The NCAA changed its regulations this week to classify basketball players as young as seventh grade as "prospects."

It's not what you think.

Before this change, only students in ninth grade and older were considered prospects -- and NCAA regulations only govern interaction between coaches and prospects. That loophole made recruiting at the junior high level a complete free-for-all, with an increasing number of coaches getting involved in elite, invitation only camps and events targeting the best players.

With the new rules in place, contact with players in seventh grade and older will be governed by the formal NCAA recruiting guidelines.

Seems like the NCAA is on the right track... but if you're wondering, "Why didn't they just declare any player younger than, say, freshman year of high school completely off-limits?" you're not alone. It's just a matter of time before we hear about some enterprising coach scouting a sixth grader.

Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News had another suggestion in his blog: don't allow colleges to take verbal commitments from any player not yet in eleventh grade.

I could live with that.

A high school girls basketball team in Greely, Colorado won a game this week by the surprising margin of 94-1. As is obvious from the score, the losing team didn't manage a single field goal in the game -- the only point Justice High School could muster came on a second-half free throw.

After the game, the winning coach, Nathan Buxman of Frontier Academy, told reporters, "I think it's important to respect the game and to respect your opponent."

Right.

I'd like to personally offer Coach Buxman a vigorous slap upside the head... to be followed immediately by a passionate lecture on the virtues of non-violence.

(Hat tip: Deadspin)

New York City has a long-standing reputation as a town that produces great point guards. There's some evidence to support the claim -- five of the NBA's all-time leaders in assists hail from the five boroughs: Mark Jackson, Rod Strickland, Lenny Wilkens, Bob Cousy and Tiny Archibald. But as Harvey Araton of the New York Times pointed out this week, none of the NBA's current crop of elite points are New Yorkers, while many NYC points -- Stephon Marbury, Rafer Alston, Sebastian Telfair, Jamaal Tinsley, Erick Barkley, Smush Parker and Omar Cook, to name a few -- have had NBA careers that range from "disappointing" to "nonexistent."

But fans of the city game should take heart; the next great NYC point guard may be here.

UConn freshman Kemba Walker -- a Bronx native -- put on a show in his home town last night, coming off the bench to score 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, grab five rebounds and dish out four assists, as the Huskies pulled away from a scrappy but undermanned St. John's team, 67-55, at Madison Square Garden last night.

Connecticut forward Jeff Adrien posted his usual double-double, contributing 17 points and 11 boards to the Huskies' effort.

Things Looking Up for the Johnnies?

The Red Storm did an excellent job just to keep things close, but simply didn't have the horses to compete with a much deeper Connecticut team down the stretch, especially after losing forward Rob Thomas to a groin injury in the first half.

The short-term outlook for St. John's is actually pretty good -- Paris Horne (24 points) has emerged as a scorer, while D.J. Kennedy -- forced to run much of the offense with Malik Boothe (thumb surgery) sidelined -- generated a new career high with seven assists. Forwards Thomas and Justin Burrell are legit Big East players. And despite word earlier this week that Pittsburgh was moving into the lead for Lance Stephenson, Adam Zagoria of SNY reports that "Born Ready" was at the game last night and suggesting that he would have made the difference for St. John's. Throw in Anthony Mason Jr., who is expected to get an additional year of eligibility after missing all but the first two games of this season due to injury, and the Johnnies look like a team that could make some noise next year.

On the other hand, the most ardent SJU supporters could certainly argue that it shouldn't have taken Norm Roberts five years just to get to the point where they can see some light at the end of the tunnel. And I'd be hard-pressed to disagree.

Georgia Tech's incoming freshman class is looking more and more impressive, with the news that Atlanta native Derrick Favors -- the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2009 -- has chosen the Yellow Jackets over Georgia and N.C. State.

The news leaves Raleigh, NC point guard John Wall and Brooklyn's Lance Stephenson as the top unsigned recruits in next year's freshman class. Many observers believe Wall will wind up at Baylor; the Bears hired Wall's AAUえーゆー coach to a "director of player development" position last summer. Several schools are still in the mix for Stephenson, but SNY's Adam Zagoria reports that Pittsburgh is emerging as a favorite to land "Born Ready."