Gary Parrish

In the process of working on Friday's column about how successful the straight-from-high-school-to-the-NBA prospects were from 1995 (when Kevin Garnett started the trend) to 2005 (when the NBA ended it) I decided to take a look at the Grizzlies and test a theory I've long believed, that drafting high school players was a solid approach for franchises.

Why the Grizzlies?

1. Because I live in the Memphis area.

2. Because the Grizz have become the laughingstock of the NBA.

So here's what I did: I went back through every draft from 1995 to 2005 and documented what would've happened if the Grizz would've simply taken the first high school player selected after they selected instead of the prospect they actually selected. In other words, I wanted to see what would've happened if the Grizz would've abandoned all thinking with their initinial pick each year and simply selected the high school player that ultimately came off the board after they had already selected whomever they selected.

Here are the results:

1995: There was no high school player picked after the Grizz took Bryant Reeves at No. 6. Thus, this year does not apply.

1996: The Grizz would've had Kobe Bryant (taken 13th) instead of Shareef Abdur-Rahim (taken third).

1997: The Grizz would've had Tracy McGrady (taken ninth) instead of Antonio Daniels (taken fourth).

1998: The Grizz would've had Al Harrington (taken 25th) instead of Mike Bibby (taken second).

1999: The Grizz would've had Jonathan Bender (taken fifth) instead of Steve Francis (taken second). Francis, it's worth noting, never played for the Grizz. He was traded to Houston for a package headlined by Michael Dickerson (taken 14th in 1998).

2000: The Grizz would've had Darius Miles (taken third) instead of Stromile Swift (taken second).

2001: The Grizz would've had Eddy Curry (taken fourth) instead of Pau Gasol (taken third).

2002:  The Grizz would've had Amare Stoudemire (taken ninth) instead of Drew Gooden (taken fourth).

2003:  The Grizz would've had Travis Outlaw (taken 23rd) instead of Troy Bell (taken 16th).

2004: The Grizz did not draft in the first round.

2005: The Grizz would've had C.J. Miles (taken 34th) instead of Hakim Warrick (taken 19th).

So there you have it.

Clearly, there are some bad scenarios there, Eddy Curry over Pau Gasol in 2001 being one of them. But on the whole the franchise would've been better off taking one high school player after another. And though it's not entirely practical, consider that if the Grizz would've drafted like this and kept all their draft picks (plus what they got in 2006 and 2007 in the draft and via free agency) their starting line-up this season could've been ...

G: Mike Conley
G: Kobe Bryant
G: Tracy McGrady
F: Amare Stoudemire
F: Darko Milicic

Instead, their starting line-up this season was ...

G: Mike Conley
G: Mike Miller
G: Rudy Gay
F: Hakim Warrick
F: Darko Milicic

Which line-up would you rather have?

It appears Mike Jarvis is the frontrunner for the still-vacant job at Florida Atlantic.

I bet Bob Knight is terribly disappointed because he wanted Dan Hipsher.

I know because I saw him say it on YouTube.

Did you see the clip?

It's classic Knight, a clip of the Hall of Famer speaking to a group of "about 1,900 people" in Nashville. In the middle of his speech, his cell phone rings, and Knight answers it once he realizes it's FAU athletic director Craig Angelos who is calling. Apparently, Angelos was returning a message Knight left him because Knight tells Angelos "what I called you about was ... hire Dan Hipsher."

The crowd got a nice laugh out of the whole exchange.

Click this link to check it out.

(As always with Knight, I must warn you about a little bad language.)

Many of the top basketball assistants in the country have convened in Portland this week for the Villa 7 Consortium.

What the hell is the Villa 7 Consortium, you ask?

(Good question)

It's an annual event designed to help assistants learn from and network with the athletic directors who might someday hire them. There was a 'Casino Night' n Tuesday night and the assistants will pop in and out of sessions all day Wednesday as various head coaches speak about the ins and outs of running their own program. Among the 50-to-60 assistants in attendance to this invitation-only event are Ohio State's John Groce, Texas' Russ Springmann, Ole Miss' Michael White, Kansas' Joe Dooley, Florida State's Stan Jones and Clemson's Shaka Smart.

"It's a great opportunity for a young guy like me to not only learn more about coaching but to also develop more contacts in the business," Smart said by phone from Portland. "It's just a great event."

Head coaches speaking Wednesday are Arizona State's Herb Sendek, Xavier's Sean Miller, Virginia's Dave Leitao and Miami's Frank Haith.

Will O.J. Mayo cost Southern California its next freshman star?

"His main thing is, he wants to go (to USC) and help build the basketball program," Frank DeRozan, father of USC signee DeMar DeRozan, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. "But we can't do that with a cloud hanging over the school's head."

So yeah, USC fans, it actually can get worse.

Not only has Mayo damaged the reputation of your program by allegedly receiving thousands of dollars in gifts and cash from a "runner" for an agent before and during his one year of college, but now it appears the allegations could cause the Trojans' top incoming prospect to ask for a release and re-open his recruitment. DeRozan is a consensus top five prospect, a likely one-and-done player like Mayo. And according to family members, he is not interested in playing at a school that won't be eligible for next season's NCAA tournament.

The NCAA has announced it is investigating the allegations surrounding Mayo.

A postseason ban for USC is a possibility.

"If (USC) can't make the tournament next year, that's what we're going to college for," Jermaine DeRozan, DeMar's half-brother, told the Los Angeles Times. "If you do your one year, you at least have to shine and get to the tournament with the intentions of winning it or get to the Elite Eight.

"I'm just hoping SC doesn't get put on probation," he added. "(If it does), I would get . . . out of there."

DeRozan's coach at Compton High, Tony Thomas, said schools are positioning themselves to land DeRozan if he asks for a release. He told the Los Angeles Times that assistant coaches from two of the Final Four teams -- which were Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA -- have already called.

"They wanted to make sure if anything happened, don't forget about them," Thomas said.