These nine stood out in the summer swamp

This is a business that will make a grown man cry. Ask 6-foot-10 basketball phenom Kevin Love of Portland, Ore., who last week became the highest ranked player to commit to UCLA since Bill Walton.

Love mentioned at his press conference at Las Vegas' Reebok Big Time Tournament that when he told Bruins head coach Ben Howland that he was coming to Westwood, the coach "almost started crying he was so happy. I think he's walking on air right now."

Of course, if you are a basketball purist, there are a lot of things about summer basketball that make you want to cry. But, you take the bad -- and there are a lot of seedy things still going on in July at the various camps and tournaments -- with the good. After all, with the college season still 3½ months away, I needed this past month to satisfy my hoops habit, catch up with coaching friends and see the next generation of college stars. Trust me, though -- I don't miss recruiting.

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