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ABCD Notebook Class of 2000 impresses prep experts thus far
Posted: Thursday July 08, 1999 11:09 PM By Stewart Mandel, CNN/SI TEANECK, N.J. -- For those worried that the majority of today's basketball talent can only be found on the celebrity golf tour, your fears can be subsided by taking a look at the current high-school ranks. "The only question about this [rising senior] class and the next two behind it is how they will fare against the greatest class of all time, 1979," said Brick Oettinger, author of PrepStars' Recruiter's Handbook, referring to a crop that included Ralph Sampson, Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Dominique Wilkins and Sam Bowie, among others. While coaches and scouts are as excited about the Class of 2000 -- with bona fide superstar prospects like Gerald Wallace, Alton Ford, DeShawn Stevenson and Marcus Taylor -- as any in recent memory, it's the rising juniors that have them salivating. That's because of guys like point guard Dajuan Wagner, son of Milt, who's been dominating the New Jersey scene since he was a freshman, and Oak Hill Academy's Rashard Carruth. To appreciate what a golden time this is for recruiters is to see with how much less regard they rank most any class between 1979 and now. "I don't think there was anything halfway close," said Oettinger, when asked to compare the current prep ranks with past classes. "We've really had a lot of years where there's been fairly unscintillating crops of high-school seniors. All of a sudden, they seem to be out there." Thursday's top matchesThursday afternoon's top contest pitted a team with highly regarded point guard Andre Barrett and Philadelphia sensation Eddie Griffin against a squad with standout Chicago point guard Imari Sawyer and fast-rising power forward Abdou Diame. Griffin, a consensus Top 10 player, stole the show with 26 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, though Sawyer's 10 assists and Diame's seven rebounds were also noteworthy. An overflow crowd of coaches surrounded the court, including Arizona's Lute Olson and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun. Diame is considered a prime target of Calhoun's, while Barrett is on Kentucky's wish list. Both are Top 25 prospects. Griffin, who has been the No. 1 player in camp thus far based on his production, lists UNC and Seton Hall as his favorites. In the evening, Barrett went toe-to-toe with the camp's top point guard prospect, Chris Duhon of Slidell, La. and showed why, even at 5-foot-9, he has exceptional court vision. Barrett completed a series of eye-catching no-look and downcourt passes. Duhon, meanwhile, lit up from behind the arc, hitting 5 of 10 from 3-point range. In another evening point-guard battle, Sawyer and New York City's Taliek Brown, both Top 15, went back-and-forth on the dribble drive, with Brown proving to be slightly more careful with the ball. Goodman plays despite injured kneeTamir Goodman, a Top 100 prospect from Pikesville, Md. who drew media attention last year because he's an Orthodox Jew who wears a yarmulke on the court, said he would sit out ABCD camp with a knee injury but then played Thursday night. His outside shot did not seem hampered. It was probably Goodman's first and last game for the week, since the Jewish Sabbath begins Friday evening. He has already committed to Maryland. Putting in an appearanceThursday marked the beginning of an open evaluation period for coaches lasting until July 31. Among the notables in attendance: Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, St. John's' Mike Jarvis, Utah's Rick Majerus and Xavier's Skip Prosser. Toney-El stays close to homeMarcus Toney-El, a 6-foot-7 wing player from West Orange, N.J., held a press conference Thursday to announce he has committed to hometown Seton Hall. Tony-El is ranked anywhere from just over No. 30 nationally to the 50s or 60s.
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