Can't win if you don't score

Unless you’ve just chosen to ignore the first part of the college basketball season entirely, you know that there’s a freshman invasion going on in college hoops today. Guys like Carmelo Anthony, Bracey Wright, Sean May, Anthony Roberson and Rashad McCants are taking over. They haven’t been on campus six months yet, but they are making their mark.

Why?

Simple: Because they can score.

Let’s say you are a freshman in a big program. You want to get on the floor in the nationally televised game against Kentucky? Score. You want to play in Madison Square Garden? Score. You want to go into College Park and win a basketball game? Then learn how to score.

The aforementioned freshmen can do it. Heck, they’ve been putting up numbers for years now. Whether it’s been on the high school or AAU level, they’ve been trained to put the ball in the basket and it looks like that’s the ticket to early PT in the college game today.

“If you can score then you can play,” one Division I assistant said. “Freshmen will have deficiencies. But, if you can score you can play and get on the court. Some of the best players in the country can’t score.”

The freshmen can.

People talk about AAU basketball and the negative effects it has on players. Sure, there are some areas where kids improve if they spend more time working on their individual game than racing up and down the court in July, but AAU ball teaches kids to score.

I get a lot of questions like “what do you look for in a player when you go to evaluate him?” Well, that’s a difficult question and would take a long time to explain but I can tell you one thing: If a kid goes out and puts some points on the board, I notice him quickly. It’s not the most important thing, but when you combine it with other criteria, it certainly helps.

We aren’t talking about 15 layups a game either. We’re talking about scoring with some skill. You think Wright learned that step-back jumper last month? May didn’t suddenly develop a shooter’s touch from 15 feet either and Anthony? Well, he’s been at this scoring thing for a long time. It’s ingrained in him; it’s how he thinks and sees the game.

One college assistant told me that you have almost no chance of teaching a kid to be a scorer once he steps onto your campus. Either he can put it in the bucket or he can’t.

Numbers aren’t everything and certainly have to be combined with overall talent level when evaluating a prospect. But, if a kid has scoring tools in high school, chances are any college coach worth his weight can teach improvement in a scorer. But he can’t teach a player to crossover into the mindset of being a scorer.

That has to happen at the high school level. If you can’t hit fade-away Js like Wright then be active, get on the glass, move your feet and rebound. Find a way to score. Is it too much to ask a Division I prospect on the high school level to go out and get 15 points? He may not be able to do it with skill and precision, but if he teaches himself the mindset of scoring and making plays, some college coach down the road won’t mind.

Junior big man has a long list

David Burgess, a 6-foot-9 junior center from Irvine (Calif.) Woodbridge, is a rarity in high school basketball -- a true center who knows his game and doesn't want to play small forward. Burgess is an average athlete, but he's got a big body and he understands how to play in the low post. This past summer, he led the ABCD camp in rebounding.

We spoke with Burgess and asked him about the schools he's considering.

"I put together a list of about 20 schools that I'm interested in," said Burgess. "All of the Pac-10, except for Oregon St. and Washington St., Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisville, UConn, BYU, Michigan and Florida are some of the schools. I grew up liking North Carolina -- Vince Carter was my favorite player."

We asked Burgess if location would play any role in his decision.

"Not really -- I'll go wherever I'm comfortable," said Burgess.

Burgess did indicate he has one primary concern when making his choice. "I'll look at the coaching,” he said. “Mainly how they've done with big men and what kind of big men have come out of their school."

With his older brother Chris having already gone through the process, we asked David if he'd go to Chris for advice. "Definitely," said Burgess. "He's been through it twice actually and he can tell me what to look for. Sometimes a coach will be saying something just to get you to his school, so Chris can help me with the decision. And I'll talk with my Dad as well."

Burgess told us that he has a 3.0 GPA and has yet to take the SAT.

-- Greg Hicks, PrepWestHoops.com

Iowa State lands George

Reggie George, a big man with Bill Barton's Notre Dame Prep team, recently made a commitment.

"Today he saying that his mom has let him and he's ‘verballed’ to Iowa State," Barton said. Wichita State and St. Joseph's had been in regular contact with him. Fresno State, Connecticut and Providence inquired about him.

George didn't have a particularly good weekend when we saw him at the War on the Shore. However, Barton says he's coming off his best performance of the year this past weekend at the MCI Classic.

In two games, Barton said that George scored 15 in each outing. Barton reports that he had six and eight rebounds in each game, respectively. "It was far and away the best he's played," he said. George usually comes off the bench for Notre Dame, but was given the start in Sunday's championship game and made the most of his opportunity.

George's prep school teammate, Will Blalock, signed in the fall with the Cyclones.

-- Dave Telep, TheInsidersHoops.com

Smith's Clayton goes for 27

The atmosphere inside Greensboro Dudley's gym on Friday night was electric. The place was packed and Dudley and Smith played to a standing room only crowd. Aside from the environment, the game had everything you could ask for: talent, competitiveness and good young players.

Smith ran out to the 18-4 first quarter lead and led the entire way though Dudley made a series of runs in the second half. In the initial quarter, Smith 6-foot-8 junior power forward Quinton Goods had seven rebounds and three blocks. Later he would foul, out but his presence keyed Golden Eagles early. Goods' recruitment will start at the mid-major level and his athleticism and bounce will be attractive.

As good as Goods was in the first period, Smith's Jeremy Clayton was better for the entire game. Clayton, a 6-6 small forward, scored 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the game. Each of his rebounds was a memorable one and a lot came in traffic. Clayton is a very good athlete who really does well getting to the rim, leaping in traffic and hustling. We didn't get to see the jump shot at all in this one, but we liked the rest of his game and he's a prospect we'll keep a very close eye on throughout the year.

Like Smith, the Dudley Panthers are young. Unlike Smith whose best players are a pair of juniors, Dudley two horses are a sophomore and freshman.

Let's start with 6-7 center Kevin Swinton, a sophomore. The big fella posted 10 points and six rebounds. In addition to battling foul trouble for most of the game, he was poked in the eye with 4:36 remaining in the game and while he tried to come back, his vision was impaired and he had to watch from the bench.

The Dudley P.A. announcer calls Swinton "The Franchise" and it's not tough to figure out why. He has long arms and has the look of a super post scorer. Right now, as a sophomore, his inside game from a pure scoring standpoint is terrific. He positions well on the blocks, has long arms and goes strong to the rim. Here's a young man who probably hasn't done much lifting so when this post scorer gets strong, look out.

"The Butler" is freshman small forward William Graves. The 6-5 forward would never strike you as frosh the way he carries himself on the floor. He had 13 points and is obviously still feeling his way around varsity basketball games. He had one play where he slashed, tucked the ball away, finished with contact and went to the foul line for the three-point play.

To make a long story short, you can bet we'll be in the gym the next time these two teams tangle.

-- Dave Telep, TheInsidersHoops.com

Arizona soph. SF making noise

Lawrence Hill, 6-foot-6 sophomore small forward from Glendale (Ariz.) Deer Valley, is getting treated as one of biggest prospects in Arizona to watch over the next couple of years.

He is listed on many top national lists and is almost certainly one of the best wing prospects on the west coast in his class.

Hill is seeing some very early recruiting attention as a result. Just a sophomore, he has heard from USC, Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Cornell. A USC coach was supposed to be at a Deer Valley game last week, and an Arizona coach is expected to watch Hill play within the next couple of weeks.

Hill is also a good student, maintaining an overall GPA at about the 4.0 level.

-- Tracy Pierson, PrepWestHoops.com

 

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