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Wagner leads deep point guards
Last week we indicated that we would immediately provide the final (fifth) installment of postseason national positioners, with the focus upon point guards, regardless of class in school. Well, here it is. The list of 34 (there's a tie for No. 33) floor generals contains 23 seniors, 11 juniors and no sophomores, based on what we've seen to date. At the top of the list is the individual who (arguably) had the best season of any prep player in the nation. We're referring to 6-foot-2 (no, he's not the listed 6-3) senior Dajuan Wagner, a Memphis signee who averaged 42.5 points per game for twice-beaten Camden (N.J.) High. Of course, he can play wing guard, but we view him as a point guard, based on his ballhandling (which is fine) and height (not ideal for wing guard). What's wrong with a scoring point guard, such as Duke's Jason Williams? Second to Wagner, we've anointed 6-1 Latta (S.C.) High junior Raymond Felton, who had an incredible season but didn't play up to his capabilities in the Boo Williams tournament in Hampton, Va., last weekend. Regardless, we've seen with our own eyes that Felton (already verbally committed to North Carolina) is the real deal. The point guards are so deep that McDonald's All-Americans (besides Wagner) such as Texan T.J. Ford, Louisville lefty Carlos Hurt, Maurice Williams from Mississippi, Indianan Chris Thomas, Aaron Miles from Oregon and Californian Cedric Bozeman rank sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 13th, respectively, on our list! We believe that West Virginia signee Jonathan Hargett definitely should have been a McDonald's choice, even though he missed half of the season because of injury or suspension. Furthermore, two other juniors besides Felton carry at least near-super potential. Both 6-1 Anthony Roberson from Michigan and 6-3 Sean Dockery from Chicago should challenge Felton for recognition as the premier point-guard prospect in the prep class of 2002, and there also are an abundance of other highly promising juniors at this vital position. One of these, 6-4 Baltimore native Jarrett Jack, announced recently that he'll transfer in the fall to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., from Durham (N.C.) Mount Zion Christian Academy. Since he didn't play this past season after a dispute with the coach, we've omitted 6-0 senior Charles Frederick of Boca Raton (Fla.) Pope John Paul II from the rankings, even though he would have been at least No. 19 had he played at all. Frederick, also an elite wide receiver in football, signed a gridiron national letter-of-intent with Washington in February, but he intends to play both sports in college.
All-star games and spring tournamentsWhen so little defense is played that postseason all-star games wind up with scores like 173-169 (the Nike Derby Festival Classic in Louisville, Ky.), 151-148 (Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic in Chicago), or even 131-125 (McDonald's All-American Game in Durham, N.C.), our tendency is to give relatively little significance to individual statistics. On the other hand, plenty of defense was played in the Capital Classic in Washington, D.C., where the United States All-Stars won by a 96-76 count over the Capital All-Stars. The most impressive performances for the winning team were by 6-5 Clemson WG signee Chey Christie (team MVP with 20 points and four assists) of Biloxi (Miss.) High, 6-3 Boston College PG recruit Jermaine Watson (19 points and four assists), 6-9 Florida State PF/C signee Adam Waleskowski (10 rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals and seven points) of Kettering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter, and 6-0 Ohio State PG recruit Brandon Fuss-Cheatham (10 points and six assists) of Beaver Falls (Pa.) Blackhawk. MVP for the Capital All-Stars was 6-2 Baltimore Southern sharpshooter Melvin Scott (12 points), who has signed with North Carolina. In events primarily for underclassmen, the previously mentioned Boo Williams Invitational was won by the Charlotte (N.C.) Royals, who edged the Boo Williams All-Stars in the semifinals and trounced The Family (Mich.) in the title game. At Charlie Weber's tournament in Philadelphia, 6-10 Orlando (Fla.) Cypress Creek junior C/PF Amare Stoudemire averaged 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots per contest in leading Fastbreak USA to three consecutive victories. At the Boo Williams tourney, The Family had rallied to stun the Raleigh (N.C.) Heat in overtime in the semis, as touted Latta (S.C.) High junior PG Raymond Felton of the Heat shockingly missed the front end of three consecutive one-and-ones near the end of regulation play. The MVP award went to powerfully athletic 6-4 New Hampton (N.H.) New Hampton School junior swingman Rashad McCants, an Asheville, N.C., native who led the Royals along with 6-1 junior teammate Justin Gray, a point guard at Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy who hails from Charlotte. Besides McCants and Gray, also making the all-tournament team were 6-10 Raleigh (N.C.) Broughton junior PF/C Shavlik Randolph of the Heat, 6-5 Roanoke (Va.) Cave Spring junior WG J.J. Redick (verbally committed to Duke) of the Boo Williams All-Stars, and 6-6 Pontiac (Mich.) Northern junior swingman Lester Abram and 6-5 Detroit Rogers junior wing Ricardo Billings from The Family. Regional NotesWith the spring national signing period running from April 11 through May 15, we're about to be hit with a flood of announcements of collegiate decisions. Remember, however, that 87 of the nation's top 100 high school seniors signed national letters-of-intent during the November signing period. Many of those who'll sign in the spring are sleepers or junior-college products. Our focus here is upon some other sleeper underclass point guards to watch, recent commitments, and transfers of note. 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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