Words. Austin Burton

If you thought LeBron James was wrong to keep so many basketball fan bases in suspense while he made his free-agency decision, you’re not going to like Tony Wroten Jr.

The Garfield H.S. (Seattle, WA) senior is the best player in his state, arguably the best on the West Coast, and certainly among the most gifted players in the entire country. Wroten, a 6-5 lefty combo guard, didn’t even play basketball last season due to a knee injury he suffered while playing wide receiver on the Bulldogs’ football team, but he is nonetheless being targeted by just about any high-profile college you can imagine. 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 >

Words. Jason Jordan

Back in April when the AAU season began, St. Marks School (Southborough, Mass.) forward Alex Murphy‘s strategy was simple: get better every game, every tournament, every day.

“I wanted to be able to notice my improvements,” said Murphy, a junior who is ranked 26th in the HSH National Top 50. “I put in a lot of hard work, and I felt like I should’ve been able to see the results.”

Mission accomplished. Murphy was named to the Elite 24 roster at the end of the summer, after he shined at the adidas Nations camp and several other tournaments and showcases. MORE >

Words. Jason Jordan

Garfield High School (Seattle) guard Tony Wroten Jr. said his interest from colleges hasn’t fallen off as a result of the knee injury that could cost him his entire junior season.

Wroten tore his ACL in September, in his first game with Garfield’s football team. (He also caught a touchdown and intercepted two passes in that game.) He’s been sidelined ever since, and the reigning Class 4A state runner-up Bulldogs has struggled to stay in Washington’s Top-10 ranking without him. MORE >

Words. Jason Jordan

Garfield High (Wash.) will be short one big piece to their basketball team’s puzzle with star guard Tony Wroten Jr., the No. 8 rated prospect in the HighSchoolHoop top 50, sidelined with a torn ACL.

“I’m gonna have surgery next week,” said Wroten, who was injured while playing in Garfield’s season opening football game, where he doubled as a receiver and a safety. MORE >

Words. dimemag

The Class of 2011′s Rakeem Christmas has had a long summer of outstanding performances at some of the most coveted basketball events. With the AAU basketball season drawing to a close, one of the nation’s best defensive players has garnered attention participating in the NBA Players Top 100 Camp, as well as the Amar’e Stoudemire and LeBron James Skill Academies. Before wrapping up his summer events next week at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 game at Rucker Park, the rising junior and his family decided on the schools he plans on looking closely at for options of attendance in 2011. MORE >