ESPN released it's top 100 2013 recruiting rankings and according to the website, Washington has targeted six players on the list including No. 5 overall prospect Aaron Gordon, a power forward from San Jose, Calif.

The others include: SG Jabari Bird (11), SG Isaac Hamilton (14), SF Stephen Domingo (44), SG Nigel Williams-Goss (58) and PG Zach LaVine (97).

No. 1 overall prospect Jabari Parker is believed to be considering UW, but the Huskies are included among the 10 schools on ESPN's list.

Parker told the Courier-Journal he's considering about 15 schools.

LaVine told National Recruiting Spotlight his favorites are UCLA, Louisville, Washington Arizona and Memphis in that order.

A native of Winnipeg, Todd MacCulloch played college basketball at the University of Washington and became one of the top centers in school history.

He was an all-Pac-10 First Team selection during his final two years at UW and in his final three seasons led the NCAA Divsion I in field-goal percentage (only the second player ever to accomplish the feat).

MacCulloch was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1999 NBA draft and went on to play four seasons in the league, but was forced to forced to retire prematurely due to a genetic neuromuscular disorder that affected his feet.

After retiring, he focused his attention on pinball, a game he has been passionate about from an early age . He currently ranks 113th in the world in the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) and will host this year's World Pinball Championship at his home on Bainbridge Island from June 8-10.

MacCulloch will be available to talk about his playing days at UW and in the NBA, his pinball career and much more in a live chat at noon Wednesday on seattletimes.com.

Programming note: Live chat noon Wednesday with former Washington standout Todd MacCulloch.

The NBA released the official list of 60 players invited to attend the NBA draft combine June 7-8 in Chicago and former Washington standouts Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten Jr. were included.

The event includes skill drills, scrimmages, athletic and psychological testing and interviews with players projected to be in the draft lottery. The order for the lottery is to be determined May 30.

The only other Pac-12 player invited includes Oregon State's Jared Cunningham. Many believe his draft stock is rising and Monday he reportedly outplayed Pac-12 MVP Jorge Gutierrez during a workout for the Golden State Warriors.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON LINKS:

--- Washington State coach Ken Bone hired Ray Lopes, who served as a WSU assistant from 1994-2002. He has a reputation of being a dogged recruiter who has been an Idaho assistant the past four years. Lopes replaces Jeff Hironaka, who was reassigned to director of player development/special assistant to the head coach.

--- SI.com's Luke Winn takes a look at how conference realignment has affected college basketball and surmises the Pac-12 and Big Ten have gotten worse.

--- According to the National Association of Basketball Coaches, 40 percent of Division I men's basketball players transfer before they're juniors. It's the highest turnover rate among

--- Former Washington star Isaiah Thomas was voted NBA All-Rookie second team. The first team includes former Washington State standout Klay Thompson.

--- Former UW players Jon Brockman and Darnell Gant are teaming up once again, but this time they're pitchmen for SWAG.

If you're like me, you're probably pining for some elite local hoops action.

Officially summer begins next month, but the summer circuit unofficially tips off May 26-28 with the Rip The Cut Memorial Basketball Tournament at Cleveland High.

Organizers have scheduled 22 teams that will include former Washington stars Nate Robinson, Isaiah Thomas, Will Conroy and Tony Wroten Jr. Other local standouts on the rosters include: Jamal Crawford, Terrence Williams and Aaron Brooks.

Games begin 9 a.m. Admission is $10 per day and the proceeds benefit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

MONDAY MORNING LINKS:

--- Plenty of shakeups at Washington State. Assistant coach Jeff Hironaka has been reassigned to director of player personnel/special assistant to the head coach because coach Ken Bone wants to add a strong recruiter to his staff with Midwest ties.

Meanwhile Richard Peters, a 6-foot-10 Canadian center who signed last fall, has failed to qualify academically and will enroll in a community college. WSU's other notable recruit Demarquise Johnson still has not achieved a qualifying score on entrance exams.

After losing Peters, the Cougars added James Hunter, a 6-9 center from Australia.

--- Bud Withers takes a stab at early preseason projections. He believes UCLA will win the Pac-12 and has Arizona and Stanford at second and third. Washington is fourth. His outlook on UW is rosier than mine. I picked the Huskies fifth. We also have different opinions on Colorado.

--- Three former Pac-12 players (Jorge Gutierrez, Kyle Fogg and Josh Owens) participated in a NBA combine over the weekend. Owens impressed observers with his athletic ability. Here's the testing results tabulated by Draft Express.

--- Former Washington State star Klay Thompson was one of 13 players chosen for the 2012 USA Men's Select Team that will train against the 2012 USA Basketball Men's National Team during its July 6-12 training camp in Las Vegas.

--- Construction of the Seattle light rail linking downtown to the University of Washington has passed the halfway point. The University Link is on schedule to open in 2016. It will make stops downtown, Capitol Hill and at UW.

In an effort to upgrade it's officiating, the Pac-12 hired Ed T. Rush, ex-NBA director of officiating, to coordinate its officials.

Rush is as old school as they come. He spent 32 seasons in the NBA officiating over 2,000 regular season games, 247 playoff and 32 NBA Finals games from 1966-67 through 1996-97 before joining the league office.

From 1998-2003, he was the Director of Officiating for the NBA and oversaw the development of the WNBA officiating program.

Rush has served as a consultant to the Pac-12 men's basketball officiating program since 2007 with a focus on the training and development of the officiating staff.

He replaces Bill McCabe, who retired after six years as Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officiating.

Here's an insightful interview with Rush five years ago by ESPN's Charley Rosen.

Here's a quick rundown of the happenings in the Pac-12 over the past week.

--- It appears as if former UCLA great Bill Walton will call Pac-12 games on ESPN next season.

--- Former Washington star Isaiah Thomas finished a distant seventh in the NBA Rookie of the Year race behind Cleveland's Kyrie Irving. Many believed Thomas, the Sacramento point guard, was among the top four rookies this season. It's no surprise Ricky Rubio and Kenneth Faried finished second and third respectively. Kawhi Leonard, Iman Shumpert and Klay Thompson, the former Washington State star, finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

--- Spencer Hawes is the only former UW player who is still alive in the playoffs. He helped Philadelphia to an 82-81 win over Boston last night.

--- Paul Fortier will take a break from his duties as Washington assistant and will coach the U.S. Eagles men's basketball team, a group of 10 American college players, during a two-week tour of East Asia that begins June 3. In a statement released by the school, he said: "I'm looking forward to this experience of coaching this team and experiencing the culture of East Asia, a part of the world I have not seen."

--- Washington State's DaVonte Lacy will play for Fortier this summer.

--- Oregon finished second to UNLV in the Anthony Bennett sweepstakes and has reportedly targeted 6-8 center Chris Obekpa.

--- Just two days remaining in the regular-signing period and Washington has one scholarship available. The Huskies could still add a player if he signs a financial aid agreement.

The rich got richer and the poor got poorer in Arizona.

The Wildcats landed Mark Lyons while the Sun Devils lost Trent Lockett.

Arizona, which desperately needed a veteran point guard, got the player it needed when Lyons, a third-team all-Atlantic 10 selection at Xavier last season, picked the Wildcats over Kentucky and Kansas.

Meanwhile Lockett, a three-year starter and a second-team all-Pac-10 pick in 2010-11, is transferring from Arizona State and will finish his career next season as a senior at Marquette.

MONDAY MORNING LINKS:

--- Oregon and UNLV are the finalists for Anthony Bennett, a five-star prospect who is the top rated recruit that hasn't picked a school. He had UW among his final five and eliminated Kentucky and Florida recently.

--- Former Washington star Isaiah Thomas is one of the four top candidates in the NBA Rookie of the Year award race.

In our third and final Pac-12 preview installment, we take a look at the four teams picked to finish at the top of the conference.

Here's a look at Part I and Part II of the series.

Just because UCLA bombed as a preseason favorite last season doesn't disqualify the Bruins from entering the 2012-13 season as the team most likely to win the title.

Here's how we think the rest of top four will shake out.