SMU beats out Kentucky for #1 point guard

[Da Coach]

It is rare when Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari loses a recruiting battle, and losing to a school that is not in the same echelon as Kentucky is unheard of- Emmanual Mudiay, the #1 ranked point guard in the class of 2014, has committed to SMU and Head Coach Larry Brown. Mudiay was the top target of Calipari, and many Kentucky fans assumed it was a given that he would commit to the Wildcats.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/24/emmanuel-mudiay-top-pg-in-2014-picks-smu-over-kentucky/

Here is one reason Larry Brown was able to beat Calipari at his own game- It has been reported that the SMU coach also offered a scholarship to his brother, too. Stephane Mudiay played at Trinity Valley Community College in Texas for two years, then was at Texas Wesleyan, an NAIA school, for 2 seasons, but apparently an injury ended his career after his first season there. He has not played since early 2012 and apparently has 1 year of eligibility left at the age of 24. To say that Stephane Mudiay is not a Division I prospect is an understatement. He played in 29 games as a sophomore in 2010-2011 for Trinity Valley CC, and averaged 0.8 points and 0.6 rebounds per game, and he had 1 assist all year (0.03 per game)! He also shot 17% from the free throw line.
In the only year he played at Texas Wesleyan, he averaged 2.4 ppg.
There is no NCAA rule prohibiting a coach from offering a 2 for 1 package, but I would not expect to see the older Mudiay brother play very many minutes for SMU next year, if at all.

http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Stephane-Mudiay/Summary/36594

http://njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=4&collegeid=1433&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=79234&athleteid=247739

http://www.ramsports.net/roster.aspx?rp_id=631

By the way- there could be eligibility issues with Emmanuel Mudiay- he has been at Prime Prep Academy in Dallas, Texas.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Emmanuel-Mudiay-120454

Prime Prep is a sports academy founded a year ago by former NFL player Deion Sanders. Just a couple weeks ago, the NCAA ruled that their first 2 graduates to commit and get D1 scholarships (TCU & LSU) were ineligible because of academic shortcomings.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/NCAA-blocks-two-former-Prime-Prep-basketball-players-from-playing-215330191.html

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/basketball/mens/story/_/id/9470619/two-ex-prime-prep-players-ineligible-sources

And Emmanuel Mudiay had a chance to transfer and improve his chances at qualifying, but instead has chosen to return to Prime Prep-

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/23/top-5-recruit-emmanuel-mudiay-will-return-to-prime-prep/

[Future Walk-On]

$

[tornado]

some have Mudiay ranked #1 overall in 2014...

http://www.louisvilleblogs.com/?cat=17066

and he is from Dallas - reportedly never taking a single official visit - and he was actually ruled ineligible the THSAA (The Texas equivalent of IHSA) at Prime Prep along with two teammates - so the Prime Prep coach just decided to play all his games out of state...

http://www.cityleaguehoops.net/2013/02/19/emmanuel-mudiay-dominates-the-state-of-texas/

http://www.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1430290

[tornado]

some have Mudiay ranked #1 overall ..

appears Mudiay will not be eligible - may play in Europe until 2015 draft

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--nation-s-top-high-school-guard-considering-playing-overseas-155248029.html

[tornado]

in a somewhat related story - the high school that Mudiay and others went to, has been shut down by Texas state officials...

Prime Prep - a prep high school founded in part by football player Deion Sanders, had its charter revoked because they "failed to comply with the Texas education code and its rules."
The violations are largely financial & related to their food program.
Deion Sanders claims that there are no academic issues - but Mudiay just graduated there and had some serious academic shortcomings.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/26026918/prime-prep-shutdown-by-state-officials

However academic issues have cost a couple of their top grads before

http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/NCAA-blocks-two-former-Prime-Prep-basketball-players-from-playing-215330191.html

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/23/top-5-recruit-emmanuel-mudiay-will-return-to-prime-prep/

The academic eligibility of a couple other of their stars has been an issue

http://highschoolsportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/07/after-its-troubled-history-prime-prep-will-again-make-waves-in-the-dallasfort-worth-prep-landscape-with-its-possible-closure.html/

And one more of their stars is a prime recruiting target of the Illini

https://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1659175

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/22363549/topfive-sophomore-elijah-thomas-primed-for-a-big-summer

[Da Coach]

Mudiay will play professionally this year in China. He signed for $1.2 million-

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/07/22/former-smu-recruit-emmanuel-mudiay-guangdong

[tornado]

Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings did this same thing out of high school - he played a year in Italy, earned $1.2 million in the process and now he's making over $8 mil starting in the NBA

[tornado]

in a somewhat related story - the high school that Mudiay and others went to, has been shut down by Texas state officials...

Prime Prep - a prep high school founded in part by football player Deion Sanders, had its charter revoked because they "failed to comply with the Texas education code and its rules."...

Prime Prep finally closes owing $700,000 to employees, contractors, & other investors

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/01/prime_prep_closes.php

" ex-Cowboy Deion Sanders...was still on the payroll for Prime Prep Academy as the athletic director, the TEA appointees said, but they still don't know what his salary was.

It's unclear if teachers and other staffers will get paid for the month of January. A custodian for the Fort Worth campus named Rita Petty said that the school still owes her $3,500. "Deion has never done anything for this campus," Petty said when asked if she had ever seen Sanders at the Fort Worth school. "I don't think anything of Deion."

[tornado]

some have Mudiay ranked #1 overall..

Mudiay will play professionally this year in China. He signed for $1.2 million-..

well obviously Mudiay's decision to go to China will be debated but did it cost him??

He did not play college ball and earned $1.2 million in the interval...
BUT back in 2014 he was the #1 ranked player and many projected he'd be the #1 draft pick when he became available.
So in the interval - dropping to #7 may have cost him somewhere between $5 million and $10 million according to this article...

http://www.businessinsider.com/nba-draft-contract-values-2015-6