2014 Old Spice in Orlando is LOADED: Kansas, Michigan State, Marquette, Tennessee, Xavier, Georgia Tech, Santa Clara, Rider. #OldSpiceClassic14
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A narrow victory over UTEP in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament was no cause for celebration for Kansas University’s basketball players, coaches and fans on Saturday in Imperial Arena in the plush Atlantis resort.
The mood, in fact, was downright gloomy after the Jayhawks’ 67-63 win — a game in which KU (6-1) nearly blew a 14-point lead against a 4-4 team in the final two minutes.
“I’m tired,” coach Bill Self said with a frown after KU won for the first time in four all-time meetings versus UTEP, then added some levity to the situation by saying his fatigue was because of a long walk from the locker room to the interview room.
“I’m leaving here not discouraged, but with the understanding that we’re not who I think we thought we were and certainly not who the I think the players thought we were when we headed over here. We were exposed pretty good over here.”
LJW
There were some highlights Saturday.
Joel Embiid totaled a freshman record seven blocks, passing Nick Collison’s six versus Nebraska in 2000. And Wayne Selden had 12 points the first half and finished with 14 off 6-of-9 shooting. Also Perry Ellis, who hit some clutch free throws late, netted 19 points with seven boards.
But the lowlights were aplenty as well.
“I think our energy level sucks,” Self said. The Jayhawks, who were patient in attacking UTEP’s gimmick defenses and four-corner offense, held a 15-2 lead nine minutes into the game. However, the lead dipped to 26-20 at 2:51 before being upped to 34-25 by intermission.
“It’s hard to play the game if you don’t have great energy,” Self noted. “It’s hard to play the third game of a three-game tournament with unbelievable energy, (but) there has to be more a sense of urgency. We play way, way, way too casual. That goes into how you screen, block out, go after loose balls, a lot of things we are not doing well now.”
Self said he’s not doing a good job of coaching the Jayhawks.
“I thought we’d have errors of trying too hard instead of casualness,” he said. “That’s what’s really frustrating to me. To me, a coach should be judged on three things: Do they play together? Are they unselfish? Do they play extremely hard and are they tough? I’d say we went 0-for-3. That’s frustrating to me when you go 0-for-3.”
LJW
Bill Self will have a blast holding up a mirror to his players by watching video of them, and he’ll use it to teach them how to move the ball better.
Self’s Kansas University basketball team will improve through those sessions, but there is another issue every bit as important.
Freshman center Joel Embiid, who has emerged as KU’s most dominant, most important player, must learn how to stay out of foul trouble so he can become a 30-minutes-per-game player instead of averaging the 17.3 minutes he has seven games into his collegiate career.
Kansas dominates with the basketball prodigy on the floor and is just another team when he watches.
At least that’s how it has looked. Statistics can’t ever be the starting point for evaluation, but they are nice in contradicting or validating your eyes.
Embiid’s plus-minus numbers do more than that. They make the eyes pop.
Statsheet.com tracks plus-minus points, as in how the team does when each individual is on the floor.
Let’s start by using all seven games and work our way back to the three games played in the Bahamas.
In the 124 minutes Embiid has played, KU has outscored opponents, 268-182. In the 156 minutes Embiid has watched from the bench, KU has a 293-292 edge.
Embiid’s plus-minus average of 12.3 points per game is extraordinary for someone who doesn’t even play half the game.
The Jayhawks score at roughly the same rate with (1.8 points per minute) or without (1.9) Embiid on the floor. It’s on defense where his presence is felt most. With Embiid in the game, opponents average 1.5 points per minute, 1.9 when he sits. Over the course of a 40-minute game, that equates to a difference between 60 points and 76 points.
LJW
1. Perry Ellis: Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” came to mind during the late-game collapse: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs ...” Ellis was a calming voice of reason, surrounded by madness. And even he had two turnovers and a foul during UTEP’s 18-7 stretch that started with 1:59 left and ended with seven seconds left as a 14-point lead dwindled to three points. Ellis led KU with 19 points, had seven rebounds and made 7 of 8 free throws.
2. Joel Embiid: Established himself as leading candidate to be chosen with No. 1 pick in 2014 NBA draft. Was nothing short of spectacular in Bahamas in variety of ways. He passed, rebounded, scored and blocked shots in a way that left the tongues of scouts hanging. Had nine points, six rebounds, seven blocked shots, two steals and an assist in 21 minutes in this one. Three-game Battle 4 Atlantis totals: 48 minutes, 29 points, 17 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, 13 personal fouls, .632 from the field, .714 from the line.
LJW Keegan Ratings
It may have come a little sooner than expected, but freshman center Joel Embiid is making a bid for major minutes.
…“I’m speaking honestly about how things have gone,” Self said, “but that’s one guy that’s on a big uptick. There’s no question that he’s got to play more minutes … without fouling.”
Yes, Embiid had four fouls against UTEP, and foul trouble also limited his value in a loss against Villanova on Friday night. Embiid is now averaging 9.1 points per game while leading Kansas with 16 blocks in seven games. On Saturday, all seven of his blocks came in the second half.
“I always just got to jump straight up,” Embiid said, “and try to block it and contest it.”
• Perry Ellis finished with a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds, while hitting seven of eight from the free-throw line.
• UTEP began the game in what looked like a full-out stall offense. UTEP coach Tim Floyd said he wanted to slow the game down, but he also wanted to spread out Kansas and look to drive against what he figured would be an over-eager defense.
KC Star
You can probably slot Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins into the casual category. For one night, Wiggins played as if he was still battling the flu bug that slowed him during the first two days in the Bahamas. He went nearly 18 minutes without scoring in the first half and finished with a season-low six points on two-of-nine shooting.”He was dragging, I think,”; Self said, “so I don’t know if it was fatigue from the flu. I don’t think he played with unbelievable energy, but he did get his hands on a lot of balls the second half going after the offensive glass.
…After shooting a combined five for 25 from three-point range against Wake Forest and Villanova, Kansas made just five of 19 three-pointers against UTEP. So in three days, KU made just 10 of 44 from three-point range in the Bahamas.
KC Star
It was just one play, but to Kansas coach Bill Self, it signified an example of the largest issue facing his KU basketball team.
Early in the second half, freshman Andrew Wiggins nonchalantly went to catch a fast-break pass with one hand instead of two and quickly had it poked away for a turnover. Self immediately subbed in Frank Mason.
KU would later make its free throws down the stretch to secure a 67-63 victory over UTEP on Saturday, but the Jayhawks’ effort still made for an unhappy coach.
“There’s got to be more of a sense of urgency. We play way too casual. Way, way, way too casual,” Self said. “When you say play way too casual that goes into how you screen, that goes into how you block out, that goes into how you go after loose balls. That goes into a lot of things that we’re not doing very well right now.”
…Self said forward Tarik Black sat out much of the second half with an injury.
“Tarik bumped his knee,” Self said. “I don’t think it was anything much, but he was kind of out of it for a while.”
TCJ
There were moments of excellence for Andrew Wiggins in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Blips of excellence, really.
And throughout Kansas’ tumultuous stay in the holiday tournament, which included an upset loss to unranked Villanova on Friday night, Wiggins (15.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game) was ordinary on offense too often.
Between the Villanova loss and Saturday's victory over UTEP, (Wiggins had 17 points against Wake Forest on Thursday, I know), the freshman standout went 5-of-17 from the field, committed 5 turnovers, registered a 5-for-11 clip from the charity stripe, scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Jayhawks’ struggles cannot be assigned to Wiggins alone and yes, even the best have bad nights. Kansas was outhustled, outplayed and outworked in three of four halves in its last two games in the Bahamas.
But Wiggins never grabbed his cape.
Jabari Parker doesn’t have that problem. Duke’s superstar is not flawless. He’s not as athletic as Wiggins. And most NBA general mangers would probably admit that Wiggins has a higher ceiling. But Parker is the better player right now. And it has nothing to do with talent.
They’re both talented. But Parker is more assertive, especially on offense.
He knows exactly who he is every time he steps onto the court. Parker assumes that wins and losses rest on his shoulders. That’s not true, but stars think that way.
They accept the reality that they’ll be accused of playing “hero ball” when those instincts emerge and they fumble in clutch situations. They’re just called heroes when those tactics work.
Even in Duke’s losses, Parker (23.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 1.8 blocks per game) was relentless. He should be the No. 1 pick right now on the mock draft boards of smart NBA executives.
But that discussion can wait.
I just wonder if Wiggins knows how good he can be if he just turns those flashes of greatness -- see Wiggins splitting the UTEP defense on Saturday with ridiculous agility and explosiveness on one of the prettiest plays of the evening -- into sustained bursts of brilliance. The kind we all expected when he switched graduating classes and topped Parker to become the unanimous No. 1 recruit in 2013.
Kansas won’t reach its potential if Wiggins falls short of his. And so far, he has.
He’s not the player that he could be.
Yet.
…He draws double-teams and frees up space for Perry Ellis and Joel Embiid. Wiggins can handle the ball, which always makes it difficult for opposing coaches to find defenders who can stay in front of him.
He makes an impact. Just not a constant impact.
Kansas wants to win its 10th consecutive Big 12 crown and a national title. But it won’t get there unless Wiggins plays more like Parker.
The critics will ask for mercy on the youngster. They’ll plead for patience as Wiggins matures. He deserves that. All freshmen do. And he’s off to a good start.
No one, however, faces a higher standard.
Wiggins is a very skilled athlete. He has more potential than any player in the country. And he must prove that consistently in the coming months.
That has nothing to do with the race to be the No. 1 draft pick next summer. The NBA will figure that out.
Wiggins has to be more effective and deliberate, because that’s the only way that the Jayhawks will earn a trip to Arlington, Texas, in April and compete for the ultimate crown. It’s that simple.
ESPN Medcalf: Wiggins should play like Parker (No mention of Wiggins being ill while in the Bahamas. Ace reporting Myron.)
M.O.J. (Most Outstanding Jayhawk)
Perry Ellis delivered when KU needed him most, knocking down five of six free throws in the final minute to keep the Jayhawks from completely collapsing against the Miners. The forward easily had his best game of the tournament, posting 1.13 points per possession used (much higher than the team's 1.02 PPP mark) while taking on a big offensive load for KU (team-high 28.4 percent usage percentage). He also was stronger on the defensive glass than he's been, pulling down 20.2 percent of the available D-boards while he was in the game.
…This would normally be the point in the season when KU would return home, play Patsy State in the Fieldhouse, win by 40 and feel a lot better about itself. That's not the case this year, as the Jayhawks play at Colorado and at Florida before a game at Sprint Center against New Mexico. UTEP, according to KenPom, is the worst opponent KU will see until mid-January, while five of the Jayhawks' six remaining opponents are ranked in KenPom's top 50.
KU's next two contests against CU and UF are coin-flip games. Self won't have to wait long to see how his team responds to its sluggish play in the Bahamas; the rest of the Jayhawks grueling schedule is coming, like it or not.
TCJ
KUAD: KU falls if final seconds Villanova post game notes
KUAD: KU vs Villanova box score
LJW Photos
KC Star Photos
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A spot in the third-place game is not what Kansas University’s basketball team and its loyal fanbase that occupied all but a handful of the seats in 3,900-seat Imperial Arena wanted at the Battle 4 Atlantis holiday tournament in paradise.
But it indeed is a 6 p.m., Central time, contest against UTEP that awaits KU today after the Jayhawks’ 63-59 loss to Villanova in a wild semifinal on Friday night.
Ryan Arcidiacono’s three over the outstretched arms of Perry Ellis with 11 seconds left gave the Wildcats (6-0) a 61-59 lead, answering a spinning layup and foul shot by KU’s Frank Mason that had given KU (5-1) a 59-58 lead at :29.2.
“I think we didn’t do a good job of guarding. It is the only shot he made for the game,” KU coach Bill Self said of sophomore guard Arcidiacono’s crucial trey, his only hoop in six tries, all from beyond the arc. “It was a big-time shot.”
It was one that KU sophomore Ellis tried to get out and contest but was late.
“I almost was (able to get to the shooter),” said Ellis, who hit five of seven free throws and scored 11 points on a night KU missed 10 of 25 charities, making 15. “I didn’t know if I could help too much. My man slipped. I did the best I could.”
The late Villanova heroics erased a gallant effort by KU freshman guard Mason. His driving layup and swish from the line helped KU come all the way back from a 12-point deficit (48-36 at 12:41).
Also, he followed Arcidiacono’s trey with a three -point try of his own that missed at :05. KU fouled following the rebound, and ’Nova hit two charities at 2.7 seconds to account for the final margin.
“I should have called a timeout (after the Villanova three),” Self said. “I had one left. My thinking is, the best thing is to get it in quick and go score. Still, when it got (to be) a makeshift deal there, there were four or five seconds left.
“Frank was open, though (it’s) not what I want. I’d rather him drive. (But) he had to take the shot,” Self added, not criticizing Mason’s judgment in the heat of battle.
LJW
Former KU assistant coach Mark Freidinger, a scout for the San Antonio Spurs, is working the tournament as color announcer on the Wake Forest radio network. It’s a job he’s held for many years.
Freidinger, who was a member of Larry Brown’s KU staff, was instrumental in the start of KU’s Late Night With Larry Brown, which morphed into Late Night With Roy William and now Late Night in the Phog.
Freidinger suggested to Brown the Jayhawks hold a season-opening hoop extravaganza in 1985. After a small crowd in ‘85, Freidinger was out to add some hoopla in ‘86.
“We called David Letterman trying to get him to come. They sent Larry Bud Melman (a regular on the show) and the students loved him,” Freidinger said.
Freidinger took part in a skit in which he drank a wild concoction of chocolate milk, raw eggs and pepper, mixed in a blender by KU players.
“It was Coca-Cola, but nobody knew that,” Freidinger said.
Freidinger said he still remained friends with KU assistant AD John Hadl, the only person he still knows in KU’s athletic department.
“A friend of mine heard the grill at ‘The Wheel’ was closed. I said, ‘Tell ‘Knobby’ (owner) to open that grill up again,’’’ Freidinger said. “One of our scouts was there a few weeks ago and said it was open,” Freidinger added with a laugh, recalling all the times he ate lunch at ‘The Wheel’ with Brown.
LJW
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VOTE HERE for Pierce, Chalmers, Markieff Morris 2014 NBB All-Stars
The Lakers fell at home on Sunday despite Xavier Henry's career-high 27 points, which came on 9-of-12 FGs and 7-of-11 FTs. He made two 3-pointers with five boards and one steal in his best game since he exploded onto the scene in L.A.'s season opener.
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Darrell Arthur made all seven attempts from the field for 14 points with three boards, two assists, three steals and one block in 23 minutes. He had season highs in points, assists and steals.
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Big 12/College News
Shaq Goodwin helped make sure the outcome for Memphis and Tigers coach Josh Pastner was different than the first matchup this season against Oklahoma State.
Goodwin had 17 points, Joe Jackson hit four key free throws late and No. 21 Memphis beat No. 5 Oklahoma State 73-68 Sunday night in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic.
"Of course we wanted it for him," Goodwin said. "I hate to say that we wanted to prove people wrong, but it just felt good to give my head coach a top-five win. It just feels good when you make him feel good."
…Memphis (5-1) held Oklahoma State preseason All-American Marcus Smart to 12 points. Smart, who played with virus-like stomach symptoms, went 4 for 13 from the field and had five turnovers.
"That's definitely not an excuse," Smart said. "They did an excellent job executing their scouting report. I couldn't find a groove out there."
…Pastner is now 1-13 vs Top 25 teams
CBS
UNC lost for the second time in two weeks to an unranked team from a small conference, while UAB earned its first W over a team ranked in the top 25 since 2009.
Two very different results for two very different programs that had a common thread: Jerod Haase. Haase is the second-year coach at UAB, a former North Carolina assistant. UNC coach Roy Williams tossed Haase a solid by agreeing to a home-and-home. After losing 102-84 at North Carolina 365 days ago, Haase's Blazers got revenge and returned the favor, winning 63-59 in Alabama on Sunday night.
CBS
After his fourth turnover, Melvin Johnson began to feel more at home after a don’t-worry-about it, stay-aggressive chat with Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart.
Rams freshman point guard JeQuan Lewis felt at home because, well, he was near home.
Together, the duo helped put an end to the nation’s longest home winning streak.
Johnson knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and Lewis scored five points during a 22-2 second-half burst that propelled VCU to an 81-68 victory over Belmont in Nashville, Tenn. The loss snapped the Bruins’ 23-game home winning streak.
“It was a weight lifted off our shoulders,” Johnson said. “We only got a day and a half to prepare for them. We saw the winning streak and the amount of (3-pointers) they make each game and that they had won at North Carolina.
Times Dispatch
Big XII composite schedule
ESPN College GameDay Schedule
2013-14 TV Schedule
2013-14 Early-season events schedule
Recruiting
In a game featuring two of Chicago’s top seniors — Curie’s Cliff Alexander and St. Rita’s Victor Law — the standing-room only crowd was not disappointed.
Kansas-bound Alexander scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds before being ejected from the game as the host Condors escaped with a 79-76 overtime victory at the Team Rose Classic.
Law, a Northwestern recruit, finished with 15 points before fouling out with 5:02 remaining for the Mustangs.
Both players were given technicals for taunting, and Alexander received his second technical and ejection for hanging on the rim with 2:19 left and Curie (1-0) leading 62-53.
…Alexander said he got caught up in the moment.
“Victor and I are the best of friends and we are both competitive,” he said. “I am really proud of the way my team stepped up.”
St. Rita played without starters Charles Matthews (ankle injury), Armani Chaney and Myles Carter (reason unspecified).
“The kids never stopped competing. I’m proud of our effort and Dominique stepped up and tried to will us to victory,’’ St. Rita coach Gary DeCesare said.
According to the IHSA rules, Alexander will be required to serve a one game suspension for his ejection. Curie’s next game will be at the Marshall County (Ky.) Shootout on Friday.
Chicago Sun-Times
Findlay Prep, the Henderson, Nev., juggernaut, lived up to being the No. 1 ranked team in USA Today's national high school pool, showing off electric athleticism en route to a 117-75 triumph over a TBI Select team of all-stars from around the Lower Mainland.
And they had their dazzling moments Saturday. Spencer also ended up on the businessend of an alley-oop from Rashad Vaughn early in the third quarter for what was arguably the most impressive of several Findlay Prep dunks in the game.
Vaughn hit an array of tough shots in the first quarter and ended up 6-of-7 from the field. He had 14 points in the frame, and almost outscored the entire TBI team on his own in the stanza - Findlay was up 30-16 after the opening period.
Williams was very gracious, saying that if his group didn't come ready to play that they would have lost. It never felt like that from the sidelines.
"You have to play with the same intensity wherever you go," said Williams.
Derryck Thorton, Jr. led Findlay Prep with 22 points, while Kelly Oubre had 20 and Vaughn supplied 16.
The Province
Rashad Vaughn is exaggerating a bit when he says he couldn’t dribble as a freshman. But the other part is true.
All he could do was dunk.
“People were stopping me,” said the senior guard for the Findlay Prep boys basketball team, “so I decided to keep working and just practicing my game, and it came along.”
Vaughn developed into a consensus top-10 player in the class of 2014, and the 6-foot-6-inch UNLV recruiting target is the latest in a string of standout guards to play for the Pilots.
He’s also a key reason Findlay Prep, ranked No. 2 in the Student Sports Fab 50 national poll, is off to a 9-0 start and has a shot at another mythical national championship.
“(Vaughn) is obviously the type of player that has the full potential to move up multiple levels at this game of basketball,” first-year Findlay Prep coach Jerome Williams said. “He really is focused and driven to want to be good, and he’s going to need that.”
Vaughn grew up in Golden Valley, Minn., and was an all-state performer at Robbinsdale Cooper High.
…Vaughn is averaging 23.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.1 steals for the Pilots and teams with Kansas-bound swingman Kelly Oubre Jr. to give Findlay Prep one of the country’s most dynamic backcourts.
In Wednesday’s 124-58 victory over Planet Athlete Academy (Ariz.) at Henderson International, Vaughn primarily ran the point and finished with 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and one subdued “Rebels” chant from the crowd in the first half when he completed a three-point play after an acrobatic finish at the rim.
Vaughn showed off his diverse offensive skill set on 9-for-18 shooting, attacking the rim, draining midrange floaters and kicking out to Oubre for several wide-open looks from the perimeter. Vaughn also went 3-for-8 from behind the 3-point line.
“He’s a combo guard. He can do a multitude of things,” Williams said. “At the next level, guys who have that kind of range inside and out at 6-feet-6 with the athleticism and defensively, that makes a difference, and that’s what they look for. He has that full package.”
Vaughn, who cannot sign a national letter of intent until the spring, made an official visit to UNLV this week and was in attendance for the Rebels’ 61-59 loss to Illinois on Tuesday.
“It was fun. I enjoyed it,” Vaughn said of his visit. “I like their offense, Coach (Dave) Rice. I got a good relationship with the recruiting class coming in.”
Vaughn visited Iowa State two weeks ago and will make a trip to North Carolina. He is also considering Arizona, Baylor, Kansas and Minnesota.
“I’m just looking for a relationship, who’s going to let me come in and play right away, who’s going to let me go,” Vaughn said.
…“Down the road, the coach he chooses to play for, the team, the city, they’re going to all be impacted by a player of his caliber,” Williams said. “Whatever team gets him, they’re going to be a very lucky team and city, because he’s the kind of player at the next level who can really attract a lot of fans.”
Las Vegas Review Journal
Late November augurs the start of the high school basketball season and with it, in our increasingly sports-obsessed ecosystem, national high school basketball rankings. USA Today provides a preseason Top 25, as do the prep-centric websites MaxPreps.com and Studentsports.com.
These three publications agree upon two things: (1) Findlay Prep, based in Henderson, Nev., is either the No. 1 or No. 2 high school boys basketball team in the nation and (2) Findlay Prep is not a high school.
“I understand what they are,” says Ronnie Flores, who oversees the rankings at StudentSports.com and has the Findlay Prep Pilots at No. 2 in his preseason poll. “I understand that Findlay Prep is not a high school. But if another school agrees to play Findlay Prep, then I don’t get into the morals of it.”
Let’s take a 20-second timeout.
Since Findlay Prep was founded in 2007, the Pilots have compiled an astounding 189–13 record. At some point in each of the past six high school basketball seasons it has been ranked No. 1 nationally.
In that same period, all of the lads who have played for the Pilots have qualified academically for college. In fact, 100 percent of Findlay Prep’s basketball players have earned Division I basketball scholarships, which is no different from saying that 100 percent of the students who attend Findlay Prep have earned Division I basketball scholarships, which we could say without hesitation, if only there were a Findlay Prep to attend.
Confused? Good. That means you’re paying attention.
To borrow a term from the digital retail age, Findlay Prep is not a “brick-and-mortar” high school. Oh, sure, Findlay Prep has students – 11 in all this season, hailing from four continents and seven sovereign nations. Two of the students happen to be seven-foot tall. And Findlay Prep has teachers, to a degree. The “school’s” full name is Findlay Prep of the Henderson International School, the latter designation referring to a private school whose teachers instruct Findlay Prep’s 11 ballers and whose campus provides a basketball gym (for a price, of course).
But here’s something you should know about the Henderson International School: It accepts students for grades one through eight. The Findlay Prep students attend a high school that is bereft of high school peers, and all 11 of them reside in the same $425,000 home that is located less than a mile from the aforementioned school.
What is Findlay Prep, actually? It’s Real World: Las Vegas meets the most daunting AAU basketball team you ever saw. It is, fittingly in this desert oasis to end all desert oases, a mirage.
“I call it a ‘destination school,’ ” says ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg, a former college coach. “They’re taking kids from all over the country, all over the world, and providing them with outstanding and specialized instruction, while also preparing them academically for college. But should they be ranked as a regular high school? No.”
Newsweek: Good-by Hickory High
The national basketball recruiting spotlight is squarely set on 6-foot-11, 225-pound Myles Turner.
The senior from Trinity High School in Euless, Texas, is ranked as the nation's second-best prospect. He is the only one of the top 10 who is still unsigned.
Turner had only gotten regional interest until having some breakthrough performances in some of this summer's elite camps.
Those included the Amare Stoudemire Big Man Skills Academy, the NBA Top 100, the LeBron James Camp and the USA Development Camp.
"I really made a name for myself, because nobody really knew about me," said Turner, the cover boy of the Washington Tournament of Champions program. "I was doing well against some top-level competition."
Not that Turner came out of nowhere.
A post-season injury after his sophomore year stalled his coming-out party.
"I broke my ankle right after the season," Turner said. "I went up to block a shot, and when I came down, I tweaked it. But a kid fell on it, pushed it back inside, and it just snapped."
So, when many of the other top players in his class, such as Cliff Alexander and Jahlil Okafor, were getting all of the attention, Turner was on the sidelines.
…Through three games in the Washington event, he has 50 points, 39 rebounds and 17 blocks.
Turner decided not to make his college choice until he went through the recruiting process that he missed out on last year.
"I didn't get to play going into my junior year, so I hit the weights and started studying the game a little bit more," he said. "But I didn't have a chance to visit campuses and talk to the coaches as much as I would have wanted to.
"I took a whole bunch of time off, and I was really ready to go this year."
He has narrowed his choices to the likely suspects, including Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Arizona, Louisville and Texas.
"I'm not leaning toward anybody right now," he said. "And I might sign during the season.
"It will depend on what the program can do for me, outside of basketball, and with basketball, and get me to the NBA. That's, of course, my top aspiration."
PJ Star
Recruiting Calendar
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Kansas-bound Alexander scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds before being ejected from the game as the host Condors escaped with a 79-76 overtime victory at the Team Rose Classic.
Law, a Northwestern recruit, finished with 15 points before fouling out with 5:02 remaining for the Mustangs.
Both players were given technicals for taunting, and Alexander received his second technical and ejection for hanging on the rim with 2:19 left and Curie (1-0) leading 62-53.
…Alexander said he got caught up in the moment.
“Victor and I are the best of friends and we are both competitive,” he said. “I am really proud of the way my team stepped up.”
St. Rita played without starters Charles Matthews (ankle injury), Armani Chaney and Myles Carter (reason unspecified).
“The kids never stopped competing. I’m proud of our effort and Dominique stepped up and tried to will us to victory,’’ St. Rita coach Gary DeCesare said.
According to the IHSA rules, Alexander will be required to serve a one game suspension for his ejection. Curie’s next game will be at the Marshall County (Ky.) Shootout on Friday.
Chicago Sun-Times
Findlay Prep, the Henderson, Nev., juggernaut, lived up to being the No. 1 ranked team in USA Today's national high school pool, showing off electric athleticism en route to a 117-75 triumph over a TBI Select team of all-stars from around the Lower Mainland.
And they had their dazzling moments Saturday. Spencer also ended up on the businessend of an alley-oop from Rashad Vaughn early in the third quarter for what was arguably the most impressive of several Findlay Prep dunks in the game.
Vaughn hit an array of tough shots in the first quarter and ended up 6-of-7 from the field. He had 14 points in the frame, and almost outscored the entire TBI team on his own in the stanza - Findlay was up 30-16 after the opening period.
Williams was very gracious, saying that if his group didn't come ready to play that they would have lost. It never felt like that from the sidelines.
"You have to play with the same intensity wherever you go," said Williams.
Derryck Thorton, Jr. led Findlay Prep with 22 points, while Kelly Oubre had 20 and Vaughn supplied 16.
The Province
Rashad Vaughn is exaggerating a bit when he says he couldn’t dribble as a freshman. But the other part is true.
All he could do was dunk.
“People were stopping me,” said the senior guard for the Findlay Prep boys basketball team, “so I decided to keep working and just practicing my game, and it came along.”
Vaughn developed into a consensus top-10 player in the class of 2014, and the 6-foot-6-inch UNLV recruiting target is the latest in a string of standout guards to play for the Pilots.
He’s also a key reason Findlay Prep, ranked No. 2 in the Student Sports Fab 50 national poll, is off to a 9-0 start and has a shot at another mythical national championship.
“(Vaughn) is obviously the type of player that has the full potential to move up multiple levels at this game of basketball,” first-year Findlay Prep coach Jerome Williams said. “He really is focused and driven to want to be good, and he’s going to need that.”
Vaughn grew up in Golden Valley, Minn., and was an all-state performer at Robbinsdale Cooper High.
…Vaughn is averaging 23.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.1 steals for the Pilots and teams with Kansas-bound swingman Kelly Oubre Jr. to give Findlay Prep one of the country’s most dynamic backcourts.
In Wednesday’s 124-58 victory over Planet Athlete Academy (Ariz.) at Henderson International, Vaughn primarily ran the point and finished with 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and one subdued “Rebels” chant from the crowd in the first half when he completed a three-point play after an acrobatic finish at the rim.
Vaughn showed off his diverse offensive skill set on 9-for-18 shooting, attacking the rim, draining midrange floaters and kicking out to Oubre for several wide-open looks from the perimeter. Vaughn also went 3-for-8 from behind the 3-point line.
“He’s a combo guard. He can do a multitude of things,” Williams said. “At the next level, guys who have that kind of range inside and out at 6-feet-6 with the athleticism and defensively, that makes a difference, and that’s what they look for. He has that full package.”
Vaughn, who cannot sign a national letter of intent until the spring, made an official visit to UNLV this week and was in attendance for the Rebels’ 61-59 loss to Illinois on Tuesday.
“It was fun. I enjoyed it,” Vaughn said of his visit. “I like their offense, Coach (Dave) Rice. I got a good relationship with the recruiting class coming in.”
Vaughn visited Iowa State two weeks ago and will make a trip to North Carolina. He is also considering Arizona, Baylor, Kansas and Minnesota.
“I’m just looking for a relationship, who’s going to let me come in and play right away, who’s going to let me go,” Vaughn said.
…“Down the road, the coach he chooses to play for, the team, the city, they’re going to all be impacted by a player of his caliber,” Williams said. “Whatever team gets him, they’re going to be a very lucky team and city, because he’s the kind of player at the next level who can really attract a lot of fans.”
Las Vegas Review Journal
Late November augurs the start of the high school basketball season and with it, in our increasingly sports-obsessed ecosystem, national high school basketball rankings. USA Today provides a preseason Top 25, as do the prep-centric websites MaxPreps.com and Studentsports.com.
These three publications agree upon two things: (1) Findlay Prep, based in Henderson, Nev., is either the No. 1 or No. 2 high school boys basketball team in the nation and (2) Findlay Prep is not a high school.
“I understand what they are,” says Ronnie Flores, who oversees the rankings at StudentSports.com and has the Findlay Prep Pilots at No. 2 in his preseason poll. “I understand that Findlay Prep is not a high school. But if another school agrees to play Findlay Prep, then I don’t get into the morals of it.”
Let’s take a 20-second timeout.
Since Findlay Prep was founded in 2007, the Pilots have compiled an astounding 189–13 record. At some point in each of the past six high school basketball seasons it has been ranked No. 1 nationally.
In that same period, all of the lads who have played for the Pilots have qualified academically for college. In fact, 100 percent of Findlay Prep’s basketball players have earned Division I basketball scholarships, which is no different from saying that 100 percent of the students who attend Findlay Prep have earned Division I basketball scholarships, which we could say without hesitation, if only there were a Findlay Prep to attend.
Confused? Good. That means you’re paying attention.
To borrow a term from the digital retail age, Findlay Prep is not a “brick-and-mortar” high school. Oh, sure, Findlay Prep has students – 11 in all this season, hailing from four continents and seven sovereign nations. Two of the students happen to be seven-foot tall. And Findlay Prep has teachers, to a degree. The “school’s” full name is Findlay Prep of the Henderson International School, the latter designation referring to a private school whose teachers instruct Findlay Prep’s 11 ballers and whose campus provides a basketball gym (for a price, of course).
But here’s something you should know about the Henderson International School: It accepts students for grades one through eight. The Findlay Prep students attend a high school that is bereft of high school peers, and all 11 of them reside in the same $425,000 home that is located less than a mile from the aforementioned school.
What is Findlay Prep, actually? It’s Real World: Las Vegas meets the most daunting AAU basketball team you ever saw. It is, fittingly in this desert oasis to end all desert oases, a mirage.
“I call it a ‘destination school,’ ” says ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg, a former college coach. “They’re taking kids from all over the country, all over the world, and providing them with outstanding and specialized instruction, while also preparing them academically for college. But should they be ranked as a regular high school? No.”
Newsweek: Good-by Hickory High
The national basketball recruiting spotlight is squarely set on 6-foot-11, 225-pound Myles Turner.
The senior from Trinity High School in Euless, Texas, is ranked as the nation's second-best prospect. He is the only one of the top 10 who is still unsigned.
Turner had only gotten regional interest until having some breakthrough performances in some of this summer's elite camps.
Those included the Amare Stoudemire Big Man Skills Academy, the NBA Top 100, the LeBron James Camp and the USA Development Camp.
"I really made a name for myself, because nobody really knew about me," said Turner, the cover boy of the Washington Tournament of Champions program. "I was doing well against some top-level competition."
Not that Turner came out of nowhere.
A post-season injury after his sophomore year stalled his coming-out party.
"I broke my ankle right after the season," Turner said. "I went up to block a shot, and when I came down, I tweaked it. But a kid fell on it, pushed it back inside, and it just snapped."
So, when many of the other top players in his class, such as Cliff Alexander and Jahlil Okafor, were getting all of the attention, Turner was on the sidelines.
…Through three games in the Washington event, he has 50 points, 39 rebounds and 17 blocks.
Turner decided not to make his college choice until he went through the recruiting process that he missed out on last year.
"I didn't get to play going into my junior year, so I hit the weights and started studying the game a little bit more," he said. "But I didn't have a chance to visit campuses and talk to the coaches as much as I would have wanted to.
"I took a whole bunch of time off, and I was really ready to go this year."
He has narrowed his choices to the likely suspects, including Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Arizona, Louisville and Texas.
"I'm not leaning toward anybody right now," he said. "And I might sign during the season.
"It will depend on what the program can do for me, outside of basketball, and with basketball, and get me to the NBA. That's, of course, my top aspiration."
PJ Star
Recruiting Calendar
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