San Diego State added a third standout to its 2014 recruiting class, getting a commitment from Malik Pope, a 6-8, 175-pound small forward prospect ranked No. 27 in 247Sports' Class of 2014.
Pope, from Laguna Creek High in Elk Grove, Calif. by way of Sacramento, joins local SG prospect Trey Kell (St. Augustine High in San Diego) and PG Kevin Zabo (Brewster Academy in New Hampshire) as Aztecs commits. The Aztecs' pickup of Pope moved the team up to No. 10 in 247 Sports' 2014 team rankings.
Pope chose the Aztecs over Arizona, Cal, Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
"I'm expecting us to be really good," Pope told the newspaper. "I'm setting the bar really high for the future."
Pope is the second player ranked in the top 25 nationally that the Aztecs have secured in the past three years (Winston Shepard is the other), and his commitment follows a Sacramento pipeline established at SDSU, with Chase Tapley and Xavier Thames among the others.
Pope broke a leg this past February, then broke the same leg last month, which scared some teams from recruiting him, he said. In fact, the injury may keep him from playing high school hoops as a senior this season. But Pope says his injury didn't deter SDSU from pursuing him, unlike some other schools.
"I trusted the (SDSU) coaches." Pope told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "It's just a different feeling there, rather than a place where it's just basketball. Say a player gets injured. A school like San Diego State doesn't just drop the ball and recruit another player. They try to get their family member back in the game."
WARE SUITING UP
Louisville guard Kevin Ware, who gruesomely broke his right leg in last season's NCAA Tournament, will suit up for the team's season opener vs. Charleston, Cardinals coach Rick Pitino told ESPN.com.
What is not known is whether he plays. Ware was cleared to practice last week and is simply getting his body into game shape. It's possible that Ware joins the team for full practice on Nov. 1, giving him about a week to prepare for the opener.
Ware is battling pink eye, which has kept him from practice this past week.
"He's taking it slow," Pitino said. "People want to see him on the court healthy. We want to see him flourishing."
BIG 12 TIE
Oklahoma State and Kansas share the role of favorites to win the Big 12 basketball title in a preseason coaches' poll.
OSU and Kansas each received five first place votes and 77 overall points in the voting by the league's 10 head coaches. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.
Baylor is picked to finish third in the poll with Iowa State fourth while Oklahoma and Kansas State tied for fifth.
West Virginia, Texas, Texas Tech and TCU round out the poll.
WIGGINS' SI COVER
Kansas freshman star Andrew Wiggins is on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Exceptionally cool picture.
But we must ask: What took so long?
Duke's Jabari Parker donned the May 21, 2012 cover, so Wiggins is so behind. In all fairness, though, that picture was taken before Wiggins reclassified into the class of 2013 and became the next big thing.
We'll see these two coverboys facing each other in the Champions Classic on Nov. 12 in Chicago, when the Jayhawks and Blue Devils play at 10 p.m. ET.
Contributors: Roger Kuznia and The Associated Press