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Near-supers top wing guards

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After examining in detail the nation's premier high school centers, power forwards and small forwards (regardless of class in school) over the past three weeks, our attention now turns to the best wing guards. In early October a post-summer/preseason list of the top 35 senior wing guards was provided here. Now, however, we're including elite juniors and sophomores as well as seniors, with performances in the 2000-2001 season weighing heavily upon our rankings.

Five senior wing guards, all of them among the best nine prep players at that position this season, made the prestigious McDonald's All-American Game, played Wednesday, March 28, at Duke's cozy Cameron Indoor Stadium. Leading this contingent are 6-4 Michigan State signee Kelvin Torbert and 6-6 New Yorker Julius Hodge, who verbally committed to N.C. State in November but will not sign a binding national letter-of-intent until April 11. Both the powerful Torbert and the sleek Hodge are near-super talents.

The other three senior wing guards who are McDonald's All-Americans are 6-6 Californian Josh Childress, 6-4 Texan Daniel Ewing of unbeaten Willowridge High near Houston, and 6-3 marksman Rashaad Carruth, a Decatur, Ga., native prepping at No. 1 Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. Note that we rank them fourth, five and ninth, respectively, among all high school wing guards. Kentucky signee Carruth, who can be a great 3-point shooter but isn't always, is so low (relatively) because he's too much of a one-dimensional player for our druthers. If he improves his ballhandling, defense and ability to get his shot off the dribble, then we'll raise him appropriately. Until then, we'll rank Michigan signee (but will ask for a release since the Wolverines fired coach Brian Ellerbe ?) Dommanic Ingerson and North Carolina recruit Jackie Manuel, neither of whom were selected for the McDonald's Game, higher than Carruth.

You may wonder why New Jersey super Dajuan Wagner isn't on the list of wing guards below, even though he's scheduled to play that position in the McDonald's All-American Game. The answer is simply that we consider him to be a scoring point guard. While extremely strong physically, he's just 6-foot-2 in height, and he handles and defends (when he wants to) plenty well at point guard, which will be his collegiate and NBA position. In our upcoming (week after next) list of the top point guards nationally, Wagner will be No. 1.

There may be no great underclass wing guards at this juncture, but there are loads of very good ones, including juniors J.J. Redick from Virginia, Floridian Antonio Lawrence, Texan Bracey Wright, and Rashad McCants, a North Carolinian prepping in New Hampshire. Overall, the top 33 wing guards regardless of class consist of 23 seniors, seven juniors and three sophomores.

NATIONAL TOP 33 WING GUARDS (regardless of class)
Player	Year	Height	School
1. Kelvin Torbert	Senior	6-4	Flint (Mich.) Northwestern
Michigan State signee is a muscular leaper who hangs on his unstoppable mid-range jump shot à la Michael Jordan!
2. Julius Hodge	Senior	6-6	Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond's
N.C. State recruit recently was named New York City player of the year after averaging 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the Parochial League city champion.
3. Dommanic Ingerson	Senior	6-4	Santa Barbara (Calif.) High
Michigan signee has enormous ability but must keep his fiery temper under control.
4. Josh Childress	Senior	6-6	Lakewood (Calif.) Mayfair
Stanford signee is a very versatile performer who can also play either small forward or point guard in a pinch.
5. Daniel Ewing	Senior	6-4	Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge
Future Duke Blue Devil bounced back from a midseason finger fracture to play a vital role as his unbeaten team captured the Class 5-A state championship.
6. Jackie Manuel	Senior	6-6	West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman
A superb defender with a dangerous 3-point stroke. Will play for North Carolina.
7. J.J. Redick	Junior	6-5	Roanoke (Va.) Cave Spring
An outstanding jump shooter who is fundamentally sound. He has given a very early verbal commitment to Duke.
8. Antonio Lawrence	Junior	6-5	Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson
An effective driver and perimeter shooter who averaged 20 points and seven rebounds.
9. Rashaad Carruth	Senior	6-3	Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy
Kentucky signee can (as noted above) absolutely drill 3-pointers when he's in the groove.
10. Rashad McCants	Junior	6-4	New Hampton (N.H.) New Hampton School
Had some tremendous games en route to averaging 25 points, six rebounds and four assists versus strong prep-school competition.
11. Bracey Wright	Junior	6-3	The Colony (Texas) High
A high-flying scorer who averaged over 22 points for a strong team.
12. Pierre Pierce	Senior	6-3	Westmont (Ill.) High
Racked up big numbers (over 30 ppg) but didn't play against exceptionally good competition. That will change when he suits up for Iowa.
13. Jimmy McKinney	Junior	6-4	St. Louis Vashon
Led his 28-1, Class 4-A (large schools) state championship team in scoring this season while emerging upon the national scene.
14. Richard McBride	Sophomore	6-3	Springfield (Ill.) Lanphier
A precocious backcourtman who handles and leads well enough to help out at point guard if needed.
15. Hassan Adams	Junior	6-4	Los Angeles Westchester
Erupted this season into (arguably) the best underclass wing-guard prospect on the West Coast.
16. Lodrick Stewart	Sophomore	6-4	Seattle Rainier Beach
A left-hander who pairs quite well with right-handed twin brother Rodrick.
17. Keith Jackson	Senior	6-5 1/2	Cincinnati Purcell Marian
A rangy quickster who only needs a bit more consistency on his jump shot to be a big-timer for Xavier.
18. Salim Stoudamire	Senior	6-2	Lake Oswego (Ore.) High
A southpaw bomber with the ability to knock in long 3s even when closely guarded. Will play for cousin Damon's Arizona Wildcats.
19. JaQuan Hart	Senior	6-5	Flint (Mich.) Northern
Another lefty whose playing style is reminiscent of Jalen Rose of the Indiana Pacers, which is apropos since he has signed with Michigan.
20. Earnest Shelton	Senior	6-3	Memphis (Tenn.) White Station
Alabama recruit is a pointmaker who didn't especially impress us last summer but had an excellent senior season.
21. Chey Christie	Senior	6-5	Biloxi (Miss.) High
A better prospect than older brother Tony, in whose footsteps he will follow at Clemson (where Tony was a starter).
22. Ben Gordon	Senior	6-2	Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High
Connecticut signee is a strong driver who looks better on paper than he has when we've watched him in action.
23. Errick Craven	Senior	6-2	Torrance (Calif.) Bishop Montgomery
A left-hander who (like the Stewarts above) is the better of a twin set that includes right-hander Derrick. Both are bound for USC.
24. Barry Elder	Senior	6-5	Madison (Ga.) Morgan County
Georgia Tech recruit played very well last spring and summer for the Atlanta Celtics, winners of both the 312-team adidas Big Time tournament and the Tournament of Champions.
25. Greg Brown	Junior	6-2	Milwaukee Vincent
Attracted national attention last summer for the Playground Warriors and followed that up with a fine 2000-2001 season.
26. Ernest Shelton	Senior	6-2	Somerdale (N.J.) Sterling
UNLV signee (but will he asked to be released?) is a 30 ppg scoring machine who has been overshadowed in his own state by Dajuan Wagner's exploits.
27. Dion Harris	Sophomore	6-3	Detroit Redford
A husky young wing who scored 32 points in the city tournament semifinals and the same number in the finals!
28. Mitchell (Von) Baldwin	Senior	6-2	Winston-Salem (N.C.) Reynolds
Charlotte signee is a speedster who paced his team to two consecutive Class 4-A (large schools) state titles.
29. Josh Carrier	Senior	6-5	Bowling Green (Ky.) High
Posted big numbers, as befitting the son of former ABA 3-point netstripper Darel Carrier. Headed to Kentucky.
30. LaVar Seals	Senior	6-4	Chicago Providence St. Mel
DePaul prospect is a swift left-hander who was injured part of the season but played well when he returned to action.
31. Anthony Rice	Senior	6-4	College Park (Ga.) North Clayton
A smooth 3-point marksman with the ability to get his shot. Will play for Memphis.
32. Adam Chiles	Senior	6-1	Louisville (Ky.) Ballard
A top-caliber athlete who didn't scintillate last summer but upgraded his game considerably this season for powerful (two losses) Ballard. Kentucky has reportedly entered the recruiting picture, along with Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and others.
33. Taurean Moy	Senior	6-0	Memphis (Tenn.) Booker T. Washington
A sensational 3-point shooter who tossed in 83 points in a game this season! Has not yet signed.

Regional Notes

Here we'll identify one (or two) sleeper underclass wing guards to watch in each geographic region. Recent verbal commitments, decommitments and transfers (both college and high school) of note are also mentioned.

EAST

6-10 sophomore C Nick Vander Laan, who started 20 games this season for California and averaged 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds, will transfer for "personal reasons" from the Golden Bears to an unannounced college. A sprained ankle reduced his playing time the latter part of the season.

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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