A SPECIAL REPORT: BASKETBALL

SIGNING EARLY: Wednesday is the first day of the weeklong “early signing period” that allows high school players to commit to colleges before their senior seasons. . . . The idea behind the NCAA rule is to remove recruiting distractions. It worked last year at Marina High in Huntington Beach, where Cherokee Parks, a 6-11 center, signed early with Duke. “If he hadn’t signed,” Coach Steve Popovich says, “the pressure would have intensified during the season.”