad Toppert. The talent-loaded 2008 class is too important to Steve Alford's staff to limit UNM's recruiting for the future, so UNM would likely have to find a way to cut a scholarship if it signs five or more from the class. Anything less and Alford doesn't have to mess with the issue the first year. The Lobos would still have 12 scholarship players since seniors J.R. Giddens, Tony Danridge, Jamaal Smith and Darren Prentice would already be off the books. If anything, Alford has to ask Faris, Toppert or Martinez to relinquish a scholarship for a year.

Confusing? Try understanding the APR.

Now it's about the top-100 players, players like McDonald. UNM recruits them now. Better yet, UNM actually has a chance with them.

McDonald plays for AAU coach Chris Walker, who could potentially be UNM's newest assistant coach. I'd be naive to think such a career move for Walker couldn't play a role in McDonald's ultimate destination, but a player has to like where he's going. And based on the feedback I've received, UNM ran a superb Lobo Elite Camp last month that enticed top-shelf kids to seriously consider Albuquerque.

I graded McDonald as the best player in a Lobo Elite field of 40-plus players. Some national evaluations list him as a great shooter with mediocre ability to penetrate and create, but based on my evaluations, he can be offensively versatile at a high collegiate level right away. At 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, McDonald has the perfect two-guard body (I always feel strange saying stuff like that...I sound like Jay Bilas).

Honestly, I'm elated to see an NBA team take a chance on an unproven pro coach with oodles of charisma and excitement. If I see another retread NBA coach with a mediocre track record hired by a team that has a chance at a behind-the-scenes gem, I'm going to start rooting for the Spurs. Even that's not as boring as hiring Jim O'Brien again.

Sorry I was out of blog commission for awhile. I was out of state working on a story you'll hopefully enjoy.

at Colorado
at UTEP
Texas Tech (Dec. 15)
Hawaii (two games)
NMSU (two games)
Weber State
Northern Arizona
Presbyterian (probable, part of Basketball Travelers tournament)
St. Bonaventure (probable, B.T.)
Loyola-Marymount (probable, B.T.)

Unless the anonymous extra team is a top-25 stud, this schedule isn't overpowering. But Alford probably doesn't want more than this for his first season here. With Colorado looking to have another down year, the toughest teams on this schedule could be Tech and UTEP, who are both beatable. This appears to be the perfect transitional schedule for Alford and his team full of players who aren't his.

--In other Lobos news (I love saying that -- or, even better, "In other news droppin' in the 505"), Alford said he has three or four candidates he's eyeing for the vacant assistant coaching position, though he might not fill it until August because of a busy summer filled with kid's camps. The new coach will replace Billy Garrett, who left the team in May because of his son's medical condition.
How many think former Lobo Senque Carey is a realistic candidate?

Good looking player, from what I saw Friday. Great crossover. Pure point guard, athletic, shot's a little flat, but it seems to go in with consistency.

I would think that the Lobos never have seen this much raw talent within two blocks of The Pit. Between the 2008 and 2009 class, there are seven top-125 players roaming the UNM campus this weekend.
Here are three 6-8 or 6-9 guys who appear to have a 7-foot plus wingspan. Even if they couldn't hit a five-footer, which they can, then they should be recruited based on the ability to stand there and look awesome.

About 35 players showed up to what should be called, as if it were a good rap album, "ThaBomb.com -- The Camp." Good stuff.

You see, sometimes watching Lobos practice can evoke a collective snore throughout the spectator's gallery because the team goes over the same defensive set for a half-hour. But here, they stretched for 10, drilled for 10 and started scrimmages with six teams, four in the RDPC, two in The Pit.

Here's what I noticed through the first day of the three-day camp. It's difficult to judge players based on an 1 1/2-hour window, plus I couldn't get to every player, but here it goes.

1) THE BEST PLAYER I SAW -- Phillip McDonald, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Texas. He's got great size, shoots the jumper with ease and had a nasty block on Jones, who's approaching 6-10. McDonald is the 75th-ranked player in the class of 2008. Jones, meanwhile, missed almost every shot he took and looked unimposing on defense. I expected more from the 21st-ranked player in the country.

1) THE ALBUQUERQUE GUYS -- Four showed up, and only one (Highland's Chad Adams, 6-5) was bigger than 5-10. Rio Rancho's Marcus Williams, Cibola's Andrew Apodaca and Clovis' Jaden Isler were all about 5-9 or 5-10. Adams belongs. He looked athletic, made a couple of nice moves to the basket and hit his jumpers. Williams wasn't the same force offensively that he is as a Rio Rancho Ram, but he was the quickest guy on The Pit floor. He ran the fast break with ease and had a couple of strong, athletic finishes.

LET'S BE REALISTIC -- It will be difficult to compete with Texas, Kansas, Arizona, Florida and the other colossal schools listed under some of these players' profiles on Scout.com and Rivals. Some of these guys might be here just to work out with their peers for a weekend.
Watch for Terrance Joyner, the 124th-ranked guard in the class of 2008. I keep hearing he's interested in UNM (couldn't talk with him Friday). He's likely a guy UNM is eyeing.

Expect Coltin Iverson (Yankton, South Dakota -- the city where I was born), to be a future Lobo. Think about it. Assistant Ryan Miller's a South Dakota guy, so if Miller can't land this kid (who's still under the radar but is a strong rebounder at 6-9), then there's something missing here. Coltin's offensive game didn't stand out.

THEY'RE JUST HIGH SCHOOLERS -- It's easy to forget how young these guys are. Lobos players like Darren Prentice, Roman Martinez, Tony Danridge and J.R. Giddens looked better than the recruits.

The most celebrated player coming is 6-foot-9 Anthony Jones out of Texas, the 23rd-ranked player out of the class of 2008. Everything I've heard indicates Guard Terrance Joyner (Miss.), ranked No. 124, is seriously interested in the Lobos.

Save Joyner, I don't know how much these high-flying studs are interested in the Lobos, though I will try to find out this weekend by visiting the Rude Dog's Practice Facility (might get kicked out, can't promise anything). Many of these players will get recruited by schools from the big six conferences, but it's smart of Alford to force-feed players the shiny-new basketball facility with plenty of talent occupying it at once. I'm curious to see how Rio Rancho's Marcus Williams fares at this camp. The kid can play.

On a side note, what was my man Billy D. thinking by backing out of the Orlando job? I have a special interest here because I graduated from Florida but lived in Orlando for 15 years. It's inexcusable to sign a contract, hold a press conference that exudes such conviction, glad-hand the people of a city that's ready to erupt with elation, then become as indecisive as an 8-year-old trying to decide between the red pop sicle or the blue. If your heart wasn't in it, don't take the job in the first place.

Another side note: How about Colorado State's Jason Smith? The 7-footer could be a lottery pick. In strength and athletic drills at the Orlando pre-draft camp, Smith tested higher than many other big men, including Florida's Al Horford and Joakim Noah. Watching him play last season was a treat. He's truly talented.

Eighty-seven turnovers in four games (21.75 per game) against Bahamian teams doesn't exactly classify as a uber-successful basketball trip. But here are a couple of positives:
--Tony Danridge at 20.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
--Roman Martinez at 10.5 and 9.3 per game, even outrebounding Daniel Faris (8.0)
--Team chemistry. Yay for male bonding! I'm sure that's what we'll hear once the team starts talking about the trip, and building that foundation was Alford's goal. Hanging out in the Bahamas will facilitate that.

That last reason can validate this trip as a success. Yet you still can't ignore a Lobos team shooting 25.3 percent on 91 3-point attempts (7-of-28 from Chad Toppert, 2-of-19 from Jamaal Smith).