Words. Casey Mack
It’s a battle of the champions tonight in H-Town.
Yates H.S. (Houston, TX), the reigning USA Today national champions, are set to face off against Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV), the two-time defending National High School Invitational tournament champs. In other words, the two teams who can lay claim to being high school basketball’s No. 1 squad have a meeting at 9 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN. MORE >
Words. Casey Mack
When schools around the country see Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV) on their schedule, they know they’re in for a workout. With Texas-bound Myck Kabongo at the point and Arizona-bound Nick Johnson on the wing, the Pilots are favored to dominate almost every game they play.
On Thursday, Andre Hollins made it so Findlay Prep was simply hoping to escape with a win. Hollins, a 6-3 combo guard at White Station High School (Memphis, TN), dropped 46 points as Findlay Prep edged out a 70-65 win at the Mike Miller Classic in Memphis. MORE >
Words. Casey Mack
Rodney Purvis is moving on up. The former No. 1 prospect in the national Class of 2013 is giving up that crown to conquer a bigger challenge. Anxious to join the college ranks (and presumably the NBA) sooner rather than later, Purvis has decided to move up to the 2012 senior class.
The 6-3 guard from Upper Room Christian (Raleigh, NC) had reclassified before he began his high school career to gain an extra year of experience. Now with all of the top schools like Duke, Texas, North Carolina and Kentucky after him, Purvis doesn’t want to prolong his college debut any longer than he needs to. MORE >
Words. Casey Mack
New York City hype has led to disaster for a lot of former high school superstars. For much of the last decade, every year there seemed to be an NYC prep product who was destined to be the “Next Big Thing.” And in many of those cases, it never worked out.
But for the most hyped of them all — Sebastian Telfair of the Lincoln H.S. (Brooklyn) class of 2004 — the jury is still out for how the rest of his career will pan out. Even as the 25-year-old enters his sixth year as a pro, his name has dropped drastically from the minds of basketball fans. Telfair was The One; the point guard of the future. MORE >
Words. Casey Mack
Think about the greatest players in the game. Names like Jordan, Bird and Robertson come to mind. Most of these legends can be identified just by their last names, which rings bells in our basketball memories.
Many of today’s high school hoop stars have a familiar ring to their names. These players have the gift and curse of being connected to other greats of the game: It’s a gift that they know what it takes to be great, have inherited some talented DNA, and were often raised around the highest levels of basketball. However, they have big shoes and huge expectations to fill. MORE >
Words. Casey Mack
New York City high school stars traditionally have a large amount of hype behind them. Looking back over the past 15 years, there are so many names who were once praised as the Next Great One who are now lost in the wind: Lenny Cooke, Omar Cook, Erick Barkley, Sebastian Telfair … the list is long enough to support the theory held in other regions of America that NYC prep stars are too often overrated.
Lately, the New York City hype machine has lost some of its steam — Lance Stephenson notwithstanding — and now it seems players have to truly earn their keep from national recruiting services. MORE >
