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Top prospects watch from sidelines
For many of the nation's most promising high school roundballers, the current season could accurately be named "Injured or Ineligible." Among the best 50 senior prospects, nine have missed at least fairly significant portions of the 2000-2001 season for one reason or another! Interestingly, the same is also true of several premier prep juniors. Starting with the seniors and going in order (from the top) based on their current national rankings, 6-foot-8, 235-pound Mali native Ousmane Cisse (No. 3) of Montgomery (Ala.) St. Jude played in his team's first 20 games (the team went 15-5) and averaged 29 points, 16 rebounds and 12 blocked shots before suffering a knee injury on Jan. 12 and missing the final 11 games of the season. The injury has been termed not serious, yet the unsigned Cisse sought a second medical opinion and wound up not playing the last five weeks. Hmmm. His collegiate possibilities continue to be Louisville (where his brother Daouda is a freshman), Arkansas, Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, Miami (Fla.) and perhaps others. Will the Cardinals' chances to land this fabulous athlete be severely reduced should Denny Crum (as rumored) get the axe at the end of this season? Stay tuned. Another prime senior big man, like Cisse a McDonald's All-American selection, 7-0, 300-pound Senegal native DeSagana Diop (No. 8) of nationally top-ranked Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy, tried to play in February despite a stress fracture to the fifth metatarsal of his left foot, but ultimately has sat out the final five games because the injury has worsened. Most recent estimates are that Diop will be unable to play for another 6-8 weeks, which would keep him out of the McDonald's game on Wednesday, March 28, at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. Diop, also uncommitted, averaged 14 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots in unbeaten Oak Hill's first 30 games. While Virginia (the team to beat because of his friendship with Cavaliers' insider Travis Watson ?) and North Carolina have been at the top of Diop's list for months, he has scheduled an official visit to Georgia Tech. Entering this year's NBA Draft also remains a conceivable possibility, although his injury may make that less likely. One of the nation's very best prep point guards, 5-11 senior Jonathan Hargett (No. 11) of Fort Washington (Md.) National Christian, missed close to half of this season because of injuries and a brief suspension. Hargett, a fall signee with West Virginia, closed with a rush, scoring 25 points to lead his team to an 82-74 victory over strong Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian in the Beltway League championship game. He didn't make the McDonald's All-American Team, but he certainly should have, as he's better than any senior point guard other than 6-2 Camden (N.J.) High superstar Dajuan Wagner (No. 2), a Memphis recruit. Also left off the McDonald's All-American roster (though we voted for him) was 6-4 Santa Barbara (Calif.) High combination guard Dommanic Ingerson (No. 23), a Michigan signee whose fiery temper resulted in technical fouls and a temporary suspension this season. We expect his court demeanor was a major reason why many didn't vote for him for the McDonald's game. But if he's judged just on his basketball talent, he's a definite big-timer who can score on the move much like star North Carolina sophomore Joseph Forte. A big man who has been highly touted since he excelled as a rising sophomore at the 1999 adidas ABCD Camp, 6-10, 250-pound senior Robert Whaley (No. 27) of Benton Harbor (Mich.) High, was charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl and sat out most of the season before being recently ruled eligible by the school. Whaley actually signed in November with Missouri, and there are conflicting reports as to whether the Tigers have released him from his national letter-of-intent. Missouri also inked Whaley's high school teammate, 6-10 power forward/center Jeff Ferguson (No. 127), last fall. Ferguson, however, has been academically ineligible to play this season. Another frontcourtman whom we consider among the nation's best 30 senior talents, 6-8 combo forward Harvey Thomas (No. 28) of Memphis (Tenn.) Hamilton, was ruled ineligible to play this season in Tennessee after transferring last fall from Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian. Highly athletic and skilled Thomas has signed with Georgetown. A native of Fredericksburg, Va., he was a junior standout at Durham (N.C.) Mount Zion Christian. Daniel Ewing (No. 30), a 6-4 Duke wing-guard signee from unbeaten and nationally second-ranked Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge, has been able to play most of the season but missed several games after Christmas while recovering from a fractured finger. He was named to the McDonald's team as an add-on by selection-committee chairman Morgan Wootten (longtime coach at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md.), not a surprise since the game is being played at Cameron. A blue-chip senior point-guard prospect, 6-0 Charles Frederick (No. 32) of Boca Raton (Fla.) Pope John Paul II, dropped off the basketball team last fall after a dispute with the coach and has missed virtually the entire season. Frederick, an All-American wide receiver in football, signed a gridiron national letter-of-intent with Washington in early February and intends to play both sports for the Huskies. On the hardwood, he puts enormous pressure on the defense by pushing the ball downcourt at breakneck speed. Najeeb Echols (No. 49), a 6-6 small forward from Chicago Morgan Park, has been sidelined the entire season following December knee surgery. Echols, who could rise still higher in our rankings with a more reliable jump shot, also signed in November with Quin Snyder's Missouri Tigers. Outside the top 50, some other well-regarded high school seniors also had their seasons interrupted by injury (e.g., 6-4 wing guard LaVar Seals of Providence St. Mel in Chicago) or banishment from the team (e.g., 6-2 point guard/wing guard Jaison Williams of Hinkley High in Aurora, Colo.). Seals, who returned to action recently, signed last fall with DePaul. He's currently ranked No. 86 in the class of 2001, while Xavier signee Williams is a top-300-caliber prospect. Williams was dismissed from the Hinkley team in early January. Turning briefly to the juniors, we've mentioned in previous contributions that two of the nation's best three prospects had extreme eligibility problems. Superstar Amare Stoudemire (No. 1), a 6-10, 235-pound center/power forward attending Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange, missed the entire season after losing three separate appeals to the Florida High School Activities Association. His many previous high school transcripts apparently did not pass muster, and there were other issues (e.g., legal residence), as well. Unable to play until the past few weeks because of New Jersey transfer rules is 6-6 small forward Lenny Cooke (No. 2), who starred as a sophomore at Manhattan LaSalle Academy and then exited for Old Tappan (N.J.) North Valley Regional. He quickly showed his talents at North Valley by pouring in 52 points with 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots in an 80-41 trouncing of Bergenfield (N.J.) High. Three other heralded juniors who (like Stoudemire) haven't played at all this season are 6-8 former Fresno (Calif.) Clovis West power forward Charlie Rodriguez (No. 10), who departed last summer for his home in the Dominican Republic after the age on his visa was questioned; 7-0 center Martin Iti (No. 18), who returned to Australia (but might come back) after being declared ineligible to play this season at Villa Park (Calif.) High; and 6-1 point guard Brandon Worthy (top 75), who has sat out the year at San Jose (Calif.) Mount Pleasant High after transferring from crosstown Archbishop Mitty (was he dismissed?). While the injury bug hasn't been as rampant among the juniors, blue-chip 6-8 small forward Lawrence Carrier (No. 11) of Salisbury (Conn.) Salisbury School was unable to play a few weeks ago in the National Prep School Invitational tournament, reportedly because of a sprained ankle. Carrier, a California native, has proven himself at major national events during the past two summers. Regional NotesFor each geographic region, we'll identify those seniors who were named to the 24-man McDonald's All-American team. In addition, a couple of recent verbal commitments are noted. EAST SOUTH MIDWEST SOUTHWEST WEST 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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