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. Jason Jordan

In the trendy and ever-evolving business that is basketball recruiting — where power equals influence, which often times equates to commitments — the ultimate powerful influential figure is one William Wesley.

Or is he?

“At least that’s the perception,” said Shawn Teague, whose son Marquis Teague is committed to Kentucky, the main school where Wesley is notorious for having influence. “He’s the guy everyone’s talking about. Especially with Kentucky’s recruiting.” MORE >

Words. Jack Jensen

This past weekend, the final regular session of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League commenced in Los Angeles. With over 40 teams from across the country converging in L.A., the event was definitely loaded with top-tier talent and competition.

Among the competitors in attendance was a pair of Kentucky commits and consensus top-3 overall prospects Mike Gilchrist and Marquis Teague. While Gilchrist’s Team Final squad looked to have more firepower on paper — a team that also featured five-star recruit Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse commit Trevor Cooney and a pair of future D-1 guys in Tyrone Johnson and Aaron Brown — Teague’s Spiece Indy Heat team managed to match their counterpart’s record with a 4-1 showing. MORE >

Words. Aron Phillips

It’s alright if you’re not familiar with Marquis Teague just yet. Unless you’re a diehard high school hoops fan, or from Indiana, chances are you’ve never even seen the kid play. But as the best point guard in the Class of 2011, and the younger brother of the Atlanta Hawks’ Jeff Teague, you should get to know him. Today, Teague has setup a 1:30 PM news conference to decide where he’s going to school in two years. And all signs point to it coming down to Kentucky and Louisville. MORE >

Words. Jason Jordan

If it were up to Pike H.S. (Indianapolis) point guard Marquis Teague, he would’ve picked Louisville a year ago. But his dad, Shawn, wanted the junior point guard to hold off and see what other schools had to offer.

“It was the right decision to wait, I believe,” said Teague, who is ranked 9th in the HSH National Top 50. “Now I’ve looked at everything and I’m about ready to decide.”

Teague said that his list includes Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana and Purdue. MORE >

Words. Jason Jordan

Pike High (Ind.) star guard Marquis Teague said that he “wasn’t moved at all” by Bobby Knight’s comments about Kentucky head coach John Calipari during a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame last week.

Teague, a Top-10 player in the Class of 2011, is UK’s top target in recruiting as they look for John Wall‘s eventual replacement. MORE >