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Miles above the rest?
Posted: Wednesday March 29, 2000 12:39 AM By Albert Lin, CNNSI.com BOSTON –- The hot topic at this year's McDonald's All-America Game is the NBA. Which may seem a bit strange given that it's a high school contest. But given the explosive success of Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, and the steady improvement of Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrington and Rashard Lewis, the pros have realized that taking a raw, athletic 18-year-old with a tremendous upside – and having a chance to mold him for two or three years -- is often preferable to drafting a 22-year-old who's already reached his peak or may have developed bad habits he has to unlearn. There are six members of this year's class thought to be considering a leap to the NBA: Alton Ford, Eddie Griffin, Jerome Harper, Darius Miles, DeShawn Stevenson and Gerald Wallace. Miles is probably the one closest to leaving. A versatile, 6'8" wing player from East St. Louis, Ill., Miles lives in a city with a reputation as one of the country's worst. "Abandoned houses, shootings the next street over, drug houses across the street," Miles says when asked to describe his neighborhood. "It's not nice." He has signed a letter of intent to play for St. John's but has repeatedly indicated that if he is projected as a lottery pick he would be foolish not to take advantage. Ultimately, Miles' goal is to make a better life for his family; he lives with his mother, grandparents and three cousins. "I want to go to school, but if I'm in the lottery, I can't do anything but go. Even my [high school] coach told me to go," he said. "It's not pressure from my mom, it's the way I feel. I don't want to live in the ghetto anymore." His AAU coach is putting out feelers to gauge his draft position; reports are as high as No. 4 and almost certainly somewhere in the lottery (first 13 picks). Miles insists that St. John's is his "first option" and that he's in no hurry to get to the NBA. "I don't really care about it. As long as I get there sooner or later." Even some of the controversy surrounding the St. John's program hasn't soured him on college. Point guard Erick Barkley was in and out of the NCAA's doghouse the latter part of the season and recently announced his intentions of turning pro. "It doesn't scare me much, because I know I'm not doing anything wrong. I wouldn't do anything wrong to screw up my chances of taking care of my family," Miles says. "It seemed like every two days they were accusing him of something new." There has also been talk about coach Mike Jarvis leaving for an NBA job. Although he says Jarvis is one of the main reasons he chose St. John's, his possible departure also has not affected Miles' thinking. "[Jarvis] hasn't said anything to me, hasn't said anything to O [future teammate Omar Cook ]. So he's not going, that's my feeling. But if he goes, that's his job; he has to take of his kids and stuff. That's what it's all about -- chances to take care of your family." Miles' coming-out party was an AAU event last September in Staten Island, in which he went head-to-head with Philadelphia's Eddie Griffin -- the consensus No. 1 player in the class – and destroyed him. Miles exploded for 41 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and four blocks, holding Griffin to 15 points.. "I think Eddie just had a bad game," Miles says diplomatically. "The game was so hyped -- it was No. 1 [Griffin] vs. No. 2 [Miles] -- and I went so strong, just went after him. I have a real killer instinct. Eddie has no facial expression -- like Tim Duncan -- and I didn't know if I was killing him or not, so I kept going at him, trying to get him mad." Miles can frustrate an opponent in so many ways. He is the latest in the developing trend – call it the Garnett Syndrome – of perimeter big men. At 6'8", 212 pounds, he's deceptively strong, can nail the stationary jump shot ("I can hit it all day"), and has the quickness and handle to blow by a defender and get to the rim. He averaged 19 points and 14 rebounds this season. And although he thinks he's good enough to play in the NBA this fall, he does have a couple things he feels he could work on at St. John's -- bulking up and perfecting his pull-up jumper. "I'm trying to get him to come to college, for one or two years," says Cook, a New York City product and fellow McDonald's All-American. "But if that's the best situation for him, I think he's ready for the pros."
The NBA just might agree.
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