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Small forward is weak spot in class

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Latest: Tuesday September 26, 2000 09:25 PM

  Inside Game - Brick Oettinger - Recruiting Watch

A year ago, the high school senior class of 2000 was absolutely loaded with blue-chip small forwards such as Alabama signee and current freshman potential superstar Gerald Wallace, NBA lottery pick Darius Miles, Caron Butler (Connecticut) and Darius Rice (Miami, Fla.).

This year, the Class of 2001 is better overall than 2000; however, the small forward position is the weakest among the current seniors and not as strong at the top as last season.

Consequently, only one small forward, 6-7 leaper James White (No. 10 in our rankings) of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham (Va.), is presently ranked among the best 15 senior prospects in the nation. The enormously talented White, who needs to upgrade his intensity at the defensive end of the court, has selected Florida as his collegiate destination. That choice was particularly disappointing to North Carolina and Maryland, although the Tar Heels bounced back to outduel the Terrapins for 6-8 Lakewood (Oh.) St. Edward SF Jawad Williams (No. 18).

The relative "sleepers" among the senior wing forwards are 6-7 Anthony Richardson (No. 16) of Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road, 6-7 Indiana move-in Andre Patterson of Los Angeles (Cal.) Washington Prep, and 6-6 Toronto native Duane John, who has migrated to Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School and verbally committed to Missouri. Each had little pre-summer national publicity but possesses blue-chip ability.

At this writing, a total of 14 of the nation's top 30 senior small forwards have already made their college decisions, as the number of verbal commitments by late September is far more than in any prior year. Our preseason choices as the top 35 prep senior small forwards in the nation are listed below. Commitments are identified by all capital letters. We'll continue our position-by-position breakdown in two weeks with a look at the premier senior wing guards in the nation.

Post-Summer Top 35 Small Forwards
Player  Height  School  Colleges 
1. James White (No. 10 overall)  6-7  Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy  FLORIDA 
2. Anthony Richardson (16)  6-7  Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road  Md., FSU, Wake, Clem., ECU, others 
3. Jawad Williams (18)  6-8  Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward  NORTH CAROLINA 
4. Andre Patterson (24)  6-7  Los Angeles Washington Prep  Mich., UCLA, Ky., Kans. 
5. Dijon Thompson (31)  6-6  Redondo Beach (Cal.) Redondo Union  Ariz., USC, UCLA, Conn. 
6. John Allen (35)  6-6  Coatesville (Pa.) High  SETON HALL 
7. Duane John (37)  6-6  Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School  MISSOURI 
8. Is'mail Muhammad (44)  6-6  Atlanta W.D. Mohammed  GEORGIA TECH 
9. Quemont Greer (49)  6-6  Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School  Marq., Tenn., St. Louis, DePaul, UNC Char., others 
10. Najeeb Echols (50)  6-6  Chicago (Ill.) Leo  Hous., Ill., Mich. St., Mo., DePaul, others 
11. Greg Tinch (52)  6-5  Albany (Ga.) Westover  SETON HALL 
12. Alan Anderson (58)  6-6  Minneapolis (Minn.) De La Salle  MICHIGAN STATE 
13. Jamaal Williams (61)  6-6  Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More  New Mex., USC, St. Louis, Wash. St., Tulsa, San 
14. Roger Powell (63)  6-6  Joliet (Ill.) Joliet Township  ILLINOIS 
15. Eddie Basden (72)  6-6  Greenbelt (Md.) Eleanor Roosevelt  MASSACHUSETTS 
16. Marcus Spears (74)  6-5  Baton Rouge (La.) Southern Lab  (football) Tex. A&M, LSU, Miami-Fla., Ga. Tech, Fla., others 
17. Matt Sylvester (79)  6-7  Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller  OHIO STATE 
18. Marcellus Sommerville (81)  6-6  Peoria (Ill.) Central  Purd., Mich. St., Ill., St. Louis, Bradley, UNC Char., Iowa, others 
19. Karl Hollingsworth (83)  6-5  Jonesboro (Ga.) Mount Zion  Tenn., Ga., Tulane, Ga. Tech, Mass., SMU, Yale, others 
20. Erroll Knight (86)  6-5  Seattle (Wash.) Chief Sealth  WASHINGTON 
21. Michael Collins (93)  6-5  Commerce (Ga.) High  Ga. Tech, Ga., FSU, Clem., Tenn., LSU, Aub., N. Dame 
22. Larry O'Bannon (98)  6-5  Louisville (Ky.) Male  So. Cal., Louis., Ky., Tenn., Mich., Tex., Temp., others 
23. Justin Cornette (99)  6-8  Cincinnati St. Xavier  NOTRE DAME 
24. De'on Dixon (104)  6-8  Fork Union (Va.) Fork Union Military Academy  Clem., others 
25. T.J. Waldon (105)  6-6  Lakeland (Fla.) Kathleen  S. Fla., Tenn., Cincy, Ala., Fla., Miami-Fla. 
26. Jamar Howard (113)  6-5  Shawnee Mission (Kans.) Bishop Miege  Ia. St., Wich. St., Kans. St., UCLA, Kans. 
27. Hakim Warrick (120)  6-9  Philadelphia Friends Central  UVa., Mich., Louis., R. Isl., Prov., Syra., Xav., San Diego St., Siena, LaSalle, Villa. 
28. Josh Pace (121)  6-6  Griffin (Ga.) High  SYRACUSE 
29. Eric King (133)  6-6  TBA (ex-Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln)  ST. JOHN'S 
30. Derek Stribling (134)  6-6  Tallahassee (Fla.) Rickards  FSU, Md., Aub., Ala. 
31. Rafael Luis (139)  6-7  Miami (Fla.) Northwest Christian  Miami-Fla., wide open 
32. Cortez Davis (141)  6-7  Fort Washington (Md.) Friendly  FSU, Tenn., G.W., R. Isl., Ga. Tech, Rut., Villa. 
33. Samuel Nadeau (148)  6-7  Burlington (N.J.) Life Center  wide open 
34. Kelvin Brown (149)  6-6  Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard  FSU, Ga., Mo., Syra., Tenn., Vandy, UVa. 
35. Tyrone Sally (154)  6-8  Durham (N.C.) Emanuel Academy  W. Va., Villa., Va. Tech, Cincy, UNC Char., Rich., UVa., others 
 

Regional notes

A plethora of prep seniors have announced verbal commitments during the past two weeks, and they are listed below, by the geographic region of the college each plans to attend.

EAST

  • 6-5 Albany (Ga.) Westover SF/WG Greg Tinch (No. 52) committed to Seton Hall over Tennessee, Louisville, Colorado, Villanova and others.
  • 7-0 East Greenbush (N.Y.) Columbia C Craig Forth (No. 89) chose Syracuse over Boston College. Also opting for the Orangemen were 6-6 Griffin (Ga.) High SF Josh Pace (No. 121), who received interest from Maryland, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami-Fla., Florida State, Alabama and others; and 6-10 Waterbury (Conn.) Holy Cross PF/C Mark Konecny (No. 132), whose other finalists were Connecticut and Seton Hall..
  • 6-9 Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick C/PF Marcus Austin (No. 130) selected Villanova over Syracuse.
  • 6-4 Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond's WG/SF Chris McRae (No. 172) gave the nod to Hofstra over Rutgers, East Carolina, Providence, George Washington, Auburn, Manhattan and St. Bonaventure.
  • 6-10 Meridian (Ida.) High C Kevin Fellows (top 300) picked Penn State over Notre Dame, Iowa State, Northwestern, Marquette, Oregon State, Oregon, Washington, Gonzaga, Santa Clara and Colorado State.
  • 6-2 Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian PG/WG Drew Hall (top 300) became the third member of his current high school team to announce for Georgetown.
  • 6-2 Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep WG/PG Juel Wiggan (unranked) gave good news to Rutgers over Fordham, Boston College, Clemson, Baylor, Providence and others.
  • 6-2 Kernersville (N.C.) East Forsyth PG Turner Battle (unranked) verbally committed to Buffalo over interest from UNC Wilmington, Tulane, American University and others.
  • 6-11 Austin (Tex.) Westwood C Nate Lufkin (unranked) will matriculate next year at Holy Cross after also mulling over Colorado State, Stephen F. Austin, Rice, Kansas State, SMU and Binghamton (N.Y.). He possesses an outstanding 4.2 grade point average.
  • 6-2 Albany (N.Y.) Colonie WG Luscious Jordan (unranked) chose Loyola-Maryland over interest from Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Fordham, Duquesne, Clemson and others.
  • 6-2 Virginia Beach (Va.) Coast Christian WG/PG Shaun Swan (unranked) selected Hartford as his collegiate destination.
  • 6-9 Laval (Canada) Montmorency PF David Dubois (unranked) will attend Maine.

    SOUTH

  • 6-2 Baltimore (Md.) Southern PG/WG Melvin Scott (No. 26) committed to North Carolina September 24 on his official campus visit after also considering Syracuse, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Villanova. He averaged 25.4 points as a junior and was Baltimore City-County Player of the Year.
  • 6-8, 245-pound Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas PF/C Ed Nelson (No. 29) announced for Georgia Tech over Kentucky, Miami-Fla., Clemson and Purdue. His junior statistics included 22 points and 12 rebounds per contest, and he was especially outstanding at USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival in June at Colorado Springs.
  • 6-9 Glassboro (N.J.) Faith Christian fifth-year PF/SF Taurance Johnson (No. 39) picked Florida International over interest from Massachusetts, Duquesne, Memphis, Connecticut and N.C. State. Also headed next year to the Golden Panthers is 5-11 Horsham (Pa.) Hatboro-Horsham PG Dave Luber (unranked).
  • 6-5 Biloxi (Miss.) High WG/PG/SF Chey Christie (No. 55) chose Clemson (where older brother Tony was a starter) over Oklahoma, Arizona, Oregon and Southern Mississippi. The Tigers also gained recent commitments from both 6-9 Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy fifth-year PF/C Sherrod Ford (No. 169), a former star at Brandywine (Md.) Gwynn Park, and 6-6, 240-pound British native Olu Babalola (top 300), a PF/SF at Richland (N.J.) St. Augustine. Ford turned down overtures from Virginia, Villanova, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and others, while Babalola's other finalists were Virginia Tech and South Florida.
  • 6-2 Winston-Salem (N.C.) R.J. Reynolds WG Mitchell "Von" Bittle (No. 77) plans to attend UNC Charlotte after also seriously contemplating Florida State and Virginia Tech.
  • 6-8 Springfield (Oh.) South lefty PF/SF Elgrace Wilborn (No. 84) selected Tennessee over Michigan State, Nebraska, Georgia Tech and Miami-Oh., among others.
  • 6-4 New Orleans (La.) John F. Kennedy WG Dwayne Mitchell (No. 102), an exciting dunker, declared his intention to sign with Auburn. He also was wooed by Alabama, Oklahoma, Mississippi State (to whom he earlier "committed" but changed his mind), LSU and others.
  • 6-4 Miami (Fla.) Northwestern WG Winsome Frazier (No. 119) decided he'll sign with Mississippi State. He also was sought by Miami-Fla., South Florida, Auburn, Florida State and others.

    MIDWEST

  • 6-4 Santa Barbara (Cal.) High WG/PG Dommanic Ingerson (No. 23) is a big catch for Michigan. He also was desired by Georgetown, Villanoova, St. Louis, California, UNLV and others.
  • 6-6 Minneapolis (Minn.) De La Salle SF Alan Anderson (No. 58) and 6-3 Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence North WG/PG Chris Hill (No. 138) both committed to defending national champion Michigan State. Anderson also considered Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa and Louisville, while Hill rejected Notre Dame, Marquette and others.
  • 6-4 Chicago (Ill.) Providence St. Mel southpaw WG/PG LaVar Seals (No. 87) chose hometown DePaul over Marquette, Siena, Loyola-Chicago, Purdue and others. The Blue Demons also got the nod from 6-5 Fond Du Lac (Wisc.) Goodrich WG Drake Deiner (unranked), who performed very well this spring and summer for the Playground Warriors and was hearing from St. Louis, Marquette, Wisconsin and Illinois State, among others.
  • 6-9, 235-pound Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman C/PF Jason Carter (No. 110) picked Colorado over finalists Villanova, Xavier, St. Louis, UCLA, DePaul, UTEP, Texas et al.
  • 6-3 Aurora (Colo.) Hinkley PG/WG Jaison Williams (top 300) selected Xavier as his collegiate destination following a Sept. 22-24 visit there. Colorado State and Tulsa were the runners-up.
  • 6-4 St. Paul (Minn.) Highland Park WG/SF Maurice Hargrow (top 300) verbaled to Minnesota over Rutgers, Xavier, Iowa State and others.
  • 6-4 Tulsa (Okla.) Central SF/WG Freddie Robinson (unranked) opted for Colorado State over Denver, Boise State, Drake and Wichita State.
  • 6-7 Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick SF/PF Jamie Sowers (unranked) will attend Wichita State next year.
  • 6-5 Chipola (Fla.) Junior College sophomore SF Janerio Spurlock, a former prep star in Cincinnati, has given Kansas State a commitment. Spurlock, who averaged 20 ppg. last season, turned down Auburn and Wyoming.

    SOUTHWEST

  • 6-11 African C Simplice Njoya (No. 123), who reportedly is now at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry (N.Y.) after playing for Homestead (Fla.) Berkshire School last season, has committed to UNLV over interest from Colorado, Michigan, Georgia Tech and others. The Runnin' Rebels also got good news from 6-2 Dixie (Ut.) Junior College WG/PG Marcus Banks, who is an excellent defender.
  • 6-4 Rockwall (Tex.) Hill WG Nathan Doudney (unranked), who averaged 24 ppg. as a junior, has chosen Tulsa over Gonzaga, Houston, New Mexico State, Louisville and others.
  • 6-8, 245-pound Oklahoma City (Okla.) Mount St. Mary's PF Eric Castro (unranked) will enroll next year at Southern Methodist. He also was pursued by Kansas State, Furman, Denver, Yale, Pacific and others.

    WEST

  • 6-5 Santa Ana (Cal.) Mater Dei PG/WG Cedric Bozeman (No. 40) picked UCLA over Florida as his future collegiate destination. Kansas, Arizona and Syracuse were also in the hunt for this big-timer.
  • 6-5 Seattle (Wash.) Chief Sealth SF/WG Erroll Knight (No. 86), an outstanding athlete, chose hometown Washington over Kansas, Syracuse, Louisville and Texas. The Huskies also will welcome a talented transfer from Connecticut, 6-7 SF Doug Wrenn, a Seattle native and former prep All-American who must sit out the upcoming season.
  • 6-5 Spanaway (Wash.) Bethel WG Corey Belser (unranked) verbally committed to the University of San Diego over interest from Oregon, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State and others.
  • 6-0 Concord (Calif.) De La Salle PG Charles Brown (unranked) has picked Loyola-Marymount.
  • Both 6-4 Tacoma (Wash.) Foss WG Solomon Wyatt (unranked) and 6-6 Kent (Wash.) Kentridge PF Jason Ellis have announced for Boise State.
  • Pasadena (Cal.) Muir guard Joseph Frazier (unranked) selected California State-Northridge.
  • 6-5 Tacoma (Wash.) Community College WG/SF Keith Browne committed to Eastern Washington.
  • 6-8 Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) Junior College PF/C Benjamin Lambert cast his lot with Long Beach State.
  • 6-9 sophomore PF Bryan Whitehead has transferred to UC-Santa Barbara from Washington State.

    Brick Oettinger is talent evaluator for the Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook and recruiting columnist for the ACC Area Sports Journal. For more information on either publication, call 1-800-447-7667.


     
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